Who:Pittsburgh Penguins (32-18-15, 79 points, 2nd place Metropolitan Division) @ Utah Mammoth (34-26-6, 74 points, 4th place Central Division)
When: 9 p.m. ET
How to Watch: Locally broadcast on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and Utah16, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: The Pens’ road trip continues with two more tough matchups against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night and the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday evening.
Opponent Track: The Mammoth are still sitting in the first Wild Card spot in the West with a six-point advantage over the San Jose Sharks, but they’re heading into Saturday’s matchup on a three-game losing streak after two overtime losses to the Chicago Blackhawks on either side of a 5-0 shutout by the Minnesota Wild.
Season Series: The Pens gave up four straight goals in six-minute span of the third period during their Dec. 14 matchup against the Mammoth, during which Justin Brazeau forced overtime before Dylan Guenther scored 42 seconds in to win it for Utah.
Hidden Stat: Ben Kindel recorded the only three-point outing of his NHL career so far against the Mammoth back, racking up a goal and two assists in that overtime loss back in December.
Getting to know the Mammoth
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Clayton Keller – Nick Schmaltz – Lawson Crouse
JJ Peterka – Logan Cooley – Dylan Guenther
Jack McBain – Barrett Hayton – Michael Carcone
Alex Kerfoot – Kevin Stenlund – Kailer Yamamoto
DEFENSEMEN
Mikhail Sergachev / Mackenzie Weegar
Nate Schmidt / John Marino
Ian Cole / Sean Durzi
Goalies: Karel Vejmelka, Vitek Vanecek
Potential scratches: Brandon Tanev, Liam O’Brien, Maksymilian Szuber, Nick Desimone
Injured Reserve: None
The Mammoth locked in their top center last week by signing Nick Schmaltz to an eight-year, $64 million extension ahead of his pending free agency.
Former Penguin Brandon Tanev signed a three-year, $2.5 million AAV deal with Utah this offseason, but he has already fallen completely out of the Mammoth lineup. He hasn’t played since Feb. 25, and he had been held without a goal and registered just two assists and a minus-14 rating through his first 45 games of the season.
Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka has taken on the largest workload in the NHL so far this season. He went into Friday having appeared in an NHL-high 51 games while playing more than 3,009 minutes, more than 130 more than the next most-played goaltender.
He’s also tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy for the most wins this season (30), although he’s had a rough stretch since returning from the Olympic break, during which he’s gone 3-3-1 with a .871 save percentage and 3.4 goals against average. He’s been in net for the entirety of Utah’s recent three-game losing streak, and he got lost a rebound on the Connor Bedard game-winner that sealed the Mammoth’s overtime loss on Thursday.
The Mammoth are hoping to make the playoffs for the first time after missing out on the postseason during the franchise’s inaugural 2024-25 season. They’re being helped in that pursuit by the complete collapse of the bottom of the Western Conference, where every other team below the Mammoth (74 points) has 68 points or fewer.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Egor Chinakhov – Rickard Rakell – Bryan Rust
Anthony Mantha – Tommy Novak – Ville Koivunen
Elmer Soderblom – Ben Kindel – Avery Hayes
Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea / Kris Letang
Ilya Solovyov / Connor Clifton
Goalies: Arturs Silovs and Stuart Skinner
Potential Scratches: Sam Girard (injured), Evgeni Malkin (suspended), Ryan Graves, Kevin Hayes, Justin Brazeau (injured, week to week)
IR: Sidney Crosby, Filip Hallander, Jack St. Ivany
This marks the final game of Evgeni Malkin’s suspension before he is eligible to return during Monday’s matchup against the Avs.
The Los Angeles Kings helped the Penguins out by defeating the New York Islanders in regulation on Friday night. The Pens, now tied in points with the Isles with a game in hand, could gain some breathing room in the top of the Metro with a win tonight. Here’s a look at the standings after Friday night, courtesy of NHL.com.
BOTTOM LINE: The New York Islanders host the Calgary Flames after Emil Heineman scored two goals in the Islanders' 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
New York is 37-24-5 overall and 17-11-2 in home games. The Islanders have a +six scoring differential, with 190 total goals scored and 184 allowed.
Calgary is 26-32-7 overall and 10-20-3 in road games. The Flames are 19-7-3 when scoring three or more goals.
Saturday's game is the second time these teams meet this season. The Flames won 4-2 in the last meeting.
TOP PERFORMERS: Mathew Barzal has scored 18 goals with 42 assists for the Islanders. Anthony DeAngelo has one goal and six assists over the past 10 games.
Morgan Frost has 14 goals and 18 assists for the Flames. MacKenzie Weegar has five assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Islanders: 7-3-0, averaging 3.3 goals, five assists, 2.4 penalties and 4.8 penalty minutes while giving up 3.1 goals per game.
Flames: 4-5-1, averaging 2.5 goals, 4.3 assists, 3.5 penalties and 7.5 penalty minutes while giving up 3.3 goals per game.
INJURIES: Islanders: None listed.
Flames: None listed.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
ST.
LOUIS – And
so it continues. Haven't we seen this movie script before?
As
a matter of fact, we saw it last year when the St. Louis Blues made a
push to gain entry into the Stanley Cup playoffs.
It’s
still premature to say things will play out the same way, but the
Blues are giving a whole new meaning to ‘March Madness.’
They
continued their winning ways, this time rallying from a two-goal
deficit and earning their seventh win in nine games (7-1-1) since the
Olympic break and running their point streak to seven games (6-0-1)
when Robert Thomas found the net with nine seconds left in overtime
of a 3-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Enterprise Center on
Friday.
The
Blues (27-29-10) now sit five points out of a wild card in the
Western Conference with their second win in as many nights after
downing the Eastern Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes, 3-1 on
Thursday in Raleigh, N.C.
Not
only did the Blues, who got a goal and an assist from Cam Fowler and
a goal from Pius Suter, rally from down two goals, they did it in the
third period after Connor McDavid put the Oilers (32-26-9) ahead
midway through.
“It
was fun. It wasn’t exactly the way that we drew it up, but I’m
proud of our guys,” Fowler
said.
“We continue to fight against a really good team that needed the
points and was desperate and we just hung in there, got a couple
goals and had a big shot by ‘Tommer’ there in overtime to seal
the deal. Just an overall good effort by everyone staying in the game
and staying in the fight.”
Blues
coach Jim Montgomery, whose Blues are 18-2-2 the past two seasons in
the month of March, noticed that it’s that time of year.
“It's
the month of March,” he said. “Either we've got a bunch of Irish
guys and they love the month of March, they love March Madness or
spring break. I don't know.
I
don't know what our combined winning percentage is combined the last
two Marches but it's pretty phenomenal.”
Joel
Hofer contined his sorcery with another stellar outing with 35 saves.
Here
are Friday’s takeaways:
*
First period had some pace to it – Each team played on Thursday, so
one could understand if the teams would perhaps go through the
motions a little bit and feel each other out.
But
that’s not the case.
There
was some pace to it, with each team having its share of odd-man
rushes.
Goaltending
was up to the challenge despite the shot clock only being 7-6 in
favor of the Oilers.
*
Oilers owned the second – For one, the Blues never got into an
offensive flow and going 19:46 without a shot on goal was evident
why.
When
Dylan Holloway put a shot on goal with 6:45 left in the opening
period, the Blues were stuck on six shots until Jordan Kyrou’s slot
shot with 6:59 to play.
Edmonton,
which was embarrassed on Friday in Dallas, losing 7-2, had the puck
on a string and finally cracked Hofer when former Blue Kasperi
Kapanen broke the barrier when he converted from the slot a gorgeous
Leon Draisaitl pass at 15:41:
The
Blues made a bit of a push there but the Oilers owned the period.
“We
didn’t touch the puck the whole second period, it felt like,”
Thomas said. “Maybe start with that, but we came out in the first,
they had a couple rush chances early and then we felt like we started
to get some good looks and some good time in the O-zone, so we just
had to get back to that. Even when they go up 2-0, that was our
focus, and that was the way we were able to climb back into it.”
*
Penalty kill continues to be key – The Oilers are the last team,
with the likes of McDavid and Draisaitl, you want to put on the power
play; it’s the top-ranked PP at 32.1 percent. And with the Blues’
PK ranked 29th at 75 percent, you’re asking for trouble.
But
the Blues were 3-for-3 in kills, marking the fifth time in six games
they were spotless killing penalties and are 16-for-18 in those
games, with the only blip being the two goals the New York Islanders
scored on Tuesday in the third period.
The
kills kept the Blues in the game, and in fact, they had two
shorthanded breakaway chances by Colton Parayko and Alexey
Toropchenko that they didn’t convert on – Parayko hit the cross
bar behind Connor Ingram – that could have produced momentum.
“Smart
sticks, running straight lines,” Montgomery said. “Our PK
forecheck up ice has been patient and steering people to the outside.
We’re never giving cross-ice passes or in the middle of the ice and
our goaltenders have been really good.”
*
Theo Lindstein helped fuel a spark, along with Jonatan Berggren –
Playing in his third NHL game, imagine being Theo Lindstein, looking
up and seeing arguably the greatest player in the world (Connor
McDavid) coming at you like a freight train.
What
was Lindstein going to do? I’d be shaking in my skates too, and
McDavid saw his prey and made Lindstein pay by backing him in, then
snapping off a shot from the high slot past Hofer at 9:56 of the
third period and making it 2-0:
The
Blues had a semblance of a push, but with the way things transpired
in the second period, that almost felt like a dagger goal.
But
Lindstein came right back, made a strong read by pinching in on a
chipped puck into the corner, got a stick on it that Berggren could
recover, get below the goal line and find Suter in the low slot to
get the Blues back within one at 2-1 at 12:22:
“What
a play by Berggren on the Suter goal,” Montgomery said. ‘I think
that really gave us the momentum that we could (win).
“(Lindstein’s)
come up and he’s played with a lot of purpose, and he’s been
aggressive. It’s been nice to see him play to his strengths and
we’re seeing the kind of player he can become. I know it’s just
three games in, but it’s been a good three games.”
*
Face-off win leads to tying goal – With Robert Thomas still not
able to take draws after taking a puck off his right pinkie finger
Tuesday, face-offs were a challenge against the Oilers, although you
wouldn’t have known it by seeing McDavid going 0-for-7.
But
it was late in the game and Montgomery needed to try something
different, so he had Oskar Sundqvist, who took only four draws
(2-for-4) for the game, won a big one from the right circle back to
Fowler, who grabbed it, and snapped a shot off the near post and past
Ingram’s left shoulder at 16:14 to tie the game 2-2:
“I
put ‘Sunny’ out for maybe a second face-off all night and he wins
it clean and we’ve got it tied up because we were struggling to win
(face-offs), so I just tried a different center to win face-offs,”
Montgomery said.
*
Blues needed their skating legs – Look, let’s face it, Thursday
was a hard game for the Blues, winning in Carolina.
And
playing their third game in four nights, with travel sandwiched in
between home games, was not an easy task.
The
Blues looked lifeless in the second period, and the Oilers were
skating them to death. Something had to change, and it did.
“The
second period wasn’t really good at all,” Fowler
said.
“They kind of dictated the pace of the play there and spent most of
the period in our own end, so we came in here just wanted to regroup
a little bit, just wanted to get back to what had given us some
success in previous games. It still took a little while in the third
and sometimes when you play desperate and you’re down a couple, you
play a little bit more aggressively and you’re able to gain some
more chances and I think that was the case tonight.”
*
Blues
goaltending leading the way – It’s been by committee, as Thomas
stated afterwards, but what the Blues are getting from Hofer and
Jordan Binnington, who was the No. 1 star against the Hurricanes, is
leading the way.
The
goaltending has been so good, the Blues are either winning games by
locking them down when they gain the lead, or they’re able to come
back like the last two nights when the goalies are giving them the
chance.
“They
give us a chance night in, night out, both of them to win hockey
games,” Fowler
said.
“’Binner’, he was unbelievable last night in Carolina and ‘Hof’
was amazing tonight. We need to take a look at things and make life
easier on them, but they’re a huge part of this and they’re
as big a part of the team as anybody else. When they’re playing
like that, it’s really difficult for other teams to gain momentum.
We have tremendous confidence in both of those guys any time that
they suit up for us.”
The
numbers since the break speak for themselves:
* Fresh legs helped fuel the fire – Montgomery made three changes to
the lineup anticipating that some fresher legs would be needed,
especially having to play an overtime game on Tuesday and a tough
order on Thursday.
He
inserted Berggren, Sundqvist and defenseman Justin Holl in for
Dalibor Dvorsky, Nathan Walker and Tyler Tucker.
It’s
part of the dynamic depth that’s on display at the moment.
Holl
played 16:33, Berggren was at 12:36 with the assist, and Sundqvist
was at 13:11, also with an assist.
“It’s
nice to have (depth), because we threw three bodies in because we
knew we were going to be tired and that they could give us juice,”
Montgomery said. ‘Berggren gave us juice, Sunny gave us juice. So
did Holl. Holl played a good game. He was smart back there, he was
skating, defended well. I’m really happy that we could roll in
three fresh bodies.”
*
Thomas calls game – The Oilers are no fun to go against 3-on-3, not
when they can throw McDavid, Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard on the ice
at any given moment.
And
it was Draisaitl that nearly ended it when McDavid fed him for a shot
off the post, and Holloway swatting the puck out of danger from the
crease, but gaining that extra point has been tough sledding for the
Blues most of the season.
But
with the clock winding down and possession, Kyrou takes the puck to
the net and gets his shot stopped for Thomas, who fed Fowler, and he
gave the puck back to Thomas curling back to the inner edge of the
left circle before beating Ingram with McDavid defending:
“We’re
obviously feeling good,” Thomas said. “We’re playing confident
and we’re really using our strengths. Our ‘D’ are really
skating, they’re joining the rush, they’re creating a lot.
They’re beating the first forechecker in and that’s opening up
all of us forwards. We’re just clicking right now and really
confident and coming in and winning every game.
“I
think the biggest thing is we’re playing to our strengths. That’s
what made us a good team, that’s what’s making us a good team
now. When we get that puck and we’re skating, our ‘D’ are
active, we’re a tough team to beat and to get the puck from. I feel
like we’re doing a good job of that.”
And
with the playoffs now in the line of vision, Thomas said, “We’re
right there.”
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Philadelphia Flyers - 31-23-11 - 73 Points - 6-3-1 in the last 10 - Won 2 - 5th in the Metro
Columbus Blue Jackets - 33-21-11 - 77 Points - 5-1-4 in the last 10 - OTL 1 - 4th in the Metro
Team Notes Per CBJ PR
Columbus stretched its points streak to a season-high eight games (4-0-4) after picking up a point in a 2-1 OT loss at Florida on Thursday. The club has also earned points in 19 of its last 21 contests since Jan. 11 (15-2-4).
The Blue Jackets, who are in a stretch of six-of-nine games played away from Nationwide Arena from Mar. 10-26, rank second in the league in points pct. on the road since Jan. 11 (.833; 7-1-1 in nine contests).
Since Dec. 22, CBJ are tied for the least regulation losses with a 19-6-5 record (43 pts, .717 points pct.), and rank second-T in the NHL in points, third in points pct., seventh in goals-against/game (2.77) as well as 10th in goals for/game (3.47).
The Jackets play three-straight and five of six games against Metropolitan Division opponents from Mar. 14-24 and enter Friday's contests two points shy of Pittsburgh and the NY Islanders for second and third in the division.
Player Notes Per CBJ PR
Charlie Coyle registered points in seven-straight games (1-8-9) prior to the contest at Florida. He has posted 30-plus assists and 50 or more points for the third time in his 14-year career (16-35-51 in 65 GP).
Adam Fantilli notched the club's lone goal on Thursday, has collected points in eight of the last ten games (6-5-11) and has posted 7-9-16 in the past 15 contests since Jan. 24.
Jet Greaves has earned points in each of his last 10 starts since Jan. 11 (8-0-2, 2.55 GAA in 11 GP), while G Elvis Merzlikins has recorded points in nine of his past 11 starts over that span (7-2-2, 2.54 GAA in 12 GP).
Mason Marchment collected an assist on Thursday and has tallied 11-9-20 in 23 games with the Blue Jackets.
Kirill Marchenko, who had his six-game points streak (4-5-9) snapped on Thursday, has posted points in 11 of his past13 contests since Jan. 24 (6-9-15).
Zach Werenski has collected points in 24 of his past 28 games played since Dec. 11 (11-27-38, 12 multi-point efforts) andsits two points shy of his second-straight 70-point campaign (20-48-68, 58 GP).
Blue Jackets Stats
Power Play - 20.3% - 18th in the NHL
Penalty Kill - 77.1% - 24th in the NHL
Goals For - 182 - 24th in the NHL
Goals Against - 206 - 23rd in the NHL
FlyersStats
Power Play - 15.5% - 32nd in the NHL
Penalty Kill - 78.0% - 22nd in the NHL
Goals For - 191 - 18th in the NHL
Goals Against - 200 - 16th in the NHL
Series History vs. TheFlyers
Columbus is 30-19-3-4 all-time, and 12-13-1-2 on the road vs. Philadelphia.
Columbus has won three-straight in the series and collected points in the past four meetings since Dec. 21, 2024 (3-0-1).
The Jackets have also earned points in six of the last seven meetings dating back to Jan. 4, 2024 (5-1-1).
CBJ have earned points in their last three visits to Xfinity Mobile Arena (2-0-1) and nine of the past 13 road contests since Mar. 15, 2018 (7-4-2).
Three of the last five games played at Xfinity Mobile Arena have been decided after regulation (2-OT, 1-SO).
The winning team has won by multiple goals in consecutive meetings and six of the past nine since Oct. 12, 2023.
The clubs have combined for seven or more goals in four of the past six games at Philadelphia and six-plus in 10 of thelast 13 meetings in the state of Pennsylvania.
The Jackets have not relinquished a power play goal in the last four meetings dating back to Dec. 21, 2024 (13-of-13).
The teams have averaged 59.0 shots combined over the past four meetings at Philadelphia.
Who To Watch For TheFlyers
Travis Konecny leads the Flyers with 24 goals, 34 assists, and 58 points.
Trevor Zegras has 54 points on the year.
Goalie Dan Vladar is 21-11-6 with a SV% of .904.
CBJ Player Notes vs.Flyers
Charlie Coyle has 22 points in 34 games vs. the Flyers.
Zach Werenski has 21 career points against Philadelphia.
Boone Jenner has 14 goals and 20 points in his career against the Flyers.
Injured Reserve
Brendan Smith - Lower Body - Missed 27 Games IR - Out for the rest of the regular season.
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 172
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It's become quite a story that these Pittsburgh Penguins have been scratching and crawling their way to points without their two best players in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and during their toughest stretch of the 2025-26 season.
Unfortunately, they hit a bit of a roadblock - and it was mostly self-inflicted.
On Thursday, the Penguins lost their second game of their five-game road trip, 6-2, to the Vegas Golden Knights, and it was largely the result of turnovers. Of course, the Penguins weren't the only ones credited with a lot of giveaways - they had 17, while Vegas was credited with 23 - but it just so happened that nearly every mistake ended up in the back of their net.
On the goal that opened the scoring, Vegas took advantage of both a misplay by Penguins' defenseman Parker Wotherspoon and a case of overskating by Erik Karlsson, and Braeden Bowman found Colton Sissons crashing the net front to get the Golden Knights out to a 1-0 lead. And this was despite the Penguins getting the majority of chances, even if the chances that Vegas was getting were grade-A.
And they continued to get those chances in the second. After transitioning the puck into the offensive zone, Vegas was cycling, and it eventually found its way to defenseman Kaedan Korczak in the high slot, who got it to Pavel Dorofeyev down low for his 31st of the season on a top-shelf shot.
But the Penguins had a response this time. With around eight and a half minutes to go in the middle frame, the Penguins' first line of Rickard Rakell, Egor Chinakhov, and Bryan Rust was cycling and dominating possession in the offensive zone, and they were eventually rewarded when Rust put a perfect shot-pass on the stick of Rakell, who was waiting at the backdoor, to make it 2-1.
However, Mitch Marner responded less than a minute later with a strong individual effort after he and Dorofeyev gained the zone, and Marner got behind Egor Chinakhov to accept a pass as he was walking across the net front to make it 3-1. The Penguins did respond before the end of the period, though, when Anthony Mantha found Ben Kindel with a perfect seam pass on the doorstep - and they appeared to be going into the third period with some momentum.
But then, the third period was one of the Penguins' worst of the season. Dorofeyev registered his second of the game as well as his third point on the night after Wotherspoon turned the puck over near the offensive blue line in an attempt to get the puck to forward Ville Koivunen, and the Knights broke on a three-on-one opportunity. Marner - breaking down the left side - found Dorofeyev in the low slot area, and he didn't miss, making it 4-2.
Less than two minutes later, Vegas scored off the rush again, courtesy of Jack Eichel, and defenseman Brayden McNabb added an empty-net goal with less than a minute remaining in regulation to give the Golden Knights the keys to a 6-2 victory.
- What a rough game for Wotherspoon. He ended up a minus-2 on the evening and was credited with a team-high three giveaways, and it could have been a whole lot worse.
He has been a revelation for the Penguins this season, and he has also been the perfect partner for Erik Karlsson. However, his play since the Olympic break has declined a little bit, and it's been especially noticeable in the last handful of games. But the Vegas game takes the cake as his worst of the season.
It's worth noting that the most games Wotherspoon had ever played in an NHL season prior to this one was 55 with the Boston Bruins last season. He has logged 65 for the Penguins this season, meaning he has played in every game this season.
I'm not saying the grind of the schedule or fatigue is a factor here for sure, but there are mild signs of concern right now for him. Again, he's been spectacular for most of the season, and this could very well just be a rough stretch of games.
- Koivunen has looked a heck of a lot more comfortable in during this stint than he has at any other point this season. That said, there are still times where you can tell he isn't reading the game at NHL speed, and he does get knocked off the puck quite a bit.
It appears he still needs to add some size, and his play on the wall when Wotherspoon attempted to get him the puck wasn't the best, either. I'm far from giving up on Koivunen, but if he is going to be an effective player at the NHL level, he needs to improve some fundamental aspects of his game first.
- On a positive note, it was another good game from the Penguins' top line of Rickard Rakell, Egor Chinakhov, and Bryan Rust as well as the third line of Ben Kindel, Elmer Soderblom, and Avery Hayes.
I like the look of both of these lines right now and how much they've been able to generate. They - like everyone else - have had their moments defensively, but they're carrying play in the offensive zone on most nights.
- It was not, however, a good night for the fourth line, which is very uncharacteristic. A Connor Dewar turnover led to Marner's goal, and the line was on the ice for three goals against - all of which were semi-consequential in the result.
They've been great for the vast majority of the season, but it was not their night at all.
- Silovs was not particularly good, either. He surrendered five goals on 16 shots, and he never looked all that comfortable between the pipes, as he was deep in his net and reading plays poorly. I especially didn't love how he played Dorofeyev's second goal.
He has been really, really good for the Penguins in the back half of this season, and he's known to have a clutch gene. The defense in front of him was not doing a good job, either, against Vegas, but he needs to get back on track fast if the Penguins hope to make the playoffs.
They need to simply survive this stretch without both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and so far, they've managed to do that. They've earned exactly half the available points with Crosby out (3-3-3) and Malkin out (1-1-2), and they're still clinging onto second in the Metropolitan Division.
Saturday will mark the final game of Malkin's five-game suspension, and Crosby is practicing with the team during morning skates on the road (the team does not have any practices on off-days due to travel). If they can manage to win one more on Saturday against the Utah Mammoth, that will help them tremendously, and it will set them up nicely for both players' imminent returns.
Every point matters, and the Penguins need to keep collecting as many as possible.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Robert Thomas scored on a wrist shot with nine seconds left in overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night.
The Blues trailed 2-0 midway through the third period but goals by Pius Suter with 7:38 to play and Cam Fowler with 3:46 left in regulation tied it at 2-all.
Fowler also had an assist and Joel Hofer made 36 saves to help St. Louis win for the sixth time in their last seven games. With the win the Blues pulled within five points of a wild-card playoff spot. Hofer is now 8-2-2 in his last 12 starts.
Kasperi Kapanen gave Edmonton the lead with 4:19 to play in the second period and Connor McDavid scored his 37th goal of the season to make it 2-0 9:56 into the third period. Connor Ingram had 22 saves.
The Oilers went scoreless on the power play in three chances.
The Oilers, in third place in the Pacific Division, finished a four-game road trip 2-2.
KINGS 3, ISLANDERS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Adrian Kempe scored his team-leading 26th goal of the season and Los Angeles held off New York.
Trevor Moore and Anze Kopitar also scored for the Kings and Darcy Kuemper stopped 21 of the 23 shots he faced.
Emil Heineman scored twice for the Islanders, and Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves. Bo Horvat added two assists.
Kempe scored on a wrist shot with 1:32 remaining in the first period to put the Kings up 3-0. Kempe now has five goals and four assists in his last six games.
After the game, the Islanders stayed on the ice and shook hands with Kings captain Kopitar, who is playing in his 20th and final season in the NHL.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Robert Thomas scored on a wrist shot with nine seconds left in overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night.
The Blues trailed 2-0 midway through the third period but goals by Pius Suter with 7:38 to play and Cam Fowler with 3:46 left in regulation tied it at 2-all.
Fowler also had an assist and Joel Hofer made 36 saves to help St. Louis win for the sixth time in their last seven games. With the win the Blues pulled within five points of a wild-card playoff spot. Hofer is now 8-2-2 in his last 12 starts.
Kasperi Kapanen gave Edmonton the lead with 4:19 to play in the second period and Connor McDavid scored his 37th goal of the season to make it 2-0 9:56 into the third period. Connor Ingram had 22 saves.
The Oilers went scoreless on the power play in three chances.
The Oilers, in third place in the Pacific Division, finished a four-game road trip 2-2.
Thomas now has points in nine consecutive games.
The Blues had trouble generating shots early and went 19:48 without a shot from the first period into the second.
Leon Draisaitl had an assist on Kapanen's goal and now has an eight-game points streak (five goals, 11 assists). Evan Bouchard's nine-game point streak came to an end.
Edmonton's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins didn't play to deal with a personal matter, the team said.
Up next
Oilers: Return home to play Nashville on Sunday.
Blues: Open a three-game road trip at Winnipeg on Sunday.
And it blew it once it had announced that the Anaheim Ducks captain was having a phone hearing rather than being offered an in-person hearing.
An in-person hearing would have allowed the league to suspend Gudas six games or more. A phone hearing carries a maximum of five games. The defenseman was going to miss the next game anyway. A delayed hearing would have given the league a chance to find out the severity of the Maple Leafs captain's injury.
The rule is you suspend for the nature of the infraction and then you factor in if there was an injury. But the full extent of the injury wasn't known when Player Safety's announcement about holding a hearing went out on social media at 9:44 a.m. ET. Matthews didn't get an MRI until the afternoon and the Maple Leafs put out their release at 7:23 p.m. ET, a little more than an hour before the suspension was announced.
Radko Gudas has been ejected from the game for kneeing and Auston Matthews has gone to the dressing room. pic.twitter.com/wTiR9t7Tzw
So, let's compare the actions and history of Gudas and the last person to receive a five-game suspension: Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin, also after a phone hearing.
Malkin lost his temper this month after being cross-checked and gave a hard slash to the side of Buffalo Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin's head. Reckless? Yes. Deserving of a suspension? Yes. Dahlin finished the game, however.
NHL Player Safety noted in its video that Gudas was "in control of this play." It said he led with his knee when approaching Matthews and when he wasn't lined up properly to deliver a full-body hit, he "leans toward contact with Matthews in a way that results in a forceful, dangerous and direct knee-on-knee collision."
Matthews grabbed at his knee after he fell and needed assistance to get off the ice. He was done for the game and, it turns out, for the season.
Now, look at their histories. Malkin had been suspended two previous times for a total of five games, the last one in 2022 for a stick infraction. He also was fined recently for a stick infraction.
Gudas has been suspended four times for a total of 21 games, one of them for 10 games in 2017. As the video noted, the last one was seven years ago. That's well before Malkin's last infraction, but the history is still bad.
Matthews' agent, Judd Moldaver, said he was "disappointed and shocked" by the ruling.
"A phone hearing and 5 games is laughable and preposterous," he said in a statement to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. "While the process is set in our CBA, that this was the discipline is reckless and ridiculous. This decision results in a further loss of confidence in the disciplinary process for all players. Players and fans deserve better. The Player Safety Department should be suspended.”
Player Safety has to be able to defend its ruling on appeal. But there have been instances of in-person hearings being offered and suspensions of less than six games being handed down, such as Morgan Rielly getting five games in 2024.
Malkin deserved his five-game suspension. Considering the severity of Matthews' injury, Gudas might have deserved more.
But the NHL didn't get a chance because it boxed itself in when it announced the type of hearing.
The Islanders kicked off an important mini-homestand with their second loss to the Los Angeles Kings in eight days. This one was closer than the deceptive 5-3 loss in Los Angeles, but it didn’t look headed that way when the Isles fell behind 3-0 in the first period.
That’s the second game in a row they fell behind 3-0, but this time they couldn’t erase the deficit.
#Isles Matthew Schaefer tells me before full scrum develops: "We just have to have a good start. We were were talking about it. I mean, we can't keep doing this to ourselves with bad starts."
The Kings’ third goal came on a rare consequence/turnover by Matthew Schafer trying to do too much, attempting to get through two players who cut him off in the neutral zone. We haven’t seen that happen too often, which is a big reason he has license to try things, but it was a damaging nail late in the first.
After Patrick Roy restored the top line of Mat Barzal with Bo Horvat and Emil Heineman, Heineman brought them close, with a redirection in the second period and another deflection goal early in the third to provide some hope.
But it wasn’t to be.
The Isles outshot L.A. 11-4 in the third period and had one final offensive zone faceoff opportunity with a few seconds left — 6-on-4 thanks to Scott Laughton comically throwing everything including the kitchen sink to prevent an equalizer with six seconds to go. His two minors there were worth the risk, though had the Isles equalized they would’ve headed to OT with a 4-on-3.
It’s all moot though.
Both teams were 0-3 on the power play, though that was a full six minutes for the Kings (and eight shots) and just over four minutes for the Isles (and two shots) since their final one was with seconds left to go.
The Isles lost with Ilya Sorokin in the crease and will need to produce more in front of David Rittich against one of his former teams tomorrow at home against the Flames. We’ll see what the lineup and lines are for that one; Anthony Duclair and Kyle MacLean remained the scratches tonight. Max Shabanov got a second game in a row in the lineup, but just 7:12 total ice time after all the special teams play.
Kopitar Farewell
This was the last meeting with Anze Kopitar, a sure Hall of Famer who is retiring after the season. His goal moves him one point away from tying Marcel Dionne for the Kings franchise record, so hopefully he gets there and takes the title from an all-time legend who nonetheless carries the distinct Stench of Ranger.
The Los Angeles Kings (27-23-15) bounce back, defeating the New York Islanders (37-24-5) 3-2, for the second time this season to complete the season series sweep.
Los Angeles scored three times on its first nine shots and never trailed, building a cushion that proved crucial when the Islanders mounted a push in the final two periods.
Anze Kopitar also made history for the Kings' victory today, officially surpassing Marcel Dionne for the most road points in LA Kings history with 608 points. After the game, the Islanders showed their respect by shaking his hand before leaving the ice.
Anze Kopitar's first period goal marked his 608th career road point (221-387=608), surpassing Marcel Dionne (262-345=607) for the most road points in @LAKings history. https://t.co/ePCcBEfBlu
Los Angeles now has 69 points and is in sole possession of moving into the fourth seed in the Pacific Division if Seattle and San Jose lose.
Hot Start
The game began with the Kings scoring three goals in the first period, with Trevor Moore opening the scoring with an unassisted goal at 16:27, capitalizing on the fastbreak possession after blocking the shot on the other side of the ice.
Just under 10 minutes later, Anze Kopitar doubled the score, giving Los Angeles a 2-0 lead after burying the rebound shot from Mikey Anderson, moving him into history.
Los Angeles kept the pressure going after forcing a turnover on the Islanders. The Kings got a 2-on-2 breakaway led by Artemi Panarin, who delivered a slick feed to Adrian Kempe driving the net. Kempe finished the play with an incredible one-handed tip shot past Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin to extend the lead to 3–0.
The Kings' defense was once again impressive early on, holding the Islanders to just four shots in the period, outshooting them 10-4 in the opening frame. But, despite the early dominance, Los Angeles would go quiet on the offensive side, giving New York time to claw its way back into the game.
Emil Heineman got the Islanders on board midway through the second period after a deflection shot that went past Darcy Kuemper's glove and in, to cut the lead to 3-1.
The rest of the period would end with the Kings scoreless, but we're playing great defense, blocking shots, and forcing a lot of missed shots for the Islanders. The Kings had an impressive 23 blocked shots, constantly putting pressure on the Islanders whenever they tried to get a shot up.
Despite that, New York carried its one-goal momentum into the third period with Heineman once again scoring his second goal of the game to make it a one-goal game, setting up a tense finish in New York.
New York tried to get back in this game late, even had a chance with just three seconds remaining when they got in the face-off, but failed to get a shot up, and Los Angeles held on to the late push by the Islanders.
Key Stats
Darcy Kuemper had another solid game, finishing with 21 saves on 23 shots, once again looking healthy and comfortable at the right time of the season.
Los Angeles finished with 27 shots while killing off all three Islanders' power plays in a disciplined defensive effort.
Huge win for the Kings today, now they are in the playoff picture for the first time in over a month and can move up in the standings with a win tomorrow, and if the teams above them lose.
The Lakers will continue their road trip tomorrow, where they play the New Jersey Devils at 4:00 PM PT
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It says a lot about where the Islanders are that there was no attempt, not one, from their players to try to soft-pedal Friday’s loss, because this was a night when there could have been. Had they tried to go with the clichés — “We did a lot of good things,” “If we play like that every night, I like our chances” — you would have understood where they were coming from.
The Islanders had plenty of possession, plenty of chances. Their penalty kill was excellent. The top six started to roll after Mat Barzal and Bo Horvat were reunited midway through the second period and the 3-2 final certainly gave a better picture of the game than the 3-0 lead the Kings held earlier on.
Really, Los Angeles did not even look like the better team for most of the night.
Yet, here was Emil Heineman, who scored both the goals and came within an inch of a third, afterward:
“We have to acknowledge the point of time we’re in the season here, how important these games are. To not be ready when the puck drops is not good enough.”
And here was Horvat: “We can’t keep putting ourselves in that position. It physically and mentally wears on you.”
New York Islanders Center Anders Lee (27) pressures Los Angeles Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper during the third period at UBS Arena on March 13, 2026. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
The Islanders have been digging holes for themselves since the NHL returned from the Olympic break, and for the most part, they’ve done a pretty good job at climbing out. They nearly did Friday too, and for just about the entire third period, everyone inside UBS Arena thought they would.
Failing to, though, seemed to awaken the Islanders to the reality of the situation.
They came into the night hoping to pass the Penguins for second in the Metro; they exited it hoping that by the end of Saturday — when the Blue Jackets face the Flyers and the Islanders play the Flames — Columbus has not pulled ahead of the Islanders on the tiebreaker.
Indeed, there is a scenario where the Islanders wake up Sunday morning outside the playoff picture for the first time since Dec. 4. That would be the ultimate smack to a team for whom the postseason has taken on an inevitable feel even while in reality the Blue Jackets have rapidly gained ground over the last couple weeks.
One loss isn’t the end of the world but more urgency is warranted, and it certainly was Friday, when they had plenty of possession in the first period, but got just three shots on goal out of 22 attempts and made a series of mistakes to hand the Kings a 3-0 lead.
There was Scott Mayfield’s attempt that led straight to the Kings’ opening goal when Trevor Moore blocked his shot and came in unimpeded on a breakaway to score.
The two other goals the Kings scored in the first — one from Anze Kopitar off a rebound and the other from Adrian Kempe off the rush — did not come in that fashion, but Kempe’s goal came on the heels of an offensive-zone shift in which the Islanders just could not get a shot through, and Kopitar’s right after a power play.
“Instead of having the momentum, we gave them the momentum,” said coach Patrick Roy, who was not quite as self-critical as his players.
“Too complicated,” Heineman said, opting for that phrasing instead of saying the Islanders had played too fancy. “We have a lot of skill. We’re losing pucks and they’re just flying over us.”
New York Islanders Carson Soucy reacts during the second period against the Los Angeles Kings. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
The Islanders went into the third period down 3-1, but with momentum decidedly on their side having dominated the 10 minutes leading into intermission, with Heineman scoring and Anders Lee having a few close calls.
Given that, and given the Islanders’ proclivity for the dramatic, it hardly counted as a surprise that Heineman scored for a second time just 3:38 into the second period, this time tipping in Matthew Schaefer’s shot to make cut it to 3-2.
The Islanders proceeded to play some of their best offensive-zone hockey of the year. Shift after shift they were up ice, pinching down the walls, holding the puck in, wearing out the Kings. Heineman nearly completed the hat trick with a third deflection that went off the bar.
New York Islanders Ilya Sorokin makes a save during the second period against the Los Angeles Kings. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
It looked like a matter of time before the Islanders would tie the game.
And then the time ran out, with the score still frozen at 3-2 and the Islanders left to reckon with it.
“It wasn’t enough at the start,” Horvat said. “We just didn’t play a good 60 minutes.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Adrian Kempe scored his team-leading 26th goal of the season and the Los Angeles Kings held off the New York Islanders 3-2 on Friday night.
Trevor Moore and Anze Kopitar also scored for the Kings and Darcy Kuemper stopped 21 of the 23 shots he faced.
Emil Heineman scored twice for the Islanders, and Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves. Bo Horvat added two assists.
Kempe scored on a wrist shot with 1:32 remaining in the first period to put the Kings up 3-0. Kempe now has five goals and four assists in his last six games.
After the game, the Islanders stayed on the ice and shook hands with Kings captain Kopitar, who is playing in his 20th and final season in the NHL.
Ducks captain Radko Gudas has been suspended for five games for his knee-to-knee hit on Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews during the second period of Thursday’s game. Gudas was assessed a five-minute major penalty for kneeing and given a game misconduct. Matthews left the game and did not return.
On Friday, the Leafs announced that Matthews sustained a Grade 3 MCL tear and quad contusion. Though he will be re-evaluated in two weeks, he will miss the rest of the 2025-26 season.
Mar 12, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Anaheim Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas (7) leaves the ice after being ejected from the game for a hit on Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (not pictured) during the second period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
This hit comes just weeks after Gudas’ hit on Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby during the 2026 Winter Olympics, which resulted in a Grade 2 MCL sprain for Crosby. While Gudas’ hit on Crosby was fair and legal, his hit on Matthews was anything but.
This is the fifth time that Gudas has been suspended by the NHL and his first time since 2019, when he was suspended two games for high sticking the Tampa Bay Lightning's Nikita Kucherov.
Gudas has had two longer suspensions in his NHL career. He was suspended 10 games in 2017 for slashing the Winnipeg Jets’ Mathieu Perreault across the neck and suspended six games in 2016 for a late, high hit on the Boston Bruins’ Austin Czarnik.
Mar 12, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Anaheim Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas (7) gets set for a face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
A phone hearing between Gudas and the NHL Department Player of Safety was held on Friday. Phone hearings carry a maximum suspension of five games, whereas an in-person hearing would have allowed for a longer suspension.
Trade deadline acquisition John Carlson has been targeting Saturday versus the Ottawa Senators or Sunday versus the Montréal Canadiens for his Ducks debut. With Gudas out, Drew Helleson will likely remain in the lineup and Ian Moore, who lined up as a winger in Thursday’s game, will also likely return to the blue line for this weekend’s pair of games.
It didn't look good when Auston Matthews clutched at his knee immediately after absorbing a knee-on-knee hit from Radko Gudas during the game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Anaheim Ducks Thursday, March 12. We now know that will mark Matthews' last minutes on the ice this season.
The Maple Leafs announced Friday, March 13 that Matthews will miss the rest of the 2025-26 NHL season after he suffered a Grade 3 MCL tear and quad contusion on the hit that will seemingly soon result in a suspension for Gudas, who was set to have a disciplinary hearing with the league Friday.
Toronto said Matthews will be re-evaluated in approximately two weeks, and the team will give another update then.
Radko Gudas has been ejected from the game for kneeing and Auston Matthews has gone to the dressing room. pic.twitter.com/wTiR9t7Tzw
Matthews, 28, had gotten the puck alone in front of the net Thursday when a hard-charging Gudas, 35, drove right through the American star, with Gudas' left leg taking out Matthews' left. Matthews immediately clutched at his leg and needed assistance to get off the ice. Gudas was assessed a 5-minute major for kneeing and a 10-minute game misconduct, ending his night.
It's a brutal end to what's been a trying NHL season for 2016's top pick. He finishes with 27 goals and 53 points, both career lows, and the Maple Leafs will almost certainly miss the playoffs for the first time in his 10-year tenure.
The former MVP and three-time goal-scoring champ did experience great success at the Milano Cortina Olympics, captaining Team USA to the gold medal in men's hockey – its first since 1980. But his return to NHL play saw the Leafs drop eight consecutive games before Thursday night. That win, however, is overshadowed by the loss of the Leafs captain.
