14.03.2025

Toronto Maple Leafs 2 - 3 Florida Panthers
In a tightly contested matchup at Scotiabank Arena, Sam Bennett's two power-play goals led the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bennett described the game as playoff-like, highlighting the intensity between two potential postseason contenders. The Panthers, who have won seven of their last eight games, also saw contributions from Niko Mikkola, who scored his first goal since December, with assists from Sam Reinhart and Mackie Samoskevich. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves, surpassing Tony Esposito for 10th place on the NHL’s all-time wins list with his 424th win. Despite goals from John Tavares and Max Domi, the Maple Leafs fell short, struggling on the power play as Bennett's skill on special teams proved decisive. Toronto saw their hopes dampened further with the end of Mitch Marner's seven-game point streak. The Panthers now hold a four-point lead over the Leafs in the Atlantic Division standings.

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Ottawa Senators 6 - 3 Boston Bruins
The Ottawa Senators extended their winning streak to five with a 6-3 victory over the Boston Bruins at Canadian Tire Centre. Drake Batherson was the star player, contributing two goals and an assist, while Brady Tkachuk extended his personal point streak to eight games. The Senators' dominant first period led to an early 4-1 advantage, including Shane Pinto's opening goal and Tyler Kleven's first of the season, assisted by Nikolas Matinpalo for his first NHL point. Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman was replaced by Joonas Korpisalo after conceding four goals on 15 shots in the first period, and despite the Bruins' efforts, including goals from Casey Mittelstadt, David Pastrnak, and Marat Khusnutdinov, they couldn't close the gap. Linus Ullmark made 22 saves for Ottawa, highlighted by a spectacular glove save on Mason Lohrei, which the Bruins' Casey Mittelstadt described as deflating. With this win, Ottawa sits five points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

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New Jersey Devils 3 - 2 Edmonton Oilers
Jesper Bratt shined with a goal and two assists, leading the New Jersey Devils to a 3-2 comeback victory against the Edmonton Oilers, marking their third consecutive win. After Brett Pesce initially put the Devils ahead, Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl tied it up with his league-leading 47th goal, and Evan Bouchard gave the Oilers a brief lead in the third period. Bratt equalized at 2-2 with a wrist shot, before Simon Nemec scored the game-winning goal, his first of the season, with a slap shot. Despite the Devils missing key players like Dougie Hamilton and Jack Hughes, they demonstrated resilience, with Jake Allen making 31 saves, including 18 in the third period. Edmonton, struggling with form, has now lost eight of their last 11, though Connor McDavid extended his point streak to nine games. Bratt’s performance has placed him among the elite in Devils history, being only the 10th player in the franchise to achieve 100 career multipoint games.

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Philadelphia Flyers 4 - 3 Tampa Bay Lightning
In a thrilling matchup, the Philadelphia Flyers narrowly defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in a shootout, snapping a five-game losing streak. Bobby Brink was the standout performer for Philadelphia, scoring two goals and adding an assist, marking his second two-goal NHL game. His shift to a new line with Ryan Poehling and Olle Lycksell sparked his offensive outburst, contributing significantly to the Flyers' victory. Poehling also notched a goal and an assist, while Owen Tippett secured the win with a decisive shootout goal. The game was notable for the absence of Tampa Bay's leading scorer, Nikita Kucherov, due to illness, and for defenseman Victor Hedman reaching his ninth 40-assist season, a record in Lightning history. The Flyers' Samuel Ersson made crucial saves, including four in the shootout, to help seal the victory, which also ended their five-game home losing streak.

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Pittsburgh Penguins 5 - 3 St Louis Blues
The Pittsburgh Penguins claimed a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues at PPG Paints Arena, marking their third consecutive win. Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust each contributed with a goal and an assist, while Sidney Crosby notched two assists in the third period, setting a record for his 259th multipoint period in NHL history. Tristan Jarry made 33 key saves for the Penguins, continuing his strong performance since his return from the AHL. Despite an impressive 16-5 shot advantage for the Blues in the first period, Pittsburgh maintained control with early goals from Ryan Graves and Conor Timmins. Rookie Zack Bolduc shone for the Blues with a power-play goal, though St. Louis struggled with finishing despite Jordan Kyrou's active presence in his 400th NHL game. Rakell sealed the win with an empty-net goal, his first 30-goal season since 2017-18, as Pittsburgh enjoyed a morale-boosting run.

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Columbus Blue Jackets 0 - 4 Vegas Golden Knights
Hill makes 27 saves, Golden Knights shut out Blue Jackets  COLUMBUS -- Adin Hill made 27 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 at Nationwide Arena on Thursday. Hill was sharp with 14 saves in the first period, enabling the Golden Knights to take a 2-0 lead despite the Blue Jackets leading in shot attempts (33-9) and shots on goal (14-6).

“’Hiller’ played amazing for us. I think anytime he's going to shut the door like that, it gives you confidence, even when you don't have your legs as a team,” Golden Knights forward Brandon Saad said. “We know how good they are at home. They’ve got a lot of talent. With ‘Hiller’ playing amazing, and then as a team, after the first, I thought we tightened it up and clogged the middle.” Saad and Nicolas Roy each had a goal and an assist, and Tomas Hertl had two assists for the Golden Knights (39-19-7), who had lost two straight (0-1-1).

Elvis Merzlikins made 25 saves for the Blue Jackets (31-26-8), who have lost four of five.

“We played really well in the first,” Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski said. “Not ideal, the score’s 2-0, but that stuff happens in hockey. I felt like we kept playing our game. Obviously, they had a push in the second period. Felt we just needed to get one tonight, and maybe it would open up for us a little bit more.”

Roy gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 12:00 of the first period with a power-play goal on Vegas’ first shot attempt of the game. He put a one-timer from the right post into an open net after a touch pass from Jack Eichel in the bumper position.

“It was frustrating. It’s 8-0 in shots, they get a (power play) and they get one shot and it goes in the net,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “It was frustrating for everybody because the way we were playing didn't dictate that we should be down in this hockey game. And even after that, the whole first period was pretty good.” The Blue Jackets failed to score on three power-play opportunities in the first period.

“Six minutes and weren't able to get one by,” Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner said. “We had some looks but the end of the day we’ve got to bury one of those and give us some juice.”

Saad extended the lead to 2-0 at 19:01 with a backhand from the edge of the crease after gathering the rebound of a shot by Reilly Smith. He has three goals in the past four games.

Pavel Dorofeyev made it 3-0 at 12:17 of the second period, taking a cross-ice pass from Hertl on the rush and beating Merzlikins with a wrist shot from the left circle.

Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy liked how the players responded in the second.

“We played better. We were on top of them more,” he said. “We didn't allow them to come through the neutral zone. They’ve got really fluid defensemen, guys that are mobile and can skate. If you limit some part of their game, I think they got a little antsy, now they were behind and all sudden the rush game goes our way.”

Alex Pietrangelo scored an empty-net goal for the 4-0 final at 15:38 of the third period.

NOTES: Eichel extended his point streak to seven games (one goal, nine assists) and has 79 points this season (20 goals, 59 assists), passing William Karlsson (78 in 2017-18) for the most in a single season in franchise history. … Blue Jackets defenseman Jake Christiansen did not play after his eighth shift ended at 10:57 of the second period. Evason said he has an upper-body injury and won’t play against the New York Rangers on Saturday.

Box Score, Gamecast

Minnesota Wild 2 - 3 New York Rangers
Braden Schneider's overtime goal at 1:51 lifted the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild, snapping a four-game losing streak. Schneider's decisive backhander, following a dynamic skate into the edge of the left circle, was crucial in overcoming a resilient Wild squad that rallied twice in the third period. In addition to Schneider, Vincent Trocheck and Jonny Brodzinski contributed goals for the Rangers, with goalie Igor Shesterkin recording 26 saves, marking his 157th career win—tying him for sixth in Rangers history. Minnesota, who have lost three of their last four games, saw scoring efforts from Marcus Johansson and Frederick Gaudreau, and despite a spirited third-period surge, couldn't secure the home win. Notably, Schneider joined an exclusive list of Rangers defensemen to score an overtime goal at age 23 or younger, underscoring his critical role in the team's victory.

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Los Angeles Kings 3 - 0 Washington Capitals
Byfield scores in 5th straight, Kings shut out Capitals LOS ANGELES -- Quinton Byfield scored for the fifth straight game, and Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves for his third shutout of the season in the Los Angeles Kings’ 3-0 win against the Washington Capitals at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday. Kevin Fiala had a goal and an assist for the Kings (35-20-9), who have won four straight after losing their previous five (0-3-2).

Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves for the Capitals (43-15-8), who had their five-game winning streak end. Alex Ovechkin did not have a shot on goal in 18:37 of ice time, including 8:41 on the power play.

Warren Foegele put Los Angeles up 1-0 at 13:08 of the first period, batting in his own rebound near the right post after the puck popped out during a scramble along the end boards.

Fiala made it 2-0 at 1:05 of the third period with a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Anze Kopitar on the power play.

Byfield scored 47 seconds later to push the lead to 3-0. Vladislav Gavrikov kept in Connor McMichael's clearing pass at the blue line, allowing Fiala to skate in on a 2-on-1 and pass to Byfield for a one-timer from the right hash marks.

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San Jose Sharks 4 - 2 Chicago Blackhawks
In an exciting matchup at the SAP Center, Collin Graf scored twice, helping the San Jose Sharks break a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Will Smith also shone by scoring a goal and providing an assist, thus extending his point streak to five games, with three goals and four assists. The Sharks' goalie, Alexandar Georgiev, made 24 crucial saves, while his Chicago counterpart, Spencer Knight, stopped 21 shots. The Sharks saw an early lead with Smith and Graf finding the net in the first period. Although Frank Nazar and Ilya Mikheyev scored for the Blackhawks, attempting a comeback, Graf's second goal on a power-play, coupled with Tyler Toffoli's late empty-netter, cemented the Sharks' win.

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