Conversely, both sides have struggled defending lately, with the Avs losing four of their last five outings — surrendering 23 goals in that span.
As for Toronto, it's allowed 29 over its last six games, going 1-3-2 in that stretch while going Over the total five times.
The Over has been an extremely profitable play for Leafs bettors this season, going 30-20-2, and I anticipate yet another high-scoring affair tonight with the high-flying Avalanche in town.
Avalanche vs Maple Leafs same-game parlay
Auston Matthews has 11 goals in his last 14 games, and he'll need to step up with William Nylander sidelined.
Max Domi is starting to gain momentum again alongside Matthews with four points in his last four games — three of which are assists.
Avalanche vs Maple Leafs SGP
Over 6.5
Auston Matthews anytime goalscorer
Max Domi Over 0.5 assists
Avalanche vs Maple Leafs odds
Moneyline: Avalanche -180 | Maple Leafs +155
Puck Line: Avalanche -1.5 (+130) | Maple Leafs +1.5 (-150)
Over/Under: Over 6.5 (-125) | Under 6.5 (+105)
Avalanche vs Maple Leafs trend
The Leafs are 3-1 on the moneyline in the last four meetings between these two teams. Find more NHL betting trends for Avalanche vs. Maple Leafs.
How to watch Avalanche vs Maple Leafs
Location
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON
Date
Sunday, January 25, 2026
Puck drop
1:30 p.m. ET
TV
Altitude, TSN4
Avalanche vs Maple Leafs latest injuries
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here
Cole Sillinger(6), Mason Marchment(10,11,12-ENG), Adam Fantilli(13), Dmitri Voronkov(17), Charlie Coyle(11-PPG), and Sean Monahan(8-ENG) torched the Lightning for eight goals, and Jet Greaves stopped 25 of 30 Tampa Bay shots to beat the Bolts 8-5 on Saturday night.
This one wasn't pretty, and there was no better example than when Jet Greaves tried to clear a puck in front of his net and accidentally sent it into Isac Lundestrom's skate and into his own net.
That play could have been a back breaker, and if we're being honest, a month ago, it probably would have been. But less than a minute later, Mason Marchment would score his first goal of the night to take the lead right back. From there, the game turned into a shootout, with Marchment and the CBJ getting the better of Tampa on this night.
With the win, Columbus will win the three-game season series against the Lightning since 16-17.
Team Notes Per CBJ PR
Columbus (2-0-0) has won the season series over Tampa Bay (0-2-0) with one game left on the schedule (Mar. 10 at Tampa Bay). It’s the third time in club history CBJ have won the season series over the Lightning (multiple games) after going 3-0-0 in 2016-17 and 2-1-0 in 2013-14.
The eight goals scored by the Jackets tonight were the most tallied in the all-time series against the Lightning, besting the previous seven scored on Nov. 21, 2024 (7-6 OTW).
The Blue Jackets snapped the Lightning’s 15-game points streak, the second time the club broke an opposing team’s double-digit points streak this season (Jan. 3 vs. Buffalo, ended 10-game win streak). According to NHL Stats, it’s the second time in CBJ history in which the club has snapped multiple opponents double-digits points streaks. The other campaign was 2016-17 (Minnesota’s 13-game points streak; Montreal’s 10-game points-streak and Pittsburgh’s 10-game points streak).
Columbus has won six of its past seven games overall since Jan. 11 (6-1-0) as well as collected points in six of its last seven played at Nationwide Arena dating back to Jan. 3 (5-1-1).
The four goals scored by the Blue Jackets in the first period was tied for the most tallied by the club in a single period this season (2x before – MR: 2nd period on Dec. 6 at FLA).
The club scored the first goal of the game for the 30th time this season and for the 15th time in the past 20 outings. The Jackets are 20-6-4 when scoring first overall and 12-4-1 when doing so at Nationwide Arena.
The Jackets scored in the opening 10 minutes of the game for the fourth-straight game with Sillinger’s goal 5:47 into the first period. The team has scored in the first 10 minutes in seven of the last nine outings.
Final Stats
CBJ APP
Player Stats
Cole Sillinger scored his 6th goal and had 2 shots. He scored the 200th goal of his NHL career (200-316-516, 1,001 GP) alongside collecting two assists for his fifth performance of at least three points this season (1-2-3). Tonight marked the second three-point game in his last six contests (Jan. 13 vs. CGY, 2-1-3) and he has tallied 5-3-8 in his past seven overall.
Mason Marchment scored three goals, an assist, and was a plus-2. He registered the third hat trick in his NHL career and first since Dec. 31, 2023 at Chicago (3-1-4) with his three goals and assist tonight against Tampa Bay (3-1-4). Marchment has picked up points in seven of his nine games as a Blue Jacket since making his debut on Dec. 20 (8-3-11, 3 multi-point efforts) to tie Zach Werenski (9 GP) and Artemi Panarin (9 GP) for the second-fewest games to 10 points with the franchise. He also became the third player in Blue Jackets history to record a hat trick prior to their 10th game (Nylander, 5 GP and Filatov, 6 GP). He has now tallied 7-5-12 in 15 career contests against Tampa Bay, with goals in back-to-back matchups and has posted points in six of his last seven home contests against the club (6-4-10).
Adam Fantilli scored his 13th goal and had 2 assists. He has points in four-straight games against Tampa Bay (2-4-6) and has 2-5-7 in six career games overall.
Dmitri Voronkov scored his 17th goal. Voronkov scored his first goal since Jan. 11 and has now collected 2-4-6 in eight career matchups against the Lightning, with points in four of his last five contests overall (2-3-5). With 58-54-112 in 199 career games played, he has tied Kristian Huselius for the eight-most goals score by a Blue Jacket prior to their 200th game with the franchise.
Charlie Coyle scored his 11th goal, had 2 assists and was a plus-3.
Sean Monahan scored his 8th goal. He also has posted 9-7-16 in 21 career games, with points in six of his last eight home games (4-5-9).
Kirill Marchenko had two assists. He recorded his third multi-assist – and seventh multi-point – game of the season with two helpers (0-2-2) and has picked up 2-6-8 in his last seven games. He now has points in nine of his 10 career matchups against Tampa Bay (6-7-13) and points in all five career games at Nationwide Arena (2-5-7).
Zach Werenski had two assists. He recorded two helpers for his 18th multi-point (8th multi-assist) game of the season and has picked up points in six of his past seven contests (3-6-9) as well as 15 of his past 17 (10-15-25). With 0-2-2 in the second period, he posted his 15th career multi-assist period to tie Rick Nash for the most in franchise history. Werenski improved to 8-15-23 in 26 career contests against Tampa Bay, including posting points in 13 of his last 15 games overall (7-13-20) and points in eight of his last nine played at Nationwide Arena (4-9-13).
Team Stats
The Jackets power play went 1/2.
The Columbus PK allowed one goal on two Tampa power plays.
Columbus only won 39% of the faceoffs - 23/59
The Blue Jackets had 27 hits and 15 blocks.
Up Next: Columbus is back at home on Monday to take on the Los Angeles Kings.
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The Florida Panthers are continuing their chilly road trip in another place they have struggled in recent years.
On Thursday, the Panthers picked up a gritty 2-1 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets. It was Florida’s first win in Winnipeg under Head Coach Paul Maurice, who is in his fourth season behind the Cats’ bench.
Florida has had similar results when visiting the Chicago Blackhawks.
Under Maurice, Florida has lost three straight games in the Windy City by a combined score of 12-5.
We’ll see if the Cats can exorcise their recent demons in Chi-town and continue a recent run of strong play.
Overall, Florida arrives in Chicago with wins in five of their past seven
The interesting thing about those five wins is that they all came on the road.
It’s also worth noting that the Panthers are as healthy at forward as they’ve been all season.
Both Matthew Tkachuk and Brad Marchand have joined Florida’s lineup over the past week, each having an instant impact on Florida’s ability to earn victories.
Tkachuk has picked up three points over his past two games, including a pair of primary helpers, while Marchand logged two goals and an assist, including the overtime winner, Saturday night in Minnesota.
Now Florida will try to wrap up a perfect road trip and pick up a third win in four nights when they face the Blackhawks.
Similarly to the Panthers, Chicago is scratching for every point they can get in order to keep pace in a busy playoff race.
Both teams are five points behind the second Wild Card spot in their respective conference, but while Florida has two games in hand and only one team to climb over, the Blackhawks have played one more game than San Jose and have three other teams they’d need to leapfrog.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Saturday’s battle with the Blackhawks:
Photo caption: Jan 22, 2026; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Florida Panthers players celebrate their victory over the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre. (James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images)
If the Montreal Canadiens lost an important game against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, they lost an even more important one on Saturday night against the Boston Bruins. After the Sabres had leapfrogged over them thanks to a Saturday afternoon matinee win, the Canadiens almost played a perfect road game but came up just short.
While playing on the road and without the last change, the Canadiens looked surgical on the ice for most of the game. After 40 minutes of play, the Bruins had only been able to take 13 shots on net, including only two in the first frame. Six of their 13 shots had come on the power play as well.
Not so long ago, that nickname belonged to Carey Price in Montreal, but nowadays, it refers to sniper Cole Caufield. With a hat trick against the Bruins, the sniper has now taken the lead in goals scored on Saturday night with 11, two ahead of Nathan MacKinnon and three ahead of Connor McDavid.
What’s even more impressive is that he also leads the league in most game-tying and go-ahead goals with 20, that’s 69% of his goals that have been determinant. Caufield doesn’t score the seventh goal in a 7-2 blowout; he’s in the trenches early on and scores when his team needs him the most.
Since being left off the Team USA roster, Caufield has 10 goals and 14 points in 13 games. I think it’s fair to say that the snub has motivated him. In the end, Bill Guerin and co. might have given both the Canadiens and the Canadians a hand there. Caufield is playing insanely well for his team and won’t hurt Team Canada at the Olympics, the best of both worlds.
For a minute, it looked like we may not get any fights in this traditional rivalry matchup, until Kirby Dach and Jonathan Aspirot dropped the gloves 15:33 into the first frame. Yes, you read that right, Dach dropped the gloves.
After the tilt, he skated right to the rook and needed some repairs on a lacerated finger. The 25-year-old was lucky in his misfortune, as his first punch got nothing but a helmet; he could have broken a hand or a thumb on that play. Skating away with just a cut was a blessing.
Don’t tell the coach that’s not something Dach should be doing, though; he didn’t want to hear it after the game.
Lack Of A Killer Instinct
For much of the third period, the Bruins couldn’t get near the net. With less than seven minutes to go in the game, Boston only had 15 shots, but when you only have a one-goal lead, you’re playing with fire.
The Habs had the perfect opportunity to put the game away when Brendan Gallagher drew a penalty, but Montreal was unable to put the final nail in the Bruins’ coffin; they could only muster one shot on goal on that power play.
With just over 6 minutes left in the game, Fraser Minten scored with a backhand shot to tie the score. Seconds later, Alexandre Carrier took a holding penalty, and on the ensuing draw, which Phillip Danault lost, the Bruins set up Morgan Geekie for a slap shot, and he didn’t miss. The puck flew by Montembeault so quickly that nobody but Geekie knew that it was in the back of the net. Two goals in 15 seconds and the game flipped on its head. After the match, Martin St-Louis said that Geekie’s shot deflected off Evans’ leg, and that’s why it got past the goalie.
It’s another four goals on just 21 shots, which gives Montembeault an .810 save percentage on the night, but given the fact that three goals were scored on the power play, it’s hard to blame the goaltender. Still, the masked man is paid to do a tough job and to win games, you need your goaltender to make the big save.
With that loss, the Canadiens are now in the first wildcard spot, a single point ahead of the Bruins. Meanwhile, the Sabres are now third in the Atlantic, and while they have the same number of points as the Canadiens, they have a game in hand. With just five games to go before the Olympic break, the Habs find themselves in some troubled waters, and they must find a way to win some games in a hurry. Next Saturday, they will once again be playing against the Sabres in what will truly be a do-or-die affair.
Who:Pittsburgh Penguins (25-14-11, 61 points, 2nd place Metropolitan Division) @ Vancouver Canucks (17-29-5, 39 points, 8th place Pacific Division)
When: 6:00 p.m. ET
How to Watch: Locally broadcast on Sportsnet Pittsburgh, SN and TVAS in Canada, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: There’s another extended break after this one for the Pens, who don’t play again until a home game next Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks. After that there are only two home games (against the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators) and two road games (at the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres) before the Olympic break.
Opponent Track: The Canucks have been spiraling down the NHL standings pretty much ever since trading star defenseman Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 13. Vancouver won a Wednesday matchup with the Washington Capitals, but that’s the team’s only victory in their last 12 games.
Season Series: Conor Garland was the only player who scored for the Canucks in a 5-1 loss to the Pens back at PPG Paints Arena in October.
Thatcher Demko hasn’t played since Jan. 10, and it’s unclear whether he’ll be able to return for the Canucks this season, Patrick Johnston reported Saturday for The Province. General manager Patrick Allvin has said Demko is receiving opinions from medical professionals regarding his injury. The Canucks are expecting an update on his status within the next few days, per Johnston.
The Canucks recalled AHL goaltender Nikita Tolopilo on an emergency basis Saturday while sending down backup Jiri Patera. Tolopilo has made six appearances for the Canucks this season, most recently taking a shelling in a 6-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 17, while Lankinen has made a team-high 27 appearances.
General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that G Jiri Patera has been assigned to Abbotsford (AHL) and G Nikita Tolopilo has been recalled from Abbotsford under emergency conditions.
The Canucks are a team stacked with former Penguins including Drew O’Connor, Teddy Blueger and Marcus Pettersson. (P.O. Joseph will likely be scratched from the lineup).
O’Connor has been one of the most productive Canucks as of late. He and his linemate Brock Boeser have contributed for five total goals and seven total points over the Canucks’ last five games.
The Canucks followed up the Hughes trade by sending Kiefer Sherwood to the San Jose Sharks. Given their spot in the standings, it seems likely the team would like to sell off a few more players down the stretch. Per PuckPedia, Evander Kane, Blueger and David Kampf are all pending free agents this season.
Getting decent return value for that trio could be difficult, for a variety of reasons. The Athletic’s Thomas Drance reported earlier this month that Kane’s trade market is “lukewarm.” Blueger has missed almost the entirety of the season amid a three-month absence with a lower-body injury, and Kampf struggled this fall. If they can pick up play heading into the Olympic break, however, the Canucks could look to move them both to get some draft capital and clear roster spaces for young players down the stretch.
Speaking of young players getting more playing time down the stretch in Vancouver: rookie defenseman Zeev Buium played almost 24 minutes during Friday’s loss to the Devils, one of his highest ice times of the season, and he’s been bumped up to the Canucks top power play unit.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Egor Chinakhov – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin
Anthony Mantha – Ben Kindel – Justin Brazeau
Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Brett Kulak / Kris Letang (?)
Ryan Shea / Jack St. Ivany
Goalies: Arturs Silovs and Stuart Skinner
Potential Scratches: Kevin Hayes, Ilya Solovyov, Connor Clifton
IR: Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones
The Penguins could potentially have both Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang back for this one after Letang joined Saturday’s practice as a full participant, although coach Dan Muse stopped short Saturday of committing to Letang’s availability.
Dan Muse said Kris Letang "was obviously a full participant today in practice, which was great. Still have to have some conversations (regarding his status for Sunday versus Vancouver)." https://t.co/ALeTF1D8N9
This will mark Arturs Silovs’ Vancouver homecoming for the first time since his trade to the Pens last summer. He celebrated Saturday by receiving his Calder Cup Championship ring from his win with the Abbotsford Canucks last June.
Our playoff MVP, Artūrs Šilovs, has officially received his championship ring! pic.twitter.com/rY4MDoyxj3
The Carolina Hurricanes refused to give up ground on their division lead with a Saturday night win over the Ottawa Senators. The Islanders were shut out 5-0 by the Buffalo Sabres, however, keeping them— at least for now— from climbing any closer to the Pens in the standings.
Recently, The Hockey News' Adam Proteau argued that the Buffalo Sabres are due for a big move. With the Sabres looking to snap their 14-year playoff drought, it would certainly be understandable if they were buyers leading up to the deadline.
Proteau also mentioned a handful of potential targets for the Sabres in his piece, with one being Vancouver Canucks forward Jake DeBrusk.
"Or another Vancouver veteran – rugged winger Jake DeBrusk – could improve Buffalo’s attack," Proteau wrote.
When looking at the Sabres' roster, it is fair to argue that DeBrusk could be a strong fit for their group if acquired. The 29-year-old winger would undoubtedly give their top-nine a nice boost, as he is a skilled winger who can put the puck in the net.
DeBrusk has 12 goals and 24 points in 50 games so far this season with the Canucks. This is after he scored a career-high 28 goals and recorded 48 points in 82 games for the Canucks during this past season. With numbers like these, he would have the potential to give the Sabres more secondary scoring, which would not be a bad thing.
Another appealing factor about DeBrusk is that he has a reasonable $5.5 million cap hit until the end of the 2030-31 season. With this, he would be more than a rental for the Sabres, which certainly adds to his appeal.
DeBrusk has a full no-movement clause, so he would need to approve of any trade to the Sabres or elsewhere. Yet, with the Canucks starting a rebuild and the Sabres being an exciting team on the rise, perhaps he could be open to a move to Buffalo if they continue to stay hot as the campaign rolls on.
BOTTOM LINE: The Vegas Golden Knights visit the Ottawa Senators after Mark Stone scored two goals in the Golden Knights' 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Ottawa has a 23-21-7 record overall and an 11-10-4 record on its home ice. The Senators have a -9 scoring differential, with 164 total goals scored and 173 given up.
Vegas has a 13-6-6 record on the road and a 25-13-12 record overall. The Golden Knights have given up 149 goals while scoring 169 for a +20 scoring differential.
The teams meet Sunday for the second time this season. The Senators won 4-3 in a shootout in the previous matchup.
TOP PERFORMERS: Drake Batherson has 19 goals and 25 assists for the Senators. Dylan Cozens has four goals and three assists over the past 10 games.
Pavel Dorofeyev has 22 goals and 16 assists for the Golden Knights. Stone has scored eight goals with 11 assists over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Senators: 3-5-2, averaging 3.1 goals, 5.8 assists, 4.7 penalties and 11.8 penalty minutes while giving up 3.8 goals per game.
Golden Knights: 8-2-0, averaging 4.6 goals, 7.9 assists, 2.4 penalties and 5.9 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.
INJURIES: Senators: None listed.
Golden Knights: None listed.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
That’s
sort of been the St. Louis Blues’ motto the past few games: right
in the thick of it but in the end, the result has been consistent in
a bad way.
The
Blues dropped their fourth straight game, this time losing to the Los
Angeles Kings, 5-4 in a shootout on a snowy Saturday at Enterprise
Center in front of 6,848 people that braved the affects of a big
winter storm that hit the area all day Saturday and into Sunday.
The
Blues (19-24-9), who fell to the Dallas Stars 3-2 on a last-minute
goal in regulation by future Blue (wink, wink) Jason Robertson, have
either played as the better team at even strength or battled back the
past three games and conceivably could have won each of them, yet
found a way to be on the wrong side of each.
“Back-to-back’s
are always tough, especially with some travel,” said Blues forward
Jordan Kyrou, who scored twice to give him seven points (three goals,
four assists) the past seven games. “I thought we battled hard
today, especially in the second (period) of that game. We kept
bringing it back and I thought we had a good game.”
Dalibor
Dvorsky also scored for the second straight game and had a beautiful
shootout goal in the third round to extend the shootout, Brayden
Schenn scored and Joel Hofer made 24 saves for the Blues, who saw
their four-game home winning streak end.
“There’s
some things defensively that we need to clean up again,” Blues
coach Jim Montgomery said.
“You can’t be happy any time you give up four goals.”
Let’s
take a look at the game observations:
*
Slow start to the game – Not surprising, the Blues did not come out
with the energy and jump early.
They
were playing the second of back-to-back nights, the Kings (21-16-13)
haven’t played since Tuesday and had fresh legs and showed it.
They
scored early on Taylor Ward’s goal off a turnover 4:31 into the
opening period and carried some of that momentum into the early
stages of the second when Brian Dumoulin made it 2-0 at 1:11.
“I
did not like our first 10 minutes of the game,” Montgomery said. “I
thought they vastly started the game a lot better than we did. Their
forwards were skating, we were getting caught from behind, we had too
many turnovers at the red line and then I thought in the second
period, we came out skating ourselves and we got a little more
physical and we started winning more battles. You can say we were
playing north really well.”
*
Pushback started late in first, carried into second period – Even
though they gave up the early goal in the second, I thought the Blues
finished the first strong after a lackluster beginning.
You
can see they found their legs and it fueled a usually bad second
period into a good one Saturday in which they scored three times in
5:56 to erase a two-goal deficit and lead 3-2.
“We
found our legs a little more,” Kyrou said. “It was kind of a slow
start and then we found it a little bit there at the end of the first
and we just picked up from there and continued with that.”
Dvorsky,
who scored in Dallas Friday, extended his point streak to three games
when he finished off a beautiful passing play after initially winning
a puck in the D-zone, then moving up in transition getting it from
Mathieu Joseph, then worked a give-and-go with Otto Stenberg before a
quick release from the slot beat Darcy Kuemper at 2:14 to make it a
2-1 game:
“Good play by the whole line on the goal today," Dvorsky said. "'Mojo' carrying it out, Otto gave me a great pass. It's always about the whole line, but yeah, I'm just trying to play with confidence every time I'm out there."
With
Kevin Fiala in the box for tripping, the Blues’ power play scored
for the third straight game and tied it 2-2 when Schenn finished off
a back door play that was also beautifully set up with a zone entry
by Pavel Buchnevich, Dvorsky’s little slip pass to Jimmy Snuggerud,
who found Buchnevich low before he found Schenn on the right post at
6:30:
And
Kyrou’s first of the game may have been the best executed goal of
the night for the Blues when he made it 3-2 at 8:10 after starting
with the puck in his zone, Cam Fowler’s stretch pass up ice to
Logan Mailloux enabled the young defenseman to move it across the
blue line and find Kyrou with speed, and he did the rest by freezing
Kuemper and finishing off the wraparound:
“Great play by 'Fowls' to find 'Maisy' and then great vision from 'Maisy' to just kick it out to me there," Kyrou said. "I kind of just used my speed and tried to make it happen as quick as I could."
*
Tough
sequences for Toropchenko
– The
usually reliable, hard-working Alexey Toropchenko found himself in a
couple tough shifts that cost the Blues two goals.
It
was his turnover on Ward’s goal when he took a second or two too
long to move the outlet pass off the boards, and it got deflected
enough and picked off at the blue line and back in:
And
after your team builds some strong momentum and scores three times to
take the lead for the first time, those next shifts are equally as
important to solidify that momentum.
But
Toropchenko had a chance to check Corey Perry off the puck behind the
Blues’ net and didn’t, enabling the Kings veteran forward to
wheel the puck back around to the left point, and when the puck was
thrown back to Perry behind the net, Toropchenko was caught off
position, not covering either Perry behind the net or Alex Laferriere
at the opposite side, and when Perry went against the grain feeding
Laferriere back behind the left post, Laferriere tied the game 3-3 at
10:18,
or 2:04 after the Blues gained the lead stunting any momentum and
allowing the Kings to push back:
*
Controversy on fourth goal – Here’s
where things really got quirky after the Kings grabbed a 4-3 lead
when Trevor Moore poked a puck through Hofer at 11:34 of the third
period, a rebound after
he initially tipped on goal of Brandt Clarke’s right point shot (oh
by the way, did anyone see Jake Neighbours deliver a knockout blow to
Clarke in the first period?).
The
Blues immediately challenged for offside, and without looking at it,
offside challenges are usually won by the challenging team; it’s
rare that the goal is awarded because they’re so cut and dry:
When
officials quickly came back with the rendering that the play was
onside, the goal stood.
The
question at hand from the Blues was if Joel Armia was offside. The
Blues felt like he was, at least according to their interpretation of
Rule 83.1, which states:
A
player is on-side when either of his skates are in contact with the
blue line, or on his own side of the line, at the instant the puck
completely crosses the leading edge of the blue line. For the
purposes of this rule, a “skate” is to be considered the blade of
the skate only. On his own side of the line shall be defined by a
“plane” of the blue line which shall extend from the leading edge
of the blue line upwards. If a player’s skate has yet to break the
“plane” prior to the puck completely crossing the leading edge,
he is deemed to be onside for the purpose of the off-side rule.
Here’s
Montgomery’s explanation on their thought process:
“They
changed the wording of the rule book and I’ve got to get
confirmation from the league,” Montgomery said. “But it reads
both skates need to be on the neutral side of the blue line, so the
leading edge, and we saw one on one. The year before, it did not say
both skates needed to be, so we need to get clarification. I talked
to the linesman, they were great. They explained it’s no doubt, in
their mind, it’s one foot.”
Montgomery
continued, “Lawyers
write the books for rule books, and I don't think like a lawyer. And
obviously a lawyer would love facing me in court. But I talk hockey,
and both skates to me means two. I thought (video coach) Elliott
Mondou did a great
job because the rule had changed. I was unaware of the wording
change. So to us, if you change the wording, it's because you want
both skates versus one skate and we've just got to get clarification
on that.”
Unless
I’m missing something in the rule book, the above interpretation
clearly states one skate has to be touching up the blue line, with
control of the puck, and the league ruling was: Video
review supported the call on the ice that Los Angeles’ Joel Armia
had possession and control of the puck when entering the attacking
zone and was on-side prior to Trevor Moore’s goal.
*
Hofer not at his best – Hofer
has been solid for the Blues for the better part of nearly two months
and the numbers back it up.
I
didn’t think Saturday was one of his best.
Yes,
he made a terrific save in overtime on Clarke that extended the game:
But it just felt like he was fighting the puck for good chunks of the game.
I
initially thought he missed a cover on the Moore goal but replay
showed Moore’s clever deflection initially enabled the puck to be
freed up.
But
it just didn’t feel like Hofer was as assertive as he’s been in
recent past.
*
Finally, a sixth-attacker plus – Blues
fans have such a warm feeling when either Hofer or Jordan Binnington
get pulled for an extra attacker. They know what usually happens
next: an empty-net goal against.
Not
this time. This time, the Blues delivered, and Kyrou got it when he
one-timed a rebound of Justin Faulk’s point shot from the left
circle at 17:50 of the third that tied the game 4-4:
It
was just the second time this season (Schenn vs. the New York Rangers
on Nov. 24, 2025) the Blues scored with the goalie pulled while
they’ve allowed 10.
“That was really good to see that execution," Montgomery said. "The Schenn line went out right after the time out and there was 2:43 left. They got an icing, and there's 2:06 left, and that's good. The other team's tired, they got 30 seconds there. 'Buchy' wins the draw, we go right to the spread there that we wanted to, and I love the play by Dvorsky. Dvorsky sends it in there, Kyrou's on the backdoor, all the execution that we wanted to create a little bit of havoc and chaos at their net, and that happened, and then we got the loose puck, went up top and we brought it right back to the net, and we got that good rebound goal."
*
Dvorsky nearly delivers – Montgomery
mentioned it above, but Dvorsky nearly delivered a picture-perfect
ending, not only for the team but also for himself.
The
Blues did not have the puck for the first portion of overtime, but
once they did, it was a chance to end it, but Kuemper just got a
right toe on Dvorsky’s breakaway chance at 1:42.
“It
would have been great if we won the game on Dvorsky’s breakaway (in
overtime),” Montgomery said. “That would have really capped off a
really solid hockey effort by our team.”
Dvorsky
did extend the shootout with a really nice backhand goal to extend it
to a fourth round.
“I
was kind of deciding between shot or doing that,” Dvorsky said. “I
saw he was out pretty far so I deked it, went to backhand and happy
that went in.”
*
Shootout goes Kings’ way– Unfortunately
for the Blues, they fell to 1-9 on the season in either overtime or a
shootout (1-3 in shootouts).
Neighbours
and Kyrou barely got any shots off, waiting too long to decide on
what to do, and L.A., which has played the most overtime/shootout
games (21) in the league this season, made good on goals from Adrian
Kempe and Moore in the fourth round before Kuemper stopped Jimmy
Snuggerud:
“The
games are close,” Dvorsky said. “For sure, we just need to stay
with it. For sure, it’s going to turn to our favor for sure. We’ve
just got to keep grinding and keep doing the right things and keep
playing our game.”
* Shoutout to the brave fans – There were 6,848 of you that braved the weather and were in attendance, a number I thought was much higher than expected.
That's roughly a third of building capacity but you were loud, you were enjoying yourselves and were treated to an entertaining game.
Of course, you were looking for a Blues victory but you got to see plenty of good, some not-so-good, and in the end, a chance to see a victory that fell just short.
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Connor McDavid scored 46 seconds into overtime, Evan Bouchard had his first NHL hat trick and three assists, and the Edmonton Oilers held on for a 6-5 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.
Bouchard's six-point game came in his 400th regular-season contest. McDavid had a goal and three assists in regulation, Zach Hyman scored and Leon Draisaitl contributed three assists for the Oilers.
Edmonton netminder Connor Ingram gave up three goals on 12 shots before being replaced by Tristan Jarry midway through the second period. Jarry made 13 saves to close out the victory.
Washington got off to a slow start and didn’t register a shot on goal until the final minute of the first period. Connor McMichael had a goal and an assist, while Aliaksei Protas, Justin Sourdif, Dylan Strome and Anthony Beauvillier all got goals. Charlie Lindgren stopped 34 of the 40 shots he faced.
Washington was coming off a 3-1 win over the Flames in Calgary on Friday, and is now 1-4-0 in its last five games.
Washington’s first goal came just 22 seconds after Bouchard opened the scoring and the visitors leveled the score again two minutes and 37 seconds after his second of the night.
The Capitals climbed back into the game despite going down a defenseman late in the first period after Rasmus Sandin was hurt blocking a shot in the dying seconds of the opening frame and had to be helped off the ice. He did not return.
Draisaitl registered his 600th regular-season assist on Bouchard’s second goal. He is the fourth player in franchise history with 600 assists, following McDavid, Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier.
Up next
Capitals: Visit the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Brad Marchand scored twice, with his second coming 3 minutes into overtime, and the Florida Panthers won their third-straight road game with a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night.
Sam Reinhart had a goal and assist, Sam Bennett also scored, and the Panthers improved to 5-2 in their past seven. Reinhart's goal was his 25th of the season, marking the sixth straight year and seventh time overall he's scored that many.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 shots for his 207th career road win, and he moved into third on the NHL list behind only Martin Brodeur (310) and Marc-Andre Fleury (246). Bobrovsky began the day tied with Ed Belfour.
Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy had a goal and assist each, while Joel Eriksson Ek also scored for Minnesota. Filip Gustavsson stopped 30 shots in dropping to 9-2-4 in his past 13.
Marchand, who also added an assist, decided the game in being set up by Carter Verhaeghe on a 2-on-1 break. Verhaeghe gained control of the puck after Boldy was unable to control a pass from Quinn Hughes in the Florida end.
Boldy, in his first game after missing four with an upper-body injury, put the Wild ahead 3-2 with a short-handed goal with 7:51 left in regulation. Bennett, however, tied it 62 seconds later on the same Panthers’ power play.
Florida improved to 15-0-3 in games decided by one goal this season.
Kaprizov extended his points streak to five games, in which he’s combined for three goals and nine assists.
Minnesota’s John Hynes, who is from Rhode Island, coached his 800th career game, becoming the NHL’s fourth U.S.-born coach to reach that plateau.
BOSTON (AP) — Morgan Geekie scored his 100th career goal with 5:53 remaining to break a tie and give the Boston Bruins a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Geekie’s winner, his second goal of the night, came on the power play just 12 seconds after Fraser Minten fired a backhander that beat Montreal goalie Samuel Montembeault to tie the game at 3-3.
Viktor Arvidsson also scored a goal and Charlie McAvoy had three assists for Boston, which has won 10 of its last 12 and seven straight on TD Garden ice. Jeremy Swayman had 22 saves.
Cole Caufield had his second career hat trick for Montreal while Montembeault made 17 saves. Caufield now has 29 goals this season and is the first Montreal skater to have a hat trick in Boston since 1997.
Caufield’s first goal extended his point streak to five games and came at 6:36 of the opening period. His second goal while on the power play broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and featured a one-timer from just below the left circle.
Geekie’s first goal squared it at 2-2 and marked the third of four power-play goals between the teams in the second period. David Pastrnak carved out some space before delivering a pinpoint pass that Geekie hammered home from close range.
Caufield’s third goal gave the Canadiens a 3-2 lead and was a carbon copy of his second — below the circle and on point with his shot into a tight corner on the power play.
MAMMOTH 5, PREDATORS 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kailer Yamamoto had a goal and an assist and Utah extended its winning streak to five games with a 5-2 victory over Nashville.
Clayton Keller, Michael Carcone, Barrett Hayton and JJ Peterka also scored, Mikhail Sergachev had three assists and Karel Vejmelka made 27 saves for Utah.
Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault scored and Juuse Saros made 26 saves for the Predators, who have lost three of four.
Stamkos scored the game’s first goal at 3:43 of the opening period.
With the Predators on a power play, Roman Josi sent a pass from the slot to Stamkos at the left faceoff dot, where he beat Vejmelka with a one-timer.
Stamkos, who had a hat trick Thursday, has four goals in two games. He has eight power-play goals on the season to lead Nashville.
SABRES 5, ISLANDERS 0
NEW YORK (AP) — Jason Tucker scored twice and Alex Lyon stopped 26 shots and tied a Buffalo record with his ninth straight victory as the Sabres beat the New York Islanders.
Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin and Alex Tuch also scored as the Sabres won their third straight and for the fifth time in seven games. Ryan McLeod and Mattias Samuelsson each had two assists.
Lyon, who signed with the Sabres in July after two seasons with Detroit, recorded the sixth shutout of his career and tied the Buffalo record of Gerry Desjardins (1976-77) with nine consecutive wins.
Buffalo improved to 18-3-1 in its last 22 games.
BLUE JACKETS 8, LIGHTNING 5
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Mason Marchment recorded his third career hat trick, and Columbus beat Tampa Bay, ending its streak of 15 straight games without a regulation loss.
Charlie Coyle scored his 200th career goal and added two assists. Adam Fantilli had a goal and two assists, Dmitri Voronkov and Sean Monahan scored, and Zach Werenski added two assists. Jet Greaves stopped 24 shots for Columbus, whose four-goal first period was its highest total in an opening frame since March 15, 2003.
Jake Guentzel scored twice and had an assist, Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists, Anthony Cirelli added a goal and two assists, and Brandon Hagel had two assists. Darren Raddysh also scored, and Jonas Johansson made 23 saves for Tampa Bay.
Erik Cernak left the game after a hit by Mathieu Olivier with 2:15 left in the first period, and Charle-Edouard D’Astous left after a blue-line collision at 7:46 of the third.
Cole Sillinger opened the scoring at 5:47 of the first period, grabbing a neutral-zone turnover, but Tampa Bay tied it 2:01 later when Greaves’ clearing attempt deflected off Isac Lundestrom’s skate and into the net. Guentzel was credited with the goal, extending his point streak to 17 straight games against Columbus.
HURRICANES 4, SENATORS 1
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — William Carrier, Seth Jarvis and Taylor Hall scored in the first period and Carolina beat Ottawa to take the Eastern Conference lead.
Rookie goalie Brandon Bussi 35 saves for the victory.
Jalen Chatfield’s cross-ice pass sprung Mark Jankowski on an odd-man rush, where he fed Carrier cross-slot for an easy backhand tap-in to open the scoring just four minutes into the game. Only two minutes later, Jarvis beat James Reimer cleanly with a top-corner snipe from the faceoff circle.
Andrei Svechnikov made it 4-0 in the second.
Tim Stutzle scored for Ottawa.
RED WINGS 5, JETS 1
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — J.T. Compher scored twice as Detroit defeated Winnipeg in front of a sold-out crowd of 15,225.
The Red Wings rebounded from a 4-3 overtime loss to Minnesota on Thursday and now have points in their last five games. The Jets have lost four of their last five.
Lucas Raymond and Marco Kasper added a goal and assist, and Alex DeBrincat also scored for the Red Wings, who scored four times in the third period.
John Gibson made 26 saves to earn his 21st win of the season. Gibson has now earned victories in eight straight starts.
Cole Koepke scored for the Jets, and Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves in his fourth consecutive loss.
KINGS 5, BLUES 4, SO
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Trevor Moore scored the deciding goal in the shootout and had a goal in regulation in his first game since being activated off injured reserve to help Los Angeles beat St. Louis.
Alex Laferriere, Taylor Ward and Brian Dumoulin also scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves for the Kings, who have not lost in regulation in five games.
Jordan Kyrou scored twice, Brayden Schenn and Dalibor Dvorsky added one goal each, and Joel Hofer made 24 saves for St. Louis, which has lost four consecutive games for the first time since the opening month of the season.
Moore, who missed 11 games with an upper-body injury, scored in the fourth round of the shootout. Then Kuemper denied Blues forward Jimmy Snuggerud to help the Kings improve to 8-13 in overtime games and shootouts this season.
PANTHERS 4, WILD 3, OT
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Brad Marchand scored twice, with his second coming 3 minutes into overtime, and Florida won its third-straight road game with a victory over Minnesota.
Sam Reinhart had a goal and assist, Sam Bennett also scored, and the Panthers improved to 5-2 in their past seven. Reinhart’s goal was his 25th of the season, marking the sixth straight year and seventh time overall he’s scored that many.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 shots for his 207th career road win, and he moved into third on the NHL list behind only Martin Brodeur (310) and Marc-Andre Fleury (246). Bobrovsky began the day tied with Ed Belfour.
Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy had a goal and assist each, while Joel Eriksson Ek also scored for Minnesota. Filip Gustavsson stopped 30 shots in dropping to 9-2-4 in his past 13.
Marchand, who also added an assist, decided the game in being set up by Carter Verhaeghe on a 2-on-1 break. Verhaeghe gained control of the puck after Boldy was unable to control a pass from Quinn Hughes in the Florida end.
OILERS 6, CAPITALS 5, OT
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid scored 46 seconds into overtime, Evan Bouchard had his first NHL hat trick and three assists, and Edmonton held on for a win over Washington.
Bouchard’s six-point game came in his 400th regular-season contest. McDavid had a goal and three assists in regulation, Zach Hyman scored and Leon Draisaitl contributed three assists for the Oilers.
Edmonton netminder Connor Ingram gave up three goals on 12 shots before being replaced by Tristan Jarry midway through the second period. Jarry made 13 saves to close out the victory.
Washington got off to a slow start and didn’t register a shot on goal until the final minute of the first period. Connor McMichael had a goal and an assist, while Aliaksei Protas, Justin Sourdif, Dylan Strome and Anthony Beauvillier all got goals. Charlie Lindgren stopped 34 of the 40 shots he faced.
On Saturday night, the Los Angeles Kings (21-16-13) kicked off a six-road trip in St. Louis in what would be a barn burner against the Blues (19-24-9). The Kings entered St. Louis coming off a victory over the Rangers on Tuesday. Not only are they coming off of a win, but they also entered Saturday's action riding a four-game point streak.
That streak would grow to five with perhaps the most resilient victory for the Kings all season long. After blowing two separate leads, including allowing a goal in the dying minutes of regulation, the Kings were able to hold strong and start the road strip off with two massive points.
The Kings needed a quick start in this one and that is exactly what they got. Just under five minutes into the opening frame Los Angeles found themselves having a 1-0 lead.
A strong forecheck by Samuel Helenius allowed Jeff Malott to keep the puck in the Blues zone, Helenius then grabbed the loose puck and found Taylor Ward in the slot who wasted no time firing a wicked snap shot by Joel Hofer. Ward now has goals in back-to-back games and continues to improve as his stint in the NHL continues.
The first period came to a close and after two power play opportunities for both teams, the Kings held their 1-0 heading into the second period.
Once again, Los Angeles struck early in the period as they doubled their lead just over a minute into the middle frame. Brian Dumoulin gave his team a 2-0 with a blistering shot from the point for his long awaited first goal as a member of the Los Angeles Kings. Alex Laferriere and Adrian Kempe were credited with the assists.
Blues Score Three Unanswered Goals
The Kings early period momentum came to a screeching halt as the Blues found themselves quickly back into the game thanks to Dalibor Dvorsky's ninth goal of the season. Dvorsky was able to muscle through three Kings defenders as he fired a snap shot past the right shoulder of Darcy Kuemper, cutting the Kings lead in half.
Shortly after the Blues goal, Samuel Helenius found himself just a goal away from the elusive 'Gordie Howe Hat Trick' after a solid scrap with Nick Bjusgtad. Helenius challenged the Blues veteran after he caught Brandt Clarke with a solid check along the boards.
Now all of a sudden, St. Louis had the momentum, and it showed. After Kevin Fiala is called for tripping the Blues were headed to the power play where they then evened the score thanks to their captain. Brayden Schenn knotted things up as he fired his 10th of the year past Kuemper off a nice pass from Pavel Buchnevich.
Not eve two minutes later, the Kings found themselves trailing after Jordan Kyrou scored his first of the game and 10th of the season. All props go to Kyrou on this one as he used his all world speed to pull off a terrific wrap around goal, giving Kuemper no chance. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, the Kings went from leading by two early in the second period, to down by a goal in less than 10 minutes.
However, the Kings responded well as they generated chances and were able to even the game just over two minutes after falling behind.
Laferriere evened the score with his 13th of the year. After receiving a slick dish from Corey Perry, 'Laffy' was able to beat the unsuspecting Hofer, giving the Kings some much needed life and the game would enter the third period tied at 3-3.
The score would remain the same throughout the first half of the third period, and it wasn't until Trevor Moore buried a loose puck off a Brandt Clarke point shot.
In his first game since December 29th, Moore's sixth of the season gives the Kings a 4-3 lead as they look to close out a hectic game in St. Louis.
Kyrou Strikes Again
In the dying minutes of regulation St. Louis was pushing hard to battle back and even the score, while the Kings defended the Blues barrage.
With their goalie pulled, it began to look inevitable that the Blues would tie the game, and Kyrou did just that with his second of the game. The Kings fail to hold a late game lead and this on his headed to overtime.
Both teams had a series of chances in the five minute overtime period but neither squad was able to capitalize and a shootout was necessary.
Kempe opened the shootout with a goal, while Kuemper stopped three of the four Blues skaters he faced. Which lead to Trevor Moore playing hero in his return, scoring in the fourth round to give the Kings a massive 5-4 victory.
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The Ottawa Senators got a first-hand look at how playoff-bound teams protect multi-goal leads on Saturday night.
The Carolina Hurricanes jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then expertly shut things down the rest of the way, skating to a 4–1 win at Canadian Tire Centre. Seth Jarvis led the way for Carolina with a goal and an assist, while Brandon Bussi, a Canes' waiver claim earlier this season, stopped 35 shots.
Ottawa has now lost four of its last five games, and three of the losses feature multi-goal Sens leads. The shot clock did little to tell the real story, as despite outshooting the Hurricanes 36–19, the Senators were never truly in the game.
Travis Green talks about the coaching shift with his penalty killing unit, handing the reins to assistant Mike Yeo.
William Carrier opened the scoring less than four minutes into the game. The Senators were in the middle of a wholesale line change, and Jordan Spence drifted way out of position, allowing an easy 2-on-0 rush that Carrier finished off for his sixth goal of the season.
Less than two minutes later, Jarvis was left all alone in the slot. Alex Nikishin threaded a pass to him through traffic, and Jarvis beat James Reimer to make it 2–0. Before the period was over, Taylor Hall made it 3–0 with his 12th of the season on what looked like a harmless wrist shot from distance, one Reimer would likely want back.
The score held until midway through the second period. After a sketchy tripping call on Claude Giroux, Carolina had a five-on-three advantage, and Svechnikov scored his 18th of the season by simply floating a puck toward the front of the net. It went in off Tyler Kleven and through Reimer to make it 4–0.
Tim Stützle finally got the Senators on the board with his 23rd of the season, a close-range wrist shot after a nice pass from Jake Sanderson. That would be the final goal of the night, as Carolina completely shut the door over the final 28 minutes.
The Senators now sit nine points out of the final wild-card spot and ten points back of the Atlantic Division’s top three, which is perhaps a sign it’s time to stop checking the playoff standings altogether.
Things don’t get any easier for the locals. Ottawa hosts the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday at 5:00 p.m., followed by the top-ranked Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — J.T. Compher scored twice as the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Winnipeg Jets 5-1 in front of a sold-out crowd of 15,225 on Saturday night.
The Red Wings rebounded from a 4-3 overtime loss to Minnesota on Thursday and now have points in their last five games. The Jets have lost four of their last five.
Lucas Raymond and Marco Kasper added a goal and assist, and Alex DeBrincat also scored for the Red Wings, who scored four times in the third period.
John Gibson made 26 saves to earn his 21st win of the season. Gibson has now earned victories in eight straight starts.
Cole Koepke scored for the Jets, and Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves in his fourth consecutive loss.
Koepke opened the scoring at 10:08 of the second period. The goal snapped a scoreless drought for Winnipeg at 5-on-5 dating back to Jan. 17 against Toronto — a span of 235 minutes, 48 seconds.
Detroit responded with 4:10 left in the period when Compher batted home a loose puck in the crease. Former Jet Andrew Copp picked up the assist.
Raymond scored his 18th of the season to extend his point streak to five games. The goal stood following video review for a high stick.
The Red Wings swept the season series 2-0. Detroit won the first game on home ice, 2-1, on Dec. 31.
