The Utah Hockey Club secured their inaugural playoff appearance following a 4-1 triumph against Nashville on Thursday evening in Salt Lake City, with Dylan Guenther and Nick Schmaltz each contributing one goal and one assist.
Utah’s postseason qualification became official when Anaheim defeated San Jose 6-1 later in the evening, guaranteeing the franchise a playoff spot in just their second year of existence.
Clayton Keller registered three primary assists for Utah, which extended their winning streak to five games. Goals also came from Kailer Yamamoto and Lawson Crouse, while Logan Cooley contributed two assists. Goaltender Karel Vejmelka recorded 29 saves in the victory.
Nashville received a goal from Erik Haula and 23 saves from Juuse Saros, but saw their four-game point streak (3-0-1) come to an end. The Predators now sit one point behind Los Angeles in the battle for the Western Conference’s second wild-card position.
Pittsburgh 5, New Jersey 2
The Penguins claimed their first playoff berth since 2022 with a road victory in Newark, highlighted by goals from Tommy Novak and Egor Chinakhov scored just nine seconds apart.
Additional scoring for Pittsburgh came from Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin, and Erik Karlsson. Chinakhov and Sidney Crosby each recorded two assists, while both Malkin and Karlsson added one helper apiece. Stuart Skinner turned aside 19 shots for the win.
New Jersey’s goals came from Paul Cotter and Jack Hughes, with Jake Allen making 25 saves in the losing effort.
Colorado 3, Calgary 1
Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas each posted one goal and two assists as Colorado defeated Calgary at home to secure the top overall playoff seeding.
MacKinnon established a personal best with his 52nd goal of the campaign, Gabriel Landeskog also found the net, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 28 saves as the Avalanche captured the Presidents’ Trophy for the fourth time in franchise history.
Calgary got Tyson Gross’s first NHL goal in his third career appearance and 38 saves from Dustin Wolf, but the Flames have now lost four of their last five contests (1-3-1).
Carolina 7, Chicago 2
Logan Stankoven recorded two goals and one assist while Mark Jankowski scored twice as the visiting Hurricanes dominated Chicago.
Carolina moved two points clear of Buffalo for Eastern Conference home-ice advantage. Frederik Andersen stopped 23 shots for the Hurricanes while William Carrier earned three assists. Taylor Hall added a goal and assist, with K’Andre Miller and Sean Walker also scoring.
Chicago suffered their seventh defeat in eight games (1-6-1). Anton Frondell scored twice for the Blackhawks, Louis Crevier contributed two assists, and Spencer Knight made 15 saves.
Ottawa 5, Florida 1
Fabian Zetterlund found the net twice, Jake Sanderson recorded two assists, and Linus Ullmark stopped 22 shots as Ottawa moved closer to playoff qualification with a home victory over Florida.
Drake Batherson, Artem Zub, and Claude Giroux also scored for Ottawa, which completed a successful 4-1 homestand and maintained a three-point cushion over the Islanders and Red Wings for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. The Senators also closed within two points of idle Boston for the first wild-card position.
Jesper Boqvist scored with 5:43 remaining for Florida to prevent the shutout, beating Ullmark with a late goal. Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves on 27 shots.
New York Islanders 5, Toronto 3
Matthew Schaefer matched the rookie record for defenseman goals (23) as the Islanders, playing their first game under new head coach Peter DeBoer, defeated visiting Toronto.
Calum Ritchie contributed a goal and assist while Tony DeAngelo returned from injury to register two assists as New York ended a four-game losing streak. Ilya Sorokin made 13 saves.
Toronto received goals from Steven Lorentz, Easton Cowan, and Morgan Rielly. Artur Akhtyamov stopped 39 of 44 shots in his NHL debut.
Detroit 6, Philadelphia 3
Dylan Larkin completed a hat trick and added an assist to power Detroit past visiting Philadelphia in dominant fashion.
Alex DeBrincat became the first Red Wings player to reach 40 goals in a season since Marian Hossa in 2009. Moritz Seider tallied one goal and four assists while Patrick Kane contributed a goal and two assists for Detroit, which had struggled with seven losses in their previous nine games (2-6-1).
Porter Martone scored and assisted for Philadelphia, which had won three consecutive games entering the contest. Christian Dvorak and Luke Glendening also scored for the Flyers.
Buffalo 5, Columbus 0
Colten Ellis recorded 37 saves for his first career shutout in Buffalo’s home victory over Columbus.
Josh Doan scored twice while Peyton Krebs, Jack Quinn, and Rasmus Dahlin also found the net for the first-place Sabres, who won their third straight and maintained a two-point lead over Montreal in the Atlantic Division. Josh Norris and Logan Stanley each contributed two assists.
Jet Greaves made 19 saves for Columbus, which fell to 1-6-1 in their last eight games as their playoff hopes took a potentially fatal blow.
Montreal 2, Tampa Bay 1
Juraj Slafkovsky scored with 1:04 left in the third period as host Montreal edged Tampa Bay in a tight contest.
Cole Caufield reached the 50-goal milestone for Montreal. Suzuki recorded two assists, Slafkovsky added a goal and assist, and Jakub Dobes made 17 saves.
Darren Raddysh scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 shots for Tampa Bay, which has lost three straight and trails second-place Montreal by two points and first-place Buffalo by four in the Atlantic Division.
Winnipeg 3, St. Louis 2
Mark Scheifele reached 99 points for the season with two assists as Winnipeg captured their third consecutive victory at St. Louis.
Alex Iafallo, Josh Morrissey, and Jonathan Toews scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves as Winnipeg kept their slim playoff hopes alive. The defeat virtually eliminated St. Louis from postseason contention.
Dylan Holloway recorded a goal and assist for St. Louis. Colton Parayko also scored, and Jordan Binnington stopped 31 shots.
Seattle 4, Las Vegas 3 (Shootout)
Rookie Berkly Catton led a comeback from a two-goal third-period deficit and scored the deciding goal in the fifth round of the shootout as Seattle kept their faint playoff hopes alive against visiting Las Vegas.
Jared McCann and Bobby McMann also scored in regulation while Vince Dunn contributed two assists for the Kraken, who snapped a six-game winless streak (0-5-1). Joey Daccord made 31 saves and stopped four of five shootout attempts.
Mark Stone scored twice, Brett Howden also tallied, and Adin Hill stopped 30 shots for the Golden Knights, who suffered their first loss in five games under new coach John Tortorella. Vegas remains tied with Anaheim for second in the Pacific Division, both teams one point behind Edmonton.
Dallas 5, Minnesota 4
Mikko Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston, and Colin Blackwell each recorded a goal and assist in Dallas’s comeback victory over visiting Minnesota. The matchup served as a postseason preview, as both teams will meet in the Stanley Cup playoffs’ first round.
Cameron Hughes scored his first career goal while Esa Lindell added two assists for the Stars. Jake Oettinger stopped 27 shots.
Minnesota received two goals from Kirill Kaprizov and a goal plus assist from Quinn Hughes. Ryan Hartman also scored, Mats Zuccarello contributed three assists, and Matt Boldy added two helpers. Filip Gustavsson made 15 saves.
Los Angeles 4, Vancouver 1
Adrian Kempe scored twice and Anton Forsberg stopped 24 of 25 shots as Los Angeles significantly boosted their playoff chances with a victory over visiting Vancouver.
Trevor Moore and Joel Armia found the net while Artemi Panarin recorded two assists for the Kings, who moved past Nashville in the race for the Western Conference’s final wild-card berth.
Marcus Pettersson scored and Nikita Tolopilo made 22 saves for Vancouver, which extended their losing streak to four games.
Anaheim 6, San Jose 1
John Carlson’s first career hat trick led Anaheim to a convincing victory over visiting San Jose.
Leo Carlsson, Alex Killorn, and Frank Vatrano provided the remaining goals as the Ducks ended a six-game winless streak (0-5-1). Beckett Sennecke, Pavel Mintyukov, Troy Terry, and Mikael Granlund each contributed two assists, while Lukas Dostal made 18 saves.
Shakir Mukhamadullin scored and Yaroslav Askarov stopped 24 shots for San Jose, which has now lost consecutive games.
