LAS VEGAS -- Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said Saturday after morning skate that he is not concerned long-term with an injury that's kept Alex Pietrangelo out of the lineup.
The veteran defenseman who has missed six of the last nine games, including the last two, will miss Saturday night's home finale against the Nashville Predators, as the Golden Knights look to clinch the Pacific Division.
Star forward Jack Eichel will also miss his third straight game.
Despite their absences, the Golden Knights come into Saturday night winners of three of their last four (3-0-1) while riding a 9-2-1 win streak.
"It's good to have depth, guys that can get in when you're injured, and that's how you end up in first place sometimes, when you have injuries, right?" Cassidy said. "You don't lose a beat because other guys are ready to go."
Pietrangelo, who has missed only nine games all season, is a key part of the Knights' defensive pairings, who Cassidy hopes to have back in time for the playoffs, which start in one week.
The 35-year-old is ninth on the team with 33 points, while his 29 assists are tied for fourth.
Cassidy confirmed it is not the same issue that kept Pietrangelo from participating in the Four Nation's Face-Off two months ago.
"If he was able to play, he would," Cassidy said. "Right now, he's dealing with something, and he's getting better. He's skating, but he's not ready to go in the lineup.
"He's one of the, probably the most competitive guy in there. The Four Nations, I think he addressed that. There was some stuff that he had to take a little time off to be better for us. He came back in the lineup after that. Unfortunately, he's dealing with something different now that should be good to go. I just can't give you an exact date."
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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.
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.
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.
Philadelphia is now 5-1 since John Tortorella was fired as coach on March 27.
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.
The Islanders visit New Jersey and the Flyers head to Ottawa for Sunday afternoon matinees.
By Ryan Clark, The Hockey News intern
With the end of the NHL regular season within sight, two things are on people’s minds: who will make the playoffs, and who will take the season’s coveted awards?
The Selke Trophy is a bit of an odd award, as the criteria aren’t as defined as other awards. The other skater awards usually come down to a combination of points, goals and team records, while goalie awards often hinge on wins, save percentage and a few of the publicly available advanced stats.
The Selke Trophy, on the other hand, is a bit of an outlier, as we have seen offensive superstars get votes as well as gritty fourth-liners. There are lots of players who are in the running for the Selke, and with defense being difficult to quantify sometimes, it’s hard to keep up. Here are the main contenders for the award, ranked in tiers.
It’s not a question of whether the Panthers captain will win another Selke, it’s how many more he’ll win. Even with a couple of weeks of missed time, Barkov is the front-runner for this award.
We’ll let you in on a little secret: Reinhart has been the NHL’s best defensive forward this year. He’s been even better than Barkov at suppressing quality chances and is also second in the league in shorthanded goals.
The Devils are beat down and limping into the playoffs, with injuries everywhere on the roster. It’s a good thing Hischier has been as good as he has, keeping the team afloat with his excellent two-way play.
Cirelli has finished in the top five in Selke voting in the past, but his lack of offensive production led to him being glossed over in the race. Now that he’s put up career highs, could he earn a nomination?
Let’s talk about steals. Marner sits fourth in the league in takeaways, an impressive feat. Even more impressive is the fact that the rest of the top 10 in the stat is made up of defensemen.
He hasn’t been quite as solid in his own end this season as some others on this list, but he’s still really tough to play against.
He has the second-best Corsi and Fenwick percentages of any forward with 500 minutes played, per moneypuck.com. In other words, the Panthers almost always have possession when he’s on the ice.
It’s impressive to see how far Draisaitl has come in his own end. From being a perceived liability to now showing up on a list of Selke contenders. And his coach, Kris Knoblauch, seems to agree.
He’s been one half of one of the league’s deadliest penalty-killing duos (with Cirelli) and has been a 5-on-5 fiend. If he were a center, perhaps he’d be viewed as a top contender.
He’s finished in the top 10 in Selke voting in each of the past three seasons, and with how he’s played this year for a contending Wild team that’s been plagued by injuries, he deserves to keep the streak alive.
He’s seemingly become everyone’s new favorite player, and for good reason. Despite his smaller size, Jarvis’ motor and hockey IQ make him one of the more underrated players in the defensive zone. He’ll get his Selke recognition one day.
He’s earned many Selke votes throughout his career, finally getting the nomination last year. While he took a step back this season, he’ll likely still find himself on a few ballots.
You can’t have a Selke story without talking about Kopitar. If it wasn’t for playing at the same time as Pavel Datsyuk and Patrice Bergeron, perhaps he’d be viewed as the best defensive forward of the modern era. Kopitar probably won’t get much attention for the award this year, but his legacy, combined with the Kings’ success, could earn him a few votes.
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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."
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.