1: An important win for several teams The Lightning (vs. the Kraken), the Blue Jackets (vs. the Hurricanes), the Sabres (vs. the Golden Knights), and the Islanders (vs. the Maple Leafs) all had games to play last night in the NHL.
And all of these teams, who are in the playoff race, won. You can't make this stuff up: without last night's win over the Bruins, the standings would be even tighter for the Montreal Canadiens.
(Credit: Screenshot / NHL.com)
Obviously, between now and the end of the season, every game will be important. No team has the luxury of going through a rough patch… because if that happens, that team's chances of making the playoffs will quickly diminish given the parity in the West. It remains to be seen, now, which teams will falter in the coming weeks…
2: A dream night for Nikita Kucherov The Lightning beat the Kraken 6-2. And… they have Nikita Kucherov to thank, who led the offensive charge for his team. But it goes beyond that, actually: Kuch had a dream night, finishing the game with three goals. When he's on his game, he's practically unstoppable:
It's worth noting that the Lightning player also added two assists in the game.
He tallied five points in his team's victory and is now just four points behind Connor McDavid for the top spot in the National Hockey League's scoring race.It's hard to ask for more, don't you agree?
3: We're still holding our breath in Edmonton
Yesterday, the Oilers announced that Leon Draisaitl would miss the rest of the regular season.
No big deal! The team still managed to pull through and beat Macklin Celebrini and the Sharks 5-3. This win, too, is important for the Oilers in the standings:
(Credit: Screenshot / NHL.com)
The Oilers' victory allows them to pull away from the Sharks, who are now seven points behind the Alberta team. It's also worth noting that in his team's victory, Connor Murphy scored his very first goal in an Oilers uniform. Connor McDavid (one assist) and Macklin Celebrini (no points) had quieter nights:
4: Now that's funny The chances of getting hit by a puck at a hockey game are pretty rare. But it happened last night during the Islanders vs. Leafs game, which was played in Toronto. And what's really crazy about this story… is that the fan in question was wearing a Montreal Canadiens jersey.
You can see him laughing a little in the video above… and it's sure to give him a great memory to look back on. At least it makes for a good story to tell. Especially since he was wearing a CH jersey!
5: Two Hard Checks Smaller players need to watch their backs in the National Hockey League. They need to keep their heads up… otherwise, there's a risk they'll get hit pretty hard. Just ask Connor Bedard and Zach Benson, who experienced it firsthand last night:
But player safety must come first, and in that regard, it's important to note that Benson and Bedard weren't injured on the play. They were able to finish the game even though they got their heads roughed up a bit.
/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn-tor.buminteractif.com%2F2026%2F03%2F5966d42d-f9b9-4c5e-9c2b-bb0445d50956.jpg)
) face-off, and eventually Bedard gets LIT UP by Michael McCarron 
