Florida Panthers Captain Sasha Barkov hit a major milestone on Sunday.

When Barkov took the ice for Florida’s home game against the Montreal Canadiens, it was his 800th game in the National Hockey League.

Barkov has spent his entire NHL career with the Panthers after Florida selected him second overall at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

He played his first game in a Panthers sweater as a fresh-faced 18-year-old a few months later, scoring his first NHL goal against the Dallas Stars on Opening Night.

Now, 800 games later, Barkov has been through just about everything with the Panthers.

He’s been an All-Star, represented the team in his native Finland, become the leader on countless franchise records – Barkov is the franchise leader in games played, goals, assists, points, shots and power play goals – and, oh yeah, led the team to their first ever Stanley Cup Championship.

He’s also the first Panthers player to ever reach the 800-game mark with the team.

The 29-year-old is far from done rewriting Florida’s record books, though.

Barkov is in the fifth season of an eight-year deal that pays him $10 million annually, but knowing both Barkov and Panthers General Manager Bill Zito, it’s highly likely that the Cats’ captain ends up finishing his career in South Florida.

With Barkov as captain and Zito as GM, Florida has qualified for the postseason a franchise record five straight seasons.

They’ve reached the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past two years and, as was previously mentioned, Barkov hoisted the historic trophy last June.

Eventually, Barkov’s number will be hanging in the rafters at Amerant Bank Arena and, quite possibly, the Finnish star will find his face among those in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Congrats to Barky on reaching 800 games played!

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The Florida Panthers ran into a very hungry Montreal Canadiens squad on Sunday afternoon in Sunrise.

Desperate to maintain their spot as the final Wild Card team in the Eastern Conference, Montreal played a tough, desperate game and took down the Panthers 4-2 at Amerant Bank Arena.

The win put an end to Florida’s home winning streak at seven games.

Patrik Laine put the Habs on the scoreboard first, cashing in on a power play goal with Tobias Bjornfot in the penalty box for high-sticking.

Laine was down near the goal line and one-timed a pass from rookie Lane Hutson past Sergei Bobrovsky at the 12:03 mark of the opening period.

Just 73 seconds later, Sasha Barkov picked up a loose puck behind Montreal net and quickly fed Sam Reinhart in front.

Reino’s backhand shot eluded the glove of Sam Montembeault and quickly tied the game at one.

Another Montreal power play goal, this one by Juraj Slafkovsky, put the Habs back in front just past the game’s midway point.

Seth Jones tied the game with 3:35 left in the second period when he one-timed a quick feed from Barkov through Montembeault’s pads.

A goal just 2:02 into the third period by Nick Suzuki would prove to be the game-winner as Montreal did a great job limiting Florida’s opportunities the rest of the day.

Brandon Gallagher added an empty-net goal for good measure, his 18th tally the season.

These same two teams will face off again on Tuesday from Montreal.

QUICK THOUGHTS

Jones now has two goals and an assist over his past give games.

Barkov is now riding a modest three-game point streak, with four assists during the run.

He’s also got two goals and seven points over his past six games.

Carter Verhaeghe picked up an assist on Reinhart’s goal, his first point in six games and only his third during 13 games in March.

Reinhart has now scored four goals over his past six games.

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The Buffalo Sabres have announced that star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin will return to the lineup for their March 30 contest against the Washington Capitals. This will also be the 500th game of Dahlin's NHL career.

Dahlin, 24, was forced to miss the Sabres' March 29 contest against the Philadelphia Flyers due to an illness. However, the star defenseman is now feeling good enough to return, which is excellent news for the Sabres. 

Dahlin has had a strong season with the Sabres, posting 13 goals, 44 assists, 57 points, 86 hits, and a plus-3 rating. He has also stayed hot down the stretch, recording five points in his last four appearances.

It will now be interesting to see how the Sabres respond to getting their top defenseman back against the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals from here. 

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The Ottawa Senators begin the final 10 games of the regular season on Sunday afternoon, taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena (5 pm TSN5, RDS). Now eight points above the playoff cut line, the Senators are now in outstanding shape to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in eight years. 

The last time they played a postseason game was in that very arena on May 25, 2017 – a double-overtime loss in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final. 

A lot has changed and neither team has had much success since that season. While Ottawa's playoff drought is well-documented, the Penguins have only won one playoff series since (2018 vs PHI), and are tracking to miss the playoffs for a third straight year.

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The Senators currently hold the Conference’s top wild card spot. They’re now eight points above the playoff cut line after a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night. This cushion gives the Sens some breathing room and the option of resting certain players who are dealing with nagging injuries. 

To that end, the Senators called up winger Angus Crookshank from Belleville on Sunday morning. This move suggests that team captain Brady Tkachuk or another banged-up forward will sit out rather than try to play two games in less than 24 hours.

As you'd expect, the club didn't skate on Sunday morning, so Travis Green's lineup changes, if any, will be announced closer to game time.

Ottawa’s final 10 games will be all about maintenance. The Sens aren’t likely to catch anyone in the top three of the Atlantic Division, nor are they likely to be reeled in by anyone in their rearview mirror. Their goal now is to maintain that wild card and, ideally, give certain players the maintenance days they need to be as healthy as possible for the playoffs.

Meanwhile, with just one point separating the top three teams in the Atlantic, the eventual winner of the divisional race – probably Ottawa’s first-round opponent – will likely be the team that floors it right to the end.

Anton Forsberg will likely start after Ullmark had a busy night on Saturday in a 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Opponent:

The Penguins are eight points behind the Rangers for the final wild card spot in the East, but with six teams to climb over, the task is nearly impossible. Pittsburgh's season is all but officially over, and their best players aren’t getting any younger.

So the Pens will begin to take a look at some of the kids in the AHL. They’ve called up two forwards from the AHL who will go right on to the club’s top two lines against Ottawa on Sunday.

Former Winnipeg Jets’ first-rounder Rutger McGroarty has played just three NHL games so far, and for his 21st birthday on Sunday, he’ll play on Sidney Crosby’s left side. McGroarty has 39 points in 60 games for the Baby Pens after being traded by the Jets in a contract dispute last summer. The dispute wasn’t complicated. The former University of Michigan star didn’t want to sign with Winnipeg.

Pittsburgh has also called up Ville Koivunen who’s sixth in AHL scoring with 55 points in 62 games. He’ll play on Rickard Rakell’s left side.

As for their superstar vets, Crosby, now 37, is still rolling with 80 points and counting. Incredibly, this is now his 20th point-per-game season, surpassing Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history. That said, it’s weird to see him among the worst 20 players in the league in plus/minus (-22), even if you don’t put much stock in the stat. 

38-year-old Evgeni Malkin has just 15 goals and 46 points in 62 games, well off his career pace of 1.1 points per game. Malkin has missed the past week with an upper body injury and is listed as day to day. 

Alex Nedeljkovic is expected to start for the Penguins. There’s no love lost in Ottawa for Nedeljkovic, who dangerously slew-footed Cole Reinhardt in their last meeting in January. The Sens had the last laugh, pumping him for five goals on 17 shots in a 5-0 victory. No one likes cole slaw, and no one likes seeing a Cole slew.

Senators projected lineup

Claude Giroux -- Tim Stutzle -- Fabian Zetterlund
David Perron -- Dylan Cozens -- Drake Batherson
Brady Tkachuk -- Shane Pinto -- Ridly Greig
Matthew Highmore -- Adam Gaudette -- Michael Amadio

Jake Sanderson -- Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot -- Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven -- Nikolas Matinpalo

Anton Forsberg
Linus Ullmark

Scratched: Dennis Gilbert, Travis Hamonic
Injured: Nick Cousins (knee)

Penguins projected lineup

Rutger McGroarty -- Sidney Crosby -- Bryan Rust
Ville Koivunen -- Rickard Rakell -- Connor Dewar
Philip Tomasino -- Kevin Hayes -- Noel Acciari
Danton Heinen -- Blake Lizotte -- Emil Bemstrom

Matt Grzelcyk -- Kris Letang
Conor Timmins -- Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves -- Vladislav Kolyachonok

Alex Nedeljkovic
Tristan Jarry

After Sunday’s game, the Senators will play eight of their final nine games at home.

The Buffalo Sabres have announced that defenseman Jack Rathbone has been recalled from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rochester Americans. 

Rathbone joined the Sabres this past off-season on a one-year, two-way contract. Since then, the 25-year-old left-shot defenseman has appeared in 56 games with the Amerks, where he has five goals, 20 points, and a plus-6 rating. He has yet to make his Sabres regular-season debut, but that has the potential to change following this call-up.

Rathbone last played at the NHL level with the Vancouver Canucks during the 2022-23 season, where he had one goal and one assist in 11 games. In 28 career NHL games over three seasons, the Massachusetts native has posted two goals, three assists, five points, 21 hits, and a minus-5 rating. 

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The Chicago Blackhawks just signed defenseman Sam Rinzel and forward Oliver Moore to entry-level contracts and they will see playing time until the end of the season in the NHL. While this burns a year off their entry-level deals, they both appear to be ready to show the Blackhawks what they have.

Both Rinzel and Moore are former first-round picks. Rinzel was drafted 25th overall in 2022 behind Kevin Korchinski and Frank Nazar while Moore was drafted one year later in 2023 at 19th overall behind Connor Bedard.

Both Rinzel and Moore just finished up their time at the University of Minnesota where they played great hockey. The 20-year-olds look to make an immediate impact and not only earn their place in the NHL every game until the end of the season, but showcase themselves for next season.

I believe the process of forming the roster in training camp isn't going to be the exact same as it was this season. While every young player isn't going to have to outperform veterans to make the team, Kyle Davidson is also unlikely to bring in as many veterans this time around and block the prospects right off the bat. Frank Nazar and Landon Slaggert, who had both joined the Blackhawks late last season after moving on from the NCAA, each had to fight to get to the NHL and didn't make the opening roster.

Rinzel is seen as a premier prospect that is a big part of the future in Chicago. Moore is no slouch either and is able to score and produce offensively.

It appears as though Rinzel is going to start out on the second pairing alongside Wyatt Kaiser while Moore is going to get third line minutes with Joe Veleno and Nick Foligno. These are good spots for both players. Anywhere lower and they risk playing very limited minutes and with some players who won't necessarily help either of them succeed right off the bat.

Blackhawks' Ryan Donato Has A Chance At 30 GoalsThe Chicago Blackhawks lost to the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3 on Friday night. It was a night that had some pros and cons but they ultimately fell short. There is a lot of work to be done but there are glimpses of what’s to come. 

The lineup for the Blackhawks with these two young players making their debuts is very exciting for Chicago fans Here's a look:

Ryan Donato - Connor Bedard - Ilya Mikheyev

Teuvo Teravainen - Frank Nazar - Tyler Bertuzzi

Oliver Moore - Joe Veleno - Nick Foligno

Landon Slaggert - Lukas Reichel - Pat Maroon

Alec Vlasic - Artyom Levshunov

Wyatt Kaiser - Sam Rinzel

Kevin Korchinski - Ethan Del Mastro

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game day coverage, player features, and more.

The Montreal Canadiens are now outside looking in to the playoffs race, thanks to a five-game losing streak. For Martin St-Louis’ men to even have a chance to make the Spring dance, they must return to their winning ways now, but it could be challenging. The Habs have only 10 games left on their schedule, and their next two games will be against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers.

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Despite being without Matthew Tkachuk because of an injury and Aaron Ekblad because of a suspension, the Canadiens are marching on. They have a 6-4-0 record in their last 10 games and have won their previous two. However, the Canadiens have won the first two matchups with Florida this season.

The 4-0 win at the end of December was a turning point in the Canadiens’ season. It marked Jakub Dobes’ fulgurant start in the league, but he has lost some of his shine since then. He’s dropped his last three starts and expects to see Samuel Montembeault for most games, if not all, as long as the Habs are in the mix. As for the 3-1 victory in mid-March, it put an end to a losing streak and was a springboard for a dominant win over the Ottawa Senators.

The stakes are even higher now, and even if the Habs had a day off on Saturday, it’s easy to know Montembeault will be in goal on Sunday. He has a 2-4-1 record in eight games against Florida, with a 4.21 goals-against average and a .886 save percentage. Dobes played them once and was flawless, but the coach’s confidence in his young netminder has been shaken.

There’s no confirmation as to who will be on duty for the Panthers, but Sergei Bobrovsky has a 16-8-1 record with a 2.45 GAA and a .919 SP against the Canadiens, while Vitek Vanecek is 3-1-0 with a 2.76 GAA and a .894 SP.

Up front, after a tough outing against the Carolina Hurricanes, captain Nick Suzuki should welcome a matchup with the Cats. He has 15 points in 17 games against Florida, six points behind alternate captain Brendan Gallagher, who has 23 points in 38 games, and four points behind Patrik Laine, who has 22 in 21 duels.

The Habs will need to keep an eye on an old foe in new colours, as Brad Marchand has 48 points in 57 games against the Canadiens. Captain Aleksander Barkov comes in second place with 47 points in 37 games, and veteran Sam Reinhart comes third with 22 points in 32 games.

Not to sound like a broken record, but this is an absolute must-win game for the Canadiens who will hope to keep their dominance on the Cats this season going. Montreal has only won three of the last 10 games against their host, so this remains a tall order for the young Habs. It will be interesting to see if St-Louis keeps an 11-7 formation of if he scratches a defenseman. 

On Saturday, the Senators did the Canadiens a favor by beating the Columbus Blue Jackets in regulation, meaning they dropped behind the Canadiens who momentarily got the second wild card back, only to lose it again when to the New York Rangers when they beat the San Jose Sharks in regulation. The silver lining for the Habs is that they still have two games in hand on the Blueshirts, just like Columbus and the New York Islanders mind you. 

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