ST. LOUIS – Sometimes, there are greater things in life that a game.

Yes, the St. Louis Blues lost yet again, and they lost for the second time in five days to the Nashville Predators, 5-2, at Enterprise Center on Monday (and we’ll get into it in observations, of course), but on a night when the Blues honored Hockey Fights Cancer Night and if you missed Kelly Chase’s speech in the first period, you need to take a moment to see it, as it happened right after Blued captain Brayden Schenn and Nashville’s Nic Hague fought for that purpose alone:

We all stand with you, @Chasenpucks39.#HockeyFightsCancer | @SitemanCenterpic.twitter.com/XDeYfv0fsy

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 16, 2025

As for the game itself, the Blues (12-15-7) got goals from Dalibor Dvorsky, his first multi-goal and multi-point game in the NHL, but it was a tough night for Joel Hofer, who allowed four goals on 25 shots.

The Blues lost to the Predators (13-15-4) for the second time in five days and have been outscored 12-4.

Let’s look at Monday’s game observations:

* Kelly Chase is an inspiration – For those that want, or need, to be versed on what the former Blues enforcer has been dealing with, it’s acute myeloid leukemia, a form of blood and bone marrow cancer first diagnosed in 2023, and the amount of chemotherapy, stints in cancer treatment centers, hospitals, the whole gamut this man has had to go through, I can’t even imagine.

So when he spoke with his doctor, Dr. Ramzi Abboud, former Blues captains in Garth Butcher and Hall of Famer Bernie Federko, it was inspiring on this night:

Kelly Chase is an inspiration man. Guy just keeps fighting and fighting. With Bernie Federko and Garth Butcher. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/zKzwJ0O6zD

— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) December 16, 2025

Blues coach Jim Montgomery was a teammate of Chase’s with the Blues in 1993-94, and he had two positives from this game. One was Dvorsky, and the other?

“And then the other real positive was seeing my old teammate Kelly Chase,” Montgomery said. ‘When you think about Blues players and why this city and the fans love Blues players, is because of the fight inside of players like Kelly Chase. I was incredibly lucky to be and I’m very thankful for the season I had to play with him where I could learn from someone that competes like him night in, night out for his teammates and to see him up there and the message he delivered, I got a little emotional listening to him, and how can you not because you’ve got to love the man.”

Schenn, a fellow Saskatoon native like Chase, would obviously run through a brick wall if Chase asked him to.

“Kelly’s been amazing to me, to my family, to my brother, to guys around this room, to the organization,” Schenn said. “I really mean it when I say it: he’s a guy that will literally do anything for anyone, and I think we all see that. He’s a guy that’s going through a battle of his own and he’s still trying to raise money and help people out. He has a mentality and a personality that he would do absolutely anything for anyone. I’ve learned so much from him, even before when I was with the Flyers, I knew him way back being a Saskatchewan guy, he’s taken care of me tremendously from a young age. I owe a lot to what I’ve learned on and off the ice to Kelly Chase.

I’ve been to the Gozzer Ranch in the summertime in Idaho where he hangs out. He knows my parents well, he knows (Schenn’s brother) Luke well, he’s done fantasy hockey camps and different charity events in Saskatoon that we’ve attended. This guy, he’ll do absolutely anything for anyone. He raises a ton of money to help out people and I’ve heard him say it, it’s true when it comes to hockey players. He said, ‘Guys are an inch deep and a mile wide,’ with how they help out, which is true. You do anything you possibly can to help out everyone, but I think he’s a guy that really digs in and tries to help people as much as he can and he’s doing it nonstop.”

* Dvorsky’s glimpse of youth shining – It was another first for Dvorsky, whose multi-goal and multi-point game was his first.

But the great sign of maturity is instead of gloating of his accomplishments on this night in a loss, the No. 10 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft only offered, “Obviously it feels good to score, but first of all, I’m disappointed that we lost. That’s the most important is the team win and it’s always nice, but a win would be better.”

But Dvorsky’s goals, each was set up well.

The first tied the game 1-1 at 10:06 of the first period on a setup by Hugh McGing, who stripped Nashville defenseman Nick Blankenburg of the puck after a Justin Faulk flip-in, then fed Dvorsky for a high slot wrister that beat Juuse Saros:

Dvorsky's all like "this game is tied" pic.twitter.com/xQuK2gO1kE

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 16, 2025

“The positive is Dalibor Dvorsky, it was nice seeing him moving his feet, beat a goalie clean with his first goal,” Montgomery said.

And on the second, with the game out of hand at the time, Dvorsky finished off a Jake Neighbours pass at the left post to cut the Blues’ deficit to 4-2 at 8:29 of the first period:

Ding dong Dvorsky scores again pic.twitter.com/nt2Iu1EE9b

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 16, 2025

Dvorsky, who finished with 17:07 of ice time and three shots on goal, said it’s the kind of game that can fuel his confidence after coming in without a point in 11 straight.

“It’s a step forward for sure,” Dvorsky said. “It boosts my confidence. I feel like I always try and play with confidence, but the two goals are good.

“First of all we need to focus on winning the next game, but it’s always nice to score. I would never do it without the help of teammates. Great pass from ‘Ginger’ on the first one, then the whole PP unit did a great job on the second one, so it’s always about the teammates.”

* First shift set the tone – The Blues had their top players on the ice, the Predators had their top players on.

It’s essential to begin the game the proper way, and the Blues did not after Nashville won the opening draw with former Blue Ryan O’Reilly, getting the puck in deep and the Blues were scrambling.

O’Reilly collected a puck behind the net and fed Filip Forsberg in a tight area, and it was the first of three goals for Forsberg when he beat Hofer high on the short side from a sharp angle 27 seconds in for a 1-0 lead:

BING BING BONG pic.twitter.com/eL0O6pNB5d

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) December 16, 2025

“It’s a great example of not being prepared to start on time,” Montgomery said.

* Another poor second period – The Blues came in, no secret to anyone, porous in the middle 20 minutes, and it didn’t get any better.

They were outscored 3-0 and fell to a league-worst minus-20 (48-28).

From chasing pucks to turnovers to getting hemmed in, it was another case of generating little to nothing on one end to being bombarded at the other.

“Too many turnovers, especially at the offensive blue line,” Montgomery said. “The old saying, and it’s a Ken Hitchcock saying, ‘play to the goal line and work and go to work together as a five-man unit, stay connected.’ If you had that mentality, if you look at our Friday night’s win against the Hawks (3-2), our first shift in the second, we won the draw, D-to-D, we gain the red line and we put it in, and that Schenn line went to work and we gained momentum off it, and our second period last game was really good. And it’s starts. You’ve got to be ready to start that period on time, you’ve got to be ready to start games on time.”

The Blues weren’t for a second straight period when once again, Nashville got a puck in deep, behind the net, and Michael Bunting wrapped around a puck through Hofer, a shot he should stop at 1:23 to make it 2-1 and give the Predators the lead for good:

"I think I'll do a wraparound"
-Bunts (obviously) pic.twitter.com/fb5iQqUqW1

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) December 16, 2025

Dvorsky’s ill-advised flip of a puck into the crowd from his own zone was the result of playing the puck too slowly, and three Predators converged on him, causing a delay of game minor and one that Forsberg scored his second of the game on at 5:31 to make it 3-1, a wrister from the high slot:

FILthy on the power play 🤯 pic.twitter.com/rVJLvcPc6l

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) December 16, 2025

And to cap things off, Hofer gave up a really bad one to Reid Schaefer at 18:45 to make it 4-1, a shot from near the blue line where the forward just spun and whirled the puck to the net that Hofer just missed:

HIT 'EM WITH THE SPIN MOVE 🤩 pic.twitter.com/FDu38eIiTr

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) December 16, 2025

“Obviously it’s something we’ve got to focus on and make sure we dive into,” Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said of second periods. ‘We’ve got to be better and I’m confident we will. We’ve got a strong group in here. It’s something we can obviously learn from and moving forward try to get better in the second.”

* Getting beat to pucks, looking slow – The Predators were hungrier, faster to pucks throughout, and the result was much the same as other losses this season.

When Forsberg added an empty-netter at 16:09 of the third period to make it 5-2, it marked the 12th time this season already – it only happened nine times all of last season – the Blues were beat by three goals or more.

Their goal differential is minus-37, which is far and beyond the worst in the NHL (Vancouver Canucks next at minus-23) and the 123 goals allowed is nine more than the next worst team, the Edmonton Oilers at 114.

“Yeah, they were the better team,” Montgomery said of the Predators. “They were more connected, they supported each other. We always talk about puck support and winning goal lines and net fronts and second quicks is a term we use as well. Unfortunately we didn’t meet the tasks tonight in those areas.”

* Injuries no excuse – The Blues won’t use the injury bug as an excuse. They are missing Dylan Holloway (high ankle sprain), Jordan Kyrou (lower-body injury), Jimmy Snuggerud (wrist), Nathan Walker (upper body) and Nick Bjugstad (upper body).

They’ve had to call up McGing, who has two points in three games, Matt Luff, who scored against the Chicago Blackhawks, and now they’re bringing up Otto Stenberg, the 25th pick in 2023.

“Obviously a lot of injuries and that’s the nature of the game,” Parayko said. “There’s probably every team with almost some injuries. For us, it’s a mindset. We’ve got to come together and whoever’s playing that night is ready. That’s the biggest thing. You’ve got to be prepared. It’s next-man-up. We have great players in our locker room. Every night no matter who’s injured, guys are stepping up and a lot of guys are playing extremely well. As a group collectively, we’ve just got to support each other, just get the job done.”

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Filip Forsberg scored his 12th career hat trick as the Nashville Predators routed the St. Louis Blues for the second time in less than a week, 5-2, on Monday in St. Louis. 

Forsberg and Stamkos have a combined seven goals in less than a week against the Blues, with Stamkos scoring four in the 7-2 win over St. Louis on Dec. 11 at Bridgestone Arena. 

The Predators and Forsberg got the scoring going early as he'd find the back of the net 27 seconds into the game off a feed from Ryan O'Reilly to the front of the net. Forsberg, from the low right side of the net, picked the corner on goalie Joel Hofer. 

Dalibor Dvorsk responded halfway through the first period to tie the game at one a piece. Nashville continued its hot streak in the opening minutes of the period as Michael Bunting netted his ninth of the year to give the Predators the lead back, 2-1. 

On a Dvorsky delay of game call, Forsberg took a wrist shot from the point and beat Hofer for his second goal of the night, on the power play, and to bump the lead to 3-1. Reid Schaefer scored his third career goal on a turnaround shot from the blue line to open up the game, 4-1.

In the third period, Dvorsky responded with his second goal of the game. An empty net goal in the final four minutes of the game sealed the hat trick for Forsberg, his first since April 12, 2024, in a 5-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. 

O'Reilly had two assists and now has seven points in six games. He leads the Predators in scoring with 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists) in 32 games. 

Roman Josi recorded two assists and now has four points in three games. In addition, he passed Borje Salming for the fifth-most multipoint games by a defenseman born outside North America in NHL history with 177. 

After a slow start, Brady Skjei has four points in five games, recording a secondary assist in the victory. 

Juuse Saros picked up his 11th win of the season and is now a game above .500. He made 20 saves on 22 shots in the victory. Saros' goals-against average is now below three at 2.99 and his save percentage is nearing .900, now at .897. 

Up next: Carolina Hurricanes (21-9-2, 1st in Metropolitan) at Nashville Predators (13-15-4, 8th in Central) on Wed. Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. CST at Bridgestone Arena 

The last week for the Pittsburgh Penguins has been one of the most brutal stretches for an NHL team in recent memory.

Against the Dallas Stars on Dec. 7, the Penguins surrendered a late 2-1 lead and ended up losing, 3-2, in the shootout. Against the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 9, the Penguins had a 2-1 lead on the power play with 10 seconds left - and the puck in their offensive zone at the time - and gave up a goal with 0.1 second left en route to another shootout loss.

Typically, when the Penguins have had a tough loss this season, they've found a way to respond and bounce back. When the Penguins lost to Anaheim the first time on Oct. 14 - courtesy of a late gaffe by Parker Wotherspoon on a delay of game penalty - they came back two days later and put together a nice 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. After an awful loss and 3-0 blown third-period lead against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 3, they defeated the Washington Capitals, 5-3. Even the Global Series split with the Nasvhille Predators went the same way. 

Even GM and POHO Kyle Dubas has lauded his team's ability to bounce back from bad losses this season. So, after that rough, literal last-second loss against the Ducks, the same kind of response should have been expected to some extent. 

But that's not what happened. Not even close. In fact, things got about as bad as they can possibly get. 

On Saturday, the Penguins held a 5-1 lead over the San Jose Sharks approaching the midway point of the third period, and the score was all of a sudden at 5-5 with a minute and a half still to play in regulation. They dropped the contest in overtime on a John Klingberg goal. 

Surely they'd respond Sunday against the Utah Mammoth. Right?

Well, they took a 3-0 into the third period, and within seven minutes and six seconds, they were trailing, 4-3. They did manage to tie the game with a Justin Brazeau goal, but they ultimately dropped the contest in overtime for the second straight game. 

Takeaways: Penguins Searching For Answers After Another Third-Period Collapse To Utah MammothThe Pittsburgh Penguins suffered yet another third-period collapse against the Utah Mammoth on Sunday - and they can't seem to stop the bleeding

Instead of responding like they normally would following that heartbreaker against the Ducks, the Penguins went on to surrender 15 goals in their next three games, including nine of those in the third period and two in overtime. This also means that they only surrendered four goals in the first 40 minutes across those three contests.

The Penguins' inability to hold, apparently, any lead in the third period right now is certainly concerning, to say the least. And it's not something that was an issue in the first month of the season, when they were routinely shutting down the opposition when they were ahead in a hockey game. Now, the polar opposite is happening. 

So, where do they begin? How is it possible to address something like this, especially since it's happening so dramatically and drastically that it hardly seems real? Who is to blame? How can they change it? Can they change it?

There is certainly a lot of blame to go around right now, and no one is blameless. First-year head coach Dan Muse has made a few questionable deployment choices, but none of those have much to do with the team giving up three or four goals in a span of 7-11 minutes twice in consecutive games. GM and POHO Kyle Dubas and the rest of the staff in charge of personnel decisions could be giving a few more young guys - such as Tristan Broz and Avery Hayes - some NHL runway instead of players like Danton Heinen and Kevin Hayes, especially given the team's injuries to centers Evgeni Malkin and Blake Lizotte. 

Every coach, every player, and every person involved with whatever happened the last week is accountable to some extent. And, let's remember that the Penguins are still just one point out of a playoff spot despite this disastrous five-game losing streak, so reacting to extremes is probably a bit much. 

But it is a serious problem, and the Penguins need to address it now. Before the bleeding spreads out of control. It's worth noting that the Penguins are playing very well for large stretches of these games, and they have shown capability this season of being able to close out games. 

At the end of the day, sure, the coach is partially responsible, as is the GM. But it all comes down to the players and execution. And - specifically - it comes down to their veterans. 

It feels like the elephant in the room that no one wants to address, but the Penguins' longest-tenured and most respected veterans have not been doing much to help matters during this stretch. In fact, they've hurt the team on several occasions. 

Sidney Crosby's and Bryan Rust's defensive play is a glaring problem at the moment that is becoming hard to ignore. Crosby was on the ice for five goals against in the Sharks game, including the overtime game-winner that saw John Klingberg just walk right around him. A similar thing happened on Beckett Sennecke's tying goal for Anaheim at the end of regulation, as he walked right past Crosby and Kris Letang en route to the net front. Crosby was also on the ice for Utah's overtime goal. 

Then, there's Rust, who - according to HockeyStatCards - owns a team-worst defensive rating of minus-2.4. He has looked lost in his own zone at several points this season, and as good as he is on the penalty kill, he isn't offering much in the way defensively five-on-five.

Letang's defensive play has been a nightmare all season long, and it's becoming a big problem for the Penguins. Erik Karlsson has been outstanding for most of the season but has turned the puck over with more frequency in recent games. 

These are four veteran players who make up a good portion of the leadership group in the locker room. And they've been four of the worst offenders for the Penguins in this stretch of games, looking disjointed in pressure situations, disinterested in the defensive zone, and outright slow on fundamental things like line changes and coverage. 

If there is a central place to point the finger, this is it. The Penguins' core and veteran leadership group has simply not been good enough in these last five games. Yes, they're helping the Penguins on the scoresheet, and yes, they're contributing to the team's ability to have leads in the first place. 

But none of that matters if these players can't come through in the biggest, most high-stakes moments, which aren't always on the offensive side of the puck. Some of the defensive efforts on these goals against have been questionable at best and unacceptable at worst. And when a team's leadership group is doing this, it trickles down to the rest of the team. 

Maybe that's harsh, but it's the truth. And the thing is that these guys know this. They'll be the first to tell you that they need to be better. That they need to set that example. These players have enough talent and winning pedigree to know what it takes to win hockey games, and for whatever reason, there is a disconnect on the execution right now. 

And, maybe, that's some cause for optimism. Muse said in his presser on Sunday that the Penguins can't play cautious and need to remain aggressive with leads. Karlsson spoke after the game as well and explained that the blown third-periods aren't because of a lack of talent or ability or that it comes down to systems and schemes.

Instead, he said it's all a mindset - and, because of that, it's fixable.

“With the history that we've had here in the past couple weeks, you start overthinking stuff and you start worrying about the 'what ifs' instead of just playing the situation," Karlsson said. "If they beat you, they beat you. It's going to happen. We're playing against the best players in the world, and we've got to remember that we're part of that group and we're more than capable to play with anyone.

"It’s more a mindset right now. The good thing about that is it’s controllable. I don’t think it has anything to do with systems or X’s and O’s. It’s within ourselves. We’ve got to find a way to regain that trust individually and as a team.”

And finding those ways comes down to Karlsson. And Crosby. And Letang. And Rust. And all the other leaders in the locker room who set the example and the tone for everyone else in the room. If the Penguins want things to change, it starts with those guys. They need to be the ones to raise the bar and set the example. 

The Penguins have five more games before the holiday break, and they're certainly not out of things. This next week and a half will show everyone exactly what this team truly is - and what their veterans and best players are willing to do to change the narrative.

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The Los Angeles Kings unraveled with a plethora of problems coming into this game, first with Quinton Byfield and Phillip Danault missing tonight's game, and then their best player, Darcy Kuemper, going down with a hard-hit injury, turning the momentum in the Stars' favor into a lopsided score. 

Dallas scored three goals in the final six minutes of the third period to break the tie and pull away with a 4-1 win, handing Los Angeles another frustrating loss against a Western Conference contender. 

Breaking News: Kings Travel To Dallas, Missing Key PlayersHours before puck drop in Dallas, illness forces a shakeup in the Kings' lineup today, leaving Los Angeles without two of their trusted options in the middle against a tough Western Conference team tonight.

Kuemper’s Injury Becomes a Concern

The turning point may have come before the scoreboard. 

Midway through the first period, when the game was still 0-0, both teams were playing very good defense, and the Kings were playing with fight. Kuemper went down in the crease after contact near the head and neck area from Mikko Rantanen during a traffic scramble around the net. 

Despite the hard contact, no penalty was called on Dallas, which was hard to understand given the amount of contact on the play, and the refs' inability to take their time and make the right call. 

The explanation was that Kuemper was outside the crease, but the replay clearly shows he's in the blue paint, head contact, and still no penalty was called. 

Kuemper remained down on the ice for a while and ultimately was helped off the floor and left the game, not returning for the remainder of the night. Anton Forsberg was Kuemper's replacement and did a solid job at the start, but the injury changed the tone for the Kings. 

Before Kuemper went down, he stopped all five shots that came at him, including multiple shots from Rantanen and Nils Lundkvist. 

Kings’ Kuemper Leaves Game After Collision With Stars’ RantanenLos Angeles Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper left the game against the Dallas Stars following a collision with right winger Mikko Rantanen.

Kings Strike First, But Can’t Hold On

Despite losing their goaltender, the Kings scored the first goal early in the second period. Andrei Kuzmenko capitalized on the Dallas giveaway to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead.

The Kings maintained a steady pace and outshot Dallas at times, but failed to capitalize. The inability to extend the lead and make it competitive at least came back to haunt them. 

Dallas got back in the game when Matt Duchene scored the first goal for the Stars in the second period to tie it 1-1 heading into the third. 

Late Collapse Seals It

For much of the third period, Forsberg was doing a good job of preventing Dallas’ offense from breaking through, but the Stars' depth eventually made it tough for Forsberg to stop. 

Oskar Back gave the Stars their first lead, converting off the nice cycle play by Radek Faksa and Colin Blackwell. From then on, the floodgates opened. 

In the final three minutes, Dallas scored two straight goals to seal the deal with a 4-1 win. 

Big Picture

The Kings showed fight when Kuemper was on the ice before his injury, but the late injury led to the breakdown for Los Angeles. Right now, that’s the most concerning part for the Kings, not just their performance, but the uncertainty surrounding Kuemper’s health. 

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The Ottawa Senators have been saying for some time that they've been playing the right way and just not getting the bounces. On Monday night, in a 3-2 overtime victory in Winnipeg, they got one.

Down 2-1 in the final moments of regulation, with goalie Linus Ullmark on the bench for the extra attacker, Jake Sanderson's shot from the point deflected off Mark Scheifele's stick and fluttered into the net to tie the game at 2.

Then, after some great saves at both ends, Tim Stutzle got loose on a 2-on-1 with Brady Tkachuk. Every hockey fan in Ottawa knew that Stutzle would pass it to his pal, and he did. Tkachuk one-timed a snapshot past Connor Hellebuyck for the win in front of the Winnipeg side of the Tkachuk family in attendance.

Stutzle wound up with three assists on the evening to lead the offence, and has erupted for nine points in his last four games. Connor Hellebuyck, in his second game since coming off injured reserve, made 28 of 31 saves, frustrating the Senators on several point-blank chances.

Hellebuyck has won the last two Vezina Trophies, and Linus Ullmark won the one before that, and they were both in fine form on Monday. Ullmark stopped 23 of 25 shots, including an absolute beauty on a 2-on-1 in overtime.

After a scoreless first, the Senators opened the scoring on a 2-on-1 from an unlikely duo. Tim Stutzle left the puck for Kurtis MacDermid in the neutral zone, and after crossing the blue line, the big man fed it to Nick Cousins in the high slot. His shot was partially stopped by Hellebuyck but trickled past him to open the scoring.

That ended a 44-game point drought for MacDermid that dates back to March of 2024.

Neal Pionk and Logan Stanley both scored from distance late in the second to make it 2-1, and until Sanderson's late heroics, it looked like that result might hold up. But the Senators have been overdue for a late-game bounce or two.

With the victory, the Senators improved to 15-13-4 and stand four points out of a playoff spot from both a divisional and wild card standpoint. That closes out the Senators' three-game road trip with a 2-1 mark, and they'll be back home on Thursday night, hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:00 p.m.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa

NEW YORK (AP) — Cutter Gauthier scored the go-ahead goal six minutes into the third period and got his second on an empty-netter, Lukas Dostal stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced, and the Anaheim Ducks beat the New York Rangers 4-1 on Monday night to end a two-game losing streak.

Gauthier’s first goal with one second left on a power play came off a perfectly placed pass from rookie Beckett Sennecke. Igor Shesterkin barely had a chance to react.

Defenseman Jackson LaCombe scored Anaheim’s first goal shorthanded in the second period, putting home a rebound after Jacob Trouba sprung Ryan Poehling up the ice late in the Rangers’ 5-on-3 power play. Dostal was brilliant at the other end of the rink, at one point making a toe save on J.T. Miller and sliding over to deny Vladislav Gavrikov immediately after.

The Ducks got a goal in the final seconds from Pavel Mintyukov and celebrated with Trouba and veteran forward Chris Kreider, who returned to play at Madison Square Garden for the first time since the Rangers sent them to southern California in separate trades. Kreider and Trouba each waved to the crowd after tribute videos during timeouts in the first while fans applauded.

Matthew Robertson scored the only goal for the Rangers, who have lost 12 of 16 games at home. The shot from Robinson deflected off Frank Vatrano’s stick and popped into the air before going in off Dostal’s.

New York was without center Mika Zibanejad, whom coach Mike Sullivan scratched for breaking a team rule by missing a meeting. Big winger Matt Rempe took Zibanejad’s spot in the lineup, back after he missed 24 games since getting injured in a fight Oct. 23.

Up next

Ducks: Wrap up their five-game Eastern Conference road trip Tuesday night at the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Rangers: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.

The Florida Panthers were looking to build off their shutout win in Dallas as they wrapped up their road trip in Tampa on Monday night.

They certainly did so, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning by a final of 5-2 to wrap up their four-game road trip through three different time zones.

Florida’s penalty kill came into Monday killing 21 of their last 22 penalties, and after creating multiple chances in their last game, they were able to convert minutes into the hockey game, thanks to Sam Reinhart.

On a quick odd man rush, the Bolts were drawing more towards Anton Lundell, Reinhart saw a clear shooting lane and converted.

His 16th of the season and third short handed.

Reinhart scored his 13th short handed goal as a Panthers, tying Aleksander Barkov for second most in franchise history.

Radek Dvorak holds the franchise short handed goal record at 16.

It didn’t take long for the Cats to add to their lead.

Tampa Bay had a quality scoring chance to tie the game, where Yanni Gourde hit the post, and on the same shift, Florida came up off the rush the break, and just like Reinhart earlier, Lundell came up the right wing and shot the puck before Tampa was able to close in and they beat Jonas Johansson once again.

Lundell with his 10th of the season and the former first round pick has reach double digit goals in each of his five seasons in a Panthers sweater.

Lighting owned three-fourths of the shot attempt share in all situations in the first period, but were unable to find the back of the net. The chances were highlighted by two saves from Sergei Bobrovsky in the same sequence on Nikita Kucherov and Anthony Cirelli.

Florida completely tilted the ice in the second period, with a good amount of their shots coming on an early power play in the second period.

Despite not scoring on the man advantage, they converted just over midway through the period.

Off a give-n-go on a zone entry, Carter Verhaeghe center the puck to a cutting Brad Marchand and connected beautifully on the tape, and redirected it in to make it a three-goal lead.

Marchand now at 19 goals on the season, where he had 23 all of last season, and on pace for 49 goals.

The dominance continued late into the frame as the Panthers won a board battle in the corner, with Mackie Samoskevich coming on the ice with the first power play unit, and wasted no time getting the puck off his stick and set up Reinhart all alone in the left circle, and his wrist shot beat Johansson to make it a 4-0 lead.

There was not going to be a second consecutive shutout for Florida, as the Bolts responded just over a minute later and before the second intermission, where Max Crozier’s shot from the point got through loads and traffic and got through Bobrovsky past the far side blocker.

That was Crozier's first career NHL goal.

Tampa Bay's momentum carried over into the third period as they got a goal on the board off a counter attack, Brayden Point hit JJ Moser as the trailer, his fake slap shot froze the Panthers defense and with Jake Guentzel parked in the blue paint, it was now a two-goal game. 

Paul Maurice challenge for goaltender interference, but was unsuccessful with Guentzel's skates outside of the blue paint. 

Florida went to the box for delay of game on the challenge, but did not allow them to climb back even closer continuing their run killing 25 of their last 26 penalties. 

Shortly after another successful kill, it's another score as Uvis Balinskis kept the puck in the Lightning end, and fed Carter Verhaeghe down low.

Verhaeghe recognized Johansson committing down, and shot it top shelf  to make it 5-2 for his 10th goal of the season, and his sixth since returning to the lineup after becoming a father, and is halfway towards his goal total from last season. 

Balinskis with two primary assist's on the evening.   

Guess what? The Panthers kill another penalty after Rodrigues went to the box for delay of game, not allowing the Bolts to even get close to making it a hockey game. 

Florida allowed six shots on five Tampa power plays. 

Florida ended the road trip earning six out of a possible eight points and are in striking distance of the final playoff spot with 50 games left.

Panthers return home as they will play eight of their next nine games in Sunrise. First on the schedule will be the Los Angeles Kings in Anze Kopitar’s final visit to South Florida as they will look to sweep the season series.

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One of the things that will be remembered about the 2024 NHL Draft is how many good young defensemen were seen as good options relatively early in the first round.

When you look at the top 12 overall picks from last year, half of them ended up being defensemen, and as the Senators stepped up to the podium at seventh overall, five of the six D were still on the board. Artyom Levshunov was chosen second overall by the Chicago Blackhawks, and Ottawa’s choice of Carter Yakemchuk made him the second defenseman taken in the draft.

As such, expectations for Yakemchuk are sky high, not just to get to the NHL, but to be a very good top-four defenseman when he gets here. No one in Ottawa wants to hear that the Senators invested a seventh overall pick in a player who is a nice bottom-pairing NHL defenseman, or, for that matter, that he needed five years to get here.

Yakemchuk has been playing big minutes with the Belleville Senators of the American Hockey League, but has yet to get a call-up to the NHL, despite being a final cut at each of the last two Ottawa training camps. Now he's injured, so his development is on hold for the time being, and fans may have to wait even longer for his arrival.

Meanwhile, even the most patient fans can't help but start to notice that three of the four defensemen selected after Yakemchuk are already in the NHL. That includes Zeev Buium, who has 16 points in his first 32 NHL games this season. Buium did a pretty decent Quinn Hughes impression with two points in his first game as a Vancouver Canuck on the weekend.

No one has any idea this early in the game who will emerge as the best defenseman out of the 2024 NHL Draft class. But that won't stop the coulda, shoulda debates from breaking out, forcing the sensible fans to unpack all the sensible cliches: Better overripe than underdeveloped. Or everyone develops at their own pace. Or just trying to be Best in Class

All of those concepts are impossible to argue with.

Senators' Top Prospect Carter Yakemchuk Injured In Collision During Sunday's AHL GameThe Senators anxiously await a health update on their 2024 seventh-overall draft pick.

So what should people expect from a defenseman chosen in the first round? When should he arrive? There is, obviously, no set answer, no crystal ball, and Ottawa’s checkered history of drafting defensemen in the first round proves all that.

1995: Bryan Berard, first overall

Despite being the number one overall pick, Berard failed to make a very bad Senators team in 1995-96, which was part of why he asked for a trade. Berard spent that season in the OHL with the Detroit Whalers, and after the Sens traded him, he joined the New York Islanders the following year, where he had 48 points in 82 games. which would be his career high as an NHL player. Four seasons after that, now with Toronto, his career was never the same after taking a stick in the eye in a game against the Senators.

1996: Chris Phillips, first overall

Just as Yakemchuk did, Phillips returned for another season in the Western Hockey League, split between Prince Albert and Lethbridge. He then joined the Senators for the 1997-98 season and went on to become the Senators’ all-time games-played leader at 1,179.

2000: Anton Volchenkov, 21st overall

Volchenkov returned to Russia for two years before joining the Senators full-time for the 2002-03 season. He played seven seasons for the Senators in a shot-blocking, shutdown role, and the Senators could use two more like him right now.

2004: Andrej Meszaros, 23rd overall

Meszaros was selected out of Slovakia and came over after the draft to play for the Vancouver Giants in the Western Hockey League. After one season there, Meszaros joined the Senators and put up 39 points in his rookie season and finished third in the NHL with a plus-34. In a 2009 contract dispute, the Senators traded Meszaros to Tampa for Filip Kuba, Alexandre Picard and a 2009 first-round pick.

2005: Brian Lee, ninth overall

Like future Senators Christian Wolanin, Tyler Kleven, and Jake Sanderson, Lee headed to the University of North Dakota after his draft year, where he spent two seasons. He spent most of a third season with Binghamton of the American Hockey League before joining the Senators in 2008. Lee didn't have a particularly distinguished Sens career and was eventually traded after parts of five seasons to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

2008: Erik Karlsson, 15th overall

Not even three-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson was immune from the need for development after the Senators selected him. He returned to Sweden for one year in 2009, then played 12 games for the Binghamton Senators before becoming a full-time Senator. He posted 26 points in 60 games in his rookie season, so there was still some work to be done.

2009: Jared Cowen, ninth overall

After being drafted, Cowen returned to Spokane of the Western Hockey League for three more seasons before finally cracking Ottawa’s lineup in 2011, when he played all 82 games. He played parts of four seasons after that but ran into injury trouble that ended his career in his mid-20s.

2012: Cody Ceci,15th overall

Ceci returned to junior for one more season split between the Ottawa 67’s and the Owen Sound Attack. The following year he played 27 games with Binghamton and then became a full-time Senator for the next six seasons.

2015: Thomas Chabot, 18th overall

Chabot returned to the Saint John Sea Dogs for the better part of two seasons. He played 13 games with Belleville before becoming a full-time Senator in 2017-18. Chabot has been excellent offensively for the Senators, and while his detractors would like to see a little more intensity without the puck, there's no arguing that his absence from Ottawa’s lineup has been glaring this season as he works through an injury.

2019: Lassi Thomson, 19th overall

After being drafted, Thomson returned to Europe for a year and a half, then came back to North America to play 35 games with Belleville before making his NHL debut with Ottawa in 2021-22. But he never stuck as an NHL regular. In 2024, he left for Europe again but returned to the organization this year as a free agent.

2020: Jake Sanderson, 5th overall

After Sanderson was drafted in 2020, he went to school for two years at the University of North Dakota before he reported for NHL duty in Ottawa. Sanderson needed two full developmental seasons after his draft year and then became the Sens' best defenseman (and probably one of the ten best in the game).

So no one really needs to fret right now about Yakemchuk's ETA.

2025: Logan Hensler, 23rd overall

Along with three other Sens prospects, Hensler is at the University of Wisconsin, which is off to a dominant 14-2-2 start. Henslerr has 8 points in 15 games, but it's far too early to include him in a list where we're trying to see if there's a trend. 

Ottawa's draft history shows why projecting Carter Yakemchuk’s NHL arrival, or his eventual ceiling, is so difficult. There's obviously no perfectly reliable strategy, or timetables, or guarantees, regardless of draft position. And every first-round pick is awesome until we all decide he isn't.

In the absence of a perfect formula, patience will always be the strongest fallback, even for players with great expectations. 

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News

This article was originally published at The Hockey News Ottawa. Read more:

30 Games Into The Season, What Is The Ottawa Senators' Identity?
Senators Comeback Effort Wasted In 3-2 Regulation Loss In Minnesota
After A Hot Start, Senators' Veteran Goes Ice Cold And Now Joins Injury List
Popular Former Ottawa Senator Forward Attempting Comeback At Age 38
Four Ottawa Senators Make Annual List Of Most Punchable NHL Players

As they already deal with the temporary absence of centers Quinton Byfield and Phillip Danault, the Los Angeles Kings lose goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who exited the game early against the Dallas Stars.

Late in the first period, Stars right winger Mikko Rantanen collided with Kuemper following a shot that came from the point. Rantanen skated across the Kings’ crease, catching Kuemper on his left side and making some contact with his head.

Dallas scored on the play, but the referee immediately waived it off. The game remained 0-0 going into the second period.

The Kings announced that Kuemper would not return to the contest, meaning backup goaltender Anton Forsberg will have to finish the job against Dallas.

After the collision, Los Angeles’ starting netminder stayed down on the ice for a few moments before heading down the tunnel. 

Forsberg filled in for the final four minutes of the opening frame, but didn’t face a shot in that span.

Kuemper has missed time earlier this season with a lower-body injury. He missed two games in the middle of October. The Kings dropped both games, which were against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Carolina Hurricanes.

The 35-year-old has been a key contributor to Los Angeles holding on to a playoff spot in the Pacific Division. 

In his last five starts, Kuemper put up a 2-2-1 record, while registering a .944 save percentage, a 1.62 goals-against average and a shutout. Since the start of December, he’s been one of the best goaltenders in the NHL.

Where Does Kuemper Stand In Team Canada’s Goaltending Depth Chart?Darcy Kuemper has been solid for the Los Angeles Kings lately, including a shutout in his last appearance. However, where does he stand on Team Canada's goaltending depth chart ahead of the 2026 Olympics?

In terms of season totals, the Saskatoon native has made 22 appearances before his start against the Stars. He has a 10-6-6 record, putting up a .916 SP, 2.21 GAA and two shutouts.

Among NHL netminders who have played at least 15 games, he ranks fifth in save percentage and third in goals-against average. Additionally, he’s tied for third in shutouts, behind Sergei Bobrovsky and Ilya Sorokin, who have three each.

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The inevitable happened Monday afternoon when the Buffalo Sabres fired GM Kevyn Adams, replacing him after more than five years on the job with senior advisor and former Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen. There are legitimate questions as to whether it would be better to hire a permanent replacement for Adams in the next NHL off-season, but that’s another column for another day. 

In this file, we’re going to look at what areas Kekalainen needs to address to pull this Sabres team out of the basement of the Eastern Conference and back into the playoffs after what is almost assuredly going to be a 15-year Stanley Cup playoff drought. Here they are:

1. Settle The Goaltending Picture

If there’s one area the Sabres have depth in, it’s their netminding. With four NHL-caliber goaltenders – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Alex Lyon, Colten Ellis and Devon Levi – Kekalainen has to pick a couple of them to build around, then deal at least one, if not two goalies.

As we saw with the Stuart Skinner/Tristan Jarry blockbuster trade, the netminding market is a seller’s market. And with few other teams ready, willing and able to peel off a goalie or two, Kekalainen needs to capitalize on his goaltending depth and convert the goalies he doesn’t want to build around into strengths in other areas. There’s no imminent rush to make a move, but if Buffalo finishes the year with all four goalies still in-house, that will represent a management failure.

2. Decide On A New Core Of Talent

Some may argue that the Sabres should still keep all of their core of talent together as the Kekalainen Era begins. But not this writer. For us, it’s well beyond time for Buffalo to make some material changes to their present and their future. And if that means trading a name-brand talent like, say, defenseman Owen Power or Tage Thompson, so be it.

If the definition of sports insanity is running it back year-in and year-out with the same group of talent that’s failed time and again and expecting different results, it’s easy to see what Kekalainen needs to do. He’s got to identify a new collection of players to build around, and chart a different course that Sabres fans can invest their time, money and emotions in. Kekalainen will have a honeymoon phase in the immediate weeks and months ahead, but he’ll squander that in short order if he doesn’t show why his way will work where Adams’ way continued to fail.

3. Make The Most Of The Future – One Way Or Another

The last thing most Sabres fans will want to hear from Kekalainen is a plea for patience. And it’s understandable why Buffalo fans will be looking for changes right away. Another drawn-out future is not going to cut it if there’s not a clear path forward. And considering that the Sabres have all three first-round draft picks in the next three seasons, they should easily be able to turn one of those picks into an NHL difference-maker.

Now, if Kekalainen says he’s not going to trade a first-rounder, Buffalo fans should be rightfully concerned about the team’s new management. In many ways, Adams had almost a trade paralysis late in his stint with the Sabres, and Kekalainen must show some courage in his direction for the team. He needs to take some calculated gambles that have a high upside. And believe us when we tell you that teams will be lining up to acquire a Sabres top pick. So long as they don’t continue to underwhelm for the foreseeable future, Buffalo should be prepared to do things differently as long as those different results will follow.