NHL podcast Len Shapiro Fri Mar 14, 2025: Panthers get the edge on Leafs 3-2; Senators rolling with fifth straight win 5-3 over Bruins; plus more NHL news

Florida Panthers Sam Bennett second from left scores on Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) as the Maple Leafs Jake McCabe (22) defends in the first period at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Fri Mar 14, 2025 (Canadian Press via AP)

NHL podcast Len Shapiro Fri Mar 14, 2025:

#1 The Florida Panthers edged the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday night. The Panthers Sam Bennett helped out with two goals in the winning cause.

#2 The Ottawa Senators are becoming to be known as Hottawa. They have now won five straight games. In the latest win on Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre the Senators scored four goals against the Boston Bruins in the first period. The Sens Drake Batherson scored two goals with an assist, Brady Tkachuk has now scored a point in eight straight games with seven goals and two assists. There was nothing the Bruins could do as they ran into a hot Ottawa team losing 6-3.

#3 The Philadelphia Flyers Bobby Brink scored two goals as they edged the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Thursday night. The win ended the Flyers five game losing streak and the Lightning lost their third game in a row.

#4 The Pittsburgh Penguins Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust scored a goal each and had an assist in the Pens win over the St Louis Blues 5-3 at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night. The Penguins Sidney Crosby and Blake Lizotte had two assists to help the Pens pick up their third straight win. The last time the Penguins won three in a row was when the won four in a row back on Nov 27-Dec 3.

#5  The Vegas Golden Knights chalked up their fourth straight win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 4-0 shutout. Knight’s goaltender Adin Hill stopped all 27 Jackets shot on goals. Hill stopped 14 shots in the first period and gave the Knights an opportunity to score to goals to take the lead in the first period.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fall Short Again, Lose 5-3 to Senators for eighth loss in a row; Sens end 5 game skid

San Jose Sharks William Eklund (72) takes a shot on Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) in the first period at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Sat Mar 1, 2025 (Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell 5-3 to the Ottawa Senators Saturday. Shane Pinto, Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, David Perron and Michael Amadio scored for the Senators. Linus Ullmark made 34 saves for the win. Tyler Toffoli, Timothy Liljegren and Will Smith scored for the Sharks. Vitek Vanecek made 27 saves in the loss.

Once again, the Sharks gave up a lead to lose the game. “It sucks. It feels like we’ve been playing pretty good hockey. So, it’s just an unfortunate loss,” said Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro. The Sharks power play did well, scoring in three of four chances. It also did badly, giving up a short-handed goal on that fourth try, which was actually their first of the game. That was emblematic of the team’s frustrations lately. It is difficult to see the good in their game when they keep losing.

“I liked our start, we did some good things. Obviously a couple bounces. I didn’t like that line change that we had. We gave up an easy goal,” Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky said, of the fourth Ottawa goal.

Shane Pinto started the scoring at 11:05 of the first period, short-handed. After pushing the puck out of the zone, Pinto started skating while Ridly Greig gathered up the puck and passed it ahead of Pinto. Pinto skated into the Sharks zone with no one between him and Vanecek.

Tyler Toffoli tied the game with a power play goal at 5:17 of the second period. Toffoli’s shot from the goal line went off of a Senator and into the net. Assists went to Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini.

Timothey Liljegren gave the Sharks the lead with a second power play goal at 9:47. Liljegren scored with a shot from the blue line through traffic. Assists went to Alexander Wennberg and Klim Kostin.

Brady Tkachuk tied the game again at 1:26 of the third period with a power play goal. Tim Stützle carried the puck in, then passed it across and back to Tkachuk for the shot. Assists went to Stützle and Jake Sanderson.

Tim Stützle gave the Senators a 3-2 lead at the three minute mark. Greig sent the puck in and off the end boards, where it bounced to the front of the net to meet Stützle.

David Perron made it 4-2 at 8:31. Thomas Chabot carried the puck in and took a shot that created a rebound for Perron to gather up and put in the net. Assists went to Chabot and Drake Batherson.

The Sharks pulled their goaltender for an extra skater with more than two minutes left. Soon enough, they drew a tripping penalty and got a power play. Will Smith made it 4-3 with a third power play goal. Assists went to William Eklund and Macklin Celebrini.

The Sharks kept their net empty and with one minute left, Michael Amadio scored into that empty net. An assist went to Artem Zub.

The Sharks next play on Monday at 4:30 PM PT in Toronto against the Maple Leafs.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Knights stay perfect in New Jersey with 3-1 win; Lightning open up some offense on Ottawa in 5-1 win; plus more NHL news

Vegas Golden Knights Tomas Hertl (right) brings the puck up ice against the New Jersey Devils Jack Hughes (left) in the first period at the Prudential Center in Newark on Thu Feb 6, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Vegas Golden Knights had goals scored from three different players in their 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Thursday night. Jack Eichel, Nicolas Roy, and Shea Theordore scored a goal each. Adin Hill will be representing Canada in goal during the 4 Nations Face off on Feb 12-20. Hill stopped 14 shots for the Knights. The Knights have not lost a game in New Jersey in their seven games there since coming into the NHL.

#2 Brayden Point scored a goal and had two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-1 at Amalie Arena on Thursday night. The Bolts Jake Guentzel and Brandon Hagel scored a goal apiece. Nikita Kucherov had two assists and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots. It was Tampa Bay’s second win over three days against Ottawa.

#3 Alexander Ovechkin scored his 879th goal on a on timer just inside of the right face off circle at 19:07 in the first period and is now 16 goals shy of passing Wayne Gretzky for the NHL record of 894 goals. Ovechkin has a hot hand right now he has scored in four straight games with 26 goals on the season. The Washington Capitals get a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

#4 Dylan Guenther scored an overtime goal for the second straight game and the Utah Hockey Club edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Guenther scored at 4:27 getting a pass from goaltender Connor Ingram and got a breakaway scoring on his own rebound for the win.

#5 Filip Gustavsson saved 38 shots for the Minnesota Wild as they win in a one goal difference over the Carolina Hurricanes at the Xcel Energy Center in St.Paul on Thursday night 2-1. Gustavsson made quite a recovery in net after allowing six Ottawa Senators goals in his last start.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Jets Ford scores first NHL goal; Wild goalie Fleury shuts out Habs 4-0; plus more NHL news

Winnipeg Jets center Vladislav Namestnkov (7) puts a backhanded shot in the net past the Boston Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo (70) in the first period at TD Garden in Boston on Thu Jan 30, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Winnipeg Jets Parker Ford who grew up rooting for the Boston Bruins as a kid scored in his NHL debut against the Bruins as well as the Jets scoring a total of four straight goals in the third period in a four goal 6-2 win over the Bruins.

#2  Minnesota Wild goaltender 40 year Mark Andre Fleury stopped 19 shots and recorded his 76th NHL shutout for the Wild’s third straight win 4-0 over the Montreal Canadiens. Fleury picked up his first shutout since March 14th. This could very well be Fleury’s last game in Montreal as he is retiring after this season. Fleury who grew up a Canadiens fan lived in Sorel, Quebec just an hour from Montreal.

#3 The Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin scored his career 876th goal and needs 19 to surpass former Los Angeles Kings NHL goal leader Wayne Gretzky who has 894 career goals. Despite the Ovechkin goal the Caps lost to the Ottawa Senators 5-4 at Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa on Thursday.

#4 Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andre Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots in the Lightning’s 3-0 shutout over the Los Angeles Kings at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay. For Vasilevskiy this was his third shutout for the season and his 37th career shutout. The Lightning got two goals from Brandon Hagel and a goal from Anthony Cirelli.

#5 Mikko Rantanen scored his first goal since joining the Carolina Hurricanes in their 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at Lenovo Center on Thursday night. Rantanen who came over to Carolina from the Colorado Avalanche that involved a three trade deal that included the Blackhawks forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury and a 2025 second round NHL draft pick.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Bruins blank Senators 2-0 behind Korpisalo’s shutout; Red Wings get a jump on Habs in 4-2 win; plus more news

The Boston Bruins left winter Brad Marchand (63) takes a poke at the puck in an attempt to score on the Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg (31) in the third period at TD Garden in Boston on Thu Jan 23, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Boston Bruins took care of business shutting out the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden in Boston on Thursday night. The Bruins and Sens didn’t score in the first period but the Bruins got single goals in the second and third periods. Bruins Morgan Geekie (13) score in the second period at 2:06 and David Pastrnak (23) at 19:55 in the third period in the 2-0 win. Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo stopped all 29 Ottawa shots for the shutout.

#2 The Detroit Red Wings won a two goal game over the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 at Little Caesars Palace in Detroit on Thursday. The Red Wings Jonatan Berggren (8) scored the game’s first goal in the first period at 13:00. The Wings scored a second goal at 19:56 in the first period by Alex DeBrincat (20) to go up 2-0. Second period Andrew Copp (9) at 4:25 and Dylan Larkin (21) at 7:50 both scored. The Wings came away with a 4- 2 lead after two periods. Neither team scored in the third period.

#3 The New York Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller scored a goal and had an assist. The Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin stopped 35 shots in the Rangers convincing win over the Flyers 6-1 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.

#4 The Carolina Hurricane put away the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-4 at the Lenovo Center in Columbus. The Canes Seth Jarvis scored two goals and had two assists. Sebastian Aho had a goal and two assists, as the Hurricanes scored five goals in the second period and came away with a three goal win.

#5 The Minnesota Wild who are 28-16-4 took a rather shocking defeat 4-0 to the Utah Hockey Club (21-19-7) at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Thursday. Utah’s Barrett Hayton scored two goals, Lawson Crousse, and Clayton Keller scored a goal each in the win. Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped all 26 Minnesota shots for the shutout.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Nylander scores game winner in OT for Leafs; Caps Ovechkin now 21 shy of Gretzky’s goal record; plus more NHL news

Toronto Maple Leafs William Nylander (88) scored the game winning goal against the New Jersey Devils, he is joined in the celebration with teammates Jake McCabe (22) and Phillipe Myers (88) at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thu Jan 16, 2025 (Canadian Press via AP)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Toronto Maple Leafs William Nylander scored the game winning overtime goal at 1:10 to defeat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday night. Nylander on a Mitch Marner stretch pass and shot the puck for a goal past New Jersey goaltender Jacob Markstrom glove side from the blue line.

#2 Alexander Ovechkin scored the game winner for the Washington Capitals for his 874th career goal at 3:07 in overtime to defeat the Ottawa Senators 1-0 at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Ovechkin is now 21 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal scoring record at 894. Ovechkin took a pass from Ramus Sandin on a two on one and beat the Sens Leevi Merilainen with a snap shot.

#3 The Tampa Bay Lightning Jake Guentzel scored in the shootout to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Thursday. The Lightning’s Brayden Point scored, Victor Hedman picked up his career 600th assist. The win puts the Lighting at 3-1-1 in their last five games. Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy saved 34 shots.

#4 The Detroit Red Wings Cam Talbot stopped 41 shots on a busy night to defeat the Florida Panthers 5-2 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise. Talbot had the hot hand stopping 23 shots in the third period. The Wings Dylan Larkin had two goals and an assist to keep the offense going.

#5 The Columbus Blue Jackets kept their win streak alive with a convincing 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks at Nationwide Bank Arena in Columbus on Thursday. The Jackets James van Riemsdyk scored twice and Zach Werenski picked up his 18th consecutive home point.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks fall to Ottawa Senators in midweek matchup 4-3

Henry Thrun (3), Mario Ferraro (38), Nico Sturm (7), and Will Smith (2) celebrate with Klim Kostin (10) after scoring a goal. (Via San Jose Sharks/X)

Despite dominating the whole game, the San Jose Sharks fell to the Ottawa Senators 4- 3.

By Madison Montez

SAN JOSE–The San Jose Sharks hosted the Ottawa Senators for a midweek matchup Wednesday night. This is the first meeting between the two teams this season. The last time these two teams faced off was on March 9th where the Sharks won 2-1 on two Thomas Bordeleau goals.

San Jose went onto the powerplay early when Ridly Greig took a 2 minute penalty for interference but weren’t able to take advantage. Shortly after coming off of the penalty kill, Ottawa opened up the scoring on an Adam Gaudette goal at 4:35 of the 1st. Ottawa had their first opportunity on the powerplay as Klim Kostin took a 2 minute penalty for high-sticking. 42 seconds into the powerplay, Josh Norris scored his 9th of the season assisted by Drake Batherson and Tim Stutzle.

Although outshooting Ottawa 24-10, Ottawa kept their lead throughout the 2nd. At 9:19 into the 2nd, Mario Ferraro cut down Ottawa’s lead to 1 assisted by Will Smith and Klim Kostin. This was Ferraro’s first goal of the season.

Previous to this, he hadn’t scored since April 13th against the Minnesota Wild. Ottawa extended their lead to 3-1 at 15:22 on a Tyler Kleven goal; his first of the season assisted by Claude Giroux. Late into the 2nd period with 23.6 seconds left, Mario Ferraro went to the box for holding which meant Ottawa would start the 3rd period on a 1:45 powerplay.

San Jose cut down Ottawa’s lead again on a goal by Macklin Celebrini assisted by William Eklund and Jake Walman at 4:48. San Jose stayed alive at 12:32 with a Will Smith PPG assisted by Fabian Zetterlund and Timothy Liljegren. With 5 minutes left in the 3rd, Adam Gaudette netted his 2nd of the night assisted by Tom Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk to seal Ottawa’s 4-3 win.

Three stars of the game:

1. Tim Stutzle

2. Will Smith

3. Adam Gaudette

San Jose will be back in action on Friday hosting the Seattle Kraken at 12:30pm.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Bruins Korpisalo saves 21 to shutout Utah 1-0; Knights clip Senators 3-2; plus more NHL news

Utah Hockey Club center Alexander Kerfoot (15) tumbles in front of Boston Bruins defender Brandon Carlo (25) and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (70) in the second period at TD Garden in Boston on Thu Nov 21, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Boston Bruins Joonas Korpisalo stopped 21 shots to shutout the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night in Boston. It was the first game under interim head coach Joe Sacco who replaced former head coach Jim Montgomery who was fired after accumulating a 120-41-23 record after two seasons. Sacco said that the win felt pretty good and for the guys it was even more important.

#2 The Vegas Golden Knights wound up handing the Ottawa Senators a 3-2 loss, their fourth straight loss on Thursday at the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa. Knights Ilya Samsonov stopped 39 shots. Samsonov made 16 saves in the third period including an amazing slide across the crease for a pad save on the Senators David Perron’s wrist shot.

#3 With just 52 seconds left in the game the Detroit Red Wings Lucas Raymond scored a go ahead goal as the Wings came back from behind to beat the New York Islanders at Little Caesar’s Pizza Arena in Detroit 2-1. It’s was a rough road trip for the Islanders who drop to 1-2-2. Raymond said that everyone wants to score goals but as long as were winning games everybody is happy.

#4 The New Jersey Devils defeated the Carolina Hurricane 4-2 in New Jersey on Thursday. Jesper Bratt scored two goals and an assist. Jack Hughes got three assists and Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom stopped 20 shots in his 500th career game.

#5 The Colorado Avalanche’s Miles Wood scored the go ahead goal in the third period against the Washington Capitals for a 2-1 win at the Capital Center on Thursday. The Aves Mikko Rantanen scored and goaltender Alexander Geogiev stopped 28 shots for the win.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Bruins Marchand scores gamer in OT to beat Flames; Panthers win 6th straight game with 6-2 win over Preds; plus more NHL news

Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand right celebrates his goal with teammate defensemen Charlie McAvoy (left) in overtime at the Boston Garden on Thu Nov 7, 2024 (AP News photo)

On NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Boston Bruins Brad Marchand with 20 seconds left in the overtime stanza to help the Bruins with a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Arena in Calgary. The Flames battled earlier scoring two goals in the third period forcing a tie.

# 2 The Florida Panthers are hot they have now won six in a row defeating the Nashville Predators on Thursday night 6-2. The Predators have won five of their last six games. The Panthers Carter Verhaeghe had three points scoring a goal and with two assists.

#3 The New York Islanders Bo Horvat scored a goal and had two assists and stopped the Ottawa Senators from coming back in the Isles 4- 2 win at Canadian Centre in Ottawa. The Isles Anders Lee scored a goal and an assist, Jean-Gabriel Pageu and Oliver Wahlstrom added goals.

#4 The Utah Hockey Club’s Dylan Guenther scored what later be the game winning goal with 3:21 left in the game as Utah defeated the St Louis Blues 4-2 at Enterprise Center in St Louis on Thursday. Guenther had an assist at 16:39 intercepting a pass by the Blues Jordan Kyrou when his centering pass deflected off of the Blues defensemen Colton Parayko.

#5 Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 35 of the Colorado Avalanche’s shots for a 1-0 shutout at the Canada Life Centre. The Jets set a record with the win becoming the second NHL team to win 13 of their first 14 games ironically joining the 2007-08 Senators. The win was the Jets fifth straight.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Utah goes O 4 Canada, gets blanked by Ottawa 4-0, First Utah home loss and first Ottawa road win for season

Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot (72) winds up to shoot the puck against forward Alexander Kerfoot (15) and the Utah Hockey Club at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tue Oct 22, 2024 (AP News photo)

Coming into Tuesday night’s contest between the Ottawa Senators and Utah Hockey Club, fans of the NHL’s newest franchise had every reason for optimism with the team sporting a 4-1-1 record to start the season, just one point out of a tie for first place in the Central Division and undefeated on home ice.

Local recording artist Krispin Banks performed the first-ever rendition of O Canada for an NHL game at Delta Center, followed by a stirring rendition of the American national anthem, and everyone was ready for another great night of hockey. Unfortunately the Utah Hockey Club couldn’t seal the deal and not only that couldn’t score a goal on home ice getting shutout 4-0 at the Delta Center. Utah now with a 4-2-1 record.

The two teams traded chances to no avail throughout the first half of the first period until Noah Gregor and Jack McBain were each sent to the box for roughing penalties. That’s when it all went downhill for Utah HC. During the two-minutes of 4-on-4 play, Ottawa’s Drake Batherson and Claude Giroux each found the back of the Utah net to quickly put the Senators up 2-0.

Five minutes later, with Robert Bortuzzo serving a minor penalty for holding against Tim Stützle, Ridley Greig scored a power play goal to put the Senators up 3-0. Adding insult to injury, Brady Tkachuck made it 4-0 with eight seconds remaining in the opening frame.

Goaltender Karel Vejmelka replaced Connor Ingram to start the second period of play. Vejmelka had appeared in only one previous game so far this season, Utah’s only regulation loss to the New Jersey Devils. He turned away all 5 shots he faced in the second period, but Utah still faced a 4-0 deficit heading into the third period.

Utah HC has scored 5 or more goals in a game three times already this season, but they needed to pull it off all in one period if they were to mount a comeback against Ottawa, but this was not to be their night. Vejmelka stopped all 14 shots he faced in the third period, but the offense was unable to push the puck past Anton Forsberg of the Senators who was perfect against 31 shot attempts to record his first shutout of the season.

Following the game, Utah Hockey Club Head Coach André Tourigny spoke of a drop-off in his team’s focus. “I think we obviously came out strong, playing well, but we didn’t stay in the moment. We got carried away, a little bit soft, defensively, forced a play turnover, you know, and just we had them where we wanted. We played well. We just need to stay patient, stay humble, go one shift at a time, and we got ahead of ourselves and we paid for it.”

With regard to pulling goalie Connor Ingram after the first period, Tourigny added, “Everybody in life has bad days at the office sometimes. And I think when you’re a goaltender, you’re exposed more than anybody else. So I think you need to make the right decision for the team. It’s nothing personal.”

Karel Vejmelka addressed his mindset entering the game in a relief role. “Obviously it’s not easy, but I try to be prepared to play. Like any other game, just be ready anytime. So just try to focus for the first shot and get into it.”

Team captain Clayton Keller commented on the inevitability of games such as this one. “You know it’s going to happen. It’s a long season. You can’t get frustrated, you got to stay patient. Get better every day and good things happen.”

In the other locker room, winning netminder Anton Forsberg commented on his first visit to Salt Lake City as an NHL city. “It was a nice arena. We had a good day yesterday and went to some nice coffee shops. So I didn’t see a lot but it seems like a good city. I’m happy to be able to come out here. It’s been one of the cities I haven’t visited yet, so that’s great.”

Moving forward, Utah HC hopes that visiting teams enjoy the city while finding Delta Center itself far less hospitable on the ice.

Having lost for the first time at home, Utah now gears up to face division rival Colorado Avalanche on Thursday at the Delta Center.