What goes up must come down.

While the team picks itself up from a poor Saturday night outcome, it makes a minor roster move.

The Detroit Red Wings unraveled against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. However, they got goals from the usual suspects.

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Lucas Raymond continues to score points, and Patrick Kane has been producing at an excellent clip since the coaching change. Alex DeBrincat rounded out the Red Wings' goal scorers for the night.

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Despite everything that went right for those three, the Golden Knights scored six goals.

With the Red Wings dropping this game, they made a late move, sending a player down to the Grand Rapids Griffins. The team announced that Brogan Rafferty was being sent back to the AHL.

UPDATE: The #RedWings have assigned defenseman Brogan Rafferty to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. pic.twitter.com/Q7asRlkbQY

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 23, 2025

Rafferty and Austin Watson were recently recalled. Rafferty is going back to the AHL without playing in the NHL lineup.

This demotion likely means Jeff Petry is ready to return to the lineup. The defender hasn’t played a game since January 2nd against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Rafferty has 19 points in 50 games for the Griffins. This is his second year with the Red Wings AHL affiliate. Last season, he recorded 29 points in 62 games.

Red Wings fans will have to wait to see if Petry returns for their next game.

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The Ducks begin a five-game homestand on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Ducks are coming off a 4-1 win against the Nashville Predators on March 20, while the Hurricanes are coming off a 7-2 shellacking from the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.

Anaheim recently returned from a three-game road trip, where they went 1-1-1. Their win against Nashville saw the return of John Gibson from a lower-body injury which held him out for five consecutive games. Gibson made 33 saves in his return.

"We didn't even skate (on Wednesday) and I asked him this morning, 'Are you gonna be okay?' He said, 'No problem,' Ducks head coach Greg Cronin said after the Nashville game. "He's been around a while. He's a unique goalie, a unique guy and we're really lucky to have him."

The last time that the Ducks and Hurricanes faced off was in Raleigh in mid-January. Cutter Gauthier had his first career multi-goal game, scoring the overtime winner. In the Ducks' last two games, Gauthier has been elevated to the top line alongside Leo Carlsson and Alex Killorn. Although the promotion hasn't resulted in any points yet, it's clear that Gauthier is adjusting to the NHL environment with every passing day.

Anaheim Ducks Prospect Spotlight: Pair of Defensemen Make AHL DebutsOn March 16, Farjestad BK of the SHL and the Anaheim Ducks announced that the Ducks recalled prospect defenseman Stian Solberg to their organization with the intention of assigning him to the AHL with the San Diego Gulls. Solberg was drafted in the first round (23rd overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft after the Ducks traded the 31st and 58th overall picks to the Toronto Maple Leafs for the rights to select him.

The Hurricanes may be without the services of Seth Jarvis on Sunday after he appeared to slam his head into the boards during Saturday's matchup against the Kings. He did not return to the game. Andrei Svechnikov, who has missed the last five games with an upper-body injury, could be in line to return to the lineup, Frederik Andersen is expected to start for the Hurricanes after Pyotr Kochetkov started on Saturday against the Kings.

Ducks Projected Lines

Cutter Gauthier - Leo Carlsson - Alex Killorn
Frank Vatrano - Ryan Strome - Troy Terry
Nikita Nesterenko - Mason McTavish - Trevor Zegras
Jansen Harkins - Isac Lundeström - Brett Leason

Jackson LaCombe - Radko Gudas
Olen Zellweger - Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintyukov - Drew Helleson

Lukáš Dostál (projected)

Hurricanes Projected Lines

Andrei Svechnikov - Sebastian Aho - Jackson Blake
Taylor Hall - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Jack Roslovic
Eric Robinson - Mark Jankowski - Jordan Martinook
Juha Jääskä - Tyson Jost - Logan Stankoven

Jaccob Slavin - Brent Burns
Sean Walker - Scott Morrow
Dmitry Orlov - Jalen Chatfield

Frederik Andersen (confirmed)

On March 23, the Nashville Predators picked up an impressive win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. After being down 2-0 at the end of the first period, the Predators responded with five unanswered goals to defeat Toronto by a 5-2 final score.

New Predators forward Michael Bunting got Nashville's rally started when he scored at the 1:39 mark of the second period. His goal was a nice one, too, as he one-timed a great feed from Fedor Svechkov past Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll.

This goal was significant for Bunting, too, as it was his first since being acquired by the Predators from the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 5. The 29-year-old forward did not record a point in his first four games with the Predators, but he has now broken the ice with his great goal. 

Bunting has shown throughout his career that he can provide solid offense when playing at his best. The 2014 fourth-round pick has two 23-goal seasons and memorably recorded 63 points in 79 games with the Maple Leafs in 2021-22. He also had 19 goals and 55 points in 81 games this past season split between the Carolina Hurricanes and Penguins. Thus, he has the potential to become a key part of Nashville's offense moving forward.

It will now be intriguing to see how Bunting builds off his strong performance for the Predators from here.

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New Predators Forward Could Become Nice Surprise

On March 23, the Nashville Predators picked up an impressive win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. After being down 2-0 at the end of the first period, the Predators responded with five unanswered goals to defeat Toronto by a 5-2 final score.

New Predators forward Michael Bunting got Nashville's rally started when he scored at the 1:39 mark of the second period. His goal was a nice one, too, as he one-timed a great feed from Fedor Svechkov past Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll.

This goal was significant for Bunting, too, as it was his first since being acquired by the Predators from the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 5. The 29-year-old forward did not record a point in his first four games with the Predators, but he has now broken the ice with his great goal. 

Bunting has shown throughout his career that he can provide solid offense when playing at his best. The 2014 fourth-round pick has two 23-goal seasons and memorably recorded 63 points in 79 games with the Maple Leafs in 2021-22. He also had 19 goals and 55 points in 81 games this past season split between the Carolina Hurricanes and Penguins. Thus, he has the potential to become a key part of Nashville's offense moving forward.

It will now be intriguing to see how Bunting builds off his strong performance for the Predators from here.

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New Predators Forward Could Become Nice Surprise

The Montreal Canadiens returned home for a Saturday night tilt at the Bell Centre against the Colorado Avalanche. The building was packed, and the fans were loud, mercilessly booing the American national anthem and going nuts early on for every big hit the Habs landed. Still, the visitors soon quieted them down with a pair of first-period goals.

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Not The Time Of The Year To Send Messages

Even though his goaltender Samuel Montembeault did not play very well in his last two games, Martin St-Louis decided to stick with his first netminder for Saturday night’s crucial match. Why? Because it’s not the time of the year to send messages, and because the Canadiens wouldn’t be where they are in the standings without him.

That’s fair, but it doesn’t have to be about sending a message. It’s possible to tell your goaltender you want him rested and not overworked for the final stretch and give him a night off riding the pine. That being said, the fact the Habs were down 2-0 after 20 minutes wasn’t on him.

The play was going just a bit too fast in the defensive zone for the David Savard-Arber Xhekaj pairing, and they finished the first frame with a minus-two rating.

Xhekaj Has Matured

However, early in the second frame, Xhekaj showed he had matured. Josh Anderson and Keaton Middleton were involved in a pushing-and-shoving game after the whistle while the Sherrif was on the ice. Not so long ago, he would have skated over and jumped in to say, “Not on my watch. " He would have gotten a third-man penalty in the process, but not Saturday night.

Instead, he skated away, and after the linesmen had separated the two men, he extended an invitation to fight to Middleton. I don’t know which words he used, but they were provocative, judging by how fast the Colorado player skated over. The two men dropped the gloves, and Xhekaj put his opponent down after both pugilists got to throw a few punches.

Just like that, the Bell Centre was reignited, and it might have been a turning point if the Canadiens hadn’t taken a too-many-men penalty less than two minutes later. Still, it resulted in the Habs playing a much better period, seeing more of the puck and dominating 10-7 in shots. Granted, the power plays helped, but Xhekaj still played a big part in the Canadiens getting back in the game.

There’s No Quit In This Team

As St-Louis explained, his team couldn’t execute early on, but they could stop the bleeding and improve from there. The execution got better as the game went on, and even though they were down 3-1 at the start of the third, they weren’t ready to “bend the knee.” The coach said:

I reminded the guys between the second and the third that we had scored five in the third against Ottawa, two in an empty net, but we had to get three in anyways, we scored two against the Islanders…We could have scored even more than three (in the third). We had our chances afterward as well.

-

Even after Colorado put in a fourth goal, the coach was impressed that his team didn’t let the game slip away from them. On his third line, St-Louis said:

Early on, Andy was…Andy was a wrecking ball, he just kept going. That line they just keep going, whatever the score is, I’m getting the same thing every shift, every night and they’re helping us out. Dvo’s goal tonight was a big goal.

- Martin St-Louis on his third line

I was very impressed with the Canadiens’ dominance in the faceoff department. Montreal won 57% of the draws, and it’s not like the Avalanche doesn’t have good centers. Nathan MacKinnon only won eight of his 24 faceoffs tonight, a 33% success rate. Throughout the season, he’s had a 49% success rate. Mike Matheson and Alexandre Carrier, who defended against Colorado’s top line, finished with a plus-two rating, which is quite impressive.

With an assist tonight, Brendan Gllagher caught up to Pierre Mondou in 28th place of the top scorers with the Canadiens, with 456. Alex Newhook played another good game, his speed really has an impact but he needs to find a finishing touch, thankfully, on his best opportunity, Joshua Roy was there to grab the rebound and score.

While two points would have been better, the Canadiens still skated away with a point after the 5-4 shootout loss, and it’s a big one. The Habs remain in the second wildcard spot, but they are a single point ahead of the New York Rangers, who won against the Vancouver Canucks. However, Montreal has two games in hand on New York. The Habs will have a day off on Sunday before heading to St. Louis on Monday since they have a date with the Blues on Tuesday.

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Young Sharks defenseman finally putting together impressive NHL tape originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

• Editor’s note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on X at @Sheng_Peng.

It’s hard to learn how to play defense in the NHL.

Shakir Mukhamadullin, who played a career-high 24:15 in the Sharks’ 3-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday at SAP Center, is a prime example of that.

The 23-year-old, the 2020 New Jersey Devils’ first-round pick, finally is putting together consistently strong NHL tape after a long and non-linear development in the KHL and AHL.

Notably, he’s killing or influencing plays defensively on a fairly regular basis in the best league in the world.

But he still is going to have his rough patches … and that’s okay.

Read the full article at San Jose Hockey Now

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The Florida Panthers can go ahead and file Saturday’s loss to the Washington Capitals away in deep, dark drawer.

No need to keep tabs on much of what happened during Florida’s 6-3 loss to the Caps.

Not after this post, anyway.

The defeat was a tough pill to swallow at the end of a frustrating road trip, but that’s all that it was.

Fortunately, the Panthers have endured bumps in the road like this before and come out on the other side just fine.

No reason to suspect that won’t be the case this time around.

Let’s get to Saturday’s takeaways.

UNPREPARED FOR THE RUSH

It’s no secret that the Capitals are a fast team that likes to create opportunities in transition and keep their opponents on their heels.

Florida has faced teams who play similar styles and shown that they can clog the neutral zone, limit time and space and keep the game on a more level plane.

That did not happen on Saturday.

It was clear from early on that the Capitals were dictating the style of play, and while Florida can keep up thanks to their very skilled players, playing the rush game generally isn’t a recipe for success when it comes to the Panthers.

As we saw, Florida’s usually rock-solid defending can get a little leaky when the game opens up.

“We had a really hard time with some of our rush reads, and then the creation of the rush as well, how we let them develop,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “A fast team, they made us pay pretty quick and tough to come back on. We had some tough reads, and that's the coach's job to make sure that everybody knows who they've got, so we'll work on it.”

NOT OVERLY CONCERNED

Looking over Florida’s recent collection of games, there isn’t much to feel great about with 12 games left until the playoffs.

Fortunately for the Cats, their current group is far from what will suit up when the postseason arrives.

Between missing players and their recent travel schedule, the Panthers have valid reasons for being a bit off their game lately.

The effort level remains high, as is the confidence that things will snap back into place.

“I'm not concerned about it,” Maurice said. “We've had some challenges, like in the first 50 games, finding that level. We’ve had a couple of tough nights here on this road trip. It's been six games, and we'd like to be .500 or better when you're on the road. We failed to do that, but we won't fold the season.”

MACKIE MOVED UP

When the game reached the third period, with Florida down 6-3, Maurice tried something with his forward lines.

Rookie Mackie Samoskevich was moved up to the Panthers top line, with Sasha Barkov and Sam Reinhart.

There is no denying the chemistry that has grown between Samoskevich and second line center Sam Bennett, and it’s a big part of why the youngster has seen his play elevated to another level in recent weeks.

Seeing how the electric youngster does when paired up with Florida’s most dynamic scorers seems like the logical next step in his freshman season progression.

“It’s something I've been playing with in my head, and at that point, it was something that I wanted to see,” Maurice said. “He's just been a really good player for us, and he's very creative with what he does. We were down by a whole bunch, so I wanted to just take a look at it.”

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ST. LOUIS – The tears and emotions started running early for Pat Maroon, and only the ‘Hometown Hero’ knew why before anyone else.

The 36-year-old and Oakville, Mo. native was set to play against the St. Louis Blues for the final time this season with the hated Chicago Blackhawks. The Blues are in a playoff race, and the Blackhawks are just playing out the string.

But was it just the final game against the Blues this season? Well, take a look. It was more than that.

Maroon spoke to former Blues and current Blackhawks color analyst Darren Pang during pregame of the Blues’ 4-1 win at Enterprise Center on Saturday and confirmed that this, his 14th NHL season, will be his last.

More than 840 regular-season games (125 goals, 195 assists), 163 playoff games (23 goals, 30 assists), a three-time – and three straight – Stanley Cup champion, including the first with the Blues in 2018-19, a career that began with the St. Louis Amateur Blues U18 midget squad in 2004-05 and playing for Jon Cooper with the St. Louis Bandits of the North American Hockey League in 2006-07 before being a sixth-round pick by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2007 NHL Draft, Maroon, who signed a one-year, $1.3 million contract with the Blackhawks last summer, said this is it.

His career began with the Anaheim Ducks with stops with the Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Minnesota Wild, Boston Bruins and Blackhawks.

“It’s been in the back of my head all year,” said Maroon, who ended the game in style with his 96th career fight in the third period with Blues defenseman Tyler Tucker. “I’ve given everything I have, and I want to go out on my own terms. I don’t want to be scratching and clawing for a contract, and them telling you you’re out. I wanted to leave on my own terms and when I was ready. I’m excited for my new chapter in life. Just going to finish hard. You guys know I play between the whistles and as hard as I can. Every time I get over the boards, it’s like my last shift ever. I’m going to continue to do that.

“My wife [Francesca] doesn’t want me to hang them up. She wants me to keep playing. It’s just the choice I had. I have no regrets in this game. I’ve given it everything. I’ve done everything. I achieved everything I could. St. Louis kid, growing up here, I was 352 games in the minors, and 840 games in the NHL right now. Who would’ve thought that? I’m just happy I got to win in my hometown, and go on to win two more. I’ve achieved everything I thought (I could). I probably overachieved sometimes. I was against all odds, and I beat the odds. I was always a person, I was self-motivated. I wanted to do it all on my own because (everyone) had doubt in me. Everyone doubted me, and I wanted to put that doubt in everyone else’s face.”

Word spread quickly that Maroon made his announcement on the Blackhawks broadcast. The Blues went into immediate production and threw together a video tribute showing the famous double-overtime goal against the Dallas Stars in the second round and a standing and loud ovation from a crowd appreciative of one of their own who helped bring the title to the Gateway City for the first time.

“I was shocked what the Blues did for me tonight,” Maroon said. “They didn’t have to do that. Obviously, I’ve been talking about it with my wife and my family. I’ve done everything I could in this league. I have no regrets. Just having a conversation with ‘Panger’, it kind of blew up. First, I wanted to thank the St. Louis Blues organization for really making this night really special for me and my family.

“Thank God they told me before the period started, so I was ready for it. The Blues didn’t have to do anything tonight. I was just playing a hockey game. Obviously, people got wind of it right away after I talked to ‘Panger’, and they really made it a special night for me. I can’t thank the Blues organization for doing that for me and my family tonight. Everyone was here tonight, so that made it really special.”

In front of his wife, parents and other family members on hand, Maroon took a stroll onto the ice, acknowledged the crowd and then again at game’s end when he was announced as the First Star of the game, taking a look around to soak it all in.

“A lot,” he said. “I looked a lot, especially during the national anthem and especially on the bench, TV timeouts. This city means a lot to me. The fanbase means a lot. The organization means a lot to me. Some of those guys that I won with mean a lot to me. I can’t thank them enough for helping me make tonight successful.”

That included Blues captain Brayden Schenn, a teammate and forever friend.

“He’s an incredible human, an incredible guy,” Schenn said. “A guy that really came in here and really helped embrace the locker room and become a huge piece on and off the ice of what this team is all about. Rightfully so, the crowd did him right, a guy that’s just grinded for everything that he’s got in his whole career. He’s a guy that plays hard minutes, he’s fought tough guys throughout his whole career playing at 36, 37 doing it the way he does. It’s definitely hat’s off to him.

“I don’t love seeing him in that jersey, I’m not going to lie, but being his last game here in St. Louis, obviously very emotional, talked to him after. When you win with guys, you care about guys quite a bit. Nice to see him and get a good salute tonight by the crowd and nice tribute by the Blues PR team.”

Maroon broke the heart of Blues coach Jim Montgomery, who was the coach of the Stars on that Game 7 on May 7, 2019 day in St. Louis but also had Maroon last season as coach of the Boston Bruins.

“I had the good fortune of coaching Pat Maroon in Boston last year and in the playoffs,” he said. “He is an exemplary and great teammate and he’s an incredibly intelligent hockey mind and player. He’s very underrated about how well he understands the game. He’s one of the best players at making plays off walls and breakouts at leading to 2-on-1s, and everybody knows how he sacrifices for the team. And on the bench, he made a huge impact for us in Boston because he brings energy, he lifts people up, he coaches people that he’s playing with. Sorry to see him retire, but what a career. A champion.”

That champion almost never materialized in St. Louis when the Blues nearly placed Maroon on waivers in what was amounting to an underachieving season that obviously quickly turned around, and Maroon became one of those galvanizing voices in a locker room that came together at the right time and stood above all else in June.

“I think he just does it with kind of understanding people, understanding the ebbs and flows of a season, and a guy that really knows has the way with words helping people along the way,” Schenn said of Maroon. “That team was just so tight, he’s just obviously another piece to everyone that being so close and he was definitely a ring leader with lots of laughs when you combine him with [Ryan] O’Reilly and [Tyler] Bozak, [Jaden] Schwartz, [Robert] Bortuzzo, the list goes on and on, right? A special person and obviously a friend for life.

“Without that (Game 7 goal), just a legendary goal, legendary celebration by the hometown kid. It’s obviously one of those memories you look back on, as that team, as life goes on, you have a lot of beers over, talk about memories and stuff like that with how everything went.”

Maroon’s playoff career is over. Depending on how many of the Blackhawks’ final 12 games he plays, will be it. So that last lap around Enterprise Center was one to store in the memory bank.

“It sucks. When I’m done here, I’m going to be a Blues fan,” Maroon said. “I’ll be coming to games, just like all the other alumni. It’s going to be fun coming back here and watching the Blues play. St. Louis kid get the opportunity to end on a high note, get the opportunity to actually play in St. Louis to end the year. It’s pretty remarkable. I couldn’t write a better script on how all this transpired today. I’m really happy, like I said, with the St. Louis Blues. I’m happy where I’m at. I’m content. Whatever happens in the next chapter, I’m just going to have to go do it again.”

The hometown hero ... #stlbluespic.twitter.com/g0VyducCvY

— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) March 22, 2025

NASHVILLE — The Toronto Maple Leafs arrived in Nashville with momentum, carrying a three-game winning streak as they prepared to face the struggling Nashville Predators. The Leafs looked like a team that had overcome their struggles from just a couple of weeks ago, and in the first 20 minutes of action at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday, they appeared unstoppable.

However, the game completely flipped in the second period, with Nashville scoring five unanswered goals for a 5-2 victory.

"It was a total flip," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said after the game. "What we did to them in the first what they did to us in the second and we had breakdowns that cost goals. There was no reason for it."

Maple Leafs forward John Tavares said his team "should be pissed off" by the inability to finish off the two-game road trip. Ironically, the Leafs had a 2-0 lead as out-of-town games with their opponents had concluded. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers lost in regulation. A single point would have given the Leafs sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division. Instead they are second place, holding the same 42-25-3 record as Florida, but losing out on the first tiebreaker (regulation wins) However, they couldn't stop a team ranked 30th out of 32 in the NHL, playing for nothing but pride.

"It's a huge opportunity missed for us," Maple Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev said. "We're trying to win every game. So 12 games left, try to go 12-0. Start of the year, you try to go 82-0. Our mindset's the same. We want to win every game and we want to win our division."

With 12 games remaining, Berube sounded the alarm on some mental mistakes he was seeing from the Leafs on Saturday. The odd-man rushes allowed have been a problem, but is he surprised to be seeing this so late in the season as the club gears up for the postseason?

Berube said, "I'm not sure if I'm surprised. These kinds of mental mistakes can happen throughout the year. However, I haven't seen mistakes like we made tonight in a while."

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