Category: Sports News

The Philadelphia Flyers picked up an impressive 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3. With this, the Flyers now have a commanding 3-0 series lead over Pittsburgh and need just one more win to advance to the second round.

There were many reasons behind the Flyers' big Game 3 over the Penguins, and Trevor Zegras was certainly one of them. The skilled forward scored at the 5:18 mark of the second period to tie the game up at 1-1. He then recorded the primary assist on Noah Cates' third-period goal that gave the Flyers a 4-2 lead. With this, Zegras certainly stepped up for the Flyers in Game 3. 

This was just the latest strong game from Zegras in what has been a great year for him. The 25-year-old forward now has three points in three playoff games for Philadelphia. He also had an excellent regular season for the Flyers, setting new career highs with 26 goals and 67 points in 81 games. 

With how great Zegras has played for the Flyers since his arrival, it is clear that the Metropolitan Division club made a fantastic move acquiring him this offseason from the Anaheim Ducks. The change of scenery has benefited the 2019 ninth-overall pick in a major way, and he is performing like a star again. 

The Chicago Blackhawks have a decent chance to select first or second in the 2026 NHL Draft. The lowest they can pick is 4th, and that can only happen if both lottery winners come from teams that finished in 30th place or better. The lottery will make this determination on May 5th. 

If the Blackhawks select first or stay put at second, Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg are the two best options. With the third or fourth pick, assuming McKenna and Stenberg go first and second, the possibilities are endless. 

If they want to go the route of a defenseman, Chase Reid and Keaton Verhoeff are exceptional prospects. They can each move the puck, skate, and develop their two-way play as they move into pro hockey. 

The Blackhawks already have a lot of young studs on the blue line, but they may want someone who shows more promise as a true number one. If one of Reid or Verhoeff turned out to be better than both Sam Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov, it would make it a great selection. 

With all of that said, if they wanted to go with a forward 3rd or 4th overall, Caleb Malhotra would be an excellent pick. He is a true center and projects to be one at the NHL level. 

With Nick Lardis and Marek Vanacker already in the organization, the Blackhawks have had a great line between them and the OHL's Brantford Bulldogs. Malhotra would be a great person to extend that relationship. 

During the 2025-26 season, Malhotra was second in scoring on the Bulldogs with 84 points (29 goals). Only Jake O'Brien, who was drafted eighth overall by the Seattle Kraken in 2025, had more points (93). Vanacker, sharing the ice with Malhotra, led the OHL with 47 goals. 

Malhotra's father, former NHL player Manny Malhotra, is the head coach of the Abbotsford Canucks, the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks. His son, Caleb, has a great chance to be the first center off the board in 2026. 

What makes Caleb Malhotra an elite prospect is his two-way ability. When he doesn't have the puck, you can expect him to make wise choices while defending and trying to get the puck back. On offense, he has an incredible hockey IQ, which allows him to make plays for himself and others. 

If the Blackhawks drafted him, it would become almost certain that one (or maybe both) of Frank Nazar or Anton Frondell will become a full-time wing. Having that level of forward depth and versatility would pay off down the road when they are dealing with playoff matchups. 

In his draft +1 year, Malhotra is committed to play for Jay Pandolfo and the Boston University Terriers. That squad is projected to be very good, which would make for a great developmental environment for a young star like Malhotra. 

The results of the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery will determine whether or not this is a possibility for Chicago. If they do end up taking Malhotra, you'll know they did their homework because they are in Brantford scouting quite a bit. 

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It’s been a rough start to the playoffs for the Montreal Canadiens’ top line formed by Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky. They went from scoring 110 goals in the regular season to being totally muzzled at even strength in the first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

That’s not overly surprising, since the Canadiens failed to win home-ice advantage to start the series, Jon Cooper had the last change in the first two games. He was able to keep Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel glued to Suzuki’s line. Both are very efficient player defensively, and they’ve done their job admirably.

Canadiens Drop The Game In Overtime, Go Back To Montreal Tied 1-1
Time For A Big Change In The Canadiens’ Line Up
Canadiens' Nick Suzuki Predicted To Win Top Award

Speaking to the media after Tuesday night’s game, the Captain didn’t shy away from the facts:

Personally, and my line, we can definitely do a better job, help the guys out five-on-five a little more. We’ll be looking to do that in Game 3.

- Suzuki on his line's performance

That’s where Martin St-Louis comes in. At home, he will have the last change, and he’ll be able to keep Suzuki’s line away from Cirelli. If he manages to do that well, his top line should have more space to play in and end up with easier matchups. Once that’s done, though, it will be down to the players to do their part and deliver the goods.

The good news for the Canadiens is that even if the Lightning was able to neutralize the Canadiens’ top line at even strength, the Habs still won a game in Tampa and regained home-ice advantage. In fact, they came very close to winning both games in Florida, despite many believing they were a one-line team.

Montreal proved that it can still win without its top line being its best line, but now, with the series going back to the Bell Centre, it’s time for Caufield, Suzuki and Slafkovsky to show why they were one of the most dominant even-strength lines throughout the season. They have to step up and take control because the Habs won’t be able to win three more games against the Bolts without their contribution.

De son 1er à son 50e, regardez chaque but inscrit par Cole Caufield cette saison juste ici!

From his 1st to his 50th, watch every single Cole Caufield goal from this season right here!#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/2eYzIdKYDr

— x - Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 10, 2026

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Just the facts

• When: Tonight, 7 PM
• Where: TD Garden – Boston, MA
• How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub, TNT, TruTV, HBO Max
• Opposing perspective:Die by the Blade

Know your enemy

• 1-1-0, series tied 1-1
• Tage Thompson: 2G-1A-3PTS; Alex Tuch: 1G-2A-3PTS; Peyton Krebs: 1G-1A-2PTS
• Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen: 1-1-0, 4.19 GAA, .825 save percentage

Game notes

• After earning a hard-fought split in two games in Buffalo, this first round series shifts to Boston, where the Bruins will look to build on a strong effort in Game 2.
• The Bruins were the second-best road team in the NHL during the regular season, winning 29 of their 41 home games. Carolina also won 29 games, but had two OT losses to the Bruins one, so they had a one-point edge in overall performance on home ice.
• The shift to TD Garden will give Marco Sturm and the Bruins a chance to have the second change during all stoppages, which could allow Sturm to try to go for some more favorable match-ups. For example, he could try to deploy some line-matching on Tage Thompson’s line, or could elect to put his speedy third line out against more opportune opposition. It’s probably not something worth overthinking too much, but could be a slight advantage.
• At this point, it looks like a case of which team blinks first in terms of lineup changes. Barring injury, the Bruins aren’t likely to shake things up yet on the back of two (mostly) strong performances. On the Buffalo side, however, there’s some clamoring for a change in net, something Lindy Ruff wouldn’t comment on yesterday. Gaffe on Morgan Geekie aside, I don’t think Luukkonen has been terrible, and if you pull him now, you likely can’t go back to him in the series. Still, it’s a move Ruff will probably make tonight.
• Noah Ostlund may be available for Buffalo tonight. The forward has been out since the end of March and could rotate into the lineup to give Buffalo a bit of a boost. The rookie had 11G-16A-60PTS totals in the regular season.
• Game 2 was more physical than Game 1, a trend the Bruins would likely want to continue in Game 3. I’m not sure we’ll see Pittsburgh-Philly Game 3 levels of shenanigans, but you never know. The Sabres, as a team, are faster than the Bruins, so it benefits the B’s to make the game more of a grind instead of a track meet.
• However, Ruff is already delving into the Craig Berube School of Coaching manual, accusing the Bruins of “clutching and grabbing” to “slow things down.” If the Bruins get called for a holding penalty five minutes into the game, don’t be surprised.
• As another reminder, this game will start at 7 PM, not 7:30 PM, though that might be more of a “7ish” because the game is on TNT.

See ya tonight!

There is not any one player or person that is responsible for the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 series deficit. It has been a well-earned, collective group effort that everybody has to own. The Penguins have allowed themselves to get suckered into Philadelphia’s game, there is little discipline, they are not in any way adapting to what the Flyers are doing defensively, and Dan Muse has not exactly covered himself in glory in his first big moment on the big stage.

But of all the players that have come up small in this series so far, Anthony Mantha might be one of the most obvious.

It might also be making whatever decision the Penguins have to make with him this summer a lot easier for them.

Coming into the playoffs, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman made mention that Mantha might be one of the most watched players in these playoffs (and that almost certainly includes the Penguins), and it’s not hard to understand why there would be so much interest in him.

He led the team with 33 goals and put together a career year.

He is an unrestricted free agent this summer and is going to be one of the top players available, at least in terms of production this season, in a painfully shallow pool of players.

A big postseason showing, on the heels of that regular season performance, would have certainly opened some eyes across the league. It would have also opened checkbooks.

While you shouldn’t let small sample sizes drive your team-building decisions, the harsh reality is teams put a lot of weight on what you do in the playoffs. Or sometimes what you do not do in the playoffs.

And the latter point is what is going to be the problem for Mantha.

He entered this year’s postseason having scored 0 goals in 14 career playoff games.

He has now played 17 career playoff games and is still stuck on zero goals, while being a complete non-factor in the first three games of the series.

Making matters worse, he took one of the costliest — and most easily avoidable — penalties in recent Penguins playoff history when he inexplicably launched the puck from the defensive zone into the stands over the team’s bench. It was not only a bad penalty to take just because it is such an avoidable play, but also because of the timing. There were only eight minutes remaining in the game. The Penguins were still trailing by a goal, had just scored to make it a one-goal game, and were starting to tilt the ice a little bit. There was some momentum building.

And then it was gone.

And then Philadelphia responded with a power play goal to put the game, and maybe the series, back out of reach.

Given the context of the entire situation, it was just a brutal play.

Mantha was never meant to be a long-term answer for the Penguins when they signed him this past offseason. The plan was almost certainly for him to get put somewhere in the top-six, build up his value by chipping in some goals for a rebuilding team, and then get dealt at the trade deadline for a second-round pick. But both he and the Penguins threw a wrench into that plan. The Penguins by being better than expected and making the playoffs, and Mantha by being their top goal-scorer, with several of them coming in big moments.

As the Penguins inched closer to a playoff spot, and he kept producing, there was no chance they were going to move him in-season.

That eventually led to discussion of a possible extension, especially given the lack of quality free agents on the open market and the amount of salary cap space the Penguins have available to them.

But it’s hard to imagine this performance is making anybody in the Penguins front office excited about the idea of re-investing him, especially given the way this series has played out. It’s almost certainly hurting his standing in the eyes of fans.

Is that a valid response to a three game sample size?

Or is it an overreaction given how good the season as a whole went?

Maybe a little of both. But at some point the Penguins do need to find a way to get younger and faster, and a 32-year-old winger with an injury history that’s been a non-factor in the playoffs, and is probably unlikely to repeat his regular season performance, doesn’t seem to be the way to do that.

I don’t blame the Penguins for not trading him in March, and I am not going to criticize them for that decision. Given the way the season played out and the way expectations changed, it was the right move. The initial signing itself has also been an obvious win. But it might be best to just leave it at that. The tough decision they had this summer is not looking as tough as it did a couple of weeks ago.

Wednesday night was another fun one in the first round of the NHL playoffs.

• The Battle of Pennsylvania continued to inflict much-deserved pain on Pittsburgh, as the Penguins fell behind 3-0 in their series with the Flyers after a wild sequence where every skater on the ice was sent to the box early in the second period.
• The Battle for North Stars History continued between the 3rd-overall Dallas Stars and 7th-overall Minnesota Wild, extending deep into double overtime before the Stars converted on their second 2OT power play opportunity (this, after the Wild whiffed on two power plays in the first OT).
• Meanwhile, the Ducks got on the board to even their series with the Oilers after a 6-4 win over Edmonton where Connor McDavid was held pointless.

Thursday Night

Meanwhile, Thursday night the Bridgeport Islanders are in Hershey hoping to extend their mini-series after dropping Game 1 at home, 2-0.

• Here’s Andrew Gross’ piece on Long Island fans heading to Bridgeport to take them in one last time. [Newsday]
• Speaking of the Isles’ AHL affiliate, they’ve filed for some trademark options for the team in Hamilton. [THN]

And in the NHL, there are three games Thursday with the Bruins and Sabres knotted at 1-1, while the Hurricanes-Senators (2-0) and Avalanche-Kings (2-0) switch venues with the trailing teams at home hoping to stay in the series.