Better late than never.

Former Detroit Red Wings forward David Perron is heating up lately. Unfortunately, the season as a whole hasn’t been going his way.

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Perron has played 28 games this season. During his first 12 games, he didn’t record a single point. He has been dealing with a few injuries this season and health concerns surrounding his newest child, born at the end of October 2024.

Things are going great for Perron now, particularly on the ice. 

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Over his last six games, he has one of the best stat lines on the Ottawa Senators. Perron has recorded three goals and two assists, for five points. He’s also recorded 11 hits while averaging 14:40 of ice time per game.

The only Senators with more points in that time are Jake Sanderson, Drake Batherson, and Brady Tkachuk. 

In Saturday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, he skated on a line with Dylan Cousins and Batherson. Perron scored his fifth goal of the season at 12:16 of the second period to tie the game 2-2.

The Senators defeated the Maple Leafs 4-2. Perron had one goal, two shots, and two hits in 14:04. He now has 10 points this season, averaging 13:38 of ice time.

Perron is heating up at the right time, which should make Senators fans happy. The Senators hold the top Wild Card position. With the regulation win over Toronto, they are only four points behind them in the standings.

This has made the Wild Card picture more competitive in the Eastern Conference. With the Senators pulling ahead, it’s a dogfight for the final playoff position. The Red Wings are behind the New York Rangers by four points but also have a game in hand.

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ST. PAUL - Despite losing seven of its last ten games, the Earth isn't falling in the eyes of the Minnesota Wild. Even after one of the most sluggish games of the year, the Wild have to flush a 5-1 loss on home ice to the St. Louis Blues and move on. 

It is a quick turnaround with the Los Angeles Kings in town on Monday and you know that Kevin Fiala will be hungry to pounce on the Wild right now, like Jordan Kyrou did on Saturday night. 

"You gotta take the lessons quick out of it," Wild head coach John Hynes said. "You gotta get ready for the next game and get going. We got another, a day of rest tomorrow and then we got another big week coming. So, it’s a great time of year. It’s a highly competitive time of year. You can’t get too low when you lose, you can’t get too high when you win. And I think that’s the most important thing.

"Even for you. I think it’s ones where, we don’t, we lose a game and it’s like the earth’s not falling apart. Like we got a really good team. Tonight, we didn’t play our best. There’s a couple areas we could be better at. We will be better, and then we got another swing of games coming up this week. So, we’re excited for that."

One bad game happens. A stretch of two, three, or maybe four bad games happens. But in this current stretch for the Wild, it seems like it's just going to keep happening.

In their first four games of a seven game homestand, the Wild have scored a total of five goals. Two of them have been at 5-on-5 and one of the two was on the heels of the Blues' goaltender Joel Hofer making a poor decision behind the net.

“They scored goals. We don’t. Simple as that," Mats Zuccarello said. "That’s no secret that we’re struggling to score goals as of late. We got a find a way to do it. They score on their chances, and we don’t. They also pinned us in a couple times in our own zone, but I think we had some really good O-zone time, had some great chances, but that’s the difference. They score and we don’t.

"I mean, I can stand here and tell you but at the end of the day if we lose 5-1 at home, it’s not acceptable. Everyone in here knows it’s embarrassing for us to play like that, but what are we going to say? You gotta take it on the chin right now and it’s not good enough. There’s a hungry team coming in here Monday. We gotta be ready to compete and win hockey games.”

The Wild spent most of the first period in their own zone. They allowed chance after chance and were being dominated on possession time, it seemed.

Any chance the Wild would get in the offensive zone, they would fire it over the net. The Wild's fourth line created the most chances in the first period. They had four shot attempts and missed the net on every single one. 

Yakov Trenin made two great moves to get to the net in the first period and missed twice. Deadline acquisition Justin Brazeau had a point-blank chance in the slot with no one on him and he fired it 10 feet to the right of Hofer. 

To put salt in the wound, Marat Khusnutdinov, who the Wild traded for Brazeau, scored his second goal in as many games with the Boston Bruins. 

The tide shifted in the second period though. Or so it seemed. Jake Neighbours opened the scoring in the second and Kyrou scored his first of three goals just over two minutes after Neighbours scored his 17th of the season. 

"We just had more, you know? I think that goes back to us reacting like I said. It's like we were just kind of waiting for it and then in the second period, we took it to them and played our game," Jake Middleton said. "Even their goals. It wasn't like we were playing bad. Their goals were, they got lucky bounces. We didn't and that's just the way it's going. We definitely need more jam in our game, especially at this time of year. We were just kind of waiting, I thought."

Middleton got the Wild's lone goal thanks to a mistake by Hofer and the Blues. Kyrou then scored the next two goals to end it for the Wild. 

The process to score a goal right now feels like a daunting task. With no Kirill Kaprizov or Joel Eriksson Ek, the Wild simply can't put the puck in the back of the net. It is an exhausting process.

"It's almost like, I agree with you, but it's almost like we're waiting for it. We're waiting for the next guy to do it, the guy beside you," Middleton said. "When we're not scoring as a team we all got to do it together, right? And that was kind of tonight. In recent games, the work ethic is there. But we gotta start stepping up as a team here and put the puck in the back of the net and just (start) playing harder."

In a time where the Wild are, and will continue to be, without Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek, they need guys to step up. 

So that being said, it's not a good time for a guy like Matt Boldy to go into a slump. The 23-year-old forward has zero goals in his last ten games. He had three goals in two games before his ten game drought but also went scoreless in nine-straight before the two-game goal streak. 

Marco Rossi hasn't scored in nine games. Gustav Nyquist, the Wild's other trade deadline acquisition, has zero goals in seven games with the Wild and zero in his last 17 games with the Nashville Predators and Wild. He has not scored since Jan 25. 

He has one 5v5 goal in his last 55 games with six goals in that span. One of them was on the power play and four of them were empty net goals. His last 5v5 goal was Jan 25. His one before that was Oct 28. 

Zuccarello has three goals in his last 18 games, Marcus Johansson has one goal in his last 18 games and Ryan Hartman has one goal in his last 14 games. 

To Middleton's point, it seems like every Wild player is just sitting on the bench and looking at the guy beside them and hoping they will be the one to score. 

That can't keep happening. It isn't like the Wild are a lock for the playoffs. They just dropped a game to the Blues who now entered the wildcard picture, and the schedule the rest of the month for the Wild doesn't get easier. 

Minnesota plays the New Jersey Devils twice, the Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitals, and the Kings to end the month. They have a game against the Buffalo Sabres and Seattle Kraken who both aren't in playoff spots, but neither were the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Blues at the time and the Wild still dropped those.

Nonetheless, the concern level has to be a little bit high. But as Hynes said, the earth isn't falling apart. They still are a good hockey team. This is still the same team that started the season 18-4-4 and was the best team in the league.

They had proven to be the best team in the league at times and stats back that up.

But it is also the team that is 11-14-1 since Jan 8. Which is 29th in the NHL. It's the same team that has scored the fewest goals in the NHL since Jan 8 but also the same team that allowed the fewest goals per game in the NHL through the first 28 games. 

It's just a matter of what team will show up for the final 15 games of the season. 

“Honestly, everyone wants to go and score goals and win hockey games. No difference in here," Zuccarello said. "Right now the puck doesn’t go in and it’s not a lack of trying or whatever but maybe when you get in a situation a little bit extra poise that you usually have when things go well is not there. Yeah, I don’t know. It’s frustrating for you guys to watch but imagine being out there and feeling the same way and you want to do but it’s no excuses. It’s not good enough. Next game we gotta compete and we gotta show up and be hungry. We gotta bounce back after this.”

The Montreal Canadiens welcomed the Florida Panthers Saturday night at the Bell Centre for the first of three duels in three weeks. The Stanley Cup champions came to town without elite defenseman Aaron Eklad, ace scorer and agitator Matthew Tkachuk, and newly acquired, longtime Boston Bruins pest Brad Marchand. Even without those players, the Cats remain a force to be reckoned with and the Canadiens passed the test with flying colours. 

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A Much Better Start

Compared with the Seattle game, this was night and day, effort level-wise in the first frame. Against the Kraken, Jakub Dobes had to fend for himself, with the Canadiens giving up 15 shots in the first 20 minutes. On Saturday night, everybody was skating hard and trying to be first on the puck at both ends of the ice.

Montreal was also much brighter with the puck, not giving it away too much. They only committed two turnovers in the first, and it was through Jayden Struble and Joshua Roy. The game appears to be going a wee bit too fast for Roy. He found himself on the receiving end of a turnover in the slot, but he had two Panthers on him before he could launch his shot. The same is true when deciding whom to pass to; he tends to run out of room and time, which rarely leads to good decisions.

The Canadiens were able to maintain a high level of play all the way through the 60 minutes, only giving Florida nine giveaways, while the Cats cough up 25. Even though the Panthers had an 11-2 edge in shots in the final frame, Montreal played a smart game, controlling the puck as much as they could and committing very few mistakes. 

The way Martin St-Louis' men were able to kill Dvorak penalties at six on four with so little time left in the game was clear evidence that this team is maturing nicely. In Seattle, they failed that same test and they learned from it. 

Attacking As A Five-Men Unit

While the Canadiens had their best scoring opportunities on the power play on Saturday night, they seemed to consciously try to generate more attack involving the five players on the ice.

Whether it was Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson, or Arber Xhekaj, the forwards used the blueliners more. Perhaps it’s just because the chemistry’s improving, but it was refreshing to see Xhekaj get a couple of clear looks on the net in the same sequence in the second frame.

The Canadiens were also looking for deflections, and it worked like a charm on Christian Dvorak’s goal, the 100th of his career which came off a David Savard shot deflection.

The Benefits Far Outweigh The Downsides

Patrik Laine may not be as complete a player as some would like, but the chatter about a buyout is downright ridiculous. This is a player who cost next to nothing to acquire and who, granted, has a big contract, but it’s not like the Canadiens need the cap space.

Whichever way you look at it, the benefits of having Laine in the lineup far outweigh the downsides. Some would like to make you believe he’s bad for the team culture, but considering how Martin St-Louis handles him, that’s a baseless claim. When the big Finn isn’t pulling his weight on the defensive side of the puck, he plays less; that’s as simple as that.

He may not like it, but the coach holds firm: give me what I want, and I’ll give you what you want. Tonight, Laine gave him what he wanted, given what he had to say about the second line:

Newie’s line played well, Patty had a lot of minutes tonight, and it was deserved. He was then asked if he felt it was one of Laine’s best games, and the reply immediately came: “Yes, that’s what we’re looking for.”

-

For a second game in a row Laine set the tone with a timely power play goal and that's invaluable. A working power play can be so important to a team's momentum and it truly is for the Canadiens right now. 

La deuxième tentative est la bonne!

Second time's a charm!
#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/FC31zY3xqW

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 15, 2025

The atmosphere was simply magical in the Bell Centre, especially in the third frame; the wave went around and around the rink for such a long time; it was impressive. By the end of it, I was wondering if the Panthers’ players were seasick, to be honest. As for the coach, he loved it:

From start to finish, it was one of the best games we've played since I’ve been here. The fans gave us a treat in the third, and we want to give our all to them. It was a great experience for everyone who was in the building tonight. I had a lot of fun in the third, with how we behaved, the atmosphere, and everything else. We must go try to earn moments like these.

-

After this much deserved 3-1 win over the Stanley Cup champions, the Canadiens will enjoy a day off on Sunday, but the coach will still be watching some hockey. He’s headed to Clarkson to see his son Lucas and his Harvard side take on the Knights in game three of the ECAC quarterfinals.

---

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The Florida Panthers did not get off to a good start on Saturday night in Montreal, and it cost them.

If the Cats want to bounce back on Sunday and avoid a pair of losses in consecutive days, they’ll need to show up from the start.

Just as hungry as the Canadiens were in their home barn, you better believe the New York Islanders are just as desperate for every point in the standings they can get.

Entering play Sunday, the Isles find themselves six points back of the New York Rangers for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, and with four teams to climb over just to reach their crosstown rivals.

Florida, meanwhile, remains atop the Atlantic Division, currently holding a four point lead on the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning, who each have 81 points.

Only four points back of the Bolts and Leafs and turning some heads as they climbed up the standings are the Ottawa Senators, another team the Cats will need to keep an eye on as the postseason draws closer.

In terms of recent play, both the Panthers and Islanders have left something to be desired.

Florida has dropped two of three on their current six-game road trip while the Islanders have lost three straight and are in danger of falling too far behind in the Wild Card race.

The Panthers will likely turn to Vitek Vanecek in goal on the back end of the back-to-back after Sergei Bobrovsky played on Saturday night in Montreal. 

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Sunday’s tilt on Long Island:

Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart

Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Evan Rodrigues

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist

A.J. Greer – Nico Sturm – Tomas Nosek

Gus Forsling – Seth Jones

Niko Mikkola – Dmitry Kulikov

Nate Schmidt – Uvis Balinskis

Scratches: Jonah Gadjovich, Brad Marchand

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The hometown fans left their arena happy on Saturday night following the battle between the Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, and their fans, the Cats were not the home team.

Montreal came out swinging, jumping out to an early multi-goal lead that proved to be enough to take down their division rivals and keep pace in a tight Eastern Conference playoff race.

As for the Cats, they have now dropped two of three to open their extended road trip and will need to figure things out quickly before things start to get out of hand.

After Sunday’s game on Long Island against a desperate Islanders team, Florida will battle Columbus and Washington to finish their roadie.

So yeah, there is nowhere for the Cats to hide.

Let’s get to Saturday’s takeaways:

NOT PANTHERS HOCKEY

It was pretty clear after the game that the Panthers did not think much of their collective result in Montreal.

The effort is never lacking with this squad, but on this night, the Canadiens found a way to get Florida off their game.

Perhaps falling behind early played a part, though the Panthers generally don’t come out of their style when needing to come from behind.

For whatever reason, the Cats didn’t look very much like the Cats on Saturday night.

“Well, I don’t want to tell you how I thought we played because I want to be respectful Montreal’s effort, they played hard and fast,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “I can't really give you an assessment of how good that was, because I’m not sure that relates to how we played, but I think we own that one. Our play, that was on us. We would have to play considerably better before I could assess what the other team did to us.”

STRUGGLES AGAINST MONTREAL

Florida is now 0-2-0 against the Canadiens this season.

The Cats have been outscored 7-1 against Montreal and frankly they did not look good in either loss.

While the Panthers were a much different team in many ways back in late December, it is still worth wondering if Montreal has some kind of edge over the Panthers.

It isn’t out of the realm of possibility for the Cats and Habs to meet in the first round (though Ottawa’s hot streak may have something to say about that).

For his part, Maurice made clear that he felt Saturday’s loss had more to do with what Florida didn’t do well than anything Montreal did to them, and he did it without showing any disrespect to what their opponents did.

“Listen, they beat us,” Maurice said. “They're in the fight for their lives, and they play the butts off tonight, and that should be the story here.”

DEEP BREATHS

It’s been a funky week with a couple of frustrating, unorthodox losses for the Panthers.

Now it’s probably no coincidence that both have come after Florida added Aaron Ekblad to the list of key players who are currently unavailable, as few on the team play as key a role as Ekblad does.

In similar situations, the Panthers have found ways to persevere.

Their depth and style of play allow the team-first mentality to shine through, but if that’s going to happen again this time, they have a bit of a gauntlet to get through on this road trip.

“We've gone from December 28th to today, and I've been pretty happy with our game most nights,” Maurice said. “There’s a couple we didn’t love, but…we'll leave this one here.”

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The vibes were high after the Chicago Blackhawks' big overtime win over the Utah Hockey Club on March 7th. They looked to take that momentum on the road for four games but they did no such thing. 

After going 0-2-1 in the first three, they had a chance to get a little something out of the trip when they paid a visit to the Vancouver Canucks. Connor Bedard's homecoming is always exciting but it didn't go his team's way. 

Vancouver was winning 2-0 at first intermission thanks to goals from Quinn Hughes and Tyler Myers. Despite playing a solid opening period on the road, the Canucks were opportunistic and took the multi-goal lead.  

In the second period, Vancouver extended their lead to three with a Connor Garland goal at 8:08. This was a beautiful passing play that Garland completed with Nils Hoglander and Pius Suter. 

Alex Vlasic scored one to get Chicago on the board at 18:51. That 3-1 score went to the second intermission. At that point, it felt like the Blackhawks were back in the game. 

At 4:01 of the third, something happened that you don't see every day. Elias Pettersson took a shot that appeared to hit the post. That left the Blackhawks scrambling in the defensive zone before Nils Hoglander found it and rifled it into the net. 

After further review, however, it was determined that Pettersson's initial shot didn't hit the post. It went in the net. It was going to be 4-1 anyway but Pettersson got his rightful credit for the goal. 

Just over a minute later, Wyatt Kaiser responded with a beautiful wrist-shot goal to make it 4-2. On the play, Artyom Levshunov earned his first career NHL point with an assist. He sent Kaiser in for the good chance that led to a goal. 

In his three NHL games so far, Levshunov has had some learning moments but it has mostly been great for him. He has a ton of confidence when the puck is on his stick and he's been defending well. 

Next up for Levshunov is his first career NHL goal which is coming soon. He loves to shoot the puck and he's quite good at finding the net through traffic. Eventually, one will sneak through. He's also going to collect a lot of points from deflection goals in the coming years with that talent. 

Any chance of Chicago coming back was shut down by Vancouver later in the third as they scored two more goals in eight seconds about midway through the final frame. The 6-2 score was the final. 

Things looked good for Chicago in terms of how they were playing in the first half of the game. Things fell off hard in the third period though which made the final score look even worse. 

With under three minutes left in the game, there were some skirmishes at the whistle. The referees started handing out ten-minute misconducts and Connor Bedard was one of the players to get one.

This is the second game in a row where Bedard was handed this penalty. Frank Nazar, Filip Hronek, and Conor Garland were also given ten-minute misconduct penalties. 

Chicago only gave up 15 shots on goal in this one which is their lowest total allowed this season. Arvid Soderblom didn't have his best night in the net which was obvious. The Hawks didn't allow a ton of shots in the game but they weren't as good in the second half. Vancouver was able to make good plays and capitalized when given the chance. 

Now, the Hawks will return home for seven of their next eight games. They must learn from this 0-3-1 road trip ahead of their match against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night if they want to keep the good play at home going. 

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

The Pittsburgh Penguins just keep on rolling during the stretch run of the season.

Even though goaltending has mostly been carrying them, their offense found a way to be the story on Saturday afternoon.

The Penguins beat the New Jersey Devils, 7-3, to earn their fourth straight win. And they got contributions from up and down their lineup - including from their newcomers.

Forward Connor Dewar registered two goals, and defenseman Conor Timmins notched two assists. Both were acquired on Mar. 7 from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

DEWEY GETS THE HELMET! pic.twitter.com/btWYzjxO6U

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 15, 2025

Regardless of who is doing it and how they are doing it, the Penguins are winning games against some pretty good teams. And it's something they should feel pretty good about.

"It's just one game at a time," said goaltender Tristan Jarry, who put up his fourth straight win. "We can't get too far ahead ourselves. We just have to keep focus on the task at hand, but I think we've done a really good job just getting points and climbing. We just have to keep that mindset and keep going with it."

New Jersey opened the scoring midway through the first period, when former Penguin Cody Glass put one home from the right circle for his fourth point in four games since being traded from Pittsburgh to the Devils.

Dewar responded near the end of the third with a "garbage goal," and - 25 seconds later - Danton Heinen capitalized on a two-on-one chance with a beautiful forehand-to-backhand move, which came after a sneaky feed from Philip Tomasino.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Danton Heinen with 02:24 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Philip Tomasino and Vladislav Kolyachonok.

Pittsburgh: 2
New Jersey: 1#NJDvsPIT#LetsGoPens#NJDevilspic.twitter.com/nXD78fKJqJ

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 15, 2025

The Penguins held the 2-1 lead into the second period, and they added on within the first five minutes of the middle frame. Rickard Rakell came in hard on the forecheck and managed to squeeze the puck from below the goal line out to Matt Grzelcyk. Grzelcyk fed it to Timmins, who fed it to Sidney Crosby, who found Rakell in just the right spot in the slot to register his 31st goal of the season.

The dynamic duo is at it again! 👏 https://t.co/zw6u6dlMMkpic.twitter.com/uabsQ0ITew

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 15, 2025

After a disallowed shorthanded goal by the Devils during a four-minute kill in the second period, Tomasino worked hard to earn a goal of his own in the opening minutes of the third period, as he forced a turnover in front of Devils goaltender Jakob Markstrom and finished his own play to make it 4-1.

But, then, things got a bit dicey.

Pittsburgh took two consecutive double-minor penalties for high-sticking - the first by Noel Acciari, and the second by Evgeni Malkin - and New Jersey capitalized on both four-minute power play opportunities. Timo Meier got the first, and Nico Hischier got the second to make the score 4-3.

However, the Penguins responded with a power play goal of their own. Defenseman Erik Karlsson found the twine with an absolute rocket from the point to give the Penguins back a two-goal lead.

Filthy toe drag release by EK65 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/uopBgh6621

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 15, 2025

And from there, they pretty much shut it down. Dewar scored his second goal of the game on the empty net with 55 seconds left in regulation, and Kevin Hayes added an even-strength goal with 22 seconds left on the clock to score the "chili goal" and give the Penguins a 7-3 victory.

This was Pittsburgh's first win against the Devils this season and just their second win in the last 11 games against them.

"I give the players a lot of credit," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "I think 'Jars' played terrific. He was outstanding again tonight, and our power play gets us a huge goal late in the game to give us a little bit of a cushion.

"Guys are just competing. We're playing hard, I'm happy for the players. We've been able to string a couple in a row here together, and we're just going to take that game right in front of us and see where it takes us."

---

Here are just a few thoughts and observations from Saturday's win:

- Let's get the negative out of the way first. The Penguins' penalty kill is outright awful right now.

The unit surrendered another two power play goals against the Devils, which were both on third-period high-sticking double-minors. A unit that was top-12 for much of the season has free-fallen in the league standings.

The Penguins are now 19th in penalty kill percentage at 77.2 percent, and they have surrendered eight power play goals in their eight games in March - including four in the last two games.

"It's not always the cleanest game from an execution standpoint," Sullivan said. "I think we've got to do a better job staying out of the penalty box, and in some of those situations, there were a few penalties that I thought could've been avoided that would put us in a better position."

Simply put, the Penguins need to be more disciplined. Their PK unit isn't really doing much killing right now, so they're best-served to avoid it entirely for the time being.

- Speaking of which, there were three different double-minors for high-sticking in this game - two by the Penguins and one by the Devils.

Not something you see very often.

- The new guys are really playing well for the Penguins and have played pretty big roles, respectively, in their four-game win streak.

Dewar - who didn't have a goal on the season with the Toronto Maple Leafs before becoming a Penguin - has three goals in four games with Pittsburgh and is helping Blake Lizotte and Noel Acciari drive offense on the third line. Timmins had two points tonight and has been a steady presence on the blue line for Pittsburgh's bottom pairing.

DEWEY 👏 pic.twitter.com/PxLH5reo9z

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 15, 2025

"It's been great to come in and contribute right away," Dewar said. "It makes you feel a lot more comfortable, and it's nice helping out in getting these wins here."

Five games since the trade deadline, four wins. And the only loss was the first one on deadline day against the Vegas Golden Knights - which Dewar and Timmins were not available for.

- I've mentioned that Vladislav Kolyachonok's offensive instincts continually impress me. He did earn his first point as a Penguin on Heinen's goal.

Another player who has been very good in this last handful of games? Tomasino.

He has been impressive, really, since being slotted back on Evgeni Malkin's right side. The production won't pop out at you - he has three goals and seven points in his last 12 games - but he is driving offense on that line. 

Phil-ing good 😊 pic.twitter.com/hTX9VwcHgH

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 15, 2025

"He's a really talented player," Sullivan said. "He has real good offensive instincts. He has the ability to finish, he's got a deceptive shot, and I think he's a dangerous player off the rush. I think an example of that is the two-on-one goal he scored tonight."

He continued: "The area we're trying to help him grow is to develop a grind game. If you don't have the opportunity to generate offense off the rush, you have to find different ways to generate offense. Usually, when you play the better teams in the league, they take the rush game away."

Tomasino has earned the opportunity to stay on the second line for the remainder of the season, even if he still has to iron out some of the details of his "grind" game.

- The Penguins kept showing this young Penguins fan on the jumbotron. The first time, he was dancing, and the crowd went wild. Then, they showed him after Tomasino's goal, which garnered a huge cheer. 

Then, they showed him again with a "Celebrity Alert" AI frame around his face. The crowd responded and went nuts yet again.

This wasn't a huge crowd, but it was a good, loud one. Awesome stuff by the Penguins' video staff to make this kid a star.

- After a New York Rangers win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, the Penguins are still six points out of a playoff spot, and every team ahead of them has games in hand. At one point Saturday, they were just four points out.

I can’t believe I’m typing this and everyone has games in hand on them, but the Penguins are four points out of a playoff spot.

— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) March 15, 2025

Don't get your hopes up. But, obviously, if the Penguins keep winning games - their next of which comes Tuesday against the New York Islanders and then Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, both teams ahead of them in the standings - I suppose we'll have to keep monitoring the mathematics.

Who would've thought, right?

---

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The St. Louis Blues closed out their longest road trip of the season in emphatic style.

They shook off a tough loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday with a solid effort all-around on Saturday, led by Jordan Kyrou's fifth NHL hat trick and his second straight against the Minnesota Wild in a 5-1 win at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.

The Blues remain two points behind the Vancouver Canucks, who defeated the the Chicago Blackhawks 6-2 late Saturday night, but St. Louis (32-28-7) are tied in points with the Calgary Flames, who have two games in hand (Vancouver has one) and two points ahead of Utah Hockey Club (one game in hand).

Brayden Schenn had a goal and an assist, Cam Fowler, Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich each had two asssists, and Joel Hofer, making his first career start against the Wild (37-25-5) made 18 saves.

The Blues closed the trip with a 3-2-1 mark and now will play nine of their final 15, including on Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks, a game originally slated to begin at 5 p.m. (CT) but has now been moved back to 7 p.m. due to travel complications by the Blues returning from Minnesota.

The Blues, for the first time in the history of matchups with the Wild, were faced with being swept in a season series.

Since the Wild made its way into the league in 2000-01, playing its 24th season in 2024-25 and had never swept the Blues in a season series.

Minnesota won the first three matchups (4-1 in St. Louis on Oct. 15, 4-2 in St. Louis on Nov. 19 and 6-4 in Minnesota on Jan. 7) and were looking for their first-ever sweep of the Blues but it was not to be.

Minnesota was missing some weaponry in this game (Kirill Kaprozov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin), but the Blues were missing Colton Parayko on the back end.

By Montgomery throwing Hofer at Minnesota, a goalie the Wild had never seen before, there's the notion of having to get used to someone's tendencies rather than facing Jordan Binnington, someone Minnesota is quite familiar with. And yes, Hofer was one zone exit away from possibly getting a shutout that resulted in a Jacob Middleton goal that made it 3-1 at 12:47 of the second period, but Hofer was solid otherwise.

Let's dive into Saturday's Three Takeaways:

* More net front presence, middle lane drives -- Despite outplaying the Penguins on Thursday, including owning a 36-22 advantage on the shot clock, the Blues and coach Jim Montgomery lamented that there wasn't enough of a net front presence in front of Tristan Jarry, not enough of a middle lane drive to the net that had made them so successful in going 7-2-2 the previous 11 games.

Consider the message delivered.

Schenn's goal at 4:17 of the first was a perfect example of what the Blues needed against a stingy defensive-minded team that has had issues scoring goals.

The Blues had an extended shift in the Wild zone, one of many throughout the first period, and were able to control the zone enough that a pair of line changes were made, but when the puck was played to Fowler at the left point, he threw it towards the net knowing Schenn was going there. The Blues captain was able to maneuver past Frederick Gaudreau, collect the loose puck and backhand it in past Filip Gustavsson for a 1-0 lead.

On Neighbours goal, same thing. Robert Thomas wins the face-off back high, puck goes low, quick pass to the slot for a one-time shot by Thomas, and Neighbours is the backside forward driving the net and yes, it was a fortuitous bounce off a block by Zach Bogosian, but if Neighbours isn't driving the net, he doesn't score, but he did and potted the puck to make it 2-0 at 10:51 of the second period.

And for Kyrou to kickstart his night to make it 3-0 at 12:22 of the second, it was another face-off win high, puck worked low, thrown to the net, but Kyrou is the middle lane driver crashing to the goal and he made no mistake when Gustavsson pushed the rebound right into his pathway.

* Holding another opponent under 30 shots -- It says that defense pays, and for the Blues, it paid off once again on Saturday.

For the 12th straight game, they held an opponent under 30 shots and have allowed an average of 23.4 shots per game in that stretch, which is second in the NHL behind the Florida Panthers (23.2).

The last team to get 30-plus shots: the Panthers, who had 34 on Feb. 6. But including that game, the Blues allowed 30 or more in four of the five prior to this run of 12 straight.

Quite frankly, Saturday was a defensive masterclass of not allowing traffic, no middle lane drives and taking away shooting lanes with 19 blocks.

* Kyrou owning the Wild -- Coming into the game, Kyrou had 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) in 22 career games against the Wild, and he loves playing at the Xcel Energy Center.

With Saturday's performance, it stands at 15 goals, 11 assists in 23 games now.

He made it 4-1 at 11:30 of the third period with a breakout of the puck, then slicing past Declan Chisholm and Vinnie Hinostroza, flying around the right edge with speed and catching Gustavsson over-commiting before wrapping the backhand in to make it 4-1.

And in style, Kyrou scored into the empty net at 17:40 to make it 5-1. And it could have been more with Kyrou having 12 shot attempts in the game but six of them were blocked.

Kyrou's last hat trick also came against the Wild in the very same building, on March 23, 2024.

* Click here to see what Montgomery and players had to say after the game.

It’s been a tough road trip so far for the Florida Panthers.

For the second time in three games since leaving South Florida, the Panthers couldn’t pick up the two points, this time falling to the Montreal Canadiens 3-1.

The home team got off on the right foot, and they did it on the power play.

Veteran sniper Patrik Laine was given three shot attempts from the same spot inside the left circle, and the third one finally beat Sergei Bobrovsky at the 5:15 mark of the opening frame.

Cole Caufield scored his 33rd goal of the season late in the period to give the Habs a 2-0 lead after one.

Panthers rookie Mackie Samoskevich would get the Cats on the board early in the second, picking the puck up behind Montreal’s net before walking in front and beating Sam Montembeault under the glove.

That would be as close as Florida would get on this night.

Christian Dvorak took advantage of a Sam Bennett turnover to restore Montreal’s two-goal lead in the third period, and that would be it in terms of scoring.

Florida ended up outshooting the Canadiens 11-2 during the final frame, but Montembeault stood tall and earned his team a huge two points in the standings.

On to Long Island.

QUICK THOUGHTS

Samoskevich has four points over a modest three-game point streak.

In 11 games since the start of February, Samoskevich has racked up six goals and nine points.

Bennnett extended his point streak to five games, accumulating three goals and six points during the run.

Over his past nine games, Bennett has four goals and 10 points.

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The Nashville Predators (25-33-7, 57 points) wrap up their three-game road trip with a visit to the Los Angeles Kings (35-20-9, 79 points) Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.

Justus Annunen will get the start in goal for Nashville, while Darcy Kuemper will stop the picks for the Kings.

How the Predators Lined Up vs. Los Angeles

Forsberg-O'Reilly-Stamkos
Bunting-Sissons-Marchessault
L'Heureux-Svechkov-Vrana
Bellows-McCarron-Smith

Skjei-Blankenburg
Englund-Del Gaizo
Oesterle-Barron

Annunen
Saros

Extra: Evangelista, Stastney
IR: Josi, Lauzon, Wilsby

Predators at Kings: Live Updates

First Period (NSH 0, LAK 0)

The Predators' defense held the Kings to just four shots on goal in the first period, the first of which didn't even come until nearly 12 minutes into the frame. Annunen and Kuemper combined for 11 saves in the first period as the game remained scoreless heading into the first intermission.

On Saturday afternoon, the New Jersey Devils saw their winning streak end at PPG Paints Arena.

New Jersey's third-period comeback fell short as the Pittsburgh Penguins handed them a 7-3 loss. Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 16 saves on 22 shots for a .727 save percentage.

Devils' forward Cody Glass opened the scoring against the team that traded him a little over a week ago. It was the 25-year-old's fourth point in as many games with New Jersey. 

After that, it was all Penguins as the Devils found themselves down 4-1, entering the third period as Connor Dewar, Danton Heinen, Rickard Rakell, and Philip Tomasino all scored. 

New Jersey was awarded back-to-back four-minute power plays early in the third period and cashed in. Timo Meier scored his 19th of the season, and one minute later, Nico Hischier celebrated his team-leading 28th goal.

With 13:20 remaining in the game, the Devils were down by a goal but ultimately could not outperform their many mistakes. 

"We just weren't good in the game," Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe said to NJD.TV. "We weren't good in execution with the puck. We made mistakes. We didn't play winning hockey here today."

"We stopped playing hockey for a bit," Hischier told NJD.TV. "We were not smart enough. We beat ourselves." 

The Devils will conclude their two-game road trip on Monday night when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets for their final matchup of 2024-25. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's New Jersey Devils site for THN's latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

The Mental Side of the Game: Devils Players & Mental Skills Coach Andy Swärd Take You Behind the Scenes

EXCLUSIVE: Q&A With MSG Networks Host & Analyst Rachel Herzog

Hischier's Manager Patrick Fischer: 'He's Driven to Succeed, but Not Easily Satisfied'

The Buffalo Sabres haven’t had many signs of hope this season – but the way they won Saturday is one of them.

In their remaining 17 games, the Sabres still have the chance to salvage something from this season, which is about to be their 14th-straight playoff miss. In their win over the heavily favored Vegas Golden Knights, Buffalo found a way to not only come back multiple times but be a spoiler – which is what they need to be for the rest of this season.

For most of the afternoon tilt, the Sabres looked like they would lose their 40th game of the season. The Golden Knights jumped out to a 1-0 lead by the first intermission, and they made it 2-0 at the 12-minute mark of the second frame.

In most cases this season, the Sabres would not have closed the deficit.

Before Saturday, Buffalo’s record when trailing after one period this season is 2-15-1 – an abysmal showing. Their 4-23-1 record when trailing after two periods was a bit better in relation to the rest of the league but not exceptional.

Despite trailing after the first and second periods, and watching former captain Jack Eichel give the Golden Knights a 3-2 lead with only 2:33 left in regulation, the Sabres tied the game with 14 seconds left in the third. That came after Tomas Hertl passed up an empty-net goal for Vegas to try to give Eichel a second goal, making that equalizer even sweeter for Sabres fans.

Buffalo then pulled out a 4-3 shootout win to give them their second win in their last three games. That improves their record to 3-15-1 when trailing after one period and 5-23-1 when trailing after two.

Dahlin’s Meeting With Adams Was About Club Direction, Not An UltimatumThe kerfuffle raised by TNT panelist and Spittin Chiclets co-host Paul Bissonette earlier this week regarding a meeting between Buffalo Sabres team captain Rasmus Dahlin and GM Kevyn Adams received some clarity courtesy of Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast on Friday, as he indicated that the meeting was not to provide an ultimatum, but to inquire about the plan for the direction of the club. 

Buffalo’s gutsy play Saturday has to be encouraging to Sabres fans. They outshot Vegas 37-19, and they ultimately deserved to win the game. The resilience against the Golden Knights has come too late to get Buffalo into the post-season, but this type of win is exactly what’s needed to build momentum into the off-season instead of wilting away for another year. Perhaps it gives Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams something positive to point to as evidence that he can continue building this Sabres team – and for Lindy Ruff to continue to coach it despite being last in the Eastern Conference.

Sabres' Ryan McLeod Accomplishes Rare Stat In Big PerformanceThe Buffalo Sabres picked up an impressive 4-3 shootout win over the Vegas Golden Knights on March 15. The Sabres made the Golden Knights surrender 2-0 and 3-2 leads before winning this matchup, so it was a hard-fought victory for the Atlantic Division club. 

Buffalo has the second-toughest remaining schedule this season, according to tankathon.com. So it’s unlikely the Sabres will go on a lengthy run of success the rest of the year. That said, the spoiler’s role is there for the taking, and they can do significant damage to other teams’ position in the standings.

Going through another slew of losses to end the season will only create more doubt and cynicism in the minds of Buffalo fans, ownership and management. The Sabres can’t battle for a playoff spot anymore, but they can still become a team that’s ready to turn the corner competitively and set the table for a strong performance next season. Their win over the Golden Knights is one step toward doing that.

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Erik Karlsson scored a power-play goal and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New Jersey Devils 7-3 on Saturday.

Rickard Rakell scored his team-leading 31st goal. Connor Dewar scored twice, and Philip Tomasino, Kevin Hayes and Danton Heinen also scored.

With an assist, Sidney Crosby tied Wayne Gretzky for the fourth-most points with a single franchise. Crosby also recorded his 12th 50-assist season, equaling Adam Oates for 8th in NHL history. He has points in 10 straight home games.

Tristan Jarry made 24 saves for his fourth straight win since he was recalled from the American Hockey League earlier this month. Jarry has stopped 123 of his last 130 shots faced.

Nico Hischier and Timo Meier scored power-play goals for the Devils. Cody Glass also had a goal. Nathan Bastian’s short-handed goal was called back on a challenge because he was offside.

Jesper Bratt had his third straight three-point game with three assists, matching the longest streak in franchise history. He has 60 assists this season, which equals Scott Stevens’ franchise record. Bratt has two goals and nine points in his last three games.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 16 shots.

Takeaways

Devils: New Jersey was unable to win four straight for the first time this season. The Devils lost three consecutive games prior to their three-game win streak.

Penguins: Pittsburgh won four straight games for the first time since a four-game win streak from Nov. 27-Dec. 3. The Penguins have five wins and points in six of their last nine games.

Key moment

Karlsson’s power-play goal gave Pittsburgh needed insurance. Meier and Hischier scored power-play goals earlier in the period for New Jersey, which turned a 4-1 hole into a one-goal deficit.

Key stat

Pittsburgh snapped a six-game home losing streak against the Devils dating back to Oct. 20, 2021.

Up next

New Jersey visits Columbus on Monday and Pittsburgh hosts the Islanders on Tuesday.

The Calgary Flames (30-24-11) are in must-win territory on a nightly basis, but dropped their second consecutive contest on Friday, losing to the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 at the Saddledome.

Despite the loss, the Flames remain in the second wildcard spot but no longer have a game-in-hand over the Vancouver Canucks. Since Calgary doesn't play until Monday, they will spend the weekend scoreboard watching.

Too Little Too Late

In a crucial game, the Flames came out flat. Even though it was a quiet opening period for both teams, as they combined for nine shots, 7-2, the Avalanche struck first at 13:21.

Meanwhile, Calgary didn't do much in the second, giving up the game's second goal at 5:55. Only in the dying minutes did the Flames get any momentum. They ended the period with many shots, which comprised the bulk of their eight. Still, ten shots through 40 minutes isn't part of the recipe for success.

🔥FLAMES GOAL🔥

Rasmus Andersson's shot goes off Jonathan Huberdeau's shoulder and in. That crazy bounce makes this a one goal game!

🎥: Sportsnet | NHL#Flames#GoAvsGopic.twitter.com/h7xXB60EYN

— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) March 15, 2025

Once Blake Coleman made it 2-1 at 3:08, a costly miscommunication behind the net allowed the Avalanche to restore their two-goal lead. Jonathan Huberdeau's power-play goal made things interesting in the final four minutes, but a turnover led to an empty net goal and Colorado walked away with two points. 

Flames Are Not Ready For Top Seeded Playoff Series

It's no secret that the Flames are the lowest scoring team in the NHL and their goals-per-game average also ranks at the bottom. Against the Avalanche on Friday, the Flames scored less than their 2.55 average, which would make easy pickings in a playoff series.

If the postseason started today, the Flames, as the second-seeded wildcard, would play the Vegas Golden Knights, the fourth-best team in the NHL.

NHL Highlights | Avalanche vs. Flames - March 14, 2025Ryan Lindgren opened the scoring for the Colorado Avalanche, while Parker Kelly found the back of the net twice as the Avalanche roll against the Calgary Fla...

They score 3.35 goals a game and give up 2.70. Both numbers intimidate the Flames and their fan base because the team struggles to score.

Ultimately, on Friday, the Flames showed they are not in the same position as the Western Conference top teams like the Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets, or Golden Knights. Although they had moments where they controlled the pace of play, the outcome of this game was never in question.

Once Again, Wolf Can Only Do So Much

Dustin Wolf finished his night with 24 saves on 27 shots, good enough for a .889 SV%, the lowest total in a game...since a loss to the Avalanche on Feb. 6, when he registered a .882 SV%. 

Any contending team wants to ride their top goalie every night to climb the standings and clinch a playoff spot in the Flames' case. 

Dustin Wolf is built different pic.twitter.com/QpCfuGOJLz

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 15, 2025

However, Calgary hasn't done enough to support their young netminder, who just played his 40th game of the season for a career high. He may have played over 50 games in the AHL, but the NHL is a more competitive league and boasts some of the best players on the planet.

At this point, Wolf has worked his way into the Calder Trophy conversation, and many feel he should be a Hart Trophy candidate, but he's a one-person show with little to no help. 

With everything on the line on Friday, Wolf did everything he could to keep his team in the game, but with not much going on at the other end of the ice, it's been a difficult stretch for the youngster who remains one of the league's top netminders.