The Ottawa Senators host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday afternoon in their 80th game of the season. As of Saturday night, the Sens are pretty much locked in as the Eastern Conference’s first Wild Card playoff qualifier.
After the Montreal Canadiens’ 1-0 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, the best the Habs can do is tie Ottawa in the final standings, but they can't catch the Senators in regulation wins, which is the first tiebreaker. The Sens can still catch the Panthers for third place, but they'd need to win their last three while Florida wins their last two in regulation.
So, beyond continuing good habits and playing the right way, the Senators have nothing to play for in their final three games. But for winger Nick Cousins, it’s about getting back up to speed. He’s expected to play on Sunday for the first time since his knee injury in January.
The two clubs have split the season series so far. The Flyers took the first meeting, earning a 5–4 overtime win in November. The Senators rebounded with a 5–2 victory in Philadelphia last month.
The Senators won a feisty 5-2 contest at home on Friday night against the Montreal Canadiens. Shane Pinto scored twice and cracked the 20 goal mark for the second time in his career. Pinto, Ridly Greig, and Michael Amadio, have been fantastic of late on both sides of the puck.
The Sens home record is 25–11–2, and everybody's working for the weekends. They're on a run of 14–2-1 on Saturdays and Sundays.
The Flyers are enjoying the so-called new coach bump. With a 4–3 shootout win over the New York Islanders on Saturday, they’re 5-1 since the firing of John Tortorella. Brad Shaw has been running the bench in the interim and making a good first impression on GM Daniel Briere. Notably, as a player, Shaw remains the only person to have ever captained both the Ottawa 67s and the Ottawa Senators.
Former Habs first-rounder Ryan Poehling is suddenly playing out of his mind with 13 points in his last 10 games, including 9 since the coaching change.
With the Senators all but clinched as the Wild Card 1 team, they will play the winner of the Atlantic Division and that will now be either Toronto or Tampa Bay. If the Leafs beat Carolina on Sunday night and Tampa loses to Buffalo, we’ll officially have our first Battle of Ontario playoff series in 21 years.
Sunday’s faceoff with the Flyers is at 1 pm.
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NHL Bets to look at following recent news like Hurricanes and Habs getting top prospects, Avalanche to get back Gabe Landeskog
The NHL season is almost over with few games mattering as the playoff picture takes shape and makes great values, harder to find than ever. As we anxiously await the start of the postseason, there is some news around the league that we can look to and find a potential play within the story.
All betting lines are from FanDuel Sportsbook and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.
The Canes have hit a rough patch recently with four straight losses but fans shouldn't worry as they've called for backup. Carolina will get their 2020 third-round pick into the lineup for the first time and the 23-year-old defenceman should make an impact. Over the last three seasons in the KHL, Nikishin has flourished into a must-see talent with impressive offence from the backend that totalled 45 goals and 112 assists for 157 through 193 games.
The 6-foot-4 blueliner has also proven to be a difference-maker when it counts, playing with physicality that should translate to the Stanley Cup playoffs, while also adding subtle offence with 12 points over his last 25 KHL playoff games.
Alexander Nikishin has a lethal one-timer #hockey #boom #carolinahurricanesundefinedCarolina has the second-highest odds to win the East at +330 and once Nikishin makes his impact felt, I predict they will be rolling through their final four games and will drop their odds closer to the top ranked Panthers, who sit with +310 odds.
The Hurricanes bring a wealth of playoff experience, having won a playoff series in each of the past six seasons and securing multiple series victories in two of those years.
Carolina to beat the injury-plagued Devils at -250 is a free win but we would also suggest an early shot at an Eastern Conference championship as the Capitals may be out of gas after helping captain Alex Ovechkin break the all-time goal record plus the Atlantic teams like the Panthers, Bolts and Maple Leafs may feed on each other before making the Conference Finals. Don't wait on the Canes as Nikishin will make sure they look like nothing but Stanley Cup favourites.
The Habs have been blazing hot with a 14-5-5 record since the Four Nations break. They've managed to leapfrog several contenders and put themselves in the last Eastern Wild Card spot. Montreal is set up for a first round matchup versus the top seed in the East with the Washington Capitals.
Canadiens top prospect Ivan Demidov terminated his KHL deal & signed with Montreal 👀 (via KHL_eng/X)Canadiens top prospect Ivan Demidov terminated his KHL deal & signed with Montreal 👀 (via KHL_eng/X)✔️ Subscribe to ESPN+ https://plus.espn.com/✔️ Get the E...This could set up for a massive series back in Russia as Ovechkin will line up against the next big Russian star in Montreal's Ivan Demidov, who is joining the team to finish off the season. The 19-year-old winger was the Habs' first round pick this past year, where he was selected fifth overall. He went back to play in Russia's KHL for SKA St. Petersburg, where he recorded almost 50 points in 65 games.
Some experts are calling him the best prospect out of Russia since Ovechkin himself and would make the first round series between Montreal and Washington must-see tv. Demidov's role hasn't been lined out just yet but if he makes his debut Monday, he should be able to take advantage and get on the scoresheet at least once against a Blackhawks defence, that has the second-worst goals against average at 3.57 this season.
Whatever the odds are for a Demidov point, I would suggest taking it as he should have an explosive NHL debut.
The Aves haven't had their captain in the lineup since winning the Stanley Cup in 2022 and since they've struggled without his leadership with one playoff series win over the last two seasons.
Landeskog, 32, has finally returned to the ice this past week after being sidelined for nearly three years with a severe knee injury that require multiple surgeries to repair it.
Some thought he may never play again but he prevailed despite all odds and is now at the AHL with the Colorado Eagles on a conditioning assignment to get the longtime Avalanche captain back up to speed. Colorado is slated for a first-round matchup with the Dallas Stars and should make for a stellar series between the third and fifth-best teams in the West.
The odds are dead even for the series with each team having -110 odds to advance to the second round but when Landeskog makes his return, it'll ignite a fire in the Avalanche locker room that many teams may not be able to handle. It may be wise to get in on them early as they have +500 odds to Western Conference and +850 odds to win the Cup.
The Florida Panthers sent their faithful followers home happy on Fan Appreciation Night.
Hosting the Buffalo Sabres and missing several key players, Florida showed up well and defeated the visitors 3-2 in a shootout.
It’s been a recurring theme of late for the Panthers to hold players out of the lineup as the team aims to have as healthy of a roster as possible when the postseason begins in about a week.
That hasn’t stopped the Cats from maintaining an overall strong level of play and, more recently, reeling off a few wins in a row.
On that note, let’s get to Saturday’s takeaways:
GOOD WITH WIN
It’s a strange time of the season.
Playoff-bound squads like Florida are prioritizing postseason health and preparedness over going all out for a few more regular season points in the standings.
On the other hand, there are also teams like Buffalo who may be peaking a bit too late, already eliminated from playoff contention but still trying to build some positivity for next season.
The Sabres certainly put up a strong fight on Saturday, but it’s nice for the Panthers that they’ve been able to pile up some points in addition to playing the game the right way.
“We are kind of winding up for the playoffs,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “Buffalo was 8-2 coming into this game, they won eight of their last 10 games, and they’ve got lots of offense, so I liked how serious the guys were. It wasn't a masterpiece by any means, but they took their job seriously tonight. I like the professionalism.”
IMPACTFUL NIGHT FOR GADJO
Forward Jonah Gadjovich isn’t generally on the roster every game, and when he does suit up, his ice time is limited as a fourth line player.
That means when he does hear his number called, Gadjovich knows he needs to be consistent to his particular brand of hockey.
Lately, Gadjovich has tapped more frequently as the Panthers have been leaning more on their depth forwards over the past few weeks.
His average ice time has gone up from 7:22 per game in March to 10:34 in six April contests.
On Saturday, Gadjovich made sure to influence the game in his own way, first catching the attention of everyone on either team when he lit up Sabres forward Jiri Kulich with a crushing center ice hit.
Jonah Gadjovich NAILS Jiri Kulich in open ice and the Sabres go after him 😳💥 pic.twitter.com/qrPOhRyzdW
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 12, 2025
Not long after, Buffalo forward Alex Tuch challenged Gadjovich to a fight looking for retribution for the hit, and it did not go well for Tuch.
That’s what Gadjo can do for the Cats. While he may not end up on the scoresheet but finds way to positively effect the game in Florida’s favor.
“Well first of all, he's a tank of a man,” said Maurice. “You run into him, you're going to feel it. He's been a very impactful player here for about a month with our injuries. He's kept the game in a peaceful manner a lot of nights, because he's pretty well respected in league.”
Jonah Gadjovich and Alex Tuch drop gloves after Gadjovich's huge hit earlier in the game 👊 pic.twitter.com/wN1TRXEouH
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 13, 2025
PULJUJARVI KEEPS IMPRESSING
Forward Jesse Puljujarvi is turning some heads during his first games in a Panthers sweater.
The former fourth overall pick was signed to an AHL PTO (pro tryout) contract by Florida’s American League affiliate in Charlotte back in early February.
He quickly acclimated himself to Florida’s physically aggressive, defensive systems and in less than a month, earned a two-way deal with the Panthers.
After being called up to the Cats last week, Puljujarvi has played three games with Florida and by all accounts, has fit in extremely well.
The 26-year-old picked up his first goal as a Panther on a sweet one-handed deflection Saturday, and over the three games, he has logged 11 shots and 23 hits while averaging over 13 minutes of ice time.
NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) on XJesse Puljujarvi - Florida Panthers (4)“He’s a very interesting player,” said Maurice. “I think he's big, clearly he's not afraid to hit. He’s had a whole bunch of them, but not running around for it. He's playing the game, as well. There's some offensive instinct in him. We believe that there's an impactful player there.”
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Things are never easy in the Stanley Cup playoffs, nor should they be. But wherever the Toronto Maple Leafs end up in the standings, their reward will be a first-round opponent who has dummied them this season.
This would have been the year for the Leafs to face the Tampa Bay Lightning since they are 4-0-0 against them, but there's no way that is going to happen now. Whether they finish first or second in the Atlantic Division, they're guaranteed to face either the Florida Panthers or Ottawa Senators. (The Senators could still conceivably catch the Panthers for third in the division if they win out in regulation and the Panthers lose both their remaining games in regulation.)
The problem is, they haven't been particularly good against either of those teams this season. With the exception of a 5-1 blowout loss to the Panthers in November, the Leafs have played both teams pretty closely but have only one win to show for it.
They do have home-ice advantage regardless of whom they face. And they'll need it.
Here's more in today's video column:
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