The Philadelphia Flyers came within 5.6 seconds of collecting a very important point in the standings on Saturday afternoon - and then this happened.
Late in the third period of a 1-1 contest, Boston Bruins forward Drew Stafford threw a puck toward the Philadelphia net, where Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning inadvertently redirected the puck past goaltender Steve Mason to give the Bruins a 2-1 victory.
The goal was Stafford's second as a Bruin and his fourth point in as many games. More importantly, the win gives Boston a crucial two points as it looks to solidify its own playoff spot.
The 32-year-old - whose career once appeared to be winding down - is back to producing at an elite level, and it's all thanks to a change of scenery.
After concluding last season with his lowest single-season totals since his rookie campaign - just 13 goals and 39 points in 83 games split between the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers - he's been on a tear with the Wild.
With Friday's three-point effort against the Florida Panthers - that included two goals - Staal now has 21 goals and 51 points in 66 games, production that, for a time, seemed unattainable.
In fact, at his current clip, Staal should conclude the year with 26 goals, which would be his highest total since the 2010-11 season when he collected 33 with the Hurricanes.
Meanwhile, he's also on pace to collect 63 points, which would also be his highest mark since the 2011-12 season.
Signed to a three-year, $10.5-million contract on July 1, the deal looked to be a risky move by the Wild, but early on the club looks to be reaping the rewards.
Staal sits second on the team in both goals and points - behind Mikael Granlund in both categories. He leads the team with seven game-winning goals and has contributed both on the power play and penalty kill.
Factor in that Staal has been nearly a point-per-game player in the postseason during his career, and it seems we might not be done talking about the incredible year he's having.
Follow theScore's fantasy feed on Twitter (@theScoreFantasy) for the latest news, features and more. And download Squad Up, theScore's free-to-win-money sports game.
Here is a look at the Squad Up daily NHL fantasy picture for Saturday's games beginning at 7 p.m. EST and later (all advanced statistics courtesy of Corsica.Hockeyand apply to 5v5 situations):
Bargain Plays
C Sam Gagner (25K), CLB (at BUF): Gagner remains at the minimum price despite a career offensive year. Eighteen of his 41 points have come on the power play. A demotion to the second power-play unit hasn't slowed down his production with the man advantage. The Sabres have the second-worst penalty kill in the league (76 percent).
RW Oliver Bjorkstrand (29K), CLB (at BUF): Bjorkstrand has taken Gagner's spot on PP1. He has yet to record a power-play point in his brief 28-game career, but it could come on Saturday. He has an elite shot and Buffalo will likely start their backup goalie.
D Zach Werenski (29K), CLB (at BUF): Twenty-one of Werenski's 40 points have come with the man advantage this year. He remains the quarterback on Columbus' fifth-ranked power play.
(Photo courtesy Getty Images)
Dynamic Duos
LW Mike Hoffman (62K) & D Erik Karlsson (64K), OTT (at COL): With RW Mark Stone unlikely to play, Hoffman is Ottawa's only trustworthy forward amidst a flurry of injuries up front. Karlsson has stepped up in a big way, with 17 points in his last 14 games. Colorado allows more goals per game than any other team in the NHL.
C Mitch Marner (43K) & LW James van Riemsdyk (50K), TOR (at CAR): Only the Pittsburgh Penguins generate more scoring chances at 5v5 than Toronto. Marner has been an offensive catalyst for the Blue and White this season. He has five points in his last four games. JVR's ability to finish around the net always gives him multi-goal potential. That potential is further increased against Carolina's 28th-ranked team SV%.
C Sean Monahan (46K) & Johnny Gaudreau (58K), CGY (at WPG): No team is hotter than the Flames right now. They have won eight games in a row and are 13-2-1 in their last 16 games. Unsurprisingly, Calgary's most prolific offensive duo has stepped up, combining for 34 points during the 16-game stretch. Expect their success to continue against Winnipeg 29th-ranked team SV%.
(Photo courtesy Action Images)
Goalie Breakdown
TARGET - Matt Murray (116K), PIT (at VAN): Pittsburgh will be playing their second game in as many nights, but Murray is well rested, having not played since Wednesday. He should have no problem steering aside Vancouver's offense, which has the fifth-lowest xGF60 (expected goals for per 60 minutes) in the NHL at 2.25.
BARGAIN - Brian Elliott (80K), CGY (at WPG): Every winning streak requires great goaltending, and that's exactly what Elliott has provided. In his last 14 games (13 starts) he is 11-1-1 with a .931 SV%. He provides outstanding value at the near minimum price.
FADE - Connor Hellebuyck (95K), WPG (vs. CGY): Hellebuyck got lit up for five goals on 15 shots -- the second time he's allowed five goals in his last five games. He cannot be trusted against the surging Flames.
CONTRARIAN - Carter Hutton (92K), STL (vs. NYI): Hutton has played just one game since Feb. 15. -- by no fault of his own, though. In his last five games he has a .961 SV% and three shutouts. The Islanders are just 12-15-5 on the road this year, while St. Louis is 19-11-4 at home.
(Photo courtesy Getty Images)
Top Fades
C Tomas Hertl (54K), SJ (vs. NSH): Hertl is a third-line center who hasn't done much offensively this season. There's no reason for him to come with such an expensive salary.
LW Daniel Sedin (51K), VAN (vs. PIT): Henrik Sedin's job is to feed Daniel, and Daniel's job is to score. Daniel has just 13 goals this year (the same amount as Henrik) and shouldn't be priced anywhere close to 51K.
RW Kyle Palmieri (71K), NJ (at ARI): 71K for Kyle Palmieri? Sure, the matchup is great, but when you can get much more productive players for half as much, paying up for Palmieri seems silly. He has been held without a point in four of his last five games.
(Photo courtesy Getty Images)
Contrarian Options
LW Taylor Hall (72K), NJ (at ARI): Hall is the same price as Bruins LW Brad Marchand, so he will instantly be faded. The matchup is juicy though. Nobody surrenders more scoring chances than Arizona. Hall is a far superior player compared to Palmieri and has a longer track record of success.
RW Wayne Simmonds (46K), PHI (at BOS): Simmonds might get faded with a matchup against Tuukka Rask and the Bruins, but at 46K (much lower than where he is usually priced) he can return value with ease thanks to his physicality. He has 131 hits and 92 PIMs this year.
D Kevin Shattenkirk (36K), WAS (at LA): The Kings are one of the most sound defensive teams in hockey, so Shattenkirk's ownership will be lower than usual. He has three points in five games since joining Washington and quarterbacks one of the league's most dangerous power plays.
Bill Peters is better left standing behind the bench than behind the grill.
The Carolina Hurricanes head coach spoke to the media on Saturday morning ahead of his team's contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he admitted to having Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock over for dinner Friday night where the meal clearly didn't turn out too well.
Peters says he had Babcock over for dinner Friday night. Says he burned the chicken and the lobster tails were raw but the salmon was OK.
Follow theScore's fantasy feed on Twitter (@theScoreFantasy) for the latest news, features and more. And download Squad Up, theScore's free-to-win-money sports game.
Here are the fantasy ramifications following the news that Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist will miss 2-3 weeks with a lower-body injury:
OFFICIAL: #NYR Henrik Lundqvist will be out 2-3 weeks with a lower body injury.
Lundqvist's injury could not have come at a worse time for fantasy owners. The fantasy playoffs are set to begin on Monday and it's quite possible King Henrik will miss them entirely. If you're out of IR spots, Lundqvist must be dropped. You can't afford to have him take up a roster spot on your bench in a must-win week.
If Lundqvist's owner is out of IR spots and drops him, pick him up if you have an available IR spot. He could return for the final week of the season (the fantasy playoff finals) and help you win a title.
In the meantime, Antti Raanta is now a must-own goaltender. He has been arguably the league's best backup goalie this season, going 13-6-0 with a .922 SV% and a 2.33 GAA.
If Raanta has already been scooped up, you might be trouble. Finding a reliable goaltender who receives a decent amount of his team's starts at this time of year is nearly impossible. The one goalie who might be available is Detroit's Jimmy Howard, who just returned from injury. Otherwise, streaming goalies is the best coarse of action:
There are enough back-to-backs on the NHL schedule in any given week that backup goalies get enough playing time and will allow you to meet your minimum goalie starts -- and maybe even win a few categories. Here is a list of all the back-to-backs during the week of March 13-19:
After posting a franchise-high 103 points last season, things haven't gone so swimmingly in 2017 for the Florida Panthers.
The team dropped its seventh game in its last eight in a 7-4 trouncing by the Minnesota Wild on Friday night. Afterward, it was clear panic is beginning to ooze into the team's mindset.
"Our whole season, right now, has been a disappointment. ... At this point of the year, time is limited. We have less games; we need to turn this boat around."
This season certainly hasn't gone the way the club envisioned, especially considering that even if the club were to win each of their remaining 16 games, they would still fall short of last season's win and points totals.
The Panthers find themselves in a precarious position, sitting six points outside the final playoff spot and just seven from last place in the Eastern Conference.
If they're to make a push, things need to change, and, as Keith Yandle explains, that needs to start Saturday night.
"We did some good things but we did some things which are costly this late in the season," Yandle said. "The things we did will hurt you, and they did (Friday night). When you give up as many goals as we did, you can't be happy. We'll look at it, try and be better (Saturday night)."
Saturday's game won't be any easier, as the Panthers will duel with their Florida rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, who sit two points above them in the standings.
The news comes after Ludqvist was held out of Thursday's contest against the Carolina Hurricanes with the same ailment.
In turn, the Rangers have recalled goaltender Magnus Hellberg from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis.
With just over four weeks remaining in the season and the Rangers just four points out of third place in the Metropolitan Division, the injury comes at a bad time.
Lundqvist has amassed a team-high 30 wins in 49 games, accompanied by a 2.65 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage this season.
The return of Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov to the Florida Panthers' lineup appeared to be the missing ingredient in the hunt for a playoff berth, but the club is now in the midst of a colossal slide.
Thanks to a 7-4 drubbing at the hands of the Minnesota Wild on Friday night, the club has now gone 1-6-1 in its last eight games and has fallen six points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The timing of the skid could not be worse and, as the underlying numbers show, it's the club's play at even strength and the lackluster performances by their goaltenders that have hurt the team most.
A look at special teams play over the last eight games would suggest the Panthers are having some success, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
Since Feb. 22, the Panthers have produced eight power play goals with a success rate of 34.8 percent, good enough for second league-wide. Meanwhile, the team's penalty kill has been perfect, not conceding a single goal in the 19 times they've been short-handed. The team has also fired 308 shots at the opposition over that stretch, also good for the second-most over that span.
Here's where things start to go south.
During the club's eight-game stretch, they have managed to score just 16 goals while giving up 27, both the fourth-worst marks in the league.
What's worse is when you factor in the eight power play goals and the lone short-handed goal, you're left with just seven goals scored at even strength in eight games - certainly not a winning recipe.
- Among goalies who have played at least three games
Besides Luongo's goals-against average through his last three starts, the totals for both goalies have been far below their season averages - though, in their defense, the club has also given up a total of 278 shots against (the fourth-most over that span) or an average of nearly 35 per game.
It certainly hasn't been an easy ride for the Panthers of late, but if one thing is clear, it's that for all that is going wrong, there is still a lot going right. The faults appear to be team-wide, so if they hope to turn it around it will take a group effort to get the club back on track.
