The Philadelphia Flyers are leaving Winnipeg with a sweet 7-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets, and some guys are going to be able to enjoy the victory on a personal level, too.
With an assist on a shorthanded goal by Noah Cates, veteran Flyers forward Christian Dvorak, who has proven to be an excellent fit as a free agent signing back on July 1, has reached 300 career points.
Dvorak, 30, is already in the midst of a career year that's seen him rip off 51 points, and he only needs one more goal to set a new career-high there as well.
In his 10-year NHL career, the former second-round pick has 146 points in 302 games with the Arizona Coyotes, 103 points in 232 games with the Montreal Canadiens, and now 51 points in 79 games with the Flyers.
Cates, Dvorak's partner in crime, deserves a shoutout as well.
The 27-year-old expanded on his own career year with a three-point effort against the Jets and is now up to a rather impressive 18 goals and 46 points in 80 games this season, which far exceed expectations for the two-way maven.
At this point in the season, Flyers GM Danny Briere's offseason moves are looking more and more shrewd by the day.
Dvorak, alongside Dan Vladar and Trevor Zegras, have almost single-handedly led the Flyers' turnaround and subsequent charge to a playoff spot this year.
Head coach Rick Tocchet felt Dvorak had more offense to give heading into the season, and was he ever right about that one.
It shows Rogie Vachon, left hand tucked into a pocket of his bell-bottom jeans and a cigar wedged between two fingers of his right hand, which rests on the hood of a new Mercedes in an empty parking lot outside the Forum. His open V-neck shirt has huge lapels, his hair hangs down to his shoulders and a bushy mustache creases his smiling face, leaving Vachon looking more like the bassist for Spinal Tap than an NHL goaltender.
And that was the point.
Hockey was a bruising, inelegant sport played in the frozen tundra of Canada and the upper Midwest when Vachon was traded from the Montreal Canadiens to the Kings in the winter of 1971. The NHL had expanded to California four seasons earlier, yet even taken together the Kings and California Seals weren’t drawing enough fans to merit the word “crowd.”
“We were the punchline of a bad joke for a lot of years,” said Mike Murphy, who played with Vachon on those early Kings teams.
Rogie Vachon was the first player to have his jersey number retired by the Kings following his retirement. (Bruce Bennett Studios / Getty Images)
Hockey was wilting in the sun. If the sport was going to survive in the desert it needed stars, it needed personalities and it needed a cultural makeover — especially in Los Angeles, where the box-office draw was everything.
That’s where Vachon, a small-town farm boy from French-speaking Quebec, came in.
“It was really a culture shock,” he said. “In Montreal we won three [Stanley] Cups in four years. And then I come to L.A.; it’s sunny every time we go to practice or the game. Not a whole lot of people in the stands. Our team was pretty lousy too.
“So yeah it was a hell of a culture shock.”
Which brings up back to that 1975 photo, with the long-haired Vachon and his ferret-sized mustache looking fabulous in front of the Forum.
The clean shave and conservative haircut he had been forced to wear in Montreal were gone and Vachon was all Hollywood cool, as if Central Casting had created a West Coast hockey player — one with an unforgettable French-Canadian name full of soft vowels and voiced fricatives — and dressed him in a purple-and-gold No. 30 jersey.
And it worked.
“I think the fans really adopted me when I got there, probably because of my style,” said Vachon, who stretched out to 5-foot-8 if he stood on his tippy toes, but had a heart bigger than his body. “I was pretty quick. Small, but you know the style I was playing was very aggressive.
By the end of his third full season in L.A., Vachon had become Southern California’s first hockey star and the face of a franchise that badly needed one. He was not just a crowd favorite, NHL All-Star and the team’s first Vezina Trophy finalist, but he started the Kings on a streak that would see them qualify for the playoffs nine straight times, still a franchise record.
Not even Wayne Gretzky could match that.
“He was very popular,” said Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Miller, who began calling Kings games in Vachon’s second season in L.A. “He was very approachable. He was so dynamic and friendly. He made people want to come out and see games.”
Vachon, 80, did more than help the Kings survive, he helped them thrive. As a player he led the team to its first winning record, then returned to become the general manager who traded for Gretzky and drafted Hall of Famers Luc Robitaille and Rob Blake. He also had a winning record in three stints as an interim coach, making him the only man in franchise history to serve as a player, assistant coach, head coach and general manager.
Kings goaltender Rogie Vachon tries to avoid a collision with Chicago's Stan Mikita and the Kings' Dave Hutchison during a game in March 1977. (Fred Jewell / Associated Press)
In his last five seasons as the Kings’ goaltender, Vachon ranked in the top five in wins four times. In 1974-75, he led the NHL in save percentage (.927), had a career-best 2.24 goals-against average and finished 14 points behind Bobby Clarke in voting for the Hart Memorial Trophy, the league’s MVP award.
In many ways it remains the best regular season in franchise history, with the team earning a record 105 points and a .656 winning percentage in an 80-game season. It lost just 17 times, also a team record for a full season.
By the time Vachon left after seven seasons, the Kings were a perennial playoff contender. The Seals, who never found their star, went through four name changes and three ownership groups before moving to Cleveland.
Did Vachon save hockey in Southern California, and by extension open the NHL to a wave of expansion that has seen the league grow to 32 teams, some in warm-weather markets such as Miami, Tampa, Dallas, Anaheim and Las Vegas?
Well, he certainly didn’t hurt it.
“If it weren’t for him, maybe the Kings wouldn’t exist,” said Robitaille, the team’s all-time leading goal-scorer and its president since 2017. “He was a superstar. He brought people in, kept the Kings alive.
“It’s a pretty amazing record when you think about it.”
During his playing days, Vachon’s home was the 46 square feet directly in front of his team’s goal. Today his home is an eight-acre ranch in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley, about 45 miles south of Missoula.
“It’s nice and calm and we have mountains all over the place,” he said.
The nearest town, Hamilton, isn’t much bigger than the one where Vachon grew up in rural Quebec. Back then the farm he lived on had more than a dozen dairy cows, plus sheep, pigs and plow horses, since his family didn’t have a tractor. In retirement, he’s gone back to that childhood, mucking the stalls and helping care for a menagerie that includes two horses, 10 mini goats, two mini pigs, a pair of horses and a bunch of chickens and dogs and cats.
“The idea of coming out and getting a little bit of land and getting some animals, he liked that idea,” Vachon’s son, Nick, remembered. “But he said no cows. He might have been traumatized by the early mornings and milking twice a day.”
One of eight children — four boys and four girls — Vachon played his first hockey games at age 5 on a makeshift rink on the farm, and it wasn’t long before the neighborhood kids were taping department store catalogs to his legs for goalie pads and pushing him in front of the net — ostensibly for his safety since he was always the smallest kid on the ice.
He would never leave the crease, proving so comfortable there he was playing against grown men when he was just 12.
Montreal sent a regional scout named Scotty Bowman — who went on to become the winningest coach in NHL history — to scout him and he liked what he saw, so much so he convinced Vachon’s parents to let their teenage son sign with the Canadiens. Shortly after his 21st birthday, Vachon was in the NHL, making his debut without a mask and recording his first save on a breakaway by Hall of Famer Gordie Howe.
Montreal made the Stanley Cup Final in each of Vachon’s first three seasons, winning twice. But when he lost the starting job in goal to rookie Ken Dryden early in his sixth season, Vachon requested a trade and the Canadiens obliged, banishing him to L.A., then the NHL’s version of a warm-weather Siberia.
The Montana ranch where he lives now, surrounded by fir and pine trees, the shadows of the Bitterroots and silence, is the perfect retirement home, although it’s one Vachon found more by accident than design.
Vachon was still living by the beach in Southern California in 2016 when his wife, Nicole, whom he married less than a month after his trade to the Kings, died of brain cancer. Four years later, Vachon approached Nick, who was working as general manager of the L.A. Junior Kings/L.A. Lions, with the idea of uniting the family under one roof again.
Montreal goalie Rogie Vachon looks for the puck next to defenseman Serge Savard during a game against the St. Louis Blues in November 1969. (Fred Waters / Associated Press)
“I was living in a big house in Venice all by myself,” he said. “This sort of put into my mind that we should sell our houses in L.A. and move in together.”
So father and son rented a motor home, and along with Nick’s wife, Renee, and daughter Chloe, now 16, headed to Montana, where they found a home big enough for two horses, allowing Chloe, who grew up near the ocean in Redondo Beach, to train to become a barrel racer in the rodeo.
“We were definitely not horse people. Like what is a barrel racer? We had no idea,” said Nick Vachon, who followed his father into the NHL, playing one game with the New York Islanders — against the Kings — in 1996.
“She just loves animals. She’s kind of our resident vet. She helped deliver our baby goats and she does all the horse stuff.”
The elder Vachon hasn’t faced a puck in anger since his second and final season with the Boston Bruins in 1982. He says he’s just 15 pounds over his playing weight of 165 pounds, pretty fit for a guy limited by two knee replacements.
The once-famous dark mane has gone white and is neatly cropped and the bushy mustache is now just a brush of hair below his nose. But the cigars remain as do the memories, which are rekindled by the letters and autograph requests that still arrive regularly in the mailbox.
His Hall of Fame jacket, which Vachon says he hasn’t won since his induction a decade ago, sits on a hanger in a closet and just a few framed jerseys and photos hang on the walls of his five-bedroom farmhouse.
“He’s got some stuff,” Nick Vachon said. “But he’s pretty humble. He doesn’t like to put up too much.”
Vachon became one of the NHL’s top goaltenders in Los Angeles, so when he left as an unrestricted free agent after the 1977-78 season, he commanded what was then the top salary in history at his position, a five-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings worth $1.9 million. But he had two miserable seasons there, giving up more than 3½ goals a game, before being traded to Boston, where he did little better.
Still, when he retired in 1982, Vachon ranked among the top six all time in games and wins by a goalie. More than four decades later only Jonathan Quick has played or won more games for the Kings, who made Vachon’s No. 30 the first to be retired by the franchise.
However, there would be a second act for Vachon’s hockey career and naturally it would unfold in Los Angeles.
A year after his retirement, Vachon returned to the Kings as a goaltender coach, but before that first season was over he had been promoted to coach, then general manager, a position for which he had no experience, yet one he would hold for eight years, guiding the team to seven straight playoff berths and three trips to the division finals.
Those years proved consequential for other reasons as well since Vachon was the general manager who finalized the 1988 trade that brought Gretzky to L.A. Soon the Kings were the talk of the town, with President Reagan and wife Nancy even sitting rinkside.
The franchise had come a long way since Vachon’s early playing days, when those rinkside seats would sit empty.
Vachon was also the one who took Robitaille with the 171st pick, in the ninth round of the 12-round 1984 draft — and even then it was considered a gamble. But it was one that quickly paid off with Robitaille recording 191 points in his final junior season, then scoring 45 goals and winning the Calder Trophy in his first NHL campaign.
“The scouts were not quite as high on him as my dad was,” Nick Vachon said. “Finally he forces the scout at the table; he’s like ‘we’re picking Luc this round. I don’t care what you guys say.'"
“I owe him a lot,” Robitaille said of Vachon.
Robitaille, who also spent more time as an executive with the Kings then he did as a player with the team, said the transition from the ice to the front office can be a difficult one. Yet it’s one Vachon mastered quickly.
Luc Robitaille shakes hands with Rogie Vachon as Kings greats Marcel Dionne and Dave Taylor look on before a pregame ceremony at the Forum in October 1998. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
“When you’re a player, you live the moment. All that matters is that day,” Robitaille said. “When you get into management, you’re trying to win tomorrow but at the same time you’ve got a plan for next season and sometimes two, three years ahead.”
In retirement, however, Vachon doesn’t have to think any further ahead than the next sunset.
“He’s such a nice man but at the same time he’s got a ton of character,” Robitaille said. “Every time I talk to him, he just sounds so happy. That’s what life is about, isn’t it?”
Vachon’s son agrees. Because while the long hair, the mustache and the Mercedes are all gone, a broad smile still creases the old goalie’s face.
“When we first moved out here, he’d go out every day and just take in the air,” Nick Vachon said. “He just sits outside and enjoys the fresh air and so yeah, he’s super happy.”
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 18: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals and Ryan Graves #27 of the Pittsburgh Penguins battle for position during a game at Capital One Arena on January 18, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by John McCreary/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Who:Pittsburgh Penguins (41-23-16, 98 points, 2nd place Metropolitan Division) @ Washington Capitals (41-30-9, 91 points, 5th place Metropolitan Division)
When: 3:00 p.m. ET
How to Watch: Nationally televised game on TNT, streaming on HBO Max
Pens’ Path Ahead: Only one more to go in the regular season after this! The Penguins jet over to St. Louis to play the Blues on Tuesday and then the real fun begins next weekend with Pittsburgh hosting a Game 1 on Saturday or Sunday.
Opponent Track: It’s about the end of the line for the Capitals, they finish up in Columbus on Tuesday and then start planning for next season, barring a collapse by the Flyers.
Season Series: There were only three PIT/WSH games this season, today being the third. Yesterday was the second, which kinda a bummer to only play Washington one time in the first 79 games. That ended up being a 5-3 Penguin win in Pittsburgh way back on November 6th. Next season the NHL will have an 84-game schedule that ensures all division opponents play four times per year.
Getting to know the Capitals
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Anthony Beauvillier – Dylan Strome – Alex Ovechkin
Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Ryan Leonard
Aliaksei Protas – Ilya Protas – Tom Wilson
Brandon Duhaime – Justin Sourdif – Ivan Mirshinchenko
DEFENSEMEN
Martin Fehervary / Rasmus Sandin
Jacob Chychrun / Trevor van Riemsdyk
Cole Hutson / Matthew Roy
Goalies: Logan Thompson and Mitchell Gibson
Potential scratches: David Kampf, Hendrix Lapierre, Ethen Frank, Declan Chisholm, Dylan McIlrath, Charlie Lindgren
Injured Reserve: none
There’s a lot to like in the lineup with young players like Leonard and Sourdif taking steps forward this year and the emergence of Hutson, I. Protas and Mirshinchenko. The Caps won’t be playoff-bound this year but still have some nice young pieces starting to matriculate to the NHL.
The long-term injury to Dubois, who missed 55 games this year, ended up being a season killer. Dubois put up 66 points last season and helped both special teams units, it was an absence surely missed down the middle that a young player like Hendrix Lapierre just couldn’t fill.
A lotta beef on that third line that goes 6’6” 250, 6’6” 225 and 6’4” 225. Also has the rarity of two brothers playing on the same line, which is pretty cool and hasn’t happened professionally with Aliaksei being six years old than his ‘little’ brother. (Hard to call any 6’6”, 225 pound 19-year old ‘little’, isn’t it?)
The Caps might have to double dip and play Thompson for a second day in a row to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.
Season stats via hockeydb (not including yesterday’s game)
There’s a changing of the guard in Washington, John Carlson is out via a trade and Cole Hutson is in as the potential next top puck moving, point producing defenseman for the team. Hutson has looked the part, jumping straight into the NHL after his college season ended and already has five power play points in his first 11 career games. He’s still a teenager but it already looks clear that he will be a quality player for a long time to come.
Veteran center Nic Dowd was also traded for futures and there’s a spot for young Ilya Protas (62 points in 66 AHL games as a 19 year old!) to make a move up the depth chart at that position. Somehow I. Protas fell to 75th overall in the 2024 draft, he too looks like he will be a keeper and is way ahead of the development curve of where his big brother was at the same age.
Ovechkin leading the Caps in goals is nothing new or strange, but him being their top point getter this year is indicative of some of the problems. That team needed the supporting cast to step up and move past the aging star.
Chychrun has 45 goals since the start of 2024-25. Only Cale Makar (50) and Zach Werenski (45) are even in the same neighborhood across the NHL as being consistent and very real goal-scoring weapons from the blueline.
Charlie Lindgren went from secret weapon (appearing in 50 games with a .911 save% in 2023-24) to an outright liability this season. He’s locked in for the next two seasons at a $3.0 million cap hit, the Caps are going to have to hope for a bounce-back next season. Thompson can certainly handle things as the clear franchise goalie but the backup position and caliber of play was a big sore spot on the season.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Egor Chinakhov – Rickard Rakell – Ville Koivunen
Anthony Mantha- Tommy Novak – Justin Brazeau
Rutger McGroarty – Kevin Hayes – Avery Hayes
Elmer Soderblom – Joona Koppanen – Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Ryan Shea / Connor Clifton
Sam Girard / Jack St Ivany
Ryan Graves / Ilya Solovyov
Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs
Potential Scratches: Blake Lizotte (injured), Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Ben Kindel, Erik Karlsson, Parker Wotherspoon, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust
IR: Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones (season-ending shoulder surgery)
Since the Penguins pulled the plug on most of their top players yesterday at home, no reason to think any of them are going to come back for today’s game. Now that Mantha appeared in his 80th game and secured his last performance bonus, maybe he even joins them.
Thought it was funny that the team didn’t even bother to list temporary alternate captains for the day. Rakell, Kevin Hayes and Acciari would have made good ones as a little reward for playing.
One last time for Ovi vs the Pens?
Alex Ovechkin has punted an official decision on any playing next season until the summer. He got a nice ovation from the crowd in Pittsburgh yesterday and the Caps were sure to swoop up the puck from the officials after Ovechkin’s empty net goal yesterday. That might have been a “just in case” move, but it’s crazy to think that could have potentially been his final goal in the NHL.
Winnipeg Jets (35-32-12, in the Central Division) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (37-26-17, in the Pacific Division)
Paradise, Nevada; Monday, 10 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: The Vegas Golden Knights host the Winnipeg Jets after the Golden Knights defeated the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in overtime.
Vegas has gone 18-12-9 at home and 37-26-17 overall. The Golden Knights are 35-6-11 in games they score at least three goals.
Winnipeg has a 16-17-6 record in road games and a 35-32-12 record overall. The Jets have allowed 239 goals while scoring 223 for a -16 scoring differential.
Monday's game is the third time these teams square off this season. The Jets won the previous meeting 4-1.
TOP PERFORMERS: Pavel Dorofeyev has 36 goals and 27 assists for the Golden Knights. Mark Stone has six goals and two assists over the last 10 games.
Mark Scheifele has 34 goals and 65 assists for the Jets. Kyle Connor has scored seven goals and added four assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Knights: 6-1-3, averaging 3.4 goals, 5.5 assists, 3.2 penalties and 7.5 penalty minutes while giving up 2.5 goals per game.
Jets: 7-3-0, averaging 2.8 goals, 4.9 assists, 3.2 penalties and 8.1 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game.
INJURIES: Golden Knights: William Karlsson: out (lower body).
Jets: Gustav Nyquist: day to day (undisclosed), Morgan Barron: out (lower-body), Colin Miller: out (knee), Elias Salomonsson: out (concussion).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Buffalo Sabres (49-23-8, in the Atlantic Division) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (28-38-14, in the Central Division)
Chicago; Monday, 8:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: The Buffalo Sabres visit the Chicago Blackhawks after Josh Doan scored two goals in the Sabres' 5-0 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Chicago has a 13-18-8 record in home games and a 28-38-14 record overall. The Blackhawks have a 9-13-6 record in games they have more penalties than their opponent.
Buffalo is 49-23-8 overall and 23-13-4 in road games. The Sabres have a +39 scoring differential, with 275 total goals scored and 236 allowed.
The matchup Monday is the second time these teams play this season. The Sabres won 9-3 in the last meeting. Doan led the Sabres with two goals.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tyler Bertuzzi has 32 goals and 25 assists for the Blackhawks. Ilya Mikheyev has five goals and three assists over the last 10 games.
Tage Thompson has 38 goals and 41 assists for the Sabres. Jack Quinn has scored four goals with three assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Blackhawks: 2-7-1, averaging 2.4 goals, 4.1 assists, 2.4 penalties and 5.1 penalty minutes while giving up 4.1 goals per game.
Sabres: 5-3-2, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.4 assists, 4.5 penalties and 11.7 penalty minutes while giving up 3.2 goals per game.
INJURIES: Blackhawks: Shea Weber: out for season (ankle), Frank Nazar: day to day (face), Ethan Del Mastro: day to day (undisclosed), Artyom Levshunov: out for season (hand), Oliver Moore: out (lower body), Matt Grzelcyk: out for season (upper-body).
Sabres: Jiri Kulich: out for season (ear), Sam Carrick: out (arm), Alex Lyon: out (lower body), Justin Danforth: out (lower body), Noah Ostlund: out (upper-body).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The San Jose Sharks hosted their final regular season home game on Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Sharks looked competitive right out of the gate, with some big hits and some quality scoring chances in the opening minutes. Macklin Celebrini had a breakaway attempt denied by Kevin Lankinen roughly seven minutes into the game. After Lankinen made the save, Vancouver launched an attack of their own and forced Yaroslav Askarov to make a save at the other end of the ice.
Askarov had a bit of an issue with one of his pads as it came completely off his leg following the save, causing a short delay in action.
Igor Chernyshov opened the scoring with 3:41 remaining in the first period after he beat Lankinen from close range to make it a 1-0 game. The Sharks carried that lead into the first intermission.
As time expired though, Chernyshov showed his value to the Sharks in another form. Celebrini was hit hard by Victor Mancini as the period came to an end.
Zack Ostapchuk drew the first penalty of the game just over three minutes into the second period, as Zeev Buium sat for hooking. Shortly after the penalty expired, the Canucks evened things up with a strange goal.
Askarov attempted to play the puck, and as he rushed back to his crease, he pulled the net along with him. Although he pulled the net to the ice, the puck crossed the goal line before he did so, making it a 1-1 game with the goal credited to Marco Rossi, his 11th of the season.
Chernyshov nearly restored the Sharks’ lead eight minutes into the middle frame, but his shot from point-blank range went wide of the goal. Tyler Toffoli would be the one to give the Sharks their next lead, breaking an 11-game goal drought in the process to make it 2-1.
Dmitry Orlov would take the Sharks’ first penalty of the night with just over four minutes left in the second period after he tripped up Drew O’Connor. Jake DeBrusk would even things up off a rebound right before the penalty expired.
The Sharks challenged the goal for goaltender interference, but the call stood. As a result, Will Smith went to the penalty box, and the Sharks were back on the penalty kill right after giving up a power play goal. San Jose killed off the penalty, and the game went into the third period tied at two goals apiece.
William Eklund nearly put the Sharks back in front early in the third period, but his shot deflected off the post and went behind Lankinen, then through the crease. Chernyshov had a chance on an open net just over five minutes into the period, but fanned on the shot. He got a follow-up shot off, but it was saved by Lankinen.
Chernyshov scored his third of the night with 7:16 left in regulation, giving the Sharks a 3-2 lead with limited time remaining.
Vincent Desharnais went to the penalty box with just under five minutes remaining for a hook on Nils Hoglander, giving the Canucks a key opportunity to tie things up. Teddy Blueger did just that, as he scored Vancouver’s third goal of the night with just one second remaining on the Desharnais penalty.
60 minutes wouldn't be enough to decide a winner, as the game went into overtime. Alex Wennberg drew a tripping penalty which saw DeBrusk heading to the penalty box with just 2:17 remaining in overtime.
Smith had the winner on his stick with just 40 seconds remaining and a wide-open net in front of him, but his shot deflected out of play.
Eklund was called for interference with 28 seconds remaining, as expected, the call was not well-received in the SAP Center. The Sharks were able to kill of the Canucks' very abbreviated power play though, sending the game to a shootout.
After a lengthy shootout, Linus Karlsson eventually won it for the Canucks.
In Kevin Lankinen’s return to the lineup, the Vancouver Canucks put together a strong 4–3 shootout win effort against the San Jose Sharks. Jake DeBrusk scored his 20th goal of the season, while Marco Rossi and Teddy Blueger also found the back of the net. While Linus Karlsson scored the shootout winner, it was Lankinen who showed up most by stopping 28 of 31 shots faced as well as five of six shootout attempts.
In his first game since April 1, having missed the past week due to an upper-body injury, Lankinen put together a strong outing. He faced a handful of high-danger chances for San Jose in the first period, standing tall on chances from both Sharks stars Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini. Lankinen continued his strong play throughout the game, stopping two massive chances in-tight from Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli in the third period.
Celebrini continued his dominance over his hometown team, first by putting in the extended effort to get the puck to Igor Chernyshov on the Sharks’ first goal. He also assisted on Chernyshov’s second goal of the game and scored in the shootout. The forward is now up to three goals and 10 assists in six games against his hometown team as well as a five-game point streak against the Canucks. Tonight also marked his fifth-career multi-point game against Vancouver.
Tonight’s game featured an unexpected play in net. Victor Mancini rimmed the puck along the boards in his own zone, though nobody was able to collect it before it slid behind San Jose’s net. Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov went out to play it, though the puck bounced off the boards and into the possession of Rossi. Making a quick decision knowing he wouldn’t be able to get back into the crease in time, Askarov pulled the net down to try and negate the goal, though Rossi shot the puck and appeared to have gotten it in the tipping net. Regardless, the goal counted for the centre.
Vancouver’s power play remained hot in tonight’s game, scoring on their first opportunity thanks to DeBrusk. While they did have some issues breaking in on their first man-advantage, once they were able to set up, the Canucks had an easier time connecting their passes and getting the shot on net for DeBrusk to tip-in. While they didn’t score on their second opportunity, Blueger’s goal on the third man-advantage tied things up for Vancouver late in the third period. The Canucks are now up to 11 power play goals in the past 10 games that they’ve had at least one power play in.
By far the Canucks’ hero past regulation was Lankinen, who ended up facing a 4-on-3 power play for the Sharks during overtime. During this sequence of chances for San Jose, Lankinen stopped a massive near open-net chance for Smith, helping send Vancouver to the shootout. While Lankinen managed to stop Chernyshov to extend his shootout save streak to 18, it was Celebrini who managed to find the back of the net. Tonight’s shootout went six rounds, with the results increasing Lankinen’s numbers to 22 saves on 23 shootout chances faced.
With the win, the Canucks have snapped a four-game losing streak and made a substantial dent in the Sharks’ playoff chances. They also very nearly avoided being swept by the Sharks in a season series for the first time since 2016–17, as Vancouver previously dropped their three other games against San Jose earlier this year.
Apr 11, 2026; San Jose, California, USA; Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen (32) defends against San Jose Sharks left wing Igor Chernyshov (92) during the second period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images
Stats and Facts:
Jake DeBrusk becomes the second Canuck to score 20 goals this season
Vancouver records 40+ shots on goal for the second time in 2025–26
Teddy Blueger is now up to three goals and three assists in his past six games
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
16:19 - SJS: Igor Chernyshov (6) from Macklin Celebrini
2nd Period:
5:56 - VAN: Marco Rossi (11) from Victor Mancini
9:02 - SJS: Tyler Toffoli (19) from Sam Dickinson and Michael Misa
17:37 - VAN: Jake DeBrusk (20) from Filip Hronek and Elias Pettersson (PPG)
3rd Period:
12:44 - SJS: Igor Chernyshov (7) from Macklin Celebrini and Dmitry Orlov
17:01 - VAN: Teddy Blueger (9) from Linus Karlsson (PPG)
Overtime:
No Scoring.
Shootout Winner:
VAN - Linus Karlsson
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Vancouver is back at it right away with a matchup against the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow at 5:00 pm PT. This game will mark the end of their current road trip, with this being their last multi-game road trip of the 2025–26 season. The Canucks currently lead the season series 2–1, but dropped their most recent game by a score of 5–3 on March 24.
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Going into the first game of their home-and-home series against the Washington Capitals on Saturday - and the final home game of the regular season - the Pittsburgh Penguins were going to be pretty shorthanded.
Having already clinched a playoff berth with a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday, the Penguins had a plethora of players nursing some injuries that they decided to hold out of the lineup - despite the possibility that it could be Alex Ovechkin's final game in Pittsburgh.
Well, the Penguins looked like a team that was missing a whole lot of regulars from their lineup - and Washington's young guys delivered in a must-win game for the Capitals.
The Caps defeated the Pens, 6-3, With Ovechkin scoring the empty-net goal near the end of the contest to cap off the win. Ryan Leonard scored twice, each Protas brother - Aliaksei and Ilya - got on the board, and Tom Wilson registered his second-consecutive 30-goal season for the Caps en route to the win.
Penguins' netminder Arturs Silovs stopped 25 of 30 Washington shots on goal, while Pittsburgh only registered 12 shots of its own over the entire course of the game.
There was no score after the first period, where the Capitals outshot the Penguins, 10-1, but Silovs stood tall. But the second period got pretty crazy quickly. Aliaksei Protas opened the scoring just a minute and half into the middle frame, but Penguins' leading goal-scorer Anthony Mantha cashed in just 26 seconds later to knot the game up at 1-1 with his 32nd of the season.
However, the Caps answered four minutes later with consecutive goals by Leonard and Wilson to gain a two-goal lead. Noel Acciari put home his 13th for the Penguins a little past the midway point, but Leonard found the back of the net for his second of the game and 20th of the season to make it 4-2.
But immediately following a Penguins' penalty kill, Ryan Shea sprung Kevin Hayes from the box with a perfect neutral-zone pass, and Hayes came down the left side and put a perfect finish on it to bring the Penguins to within one.
The Caps didn't go away, though, and there were ultimately able to get goals from Ilya Protas and Ovechkin in the third - with Ovi's empty-net goal sealing the deal. Anthony Mantha was awarded a penalty shot in the third period, too, but he was unable to execute.
While the Penguins are unable to budge in the standings for the remainder of the regular season, the Capitals' win was huge for them, as they were able to stay within the conversation for a playoff spot. The New York Islanders fell earlier in the day, while the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets each won their respective games later, and the Metropolitan's third position is now the only pathway for any of those four teams to make the playoffs.
Washington trails Philadelphia - currently in that third spot - by three points.
The Capitals and Penguins will face off again on Sunday in Washington for the second half of a home-and-home, and it may be a similar lineup to the one the Penguins put out there on Saturday. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Ben Kindel, Bryan Rust, Erik Karlsson, Parker Wotherspoon, and Kris Letang are all considered day-to-day and did not play.
"I mean, obviously, they made a ton of changes to their lineup right before the game, and those games can be tough sometimes," Wilson said. "So, we knew we had to keep it simple and not give them anything. For the most part, we did a pretty good job. I think they got a couple good looks, but for the most part, we were dumping pucks, getting them back, forechecking, keeping it simple, using our legs.
"You don't want to get into a back-and-forth game on this type of night, so obviously, we've got one tomorrow, too."
Ovechkin got a nice ovation from the Pittsburgh faithful, too, in preparation for the fact that this could very well have been his last game in Pittsburgh, as both the Capitals' playoff hopes and his future are undecided at this point.
But Oveckhin appreciated the gesture from the crowd, and he said it's a sign of mutual respect between the two teams.
"Yeah, it was nice. It was a show of respect," Ovechkin said. "All that time that we spend on rivalries, playoffs, other good seasons... yeah. It shows respect."
And Penguins' players sure have a lot of respect for what Ovechkin has done over the years, too, and they are happy to have been a part of it for however long they've had the opportunity.
"Yeah, I mean, it's always special," Rickard Rakell said. "You've always got to be aware of where he's at on the ice because, I mean, he's... everybody knows about his shot. He's on for such a long time.
"I've had the pleasure to play against him for a long time, and you know when he's scoring on you. But, he's a fun player to watch."
Golden Knights forward Keegan Kolesar was trying to bank the puck off the boards during the third period of the April 11 game, but it went into the Avalanche bench and hit Bednar in the side of the head.
A trainer looked at the coach, who went to the dressing room with a towel being held to his head. Bednar had not returned by the end of the game.
The Avalanche said after the game that Bednar was hit in his right cheek and was fully alert and conscious but would be taken to a local hospital for a CT scan and further evaluation.
Avs head coach Jared Bednar took an attempted dump-in from Keegan Kolesar to the side of the head and has left the bench 🤕 pic.twitter.com/Qh0uQQSXgd
"It's certainly a little unnerving," assistant coach Nolan Pratt told reporters after the game. "It's scary when the pucks are flying in there. It happens all the time and unfortunate tonight."
The Golden Knights beat the Presidents' Trophy-winning Avalanche 3-2 in overtime to clinch a playoff spot and move past the Edmonton Oilers into the Pacific Division lead.
Bednar wasn't the only member of the Avalanche to leave the game. Defenseman Josh Manson didn't return after suffering an upper-body injury. Pratt said the team would have a better update on his condition on Sunday, April 12.
Eleven days ago, the Vegas Golden Knights were fighting for their lives. They had fallen to third in the Pacific Division and were in serious danger of missing the postseason. Today, they officially clinched a playoff berth and moved into first in the Pacific with a 3-2 overtime win on Saturday over the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche.
What a difference a week and change makes.
Right from puck drop, the Avalanche got to their game quickly and showed why they’re the Presidents’ Trophy winners. They outshot the Golden Knights 15-7 in the first period and generated nine high-danger scoring chances.
The Avalanche broke the ice at 9:17 in the first. Devon Toews fired a wrister from the point, and it rode up on Carter Hart’s chest protector and into the net.
Despite being outplayed in the first period, the Golden Knights entered intermission tied at one after scoring the equalizer on their second power play of the game.
The Golden Knights tied it up at 13:47 in the first. After Tomáš Hertl got a stick on Mitch Marner’s shot from the point, Mark Stone batted the puck out of midair. Parker in front of the net, Stone pulled to his backhand, and chipped it in over Mackenzie Wedgewood’s blocker.
Mark Stone with his third goal in his last two games. And what a beauty.
In the second period, the Avalanche boasted an 11-10 edge in shots. However, it was the Golden Knights with the lion’s share of scoring chances, generating 17 against Colorado’s nine.
The Golden Knights took their first lead of the night just 2:09 into the period. Mackenzie Blackwood turned aside Kaedan Korczak’s shot from the point, and the rebound kicked out to Ivan Barbadian behind the goal line. Barbashev protected the puck and set up Pavel Dorofeyev for a one-timed snipe from the left dot.
Pavel Dorofeyev with a perfectly placed shot from the left circle. That’s his 36th on the season and it’s a new career high!
The Avalanche responded at 10:56 in the second. Nick Blankenburg fired a shot from the point that hit off the post and bounced off of Carter Hart’s back and into the net.
What an odd bounce. Looks like Blankenburg’s shot went off the post, off Hart’s back, and into the net.
The teams played a scoreless, but eventful, third period. The Golden Knights outshot the Avalanche 10-6 and generated six high-danger scoring chances against Colorado’s three.
The Golden Knights scored the game-winner 1:19 into overtime. After the Avalanche missed the net on a 2-on-1, Jack Eichel took it back the other way and beat Mackenzie Blackwood below the blocker.
Jack Eichel wins it in overtime, and the Vegas Golden Knights are officially playoff bound.
1. The 2025-26 regular season officially comes to a close on Thursday. Despite the season ending in just five days, the Golden Knights have no clue who they’ll face in the playoffs. But tonight, they punched their ticket to the dance, and that is all that matters. Everything else is out of their hands.
2. Before tonight’s game, Pavel Dorofeyev and Jack Eichel had one goal in 12 games and one in 13, respectively. They both got over the hump tonight. Dorofeyev’s goal was his 36th of the season— a new career high.
3. The first goal that Carter Hart surrendered was exceptionally bad. However, he rebounded well and was named the second star of the night. Hart finished with 30 saves on 32 shots, including one against the Rocket Richard leader, Nathan Mackinnon, with 3:44 remaining in regulation.
The Florida Panthers wrapped up their final road trip of the season on a positive note.
Coming off four consecutive defeats since leaving South Florida, the Panthers pulled off a 6-3 win on Saturday night in Toronto despite putting up a mostly-AHL roster.
The Cats got off to a quick start at Scotiabank Arena thanks to a goal by Eetu Luostarinen on the game’s first shift.
Rushing into the zone with Mackie Samoskevich, Luostarinen picked up a rebound in the corner after a Samoskevich shot and sent a sharp angle shot toward the net that went off Joseph Woll and over the goal line just 23 seconds into the game.
Exactly five minutes and 10 seconds later, Cole Reinhardt came flying down the right side of the ice with the puck on his stick, driving to the Toronto net past Jake McCabe and putting the puck past Woll to give the Panthers an early 2-0 lead.
Tomas Nosek’s first goal of the season made it 3-0 Cats at the 92 second mark of the middle frame.
After rookie Marek Alscher came down from the point to cut off a Max Domi Exit attempt, he quickly found Nosek with the puck, and the veteran came barreling down the slot before beating Woll gloveside.
Toronto mounted a comeback attempt from that point, getting goals from William Nylander 2:21 apart to bring the Maple Leafs within one of the Panthers heading into the second intermission.
A goal by Mackie Samoskevich, his fifth in eight games, nipped that idea in the bud early in the third period, and then the Cats cemented the win on empty-net goals by A.J. Greer and Nosek.
While heading home with the two points probably has the players on the plane feeling good, it could ultimately be Toronto who gets the last laugh.
The Panthers and Maple Leafs were tied in the NHL Draft Lottery race heading into the game, but now Toronto holds a two-point ‘edge’ on the Cats with two games to go for each team.
As it stands, Florida has the seventh-worst record in the NHL while Toronto is fifth-worst.
On to the final two games of the season, starting Monday night against the New York Rangers.
Photo caption: Jan 6, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Easton Cowan (53) battles along the boards with Florida Panthers center Luke Kunin (71) during the second period at Scotiabank Arena. (Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images)
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Sean Couturier had two goals and an assist and Noah Cates added a short-handed goal and two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 7-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night.
Porter Martone, Matvei Michkov, Travis Sanheim and Nick Seeler also scored for the Flyers (40-27-12), winners of four of their last five games. Michkov added an assist, and Rasmus Ristolainen finished with two assists. Dan Vladar had 27 saves.
Hadyn Fleury scored for the Jets (35-31-12), who entered the game with a three-game winning streak and victories in five of their last six games to keep their playoff hopes alive. Jonathan Toews extended his point streak to three games with an assist, giving him four points over that stretch.
Connor Hellebuyck, who made his 20th start in the last 22 games, allowed five goals on 20 shots before being replaced for the third period. Eric Comrie allowed goals on his first two shots against and finished with one save.
With the victory, the Flyers complete a two-game series sweep of the Jets. Philadelphia earned a 5-2 win on home ice back in October.
Philadelphia earned a valuable two points to maintain its grip on third place in the Metropolitan Division and remain in the hunt for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Winnipeg is trying to secure the final wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference. With just three games remaining, its hopes for a spot in the postseason remain slim.
MONTREAL (AP) — Charlie Coyle scored twice as the desperate Columbus Blue Jackets rolled to a 5-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Boone Jenner, Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko also scored while Jet Greaves stopped 20 shots for Columbus, which is fighting to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Adam Fantilli added two assists.
The Blue Jackets sit outside the playoff picture, two points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Cole Caufield — with his 51st of the season — and Josh Anderson scored for playoff-bound Montreal two nights after Caufield scored his 50th in an electric 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jakub Dobes made 28 saves.
Defenseman Noah Dobson exited in the second period after blocking a Zach Werenski slap shot with his left hand. Canadiens rookie Ivan Demidov also went to the dressing room in the third when he was hit headfirst into the boards by Werenski, but he returned later in the period.
Montreal (104 points) fell from second to third in the Atlantic Division behind Tampa Bay (104 points), which holds the regulation-wins tiebreaker over the Canadiens. The Buffalo Sabres lead the division at 106 points with two regular-season games remaining for all three teams.
Up next
Blue Jackets: Host the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
Canadiens: Visit the New York Islanders on Sunday.
TORONTO (AP) — Eetu Luostarinen and Mackie Samoskevich had a goal and two assists each as the Florida Panthers cruised past the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2 on Saturday night.
Tomas Nosek, with two goals, Cole Reinhardt and A.J. Greer, into the empty net to go along with an assist, provided the rest of the offense for Florida.
Daniil Tarasov made 17 saves for the Panthers, who snapped a four-game slide.
William Nylander replied with a pair of goals for Toronto, which got 19 stops from Joseph Woll in the club’s fifth straight loss.
Both poised to miss the playoffs, the Maple Leafs and Panthers met in the second round of last spring’s postseason, with Florida topping Toronto in seven games before going on to hoist the Stanley Cup for a second straight June.
The Panthers, who started play one spot above Saturday’s opponent at 26th overall in the NHL standings, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period before Nosek made it 3-0 early in the second.
Nylander scored on a power play midway through the period, and added another to make it 3-2 through 40 minutes. Samoskevich made it 4-2 in the third. Greer and Nosek iced it into the empty net.
Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin has played in the NHL since 2015 and has only played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs once, later that season.
The drought for both him and the Red Wings has extended into a 10th consecutive year, as they were officially eliminated from postseason contention after blowing yet another third-period lead, this time against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday evening.
The Devils, who are outside the playoff picture, responded with goals of their own each time the Red Wings took the lead and eventually scored the game-winner themselves, with Jesper Bratt finding the net late in the third period en route to a 5–3 victory.
Larkin, who registered his third-career hat trick in Detroit's previous game to help keep their playoff hopes alive, admitted that he's not in good spirits after their fate was sealed.
"We're down," Larkin said afterward. "I'm down, as down as I could be right now. "
Larkin and the Red Wings were tied for first overall in the Eastern Conference in mid-January, and appeared well on their way to comfortably attaining a postseason spot. However, just as they had in each of the last several campaigns, they unraveled in March and lost their playoff points cushion.
"We put ourselves in a great spot, a lot of good things," Larkin said. "We didn't do what we set out to do, to make the playoffs and continue to build this thing."
An ill-advised pinch by Larkin in the slot in search of an offensive chance proved costly when his Team USA Olympic teammate Jack Hughes got to the puck first, flipped it past him, and led a 2-on-1 rush with Jesper Bratt that resulted in the go-ahead goal late in the third period.
"They're a transition team; that fourth one is on me," Larkin said. "I'm covering for (Simon), pinch in there, and two of those guys jumped by. It's completely my responsibility to stay back and cover for the D."
When it came to blowing third-period leads and ultimately losing, the Red Wings did so five times this season - four of them coming after March 4, including against the Devils and against the Blue Jackets earlier in the week.
"It seems to be a trend of late, but like I said, there were a lot of good things this year," Larkin said of being unable to protect third-period leads. "You could really go back and look at all the points in the third periods, but it's hard to look at right now. I don't think it's going to be a determining factor moving forward."
Detroit's centennial season will come to a close in the coming days with road matchups against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers.
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Flyers Get Massive Playoff Help from Claude Giroux, SenatorsEven though he isn't on the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers">Philadelphia Flyers</a> anymore, Claude Giroux, with the help of his Ottawa Senators teammates, lent his former club a helping hand in their playoff race Saturday afternoon.
