Why Bruins should call up James Hagens for much-needed offensive spark originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

After three consecutive games scoring just one goal, the Boston Bruins finally put together a decent offensive performance in Tuesday night’s road game against the Eastern Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes.

The B’s lost in overtime, but they scored five goals. Morgan Geekie, who hadn’t scored in 17 straight games, netted a hat trick to give him a team-leading (and career-high) 37 goals.

Despite the uptick in goals, this game provided even more evidence for why the Bruins need to sign top prospect James Hagens and get him on the NHL roster as soon as possible.

Hagens, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, recently signed an ATO deal with the Providence Bruins after his Boston College season ended a few weeks ago. Hagens has four points (one goal, three assists) in six games with the P-Bruins. He has played well, showing the creativity with the puck, speed and offensive instincts that made him a highly-coveted prospect.

Hagens’ high-end playmaking ability would be a huge boost to the Bruins’ bottom-six and power play for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs. (Boston has a 99 percent chance of getting in).

The Bruins rank 18th in goals scored per game since the Olympic break. They were sixth before the break. Aside from Geekie’s goal drought, one of the biggest reasons for the Bruins’ scoring output falling in recent weeks has been a lack of production from the bottom six.

Alex Steeves has one goal in his last 21 games. Michael Eyssimont has zero goals in his last nine games. Sean Kuraly has a 21-game goal drought. Mark Kastelic has gone 22 games without scoring. Tanner Jeannot has zero goals in 24 consecutive games. Lukas Reichel scored in his first game with the Bruins on March 19, but he hasn’t found the back of the net in his eight games since.

Sensing a theme here?

Here’s a look at the scoring for notable bottom-six players since the Olympic break:

Hagens isn’t a bottom-six talent. He has the potential to be a top-six forward for a long time. But putting him in a third-line role at this early stage of his career to give this Bruins team a much-needed spark offensively wouldn’t be a bad idea.

The power play is another area where Hagens’ offensive skill set could improve the Bruins’ attack. Whether it’s zone entries, creating scoring chances, etc., Hagens could bolster a power play that ranks 27th in success rate since the Olympic break. It was the league’s third-best unit before the Olympic break.

The Bruins went 0-for-2 with only one shot on net in four minutes of power-play time versus the Hurricanes on Tuesday. Some of the recent struggles stem from Geekie’s goal drought that ended Tuesday, but it’s larger than one player. It’s a team-wide issue.

Boston’s three most likely first-round playoff opponents are the Hurricanes, Lightning and Sabres. All three have good penalty kills. Buffalo and Tampa Bay both have top-seven PK units. The Bruins’ playoff run likely will be short if they don’t cash in on power-play chances.

The B’s just played four road games in six days. They aren’t practicing Wednesday, but they don’t play again until Saturday when the Tampa Bay Lightning come to TD Garden. So if they wanted, the Bruins could sign Hagens and get him a practice or two before his first game.

What would benefit Hagens more: a couple NHL regular season games and four-to-seven Stanley Cup Playoff games, or some more AHL regular season games and AHL playoff games? There’s a strong case for the former, especially if the expectation is Hagens starts the 2026-27 season on Boston’s roster.

Hagens doesn’t need to be a savior. He doesn’t need to dominate. His speed and offensive skill could give the Bruins a much-needed boost come playoff time. And why wouldn’t you take a chance on that? The East is wide open.

Welcome to this edition of the Vancouver Canucks post-game analytics report. This recurring deep dive breaks down the analytics behind each Canucks game as recorded by Natural Stat Trick. In this article, we look back on Vancouver’s most recent 2-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. 

The Canucks were heavily outplayed by the Golden Knights on Tuesday. Vegas held a 28-14 even-strength scoring-chances advantage and won the even-strength high-danger scoring-chances battle 13-4. In the end, this looked like a game between teams from two different leagues, as Vancouver struggled to generate any offensive pressure at even strength. 

Few heatmaps look like the one from Tuesday night. The Canucks generated a total of 11 shots, which is why there is so much white on their side of the map. As for the Golden Knights, they crashed the net all night, which Vancouver had no answer for. 

To wrap up this game, the Canucks' best player was Nikita Tolopilo. Vancouver's goaltender allowed just two goals on 28 shots, and saved 1.74 goals above expected. In the end, Tolopilo was the only bright spot as he kept his team in the game until the final whistle. 

The Canucks hit the road for three straight in California, starting with a matchup against the Los Angeles Kings. Vancouver still has two more games against the Kings, with the second meeting being the Canucks' home finale. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 pm PT. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

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Danton Heinen (6), Zach Werenski (22-PPG), and Adam Fantilli scored the goals for Columbus in regulation, and Jet Greaves stopped 34 of 37 Red Wings shots to pick up a huge two points. The win is Greaves 25th win of the year and breaks a four-game losing streak for the young goalie. 

The game would be won in overtime by Zach Werenski, who had previously gone 0-for-3 in his career in shootout attempts. Werenski would win it in round 5.

The Blue Jackets won the game and gave Detroit a point, but they're mathematically still in the playoff chase. They didn't get much help, though, as the Senators and Flyers, both teams who are directly ahead of the CBJ, also won. 

The Blue Jackets started the first period off as they have routinely, even during the losing streak, by scoring the first goal early in the period. But the Wings would strike back when Dylan Larkin tied it on the power play with 9:33 left. 

Detroit would score first in the second to take a 2-1 lead, but then with 9:01 left in the period, Superstar Zach Werenski potted his 22nd goal of the season on the power play to tie the game at two a piece. 

The third period played out like the second, with Justin Faulk scoring his second goal of the game to give the Red Wings a 3-2 lead. With just over four minutes left in the game, you could just feel that the CBJ were going to take another tough loss. 

But when Zach Werenski fed a pass to young Adam Fantilli while Jet Greaves was on the bench for the extra attacker, and he blasted it by John Gibson, the entire game shifted in a second.

The Blue Jackets and Red Wings would go to OT, and then on to a shootout where Zach Werenski would beat Gibson in round five to send the Jackets on to Buffalo with a massive win. 

Quotes   

• Zach Werenski - "My laces were all messed up, and I couldn't really skate, so when they called me, I was like, 'You guys sure? I’m kind of on one leg here.' My foot was in the skate but pretty wobbly. I was kind of thinking what I was gonna do when I went out there, and then I was like, 'What am I thinking, just shoot it.'"

• Zach Werenski - "I saw my parents after the game in the stands, and my brother up there. Those are the moments that you play the game for. It definitely ranks pretty high up there for moments in a regular season game for sure."
• Adam Fantilli - "We need all of them, and we're going to try to get every single one before the season is over and put ourselves in the best position to get in the playoffs for our fans and for our city."
• Charlie Coyle - "For the fans watching, hopefully not too many heart attacks out there. But it's nice to come out on the winning side. It's huge, too, with only a couple of games left to spring us and something we can feed off of."
• Detroit's Dylan Larkin - “I hope that’s not the one, and I hope the Minnesota one is not the one that’s the final nail in the coffin. That’s a letdown, in tough fashion again.”

Final Stats 

Player Stats & Notes  

• Danton Heinen scored his 6th goal of the season. He took 3 shots and was a plus-1.
• Zach Werenski scored his 22nd goal and picked up his 58th assist. With two points, Werenski is now the franchise leader in multi-point games in a season with 26. He also now has 80 points and has become just the third American-born defenseman with back-to-back 80-point seasons. He also played 33:26 minutes and took 6 shots.
• Adam Fantilli scored his 23rd goal of the season and took 3 shots.
• Mason Marchment picked up his 24th assist and was a plus-2.
• Denton Mateychuk recorded his 18th assist.
• Kirill Marchenko tallied his 39th assist and had 3 shots.
• Jet Greaves made 34 saves and got his 1st career assist on the Werenski power play goal.

Team Stats

• The Jackets went 1/4 on the power play.
• The Columbus gave up a goal on the only power play Detroit had.
• Columbus won 54% of the faceoffs - 34/63
• The Blue Jackets had 20 hits and 21 blocks.

Next Up For Columbus: The Blue Jackets are in Buffalo on Thursday to take on the Sabres. 

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After losing their first match in nine games on Sunday night, the Montreal Canadiens were hosting the Florida Panthers’ C or D team at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night. Matthew Tkachuk was out of the lineup because he was on baby watch. Sergei Bobrovsky was acting as the backup. Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, Sam Reinhart, Brad Marchand, Anton Lundell, and Evans Rodrigues were all out of action.

Meanwhile, Montreal had some fresh reinforcements with Kirby Dach, Alexandre Texier and Adam Engstrom entering the lineup. Brendan Gallagher was a healthy scratch, Joe Veleno was dealing with the flu, and Kaiden Guhle was given a day of maintenance. With Texier’s return, Alex Newhook moved to center, and Oliver Kapanen was demoted to the fourth line alongside Josh Anderson and Phillip Danault.

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Underperformance

Against a lineup that looked strangely like the one the Canadiens beat 10-2 in Carey Price’s last game, the Habs severely underperformed. Over 40 minutes, they had only tested Danil Tarasov 14 times, despite getting three power-play opportunities, and their only goal came on the man-advantage.

Over the course of the last four games, the Canadiens’ level of play just hasn’t been the same, even in the games they did win. As the coach likes to say, it’s not all about the result; it’s about the process, and the process has been severely lacking lately. The Canadiens have been coming out flat, and Tuesday night was no exception.

Speaking to the media after the game, Martin St-Louis acknowledged that his team was having a dip in performance and explained:

There’s always a part of fatigue that goes into it, and not just physically; there’s an element of mental fatigue. We had a sequence when we really had to push and get some points, and we were pretty much perfect…that’s really demanding, you need to stay alert, there’s a pressure that comes with it, a stress as well, when you get that check next to your team, does that make you decompress a bit? Is that what’s missing to keep the pace you had? More than likely, but the goal remains to go back to that level, knowing it might have been impossible, difficult to keep that level.

Chasing The Milestone

With Cole Caufield still looking for his elusive 50th goal of the season, his teammates were once again desperate to find him with the puck, and just like on Sunday night, it resulted in poor execution. Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky were constantly trying to feed him the puck, even if he was as covered as can be. At times, he was even covered by a couple of players, and they still looked for him.

The only one who wasn’t changing the way he was playing was Caufield himself, only taking shots when appropriate. He was even the one who fed Ivan Demidov for the Canadiens’ power play goal. Still in the second frame, we saw less of the first line. Caufield had 4:27, Suzuki 3:51, and Slafkovsky 4:04.

In the final frame, the Canadiens finally turned it on, so to speak, peppering the Cats’ net with 15 shots and scoring twice. In the frame, Caufield 5:54 of action, Suzuki 6:49, and Slafkovsky 7:12. Speaking after the game, the captain had this to say about the team not being very good tonight:

"It started with my line; I was pretty brutal all night until I had the easiest goal of probably my career there, so it started with us. We were a bit too casual and thought we were soft as a group...

About The Second Line

Putting Texier on the second line with Newhook and Demidov produced good results. St-Louis has often praised the Frenchman’s ability to extend the time spent in the offensive zone, and that’s exactly what he did, which allowed the Russian rookie to have more puck possession in the offensive zone. Spending more time there meant the defenders were more tired, and he proved quite a handful for them.

It’s also worth noting that Newhook took 14 faceoffs on the night and won 10 of them, a 71% success rate. The fact that he had been doing well in that aspect of the play of late was one of the reasons why the coach was comfortable putting him back at center.

De Lane à Nick, dans la dernière minute, contre la Floride, en avril...

Lane to Nick in the last minute against Florida in April...#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/cxePTXdSGi

— x - Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 8, 2026

In the end, the Canadiens did find a way to win with Lane Hutson manufacturing a last-minute Suzuki equalizer to take the game to overtime. While Montreal was unable to take advantage of the power play they got in the extra frame, they still came out on top in the shootout with Caufield and Texier finding the back of the net and Jakub Dobes shutting the door.

«NON!» -Jakub Dobes#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/xIZifMB2mj

— x - Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 8, 2026

With those two points, the Canadiens have now caught up to the Buffalo Sabres and the Tampa Bay Lightning points-wise, with all three teams being on 102 points. Still, the Bolts are first in the division, followed by the Sabres and then by the Habs because of their number of regulation wins and their number of wins not in the shootout.

On Thursday, the Canadiens will take on Tampa Bay, and with the stakes being so high, it would be shocking if they came out flat. Perhaps that’s exactly what the doctor would order, a match against a direct rival with added meaning.

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.  

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Here are your Pens Points for this Wednesday morning…

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced their 2025-26 regular season award winners on Tuesday. No, team MVP is not Sidney Crosby, but a Swedish defenseman who has been on “God Mode,” elevating his play and positioning the Penguins for a playoff berth. See the full list here. [PensBurgh]

The Penguins say forward Blake Lizotte is making progress from an upper-body injury and has resumed skating, raising hope he could return sooner than expected, possibly before the end of the regular season. [PensBurgh]

Pittsburgh officially recalled goaltending prospect Sergei Murashov from the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton affiliate on Tuesday. [Trib Live]

Expectations should be tempered with Murashov once again on the NHL roster, and he very well could be Artur Silovs’ backup for a few games. However, with Stuart Skinner’s status still uncertain amid his injury, it is interesting to examine the possibility that Stuart’s misfortune turns into Murashov’s golden opportunity 10 years after Matt Murray arrived on the scene. [PensBurgh]

News and updates from around the NHL…

The New Jersey Devils are evaluating head coach Sheldon Keefe following the dismissal of general manager Tom Fitzgerald, with his future uncertain as the organization reassesses its direction. [Sportsnet]

The Toronto Maple Leafs have hired Neil Glasberg and PBI Sports to assist with their search for a new head of hockey operations, according to TSN hockey insider Chris Johnston. [TSN]

Tampa Bay Lightning (48-24-6, in the Atlantic Division) vs. Montreal Canadiens (46-22-10, in the Atlantic Division)

Montreal, Quebec; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Montreal Canadiens after the Canadiens defeated the Florida Panthers 4-3 in a shootout.

Montreal is 15-9-1 against the Atlantic Division and 46-22-10 overall. The Canadiens have gone 19-5-1 in games they convert at least one power play.

Tampa Bay is 48-24-6 overall and 14-8-1 against the Atlantic Division. The Lightning have allowed 219 goals while scoring 277 for a +58 scoring differential.

Thursday's game is the fourth meeting between these teams this season. The Canadiens won 4-1 in the previous meeting.

TOP PERFORMERS: Lane Hutson has 12 goals and 63 assists for the Canadiens. Cole Caufield has nine goals and eight assists over the past 10 games.

Nikita Kucherov has 43 goals and 84 assists for the Lightning. Jake Guentzel has six goals and eight assists over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Canadiens: 9-1-0, averaging 3.4 goals, 5.5 assists, 4.3 penalties and 10.7 penalty minutes while giving up 1.9 goals per game.

Lightning: 5-3-2, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.5 assists, 5.4 penalties and 12.5 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game.

INJURIES: Canadiens: Alexandre Carrier: out (upper body), Patrik Laine: out (abdomen), Joseph Veleno: day to day (illness).

Lightning: Brandon Hagel: day to day (lower-body), Max Crozier: out (abdomen), Anthony Cirelli: day to day (undisclosed), Dominic James: out (leg), Declan Carlile: out (undisclosed), Victor Hedman: out (personal), Pontus Holmberg: day to day (upper-body).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Typically, when NHL teams outshoot their opponent 28-10, they can expect to win. That is, in fact, what happened on Wednesday when the Vegas Golden Knights wrapped up their season series against the Vancouver Canucks with a 2-1 victory— but the win didn’t come easily.

“It certainly wasn’t pretty. But we found a way to lead, and we found a way to win,” said head coach John Tortorella postgame.

The Golden Knights took it to the Canucks right from puck drop. In the first period, they outshot Vancouver 10-2 and generated seven high-danger scoring chances while only allowing one.

“I think we started the game really well,” said Nic Dowd following the 2-1 win. “In my opinion, it’s probably one of those games where you want to jump on the team early. You get chances, you want to try and put those away and kind of step on them a little bit. And obviously we didn’t, right?

“But sticking with it, not getting bored, trying to stay consistent, understanding that the tough plays are the ones that are going to earn you offense and not make you play defense, we didn’t get away from that, and we were rewarded for it down the stretch,” Dowd finished.

The Canucks broke the ice at 12:50 in the second period. Linus Karlsson won a board battle, and Teddy Blueger came up with the puck. Blueger entered the offensive zone and found Max Sasson, who drove down into the right circle and beat Carter Hart far-side.

MAX OPENS THE SCORING! pic.twitter.com/wSY5fWfG6f

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) April 8, 2026

The Golden Knights answered back just 1:56 later. Colton Sissons pressured Marcus Pettersson into a turnover behind the net, and Brandon Saad corralled the loose puck. Saad reset back for Shea Theodore at the blue line; Theodore worked the puck over to his defensive partner, Brayden McNabb, who stepped into his shot and scored from distance.

ya love to see it 😃 pic.twitter.com/hKjxrjqTER

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 8, 2026

In the third, the Golden Knights locked it down defensively. It took the Canucks nearly 14 minutes to record their first shot of the period.The Golden Knights took their first lead of the game at 12:13 in the third. Cole Smith forced a turnover at the blue line, entered the zone, and left the puck for Nic Dowd. Dowd drove deeper in the zone and found Smith in the slot for the go-ahead goal.

all gas, no brakes 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/LfnHOBWCGr

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 8, 2026

Rasmus Anderson was called for interference towards the end of the period, and the Canucks headed to the power play with 1:41 remaining in regulation. They pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker, but the Golden Knights held them to just one shot on goal and held on for the 2-1 win.

“It’s just one of those games that can get away from you. And that’s what I like about our team, they stayed with it,” Tortorella said postgame. “Good teams win those games.”

Three Takeaways of the Knight

1. On one hand, the Golden Knights need more from their top offensive performers. Vancouver leads the league in goals allowed, and this one came down to the wire. The only reason the Golden Knights won is that the Canucks are dead last in the league in scoring.

On the other hand, the Golden Knights are getting consistent depth scoring, which helps offset the need for more from top performers. They’ve gotten goals from a defenseman in three of their last four games. That matters.

2. It’s been a roller coaster of a season for the Golden Knights as far as the standings are concerned. They comfortably led the Pacific Division heading into the Olympic Break. Then, just last week, they were struggling to stay afloat as third in the division.

After tonight’s win, they’re tied for first in the Pacific once more, though the Oilers hold the tiebreaker.

3. Elsewhere, the Nashville Predators steamrolled the Anaheim Ducks, and the Utah Mammoth beat the Edmonton Oilers in overtime. Hence, the Golden Knights needed this win to keep pace in the standings. At this time of year, it doesn’t matter if two points come against the third team in the league or the 32nd. For the Golden Knights, all that matters is stacking wins and improving their chances of securing home-ice advantage in the postseason.

Suddenly somewhat desperate, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night at Honda Center.

The Ducks entered this game on the back of a five-game losing streak and had seen their five-point lead in the Pacific Division evaporate. As of Tuesday, they were tied with the Edmonton Oilers for first place and just one point ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights in third. A win in this one would have gone a long way in relieving unexpected tension at this point in the season.

Game #78: Ducks vs. Predators Gameday Preview (04/07/26)

Takeaways from the Ducks 5-3 Loss to the Flames

Their opponent, the Predators, came into this game on their second leg of a back-to-back, having lost in a shootout to the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Monday. The Preds came into this game one point behind LA and one point ahead of the San Jose Sharks, but still on the outside looking in at the playoff picture.

Cutter Gauthier (upper body) and Radko Gudas (lower body) remained out of the Ducks’ lineup in this game. Ian Moore seems locked in as a fourth-line winger for the foreseeable future, and was joined by Olen Zellweger. Frank Vatrano acted as the team’s healthy scratch in this game, and Pavel Mintyukov returned to the lineup after missing the last three games with a lower-body injury. Tyson Hinds received his second career start in this game.

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

Granlund-Carlsson-Terry

Kreider-Poehling-Sennecke
Killorn-McTavish-Viel

Zellweger-Washe-Moore

LaCombe-Trouba

Mintyukov-Carlson

Hinds-Helleson

Lukas Dostal got the start in this game and saved 20 of 25 shots. He was opposed by Justus Annunen for Nashville, who stopped all 43 shots he faced in this game, earning himself his third career shutout and first this season.

Game Notes

Game flow and analytics will reveal that the Ducks dominated this game and got “goalied.” Some of that may be true; they faced a dialed goaltender, they controlled possession, and they weren’t on the receiving end of any puck luck. However, the aspects of their game that they’ve been able to paper over for the majority of the season all came to light in this game.

“We started doing exactly what we wanted to do,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said after the game. “We started to sag a bit after they scored the first goal, and they got life. We played the period we wanted. Didn’t get any action around the net with second opportunities, and their goalie played well.”

Two of the biggest ingredients to the Ducks’ winning recipe this season have been outscoring problems and above-average goaltending in the environment provided. In this game, they couldn’t buy a goal, and Dostal was merely human.

“In the last couple of games, there was parts in it where it’s exactly how we wanted to play,” Quenneville continued. “We were seeing teams that have to win the game. We have to win games here. That’s where we’re at.”

Net Front Defending: Whether at 5v5 or on the penalty kill, the Ducks have struggled to box out net front forwards and have struggled to deny cutting forwards access to the front of the crease all season. Typically, when pucks make their way to the point, the strong-side defender will attempt to cut down on an angle and block the shot before it gets to their goaltender. However, if that shot can get through that layer of their defense, there’s typically an open forward at the goal mouth, screening, deflecting, or picking up a rebound.

Their aggressive style also lends way to puck watching from the far side. If the weak-side defender loses focus for a split second, talented puck carriers will easily find an uncovered teammate on their way to a dangerous locale.

Rush Defense: The Ducks have been remarkably susceptible to giving up odd-man rushes, stemming from overaggressiveness in the offensive and neutral zones. When they do have numbers tracking back energetically, they have an unfortunate tendency to over-pursue or fail to pick up their assignments.

These rush and net-front defending issues have plagued the Ducks all season, despite their success, and all came to fruition in this game on each of Nashville’s five goals.

Power Play: Nashville’s penalty kill did well to pressure Anaheim along the wall and at the offensive blueline. Seams were non-existent, and shots were challenged. The only aspect, an aspect they failed to reproduce, was player and puck movement through the middle of the ice, utilizing their bumper and switching along the perimeter.

Beckett Sennecke: Sennecke was one of the Ducks’ more consistent offensive drivers in this game, sparking chances from all three zones. What stood out most in this game, playing on the right side of Leo Carlsson and opposite Mikael Granlund, was his ability to make smart, effective second touches out of the zone on the breakout.

Sennecke consistently scanned before getting to spots and before pucks arrived, reading flow, coverage, and teammates with speed. He made clever one-touches to Carlsson, made crisp cross-ice stretch passes to Granlund in the neutral zone, utilized defensemen for regroups, and when he had a fraction of a second, he even pulled pucks off the wall himself, skating to the middle of the ice and starting a rush.

The Ducks will look to snap their six-game winless streak at the most dire juncture of the season, on Thursday, when they’ll host Macklin Celebrini and his hungry San Jose Sharks squad, vying for a playoff spot.

Ducks Recall Tyson Hinds to NHL, Assign Lucas Pettersson, Damian Clara to AHL

Takeaways from the Ducks 6-2 Loss to the Blues

Takeaways from the Ducks 4-3 Loss to the Sharks

The Vancouver Canucks recorded their yet another loss on home ice Tuesday as they fell 2-1 to the Vegas Golden Knights. Max Sasson scored the only goal for Vancouver as he beat Carter Hart in the second period. As for Nikita Tolopilo, he stood on his head and made 26 saves in the loss.

Tuesday's loss will go down as one of the worst home efforts in recent memory. The Canucks recorded just 11 shots compared to the Golden Knights' 28. Ultimately, Tolopilo is the reason this game stayed close, as he did everything in his power to try to secure a victory in front of the fans. 

"I mean, without Tolo, I don't know how close it would be, said Sasson post-game. You know, I thought everyone, including myself, can probably give a better effort in front of our home fans. Only a couple games left, and only getting 10 shots or whatever. It's not good enough."

Vancouver's inability to win games at Rogers Arena has been puzzling all season. With the loss, the Canucks can not hit 10 wins at home, which is a first for the franchise. Post-game, Sasson was asked about the lack of victories at Rogers Arena and why Vancouver has struggled at home compared to on the road. 

"We've got to figure that out. Going into next year, it feels, everyone's a little more tense at home. I have no clue, you know why, or what it is. I'm sure that'll be talked about in summer meetings and stuff and going into training camp, but yeah, you're 100% right. It feels, even, you know, in the locker room, it feels looser on the road for whatever reason. And, we've got to be good at home if we're gonna be a good team in this league."

Head Coach Adam Foote was also at a loss for words when asked about the problems at home. He said, "I don't. I mean, there's been lots of talk and discussion about it, but, I mean, you know, I don't, I really don't. But I don't want to look too far into that right now. That's something we'll probably have discussions more about in the off-season."

While it is understood that the Canucks are in a rebuild, the fans at Rogers Arena deserve better than what happened on Tuesday night. Vancouver's only push came at the end of the game, and even then, the team only managed four total shots in the third period. With one final home game left on the calendar, hopefully, this group can step up and provide some form of entertainment for the home crowd. 

Stats and Facts:

- Filip Hronek led all players with six hits

- Teddy Blueger extends his point streak to four games

- The Canucks' 11 shots recorded are the second-lowest total in franchise history

- Marco Rossi and Filip Hronek led Vancouver with two shots each

Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

No Scoring

2nd Period:

12:50- VAN: Max Sasson (13) from Teddy Blueger and Linus Karlsson
15:46- VGK: Brayden McNabb (5) from Shea Theodore and Brandon Saad

3rd Period:

12:13- VGK: Cole Smith (8) from Nic Dowd

Up Next:

The Canucks hit the road for three straight in California, starting with a matchup against the Los Angeles Kings. Vancouver still has two more games against the Kings, with the second meeting being the Canucks' home finale. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 pm PT. 

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VANCOVUER, British Columbia (AP) — Cole Smith's goal midway through the third period proved to be the winner as the Vegas Golden Knights held on to beat the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Max Sasson opened the scoring for the Canucks (22-47-8) with a wrist shot over the glove of Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart at the 12:50 mark of the second period. It was his 13th goal of the season.

Brayden McNabb replied for Vegas (36-26-16) less than three minutes later, sending a shot through traffic to tie the score at 1. Smith scored the go-ahead goal 12:13 into the third.

Vancouver had a prime chance to force extra time when Vegas defenseman Rasmus Andersson was called for interference with less than two minutes left. The Canucks pulled goalie Nikita Tolopilo in favor of an extra attacker, but failed to score.

Hart stopped 10 of the 11 shots he faced for the Golden Knights. Tolopilo made 26 saves for the Canucks.

Vegas extended its winning streak to four games under new head coach John Tortorella, who took over behind the bench March 31.

The Golden Knights swept the three-game season series between the teams after winning 5-2 on Feb. 4 and 4-2 on March 30 in Vegas.

Up next

Golden Knights: Visit Seattle on Thursday.

Canucks: Start a three-game road trip at Los Angeles on Thursday.

___

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

Justus Annunen made 43 saves for his first shutout win in a Nashville Predators uniform in a 5-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday at the Honda Center. 

It is Annunen's third career shutout, the first since March 4, 2024, in a 5-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks when he was with the Colorado Avalanche. 

It was also the Predators' first shutout win of the season and their widest margin of victory. 

The win also puts Nashville ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference with 84 points. The Predators have four games remaining in the regular season. 

Erik Haula opened the scoring in the second period, picking up a slot-feed from Joakim Kemell and beating Lukas Dostal blocker side. 

About four minutes later, on the power play, Filip Forsberg fired a shot from the top of the circles to put Nashville up 2-0. It's his eighth point in the last five games and his 38th goal of the season. 

In the final minute of the second period, on the penalty kill, Ryan O'Reilly picked off a Ducks player and passed to Nick Perbix, forcing a break the other way. He'd pass it up to Brady Skjei, who scored on the breakaway for his third goal of the year and the Predators' eighth short-handed goal of the season. 

In the third period, on an odd-man rush, Zach L'Heuruex capped it off with a goal to give Nashville a wide 4-0 lead. Kemell had the primary assist on the goal for the first multi-point game of his career. 

Late in the third, Fedor Svechkov picked up a spinning feed into the slot from Tyson Jost and scored for his first goal in nearly a month. 

Nashville's penalty kill was efficient as it killed off 6-of-6 Ducks power plays. Two of those Ducks' power plays were 5-on-3s. 

The Predators will play their final road game of the regular season on Thursday, traveling to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Mammoth at 8 p.m. CST. 

Jared Bednar and Colorado were unable to clinch the division on home ice against the Blues on Easter Sunday, but they would get another crack at it tonight in St. Louis.

Their second meeting in three days fit the season of rematches and revenge, with Colorado finishing with two points this time around.

Valeri Nichushkin would score twice, including a shorthanded goal, with Martin Necas netting the other for the Avalanche, and Scott Wedgewood collecting 19/20 saves and his 29th win of the season.

The Game

Val Nichushkin had one goal in his last twelve games before tonight’s game, but he picked a great night to get out of his skid and started the scoring with a wonderful re-direct.

Sam Malinski made a nice pass along the blue line that found Devon Toews’ stick. His point blast was deflected past Hofer, who didn’t stand a chance behind Nichkuskin’s large frame.

Colorado took the 1-0 lead with 3:29 left in the first frame.

Just when it looked like we’d head to the intermission, a one-goal game, Colorado’s top line and D pair pinned the Blues in their own end in patented Avalanche fashion.

MacKinnon was strong on the puck in the corner, which, when supported by a pinch from Devon Toews, turned dangerous.

Once the puck landed on Artturi Lehkonen’s stick, he sent it right back to MacKinnon, who attacked the net and made a quick tap pass to Martin Necas.

Marty would tuck the puck over the shoulder of Hofer and give Colorado a 2-0 lead after one period of play.

Colorado’s third and final goal of the evening would come just 1 minute and 40 seconds into the second frame. That means the Avalanche scored all their goals in 5:09 of game time.

This shorthanded exclamation point once again came from Val Nichushkin, and of the between-the-legs variety.

We’ve seen Nichushkin attempt this shot a few times without success, but this one trickled just enough to light the lamp.

Nothing like a late goal of the year candidate to make it 3-0 Avalanche.

Robert Thomas had a hat trick on Sunday, but his one tally late in the second is all the Blues would do to muster up a fight, leaving a final score of 3-1 Avalanche and crowning the boys in Burgundy and Blue for the lucky 13th time in franchise history.

Takeaways

The Avalanche could have clinched the Presidents Trophy and home ice throughout the playoffs if Boston had also bested Carolina in regulation this evening. Still, they fell to the Canes in OT.

No worries, Colorado will clinch as soon as Carolina loses another in regulation, or Colorado collects another 2 points.

Valeri Nichushkin had just three goals shy of the 20-goal mark this season, and his 17 (this season) ranks 5th highest of his 11-year career.

Val seemed to fight his game a bit on the scoring side this year compared to years past, but is still plenty productive in what feels like a “down-year” after his 28-goal performance in 2023-24.

Scott Wedgewood’s back collided with the post, and he went down, clearly in discomfort. Following the game, he said he just lost his breath and felt fine after getting it back and moving around a bit.

Although it explains why he didn’t leave the game tonight, it’s something to keep an eye on, given that Wedgewood has dealt with tightness in his back earlier in the season.

Speaking of scares, Nazem Kadri did, in fact, miss shifts before not returning for the third period entirely tonight. Jared Bednar didn’t give a clear update in the post-game presser, mentioning his playing or not playing in the next contest could depend on pain tolerance.

Bednar, although pleased with the outcome, was very clear in his messaging that they are not remotely close to the finish line or to realizing their goals this season.

Upcoming

The Calgary Flames will visit Ball Arena for another date with the Avalanche on Tuesday.

Let us know what you thought of this contest in the comments!

An incredibly difficult and painful season for Dmitry Kulikov has come to an end.

After Tuesday’s shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens, Florida Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice told the media that Kulikov suffered a broken finger during the third period.

As a result, Kulikov won’t play in any of Florida’s final four games of the season.

“Dmitry won’t come back from that,” Maurice said.

It’s the third serious injury Kulikov has had to endure this season.

He suffered a shoulder injury two games into the season, missing the next 57 while recovering from surgery.

After finally returning to Florida’s lineup in early March, the veteran defenseman got 15 games under his belt before the next serious injury struck, this time breaking his nose during a 6-3 Panthers win over the Ottawa Senators.

Despite Florida’s season being over in terms of making the playoffs, Kulikov told the coaching staff that he wanted to continue playing and battling with his teammates.

He had to miss two games with the broken nose before he was medically cleared to play, returning to the ice on Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Now, Kulikov is the third player in the past two weeks to be ruled out for the season due to a broken finger, joining Evan Rodrigues and Aaron Ekblad.

Rodrigues was hurt during Florida’s 3-2 loss against Minnesota on March 26 while Ekblad injured his finger in the same game Kulikov broke his nose.

“It’s just the standard injury here now,” Maurice said. “It’s just unbelievable what these guys have been through.”

The Panthers will continue their road trip on Thursday in Ottawa before playing their final road game of the season Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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Photo caption: Apr 5, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (7) controls the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period at PPG Paints Arena. (Mark Alberti-Imagn Images)

NEWARK, N.J. -- Contrary to recent precedent, the Philadelphia Flyers are beginning to prove that teams can compete with a core of elite, talented young wingers. Look at the shell-shocked Prudential Center as proof.

The New Jersey Devils, one of the NHL's hottest teams since the Olympic break and packed with talent in their own right, were made to look downright listless by Rick Tocchet and the Flyers for large swathes of Tuesday night's 5-1 win.

Timely goals from Trevor Zegras and Tyson Foerster, as well as timely assists from Matvei Michkov and Owen Tippett and saves from Dan Vladar, drained the life from the Devils seemingly every time they threatened to build momentum.

Zegras, with his two tallies, established a new career-high of 25, surpassing his previous marks of 23 from 2021-22 and 2022-23. The 25-year-old has now tied his previous single-season best of 65 points with plenty of hockey left to play this season.

According to NHL PR, Zegras, having scored twice in just 3:38, is the fastest Flyer to score two goals to start a game since Flyers legend Brian Propp had two in 1:58 back on Feb. 27, 1982.

Flyers' Rick Tocchet Nailed His Latest Lineup ChangeThe <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers">Philadelphia Flyers</a> are, perhaps surprisingly, seriously threatening for a berth in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs, and it comes as a result of everyone pulling together at the perfect time.

Having played left wing alongside Christian Dvorak for much of the 2025-26 season, Zegras has enjoyed newfound success back at center, lining up between Foerster and Tippett.

In 35 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time together, the Foerster, Zegras, and Tippett unit has a 64.95% xGF%, according to Natural Stat Trick, while out-scoring opponents 3-2.

It's early and the returns have been small, but each player has pulled their weight equally.

"It's amazing," Zegras said after the game. "It's been a long time since I've felt this, like, the rush of winning."

Zegras could very well be on his way to playing in his first career playoff games, so long as he and the Flyers can maintain their torrid post-Olympics pace.

The same is true of youngsters like Michkov, Denver Barkey, and Alex Bump, who also led by example in the eyes of Tocchet.

Michkov, with assists on both Foerster goals, has now quietly reached 45 points on what was considered to be a lost sophomore season. The 21-year-old is three goals away from 20 and five points away from 50.

Flyers Top Prospect Already Making A Major DifferenceFlyers top prospect Porter Martone is already making a big difference for the Metropolitan Division club.

"A guy like Bumper, he had a couple of tough shifts, and all of a sudden, after that, he played great. Barks, he throws one out in the stands, he's mad. But after that, he played great," Tocchet remarked.

"Mich, he served the [delay of game] penalty, comes out of the box, wins a battle on the wall, we get a 2-on-1. They know that these are big things. They're not small things when you can do those things."

The 2-on-1 Tocchet was referring to was Foerster's first of two goals, when the 24-year-old picked up Michkov's touch along the wall, raced down the ice, and beat Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom low.

That goal put the Flyers back ahead two goals at 3-1 after New Jersey dominated the last 15 minutes of the first period and found the scoresheet via Cody Glass. Michkov's subtle play killed the momentum and ultimately spurred the Flyers on to a significant win for playoff purposes.

The Flyers have been as good as any team in the NHL over the last month and a half, even without the fabled No. 1 center.

We'll soon find out if that's sustainable, and they should probably plan on upgrading the position anyway, but the core of the team certainly appears to be in place.