The St. Louis Blues have built offensive chemistry with the late-season additions to their forward lines.

The Blues will try to extend their recent scoring surge when they face the reeling Blackhawks in Chicago on Thursday.

St. Louis (34-34-6, 74 points) is 5-1-1 in the last seven games and has outscored opponents 32-23.

“I think we’re playing pretty well as a team of late,” Blues forward Brandon Saad said. “We’re having fun, not thinking too much, playing well as a team. Obviously, the contributions with the guys scoring, it’s been a lot of fun as of late. We just want to keep building our game.”

The Blues have gained significant production from newcomers Jakub Vrana (eight goals, two assists in 12 games), Sammy Blais (eight goals, nine assists in 23 games) and Kasperi Kapanen (seven goals, four assists in 15 games) since their arrival.

Vrana scored two goals, including the overtime winner, as the Blues edged the Vancouver Canucks 6-5 on Tuesday.

“He’s been incredible,” Saad said of Vrana. “He’s a pure goal-scorer. It’s fun to watch him out there. It’s fun to play with him. When you’re with him, you want to get him the puck and, obviously, you can see what he can do with scoring goals. Definitely happy to have him.”

The Blackhawks (24-44-6, 54 points) bring a six-game losing streak into this game as they continue to look ahead to the draft lottery. They currently have the second-best odds of getting the first overall pick.

Chicago is coming off Tuesday’s 4-1 home loss to the Dallas Stars. Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson graded the setback as one of their lesser efforts this season.

“I thought the first period, we just weren’t great,” Richardson said. “We couldn’t string together two passes, just sloppy on our part. When that started like that, we just kind of stopped moving our feet. I think it was by the end of the second period, we had a couple of shifts that finally got us going and gave us a little life for the third period, and we skated a little bit. But obviously it was a little too late by then.

“That was one of the few games this year we didn’t have the skating legs and we just didn’t look good.”

Blackhawks forward Tyler Johnson snapped a 14-game goalless drought in against the Stars, but he didn’t take much joy in it.

“It’s been pretty difficult, obviously,” Johnson said. “It’s tough all the way around. You’re not getting the results. The road trip we were on, it just kind of seems like everything is just building up and you have a lot on your shoulders right now, but we’ve got to relax a little bit. Instead of getting upset and mad, you kind of have to just find it within each other to play for each other and be happy and make things a little bit more fun.”

The Blues have won two of their previous three game against the Blackhawks this season. Jordan Kyrou (two goals, two assists) has played well in the series for St. Louis, while Andreas Athanasiou (three goals) has starred for Chicago.

Blues forwards Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich will be out with upper-body injuries on Thursday. Buchnevich has the second-most goals on the team with 25.

–Field Level Media

A stretch of mediocrity has prevented the Carolina Hurricanes from wrapping up the Metropolitan Division title. They’ll try to extend their slim lead over the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers when they visit the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.

The Hurricanes (47-17-9, 103 points) have gone 4-5-1 over their last 10 games. In their last two outings, they lost to Boston in a shootout and then got blanked (4-0) by Tampa Bay.

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 31 shots to keep the Hurricanes at bay.

“Not a whole lot of spark to our game. We didn’t play the game we like to play,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Not enough time in their end. It was weird because it wasn’t like we were giving up a boatload of chances, but we weren’t getting enough to get emotion in the building.”

The shutout defeat was the team’s fifth this season and also ended a four-game homestand. Carolina will have to be a road warrior to hold onto the division lead, as it plays six of its last nine regular-season contests in hostile environments.

“We’re playing every other night and these teams that we’re going to play are maybe out of it, but I’ve been on that side of it, where you’re playing for jobs and kids coming up and playing hard. It’s not like you’re getting an easy game, ever,” Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook said. “We have to figure out where our energy was, regroup, get some rest and come back.”

The Hurricanes play two of those games against the Red Wings. They’ll host Detroit on April 11.

In the first meeting between the teams on Dec. 13, Pyotr Kochetkov made 27 saves as the Hurricanes blanked the Wings 1-0. Brady Skjei scored the lone goal in the first period.

Detroit (32-32-9, 73 points) surprised Pittsburgh, which is fighting for its playoff life, with a 7-4 victory on Tuesday. David Perron recorded a third-period hat trick after the Penguins rallied from a 3-0 deficit.

Perron’s big night lifted the Wings to just their fourth victory in the last 16 games. He now has eight career hat tricks.

“The biggest one of my career was obviously the one in the playoffs (with St. Louis) last year, but this one was special,” said Perron, who is in his 16th NHL season. “I’ve gotten more in my 30s than I did in my early 20s, so maybe I’ve still got a couple left.”

Perron had only scored four goals during the calendar year prior to Tuesday’s flurry.

“We battled back in the third and DP getting the hat trick was pretty cool,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. “He’s been grinding for a while and I think everyone is happy for him.”

Usually mild-mannered coach Derek Lalonde was ejected in the second period for complaining about Pittsburgh’s third goal, which tied the score. Lalonde felt Jeff Carter’s power-play goal trickled past Alex Nedeljkovic because Penguins forward Jason Zucker interfered with him. However, Lalonde’s challenge was denied.

“After that incident where (Lalonde) got thrown out, I thought the guys came together, played hard and inspired,” associate coach Bob Boughner said. “That team over there is fighting for their lives, fighting for a playoff spot and they played hard and matched us in intensity.”

The Red Wings can surpass last season’s win total with a victory on Thursday.

–Field Level Media

The Ottawa Senators are skating a fine line in their quest for the postseason heading into Thursday’s game against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.

The Senators (36-33-5, 77 points) reside five points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with eight games remaining on both teams’ schedules.

“I feel like as a team we’ve rode the highs and the lows,” Senators captain Brady Tkachuk said, per the Ottawa Sun. “As we’re going through this for the last (six weeks) of pushing down the stretch, we have learned to take it one day at a time and just get back to basics. We’re at our best when we’re playing fast.”

Thachuk has been at his best over the last two weeks, collecting eight goals and three assists. He had one of each on Monday as Ottawa posted its third win in five games with a 5-2 victory versus the Florida Panthers.

Tkachuk notched an assist in a 2-1 loss to Philadelphia on Nov. 5 and had three more in a 4-1 victory over the Flyers the following week. Former Flyers captain Claude Giroux also had four points (one goal, three assists) in the two contests against Philadelphia.

Star defenseman Thomas Chabot sustained a wrist injury during the third period of Monday’s game and is expected to be out for two weeks.

“He got banged up there,” coach D.J. Smith said, per the Ottawa Sun. “He couldn’t do much late and couldn’t go on.”

Fellow defenseman Tyler Kleven is expected make his NHL debut with Chabot out. Kleven was a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft of the Senators, who already are without recent trade acquisition Jakob Chychrun (hamstring).

The Flyers (29-32-12, 70 points) posted their season high-tying fourth straight win and extended their point streak to six games (5-0-1) following their 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday.

Morgan Frost scored two goals versus the Canadiens to boost his point total to seven (three goals, four assists) in his last five games.

“He’s getting more and more consistent,” Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said of Frost, a former first-round pick. “The goals are the goals, that’s great. We’re looking for that. But I think he’s improved away from the puck, which is a very important part of his game.

“We know he has skill. We need to keep on seeing the skill. But for a coach to put a player on the ice that he’s still not sure of, that other stuff has to be sound, and I think he’s really improved there.”

Frost was quick to credit Kevin Hayes for setting up his first goal on Tuesday. Stationed along the goal line, Hayes found Frost deep in the left circle for the opening goal of the game.

“It was unbelievable,” Frost said, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I think before that happened, I was kind of behind him on the short side calling for the puck. I think he’s got unbelievable vision. That’s just a really special play to make right through the goalie’s stick through the crease. That goal is all him.”

Hayes would like one of his own as he is mired in a 19-game goal drought. The veteran forward, however, scored a goal in both previous encounters versus Ottawa.

–Field Level Media

St. Louis Blues star forwards Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich will miss Thursday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks with upper-body injuries.

The duo are second and third on the Blues in points on the season.

With the Blues down to their last eight games and well out of the playoff race, the move is seen as precautionary. Both players played the entirety of Tuesday’s game against Vancouver.

Thomas has 63 points (17 goals, 46 assists) in 70 games this season.

Buchnevich has 66 points (25 goals, 41 assists) in 59 games.

The Blues are 5-1-1 in their last seven but 11 points behind the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

–Field Level Media

Two teams desperate to make the playoffs meet Thursday when the Nashville Predators visit the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Nashville (37-28-8, 82 points) is on the outside looking up at the Western Conference wild-card spots. But the Predators are not only still within reach of a couple teams ahead of them with games in hand, they also are coming off a big and emotional win.

On Tuesday, Nashville broke a two-game skid and beat the NHL’s best team on the road with a 2-1 win at Boston, snapping the Bruins’ seven-game winning streak.

“There’s a lot of belief in this (locker) room, and beating that first-place team just gives you that much more belief,” said Predators forward Cody Glass, who had a goal and an assist against the Bruins.

“This is the game that builds character for a lot of our young players and really shows that we can play in this league.”

Not only was it a much-needed couple of points against a daunting opponent, but it also came a day after a deadly shooting at Covenant School in Nashville, something the team talked about privately before the game and publicly afterward.

“We’re on a platform here as professional athletes and coaches, and the city of Nashville means a lot to these people, and we wanted to put in an effort for the first responders, for the people that were involved in the incident, the families, the school,” Predators coach John Hynes said. “And we’re just really proud of the guys.”

Nashville also pulled off that win despite a long list of players who are out with an array of injuries: forwards Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen, Matt Duchene and Juuso Parssinen, and captain Roman Josi and fellow defenseman Alexandre Carrier.

The Penguins (36-28-10, 82 points), who have a tenuous hold on the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, were on a roll with three straight games they felt good about.

Those were a road win against defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado, a strong game in a loss at Dallas and, especially, a win Saturday at home against rival Washington that was an emotional rollercoaster when they blew a three-goal, third-period lead before pulling it out, 4-3.

And then came a gut check on Tuesday, when Pittsburgh started poorly in Detroit to fall behind by three goals, came back to tie it, tied it again at 4-4 and then lost 7-4.

“Inexcusable,” Penguins winger Jason Zucker said of losing to a team that is out of the playoff chase and had been reeling since the NHL trade deadline. “We need to come away with points there.”

Pittsburgh has an intriguing decision to make in goal. No. 1 goaltender Tristan Jarry sustained his third injury of the season and missed the Dallas game. He was recovered enough by Saturday to serve as Casey DeSmith’s backup and presumably could have started Tuesday.

But the Penguins went with DeSmith again because, coach Mike Sullivan said, he was “deserving.”

“He’s played really well of late,” Sullivan said.

DeSmith gave up six goals, some of them partly because of poor defensive play in front of him.

The Penguins canceled Wednesday’s practice, leaving no indication of any lineup changes.

–Field Level Media

The New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers handled their initial games after clinching a playoff berth in significantly different ways.

Because of those dramatically different results, the race for second place in the Metropolitan Division and home ice in the first round of a possible playoff series between the rivals is even closer heading into the final meeting Thursday night in Newark, N.J.

New Jersey (46-20-8, 100 points) holds a two-point lead over the Rangers (44-20-10, 98 points) partially because it is 2-0-1 in the season series.

The Devils earned a 5-3 win in New York on Nov. 28 and the Rangers posted a 4-3 overtime victory on home ice Dec. 12. New Jersey recorded a 4-3 overtime win on Jan. 7 when it erased a two-goal deficit and Damon Severson scored the game-winner to stop an eight-game home losing streak.

The Devils clinched their first playoff spot since 2018 with a 5-3 win over the visiting Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Two nights later, New Jersey was handed its most lopsided loss of the season when it allowed four straight goals following a short-handed tally by Erik Haula in a 5-1 loss to the host New York Islanders.

“I think that we clinched a spot (last game), and I don’t know if our group dealt with that,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “It’s a learning experience. You’re excited about where you got to, but you’ve got to put it away in a hurry and I didn’t think we put it away in a hurry.”

Since a 3-0 home win over the first-place Carolina Hurricanes on March 12, the Devils are 2-4-2 over their past eight contests, a stretch where they have allowed four goals five times. New Jersey also was held to one goal for the ninth time Monday and third time since its win over Carolina.

The Rangers were seven points behind the Devils following a 4-1 loss at Boston on March 4 in their second game with Patrick Kane. Since then New York is 9-1-1 over its past 11 games with the past seven wins coming in regulation to give both teams 34 regulation victories.

New York has scored 34 goals over its past seven victories, including Tuesday’s 6-2 home win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Filip Chytil, Vladimir Tarasenko and Kane scored in a span of 3:37 in the first period and the Rangers scored the final three goals to pull away from the NHL’s worst team after allowing two goals in the final half of the opening period.

“Listen MSG is an amazing place to play. I think it’s a big advantage to have home ice,” Kane said after he and Tarasenko scored in the same game for the first time. “We have that in front of us now if we do what we need to do. It’ll be a big game coming up.”

Also in front of both teams but not so far away are the Hurricanes, who are three points ahead of New Jersey and five ahead of New York. Carolina has nine games remaining and 35 regulation victories.

“Thursday should be a lot of fun,” New York coach Gerard Gallant said. “Two teams battling, and I think we’re two points behind them. There’s still seven or eight games left, but it goes a long way Thursday night.”

–Field Level Media

The Boston Bruins are in the midst of an incredibly busy stretch at the end of a historic NHL season, playing 13 games in 25 days with five straight weekend back-to-backs.

But that will be no excuse when the grind of the Stanley Cup Playoffs begins next month.

The jam-packed schedule appeared to take a toll Tuesday in Boston’s 2-1 defeat to the Nashville Predators.

“This is probably the toughest schedule I’ve ever seen or been part of, but we obviously took them lightly,” Bruins forward Brad Marchand said after the loss to the Predators. “We seem to get up for the games (against) the teams we could potentially face down the road, and I think we just were a little disrespectful of the game tonight against this team.”

The Bruins (57-12-5, 119 points) will look to avoid back-to-back regulation losses for only the second time all season Thursday when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are at the bottom of the overall NHL standings.

As a result of Carolina’s 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday, the Bruins can clinch the Presidents’ Trophy with a win over the Blue Jackets, whom they have beaten five straight times dating back to last season.

“You’re going to have peaks and valleys with your energy levels,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “We try to monitor it the best we can, but the schedule’s unforgiving right now. You’re going to lay eggs every once in a while.”

Only eight Presidents’ Trophy winners have gone on to win the Stanley Cup since the trophy was first awarded in 1985-86.

Of course, the home-ice advantage throughout the postseason that comes with the trophy will help the cause.

“I don’t think we’re too concerned about records or anything like that,” Marchand said. “The opportunity to have home ice the whole playoffs would be nice, but again, if we take care of our job and we’re prepared to play the rest of the games, we’ll be alright.”

Against Nashville, Boston was 0.3 seconds away from being shut out for only the second time this season. David Pastrnak scored his 52nd goal, extending his career-high mark.

The Blue Jackets (23-43-7, 53 points) are 3-8-1 since the start of the month after allowing three first-period goals and the final three goals of the game in Tuesday’s 6-2 loss to the New York Rangers.

“The whole game they battled really hard,” Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. “It’s a head scratcher. You look at it, 6-2, it’s not that you’re satisfied, but there’s not many guys where you can say they didn’t give it tonight.”

Columbus has allowed four or more goals in every March game.

Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and an assist for Columbus, joining current Ranger Artemi Panarin as the second player in Blue Jackets history to reach the 50-assist plateau in his first season with the franchise.

Kirill Marchenko scored his 20th goal of the season.

Nine players in the Blue Jackets’ Tuesday lineup had played fewer than 100 NHL games. Among them, defenseman Billy Sweezey was recalled from AHL Cleveland on Monday and could play his third career game less than an hour from his hometown of Hanson, Mass.

–Field Level Media