NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – March 16, 2026
Oilers star Leon Draisaitl injured against the Predators, the Ducks take over first place in the Pacific Division, the Kraken regain the final Western wild-card spot, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Nashville Predators 3-1, but lost forward Leon Draisaitl as he left the game after the first period with an apparent injury. Draisaitl opened the scoring, and Connor McDavid collected three assists for the 33-26-9 Oilers, who hold third place in the Pacific Division with 75 points. Fedor Svechkov replied for the 29-28-9 Predators (67 points), who are four points out of the final Western Conference wild-card berth.
Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said Draisaitl’s injury didn’t seem too bad, and he’s not expected to be sidelined long term. Meanwhile, McDavid sits atop the NHL scoring race with 114 points.
McDavid also called out the league over the wrist-slap suspension handed down to Anaheim Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas for injuring Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews. While he understands that the department of player safety has a difficult job, he felt that the level of frustration around the league about the suspension process suggests there’s room for improvement.
Anaheim Ducks forwards Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry each had three points as their club overcame a 3-2 deficit for a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Cutter Gauthier tallied the winning goal for the Ducks (37-27-3), as they regained first place in the Pacific Division with 77 points. Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist for the 36-20-10 Canadiens, who cling to third place in the Atlantic Division with 82 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Canadiens winger Cole Caufield scored his 39th goal of the season. He’s second to Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, who leads all goal scorers this season with 44. Meanwhile, Canadiens forward Kirby Dach left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury. There was no word postgame regarding his condition.
Ducks center Mason McTavish was a healthy scratch from this game. He had two assists in his last 12 games.
The Seattle Kraken regained the final Western wild-card spot (71 points) with a 6-2 victory over the Florida Panthers. Kaapo Kakko had a goal and two assists while Bobby McMann was among five other Kraken players with a goal and an assist as they improved their record to 32-27-9. Vinnie Hinostroza and Eetu Luostarinen scored for the 33-30-3 Panthers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: McMann had three goals and two assists for five points in his first two games with the Kraken. Meanwhile, the Panthers played without Sam Reinhart, who is sitting out their current four-game road trip recovering from an undisclosed injury.
Ottawa Senators winger Drake Batherson tallied twice, including the game-winner, in a 7-4 win over the San Jose Sharks. Brady Tkachuk, Fabian Zetterlund, and Warren Foegele each had a goal and an assist for the 34-23-9 Senators (77 points), who are three points behind the Detroit Red Wings for the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth. Tyler Toffoli and Mario Ferraro each had a goal and an assist for the Sharks (32-27-6), as they slipped one point behind the Kraken.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Sharks played without forward Alex Wennberg, who is nursing an upper-body injury.
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Bo Groulx scored twice for his first multipoint NHL game in a 4-2 upset of the Minnesota Wild. Anthony Stolarz kicked out 36 shots for the 29-27-12 Maple Leafs. Vladimir Tarasenko scored both goals for the Wild (38-18-12), who sit third in the Central Division with 88 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Maple Leafs signed goaltender Artur Akhtyamov to a three-year, $2.7 million contract extension.
The Winnipeg Jets kept their playoff hopes alive with a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues. Haydn Fleury had a goal and an assist while Eric Comrie made 29 saves for the 28-28-10 Jets (66 points), who are five points behind the Kraken. Dalibor Dvorsky and Dylan Holloway scored for the 27-30-10 Blues.
The Jets have slowly crept up the standings, finally reaching the .500 mark with that win last night. But although their 66 points puts them just 5 b/o the last WC slot, currently held by Seattle, and both with 66 games played, keep in mind they also still need to climb over 4 teams to get there – Nashville, Los Angles, San Jose and, of course, Seattle. And San Jose has a game in hand on all of them.
Even so, they could make it interesting with the potential 32 points left to them in their schedule. Over their past 10 games they have the best record among that group, going 6-2-2 14 pts – a .700 % pace. The next best record belongs to San Jose – 5-3-2 12 pts – a .600 % pace, while the other 3 each have been spinning their wheels over that span: Los Angeles 4-5-1 9pts .450; Seattle 4-6-0 8pts .400; Nashville 3-5-2 8pts .400.
The Kings are next in action tonight in NY against the Rangers (and their pathetic home record), while tomorrow the Jets are at home to Nashville in a 4-pointer, Seattle hosts Tampa, and the Sharks are in Edmonton. None are in action Wednesday, but Thursday the Jets are in Boston, Seattle goes head to head with the Predators in Nashville, the Sharks are at home to Buffalo and L.A. hosts Philadelphia.
There’s still faint hope for a third Canada-based team to be represented in the playoffs, and possibly even four if Ottawa can overtake Detroit or Boston.
Or, Montreal George. Unimpressive showing by the Habs once again, whilst your lads showed some grit.
Major dick punch for the Wings to lose their top 2 C’s down the stretch. Not looking great for them right now.
Some heat coming Yzerman’s way after the season?
Makes you wonder how this team would look if they hadn’t had the worst lottery luck in the NHL for a decade.
Interesting race likely going right down to wire.
Yeah, and not lessening the effects of that punch one iota is the fact that their 80 points would have them 4th in the Western Conference and 1st in the Pacific Division.
Big opportunity for a young C, like Kasper to step up.
I looked at the box score in their game against Dallas and a guy like Emmitt Finnie, a younger player than Kasper and taken in the 7th round in 2023 is getting more minutes.
Not a ringing endorsement from the coach.
Houston……….
Ray, they not only lost their top 2 C’s, but their top 2 C’s, Danielson and Lombardi, are hurt in AHL Grand Rapids!!! Oh and the Wings also lost their 4C, Rasmussen for a couple of games!
Kind of a weird scenario the past couple of games for each of Montreal and Ottawa LJ – both played back-to-backs with Ottawa (at home) beating Anaheim and San Jose while the Habs (at home) lost to both- who were also playing back-to-backs.
Ottawa went with their inconsistent # 1, Ullmark, in both – and he got a SO, stopping all 24 shots, in one (1.000) and gave up 4 on 23 shots (.826) in the other … but still got the win.
Montreal goes with their (default?) # 1 (Dobes) in the first and he gives up 3 on 17 shots (.850) and they counter with the rookie, Fowler, in the other and he gives up 4 on 28 (.857).
The Sharks, meanwhile, started Nedeljkovic in Montreal and he stopped 2 of 27 (.926) to get the win, but then chose to start the journeyman veteran Brossoit in Ottawa and he relinqu ishes 6 on 23 (.783).
The Ducks went with Husso in Ottawa and he played a pretty decent game, giving up 2 on 28 (.929) but they couldn’t beat Ullmark for any, and last night they put Dostal in against the Habs and he stopped 3 of 30 (.900) for the win.
Yep, saw that Johnny.
Perfect storm hitting their C position.
Need to find a way to stay close for when they get their best guys back. Ain’t gonna be easy with teams like CLB and OTT charging and Boston and NYI hanging tough.
Yeah, George those are weird stats. But I can’t blame either of the Habs’ goalies for the losses. Dobes got beat by a couple of deflections and Fowler made several big saves prior to the last goal.
Your boys are on a tear because they are playing at both ends. The Habs continually commit turnovers and there is no power in their PP. I know players aren’t robots but this is the wrong time of the season to regress.
Good on the Sens if they make it.
It doesn’t get any easier LJ. Ottawa is next in action Wednesday in Washington and home the following night in yet ANOTHER bloody back-to-back, this time against a hot (and rested) NY Islanders (7-3-0 in their past 10), followed next Saturday at home against the Leafs, who are showing some late-season Matthews-less life, and Monday the 23rd in NY against the Rangers, also showing a late-season, no-pressure playing-for-jobs/contracts resurgence like the Leafs – and often the hardest teams to beat as we near the end.
Eek. McTavish a healthy scratch.
Here’s an interesting article by Arda Ocal at ESPN under the title OGWAC (Old Guys Without A Cup).
https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/48214393/nhl-2025-26-best-games-week-top-players-stanley-cup-playoffs
Are they tough or stupid to play w/o a cup?????😉
I don’t see where either enters into the picture … just the way things have unfolded (so far) for them.
Patrick Marleau went 23 seasons without a Cup, Joe Thornton 22, Jarome Iginla and Bill Gadsby 20, Mike Gartner 19, Marcel Dionne 18. And all but Marleau (yet) are in the Hall of Fame.
Whoosh!
Neither,Johnny Z, they’re just nuts.
Good weekend for Bruins fans as the TML got 3 out of 4 pts. Putting them 11th in the league standings. Hoping that the Bruins retain the first round pick they got from Toronto in the Carlo trade.Great opportunity for their young players to show what they can do.
I hear ya there Sr. Too bad the Bs draft record is less than spectacular but getting as many kicks at the can will surely make one forget how bad they’ve been at drafting when they hit on one, right?
Ron Moore ask TML how their trade record is?
Ron Moore ask the TML how their trades have been?
Boston had one bad year drafting, otherwise they hit quite a few.
Pastrnk, McAvoy, Swayman, Carlo, Lindgren, for example for a team that has been drafting mainly middle to late rounds for almost 20 years isn’t shabby.
That was Sweeney’s first year as GM as well HF30. He has changed up the scouting department since.
To be fair to all GM’s, other than the top 3-5 in the draft, not easy to project an 18 year old 4-5 years down the road.
Plus some drafts are simply better than others. In the notorious 2015 draft that the B’s blew it in, was an exceptionally deep quality draft year. Which is why they get so much criticism.
Neither Johnny Z. They’re just nuts.
Ha
Kasper is one reason I’m a bit concerned about Kapanen to be honest.
This summer he was one of my trade targets based on last season and what I thought continued growth would be this year and he regressed instead.
I don’t get it, he has the talent. Did he play better under Lalonde than McLellan? Johnny Z
I know the Habs have a new PP set up and it looks smooth and pretty, the one timers keep getting loaded up with different guys, Demidov, Newhook, Bolduc…..there’s a guy sitting in the press-box who supposedly has a decent one-timer on the PP and he used to score sometimes.
“I don’t get it, he has the talent. Did he play better under Lalonde than McLellan? Johnny Z”
Kasper played better under T-Mac, but last year. He has been snake bit with his scoring this year until late Jan. He is bouncing back now, he still is a leader in hits tho. He always has had great energy and effort