NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – March 23, 2026
Alex Ovechkin reaches 1,000 combined career goals, the Stars clinch a playoff berth, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPPING SUNDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 1,000th career goal (regular season and playoffs combined), but his club dropped a 3-2 decision to the league-leading Colorado Avalanche. Brock Nelson scored in overtime, and Martin Necas collected two assists for the 46-13-10 Avalanche (102 points). Justin Sourdif also scored for the Capitals (35-27-9).
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ovechkin joins Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky as the only players to score 1,000 combined NHL goals. Gretzky has 1,016, which the 40-year-old Ovechkin could break if he returns next season. Meanwhile, Capitals forward Ethen Frank left this game in the first period with a lower-body injury.
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog scored in his first game since being sidelined on March 6 when he was struck in the groin by a puck. “I took a 96-mile-per-hour slapshot in the nuts, and it hurt,” Landeskog said. “So yeah, had a quick surgery to fix some things and we’re good to go”.
The Dallas Stars clinched a playoff berth despite a 3-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Wyatt Johnston set the single-season franchise record for power-play goals with 23 for the Stars (43-16-11), who sit in second place in the overall standings with 97 points. Brayden McNabb, Ivan Barbashev, and Reilly Smith scored for the 32-25-14 Golden Knights, who moved ahead of the Edmonton Oilers into second place in the Pacific Division with 78 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Stars clinched a postseason berth because the Utah Mammoth defeated the Los Angeles Kings. Speaking of which…
Utah Mammoth forward Nick Schmaltz tallied twice, including the overtime winner, to nip the Los Angeles Kings 4-3. Lawson Crouse scored two goals and collected an assist while Karel Vejmelka stopped 33 shots for the 37-28-6 Mammoth, who hold the first Western Conference wild-card berth with 80 points. Quinton Byfield had a goal and an assist for the Kings (28-25-17, 73 points), who are two points behind the Nashville Predators for the final Western wild card.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Mammoth recently re-signed forward Michael Carcone to a two-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $1.75 million.
Speaking of the surging Predators, Filip Forsberg also had a two-goal game with an overtime winner in a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Forsberg collected an assist on Steven Stamkos’ game-tying goal for the Predators (33-28-9, 75 points), who’ve won four straight games. Nick Lardis and Connor Bedard scored for the 26-31-13 Blackhawks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Blackhawks defenseman Matt Grzelcyk suffered an upper-body injury during the first period of this game. He will miss the club’s upcoming four-game road trip.
The Anaheim Ducks blew a 4-2 lead, but recovered for a 6-5 win over the Buffalo Sabres on an overtime goal by Troy Terry, who finished this game with two goals. Chris Kreider, Beckett Sennecke, and Jackson LaCombe each had a goal and an assist for the 39-27-4 Ducks, who sit in first place in the Pacific Division with 82 points. Zach Benson and Owen Power each had a goal and an assist for the Sabres (44-20-7), who hold first place in the Atlantic Division and second place in the Eastern Conference with 95 points.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1. Seth Jarvis had a goal and two assists, and Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist for the 45-19-6 Hurricanes (96 points). Egor Chinakhov replied for the Penguins (35-19-16), who cling to second place in the Metropolitan Division with 86 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea missed this game with a facial injury suffered during Saturday’s win over the Winnipeg Jets. Earlier in the day, the Penguins announced they’ve signed 2025 first-round pick Bill Zonnon to a three-year entry-level contract.
The New York Islanders got a 26-save shutout from Ilya Sorokin to blank the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0, snapping the latter’s 12-game points streak. Bo Horvat scored for the Islanders (40-26-5) as they moved into the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth with 85 points, one point ahead of the Detroit Red Wings. Jet Greaves made 21 saves for the 37-22-11 Blue Jackets, who are in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 85 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Blue Jackets sit ahead of the Islanders because they hold a game in hand.
An overtime goal by Ryan Strome lifted the Calgary Flames to a 4-3 upset of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Devin Cooley stopped 32 shots for the 29-34-7 Flames, who’d held a 3-1 lead before Tampa Bay rallied on goals by Darren Raddysh and Pontus Holmberg. The Lightning (43-21-5) holds second place in the Atlantic Division with 91 points.
The Winnipeg Jets downed the New York Rangers 3-2 on a shootout goal by Kyle Connor. Adam Lowry and Gabriel Vilardi scored for the 29-29-12 Jets (70 points), who are five points out of the final Western wild-card spot. Mika Zibanejad tallied his 30th goal of the season, and Dyland Garand made 35 saves in his NHL debut for the 28-33-9 Rangers
IN OTHER NEWS…
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: Panthers forward A.J. Greer received a three-game suspension by the NHL department of player safety for boarding Flames forward Connor Zary.
NHL.COM: Minnesota Wild reporter Jessi Pierce, 37, died Saturday, along with her three children, in a fire at her home.
“The entire National Hockey League family sends our prayers and deepest condolences to the Pierce family on the passing of Jessi Pierce and her three children,” the league said in a statement. “Jessi loved our game and was a valued member of the NHL.com team for a decade. We will miss her terribly.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I send my sincere condolences to Jessi’s family, friends, co-workers, and the NHL.com team.
At this time of a season when looking at the standings and trying to calculate the chances of your team of choice making it into a playoff spot, several factors come into play: how many points behind; games/potential points left in your schedule and whether there are any head-to-head games included with teams you need to catch/pass; and one, often overlooked but very much a factor – those damned 3-pointers!
Last night, for example, there were 9 games played …and 6 of them were 3-pointers.
A search reveals that, on average in a modern 82-game NHL season, approximately 20% to 25% of all games end as “3-point games.” – or roughly one in four – thereby giving the average team 10 to 12 more points than in the era of ties. In a full 32-team 1,312-game regular season, a 23% rate of 3-point games results in roughly 300+ games ending with a loser point.
I don’t engage in the over-used concept of “hate” … but I do genuinely hate the 3-pointer. LOL.
https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/nhl-season-of-parity-loser-points-overtime-shootouts-trending-up-2025-26-standings
Glad Columbus finally lost give the bruins a little breathing room. Everybody’s talking about Hagens but there’s another Bruins prospect to keep an eye I don’t think he’ll be better than Hagens but he might even be faster Cooper Simpson with Youngstown USHL 2nd in scoring in USHL this kid maybe the fastest skater we’ve seen since Kessel. He had a hat trick the other night.
JA keep an eye on Will Zellers,freshmen forward at North Dakota!
I was impressed with Zellers at the world Jrs. I think he scored the game winning goal in each of the US wins. Was shocked they didn’t use him in the final OT
Yes finally the bruins have restocked. The cupboard as they say. From Hagens, Laterneau , Zellers, Simpson
And Locmelis
And 2 1sts to boot this year and next
What horrible news from Minnesota. There are no words. Just shock. Thoughts and prayers to family and friends. Hope her husband can somehow rebuild his life.