7 1/2 minutes to watch.

TORONTO (March 22, 2023) While hockey fans are enjoying an exciting finish to the regular season, the National Hockey League Players’ Association today has unveiled its 2022-23 NHLPA Player Poll results on NHLPA.com. A total of 626 players took part in the NHLPA Player Poll this season.

To view the full results, click here.

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

The victory was only the third in the last 13 games for the Wings (3-9-1), who moved back above .500 (31-30-9).

"It's been a tough stretch lately as you all know," Hellberg said. "So winning a back-to-back game, we played yesterday and they didn't, it shows a lot of character from our team and that we can come up with a win."

The Wings outshot the Blues 30-22, killed all three St. Louis power plays while scoring a power-play goal of their own, and generally had command of the game the entire night.

"We got what we deserved," coach Derek Lalonde said. "I really appreciated the effort from the guys on a back to back, with travel, then to get down early in the game, we could have won this in regulation.

"I loved that we hung in there and in overtime and found a way in the shootout."

read on

Extended game highlights are below.

* AlexOvechkin surpassed WayneGretzky to claim an NHL record – shortly after being honored for overtaking GordieHowe on the all-time goals list earlier this season – but the Blue Jackets staged a three-goal comeback to win a thriller in D.C.

* The Hurricanes hit 100 points as they pursue JimMontgomery and the League-leading Bruins, who claimed their 54th win of the season and inched closer to another division title.

* Three of four clubs that entered Tuesday in a Wild Card spot won to strengthen their push for a playoff spot, while contenders Calgary and Nashville won to keep pace in the West.

* The stars will be shining bright tonight as SidneyCrosby, NathanMacKinnon, ConnorMcDavid and ClaytonKeller all hit the ice during a doubleheader on TNT, Sportsnet and TVA Sports.

Halfway through the first period, the Wings held the Blues to 3 shots, unfortunately they have 2 goals.

Detroit tied it at 2-2 later in the period. On to the middle stanza where there was no scoring.

No scoring in the third either so both teams will try their luck in overtime.

Of course no scoring in OT so the teams headed to the shootout, where Lucas Raymond scored in the fourth round to win it for the Wings.

Below find a plethora of videos including the Detroit goals.

Team Stats

Brilliant!

Hey there folks, and welcome back. I know the feeling of dread is in the house right now. Unfortunately, it’s nothing new at this point in the season, again. You know the drill. Stay if you want, lurk if you want, or bail if you want. My thanks to everyone……..

It’s the Wings vs the Blues. The puck drops around 8:00 PM and will be broadcast on Bally Sports Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket in Detroit). Also available on NHLPP/ESPN+ and BSMW.

It’s a Live Blog……

Multiple reports state three-year extension.

from Jack Todd at the Montreal Gazette,

The superstar who never was sat on the bench Saturday night, staring blankly at the ice in Tampa. The word “stapled” came into play.

Jonathan Drouin didn’t make it into the game in the first period. Or the second. Or the third.

When it was over, he was a phantom who didn’t even make the box score. For the match against his former team, Drouin had the best seat in the house — and based on the 46 games he has played to date, he was paid US$119,565.22 to watch.

Not for the first time in his six-year Canadiens career, Drouin was an innocent spectator. The fiasco that began with Drouin missing a team meeting the night after a sloppy 9-5 loss to the Florida Panthers ended with him watching an entire game from the bench.

With that, Drouin surely took a blowtorch to any remaining threads binding him to the organization. If GM Kent Hughes was still thinking that he might make a one-year, $1 million offer based on Drouin’s strong performance over the past 30 games, that thought has surely gone the way of Scott Gomez.

continued

from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

Vrana sounded as good as he has looked since joining the Blues at the March 3 trade deadline. He had five goals and one assist after seven games, thriving after getting the fresh start that he and the Detroit Red Wings agreed was needed after two turbulent years.

"In the situation I was in, I just wanted to get back on the ice and back playing in the NHL," Vrana said. "I just wanted to help a team with what I can do on the ice. As everybody could see, since I came back from program, I couldn’t really crack the lineup in Detroit, I didn’t really get much opportunity. I think for both ways, we moved on and I got opportunity here in St. Louis and I couldn’t be more happy. I get opportunity to play a lot of minutes and I have opportunity to produce. It has been going really well."...

"When I was away, I gained a lot of new information and help and support," Vrana said. "Unfortunately while I was away, I lost my spot on the team and when I came back, I couldn’t get that spot back. There are some things I cannot control, and I try to work hard and play my best."

Vrana was called up in mid-February, and played three games before March 3. That's the day Yzerman struck a deal with the Blues in which the Wings retained 50% of Vrana's salary in return for a 2025 seventh-round pick.

"On the day when the trade deadline was, I woke up and Steve called me," Vrana said. "He basically told me he traded me to St. Louis Blues. He wished me luck on and off the ice and said that this is just the way they wanted to make the decision. I accepted it — that’s how the business works."

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NEW YORK, NY (March 21, 2023) – The National Hockey League (NHL) and its longstanding partner Fanatics, today announced a new 10-year agreement which, beginning with the 2024-25 season, will see Fanatics become the League’s authentic outfitter of on-ice uniforms and supplier of authentic jerseys at retail. The deal marks the next stage of the NHL’s partnership with Fanatics, which over the past two decades has evolved to include NHL e-commerce and retail operations, fan apparel and headwear, replica jerseys, licensed memorabilia, performance and training products, on-ice Stanley Cup® Champions apparel and headwear, and now official on-ice uniforms and authentic jerseys sold at retail.

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

“It was a brutal game,” said Rasmus Andersson following an 8-2 humiliation at Crypto.com Arena, where the Flames found themselves down 4-0 to a red-hot Kings club in the first period.

“There’s nothing more to say, really.”

One day after being buoyed by seeing playoff rivals Winnipeg and Nashville skunked, the Flames followed suit with yet another massive setback to their playoff plans.

In front of a highly-entertained crowd that included John Legend, Vince Vaughn and Stampeder-turned-Broncos signing Alex Singleton, the Flames were outshot 14-3 in an opening frame that was easily the team’s most uninspired performance dating back to their home loss to Minnesota.

Yet, Darryl Sutter refused to blame the team’s energy or readiness.

“They jumped all over us, all over our mistakes we made in the first period,” said Sutter, whose club was outshot 10-0 the final 12 minutes of the period.

“It’s not always about energy, tonight was just about getting outplayed.

read on

Watch the game highlights below.

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

Florida scored two goals early in the first period and forced the Wings to play catch-up. The Wings never were able to rally all the way back.

"Easy offense (allowed) in a couple situations for them," said coach Derek Lalonde of what proved to be the Wings' downfall. "I really felt we had a good chance to tie that game up and, then probably our inability to finish with a couple of our chances in the second (period).

"It's frustrating but a reality of where we're at. We have to slot some guys, a couple of our defensemen, and it's tough, in an increased role which is a reality of where they're slotted right now."

Defenseman Olli Maatta was minus-four and partner Jordan Oesterle was minus-three, playing as the second pair, a prime example of the Wings having players above where they were earlier in the season.

read on

from Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now,

“It’s like these games, you got to find a way to inspire your teammates, inspire yourself,” Copp said after a 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers. “That can be hard. That’s our challenge. That’s the challenge for the older guys in the room to find that inspiration and for the younger guys it’s proving that you belong in the NHL. It’s a lot of guys we have that are fighting for spots going forward. You got to find that gear to push yourself.”

The compete level has been there for the Red Wings, even though they have lost 10 of their last 12.

“We have a certain standard we want to play by,” Copp said. “There’s going to be things that happened over the course of the game but there’s going to be some non-negotiables that we need to stick to. For the most part it was all right tonight. Turnovers cost us, especially in the first. But we have to find a way to play a little more inspired that we did tonight.”

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Below watch an assortment of post game videos.

* The Panthers moved into a playoff position for the first time in nearly a month as Aleksander Barkov took sole possession of the franchise’s all-time lead in points.

* In his first career game as a starter, Ottawa’s Dylan Ferguson stopped 48 of 49 shots he faced and recorded the second-highest save total on record by a goaltender in their first NHL start.

* The Kings erupted for eight goals for the second time this season and gained ground on the Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division standings

* Tonight’s slate is highlighted by the Hurricanes hoping to hit the 100-point mark when they take on the Rangers, who enter play having scored 15 unanswered goals dating to last week.

Florida wins 5-2.

I'm having a few computer issues so for now, Detroit goals are below.

Team Stats

Hiya to all and welcome. It’s been hard to watch these game of late all the way until the last buzzer. That being said, I’ll finish out the season, hopefully witnessing the effort and entertaining aspect, while not going out like losers. I think about Larkin’s comments about not mailing it in.

"We have got to finish things out the right way," captain Dylan Larkin said. "We can't just go out there and not give it our all. We have fans coming to the rink, good crowds and energy in the building."

I’ll finish too, who knows? Maybe we all will… We have the best fans in the Hasek…..

It’s the Panthers vs the Wings. The puck will drop sometime around 7:00 PM and will be broadcast on Bally Sports Detroit and WXYT-FM 97.1. Also available on NHLN, TVAS, and BSFL.

It’s a Live Blog!

NEW YORK (March 20, 2023) – New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar and Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending March 19.

from Salim Valji of TSN,

As the Calgary Flames desperately try to stay in the Western Conference wild-card race, prized free-agent acquisition Nazem Kadri is playing fewer minutes than anyone anticipated last summer when he signed one of the biggest contracts in franchise history.

Kadri, Calgary’s lone All-Star this season, has not scored in 14 games but has eight assists over that span. Over the past three games, he has averaged 13:06 of ice time, well below fellow pivots Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund.

In the team’s 7-2 victory in Vegas on Thursday, he played a season-low 12:35, centering a line with Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis, two-thirds of Calgary’s usual fourth line. Kadri, who signed a seven-year, $49 million contract with the Flames in August, played the third-fewest minutes of any Flame and won just four of 12 faceoffs that evening.

“[Veteran, top guys] have to be better players,” Flames head coach Darryl Sutter said on Saturday ahead of the team’s 6-5 overtime loss to Dallas, when asked about Kadri’s diminished ice time.

Kadri attributed his recent struggles to bad luck, but said Saturday that he’s focused on staying consistent.

continued

via Ansar Khan tweets,

Gustav Lindstrom back practicing today and chatting with Henrik Zetterberg before the RedWings skate.

Ville Husso in starter’s net as Lalonde indicated on Saturday that he would start tonight vs. Florida.

lines at the skate::
Suter-Larkin-Raymond
Berggren-Copp-Perron
Kubalik-Veleno-Zadina
Erne-Czarnik-Chiasson
Walman-Seider
Maatta-Oesterle
Edvinsson/Hagg/Lindstrom

added 10:45am, Khan with the power play units below...

from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

The Wings had Sunday off, a chance to rest up before suiting up 14 times in 25 days. Were they challenging for a playoff spot (they're not eliminated, but they they're nine points out of a wild-card spot with five teams ahead of them) that would be daunting, but as it stands, the focus is on performances. Saturday's 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche was marked by poor special teams and getting caught flat-footed, again, when Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar exerted their superiority.

The Avs are the defending Cup champions, and the Wings were in the game until the third period. The only real blemishes since the Feb. 23 victory that put them in the playoff picture have been those two ugly losses at the Ottawa Senators, 6-2 one night, 6-1 the next. The other games have been close, and it was a source of encouragement that they outplayed the Boston Bruins in five of six periods spanning March 11-12.

"We played Boston great," coach Derek Lalonde said. "Our performance in Nashville, we gave up five chances. It could be a worry going forward, when you are doing some quality things and not getting results, it can be deflating. It might be the reality of where we are, but it will be our job, as a group, not to let up."

Not letting the fading playoff picture discolor this past month may be a challenge, but nothing would be more deflating than not taking every last game as an opportunity to build for next season.

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* K’Andre Miller factored on four of six first-period goals to achieve a franchise first as the Rangers joined rare company in NHL history with a second consecutive high-scoring shutout win.

* A trio of hat tricks highlighted the NHL schedule for the second time in as many days and pushed the League total to seven though the past three days – the most through a three-day span since 2010-11.

* The Bruins scored at least seven goals for the fourth time this season en route to their franchise record-tying 26th road win of 2022-23.

from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,

The Ottawa Senators made one change Sunday by sending goaltender Kevin Mandolese back to their AHL affiliate in Belleville and bringing up Dylan Ferguson to join the club in Pittsburgh.

Something had to change.

Coming off a 5-4 shootout loss to the arch-rival Toronto Maple Leafs in the Battle of Ontario Saturday, the Senators packed their bags Sunday and jetted off to Steeltown to open a two-game road trip with a pivotal game against the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena Monday.

Trying to halt a five-game winless skid and crawl back into the race for the final wildcard spot in the East, this trip down the stretch has taken a turn for the worse, but this isn’t the group the Senators expected to be battling with down the stretch when camp opened in September.

And it starts in the net.

The biggest issue the Senators have right now is goaltending.

Injuries to top goalies Anton Forsberg, who tore both MCL’s Feb. 11, and Cam Talbot who has been sidelined since March 4th with an oblique injury, have sent this group into tailspin. Strong goaltending is paramount and hasn’t been steady since Talbot went down for the third time this season.

You can’t pin all the blame on 22-year-old Mads Sogaard and Mandolese because neither were supposed to be put in this position. But this is the cards they’ve been dealt and unless they can find a way to get consistency this situation won’t improve.

continued

from Daniel Ngor of The Hockey News,

If a team loses in overtime or a shootout, it’s a loss – end of story. And teams shouldn’t be rewarded with a point in the standings for losing a game.

Here are nine examples of how ludicrous the NHL standings and playoff seeding have been since the 2005-06 season when the league introduced the shootout format to break ties.

1. 2005-06 VANCOUVER CANUCKS & LOS ANGELES KINGS

Fresh out of the 2004-05 lockout, NHL hockey had returned. With its return, the NHL had a new format of settling games - the shootout. Like with the previous formats with ties, the shootout resulted in the losing team earning a point.

The 2005-06 Vancouver Canucks had eight overtime or shootout losses compared to the 13 the Edmonton Oilers had. The Canucks’ record that season was 42-32-8, and they finished with 92 points, which ranked ninth among Western Conference teams. The Los Angeles Kings finished 10th, also winning 42 games.

The Oilers, meanwhile, finished eighth in the conference with a record of 41-28-13 for 95 points. The Oilers embarked on a magical playoff run which ended in defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup final. But they shouldn’t have qualified for the playoffs at all because the Canucks’ and Kings’ winning percentages (both .512) were better than the Oilers' (.500).

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from Bob Duff of Detroit Hockey Now,

Do the math when it comes to Detroit’s goal scoring efficiency and what you discover is that this is a club in the midst of a team-wide scoring slump. Those who recently departed are lighting red lamps. Jabub Vrana has five goals in six games for the St. Louis Blues. Oskar Sundqvist was tallying Saturday for the Minnesota Wild, giving him as many goals on the day as all of his former Red Wings teammates combined.

Pius Suter, the lone goal scorer for Detroit in Saturday’s 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, was netting for the first time in 12 games. Jonatan Berggren has one goal in 14 games. Lucas Raymond is showing one goal in 15 games next to his name. Joe Veleno is goalless in 19 games. He’s scored once of the last 24 games and twice through the past 35 contests.

Filip Zadina has scored twice in 27 games. Dominik Kubalik shows two goals in 14 games and four in 23. Perron has scored twice in 25 games.

Even captain Dylan Larkin, who was hotter than blacktop in July during much of February, scoring seven goals in six games, has cooled off. He’s got three markers over his past 13 games.

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