Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!

The time is ticking away, and according to my chronological calendrical system (AKA the NHL schedule), we’ve got FIVE more Tuesday night round-ups before the playoffs begin!

Heading into Tuesday’s games, most teams have about 15 games to play. No one has clinched a spot or been eliminated from the postseason dance…yet…but for some, time is running out. And for some others, it’s just a matter of calendar dates before the inevitable shutdown occurs (Sorry, Canucks and Flames fans).

One of those aforementioned teams scrambling for a playoff spot took a big step forward last night, courtesy of a forward who’s on pace to have a career year in scoring.

Charlie Coyle had four points (1 G, 3 A) in Columbus’s 5-1 steamrolling of the Metropolitan-leading Carolina Hurricanes. 

Coyle’s 59 points in 64 games put him one point shy of tying a career best from his 2023-2024 season with the Bruins. That year, he filled in admirably as the team’s #1 center, but this year he’s in that much more comfortable spot running the middle of the third line and getting some solid PP minutes.

That Wild Card spot in the East is an absolute dogfight, and I expect it to go right down to the wire. One bad three-game patch could shake up everything in that conference…

Apologies to those of you who aren’t fans of charts, but with my Top 100 Starting Pitchers article in full swing, I kind of default to these now.

TEAM	GAMES PLAYED (*NOT INCLUDING LAST NIGHT)	POINTS	GAMES REMAINING
TAMPA	65*	84	17*
MONTREAL	66	84	16
PITTSBURGH	67	83	15
NY ISLANDERS	68	83	14
BOSTON	68	82	14
DETROIT	68	82	14
COLUMBUS	67	81	15
OTTAWA	66	77	16

For anyone keeping tabs, that’s two Atlantic AND two Metropolitan playoff spots up for grabs, PLUS the two wild card positions. 

That means two very good teams will be springing into golf season much earlier than some others.

Here’s what else I saw in Tuesday night’s NHL action…

Jet Greaves – 27 saves on 28 shots in the 5-1 win vs CAR. A pretty crazy stat here, too. Greaves hasn’t lost in regulation in his last 12 starts. 10-0-2-0 is a pretty good horse to hitch your playoff wagon to…giddy up!

Adam Fantilli – 2 A (30), -1, 1 SOG, 1 BLK, 5-for-16 FOW. That’s a 4-game point streak for Fantilli and 11 points in his last 10 games.

Zach Werenski – 1 A (49), +1, 2 PIM, 3 SOG, 2 BLK. He’s “only” got 4 points in 6 March games, but this guy’s “slump” is any other player’s welcome production line. You can’t really criticize a defenseman who already has 69 points on the year with another 15 games to go.

Brandon Bussi – 25 saves on 30 shots in the loss at CLM. The good news is Bussi is 25-6-0-1 on the year. The not-so-good news for Canes fans? He’s winless in his last three starts with 12 GA (total).

Andrei Svechnikov – 1 G (25), 1 SOG, 3 H, 14:20 TOI. He’s chugging along with 59 points in 67 games and should hit the 30-goal mark for just the second time in his career (2021-2022).

Jakub Dobes – 26 saves on 28 shots in the OTW vs BOS. As I said above, all of these points are big ones, and the Habs are looking to load up to secure home ice advantage.

Cole Caufield – 1 G (40), 1 A (28), +2, 4 SOG, 1 BLK. Caufield picked a good time to score his 40th of the season. It was the OT game winner.

Nick Suzuki – 1 G (24), 1 A (56), +2, 3 SOG, 1 H, 7-for-12 FOW, 24:20 TOI. I know it’s sacrilegious to say this, but there aren’t many other duos that are as important as these two are to their team’s success. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl? Yep. But one of these two Canadiens has 40 goals, and the other has 80 points. I’d say that’s a vital piece of Montreal’s success.

Jeremy Swayman – 28 saves on 31 shots in the OTL at MTL. Swayman played well all night (I watched the game), but the defense was porous once again. At least the Bs managed to pick up a point.

Pavel Zacha – 2 G (22), -1, 4 SOG, 4 H, 7-for-11 FOW, 16:22 TOI. He missed the hat trick in OT by thismuch. Does anyone still wonder if the Bruins won that Erik Haula-for-Pavel Zacha trade?

David Pastrnak – 1 A (56), -1, 2 SOG, 1 H, 1 BLK. In the post-game, Andrew Raycroft pointed out that Pasta has played 48:38 in these back-to-back nights. As a forward. Jeez.

Ilya Sorokin – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 3-1 win at TOR. He’s 25-15-0-2.

Calum Ritchie – 1 G (9), 1 A (12), -1, 4 SOG. And there’s your annual Calum Ritchie update!

Mathew Barzal – 3 A (45), +1, 1 BLK, 18:31 TOI. Barzal is a weird one. Some games he’ll go pointless and look like a ghost, then in others he’ll put up multiple points. He has 12 points in his last 10 games, and will forever be referenced by me as the “should’ve been you instead of Jake DeBrusk”.

Matthew Schaefer – 1 A (29), 3 SOG. Even if he doesn’t light the score sheet on fire, I feel obligated to write the kid up each week. 49 points in 68 games and a sure-fire first-round selection in dynasty leagues next year, right? 

Joseph Woll – 31 saves on 34 shots and the 3-1 loss. That’s his 6th loss in his last 7 starts. Go Leafs Go! Or at least win enough games that you don’t end up with a top 5 lottery pick! Sincerely, all non-Leaf fans.

Morgan Rielly – 7 PIM, 1 H, 2 BLK, 18:21 TOI.  Well, at least he gave us H2H leaguers with multiple categories, some penalty minutes with his fight against Kyle MacLean. Seeing Morgan Rielly stand up and fight is nice…even though it was four days late. Where was this fire when Radko Gudas blew up the captain’s knee last Thursday night? Special thanks for spelling your name differently from every other Reilly in the league, too. Ugh.

Filip Gustavsson – 21 saves on 24 shots and the 4-3 OTW in CHI. Gustavsson is back in the win column after a hiccup against the Rangers on Saturday. He’s 8-2 in his last 10 starts. 

Marcus Johansson – 1 G (14), 2 A (29), +2, 1 SOG. Why does it feel like this guy has been in the league for 20 years? He’s 35, and that’s like 75 in real people years, so I guess I’m not that far off.

Brock Faber – 3 A (32), 5 SOG, 3 H, 1 BLK. Just one more point before the third-year “veteran” ties his career high of 47 points (2022-2023).

Spencer Knight – 33 saves on 37 shots and the 4-3 OTL. This Knight needs some new armor. He’s 2-8 in his last 10 starts.

Connor Bedard – 2 A (37), +2, 4 SOG, 1 H, 1 BLK. It’s been a quiet year for Bedard, who missed 12 games with a shoulder issue this winter. 64 points in 54 games is still a pretty impressive pace.

Juuse Saros – 36 saves on 38 shots in the shootout win at WPG. It’s a big two points for a team that was written off at the beginning of January. They’ll need to give Saros more support, though. He has three wins in his last 10 GS.

Filip Forsberg – 1 G (29), 1 A (26), +2, 4 PIM, 5 SOG, 1 H, 2 BLK, 17:34 TOI. The only thing this guy doesn’t give you is faceoff wins, but I bet he could do that, too.

Jonathan Marchessault – 2 A (12), +2, 2 PIM, 3 SOG, 1 H. ‘Member him!? He’s 35 years old, too, so he qualifies for the Memberberries throwback. The points are sometimes also a distant memory. 

Connor Hellebuyck – 20 saves on 23 shots and the 4-3 SOL. Both the Predators and the Jets are still gripping to playoff hopes with both hands, but every day that passes, someone plucks another finger off the ledge. The Jets had better go on a run soon, or Hellebuyck is going to be heading home sooner than later.

Gabe Vilardi – 1 G (26), 1 A (30), +2, 6 SOG, 1 H, 1 BLK, 21:56 TOI. I’m not sure where this season went wrong for the Jets, but we can’t pin it on Vilardi. He’s provided some much-needed secondary scoring for Winnipeg.

Kyle Connor – 3 A (47), +2, 7 SOG, 1 H, 25:17 TOI. Three points, two first names, and 13 pts in his last 10 GP? Wow.

Alex Nedeljkovic – 19 saves on 22 shots (tied heading into the 2nd intermission). The McDavid/Celebrini show hasn’t lived up to expectations yet (both players have zero points), but the East isn’t the only place where every point matters. San Jose’s 70 points put them one point behind both Seattle and LA for that final wild card spot. 

Connor Ingram – 20 saves on 23 shots and a 3-3 tie (in the 2nd intermission). I guess Nathan MacKinnon’s Superman torpedo last Tuesday night didn’t rattle Ingram’s cage as much as they thought it did. Edmonton isn’t in danger of missing the playoffs like San Jose is, but a win would launch them into a tie with Anaheim for the Pacific division lead.

Leon Draisaitl – Ugh. Nothing on the scoresheet to report from our German superstar. But if you haven’t heard the news yet, you’d better be sitting down. The Oilers announced last night that Draisaitl is done for the rest of the regular season with a “lower body injury”. A moment of silence for those of you banking on him to carry you through your H2H playoffs.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – 11 saves on 11 shots in VEG. Ukka-Pekka SHUUTTOOUUTT? Or, as I like to call him, The Finnisher (and, yes, I see you, my friends from Finland!). Lukkonen was perfect through 20 minutes when I wrote this up. Here’s hoping for the Sabres’ sake, he can ride the rest of this one out and push Buffalo into a tie for first place in the Eastern Conference.

Josh Doan – 1 G (22), 1 SOG (first intermission). He has just 6 points in his last 10 games, but if you had told Sabres fans back in October that this kid would be closing in on 50-points with 15 games to go, not one of them would have complained.

Adin Hill – 9 saves on 10 shots and nearly perfect through one period. Viz was at this game! Here’s hoping Hill can give up three goals to Tage Thompson with first assists to Rasmus Dahlin so both Viz and I can cash in on the 3-point challenge!

Sergei Bobrovsky – 8 saves on 11 shots (with 17:00 left in the second period). Many people thought this team would be just fine without Aleksander Barkov. They were…not correct.

Matthew Tkachuk – 1 G (9), +1, 2 PIM, (second period). As much as I’d never want him over for a beer in the backyard this summer, I can’t deny that the guy produces when he’s playing. 21 points in 20 games is par for the course.

Kevin Lankinen – 8 saves on 9 shots and a 3-1 lead with about half a game to go. The Canucks aren’t known for their finish this year, but taking a two-goal lead against the Stanley Cup champs halfway through the third is a small victory.

Andrei Vasilevskiy – 4 saves on 5 shots in the first period. He’s up 3-1 and is looking to right the ship. He’s got two wins in his last seven games, and the .880 SV% over that stretch isn’t great.

Nikita Kucherov – 2 G (36), +1, 5 SOG, (2 minutes into the 2nd period). Two goals and five shots in 22 minutes TOTAL? Come on. The guy is a superstar.

Philipp Grubauer – Another goalie with just 3 wins in his last 10 GS. At 71 points, Seattle needs a hot streak to hold off the wild card threats (LA – 71 pts; SJ – 70 pts), and tonight isn’t looking too promising.

Bobby McMann – 1 G (23), 1 SOG, (14:28 left in the 2nd). Viz wrote up McMann as his lede on Monday, and he was right. This guy is definitely Becoming The McMann In Seattle. The former Leaf forward now has 4 goals in his first 3 games with the Kraken, and will need to keep filling the net to keep Seattle afloat in the playoff race.

That’s all for this week! I’m up early and off to a waterpark for a couple of days with the kids, so apologies for the lack of final write-ups for those late games.

I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below, and I’ll get back to you ASAP.

Happy Wednesday, and I’ll see you next week!

Follow me @marmosdad on Twitter/X and Bluesky @marmosdad.bsky.social