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The Detroit Red Wings came into their centennial season with understandable expectations, and by late January, they appeared well on their way to comfortably earning a postseason spot.

However, as has been the case in recent years, they unraveled when the calendar flipped to March, lost their points cushion, and struggled to close out games. 

They came into Saturday evening's contest against the New Jersey Devils with no choice but to earn two points if they wanted to keep their faint playoff hopes mathematically alive.

But following yet another third-period collapse, their fate was officially sealed. 

Devils forward Jesper Bratt scored his second goal of the game with 4:34 left in the third period, breaking a 3-3 tie en route to a 5-3 win at Little Caesars Arena. 

pic.twitter.com/XJcgb82zGL

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) April 11, 2026

With the loss, the Red Wings were officially eliminated from postseason contention and now own the NHL's longest postseason drought at 10 years.

It's a startling fall from grace, considering that they were tied for first place in the Eastern Conference on January 12. 

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. 

Once again, the Red Wings were beaten by a team that was outside of the playoff picture and were unable to protect a third-period lead. Almost equally as concerning, the Devils held a 25-15 shots advantage over the game's final 40 minutes. 

Detroit struck first in the opening period, as defenseman Justin Faulk found the back of the net. But just 59 seconds later, Devils forward Jack Hughes tied the contest on what was New Jersey's first shot of the game.

While David Perron scored just past the midway point of the second period, the Devils responded soon afterward thanks to a shot from just inside the blue line from Bratt, the first of his two goals; former Red Wings defenseman Dennis Cholowski picked up an assist. 

Rookie Emmitt Finnie gave the Red Wings the lead with 13 minutes left in the third period, banging home a loose puck with a backhander past goaltender Jake Allen and giving the sellout crowd reason for enthusiasm. 

However, New Jersey once again knotted the score after Cody Glass picked up a garbage goal in front of the net. Hughes then broke in on a 2-on-1 rush with Bratt, who slipped the puck past a diving John Gibson for what proved to be the game-winner.

The Red Wings pulled Gibson for an extra attacker, but weren't able to find the equalizer.  The Devils secured the victory thanks to an empty-net tally from Dawson Mercer. 

Gibson finished with 28 saves, while Allen made 25 saves. 

While the Red Wings still have two games remaining on their regular-season schedule, their hopes of ending their postseason drought came to a close. 

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The Chicago Blackhawks had their last weekend game of the season on Saturday afternoon, as they welcomed the St. Louis Blues to the United Center. 

The Blues woke up with a very small chance to make the playoffs, but a Los Angeles Kings win earlier in the day eliminated St. Louis. 

This game had a twist at the start. For one, Arvid Soderblom started the game, which is likely his last of the season. They also had Ethan Del Mastro scratched, replaced on defense by Sam Lafferty, who is a forward. 

The ugly finish to the season continued for the Blackhawks, as the Blues skated out of town with a 5-3 victory. Jimmy Snuggerud scored to make it 1-0 Blues at 9:26 of the first period, but Ryan Greene responded to tie the game at 15:07. 

Just 3:04 into the second period, Ilya Mikheyev gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead, which gave Sacha Boisvert his first career NHL assist, but Alexey Toropchenko tied it up at 4:10. From there, the Blues scored three more to make it 5-2. 

In the third period, Ilya Mikheyev added his second goal of the game at 13:35. This one was a nice setup by Tyler Bertuzzi. Anton Frondell also earned an assist on the play, giving him 9 points in his first 10 NHL games. 

That 5-3 score stood as the final despite an effort by Chicago to tie it up with Arvid Soderblom on the bench. The loss is their third straight in regulation. 

To make matters worse, Frank Nazar left the game with an injury. A puck hit him in the face, and he immediately went to the locker room. Of course, Nazar already missed a lot of time during the winter with a jaw injury.

After the game, head coach Jeff Blashill confirmed that Nazar is day-to-day. There are only two games left in the season, so that could mean anything, but he did confirm that he thinks he avoided the "worst case scenario", which would be him having a broken jaw again. 

Nazar is not the only injured player. Andrew Mangiapane left the game after crashing into the net, and Ethan Del Mastro ended up not even dressing due to injury. Both of them are also day-to-day. 

This game had signs of a young team that is thin on bodies to play, frustrated, and out of gas. Two games are remaining to try and find a spark in front of their home fans before an incredibly important off-season. 

Watch Every Chicago Goal

GREENE LIGHT AHEAD🚦🚗 pic.twitter.com/4MeKD7pHbO

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 11, 2026

went 0-95 real quick 🚗💨 pic.twitter.com/asywBAr0o9

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 11, 2026

let's take a look at that 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐑-𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇 goal🫡 https://t.co/tZ6tBz2QGBpic.twitter.com/UKJKEQUBC1

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 11, 2026

What’s Next For The Blackhawks?

The Chicago Blackhawks will be back in action on Monday night. They have their second-to-last match of the season, a home game against the Buffalo Sabres. 

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

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DALLAS — The Rangers kept the third-best team in the NHL scoreless for nearly 53 minutes.

That is noteworthy for a club that has been eliminated from playoff contention for two and a half weeks now.

After a 2-0 loss to the Stars, aided by an empty-net goal, the only zero in the equation belonged to the Blueshirts — their 10th of the season.

No team in the NHL has been shut out more than the Rangers this season, and there are still two games to go.

The 2025-26 Rangers tied the franchise record for the most shutout losses in a single season, joining the 1928-29 team.

While eight of the 10 blankings came in the first 40 games of the season, with the last one on Feb. 5 against the Hurricanes, the Rangers have gone through too many spurts with zero offense.

Saturday’s game against the Stars, however, was still one of the team’s better performances this season.

“I think we came in kind of having to accept that it was going to be a low-event game,” Adam Fox said. “I think that’s kind of the way they play. Obviously, they have firepower, but they’re stingy defensively. They got a lot of big guys back there, and it just turned out the special teams ended up being the difference. I thought that was really just the story of the game.”

Neither team generated much on special teams for a majority of the 60-minute contest, but Dallas’ Jason Robertson was the first to make an impact by converting on the power play.

A holding penalty against Matthew Robertson set the Stars up with their fourth man-advantage opportunity of the game.

An incensed Robertson argued former Ranger Colin Blackwell was holding his stick.

The Robertson in green then collected a rebound and buried a backhander past Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin — for his 43rd goal of the season — with 7:11 left in regulation.

“You could tell, from both sides, the puck was bouncing a lot,” Mika Zibanejad said of the Rangers power play going 0-for-5 on the night, echoing similar comments Fox made. “I feel like the ice was eh at times, but I think just we had some opportunities to execute maybe a little bit better.”

There wasn’t much space on the American Airlines Center ice Saturday night.

The Rangers limited the Stars to three shots in the first and six in the second, but the visitors were kept in the single digits themselves in each of the first two frames.

It was more of a physical affair than anything else.

Captains J.T. Miller and Jamie Benn dropped the gloves in the second period, after the latter landed a massive hit on Vladislav Gavrikov.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NHL STANDINGS AND RANGERS STATS

“I just think all good teams have that,” Miller said. “It’s not really a decision. It’s just part of a pack mentality type of thing. There’s going to be hits that happen in the course of the season that people don’t like. It’s fiery game. It’s supposed to be this way. It’s been a part of the game for a long time, and I think our team’s done a good job over the last little while of sticking up for each other.

“There’s like an automatic thing to it. Now you just don’t think. We’re all really close in here. So, yeah, it’s a no-brainer, and obviously we’ve got a lot of guys doing it, so it’s awesome to see.”

The only lineup change Sullivan made to his group of skaters on Saturday was replacing Drew Fortescue with Urho Vaakanainen, who had missed the previous 11 games due to an upper-body injury and a few healthy scratches. As a result, Fortescue lost out on an $80,000 performance bonus he would’ve received if he played in 10 games. He can max out at nine.

By playing fewer than 10 games this season, Fortescue will fall into the 10.2(c) restricted free agent category and won’t be eligible for an offer sheet or salary arbitration at the end of his entry-level contract, according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Players aged 18-21 at the time they signed their ELC earn a year of pro experience by playing 10 or more professional games in any league while under an NHL contract.

Since Fortescue burned a year of his ELC by reporting to New York, he is set to become a RFA in the summer of 2028.

Cam Fowler had just scored a goal on Saturday afternoon to give the St. Louis Blues a 4-2 lead against the Chicago Blackhawks late in the second period.

It was a capper to a solid period for the visitors, but what they didn't know at the time was seconds before, their season was made official.

Despite the Blues' 5-3 win over the Blackhawks at United Center in Chicago, they were officially eliminated from postseason contention when the Los Angeles Kings downed the Edmonton Oilers 1-0.

The Blues (34-33-12) are seven points behind L.A. but with just three games left in their season, they can max out with only six points. It was more of a formality for a team that was trying to overcome at one point, a 14-point deficit that closed within three as late as April 5 but unlike last season when the Blues used a franchise-record 12-game winning streak to get in with 96 points as the second wild card out of the Western Conference, there were too many teams and too much a deficit to pull this off for a second straight season.

It almost felt at the time when the Blues fell 5-4 to the San Jose Sharks on March 30 when they lost that game with 22 seconds remaining in regulation, then fell to the Kings 2-1 in overtime on April 1, coming up with only one of a possible four points in those two games, that was like getting kicked into the coffin and waiting for someone to put the final nail down, which came Saturday.

The silver lining to this also is the Blues getting some good out-of-town news when the Detroit Red Wings fell to the New Jersey Devils, eliminating the Red Wings from playoff contention in the Eastern Conference. 

As you may remember, the Blues hold the Red Wings' first-round pick from the trade that sent Justin Faulk to Motown. And depending on how the lottery plays out, the Blues can look mighty good having two potential higher-end picks on the positive end. But we'll know about how all that plays out when the NHL holds its draft lottery on May 5.

As for the game Saturday, 13 players got onto the scoresheet as the Blues split the season series with the Blackhawks (28-38-14) with five different goal scorers (Jimmy Snuggerud, Alexey Toropchenko, Jordan Kyrou, Cam Fowler and Dalibor Dvorsky) while Jonatan Berggren and Tyler Tucker each picked up two assists.

Snuggerud's 18th of the season put the Blues ahead 1-0 at 9:26 of the first period:

Not sure there's a more perfect tip than that. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/dS3bAXIjGI

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 11, 2026

Down a goal early in the second, Toropchenko's first in 21 games (Feb. 4 at Dallas) tied the game 2-2 at 4:10 of the second period on this backhand breakaway:

Toropchenko breakaway backhand top corner goal alert pic.twitter.com/yRxIdE9w1I

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 11, 2026

Kyrou put the Blues ahead for good with the lone power play the Blues had in the game with this top shelf shot from the left circle at 12:06 of the second for a 3-2 lead:

Wow.

That's it. That's the tweet. pic.twitter.com/VgoE9zq1yO

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 11, 2026

Fowler's scoop shot from the right circle at 17:20 of the second completed the Blues' three-goal second and a 4-2 lead:

scoop and shoot pic.twitter.com/QO1vHliO2K

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 11, 2026

And when Dvorsky ripped a one-timer from Neighbours at 7:04 of the third period that made it 5-2, it completed the Blues' scoring for the afternoon:

Dalibor Dvorsky's turn to get one. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/FR42dMCgYL

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 11, 2026

Joel Hofer made 32 saves in the game for his 22nd win of the season, and with an assist, Dylan Holloway now has 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists) in 22 games since the Olympic break.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

DALLAS (AP) — Jason Robertson scored a power-play goal midway through the third period and added an empty-netter in the final minute while Jake Oettinger made 22 saves for his fourth shutout of the season as the Dallas Stars beat the New York Rangers 2-0 on Saturday and clinched second place in the Central Division.

The Stars were already assured of facing the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the NHL playoffs. They secured the position late in the third period when the Wild lost in regulation to the Nashville Predators.

Robertson collected a rebound of Matt Duchene’s shot and flipped a backhander into the far side to beat Igor Shesterkin with 7:11 left to play. Robertson has 44 goals, two short of his career high scored three years ago.

Duchene assisted on both goals.

It was Oettinger’s 34th win of the season. He was on the U.S. men’s team that Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan led to the gold medal at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

Shesterkin stopped 17 shots while absorbing only his second regulation loss in 10 career decisions against Dallas.

The Rangers began a season-ending three-game road trip. They’re last in the Eastern Conference and will miss the playoffs for a second straight season after winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2024.

The Rangers, with the second-best road power play in the league, went 0 for 5 with the man advantage. That included 1:02 of 5-on-3 late in the second period.

Up next

Both teams will play on the road Monday, the Rangers at Florida and the Stars at Toronto.

DALLAS (AP) — Jason Robertson scored a power-play goal midway through the third period and added an empty-netter in the final minute while Jake Oettinger made 22 saves for his fourth shutout of the season as the Dallas Stars beat the New York Rangers 2-0 on Saturday and clinched second place in the Central Division.

The Stars were already assured of facing the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the NHL playoffs. They secured the position late in the third period when the Wild lost in regulation to the Nashville Predators.

Robertson collected a rebound of Matt Duchene’s shot and flipped a backhander into the far side to beat Igor Shesterkin with 7:11 left to play. Robertson has 44 goals, two short of his career high scored three years ago.

Duchene assisted on both goals.

It was Oettinger’s 34th win of the season. He was on the U.S. men's team that Rangers coach Mike Sullivan led to the gold medal at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

Shesterkin stopped 17 shots while absorbing only his second regulation loss in 10 career decisions against Dallas.

The Rangers began a season-ending three-game road trip. They’re last in the Eastern Conference and will miss the playoffs for a second straight season after winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2024.

The Rangers, with the second-best road power play in the league, went 0 for 5 with the man advantage. That included 1:02 of 5-on-3 late in the second period.

Up next

Both teams will play on the road Monday, the Rangers at Florida and the Stars at Toronto.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

DETROIT (AP) — Jesper Bratt scored his second goal with 3:34 left in the third period, helping the New Jersey Devils eliminate the Detroit Red Wings from the NHL playoff picture with a 5-3 win on Saturday.

Detroit extended the league’s longest active postseason drought, dating to the 2016 season when the franchise earned a berth for the 25th consecutive season in what was a remarkable run that included four Stanley Cup championships.

The Red Wings were in a playoff position for 148 days of the season, according to Sportradar, to raise expectations higher than they’ve been since the hockey-crazed state has experienced the playoffs a long time ago.

They went ahead against New Jersey in the first, second and third periods — and lost every lead.

On an odd-man rush, Bratt scored the go-ahead goal from the left circle off a perfect pass from Jack Hughes in the right circle with John Gibson flailing around in an attempt to stop the puck. Dawson Mercer added an empty-net goal with a minute left.

Gibson had 27 saves for the Red Wings and Jake Allen stopped 25 shots for the Devils.

Detroit’s Justin Faulk broke a scoreless tie midway through the opening period.

Olympic hero Hughes, playing about 25 miles from where he skated in high school at USA Hockey Arena, scored his 27th goal of the season a minute later.

The Red Wings went back ahead on David Perron’s goal with 8:01 left in the second period, but failed to keep the lead again. Bratt scored a game-tying goal, giving him at least 21 for a fifth straight season.

Emmitt Finnie scored a tiebreaking goal seven minutes into the third to put the Red Wings ahead again, but Cody Glass pulled the Devils into another tie midway through the period.

Up next

Devils: Host Ottawa on Sunday.

Red Wings: At Tampa Bay on Monday.

It’s not exactly the way you want to clinch a playoff spot, but you’ll take it!

After throwing away a point or two via a late regulation loss to Tampa Saturday afternoon, the Bruins officially clinched a playoff spot via a Detroit Red Wings loss later in the day.

The Red Wings, playing at home, needed to either beat New Jersey or lose beyond regulation to stay in playoff contention.

They did neither, allowing three New Jersey goals in the third period en route to a 5-3 loss that ended their slim playoff hopes.

The Bruins had their playoff graphic ready to go:

While the B’s are officially in, there’s still plenty to be decided in the last few days of the regular season.

The Bruins and Ottawa will go back-and-forth over the first and second wild card spot, with Ottawa currently in WC1 via the regulation wins tiebreaker.

Both the Bruins and Senators have two games left:

• Bruins: at Columbus, vs. New Jersey
• Ottawa: at New Jersey, vs. Toronto

The Bruins will be playing out their string Sunday and Tuesday, while the Senators will be playing tomorrow and Wednesday.

There’s also the not-so-small matter of who the B’s (and Senators) will be playing in the first round.

It’s likely that the second wild card team will be facing the Carolina Hurricanes, though there’s a chance they could flop in their last three games and let an Atlantic team catch them.

However, the second wild card is almost certainly beginning the playoffs in Raleigh, while WC1 will be facing a to-be-determined Atlantic team.

Interestingly enough, that could be any one of Buffalo, Montreal, or Tampa Bay at this point, with the three teams separated by two points (prior to Montreal’s Saturday night game, at least).

I don’t think there’s an easy out in the Atlantic, but I’d prefer to play one of those three teams instead of Carolina.

Regardless, the Bruins are officially back in the playoffs after a season away.

Their last postseason game was on May 17, 2o24, a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers at TD Garden.

Given where the Bruins were predicted to finish this season, making the playoffs is no small feat.

Once you’re in, anything can happen — right?