TXHT would get an assist from the Associated Press due to illness going through the TXHT team this past week.
NHL News and Notes Monday, April 1st, 2024
News
- The NHL announced that they have named Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid First Star of the Week.
- Logan Thompson (VGK) and Alexis Lafreniere (NYR) would round out the rest of the Three Stars.
- NHL Stars of the Week – McDavid Continues to Shine
Connor McDavid (@EdmontonOilers), Logan Thompson (@GoldenKnights) and Alexis Lafrenière (@NYRangers) have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending March 31. #NHLStats: https://t.co/YYoaxjMWsb pic.twitter.com/HIV1kr86Qj
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) April 1, 2024
- The NHL Department of Player Safety announced that they have suspended Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman.
- Hartman would be suspended for three games for unsportsmanlike conduct on Saturday night.
- Hartman will forfeit $62,195.13 based on his average annual salary per the CBA.
Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman has been suspended for three games for unsportsmanlike conduct for his actions during Saturday’s game against Vegas. https://t.co/zpv4qbCxUs
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) April 1, 2024
Game Recaps
Colorado Avalanche v. Columbus Blue Jackets – 7p ET
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Alex Nylander scored twice and the Columbus Blue Jackets used a three-goal second period to beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 Monday night for their second straight home win.
Kirill Marchenko had a goal and an assist, Cole Sillinger also scored and Eric Gudbranson had two assists for last-place Columbus, which won consecutive games for just the fourth time this season. Daniil Tarasov stopped 46 shots in his first game against the Avalanche.
Chris Wagner scored and Justus Annunen had 21 saves for the Avalanche, who remain tied at 100 points with the Vancouver Canucks, three points behind the Dallas Stars for the Western Conference lead.
“We played a real smart game,” Blue Jackets coach Pascale Vincent said. “That’s a real fast team.”
Marchenko broke a scoreless tie at 9:35 of the second period, sliding the puck between Annunen’s pads on the rush for his second goal in two games and his 20th of the season. Johnny Gaudreau’s secondary assist was his team-leading 56th point and 45 assist.
Nylander gave Columbus a two-goal lead with a wrister from the right circle with 5:48 remaining in the second, and notched his second of the game with 1:57 to go in the period. His 10 goals in 17 games since joining the Blue Jackets is a team record.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said the Blue Jackets were able to capitalize off Colorado turnovers in their own zone.
“The second period our game kind of went away,” he said. “We didn’t execute well enough in the offensive zone.”
Colorado finally got on the board at 4:39 of the third with Wagner’s first goal of the season after he was recalled Sunday from AHL Colorado.
“A 3-0 lead going into the third period against team like that is always a little scary,” Gudbranson said. “They got one back, but we did a very good job of bending today, but not breaking.”
Sillinger had an empty-netter with 1:33 remaining.
AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins v. New York Rangers – 7p ET
NEW YORK (AP) — Sidney Crosby had two goals and an assist and Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat New York 5-2 on Monday night, snapping the Rangers’ five-game winning streak.
Bryan Rust also scored twice and Emil Bemstrom added a goal for Pittsburgh, which ended a four-game losing streak in New York and improved to 14-9-3 in its last 26 games against Rangers. The Penguins lost both previous games this season at home against the first-place Rangers and were making their lone appearance at Madison Square Garden.
Kaapo Kakko and Jack Roslovic scored goals for the Rangers, and Igor Shesterkin finished with 16 saves.
The Rangers trailed 3-0 before Kakko ruined Nedeljkovic’s shutout bid at 10:42 of the third with his 12th goal of the season. Artemi Panarin got his team-leading 64th assist and 108th point on the play.
Roslovic made it 3-2 with 3:07 left in the third with his eighth goal of the season and second with the Rangers.
However, Rust and Crosby scored empty-net goals over the final 2:11 to cement the Penguins’ win as Nedeljkovic improved to 13-6-6 in his first season with the Penguins.
Pittsburgh is still facing missing the playoffs for a second straight season for the first time during Crosby’s career, which began in 2005-06.
The Rangers were coming off an 8-5 win at Arizona on Saturday, their 50th victory of the season. New York had won 11 of their previous 13 home contests, including last Tuesday’s wild 6-5 overtime win over Philadelphia.
Rust opened the scoring just 18 seconds into the contest, beating Shesterkin.
Crosby made it 2-0 at 10:39 and Bemstrom increased the lead to 3-0 with a breakaway goal at 9:51 of the third, his seventh.
Rust’s second goal of the game was his 26th of the season at 17:21 while Crosby’s second of the contest with 45 seconds left was his 37th of the season and the 587th of his career.
With 82 points this season, the 36-year-old Crosby is assured of averaging a point per game for the 19th time in his 19 NHL seasons. Wayne Gretzky also had 19 such campaigns.
Crosby’s first-period assist was the 997th of his career and his 80th point this season, marking the 13th time he has reached that milestone, tying him with Marcel Dionne, Mark Messier and Dale Hawerchuk. Gretzky has the most such seasons with 17.
The Rangers still have wins in seven of their last nine games and points in 24 of their last 30 with a 22-6-2 record.
New York Islanders v. Philadelphia Flyers – 7p ET
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Brock Nelson scored 1:25 into overtime and the New York Islanders preserved their playoff hopes with a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.
Anders Lee, Bo Horvat and Matt Martin also scored for the Islanders, who moved within four points of Philadelphia for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. New York has two more games remaining on their schedule than the Flyers.
“We were approaching this game like it was a do-or-die scenario for us just given that this is a team specifically that we’re chasing,” Nelson said. “We need the points.”
Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots to help the Islanders get their third win in 11 games.
Nelson scored after a turnover by Morgan Frost in his own zone for his 30th goal of the season, tyring him with Horvat for the team lead.
Frost, Noah Cates and Travis Sanheim had goals for the Flyers, who have lost three straight and eight of their last 10.
Frost forced overtime when he scored on a rebound with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to secure an all-important point for the Flyers, who are clinging to the final playoff spot.
“No one was happy when that one went in because we knew exactly what it meant,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “But we just kept the focus and we scored a big one. … We might not be happy to give them one point today, but we are probably going to be happy maybe down the road to have two points.”
Sam Ersson started and gave up two goals on six shots in the first period. He was replaced by Ivan Fedotov, who was added to the Flyers roster last week after having his KHL contract terminated after his SKA St. Petersburg team was eliminated from the playoffs in the top Russian hockey league. The 6-foot-7 Fedotov made his NHL debut by coming off the bench to start the second period and had 15 of his 24 saves in the period.
“There are certain people that don’t have a clue how to play or don’t have it in them to play in these types of situations,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “This is why I’m glad we’re playing them. We have to figure things out as far as what we’re going to become as a team here. That was embarrassing in the second period for the Philadelphia Flyers uniform. Embarrassing.”
He was challenged right away and made a glove save on a breakaway against Matthew Barzal early in the second period, prompting a standing ovation from the Philadelphia fans.
Fedotov became the fifth goalie to play for the Flyers this season, a situation that was made unstable after Carter Hart took a leave of absence from the team days prior to being charged by London, Ontario, police with sexual assault dating back to an alleged incident in 2019 involving members of the 2018 Hockey Canada World Junior Championship team.
“I’m totally impressed (with Fedotov),” Tortorella said. “I put him in a hell of a spot – and he was the only player who played in the second period.”
Tortorella did give the team high marks for how they played in the third period, one in which they outshot the Islanders 19-3.
Detroit Red Wings v. Tampa Bay Lightning – 7p ET
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — David Perron scored the go-ahead goal with 2:40 remaining and the Detroit Red Wings ended a four-game winless streak with a 4-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.
Perron shoveled a rebound past Andrei Vasilevskiy to break a 2-2 tie as the Red Wings won the finale of a five-game road trip. Patrick Kane, Robby Fabbri and Lucas Raymond also scored and Alex Lyon made 34 saves to end a personal 0-8-2 streak. The Red Wings have 82 points and are even with the Washington Capitals for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, though Washington has played two fewer games.
“DP does a lot of things right all the time,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “He’s an emotional leader for us. No one wants it more than him. It’s one thing to talk, but he’s doing it by example.”
Lyon won for the first time since Feb. 27, an 8-3 win against the Capitals.
“For me it was very satisfying; it’s been a while,” he said. “We’ve got to take it a day at a time and a game at a time. That was a big win, so we can enjoy that one on the flight home.”
Perron said Lyon was “the best player on the ice for us. That’s what we need from our goalies, to be honest. The margin of error is very slim for us, and we’ve got to be solid all the time.”
Anthony Cirelli and Steven Stamkos scored for the Lightning, who had been 8-0-1 in their previous nine. Vasilevskiy finished with 28 saves.
Perron’s goal came after the Lightning had dominated for long stretches of the third period.
“We were in pretty good shape for most of that third period, until we weren’t,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “We haven’t lost in regulation since the first week in March, now we’re in April. We’ve asked a lot from the guys, and they’ve delivered.
“I can’t sit here and be hard on the guys, they’ve played really well for us.”
The Red Wings took a 1-0 lead 37 seconds into the second when Kane picked up the rebound of Dylan Larkin’s shot and whipped in a backhander from the lower right circle. But Cirelli tied it at 8:36 with a shorthanded goal, beating Lyon with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle.
Fabbri put the Red Wings back in front at 3:40 of the third period, jamming a loose puck past Vasilevskiy. Stamkos tied the game 2-2 at 5:59 with a power-play goal.
Raymond hit the empty net with 1:03 left.
The Lightning dressed Kyle Konin, a 26-year-old emergency backup goalie, because Jonas Johansson was unable to play due to a lower-body injury. Konin last dressed for an NHL game on Dec. 2, 2021, for the St. Louis Blues when Jordan Binnington was placed in COVID-19 protocol the morning of their game against the Lightning.
Florida Panthers v. Toronto Maple Leafs – 7p ET
TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 61st and 62nd goals of the season to go along with an assist as the Toronto Maple Leafs built a four-goal lead before hanging on late to down the Florida Panthers 6-4 in a potential first-round playoff preview Monday night.
“Unbelievable player, (future) Hall of Famer,” said Toronto winger Nicholas Robertson, who finished with a goal and an assist. “I really hope he gets to 70. It would be something special to witness.”
Matthew Knies also had a goal and an assist each for Toronto, while Tyler Bertuzzi and David Kampf provided the rest of the offense.
Matthews is now on pace for 69 goals — which would be the most in the NHL since Mario Lemieux hit the same number in 1995-96 — with eight games left on the schedule.
“We just came out with a lot of purpose,” said Matthews, whose 17 multigoal performances is the most in a season over the last 30 years. “In the third period, I thought we were a little bit more on our heels than we’d like.”
Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves for the Leafs, who were without five regulars — including star winger Mitch Marner (high ankle sprain) for an 11th straight game.
“Interesting for fans,” Samsonov, who picked up his 100th career victory, said of those anxious final 20 minutes. “We’ve got some nerves for everybody.”
Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and two assists for Florida. Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett and Brandon Montour also scored. Sergei Bobrovsky allowed five goals on 16 shots through two periods before getting the hook. Anthony Stolarz made six saves in relief.
“We just don’t bring our best in the beginning,” Tarasenko said. “Good pushback, but not enough.”
The Leafs, who sit third in the Atlantic Division, had a chance to clinch a post-season berth for an eighth consecutive year, but results elsewhere didn’t go their way.
The Panthers, meanwhile, could have overtaken the Boston Bruins for first in the Atlantic with a victory.
“We were really good for two periods,” Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “They probably weren’t at their best and we capitalized on that. And then probably a little bit of a reverse in the third.”
Toronto opened the scoring at 13:59 of the first period when Robertson scored on a breakaway following a turnover at the Leafs’ blue line.
Matthews, who became just the ninth different player in NHL history to twice hit 60 goals in a season Saturday, doubled the lead 33 seconds later when TJ Brodie circled Florida’s net and found the sniper in front for his 61st.
Matthews scored his 62nd into an empty net to seal it.
“You give them an inch and they’re gonna take a yard,” he said of the Panthers. “Nice to finish off with the win and two points.
“But obviously would like to clean up some stuff.”
Late Games
- Edmonton Oilers v. St. Louis Blues – 9p ET
- Los Angeles Kings v. Winnipeg Jets – 9p ET
- Seattle Kraken v. San Jose Sharks – 1030p ET
Today’s Games
- WAS v. BUF – 7p ET
- FLA v. MON – 7p ET
- PIT v. NJ – 7p ET
- CHI v. NYI – 7:30p ET
- OTT v. MIN – 8p ET
- BOS v. NAS – 8p ET
- ANA v. CAL – 9p ET
- VAN v. VGK – 10p ET
Noteworthy in Hockey
- Charlie Lindgren’s arrival at 30 has made Capitals NHL’s unlikeliest playoff contender (The Athletic – $)
- 32 Thoughts Podcast: No Joking About Expanding Playoffs (SportsNet)
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