The Philadelphia Flyers have a knack for making shrewd, under-the-radar trades, and one of their latest is already paying off in a big way.
Throughout the season, the Flyers have made a number of (relatively) insignificant player swaps, like trading Dennis Gilbert for Max Guenette, Ethan Samson for Roman Schmidt, and Samu Tuomaala for Christian Kyrou.
The Samson move was a bit controversial, given that the former sixth-round pick had a breakout 2024-25 season with the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms and looked solid in Flyers training camp before going down with a broken hand.
After four assists in 10 games, the Flyers swapped him for Schmidt, and later swapped Schmidt with veteran forward Boris Katchouk.
That move has been, by far, the most impactful for the Flyers' organization, injecting some life back into a Phantoms team that has had to deal with a significant amount of player turnover, including losing the likes of Alex Bump and Denver Barkey to the NHL on a permanent basis.
Having been acquired by the Flyers from the Minnesota Wild on March 1, shortly before the March 6 NHL trade deadline, Katchouk, 27, has already established himself as a top-line player for the Phantoms, featuring on the power play and playing both center and wing.
In just 11 games with Lehigh Valley, the 2016 No. 44 overall pick has erupted for five goals, four assists, and nine points, matching the five goals he had in 29 games between the Iowa Wild and Syracuse Crunch earlier this season.
It helps for the Flyers, too, that Katchouk has 179 games of NHL experience and 15 goals; that experience matters in a locker room that also has David Jiricek, Devin Kaplan, Riley Thompson, Carson Bjarnason, Aleksei Kolosov, Cole Knuble, and Oliver Bonk in it.
If post-NHL trade deadline call-up limitations weren't a factor, it's easy to imagine a world where the Flyers bring Katchouk into the fold as a depth forward, especially with Rodrigo Abols (ankle) still out of commission.
In the meantime, Rick Tocchet and Co. are managing with a fourth line of Sean Couturier, waiver wire pickup Luke Glendening, and Garnet Hathaway.
The journeyman Katchouk, however, is making his case to find a new home in pro hockey.
TAMPA, FL - DECEMBER 4: Jonas Johansson #31 of the Tampa Bay Lightning makes a save against Bryan Rust #17 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the third period at the Benchmark International Arena on December 4, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Who:Pittsburgh Penguins (38-21-16, 92 points, 2nd place Metropolitan Division) @ Tampa Bay Lightning (46-22-6, 98 points, 2nd place Atlantic Division)
When: 7:00 p.m. eastern
How to Watch: Locally broadcast on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and The Spot, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: The March of the Penguins concludes literally (though perhaps not figuratively) tonight with the team wrapping up their franchise record of 17 games in a calendar month. The Pens are 7-6-3 and managed to hold on against a brutal schedule while weathering some key absences. There’s another flurry of weekend games, the Florida Panthers play in PPG Paints both Saturday (5:00pm start) and Sunday (3:00pm start) and then Pittsburgh gets their first stretch of three days without games next Mon-Wed since early January (not counting the Olympic break). The Pens then pick back up a week from tonight on the road in New Jersey.
Opponent Track: Tampa was 6-0-2 in last eight prior to Tuesday home game against Montreal, where the Lightning lost 4-1. Tampa has a big game coming up on Saturday against the hard-charging Bruins.
Season Series: The Penguins always seem to play Tampa well, despite the difference in team strengths in the last few years. Pittsburgh is 8-4-2 overall since the 2021-22 season against the Lightning, including a 1-0-1 record this season. The Pens blew a 3-0 lead but still pulled off a regulation 4-3 win over Tampa courtesy Evgeni Malkin’s late GWG and three-point night back on December 4th. In the second meeting, Malkin scored late in the third period on January 13th to tie the game 1-1, though Tampa would go onto win in the shootout.
Hidden Stat: As referenced above, Malkin has 3G+1A in the two games against the Lightning this season. He’s got 12 goals in the other 48 non-Tampa games he’s played this season.
Getting to know the Lightning
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Jake Guentzel – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Gage Goncalves – Anthony Cirelli – Oliver Bjorkstrand
Potential scratches: Victor Hedman (away from team on personal leave), Brandon Hagel (injury, doubtful to play tonight),
Injured Reserve: Declan Carlile, Dominic James
Somewhat breaking news in that Hagel picked up an injury in Tuesday night’s game against Montreal and, as of yesterday, looks like he will not be playing against the Pens. Add in Victor Hedman’s absence and Tampa suddenly is missing some key pieces.
Hagel being out meant the Lightning concentrated a lot of their strength yesterday in practice on the top line with Guentzel-Point-Kucherov. Previously, Guentzel+Point were on one line and Kucherov was working on a different line with Hagel to split the talent. It looks like they are going to load all the way up for this game and probably count on that top line to do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of scoring.
Moser, who started out in Arizona for three seasons before coming over to Tampa in 2024, is probably one of the most under-rated or under-talked about great players in the league. Moser was involved in the trade that sent Mikhail Sergachev to Utah, which has worked out great for Tampa to send out an older star that they couldn’t afford and replace him with a younger, very capable option to take over.
There are few things in the NHL more consistent than Jake Guentzel getting close to 40 goals and 80 points in a season with health (or right on pace, less the games whatever games missed with injury) over the past nine years and he’s back at it again this season. The 45 assists are already a single-season high and he’s closing in on his best year in points (84).
Guentzel’s been hot lately, riding a current five-game point streak (5G+4A).
Health has been a major storyline for Tampa, almost all their best players from Kucherov, Point, Hedman, McDonagh, Hagel, Cirelli, Raddysh and Paul have missed at least a handful of games at various times this season, and some more than a few. Luckily for them Vasilievskiy has been on his game and the waterfall of injuries still has their lineup seeing more than it’s share of talent.
Kucherov has been going absolutely berserk lately with some downright Lemieux-esque production. Kuch has 39 points (11G+26A) in his last 20 games and is right in the thick of the Art Ross race. He’s four points behind leader Connor McDavid, despite the Tampa star playing seven less games.
Key Matchup: Tampa the…defensive juggernaut?
Tampa is stacked all over the board, they’re second in 5v5 goals, top-10 in Corsi, Fenwick and finishing metrics offensively. That and the star power is what they’re known for, but they’ve really buckled down defensively this season as well. Their PK is good, their goaltending is a lot better with Vasilievskiy than backup Johansson and they find ways to limit the amount of shots opponents take. Despite an anonymous defense that’s missed a bunch of their top blueliners at the same time, they’ve found ways to play keep-away with the puck and limit opportunities against.
In the first matchup back in December, the Pens got 31 shots against Tampa (and scored four goals on Johansson). In the second matchup, Pittsburgh registered 27 shots, only scoring once on Vasilievskiy. The Penguins average 29.0 shots/game, that second game is what TB will be looking to replicate to keep the Pittsburgh offense quiet by limiting what the explosive Pittsburgh offense can generate. It’ll be a strong and fun matchup, since the Pens are flying and have scored 13 total goals in their two games this week.
Playoff implications nearly absent today
A lot of models from HockeyStats to TheAthletic have the Islanders, Blue Jackets and Flyers all headed for the 95-96 point range. That makes today almost like a house money situation for the Penguins, who should still be on track to easily clear that regardless of today’s results. For as crucial as the games against NYI and Detroit were earlier, the stress is eased for now on the Penguins with where they’re at in the standings and projected to go.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Egor Chinakhov – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell
Anthony Mantha – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin
Avery Hayes – Ben Kindel – Justin Brazeau
Elmer Soderblom – Connor Dewar – Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard / Kris Letang
Ryan Shea / Connor Clifton
Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs
Potential Scratches: Bryan Rust*, Rutger McGroarty, Ilya Solovyov, Blake Lizotte (injured), Kevin Hayes, Ryan Graves, Ville Koivunen
IR: Filip Hallander, Jack St. Ivany
The Penguins didn’t practice yesterday before heading out to make the trip, we’ll have to wait for today to see if Rust is able to play tonight. If so, Hayes will likely get bumped out of the lineup and some of the top-three lines will get shaken up.
Similarly, the goalie question is still out there for how long the Pens will be faithful to their rotation. Last week they gave Skinner two starts in a row for the first time in a while, as the playoffs near it’ll be interesting to see if they start making him more of the primary option in net.
Rickard Rakell (6G+2A) is on a five-game point streak.
Sid seeks seventh
Sidney Crosby will be moving on up in the all-time rankings with his next two points to tie and pass Steve Yzerman
Rank Player PTSRank Player PTS
1 Wayne Gretzky 2,857 5 Ron Francis 1,798
2 Jaromir Jagr 1,951 6 Marcel Dionne 1,771
3 Mark Messier 1,887 7 Steve Yzerman 1,755
4 Gordie Howe 1,850 8 Sidney Crosby 1,754
Once Crosby hits 1,756 he will also be in second place all-time for most points by a player with a single franchise, trailing only Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe’s 1,809 points recorded as a Red Wing.
Crosby needs three more points to clinch a 21st consecutive season of a point/game and extend his own NHL record.
Some other various milestones and potential happenings tonight:
Soderblom set to appear in 100th career NHL games
Bryan Rust (498) looking to become 11th player to score 500 points as a Penguin
Evgeni Malkin (1,399) looking to become 23rd player in NHL history with 1,400 points
Egor Chinakhov (18) looking for first career 20-goal season
Anthony Mantha (58) is approaching the 60-point plateau for the first time
Riding high after back-to-back victories over the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be looking to keep the momentum going and get one step closer to locking down a playoff spot when they head to the Sunshine State this evening to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. With their playoff odds currently sitting at 95% according to MoneyPuck.com, the Penguins can push that number even higher by defeating the Lightning, who are in a battle of their own against the Buffalo Sabres for Atlantic division supremacy.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM and will be broadcast on Sportsnet Pittsburgh.
Pens Points…
On top of the Penguins defeating the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night, every game involving a team around them in the playoff race broke their way, giving the Penguins an added boost in their chase for a playoff spot with their odds of securing a berth now sitting around 90 percent. [Pensburgh]
Down in the AHL, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have already locked up a playoff spot and are now trying to lock down a first round bye with a top two finish in their division. Two wins last weekend have the Baby Pens right on the cusp of locking down that bye, possibly by this weekend. [Pensburgh]
Stuart Skinner will have a big career decision to make this summer, but he’s waiting until then to worry about it. Skinner is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, so where he is playing next year remains up in the air, but for now, the focus is on winning with the Penguins. [Trib Live]
What a month March was for Erik Karlsson and he was properly honored for his efforts by being named the Second Star of the Month by the NHL on Wednesday. In March, Karlsson tallied 24 points in 17 games to keep the Penguins afloat with the absences of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. [Penguins]
NHL News and Notes…
There’s no hard timetable being set, but the Colorado Avalanche know they will be without Norris winning defenseman Cale Makar for at least some undetermined time after Makar suffered an injury on Tuesday night against the Calgary Flames. [NHL]
Editor’s note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
And maybe, just maybe, after a five-game losing streak around the Olympics and a recent six-game skid that really shook the faith…maybe the Sharks are a team of destiny?
With 28 seconds remaining in Wednesday’s game at SAP Center, the Sharks edged the Anaheim Ducks 4-3, for their third-straight GWG with less than 90 seconds left.
That’s an NHL record:
Per @Sportradar, the #SJSharks are the first team in @NHL history to win three consecutive games on GWGs within the last 90 seconds of regulation.#TheFutureIsTeal
— San Jose Sharks PR (@SanJoseSharksPR) April 2, 2026
Speaking of destiny, the Sharks once again are in control of theirs: They’re one point back of the Los Angeles Kings for the last wild-card spot in the West, and tied with the Nashville Predators with 77 points, but they also have a game in hand on both teams.
The Western Conference wild-card chase isn’t a pillow fight, it’s a roller derby, with six squads, Los Angeles, San Jose, Nashville, Winnipeg Jets, Seattle Kraken, and St. Louis Blues careening into each other for a single playoff berth.
DENVER — Jared Bednar is typically the picture of a smooth operator — calm, cool, and collected.
But even the Stanley Cup-winning head coach has his limits. Wednesday night pushed him there.
The Colorado Avalanche, the NHL’s top team, were stunned on home ice, falling 8–6 to the league’s last-place Vancouver Canucks — a result as jarring as any they’ve produced this season.
Makar was not in the lineup due to an upper-body injury.
Vancouver entered the night on a six-game losing streak, scoring just 11 total goals over that stretch. They also carried one of the worst penalty kills in NHL history since the stat has been tracked. Still, Colorado conceded a shorthanded goal and unraveled defensively in a way that’s becoming increasingly concerning.
In short, the Avalanche were outplayed, outworked, and out-executed for the first 40 minutes. While they showed pushback in the third — something Bednar acknowledged — it did little to soften the larger issue.
"I (liked) the way we played in the third, but the reality of it is, if you want to win in this league, you have to play that way for 60 minutes," he told The Hockey News. "And we weren't even close.
"Wasn't a great first, it got worse in the second. Yeah, if you want to hand out like badges for good effort and stuff like that, I think we're beyond that. Effort for 20 minutes and doing the right things for 20 minutes isn't good enough."
When asked if there were any positives to take, Bednar didn’t hesitate to shut that down.
"Close as I get to a positive is what we just talked about. Again, we're past that. If this was the start of the season; we're making all sorts of mistakes...and build on what we did in the third period, is like trying to get a standard of play and the way you need to play an exhibition with a bunch of kids, but not now.
"I think if we're making excuses for that performance, it's gonna be a short run."
What Went Wrong
To put it plainly: everything.
Mackenzie Blackwood got the start and allowed six goals on 19 shots, with several falling into the category of stoppable. But the defensive structure in front of him was just as culpable, repeatedly breaking down and leaving Grade-A looks unchecked.
“He’s one of 20. That’s all I can say,” Bednar said. “One of 20 guys that wasn’t good enough.”
Sam Malinski scored twice, while Nathan MacKinnon, Gabe Landeskog, Brent Burns, and Parker Kelly each added a goal. After falling behind 6–2 and pulling Blackwood, Colorado mounted an impressive rally to tie the game at 6–6.
Then, much like the revamped power play from the last month, it vanished.
Just 23 seconds after the equalizer, Marcus Pettersson — without a goal since November — restored Vancouver’s lead, a backbreaking sequence that perfectly encapsulated Colorado’s night. An empty-netter followed to seal it.
The Avalanche missed a chance to take another step toward clinching the Central Division with a win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday. They remain firmly in control, but a performance like this — against the worst team in the league — does nothing to inspire confidence. If anything, it amplifies the inconsistencies that have lingered beneath the surface all season.
What Happened
Vancouver struck on the opening shift, setting the tone immediately. Nathan MacKinnon answered less than a minute later with his 50th goal of the season, becoming the first player in the NHL to reach the milestone this year.
But the response didn’t spark stability.
The Canucks regained control before the first intermission, scoring on both the power play and while shorthanded. Colorado managed to hang around with a late goal, but the warning signs were already there.
They only intensified in the second.
Vancouver poured in three unanswered goals, chasing Blackwood from the game. At the time of the third tally, the Avalanche had just three shots in the period — a telling snapshot of a team disconnected in all three zones. Defensive coverage was loose, the forecheck ineffective, and nearly every dangerous look against ended up in the net.
Then, suddenly, life.
Malinski opened the third-period scoring after Scott Wedgewood took over in relief. Fourteen seconds in, Parker Kelly struck to cut the deficit to two. Brent Burns made it a one-goal game at 13:21, and Malinski completed the comeback at 13:58, tying it 6–6.
Ball Arena came alive. Momentum had fully flipped. The Avalanche had erased a four-goal deficit.
And then, just as quickly, it was gone.
Twenty-three seconds later, Vancouver answered to reclaim the lead — and that was all she wrote.
If Colorado has any intention of making a deep playoff run, this has to be a wake-up call. Cale Makar’s absence is notable, but as Bednar made clear, it’s no excuse. Not now. Not with the postseason looming.
Because if this version of the Avalanche shows up in two weeks, Bednar’s warning may prove prophetic: it will be a short run.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
That's the goal I talked about when the Burns deal came through. Coupling his ability to get pucks through traffic and Landeskog's ability to redirect finally comes through. I think that's gonna show up big in the playoffs. #GoAvsGo
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!
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.
"Well, I suppose we'll see what they're made of during that brutal stretch in March."
Anyone who has been following the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2025-26 season knows that - prior to the trade deadline - the team was exceeding all outside expectations ordained for them before October commenced.
"This team will be tanking for McKenna," they said over the summer.
"Well, this surely isn't sustainable," they said, after the Penguins began the season 8-2-2 in the month of October.
"See, this team was bound to fall apart after that PDO bender," they said, during an eight-game losing streak in December that saw the Penguins plummet in the standings.
"This team isn't too bad when it's actually healthy - which is never," they said, after a 12-3-3 stretch to start the calendar year of 2026 ahead of the Olympic break.
Then, finally, came March: The month that was supposed to expose this team's weaknesses and cause an implosion that would likely pull them out of playoff contention. The home stretch that included the NHL's toughest strength of schedule. The gauntlet that was a near-death sentence for a Pittsburgh team missing its two biggest stars while forced to play 17 games in 31 days.
As it turns out, the 'March of the Penguins' wasn't nearly as doom and gloom as many thought it would be. In fact, it was the exact opposite - and the Penguins actually find themselves in a better spot than they did at the start of their hardest month of the season, as they are now second in the Metropolitan Division and six points clear of the playoff cutoff line - whereas, on Feb. 28, they were only four points clear of the Washington Capitals, the first team out of the playoff picture.
If anything, the month of March showed us who these Penguins are at their core: They're a team that fights for every inch and every point - and they're not going away anytime soon.
“We play with everyone,” forward Egor Chinakhov said. “And when we play the right way, and when we play our game, we can win. That's it.”
The Penguins ended up finishing March with a 8-6-3 record, and while that doesn't stand out a ton on paper, there is a lot more to it than just the record itself. Captain Sidney Crosby played in only seven games, while Evgeni Malkin played in just eight. And, on top of that, the Penguins played without both of them for six and a half games (Crosby was pulled early in the second period on Mar. 26 against the Ottawa Senators, a 4-3 shootout win).
And in those games? They went 3-2-2, earning eight of 14 possible points. And that takes an "all-hands-on-deck" effort as well as cohesion and simplicity from line-to-line, pairing-to-pairing.
"I think we just work in tandem really well," defenseman Ryan Shea said when asked about what makes this team different than previous Penguins' teams. "The forwards and the 'D,' they're supporting each other, everyone's getting back. The effort is incredible right now from our forwards. It's making it easy on our 'D' to get gaps, and when that happens and we're clean on breakouts, we have the skill to play with anyone in this league.
"And you're seeing it right now. Guys [have been] stepping up when guys are out, but now, we're kind of getting back to fully healthy. But, yeah, our team - it's in a good spot, but, obviously, we've got a couple games left, and we've got to keep going."
With Crosby and Malkin back, that sure should make things a bit easier for the Penguins, and they appear to be responding to that. They just won the two most critical games of their entire season so far against the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings - on back-to-back days, nonetheless - by a combined score of 13-4, with Crosby returning against the Isles and Malkin returning against Detroit.
But this was all after Erik Karlsson's nine goals and 24 points in the prior 15 March games - earning him the NHL's Second Star of the Month - carried the team through the toughest stretch of their season before the return of 87 and 71. Then there's Rickard Rakell, who put up 10 goals and 19 points in 17 March games - largely playing first-line center, a role pretty much completely foreign to him.
And there's also Anthony Mantha, who sealed the first 30-goal season of his NHL career at age 32 against Detroit and scored nine goals in March. And Bryan Rust, who led the way with eight goals and 20 points in 16 games during the month. Don't forget about Chinakhov, too, who has been thriving since his arrival in Pittsburgh and had six tallies and 15 points in March.
Goal #30 for #39 👏
Anthony Mantha is the ninth @penguins player to score 30 goals in the Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin Era (since 2006-07), joining Crosby (12x), Malkin (6x), Jake Guentzel (3x), Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, Phil Kessel, Chris Kunitz and James Neal. pic.twitter.com/vkLuY6dWLJ
Noticing a trend? The Penguins have had success all season long, in large part, because of their scoring depth, and although the aforementioned players largely carried the team production-wise through March, they got contributions from everyone in those final two games in March - which tends to happen when your best players return to the lineup and you're able to distribute talent.
And make no mistake: This is a talented roster on the offensive side of the puck. The Penguins have a league-high 12 players with 10 or more goals and a league-high nine players with 15 or more goals, and it's possible that they could have three 30-goal scorers as well as seven 20-goal scorers, depending on how things go in these final seven games for certain players.
Offensive talent aside, March had its ruptures for the Penguins, too. They gave up four or more goals in 10 of 17 games and three or more goals in 13 of them. Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs have both been a bit inconsistent lately and have found themselves on the wrong side of .900 for save percentages. Both aspects improved in the final two games of the month, but - of course - if the Penguins plan to make the playoffs and make any sort of noise in them, they will need more consistency on those fronts.
But, ultimately, the Penguins surviving the "brutal stretch" in March and coming out the other end of it better than they came into it is a massive success, and it speaks volumes about the character and belief in that locker room.
“It tells you that we come out big in big moments,” Skinner said after Tuesday's statement 5-1 win over the Red Wings to close out the month of March. “We’re a resilient group. If things don’t go our way [or] things do go our way, we just kind of stick to our game plan.
"That’s what’s so incredible about this group. The maturity obviously starts with the leadership [and] goes down to every single guy in how we play a simple, strong game. It’s very fun to play in, and it’s very fun to watch.”
So, believe it or not, these Penguins are here to stay - and they're ready to keep winning and play some meaningful games late into the spring.
"Our confidence is that high," Shea said. "And when we're doing that, we're a dangerous team."
Islanders center Mikhail Grabovski (84) as they lose 3-1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Barclays Center during a 2015 game.
Former Islanders forward Mikhail Grabovski is facing potential legal issues in Toronto after an alleged incident following an Ontario Minor Hockey Association playoff game.
The alleged altercation occurred in Markham, Ontario, on March 14 at the Markham Village Community Centre, where York Regional Police were called to at roughly 10:50 p.m. for a report of an assault, according to the Toronto Sun.
Grabovski was coaching a Markham Waxers under-15 playoff game at the time of the incident.
The Flyers’ Braydon Coburn checks Mikhail Grabovski of the Islanders during a game on Nov. 24, 2014. Paul J. Bereswill
Officers arrested an unidentified suspect, according to the Toronto Sun, and the male was charged with one count of assault, with the victim being taken to a local hospital to treat minor injuries.
The Toronto Star, citing court records, reported that Grabovski allegedly assaulted the coach of the York-Simcoe Express, the opposing team, Warren Cooper.
It is unclear what started the incident.
A condition of Grabovski’s release is that he is prohibited from contacting Cooper, the CBC reported.
The charges were sworn on March 30, and the first court appearance is scheduled to take place on June 12 in Newmarket, Ontario.
In a statement released following the incident, the OMHA denounced what had happened and said they would not make any further comments while “there is an ongoing police investigation.”
Mikhail Grabovski looks on during the Islanders’ 3-1 loss to the Maple Leafs during a 2015 game at Barclays Center. Andrew Theodorakis/New York Post
“The Ontario Minor Hockey Association is aware of this situation and does not condone this type of behaviour, nor does it reflect the values of the OMHA or the sport,” the league said in a statement.
Grabovski spent 10 seasons in the NHL, appearing in 534 games while recording 125 goals and 171 assists.
A majority of his career was spent with the Maple Leafs, playing in Toronto from the 2008-13.
He came to Long Island for the final two seasons of his career, playing for the Islanders in their first final season at Nassau Coliseum in 2014-15 and their first in a short-lived stay at Barclays Center in 2015-16.
Grabovski recorded 18 goals and 44 points during his two seasons with the Islanders.
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.
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.
Flyers Provide Injury Timeline for Injured ForwardThe <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers">Philadelphia Flyers</a> are without an injured forward for the time being, but the latest update from the team suggests it may not be that long before a return.
