On today's @TheAthletic Hockey Show with @jessegranger.bsky.social and me:
– Sabres-Bolts thriller
– Under-the-radar trade pickups we love
– 5 first-round series we want to see
– How young is too young to be a captain?
– Remembering Troy Murray
Listen:
pod.fo/e/3a28fb
Final- Edmonton 4, Vegas 2
The Oilers had allowed 56 goals over their last 12 games (4.67 per game) entering tonight, and the Golden Knights didn't generate much offense against them.
That's concerning, as is Vegas' 2-5-0 record since the Olympic break.
Oilers score into the empty net to make it 4-2 with 1:57 to play.
09.03.2026 04:15 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
What a snipe by Eichel to make it 3-2.
Great individual effort by him to take the puck all the way down to that end shorthanded, then he buries a shot from in front.
Horrific luck there for Vegas.
First Rasmus Andersson's stick explodes in his hand as he's trying to clear the puck, so it stays in the zone.
Then, that broken stick keeps the puck in the zone again, and Edmonton scores to make it 3-1.
Vasily Podkolzin gets Edmonton's 2nd breakaway in the first 2:35 of the third period.
Hill got a piece of it with his toe, but it slides over the line to make it 2-1.
VGK actually won an o-zone faceoff on the play, but Podkolzin beat VGK d-men to the puck and blew by them.
Kasperi Kapanen got a breakaway, and shot a wrister from the top of the circle.
That's one of the wildest decisions I've ever seen in that situation.
Vegas and Edmonton are tied 1-1 after two periods.
The Oilers have only 11 shots on goal through 40 minutes.
Hanifin's shot from the point gets tipped past Ingram to tie it 1-1.
09.03.2026 03:06 — 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0The play was offside. Goal doesn't count, and Edmonton keeps the 1-0 lead.
09.03.2026 02:53 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Kolesar's shot slipped past Ingram and into the net to tie it 1-1, but the Oilers are challenging for offside.
09.03.2026 02:53 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Frederic jams home the second rebound to put Edmonton up 1-0.
Hill stopped a shot on the side of the net in RVH, then sprawled across for a wraparound attempt that never came. He got in front of the first jam attempt from on his side, but Frederic got the 2nd one over him.
0-0 after one period between the Golden Knights and Oilers.
Just as everyone expected.
Vegas found its game about halfway through this first period, and has spent the last several shifts in the Edmonton in.
Ingram was tested for the first time with a high tip, and kicked his right pad out to save it.
Zach Hyman all alone in front of the Vegas net, he dekes backhand, and Hill makes another huge blocker stop.
All Edmonton early on here, even with a PP for Vegas.
Brutal turnover by Mitch Marner sets up a shorthanded 2-on-1 for Edmonton, and they got the pass across, but Hill slid over for a huge blocker save.
THAT is the save they've needed from him early in games.
He made it. Let's see if VGK can take advantage.
Golden Knights pregame line rushes vs Edmonton. Brett Howden returns, Reilly Smith scratched:
Barbashev–Eichel–Bowman
Howden–Marner–Dorofeyev
Saad–Hertl–Kolesar
C.Smith–Dowd–Sissons
McNabb–Theodore
Hanifin–Korczak
Lauzon–Andersson
Hill
Schmid
Adin Hill and Connor Ingram lead their teams onto the ice for warm ups in Las Vegas.
09.03.2026 01:06 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1The Stanley Cup Playoffs need the Sabres as bad as the Sabres need the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
09.03.2026 00:58 — 👍 38 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
Compared to 7-3-3 with a .887 save % in games against non-playoff opponents.
Wallstedt still needs to develop if he’s going to become an elite goalie, which he certainly has the potential to be.
But playing his best against the best is an excellent trait to have in a franchise goalie.
It’s early in his career, but my read on Jesper Wallstedt is he is a big-game goalie.
He relishes the moment, and thus far the stats back that up.
Even with today’s SO loss to Colorado, these are Wallstedt’s stats against opponents in playoff position:
7-3-1
.931 SV%
2.45 GAA
Most consistent goalies (highest % of starts w/save % above .900)
1. Devin Cooley 83.3%
2. Scott Wedgewood 69.7%
3. Mackenzie Blackwood 68%
4. Dan Vladar 67.6%
5. Jeremy Swayman 67.5%
6. Jesper Wallstedt 66.7%
7. Igor Shesterkin 65.8%
8. Jet Greaves 65.8%
9. Logan Thompson 65.1%
10. Alex Lyon 64.3%
Top 10 long-range save %
1. Jake Allen .994
2. Casey DeSmith .993
3. Alex Lyon .988
4. Linus Ullmark .988
5. Kevin Lankinen .983
6. Joel Hofer .981
7. Filip Gustavsson .979
8. Dan Vladar .978
9. Jesper Wallstedt .978
10. Dustin Wolf .977
Top 10 mid-range save %
1. Scott Wedgewood .940
2. Jake Allen .935
3. Jeremy Swayman .927
4. Logan Thompson .924
5. Dennis Hildeby .921
6. Juuse Saros .918
7. Devin Cooley .913
8. Arturs Silovs .913
9. Andrei Vasilevskiy .912
10. Mackenzie Blackwood .908
Top 10 high-danger save %
1. Ilya Sorokin .879
2. Devin Cooley .870
3. Brandon Bussi .859
4. Joonas Korpisalo .854
5. Igor Shesterkin .853
6. Andrei Vasilevskiy .852
7. Mackenzie Blackwood .848
8. Spencer Knight .845
9. Casey DeSmith .844
10. Anton Forsberg .844
Adin Hill is the first goalie off the ice, starting tonight for Vegas against Edmonton.
08.03.2026 17:58 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
It's worth noting that if you exclude the 12 games Connor Hellebuyck missed due to knee surgery, he would account for 82% of Winnipeg's games.
Which is insane when you consider he had surgery in the middle of that and played in the Olympics.
These are the biggest workhorses in net this season in the NHL.
My biggest takeaway is that Vejmelka and Saros are in their own tier in terms of the workload they're taking on for their teams. They've also been asked to make significantly more saves than every other goalie.
Ilya Sorokin leads the NHL with a ridiculous .875 save % on high-danger shots (inside 29 ft, between the dots).
For perspective on how impressive that is, the league average on those shots is only .813.
Sorokin's .875 is higher than the TOTAL save % for 21 goalies this year.
I'm not saying Swayman should be the clear favorite. Sorokin's numbers are insane and he probably deserves the No. 1 spot at the moment.
But the disparity in the odds is insanity IMO.
