Deadspin | NHL roundup: Mammoth, Penguins clinch playoff berths 
Apr 9, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) celebrates with defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) after defeating the Nashville Predators in the third period at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images Dylan Guenther and Nick Schmaltz each had a goal and an assist for the Utah Mammoth, who clinched a playoff berth shortly after earning a 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
The Anaheim Ducks’ subsequent 6-1 win over the San Jose Sharks allowed Utah to seal a postseason bid in its second season.
Clayton Keller had three primary assists for the Mammoth, who won their fifth straight game. Kailer Yamamoto and Lawson Crouse also scored goals, and Logan Cooley added two assists. Karel Vejmelka finished with 29 saves.
Erik Haula scored a goal and Juuse Saros made 23 saves for Nashville, which had a four-game point streak (3-0-1) snapped. The Predators are one point behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second Western Conference wild-card spot.
Penguins 5, Devils 2
Tommy Novak and Egor Chinakhov scored nine seconds apart for Pittsburgh, which clinched its first playoff spot since 2022 by winning in Newark, N.J.
Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson also scored for the Penguins. Chinakhov and Sidney Crosby had a pair of assists apiece, while Malkin and Karlsson both added a helper. Stuart Skinner stopped 19 shots.
Paul Cotter and Jack Hughes were the goal-scorers for the Devils. Jake Allen made 25 saves.
Avalanche 3, Flames 1
Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas had a goal and two assists each as Colorado beat Calgary in Denver to clinch the top overall seed for the postseason.
MacKinnon set a career high with his 52nd goal, Gabriel Landeskog also scored and Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 28 shots, helping the Avalanche clinch the Presidents’ Trophy for the fourth time.
Tyson Gross scored his first NHL goal in his third career game and Dustin Wolf made 38 saves for the Flames, who have dropped four of their past five games (1-3-1).
Hurricanes 7, Blackhawks 2
Logan Stankoven had two goals and an assist and Mark Jankowski scored twice to lift visiting Carolina to a victory over Chicago.
The Hurricanes moved two points ahead of Buffalo for home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Frederik Andersen made 23 saves for Carolina while William Carrier earned three assists. Taylor Hall recorded a goal and an assist, and K’Andre Miller and Sean Walker also scored.
The Blackhawks sputtered to their seventh loss in eight games (1-6-1). Anton Frondell scored twice for Chicago, Louis Crevier had two assists, and Spencer Knight stopped 15 shots.
Senators 5, Panthers 1
Fabian Zetterlund scored twice, Jake Sanderson had two assists and Linus Ullmark made 22 saves as Ottawa inched closer to a playoff berth with a victory over visiting Florida.
Drake Batherson, Artem Zub and Claude Giroux also scored for Ottawa, which completed a 4-1 homestand and stayed three points ahead of the Islanders and the Red Wings for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card slot. The Senators also moved within two points of the idle Boston Bruins for the first wild-card slot.
Jesper Boqvist scored with 5:43 remaining in the game for the Panthers, slipping the puck past Ullmark to avoid the shutout. Sergei Bobrovsky turned away 23 of 27 shots.
Islanders 5, Maple Leafs 3
Matthew Schaefer tied the rookie record for goals by a defenseman (23) as New York, in its first game with Peter DeBoer as head coach, defeated visiting Toronto.
Calum Ritchie had a goal and an assist and Tony DeAngelo returned from an injury absence to register two assists as the Islanders snapped a four-game skid. Ilya Sorokin made 13 saves.
The Maple Leafs got goals from Steven Lorentz, Easton Cowan and Morgan Rielly. Artur Akhtyamov stopped 39 of 44 shots in his first NHL start.
Red Wings 6, Flyers 3
Dylan Larkin recorded a hat trick and an assist to highlight Detroit’s resounding victory over visiting Philadelphia.
Alex DeBrincat became the first Red Wings player with 40 goals in a season since Marian Hossa in 2009. Moritz Seider had a goal and four assists and Patrick Kane added a goal and two helpers for Detroit, which had lost seven of its previous nine games (2-6-1).
Porter Martone had a goal and an assist for the Flyers, who had won three in a row. Christian Dvorak and Luke Glendening also scored for Philadelphia.
Sabres 5, Blue Jackets 0
Colten Ellis made 37 saves for his first career shutout in host Buffalo’s win over Columbus.
Josh Doan had two goals and Peyton Krebs, Jack Quinn and Rasmus Dahlin also scored for the first-place Sabres, who won their third straight game and remained two points up on Montreal in the Atlantic Division. Josh Norris and Logan Stanley had two assists each.
Jet Greaves stopped 19 shots for the Blue Jackets, who are 1-6-1 in their past eight as their playoff chances absorbed a potentially mortal blow.
Canadiens 2, Lightning 1
Juraj Slafkovsky scored with 1:04 remaining in the third period and host Montreal edged Tampa Bay.
Cole Caufield notched his 50th goal of the season for the Canadiens. Suzuki had two assists, Slafkovsky tallied a goal and an assist and Jakub Dobes made 17 saves.
Darren Raddysh tallied and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves for the Lightning, who have lost three straight and trail the second-place Canadiens by two points and the first-place Sabres by four in the Atlantic Division.
Jets 3, Blues 2
Mark Scheifele reached 99 points on the season with two assists as Winnipeg won its third straight, prevailing at St. Louis.
Alex Iafallo, Josh Morrissey and Jonathan Toews scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves as Winnipeg kept its faint playoff hopes alive. The loss all but guaranteed the Blues will miss the postseason.
Dylan Holloway had a goal and an assist for St. Louis. Colton Parayko also scored, and Jordan Binnington made 31 stops.
Kraken 4, Golden Knights 3 (SO)
Rookie Berkly Catton sparked a rally from a two-goal deficit in the third period and scored the winner in the fifth round of a shootout as Seattle kept its slim postseason hopes alive with a victory against visiting Vegas.
Jared McCann and Bobby McMann also scored in regulation and Vince Dunn had two assists for the Kraken, who snapped a six-game skid (0-5-1). Joey Daccord made 31 saves and stopped four of five shootout attempts.
Mark Stone scored twice, Brett Howden also tallied and Adin Hill stopped 30 shots for the Golden Knights, who lost for the first time in five games under new coach John Tortorella. Vegas is tied with the Anaheim for second in the Pacific Division, both teams one point behind Edmonton.
Stars 5, Wild 4
Mikko Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston and Colin Blackwell each had a goal and an assist in Dallas’ comeback win over visiting Minnesota. The game was a postseason preview, as the teams will meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Cameron Hughes scored his first career goal and Esa Lindell had two assists for the Stars. Jake Oettinger stopped 27 shots.
The Wild got two goals from Kirill Kaprizov and a goal and an assist from Quinn Hughes. Ryan Hartman also scored, Mats Zuccarello had three assists, and Matt Boldy added two helpers. Filip Gustavsson made 15 saves.
Kings 4, Canucks 1
Adrian Kempe scored two goals and Anton Forsberg stopped 24 of 25 shots as Los Angeles gave its playoff hopes a huge boost with a victory over visiting Vancouver.
Trevor Moore and Joel Armia scored goals and Artemi Panarin had two assists for the Kings, who vaulted past the Predators in the race for the final wild-card berth in the Western Conference.
Marcus Pettersson scored and Nikita Tolopilo made 22 saves for the Canucks, who lost their fourth straight game.
Ducks 6, Sharks 1
John Carlson’s first career hat trick paced Anaheim to a win over visiting San Jose.
Leo Carlsson, Alex Killorn and Frank Vatrano had the other goals as the Ducks snapped a six-game skid (0-5-1). Beckett Sennecke, Pavel Mintyukov, Troy Terry and Mikael Granlund chipped in a pair of helpers each, and Lukas Dostal made 18 saves.
Shakir Mukhamadullin tallied and Yaroslav Askarov stopped 24 shots for the Sharks, who have dropped back-to-back games.
–Field Level Media
#Deadspin #NHL #roundup #Mammoth #Penguins #clinch #playoff #berths
Apr 9, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) celebrates with defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) after defeating the Nashville Predators in the third period at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images Dylan Guenther and Nick Schmaltz each had a goal and an assist for the Utah Mammoth, who clinched a playoff berth shortly after earning a 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
The Anaheim Ducks’ subsequent 6-1 win over the San Jose Sharks allowed Utah to seal a postseason bid in its second season.
Clayton Keller had three primary assists for the Mammoth, who won their fifth straight game. Kailer Yamamoto and Lawson Crouse also scored goals, and Logan Cooley added two assists. Karel Vejmelka finished with 29 saves.
Erik Haula scored a goal and Juuse Saros made 23 saves for Nashville, which had a four-game point streak (3-0-1) snapped. The Predators are one point behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second Western Conference wild-card spot.
Penguins 5, Devils 2
Tommy Novak and Egor Chinakhov scored nine seconds apart for Pittsburgh, which clinched its first playoff spot since 2022 by winning in Newark, N.J.
Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson also scored for the Penguins. Chinakhov and Sidney Crosby had a pair of assists apiece, while Malkin and Karlsson both added a helper. Stuart Skinner stopped 19 shots.
Paul Cotter and Jack Hughes were the goal-scorers for the Devils. Jake Allen made 25 saves.
Avalanche 3, Flames 1
Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas had a goal and two assists each as Colorado beat Calgary in Denver to clinch the top overall seed for the postseason.
MacKinnon set a career high with his 52nd goal, Gabriel Landeskog also scored and Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 28 shots, helping the Avalanche clinch the Presidents’ Trophy for the fourth time.
Tyson Gross scored his first NHL goal in his third career game and Dustin Wolf made 38 saves for the Flames, who have dropped four of their past five games (1-3-1).
Hurricanes 7, Blackhawks 2
Logan Stankoven had two goals and an assist and Mark Jankowski scored twice to lift visiting Carolina to a victory over Chicago.
The Hurricanes moved two points ahead of Buffalo for home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Frederik Andersen made 23 saves for Carolina while William Carrier earned three assists. Taylor Hall recorded a goal and an assist, and K’Andre Miller and Sean Walker also scored.
The Blackhawks sputtered to their seventh loss in eight games (1-6-1). Anton Frondell scored twice for Chicago, Louis Crevier had two assists, and Spencer Knight stopped 15 shots.
Senators 5, Panthers 1
Fabian Zetterlund scored twice, Jake Sanderson had two assists and Linus Ullmark made 22 saves as Ottawa inched closer to a playoff berth with a victory over visiting Florida.
Drake Batherson, Artem Zub and Claude Giroux also scored for Ottawa, which completed a 4-1 homestand and stayed three points ahead of the Islanders and the Red Wings for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card slot. The Senators also moved within two points of the idle Boston Bruins for the first wild-card slot.
Jesper Boqvist scored with 5:43 remaining in the game for the Panthers, slipping the puck past Ullmark to avoid the shutout. Sergei Bobrovsky turned away 23 of 27 shots.
Islanders 5, Maple Leafs 3
Matthew Schaefer tied the rookie record for goals by a defenseman (23) as New York, in its first game with Peter DeBoer as head coach, defeated visiting Toronto.
Calum Ritchie had a goal and an assist and Tony DeAngelo returned from an injury absence to register two assists as the Islanders snapped a four-game skid. Ilya Sorokin made 13 saves.
The Maple Leafs got goals from Steven Lorentz, Easton Cowan and Morgan Rielly. Artur Akhtyamov stopped 39 of 44 shots in his first NHL start.
Red Wings 6, Flyers 3
Dylan Larkin recorded a hat trick and an assist to highlight Detroit’s resounding victory over visiting Philadelphia.
Alex DeBrincat became the first Red Wings player with 40 goals in a season since Marian Hossa in 2009. Moritz Seider had a goal and four assists and Patrick Kane added a goal and two helpers for Detroit, which had lost seven of its previous nine games (2-6-1).
Porter Martone had a goal and an assist for the Flyers, who had won three in a row. Christian Dvorak and Luke Glendening also scored for Philadelphia.
Sabres 5, Blue Jackets 0
Colten Ellis made 37 saves for his first career shutout in host Buffalo’s win over Columbus.
Josh Doan had two goals and Peyton Krebs, Jack Quinn and Rasmus Dahlin also scored for the first-place Sabres, who won their third straight game and remained two points up on Montreal in the Atlantic Division. Josh Norris and Logan Stanley had two assists each.
Jet Greaves stopped 19 shots for the Blue Jackets, who are 1-6-1 in their past eight as their playoff chances absorbed a potentially mortal blow.
Canadiens 2, Lightning 1
Juraj Slafkovsky scored with 1:04 remaining in the third period and host Montreal edged Tampa Bay.
Cole Caufield notched his 50th goal of the season for the Canadiens. Suzuki had two assists, Slafkovsky tallied a goal and an assist and Jakub Dobes made 17 saves.
Darren Raddysh tallied and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves for the Lightning, who have lost three straight and trail the second-place Canadiens by two points and the first-place Sabres by four in the Atlantic Division.
Jets 3, Blues 2
Mark Scheifele reached 99 points on the season with two assists as Winnipeg won its third straight, prevailing at St. Louis.
Alex Iafallo, Josh Morrissey and Jonathan Toews scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves as Winnipeg kept its faint playoff hopes alive. The loss all but guaranteed the Blues will miss the postseason.
Dylan Holloway had a goal and an assist for St. Louis. Colton Parayko also scored, and Jordan Binnington made 31 stops.
Kraken 4, Golden Knights 3 (SO)
Rookie Berkly Catton sparked a rally from a two-goal deficit in the third period and scored the winner in the fifth round of a shootout as Seattle kept its slim postseason hopes alive with a victory against visiting Vegas.
Jared McCann and Bobby McMann also scored in regulation and Vince Dunn had two assists for the Kraken, who snapped a six-game skid (0-5-1). Joey Daccord made 31 saves and stopped four of five shootout attempts.
Mark Stone scored twice, Brett Howden also tallied and Adin Hill stopped 30 shots for the Golden Knights, who lost for the first time in five games under new coach John Tortorella. Vegas is tied with the Anaheim for second in the Pacific Division, both teams one point behind Edmonton.
Stars 5, Wild 4
Mikko Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston and Colin Blackwell each had a goal and an assist in Dallas’ comeback win over visiting Minnesota. The game was a postseason preview, as the teams will meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Cameron Hughes scored his first career goal and Esa Lindell had two assists for the Stars. Jake Oettinger stopped 27 shots.
The Wild got two goals from Kirill Kaprizov and a goal and an assist from Quinn Hughes. Ryan Hartman also scored, Mats Zuccarello had three assists, and Matt Boldy added two helpers. Filip Gustavsson made 15 saves.
Kings 4, Canucks 1
Adrian Kempe scored two goals and Anton Forsberg stopped 24 of 25 shots as Los Angeles gave its playoff hopes a huge boost with a victory over visiting Vancouver.
Trevor Moore and Joel Armia scored goals and Artemi Panarin had two assists for the Kings, who vaulted past the Predators in the race for the final wild-card berth in the Western Conference.
Marcus Pettersson scored and Nikita Tolopilo made 22 saves for the Canucks, who lost their fourth straight game.
Ducks 6, Sharks 1
John Carlson’s first career hat trick paced Anaheim to a win over visiting San Jose.
Leo Carlsson, Alex Killorn and Frank Vatrano had the other goals as the Ducks snapped a six-game skid (0-5-1). Beckett Sennecke, Pavel Mintyukov, Troy Terry and Mikael Granlund chipped in a pair of helpers each, and Lukas Dostal made 18 saves.
Shakir Mukhamadullin tallied and Yaroslav Askarov stopped 24 shots for the Sharks, who have dropped back-to-back games.
–Field Level Media
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