The Vancouver Canucks became the first team to be eliminated from 2026 playoff contention. The "E" went up next to the Canucks name on the NHL's standings page late on Sunday night. Vancouver has played 69 games so far this season and has picked up just 50 points. 

The Canucks have now missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. Since 2014-15, Vancouver has only qualified for the post-season three times. The last time the Canucks were in the playoffs was in 2024, when they reached Game 7 of the second round. 

Vancouver missing the playoffs has been a known fact for the last few months. At this rate, the Canucks are projected to finish 32nd in the league and will have the best odds at first overall in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. Of Vancouver's 13 remaining games, five are at Rogers Arena while the remaining eight are on the road. 

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Before setting out on a three-game Western Canada road trip, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the NHL’s hottest team, the Buffalo Sabres, on Sunday evening at Honda Center.

The Ducks were coming off a playoff-style and potentially fortunate 4-1 win over the Utah Mammoth on Friday. They entered the game with a three-point lead in the Pacific Division and had registered points in their last three games (2-0-1).

Ducks Sign Herman Träff to Entry-Level Contract

Ducks Prospect Maxim Masse Wins QMJHL Scoring Title

Buffalo was playing their second leg of a back-to-back, as they defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 on Saturday. They entered Sunday having won their previous four games and had won 13 of their last 14.

The Ducks coaching staff started this game how they finished the last, from a lineup perspective, with Mason McTavish listed on as the fourth-line left winger. Frank Vatrano and Drew Helleson served this game as the team’s healthy scratches. This was the final game of Radko Gudas’ five-game suspension, earned when he initiated a knee-on-knee collision with Auston Matthews on March 12.

Here’s how the Ducks lined up to start this game:

Kreider-Carlsson-Terry

Killorn-Granlund-Sennecke

Viel-Poehling-Gauthier

McTavish-Washe-Harkins

LaCombe-Trouba

Mintyukov-Carlson

Zellweger-Moore

Ville Husso got the start for the Ducks in this game and stopped 24 of 29 shots. In the Buffalo crease stood Alex Lyon, who saved 27 of 33.

“I don’t know how many times we’ve done that this year, but it’s been an alarming number,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said of his team scoring with the goalie pulled late. “It’s still not a recipe for success. The 4-2 (score) at the beginning of the period, that should have been something we should have nailed down and built off it.”

Game Notes

This was as typical of a 2025-26 Anaheim Ducks game as one could have expected. They exchanged chances with Buffalo all game, made several consequential mistakes in critical areas of the ice, got some luck, got some big saves from Husso when the game could have gotten out of hand, and once again, outscored their problems.

The underlying numbers don’t exactly paint that picture. They dictated pace and possessed pucks in elongated spurts throughout this high-event matchup. At 5v5, the Ducks won the shots on goal battle 27-26 and the expected goals battle 3.06-2.9, but lost the shot attempts battle 57-53.

D-Zone Coverage: Buffalo generated several long cycle sequences in this game, feeding their talented defensemen at the point and winning battles in the small areas of the zone. Tired legs would often give way to tired minds, and the net-front defenders were caught puck-watching on several occasions, leaving open slot attackers in prime locations.

Defense Rotation: The Ducks’ top four defensemen (LaCombe, Trouba, Carlson, Mintyukov) all notched well over 20 minutes TOI, while the bottom pair was short-shifted, especially as the clock was winding down. Zellweger and Moore were the only two defensemen on the Ducks with negative expected goals shares, and they were the biggest culprits of the poor defensive zone habits stated above. They weren’t as effective on breakouts as they’d been in previous games together, and when plays became sloppy, they had trouble adjusting and sorting out their assignments.

Jackson LaCombe: LaCombe went toe-to-toe with one of the NHL’s potential Norris Trophy finalists in Rasmus Dahlin and was equally as impactful, dictating pace, creating offense, and killing plays early on the defensive side of the puck in all three zones. LaCombe is an elite rush defender whose poise won numerous transition battles, which he then turned up ice into rush offense. He logged a pair of points while playing the vast majority of his 23:56 TOI at even strength.

The Ducks will hit the road for a three-game trip to face their Canadian Division opponents (Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers), starting with the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday at 7 PM PST.

Takeaways from the Ducks 4-1 Win over the Mammoth

Takeaways from the Ducks 3-2 OT Loss to the Flyers

Takeaways from the Ducks 4-3 Win over the Canadiens

The Calgary Flames defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in overtime on Sunday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Calgary turned to Devin Cooley between the pipes, and he was busy from the opening minutes as Tampa Bay pushed the pace early. The night also marked the NHL debut of Tyson Gross, recently signed out of the NCAA, who slotted in alongside Martin Pospisil and Adam Klapka.

Tampa Bay opened the scoring at 7:25 of the first period when Ryan McDonagh found space in the high slot and snapped a wrist shot through traffic and past Cooley. Brayden Point, a Calgary native, picked up an assist, along with Gage Goncalves, giving the Lightning a 1–0 lead.

The Flames responded late in the opening frame. At 16:25, Yegor Sharangovich worked the puck free along the boards and sent it up to Victor Olofsson, who ripped a wrist shot under the crossbar past Jonas Johansson to tie it. Zach Whitecloud added the secondary assist.

Moments later, on the very next shift (16:52), Calgary struck again. Morgan Frost buried his team-leading 17th of the season, wiring another shot high glove side on Johansson to make it 2–1. Matt Coronato picked up the helper.

The Flames extended their lead in the second period. At 8:28, Blake Coleman set up Mikael Backlund, who stepped into a slap shot from the top of the circle and beat Johansson cleanly upstairs for his 16th of the year. Hunter Brzustewicz also earned an assist as Calgary moved ahead 3–1.

Tampa Bay pushed back midway through the period. Following a scramble in front, Nikita Kucherov slid the puck to Darren Raddysh at the point, and his shot found its way through Cooley to cut the lead to 3–2 at 11:47. J.J. Moser recorded the second assist, while Kucherov continued his dominant stretch, now with 13 points (6g,7a) over his last four games.

Calgary appeared to restore its two-goal cushion late in the second when Backlund and Coleman connected again, but the goal was overturned after an offside challenge, keeping it a one-goal game heading into the third.

The Lightning found the equalizer at 15:40 of the final frame. Pontus Holmberg took a feed from Yanni Gourde and lifted the puck over Cooley to tie the game 3–3 and force overtime.

It didn’t take long to end it.

On the opening shift of overtime, Ryan Strome took a pass from Matvei Gridin and slipped it past Johansson to seal the win.

Rookie lap for #Flames Tyson Gross! 🔥@TheHockeyNewspic.twitter.com/bvW2L8qIQC

— Bryan Wilson (@BryanWilsonHKY) March 22, 2026

Three Takeaways

Frost finding his touch

Frost continued to lead the way offensively, scoring his 17th of the season and adding to a strong recent stretch with three goals in his last four games.

Targeting the same spot

Calgary’s shooters consistently beat Johansson high glove side, with multiple goals finding nearly identical placement—an approach that clearly paid off.

Coronato producing again

After a lengthy dry spell, Coronato is back contributing, recording four points (two goals, two assists) over his last four games and showing renewed confidence offensively.

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Ryan Strome scored 26 seconds into overtime and the Calgary Flames beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Sunday night for their third straight victory.

Victor Olofsson, Morgan Frost, with his team-leading 17th, and Mikael Backlund also scored for Calgary. Devin Cooley made 32 saves.

Ryan McDonagh, Darren Raddysh and Pontus Holmberg scored for Tampa Bay, and Nikita Kucherov had an assist to push his NHL-leading points total to 119. Second in the Atlantic Division, the Lightning had won three in a row.

Jonas Johansson stopped 25 shots for Tampa Bay, coming off a 5-2 victory in Edmonton on Saturday night.

Olofsson and Frost scored in a 27-second span late in the first to give the Flames a 2-1 lead.

Hometown center Tyson Gross made his NHL debut for the Flames. A Hobey Baker finalist this year, Gross signed with Calgary on March 12 after his season at St. Cloud State came to a conclusion. He had a penalty in 8:07 of ice time.

Up next

Lightning: Host Minnesota on Tuesday night.

Flames: Host Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

___

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

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his 1,000th career NHL goal combining the regular season and playoffs, but the league-leading Colorado Avalanche beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 in overtime on Sunday.

Ovechkin’s goal, his 26th of the season, came from his traditional spot on the power play and tied the score with 5:43 left in regulation. He extended his career record to 923, nearly a year since passing Wayne Gretzky for the most in league history.

Gretzky has NHL 1,016 goals: 894 in the regular season and 122 in the playoffs, the latter being a record the “Great One” still holds.

U.S. Olympic gold medal winner Brock Nelson scored 82 seconds into 3-on-3 OT off a pass from Martin Necas, his 32nd goal of the season. Gabriel Landeskog and Nicolas Roy scored earlier for the Avalanche, who have won back-to-back games and on Friday became the first team this season to clinch a playoff spot.

Justin Sourdif also scored for the Capitals, whose two-game winning streak came to an end. It was Sourdif’s 14th goal of his first season with Washington following a late-June trade from back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida.

JETS 3, RANGERS 2, SO

NEW YORK (AP) — Gabriel Vilardi tied his career high with his 27th goal of the season and won the game in a shootout, captain Adam Lowry ended his lengthy scoring drought and Winnipeg ended its three-game losing streak by beating the New York.

Vilardi and Kyle Connor scored in the shootout to spoil the NHL debut of Rangers goaltending prospect Dylan Garand. The 23-year-old impressed by stopping 35 of the 37 shots he faced in regulation and overtime and was arguably one of the best players on the ice.

Garand’s biggest save came midway through the second period when he denied Connor on a shorthanded 2-on-0 breakaway. He was fortunate minutes later when Cole Perfetti’s shot from in tight clanked off the crossbar and out.

Lowry scored on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Perfetti and Lowry 13 minutes in that Garand had little chance of preventing. Lowry’s goal was his first since Jan. 13, which was 25 games ago.

HURRICANES 5, PENGUINS 1

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Seth Jarvis scored on a power play and assisted on two other man-advantage goals as Carolina beat Pittsburgh.

Sebastian Aho and Nikolaj Ehlers also scored on power plays for the Hurricanes, who beat the league’s best penalty kill team for three goals.

Aho, who scored his 25th goal of the season, became the first player in Hurricanes or Hartford Whalers history with eight 25-goal seasons.

Jalen Chatfield and Mark Jankowski also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won seven of their last 10 games. Carolina has points in 24 of its last 29 games. Frederik Andersen made 18 saves for his fifth straight win. He’s 6-1 in his last seven starts.

Jarvis has a goal and six points in his last three games. Ehlers has six goals and 14 points in his last 11 games.

PREDATORS 3, BLACKHAWKS 2, OT

CHICAGO (AP) — Filip Forsberg scored his second goal of the game at 1:05 of overtime to lift Nashville to a win over Chicago.

Forsberg stole the puck from Andre Burakovsky behind the Chicago net, skated to the left side and fired a high shot past Spencer Knight for his 32nd goal, giving the Predators their longest winning streak of the season at four games.

Forsberg also set up Steven Stamkos’ team-leading 34th goal that tied it at 2 at 9:43 of the third period, about 11 seconds after a high-sticking penalty to Connor Bedard expired. Stamkos notched his third goal in two games by redirecting Forsberg’s pinpoint pass off the right post and in.

Bedard scored his team-leading 29th goal and Nick Lardis connected as the Blackhawks lost their second straight.

ISLANDERS 1, BLUE JACKETS 0

NEW YORK (AP) — Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves for his NHL-leading seventh shutout of the season, Bo Horvat scored the only goal on the first shot of the game and New York moved back into a playoff spot with a victory over Columbus.

Sorokin bounced back a night after he allowed six goals on 32 shots before being pulled in New York’s 7-3 loss at Montreal. The shutout was his franchise-record 29th and Sorokin tied his single-season high set in 2021-22.

Horvat scored 1:25 into the game, taking a pass from Anders Lee and beating Jet Greaves with a snap shot. It was the earliest goal scored in an Islanders 1-0 victory in franchise history.

The Islanders snapped a two-game skid that knocked them briefly out of a playoff spot. With 85 points, they’re in the second wild-card position in the Eastern Conference and tied with the Blue Jackets. Columbus is in third place in the Metropolitan Division because it has played one fewer game than New York.

Greaves finished with 21 saves for Columbus, which had its four-game winning streak and 12-game points streak stopped.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, STARS 2

DALLAS (AP) — Reilly Smith scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:38 left in the third period and Vegas beat Dallas, denying the Stars’ bid to clinch a playoff berth.

Vegas’ Mitch Marner skated into the high slot and his shot ricocheted off two Dallas players and landed near Smith, who scored from close range past a defenseless Casey DeSmith. The deciding goal came after the teams played more than seven minutes without a whistle.

Brayden McNabb and Ivan Barbashev also scored for Vegas, which snapped a three-game skid and won for just the third time in nine games. Adin Hill made 13 saves for the Golden Knights, who outshot Dallas 33-15.

Dallas’ Wyatt Johnston set a franchise single-season record with his NHL-leading 23rd power-play goal. Johnston held the mark for the most in a season since the Stars moved to Dallas in 1993-94. His latest moved him past Dino Ciccarelli (1986-87) for the most for the Minnesota-Dallas franchise.

Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves and Bo Horvat’s first-shift goal stood up as the only marker the Islanders needed two earn them two crucial points, in regulation, in a virtual must-win meeting with the surging Columbus Blue Jackets.

It was a gusty performance by the Isles, who were missing Ryan Pulock and relied heavily on Carson Soucy to consume some of those minutes. In comparison to the night before in Montreal, they were much more responsible in preventing neutral zone transitions and in covering second and third attackers once Columbus gained the zone. Both teams were playing after traveling for the second half of a back-to-back.

But this win doesn’t happen without Sorokin, who notched his league-leading seventh shutout of the season and franchise-leading 29th all-time shutout. (He also tied his own single-season record of seven, one he shares with himself, Semyon Varlamov and Chico Resch.) We’re in the presence of greatness with this goalie, and if the rest of the Islanders roster were in a different phase, we might be talking about how he could lead them on a long Cup run.

Instead, as it stands, he and Matthew Schaefer are the engines driving a playoff push that wasn’t much expected before the season began; tonight’s 1-0 win puts them back into position, if only temporarily, in the second wild card spot.

[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]

Horvat’s goal came at 1:25 as he took an Anders Lee bank off the glass down the right wing and beat Jet Greaves far post. The second assist was credited to Adam Boqvist, who logged 12:03 in his rare appearance with Pulock out.

There was, of course, little indication at that time that it would be the only goal of the game. Even as play entered late in the third period, the Islanders’ recent history of failing to close out games late in regulation was haunting in the background.

On the other hand, Sorokin was having one of his nights, rebounding firmly after allowing six goals the previous night in Montreal. If it was going to happen, it was going to be a scenario like where Sorokin saw everything, anticipated the third pass and was there to accept the one-timer in his bread basket, while the forwards were disciplined in fronting shots from outside and the defensemen made the extra efforts to clamp down on sticks.

A bounce here or there and it’s a very different night, but not whenever any of those bounces were in Sorokin’s range to control.

And really, it shouldn’t have only been one goal. Anders Lee was briefly credited with an important insurance marker when Horvat rushed down the wing again and played a shot off Greaves’ pad. Greaves was above his crease after he made the save, and Lee and Mathieu Olivier crashed into the vacated crease chasing the rebound. Lee tried to stop, the both of them crashed to the ice, and Olivier’s leg pushed the puck over the line.

There was no shot for Greaves to play. There was no disruption by Lee to prevent Greaves from playing a puck that his own teammate knocked over the line. They were about to drop the ensuing center-ice faceoff when Rick Bowness finally stopped them to issue a coach’s challenge. The video review took incredibly wrong, indicating — if nothing else — this was not an obvious miss by the on-ice call so they’d have to come up with something good to call the goal off.

They called the goal off.

It was different and yet eerily reminiscent of the same team and a similar high-stakes situation almost one yaer ago today:

Whatever, the NHL can’t decide what goalie interference is and it will probably cost them at a critical moment in the playoffs. Whenever that happens…it’ll probably be Buffalo on the losing end in a Stanley Cup final and everyone will just forget about it.

The Islanders went 0-for-3 on their power play, though they had some good looks and continued a generally better approach that they’ve shown since the Olympic break. The Blue Jackets received zero power plays, which will factor in their own grievance about the night of feeling of righteousness for the Lee goal being overturned. But two of their biggest shouts for penalty calls were on maneuvers that Mat Barzal has been fined for “diving” on, so no sympathy is extended for their suffering.

After the insurance goal was disallowed, the Islanders’ push definitely faded. They let Columbus dictate the rest of the game as they went into full Trotz Mode. They bent but did not break in the final minutes, clearing pucks and fighting hard in the corners to consume clock but pretty much conceding the other half of the rink. The Blue Jackets repeatedly were allowed to regroup and dump the puck in, but they met pretty good resistance each time.

It’s not a recipe you can rely on, unless you have Ilya Sorokin.

As the final horn sounded, just after a couple more clears by Schaefer, Brendan Burke pronounced, “One is enough for Ilya Sorokin!”

Up Next

The Islanders continue a home-heavy schedule to finish out the season. Tuesday is another virtual “must-have” with the Blackhawks coming to town.

NEW YORK (AP) — Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves for his NHL-leading seventh shutout of the season, Bo Horvat scored the only goal on the first shot of the game and the New York Islanders moved back into a playoff spot with a 1-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night.

Sorokin bounced back a night after he allowed six goals on 32 shots before being pulled in New York’s 7-3 loss at Montreal. The shutout was his franchise-record 29th and Sorokin tied his single-season high set in 2021-22.

Horvat scored 1:25 into the game, taking a pass from Anders Lee and beating Jet Greaves with a snap shot. It was the earliest goal scored in an Islanders 1-0 victory in franchise history.

The Islanders snapped a two-game skid that knocked them briefly out of a playoff spot. With 85 points, they’re in the second wild-card position in the Eastern Conference and tied with the Blue Jackets. Columbus is in third place in the Metropolitan Division because it has played one fewer game than New York.

Greaves finished with 21 saves for Columbus, which had its four-game winning streak and 12-game points streak stopped.

Lee appeared to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead with 7:54 remaining, but Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness challenged the goal and the call was overturned on video review when it was ruled that Lee interfered with Greaves.

Shortly after the Islanders’ goal was waved off, Sorokin made saves on in-close attempts by Cole Sillinger and Kirill Marchenko.

The Blue Jackets pulled Greaves with just over two minutes left, but Sorokin — who had 13 saves in the third period — and the Islanders held on.

Up next

Blue Jackets: Visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.

Islanders: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.

NEW YORK (AP) — Florida Panthers forward A.J. Greer has been suspended three games for shoving Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary into the boards from behind.

The NHL announced the punishment on Sunday.

The play occurred 11:11 into the third period of Florida's 4-1 loss at Calgary on Friday night. The 29-year-old Greer was assessed a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct.

Greer has a career-high 13 goals and 24 points in 68 games this season. He will miss games against Seattle, Minnesota and the New York Islanders, and he forfeits $13,281.24 in salary that goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

___

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

The Winnipeg Jets snapped their three-game losing skid Sunday night, defeating the New York Rangers 3-2 in a shootout to keep their playoff hopes alive.

It was a standout performance from Gabe Vilardi, who recorded a multi-point night and continued his strong season. Vilardi scored his 27th goal of the year on the power play, tying his previous career high, and added an assist on Winnipeg’s opening goal. His offensive contributions proved critical in a tightly contested game.

Jets captain Adam Lowry also delivered a bounce-back performance, opening the scoring in the first period with his fifth goal of the season to give Winnipeg a 1-0 lead.

The Rangers responded later in the game, with depth forward Tye Kartye scoring his sixth goal of the season off an assist from New York captain J.T. Miller.

Vilardi restored Winnipeg’s lead early in the second period with his power-play goal, making it 2-1. New York answered again before the end of the period, capitalizing on a power-play opportunity to tie the game 2-2 heading into the third.

Both teams leaned on strong goaltending from unexpected sources as Winnipeg backup Eric Comrie made 27 saves, while Rangers netminder Dylan Garand impressed in his first career NHL start. Garand made 35 saves and allowed just one goal at even strength, helping keep New York in the game.

After a scoreless overtime, the game went to a shootout, where Kyle Connor scored the winner to secure the victory for Winnipeg.

The win comes at a crucial time for the Jets with 12 games remaining, they sit five points out of a playoff spot and must surpass four teams in the standings. The Colorado Avalanche are currently the only team to have clinched a postseason berth, leaving the rest of the race wide open.

Winnipeg returns to action Tuesday at home against the Vegas Golden Knights and will need to stay hot to keep their playoff chances alive.

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

The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that they have assigned forward Ville Koivunen to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. 

Koivunen was called back up to the Penguins' NHL roster earlier this month, but with this news, he is now heading back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In 33 games this season with Pittsburgh, the 22-year-old forward has recorded two goals, five assists, seven points, and a minus-5 rating. 

Koivunen will now be looking to continue to make an impact now that he is back with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In 29 games with the AHL squad this campaign, he has 11 goals, 22 assists, 33 points, and a plus-7 rating.

In 41 career NHL games over two seasons with Pittsburgh, he has recorded two goals, 12 assists, 14 points, and 14 penalty minutes. 

The Florida Panthers are going to be without another one of their regular forwards for the next several games.

Unlike the majority of their roster absences this season, this one will not be due to an injury.

Greer was suspended by the NHL Department of Player Safety for three games on Sunday.

An official explanation from the NHL can be found by clicking here.

The discipline stems from a hit by Greer on Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary during Friday’s 4-1 victory over the Panthers.

During the third period, with Calgary holding a 2-1 lead, Greer was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding after he pushed Zary into the boards head-first.

You can check out the hit in the X post below:

Connor Zary leaves the game following a hit from A.J. Greer pic.twitter.com/8JVCrVp0hb

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 21, 2026

The Greer-less Panthers will be back in action on Tuesday they host the first of their final three homestands of the season, all of which are a whole two games in length.

This one will feature Florida hosting the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday and the Minnesota Wild Thursday.

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Photo caption: Oct 2, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing A.J. Greer (10) warms up before a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena. (Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks took on the Nashville Predators in matinee hockey at the United Center on Saturday. The Blackhawks came into this game looking to rebound from a bad loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.

The Predators entered Sunday above the playoff line. The Blackhawks had a chance to play spoiler for one of their top Central Division rivals. 

The Blackhawks played an okay first period, but there was no scoring for either side. The big story from the opening frame is Matt Grzelcyk’s injury, which took him out of the game. 

Nick Lardis got the Hawks on the board in the second with his 6th goal of the season. He was allowed to start a game in the top six, and he rewarded the coaches for it. 

Just over two minutes of game clock later, Nashville tied the game. Filip Forsberg scored his 31st to even things up for his team. 

The Blackhawks did reach the second intermission with a lead, as Connor Bedard scored his 29th of the season to put them up 2-1. He found himself on a breakaway, and he made a beautiful move to beat Juuse Saros. 

In the third period, Steven Stamkos tied things up again. Once again, the Blackhawks had a chance to put a game against a good team away, but they weren’t able to hang on to a late lead. Overtime was required with a 2-2 tie.

In the extra frame, Filip Forsberg took advantage of Andre Burakovsky behind the Blackhawks’ net. Once Forsberg stole the puck, he made a nice play to beat Spencer Knight and won it in overtime with his second of the game. 

After the game was over, Jeff Blashill confirmed that Matt Grzelcyk would miss the four-game road trip on the East Coast. He said that it is TBD beyond that. 

March has mostly been good to the young Blackhawks, but finishing off some of these potential wins has been an issue all season. There will be emphasis on fixing this as they head into the 2026-27 season. 

Watch Every Chicago Goal

the goal, the replay, the celly… we’ve got it all ❤️ pic.twitter.com/XRcwCZLcSO

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 22, 2026

SAY SOMETHING NICE ABOUT #98❤️ pic.twitter.com/z0FkXKS0gZ

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 22, 2026

What’s Next For The Blackhawks?

The Chicago Blackhawks will be back in action again on Tuesday night when they head east to take on the New York Islanders, the first of the aforementioned four-game road trip. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

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

The Rangers may have found something in Tye Kartye.

Over his first 12 games with the Blueshirts, Kartye has racked up three goals and five assists for eight points since the organization plucked him off the waiver wire from the Kraken toward the end of February.

The game-tying goal he scored 41 seconds into the second period of Sunday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Jets counted as the 22nd of his career.

Kartye has already matched his production through his first 40 games of the season with the Kraken.

“Just his speed,” captain J.T. Miller said of what’s impressed him the most since teaming up with Kartye on a line. “I like playing with guys like that, that are relentless and a very good forechecker. Backs the D off, even if he doesn’t have the puck, he’s backing him off because he’s slashing out or whatever. It’s a simple game. I like playing with him and [Conor Sheary].

“Like when we get chances, try to play below the hash marks and grind the game down. Don’t make it too difficult on ourselves. Tye had a big game today. He was a big part of the success we had.”

He’s primarily skated in the middle six since coming to New York, but has skated on the wing of Miller and Sheary in the past couple of games.

Head coach Mike Sullivan has also worked him into the penalty-killing rotation, in which he has averaged 1:20 of short-handed ice time per game.

The PK ultimately fended off three of four power-play opportunities Sunday.

“I think Tye’s played great for us,” Sullivan said of the undrafted forward, who has 48 points in 191 career NHL games. “He’s a great kid, first and foremost. He brings great energy to the rink. He loves hockey. He loves to be on the ice. He loves to practice. He’s enthusiastic, and I think that energy is contagious. He can really skate. The one thing that jumps out to me is his puck-pursuit game, the offensive zone, just hunting pucks and hunting down defensemen and taking their time and space away. I think he creates opportunity for him and his linemates when he does it. And he’s a pretty conscientious guy defensively. He has a good stick. He’s willing to block shots…I think he’s been a welcomed addition to our lineup.”

The day after signing his three-year entry level contract, Drew Fortescue watched the Rangers take on the Jets from the MSG press box Sunday afternoon.

Considering the Rangers play another game against the Senators on Monday night, the expectation is Fortescue will get at least one practice with the team before making his NHL debut. The Rangers are scheduled to be off Tuesday following the back-to-back slate, so Fortescue’s first practice likely won’t be until after the team plays the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Wednesday.

His NHL debut could be Friday against the Blackhawks.

“I would envision him playing some games here moving forward and we’re excited to work with him,” Sullivan said after the loss Sunday.

The Rangers were pleased with how it worked out with Gabe Perreault last season, when the organization signed the young wing right after his season at Boston College ended and had him report to New York.

So much so that they wanted to do the same with Fortescue, who will also burn a year of his ELC by coming straight to Manhattan.

Had the Rangers not signed him this season, Fortescue would’ve only been eligible for a two-year deal after next season.

By signing him now, the Rangers get Fortescue into the system sooner and set him up to be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2028.

The Rangers are back in game action Monday night, when they welcome the Ottawa Senators to Madison Square Garden.

To say that Ottawa Senators winger Michael Amadio has been a model of consistency in his NHL career would be a major understatement. As an example, Amadio has posted exactly 27 points in each of the past three seasons.

But this year is now officially a career year.

Just a few weeks shy of his 30th birthday, Amadio marked the occasion early by hitting the 30-point plateau and scoring a huge third-period goal in Saturday's 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Amadio is in year two of a three-year contract with the Senators, and for a player who can be trusted in all situations, his $2.6 million salary is outrageously team-friendly.

Tim Stützle is among his admirers. When asked about him, Stützle quickly recalled Amadio's first go-around in Ottawa near the end of the 2020–21 season. The Senators acquired him from Los Angeles for defenceman Christian Wolanin almost exactly five years ago (March 29), when Stützle was closing out his rookie season.

“Nothing against the (former) management, but (Amadio) was a pretty good player, and we traded him away," Stutzle told the media.

“I was able to play on his line when he came in. We actually had a really good game, and then the next day he was traded. So I was really excited for him coming back (in 2024).

“And he's really underrated. In my opinion, he has one of the best sticks in the league, killing penalties, too... playing in every situation. I think just the space he creates for his teammates, it’s been awesome to see, and I think that line has been going really well.”

Amadio was Nick Paul's junior teammate for three seasons as they helped lead the Brampton/North Bay Battalion, and he's brought the same kind of no-frills reliability that Paul had here in his last couple of years before Ottawa shipped him to Tampa Bay.

Coaches love reliability.

It’s often said the very best way to know what a head coach thinks of a player is not to directly ask him, but to check his ice time. As the Senators took down the New York Islanders in a crucial 3-2 win on Thursday night, the Sault Ste. Marie native led all Senators forwards with 20:13.

But just to be on the safe side, the Ottawa media directly asked Travis Green what he thinks about Amadio.

“Yeah, Ammo’s one of those players. He just quietly brings a good game a lot of nights. He’s very smart. He’s got a real good stick, he can intercept passes well, and he’s got good hockey sense.

“He’s a nice player for us to have for sure.”

Amadio wasn't actually traded away by the Sens in 2021, so it didn't go down exactly as Stutzle described. Former GM Pierre Dorion just opted not to qualify him that summer, and Amadio eventually signed with the Leafs.

Toronto placed him on waivers in the first month, when he was snapped up by Vegas, where he eventually won a Stanley Cup in 2023. The following year, Ottawa signed him to the biggest deal of his career, a three-year pact worth $7.8 million.

Five years ago, under previous management, it's safe to say the Senators didn't know what they had. But today, in their fierce battle for a playoff spot, they'll take all the Ammo they can get. 

Steve Warne
The Hockey News