The Kings clinched home-ice advantage in the First Round by besting the Oilers in a primer of their opening series – the winner of each of the past three postseason series between the two clubs was won by the team with home-ice advantage.
* Ivan Demidov joined a short list of teenagers to record multiple points in their first-ever NHL period and a shorter franchise list of teenagers to score in their Canadiens debut as Montreal earned a crucial point in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race.
* A 10-game Tuesday will yet again feature a number of playoff implications as teams continue to push towards Wild Card postseason berths, matchups and division titles.
* NHL Central Scouting will release its Final Rankings presented by BODYARMOR Sports Drink for the 2025 Upper Deck NHL Draft today at 11 a.m. ET. The rankings will be available on NHL.com and the NHL’s media site.
KINGS CLAIM HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE IN 2025 FIRST ROUND PRIMER
Darcy Kuemper and David Rittich combined for a team shutout, while five different Los Angeles players found the back of the net to help the Kings clinch home-ice advantage in the First Round by besting the Oilers in a primer of their opening series. It will mark the first time in their past four consecutive playoff meetings Los Angeles will hold home-ice advantage – a position Edmonton has benefitted from by clinching the past three series. The Kings (3-1-0) won their regular-season series against the Oilers (1-2-1) for the first time since 2015-16 (5-0-0).
* Los Angeles tied its second-most wins in a season in franchise history (also 47 in 2022-23), behind only 2015-16 (48) – success that has largely benefitted from their play at Crypto.com Arena. The Kings won 78% of home games in 2024-25, with their 31 victories on home ice their most in a campaign in franchise history and tied for the most among all teams in 2024-25 (also CAR w/ 31). Los Angeles will have an opportunity to surpass Carolina when it closes out the season at Crypto.com Arena on April 17 and could climb the list of most home points in a season over the past 40 years.
* Kuemper and Rittich combined for the third shared shutout in Kings history, following Oct. 28, 1998 and Feb. 20, 1980.
* Warren Foegele (1-1—2) is set to play in his fourth straight First Round series between the Kings and Oilers, but this time with Los Angeles. Foegele (23-22—45 in 80 GP) is having a career year across the board – he set a new personal benchmark for assists Monday, yet entered play having already set ones this season for goals and points. His 23 goals are the third most by a Kings player in their first campaign with the club in the past 20 years, trailing Phillip Danault (27 in 2021-22) and Pavol Demitra (25 in 2005-06).
ROOKIES HELP CANADIENS RALLY AND EARN CRUCIAL POINT IN WILD CARD RACE
Ivan Demidov (1-1—2), the No. 5 selection in the 2024 NHL Draft, found the score sheet twice in the opening period of his highly anticipated NHL debut to give the Canadiens an early lead before the Blackhawks rallied with three straight goals. Fellow rookie Lane Hutson (0-1—1) then collected an assist on a tying goal with 2:57 remaining in regulation to help Montreal (39-31-11, 89 points) salvage a point. The Canadiens, with one game remaining in their schedule (April 16 vs. CAR), hold a four-point edge on the Blue Jackets (38-33-9, 85 points) for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference; Columbus has two contests remaining (April 15 at PHI & April 17 vs. NYI).
* Demidov, the third teenager in Canadiens history to score in his debut and the second with multiple points in their League debut with the franchise (also Petr Svoboda: 0-2—2 on Oct. 11, 1984), became the fourth teenager in the past decade to collect his first NHL point within the opening six minutes of a game. The others: Maxime Comtois (1-0—1; 0:49 on Oct. 3, 2018), Zach Werenski (0-1—1; 2:58 on Oct. 13, 2016) and Sam Bennett (0-1—1; 0:33 on April 11, 2015).
* Huston boosted his 2024-25 totals to 6-59—65 and established a single-season franchise rookie record for points by a defenseman, besting Chris Chelios (9-55—64 in 1984-85). He also tied Ray Bourque (17-48—65 in 1979-80) for the fifth-most points in one campaign by a rookie blueliner in NHL history and passed Dale Hawerchuk (58 in 1981-82) for the ninth-most assists by a rookie in a single season in NHL history.
PLATEAU’S AND MILESTONE GAMES IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Monday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured notes from every team, including highlights from Lucas Raymond (1-2—3), Patrick Kane (0-1—1), Quinn Hughes (0-1—1) and Clayton Keller (2-2—4).
* Raymond (27-51—78 in 80 GP) factored on half of his team’s goals and became the second Red Wings player in the past 10 years to record a 50-assist season, joining Henrik Zetterberg in 2016-17 (51). Meanwhile, Kane skated in his 1,300th career game and became just the fourth active player to record a point in that milestone contest – he joined Jordan Staal (1-0—1 on Jan. 20, 2025), Brent Burns (0-1—1 in Jan. 29, 2023) and Ryan Suter (0- 1—1 in Nov. 23, 2022).
* Hughes factored on Jake DeBrusk’s overtime goal to help Vancouver earn its 18th comeback win of 2024-25. In the process, Hughes (16-60—76 in 67 GP) became the fourth defenseman in NHL history with four consecutive 60-assist seasons, joining Bobby Orr (6 from 1969-70 to 1974-75), Ray Bourque (5 from 1989-90 to 1993-94) and Paul Coffey (5 from 1981-82 to 1985-86).
* Keller tallied his team-leading fourth four-point game of the season while skating in his 600th career contest to help Utah earn a win its penultimate game of its inaugural campaign. The contest also saw Logan Cooley score his 44th goal and pass Jack Hughes (44) for the fifth most by an active U.S.-born player before age 21. He trails Auston Matthews (74), Patrick Kane (53), Jack Eichel (52), and Matthew Tkachuk (50).
QUICK CLICKS
* Zeev Buium practices with Wild, could make NHL debut Tuesday against Ducks
* Alex Ovechkin praises teammates on ‘Pat McAfee Show’
* Final week of regular season for playoff teams stands out from rest of schedule
* Ivan Demidov’s thrilling debut adds to buzz of Canadiens’ playoff chase
POSSIBLE FIRST ROUND PREVIEW HEADLINES ESPN BROADCAST
The Lightning (46-26-8, 100 points) and Panthers (47-30-4, 98 points) are trending toward a meeting in the First Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs – their fourth head-to-head postseason matchup in five years – but the two clubs will first clash on ESPN during a 10-game Tuesday. Nikita Kucherov (36-83—119 in 76 GP) sits two assists shy of becoming the eighth different player in NHL history with consecutive 85-assist campaigns; Connor McDavid (2 from 2022-23 – 2023-24) is the only active player to do so.
PIVOTAL GAMES IN WEST WILD CARD RACE READY FOR TUESDAY
The Wild (44-30-7, 95 points), Blues (43-30-8, 94 points) and Flames (39-27-14, 92 points) are all in action and seek an all-important two points in the standings as the two Wild Card positions in the Western Conference have yet to be decided. Minnesota and St. Louis will play their final games of the regular season, but Calgary owns one outing in hand.
* The Wild would open the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs on the road should they clinch a berth at home Tuesday – a position the franchise has owned success in since its inaugural season in 2000-01. Each of Minnesota’s four all-time playoff series wins have come as the lower seed; the Wild are the only franchise in NHL history to earn each of their first four all-time playoff series victories as the lower seed.
* The Blues return to Enterprise Center from a three-game road trip – a venue where the club has captured a franchise-record 11 straight wins and where Jordan Binnington has matched a franchise benchmark for longest home win streak by a goaltender (10-0-0 since Feb. 8). St. Louis can become the sixth franchise in the past decade with a home win streak of at least a dozen games following Tampa Bay (12 GP in 2022-23), Boston (14 GP in 2022-23 & 12 GP in 2018-19), Colorado (18 GP in 2021-22), Toronto (13 GP in 2017-18), Washington (15 GP in 2016-17 & 12 GP in 2015-16).
* The Flames sit one victory shy of their first 40-win season since 2021-22 (50) – a campaign that also featured the franchise’s last Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance. Should Calgary and Montreal clinch a postseason berth, it would boost the NHL’s Canadian postseason representation to six clubs. Overall, the 312 combined wins by Canadian-based teams this season are the most in one campaign in NHL history and eight more than the next-closest (304 in 1992-93).
