Tag: Tampa Bay Lightning

NHL podcast with Jessica Kwong: McDavid reaches milestone for Oilers; Pens drop 3-0 lead to Leafs; plus more news

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Edmonton Oilers Conner McDavid scored his 1100th career point against the St Louis Blues on Tue Nov 3, 2025 (USA Today file photo)

NHL podcast with Jessica Kwong:

#1 What milestone did Connor McDavid reach during the Edmonton Oilers-St. Louis Blues game, and why is it significant in the league history?

#2 How did the Toronto Maple Leafs manage to turn around their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and which player(s) catalyzed the comeback?

#3 What impact did rookie Ben Kindel have in the Penguins’ loss to the Maple Leafs, and what record or milestone did he achieve in that game?

#4 In the matchup between the Vancouver Canucks and the Nashville Predators, what situation did Vancouver overcome to win the game, and what does that say about their performance under pressure?

#5 Which two superstar forwards were set to face each other in the upcoming game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche, and what was the added significance of that matchup according to the preview?

Jessica Kwong is an NHL podcast contributor at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Utah Mammoth post game wrap: Lighting Strikes Mammoth 4-2 To End Home Winning Streak

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel (38) moves the puck against the Utah Mammoth right win Nick Schmaltz (8) in the first period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sun Nov 2, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Tampa Bay’s Jake Guentzel breaks the tie with under eight minutes remaining beating Utah 4-2 at the Delta Center on Sunday night.

The Utah Mammoth took a four-game winning streak on the road with them following a 4-3 overtime win against the Colorado Avalanche on October 21. Since then the Mammoth have remained hot, winning three of four away from Delta Center, while locking up another key member of their young core for eight years.

It all began on October 23 in St. Louis with a 7-4 routing of the Blues. After assisting on an early first period goal by defenseman Ian Cole, Utah forward Logan Cooley scored his first natural hat trick in a four minute 48 second span as the Mammoth never looked back while extending their winning streak to five.

Two days later in Minnesota, Cooley lit the lamp twice in the first three and a half minutes as Utah defeated the Wild 6-2 while upping their streak to six. The next day Utah would make it seven, cooling the Jets in Winnipeg with a 3-2 victory over last season’s Presidents’ Trophy winners. The Mammoth wrapped up their four-game road trip in Edmonton where the Oilers halted the streak, defeating Utah 6-3.

Upon returning to Salt Lake City, Logan Cooley and the Mammoth agreed on an eight year, $80 million contract extension which will keep the team’s dynamic young core together for the next several years.

After four days off to recover from the road trip, Utah (8-3-0) welcomed the Tampa Bay Lightning (5-4-2) to Delta Center on Sunday afternoon for a one-game homestand.

It is still difficult to look at the Lightning lineup without Steven Stamkos who is now in his second season with the Nashville Predators after 16 seasons in Tampa Bay. It was a milestone game for two Utah players as Nick Schmaltz played his 600th career game while Kevin Stenlund appeared in his 300th.

Mammoth forward Lawson Crouse gave Utah the first lead of the game at 5:55 of the first period when defenseman Ian Cole fed him the puck on a breakaway for his second goal of the season. Lightning netminder Jonas Johansson had no chance as Crouse fired a perfect top shelf corner strike over Johannson’s right shoulder.

At 15:17 of the frame, just seconds after killing off a bench minor for too many men on the ice, Tampa Bay forward Yanni Gourde evened the score at 1-1 with his third goal of the season, assisted by Emil Lilleberg and Zemgus Girgensons who had just emerged from the box after serving the penalty. Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka would finish the period turning away 8 of 9 shots while Johansson stopped 5 of 6 for the Lightning.

Tampa Bay forward Anthony Cirelli gave the Lightning their first lead of the game at 2:47 of the second period, his 7th of the season, assisted by Jake Guentzel and Victor Hedman. Other than that, the two goalies held their respective ground in the frame with Johansson turning away all 9 shots faced in the period and Vejmelka stopping 9 of 10.

At 2:21 of the third period, Utah forward Kailer Yamamoto tied things up again with his first goal of the season, with defenseman Ian Cole picking up his 2nd assist of the night. Coming less than 24 hours after another Yamamoto – Yoshinobu Yamamoto of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers – picked up his 3rd World Series victory against the Toronto Blue Jays along with series MVP honors, one could wonder whether a Mammoth comeback was in store with Yamamoto figuring in the headline, but it wasn’t to be.

With just under 8 minutes remaining in the period, Jake Guentzel put the puck past Vejmelka for his fifth of the season, unassisted. With Vejmelka pulled for the extra attacker, Lightning forward knocked his fourth goal of the season into the empty net to secure the victory and to end the Mammoth home win streak at four. Utah could never get its power play going, falling to 8-for-41 (19.5%) on the season.

In the home locker room, Ian Cole was asked about the team’s poor start in the second period. “Yeah, I think you could argue it was probably average all the way through. They’re a good hockey team, and we did too many things to shoot ourselves in the foot today. We’ll have to obviously look at the game and assess it and hopefully bring a better game against Buffalo.” Cole didn’t think where were any particular takeaways from the game. “I don’t think there’s one glaring thing necessarily,” Cole said, “but there are little things all over the ice. There’s puck battles for one, and I think reloads for two. They’re beating guys up the ice, and our neutral zone wasn’t great. There’s a lot of things where we can improve. Nothing was glaringly horrible, but not good enough to beat a very skilled, very good hockey team.” Commenting on Tampa Bay’s aggressive play, Cole added, “They have played the same way for maybe 10 years now. So nothing they did was shocking, and there was nothing they did that we were unprepared for, or shouldn’t have been prepared for. This wasn’t our best game, and we know that. Now we have to respond. We can’t let two (losses) turn into three, turn to four, turn to five. That’s how you find yourself out of a playoff spot. So we have to fix this right away.”

Utah Mammoth Head Coach André Tourigny tried to put things in perspective. “I think it was a good game. I think Tampa is a really good team. If you look at their metrics, they are number one offensively in the league, number three defensively in every underlying number. We knew it would be a good test. I think we were toe-to-toe with them. They scored with seven to go, but we were pretty close. Just would love to have us going in the other direction. I think we can be a little bit more physical in our forecheck and a little bit better in our forecheck.” Making a similar observation as Cole, Tourigny said, “They play heavy. They make good plays on the breakout. They hold on to the puck. You have to go to work. You won’t surprise that team with just your skill. They have skill too. That’s the biggest thing when you play against Tampa, you always think of their skill. They have skill, but what they do is they work and they don’t give you time and space. You need to grind the game, and I’m really happy about the way Crouser’s line played. Really happy about the way Stenny’s line played. I think Yammy played a hell of a game. They showed up in that kind of a game, and that’s what you want.”

The Mammoth (8-4-0) go back on the road beginning Tuesday against the Sabres in Buffalo, followed by a swing through Canada against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, and Ottawa Senators before returning to Utah on November 12 for games against the Sabres and New York Rangers.

Tom Walker is a Utah Mammoth beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast Len Shapiro Fri Apr 25, 2025:Panthers take 2-0 series lead over Lightning; Leafs win in OT edge Sens 3-2 for 3-0 series lead; plus more NHL news

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) makes as teammate defenseman Niko Mikkola (77) clears Tampa Bay center Brayden Point (21) in the first period during game 2 of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amailie Arena in Tampa Bay on Thu Apr 24, 2025 (AP News photo)

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast:

#1 Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 shots and the Panthers went onto shutout the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 in the first round of the Eastern Conference at Amalie Arena on Thursday night in game 2 of the series. The Panthers now take a 2-0 series lead.

#2 The Toronto Maple Leafs have taken a 3-0 lead in their series against the Ottawa Senators. The Leafs edged the Senators 3-2 in game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday night. The Leafs Simon Benoit scored at 1:19 in the overtime stanza to get the Leafs the win.

#3 The Minnesota Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov scored two goals for the second consecutive game. The Wild now take a 2-1 lead in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs after defeating Vegas Golden Knights 5-2 at the Xcel Energy Center on Thursday night. Marco Rossi and Matt Boldy each scored goals. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 30 shots.

#4 The St Louis Blues Pavel Buchenvich got a hat trick scoring three goals it was Buchenvich’s first career playoff hat trick who also picked up an assist as the Blues landslide the Winnipeg Jets in game 3 with a 7-2 win in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the win the Blues take a 2-1 series lead.

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

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast Len Shapiro Fri Apr 18, 2025: Playoffs begin Saturday night; Eight games in total

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

The Winnipeg Jets Dylan Samberg (54), Neil Pionk (4), Cole Perfetti (91), Nino Niederreiter (62), celebrate Pionk’s goal against the Anaheim Ducks in the second period on Wed Apr 16, 2025 during the final regular season game in Winnipeg. The Jets are the favorites in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to make the finals as they face off against the St Louis Blues on Sat Apr 19, 2025. (Canadian Press photo via AP)

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs podcast Len Shapiro Fri Apr 18, 2025:

#1 Len, lets take a run down of the the NHL Playoff series. Starting with the St Louis Blues (44-30-8) and Winnipeg Jets (56-22-4). The Jets are the winner of this year’s presidents cup do you see them as the favorites in the Stanley Cup on Saturday night?

#2 The Ottawa Senators (45-35-7) going against the Toronto Maple Leafs (52-26-4) on Sun Apr 20th.

#3 The battle of the Florida teams it’s a real rivalry going on with the Florida Panthers ((47-31-4) they’ll take on the Tampa Bay Lightning (47-27-8) starting Tue Apr 22.

#4 Mon Apr 21 it’s the Montreal Canadiens (40-31-11) going up against Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals (51-22-9) at the Capital Center on Mon Apr 21st.

#5 New Jersey Devils (42-33-7) against the Carolina Hurricanes (47-30-5) this Sun Apr 20th.

#6 Sat Apr 19 it’ll be the Colorado Avalanche (49-29-4) at the Dallas Stars (50-26-6).

#7 Sun Apr 20 Minnesota Wild (45-30-7) at the Las Vegas Golden Knights (50-22-10)

#8 The Edmonton Oilers (48-29-5) will be facing off against the Los Angeles Kings (48-24-9) on Monday Apr 21st at Crypto.com Arena.

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

Cooley and Kerfoot Strike Lightning Twice In 6-4 Utah HC Win Over Tampa Bay

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Utah Hockey Club’s Logan Cooley (92) scored a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sat Mar 22, 2025 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Here is Cooley getting congratulated by teammates after scoring against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Sun Mar 16, 2025. (Canadian Press via AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah forwards explode for six goals while notching the team’s seventh home win over the past 9 games in hard fought victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Utah Hockey Club played a rare early afternoon game at Delta Center on Saturday, hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning who have outscored every other team in the league except the Washington Capitals and boasts the highest plus/minus differential in the NHL.

Josh Doan struck first for the home team at 6:42 of the opening frame connecting at the goal crease on a perfect pass from Jack McBain from behind the net for his fifth goal of the season, with the second assist to Lawson Crouse.

With a little more than two minutes remaining in the period, Utah forward Nick Schmaltz fed Michael Kesselring the puck on a breakaway which was stopped by Lightning netminder Brandon Halverson, but Logan Cooley followed the play and punched the rebound into the back of the net for his 20th goal of the season and a 2-0 lead.

Shortly after the ensuing faceoff, Ian Cole was whistled for tripping against Nikita Kucherov, resulting in a power play goal for Brayden Point, his 33rd on the season, assisted by Jake Guentzel and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

At 5:22 of the second period, Tampa Bay forward Anthony Cirelli evened the score on a slap shot for his 24th goal of the season, assisted by Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov. 36 seconds later Utah would regain the lead when forward Kevin Stenlund one-timed a cross ice pass from John Marino to find Alexander Kerfoot in front of the net who knocked it in for his 9th goal of the season.

With 2:37 remaining in the period, Lightning forward Jake Guentzel tied things up once again, tipping in a pass from Nick Perbix for his 34th goal of the season, but 30 seconds later John Marino launched a shot from the blue line which Logan Cooley deflected into the net for his 21st of the season, putting Utah back on top 4-3 as the period closed.

Barely a minute into the third period, Clayton Keller was stopped at close range by Brandon Halverson, who immediately turned away a rebound attempt by Logan Cooley but was unable to stop Nick Schmaltz on a second rebound backhand shot for his 17th goal of the season and a 5-3 lead.

Less than two minutes later Brayen Point could cut the lead to one again with his second goal of the game, assisted by Ryan McDonagh and Jake Guentzel. Earlier in the season Utah struggled to maintain third period leads, but Karel Vejmelka, playing in his career high 13th consecutive game, held the Lightning offense scoreless the rest of the way, fending off a Tampa Bay power play with 2:09 remaining due to a too many men on the ice penalty.

With 57 seconds remaining, Alexander Kerfoot fired the puck into an empty net for his 2nd goal of the night and 10th of the season, giving Utah the 6-4 victory, their seventh at home over their past 9 contests.

In the locker room, Kerfoot talked about Utah’s recent success at home. “I think the crowd’s been unreal. I mean, third period there towards the end of the game—that’s a loud building that’s fun to play in. We’ve obviously placed an emphasis on being at home, I don’t think that our mindset has really changed, but we’ve just dug in here down the stretch and it’s a fun place to play. It feels like we’ve got momentum when we come home and when we’re playing in front of our fans. … I think that this was a great atmosphere for kids to come and watch the game and this is a new market, we’re trying to grow hockey here. SEG’s done an awesome job of growing the game in this community and to have a night like this where we get to bring in some youth hockey players and some kids during an early game on the weekend, it’s really fun and I hope that we can do that again in the future.”

In a game full of momentum swings, Logan Cooley talked about managing emotions. “It was kind of a crazy game, honestly. We were up two but then a goal gets called back, but you know, we just kept going at it and I thought we were playing the right way the whole third [period] there and then we got the outcome with a big two points.” With regard to his personal compete level, Cooley remarked, “I think just for me, I try to be the best version of myself each and every day and just try to get as good as I can to become the player I want to be. Obviously, it comes back to the team and trying to get into the playoffs. Eventually, I want to get a Cup and I think that’s the biggest drive for me right now. Being in Utah, it’s special in front of these fans. There’s no better feeling than coming to the rink every day and working together towards one goal here.”

Head coach André Tourigny was all smiles in the media room. “Really happy about the offense we created tonight, but even more proud of the way we defended the rush and the way we closed the middle of the ice. That was a really tough challenge, tough team to do that against them. Obviously for individual performance, I think Sergey [Mikhail Sergachev] was really good. Cooley and his line, they were something else. They were really, really good. I think it’s a huge character win. … Right from the start of the game, the focus, the execution, the urgency was elite. I think everybody was engaged. Everybody was connected. We’re really disciplined, and in the way we had to play against those guys. Great effort from the boys.” Comparing his club’s protecting the lead in the third period with difficulties earlier in the season, Tourigny said, “It’s day and night. I think that the mindset, the composure, the assertiveness, you cannot even compare. I think our team grew a lot, and I think we have way more maturity now.”

Utah will square off on Monday against the Detroit Red Wings before embarking upon a three game road trip to Tampa Bay, Florida, and Chicago. They will then return for one final homestand of five games before finishing out the regular season on the road.

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

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

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

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro Fri Mar 7, 2025: Utah’s Veimelka 31 saves shutout Red Wings 3-0; Bjorkstrand scores game winner for Bolts 6-5 win over Sabres; plus more news

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karel Veimelka saved 31 shots for a 3-0 shutout against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Thu May 6, 2025 (AP file photo)

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro Fri Mar 7, 2025

Len before we start just a quick run down about the NHL trade deadline and the Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin’s run at the all time goal scoring record.

#1  Karel Veimelka stopped 31 shots for the Utah Hockey Club and Utah scored three unanswered goals against the Detroit Red Wings for a 4-2 win at Little Caesars Arena Thursday night in Detroit. Vejmelka just signed a five year extension before the game for Utah.

#2 Jake Guentzel had a big night for the Tampa Bay Lightning picking up a hat trick that helped the Bolts edge the visiting Buffalo Sabres at Amailie Arena on Thursday night 6-5. Oliver Bjorkstrand ended a 5-5 tie in the third period in his Tampa Bay debut with a goal. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.

#3 Florida Panthers Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots as the Florida Panthers picked up their fifth straight game in a shutout over the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 at Amerant Bank Arena Thursday night. Bobrovsky picked up his 433rd career win which tied goaltender great Tony Esposito for the tenth spot on the NHL all time list.

#4 Winnipeg Jets Mark Scheifele scored a goal and had two assists as the Jets got a convincing 4-1 win over Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night. Gabriel Vilardi picked up three assists teammate Kyle Connor scored a goal and got an assist. The Jets snapped a three game losing streak with the win.

#5  Carolina Hurricanes Seth Jarvis scored a key goal with 19 seconds left in regulation to get the Canes a 3-2 win against the visiting Boston Bruins at Lenovo Center in Raleigh on Thursday night. Jarvis scored his goal from the short side at the left hash marks after defenseman Nikita Zadrorov broke his stick in an attempt to clear the puck in the right circle.

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

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Lightning get shutout help from Vasilevskiy; Isles edge Bruins 2-1 at the Garden; plus more NHL news

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) and defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) put the stop on the Calgary Flames right wing Matt Coranato (27) at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Thu Feb 27, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 27 Calgary Flames shots on goal for a 3-0 shutout at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay on Thursday. The Lightning got goal scoring from Brandon Hagel, Erik Cemak, and Nikita Kucherov.

#2 The New York Islanders just got by the Boston Bruins 2-1 at the Garden in Boston. The Islanders Alexander Romanov scored his fourth goal of the season at 16:11 in the first period and teammate Kyle Palmieri scored his 18th goal of the season at 4:21 in the second period. The Bruins got their only goal of the game at 10:04 when David Pastrnak scored in the third period.

#3 The Columbus Blue Jackets won a three goal contest against the Detroit Red Wings. Most of the game’s scoring came in the second period when the Red Wings Alex DeBrincat scored his 27th goal at 27 seconds making it 1-0, the Blue Jackets would follow up with four unanswered goals from James Van Riemsdyk, Sean Kuraly, Kent Johnson, and Riemsdyk scored his second goal of the period making it 4-1 CBJs. The Red Wings JD Compher scored at 16:30 for the final goal of the period making it 4-2. The Jackets Kirill Marchenko scored at 19:03 in the third period to round out all the goals in a 5-2 win for Columbus.

#4 The San Jose Sharks and Montreal Canadiens skated to a 2-2 after the first period. The Sharks getting first period goals from Fabian Zetterlund and Nico Sturm. The Habs got first period goals from Nick Suzuki scoring twice in the period. In the second period the Sharks Will Smith scored at 17:21 making 3-2 Sharks. The Canadiens added two more in the third period Alex Newhook and in overtime Cole Caulfield scored the game winner for the 4-3 win.

#5 The Carolina Hurricanes came away with a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. Wearing their Hartford Whalers uniforms the Hurricanes scored three unanswered goals in the first period taking a 3-1 lead after the first period. Carolina would score a goal in each of the second and third periods for the 5-2 win.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday morning 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

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

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

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

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