The big news from Thursday was that the Philadelphia Flyers fired Head Coach John Tortorella. Whether he was fired or whether he stepped down, sources vary, but the end result is the same in that his tenure with Philadelphia has come to an end. I wrote a bit about the change behind the bench yesterday.

There isn't a whole lot more to add. The team will undoubtedly be searching for a new bench boss this summer and there are some interesting names being bandied about. It is all rumours for now, though, so we can do nothing but wait.

It seems as if the firing jumpstarted the Flyers as they took a 6-4 win at home on Thursday to the Montreal Canadiens. Both Matvei Michkov and Sean Couturier had two goals and an assist with one of Couturier's goals coming on the power play. Michkov now has 20 points in his last 20 games with 70 shots on goal. This kid is going to be *great* for a long, long time.

Nicolas Deslauriers and Tyson Foerster had the other goals for the Flyers.

Samuel Ersson stopped 26 of 30 shots in the win.

Alex Newhook, Cole Caufield, Patrik Laine, and Christian Dvorak each scored for Montreal.

Lane Hutson had a pair of assists and that makes him the first rookie defenceman with at least 50 assists in 40 years (Chris Chelios was the last to do it, also in a Montreal uniform, back in 1984-85). Those assists also give 29 even-strength assists, the most for any rookie defenceman since the 2013 lockout.

Jakub Dobes was in net for all six goals on 30 shots faced.

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The Minnesota Wild got some good news on injured forwards Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek:

Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek are on the ice with skating and skills coach Andy Ness well in advance of the #mnwild morning skate

A laughing Kaprizov is so happy he just scared the hell out of me by slashing the glass to my left as I was tweeting this

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 27, 2025

That they're skating with three weeks left in the regular season is great news for the team as it marches towards the playoffs. Getting into game shape is another matter, but hopefully things line up for both of them to be all set for the postseason.

For some additional good news in Minnesota, both Marcus Foligno and Jonas Brodin were in the lineup for Thursday night's game against the Washington Capitals.

The reinforcements helped in Minnesota's game against Washington as the Wild took down the Capitals by a 4-2 score. Frederick Gaudreau scored a pair of goals (one on the PP), Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist (PP), and Jon Merrill had the other tally.

That assist moved Boldy to 38 on the year, two shy of his career-high of 40 set last season. A poor shooting percentage has really held down his fantasy performance this season but it's clear this young forward has point-per-game, 40-goal upside as soon as next season.

Filip Gustavsson stopped 28 of 30 shots for his 29^th win this season.

Matt Roy and Brandon Duhaime tallied the goals for the Caps. Jakob Chychrun had six shots, two PIMs, and a hit in the loss.

Charlie Lindgren allowed three goals on 20 shots.

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For more good injury news, we turn to the Seattle Kraken and Chandler Stephenson:

Chandler Stephenson ditching the red non-contact sweater this morning… #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/3kmkJAVRfn

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 27, 2025

Though Stephenson didn't play on Thursday night, it sure seems as if he's trending towards playing on Saturday night when the Kraken host the Dallas Stars.

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To round out the positive injury news, Calgary Flames centre Mikael Backlund was back in the lineup on Thursday night. Backlund had missed the past six games but was lined up with familiar line mate Blake Coleman on one side and Joel Farabee on the other.

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Kevin Korchinski was recalled by the Chicago Blackhawks:

Looks like an optional practice today for the Blackhawks. Less than half the team skating, but Korchinski is out there. pic.twitter.com/VJpOuPuZUo

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 27, 2025

Korchinski now with Artyom Levshunov being called up a couple of weeks ago. The future of the Blackhawks is finally here, so let's see how things go over the final few weeks.

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A couple of days after wallpapering the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-1, the Tampa Bay Lightning one-upped themselves and absolutely blasted the Utah Utes by an 8-0 score. With just 10 games remaining, this loss almost certainly closes the door on any hope Utah had of a postseason entry. Chances were slim already, and now they're basically none.

The big boys did a lot of the damage for Tampa Bay as Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists (one PP), Jake Guentzel had a pair of tallies (one PP), and Brayden Point had a goal and an assist. Those four points for Kucherov vault him into second in league scoring and two points behind Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead.

Victor Hedman had a goal and two assists (one on the PP) in the win as well. That goal gives him 13 on the season, tying his total from last year I nine fewer games. He needs three more points this season to reach 60 points for the third time in four years.

Oliver Bjorkstrand also had a pair of goals for the Lightning, his first multi-point game with his new team and the first for him since late January. Of note here, though, is that he was moved off the top power-play unit in favour of Brandon Hagel, so keep that in mind when scouring the waiver wires.

Gage Concalves has the other tally as Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 25 shots he faced for the shutout. That is Vasilevskiy's sixth shutout of the season, the most for him since 2018-19. His 35 wins are also a three-year high.

Both Karel Vejmelka and Jaxson Stauber each gave up for goals in net for Utah.

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Detroit was at home to Ottawa on Thursday night and the Red Wings made things interesting late with a pair of goals from Lucas Raymond and Vladimir Tarasenko, but the Senators managed to hang on for a big 4-3 win. That gives them 81 points and they are now six points clear the Montreal Canadiens with 11 games to go. Barring a spectacular collapse, the Sens are on their way to the playoffs.

Ottawa got goals from Thomas Chabot, Tim Stutzle, David Perron, and Michael Amadio. They also scrambled their lines for the game, putting Brady Tkachuk next to Shane Pinto and putting Stutzle between Claude Giroux and Fabian Zetterlund. However, the team mixed up their lines all game long so there's not much to read into here.

On top of the goals from Raymond and Tarasenko, Patrick Kane scored his 19^th goal, that one on the man advantage. Raymond assisted that goal, giving him a multi-point night, and 72 points on the year. That ties his total from last season in 10 fewer games played, so it sure seems as if he's on his way to a career-best mark, and possibly a point-per-game one, too.

Linus Ullmark stopped 31 of 34 shots for the win in Ottawa's net. He has a .918 save percentage and 15 wins in 24 games since December 1^st.

Alex Lyon was pulled after giving up three goals on 10 shots.

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Buffalo came alive on Thursday night in a 7-2 hammering at home to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jiri Kulich had a pair of goals while each of Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Tyson Kozak, and Peyton Krebs each had a goal and an assist. Both of Kulich's goals were at 5-on-5, giving him 13 such goals on the year. That is tied for the most among all rookies with Macklin Celebrini (in 257 fewer minutes).

That goal from Tuch was his 20^th in his last 41 games. We can all work out what that pace is over a full season. He has been a very good fantasy asset for months now.

James Reimer was in net again for Buffalo, and stopped 22 of 25 shots in victory.

Blake Lizotte, Kevin Hayes, and Sidney Crosby had the goals for the Penguins. That goal from Crosby means he's guaranteed a point-per-game season, the 20^th consecutive season he's reached that mark, breaking Wayne Gretzky's record. It is pretty surreal that he's done that for 20 years, and yet here we are.

Tristan Jarry was pulled after allowing four goals on 12 shots. Alex Nedeljkovic came in and allowed three goals on 18 shots, so, a bit better?

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St. Louis fought back from a 2-0 first-period deficit to take a 3-2 win in Nashville on Thursday night. Dylan Holloway scored twice, totaling three shots and a hit along the way. Both those goals were assisted by Robert Thomas, who now has 66 points on the year. Since returning from injury in mid-November, Thomas has 60 points in 55 games.

Cam Fowler had the other goal for the Blues, adding a block along the way.

Joel Hofer stopped 16 of 18 shots in the win.

Fedor Svechkov and Brady Skjei tallied the markers for the Predators, and Skjei managed two shots and two blocks in over 26 minutes of ice time. Skjei now has 10 goals on the year, his third straight season with at least 10 tallies.

Juuse Saros allowed three goals on 18 shots in the loss.

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Dallas was playing their second game in as many nights on Thursday night and got a great game from backup goalie Casey DeSmith: 46 saves on 48 shots en route to a 5-2 win. That was DeSmith's 13^th victory in his 20^th start, pushing him to a .918 save percentage on the season. An excellent campaign from him.

Matt Duchene, Mikael Granlund, Roope Hintz, and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and an assist in the win. Duchene finished the game with two shots, one block, and two hits for a solid multi-cat night. He is also up to 3.54 points per 60 minutes at all strengths this season, just outside the top-10 regular forwards in the league (at least 700 minutes), and situated between Matthew Tkachuk and Mitch Marner. Just an incredible year from him.

Nazem Kadri scored both goals for the Flames, one of them on the power play, totaling four shots overall. Kadri has now reached the 30-goal plateau for the season, his first 30-goal campaign since 2017-18 with Toronto.

Dustin Wolf allowed four goals on 18 shots in the loss.

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Colorado took care of business at home to Los Angeles as Martin Necas managed two goals and one assist (two of the three on the PP), adding four total shots and a hit in the team's 4-0 win. He is up to 25 points in 24 games with the Avalanche, and has reached the 80-point mark for the first time in his career.

Jonathan Drouin had a goal and an assist (both PP) as Cale Makar posted a pair of helpers (one PP). Makar sits six points shy of the 90-point mark for the second season in a row.

Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all 22 shots he faced for the shutout and his 21^st win in 31 starts with the Avalanche.

David Rittich allowed four goals on 26 shots in a losing effort for Los Angeles.

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Edmonton had a couple of good games without Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid in the lineup but that ran out on Thursday night as Seattle crushed them by a 6-1 score. Each of Jared McCann, Jani Nyman, and Andre Burakovsky posted a goal and assist each as Jaden Schwartz scored twice. McCann wound up with four shots, two blocks, and a hit, and has broken the 50-point mark for the fourth straight season in Seattle.

Nyman has now played eight games with the Kraken and has 3 goals, 3 assists,  3 power-play points, 17 shots, 8 hits, and 3 blocks in his run so far. A pretty good effort from the 20-year-old second-round pick.

Matty Beniers scored the other goal for Seattle.

Adam Larsson posted two assists and two shots in the win. After a very slow start to the season, Larsson has 11 points in 16 games since the Four Nations break, totaling 17 blocks and 15 hits along the way.

After struggling for nearly two months – .887 save percentage in 15 games since February 1^st – goaltender Joey Daccord turned in his best performance since January with 36 saves on 37 shots.

Zach Hyman scored the lone goal for the Oilers. Since returning from injury on December 5^th, he is tied for sixth in the league with 24 goals.

Calvin Pickard was pulled after the second period for Edmonton after giving up five goals on 17 shots in the period. Olivier Rodrigue made his NHL debut by finishing out the game.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs scored twice in the final minute of the third period to tie their game in San Jose 5-5, but the Sharks held on for the shootout win.

 Tyler Toffoli had a huge game for the Sharks, scoring twice (one PP), adding an assist, registering seven shots, and adding two blocks in 19:28 of ice time. He is three goals short of his third straight 30-goal season and this game pushed him over the 200-shot plateau for the third campaign in a row.

Wiliam Eklund tallied a goal and an assist (PP) with three total shots. Eklund now has a career-high in goals (17) and could reach the 60-point plateau for the first time if he can post six points in San Jose's 11 remaining games.

Collin Graf and Alex Wennberg had the other goals for the Sharks.

Timothy Liljegren had perhaps his best fantasy night of the season with two assists, five shots, and four blocks. Funny night for that to happen.

Alexandar Georgiev managed the win even after giving up five goals on 35 shots.

William Nylander scored twice (once on the PP) while both Auston Matthews and John Tavares had a goal and an assist each (and one PPP each). Matthews has 8 goals, 13 assists, 66 shots, 20 blocks, and 14 hits in 17 games since the Four Nations break.

Scott Laughton had the other goal for Toronto, his first point in a Leafs uniform.

Mitch Marner posted three assists (one PP) with two shots and a hit. He needs one more point to reach the 90-point plateau for the third time in four seasons (and he would have gotten there last season had he played 80 games).

Like Georgiev, Joseph Woll also gave up five goals on 35 shots, but took the loss.