It’s nearly crunch time of the National Hockey League season and frustration is starting to appear from players on underachieving teams.
Take the two bottom Central Division teams, for example. The Chicago Blackhawks remain one of the worst teams in the league with a 17-34-7 record, despite Connor Bedard. On the other hand, the Nashville Predators signed Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos in the off-season. 
However, the Predators have the second-fewest goals and sit third last in the Western Conference with a 20-30-7 record. Both teams lost Tuesday, leading veteran defenceman on both teams to give us a spicy soundbite. Let’s start with the Blackhawks.
On Tuesday, they fell 2-1 to the Utah Hockey Club. After the game, defenceman Seth Jones (whose name has come up in trade rumours lately) had this to say:
“We’re the exact same team right now as we were in game one. It’s pretty evident out there. We haven’t made any strides to be a better, more simple hockey team, and it shows.”
While the team hasn’t made any progress this season, they were expected to be bad. You can’t say the same after the Predators signed Marchessault and Stamkos, two players with 40+ goals in 2023-24, this past off-season.
After the Predators’ 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Florida Panthers, veteran defenceman Luke Schenn had this to say:
“I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a group like this that literally can’t score a goal”
This season, the Predators have scored 147 goals, the second-fewest in the league ahead of the Anaheim Ducks (who have 146).

Predators trade Anthony Angello to the Lightning for Jesse Ylonen

On Wednesday afternoon, the Predators acquired Jesse Ylonen from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Anthony Angello.
Essentially, this is a swap of American Hockey League players. Jesse Ylonen, selected in the second round of the 2018 draft by the Montréal Canadiens, has more NHL experience than Angello, scoring 12 goals and 29 points in 111 NHL games. This season, the Finnish right-winger has played exclusively in the AHL where he has eight goals and 25 points in 47 games.
Angello was selected in the fifth round of the 2014 draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins In total, he played 31 games with the Penguins in three seasons, scoring three goals and five points. He hasn’t played an NHL game since 2021-22 and has seven goals and 14 points in 41 games this season with the Predators’ AHL team.

Alexander Ovechkin scores… again

On Tuesday evening, Alexander Ovechkin scored his 30th goal of the season against the Calgary Flames, bringing him to 883 goals. He’s just 11 shy of matching Wayne Gretzky’s record and 12 away from breaking it.
With the goal, Ovechkin became the fourth player aged 39 or older to score 30 goals in a season. This was also the 19th season where he’s scored 30 or more goals, extending the record that he owns.
With 12 more goals left to break Gretzky’s record, Ovechkin has an opportunity to do it in fewer games than the Great One. Gretzky managed 894 goals in 1,487 games while Ovechkin has 883 goals in 1,468 games. That means if Ovechkin can score 12 goals in 18 games, or a 0.67 goal-per-game pace, he’ll break the record in fewer games.
It’s worth noting that the 39-year-old has 30 goals in 42 games, which is a goal-per-game pace of .71.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.