Monday's hockey: Two players from Michigan picked for women's worlds in Utica
Two hockey players from Michigan were selected by USA Hockey to compete in the 2024 women's world championships from April 3-14 at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, New York.
Defenseman Megan Keller (Farmington) and forward Kirsten Simms (Plymouth) were among the 25 players who will join the defending champions.
Keller, 27, has three goals, nine assists for 12 points in 19 games with Boston in the Professional Women's Hockey League.
Simms, 19, had 33 goals, 42 assists for 75 points in 39 games with the University of Wisconsin.
Simms, who will make her debut at the world championships, had an assist in Sunday's 6-1 exhibition victory over Czechia in Lake Placid.
“The team we’ve selected brings pedigree and excitement to the ice,” said U.S. coach John Wroblewski, who coached at the National Team Development program in Plymouth for four years.
"We’re confident in this group and are excited to compete for gold on home soil.”
Six players from the 2023 world championship roster weren't invited to the U.S. selection camp, including Abby Roque (Sault Ste. Marie) and Amanda Kessel.
Kessel is taking the year off from playing. Roque has four goals, seven assists for 11 points in 19 games with New York in the PWHL.
The Americans will open Wednesday against Switzerland, Friday against Czechia, Saturday against Finland and Monday against Canada.
The quarterfinals are April 11, the semifinals are April 13 and the final is April 14.
Monday's NHL games
N.Y. Islanders 4, (at) Philadelphia 3 (OT): Brock Nelson scored 1:25 into overtime, Anders Lee, Bo Horvat and Matt Martin also scored for the Islanders, who moved within four points of Philadelphia for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
New York has two more games remaining on their schedule than the Flyers.
“We were approaching this game like it was a do-or-die scenario for us just given that this is a team specifically that we’re chasing,” Nelson said. “We need the points.”
Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots to help the Islanders get their third win in 11 games.
Nelson scored after a turnover by Morgan Frost in his own zone for his 30th goal of the season, tyring him with Horvat for the team lead.
Frost, Noah Cates and Travis Sanheim had goals for the Flyers, who have lost three straight and eight of their last 10.
Frost forced overtime when he scored on a rebound with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to secure an all-important point for the Flyers, who are clinging to the final playoff spot.
“No one was happy when that one went in because we knew exactly what it meant,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “But we just kept the focus and we scored a big one. … We might not be happy to give them one point today, but we are probably going to be happy maybe down the road to have two points.”
Sam Ersson started and gave up two goals on six shots in the first period. He was replaced by Ivan Fedotov, who was added to the Flyers roster last week after having his KHL contract terminated after his SKA St. Petersburg team was eliminated from the playoffs in the top Russian hockey league. The 6-foot-7 Fedotov made his NHL debut by coming off the bench to start the second period and had 15 of his 24 saves in the period.
“There are certain people that don’t have a clue how to play or don’t have it in them to play in these types of situations,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. "This is why I’m glad we’re playing them. We have to figure things out as far as what we’re going to become as a team here. That was embarrassing in the second period for the Philadelphia Flyers uniform. Embarrassing.”
(At) Columbus 4, Colorado 1: Alex Nylander scored twice and the Blue Jackets used a three-goal second period for their second straight home win.
Kirill Marchenko had a goal and an assist, Cole Sillinger also scored and Eric Gudbranson had two assists for last-place Columbus, which won consecutive games for just the fourth time this season. Daniil Tarasov stopped 46 shots in his first game against the Avalanche.
Chris Wagner scored and Justus Annunen had 21 saves for the Avalanche, who remain tied at 100 points with the Vancouver Canucks, three points behind the Dallas Stars for the Western Conference lead.
Pittsburgh 5, (at) N.Y. Rangers 2: Sidney Crosby had two goals and an assist and ex-Red Wing Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves as the Pittsburgh beat New York, snapping the Rangers’ five-game winning streak.
Bryan Rust (Pontiac) also scored twice and Emil Bemstrom added a goal for Pittsburgh, which ended a four-game losing streak in New York and improved to 14-9-3 in its last 26 games against Rangers. The Penguins lost both previous games this season at home against the first-place Rangers and were making their lone appearance at Madison Square Garden.
Kaapo Kakko and Jack Roslovic scored goals for the Rangers, and Igor Shesterkin finished with 16 saves.
(At) Toronto 6, Florida 4: Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 61st and 62nd goals of the season to go along with an assist as Toronto built a four-goal lead before hanging on late to down Florida.
Nicholas Robertson and Matthew Knies also had a goal and an assist each for Toronto, while Tyler Bertuzzi and David Kampf provided the rest of the offense.
Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves for the Leafs, who were without five regulars – including star winger Mitch Marner (high ankle sprain) for an 11th straight game.
Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and two assists for Florida. Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett and Brandon Montour also scored. Sergei Bobrovsky allowed five goals on 16 shots through two periods before getting the hook. Anthony Stolarz made six saves in relief.
(At) St. Louis 3, Edmonton 2 (OT): Brandon Saad scored 2:09 into overtime, and St. Louis beat Edmonton.
Brayden Schenn scored twice and Jordan Binnington stopped 35 shots to help St. Louis improve to 8-2-1 in its last 11 games. The Blues are three points behind Los Angeles for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Mattias Ekholm and Leon Draisaitl scored, and Stuart Skinner made 26 saves for Edmonton, which had won three straight.
(At) Winnipeg 4, L.A. Kings 3: Cole Perfetti scored twice and Kyle Connor (Michigan) contributed a trio of assists as Winnipeg snapped a six-game losing skid with a victory over Los Angeles.
The Jets went on the game’s first power play midway through the third period with the score tied 3-3. Perfetti fired a low shot past Kings goalie Cam Talbot two seconds after the man advantage expired.
Josh Morrissey had a goal and assist and Sean Monahan also scored for the Jets. Perfetti registered a helper on Morrissey’s second-period tally. Laurent Brossoit made 25 saves for Winnipeg.
Viktor Arvidsson, Kevin Fiala and Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings. Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov had two assists and Talbot stopped 28 shots for Los Angeles.
Seattle 4, (at) San Jose 2: Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his 20th goal of the season and added an assist as Seattle beat the San Jose Sharks.
Jared McCann, Matty Beniers (Michigan) and Shane Wright also scored for Seattle, and Jordan Eberle had an assist for his 700th NHL point. Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves to earn the win.
Fabian Zetterlund had a goal and an assist for San Jose, which lost for the 19th time in its last 21 games. Ex-Red Wing Klim Kostin also scored for the Sharks, and Mikael Granlund had an assist to extend his point streak to five games. Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 28 saves.
Playoff tracker
Atlantic
▶ Bruins (101)
▶ Panthers (99)
▶ Maple Leafs (95)
Metropolitan
▶ Rangers (104)
▶ Hurricanes (101)
▶ Flyers (83)
Wild card
▶ Lightning (89)
▶ Flyers (82)
(Top two wild-card teams make the playoffs)
▶ Red Wings (82)
▶ Islanders (79)
▶ Penguins (77)
▶ Devils (76)
▶ Sabres (75)
If playoffs started Tuesday
Eastern Conference playoff matchups
▶ (1M) Rangers vs. Capitals (WC2)
▶ (A2) Panthers vs. Maple Leafs (A3)
▶ (1A) Bruins vs. Lightning (WC1)
▶ (2M) Hurricanes vs. (3M) Flyers
Remaining games in wild-card race
Capitals (82 points)
▶ Home (4): Penguins, Senators, Lightning, Bruins
▶ Away (5): Sabres, Hurricanes, Wings, Sabres, Flyers
Flyers (83 points)
▶ Home (2): Devils, Capitals
▶ Away (4): Sabres, Blue Jackets, Canadiens, Rangers
Red Wings (82)
▶ Home (4): Rangers, Sabres, Capitals, Canadiens
▶ Away (3): Penguins, Leafs, Canadiens
Islanders (79)
▶ Home (4): Predators, Rangers, Canadiens, Penguins
▶ Away (4): Lightning, Blue Jackets, Rangers, Devils
Michigan-area hockey this week
Monday
▶ Red Wings 4, Tampa Bay 2
Wednesday
▶ Chicago at Grand Rapids, 7 p.m. (AHL/96.1)
Friday
▶ N.Y. Rangers at Red Wings, 7 p.m. (BSD Extra/97.1)
▶ Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7 p.m. (AHL/106.9/1300)
▶ NTDP U18's at Muskegon, 7 p.m.
▶ NTDP U17's at Madison, 8 p.m.
Saturday
▶ Muskegon at NTDP U18's, 7 p.m.
▶ NTDP U17's at Madison, 8 p.m.
Sunday
▶ Buffalo at Red Wings, 1 p.m. (TST/97.1)
▶ Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7 p.m. (AHL/106.9/1300)