Colorado became the first NHL team to clinch a playoff berth this season after a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. Nathan MacKinnon had three assists and Martin Necas added a goal and two assists as the Avalanche reached 100 points (45-13-10). In Calgary, the Flames beat the Florida Panthers 4-1; Victor Olofsson scored his first goal as a Flame and Dustin Wolf made 24 saves. The game featured a dangerous late hit by Panthers forward A.J. Greer that shoved Connor Zary head-first into the boards; Greer was ejected and faces likely supplementary discipline while Zary left under his own power. Calgary has now beaten Florida seven straight times at home. In the Eastern Conference, Alexander Nikishin scored 41 seconds into overtime to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs; Eric Robinson also scored on a penalty shot. The Maple Leafs continue to struggle amid injuries — captain Auston Matthews is out after left MCL surgery — while Joseph Woll made 32 saves in the loss.

March 24, 2026 — The Ottawa Senators beat the New York Rangers 2-1 at Madison Square Garden, holding New York to nine shots on goal — the fewest by any NHL team in a game since 2003 and a franchise low for Ottawa’s opponent. Shane Pinto opened the scoring on a power play and Warren Foegele added a second-period goal; James Reimer made eight saves while Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin stopped 31. The win left Ottawa (37-24-9, 83 points) within two points of the New York Islanders for the second Eastern Conference wild‑card spot and one point behind the Detroit Red Wings, with 12 games remaining. The victory came at a cost: veteran defenceman Thomas Chabot left after the first period with a right-arm/wrist injury and Lassi Thomson exited in the second with a lower‑body issue. Coach Travis Green said both are “out for a while.” With Jake Sanderson, Nick Jensen and Dennis Gilbert already sidelined, Ottawa recalled AHL prospects Carter Yakemchuk and Jorian Donovan and could play them in Tuesday’s key game at Detroit.

March 24, 2026 — Golden State Warriors wing Moses Moody was stretchered off late in overtime of the Warriors’ 137-131 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center in Dallas after sustaining a non-contact left-knee injury. Moody, who had just stolen the ball from Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg and appeared headed for a dunk, planted and his knee buckled; he finished the night with 23 points before exiting. Teammates and opponents gathered as medical staff attended to him; coach Steve Kerr said the moment was “horrifying” and that “it sure looked serious.” Moody underwent X-rays postgame and was to have an MRI in the Bay Area on Tuesday. The 23-year-old was returning from a 10-game absence with a right wrist sprain and is in the first year of a three-year, $39 million extension. The injury compounds Golden State’s roster problems as the team (34-38) fights for a play-in berth while managing the status of injured star Stephen Curry and others.

Across March 22-23, 2026 several NHL teams produced results that tightened playoff races and altered seeding scenarios. The New York Islanders edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 in Elmont as Ilya Sorokin recorded his seventh shutout of the season (26 saves), moving the Islanders into the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot on 85 points while ending Columbus’s 12-game point streak. Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov continued his torrid run, moving atop the NHL scoring race with 119 points after a four-point outing in a 5-2 win at Edmonton; the Lightning finished a 3-0-1 road swing but fell 4-3 in overtime at Calgary when Ryan Strome scored 26 seconds into OT. The Calgary Flames notched their third straight win, bolstered by rookie Matvei Gridin and goaltender Devin Cooley (32 saves). Minnesota won in overtime on Vladimir Tarasenko’s goal, and Carolina routed Pittsburgh with Seth Jarvis collecting three points as the Hurricanes press for Metropolitan supremacy. Winnipeg beat the Rangers in a shootout to halt a skid, while Colorado clinched a playoff berth in the same stretch. The results leave multiple divisions and wild-card races tightly contested heading into the season’s final weeks.

A U.S.-based consortium led by tech entrepreneur Kal Somani has agreed to buy 100% of Indian Premier League (IPL) founding franchise Rajasthan Royals for about $1.63 billion (roughly ₹15,000–15,300 crore), multiple media outlets reported on March 24, 2026. The group is said to include Walmart heir Rob Walton and members of the Hamp family, who have NFL ownership experience. Current majority owners led by Manoj Badale’s Emerging Media Ventures, with minority investors including RedBird and Lachlan Murdoch, will hand over control after the conclusion of the 2026 IPL season; the sale remains subject to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) approval. The price marks the highest-ever valuation for an IPL team and makes Rajasthan Royals the league’s first confirmed billion-dollar franchise, reflecting rapidly rising media-rights, sponsorship and franchise valuations across global T20 cricket. Somani, a prior minority investor in the Royals and founder of companies in AI, data governance and ed-tech, is expected to leverage his technology and sports-business background to expand the franchise’s digital, analytics and international reach.