Boeser has hat trick, last-place Canucks overcome blowing 4-goal lead to beat NHL-leading Avs
Marcus Pettersson scored with 5:39 remaining, Brock Boeser had a hat trick and the last-place Vancouver Canucks blew a four-goal lead before beating the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche 8-6 on Wednesday night.
The Canucks, who entered the game 58 points behind the Avalanche, scored in all sorts of ways, including 29 seconds into the game, short-handed, on the power play and into an empty net to snap a six-game slide.
They led 6-2 in the second only to see Colorado tie it up with 6:02 left. Just 23 seconds later, Pettersson knocked in his first goal since November. Boeser sealed it by lining the puck down the ice and into an empty net.
Teddy Blueger scored twice, while Max Sasson and Jake DeBrusk also added goals to spoil a night in which Nathan MacKinnon became the first player this season to reach 50 goals. Vancouver took advantage of the Avalanche juggling their defensive pairings with Cale Makar sidelined by an upper-body injury.
Kevin Lankinen made 24 saves.
KINGS 2, BLUES 1, OT
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Trevor Moore scored 1:56 into overtime to lift Los Angeles to a victory over the St. Louis.
Adrian Kempe also scored for the Kings, who moved into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference — one point ahead of San Jose and Nashville. Anton Forsberg made 23 saves, including one in overtime, for Los Angeles, which stopped a four-game losing streak at home.
Robert Thomas scored the only goal for the Blues on a deflection with 3:53 left in the third period to send it to overtime. Jordan Binnington stopped 24 shots in the loss, including two in the extra period. St. Louis is now four points behind Los Angeles for the second wild-card spot.
SHARKS 4, DUCKS 3
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Macklin Celebrini tied the game with less than two minutes to play then assisted on Alexander Wennberg’s winning goal with 31 seconds left to complete a four-point game as San Jose beat Anaheim.
With two goals and two assists, Celebrini now has 40 goals and 105 points this season, moving him past Erik Karlsson (101 points in 2022-23) for the second highest single-season point total in franchise history behind Joe Thornton’s 114-point effort in 2006-07.
The 19-year-old Celebrini also now has 17 games this season with three or more points, second among teenagers in NHL history only to Wayne Gretzky, who had 19 in 1979-80.
Will Smith had a goal and two assists for the Sharks and Yaroslav Askirov made 28 saves.
Trevor Moore’s overtime goal lifts Kings to 2-1 win over Blues and into playoff position
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Trevor Moore scored 1:56 into overtime to lift the Los Angeles Kings to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.
Adrian Kempe also scored for the Kings, who moved into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference — one point ahead of San Jose and Nashville. Anton Forsberg made 23 saves, including one in overtime, for Los Angeles, which stopped a four-game losing streak at home.
Robert Thomas scored the only goal for the Blues on a deflection with 3:53 left in the third period to send it to overtime. Jordan Binnington stopped 24 shots in the loss, including two in the extra period. St. Louis is now four points behind Los Angeles for the second wild-card spot.
Moore sped up the right side, outskated Jonatan Berggren, centered the puck and snapped a shot past Binnington for the victory. Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty assisted on the goal.
With the Kings leading 1-0, Thomas went to the front of the net and Philip Broberg's shot deflected off Thomas' skate and past Forsberg to tie it.
After a scoreless first period, Jared Wright nearly put the Kings ahead midway through the second, but his goal was waved off for goaltender interference.
Los Angeles got one that counted on Kempe's power-play goal on a wrister with 3:01 left in the second period to put the Kings up 1-0.
Up next
Blues: Play at Anaheim on Friday night.
Kings: Host Nashville on Thursday night.
—-
AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Los Angeles Kings Pass Nashville Predators For Final Wild Card Spot Ahead Of Matchup
Thursday's game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Nashville Predators just got a lot more important.
After losing three straight games and leaving six points on the table, the Predators have been passed by the Kings in the Western Conference Wild Card race with eight games left in the regular season.
The Kings picked up a massive 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday, another team trying to move up in the Wild Card race, to bump their season total to 78 points. Nashville has 77 points.
To add salt to the wound, the San Jose Sharks also tied the Predators in points following their 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks have the tiebreaker as they have played one fewer game than the Predators.
ALL THE WAY FROM THOUSAND OAKS, CALIFORNIA, IT'S TREVOR MOORE pic.twitter.com/jhkHM4DTVt
— LA Kings (@LAKings) April 2, 2026
Winnipeg is also now a point behind Nashville after an overtime win against Chicago, 4-3, on Tuesday. Seattle also trails Nashville by two points.
Thursday is another massive day, with the Predators getting a chance to take back the Wild Card spot if they defeat Los Angeles on the road. If Nashville loses, Winnipeg can pass the Predators with a win over Dallas, and the Sharks can do the Same with a win over Toronto.
Seattle can also tie the Predators in points if it defeats Utah. Another loss could really set Nashville back in the playoff race.
The Western Conference Wild Card race has been heavily criticized for the quality of the teams competing for the final spot. All six teams have a win percentage hovering just above 50%.
While Los Angeles is the only team among the six that doesn't have more than 30 regulation losses this season, the Kings have an NHL record 19 overtime losses.
For Nashville, the games in this final road trip are critical. It faces Los Angeles twice (Thursday and Monday), San Jose (Saturday) and Utah (April 9). Coming home for the final three games of the season, the Predators see the Sharks once more.
Rinkside Recap: League-leading Avs fall to league’s worst Canucks 8-6
DENVER, CO — It was first vs. worst tonight at Ball Arena, and we were in the barn to offer live and in-depth coverage!
The Avalanche would go at it without stud-defender Cale Makar, who sustained an upper-body injury in Colorado’s last contest against the Calgary Flames.
Vancouver came to town looking to get back into the win column after dropping their last six games. It was a team with a -90 goal differential vs. a team with a +93 goal differential. What could go wrong?
Turns out the answer to that question was a lot, with Vancouver establishing an early lead, netting a shorthanded goal, then full-on taking over, averaging three goals a period through two frames and holding off Colorado’s third-period comeback effort to walk out of Ball Arena with 2 points.
The Game
The puck dropped, and twenty-nine seconds later, Max Sasson would net a goal for the Canucks that beat Blackwood via the five-hole.
It would take just about a minute for Nathan MacKinnon to announce his arrival as he hit the brakes upon entry, watched a Canuck lose his skates and fly by, before creating enough space to rip home a wrister. MacKinnon’s tally would make 50 on the season and put him just one goal shy of his previous career high of 51 goals.
The Avalanche would get its first power play of the evening, but it only resulted in the worst-case scenario. Vancouver would take a 2-1 lead after the Avalanche allowed the 13th shorthanded goal against.
The Canucks would find another way to score this time on a power play of their own. Jake DeBrusk was left all alone in the slot and logged his 17th of the season, with 14 of those coming on the power play. Just like that, it was 3-1 Canucks.
Frustration among the fanbase started to set in, but Gabe Landeskog would ease the pain after he deflected Brent Burns’ point shot past Kevin Lankinen, bringing his side back to within one goal at 3-2 Vancouver.
The period would end with Vancouver on the power play, and Colorado would kill the first 26 seconds and head to the locker room.
The second period would start with Colorado killing off the rest of Vancouver’s man-advantage, but that wouldn’t stop the Canucks from extending their lead to two goals after Teddy Blueger was alone in front and beat Blackwood via the five-hole yet again to bring the score to 4-2 in favor of the visitors.
Nick Blankenburg was thrust into the lineup tonight with Cale Makar tending to his wounds and had a tough night.
He sank too deeply to the point where he was into the crease, and Blackwood, who couldn’t do anything to stop what basically turned into a screened two-on-none. Brock Boeser would log that tally, and another five minutes later, bringing the score to a whopping 6-2 Canucks.
Finally, Jared Bednar pulled MacKenzie Blackwood.
Sam Malinski would get one back for Colorado before the second period ended. Vancouver challenged for goalie interference, but the challenge was unsuccessful despite Jack Drury making contact with Kevin Lankinen outside the blue paint.
We’d head to the second intermission at 6-3 Canucks.
We did have a little scare right before the second period let out, with Martin Necas getting hit away from the play and going down in a heap. He would stay down and immediately head off to the room despite the remaining time in the period.
Fortunately, he would return for the third period, but seemed to be reaching for his wrist, which has been an area of concern this season.
The Avalanche wouldn’t go quietly into the night.
Scott Wedgewood was asked if this game felt out of reach before the third, and he responded, “Never with this team.”
Parker Kelly would log his 19th of the season just 116 seconds into the third and final frame, and the comeback and whale watch were on! It was a two-goal game at 6-4 with essentially the entire third period left for the Avalanche to mount a comeback.
Next, it was Brent Burns’ turn as his point one timer, assisted by Brock Nelson, went straight in, and the tide officially had shifted.
It was Sam Malinski who set Ball Arena off with his game-tying goal (6-6) with just over five minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, that goal would quickly be answered by Vancouver’s Marcus Pettersson, who gave Vancouver a 7-6 lead.
Colorado did make a push to get things under control in this game, and had they started as they finished, they would have beaten the Canucks handily.
Takeaways
The slow start tonight should have been more anticipated, as it’s typical for a team to come out flat after putting up 5 plus goals in the first half of a period. That said, there’s no excuse for starting so poorly against the league’s worst team and giving up a shorthanded goal to a historically bad penalty kill unit.
It was pretty clear that the freedom of having nothing to play for benefited the Canucks, who likely had no problem getting up to play the best team in the league. In a season where you are -90 in goal differential, you have to take it game by game, and tonight, Vancouver passed the test.
This wasn’t a great performance by the Avalanche defensively, but MacKenzie Blackwood also looked a little lost at times. It’s feeling more and more clear that Scott Wedgewood is the number one goalie in Colorado these days.
When Bednar was asked if he was concerned with not knowing who the starter is so close to playoff time, he quickly snapped, “No.”
It’s been abundantly clear that Colorado can ill afford to lose a defender from its group of six, as Nick Blankenburg hasn’t looked great and, in a game against the league’s worst team, struggled. I don’t know that the Avalanche have a set-and-forget 7D.
Jared Bednar was clearly not pleased in the post-game presser and made no excuses for his club. When asked what went wrong, he responded, “The list is too long.”
Brock Nelson had an item that likely landed on the list, saying, “Couple unfortunate bounces where they end up with two-on-ones with some pretty clear looks that we’d like to not give up.”
Upcoming
The Avalanche will head to Dallas for a matinee contest against Mikko Rantanen and the Stars on Saturday.
Let us know what you thought of this contest in the comments!
Celebrini ties it late then sets up Wennberg's winner as the Sharks beat the Ducks 4-3
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Macklin Celebrini tied the game with less than two minutes to play then assisted on Alexander Wennberg's winning goal with 31 seconds left to complete a four-point game as the San Jose Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 on Wednesday night.
With two goals and two assists, Celebrini now has 40 goals and 105 points this season, moving him past Erik Karlsson (101 points in 2022-23) for the second highest single-season point total in franchise history behind Joe Thornton’s 114-point effort in 2006-07.
The 19-year-old Celebrini also now has 17 games this season with three or more points, second among teenagers in NHL history only to Wayne Gretzky, who had 19 in 1979-80.
Will Smith had a goal and two assists for the Sharks and Yaroslav Askirov made 28 saves.
Troy Terry scored 4:04 into the third period to give the Ducks a 3-2 lead.
Celebrini tied it with 1:39 to play.
Ryan Poehling and Alex Killorn also scored for Anaheim, which has lost three straight games but remains atop the Pacific Division. Drew Helleson had a pair of assists and Lukas Dostal made 16 saves and also got his first assist of the season on Poehling's goal.
The Ducks played without their leading goal scorer, Cutter Gauthier, who suffered an upper-body injury in Monday night's 5-4 loss to Toronto.
Nathan Gaucher made his NHL debut for the Ducks. He was selected 22nd overall by Anaheim in the 2022 draft.
San Jose now has a 2-1 lead in the four-game regular-season series between the teams.
Up next
Ducks: Return home to play St. Louis on Friday night.
Sharks: Host Toronto for the third game of a six-game homestand on Thursday night.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Buffalo Sabres Are The NHL's Best Story Of 2025-26
The Buffalo Sabres had an ugly start to the 2025-26 season, going 11-14-4 in their first 29 games. With this, it seemed that they would go on to miss the playoffs for the 15th year in a row.
Yet, the Sabres not only bounced back from their tough start to the season, but have simply dominated. At this point in the campaign, the Sabres now have a 46-21-8 record and are at the top of the Atlantic Division standings with 100 points. They have been the NHL's hottest team down the stretch, and it has made them the league's best story of the season.
After years of disappointment and being unable to take that next step, the Sabres have done so with style in 2025-26. They have not only shown that they are capable of being a playoff team, but that they also can be one of the league's top clubs. The only team with more points than the Sabres at this point of the campaign is the Colorado Avalanche. Meanwhile, the Sabres are tied in points with two top contenders in the Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars.
With this, it has truly been a special season for the Sabres.
Boeser Hat Trick Lifts Canucks Past Avalanche In Chaos-Filled 8–6 Win
DENVER — Marcus Pettersson broke a late tie with 5:39 remaining, Brock Boeser recorded a hat trick, and the last-place Vancouver Canucks defeated the Colorado Avalanche 8–6 on Wednesday night after surrendering a four-goal lead.
Vancouver, which entered the contest trailing Colorado by 58 points in the standings, generated offense in every situation—at even strength, on the power play, short-handed, and into an empty net—while snapping a six-game losing streak.
Boeser added an empty-net goal to complete his hat trick. Teddy Blueger chipped in two goals, while Max Sasson and Jake DeBrusk also scored. Goaltender Kevin Lankinen made 24 saves to help secure the win.
On the other side, Nathan MacKinnon reached the 50-goal mark for the second time in his career, becoming the first player in the league this season to hit that milestone. Sam Malinski scored twice, and Gabriel Landeskog, Parker Kelly, and Brent Burns also tallied.
Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood was pulled with 4:39 left in the second period after allowing six goals on 19 shots. Scott Wedgewood entered in relief and stopped four of five shots faced.
The Avalanche entered the matchup riding momentum from a 9–2 win over Calgary earlier in the week but were forced to adjust defensively with Cale Makar sidelined by an upper-body injury, a gap Vancouver consistently exploited.
Burns contributed a goal and an assist while appearing in his 999th consecutive NHL game, continuing one of the league’s longest active ironman streaks. The all-time record remains 1,064 straight games, held by Phil Kessel.
First Period
Vancouver struck just 29 seconds into the game when Sasson slipped a shot through the five-hole to make it 1–0. After a rink-wide pass deflected off a defender’s stick, he jumped on the loose puck, beat the defense with speed, and finished the play.
Colorado answered quickly, as MacKinnon snapped a shot past Lankinen to tie the game with his 50th goal of the season.
The Avalanche went on the power play soon after, but a turnover by MacKinnon led to a short-handed rush the other way, where Blueger finished to restore Vancouver’s lead. It marked the second goal the Canucks generated off a turnover in the period.
Midway through the frame, Vancouver continued to dictate play. They extended the lead to 3–1 on the power play when DeBrusk finished a backdoor feed from Elias Pettersson. Of DeBrusk’s goals this season, the majority have come with the man advantage.
Colorado trimmed the deficit to 3–2 late in the period when Landeskog tipped a point shot from Burns.
In the final minute, a hooking penalty gave Vancouver another power-play opportunity, and they carried a 3–2 lead into the second while holding a 12–7 edge in shots on goal.
Second Period
The Canucks pushed their lead to 4–2 at 5:02 when Sasson set up Blueger alone in front, where he deked and finished.
Momentum continued to swing Vancouver’s way as Boeser buried a one-timer from the left circle to make it 5–2. He added another shortly after, extending the lead to 6–3 and prompting the Avalanche to replace their goaltender.
Colorado responded quickly on the next shift, with Malinski snapping home a shot to cut into the deficit.
Late in the period, a collision involving Sasson sent Martin Necas to the ice in visible discomfort, forcing him briefly to the locker room.
After two periods, Vancouver led 6–3 and held a 20–13 advantage in shots.
Third Period
Necas returned to start the third, but Colorado wasted little time pulling closer. Just 14 seconds in, Kelly scored off a pass from Jack Drury to make it 6–4.
Midway through the period, Nazem Kadri exited briefly after taking a shot off the hand area and remained on the bench in discomfort.
Burns later brought Colorado within one with a point shot for his 11th goal of the season, and Malinski tied the game at 6–6 with his second goal.
Vancouver quickly regained control. Pettersson scored with 5:39 remaining to restore the lead at 7–6.
Boeser then sealed the outcome with an empty-net goal with 1:29 left, securing the 8–6 victory for Vancouver over the league-leading Avalanche.
Canucks Call-Up Forward Ty Mueller From Abbotsford
The Vancouver Canucks have made a roster move ahead of their game against the Colorado Avalanche tonight, as the team announced they have called-up forward Ty Mueller from the AHL. This comes only a couple of hours after the Abbotsford Canucks announced the signing of forward Braden Birnie to a professional try-out agreement.
Mueller has been a steady presence in the Abbotsford Canucks’ lineup this season, playing in 59 of their 66 games so far. He has scored 16 goals and 19 assists in this span of time while often playing in Abbotsford’s top-six as a centre. The forward currently ranks second on Abbotsford in points behind Nils Åman (6G, 31A).
This is not Mueller’s first time playing at the NHL level, as the forward made his NHL debut for Vancouver on April 12, 2025 against the Minnesota Wild on home-ice. He played in one more game after that, on April 14 against the San Jose Sharks, before re-joining Abbotsford in their chase for the Calder Cup.
Mueller’s call-up comes shortly after Evander Kane was noted to be sitting out of tonight’s game. Kane has reportedly been dealing with an injury through the most recent stretch of games, though he played in his 1000th career NHL game on Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Vancouver will face the Avalanche tonight at 5:30 pm PT, with their next match taking place tomorrow against the Minnesota Wild at 5:00 pm PT. Abbotsford will play in a home back-to-back on Friday and Saturday, with this being their final stretch of home games through the 2025–26 season.
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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Golden Knights President of Hockey Operations George McPhee Named 2026 Lou Lamoriello Award Recipient
Every year, the American Hockey Coaches Association presents an award to a former college coach or player who ‘has distinguished himself in his profession after college.’ The award was named after former Providence College player, coach, and athletic director Lou Lamoriello. This year, the honor goes to Vegas Golden Knights President of Hockey Operations George McPhee.
“I am honored beyond words to accept the Lou Lamoriello Award as the Frozen Four prepares to arrive here in Vegas,” said McPhee in response. “Lou is among the very best hockey minds and human beings to grace college hockey and the National Hockey League. Lou’s impact on these institutions, as well as the lives of thousands who have worked for him and competed against him, is extraordinary.”
As a forward at Bowling Green State University, McPhee won the Hobey Baker Award in 1982. He went on to have a seven-year NHL career, playing for the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils. After retirement, he began a career in management and had success with the Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals, and New York Islanders before making his way to Vegas.
On July 13, 2016, McPhee became the inaugural General Manager and President of Hockey Operations of the Golden Knights. He won the NHL General Manager of the Year Award in 2018 after the success of his team’s inaugural season.
McPhee stepped aside as General Manager in favor of Kelly McCrimmon on September 1, 2019, but remained as the President of Hockey Operations. He won his first Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023.
The Lou Lamoriello Award will be presented on April 10 during this year’s NCAA D1 Men’s Ice Hockey Frozen Four.
“George is widely respected throughout hockey and has consistently made a positive impact during his career,” said AHCA Executive Director Forrest Karr. ”His many contributions to the sport make him a natural choice for the Lou Lamoriello Award, and we look forward to presenting this well-deserved recognition during Frozen Four weekend.”
Panthers Bring Up Defensemen Tobias Bjornfot, Mikulas Hovorka from AHL Charlotte
The Florida Panthers have brought up a pair of defenseman to make up for the team’s latest injuries.
On Tuesday, Florida blueliners Aaron Ekblad and Dmitry Kulikov suffered separate injuries after being hit by the puck during the Panthers’ 6-3 win over Ottawa.
While the ultimate prognosis on both has not been determined, early indications were that both would be out of the lineup in at least the short term.
As a result, Florida has brought up defenseman Tobias Bjornfot and Mikulas Hovorka from the Charlotte Checkers, according to the AHL Transactions Log.
Bjornfot has played 11 games with the Panthers this season, racking up two goals and an assist to go with a plus-4 on-ice rating.
Hovorka played his first NHL game with Florida back in February, skating to a minus-3 rating in 11:27 of ice time during a 6-1 loss to Tampa Bay.
The Panthers are back in action on Thursday night when they host the Boston Bruins at Amerant Bank Arena.
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Photo caption: Feb 2, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Tobias Bjornfot (22) shoots the puck against the Buffalo Sabres during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
Philadelphia Flyers Sign New Prospect To Multi-Year Extension
The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that they have signed defenseman David Jiricek to a two-year, $3 million contract extension. Starting next season, he will have a $1.5 million average annual value.
The Flyers acquired Jiricek from the Minnesota Wild at the 2026 NHL trade deadline in exchange for forward Bobby Brink. Since then, the right-shot defenseman has played well at the AHL level with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Now, he has landed himself a solid contract extension from Philadelphia because of it.
In 10 games with the Phantoms since being acquired, Jiricek has recorded two goals, eight assists, and 10 points. This is after he had two goals and 10 points in 24 AHL games with the Iowa Wild before the trade.
Jiricek also played in 25 games for Minnesota before the deal, where he had zero points and 14 penalty minutes. In 84 career NHL games over four seasons, the 2022 sixth-overall pick has recorded two goals, 11 assists, and 13 points.
Erik Karlsson Named NHL's Second Star Of The Month
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson was on another level in March, and the NHL took notice of it.
Karlsson was named the NHL's Second Star for the month of March on Wednesday. He finished the month with nine goals and 24 points in 17 games, helping the Penguins go 8-6-3 in those games.
He had nine multi-point games in March, including four three-point games. It was his best month as a Penguin and has helped him compile 13 goals and 60 points in 70 games this season.
Karlsson's nine multi-point games in March are the most by a Penguins defenseman in a single month in franchise history.
Star status secured ⭐
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 1, 2026
Defenseman Erik Karlsson has been named the @NHL’s Second Star for the month of March.
Details: https://t.co/FI8eqZ0WcBpic.twitter.com/ZG9TPCYEJW
Karlsson was putting the Penguins on his back for a good chunk of these games, especially since Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were both hurt. He hasn't made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the 2018-19 season, when he was with the San Jose Sharks, and is looking to change that this year.
Karlsson and the Penguins will be back in action on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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(4-1-26) Blues-Kings Gameday Lineup
How do the St. Louis Blues recover from that gut punch they took on Monday?
Nothing they can do but get right back on the horse, and after taking a direct kick to the gut when they allowed a game-winning goal with 22 seconds left in a 5-4 loss to the San Jose Sharks, the Blues (31-31-11) have no choice but to pick themselves up when they play an almost certain must-win game against the Los Angeles Kings 29-26-18) at 8 p.m. on Wednesday in the race for the final wild card out of the Western Conference.
The task is daunting for the Blues, who are only four points behind the Nashville Predators with a game in hand, but the bigger issue is not only do they have to climb over the Predators but they also have to pass the Kings, who are one point back of the Predators and host Nashville on Thursday; they also have to pass the Winnipeg Jets, who are also one point back of Nashville, and the Sharks and Seattle Kraken, each two points back.
Having to pass five teams makes it almost a certainty that the only way for that to happen, and with the teams in front of them having head-to-head matchups, the Blues almost certainly need to someone win out their remaining nine games, or come awfully close to doing that, in order to have a chance.
- - -
Blues coach Jim Montgomery will not tinker with the lineup for Wednesday, other than starting Jordan Binnington in goal.
"The lineup is the same. I've talked to the five guys that haven't played (lately)," Montgomery said to the media in Los Angeles of Oskar Sundqvist, Jonathan Drouin, Nathan Walker, Tyler Tucker and Matthew Kessel. "(I told them) keep being great teammates. They're working hard, they're staying in shape, they have to for when we call upon them. You know we're going to call upon them sooner or later. If we don't have success again tonight, there are going to be changes."
- - -
Blues Projected Lineup:
Dylan Holloway-Robert Thomas-Jimmy Snuggerud
Jake Neighbours-Pavel Buchnevich-Jordan Kyrou
Otto Stenberg-Dalibor Dvorsky-Jonatan Berggren
Alexey Toropchenko-Jack Finley-Pius Suter
Philip Broberg-Logan Mailloux
Theo Lindstein-Colton Parayko
Cam Fowler-Justin Holl
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Jonathan Drouin, Oskar Sundqvist, Nathan Walker and Matthew Kessel. Tyler Tucker (lower body) is on the road trip and is close to being an option for selection.
- - -
Kings Projected Lineup:
Artemi Panarin-Anze Kopitar-Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore-Quinton Byfield-Alex Laferriere
Mathieu Joseph-Scott Laughton-Joel Armia
Jeff Malott-Samuel Helenius-Jared Wright
Mikey Anderson-Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson-Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin-Cody Ceci
Darcy Kuemper will start in goal; Anton Forsberg will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Alex Turcotte, Jacob Moverare and Taylor Ward. Andrei Kuzmenko (meniscus) is out.
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Flyers sign young defenseman from Brink trade to 2-year extension
Flyers sign young defenseman from Brink trade to 2-year extension originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers didn’t waste much time with re-signing David Jiricek.
They inked the 22-year-old defenseman Wednesday to a two-year, $3 million contract extension not even four weeks after acquiring him in the Bobby Brink trade.
Jiricek was a pending restricted free agent. He’ll remain an RFA when his new deal expires.
The righty shot has played at a point-per-game pace through 10 games with AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley. He has two goals, eight assists, 30 shots and a minus-6 rating for the Phantoms.
As the sixth overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft, Jiricek has a lot upside. His size and shot are big strengths, but he’ll have to improve his skating and reads. The Flyers are his third organization. He already has 84 career NHL games under his belt.
“We still see a high potential — 21-, 22-year-old, 6-foot-4 defensemen of his caliber are tough to find,” general manager Danny Briere said after the trade. “We know we have to work with him, we need to be patient, we need to give him a little bit of rope to develop him.”
The Flyers are hoping Jiricek and 2023 first-round pick Oliver Bonk can be long-term pieces on the right side.