“We’re looking more like we’re playing a playoff game, like things matter,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch after the Edmonton Oilers picked up an overtime win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night. It's the team's second straight win, and unlike some of the past two-game streaks, these most recent victories have the Oilers looking like a team that's found something.

“We’re paying attention to detail, we’re simplifying our game. It’s nice to see. The games are so important right now that everyone seems like they’re dialled in and know the urgency to play right.”

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Then again, the Oilers have tried to win three in a row several times this season, and the same thing almost always inevitably happens -- the team puts up a stinker. 

Coming back home on Saturday afternoon to face the Anaheim Ducks, the Oilers can't afford to keep that tradition alive. That matinee game is as important as any game the Oilers have had on their calendar this season. The Ducks lead the Pacific Division and are five points up on the Oilers. If Edmonton wants any shot at catching them, this four-point swing (should Edmonton win in regulation) is critical. 

The good news is that the Oilers can feel good about their recent efforts. In past instances where three in a row was on the table, the Oilers had pulled out some wins they arguably didn't deserve. This time, both victories against Utah and Vegas were well earned. 

Even when the Oilers bent on Thursday -- allowing Vegas to tie the game three separate times -- they didn't break. Edmonton didn't allow the Golden Knights an opportunity to ever hold the lead. There are valuable lessons to be taken from that experience. 

There were solid lessons learned on this short road trip overall. 

“It’s a great road trip, two massive wins against two potential playoff opponents,” said Zach Hyman. He scored his 30th of the year on a great play, stripping the puck from a Vegas player in their zone and finishing it for a beautiful third goal. “I thought we played well defensively. Everybody contributed, which is so important at this time of year; everybody feels a part of it. We were rolling the lines, and everything went well. It was a huge road trip.”

Goaltender Connor Ingram said after the win: “We’ve found a way to play that’s given us success. Now it’s not being stubborn and sticking with it. Playing simple. We’re a good enough hockey club we’re going to get our chances. As long as we don’t give them that many, we’re going to be just fine.”  

The Most Impressive Part About Thursday's Win?

The Oilers’ penalty kill was spot on Thursday night. Perhaps the most impressive part of the game was their 4-on-3 kill in overtime. Edmonton fought it off, then Evan Bouchard got the game-winner. 

It was a solid defensive effort, the team's second in a row. During Tuesday’s win over Utah, the Oilers kept the Mammoth to a limited number of shots, blocking almost double the amount of even-strength shots as usual.

This team has found a playoff gear that they've shown no signs of having all season. The trick now is continuing to put forth that effort and not get stuck in their bad habits. The more they can win without Leon Draisaitl, the more they'll be ready to roll when he gets back. 

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1. ALLAN STANLEY: The big defenseman cost the Rangers the equivalent of four minor league players worth $40,000 right after World War II. Although fans wanted Allan to play a tougher game, that wasn't his style. The Rangers failed to give Stanley enough time to mature and foolishly traded him to Chicago on Thanksgiving Day eve, 1954. So good was Al that he's now in the Hall of Fame and winner of four Stanley Cup rings – as a Maple Leaf.

2. DAVE KERR: One of the NHL's best goalkeepers during the late 1930's, Davey was so good that he had the honor of being the first NHL player to have his picture on the cover of Time Magazine. After his Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1940, Kerr asked boss Lester Patrick for a $500 raise. When Lester refused –still in his prime – Kerr quit hockey and never returned.

3. MIKE BOSSY: A four-time Cup-winner with the Islanders, Mike could have been a Ranger.  In the 1977 Draft, the Blueshirts had the eighth and thirteen picks. First they went for Lucien DeBlois and then Ron Duguay, The Isles happily snatched Bossy at Number 14. 

The Penguins have had their struggles this season with the shootout, though the worm has turned in the past week with two straight victories in the game deciding gimmick. The problem has been two-fold in that their goalies can’t keep the puck out of the net (opponents are scoring a dreadful 54.2% this season) and their shooters, as of a week ago were only scoring on 24.2% of their attempts. That’s a losing formula on both ends.

As we wrote before, it was as simple as expecting the shootout woes to continue until Pittsburgh found better shooters than they had. Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust are a combined 5-for-19 on the year (26.3%) and that low rate of converting isn’t going to lead to results, regardless of the goaltending woes on the other side. The last week has been aces, the Pens have scored four times on six attempts and only allowed one goal on five opponent tries. Much of the success has been in shaking up the shooters, Ben Kindel took only his second shootout try of the season last night. Newcomer Egor Chinakhov is 3-for-7 on the year with the Pens (42.8%) about doubling up the rest of the team’s percentage. They’ve found better players to take the shots and are now starting to win shootouts (it’s only two in a row, but hey that’s a start compared to the 1-10 record in shootouts at the start).

Kindel is now 2-for-2 this season on shootouts. The TSN feed caught him smiling as he took his attempt last night. This is the type of loose confidence and swagger you need from a shootout player. Pittsburgh should be using Kindel as a shooter every game at this point. He won’t score on all his attempts forever but he’s a lot better of an option than the veterans who have been coming up empty recently.

he was having the time of his life https://t.co/nXpkquAUS7pic.twitter.com/CDp5ceMJqt

— camryn (@sidnezcrosby) March 27, 2026

I don’t often use the Game Score impact card due to how it can be misconceived or analyzed but the one from last night was telling due to how it matched what I saw and how it ties into some ongoing trends. Rickard Rakell has been awesome lately with 14 points in his last 11 games. Erik Karlsson is pulling the wagon to a huge degree. The “fourth” line (even though they’re not deployed or given typical fourth line ice time) is making positive impacts. Bryan Rust is a reliable performer. Stuart Skinner had a great game keeping the team afloat. Kris Letang is struggling, Sam Girard is too while trying to find his way coming back from injury and still relatively new to the team and system. Tommy Novak didn’t grade well last night but has been better recently. All of this was on display last night and has been going that way for a while, reflected nicely by

NHL Game Score Impact Card for Pittsburgh Penguins on 2026-03-26: pic.twitter.com/wan7KcBPO1

— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) March 27, 2026

At this point the team has to seriously question Ville Koivunen’s place in the lineup for this important stretch of the season. Out of 441 forwards across the NHL who have played at least 250 minutes, Koivunen ranks 439th in points/60 with a dreadful 0.45 rate that is below Ryan Reaves and just about everyone else in the league. On the rink Koivunen looks tentative, slow, is muscled off pucks regularly and barely supports play, often hinders it. He does little good away from the puck and has not been able to generate virtually anything with it, which ought to be his strength. The Penguins are in a tough spot given the injuries to Evgeni Malkin, Blake Lizotte and now maybe Sidney Crosby but it’s probably time (or past time even) to consider other options than Koivunen, who just doesn’t look the part right now of an NHL caliber player for a team pushing to make the postseason.

Here are the fastest teams ranked in terms of 20-22 mph bursts. I also included 22+ mph bursts in the 2nd column.

Boston is slowest in East while Calgary is the slowest in the NHL by significant margin. pic.twitter.com/2q9l271M5m

— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) March 26, 2026

This ties into the above, but dropping Koivunen might make the Pens faster too, which they could probably stand to gain some team speed. Koivunen only has 11 bursts of 20+ mph in his 35 games this season, per NHL Edge. He plays on a line with Justin Brazeau, who himself only has 33 bursts of 20+ in his 54 games. That makes for one of the less explosive lines a team could create. Being fast doesn’t always mean being good and lacking burst doesn’t necessarily tie into an ineffective player, just a matter of all the pieces coming together in the big picture that present opportunities for the team to improve, especially seeing the Pens on the same rink as speedy teams like Carolina, Colorado and Ottawa in recent games. (And Rutger McGroarty, if you were wondering, has 24 bursts in his 20 NHL games).

Now shifting gears to an even worse topic, the dreaded goalie interference drama.

Written 32:https://t.co/6GsOv6rqMY

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 27, 2026

Friedman attempts to explain about how the league thought Karlsson lost a battle with Morgan Barron, creating the goalie contact and why that goal stood. That’s one interpretation, though as always application of rulings is ever inconsistent — for the Penguins and across the NHL.

Personally, I think the bigger issue is Justin Brazeau’s recently disallowed goal against Colorado versus Claude Giroux’s non-interference in last night’s Ottawa game. Both were similar, and if anything Giroux had less of a case of obstructing the goalie than Brazeau (who was dealing with some contact from a defender). It’s difficult if not impossible to make sense of the NHL’s conclusions.

One area worth taking notice about is the frequency of coach Dan Muse’s challenges. The Penguins’ nine goalie interference challenges lead the league by a wide margin, no other team has challenged for GI more than five times.

no one has challenged for goalie interference more than the Penguins this year — Boston, Calgary, Chicago, and Ottawa are tied for second with five challenges this year.

Behind the Penguins -9 in these challenges, the Panthers are second-worst after going 0-4

— Shayna (@shaynagoldman_) March 27, 2026

Is Muse, as a rookie, over-eager to try and reverse a call? He obviously sees things he thinks is interference, yet the league hasn’t agreed a single time. Not sure if the correction is to limit challenges to the most ‘obvious’ of cases, with the caveat being that it’s a major issue to know what even is ‘obvious’ these days. Credit Muse for having the conviction to keep challenging when he disagrees even though at some point internal choices might have to be adjusted given how it’s been going. Just some food for thought, since basically no one can provide logical answers at this point.

St. Louis Blues pro scout and AHL GM Kevin Maxwell and VP of hockey operations Peter Chiarelli are leaving the club to pursue other opportunities, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. 

According to Dreger, Maxwell is expected to return to the New York Rangers in a management role, while Chiarelli is one of the candidates to replace Barry Trotz as GM of the Nashville Predators.

Maxwell has been with the Blues organization since 2022. He’s worked as a pro scout and the GM of the Springfield Thunderbirds since his arrival. Prior to joining the Blues, Maxwell was the long-time director of professional scouting and a pro scout for the Rangers, spending 14 seasons with the club. 

The 65-year-old has worked in scouting departments with NHL teams since 1988. 

As for Chiarelli, he’s been with the Blues since 2019, starting as a senior advisor for two years before shifting into his role as VP of hockey operations for the past five seasons.

Prior to joining the Blues organization, Chiarelli was the GM of the Edmonton Oilers, but his time there went south fairly quickly, as he was fired before the end of his fourth season.

Could Blues' Doug Armstrong Take Over As GM Of Another NHL Franchise?Doug Armstrong is set to pass the baton to Alex Steen as GM of the St. Louis Blues on July 1st and become the full-time president of hockey operations, but is Armstrong ready to give up that role for good?

Before joining the Oilers, Chiarelli was the GM of the Boston Bruins, leading them to the Stanley Cup in 2011. 

The 61-year-old has worked in the NHL since 1999, starting with the Ottawa Senators. 

With Doug Armstrong becoming the full-time president of hockey operations and Alexander Steen as GM, moves within the front office were anticipated, but now the Blues will need to undergo plenty of housecleaning. 

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On a relatively quiet Friday night in the NHL, one matchup carries major weight in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Detroit Red Wings travel to Buffalo to face the division-leading Sabres in a game with significant postseason implications.

Detroit enters the contest trailing the Ottawa Senators by two points and the New York Islanders by three points for the second wild card spot in the East. This makes Friday’s game critical if the Red Wings hope to remain in the playoff hunt.

While Kevin McGonigle is dazzling on the diamond, the Red Wings have given their fans little to cheer about with a brutal 6-9-3 record over their last 18 games. That slump has caused their playoff chances to drop sharply and puts added pressure on their final 11 games of the season.

This will be the third and final meeting between Detroit and Buffalo, with the Sabres winning both previous matchups. Since their last meeting in mid-November, Buffalo has only improved. Over their past 15 games, the Sabres have gone 12-1-2, the best record in the league during that span. They have combined explosive offense with one of the league’s top defensive performances, pushing them to first place in the Atlantic Division and establishing them as a serious Stanley Cup contender.

Buffalo will face a Detroit team that is desperate for a turnaround as the Red Wings are overdue for a momentum shift and will look to finally break through against the Sabres. Much will depend on their returning players, who have started to make an impact.

Andrew Copp has four points in his last five games, while captain Dylan Larkin scored in his return and will aim to lead by example again. Detroit is also hoping for more production from David Perron, who has yet to register a point in five games since rejoining the team at the trade deadline.

Buffalo’s recent dominance has been fueled by the standout play of Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin. Both performed well internationally at the Olympics and have carried that momentum back to the NHL. Dahlin has been especially impressive, recording 29 points in his last 22 games, while Thompson has maintained a point-per-game pace over his last 19 contests.

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Detroit Red Wings’ Expected Line Combinations vs Buffalo (Friday)

Finnie – Larkin – Raymond

DeBrincat – Compher – Kane

Kasper – Copp – Appleton

Perron - Dries - van Riemsdyk

Edvinsson – Seider

Chiarot – Faulk

Johansson - Benard-Docker

Gibson

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The Detroit Red Wings visit the Buffalo Sabres in a pivotal game for the Eastern Conference standings at the Keybank Center on Friday, March 27.

My top Red Wings vs. Sabres predictions and NHL picks expect a low-scoring battle tonight.

Red Wings vs Sabres prediction

Red Wings vs Sabres best bet: Under 6.5 (-130)

The math simply doesn’t add up for this Over between the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres.

Detroit is averaging the sixth-fewest goals per game (2.54) out of the Olympic break, and Buffalo has allowed the third fewest (2.33).

Additionally, goaltending has been a strength for both teams during the stretch.

Detroit No. 1 John Gibson sports a high-end .914 save percentage with 8.61 goals saved above expected across his past 11 appearances, and Buffalo starter Alex Lyon checks in with respective .904 and 6.96 marks across his past seven games.

Red Wings vs Sabres same-game parlay

The Sabres have won 18 of their past 25 games (+9.60 Units / 29% ROI) with a plus-33 goal differential and the third-fewest goals again per game (2.52). Meanwhile, the Red Wings have lost seven of their past 10 with a minus-3 goal differential.

Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider has recorded three or more shots in eight of his past 10 games to pace the Red Wings with 38 total, and he also leads the way in attempts with 72. Seider has logged a massive 25:36 of ice time (4:20 with the man advantage) during the stretch, too.

Red Wings vs Sabres SGP

• Buffalo moneyline
• Under 6.5
• Moritz Seider Over 2.5 shots

Red Wings vs Sabres odds

• Moneyline: Red Wings +130 | Sabres -160
• Puck Line: Red Wings +1.5 (-200) | Sabres -1.5 (+165)
• Over/Under: Over 6.5 (+110) | Under 6.5 (-130)

Red Wings vs Sabres trend

The Buffalo Sabres have won 18 of their last 25 games (+9.60 Units / 29% ROI). Find more NHL betting trends for Red Wings vs. Sabres.

How to watch Red Wings vs Sabres

Red Wings vs Sabres latest injuries

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The Montreal Canadiens currently have a 93.8% chance of making the playoffs according to Moneypuck, but they are still only four points ahead of the ninth-place team in the Eastern Conference standings. That’s far from a comfortable position to be in, and the road ahead promises to be a tumultuous one. In their last 19 games at the Bell Centre, the Habs have a 14-4-1 record, scoring 3.89 goals per game and surrendering 2.42 goals per game, but they have now left the comfort of their home arena for a five-game road trip against tough opponents.

Over the next eight days, the Habs will play five games against opponents with a collective record of 30-17-3 over their last 10 games. Saturday’s opponents, the Nashville Predators, are currently battling for a playoff spot in the Western Conference and sit in the second wild card spot with 77 points, just one point ahead of the Los Angeles Kings. Needless to say, they’ll be playing with desperation.

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Then, on Sunday, the Canadiens will face the Carolina Hurricanes for the second time in less than a week, after losing 5-2 to Montreal on Tuesday, Rod Brind’Amour’s men will no doubt be looking for revenge. Furthermore, they are currently battling the Buffalo Sabres for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

On Tuesday, they’ll take on the Tampa Bay Lightning, who would be their opponents if the playoffs started today. Jon Cooper’s team is having another very good season and has already beaten the Canadiens twice. A 6-1 blowout at the Bell Centre in early December and a 5-4 overtime win at the end of the same month. This will be the third of four games between the two sides this year, and on top of needing the two points, the Habs need to gain some confidence and know they can beat Tampa, especially if they are to face them in the post-season.

On Thursday, they’ll take on the mathematically eliminated New York Rangers, who are second to last in the league with a measly 65 points. At this stage, the Rags are simply going through the motions, but the two points should not be taken for granted, and that game could be a big trap for the Habs.

Finally, they’ll wrap up the trip with the first game of a back-to-back against the New Jersey Devils. Although they have yet to be mathematically eliminated, with 76 points, they are 11 points behind the New York Islanders for the second wild-card spot. On paper, they are unlikely to make up that ground, but they are still 7-3-0 in their last 10 games and have outscored their opponents 41-32 over that span.

Against opponents like Carolina and Tampa Bay, the Canadiens cannot afford to have the same kind of start they’ve been having lately. Martin St-Louis’ men need to be able to provide a solid 60-minute effort and not rely so much on their goaltenders. Dobes has a 5-2-0 record since March 7 with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .931 SV %, but hockey is a team sport, and everyone needs to contribute and play their part. There can’t be any passengers, not now and certainly not during the playoffs.

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Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.  

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Defenseman Erik Karlsson is getting most of the attention right now for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and deservedly so given the way he is playing. He is not only playing the best hockey he has ever played as a member of the Penguins, he is playing some of the best hockey that he has ever played for anybody. It is a marvel to watch. He is in command every time the puck is on his stick and is completely changing games. With Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin going in and out of the lineup, Karlsson has consistently stepped up and played like the superstar the Penguins need. He is their MVP right now, and for this season.

He is not the only Swedish player that is stepping up and making a major impact at the moment. Rickard Rakell is right there with him.

Maybe not at quite the same level, but at least fairly close.

He was every bit the impact player that Karlsson was in Thursday night’s 4-3 shootout win over the Ottawa Senators, scoring a pair of goals, assisting on another and making a handful of plays that even dazzled the Ottawa crowd. He was on one, and it was spectacular to watch.

It has also been a pretty common theme for him throughout the month of March.

With his three-point effort on Thursday, Rakell is now up to seven goals, eight assists, 15 total points and 31 shots on goal in the 14 games this month, while also scoring the game-winning shootout goal against the Winnipeg Jets this past Saturday. From an underlying numbers standpoint, his 59.04 percent expected goals share over that stretch is tops on the team (among players that appeared in at least 10 games) while the Penguins have outscored teams 14-9 with him on the ice during 5-on-5 play. He is also averaging 1.26 individual expected goals per 60 minutes. He is creating chances. He is converting on them.

It has been an especially important month for Rakell because a lot of that production came with Sidney Crosby out of the lineup and Rakell having to play out of position at center. The experiment with him at center may not have been wildly popular, and it is certainly not his strongest position or the ideal spot for him, but he simply produced and provided offense at a time when the Penguins needed.

He has also faced some criticism this season for seeing his overall production drop a bit from his career-year performance in 2024-25. But that was always going to be a very real possibility, if not an expectation. Most players that have a career-year in their early 30s are not going to repeat it or build on it. That is just not how aging curves and career progressions work. The important thing was for him to at least get back into the same ballpark and be close to it.

From a big picture perspective, he mostly has.

There was a big discussion at the trade deadline a year ago over whether or not the Penguins should have traded Rakell, but given the trade market for non-star wingers on the plus side of 30 (especially in-season), it seems unlikely that there was a huge market for him. At least not enough of one to make trading him worth it when he still has productive hockey to give. He clearly still does.

After Thursday’s game Rakell is now up to 17 goals and 39 assists in 51 games for the season. That is a 27-goal, 62-point pace over 82 games. Both numbers are above his normal 82-game averages (24 goals, 54 points) for his career. The production is not what it was a year ago, but it is still there at a more than acceptable rate. More importantly, it has been there when the Penguins needed it from him.

The Hockey News' main site has revealed players 41-60 for their latest top 100 NHL-affiliated prospect rankings. Several Chicago Blackhawks prospects made the cut from 61-100, and now another has made this latest batch: Roman Kantserov.

Kantserov was given the No. 52 spot in THN's rankings, and when looking at the season he has had, it is not difficult to understand why. The 5-foot-9 forward was simply dominant this regular season with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL, as he had 36 goals, 28 assists, and 64 points in 63 games. He has also had a hot start to the playoffs, as he has two goals and four points in two games. 

With how well Kantserov has played this season in the KHL, it is hard not to be excited about his future with the Blackhawks. The young forward has the tools and skill to become a top-six forward later down the road. With this, he is easily one of the Blackhawks' most exciting prospects, and it will be interesting to see how he continues to develop his game from here. 

The Hockey News' main site has revealed players 41 to 60 from their latest top 100 NHL-affiliated prospect rankings. Three Philadelphia Flyers made the cut with the latest batch: Jack Nesbitt (No. 48), Jett Luchanko (No. 49), and David Jiricek (No. 51). 

Nesbitt was selected by the Flyers with the 12th overall pick of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. The 6-foot-4 forward had a strong regular season with the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL, as he had 25 goals, 33 assists, 58 points, and a plus-26 rating in 55 games. With this, it makes sense that he made these rankings. 

Luchanko was selected by the Flyers with the 13th overall pick of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. In 38 games this season split between the Guelph Storm and Brantford Bulldogs, the 19-year-old had seven goals, 36 assists, and 43 points. 

As for Jiricek, the Flyers acquired him at the trade deadline from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forward Bobby Brink. The 6-foot-4 blueliner is still looking to cement himself as a full-time NHL defenseman, but there is no question that he has good upside. In seven games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms since the trade, he has two goals and six points. 

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We only have two games on the schedule, but I’ve still managed to find value in my NHL player props for tonight. I’ll include Connor Bedard, Mika Zibanejad, and Alex DeBrincat. 

Read more in my NHL picks for Friday, March 27. 

Best NHL player prop bets today

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(not available in Ontario)

Our best NHL player props for Friday, March 27

Take a look at our best bets and expert analysis below.

Prop #1: Connor Bedard Over 3.5 shots on goal

+115 at BET99

Connor Bedard is having a nice campaign for the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring 30 goals and tallying 37 assists.

He’s always creating opportunities, averaging 3.32 SOG per contest. The former first overall pick has cashed the Over in back-to-back appearances. 

The Hawks visit the New York Rangers tonight, and Bedard has hit the Over in shots on target in three straight road games. The Rangers are incredibly vulnerable defensively, ranking 30th in the NHL in SOG allowed. 

Bedard should have no issues generating chances this evening. 

• Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CHSN, MSG

Prop #2: Mika Zibanejad anytime goal

+145 at BET99

The Rangers may be in the midst of a six-game losing streak, but Mika Zibanejad can't be blamed. The Swede has 32 goals in 2025-26, and he’s found the back of the net in four of his last five games. 

Despite Wednesday’s defeat to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Zibanejad notched both goals for the Rangers. He’s scored in two of his previous three outings at home, and the Rangers welcome the Blackhawks to Madison Square Garden tonight. 

Chicago is 23rd in goals allowed, and they just gave up five in their last contest. 

• Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CHSN, MSG

Prop #3: Alex DeBrincat Over 0.5 assists

+120 at BET99

Alex DeBrincat has been key for the Detroit Red Wings, scoring 35 goals and assisting on 39.

We’ll focus on his playmaking here, because the winger is dominating lately. He’s cashed the Over in helpers in six of his last seven. 

The 28-year-old has six assists across his previous four games alone. DeBrincat set up a goal on Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators, and last Thursday, he tallied two helpers against the Montreal Canadiens. 

The Wings visit the Buffalo Sabres tonight, and Buffalo has allowed 10 goals over its last two games.

• Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NHL Network

These props are available now at BET99, one of our best betting sites.

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Welcome to this edition of the Vancouver Canucks post-game analytics report. This recurring deep dive breaks down the analytics behind each Canucks game as recorded by Natural Stat Trick. In this article, we look back on Vancouver’s most recent 4–0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. 

It wasn’t a pretty night whatsoever for the Canucks, as Vancouver failed to hit the 20-shot mark for the 10th time this season. In terms of scoring chances-for, they only managed a grand total of 18, nine of which came during the third period. On the flip side, they surrendered 35, including 12 in the first period and 16 in the second. Half of their second-period scoring chances against were high-danger. 

As evidenced by the location of their goals-against, Vancouver had a very difficult time clearing the crease against the Kings. Two of Los Angeles’ goals came from bounces off players driving to the net. In terms of offence, the Canucks were unable to generate anything even remotely dangerous near Darcy Kuemper. 

Offensively, there was not much to like about Vancouver’s performance. Having said that, statistically speaking, Nils Höglander had one of the stronger performances of the game. He was one of five Canucks to put up a CF% over 50%, with his coming in at 52.63% (fourth-highest on Vancouver). As well, he finished with the outright highest xGF% with 63.70%, with second being Zeev Buium with 49.65%. 

In line with Höglander’s performance is the fact that his line — himself, Aatu Räty, and Max Sasson — put up the highest CF% of all four of Vancouver’s lines with 62.50%. While they did play the least amount of time together of all four units (7:03), they did manage four scoring chances-for and only two against. 

Vancouver will now go on the road for the next four games, with their next game taking place on Saturday night against the Calgary Flames. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm PT. 

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For the second game of their three-game Pacific Division road trip to Canada, the Anaheim Ducks traveled to Alberta to take on the Calgary Flames on Thursday evening.

The Ducks were coming off a 5-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday and were looking to extend their lead in the Pacific Division standings as well as extend their winning streak to four games.

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Takeaways from the Ducks 5-3 Win over the Canucks

Calgary came into this game with the fourth fewest points in the NHL standings, but were riding a four-game winning streak of their own. The Ducks traded forward Ryan Strome to the Flames at the NHL trade deadline earlier this month for a seventh-round pick, and this was to be Strome’s first game against his former club.

The Ducks’ lineup took a bit of a hit, as Troy Terry was ruled out of this game with a lower-body injury. Frank Vatrano was inserted into Terry’s spot on the first line. Jansen Harkins was injured early in Tuesday’s game and was also not featured in the lineup.

The Ducks recalled forward Nathan Gaucher from the San Diego Gulls earlier on Thursday, but he was scratched, as was Drew Helleson on the blueline. Ian Moore started the game as the fourth line right winger, and the remainder of the lineup remained somewhat steady to start.

Here’s how the Ducks lined up to start this game:

Kreider-Carlsson-Vatrano

Killorn-Granlund-Sennecke

Viel-Poehling-Gauthier

McTavish-Washe-Moore

LaCombe-Trouba

Mintyukov-Carlson

Zellweger-Gudas

Ville Husso got the start for the Ducks for the second time in their last three games and saved 23 of 25 shots in this one. For Calgary, Devin Cooley stood between the pipes and stopped 30 of 33.

Game Notes

The Ducks attempted to push tempo and manufacture chances early, but were thwarted by an effective Calgary forecheck, which broke up several plays with an active and effective F1 before they could build and were turned back toward Husso. As the game progressed and Anaheim generated the majority of power play opportunities, the game flow flipped, and they made safer plays up ice after going down 1-0 early in the second period.

Radko Gudas was forced out of this game with 7:38 remaining in the second period with a lower-body injury and would not return. Pavel Mintyukov blocked a shot in the seventh minute of the third period, which forced him to writh in pain on the ice until Calgary took a 2-1 lead. He returned for two shifts in the dying minutes of the game, aiding his tiring blueline mates.

At 5v5 in this game, the Ducks accounted for the majority of shots on goal (53.06%) and shot attempts (53.85%), but Calgary got shots off from better locations, accounting for 51.84% of the expected goals.

Mikael Granlund: If there were such a thing as a “veteran hat trick,” this was it. Two minutes after the Ducks surrendered yet another opening goal, Granlund finds space in the middle on the rush, uses a defender as a screen, and beats Cooley from distance.

Later, when Calgary takes a late penalty in the final five minutes of a one-goal game, Granlund gets to a spot to the right of Cooley where a perimeter rebound finds him, and he buries from a severe angle.

To finish this one off, Calgary takes another penalty in the last minute of overtime. In the final second of the extra period, he and John Carlson run a switch at the top of the left circle that puts Granlund in a one-time spot, and while fading away from the net, Granlund is able to beat Cooley from distance again, this time using Kreider’s screen in front.

With McTavish in the press box or in the bottom six of late, Granlund has stepped up offensively, utilizing his elite vision, tenacity, and hockey IQ to fill in the gaps left by a struggling young player. Granlund now has seven points (all goals) in his last four games, including five in his last two.

Power Play: Though he’s been resigned to fourth-line duties since returning from a pair of healthy scratches, McTavish has performed well on the power play and found ways to spark quality chances on the man advantage. He’s being utilized at the left flank, where he can draw toward the blueline to support his point defenseman (LaCombe) at the top of the umbrella.

From that spot, as is the case with Granlund on the Ducks’ other unit, McTavish can feed one-time attempts to the top of the umbrella. When that option isn’t available, he can attack downhill, looking for space to get his own shot off, hit the goal line release forward, find the bumper, or attempt a seam pass to the opposite flank, all plays McTavish has shown he has the ability to make from that spot.

The Ducks will wrap up their Western Canada road trip on Saturday with a matinee game against the team trailing them in the Pacific Division race: the Edmonton Oilers. This will be a true litmus test for this Ducks group and perhaps their most important game of the season to date.

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The Montreal Canadiens were closing their second-to-last homestand of the regular season on Thursday night at the Bell Centre by taking on the Columbus Blue Jackets. With both teams in the playoff race, it promised to be a tight game, and things got a bit heated during the post-morning-skate media availability. Martin St-Louis is clearly in playoff mode, and he didn’t care for being asked about any lineup changes. The coach doesn’t want to make things easier for the opponents by telling them what’s coming, and that’s his prerogative, at least until the league decides to make lineup disclosure mandatory as it is in the NBA.

After making 41 saves on Tuesday night, Jakub Dobes was unsurprisingly back in the net for the Habs. As for Joe Veleno, he made a return to the lineup since Alexandre Texier is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

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Odd-Man Rush Central

Unfortunately for Dobes, the game started much like Tuesday’s one, with the Czech netminder being peppered with shots early on. With 8:22 left in the first frame, shots were 9-3 Columbus, and had it not been for the masked man, the score wouldn’t have been 1-0 Montreal.

However, that’s not what stood out the most in the first period; it was the number of odd-man rushes the Canadiens gave the Jackets. While it’s understandable for an offensive defenseman to tend to pinch at the blueline, Lane Hutson has to be able to evaluate the risk he’s taking. It’s in one of those instances that the Blue Jackets tied up the score.

Granted, it didn’t help that Struble was unable to handle Columbus’s clearance and ended up effectively setting them up for the two-on-one. The fact that the puck was in his skates made it quite hard to control, however. Furthermore, he was the one who had initially given Montreal the lead, joining the attack at the opportune time, and he was also on the ice for the Habs’ second goal, a strong game overall for the blueliner.

Speaking after the game, St-Louis explained:

The first frame was kind of like against Carolina; we gave them the puck. We killed plays, but we’d give the puck back, in our zone as well. We were dumping the puck in the wrong places; their goalie got to it throughout the first frame. We didn’t have any forecheck. When you have no forecheck, and you give the puck back in your defensive zone, you don’t have the puck. We didn’t hurt ourselves too much, and we played a better second frame and managed the third.

- St-Louis on his team's game

Cutting Down On Mistakes

Often this season, we’ve heard St-Louis mention his team had shot itself in the foot, committing too many giveaways, and we’ve seen a lot of that in the weekend when they lost back-to-back games to the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks. Still, the young Canadiens were much better in that department against the Jackets.

Through 40 minutes, Montreal had only been guilty of three giveaways while Columbus had committed 10. Of course, there’s room for improvement when it comes to making the most of the opportunities given by the opponent, but the Habs are trending in the right direction when it comes to playing a responsible game.

After 60 minutes, they had a total of eight giveaways, and when they did make mistakes, Dobes was ready for it. After the game, St-Louis said:

He plays very good hockey. He’s a big part of our success. Hockey is a game of mistakes; you try to make as few as possible, and when you make them, you hope your goalie can fix them, and that’s what he’s doing.

- St-Louis on Dobes

DOBY DIT NON

DOBY SAYS NO#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/g7N1nQRqqK

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 27, 2026

Secondary Scoring

Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky's point streaks all came to an end tonight, and while on most nights their lack of production could have been a disaster for the Canadiens, it wasn’t on the night. The coach had decided to put Josh Anderson on a line with Zachary Bolduc and Jake Evans instead of with Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher, and it paid off.

Bolduc and Anderson both play a heavy game and are efficient on the forecheck, and tonight, they didn’t give the Columbus defence much time to execute. The Quebecer hadn’t scored a goal since December 23, and yet, in the first frame, when he had a chance to take a shot, he saw Struble coming up the wing, and he made the right read by giving him the puck to create the first goal.

SON PREMIER DE L'ANNÉE

HIS FIRST OF THE YEAR#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/EdbdyY4go8

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 26, 2026

Then, in the third frame, Evans made a perfect cross-zone pass to Bolduc, who had acres of space on the other side of the ice, and he was able to beat Jet Greaves with a sharp shot. It’s not been easy for the 23-year-old this season. The Canadiens play a special brand of hockey, and when you join, you have to learn to play the St-Louis way. That’s all about making the right reads, not only offensively, but defensively. It takes a certain level of commitment to that craft to buy into the team defence side of the game, and the coach has been impressed with Bolduc of late.

The bench boss feels like he has really put it all together when it comes to playing the right way without the puck in the last month or so, and while he wishes the players had been rewarded more often offensively, he’s convinced that good things are coming for the youngster.

The Habs won't practice tomorrow as they'll be traveling to Nashville to start a five-game road trip from which they'll only return on April 5th. 

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