NHL Player News

Annunen made 21 saves in Saturday's 2-1 win over the Wild.

Annunen took a shutout into the third when former teammate, Michael McCarron, who was traded to the Wild on March 3, beat him at 6:54. The netminder has been sharp lately, stopping 64 of 65 shots over his last two starts. With this performance, Annunen improved his stat line this season to 10-11-3 with a 2.70 GAA, .907 save percentage and one shutout.

Stamkos scored a goal and added an assist Saturday in a 2-1 win over Minnesota.

The goal was his 40th of the season (63 points). It's the eighth time in his 18 NHL seasons that Stamkos has scored 40 regular-season goals. He is third on the all-time active goal scorer's list (622), and he's the fourth active NHLer to score 40 or more goals with two franchises. The others? Alex DeBrincat (Chicago and Detroit), Jake Guentzel (Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay) and Matthew Tkachuk (Calgary and Florida).

Ingram made 19 saves Saturday in a 1-0 loss to the Kings.

The game had a distinct playoff feel, and Ingram played really well. The only King to best him was Artemi Panarin, who beat him glove side on a breakaway after stealing the puck from Evan Bouchard in the Kings' zone. Ingram is 1-2-0 in his last three games, and the Oilers are 1-2-1 in their last four, but they managed to secure a playoff spot later Saturday when the Flyers beat the Jets. We're not sure how the Oilers will deploy Ingram in the final two games. Will they play him to ensure he maintains a rhythm heading into the playoffs? Or will they sit Ingram, as wins would secure a first-round matchup against wild-card Utah, which has a plus-31 goal differential? These questions make year-end fantasy decisions so difficult.

Panarin scored the game's only goal in a 1-0 victory over Edmonton on Saturday.

Panarin stole the puck from Evan Bouchard at the blue line in his own zone and took off on a breakaway. Panarin slung a wrist shot that beat Connor Ingram glove side. Panarin has 26 points, including nine goals, in 23 games since arriving in Los Angeles in a Feb. 4 trade. He has 28 goals, 55 assists and 221 shots in 75 games this season. The Kings have three games remaining and are looking to secure the second wild card in the Western Conference. They are one point up on Nashville as of Saturday and have one game in hand. However, Panarin will lead the push for the Kings, as they need to finish ahead of the Preds, which holds the regulation-wins tiebreaker (28-21).

Postava was reassigned to AHL Grand Rapids on Saturday.

Postava was elevated from Grand Rapids on Friday as insurance for John Gibson (neck), but Gibson was fine to play Saturday versus the Devils. Postava will likely close out the season with the Griffins, who have been one of the best teams in the AHL all season. He'll compete with Sebastian Cossa for playing time in the AHL.

Forsberg made 27 saves in a 1-0 win over the Oilers on Saturday.

It was his third shutout of the season. Forsberg is 4-0-0 with a GAA of 0.97 and a .963 save percentage in his past four starts, and he has the Kings one point ahead of the Predators for the second wild card in the Western Conference. Expect the Kings to keep Forsberg in their blue paint as much as reasonably possible based on this recent success. The team has three games left.

Patera was returned to AHL Abbotsford on Saturday.

Kevin Lankinen will return from an upper-body injury, ending Patera's emergency recall. The 27-year-old Patera will likely spend the rest of the campaign with Abbotsford. He didn't play during his week-long stint with the big club.

McAvoy picked up an assist Saturday in a 2-1 loss to Tampa Bay.

It was his 50th assist of the season. McAvoy is the 10th NHL defenseman with at least 50 assists this year. He's the first to do it in a Bruins uniform since Hall of Famer Ray Bourque had 62 in 1995-96.

Geekie scored a goal in a 2-1 loss to the Lightning on Saturday.

It was Geekie's fourth goal in two games. He gave his team a 1-0 lead at the midpoint of the second period when he beat Andrei Vasilevskiy glove side on a breakaway. Geekie sits in a six-way tie for 13th on the NHL goal list with 38 snipes. He has 67 points, including 24 on the power play (12 goals, 12 assists), 178 shots, 110 hits, 33 blocks and 22 PIM in 79 games this season.

Dobson will not return to Saturday's game versus the Blue Jackets.

Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports Dobson blocked a shot off his thumb in the second period, though the Canadiens didn't specify the nature of his injury. In any case, the defenseman's status for Sunday's game against his former team, the Islanders, is in doubt. The Canadiens still have positioning to play for, but they may opt to take a cautious approach with Dobson anyway.