NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Saturday, Mar 28, 2026
15 games on Mar 28, 2026 produced 9 notable changes: 4 power-play changes (2 up, 2 down), 2 line moves (0 promotions, 2 demotions), 1 big ice-time swing and 2 big games. The biggest: Egor Chinakhov moved onto the top power-play unit with Karlsson, Rust and Rakell, +2:29 of PP time (2 straight games).
Biggest changes
Egor Chinakhov moved onto the top power-play unit with Karlsson, Rust and Rakell, +2:29 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · PITPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Gage Goncalves moved onto the top power-play unit with Guentzel, Point and Raddysh, +3:23 of PP time.
PP1 promotion · TBLPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Owen Tippett scored a hat trick (3 G, 1 A, 7 SOG).
Hat trick · PHIGame report
Alexander Nikishin dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1 · CARGame reportTeam lines
Nikolaj Ehlers dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1 · CARGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Egor Chinakhov moved onto the top power-play unit with Karlsson, Rust and Rakell, +2:29 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Gage Goncalves moved onto the top power-play unit with Guentzel, Point and Raddysh, +3:23 of PP time.
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Gage Goncalves played 20:06 (+4:54 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI spikePickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Owen Tippett scored a hat trick (3 G, 1 A, 7 SOG).
Hat trickGame report
Alexander Nikishin dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Nikolaj Ehlers dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Mikhail Sergachev had 4 points (0 G, 4 A, 1 SOG).
Big nightGame report
Joel Kiviranta dropped to L4 from L2 with Kelly and Drury.
Line demotionGame reportTeam lines
Elias Salomonsson dropped to D3 from D2 with Bryson.
Line demotionGame reportTeam lines
How Line Watch works
- •Deployment is rebuilt from the official shift charts: the forward trio and defense pair a player shared the most 5-on-5 time with, and the power-play unit he spent most of the man advantage on.
- •Each game is compared with the player's previous five games (at least three), so a change means a change from his own recent role.
- •Changes that last only one game, come out of blowouts or move by a few seconds are filtered out. What remains is ranked by fantasy impact: first-unit power play and top-line moves first.
176 raw deployment changes were checked for this date; 7 passed.
FAQ
What is Line Watch?
Line Watch flags fantasy-relevant role changes from the NHL shift charts: players moving onto or off the first power-play unit, forwards and defensemen moving up or down the lineup, new defense partners, and big swings in ice time. Each night gets its own dated digest.
How is a line change detected?
After every game we rebuild each team's lines, pairs and power-play units from who was on the ice together, then compare every player with his own previous five games. A change only counts once the team has three games of history to compare against.
Why are some line changes left out?
Coaches shuffle lines constantly, so a one-game move is usually noise. Power-play and line moves must hold for at least two straight games (three after a blowout decided by 4+ goals). Ice-time swings must be at least three minutes, not come from a blowout, and either repeat or reach five minutes.
Where do goalie and injury alerts come from?
Goalie flips come from our starting-goalie snapshots, taken every 15 minutes: a different goalie listed, or a confirmed starter going back to expected. Injury notes come from the public injury report, matched to NHL players and limited to regular-lineup players.
Can I get these alerts by email?
Yes. Create a free account and follow as many players as you like from their player pages; you get one morning email with their changes. If you connect Yahoo, your roster's changes are included too. Every email links back to these free pages and has an unsubscribe link.