NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – March 22, 2026
Lighting winger Nikita Kucherov takes over the scoring lead, a five-point night for Canadiens winger Cole Caufield, the Predators move into a playoff berth, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov scored two goals and collected two assists in a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Anthony Cirelli tallied twice for the 43-21-4 Lightning, who sit in second place in the Atlantic Division with 90 points. Oilers captain Connor McDavid netted his 399th career regular-season goal as his club sits in second place in the Pacific Division with a record of 34-28-9 (77 points).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: With 118 points, Kucherov surpassed McDavid for the lead in this season’s scoring race. Speaking of McDavid, he acknowledged that his struggling club is fortunate to be playing in the weak Pacific Division. “It’s a bit of a pillow fight right now,” he said.
Meanwhile, sidelined Oilers star Leon Draisaitl has returned to his native Germany to receive treatment for his lower-body injury from renowned sports doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt. Draisaitl hopes to be healthy in time for the postseason.
Montreal Canadiens winger Cole Caufield (NHL Images).
Montreal Canadiens winger Cole Caufield had a hat trick and two assists as his club pulled away from the New York Islanders by a score of 7-3. Nick Suzuki had four assists, Juraj Slafkovsky scored twice and set up two others, and Kaiden Guhle had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens (38-21-10), who hold third place in the Atlantic Division with 86 points. Rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer scored his 22nd goal of the season for the Islanders (39-26-5), who are one point out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth with 83 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: With 43 goals, Caufield sits two behind Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon for this season’s goal-scoring lead. Meanwhile, Schaefer needs one goal to tie Hall of Famer Brian Leetch for the most goals by a rookie defenseman.
The Nashville Predators hold the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference after a 4-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Steven Stamkos led the way with two goals and an assist while goaltender Justus Annunen kicked out 39 shots for the 32-28-9 Predators (73 points). Shea Theodore replied for the Golden Knights (31-25-14), who sit one point behind the Oilers in third place in the Pacific Division.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Predators have come a long way from being dead-last in the Western Conference on Dec. 1. Stamkos regaining his scoring touch has played a big part in their resurgence. After finishing last season with 27 goals in 82 games, the 36-year-old sniper has 33 goals in 69 games.
Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski collected three first-period assists as his club defeated the Seattle Kraken 5-2, extending their points streak to 12 games (8-0-4). Cole Sillinger had a goal and two assists for the 37-21-11 Blue Jackets, who sit in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 85 points. Kaapo Kakko had a goal and an assist for the Kraken (31-29-9), who sit two points back of the Predators for that final Western wild card.
The Buffalo Sabres picked up their fourth straight victory with a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Zach Benson had a goal and an assist while Tage Thompson tallied his 36th goal of the season for the 44-20-6 Sabres, who hold first place in the Atlantic Division with 94 points. Artemi Panarin scored for the Kings (28-25-16), who’ve dropped four of their last six games to sit one point behind the Predators.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Sabres are tied with the Carolina Hurricanes in points, but the latter holds first place in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand.
Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman made 41 saves to backstop his club over the Detroit Red Wings 4-2. Morgan Geekie collected three assists while David Pastrnak and Elias Lindholm each had a goal and an assist for the Bruins (39-23-8) as they hold the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot with 86 points. Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat scored for the 38-24-8 Red Wings, who cling to the final Eastern wild card with 84 points.
A shootout goal by Sidney Crosby lifted the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-4 win over the Winnipeg Jets. Erik Karlsson tallied twice for the Penguins (35-18-16) as they hold second place in the Metropolitan Division with 86 points. Brad Lambert had a goal and an assist for the 28-29-12 Jets (68 points), who sit five points out of the final Western wild-card berth.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Penguins defenseman Samuel Girard returned to the lineup after missing five games with an upper-body injury. Jets blueliner Neal Pionk was back in action after being sidelined for 23 games with a lower-body injury.
The Minnesota Wild nipped the Dallas Stars 2-1 on an overtime goal by Vladimir Tarasenko. Bobby Brink scored in regulation and assisted on Tarasenko’s goal for the 40-19-12 Wild, who sit third in the Western Conference with 92 points. Jason Robertson tallied for the Stars (43-15-11), who sit second in the West with 97 points.
Third-period goals by Michael Amadio and Ridly Greig enabled the Ottawa Senators to hold off the Toronto Maple Leafs by a score of 5-2. Tim Stutzle netted his 32nd goal of the season for the Senators (34-24-9) as they sit three points back of the Red Wings for the final Eastern wild card with 81 points. John Tavares and Easton Cowan replied for the 29-29-13 Maple Leafs.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz was struck in the throat by a high shot from teammate William Nylander during warm-ups. He was taken to a hospital for precautionary reasons. The Leafs also played without defenseman Morgan Rielly, who suffered a lower-body injury on Friday against the Hurricanes.
The Philadelphia Flyers picked up their seventh straight road win with a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Three unanswered third-period goals by Christian Dvorak, Travis Sanheim, and Noah Cates sealed the deal for the 34-23-12 Flyers (80 points), who sit four points out of the final Eastern wild-card berth. Dmitry Orlov scored for the Sharks (32-30-6), who’ve lost four in a row and sit three points out of the final Western wild card.
St. Louis Blues winger Pavel Buchnevich had a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Defenseman Logan Mailloux picked up two assists for the 28-30-11 Blues. Filip Hronek scored for the 21-40-8 Canucks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Blues announced that defenseman Tyler Tucker is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. The Canuck activated defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph off injured reserve, but he didn’t play in this game.
IN OTHER NEWS…
CALGARY SUN: Florida Panthers forward A.J. Greer faces a disciplinary hearing for boarding Flames forward Connor Zary on Friday. Greer was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct. Zary left the game with an upper-body injury and did not return. There was no update on Zary’s condition, but head coach Ryan Huska said after the game that he was moving around.
NEW YORK POST: Rangers center Noah Laba (lower-body injury) and defenseman Urho Vaakanainen (upper body) are listed as week-to-week. Both players were sidelined during Wednesday’s game against the New Jersey Devils.
SI.COM: Chicago Blackhawks prospect Anton Frondell could make his NHL debut this week after his Swedish team (Djurgardens IF) had its season end with a 3-1 loss to Malmo. Frondell was chosen third overall by the Blackhawks in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Looking at that log-jam in the East from # 4 Pittsburgh to # 11 Philadelphia over their past 20 games each (a spread of 6 points), showing their (so far) seasonal % pace, followed by their past 20 records and % pace in that stretch, presents a clearer picture of which teams are headed in the right direction and those essentially spinning their wheels:
Columbus .616 – 15 1 4 34 .850
Pittsburgh .623 – 11 4 6 28 .700
Ottawa .587 – 12 5 3 27 .675
Boston .614 – 10 4 6 26 .650
Philad’ia .580 – 11 6 3 25 .625
Montreal .623 – 11 6 3 25 .625
NY Isl’ers .593 – 12 8 0 24 .600
Detroit .600 – 8 8 4 20 .500
The situation in the West isn’t anywhere near as tight, with 12 points separating # 4 Anaheim and # 12 Winnipeg. But looking at their past 20 games each, either that Conference is close to parity (within themselves, that is), or virtually no one is determined to make a late season push (Vegas is especially pathetic over their past 20):
Anaheim .580 – 12 7 1 25 .625
Nashville .529 – 9 6 5 23 .575
Utah .557 – 10 8 2 22 .550
Winnipeg .493 – 8 6 6 22 .550
Edmonton .542 – 9 10 1 19 .475
Los Angeles .522 – 8 9 3 19 .475
Seattle .514 – 9 11 0 18 .450
San Jose .515 – 7 10 3 17 .425
Vegas .543 – 6 12 2 14 .350
GeorgeO,it looks like Cassidy s message is getting old in Vegas. That was the knock on him in Boston when things went bad he would hang his players out to dry !Also know one of his assistant coaches who told me he was tough to work for!
Detroit continuing their March Meltdown after a brief respite……..😣
Their minus goal differential is to me a good indicator that they will end up on the outside looking in when season comes to a close
Huge game Sens Vs Wings is Sens win I think they make the dance
That is a crucial one for both teams Mrbruin4.
Ottawa is in NY to take on the Rangers in the only Monday game – the 2nd of a back-to-back for NY as they host the Jets this afternoon – then the 2nd of a back-to-back for Ottawa as they move into Detroit Tuesday.
If Ottawa can pull off a win in NY, that’s their game in hand on Detroit, and it would put them 1 back of the Red Wings, both with 70 games played, heading into that match.
Barring a couple of those bleeding 3-pointers.
As for the minus goal differential, while that is, for the most part, a clear indicator of an also-ran, over the past 4 full seasons, there have been playoff teams with a minus – a couple glaring:
last season, for example, Montreal got the 2nd WC with a minus 20, while Minnesota was the 1st WC out West with a minus 11.
Even worse was in 2023-24 when Washington got in as the 2nd WC with a minus 39!
In 2022-23 all playoff teams West and West were on the plus side, with the lowest being Florida, the 2nd WC in the East, with a +17, while in 2021-22, Dallas – 1st WC out West – got in with a minus 8.
Right now, Anaheim holds down 1st place in the Pacific with a minus 8, while every team in the West from 2nd WC Nashville (-24) on down to last place Vancouver sports a very high minus. Hell, even Edmonton and Vegas ( 2 and 3 in the Pacific) are barely above a minus.
What a performance if the bruins make the playoffs Swayman’s the only reason why. Sign Hagens they need more speed & scoring.
JA they just need guys like Elias Lindholm to contribute,backed by Swaymans goaltending to have a chance. Saw something that said the Bruins have the toughest schedule going down the stretch. Buffalo and Minnesota next week!
NYI tried to muscle the Habs, apparently that’s how to slow them down, and it backfired in a big way.
Xhekaj not being dressed may have given them courage but the Habs returned fire and NYI lost their heads.
I’ve said in the past that teams take on the character of their coach and it was evident last night. Patrick Roy and MSL are night and day personalities, coaching styles and influence on their players.
It was a tight game till the wheels came off in the 3rd period.