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.

Ducks Forward Prospect Nathan Gaucher Recalled from AHL

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.

Takeaways from the Ducks 6-5 OT Win over the Sabres

Ducks Sign Herman Träff to Entry-Level Contract

Ducks Prospect Maxim Masse Wins QMJHL Scoring Title

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.

Canadiens Prospect Hage Opens Up About His Father’s Accident
Canadiens: Slafkovsky Amazes In His Fourth Season
Canadiens: Demidov Hit Where It Hurts

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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The Penguins got a bit of a boost Thursday night when it comes to their chances of making the NHL’s postseason for the first time since 2022.

With a shootout win against the Ottawa Senators, the Penguins got a significant boost in their playoff chances.

Going into Thursday night’s game, HockeyViz had listed the Penguins as having an 83% chance of qualifying for playoffs as the team sat in third place in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division.

With the shootout win, the Penguins playoff chance jumped to 90%, according to HockeyViz.

Other results around the league including the Capitals win, Blue Jackets loss, Flyers win, and Islanders win brings the Penguins’ playoff chance back to around 87% at the conclusion of the night’s games.

MoneyPuck lists the Penguins as having an 80.6% chance of making the playoffs.

Hockeystats.com has Pittsburgh up to 89% following last night’s action.

https://t.co/vAWXeNMzt4pic.twitter.com/1RlAggdDPD

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) March 27, 2026

The Penguins will be returning home to face the Stars on Saturday with a pivotal game against the New York Islanders on Monday night in New York.

Here are your Pens Points for this Friday morning…

The Pittsburgh Penguins traveled up to Canada’s capital city on Thursday night to fight the Senators, another team jockeying for position in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Pittsburgh lost Sidney Crosby to injury early in the second period, but others stepped up, leading to the second shootout win over the last five days. [Recap]

With the Penguins’ recent run of form in goal, how much sense does it make calling up Sergei Murashov to stop the bleeding? One argument is that a call-up is becoming increasingly justified. The “right time” may be sooner than later, especially if Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs continue to falter, but only if Murashov can be supported. [PensBurgh]

The Penguins recalled forwards Avery Hayes and Joona Koppanen from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Thursday morning, as the team deals with a sudden barrage of injuries to Evgeni Malkin, Blaze Lizotte, Anthony Mantha (potentially now Sidney Crosby), among others. [Trib Live]

News and notes from around the NHL…

Former Buffalo Sabres coach Don Granato has been named as the U.S. coach for the IIHF World Championships. [Sportsnet]

The 2026 NHL Draft Lottery will take place on May 5. [Sportsnet]

Mike Sullivan’s first season with the New York Rangers has not gone as planned, as the Original Six franchise has been officially eliminated from postseason contention. [TSN]

Washington Capitals (36-28-9, in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (32-26-15, in the Pacific Division)

Paradise, Nevada; Saturday, 10:30 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: The Vegas Golden Knights host the Washington Capitals after Mark Stone's two-goal game against the Edmonton Oilers in the Golden Knights' 4-3 overtime loss.

Vegas is 32-26-15 overall and 16-12-8 in home games. The Golden Knights have conceded 223 goals while scoring 227 for a +4 scoring differential.

Washington has gone 14-17-4 in road games and 36-28-9 overall. The Capitals have committed 284 total penalties (3.9 per game) to rank 10th in NHL play.

The teams meet Saturday for the second time this season. The Capitals won 3-2 in the last meeting. Pierre-Luc Dubois led the Capitals with two goals.

TOP PERFORMERS: Mitchell Marner has 19 goals and 51 assists for the Golden Knights. Pavel Dorofeyev has four goals and four assists over the last 10 games.

Alexander Ovechkin has 29 goals and 27 assists for the Capitals. Ryan Leonard has scored four goals with one assist over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Knights: 3-6-1, averaging 2.1 goals, 3.4 assists, 4.4 penalties and 10.9 penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game.

Capitals: 5-3-2, averaging 2.8 goals, four assists, 4.1 penalties and 10.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.2 goals per game.

INJURIES: Golden Knights: William Karlsson: out (lower body), Carter Hart: out (leg), Jonas Rondbjerg: out (lower body).

Capitals: Ethen Frank: day to day (lower-body), David Kampf: out (not injury related).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Frustration was the clear winner in the Vancouver Canucks’ 4–0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings tonight. There were lots of frustrating elements to tonight’s game, from the Canucks logging only 19 shots on goal to awkward shift lengths such as Tom Willander getting caught on the ice for over three minutes. The lone solid performance on the night came from Kevin Lankinen, who stopped 34 of 37 shots faced. 

A weakness of Vancouver’s early on tonight was their inability to clear the crease of traffic from the Kings. Los Angeles’ first two goals of the game came off of some extremely timely bounces — first off Scott Laughton’s leg and off the stick of Trevor Moore after that. 

In his fifth consecutive start, a choice that has not come without questions, Lankinen played exactly the way he needed to in order to try and get his team a win. He faced 25 shots within the first half of the game, including 15 during just the first period, with the Kings getting up to 32 shots on goal by the 40-minute mark. With the loss tonight, Lankinen records his first regulation loss against the Kings since the beginning of his career with the Canucks. 

“We need to play way better for him. We have not played good enough at all, especially for him. He tries to make every save possible,” Zeev Buium said post-game of the goaltender’s effort and how the team can help him out. “We need to do a way better job of getting guys out of the crease and just not letting them get there in the first place. I think we’re trying to do that. I think that’s just the biggest thing, is just playing a little bit harder. Not panicking, too. I think we get the puck sometimes and we just rim it or make a hard play. Sometimes we can collect it, talk to each other, communicate, and exit as a unit of five instead of just whacking it off the glass or something.” 

The Canucks’ penalty kill was also a talking point in today’s game. On their first kill, Vancouver surrendered the goal-against from Laughton. During their next kill, they very nearly allowed another power play goal-against during a scrambled play in Lankinen’s crease, though the whistle went before the puck could cross the goal line. 

The frustration bubbled over near the end of the game when a group of Canucks got into a tussle with some members of the Kings down in the corner of Los Angeles’ zone. Players like Willander and Linus Karlsson were caught in pushing-and-shoving matches, while Buium dropped the gloves with Kings defenceman Brandt Clarke. Buium spoke on the frustration level and how it factored into his scrap. 

“You lose like that, especially on home ice, it’s never fun.You see your teammates getting kind of jumped a little bit … they’re up 4–0. I don’t think that necessarily needs to happen, but I’m glad that we all stuck up for each other.” 

“It’s hard on everybody right now, and it’s not easy, but we have to learn from this,” Filip Hronek added. “No one else is going to help us. We have to keep grinding.” 

Stats and Facts: 

• Vancouver surrenders a power play goal-against in their third consecutive game
• Canucks finish the home stand with a record of 2–6–0
• Zeev Buium records his first NHL fight 

Scoring Summary: 

1st Period: 

17:34 - LAK: Scott Laughton (11) from Quinton Byfield and Trevor Moore (PPG) 

2nd Period: 

1:21 - LAK: Trevor Moore (10) from Mikey Anderson and Alex Laferriere 

19:21 - LAK: Artemi Panarin (26) from Adrian Kempe 

3rd Period: 

17:36 - LAK: Quinton Byfield (18) from Mikey Anderson and Drew Doughty (ENG) 

Up Next: 

With their home stand now wrapped-up, the Canucks will now set their sights on a four-game road trip. Their first stop will be a match against the Calgary Flames on Saturday at 7:00 pm PT, before they head south to take on the Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, and Minnesota Wild. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves for his third shutout of the season and 39th of his career to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

Trevor Moore had a goal and an assist for the Kings, and Scott Laughton, Artemi Panarin and Quinton Byfield also scored. Mikey Anderson had a pair of assists.

The victory moved the Kings within one point of the Nashville Predators, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoff race.

One of the best stops by Kuemper, whose last shutout was on Dec. 6 against Chicago, came at the 10:43 mark of the first period when Teddy Blueger launched a blast from the slot and the goalie kicked out his right leg to send the puck soaring with the toe of his skate.

Kevin Lankinen made 34 saves for the Canucks, who lost their fourth straight game. Vancouver has been shut out five times this season, with four coming at home.

The Kings opened the scoring with Laughton's power-play goal 17:34 into the first period. Stationed at the top of the faceoff circle, Byfield took a shot that hit the skate of Laughton as he jumped in front of the net, deflecting the puck in past Lankinen.

Byfield sealed it with an empty-netter with 2:24 left in the game.

Up next

Kings: Host Utah on Saturday.

Canucks: Visit Calgary on Saturday.

—

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Tony DeAngelo will miss 1-2 weeks with a lower-body injury, the Islanders announced before their match Thursday against the Stars. 

DeAngelo hurt himself while getting back to defend an odd-man rush against the Blackhawks on Tuesday, leaving the eventual 4-3 loss in the first period and not returning. 

The Islanders did get a major reprieve to their back end Thursday when Ryan Pulock returned, having missed two games with a lower-body injury of his own. 

“Felt like yesterday I made some improvements and then this morning I felt good,” Pulock said after the 2-1 win at UBS Arena in which he skated 20:53. “Just as long as I can help this team, obviously I’m going.” 

Minus DeAngelo, the Islanders still operated with slightly jumbled pairs. Carson Soucy, a lefty, took DeAngelo’s usual spot to the right side of Adam Pelech while Scott Mayfield played his off side to the left of Adam Boqvist. 

With DeAngelo missing a period that could extend through the second week of April, it’s still more than possible that the Islanders will need George — called up as the seventh defenseman Tuesday — at some point. 

Boqvist, usually the seventh defenseman, is unlikely to stay in the lineup long if he begins to struggle, and was healthy-scratched for a long chunk of this season behind AHL call-ups while the Islanders searched for someone to replace the injured Alexander Romanov. 

---

It was fitting that Romanov rejoined the Islanders in a full-team skate for the first time Thursday morning before their first game against Dallas since Mikko Rantanen injured Romanov’s shoulder with a brazenly illegal hit Nov. 18. 

Romanov skated in a noncontact sweater in an encouraging sign in his recovery from surgery that was originally projected to keep him out 5-6 months. Roy said there are still no plans for him to return during the regular season, though the playoffs remain a possibility should the Islanders make it that far. 

“I’m sure he’s excited,” Roy said. “First, it’s fun to see him there, see how hard he had to work to get back where he is today. It’s fun for the guys as well, for him and for us, seeing him back. I’m not saying he’s gonna play tonight, but I’m sure he feels good to be with the boys and enjoy the guys.” 

Rantanen, notably, did not feature for the Stars, as he’s still dealing with an injury suffered during the Olympics. He is on the road with the Stars, who hope to have him back by the end of their trip.

After four straight losses, the Los Angeles Kings (29-25-18) got a much-needed win on Thursday, cruising past the Vancouver Canucks (21-42-8) 4-0. LA dominated Vancouver wire-to-wire from opening tap, outshooting the home team 32-12 in the first 40 minutes of regulation. 

Los Angeles won 72.2% of its faceoffs while Vancouver won just 27.8%. The Kings also scored on a power-play goal tonight, going 1/2, and held the Canucks 0/2. 

We'll take those ✌️#GoKingsGopic.twitter.com/yrg6aOOQVM

— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 27, 2026

After opening the first two minutes of the first period with a deflected shot by Scott Laughton that went inside the net, Los Angeles never looked back, outplaying the Canucks on both sides of the floor to bounce back and get closer to the playoff picture. 

The game started fast with the Kings aggressive on offense, outshooting the Canucks 15-7 in the first period. Los Angeles would once again score the very early goal in the opening frame to hold onto a 1-0 lead. 

LAK Goal - Kings open the scoring on the power play. Byfield shot, Laughton deflection, 1-0. Another important point for 55.

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) March 27, 2026

The defense was great early on, despite Vancouver getting solid looks. Darcy Kuemper was great under the crease tonight, stopping all of the Canucks 19 shots that came at him. 

In the second period, the Kings jumped out to a 3-0 lead, first scoring a goal two minutes into the period after Trevor Moore recovered Mikey Anderson's shot that was deflected on the way through. 

It was another dominant period for Los Angeles, holding Vancouver to another single-digit shot period and outshooting their opponent 17-5, dominating on both offense and defense. 

The next 17 minutes would be quiet, until the Kings won the faceoff and Artemi Panarin converted on the power play to give Los Angeles a commanding 3-0 lead on the 2-on-1 rush with 39 seconds left in the period. 

LAK Goal - Artem-three Panarin!

2-on-1 rush, backhanded shot, 3-0 Kings. Practice what you preach situation as the Kings go out and build on a lead.

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) March 27, 2026

Panarin finished the game with one goal and one point, bouncing back after putting up zeroes in the last game against the Calgary Flames. 

It was the 30th time this season that Vancouver allowed multiple goals in the second period. 

The final period was pretty much the same; Los Angeles held Vancouver scoreless for the remainder of the final frame, and the Kings scored in the last two minutes on an empty net goal to win the game. 

FINAL - Kings 4, Canucks 0!

A necessary two points in Vancouver. Kings now one point out of the final wild card spot in the West, heading back to LA to begin a seven-game homestand.

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) March 27, 2026

Key Stats

This was a dominating game for the Kings, but let's not overreact. It was against the Canucks, who are the worst team in the NHL, so Los Angeles won a game that they were supposed to get. 

It's a good way, though, to bounce back against a struggling team and get back in the win column. Los Angeles now has 76 points and is one point behind Nashville for the final playoff spot and three points behind Vegas for the third seed in the Pacific Division. 

Artemi Panarin was great, even though he finished with just one point and one goal; it's his fourth goal in the last five games and his 18th point in 16 games since being a King. 

Quinton Byfield once again had a good game, coming around at the right time of the season, tallying one goal, one assist, and two points. Los Angeles is tough to beat whenever Byfield plays well. 

Trevor Moore also had a great game, finishing with one goal, one assist, and two points, his second consecutive game with an assist and a point. 

Darcy Kuemper was great tonight, defending the net, saving all 19 of the Canucks shots to earn his third shutout of the season. 

The Kings will begin their crucial seven-game home stand Saturday, hosting the Utah Mammoth at 6:00 PM PT.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

The Calgary Flames dropped a 3-2 decision in overtime to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome. It marked the fourth time in the last five home games Calgary has gone beyond regulation.

The Flames came out flying, with a 3-on-0 rush in the opening minute, but a case of overpassing kept the game scoreless. Calgary thought it had opened the scoring shortly after, when Yegor Sharangovich snapped a shot past Ville Husso, but the goal was overturned following an offside challenge.

Calgary carried the play through much of the opening frame, outshooting Anaheim 11-8, but the game remained scoreless after 20 minutes.

The Flames broke through early in the second. Just 1:06 in, Joel Farabee picked up the puck off a line change and slid a pass to Blake Coleman, who drove the net and tipped it past Husso for his 17th of the season. Olli Maatta also picked up an assist. 1-0 Flames.

Anaheim answered quickly. At 3:07, Mikael Granlund walked into the slot and wired a shot into the top corner to tie the game 1-1 with an unassisted goal.

After a scoreless remainder of the period, the teams entered the third tied.

Calgary regained the lead midway through the third during a sustained offensive push. With a Ducks player down injured and unable to get back into the play, the Flames kept possession in the zone. Olli Maatta found Matvei Gridin, who ripped a shot past Husso for his fifth of the season at 7:46. Matt Coronato added the secondary assist. The helper gave Maatta nine points (1G, 8A) in 11 games since joining Calgary.

The Ducks pulled even again on the power play late in regulation. Granlund buried a rebound off a John Carlson point shot from a sharp angle at 16:27, tying the game 2-2 and setting the stage for overtime.

Calgary ran into trouble in the extra frame, taking its second too-many-men penalty of the night when Zayne Parekh stepped onto the ice early. The Ducks made them pay in the final second (4:59), as Granlund completed the hat trick, finishing a setup from Carlson with a high shot to seal the 3-2 win.

Three Takeaways:

Maatta producing offensively

Olli Maatta continues to make an impact at both ends of the ice, now with nine points (1G, 8A) in 11 games since joining the Flames.

Coronato staying consistent

Matt Coronato extended his point streak to four games (1G, 3A) and now has six points (2G, 4A) over his last six outings.

Sharangovich driving play

Yegor Sharangovich was heavily involved throughout the night. He had a goal overturned, hit a post, and drew a penalty in one of his more noticeable offensive performances despite not recording a point.

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Mikael Granlund capped off his hat trick scoring on the power play with 1 second remaining in overtime on Thursday night to give the Anaheim Ducks a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Granlund has seven goals during a four-game goal streak that has him up to 19 on the season as Anaheim extended its winning streak to four games.

The Pacific Division-leading Ducks opened the night with a five-point cushion on the Edmonton Oilers and a six-point lead on the Vegas Golden Knights.

Rookie Matvei Gridin and Blake Coleman scored for Calgary, which extended its point streak to five games (4-0-1). Gridin stretched his point streak to four games (one goal, three assists).

Ville Husso, who made 23 saves, improved to 9-7-1.

Devin Cooley, who had 30 stops, fell to 9-10-4.

The game got off to an inauspicious start for the Flames. First, Pavel Mintyukov’s turnover in the opening minute of the game resulted in a 3-on-0 breakaway for Calgary but Gridin, Morgan Frost and Matt Coronato over-passed it and never got a shot on goal.

Three minutes later, it appeared that Yegor Sharangovich had given Calgary the lead, but Anaheim challenged for offside and the goal was overturned. It was the fifth goal the Flames have had waved off by video review during its homestand.

Calgary eventually took the lead on Coleman’s goal 1:06 into the second period when he redirected Joel Farabee’s pass inside the post. But Granlund tied it on an unassisted goal two minutes later.

The Ducks lost two defensemen to injury. Radko Gudas (lower body) left the game late in the second period and Mintyukov got hurt when he took a shot from Olli Maatta high in his chest in the third.

Up next

Ducks: Visit the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.

Flames: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

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WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon scored his 47th and 48th goals of the season to propel the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.

Jack Drury scored his career-high ninth goal of the season for the NHL-leading Avalanche, who ended a four-game road trip with a 4-0-0 record. Artturi Lehkonen added an assist in his return after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury.

Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 22 shots for Colorado.

Mark Scheifele scored twice and leads the Jets with 34 goals.

Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves.

Scheifele set a career-high in points when his pair of goals gave him 88 points.

Colorado entered the game ranked 27th on the power play, but made good on a big opportunity. Six seconds after a 38-second two-man advantage expired, MacKinnon scored 13 seconds into the third to break the 1-1 tie with the power-play tally. He added his second goal at 3:55.

The Jets challenged MacKinnon’s second goal for goaltender interference, but it stood and gave Colorado a 3-1 lead early in the third.

Up next

The Jets begin a four-game road trip with a rematch in Colorado on Saturday.

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A pair of calls on the Nashville Predators down the stretch proved costly in a 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena. 

Halfway through the third period, Fedor Svechkov was called for tripping on Jack Hughes, seeing Svechkov partially make contact with Hughes on a poke check.

While that was killed, Matthew Wood was later called for tripping on Evgenii Dadonov, another call that was heavily disputed by the Predators. 

Western Conference Wild Card Standings

• WC1: Utah Mammoth - 80 PTS (vs. Washington)
• WC2: Nashville Predators - 77 PTS (vs. New Jersey, L 4-2)
• 1. Seattle Kraken - 74 PTS (vs. Tampa, W 4-3 OT)
• 2. Los Angeles Kings - 74 PTS (vs. Vancouver)
• 3. Winnipeg Jets - 72 PTS (vs. Colorado, L 3-2)
• 4. San Jose Sharks - 71 PTS (vs. St. Louis, L 2-1 OT)

Nico Hischier tipped in a shot from Jack Hughes on the power play to give the Devils the go-ahead goal. Timo Meier added an empty net goal in the final minute to ensure the win. 

"It's frustrating and it pisses me off a little bit the way that the game ended on that power play goal," Steven Stamkos said.
"It's tough. The refs call what they see, no matter how much we yell and scream, then they're not changing the call once it's made." 

Stamkos did add that it was known in advance that the Devils wouldn't give the Predators much to work with on penalties. New Jersey is the least-penalized team in the NHL, with 506 total minutes, and ranks 13th in the league on the power play. 

Nashville got one power play out of the Devils on a Jonas Siegenthaler tripping call; however, it was unable to convert on the man advantage. 

"Jersey doesn't take a lot of penalties. We knew that before the game," Stamko said. "We are not gonna get a three, four, five power place. We couldn't afford to take three or four ourselves. We took two, they took one. 
It just sucks to miss out on at least a point in those situations." 

The Predators fell into a 2-0 hole early, with Jesper Bratt and Hischier scoring. 

Reid Schaefer found the back of the net on a breakaway in the second period to get the Predators on the board. It was his sixth goal of the season. 

Stamkos tied the game later in the frame, getting the puck from Luke Evangelista off a steal and scoring on the backhand to tie the game. 

On the empty net goal by the Devils, Evangelista made the save of the primary shot, but couldn't find the puck as it had dropped inbetween his legs. Eventually, Meier got to the loose puck and poked it in. 

Nashville was outshot 30-18 and lost 65% of total face-offs. Late penalties by Stamkos and Evangelista saw the Predators officially commit 26 PIM to New Jersey's two. 

"They (the officials) call what they see, and we deal with it. Unfortunately, it probably affected the outcome of the game," Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. "We left it up to chance, and when you leave it up to chance,  there's gonna be nights like this."

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Dylan Holloway scored with 3 seconds left in overtime to lift the St. Louis Blues to a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.

Dalibor Dvorsky also scored for the Blues, who won their third straight. Joel Hofer made 24 saves.

Alexander Wennberg had the lone goal for the Sharks, who have dropped six in a row (0-5-1). Yaroslav Askarov made 11 saves before leaving with an injury and was replaced by Alex Nedeljkovic.

With the game tied at 1, the Sharks tried to win it when Macklin Celebrini passed to Dmitry Orlov, whose wrist shot went wide. Phillip Broberg got the rebound and sent a long pass down the left side to a streaking Holloway, who caught up with the puck, skated in front of the net and put a backhander past Nedeljkovic for the win.

Dvorsky gave the Blues a 1-0 lead in the second period off assists from Holloway and Jimmy Snuggerud.

Wennberg tied it for the Sharks with a wrister 5:04 into the third.

Up next

Sharks: Play at Columbus on Saturday night.

Blues: Host Toronto on Saturday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nico Hischier scored two goals to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.

Jesper Bratt scored a goal and added two assists, Timo Meier scored an empty-net goal, and Jacob Markstrom made 16 saves for the Devils, winners of five of six. Jack Hughes and Jonas Siegenthaler had two assists apiece.

Reid Schaefer and Steven Stamkos scored and Justus Annunen made 26 saves for the Predators, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.

Nashville entered Thursday three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for the Western Conference’s second wild card berth.

With time winding down in the third and the Devils on a power play, Hughes’ shot from the left side tipped off Hischier and past Annunen at 14:07.

Bratt scored the game’s first goal with 1:58 remaining in the opening period.

Siegenthaler faked a shot from the high slot and slid a pass to Jack Hughes in the right circle, where his one-timer deflected off Bratt.

Hughes has a seven-game point-scoring streak.

Bratt has scored in a career-high five straight and has 19 goals on the season.

Hischier made it 2-0 at 9:13 of the second when Bratt’s wrist shot from the left side tipped off Hischier and snuck past Annunen on the near post.

Schaefer halved New Jersey’s lead less than two minutes later on a breakaway, slipping a wrist shot between Markstrom’s pads.

Stamkos made it 2-2 with 7 remaining in the second on a backhand from just outside the crease, his 36th goals of the season.

Nashville’s Matthew Wood hit the left post with 1:45 left in a bid to tie the game.

Up next

Devils visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

Predators host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.