Pedersen: 10 NHL Things
Photo: Cats N Bolts Podcast
By: Rod Pedersen
1 – ROAD WARRIORS: The race atop of the NHL’s Atlantic Division has gotten wild and both the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning kept pace on Thursday evening. Aleksander Barkov scored in overtime – tying him with Olli Jokinen for the most goals in Panthers history (10) – in a 1-0 victory at Columbus. It was also Sergei Bobrovsky’s 49th career shutout and the future Hall of Famer seems to be notching a goose egg every other game. The Cats are tied with Toronto for first in the division with 87 points, while the Lightning are just two points behind. The Bolts knocked off the Stars in Dallas 3-2 in a shootout on Thursday with Gage Goncalves netting the winner.
2 – THE WEEK AHEAD: The Panthers conclude six straight on the road when they visit the red-hot Washington Capitals on Saturday before returning home to face Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday evening. That begins a three-game homestand which will also see Utah and Montreal visit Sunrise. Meanwhile that game in Dallas was the first of a three-game road trip for the Lightning. The Bolts will also visit Utah and Vegas before returning to Amalie Arena on Tuesday to face Crosby’s Penguins.
3 – THE GREAT 888: Speaking of the Washington Capitals, they were the first NHL team to clinch a playoff spot this season when they bounced Philadelphia 3-2 on Thursday. Caps star Alexander Ovechkin scored his 888th career goal in that one, moving him within seven of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s career mark (894). The analytics have shifted and now say the Russia sniper is on pace to set the record on April 13 when Washington hosts Columbus.
4 – NO, NO, NO: The NHL’s General Managers meetings were held over three days in Manapalan, FL this week. What came out of them? No rule changes, no changes to the playoff format, and there will be no All Star Game in 2026. Commissioner Gary Bettman said this year’s inaugural Four Nations Faceoff “raised the bar” as far as All Star formats go, and is the best in sports. (Is he wrong?) However with the 2026 Olympics on the horizon which will feature all the NHL’s stars, there’s no need for an All Star Game next winter too.
5 – RISING TIDE: Bettman also said talks on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement will begin next month. Nothing’s been said publicly but an NHL source told me the salary cap will go up by as much as $10M per season in each of the next three years! The League is experiencing record revenues which will be split with the players.
6 – ON THE LIMP: Thursday’s victory at Columbus was a big one for the Panthers who had dropped three of their prior four, and continue to miss three big names from their lineup. Newly-acquired forward Brad Marchand has practiced with the team but GM Bill Zito says the former Bruins great is still “weeks” away from a return. The same goes for MVP Matthew Tkachuk who hasn’t played since February’s Four Nations Faceoff due to a lower body injury, and defenceman Aaron Ekblad continues to serve a 20-game suspension for a positive PED test.
7 – CUP CRAZY: Despite the injuries, the Panthers are still the betting favorite to win the Stanley Cup at BetMGM at +550. They are followed by Dallas (+600), Edmonton (+750), Colorado (+850) and Washington/Carolina (+1000).
8 – PLAY-IN: I’m not big on analytics but one stat which stands out this season is that this is the closest playoff race in league history. With less than 20 games to go, 23 teams are either in a playoff spot, or within five points of a wildcard berth. It’s never been this tight! So basically for all of these teams, each game is must-win. That led to Gary Bettman saying there doesn’t need to be any tweaks to the playoff format because their “play-in” tournament (NBA-style) is already underway.
9 – OH CANADA: All seven Canadian teams are included in those 23 Stanley Cup Playoff hopefuls. The last time every Canadian team was in contention this late was 1993, while the last time the playoffs actually included all seven Canadian teams was 1986. The Quebec Nordiques were included in that field.
10 – TOP 5/BOTTOM 5: Here’s our weekly ranking of the top, and bottom teams in the National Hockey League. 1) Winnipeg, 2) Washington, 3) Vegas, 4) Dallas, 5) Florida. And 28) Philadelphia, 29) Buffalo, 30) Nashville, 31) Chicago, 32) San Jose.
See you at the rink!
(Rod Pedersen covers the NHL for the South Florida Tribune. He also hosts the award-winning Cats N Bolts Podcast and the daily Rod Pedersen Show on Game+TV & Streaming)
