Hockey headlines for March 23, 2019

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Wild back in playoff position after win over defending Stanley Cup champions (St. Paul Pioneer Press)
Ducks’ recent surge continues in 4-3 OT win over Sharks (Los Angeles Times)
Yanni Gourde suspended two games for hit to Jordan Staal’s head (Tampa Bay Times)
Ducks and Ryan Kesler set to discuss his hockey future (Orange County Register)
Leafs’ Babcock says he and GM Dubas are on the same page (Toronto Star)
Goaltender Braden Holtby says he won’t visit White House with Capitals on Monday (Washington Post)
Eugene Melnyk confident the Senators' rebuild will pay dividends down the road (Ottawa Sun)
NHL’s playoff structure is neglecting its top teams (Arizona Republic)
The art of the chirp, according to the NJ Devils (NorthJersey.com)
Shots Fired: Tobias Rieder responds to Edmonton Oilers brass (Edmonton Sun)
Kings' Ilya Kovalchuk feels like he didn't 'have a chance' after Willie Desjardins took over (Los Angeles Times)
Jim Rutherford: At long last, Penguins 'playing the way we should' (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Jets' first-round playoff foes likely Stars or Blues (Winnipeg Free Press)
Babcock deals with 's--t storm' after string of losses (Toronto Sun)
Too soon for Boot Hill, says Oilers coach Hitchcock (Edmonton Sun)
Capitals are off the mark in 2-1 loss to Wild (Washington Post)
Sharks lose fifth straight game in Anaheim (San Jose Mercury News)
Isles mired in slump at worst possible time (New York Newsday)
Frustrations fester after loss to Oilers (Columbus Dispatch)
Capitals defenseman Michal Kempny out indefinitely with lower-body injury (Washington Times)
Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty ‘day-to-day’ after injury (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Devils’ Nico Hischier, Mirco Mueller return to practice (NJ.com)
Return of short-handed goal specialist Michael Grabner helps Arizona Coyotes' playoff chase (Arizona Republic)
Golden Knights’ Reilly Smith set to play 500th career NHL game (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Oilers forward Draisaitl hoping for, but not obsessing over 50-goal plateau (Edmonton Sun)
Flames' star d-man Giordano advances his case for NHL's Norris Trophy (Calgary Sun)
Bruins’ Brad Marchand is on a roll (Boston Herald)
Bryan Rust flirting with a 20-goal season (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Canadiens' Andrew Shaw has grown a longer fuse with maturityh (Montreal Gazette)
Kings’ Dustin Brown says remaining games should be ‘fun’ (Los Angeles Daily News)
Steen finds new home on Blues' fourth line (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
After enduring slump, Conor Sheary using his speed to make impact for Sabres (Buffalo News)
Can Sean Kuraly climb higher in the Bruins lineup? (Boston Globe)
Detail-oriented Hathaway carves out regular role with Flames (Calgary Sun)
Pierre-Luc Dubois working on his face-offs (Columbus Dispatch)
Despite being a healthy scratch for the majority of recent games, Jamie Oleksiak's chance could come in an instant (Dallas Morning News)
Taro Hirose shows ‘poise, vision’ in early going with Red Wings (Detroit News)
Lightning signs prospect Ryan Lohin from UMass-Lowell (Tampa Bay Times)