It should be quite the summer for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the free agent market.

The Penguins have already shipped most of their pending-unrestricted free agents (UFAs) elsewhere for assets, as forward Lars Eller was traded in November and defenseman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O'Connor were dealt at the end of January. There are also plenty of whispers about President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas dabbling in the restricted free agent market to bring in some young talent from elsewhere. 

But with free agency will also come decisions on which pending-restricted free agents (RFAs) of their own that they'll want to keep in the organization.

So who should they keep around, and who should they move on from, in restricted free agency?

Philip Tomasino

Keep: Yes

Tomasino is probably the most obvious choice for the Penguins to keep around, as he has found some momentum with the Penguins this season.

Since being traded to Pittsburgh by the Nashville Predators for a 2027 fourth-round pick on Nov. 25, Tomasino has registered 10 goals and 19 points in 41 games, which is good enough for a 20-goal pace. He has found some chemistry with Evgeni Malkin, and - at only 23 years old - he is a player who can complement some of the younger prospects who will be part of the Penguins' roster in 2025-26.

Connor Dewar

Keep: No

Although Dewar has scored his only three goals of the season in his five games as a Penguin, it still doesn't change the fact that he is, at his very best, a lower-end third-line winger on a good team.

It's not that Dewar isn't good enough to be kept around. It's more so that keeping a guy like him around will surely block some deserving prospects from seeing NHL ice next season. And at the stage the Penguins are in, prospect development should be the priority.

Conor Timmins

Keep: Yes

Timmins has been a steady presence on Pittsburgh's third pairing since coming over in the same trade that brought Dewar over from the Toronto Maple Leafs on deadline day. He has a goal and four points in five games with the Penguins and is tied for first in blocked shots per game at 1.4.

Defensive depth is never a bad thing to have, and the Penguins could use more depth options on their right side - especially if Erik Karlsson ends up being shopped this summer.

P.O Joseph

Keep: No

In December, Dubas essentially added Joseph for nothing, acquiring him from the St. Louis Blues for future considerations. At the time, the move made sense in order to shore up some defensive depth, as injuries were piling up and Joseph was a safe, cheap option.

However, the Penguins have enough left defensemen on their roster - Ryan Graves, Ryan Shea, Vladislav Kolyachonok, as well as Owen Pickering - who can fill that side just fine. Having Joseph around will only block a spot for Pickering - and the possiblity must be considered that the Penguins may seek to extend Matt Grzelcyk as well.

Vasily Ponomarev

Keep: Yes

Ponomarev, 23, is having a solid season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, even if he's gone a bit cold with just two goals and four points in the last 10 games. On the season, he has 13 goals and 35 points in 46 games, and he saw three NHL games this season.

This should be a "prove it" one- or two-year deal for Ponomarev, who figures to be on the NHL roster for most - if not, all - of next season. The young two-way forward, at this juncture, projects to be just one player out of the crop of prospects in the Penguins' system expected to make some kind of impact in future NHL minutes.

Other RFA predictions:

Keep:

     - G Taylor Gauthier
     - D Mac Hollowell
     - D Filip Kral
     - F Mathias Laferriere

Don't keep:

     - F Raivis Ansons
     - D Colton Poolman 

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Backed by Bo Horvat's two goals, the New York Islanders defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in overtime to earn two key points in the standings.

The Islanders were without Alexander Romanov, who missed his second consecutive game due to illness.

Here's how it happened:

The Islanders earned the first power play of the game when Brendan Gallagher took out Ilya Sorokin's legs for a goaltender interference call.

After a shaky start in the opening minute of the power play, the Islanders struck first when Anders Lee battled for possession below the goal line and set up Anthony Duclair in front of the net.

Duclair capitalized, slipping the puck past Sam Montembeault for his seventh goal of the season at 5:37:

Duclair PPG goal!

#Isles  up 1-0 at 5:37 of the first.

Anders Lee tallied his 500th career point with that goal!

Congrats captain!! pic.twitter.com/XX8yo8xxjk

— The Elmonters (@TheElmonters) March 20, 2025

The assist earned Lee his 500th career NHL point.

The Islanders went to the penalty kill at 9:22 when Adam Pelech was called for interference against Juraj Slafkovsky, but the Canadiens failed to convert.

Minutes later, Joshua Roy found the equalizer, capitalizing on a loose rebound atop the crease and burying it into the open net at 11:57:

un retour incROYable

J̶o̶h̶n̶n̶y̶ Joshy on the spot#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/JpiOYzdhHG

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 21, 2025

The Islanders headed to their second penalty kill of the opening period when Lee tripped Josh Anderson at 14:03 but once again survived the two minutes.

The Canadiens outshot the Islanders 15-7 in the first period. 

Gallagher earned his second minor penalty when he interfered with Scott Mayfield just 31 seconds into the second period, but Noah Dobson's interference minor on Jake Evans cut the power play short.

After killing the penalty, the Islanders got caught in a line change, leaving Nick Suzuki open for a breakaway.

Suzuki beat Sorokin on his glove side at 4:05, but the goal was called back due to offsides:

Make the call: good goal or offside? pic.twitter.com/nteqJ0tC0U

— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) March 21, 2025

After the Canadiens controlled much of the ensuing play, the Islanders earned a power play when Mike Matheson was called for holding at 15:20.

It was an impressive power play for the Islanders, and Simon Holmstrom capitalized when he put a slapshot past Montembeault at 16:40:

Simon Holmstrom “made no mistake about it!” 🚀🧨💥🚨#GoHabsGo 1#Isles 2 pic.twitter.com/cwM5FxMece

— The Elmonters (@TheElmonters) March 21, 2025

Holmstrom's goal was his 17th of the season and extended his scoring streak to three games.

In the period's final minutes, Pelech awkwardly collided with Emil Heineman but was able to return.

Despite getting outshot 10-7 in the second period, the Islanders entered the final frame up 2-1.

In the most crucial period of their season so far, the Islanders quickly extended their lead when Horvat lowered his shoulder, powered past Matheson, and fired a shot through Montembeault at 2:31:

Bo Horvat powers 💪🏻the #Isles  to a 3-1 third period lead over #GoHabsGo

Ilya Sorokin collects an assist! pic.twitter.com/68oj7vm6w0

— The Elmonters (@TheElmonters) March 21, 2025

This was Horvat's 22nd goal of the year, with Dobson and Sorokin registering assists on the play.

The Islanders headed to a crucial penalty kill when Kyle MacLean tripped Evans at 4:15.

Following some chaos in the crease, Patrik Laine fired a slapshot into the open net for his 17th goal of the season at 4:32:

une machine

and the goal is... GOOD#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/JXnPlX0ToU

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 21, 2025

Patrick Roy challenged for goaltender interference, but the goal stood, sending the Islanders to the penalty kill for delay of game. They survived the two minutes.

With under six minutes to play, an offensive turnover sprung Gallagher on a breakaway, where he put a shot past Sorokin's glove for his 17th goal of the season:

vous savez à qui il va, celui-là

you know who this one's for

❤️ pic.twitter.com/WKjc2W6IGE

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 21, 2025

Both teams traded chances in the closing minutes, but regulation ended at 3-3.

The Canadiens outshot the Islanders 15-7 in the third period.

With 90 seconds remaining in overtime, Horvat knocked Lane Hutson off the puck then received a Tony DeAngelo feed before heading up ice.

Going end-to-end, Horvat fired it past Montembeault's blocker for the game-winner:

Bo Horvat in OT for his second goal of the night🚨🚨#Isles win! pic.twitter.com/TReAqr1Pl1

— The Elmonters (@TheElmonters) March 21, 2025

UP NEXT: The Islanders host the Calgary Flames on Saturday at 2:00 PM ET 

Stay updated with the most interesting Islanders stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jonathan Huberdeau scored with 3:20 left to play to lift the Calgary Flames to a come-from-behind 5-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.

Matt Coronato, Connor Zary, Daniil Miromanov and Nazem Kadri also had goals for Calgary, which erased a two-goal deficit in the third period with four unanswered goals for its second straight road win.

Rookie Dustin Wolfe made 26 saves in the victory.

Nico Hischier recorded a goal and an assist for the Devils, extending his points streak to five straight games. Erik Haula and Paul Cotter also scored and Jacob Markstrom stopped 23 shots.

With the Flames trailing 3-2, Miromanov tied it with his second goal of the season on assists from Blake Coleman and Joel Farabee with 4:20 left. Huberdeau’s unassisted snap shot one minute later put Calgary up with his 26th goal of the season.

Kadri closed it out for the Flames with an empty-netter with 12 seconds left.

Takeaways

Flames: Calgary has shown resilience on its East Coast road trip, winning 2-1 at the New York Rangers on Tuesday before the comeback against the Devils. The Flames are in the hunt for a wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Devils: This was New Jersey’s first regulation loss this season after leading while entering the third period. It’s also the fourth time the Devils allowed four third-period goals, three times since the Four Nations Face-Off in February.

Key moment

New Jersey managed just four shots on goal in the third period compared to 15 from Calgary.

Key stat

The Devils are 4-3 since Jack Hughes suffered a season-ending separated shoulder on March 5.

Up next

Flames: End their four-game road trip at the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Devils: Host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday in the second game of a three-game homestand.

The Vancouver Canucks’ Thursday night matchup against the St. Louis Blues was full of cathartic celebrations and upsets. Despite a bunch of new records on the line, the Canucks could not come out of the game with a win, dropping the game 4–3 in overtime. Kiefer Sherwood and Brock Boeser (2), scored for the Canucks, while Zack Bolduc, Tyler Tucker, Dylan Holloway, and Philip Broberg found the back of the net for St. Louis. Kevin Lankinen started for Vancouver, stopping 25 of 29 shots faced. With the overtime loss, Vancouver is now out of a playoff spot with 76 points in 69 games played. Currently, they have one game in hand on St. Louis. 

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Lankinen was an early hero for the Canucks, making seven saves in the first seven minutes of the game including a kick-save on Robert Thomas. He made yet another in-tight save on Thomas only minutes later, stopping what easily could have been St. Louis’ first goal of the game. One of his most impressive saves of the night was during the first frame, when he and Filip Hronek joined forces to keep out a rebound off the goal post with only seconds left in the period. 

Despite the 0–0 score, St. Louis dominated Vancouver in nearly every stat to start the game. They put up 12 shots to Vancouver’s three and won 66.7% of the first period faceoffs, as well as put up a 5-on-5 corsi-for percentage of 64.71% and an xGF% of 89.16%. While each team was awarded a partial power play, neither were able to capitalize on the chance. 

Vancouver picked up their pace in the second period, making sure to keep the puck in St. Louis’ zone throughout the first seven minutes. Shots by Teddy Blueger and Kiefer Sherwood could have been the game’s opening goal if not for Jordan Binnington’s efforts in the crease. Marcus Pettersson also had two shots during this span of time. By the game’s halfway mark, the Canucks nearly matched St. Louis’ early shot count with 11 to the Blues’ 15. However, even with their early push, St. Louis scored off a deflection from Quinn Hughes and left the second period with a 1–0 lead. 

Tonight was a big game for Sherwood, who came in needing only 11 hits to break the NHL record in hits made in one season. He finished the game with 10 hits made, tying him with Jeremy Lauzon’s 383 hits for the record. Most importantly, however, he scored to tie the game at 1–1, helping Vancouver stay in pursuit of the ever-important two points up for grabs at the end of the game. He finished the match with one shot on net and 15:58 minutes played. 

Two players who have been heating up as of late are Elias Pettersson and Nils Höglander. The two have been paired up since Vancouver’s match against the Calgary Flames last Wednesday, and put together, they have produced a combined 11 points. Adding to that total, they each tallied an assist on Boeser’s 200th career goal, with Pettersson getting one on Boeser’s second goal of the game. Together, alongside Boeser, they finished the game with a corsi-for percentage of 55%. 

The game looked to be a loss for Vancouver until Boeser fired the puck at the net and beat Binnington with less than three seconds left in the game. During overtime, St. Louis nearly won off a close goal that sat on the red line of the net, but since Lankinen stopped it and it didn’t completely cross the line, the chance did not count. The Blues went on to score off a rush chance by Broberg, preventing Vancouver from taking the extra point.  

"Both teams needed those points badly," Dakota Joshua said of the team's effort after the game. "It was nice to see some resiliency and battle back to get a point in the end there. But yeah, one we would have liked to have." 

"We've gotta clean it up. Clean that stuff up. I thought the second or third we were better. I didn't think our first was that good," Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet noted of the team's playing style postgame.

"It's a point, you know. It's a big point," he added. "Down the road, it can really help us."

Stats and Facts: 

• With the overtime loss, Vancouver’s playoff odds are now at 37.2% as calculated by MoneyPuck.com 
• Brock Boeser scores his 200th career goal, becoming the ninth player in Canucks history to do so 
• Brock Boeser scores two goals in two straight games for the first time this season 
• With his 383rd hit of the season, Kiefer Sherwood ties Jeremy Lauzon’s NHL hit record  
• Quinn Hughes hits 399 career NHL points 

Scoring Summary: 

1st Period: 

No scoring. 

2nd Period: 

15:48 - STL: Zack Bolduc (13) from Cam Fowler and Nick Leddy 

3rd Period: 

1:09 - VAN: Kiefer Sherwood (15) from Filip Hronek and Marcus Pettersson 

6:35 - VAN: Brock Boeser (21) from Nils Höglander and Elias Pettersson 

9:27 - STL: Tyler Tucker (3) from Brayden Schenn 

9:52 - STL: Dylan Holloway (23) from Jordan Kyrou and Tyler Tucker 

19:57 - VAN: Brock Boeser (22) from Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes 

Overtime: 

3:41 - STL: Philip Broberg (7) from Brayden Schenn and Dylan Holloway 

Up Next: 

Vancouver’s next game is on Saturday, March 22, against former Canuck J.T. Miller and the New York Rangers. It will be Vancouver’s first time playing against Miller since trading him to the Rangers at the end of January. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:00 am PT. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum.

Kiefer Sherwood has tied an NHL record. During the Vancouver Canucks game on Thursday against the St. Louis Blues, Sherwood threw his 383rd hit of the season, which tied Jeremy Lauzon's NHL record. The record-tying hit was Sherwood's 10th of the game and came at 12:35 of the third period against Tyler Tucker. 

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Despite only playing 65 games with the Canucks, Sherwood already ranks 19th all-time in franchise history for hits. Earlier this season, he also tied the franchise record for hits in a game when he threw 12 against the Chicago Blackhawks. This season, Sherwood has thrown at least 10 hits in seven games and has thrown over 100 hits more than any other player in the NHL.

On top of being a hitting machine, Sherwood is also having a career year offensively. He has set new career highs in points with 29 and hit the 15-goal mark for the first time in his career. Sherwood signed a two-year contract with Vancouver during the 2024 offseason, which carries a cap hit of $1.5 million.

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum.

A playoff atmosphere filled Nationwide Arena on Thursday night for a late-season matchup between the Florida Panthers and Columbus Blue Jackets.

With both teams looking to break out of recent funks, the game was as tight and competitive as you’d hope this late in the season between a couple of potential postseason clubs.

Ultimately it was the Panthers coming out on top of this goaltenders’ duel, earning a feisty 1-0 victory in overtime.

Florida played a strong first period, holding Columbus without a shot on goal for almost seven minutes after the opening puck drop.

The Panthers ended up outshooting the home team 12-5 during the first period but nobody was able to solve the goaltenders.

After Elvis Merzlikins was the busier of the tendies during the opening 20 minutes, it was Sergei Bobrovsky who was called upon more frequently after the second period arrived.

Columbus thought they had the game’s first goal with 9:47 left in the third period.

Boone Jenner was tied up just outside the goal crease but was able to kick a loose puck past a sprawling Bobrovsky.

Florida’s goaltender quickly jumped up, waving his arms at the referee, but it took an official review for the refs to take the goal off the scoreboard.

An exciting, physical third period yielded no goals, so for the first time in five seasons, the Panthers went to overtime in a scoreless tie.

Thanks to a late delay of game penalty of Kirill Marchenko, Florida had a 4-on-3 power play when the extra session began.

After some quick puck movement, Panthers Captain Sasha Barkov wired a wrist shot over Merzlikins’ blocker 28 seconds into overtime.

Ballgame.

On to Washington.

QUICK THOUGHTS

Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves, including all six high danger shots the Blue Jackets sent his way.

The last time a Panthers game was 0-0 after sixty minutes was on Feb. 4, 2020 at Columbus.

Florida lost on a Zach Werenski overtime goal.

Barkov has now scored in consecutive games for the second time this month.

Sam Reinhart picked up an assist on Barkov’s goal, his seventh assist and ninth point over his past seven games.

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After a six-game winning streak, the hot and cold Ottawa Senators are suddenly showing the earmarks of another cold streak, and few things are colder than getting snowed under at home by the Avalanche.

After a 6-3 loss in Montreal on Tuesday, the Senators had a weak response on Thursday, losing 5-1 to the Colorado Avalanche.

Brock Nelson scored twice for the Avs who outshot Ottawa 32-16. Cale Makar, Jonathan Drouin and Ross Colton each had two points.

After being outshot by Ottawa 5-0 in the first five minutes, Colorado completely took the game over, scoring four goals in the second half of the first period.

With Linus Ullmark under siege for several minutes, Nathan MacKinnon finally opened the floodgates with his 28th, 10:29 into the first period. Just inside Ottawa's blue line, MacKinnon took a drop pass from Drouin and ripped a low shot through both Jake Sanderson and Ullmark.

A minute later, Brock Nelson broke free down the left wing and beat Ullmark high to the glove side to make it 2-0. 

Cale Makar scored his 26th goal on the power play on a shot from the point through traffic. And finally, right after a faceoff to the right of Ottawa's goal, Joel Kiviranta ended Ullmark's night and make it 4-0 Colorado.

The residue of Ottawa's terrible first period bled into the second as Dylan Cozens had taken a bad interference penalty with six seconds left in the first. With the extra man, Nelson scored again to make it 5-0 early in the second. 

At that point, Sens head coach Travis Green put all his forward lines in a blender. And why not?

In particular, newcomer Fabian Zetterlund finally got a chance to get off the fourth line where he's been for the past five games since arriving in Ottawa. He played mostly top six minutes in the final two periods and was noticeable, creating at least a couple of good chances.

The Senators hit a couple of goal posts along the way and finally broke the shutout on Cozens' power play goal with under four minutes left, but they were never in this game, getting just 11 shots in the final 55 minutes of the game. This, despite the fact the Avs played last night.

The good news is that the New York Rangers lost 4-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night so Ottawa remains five points above the Eastern Conference playoff cut line.

Fancy that, a favour from the Leafs?

The Sens will hit the road again for another difficult matchup on Saturday night, this time against the New Jersey Devils. 

By Steve Warne
Site Editor at The Hockey News Ottawa

Stay updated with the most interesting Ottawa Senators stories, analysis, breaking news and more at The Hockey News Ottawa. Tap the star here at Google News to add us to your favourites and never miss a thing.

Following their 3-1 loss in Minnesota agianst the Wild, the Los Angeles Kings (36-21-9) arrived in the Windy City as they faced the Blackhawks (20-39-9). The Kings met the Blackhawks for third and final time this season. Spencer Knight escorted his team out while Darcy Kuemper stood in net for the second game in a row. 

Kings Lead 2-0 in Opening Period

Puck drop was underway as the Kings battled for early momentum. At the 11:15 point, Trevor Moore tipped in a wrist shot and put the Kings on the scoreboard 1-0. In a flurry of plays, Alex Turcotte netted his eighth of the season moments later. With Los Angeles leading 2-0 early, the inconsistent Blackhawks found themselves already trailing. Chicago's late attempt to produce scoring opportunities was cut short by the period's end, as both teams headed into intermission for the second period. 

Picture perfect 🤩 pic.twitter.com/MeHLwspmOH

— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 21, 2025

TURC MADE IT TWO pic.twitter.com/oswGsZ4Dnl

— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 21, 2025

And We’re Back...

With the Kings up 2-0, the second period promised more intense action and a challenge for the Kings to maintain their lead. Los Angeles took the initiative and displayed increased aggression, making it difficult for the Blackhawks to mount a comeback. Despite a series of impressive saves by Kuemper, Connor Bedard's slapshot ultimately beat him, bringing the score to 2-1 at 9:10. The Kings outshot the Blackhawks 26-12, as each team relentlessly tried to establish physical dominance.

The Buffalo Sabres selected forward Noah Ostlund with the 16th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. With this, the 21-year-old is considered one of the Sabres' most promising prospects. 

Ostlund is currently in his first full season with the Rochester Americans after appearing in two games with the AHL squad this past season. So far, the Stockholm, Sweden native has been solid, posting 11 goals and 24 points in 37 games. This is after he started the season off cold by recording just one point in his first 12 games. 

Ostlund's play is that he is continuing to improve as this campaign rolls on, and he is in the middle of a long hot streak because of it. In his last 12 games, the 5-foot-11 forward has seven goals to go along with 12 points. He also has 23 points over his previous 25 contests. With numbers like these, he is undoubtedly standing out with the AHL squad.

It will now be fascinating to see how Ostlund will build on his strong play from here. He is clearly adjusting well to the AHL level, and that is very encouraging for the Sabres.

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