DALLAS (AP) — Jason Robertson scored 1:47 into overtime, lifting the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 comeback victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday night for their eighth straight win.
Nathan Bastian and Wyatt Johnston scored in regulation for the Stars, who trailed 2-0 after one period. Dallas has rallied from deficits to win each of its three games against Nashville this season — two after trailing 2-0.
Jake Oettinger stopped 25 shots in his first start since returning from the Milan-Cortina Olympics, where he was the backup for the gold medal-winning U.S. team. He's 7-0 in his last seven starts.
Dallas tied the team's longest winning streak, set March 16 to April 3, 2024. The Stars have won their last six home games and improved to 20-4-9 in one-goal games this season. They have the second-most wins in the NHL in one-goal games, behind only the New York Islanders (22-5-5).
Michael Bunting and Steven Stamkos each scored for the Predators in the opening period. Juuse Saros made 22 saves.
With the Predators leading 2-1, Bastian scored on a wrist shot 5:31 into the third period to tie it.
In overtime, Brady Skjei nearly gave Nashville the win but hit the post. Seconds later, Johnston circled the net and missed, but Miro Heiskanen got the loose puck in the left circle. He sent a pass through the crease to an open Robertson, who got enough of the puck to direct it in for the win.
Johnston got the Predators on the scoreboard in the second period with his 32nd goal and 20th on the power play — extending his single-season record since the franchise relocated to Dallas in 1993-94. He’s also two power-play goals shy of tying the overall franchise record set by Dino Ciccarelli in 1986-87.
The Detroit Red Wings dug themselves into a three-goal hole against the Carolina Hurricanes, and despite showing signs of life with a brief comeback effort, a familiar face ultimately delivered the decisive blow.
Former Detroit defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, who skated one season with the club in 2023–24 and recorded 56 points, struck early in the third period to restore Carolina’s multi-goal lead en route to a 5–2 victory for the Hurricanes at Lenovo Center.
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 1, 2026
The loss dropped the Red Wings back into a Wild Card position in the tightly-packed Eastern Conference standings due to wins by the Buffalo Sabres, who have been one of the NHL's hottest clubs since mid-December, and the Montreal Canadiens.
Detroit trailed by two goals at the end of the opening 20 minutes of play thanks to goals from Carolina forwards Taylor Hall and Sebastian Aho.
Hall broke in alone on and beat goaltender Cam Talbot, making his first start since late January, after he blocked defenseman Simon Edvinsson's shot at the opposite blue line. Aho scored on the power-play in the waning seconds of the period.
Carolina then bolstered their lead to 3-0 thanks to a tally from Eric Robinson at the 2:52 mark, but the Red Wings gave their fans hope of a comeback effort thanks to a pair of goals in quick fashion from Edvinsson and Patrick Kane.
However, those hopes were dashed by Gostisbehere, who scored at 2:18 of the third period. Jackson Blake then put Carolina back up by three goals just over three minutes later.
Talbot finished with 31 saves, while his Carolina counterpart Frederik Andersen made 27 saves.
The Red Wings faltered on their only power-play chance of the game, while the Hurricanes finished at 25 percent efficiency by going 1-for-4 with the man advantage.
Detroit's three-game road swing will conclude on Monday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena with a matchup against the Nashville Predators.
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A two-goal Nashville Predators lead in the first period wasn't enough to hold off the Dallas Stars on Saturday as they scored three unanswered goals to defeat the Predators, 3-2, in overtime at American Airlines Arena.
It's the Stars' eighth straight win and the Predators' fourth straight overtime loss.
On the play that led to the game-winning goal, Wyatt Johnston wrapped around to the middle of the slot and fired a shot that went wide. Brady Skjei went to block the shot, but was indirectly tripped up by Miro Heiskanen's stick.
At the same time, Heiskanen was battling for positioning with Steven Stamkos when his stick was knocked out of his hands, taking him out of the play.
Heiskanen picked up the rebound and passed the puck over to Jason Robertson at the left side of the net. Prior to the pass, Erik Haula got tied up with Robertson, but Robertson was able to break free.
Robertson tapped the puck in for an easy, game-winning score.
Nashville jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. On the power play, Matthew Wood faked a shot and passed it over Michael Bunting on the right side for the score and to put the Predators up 1-0.
A little over a minute later, Stamkos scored his 30th goal of the season off a steal at the blue line and passed it to Luke Evangelista for a break into the Stars zone. Evangelista gave it back to Stamkos and he beat Jake Oettinger blocker side to make it 2-0.
The goal also saw Evangelista record his second assist of the game.
Nashville's offense went into a lull in the second period, getting just four shots on net and seeing Wyatt Johnston snap Juuse Saros' shutout bid on the power play to make it 2-1.
In the third period, a no-icing call caught the Predators off guard, allowing Thomas Harley to get a shot on net and Nathan Bastian to put the rebound away to tie the game, 2-2.
Of note, defenseman Adam Wilsby left the game with a lower-body injury and did not return. Nashville played with five defensemen for the majority of the night.
Saros made 22 saves on 25 shots, dropping his fifth overtime game of the season.
Nashville is sitting at 62 points, just a point outside of the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. That gap may lengthen by the end of Saturday night, pending the result of the Seattle (63 points) and Vancouver game.
The Predators are back at home on Monday against the Detroit Red Wings at 1 p.m. CST.
MONTREAL (AP) — Cole Caufield scored two first-period goals to help propel the Montreal Canadiens to a 6-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.
Mike Matheson and Kirby Dach scored goals in the second period for Montreal, which has recorded at least a point in seven consecutive games (5-0-2).
Nick Suzuki and Jake Evans added empty-net goals in the third and Suzuki had two assists. Jakub Dobes made 27 saves as he improved his record to 9-0-2 over his last 11 games.
Caufield now has a team-high 35 goals this season. It took all of 30 seconds for the Canadiens to find the back of the net, marking the fastest game-opening goal scored by Montreal this season. Jakob Chychrun’s point shot was blocked by Caufield, resulting in a breakaway for the forward. His snap shot beat Charlie Lindgren to the glove side.
Alex Ovechkin scored twice for the Capitals, who had their three-game win streak snapped. The Capitals captain has scored 44 goals and recorded 76 points in just 63 career matchups against the Canadiens.
Lindgren stopped 19 shots in his first start since Jan. 29.
Washington failed to capitalize four power-play opportunities.
The Bell Centre remains a tough stop for visiting teams as Montreal improved to 10-3-1 in its last 14 home games.
Up next
Capitals: Host the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday night.
Canadiens: Visit the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.
TORONTO (AP) — Drake Batherson and Dylan Cozens each scored twice and the Ottawa Senators beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on Saturday night.
Thomas Chabot also scored, Cozens added an assist and Linus Ullmark made 21 saves.
Morgan Rielly and William Nylander scored for Toronto in its third straight loss.
Rielly got the scoring started less than three minutes into the first period, but it was all Senators from there. Ottawa had the next 19 shots on goal and scored three straight to take a two-goal lead midway through the second period.
Nylander cut it to 3-2, but Batherson struck back with his second of the period less than two minutes later on a play Toronto unsuccessfully challenged for offside.
Cozens scored his second goal on the ensuing penalty, chasing goalie Joseph Woll after 23 saves on 28 shots. Anthony Stolarz stopped all 12 shots he faced.
The Maple Leafs' frustrations boiled over early in the third period in the form of a brawl in front of Stolarz, which resulted in 28 penalty minutes, including a 10-minute misconduct to Toronto's Max Domi.
The Chicago Blackhawks took on the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night in Denver. On top of the entire NHL, the Avalanche present an incredible challenge for every team that they play against.
The Blackhawks, who are on the tail end of a rebuild, are still far away from being in the same class as the Avalanche, who will enter the playoffs as one of the top threats to win the Stanley Cup.
The Blackhawks kept the score close, but that is more because of Spencer Knight's brilliance in the goal. He made 32 saves on 34 shots.
Connor Bedard gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead early in the first period, but the Avalanche put in the work to get it tied and eventually win it before the game even came close to reaching overtime.
Cale Makar scored the tying goal for the Avalanche with less than 10 seconds remaining in the second period. From there, the Avalanche had a true grip on the game.
Gavin Brindley scored the go-ahead goal at 7:31 of the third period, and that stood as the game-winner. Makar added an empty net goal, and the 3-1 score stood as the final.
This was a tough loss for the Blackhawks. The score wasn't a true indication of how badly the Avalanche outplayed the Hawks, but the young team did stay in the game thanks to the goaltender and Bedard's early goal.
Bedard needs to stay hot, but the lack of scoring depth beyond Tyler Bertuzzi is keeping them from pulling out wins in some of these games. One more goal could have changed the entire outcome of this game.
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Shayne Gostisbehere had a goal and two assists to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to their fifth straight win, 5-2 over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.
Jackson Blake, Taylor Hall, Sebastian Aho and Eric Robinson also scored for the Hurricanes, who have used a 12-game point streak (10-0-2) to surge to the top of the Eastern Conference with 82 points.
Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen made 27 saves to improve to 14-1-2 in his career against the Red Wings.
Simon Edvinsson and Patrick Kane scored and Cam Talbot stopped 31 shots for the Red Wings, who lost for the fifth time in seven games (2-4-1).
The Hurricanes built a 3-0 lead to continue their recent hot play at home. They lost their first two home games in January but have gone 10-0-1 at home since a 5-3 loss to Colorado on Jan. 3.
Gostisbehere scored at 2:18 in the third period to give the Hurricanes some breathing room after Detroit cut the margin to 3-2 at the end of the second period.
Blake, with assists from Gostisbehere and Hall, extended the Hurricanes' margin to 5-2 with a goal at 5:30 in the third.
Edvinsson scored from the left circle with 1:35 left in the second period to get Detroit on the scoreboard. Kane scored 47 seconds later to cut the deficit to 3-2 heading into the third period.
In the first period, Hall scored on a breakaway at 14:05 and Gostisbehere set up Aho’s power-play goal with eight seconds left to make it 2-0. Aho, who helped Finland win bronze at the Olympics, has seven points in the past six games. Robinson scored 2:52 into the second period to push the lead to 3-0.
Up next
Red Wings: Visit Nashville on Monday night.
Hurricanes: Start a four-game road trip at Seattle on Monday night.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anton Forsberg made 29 saves, Alex Laferriere scored in the second period and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Calgary Flames 2-0 on Saturday night to end a five-game losing streak.
Forsberg had his second shutout of the season and 10th of his NHL career, two nights after coming on in relief of Darcy Kuemper in the second period of an 8-1 home loss to Edmonton.
Laferriere scored with 4:24 left in second, putting his own rebound past goalie Dustin Wolf for his 14th goal of the season. Adrian Kempe added his 22nd into an empty net in the final minute.
Wolf made 35 saves. He spent seven years in the Los Angeles Junior Kings youth program before playing major junior for Everett in the Western Hockey League.
The Kings have three games left on a six-game homestand.
The Buffalo Sabres are undoubtedly a team to pay attention to between now and the 2026 NHL trade deadline. With the Sabres looking to cement themselves a spot in the playoffs, they should be looking to add to their roster.
The Chicago Blackhawks are in a different position, as they are among the bottom teams in the NHL and should be sellers. Due to this, let's look at two players who the Sabres should consider pursuing from Chicago.
Ilya Mikheyev, LW/RW
The Sabres would benefit by adding another depth forward to their roster, and Ilya Mikheyev could be an interesting player for them to bring in. The 31-year-old forward could fit well in their bottom six, as he is a speedy winger who contributes offensively. He is also an excellent penalty-killer, so he would help the Sabres in that department.
Mikheyev has appeared in 53 games this season with the Blackhawks, where he has recorded 11 goals, 12 assists, and 23 points.
Connor Murphy, D
The Sabres have been connected to Murphy a lot this season, and it is easy to understand why. There is no question that they need another right-shot defenseman, and landing Murphy would give them a very solid one. The veteran blueliner could fit nicely on their bottom pairing and penalty kill if acquired.
In 58 games this season, Murphy has recorded four goals, eight assists, 12 points, and 84 blocks.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Far too many times over the past few years, the Islanders have been in the same position the Blue Jackets were Saturday night: playing a four-point game, long before the end of the season, where it felt like their lives were on the line.
Rarely have they been in the opposite chair, but there they were Saturday. Columbus came into the evening six points behind the Islanders — the playoff team closest to them — and with two games in hand. An Islanders win wasn’t going to eliminate the Blue Jackets, but surely a growing standings deficit the week of the trade deadline would point Columbus general manager Don Waddell in a certain direction.
Now, Waddell has a hard week in front of him. His team tossed away a 2-0 lead in a game it was dominating through 30 minutes, and the Islanders walked out of Nationwide Arena with a 4-3 overtime victory on Simon Holmstrom’s game-winning goal that left the Blue Jackets seven points out of a playoff spot and gasping for air.
It was the second game of two on this road trip in which the Islanders trailed by two goals in the second period, and the second game of two in which their resiliency, along with some timely adjustments from coach Patrick Roy, made that forgettable.
Simon Holmstrom (right) celebrates with teammates after scoring the game-winning overtime goal in the Islanders’ 4-3 win over the Blue Jackets on Feb. 28, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
“We just needed to be better with our puck management, that’s all it was,” Roy said. “When our ‘D’ were in [the offensive zone], we have to cover for them, and we didn’t do a good job. And they took advantage of it.
“… I thought we started putting more pressure on our neutral zone instead of sitting back. We had more pressure on our forecheck and we pressed more on the D-Zone coverage. I thought that created the game we had towards the end.”
There was also something more simple: throwing pucks and bodies to the net. That was how Anders Lee, off a Scott Mayfield rebound, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, off his own rebound, scored 22 seconds apart to tie the game just after its halfway point. And it was how Mayfield made it 3-2 off a shot that ricocheted, taking a hard left turn off Kirill Marchenko and hitting Zach Werenski before crossing the goal line at 17:10 of the second.
Ilya Sorokin makes a save on Boone Jenner during the first period of the Islanders’ overtime road win over the Blue Jackets. NHLI via Getty Images
Columbus came back down and re-tied it on Adam Fantilli’s deflection from Werenski to set up a 3-3 game entering the last 20 minutes, but the damage was done and the game had shifted.
“We saw what was working,” Pageau said. “Low to high, get pucks at the net, crash the net. That’s what created most of our goals. Other than the OT winner, all the goals were created like that.”
Just like two nights prior in Montreal, the Islanders got better as the game went on. The third period was their best, and if not for some good work by Jet Greaves, the Blue Jackets would have lost this game before overtime.
Undefeated in games that end in 3-on-3 play, though, the Islanders weren’t about to let their perfect record slip. They barely let the Blue Jackets touch the puck, and Holmstrom eventually put away Tony DeAngelo’s outlet pass to seal the win.
Anders Lee (right) battles for position with left wing Danton Heinen during the Islanders’ road overtime win over the Blue Jackets. Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
“I think we proved the last two games we’re very resilient,” Holmstrom said. “We don’t quit. We stay with it.”
The Islanders had started this one slowly. Their puck management was less than great, and aside from Cal Ritchie’s line, there weren’t many chances to speak of. Even Ilya Sorokin made a rare error, letting the puck trickle through him 2:30 into the game on Isac Lundeström’s tip from Dante Fabbro.
Mason Marchment, the villain last time these teams played, made it 2-0 early in the second off Charlie Coyle’s feed to the right circle that seemed to make its way through the Islanders’ defense in slow motion.
Lee and Pageau — who scored the tying and winning goals on Thursday in Montreal — pulled the Islanders back into the game, and this is a team that doesn’t tend to let those opportunities go to waste.
They didn’t Saturday.
And they may have just pushed Columbus’ season to the brink.
DENVER, COLORADO - FEBRUARY 28: Gavin Brindley #54 of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates after a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
In continuation of the Central Division showdowns, the Colorado Avalanche moved on in their busy schedule in hosting the Chicago Blackhawks in a Saturday afternoon affair hoping to erase the bitter taste of defeat from two nights ago. It wasn’t a masterful effort but still Colorado found enough to end up with a 3-1 win over Chicago.
The Game
It wasn’t the start to the game the Avalanche were hoping for. Devon Toews took a hooking penalty six minutes into the match and Connor Bedard converted for Chicago on the power play for the game’s first score. For the rest of the first period the two teams would trade fruitless power plays while the Avalanche crafted a 14-4 shot advantage.
The second period wasn’t much better and was a slog to get through. Colorado took a too many men penalty early and then Chicago was called for three straight infractions after that. Colorado capitalized on none of them, gaining only a 9-5 shot advantage in the period in the process.
A sign of life, though, emerged after the fourth failed power play of the game for Colorado as Cale Makar found the back of the net with nine seconds left in the period. It wasn’t even a clean pass from MacKinnon as a Blackhawk tipped it on the way to Makar but he was able to find an open look much closer to the net that he has been and fired his favorite shot from the top of the right circle to tie the game 1-1 heading into the second intermission.
A shorthanded 3-on-1 happened early in the final frame but the Avalanche over-passed their way out of it to keep the game tied. Who knew the fourth line would bail out the Avalanche in their third minute of time on ice in the game? That’s exactly what happened midway through the third period to give Colorado their first lead of the contest when Gavin Brindley cleaned up some loose change at the net front.
Nothing else happened in this game except for an empty net goal scored by Makar after just seconds after Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Nečas over-passed themselves into a turnover when they had a chance at securing the victory. A 3-1 Colorado win was recorded after this sloppy game.
Takeaways
Joel Kiviranta remained absent from this game with Zakhar Bardakov participating in his place. Prior to the game Jared Bednar admitted on the radio that the Finn is going through concussion protocol.
It was nice to see Brindley as the hero of the game but it’s troubling he still ended with 3:26 time on ice and not a second more after he scored the game winning goal. It’s fair to wonder how much of the current bottom six forward group will remain on the roster after the upcoming NHL trade deadline on Friday.
Upcoming
A busy March schedule kicks off with the first of a back-to-back in California against the LA Kings at 8:30 p.m. MT on Monday, March 2nd.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Simon Holmstrom scored 1:50 into overtime as the New York Islanders beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 on Saturday night for their fourth straight win.
Holmstrom got the feed from Tony DeAngelo and had a clear path up the right side of the ice before cutting toward the net with a wrist shot to beat Columbus’ Jet Greaves.
It was Holmstrom’s 14th goal of the season and his second in overtime. The Islanders are 8-0 in overtime games this season, the only team in the league that hasn’t lost in the extra period.
Scott Mayfield had a goal and assist for the Islanders. Anders Lee and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored 22 seconds apart in the second period to erase a two-goal deficit. Ilya Sorokin stopped 27 shots.
Columbus’ Zach Wereneki, who had the assist on Jack Hughes’ goal in the United States’ gold-medal victory over Canada at the Olympics, had a pair of assists and extended his points streak to a nine games, the longest run by a defenseman in franchise history.
Werenski, second among NHL defensemen with 65 points, has 13 in his last nine games (two goals, 11 assists). It was Werenski’s 21st multipoint game this season and the 100th of his 10-year career. With 621 games played, he’s the fifth-fastest active defenseman to reach the mark.
Isac Lundeström, Mason Marchment, Adam Fantilli had Columbus’ goals. Greaves made 22 saves.
Columbus is seven points behind the Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division and five back of Boston for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Marchment, whose goal 3:58 into the second gave the Blue Jackets a 2-0 lead, has 10 goals in 16 games with the Blue Jackets since being acquired in a trade from Seattle on Dec. 19. That’s the fewest games a Columbus player has needed to reach double-digit goals.
Feb 28, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; New Jersey Devils right wing Timo Meier (28) is congratulated after scoring a goal against the St. Louis Blues in the second period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | Joe Puetz-Imagn Images
First Period
In the first period, the Devils had a very disjointed effort. Despite not generating a ton of scoring chances (three high-danger), the team had several giveaways. Per Natural Stat Trick, Dawson Mercer (2), Connor Brown, Nick Bjugstad, Nico Hischier, Simon Nemec, and Timo Meier were all credited with giveaways on bad passes. Having seven giveaways in a game can be bad enough, but the Devils made other mistakes with the puck, too. Sometimes, they recovered well, and sometimes, they did not.
My least favorite moment of the first period was on the penalty kill, after Dougie Hamilton took a trip. Luke Hughes, who does not get a ton of penalty killing time, made an excellent read to intercept a pass in the defensive zone and skated it out himself. After gaining the center ice line, Hughes looked to feed it across to Nick Bjugstad. Those two and Jesper Bratt entered the zone, but one too many passes back between Bjugstad and Bratt led to a chance the other way. Bratt could have put pressure on Binnington with a one-timer on the rush, but he was too much of a perfectionist.
I will disagree with Bryce Salvador’s commentary on that play, as he praised Luke for having the responsibility to get back on defense rather than press the attack too much. I get it — it’s the penalty kill. But Luke Hughes made a perfect read on a bad pass and had good legs going into the offensive zone, and we know he is skilled enough to score. I do not think he should be coached in a way to automatically defer to the forwards there. If Luke Hughes thinks he can take the puck to the net himself, he should do it. If he thinks he has a shot, he should take it. We are talking about someone whose skillset should make him a 60+ point defenseman (or better) if his speed/hands combo are used right. We’ve seen him go nearly end-to-end, we’ve seen him score on the rush, and while I think he made a great pass to Nick Bjugstad, I would have had no issue if he went up on offense by himself. That’s who he has to be if he wants to reach his full potential.
Second Period
Jesper Bratt drew a penalty to start the second period. Unfortunately, the first unit looked rather rough without him or Meier, as Connor Brown and Arseny Gritsyuk were on the top wave. Their first shot of the power play came from a play off the faceoff from Luke Hughes to Simon Nemec, who found Timo Meier to the side of the slot. His shot was saved by Binnington, and St. Louis cleared the puck off the glass and out of play as the penalty expired.
Not long after Jack Hughes set up Connor Brown for a potential one-timer that was fanned on after Jack had spun around the zone to create a passing lane, Brett Pesce fired a shot off the iron. But the Devils did not get down on themselves, and Timo Meier roofed a shot on the rush to give them a lead! Coming down the right wing on the rush, Timo Meier looked like a true difference maker, putting the puck over Binnington’s blocker arm.
Unfortunately, he would take a high sticking penalty with three minutes to play in the period. Prior to the penalty, the Devils were doing a great job of controlling the pace of play in the second period, generating eight high-danger chances throughout the period to zero by St. Louis at five-on-five. And it was a rough penalty to take, too, as the Devils were pressuring in the offensive zone at the time. Thankfully, the Devils had a good kill, and the temporary loss of momentum did not come back to bite them.
Brett Pesce got tripped up at the end of the penalty kill, gutting the play out to go into the corner, drawing another trip as his knee seemed to be bothering him going off the ice. The Devils had another chance, but St. Louis cleared early on. But Dougie Hamilton drop passed to Jack in the neutral zone, and Jack Hughes went all the way around the net before teeing up a one-timer for Dougie, who ripped it past Binnington for a 2-0 lead!
That might have been the #NJDevils best second period since October. At 5v5 (14:56):
The Devils ran into trouble early when Jack Hughes took an uncharacteristic delay of game penalty. Again, the Devils had a great penalty kill, almost creating a scoring chance when Nick Bjugstad took on a few Blues and came away with the puck in the offensive zone, firing a shot that was blocked. Dougie Hamilton looked for Jack coming out of the box at the end of the kill, but the puck off the boards just missed Jack’s stick.
Back at even strength, the pace of play was very slow in the third period. The Devils, who dominated the second period, sat back more in the third period. The Blues emptied the net with over three minutes to play, as they were struggling to create offense. Bratt iced the puck looking for a long empty netter with 2:48 to play, but the Devils did a good job of slowing play down on the boards after the icing faceoff to draw another whistle, giving them the chance to change with 2:38 to play. After keeping the Blues to the outside on the following shift, Dawson Mercer got the puck in the slot and cleared it down the ice, just missing the left post by a foot or so.
Markstrom tried to go for the full-ength empty netter and was promptly scored on by Pavel Buchnevich with just over a minute to play. It could have been called for goaltender interference, as Buchnevich prevented Makrstrom from returning to the crease after his clearing attempt was knocked down, but the Devils chose not to challenge. I understand not wanting to take a penalty for delay of game if the challenge failed, but it seemed like clear interference in not allowing the goalie a path back to the crease.
After the Devils iced the puck with 40 seconds to play, the Blues called timeout. Nico Hischier won the draw, but Dougie Hamilton’s chip up the ice was blocked back to Hischier. Hischier was held up, but he iced the puck with 33 seconds to play. They won the puck back again in the defensive zone after the next draw, and Connor Brown deflected the puck a good 25 feet into the air at the blueline to get it out to center ice. But Brown and Bratt pressured the puck more, and Jesper Bratt passed up an empty netter to set Nico Hischier up for the Devils’ third goal of the game, as they beat the Blues 3-1.
The Devils won this game with a great second period effort. They had as many shots in the second period at five-on-five as the other two periods combined (14), while they had eight of their 11 high-danger scoring chances. So, while the Devils went into a bit of a prevent defense, parking the bus in the third period, the St. Louis Blues were already tired. Per Natural Stat Trick, the St. Louis Blues had 15 “extra long” shifts during the game to only 10 for the Devils, while they had 51 total long shifts to the Devils’ 55. While I cannot break Natural Stat Trick’s data on a by-period level (unless I look before the end of the game), I am going to take a guess that most of St. Louis’ “extra long shifts” came in that second period. The Devils dominated the puck that period, and it was very difficult for St. Louis to get full changes as a result. You can see this on the Meier goal, as Justin Faulk was one of the Blues who were unable to change off after Pesce’s shot rang iron, and he was unable to block Meier’s shot.
This is something I have hated from the Devils this season. All too often, it seems like they are losing the second period shift battle. So, a good start in the first period turns to them getting tired down the stretch until they play an entire uncompetitive third period. Instead of falling into that trap today, they inflicted it on St. Louis. I think it made a big difference in St. Louis being unable to crack the Devils in the third period, even though the forwards dialed it back.
A Change in the Offensive Approach and Olympic Markstrom
Two huge things have stood in the Devils’ way this season: their very conservative in-zone offense and the inconsistency from Jacob Markstrom in goal. Both looked a lot different today.
On offense, the Devils have often only kept one or two forwards around the net this season, working around the perimeter and along the blueline. Sometimes, this gets so bad that the Devils have four skaters above the faceoff dots hunting for the infinitesimal chance of that one skater in front getting deflecting the puck with three or four opponent skaters clogging the slot area. When the Devils were at their best today, they were cycling three or even (shockingly) four skaters attacking below the dots.
Were there some miscues? Yes. Jonas Siegenthaler’s scorpion-style kick block at the end of the first period after Dougie Hamilton went for an aggressive pinch on Brayden Schenn was a good example of that. But that is why the Devils pay mobile shutdown defensemen like Siegenthaler and Dillon a lot of money. They are paid to cover for when the offensive playmakers put the team in a difficult spot. Siegenthaler earns his paycheck with plays like that. Players like Hamilton (who scored the game-winning goal), Nemec, and Hughes are going to need to take risks to maximize their offensive potential.
Thankfully, Sheldon Keefe did not send a message to play more safely in the second. Their execution was simply better. Going for more aggressive plays led to better offense, and I would love to see more of this kind of play moving forward.
On the other end of the ice, Jacob Markstrom continued to look like OLYMPIC MARKSTROM rather than the iteration we saw from him between October and January. He stopped 25 of 26 shots with 1.67 expected goals against in all situations, though I still think he should have had a shutout. In two games since playing for Team Sweden in Milan, Markstrom is 1-1-0 with a .935 save percentage. In his last four NHL appearances, going back to January 29, Markstrom is 2-2-0 with a .931 save percentage and a goals against average just over 2.00. Markstrom’s best statistical stretch this season came from December 19 to January 3, when he was 2-2-0 with a .941 save percentage — the only four-game stretch with a better save percentage than this one for Markstrom. If he can sustain it this time, it would go a long way to easing concerns over the team’s goaltending over the next year or so.
Your Thoughts
What did you think of today’s game? Did you think the Devils played well? How do you think this game will impact their personal confidence in the next few weeks? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.
At 1:47 of the overtime frame, Simon Holmstrom collected a stretch pass from Tony DeAngelo before cutting across the crease to beat a sprawling Jet Greaves for the game-winning goal:
With the win, the Islanders now hold a seven-point lead on Columbus for third place in the Metropolitan Division and now sit tied in points with the Pittsburgh Penguins for second.
Here's how we got there.
For a second straight game, the Islanders found themselves down 2-0 but, in short order, found themselves back even.
After Matthew Schaefer needed 55 seconds on Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens to score twice and tie that hockey game, the Islanders needed just 22 seconds to do the same on Saturday.
First, it was Islanders captain Anders Lee batting a puck out of the air off a Scott Mayfield backhand at 11:37 of the second:
Then, at 11:59 of the second, Jean-Gabriel Pageau followed up his own rebound, before the puck bounced in past Blue Jackets' netminder Jet Greaves. Columbus head coach Rick Bowness would challenge for goaltender interference, but the call on the ice stood:
So what kind of reaction would Matthews get in the Canadian city? Would country or NHL team be the determining factor?
When the words "gold medalist" were said, there seemed to be a mixed reaction, but when Matthews' Leafs position and name were mentioned, the cheers reigned and people stood and clapped.
Watch the video below:
The Maple Leafs salute their Olympians Oliver Ekman-Larsson, William Nylander and Auston Matthews 🫡 pic.twitter.com/nsJNBgnelr
