Friday's hockey: Grand Rapids' 19-game home point streak ends; Husso leaves warmup

The Grand Rapids Griffins' point streak at home is over.

After 19 consecutive games with at least a point at Van Andel Arena, the Griffins were blanked, 2-0, by the Rockford IceHogs on Friday.

Goalie Sebastian Cossa's streak of 19 straight games with at least a point also ended. The former first-round draft pick stopped 22-of-24 shots in the loss.

Before the game, Red Wings goalie Ville Husso left the warmup early for an undertermined reason.

Husso joined the Grand Rapids team on Monday for a conditioning stint after a lower-body injury. According to Griffins coach Dan Watson, he was informed Husso wasn't available for the game against Rockford.

Friday's NHL games

Carolina 5, (at) St. Louis 2: Jaccob Slavin scored the winning goal 7:53 into the third period and Jake Guentzel added a pair of empty-netters for the Hurricanes.

Slavin scored when both teams were playing with four men as Carolina wons its fourth game in a row and sixth in its last seven.

Seth Jarvis and Jordan Martinook also scored for Carolina and Frederik Andersen made 29 saves to improve to 13-2-0.

Jordan Kyrou and Zack Bolduc scored for St. Louis and Jordan Binnington made 37 saves.

The Blues had won two in a row and need a win to give themselves a chance to claim one of the wild-card spots. They went into the game three points behind Vegas for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Nashville 5, (at) Chicago 1: Filip Forsberg got his 10th career hat trick and set a Nashville franchise record with 46 goals, and Nashville beat Chicago.

Kiefer Sherwood and Jason Zucker also scored for the playoff-bound Predators, who handed last-place Chicago its third straight loss. Luke Evangelista had two assists, and Kevin Lankinen finished with 25 saves against his former team, and also had an assist.

Philipp Kurashev scored for Chicago, and Arvid Soderblom had 35 saves.

Nashville coach Andrew Brunette gave top goalie Juuse Saros, forward Gustav Nyquist and defenseman Ryan McDonagh the night off in a roster management move. The Predators are finishing the regular season with three games in four nights, ending Monday, before starting the playoffs next weekend.

Arizona 3, (at) Edmonton 2 (OT): Matias Maccelli scored 1:35 into overtime and Arizona beat Edmonton after being informed of the team’s expected move to Utah.

Josh Doan had a goal and an assist, and Logan Cooley also scored to help the Coyotes get their fourth win in five games. Karel Vejmelka stopped 37 shots.

Adam Henrique and Darnell Nurse scored for the Oilers, who snapped a three-game winning streak. Calvin Pickard finished with 25 saves.

Edmonton, playing without star forward Connor McDavid (lower-body injury), pulled to three points behind Pacific Division-leading Vancouver, and clinched at least second place and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

(At) Las Vegas 7, Minnesota 2: Jack Eichel, Nicolas Roy and Pavel Dorofeyev each had a goal and an assist, Chandler Stephenson had four assists and Vegas beat Minnesota to clinch a playoff berth for the sixth time in seven seasons.

Jonathan Marchessault, Tomas Hertl, William Karlsson and Keegan Kolesar also scored goals, Chandler Stephenson had four assists and Noah Hanifin added two for the Golden Knights. Logan Thompson had 25 saves.

The Golden Knights will get a chance to defend their Stanley Cup championship after their win combined with St. Louis’ 5-2 loss to Carolina. Vegas is the second wild card in the Western Conference, one point behind Los Angeles for third place in the Pacific Division.

Calgary 6, (at) Anaheim 3: Andrei Kuzmenko scored three goals, Nazem Kadri had a goal and two assists, and Calgary withstood Anaheim’s third-period rally for a victory over the Ducks.

Kuzmenko got his second career hat trick with two goals in the final 5:38 after Anaheim had trimmed Calgary’s 4-0 lead to one goal. Andrew Mangiapane and Connor Zary also scored for the Flames, who won for only the third time in 12 games. Dustin Wolf made 19 saves.

Sam Colangelo scored a goal in his NHL debut for the Ducks, and Frank Vatrano and Olen Zellweger scored shortly afterward. But Kuzmenko deflected Jonathan Huberdeau’s shot to keep the Flames ahead with 5:38 to play on a power play, and he added another less than three minutes later.

Coyotes informed of Salt Lake City move

Arizona Coyotes players have been informed the NHL club is expected to relocate to Salt Lake City, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting.

General manager Bill Armstrong flew to Edmonton, Alberta, to tell players about the team’s potential move to Utah before its game against the Oilers, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Friday because the decision has not been announced.

Players and officials could visit Salt Lake City next week, possibly as soon as after the season finale Wednesday, which could be the final game at 5,000-seat Mullett Arena in Tempe.

The news comes amid buzz that Ryan Smith, owner of the NBA's Utah Jazz, has been working to acquire an NHL team, a move that could include the league buying the Coyotes from Alex Meruelo and flipping it. The Smith Entertainment Group in January said it had the immediate ability to facilitate that and asked for an expansion proceeding.

It's also in the aftermath of a 2023 failed arena referendum in Tempe and an inability to secure a long-term home in the Phoenix area. Meruelo said the Coyotes are committed to winning a land auction for a potential arena site in Phoenix.

Knights' Stone cleared to return to practice

Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone has been cleared to return to practice on a limited basis as he recovers from a lacerated spleen, the team said Friday.

Stone was injured on Feb. 20 after a hit from the Nashville Predators’ Yakov Trenin. He was expected to participate in a non-contact jersey beginning Friday during the team’s morning skate, the team announced on X.

In 56 games this season, Stone has 16 goals and 37 assists for 53 points.

Vegas, the defending Stanley Cup champion, has four games remaining this season, all at home. They'll take a three-game losing streak into Friday’s game against the Minnesota Wild.

At present, the Knights would be the second wild card in the Western Conference. They also are a point behind the Los Angeles Kings for the third spot in the Pacific Division.

Playoff tracker

Atlantic

▶ Bruins (107)

▶ Panthers (106)

▶ Maple Leafs (101)

Metropolitan

▶ Rangers (110)

▶ Hurricanes (107)

▶ Islanders (89)

Wild card

▶ Lightning (95)

▶ Penguins (86)

(Top two wild-card teams make the playoffs)

▶ Capitals (85)

▶ Red Wings (85)

▶ Flyers (85)

▶ Sabres (81)

▶ Devils (81)

If playoffs started Saturday

Eastern Conference playoff matchups

▶ (1M) Rangers vs. Penguins (WC2)

▶ (A2) Panthers vs. Maple Leafs (A3)

▶ (1A) Bruins vs. Lightning (WC1)

▶ (2M) Hurricanes vs. (3M) Islanders

Remaining games in wild-card race

Islanders (89)

▶ Home (1): Penguins

▶ Away (1): Devils

Penguins (86)

▶ Home (2): Bruins, Predators

▶ Away (1): Islanders

Capitals (85 points)

▶ Home (2): Lightning, Bruins

▶ Away (1): Flyers

Red Wings (85)

▶ Home (1): Canadiens

▶ Away (2): Leafs, Canadiens

Flyers (85 points)

▶ Home (2): Devils, Capitals

▶ Away (0)

Michigan-area hockey this week

Friday

▶ Rockford 2, Grand Rapids 0

▶ Youngstown 5, NTDP U17s 3

Saturday

▶ Red Wings at Toronto, 7 (BSD/CBC/97.1)

▶ Grand Rapids at Chicago, 8 (AHL/106.9/1300)

▶ Youngstown at NTDP U17s, 7

Sunday

▶ Grand Rapids at Chicago, 4 (AHL/96.1)

Thursday

▶ Pittsburgh 6, Red Wings 5 (OT)

▶ Boston College 4, Michigan 0

Tuesday

▶ Washington 2, Detroit 1