NHL Recaps: Thursday, Apr 23, 2026

3 games: what happened that matters for your fantasy team, built from the play-by-play and shift charts.

Game recaps

Final

PlayoffsFull report

Buffalo Sabres

Boston Bruins

Buffalo Sabres beat Boston Bruins 3–1

Buffalo Sabres beat Boston Bruins 3–1 at BOS. Bowen Byram (BUF) led the scoring with 1G 1A. New look for BUF: Doan–Ostlund–Benson skated 9:25 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (66.7% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

•Bowen Byram had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 2 shots in 21:59.
•Noah Ostlund had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 2 shots in 14:18.
•New look for BUF: Doan–Ostlund–Benson skated 9:25 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (66.7% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Carolina Hurricanes edge Ottawa Senators 2–1

Carolina Hurricanes beat Ottawa Senators 2–1 at OTT. Taylor Hall (CAR) led the scoring with 0G 2A. K'Andre Miller (CAR) played 20:11, −4:05 down on his 24:16 season average over 18 games.

•Taylor Hall had 2 assists (2 points) on 3 shots in 14:54.
•K'Andre Miller (CAR) played 20:11, −4:05 down on his 24:16 season average over 18 games.
•Eric Robinson (CAR) played 7:33, −3:25 down on his 10:58 season average over 18 games.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Colorado Avalanche beat Los Angeles Kings 4–2

Colorado Avalanche beat Los Angeles Kings 4–2 at LAK. Artturi Lehkonen (COL) led the scoring with 1G 1A. Josh Manson (COL) played 4:57, −11:42 down on his 16:39 season average over 8 games.

•Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 3 shots in 17:55.
•Alex Laferriere had 2 assists (2 points) on 6 shots in 23:21.
•Josh Manson (COL) played 4:57, −11:42 down on his 16:39 season average over 8 games.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Goal of the night

The hardest tracked shot of the night: Tanner Jeannot for BOS vs BUF, 77.1 mph. Full game report →

Tanner Jeannot (BOS vs BUF): Rush, carried in, 1 pass, 77.1 mph shot.

Top performers

Player	Game	G	A	P	SOG	Hits	Blk	TOI	PP
Artturi Lehkonen COL	at LAK	1	1	2	3	4	1	17:55	—
Bowen Byram BUF	at BOS	1	1	2	2	1	2	21:59	—
Noah Ostlund BUF	at BOS	1	1	2	2	0	1	14:18	—
Alex Laferriere LAK	vs COL	0	2	2	6	2	1	23:21	—
Taylor Hall CAR	at OTT	0	2	2	3	2	1	14:54	—
Charlie McAvoy BOS	vs BUF	0	1	1	3	2	7	27:07	—
Sean Walker CAR	at OTT	0	0	0	3	6	3	18:49	—
Mark Kastelic BOS	vs BUF	0	0	0	3	8	0	11:15	—
Scott Laughton LAK	vs COL	0	0	0	2	8	0	15:02	—

Line changes

New look for BUF: Doan–Ostlund–Benson skated 9:25 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (66.7% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →
New look for BUF: Greenway–Malenstyn–Kozak skated 5:22 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (50% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →
New look for COL: Kelly–Drury–O'Connor skated 4:40 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (70.6% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →
New look for COL: Nelson–Nichushkin–Colton skated 6:42 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (46.7% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →

Goalie notes

Goalie	Game	Dec	SA	GA	SV%
Jeremy Swayman BOS	vs BUF	L	29	2	.931
Linus Ullmark OTT	vs CAR	L	27	2	.926
Scott Wedgewood COL	at LAK	W	26	2	.923
Alex Lyon BUF	at BOS	W	25	1	.960
Frederik Andersen CAR	at OTT	W	22	1	.955
Anton Forsberg LAK	vs COL	L	22	3	.864

Next up: tonight's starting goalies, today's line combinations and today's games. Takeaways are generated from the numbers with fixed rules; nothing is written by a language model.