The 2023 NHL Draft Lottery will be conducted on May 8 in Secaucus, N.J., the league announced Wednesday.

The winner of the lottery will earn the right to select generational talent Connor Bedard, the consensus top prospect and projected No. 1 pick of the draft.

The draft lottery winner can move up 10 spots this season, therefore only the bottom 11 teams by virtue of the final regular-season standings are eligible to secure the top pick.

Bedard, 17, has totaled 125 points (61 goals, 64 assists) in 51 games for the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. The forward also had 23 points (nine goals, 16 assists) in seven games to lead Canada to a gold medal victory at the 2023 World Juniors.

The much-anticipated draw also will determine the order of selection for the first 16 picks in the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville, Tenn. The first round is June 28, and rounds 2-7 are June 29.

Also on Wednesday, the NHL announced the playoffs will begin April 17 and Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final is tentatively scheduled for June 3.

–Field Level Media

The disappointment surrounding the New York Islanders was palpable after a defeat on Tuesday, but the suddenly struggling club must quickly put that frustration in the past before facing the host Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night.

New York, which currently holds the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, lost 5-2 to the Los Angeles Kings to start a three-game California trip.

Making the setback worse for the Islanders was that they held a 1-0 lead after the first period and were in a tie game when a couple of penalties proved costly.

Matt Martin was assessed an unsportsmanlike penalty for throwing the helmet of Kings forward Rasmus Kupari after they took coincidental roughing minors. Then, 30 seconds later, Zach Parise was whistled for kneeing.

The Kings broke open the game with two power-play goals one minute apart before they extended the lead to 4-1 and cruised to victory.

“Very frustrating. There’s no question,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. “The game turned in a three-minute stretch.”

The Islanders have dropped two straight after going on a 7-2-1 run and have been outscored 10-3 in the two-game skid.

On the plus side, forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored in his return after missing 12 games due to an upper-body injury. On the negative, the club can ill-afford to allow these struggles to become a lengthy skid.

“We’ve got to look at the good things we did, bring them and outwork our opponent,” Pageau said. “Then I like our chances.”

The Ducks sit 29th overall in the 32-team league and soon will be officially eliminated from playoff contention, but that doesn’t mean they will be easy prey.

Anaheim, which kicked off an eight-game homestand with a 5-4 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators on Sunday, is 5-1-3 in its past nine outings.

“At this point in the season, with where we’re at in the standings, I think it would be really easy to watch a team mail it in, and our guys refuse to do it,” said coach Dallas Eakins, whose squad twice erased two-goal deficits against Nashville. “They’re working, we’re improving. Our team game is improving. We’ve got young players improving. We get down in a game like that against a very desperate team and we’ve still got our foot on the pedal.”

Among the young players Eakins is referring to is rookie forward Mason McTavish. The third overall pick in the 2021 draft is coming off a two-goal game — his second tally was the tying goal with 26 seconds remaining in regulation — and has three goals and eight points in his past seven games.

McTavish is earning the respect of his teammates.

“It’s a hard league. Very few people can just come in and figure it out, and he’s light years ahead of most guys that come in,” forward Troy Terry said. “The growth he’s had since the start in all areas — not just scoring but holding on to pucks down low and using his body to protect it. Defensively he’s always in the right areas. All the little things with him is what stands out the most. You see why he was such a high pick.”

McTavish isn’t the only Ducks player collecting points of late — Trevor Zegras has two goals and four assists in his past six games.

–Field Level Media

A chance to inch closer to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference is at stake when the Buffalo Sabres visit the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.

The Sabres enter the matchup having halted a four-game slide (0-3-1) with a 4-3 road win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday. Buffalo is now within five points of the Islanders for the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot, and the Sabres have three games in hand on New York.

“It’s cliche but one win at a time, one game at a time,” Buffalo forward Alex Tuch said. “That’s the mentality. It really helps. It does, if you’re able to just not look at the standings, not look at what other teams are doing.

“Focus on yourself and focus on your next opponent, it allows you to play your best games. … We’ve got to focus on Washington and not worry about anything else going on around us.”

Tuch returned to the Sabres’ lineup with a bang against Toronto, scoring twice, including the game-winning goal to reach 30 on the season. The 26-year-old, who missed eight games due to a lower-body injury, has scored in five of his past six games and has produced multi-point efforts in four of those contests.

After allowing at least 35 shots against in six straight games, Buffalo has tightened up on defense in the past two games, holding both opponents to fewer than 30 shots. The Sabres held the Maple Leafs without a shot on goal for 17 minutes in a stretch covering parts of the second period and third periods.

“We made defending a greater focal point for us,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “I think our guys recognized (Monday) ways that they could impact it more and more as the game went along.”

The Capitals have lost three of their past four games, including a 5-3 setback against the host New York Rangers on Tuesday. Washington trailed 4-1 early in the second period before pulling to within one midway through the third.

The Capitals are tied with the Sabres in points but have played two more games.

“Getting behind one or two or three goals is tough, but I thought we were right there in it,” Washington forward Nic Dowd said postgame. “We gave ourselves a chance to win that game. I thought we outplayed them a majority of the game, minus maybe that first 10-12 minutes.”

Defenseman Rasmus Sandin has enjoyed a smooth transition to Washington since being acquired from Toronto on Feb. 28. The 23-year-old Swede has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in five games since the trade, including a pair of three-assist outings.

He picked up an assist against the Rangers to set a Capitals record for most helpers in a player’s first five games with the club, besting the previous mark held by Geoff Courtnall, who had six in 1988-89.

“He’s come in here, and offensively, he’s contributed,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. “What’s been really impressive is the way he has played the game, a 200-foot, two-way game. … Defensively, he’s done a really good job as well. You notice the offense, but we’ve been really impressed with the defense, too.”

Washington was without captain Alex Ovechkin (lower-body injury) and forward Sonny Milano (illness) against the Rangers. It was unknown whether either will be available to oppose Buffalo.

–Field Level Media

Taylor Raddysh registered his first career hat trick and Boris Katchouk scored the game-winning goal and had two assists to boost the host Chicago Blackhawks to a 6-3 win against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

Joey Anderson contributed a goal and assist for the Blackhawks, who were outshot 42-29. MacKenzie Entwistle also scored, and Jujhar Khaira and Ian Mitchell had two assists apiece. Chicago goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 16 shots before leaving midway through the second period with an undisclosed injury. Alex Stalock entered in relief and made 23 saves on 26 shots.

Hampus Lindholm had a goal and assist for the Bruins following a one-game injury absence. Frederic and Pavel Zacha also scored, and Linus Ullmark made 23 saves.

Boston’s Tyler Bertuzzi scored an apparent tying goal on the power play with 8:46 left, but it was waved off after a replay review. Video confirmed that Bertuzzi’s shot hit both posts and caromed out instead of making it a 4-all game.

Blue Jackets 6, Sharks 5 (OT)

Johnny Gaudreau scored at 4:17 of overtime to cap a five-point night and lead Columbus to a wild victory in San Jose.

Gaudreau took Patrik Laine’s pass from behind the net at the bottom of the right circle and roofed a wrist shot past Kaapo Kahkonen for his second goal of the game and highlighted the third five-point game of his career. Boone Jenner scored twice and Kent Johnson and Liam Foudy also scored for Columbus, which snapped a four-game losing streak (0-3-1). Daniil Tarasov made 27 saves and also had an assist on Johnson’s power-play goal.

Logan Couture had a goal and two assists, Alexander Barabanov had a goal and an assist, and William Eklund, Kevin Labanc and Nikolai Knyzhov also scored for San Jose, which lost its fourth straight (0-3-1). Kahkonen finished with 42 saves.

Kings 5, Islanders 2

Blake Lizotte, Drew Doughty and Alex Iafallo scored in a 5:12 span of the second period and Los Angeles held on to beat visiting New York.

Trevor Moore and Quinton Byfield also scored, Vladislav Gavrikov had two assists and Joonas Korpisalo made 26 saves for the Kings, who are 6-0-1 in their past seven games.

Pierre Engvall and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored, Ryan Pulock had two assists and Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves for the Islanders in the opener of a three-game California trip.

Coyotes 4, Flames 3 (OT)

Clayton Keller scored twice and Travis Boyd tallied Arizona’s winning goal in overtime against Calgary in Tempe, Ariz.

Matias Maccelli also scored and assisted the game-winner, while Barrett Hayton and Juuso Valimaki both collected two assists for the Coyotes, who are on a 4-0-2 run that includes four consecutive home wins. Connor Ingram made 42 saves.

Mikael Backlund, Walker Duehr and Jonathan Huberdeau scored for the Flames, who are five points out of a playoff spot. Jacob Markstrom stopped 21 shots.

Canucks 5, Stars 2

Brock Boeser eclipsed the 300-point milestone with three assists as surging Vancouver earned a season-best fifth straight victory by beating visiting Dallas.

The second-line right winger reached 301 points in 382 games by assisting on scores by Phillip Di Giuseppe, Andrei Kuzmenko and J.T. Miller. Anthony Beauvillier also scored for the Canucks, and Guillaume Brisebois scored his first career NHL goal. Thatcher Demko managed 25 saves to win for the fifth time in six starts (5-1-0) since returning from injury on Feb. 27.

Dallas’ Jamie Benn netted the 100th power-play goal of his career and added an assist, and Wyatt Johnston also found the back of the net. Defenseman Miro Heiskanen supplied two helpers for a career-best eight-game point streak.

Oilers 6, Senators 3

Leon Draisaitl scored twice as Edmonton cruised past visiting Ottawa.

Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who have won five of their past seven games. Stuart Skinner made 29 saves.

Tim Stutzle scored twice and Mads Sogaard made 27 saves for the Senators, who have lost four of five and have allowed at least four goals in five straight.

Lightning 4, Devils 1

Brandon Hagel had a goal with two assists, and Tampa Bay snapped a three-game road losing streak with a win in Newark, N.J.

Anthony Cirelli, Alex Killorn and Nikita Kucherov also scored for the Lightning, who are third in the Atlantic Division but won for just the second time in their last seven road games (2-4-1). Hagel, meanwhile, has six points (two goals, four assists) in the last three games.

Damon Severson had the lone goal for the Devils, who are in the mix for first place in the Metropolitan Division and had won three straight entering this contest. Vitek Vanecek stopped 26 of 30 shots for New Jersey, which is 22-6-4 since Dec. 30.

Hurricanes 5, Jets 3

Jesperi Kotkaniemi had two goals and an assist as Carolina beat Winnipeg in Raleigh, N.C.

The victory moved the Hurricanes ahead of New Jersey and into sole possession of the Metropolitan Division lead while ending the club’s two-game losing streak. Brady Skjei had a goal and an assist, and Jack Drury scored his first goal of the season. Frederik Andersen stopped 21 of 24 shots for his 17th win of the season.

Dylan DeMelo, Nikolaj Ehlers and Nino Niederreiter scored the Jets’ goals. Niederreiter has seven points (four goals, three assists) over a seven-game points streak. David Rittich stopped 20 of 24 shots.

Rangers 5, Capitals 3

Mika Zibanejad scored twice in a three-goal first period as New York held on to beat visiting Washington, which was without Alexander Ovechkin.

Zibanejad notched his ninth multi-goal game of the season as he scored New York’s first two. New York’s Patrick Kane scored a power-play goal late in the first to go along with an assist as he reached 50 points for the 16th season.

Ovechkin was out with a lower-body injury and Sonny Milano also sat with an illness. Ovechkin missed his sixth game of the season, and the Capitals fell to 0-6-0 without him. Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Matt Irwin and Nic Dowd scored for the Capitals.

Canadiens 6, Penguins 4

Anthony Richard’s second career goal came on an uncontested shot from the left dot in the third period, serving as the go-ahead score as visiting Montreal downed Pittsburgh.

Joel Edmundson added a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, who snapped a seven-game losing streak (0-5-2). Mike Hoffman, Jesse Ylonen, Denis Gurianov and Josh Anderson also scored. Jonathan Drouin had two assists. Sam Montembault made 39 saves.

Jake Guentzel had two goals and an assist for the Penguins, who were 7-1-1 in their previous nine. Kris Letang tallied a goal and two assists and Evgeni Malkin recorded a goal and an assist. Tristan Jarry gave up four goals on seven shots in the first; Casey DeSmith relieved and stopped 13 of 14 shots.

Golden Knights 5, Flyers 3

Ivan Barbashev scored two goals and Jonathan Quick remained perfect with his new team as Vegas won in Philadelphia — its fourth straight victory.

Jonathan Marchessault added one goal and two assists, while Pavel Dorofeyev and Teddy Blueger each scored a goal for Vegas. Quick stopped 27 shots and improved to 4-0-0 since being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler and Morgan Frost each scored for the slumping Flyers, who have lost four straight.

Predators 2, Red Wings 1

Kiefer Sherwood had a goal and an assist to lift Nashville to a victory over visiting Detroit.

Sherwood scored midway through the second period before Tommy Novak doubled the advantage at the 2:22 mark of the third period. Goalie Juuse Saros took care of the rest by making 28 saves. Alex Chiasson scored and Ville Husso had 14 saves for Detroit, which is 2-7-1 in its last 10 games.

The Red Wings outshot the Predators 10-5 in the first period and 11-8 in the second period, but they failed to convert all three of their power plays to that point, before converting their lone chance in the third. Nashville, however, went 0-for-4 on its man-advantage opportunities during the first two periods and squandered another one in the third period.

–Field Level Media

Johnny Gaudreau scored at 4:17 of overtime to cap a five-point night and lead the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets to a wild 6-5 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.

Gaudreau took Patrik Laine’s pass from behind the net at the bottom of the right circle and roofed a wrist shot past Kaapo Kahkonen for his second goal of the game and highlight the third five-point game of his career.

Boone Jenner scored twice and Kent Johnson and Liam Foudy also scored goals for Columbus, which snapped a four-game losing streak (0-3-1). Gavin Bayreuther and Laine each added two assists while Daniil Tarasov made 27 saves and also had an assist on Johnson’s power-play goal.

Logan Couture had a goal and two assists, Alexander Barabanov had a goal and an assist and William Eklund, Kevin Labanc and Nikolai Knyzhov also scored goals for San Jose, which lost its fourth straight (0-3-1). Tomas Hertl and Derrick Pouliot each had two assists while Kahkonen finished with 42 saves.

Barabanov gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at the 8:00 mark of the first period when he backhanded in a rebound of a Couture shot from the bottom of the right circle for his 14th goal of the season.

Gaudreau tied it five minutes later when he flipped in a rebound of a Laine shot past Kahkonen’s blocker side.

The Blue Jackets scored twice in the first 5:28 of the second period to take a 3-1 lead. Johnson got the first goal, his 14th, on a power play when he squeaked a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle through Kahkonen’s pads. Jenner followed when he slammed home a rebound of a Gaudreau shot.

Eklund cut it to 3-2 with a backhanded rebound into an open net for his first career NHL goal. It also was San Jose’s first shot in 22:24 following Barabanov’s goal.

Jenner made it 4-2 with his second goal of the game and 22nd of the season with a spinning wrist shot from the high slot. Jenner cut it to 4-3 with a long wrist shot from the top of the left circle off the far post with 0.7 seconds left in the period.

Foudy extended the Columbus lead to two goals at the 2:20 mark of the third period, sending a wrist shot from the left circle past Kahkonen’s blocker off a Mathieu Olivier crossing pass. But the Sharks closed within 5-4 on Labanc’s first goal in 17 games at the 5:53 mark.

Knyzhov, who missed the entire 2021-22 season with a groin injury and the start of this season with a torn right Achilles, tied it midway through the period with a wrist shot from the left circle over Tarasov’s glove for his first goal since April 12, 2021. He was playing in his fifth game of the 2022-23 campaign.

–Field Level Media