Connor McDavid hit a massive double milestone on Tuesday night, scoring twice in the Edmonton Oilers’ 5-2 road win over the Utah Mammoth.

His second-period goal -- an incredible showing of hand-eye coordination on a nice breakaway finish on a feed from Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard -- was his 400th NHL career goal. His empty-netter with eight seconds left in the third period became his 1,200th career point.

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Quick McDavid Career Snapshot

• Games played: 784
• Goals: 401
• Assists: 799
• Points: 1,200
• Plus/minus: +179

He reached 1,200 points in just 784 games — making him the third-fastest player in NHL history to hit that mark, behind only Wayne Gretzky (504 games) and Mario Lemieux (593 games). He’s now the 115th player all-time (and 15th active) to reach 400 goals, and the fifth in Oilers franchise history.

2025-26 Season So Far (72 GP)

• 40 goals (tied for top-4 in the NHL)
• 78 assists (2nd in the NHL)
• 118 points (2nd in the NHL)
• +10, 34 PIM, 261 shots

One game. Two big milestones. 

Congratulations to Connor McDavid, who is now the proud owner of 400 (plus one) NHL goals and 1,200 NHL points. pic.twitter.com/Cl1v197d6m

— NHLPA (@NHLPA) March 25, 2026

McDavid has now hit the 40-goal mark in five of his 11 NHL seasons. Even though he still sees himself primarily as a playmaker (needing just one more assist to reach 800 career helpers), he’s been lethal finishing chances this year. The only better season he's had was in 2022-23, when Leon Draisaitl bet he couldn't get 50. McDavid went on to score 64 that season. 

This season, coming in, he said he wanted to shoot more. It took several games for him to live up to that promise -- and some drilling from the media with questions about why he wasn't -- before a flip switched. Once it did, he went on a tear. 

He remains a treat to watch, and the number of milestones he'll rack up over the course of his career continues to amaze. 

Oilers Beat the Mammoth For a Different Reason

However, despite the highlights that McDavid reached two milestones, the game against the Utah Mammoth will be remembered for a different reason. Yes,  the Oilers' captain showed off his trademark speed, skill, and clutch timing in a big Western Conference matchup. No, that's not why the Oilers won the game. 

For starters, Jack Roslovic scored two, and Matt Savoie scored shorthanded. Evan Bouchard finished the night with three assists. Getting help from others was essential. 

But the really big difference was their all-around defensive effort. It was the key to the victory. Edmonton played the game as though it were a postseason matchup. They were physical, and they were staunch defensively. The Oilers limited the Mammoth to three shots in the first period and 18 shots overall. With a fragile Tristan Jarry in net, the Oilers never allowed the Mammoth to really test their netminder.

The question now will be what the Oilers do next. 

Do the Oilers Go Back to Jarry?

Head coach Kris Knoblauch has a tendency to shuffle the lines. It will be intriguing to see if he keeps them as is. He's also got a decision to make in goal. Jarry was fine, but was he good enough that he earned a second-straight start? It's been Connor Ingram in goal a lot lately. Jarry needs the chance to find his game and if he gets hot, giving him starts would be wise. However, the Oilers were so good at limiting chances on Tuesday that it's difficult to know if Jarry really had it. Not much was asked of him. 

When asked how he felt about his game, "Just doing my thing and trying to grow with every period and every shot." He gave most of the credit to his teammates, who he said were awesome. "They played awesome, but I think it started from the very beginning. They were doing everything in their power, they were blocking shots, they're getting pucks deep, and I think when we're playing with that kind of urgency, it helps, and it was a great game."

"Overall, I thought it was a good game on our part," said Knoblauch. "I think we managed the ups and downs."

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To begin one of their final road trips of the season, the Anaheim Ducks headed to British Columbia to take on the Vancouver Canucks, the NHL’s 32nd-ranked team.

The Ducks were coming off one of the more entertaining games of the 2025-26 season on Sunday, when they defeated the Buffalo Sabres 6-5 in overtime. The Ducks were looking to extend their Pacific Division lead over the Edmonton Oilers and extend their winning streak to three games.

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The Canucks entered this game as the NHL’s bottom team by a sizable 15-point margin and the runaway leader to enter May’s NHL Draft Lottery with the best odds to win the #1 overall pick. They had lost three of their last four games coming into this one.

Radko Gudas re-entered the Ducks lineup in this game after serving his five-game suspension for kneeing Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews on March 12. As a result, and after a few subpar performances, Olen Zellweger observed this game from the press box as a healthy scratch.

Here’s how the Ducks lined up in this game:

Kreider-Carlsson-Terry

Killorn-Granlund-Sennecke

Viel-Poehling-Gauthier

McTavish-Washe-Harkins

LaCombe-Trouba

Mintyukov-Carlson

Moore-Gudas

Lukas Dostal got his 48th start of the season in this game and stopped 27 of the 30 shots he faced. In the Vancouver crease stood Kevin Lankanen, who saved 29 of 33.

Game Notes

This game is yet another where the Ducks have embraced their track meet style, where they exchange chances, with the confidence that they can outscore their problems, outchance their opponents, and outfinish. Jansen Harkens sustained an upper-body injury early in this game, after just three shifts, and Beckett Sennecke didn’t see the ice for the final 17:38 of this game due to a poor turnover.

This game was relatively even in shots on goal (26-24) and shot attempts at 5v5 (49-49), but the Canucks got the majority of the quality chances, winning the expected goals battle 3.6-3.19.

Breakouts: The Ducks had struggles advancing pucks beyond their defensive blueline against Vancouver’s relatively passive forecheck. The Canucks’ defensemen were calculated with their pinches, and F2 challenged against set breakouts, causing multiple turnovers at the Ducks’ blue that they then turned into quick odd-man counters with forwards flying up ice.

John Carlson: Carlson’s dynamism isn’t what it may have once been, but his efficient movements in transition, lane reading, and clever manipulation of defensive structures led to his high point total in this game and created several chances. He’s gained enough reps throughout his career to understand exactly how much pressure he can apply deep in the offensive zone before needing to retreat and switch back toward the blueline.

Mason McTavish: McTavish is still earning his way back into a more prominent role on this team heading down the stretch. In this game, with traditional winger responsibilities, he was careful with pucks, pressured pucks in every zone, and was a part of a few extended cycle sequences. He capitalized with his quick release, earning himself a game-winning tally, but in a game where Sennecke didn’t see much ice in the third period, and Harkins sustained an injury early, one would like to see McTavish grab more of his shifts by the horns, driving play, winning battles in small areas, and generating chances.

Beckett Sennecke: Sennecke’s confidence and ability have, in turn, given the Ducks coaching staff confidence in him to outproduce his mistakes, learn from them, and avoid repeating them in the future. He made a poor decision on the rush in overtime that led to a game-ending goal against the Philadelphia Flyers a week prior to this game, and he made a similar, yet less dangerous mistake that led to a tying goal early in the third.

It was a rookie mistake made by a rookie forward that could have found its way to a trailing Killorn, who could have gotten off a high-danger shot. However, it wasn’t the most optimal read, as the far side defenseman had activated, so if that pass didn’t connect, it would likely go the other way on an odd-man rush, as it did.

One hopes he’s earned enough of the coaching staff’s trust and impacts plays positively more often than not, that this won’t lead to a decrease in role or healthy scratch. The Ducks will likely need the instant offense he can provide on a shift-by-shift basis.

The Ducks will next head to Alberta to take on former teammate Ryan Strome and the Calgary Flames on Thursday.

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It was one of the biggest opportunities of the 2025-26 NHL Season for the Detroit Red Wings to prove that this year would be different than seasons past.

They faced a fatigued Ottawa Senators team that had not only played the night before but was also missing its top two defensemen, instead dressing a pair of rookies in their first NHL contests.

Instead, it was the Senators who jumped out to a 3-0 lead, eventually holding on for a 3-2 victory at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday evening to leapfrog Detroit in the standings by a point. 

Ottawa now occupies the second Wild Card postseason spot in the Eastern Conference, while Detroit's margin of error continues to shrink. 

The latest missed opportunity by the Red Wings had their dressing room in a frustrated mood, according to team captain Dylan Larkin, who returned to the lineup after a seven-game absence. 

"The room is mad, the guys are mad. That was a big game for our hockey team," Larkin said in the dressing room afterward. "And unfortunately, for how well we played against those guys all year and this one tonight, it kind of wipes away our record against those guys.

That was a big game, but we're going into Buffalo on Friday night. We have to pick ourselves back up, and that's mental toughness."

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For the second straight game, the Red Wings appeared to take a 1–0 lead, only to have the goal wiped out—just as it was in their loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.

This time, instead of the clock expiring by just 0.2 seconds, replays showed that Detroit had entered the zone an inch offside.

Rather than taking a 1–0 lead, Detroit was soon penalized and ultimately fell behind 1–0 on a power-play goal by Brady Tkachuk.

But according to head coach Todd McLellan, there was no use in crying over spilled milk. 

“There are rules in play for certain reasons, we ran out of time the other night against Boston, and we were clearly offside on the entry," he said. "If the linesman picked that up and made the right call, we wouldn’t even be talking about the goal that didn’t count. That’s why the rules are there.”

The Red Wings had earned victories in each of their three games against the Senators leading up to their final contest of the season.

However, the Senators continued to frustrate Detroit in March, in matchups with significant playoff implications.

As has been the case over the past two seasons, the Red Wings have now seen their playoff cushion completely vanish.

Defenseman Moritz Seider admitted that Detroit's level of urgency likely wasn’t where it needed to be in the first half of the contest, while adding that it’s up to the group to find a solution.

“Obviously, we've been in that situation before,” Seider said. “We know how much it can stink, we'd better come up with an answer for that. It's all on us right now.”

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It was the Ottawa Senators' biggest game of the season, and while they've been on a fantastic run, everything seemed to be working against them as they prepared for the Red Wings in Detroit on Tuesday night.

They were in game two of a back-to-back with travel, playing the night before with four defensemen. They had five defensemen out with injury, including their best two, Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot.

They had two kids on D making their NHL debuts against a well-rested Detroit team, which enjoyed home ice and last change to try to capitalize on the potential mistakes of the first-timers. The Wings were 3-0 against the Sens this season and needed this one to return to a playoff position.

And just before the game, they learned that Dylan Larkin, the Wings captain who always gives the Senators fits, would be ready to return from injury.

It seemed like a magnificent recipe for disaster, complete with a chef's kiss, until the Senators reminded us all why we play the games. They marched right into Detroit and handed the Red Wings a 3-2 loss, moving into a playoff spot for the first time in almost four months.

And it was one of the kids, who were described in Detroit as liabilities, who helped lead the way.

Carter Yakemchuk, the Senators' top prospect, had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut. He had a large contingent of family and friends who hustled from Alberta to Michigan once the 20-year-old got the call.

“This was a really special night,” Yakemchuk told the media afterward. “It was awesome to be a part of this win.”

While he and Brady Tkachuk helped set the table with a goal and an assist, it was Linus Ullmark who helped preserve the victory. The Wings battled back from a 3-0 deficit and pressed hard in the late going, but Ullmark stepped up big to preserve the win, stopping 32 shots (.941).

Things didn't start so well when former Senator Alex DeBrincat appeared to give Detroit a 1-0 lead in the first, but the Senators took it off the board with a successful offside challenge. Less than two minutes later, Brady Tkachuk's 20th goal of the season gave the Senators a 1-0 lead.

The very sudden two-goal swing marked a heavy shift in mindset for both teams.

The Senators then opened up a 3-0 lead on two quick goals midway through the second period, on precision shots from Yakemchuk and Lars Eller.

Yakemchuk showed great poise on his goal, especially for a rookie. He accepted a D-to-D pass from Artem Zub, and instead of blasting it as soon as he could, he saw that no one was coming out to challenge him. So, he calmly took the extra ten feet of real estate available before ripping a snapshot past Gibson.

Eller's goal came from some fine board work from Tkachuk. As he corralled the puck, he laid a reverse check on his defender to buy time and find Eller in a perfect shooting position in the slot. Eller made no mistake, giving the Sens a 3-0 advantage.

And despite the late charge by the Wings after goals by Dominik Shine and Dylan Larkin, they couldn't find the equalizer.

Since January 25, the Senators' record is now 15-3-2, which is starting to move into Hamburglar Run territory, when the team finished 20-3-3 to make the 2015 playoffs. They now hold Wild Card position 2, tied with the Islanders in points at 85 points, but the Isles have played one more game.

Ottawa actually got quite a bit of help from the Tuesday out-of-town scoreboard for a change, led by a favour from the Toronto Maple Leafs, of all teams. They defeated the Boston Bruins 4-2. The Islanders lost to Chicago 4-2, and Pittsburgh fell to Colorado 6-2.

Tuesday scores that didn't favour the Senators include Montreal taking down Carolina and Columbus defeating the Flyers.

On Wednesday night, the Sens will pick up a game in hand on the Bruins, who have a back-to-back of their own, facing the Sabres in Buffalo. Joonas Korpisalo, who the Senators are still paying, starts for Boston. It would be nice if the Sens got something for their money. 

Then on Thursday, it's another crucial battle* with the Senators hosting Pittsburgh.

* Spoiler: they're all crucial battles now.

The Senators deserve major credit for forcing their way back into the playoff race with 11 games left. Getting there was tough. Staying there will be tougher, especially with the injuries.

But after that gutsy effort in Detroit, it’s hard to bet against them.

Steve Warne
The Hockey News

Rick Bowness has turned the Columbus Blue Jackets into a wagon since he took over for the fired Dean Evason. 

Since he took over prior to the January 13th game against the Calgary Flames, the CBJ are 19-3-4. Prior to Bowness coming to Columbus, the Blue Jackets had 19 wins all season. Columbus has 19 wins in 26 games since he took over. They're currently playing at a 132-point pace over an 82-game stretch. 

When Bowness took over, the CBJ were 28th in the NHL and floundering. Today, they're currently 8th in the NHL and second in the Metro Division. Where would they be had they not blown all those third-period leads?

Prior to Bowness arriving in Columbus, the CBJ were giving up 3.40goals per game. Since he took over, they're only giving up 2.46.

They're also scoring 3.61 goals per game, up from 2.91 goals per game prior to him getting hired. 

When Don Waddell fired Dean Evason, the Jackets responded by immediately beating the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks. When Elvis Merzlikins was interviewed after the Canucks win, he was asked what sparked the team. His response was simple: "New Coach!" You can't get blunter than that. 

So, does Bowness deserve to win? He will only coach 37 regular-season games. 

Lindy Ruff of the Buffalo Sabres is going to have something to say about the Jack Adams Award, that's for sure. 

Since December 9th, the Sabres have been hands down the best team in the NHL and have vaulted themselves from the basement of the Eastern Conference in December, to leading the Atlantic Division. Starting in December, the Sabres rattled off 10-straight wins before being knocked off at Nationwide Arena by the aforementioned Blue Jackets. But that loss didn't get to them.

After going 11-3-0 in December, they backed it up with a 10-4-1 January, a 4-1-1 February, and are 9-1-1 so far in March. 

After they fired former CBJ OG Kevyn Adams and promoted Former CBJ GM Jarmo Kekäläinen to lead the team, the Sabres and Lindy Ruff blasted off and can't seem to be stopped. 

Buffalo hasn't made the playoffs in 15 years, and weren't expected to do much this year either, but they somehow turned themselves into legitimate Stanley Cup heavyweights. 

In my opinion, it's Lindy Ruff's award, and I don't think it'll be particularly close either. What Rick Bowness has done has been nothing short of spectacular, but the CBJ were expected to push for the playoffs this year, while the Sabres were expected to finish near the bottom of the Atlantic, per usual. 

It's an interesting debate and will be sure to rage on as both teams push for a playoff spot. 

Next Up: The Blue Jackets travel to Montreal to play the Canadiens on Thursday night. 

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The Detroit Red Wings suffered a deflating 3–2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night, a result that carried significant implications in the tightly contested wild card race.

With the victory, Ottawa surged past multiple competitors and claimed the second wild card position previously held by the New York Islanders. New York, despite slipping, still remains just ahead of Detroit in the standings, adding further pressure on a Red Wings squad that has struggled to maintain its footing in recent weeks.

Detroit’s recent skid has been a major concern as since late January, the team has posted a disappointing 6-9-3 record over its last 18 games, a stretch that has seen its once promising playoff outlook steadily deteriorate. Earlier in the season, optimism surrounded the Red Wings’ postseason chances. According to MoneyPuck, their playoff odds sat near 80 percent heading into the Olympic break and peaked at 83.2 percent on February 28.

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Playoff chances after the Pens-Rangers afternoon game. Playoff chances will update on the website several times per day for the rest of the season https://t.co/RbnckCLHNPpic.twitter.com/6FITuAS7yc

— MoneyPuck.com (@MoneyPuckdotcom) February 28, 2026

However, that confidence has since eroded as the Red Wings now find themselves with just a 45.8 per cent chance of making the playoffs, trailing closely behind the Islanders at 46.6 per cent. Meanwhile, the Boston Bruins have created some separation at 64.3 percent, and Ottawa’s recent surge has propelled them to a commanding 76.1 percent, leapfrogging the entire pack.

Playoff chances after tonight’s Eastern games. Sens up to 79%. Habs at 90%. https://t.co/RbnckCLHNPpic.twitter.com/Y4Rd75faI0

— MoneyPuck.com (@MoneyPuckdotcom) March 25, 2026

The road ahead offers little relief for Detroit with their remaining schedule appearing stacked with high caliber opponents, including the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Tampa Bay Lightning, all games that carry must-win weight as the regular season winds down.

Despite the bleak trend, the situation is not yet beyond repair. A strong run in the coming games could quickly stabilize Detroit’s playoff chances and push them back into contention. But with time running short and competition intensifying, the margin for error has all but disappeared.

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The NHL playoff race is reaching it’s peak this year, no where more than in the competitive and tight Eastern Conference. While the West is something of a pillow fight in the Pacific and a turtle race in general (Nashville is on a statistical pace for 89 points and currently holding a playoff spot), the East is a much more unforgiving place to be. The Islanders and Red Wings are currently on pace for 97 points and find themselves below the playoff line as of this morning.

Here’s the standings as of today.

It’s tough times in Detroit, the Red Wings are just 5-6-2 since play resumed after the Olympics and now in serious trouble with their playoff outlook. While Detroit’s season pace may be for 97 points, that is dropping by the game with their recent results in shambles. Ottawa, boasting a 10-2-2 record since the break, have now pulled ahead of Detroit.

It’s a similar story in the Metropolitan Division, where a run by the Columbus Blue Jackets (9-2-4) have overtaken the Penguins and Islanders in the standings as of this morning with 11 games to play, 10 for NYI.

Further down the line, any spoiler hopes for a last gasp run by Philadelphia and Washington took major hits with regulation losses last night. The four point swing in the Flyers/Blue Jackets game last night could have meant just a three point separation had the Flyers won last night. Instead, they lost and now are seven points behind Columbus and five points behind the playoff line, dealing a serious blow to any far-flung playoff hopes.

The Penguins have been in a mode of hanging on lately, their 17 games in March is an NHL high and presented a monumental challenge. They’ve had to do much of it without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. They have had some great moments lately – like an OT comeback win over Boston and a great performance against Colorado mixed in with some ugly defeats to Carolina, Vegas and the Avalanche. Monday’s upcoming game against NYI is looming absolutely massive for the potential fortunes of both teams.

Here’s some models on the Pens’ current outlooks:

The Athletic: 72%

Hockey Stats: 84%

Moneypuck: 75.2%

Hockey Reference: 80.2%

Most of the models remain fairly bullish on Pittsburgh, in part due to the remaining schedule. The Pens have gotten through much of their toughest games (though Ottawa and Dallas are on the horizon) and now statistically have the 20th easiest strength of schedule based on points% of remaining opponents. Less than 10 days ago, Pittsburgh had the No. 1 toughest remaining schedule, which speaks to how many quality opponents they’ve dealt with recently – four of the Pens’ last five games have been played against Carolina or Colorado who make up two of the top three teams in the league. Pittsburgh negotiated that to a 1-2-1 record and soon will finish off the season with six games against non-playoff opponents (two against Florida and Washington, New Jersey and St. Louis).

On the other hand, the toughest remaining schedules in the whole league belong to: NYI, BOS, CBJ and OTT, direct competitors for the Penguins. Schedule strength only accounts for so much and is no guarantee of success, both NYI and Boston lost last night in what should have been games they needed results against Chicago and Toronto, respectively. Teams still have to play the games and get the results, though it’s preferable to have an easier path it also doesn’t bring any promises.

In that outlook, there’s some reason for optimism, the Pens have made it through the absolute toughest part of their schedule and found a way to pick up a few points and remain slightly above the fray. Soon they need to take advantage of what remains. That won’t be immediate with the upcoming games of playing in Ottawa and hosting Dallas in the coming days will present big challenges but relief could be coming after that.

Ultimately and easily enough for the Penguins, if they stay ahead of NYI AND Detroit then the Pens will make the playoffs. Should Columbus cool off a little and the Pens slip by them, it becomes an even easier proposition. Pittsburgh (with 29 regulation wins compared to 27 for Detroit and 26 for the Islanders) also figure to hold that tiebreaker over both clubs below them, so it could presumably even be more favorable since those teams actually have to gain more points in the standings to pass the Pens.

Interestingly enough, Pittsburgh plays NYI on Monday and then Detroit on Tuesday next week. Both of those games will present massive opportunities to deal blows to the opposition’s chances of being able to end up ahead of Pittsburgh by the end of the year. There still could be bigger games at the very end of the season for absolute ‘must win’ situations, but the upcoming games against NYI and DET are about as big as it gets for importance.