The Ottawa Senators were at home to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night, but without defenceman Carter Yakemchuk as he was in concussion protocol, per Bruce Garrioch. That is obviously not great news for the young blue liner, though the Sens did also say that Jake Sanderson may be ready to return this weekend, so it wasn't all bad injury news for Ottawa. Let's just hope it's nothing too serious for Yakemchuk.

Ottawa prevented Buffalo from clinching a playoff entry as the Senators beat the Sabres 4-1. Ridly Greig had a goal and an assist in the game, the only multi-point night for Ottawa. He has now reached the 30-point mark in each of the last two seasons, though his rate of hits per game (1.17) has plummeted from last year (1.76) so the multi-cat value has declined.

Without Sanderson, Yakemchuk, or Thomas Chabot, Jordan Spence skated over 30 minutes for the Sens, posting an assist, two shots, three blocks, two PIMs, and two hits in the win.

Linus Ullmark stopped 21 of 22 shots in a bounce back game from that horrific game against Florida on Tuesday.

Sanderson may be back this weekend, but Tyler Kleven was injured early in this game, leaving in the first period and not returning.

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The Philadelphia Flyers welcome back forward Tyson Foerster has he returned four months after arm surgery in early December. The initial timeline was that he'd miss the entire regular season, but he was back in the lineup Thursday against Detroit in a boost to a roster that is fighting for a playoff spot.

Foerster wasted no time making an impact as he scored in that game, with assists from line mates Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett. However, the Red Wings earned the 4-2 win thanks to a pair of goals from Alex DeBrincat. That gives DeBrincat 39 goals on the season, tying his total from last year, and he needs just one more to reach 40 for the third time in his career.

Moritz Seider had a great multi-cat night for Detroit, managing a PP assist, a shot, three blocks, and three hits.

John Gibson stopped 32 of 34 shots for a much-needed win.

Justin Faulk was injured late in the second period and did not return for the third period.

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The injury hits keep coming for Florida as defenceman Aaron Ekblad suffered a broken finger on Tuesday night and is not likely to return this season. The Panthers have been decimated by injuries this season and it's just one more to add to the pile.

A first-period goal from Sam Bennett held up as the game-winner as Florida beat Boston 2-1 at home on Tuesday. That was Bennett's 26^th goal of the season, equalling last year's total in four fewer games, and two shy of tying his career mark of 28 set back in 2021-22.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 29 shots for his 27^th win on the year. He has six wins in 10 starts since the Olympics, posting a .914 save percentage. He was bad for most of the season but he has come up big in head-to-head playoffs.

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A hat trick from Anthony Cirelli, just his second of his career and first in over six years, lifted the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 6-3 win at home to Pittsburgh. That pushes him over the 50-point mark for the second straight season, the only two times of his career.

Nikita Kucherov posted a goal and two assists in the win, totaling four shots and a block. After posting zero goals and three assists in his prior four games, it's safe to say he found the touch again.

Charle-Edouard D'Astous had an assist, two shots, two PIMs, and a hit in the win. He has seven points and nine hits in his last six games.

Andrei Vasilevskiy earned his 36^th win, extending his lead (temporarily) over Karel Vejmelka (33 as Utah's game was starting) in that category.

Egor Chinakhov scored twice for the Penguins in the loss. He is up to 20 goals on the season, 17 of them coming with Pittsburgh in 38 games played.

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New Jersey announced that winger Arseny Gritsyuk will be out for the regular season with an upper-body injury that will require surgery. He finishes the year with 13 goals, 31 points, 149 shots, and 58 hits in 66 games. Not a bad rookie campaign on a Devils squad that really struggled to score goals at times.

Jack Hughes had a monster game for the Devils on Thursday night as they skated to a 7-3 win over the Washington Capitals. He posted two goals, three assists, five shots, and a block in over 22 minutes of ice time. That gives him 32 points in 18 games since returning from his gold medal-winning performance in Italy.

Jesper Bratt also had a five-point night with a goal and four assists. He has 26 points in his last 20 games dating back to February 1^st.

Both Tom Wilson and Pierre-Luc Dubois each had a goal and an assist in the loss for the Capitals.

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The Carolina Hurricanes dealt a serious blow to Columbus' playoff chances with a 5-1 win at home to the Blue Jackets. That is five straight losses for the Jackets, and they are now 1-5-1 in their last seven games. Not a great time for a losing streak like that.

Logan Stankoven scored twice for the Hurricanes, totaling four shots, a block, and a hit. That makes six goals in his last 12 games as he makes a push for 20 on the year (he needs three more).

Alexander Nikishin scored a short-handed goal for the Hurricanes, and that was his 30^th point of the season. He also has 117 shots and 121 hits in 74 games, so he looks every bit the multi-cat monster that fantasy managers were hoping for.

Frederik Andersen faced just 11 shots from the Blue Jackets, stopping 10 of them for the win.

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Cole Caufield scored twice for the Montreal Canadiens as they squeaked out a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers on Thursday night. The Rangers made it interesting, scoring twice in five minutes in the third period to make it a 2-2 game, but Caufield's 49^th goal of the season lifted the Canadiens to the two points. Caufield needs one more goal to reach 50 on the season and will get the chance to do it on Saturday in New Jersey.

Nick Suzuki assisted on both Caufield goals, and that gives Suzuki 94 points, and a real shot at the 100-point mark. He has seven games to get six points.

Jacob Fowler stopped 21 of 23 shots for the win in net for Montreal.

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Jake Oettinger blanked the Winnipeg Jets, fending off all 22 shots he faced, as Dallas beat Winnipeg 3-0. That was Oettinger's third shutout of the season and brings his save percentage up to an even .900 on the year.

Elias Salomonsson took a high hit halfway through the second period, left the game, and did not return. He is officially in concussion protocol.

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Matt Boldy posted two goals, an assist, six shots, and two blocks in Minnesota's 5-2 win over Vancouver. That snapped a seven-game goalless drought for Boldy and made him the ninth player to reach 40 goals on the season.

Ryan Hartman scored twice on five shots, giving him 20 goals this year. It has been a big rebound season for him after scoring just 11 goals last season. He also has a whopping 94 blocks in 71 games to go with 61 hits. That is pretty solid multi-cat value.

Filip Gustavsson stopped 30 of 32 shots for his 27^th win.

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Both Matt Savoie and Vasily Podkolzin scored in Edmonton's 3-1 win over Chicago. Savoie has 5 goals, 2 assists, and 31 shots in his last 10 games as he's started to find his groove skating next to Connor McDavid.

Tristan Jarry was solid in net for the Oilers, holding the Blackhawks to one goal on 18 shots.

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Mitch Marner had a five-point night of his own on Thursday as the Vegas Golden Knights skated to a 6-3 win over Calgary. Marner posted a hat trick, his first since December of 2024, and added a pair of assists. He is now over a point-per-game status with 76 points in 75 appearances.

Ivan Barbashev had a three-point night with a goal, two assists, and three hits. He needs four more points for his second career 60-point season.

Blake Coleman scored twice on three shots in the loss for the Flames, leaving him one goal shy of a 20-goal season.

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Igor Chernyshov returned to the lineup in San Jose's 4-1 win over Toronto. He didn't figure into the scoring, but William Eklund had a goal and an assist with two shots and a block in the victory. That snaps a big drought for Eklund, who had zero goals and three assists in his prior 10 games.

Collin Graf also scored for the Sharks, even as he was moved back to the third line with the return of Chernyshov. That pushes Graf to the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career, and he's over a hit-per-game-player as well (1.03). He has been a solid multi-cat contributor for most of the season.

Alex Nedeljkovic was in net for the Sharks and he stopped 18 of 19 shots for his 15^th win. That exceeds his win total from last year in five fewer starts. He has given up just 29 goals in his last 10 starts, not bad considering the team he's been playing for, going 5-4-1 in that span.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson was injured early in the second period and did not return. Morgan Rielly was back on the top PP unit in his place.

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On a night where San Jose won in regulation and Nashville/Los Angeles played a three-point game, Seattle was dealt a serious blow to their playoff chances thanks a 6-2 loss at home to Utah. Logan Cooley (2+1) and Dylan Guenther (1+2) each had three-point nights while Nick Schmaltz registered a goal and an assist. Cooley now has five goals in his last three games, and 22 goals in 47 games this season (albeit by shooting 22.4%). Guenther needs three goals and two assists in the next seven games to post a 40-30 season. Not bad for a guy skating just 17:20 per game.

MacKenzie Weegar had a solid multi-cat night with an assist, two shots, two blocks, and three hits. He hasn't been hugely productive since the trade to Utah (4 points in 13 games) but the multi-cat value has been solid with 21 shots, 9 PIMs, 21 blocks, and 26 hits in those 13 games.

Vejmelka stopped 25 of 27 shots for his 34^th win as he attempts to stay within striking distance of Vasilevskiy for the league-leader in wins.

Bobby McMann scored again for Seattle, totaling two shots, a block, and a hit. He has 8 goals, 12 points, 20 shots, and 19 hits in 11 games with the Kraken.

Jack McBain was injured in the second period and did not return.

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Los Angeles fought back from a 4-1 deficit to tie their game with Nashville 4-4 in the third period, but the Predators pulled out the win in the shootout to earn the extra point. Jonathan Marchessault managed a goal and an assist in Nashville’s victory, his second multi-point outing in his last five games (1 goal, 4 assists in that span). He has 13 points in his last 18 games, but just two goals in that mix.

Filip Forsberg scored in the win, giving him his third 35-goal (or higher) season in the last five years, leaving him two points shy of 70, which would give him his third straight season with at least 30 goals and 70 points. Since his first full season in 2014-15, Forsberg is 1 of 9 players with at least 350 goals, 350 assists, and 2500 shots. The others are Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, David Pastrnak, Alex Ovechkin, John Tavares, and Auston Matthews (per NHL.com).  

Juuse Saros stopped all eight shots he faced in the shootout to help the Predators earn the extra point. He did give up four goals on 33 shots before the shootout, but he has definitely had a bend-don't-break streak going since the Olympics: in his last 11 starts, he has given up at least two goals in every game, but never more than four. At the worst, he's made sure Nashville has a chance to win every time he's in net, even if he's not at his best.

Adrian Kempe scored twice in the loss for the Kings, pushing him to 30 goals on the campaign. It is the fourth time in five years he has reached 30 goals (he had 28 in 2023-24), and the fifth straight season with at least 200 shots and 100 hits.