The New York Islanders will not reach the 2025 Playoffs following their 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

This is just the second time the Islanders have missed the playoffs in the past seven seasons.

Islanders Eliminated From Playoff Contention After 4-3 Shootout Loss To FlyersThe New York Islanders staved off elimination on Saturday afternoon after a 4-3 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers. 

Now, attention shifts towards the offseason, with the first major event being the lottery for the 2025 NHL Draft, which will be held on either May 5 or May 6.

The Islanders currently sit at 80 points through 79 games, leaving them as a borderline bottom-10 team in the NHL.

While they have three games remaining on the season, we have a decent idea of what their lottery odds will be following Game 82.

Currently, the Islanders could finish with the sixth-best odds to land the first pick, but that is an unlikely scenario.

If the Islanders win their three remaining games, they could enter with the 14th-worst record in the NHL, but this is also quite unlikely.

The most likely scenario for the Islanders is ro finish with around the 10th-best odds to land the first overall pick.

With this, they would have just over a 7% chance of landing a top-two pick: 3.5% for No. 1 and 3.7% for No. 2.

The format of the draft was changed in 2022, allowing teams to move up no more than 10 picks in the draft.

So, the Islanders must finish in the bottom 11 in the standings to have a chance at first overall.

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bobby Brink scored the only goal of the shootout, beating Marcus Hogberg to the glove side on the fifth try to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-3 victory over the Islanders on Saturday.

The loss eliminated New York from the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Tyson Foerster scored two goals in the victory — including a go-ahead goal at the 10:39 mark of the third that gave Philadelphia a 3-2 lead. Foerster now has 24 goals on the season, including five in his last two games. Jakob Pelletier added the Flyers other goal while Samuel Ersson recorded 37 saves in picking up his 22nd win of the year.

The Islanders would tie the game with just 1:01 left to play when Bo Horvat’s wrist shot snuck through a maze of bodies and beat Ersson between the pads.

Anders Lee had New York’s first goal. Hogberg recorded 19 saves in the loss.

Takeaways

Islanders: New York owned puck control for the first two periods, but seemed to fade for most of the third. They are 2-5-3 in their last 10 games — a big reason why they faded out of the playoff picture in the East.

Flyers: With Foerster, Travis Konecny and Matvei Michkov now developing as wingers, general manager Daniel Briere can now look at acquiring a top-line center to help steady the Philadelphia offensive attack.

Key moment

The Flyers tied the game early in the third on a nifty passing set from Ryan Poehling to Owen Tippett to Pelletier, who squeezed it past Hogberg to flip the momentum of the game.

Key stat

Philadelphia is now 5-1 since John Tortorella was fired as coach on March 27.

Injuries

Islanders: New York forward Pierre Engvall had to be helped off the ice late in the third period with an apparent knee injury suffered in the Philadelphia defensive zone.

Up next

The Islanders visit New Jersey and the Flyers head to Ottawa for Sunday afternoon matinees.

Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith talk often.

They happened to be talking when Smith found out he was returning to Vegas in a trade with the New York Rangers.

"I was so happy for him, because I know how it is to leave there, and he left in a worse way," Marchessault said. "We just won, and 10 days later, he's in a different organization. So that was, honestly, awful. He's had a rocky year and a half, and now he's back where he had the most fun. So I was so happy for him and Karly (William Karlsson) to get back together."

They were also talking Friday, when the two discussed the highly anticipated tribute video in Vegas' regular-season finale, when the Nashville Predators visit Vegas for the Golden Knights' home finale Saturday night.

"He said he's probably gonna have tears just dripping down his face," Smith said after Saturday's morning skate."

It'll be an emotional night for not only Marchessault, but Smith and William Karlsson, the "Original Misfit" trio, who will skate on the same ice for the first time since they all shared one of the most joyous occasions in the history of sports in Las Vegas, the 2023 Stanley Cup championship.

"A little reunion," Karlsson said. "Unfortunately, he's not in our colors."

🎥 Karlsson on the fans: It's been a fun eight years, and every time you get to play at home, it's always a lot of energy. You get spoiled... I feel very fortunate. pic.twitter.com/fn3RMwAvNH

— x-Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 12, 2025

The three had been linemates the first six years of the organization's existence, but were broken up when Smith was dealt to Pittsburgh less than two weeks after hoisting the Cup. Following last season, Marchessault signed with Nashville as a free agent.

"He was part of this team for seven years, and he had great success," Karlsson said. "He was a very loved member of the team. And the town's gotten to love him, so there's gonna be a lot of emotion coming into tonight, and it'll be fun to see the tribute."

Eliminated from the postseason, the emotions are sure to spill into the stands as the tribute video plays overhead in front of what's sure to be an exuberant, sold-out crowd on Fan Appreciation Night. The Knights have been known to produce their fair share of heart-clutching "welcome back" videos, but this one might top them all.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the tribute, he's earned it," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "He's probably one of the most popular guys that ever played here. So good for him, give him his due."

Over his seven years with the organization, Marchessault has been witness to many of the heartfelt video tributes, including the likes of Marc-Andre Fleury, Ryan Reaves, Gerard Gallant and even Smith, when he came back with the Penguins.

Now it's Marchessault's turn, and after speaking with former Knight Will Carrier, who is now with the Carolina Hurricanes, it's a moment he said he's ready to embrace.

"He told me it just builds you up inside," said Marchessault, the 2023 Conn Smythe winner. "I'm definitely really excited to go back, to just to see the Fortress, the arena, the roads that you take to go to the rink, and all that kind of stuff. It was home for me. It's still a part of me, is part of home a little bit. It'll be definitely weird, but I'm definitely excited to just go back and see the fans, the arena, the city, the lights. Just a great atmosphere and the great juju that's over there. Definitely just super excited to go back."

'LIKE I NEVER LEFT'

The first two times the Knights visited Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, "it was like I never left, the guys are awesome," Marchessault said.

Moments after Vegas' 3-1 on March 29, a quick 10-minute reunion full of laughter took place in an enclosed area that separated the locker rooms, as many of the Knights made sure to say hello before catching their flight.

"You get to see those guys seven years in a row, you feel so much like brotherhood," Marchessault said. "So it was really good to spend time with them and see them. Just love seeing the guys ... all the trainers, going to see the coaches and stuff. It was just great to see everybody."

And as the Predators get ready for the offseason, and the Knights prepare for another quest through the postseason, Marchessault said he's being patient with himself in his new surroundings and looking forward to spending time with his wife and kids, but also preparing for the 2025-26 campaign after "the toughest mental health year" he's ever endured.

"I mean, all the change; you got to readjust to new teammates, new team, new organization," he said. "You got to readjust (to a new) system, you got to readjust a lot. Yeah, it's been more challenging mentally this year. But I've had slumps in the past with Vegas, too, and I'm just a guy that's hard on myself, so at the end of the day, I'm never satisfied, and I want to get over my slump as fast as possible.

"That's what I built my career off, is taking it one game at a time and helping my team win a hockey game and staying humble and all that. Right now, I'm definitely getting a humbling process. Maybe it's just a sit-back year to get healthy mentally and physically, get ready to go again, and there's no doubt in my mind I'll be back on top of my game again."

The St. Louis Blues enter their penultimate game of the 2024-25 season still unclear yet whether their season will extend beyond Tuesday or not.

Things became quite clear on Saturday after the Calgary Flames once again decided they aren't going any where in this Western Conference wild card race after a 4-2 win against the Minnesota Wild on Friday.

So the scenario is that the Blues (43-30-7), who face the Seattle Kraken (34-40-6) in their final road game of the season, the place where they opened the season Oct. 8 and won 3-2, are tied with the Wild with identical records and identical points (93). Each has played 80 games and each plays on Saturday.

The Wild currently hold the tiebreaker edge on the Blues with regulation wins (33-31) and if the season were to end on Saturday, would hold the first wild card while the Blues hold the second.

Meanwhile, the Flames (38-27-14) have three games remaining, a game in hand on each the Blues and Wild, could play spoiler in this if they continue to win their games.

While the Blues are playing the Kraken, the Wild will be facing the Vancouver Canucks at the same time; the Flames host the San Jose Sharks on Sunday and finish their season Thursday, two days after the Blues and Wild conclude theirs.

If the Blues win out, and the Wild slip up anywhere, they could get the first wild card and face the Vegas Golden Knights. Whoever finishes in the second wild card will get the Winnipeg Jets, who ended the Blues' franchise-record 12-game winning streak on Monday.

The Blues have followed up that 12-game winning streak with two straight losses, including Wednesday's 4-3 defeat to the Edmonton Oilers when Edmonton scored with 20.7 seconds remaining in regulation to steal what could be at least one precious point for St. Louis, which has to regroup and forge on trying to secure that first playoff spot since 2021-22.

- - -

One bit of good news on the injury front for the Blues is defenseman Colton Parayko, who has been out since March 5 after injuring his left knee and needing a scope.

Hearing that Tuesday's season finale, at home against Utah Hockey Club, if all goes well and there aren't any sudden setbacks, is when Parayko will get back into the lineup.

However, the Blues announced that defenseman Philip Broberg returned to St. Louis due to a personal matter and will be unavailable for this game, and Matthew Kessel will jump into the lineup.

Aan updated lineup will be available in pregame warmups.

- - -

Blues Projected Lineup:

Pavel Buchnevich-Robert Thomas-Jordan Kyrou

Jake Neighbours-Brayden Schenn-Jimmy Snuggerud

Mathieu Joseph-Oskar Sundqvist-Zack Bolduc

Alexey Toropchenko-Radek Faksa-Nathan Walker

Cam Fowler-Nick Leddy

Ryan Suter-Justin Faulk

Tyler Tucker-Matthew Kessel

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Philip Broberg (personal) and Dalibor Dvorsky. Colton Parayko (knee), Dylan Holloway (lower body) and Alexandre Texier (upper body) are out. Torey Krug (ankle) is out for the season.

- - -

Kraken Projected Lineup:

Jaden Schwartz-Chandler Stephenson-Jordan Eberle

Jared McCann-Shane Wright-Andre Burakovsky

Eeli Tolvanen-Matty Beniers-Kaapo Kakko

Michael Eyssimont-John Hayden-Ryan Winterton

Vince Dunn-Adam Larsson

Ryker Evans-Brandon Montour

Josh Mahura-Jamie Oleksiak

Philipp Grubauer will start in goal; Joey Daccord will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Cale Fleury and Tye Kartye. The Kraken report no injuries.

With the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs just around the corner and five Canadian teams currently holding postseason positions, the Leafs could be in line to match up against another team north of the border.

But for Steven Lorentz and the Toronto Maple Leafs, the bigger picture doesn’t matter. Their focus remains strictly in-house on winning the Atlantic Division and setting themselves up for success.

"I know people want to see another Canadian team in the playoffs, but we don't care about another Canadian team in the playoffs,” Lorentz said following Saturday’s optional skate at Scotiabank Arena. “We care about our team, and that's it... It's our job to not let that happen."

Steven Lorentz, beauty: "I know people want to see another Canadian team in the playoffs, but we don't care about another Canadian team in the playoffs. We care about our team, and that's it.... It's our job to not let that happen."

— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) April 12, 2025

The Leafs are set to host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, with both teams looking to earn points in a tight race in the Eastern Conference. As it stands, the Ottawa Senators, who defeated the Canadiens on Friday night, 5-2, are slotted into the first wild-card spot as the Canadiens trail by five points sitting in WC2. The Canadiens, however, can clinch a playoff spot with a regulation win on Saturday in Toronto.

As Lorentz, a native of Waterloo, Ont., native mentioned, it’s the Leafs’ job to not let that happen. Ahead of the game, Lorentz, who grew up a Maple Leafs fan, said there is an added “flair” to these types of games.

“Well, I mean, I've lived it my whole life, but now that I've been able to partake in it a little bit, it's special,” he said. “I think it's a privilege every time we get to play against these guys. There's always that extra flair. There's a little bit more to those games. You can obviously tell. There's just a little bit more intensity and a little bit more of that – you take things a little bit more personally against guys or teams like this. Ottawa, the same thing when it's nice and close to home like this. There's always a little bit more at stake.”

As of Saturday morning, five Canadian teams – the Leafs, Canadiens, Senators, Jets, and Oilers – sit in playoff spots with a maximum of four games left in the regular season. It’s a Canadian storyline at the moment, particularly given that no team from the country has hoisted the Stanley Cup since the Canadiens did it in 1993. But for a Leafs team chasing the Atlantic Division title and in search of a deep postseason run of their own, they are paying attention – yet keeping everything internal – as Lorentz attested to Wednesday.

“Yeah, we're paying attention,” Lorentz admitted. “I didn't really watch a whole lot of it. I saw the start that Ottawa got off to. I think I watched a bit in the first period. But after that, I don't even know what happened or how it really finished,” he added, referring to Ottawa vs. Montreal on Friday. 

“Again, I've said it once, I've said it before, we're focused on what's going on in this locker room. It's definitely huge being able to clinch a top spot. But wherever we finish, we need to be able to be at the top of our game for a round of playoffs.”

‘I Want To Keep Everything Internal’: Why Maple Leafs' Steven Lorentz Didn’t Visit His Former Panthers Teammates In Return To FloridaToronto Maple Leafs forward Steven Lorentz is drawing the line in the sand ahead of the club’s clash with the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. 

Toronto, already locked into the postseason for a ninth consecutive year, is aiming to finish strong and secure the best possible matchup. 

The only team they're concerned about is their own.

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The Chicago Blackhawks have their final home game of the season on Saturday night. They will take on the Central Division-leading Winnipeg Jets to close things out for the year. The Jets, who have the inside track on the NHL's Presidents' Trophy, are always a tough challenge. 

This is more than just the last home game for the Blackhawks. It will be the final game in the wonderful career of Patrick Maroon. 

Maroon will skate in his 848th career game and 68th with the Blackhawks. He also spent time with the Anaheim Ducks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils, and Boston Bruins. 

The man known as "The Big Rig" made an impact on all of those teams in different ways. For Chicago, it was about being a great leader for a group of young kids. 

During the 2024-25 season, Maroon was wonderful for everyone. There are countless ways he helped the less experienced players, but one memory will always stick out.

That is when he took Lukas Reichel with him to St. Louis to be with his family for the holidays, when Reichel had nowhere else to go. Gestures like that are what made Maroon as special a person off the ice as he was on the ice. 

Maroon was named as the Blackhawks' nominee for the Masterton Trophy for his work this year. This award is presented annually to the player who most demonstrates perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. 

Throughout his NHL career, Maroon was a scrappy fighter who made the bottom-six forward group of his team better. He also scored over 100 goals and had over 300 points. This included a 27-goal season when he was a member of the Oilers in 2016-17. 

When Maroon was with his hometown St. Louis Blues, he scored an overtime winning goal in game seven of the second round against the Dallas Stars. Eventually, they won the Stanley Cup. 

Maroon followed that up by winning the Stanley Cup in each of the next two years to make it three in a row. These came as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning as they went back-to-back. 

Maroon won't travel with the Blackhawks as they close out the year in Montreal and Ottawa. He is going to end his career right where he made his NHL debut, the United Center. Where it started as a member of the Anaheim Ducks, it will end as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks. 

Chicago is sure to send Maroon out feeling good about himself. He's been a good warrior at every stop, which made him a fan favorite in just about every city he's played. 

From being drafted in the 2007 NHL Draft to not being a full-time NHL player until the 2013-14 season, tons of AHL time in between, and eventually becoming a three-time Stanley Cup champion, there is no doubting Maroon's love for the game. He is proof that a little bit of dedication and hard work can get you to where you want to go.

This won't be the last we see of Maroon in the coming years. Whether it is in media or as a part of an organization in hockey ops, he will be around. For now, he will be celebrated in his final game of a memorable career. 

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

After arriving in Toronto on Thursday night, Ivan Demidov was given a day to rest on Friday. He waited for his Montreal Canadiens teammates to join him after their game against the Ottawa Senators. While the Habs were in Ottawa, Demidov and his girlfriend did what every hockey-obsessed person does in their first time in Maple Leafs’ land: they visited the Hockey Hall of Fame.

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On Saturday morning, though, it was time to get to work for the Russian wonder. The Canadiens didn’t have a proper morning skate, which made sense since they will be playing the second part of a back-to-back tonight, but there was an optional skate, which is when Demidov skated for the first time in full Canadiens gear.

He got on the ice with Joshua Roy, Arber Xhekaj, and Emil Heineman, which likely means that none of them will be inserted in the lineup for the duel with the Maple Leafs, despite the 5-2 loss in Ottawa.

Demidov as he enters the ice as a member of the Montreal Canadiens for the first time, welcomed by Arber Xhekaj #GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/eyQ2Q8M26g

— Karine Hains (@KarineHains) April 12, 2025

As for Demidov, Martin St-Louis already confirmed on Friday that he wouldn’t be making his debut in Toronto. This means that he’ll likely get to play on Monday night as the Canadiens welcome the Chicago Blackhawks to the Bell Centre.

Giving him a bit of action before the playoffs start, which the Canadiens now have a 98% chance of making, according to Moneypuck. I win in regulation against the Toronto Maple Leafs would make that a certainty and would be a welcome development, which could allow the coach to rest some of his older or injured players before entering the Spring dance.

Demidov in his first practice with the Canadiens, it was only an optional so there weren’t many players there #GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/mxhtRqrjPM

— Karine Hains (@KarineHains) April 12, 2025

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