Category: Ice Hockey

From the end of the 2023–24 regular season to now, nine Vancouver Canucks have departed the team’s lineup whether by trade, free agency, or otherwise. With the 2024–25 regular season now wrapped up, let’s take a look at how some of these ex-Canucks from last season performed with their new clubs. 

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Carson Soucy

New York Rangers

1G, 2A in 16GP 

The most recent Canucks departure compared to the rest of this list, Soucy was moved the day before the 2025 Trade Deadline. Notably, he scored goals in both his last game with the Canucks on March 5 and his first game with the Rangers on March 8. In his first 16 games with the Rangers, Soucy notably gave the puck away 13 times. He faced the same issue of being able to hold onto the puck in Vancouver as well, as he had 65 giveaways in the 59 games he played with the Canucks this season as well. Soucy will enter the final year of his three-year contract in 2025–26 — whether he remains with the Rangers for the rest of it or not is yet to be determined. 

Casey DeSmith

Dallas Stars

2.59 GAA, .915 SV%

14–8–2 

As a member of De Stars, DeSmith has done well as a reliable backup to Jake Oettinger. He nabbed two shutouts during the regular season and even had an assist in the team’s 4–2 win against the Buffalo Sabres on December 31. Interestingly, in the 10 losses he started in both in regulation and in overtime, the lowest amount of shots he faced was 24. In his last three losses of the regular season, he stopped 34, 32, and 39 shots against, giving up five, six, and four goals respectively. One of these losses was Vancouver’s 6–5 overtime comeback win on April 8. DeSmith has two more years left on his contract and will be 35 when it expires. 

Elias Lindholm

Boston Bruins

17G, 30A in 82GP 

Many fans were upset when two of the team’s biggest free agents from 2023–24 walked for nothing. Elias Lindholm, who was brought into the Canucks organization at the end of January 2024, ultimately signed a seven-year, $7.75M AAV deal with the Bruins during the 2024 free agency period. The start of his first season with Boston got off to a rocky start, as he had seven goals and 13 assists in the first half of 2024–25. While he experienced a couple of slow stretches after this point, Lindholm managed to slightly pick up his pace offensively speaking, adding another 10 goals and 17 assists to his season total. He finished the final 10 games of the season with four goals and six assists. 

Ian Cole

Utah Hockey Club

1G, 16A in 82GP 

While Vancouver seemed to have found their replacement for Cole in Derek Forbort, the current Utah defender had the kind of season that would make a team regret letting him go. A shot-blocking machine, Cole led the NHL in blocked shots this season with 211. The Canuck with the closest amount to this was Tyler Myers with 125. One caveat on Cole’s season was that, like Soucy, he was prone to giveaways. He surrendered the puck to the opposition 118 times this season, which ties him with David Pastrnak and Thomas Harley at 11th in the league. On March 5, he signed a one-year contract extension with Utah that will pay him $2.8M.     

Ilya Mikheyev 

Chicago Blackhawks 

20G, 14A in 80GP 

Vancouver let Mikheyev go via trade after a disappointing 2023–24 season that saw him go goalless for 34 games. It was fitting, of course, that he scored a goal in his first visit back to Rogers Arena after being traded. Mikheyev registered his first point with the Blackhawks in his 10th game with the team. He had 10 rush attempts on the season with Chicago, which would have tied him with Brock Boeser for third on the Canucks. His four-year, $4.75M AAV contract expires after the 2025–26 season. 

J.T. Miller 

New York Rangers

13G, 22A in 32GP 

Miller’s time with the Canucks officially ended on January 31 when he was traded to the Rangers in exchange for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a 2025 1st Round Pick. As many Vancouver fans heard, Miller’s first game back with New York resulted in the forward scoring two goals. After competing for Team USA at the 4 Nations Faceoff, Miller returned to the Rangers and put up five goals and five assists in six games. In his final six games of 2024–25, he registered three goals and six assists. While some have pointed out that the defensive woes in Miller’s game seem to have surfaced in New York, offensively speaking, it looks as though the ex-Canuck has continued to perform at the level many know he is capable of. Miller’s current deal expires in 2030, during which he’ll be 37.  

Nikita Zadorov

Boston Bruins 

4G, 18A in 81GP

For Canucks fans, Zadorov’s departure may have been one of the most upsetting of players who left Vancouver during the 2024 free agency period. The hulking defenseman endeared himself to Canucks fans with his on-ice toughness and off-ice humour. While not known for his offensive prowess, Zadorov still had 22 points with the Bruins this season, finishing third on his team in points by a defenseman behind Charlie McAvoy and Mason Lohrei. Unsurprisingly, Zadorov led the NHL in penalty minutes with 145. After this season, Zadorov has five years left on his contract with Boston. 

Sam Lafferty

Buffalo Sabres

4G, 3A in 60GP 

Lafferty had a career year with the Canucks last season, setting new personal records in goals (13) and points (24). He tied his season assist record with 11 in 79 games played. The speedy forward was due to hit free agency in July 2024, but was dealt to the Blackhawks by the Canucks as part of the Mikheyev trade. He went on to sign a two-year contract with Buffalo, where he missed a month of play in the fall due to a lower body injury. He also sustained a groin injury in March that kept him out of the lineup for four games. Lafferty faced a bit of offensive regression with the Sabres, as he didn’t score his first point of the season until November 7. After the 2025–26 season, Lafferty will be a free agent. 

Vasily Podkolzin 

Edmonton Oilers

8G, 16A in 82GP 

When Podkolzin was picked 10th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, some Canucks fans were confused. His KHL contract made it so he wouldn’t be able to join Vancouver until two years after he was drafted. The forward joined the Canucks in the 2021–22 season, putting up 14 goals and 12 assists in 79 games played. After a couple of disappointing seasons that ultimately resulted in him being sent down to the Abbotsford Canucks, Podkolzin was traded to the Oilers for a fourth-round pick. Since joining Edmonton, Podkolzin has earned himself a roster spot by putting his hard work on display. As well, he has provided Edmonton with more of a physical presence in their bottom six, as he quietly led his team with 210 hits during the regular season. Podkolzin, who is still an RFA, will need to sign a new deal with the Oilers after the 2025–26 season. 

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If I were the Montreal Canadiens I would not go with the best player available. It’s a generic term that sounds good in the NFL but has no real practical application in hockey. You have a draft board for a reason. You have team needs for a reason. Not today’s needs, organizational needs and that’s for 3-5 years down the road. 

According to Puck Pedia, the Canadiens have two picks at 16 and 17. I’ll go with that but we know that can change. The #17 picks are from Calgary and that has conditions. They are explained here. 

I think the odds of getting a potential second line player is better than a second-pairing defenseman. This isn’t a very deep draft. There will be a fair amount of players that play in the NHL for a period of time. But sticking for 200 games or more is a smaller field than usual in my estimation. That could change after the U18s but right now, that’s how I feel.

I think they should target a forward with some size. If nothing else, just don’t take a smaller forward here. Size and speed is something they need to get. There will be time to get defenseman in this draft and certainly another goalie is always something to think about in every draft. 

The Canadiens have a lot of picks. 12 in total. I normally say get two every draft. In this draft, I still think you might be able to get three. That would be my goal. Anything more than that is gravy.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Los Angeles Kings are two of the best power-play teams in the playoffs, so far. 

The Kings are sitting atop the league in power-play percentage (58.3 percent), and they are also first in the NHL in power-play goals with seven.

Toronto sits just behind the Kings in power-play percentage at 55.6 percent over three games. They are also third in total power-play goals with five, narrowly behind the St. Louis Blues, who scored three in their 7-2 win in Game 3, bringing their total to six.

Other than having similar success and statistics with the extra man, Toronto and L.A. have one more thing in common with their top power-play units – they are made up of five forwards and no defenseman.

The majority of teams in the NHL use four forwards, with their most offensive defenseman quarterbacking the power play. That’s not the case for the Leafs and Kings.

For the most part, Los Angeles uses Adrian Kempe at the point with Anze Kopitar occasionally coming short to receive the puck. The Kings do have the choice to put a D-man on the top unit with Drew Doughty and Brandt Clarke on the roster, but coach Jim Hiller has decided to put them on the second unit.

Toronto has Mitch Marner at the blueline dictating the play with his elite playmaking and ability to walk the line. In seasons past, Morgan Rielly would be the quarterback, but coach Craig Berube has found success with the five-man unit.

Former NHL coach Bruce Boudreau spoke about the Maple Leafs’ five-forward power-play unit in the latest episode of The Hockey News’ Big Show.

“The Leaf five, I find amazing. All five of them are so good,” Boudreau said. He further complimented Toronto’s top unit and highlighted how important Marner is to the formation.

“Marner, I think, is the best distributor this side of Connor McDavid of the puck, and he can defend when needed.”

While the five-man forward unit is a relatively new concept and not many teams use it, the NHL is a copycat league. Maybe next season, teams that don’t have an offensive defenseman will put this idea into consideration.

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Near the end of January of this year, general manager Kyle Davidson mentioned six prospects playing outside of the NHL/AHL that caught his eye and stood out. This list of talented young players in the Chicago Blackhawks' organization included Nick Lardis, Sacha Boisvert, Oliver Moore, Sam Rinzel, Roman Kantserov, and Ryan Greene.

Three of these players made the jump right to the NHL at the end of the season in order for the Blackhawks to see what they can do. Davidson had said, That's where we are building this thing and they are showing up. Their play and development are showing us we're on the right track."

Moore and Rinzel played nine games to end the season with the Blackhawks while Greene joined later and played two. Lardis is in his fourth and final year in the OHL, Kantserov is still in the KHL, and Boisvert is switching schools and is remaining in the NCAA for at least another season.

I think Rinzel has the best shot at not playing an AHL game in his career as he fits right in on the top pairing in the NHL. Moore might spend a little time at the start of the season in the minors like Frank Nazar did and then force the hand of the Blackhawks, but Greene will benefit from a full season in the AHL. Lardis can score as he put up 71 goals in 65 games, but the room might not be available on Chicago just yet.

If the Blackhawks can bring Kantserov over in a couple of years, that would be ideal. Allow him to play the minutes against top KHL talent to see him grow before entering right into the NHL. As for Boisvert, he is tracking well and will make a stop in the AHL before becoming a full-time NHLer.

There is great reason to be excited and next season will bring more talent to watch for in the Blackhawks' organization.

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

Brock Boeser has been quoted saying "it's unlikely at this point" that he will be returning to the Vancouver Canucks next season, and the free-agent market for the 28-year-old will be large and competitive.

Boeser recorded 25 goals and 50 points this season in 75 games, following a 2023-24 season where he set a career-high of 40 goals and 73 points. The former 2015 first-round pick is one of the more efficient scorers in the NHL, owning a 17.2 shooting percentage this season – the 41st highest percentage in the league among players with 70 or more games played 

With his impending exit from Vancouver, here are five possible free-agency destinations for Boeser.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs could be entering an offseason where major change is needed if they fall short of their playoff goals. Mitch Marner and John Tavares are pending UFAs, and the team needs to re-sign pending RFA Matthew Knies. If they decide to let Marner walk in free agency or he elects to seek a new opportunity, rumours have already swirled about the possibility of the Maple Leafs using Boeser and the Jets' Nikolaj Ehlers as replacements. 

Boeser is quite different in terms of play style compared to Marner. Marner is a pure playmaker, looking to pass as his first option, while Boeser is known as a shooter. The styles might be different, but the skill the Maple Leafs currently have should allow everyone to gel quite quickly.

Minnesota Wild

The Wild are an obvious choice for the Burnsville, Minn. native. They’ll have over $20 million in cap space this off-season and will be looking to add another scoring winger to complement the likes of Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek and Marco Rossi.

With prospects such as Liam Ohgren, Danila Yurov, Zeev Buium, David Jiricek and Jesper Wallstedt all expected to be key contributors sometime soon, Boeser would fit nicely in the Wild's lineup. 

When Boeser is at his best, he’s one of the league's most efficient scorers. Pairing him with a playmaker who generates chances at an extremely high rate, as Kaprizov does, it’s not far-fetched to envision Boeser possibly recording multiple 40-goal seasons. 

Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings have been attempting to put the final touches on their rebuild for quite some time. In the Atlantic Division, they’ve been compared to the Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres. Missing the playoffs this season and watching the Senators and Canadiens make it has upset some of the players.

"It was hard that we didn't do anything, and I felt the group kinda — we didn't gain any momentum from the trade deadline, and guys were kinda down about it," said captain Dylan Larkin during the team's exit interviews.  "So it'd be nice to add something and bring a little bit of a spark on the ice and maybe a morale boost as well."

Although adding Boeser to the fold wouldn’t solve every problem they have or instantly make them into a playoff team, it would be a good start. They’ll also need to sure up their goaltending and continue to integrate more of their top-end prospects to compete with the other wild-card teams. 

Carolina Hurricanes

GM Eric Tulsky showed the NHL world that he’s not afraid to make a big move after he traded for and then traded away Mikko Rantanen. Moving Rantanen and Martin Necas has opened up a lot of cap space for the Hurricanes, and it’s expected that they’ll be pursuing many of the top free agents this summer. 

The Hurricanes will likely prioritize a second-line center before looking for additional help on the wing, but if they do, Boeser could be a great fit. 

Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks are in a different position than the other four teams mentioned. They are at the peak of their rebuild, beginning to incorporate many of the players they hope to be key contributors in the future.

Making the playoffs seems quite unlikely for Chicago, but they'll be hoping to be in the race by the time the post-season rolls around in 2026. Pairing Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar and possibly a top-two pick with a proven scorer such as Boeser would help them accomplish that, similar to what Tyler Toffoli did for Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund and the San Jose Sharks.

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The Florida Panthers have assigned forward Jesse Puljujarvi to the Charlotte Checkers, it was announced Friday. 

Puljujarvi, who joined the Panthers organization midway through the season, has seen time in both the NHL and AHL this year. In 31 NHL games with the Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins, he scored four goals and added six assists for 10 points. Across 26 AHL games with Charlotte and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, he put up six goals and 16 points. 

Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft, Puljujarvi has played in a total of 387 career NHL regular season games with the Panthers, Penguins, Oilers and the Carolina Hurricanes. In that span, he has collected 58 goals and 70 assists for 128 points. 

With Puljujarvi being assigned to the AHL, he will have an opportunity to play a big role for the Checkers as they look to make a run to the Calder Cup. Still a capable depth player on an NHL roster, Puljujarvi has not been able to secure a full-time role over the last couple of seasons but could see another team take a swing at him during the offseason. 

The Edmonton Oilers played like they couldn’t afford to lose Friday. And they didn’t, scoring two goals 10 seconds apart late in the third period to beat the Kings 7-4 in a wild first-round playoff game in which both teams overcame deficits.

The Kings still lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 heading into Game 4 on Sunday in Edmonton. But the Oilers’ win means the series will return to Los Angeles for Game 5 on Tuesday.

Evan Bouchard and Connor Brown both had two goals for Edmonton, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid and Evander Kane also scored.

Read more:Why Andrei Kuzmenko has become a 'difference-maker' for the Kings vs. the Oilers

McDavid’s goal and Brown’s second goal were empty-netters after Bouchard scored on a power play to put Edmonton ahead with 6:32 remaining. Edmonton scored four unanswered goals in the final seven minutes.

The Kings’ goals came from Adrian Kempe, Kevin Fiala, Drew Doughty and Trevor Moore, with two coming on the power play.

But the game turned on a decision by Kings coach Jim Hiller to challenge Kane’s tying goal in the third. The unsuccessful challenge gave the Oilers a power play, leading to Bouchard scoring what proved to be the winning goal.

“We understand the situation,” Hiller said. “But clearly we felt that that challenge was in our favor. The next step would have been for us to kill a penalty. That didn't happen either.

“So it's a tough stretch for us, no question. That's hockey. That's playoff hockey.”

The Oilers, desperate to get back in the series, benched goalie Stuart Skinner, who gave up 11 goals in the first two games, in favor of Calvin Pickard. But Pickard hardly fared better, giving up four goals on 28 shots.

Still, Edmonton played with urgency, taking its first lead of the series less than three minutes in when an unguarded Nugent-Hopkins took a Zach Hyman pass directly in front of the net and pushed the puck under Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper.

Bouchard doubled the lead six minutes later, firing a slap shot past Kuemper from the top of the circle three seconds after the Kings’ Andrei Kuzmenko went off for interference. It was Edmonton’s first power-play goal in six tries in the series.

The Kings responded with three unanswered goals.

Kempe started the rally late in the first period, deflecting a left-handed shot off Pickard from the center of the right circle with the teams skating four on four. It was his fourth goal of the playoffs, matching Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy for the NHL lead.

More importantly, it took momentum away from the Oilers, allowing Fiala to even things early in the second period with a power-play goal from nearly the same spot. Doughty’s power-play goal less than five minutes before the second intermission then put the Kings in front for the first time.

The Kings were 0 for 12 with the man advantage in last season’s series loss to Edmonton, their third consecutive to the Oilers. This year against the same team, the Kings have converted seven of 12 power-play opportunities.

After Brown pulled Edmonton even again, Moore scored nine seconds later when he drove to the net and poked the puck past Pickard.

Things got really wild in the third period, with the Oilers scoring four goals in less than seven minutes. Edmonton also scored four goals in the third period of Game 1.

Read more:How Koreatown seniors have become Kings' playoff good luck charm with harmonica national anthem

Kane tied the score again, scoring off a mad scramble in front of the net, then waiting several long minutes for a replay review to confirm he pushed the puck in with his stick, not his skate.

Hiller challenged the goal, arguing there was goaltender interference.

“We got a good look at it. We had plenty of time,” he said. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. It cost us big-time.”

Bouchard needed just 10 seconds to make the Kings pay, scoring Edmonton’s second power-play goal on a tip-in from Kuemper’s left. Kuemper made 29 saves.

“It sucks,” Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “But again, I look at it, we're still in a good place. You get to come back in two nights and get another stab at it, which is the best part.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Florida Panthers will host their first playoff game on Saturday since Game 7 of last year’s Stanley Cup Final.

Florida opened their first-round matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a pair of impressive road victories earlier this week.

Now the Cats have returned to South Florida and will look to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series when they host the Lightning in Game 3 at Amerant Bank Arena.

Exactly how the Panthers roster will look is still a bit of a mystery.

Florida Captain Sasha Barkov was injured during the third period of Thursday’s 2-0 win after an illegal check by Tampa forward Brandon Hagel.

Officials gave Hagel a five-minute major for interference during the game, and he has since been handed a one-game suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety.

As for Barkov, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said Friday that he had not been cleared to play but he had not been ruled out either, so it sounds like a game-time decision.

One change that we know is coming to the Panthers roster is the addition of defenseman Aaron Ekblad to the back line.

Ekblad has completed a 20-game suspension that he was handed back in early March or violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program.

He’s been back skating and practicing with the Panthers for the past couple weeks and it will be interesting to see how quickly he can re-adapt to the intensity and speed of not just the NHL, but the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“It’s a very unusual situation, normally, a player that’s out 20 games has a significant injury and that really effects their rehab,” said Maurice. “We’ll put him right back with his partner and we’ll put him right back in all the situations. It’s about getting him up to speed as fast as we can. There’s going to be about a 10-minute adjustment to playoff hockey, because it’s just different. He’ll make that adjustment and away he goes.”

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Game 3 against Tampa:

Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart

Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand

Evan Rodrigues – Nico Sturm – Jesper Boqvist

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones

Dmitry Kulikov – Nate Schmidt

Scratches: A.J. Greer, Jonah Gadjovich, Tomas Nosek, Jaycob Megna, Uvis Balinskis

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Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights offer unforeseen value heading into back half of first round series that shouldn't go ignored

The Stanley Cup Playoffs offer many twists and turns with come-from-behind wins, unforeseen upsets and plenty of opportunities to cash in on some massive values.

We see many already listed on sportsbooks after most series enter their fourth games. It happens often where teams can go down 2-0 or 2-1 early in the series and sportsbooks completely write teams off, which we can look to exploit.

All betting lines are from FanDuel Sportsbook and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.

More NHL: Battle of Ontario Betting Guide: Best Bets, Strategies and Futures for Maple Leafs versus Senators

Tampa Bay Lightning - Eastern Conference Champions (+2000)

Winning four of their next five games is a tough challenge for the Bolts, especially with four of those matchups on the road. Still, it's far from impossible — just last season, the Dallas Stars bounced back after losing the first two games of their series at home, reeling off four straight wins to clinch and move on to the second round.

If anyone could do it, it's the Bolts as they have the league's top scorer this season in Nikita Kucherov and are long overdue for a swing in their direction when it comes to this matchup. They've dropped six of their last seven playoff matchups versus Florida, dating back to last season and would like to renew their playoff success that saw them reach three straight Stanley Cup Finals just three seasons ago.

The Lightning will likely be without 35-goal scorer Brandon Hagel after he interfered with Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov for a mean body check that potentially hurt the Finnish centre. Tampa will need their star players to produce as you see around the league, other teams like the Wild feature dominating top lines that could change the outlook of a game.

Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel and Kucherov all sitting with one point each so far while forwards Anthony Cirelli and Yanni Gourde still haven't found the scoresheet. I expect a massive surge of production from this bunch that will need to reclaim some stability in this series with a Game 3 win that will certainly see these odds drop exponentially, so get in while you can. A subtle $10 bet on Tampa would pay out a staggering $200 or 20-to-1 payout.

More NHL: Montreal Canadiens vs Washington Capitals Betting Guide: Best Bets, Strategies and Future Options

Vegas Golden Knights - Western Conference Champions (+650)

The Golden Knights are most certainly not out of their series with the Wild after dropping two straight games and their odds have dropped to a pretty great place. After being listed as the favourites to win the West following Game 1 of their series, they now sit with the fifth-best odds.

This most certainly is a play as the Golden Knights have proven to be a resilient team with the experience of a Stanley Cup win just two seasons ago. They are only one game down in their series and could even things up and plummet these odds back to Vegas being the favourites at odds somewhere around +300 to +400 by Saturday night.

Minnesota shouldn't be counted out of this series but they are just a wild card team compared to a Vegas team that won the Pacific Division title. We most certainly won't see odds like this again unless the Golden Knights are put in a position where they are truly in trouble and not worth taking a look at anyway. 

More Hockey: Top NHL Prospect Expected to Join Michigan Wolverines Next Season

For a moment on Friday, it looked as if the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins were going to avoid a repeat of last season's first-round Calder Cup playoff loss against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and force the series-deciding Game 3 on Sunday. 

But, unfortunately for the Pittsburgh Penguins' AHL affiliate, victory just wasn't in the cards.

The Penguins took a 2-1 lead approaching the midway point of the third period, but Lehigh Valley scored the tying goal a minute and a half later and potted a third goal with two minutes left in regulation to hand WBS its second consecutive first-round sweep.

Goaltender Sergei Murashov - recalled from Wheeling to take the place of an injured Joel Blomqvist - stopped 28 of 31 Lehigh Valley shots and took home the loss.

After a relatively uneventful first period, Phantoms forward Anthony Richard finally broke the scoresheet open with a little more than five minutes remaining in the second. But the Penguins responded before the end of the middle frame, as forward Tristan Broz snapped a wrister from the right circle on the power play to knot things up at 1-1. 

Then - six and a half minutes into the final frame - Ville Koivunen took a hit along the wall in the defensive to start a breakout, getting the puck to Broz, who carried the puck up ice and into the offensive zone along the right wall. He fed a perfect pass to defenseman Harrison Brunicke in the slot, and Brunicke backpedaled himself into a fadeaway shot through the left circle, which found the twine and gave him his first goal in professional hockey.

Bruno with an absolute SNIPEEE pic.twitter.com/IxuZ3gHR81

— x - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) April 26, 2025

The Penguins were feeling pretty good about themselves, but old habits came back to haunt them. Their 2-1 lead didn't last long, as Lehigh Valley forward Jacob Gaucher scored less than a minute and a half later to tie the game again.

Both teams played with a high degree of desperation for the next 10 minutes, but the back-breaking, game-breaking goal came at the hands of Phantoms defenseman Helge Grans, who put Lehigh Valley up 3-2 with only two minutes remaining in the game.

WBS Penguins Drop Crucial First Game Of AHL Playoffs To Phantoms, 5-2Heading into Wednesday's opening-round matchup, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins - AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins - were 8-2-2 against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the regular season.

The Penguins pulled Murashov almost immediately, but, unfortunately, they could not muster anything with the extra skater at the end and will go home early again this season.

It is quite the disappointing result for a young team that had higher expectations heading into the Calder Cup playoffs, but several players on the roster are eligible to be sent to the Wheeling Nailers - Pittsburgh's ECHL affiliate - to give the team a boost for their run at a Kelly Cup. 

Wheeling will square off against the Norfolk Admirals on Saturday, as a 4-1 win in Game 4 on Friday forced a Game 5. The Nailers trail the Admirals 3-1 in the series.

Wheeling Nailers Snap Shutout Streak, But Now On Verge Of Elimination After Game 3 LossThe Wheeling Nailers not only came back home to WesBanco Arena trailing 2-0 in their first-round playoff series against the Norfolk Admirals, but they were starving for a goal after back-to-back shutouts.

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Welcome to The Hockey News Playoff Frenzy Live, streaming nightly during the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs.

After the big game of the night, our experts go live to react to the match that was, break down the key moments and storylines, provide updates on the rest of the night's NHL slate and read your opinions.

On tonight's show, Emma Lingan and Ryan Kennedy react to everything that happened in the Montreal Canadiens' Game 3 win over the Washington Capitals.

Playoff Frenzy April 25, 2025 | The Hockey NewsWelcome to Playoff Frenzy Live by The Hockey News presented by STIX.com, where we give our live reactions and break down the latest news to all the biggest g...

They also take a quick look around the NHL, with the Tampa Bay Lightning's Brandon Hagel getting suspended and Calvin Pickard starting in net for the Edmonton Oilers.

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Tampa Bay Lightning left winger Brandon Hagel is suspended for Game 3 after his Game 2 hit on Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov.

Hagel received a major penalty for interference against Barkov in the third period of Thursday night's game, a 2-0 win for the Panthers over the Lightning.

Barkov tried to win a puck battle against Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh, but the latter swatted the puck around the boards. Barkov hadn't touched the puck and turned to pursue it, said the NHL Department of Player Safety's video explanation of the suspension.

"Long after the puck is gone, Hagel loads up and delivers a high, hard bodycheck that makes some head contact on Barkov," the video said.

Hagel reportedly argued he approached the play as if Barkov had touched the puck, but NHL Player Safety's video said the onus is on Hagel to ensure the player he's hitting is eligible to be hit. In this case, Barkov was ineligible.

This is Hagel's first instance of supplementary discipline. 

The 26-year-old has no points through two playoff games this season, and he had 35 goals and 55 assists for 90 points in 82 regular-season matchups.

As for Barkov, his status for Game 3 on Saturday remained unknown when Panthers coach addressed the media on Friday.

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Mayhem broke loose after the second period in Game 3 between the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens.

As the Canadiens and Capitals headed for the dressing rooms after the horn, subtle bumps and shoves between both teams escalated into a fight on an empty bench. 

Capitals right winger Tom Wilson found Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj in the large crowd before Josh Anderson pulled him away from the group. Wilson and Anderson eventually fell into the Capitals' bench and continued to throw punches at each other while a linesman tried to break them up. 

Washington coach Spencer Carbery needed to step over the bench to get out of the way.

Both players received two-minute minors for roughing and 10-minute misconducts. Xhekaj and Lars Eller also got two minutes for roughing.

It was only a matter of time before the Habs got their licks on Wilson. Before the game, during warmups, Xhekaj and Wilson were talking at the red line. This is Xhekaj’s first career playoff game. 

In between whistles, there have been plenty of scrums, shoves and bumps in efforts to throw each other off their games.

Montreal’s Cole Caufield scored a big goal with under nine seconds remaining in the period. Emotions were high for both teams and the fans at the Bell Centre in their first home playoff game in years.

No Matter How You Say 'Go Habs Go,' Canadiens Must 'Allez' Or Be 'Fini'Regardless of what the language commission in Quebec orders buses in Montreal to use on their signs, the Montreal Canadiens must be better at home than they were on the road if they want to extend their first-round series against the Washington Capitals.

Montreal won 6-3 to only trail the series 2-1.

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The Florida Panthers have had a fantastic start to the 2025 NHL playoffs. After defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning by a 6-2 final score in Game 1, the Panthers followed that up with a hard-fought 2-0 win over the Bolts in Game 2. With this, they are now heading back home for Games 3 and 4 with a 2-0 series lead.

As expected, the Panthers' top stars like Sergei Bobrovsky, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, and Aleksander Barkov have been big reasons for the team's early success in this series. However, veteran defenseman Nate Schmidt has also been a major difference-maker for the Panthers this series, scoring three goals in just two games.

According to NHL Public Relations, Schmidt has tied an NHL record with the most goals scored by a defenseman through the first two games of the playoffs. The only other blueliners in NHL history to achieve this same feat are Nicklas Lindstrom (Detroit Red Wings, 1995), Steve Chiasson (Red Wings, 1991), Mike O'Connell (Boston Bruins, 1981), Dick Redmond (Chicago Blackhawks, 1973), and George Boucher (Ottawa Senators, 1921). 

This is undoubtedly a nice accomplishment for Schmidt and shows just how impressive he has played early on. He has also already matched his current career high in playoff goals, as he also scored three in 20 games during the 2018 NHL playoffs with the Vegas Golden Knights. 

Since signing a one-year, $800,000 contract with the Panthers this past off-season, Schmidt has provided solid value to Florida's blueline. He has simply fit in nicely with the Panthers, posting five goals, 19 points, and a plus-4 rating in 80 games. Now, he is giving them great value in the playoffs early on and continuing to show the Panthers that they made the right call taking a shot on after the Winnipeg Jets bought him out. 

Recent Panthers News 

Sasha Barkov status for Game 3 remains unknown following illegal hit from Brandon HagelA small group of Florida Panthers took the ice in Fort Lauderdale on Friday. Sergei Bobrovsky locked back into playoff-mode, providing elite goaltending for PanthersSergei Bobrovsky didn’t have a particularly busy night in terms of stopping pucks on Thursday. Three takeaways: Panthers defend well in own zone, penalty kill comes up bigThe Florida Panthers will be a happy bunch when they take the short flight home to Fort Lauderdale.

Some believe that the Montreal Canadiens are as good as buried down 2-0 against the Washington Capitals in their first-round series. Others believe that you’re not in trouble in the Stanley Cup playoffs until you’ve lost a game at home, and then there’s John Scott.

Canadiens: Lajoie Says Arber Xhekaj Will Play
Canadiens: A Scandal For A Bus Display?
Canadiens: Reinforcements On The Way?

Former NHL enforcer and one-time Canadiens player John Scott had this to say on X this morning:

Big game in Montreal tonight. I could honestly see the Habs taking the next two games at home and tying the series. They've been right there. I believe #GoHabsGo

— John Scott (@johnscott_32) April 25, 2025

While Scott only suited up for one game with the Habs, he did skate in 286 NHL games, most of which were with the Buffalo Sabres. The tough guy racked up 544 penalty minutes in his career and was elected to the All-Star Game during the 2015-16 season when a “Vote John Scott in the All-Star Game campaign took social media by storm.

He played for the Arizona Coyotes then but was traded to the Canadiens along with Victor Bartley in return for Jared Tinordi and Stefan Fournier. The Habs immediately sent him down to the St. John’s Ice Caps. Some believed the trade aimed to keep him out of the All-Star Game, but he did participate. He was even named the MVP of the game, thanks to scoring two goals and another social media campaign.

After the event, the NHL amended its rule book to make players demoted to the AHL ineligible to play in its All-Star Game. Whichever way you look at it, Scott was liked by the fans, and after that post, he must have conquered a few new fans in Montreal.

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