The Buzzer: Wild clinch playoff spot; Golden Knights red-hot (Saturday in NHL)

By Apr 25, 2021, 1:37 AM EDT
The Buzzer: Wild clinch playoff spot; Golden Knights red-hot (Saturday in NHL)
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3 Stars for Saturday in the NHL

1. Ryan O'Reilly, St. Louis Blues

When you think of Ryan O’Reilly, you probably think of the sort of reliable player who, you know, wins Selke Trophies. Yet, from an offensive standpoint, ROR has been pretty explosive at times this season.

Take Saturday’s NHL action for example. After going three games without a point, Ryan O’Reilly exploded for a hat trick plus an assist, factoring into four of the Blues’ five goals in a key win against the Avalanche.

This marks O’Reilly’s second four-point game during the month of April, and his third four-point output since March 20.

Being that the Wild became the third team from the NHL’s West Division to clinch a playoff spot after winning their seventh game in a row on Saturday, there’s now just one spot left. Technically, the Blues trail the Coyotes (who also won their game), but St. Louis trails Arizona by a mere standings point (47 for Coyotes, 46 for Blues) with three games in hand.

With the Sharks and Kings dropping just about any facade of staying in the hunt, it’s almost certainly down to the Blues or Coyotes. O’Reilly is doing what he can to make that a short race, too.

Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche lost, but the speedy forward collected three points (1G, 2A).

2. Jonathan Bernier, Detroit Red Wings

Honestly, it boggles my mind that the Red Wings didn’t find a deal for Jonathan Bernier during the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline. It’s unclear if there just wasn’t much of a market, or if the Red Wings wanted too much for Bernier. Either way, it feels like a waste, as he’s been pretty great at times on a mostly dreary Detroit team.

The Red Wings didn’t upset the Stars on Saturday, but Bernier left the NHL stunned with a 50-save performance.

Most absurdly, the Red Wings carried a 1-0 lead into the third period despite the Stars generating a 42-6 shots on goal advantage. Mark Pysyk became the unlikely Stars player to break that shutout bid, then Jamie Benn earned the win with an OTGWG.

But Bernier stole the show, and nearly a win.

3. MacKenzie Weegar, Florida Panthers

While the Wild clinched a playoff spot on Saturday, the Panthers made sure that the Hurricanes will need to keep an eye on NHL clinching scenarios for at least a bit longer.

Weegar and the Panthers were down 3-1 in the third period, but they would not be denied. He ended up scoring a goal and three assists, factoring into all four Florida goals in an OT victory. Weegar filled up the scoresheet with those four points, a +3 rating, four SOG, seven hits, and seven blocked shots. That’s an honest day of hockey work.

Honorable mentions

  • Evgeny Kuznetsov scored three points (1G, 2A) in the Capitals’ win over the Islanders.
  • Chandler Stephenson continues to take advantage of the plum job as Vegas’ center between Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty. The speedy pivot generated two goals and one assist. With that, the Golden Knights have now won nine in a row, and stand a solid chance of winning the race for the West Division crown against the Avalanche. Apparently the Golden Knights set a new franchise record with nine straight wins.
  • Again, the Coyotes will need to work and probably catch some breaks to hold off the Blues. Getting a healthy Darcy Kuemper for this stretch wouldn’t hurt. He pitched a 26-save shutout in this case.

Highlights of the night for Saturday in the NHL

Enjoy Ryan O’Reilly putting on a clinic for the Blues vs. the Avalanche:

Aleksander Barkov stole MacKenzie Weegar’s thunder a bit with this diabolical no-look goal in overtime:

Stats of the Night: Old Jumbo Joe, Yandle Ironman

Saturday’s NHL scores

Penguins 4, Devils 2
Blues 5, Avalanche 3
Capitals 6, Islanders 3
Panthers 4, Hurricanes 3 (OT)
Stars 2, Red Wings 1 (OT)
Maple leafs 4, Jets 1
Flames 5, Canadiens 2
Wild 6, Sharks 3
Golden Knights 5, Ducks 1
Canucks 4, Senators 2
Coyotes 4, Kings 0

More NHL News

Teravainen scores late, Hurricanes rally to beat Rangers 3-2
ullmark game 2
Ullmark’s 40 saves carries Bruins past Senators, 2-1
Boldy’s goal with 1.3 left in OT lifts Wild over Devils

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

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    Teravainen scores late, Hurricanes rally to beat Rangers 3-2

    Associated PressMar 21, 2023, 11:34 PM EDT
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    NEW YORK – Teuvo Teravainen scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period, Frederik Andersen stopped 29 shots and the Carolina Hurricanes rallied to beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Tuesday night.

    Jalen Chatfield and Stefan Noesen also scored for the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes, who won for the third time in four games.

    With the comeback win, the Hurricanes became the second team – following Boston – to reach the 100-point mark this season as Carolina increased its Metropolitan Division-lead over second-place New Jersey to two points and the third-place Rangers to eight.

    “That was a great effort. All 20 guys contributed and we got what we deserved,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “If we play like that, we’ll be in good shape. This time of year it gets tougher and tougher.”

    Tyler Motte and Kaapo Kakko scored for the Rangers, who had won four straight were 6-0-1 in their last seven. Igor Shesterkin finished with 36 saves as the Rangers played their third game in four nights – the previous two shutout wins at home.

    “Igor kept us in there as long as he could and we just didn’t have enough in the tank,” Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said. ”They won more battles and played a hard game.”

    Teravainen scored his 11th goal with 2:33 left on a pass from defenseman Brent Burns, redirecting the puck past Shesterkin. The Hurricanes, who trailed 1-0 and 2-1.

    “Somehow they left me open in the back side, great pass by him,” Teravainen said of the winning-goal pass to him in the slot. “We knew this would be a tough night. They have a good team. We knew we had to battle to win this game.”

    The Rangers led 1-0 entering the third and were vying for their third-straight shutout before Chatfield tied the score at 9:49 – the first goal the Rangers allowed in more than eight periods. New York was coming off a 6-0 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night with Shesterkin in goal and a 7-0 triumph over Nashville behind Jaroslav Halak on Sunday.

    Kakko then put New York back ahead 31 seconds later with his 13th goal, only to have Noesen answer right back 18 seconds later to tie it 2-2.

    Motte opened the scoring at the 17-minute mark of the first, knocking the puck past Andersen for his third goal in four games and sixth of the season overall.

    The Rangers hadn’t lost in regulation since a 4-2 defeat on March 4 at Boston.

    “Tonight we didn’t play near well enough to beat that team,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. ”Honestly, the whole game they outplayed us. They were a lot quicker. They managed the puck real well … We didn’t play our game.”

    MILESTONE

    Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal played his 729th game with Carolina on Tuesday, tying defenseman Glen Wesley for the second-most games played in franchise history since relocation from Hartford in 1997. Staal, 34, trails only his brother Eric, who played 909 games for the Hurricanes from 2003-16.

    UP NEXT

    Hurricanes: Host the Rangers on Thursday night to finish the home-and-home set in the opener of a four-game homestand.

    Rangers: At Carolina on Thursday night to open a two-game trip.

    Ullmark’s 40 saves carries Bruins past Senators, 2-1

    Associated PressMar 21, 2023, 11:31 PM EDT
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    BOSTON – Linus Ullmark made 40 saves, Jake DeBrusk had the go-ahead goal and the NHL-best Boston Bruins continued their pursuit of the league’s record for regular-season victories with a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.

    “I thought he was outstanding and he needed to be,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said of Ullmark. “Unfortunately we gave up a lot of good looks, a lot of odd-man rushes because of our puck management and he bailed us out like he has all year.”

    David Krejci added a power-play goal for Boston, which won its fourth straight.

    Dylan Gambrell scored for the Senators and Mads Sogaard made 33 stops.

    “We had a shooters’ mentality for two periods,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. “The third period, they’ve won 54 games now, they’re not going to give you an odd-man rush, they’re not going to give you anything. You’re going to have to earn it.”

    The Bruins posted their 54th win and with 12 games left are on pace to break the mark of 62, set by the Detroit Red Wings in 1995-96 and matched by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018-19.

    Chasing the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot, Ottawa has lost six of seven following a season-high, five-game winning streak.

    Coming off a 3-2 road trip where they won the last three games by a combined score of 15-2 that included two shutouts by backup Jeremy Swayman, the Bruins converted on a two-man, power-play advantage to tie the game at 1 midway into the opening period when Krejci poked in a rebound from the edge of the crease.

    DeBrusk completed a nifty play with Brad Marchand when he collected a pass cutting down the slot at full speed, shifted and tucked a rebound past Sogaard at 15:52 of the first period for his 23rd goal.

    “It was ‘all world.’ I saw him and he fed it through a lot of guys for a breakaway,” DeBrusk said of the pass. “It was one of those passes where I didn’t know what to do. I was going to point at him (after) but I was going too fast.”

    Gambrell’s wraparound score gave Ottawa a 1-0 edge.

    “I thought I played a good game today,” Sogaard said. “I just battled and stayed with it the entire way. … These ones are tough because we were so close.”

    HEAVY WORKLOAD

    Ullmark stopped 22 shots in the second period with at least a dozen of them high-quality chances. During an Ottawa PP, he jumped from a crouch to make a right-shoulder stop on Alex DeBrincat’s bid from in close.

    “We talked about it,” defenseman Hampus Lindholm said of the second period. “We know we’re a good team in the third and wanted to tighten it up for him. … They got a lot of chances that were our own fault in the second.”

    WOMEN IN SPORTS NIGHT

    The Bruins highlighted women who work and compete in the sports community, having Olympic gold medalist and Boston Pride defender Kali Flanagan accompany Bruins players during pregame walk-ins along with local high school scholastic award winners. In addition, in-arena host Michaela Johnson handled the PA for the night and they also left yellow roses at the seats of female reporters.

    NOTES: The Senators entered the game as the only team holding an advantage in their series against the Bruins this season, winning twice in three games. … Montgomery said after the morning skate that defenseman Derek Forbort would likely be sidelined with a lower-body injury at least through the rest of the regular season. … DeBrusk, playing on the top line most of the season, is four off his career-high goal total, set in 2018-19.

    UP NEXT

    Senators: Host Tampa Bay on Thursday.

    Bruins: Host longtime rival Montreal in an Original Six matchup Thursday.

    Boldy’s goal with 1.3 left in OT lifts Wild over Devils

    Associated PressMar 21, 2023, 11:24 PM EDT
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    NEWARK, N.J. – Matt Boldy scored with 1.3 seconds left in overtime and Filip Gustavsson made a career-high 47 saves to give the Minnesota Wild a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.

    The game was a chippy, defensive struggle. After two scoreless periods, the Devils were outshooting the Wild 22-19.

    Minnesota finally broke through 6:41 into the third when Mason Shaw scored his seventh goal of the season on a wraparound.

    Timo Meier answered for the Devils five minutes later with his 35th goal of the season on a wraparound of his own.

    New Jersey was unable to convert on a late power play, and the teams went to overtime.

    It was a back-and-forth five minutes of extra hockey, with both goaltenders making good saves. After Jack Hughes hit the post for the Devils, the puck caromed off a post to Boldy and he beat the buzzer with his 23rd goal of the season.

    Vitek Vanecek stopped 27 shots for New Jersey.

    NOTES: The Devils are 10-4 in overtime, while the Wild improved to 4-5.

    UP NEXT

    Wild: Play at Philadelphia on Thursday night.

    Devils: Play at Buffalo on Friday night.

    Avalanche coach Jared Bednar signs extension through ’26-27

    Associated PressMar 21, 2023, 11:22 PM EDT
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    DENVER – Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar has signed a three-year extension that will keep him in charge of the reigning Stanley Cup champions through the 2026-27 season.

    The new deal for the winningest head coach in club history kicks in once the current contract runs out after the 2023-24 season.

    Bednar, 51, is the only person to win championships in the ECHL, AHL and NHL as head coach. He directed the Avalanche to their third Stanley Cup title in team history last season by beating Tampa Bay, the two-time defending champions.

    This season, the Avalanche have dealt with an array of injuries, which include missing captain Gabriel Landeskog all year after he underwent knee surgery in October. But they’re starting to creep closer to being healthy – and working their way up the standings. Colorado is riding a six-game winning streak to remain in a tight race with Dallas and Minnesota for the Central Division crown. The top spot in the Western Conference is in play, too.

    “Jared has done a tremendous job behind the bench and certainly deserves this extension and to continue as the leader of our team,” Joe Sakic, the team’s president of hockey operations, said in a statement.

    It wasn’t the prettiest of starts for Bednar in his inaugural season for Colorado. In 2016-17, his team amassed only 48 points (22-56-4) to finish last in the league. Since then, it’s been full steam ahead for Bednar and the Avalanche. They became the first NHL squad to go from worst to first in a span of four seasons or less since the 1970-71 Bruins, according to research by the team.

    In addition, Bednar has led the Avalanche to five straight playoff appearances – and is closing in on a sixth – to become the first Avalanche coach to accomplish the feat. His 40 postseason wins are the second-most in team history, trailing only Bob Hartley (49).

    “His strength as a communicator, his relationship with the players, the way he prepares each and every day is a huge reason our team has been so successful,” general manager Chris MacFarland said. “He is an exceptional leader.”

    Bednar is currently the third-longest tenured coach in the league, behind only Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper (March 2013) and Pittsburgh’s Mike Sullivan (December 2015).

    “Being able to lead this team over the last seven years has been a privilege,” said Bednar, whose team faces the Penguins on Wednesday. “I am grateful and excited to have the opportunity to continue building on what we’ve accomplished so far.”

    Bednar captured a Kelly Cup (ECHL) with the South Carolina Stingrays in 2009, along with a Calder Cup (AHL) with the Lake Erie Monsters in 2016.