Category: Sports News

The Chicago Blackhawks did not have a good road trip. They went 0-3-1 after having a great homestand right before. 

They did, however, have one bright spot come out of the losing. Ahead of the second game on the trip, they called up top prospect Artyom Levshunov. 

Levshunov, a defenseman, was the second overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft out of Michigan State. They believe he can be one of the pillars of the blue line for a long time. 

The young defenseman started the year injured in the AHL so it took him a while to get going. The kid who skated in training camp is a lot different than the one who made his NHL debut this week. He did not look out of place at all. 

Of course, there were learning moments for Levhsunov over the three days but he looks like an NHL defenseman.

In his debut against the Avalanche, he started on the third pair but ended up having 20:55 of ice time. By his third career game, he was leading the team in TOI.  

There were two goals-against in particular vs the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night that he can learn from and he will. Outside of those mistakes, he looked strong physically and positionally when defending.

Only Quinn Hughes of Vancouver, one of the best defensemen in the NHL, had more ice time than Levshunov on either team in that game and it wasn't by much (0:18). 

In the same match, on the offensive side of things, he collected his first career NHL point with an assist on Wyat Kaiser's goal. Levhunov made a good pass up to Kaiser who scored with a beautiful shot.  

Levshunov isn't expected to be a shutdown defenseman or an offensive powerhouse in the NHL. He is looked at as a player with a high ceiling as a two-way top-pair blue liner. 

"I'm so excited," Levshunov said on earning his first career NHL point. "I want to score. And to win. You've got to win, too. A win is more important." He continued with a smile. 

Levshunov has yet to experience a win in the NHL but he isn't going anywhere any time soon so he should be a part of one soon. 

"I feel good, especially tonight." Levshunov said when asked about how he feels three games into his NHL career. It's clear that he doesn't like to lose but he knows that focusing on getting better is the key to moving forward. 

Connor Murphy, who was the only plus player on the Blackhawks against the Canucks on Saturday night, also spoke on Levshunov after the game. 

“It’s been impressive to see him play his game and not be timid at all,” Murphy said on his new young teammate. “It’s not easy being that young, especially as a defenseman playing a lot of defending minutes like we do. He seems to have good gaps and be not afraid to keep pucks alive and he’s strong when breaking them up too.”

Murphy is the longest-tenured Blackhawks player and knows a thing or two about getting better as he ages in the NHL. His high praise for his teammate speaks volumes. 

Now, Levshunov will get to experience being a Chicago Blackhawks player at home for the first time in his career. They will host the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night at United Center.

Playing his first career NHL home game should provide him with another spark as if he needed more juice to his game. He's off to a great start so he must focus on the little things that are making him successful right off the jump. 

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

Farjestad BK of the SHL announced on Sunday that the Anaheim Ducks have recalled first-round pick Stian Solberg (23rd overall in 2024) to their organization.

Upper Deck 2024 Draft Spotlight: What Stian Solberg Brings to the Ducks Organization

In the 2024 NHL draft, the Ducks traded the 31st overall (originally owned by the Edmonton Oilers) and the 58th overall (originally owned by the Boston Bruins) picks to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for the 23rd pick and the rights to select Solberg (19).

Solberg jumped from the top men’s division in Norway in 2023-24 to the SHL in 2024-25 and played 47 games for Farjestad BK, where he scored 12 points (3-9=12).

“Anaheim says they have injuries in the organization and need him with them, and there is not much we can do in the situation,” Farjestad BK general manager Rickard Wallin said (translated from Swedish). “Surprising and unfortunate and considering where we are in the season, but we can only focus on the players we have with us and the task ahead.

“So we simply have to thank Stian for his time with us. He is a very promising player who we think has taken steps forward overall during the year and he has been a popular player in the locker room so we wish him the best of luck in the future.”

When drafted, Solberg was praised for being "the most violent player in the draft," but displays a surprising amount of skill. He has some refinement to do in the details of his positioning and decision making, but shows a quality base of fundamentals.

Solberg represented Norway at the IIHF World Championship in May 2024, when he tallied three points in seven games (2-1=3) as well as the Olympic Qualifiers, where he added two assists in three games, but Norway failed to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan.

Because of an agreement between the IIHF and the NHL, NHL clubs can recall their first-round picks playing internationally at any time. The injury situation seems an odd reasoning to bring Solberg to North America considering the Ducks have seven active defensemen on their roster (four left-shots), as do the San Diego Gulls of the AHL, who ran a lineup on Friday in their game against the Colorado Eagles that included 11 forwards and seven defensemen (three left shots).

The Gulls have 14 games remaining in their 2024-25 season and are seven points out of a playoff spot. The Ducks have 16 games remaining and are eight points out of the second wild card spot in the Western Conference standings. Logic would dictate Solberg will report straight to San Diego, but the situations will continue to be monitored.

Ducks Ryan Strome Speaks on Pair of Viral Incidents

Missed Opportunities Prove Costly for Ducks Down the Stretch

The Vegas Golden Knights came out on the losing end of yesterday's afternoon affair against the Buffalo Sabres, but seek redemption today against the Detroit Red Wings. 

The Golden Knights were thoroughly outplayed by the Sabres. After the final buzzer and overtime, the Sabres held a 37-19 shot advantage. Despite that, the Golden Knights likely felt they should have left with a win. 

Jack Eichel scored the go-ahead goal with just over two minutes remaining before Tomas Hertl had the chance to ice the game with an empty net tally. He attempted to be unselfish and looked to pass to Eichel but the pass was broken up. The Sabres would tie the game with 14 seconds remaining, sending the game to overtime. Nothing was solved there, and in the shootout, former Golden Knight Alex Tuch would score the winner.

Now playing in the second half of a back-to-back against the Red Wings, the Golden Knights will be taking on another team trending in the wrong direction. The Eastern Conference wild card race is as fascinating as ever. The Red Wings sit four points back of the second spot but once held the position. 

A recent 3-7-0 stretch has seen them falter. With 16 games remaining, they still have time to make up the ground but every game is vital for them. Their sense of urgency should be high, and if the Golden Knights are unable to match it, they could be heading back to Vegas with just one win out of four. 

Adin Hill was stellar in goal against the Sabres and will get the day off today, allowing Ilya Samsonov to make his 27th start of the season. Cam Talbot is the expected starter for the Red Wings today. 

Puck drop is at 10:00 AM PST at Little Caesars Arena.

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Last month, the 4 Nations Face-Off delivered the kind of edge-of-your-seat action that got hearts pounding for both hockey fans and NHL players — whether they were suiting up in the tournament or watching from a sunny beach vacation.

As regular-season action resumed, a bit of an early lull in intensity was understandable. But three weeks have now passed, and some players still haven’t found their ‘A’ games. 

With plenty left to be settled in terms of both playoff qualification and seeding, here are five players whose team would love to see them get back on track as soon as possible. 

Brock Faber, D, Minnesota Wild

At the 4 Nations, Brock Faber and Jaccob Slavin formed a tremendous top pair on the U.S. blue line. But after playing so well in his rookie season that he mounted a challenge for the Calder Trophy, Faber has had a tough time finding his form since returning to NHL play.

Before the break, Faber sat 10th in the NHL in ice time, averaging 24:55 a game. He had 22 points in 52 games and was a healthy plus-10. And while plus-minus is not a perfect stat, it shows us what we need to know when we see that Faber is minus-11 in 11 games since the break as his ice time has spiked to 27:07 a game. And he has just one goal and one assist in those 11 games.

#mnwild defenseman Brock Faber posted a game-high 29:42 time-on-ice total in tonight's game, his fifth-highest total of the season.

He now ranks fourth in the NHL with a 25:18 TOI/G average. pic.twitter.com/VFr3ZqP1mi

— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) March 14, 2025

With a record of 4-6-1 since the break, the Wild have now fallen into a wild-card spot. They should still make the playoffs, but Faber seems to be wilting under his enormous workload with his undermanned squad.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C, Edmonton Oilers

After a quiet start to the season, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was heating up before the break. In his first 18 games of 2025, he logged eight assists and seven goals, including a pair of game-winners.

In 11 games since the Oilers’ return to action, Nugent-Hopkins has just one goal and three assists, and is a minus-5. But he’s certainly not alone on his team. A long list of Oilers’ honorable mentions contains nearly everyone except Leon Draisaitl, including Zach Hyman (5 points), Corey Perry (2 points), Vasily Podkolzin (1 point) and Stuart Skinner (2-5-0, 3.54 GAA, .875 save percentage).

Brock Boeser, RW, Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks’ impending free agent headed into the 4 Nations break after scoring the game-winner in Vancouver’s 2-1 home-ice win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 8, giving him 18 goals and 35 points in 48 games this year. But he hasn’t scored since, and has chipped in just three assists as Rick Tocchet has tried to find the right chemistry among his forwards in the wake of the J.T. Miller trade.

"You have to earn your ice time."

Rick Tocchet on Jake DeBrusk, Brock Boeser, and Elias Pettersson receiving less ice time in the Canucks' loss to the Stars. pic.twitter.com/6qYPQYVWJO

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 10, 2025

Even the Canucks’ 6-goal outburst against the Chicago Blackhawks didn’t help Boeser get back on track. His pointless streak is now at four games and counting.

Stefan Noesen, RW, New Jersey Devils

Two months into this season, Stefan Noesen was named a ‘New Guy On Fire’ thanks to 13 goals and 22 points in his first 28 games back with the New Jersey Devils. 

But Noesen started to cool off in December and the trend has continued. In 11 games since the 4 Nations break, he has tallied just one power-play goal and a couple of even-strength assists, despite being gifted quality minutes on the banged-up Devils. On Saturday, he lined up with Nico Hischier and Timo Meier, but went pointless for the seventh time in nine games in New Jersey’s 7-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Cam Talbot, G, Detroit Red Wings

One big reason why the Red Wings had climbed into a wild-card spot at the break was the strong play of Cam Talbot. He stabilized the team’s goaltending with a .906 save percentage and a record of 16-11-2. But when play resumed, Talbot allowed 21 goals over six starts, 3.53 per game. 

That led Steve Yzerman to bring in Petr Mrazek at the trade deadline, in an attempt to keep the Wings’ playoff hopes alive.

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Last night's game was one to remember for Scott Morrow, as the Carolina Hurricanes rookie defenseman registered his first career NHL goal in the team's 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

The 2021 second-round pick has been playing in place of Dmitry Orlov, who's out of the lineup due to injury, and you could see his game building to this moment.

In four games, Morrow has managed to turn out a positive CF (51.97%) and xGF (55.55%) while the team has outscored opponents 6-1 at 5v5 in his ice time.

While the UMass alum struggled in his first few appearances in the NHL, he's been looking more and more comfortable and Saturday's game in Philadelphia showed just that.

With less than a minute to go in regulation, Morrow jumped in on the rush and cleaned up a rebound in front from Logan Stankoven, fluttering a backhander into the open cage.

"It was really cool," Morrow said. "I was a Flyers fan growing up — my dad was drafted here — so I wanted to get it tonight. Even though it wasn't a real important goal for the game — it was already sealed — it's still a big moment for me and my family and it's a really cool feeling."

Scott Morrow scores his first NHL goal 🚨 pic.twitter.com/BBpThGLBXG

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 16, 2025

Immediately you could see how excited his teammates were for him and Shayne Gostisbehere made the beeline for the puck so that Morrow could have it forever.

"That's special and the guys know it," Brind'Amour said. "They've all been there. Scotty's come in and done a nice job for us. Those are little, special moments that I think, as a group, they like to share together because they know how important it is."

"I think all five guys on the ice were jumping up and down, the whole bench was going nuts," said Mark Jankowski. "Anytime you can see someone get their first goal, you kind of take it back to your first goal and how excited you were so I can just imagine the feelings he's going through. Probably a million text messages on his phone right now. It's such a special time and I'm just so happy for him to be able to get that first goal out of the way."

Morrow's definitely been sheltered in terms of deployment, with nearly 65% of his starts being offensive-zone starts, but his offensive ability should definitely be causing some tough discussions to be had.

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