Worldwide Sports News

The Nashville Predators have announced that they have signed goaltender Matt Murray to a two-year, two-way contract extension. At the NHL level, he will carry a $775,000 cap hit.

Murray, 27, signed a one-year deal with the Predators this past off-season. Now, with this extension, he will continue to be a part of the Predators' goalie depth.

Murray has spent the entirety of this season down in the AHL with the Milwaukee Admirals. The St. Albert, Alberta native has been excellent for Milwaukee, posting a 25-10-5 record, a .930 save percentage, a 2.15 goals-against average, and two shutouts in 40 appearances. He was also named to the AHL All-Star Classic because of his strong play. 

With numbers like these, it is understandable that the Predators wanted to keep Murray around. Overall, there is no risk in the Predators signing Murray to this extension, and he will continue to be a key part of the Admirals' roster from here.

Recent Predators News 

Nashville Predators Sign Goaltender To Contract Extension

Nashville Predators Sign Surging Prospect To Entry-Level Deal

Important Predators Forward Is Starting To Heat Up

Former Predators Star Is Having Incredible Season

Flyers beat Rangers in high-scoring game at MSG, improve to 4-1-0 under Shaw originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NEW YORK — The Flyers topped the Rangers, 8-5, in a back-and-forth game Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Tyson Foerster, Garnet Hathaway, Travis Sanheim, Jakob Pelletier, Sean Couturier and Owen Tippett all scored goals for the Flyers.

Foerster had a hat trick. His second turned out to be the game-winner. His third was an empty-netter.

“He’s a real diligent young man, a real pro, mature beyond his years,” interim head coach Brad Shaw said. “It shows in his game and I couldn’t be happier for him to get that hat trick tonight.”

Tippett added an empty-netter, as well. Twelve differed Flyers recorded at least a point. Nick Seeler had three assists.

“This building’s pretty sweet to play in,” Foerster said. “Anytime you can score a bunch of goals, it’s obviously nice.”

Couturier scored a go-ahead 5-4 marker off a rebound from a Matvei Michkov shot. Pelletier netted the game-tying 4-4 goal after New York surged ahead with back-to-back goals in the third period.

Hathaway put the Flyers ahead, 2-1, with a shorthanded marker in the second period before Artemi Panarin answered under two minutes later. Sanheim gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead early in the third period, but the Rangers quickly erased it.

The Flyers (32-37-9) are 4-1-0 under Shaw and have scored 25 goals. They have four games to go.

“I don’t know if it’s just the situation, that we’re not in the [playoff race] anymore, but guys seem to be a little more loose, aren’t afraid to make plays,” Couturier said. “The only thing that’s important when you play like that, you’ve got to make sure that you’re accountable for yourself, your teammates. When you turn pucks over, you’ve got to backcheck, work hard to get it back. But it’s nice to see guys not being afraid to make plays and getting rewarded.”

The Flyers went 2-1-0 against New York this season. The Rangers (36-35-7) have had a significant drop-off after winning the Presidents’ Trophy last season.

• A promising development for the Flyers has been Foerster putting up back-to-back seasons of 20 or more goals.

He has 22 this season after putting up 20 as a rookie.

There’s still a ton of upside with the 23-year-old winger. You’ve got to think next season the Flyers would love to see him push for 25 to 30 goals.

Foerster’s line with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink has been very effective this season.

“I think he has always been marked as an offensive guy, a scorer,” Shaw said of Foerster. “I’ve been impressed with how he has added to the defensive side with the penalty kill, with how responsible that line plays 5-on-5. We put them out there regularly against the other team’s top unit and they do a fantastic job.

“He’s a big part of that, he’s a big part of our defensive conscience, but tonight’s a good example of what he can do on the offensive side, as well.”

• Aleksei Kolosov made just his second start since the calendar turned to 2025 and his first since Jan. 2.

The 23-year-old rookie surrendered three goals in the third period. Kolosov hung in there over the first two periods. The Flyers gave him six goals of support in the final stanza.

“That was a crazy period,” Shaw said. “We come out on the right side of that one. I thought we made enough good plays to take advantage of what was a pretty wide-open period.”

Kolosov finished with 24 saves on 29 shots.

Panarin scored in close late in the second period to draw New York even at 2-2. After killing off a penalty, the Flyers appeared to have a bad line change, which left them with four in coverage.

Shaw wanted the Flyers to make the first period “as least chaotic as possible” for Kolosov.

“I’m hoping our guys can play smart in the first five, 10 minutes,” Shaw said pregame. “Minimize the shots and the quality of them so that he can sort of work his way into the game.”

The Flyers did not help Kolosov ease back into things. He had to face a penalty shot just 1:15 minutes into the action and then faced a shorthanded breakaway from Vincent Trocheck. The Rangers’ center buried his opportunity to hand the Flyers a 1-0 deficit at first intermission. Kolosov faced 12 shots in the opening stanza.

“I thought Koly was great in the first period,” Shaw said. “I talked about limiting chances against him and we give him a penalty shot and two other point-blank breakaways, so it wasn’t ideal. But maybe it was good for him to get right into the game like that. I thought he held us in, kept it 1-0 after one period where we were kind of struggling and kind of stuck in the mud a little bit. He gave us a chance to regroup and end up with the win.”

Rangers netminder Jonathan Quick stopped 22 of the Flyers’ 28 shots.

• With the win, the Flyers moved ahead of the Bruins via the tiebreaker of fewer games played. They now have the fifth-best odds for the 2025 NHL draft lottery. They entered Wednesday at No. 4.

The Flyers are one point back of the Kraken and three back of the Sabres, Ducks and Penguins.

“Credit to the group, I don’t think this locker room is ever going to quit and give up,” Sanheim said. “We show up every night, we’ve got a job to do. Our main goal right now is just to try to finish the season strong and end on a positive note.”

• The Flyers have a back-to-back set this weekend as they host the Islanders on Saturday (12:30 p.m. ET/NBCSP) and visit the Senators on Sunday (1 p.m. ET/NBCSP+).

Flyers beat Rangers in high-scoring game at MSG, improve to 4-1-0 under Shaw originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NEW YORK — The Flyers topped the Rangers, 8-5, in a back-and-forth game Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Tyson Foerster, Garnet Hathaway, Travis Sanheim, Jakob Pelletier, Sean Couturier and Owen Tippett all scored goals for the Flyers.

Foerster had a hat trick. His second turned out to be the game-winner. His third was an empty-netter.

“He’s a real diligent young man, a real pro, mature beyond his years,” interim head coach Brad Shaw said. “It shows in his game and I couldn’t be happier for him to get that hat trick tonight.”

Tippett added an empty-netter, as well. Twelve differed Flyers recorded at least a point. Nick Seeler had three assists.

“This building’s pretty sweet to play in,” Foerster said. “Anytime you can score a bunch of goals, it’s obviously nice.”

Couturier scored a go-ahead 5-4 marker off a rebound from a Matvei Michkov shot. Pelletier netted the game-tying 4-4 goal after New York surged ahead with back-to-back goals in the third period.

Hathaway put the Flyers ahead, 2-1, with a shorthanded marker in the second period before Artemi Panarin answered under two minutes later. Sanheim gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead early in the third period, but the Rangers quickly erased it.

The Flyers (32-37-9) are 4-1-0 under Shaw and have scored 25 goals. They have four games to go.

“I don’t know if it’s just the situation, that we’re not in the [playoff race] anymore, but guys seem to be a little more loose, aren’t afraid to make plays,” Couturier said. “The only thing that’s important when you play like that, you’ve got to make sure that you’re accountable for yourself, your teammates. When you turn pucks over, you’ve got to backcheck, work hard to get it back. But it’s nice to see guys not being afraid to make plays and getting rewarded.”

The Flyers went 2-1-0 against New York this season. The Rangers (36-35-7) have had a significant drop-off after winning the Presidents’ Trophy last season.

• A promising development for the Flyers has been Foerster putting up back-to-back seasons of 20 or more goals.

He has 22 this season after putting up 20 as a rookie.

There’s still a ton of upside with the 23-year-old winger. You’ve got to think next season the Flyers would love to see him push for 25 to 30 goals.

• Aleksei Kolosov made just his second start since the calendar turned to 2025 and his first since Jan. 2.

The 23-year-old rookie surrendered three goals in the third period. Kolosov hung in there over the first two periods. The Flyers gave him six goals of support in the final stanza.

He finished with 24 saves on 29 shots.

Panarin scored in close late in the second period to draw New York even at 2-2. After killing off a penalty, the Flyers appeared to have a bad line change, which left them with four in coverage.

Shaw wanted the Flyers to make the first period “as least chaotic as possible” for Kolosov.

“I’m hoping our guys can play smart in the first five, 10 minutes,” Shaw said pregame. “Minimize the shots and the quality of them so that he can sort of work his way into the game.”

The Flyers did not help Kolosov ease back into things. He had to face a penalty shot just 1:15 minutes into the action and then faced a shorthanded breakaway from Vincent Trocheck. The Rangers’ center buried his opportunity to hand the Flyers a 1-0 deficit at first intermission. Kolosov faced 12 shots in the opening stanza.

“I thought Koly was great in the first period,” Shaw said. “I talked about limiting chances against him and we give him a penalty shot and two other point-blank breakaways, so it wasn’t ideal. But maybe it was good for him to get right into the game like that. I thought he held us in, kept it 1-0 after one period where we were kind of struggling and kind of stuck in the mud a little bit. He gave us a chance to regroup and end up with the win.”

Rangers netminder Jonathan Quick stopped 22 of the Flyers’ 28 shots.

• With the win, the Flyers moved ahead of the Bruins via the tiebreaker of fewer games played. They now have the fifth-best odds for the 2025 NHL draft lottery. They entered Wednesday at No. 4.

The Flyers are one point back of the Kraken and three back of the Sabres, Ducks and Penguins.

“Credit to the group, I don’t think this locker room is ever going to quit and give up,” Sanheim said. “We show up every night, we’ve got a job to do. Our main goal right now is just to try to finish the season strong and end on a positive note.”

• The Flyers have a back-to-back set this weekend as they host the Islanders on Saturday (12:30 p.m. ET/NBCSP) and visit the Senators on Sunday (1 p.m. ET/NBCSP+).

After picking up a point in a shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche, the Vegas Golden Knights have clinched home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Golden Knights picked up the point while missing four vital pieces to their lineup, those being Tomas Hertl, Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo and Nicolas Hague. Leading 2-0 halfway through the second period, the Avalanche clawed their way back into the game, scoring on the power play and getting depth contributions. 

Akira Schmid was solid all night long, turning away 34 of the 36 shots he faced. He stopped the first two shootout attempts before Charlie Coyle ended the game.

The Golden Knights would have rather won the game, but they did enough to earn the right to begin the playoffs on home ice. The Golden Knights are 27-9-3 at home this year, compared to their road record of 20-13-6. 

With home ice, the Golden Knights are able to feed off of the atmosphere inside T-Mobile Arena, but more importantly, are able to seek out the matchups they want. They can use William Karlsson in a defensive role or give Jack Eichel shifts against the opponent's bottom six. 

Whatever the case is, the Golden Knights cherish playing at home and have historically performed better at home, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. The final step for the Golden Knights in the regular season is to secure first place in the Pacific Division. The Los Angeles Kings trail by just six points with five games remaining.

Stay updated with the most interesting Golden Knights stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favourites on Google News to never miss a story.

With just over a week to go in the 2024-25 NHL regular season, our 16 playoff competitors look about set.

This year’s crop includes many of the usual suspects with a few fresh faces added into the mix.

While we often hear a lot about learning to win in the post-season, sometimes things can come together on the first try, whether a player is young or already has NHL experiences.

As a rookie with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017, Jake Guentzel put up 13 goals on his way to a Cup. Then, two years ago, Jack Eichel's first playoff run with the Vegas Golden Knights came in his eighth season. He finished with a team-leading 26 points, and the Stanley Cup over his head.

Here’s a look at the key players who will be seeing playoff action for the first time this spring.

The Veterans

This group is 26 or older, with significant NHL resumes. And like Eichel, a lot of them are former Buffalo Sabres — refugees from the long playoff drought in Western New York.

At the top: 32-year-old Jeff Skinner. He missed the playoffs for eight-straight years with the Carolina Hurricanes before spending six seasons in Buffalo. 

Skinner’s adjustment to the Edmonton Oilers this season hasn’t been the smoothest. But he has started to hit his stride over the last month. With five goals in his last nine games, Skinner’s now at 16 for the year. And after playing his 1,000th regular-season game in Buffalo just over a year ago, the 2011 Calder Trophy winner should finally see playoff action this spring for the first time in his 15-year career.

Other former Sabres veterans who will be looking to make their playoff debuts this year include Victor Olofsson with Vegas (age 29, 367 GP) and Zemgus Girgensons with the Tampa Bay Lightning (age 31, 765 GP).

Over in Ottawa, Thomas Chabot will finally make his post-season debut at age 28. Drafted by the Senators in 2015, he played one regular-season game in 2016-17, the last time Ottawa made the playoffs, but was returned to junior for the year and won a QMJHL championship.

Drafted in 2017, Drake Batherson will also get his first crack at the post-season at age 26, with 386 NHL games played.

Over in Montreal, 28-year-old Sam Montembeault should be between the pipes when the playoffs return to the Bell Centre for the first time in four years. After witnessing the intensity in his home arena as Canada’s third goalie during the 4 Nations Face-Off, the native Quebecer is now poised to follow in the footsteps of Carey Price for the NHL’s most decorated franchise.

Johnathan Kovacevic is another late bloomer who’s set to make his first playoff appearance this spring. The 27-year-old is in just his third full NHL season and, despite a loud call-out by coach Sheldon Keefe a couple of weeks ago, the big right-shot defenseman is tied with Nico Hischier for the New Jersey Devils’ team lead in plus-minus, at plus-14.

Also, keep an eye on Andrei Kuzmenko in Los Angeles. In his third NHL season, the 29-year-old is rediscovering the form that helped him score 39 goals with Vancouver in 2022-23. He’s up to 11 points in 17 games since joining the Kings at the trade deadline.

The Tweeners

This group is made up of established players who are 25 or under, making the playoffs for the first time.

Brady Tkachuk is the top name here, and it’s hoped that his injury situation will be sorted out before playoff time. The Senators captain is already at 511 regular-season games at age 25, and his game is tailor-made for the post-season. 

Other key Senators from the young guard who will be making their playoff debuts include Tim Stutzle (age 23, 362 GP), Shane Pinto (age 24, 205 GP) and another former Sabre, Dylan Cozens (age 24, 357 GP).

NHL Power Rankings: Senators Rise, Stars Fall As Playoff Picture Gets ClearerWelcome back to The Hockey News' NHL power rankings, where we rank all 32 teams based on their weekly performance.

With the St. Louis Blues back in the playoff picture after a two-year absence, their lineup is also dotted with fresh faces who will be seeing their first playoff action. That list includes depth defensemen Tyler Tucker and Matthew Kessel as well as oft-injured forward Alexandre Texier, all 24, and 25-year-old goaltender Joel Hofer.

Also on the blue line, 24-year-old J.J. Moser will make his playoff debut with the Lightning this spring. He was acquired from Utah as part of the Mikhail Sergachev trade. 

The Young Guns

Teams with playoff aspirations don’t usually have many high draft picks. They also tend to let their top prospects marinate at lower levels for as long as possible. But this year’s playoff mix includes some talented high draft picks who could boost their reputations in a big way under hockey’s brightest spotlight.

The show starts in Montreal. Who doesn’t want to see what kind of magic 2022 No. 1 pick Juraj Slafkovsky and this year’s Calder front-runner Lane Hutson might be able to make at playoff time?

As well as their mid-career talent pool, the Senators’ biggest weapon might be defenseman Jake Sanderson. In just his third NHL season, the 22-year-old served notice that he’s already among the best from his nation when he was tagged to replace Quinn Hughes on Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off. 

St. Louis has gotten some good scoring support this year from a pair of first-rounders who will be seeing their first playoff action this year: 23-year-old Jake Neighbours and 22-year-old Zach Bolduc.

A couple of other top 10 picks to watch are the Kings’ Brandt Clarke, who has settled in as a regular on one of the NHL’s stingiest teams at 22, and 21-year-old Simon, who is currently being shuffled in and out of the Devils’ lineup.

Up front, 23-year-old Marco Rossi should make his NHL playoff debuts after a strong campaign that has him approaching 60 points with the Minnesota Wild. And 22-year-old rookie Mackie Samoskevich has filled a regular role and put up 30 points with the defending Cup champs in Florida.

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