SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 12/16/2019 1166462 ‘We’ve come a long way’: Max Comtois, Sam Steel and 1166491 Detroit Red Wings take a step back in 4-2 loss to Western Troy Terry show potential together Conference-worst Kings 1166492 Game thread: Red Wings lose to Kings, 4-2 1166493 Detroit Red Wings mailbag: What on earth is wrong with 1166463 Arizona Coyotes, winning more games and drawing larger them? crowds, will stay in Glendale next season 1166494 'Never got going': Kings top sluggish Red Wings, end 1166464 Ten-year pro Aaron Ness is still chasing his NHL dream modest win streak 1166495 OctoPulse podcast: Red Wings bounce back, Luc Robitaille revisits 2002 Cup 1166465 Bruins relieved to end road trip with victory 1166496 Filip Zadina's performance keeps him with Red Wings as 1166466 Charlie Coyle on the wing may be Bruins’ solution, for now they focus on his development 1166467 Bruins-Panthers Review: Boston responds after five-game 1166497 Listless start costs Red Wings in loss to Kings losing streak 1166498 How to watch, listen and stream Detroit Red Wings vs. 1166499 Kopitar scores 2, Kings beat Red Wings 4-2 1166468 Former Sabres winger Vladimir Tsyplakov dies at age 50 1166469 Casey Mittelstadt sent to Rochester after playing 114 games with Sabres 1166500 VAN DIEST: Oilers desperate for a win, currently on 1166470 Rasmus Dahlin stands up to Islanders, ignites Sabres' season-long losing skid power play 1166501 Edmonton Oilers killing it on power play but struggling at 1166471 Sabres hand Amerks an early Christmas present, former even strength first-round pick Mittelstadt 1166502 Oilers notes: Good start a saving grace during season-long losing skid 1166503 Lowetide: Connor McDavid’s frustration and the impact it 1166472 Goals! Goaltending! No more penalties? — Five things could have on the Edmonton Oilers sure to be on the Flames' Christmas List 1166504 Panthers in a three-game funk: ‘It’s unacceptable,’ coach 1166473 3 takeaways from the Blackhawks’ 4-3 loss to the Blues, Joel Quenneville said. including Jeremy Colliton’s job security taking a big 1166474 Patrick Kane’s 6th regular-season hat trick lifts the Los Angeles Kings Blackhawks to a 5-3 victory over the Wild 1166505 Anze Kopitar scores twice to lead Kings past Red Wings 1166475 Column: Why can’t the Blackhawks be fixed? Let’s count 1166506 Whicker: Kings are following Gabriel Vilardi as closely as the ways. the puck does in Ontario 1166476 For Kris Versteeg, the end of his NHL career is now a 1166507 ‘I’m here for a purpose’: Kings prospect Gabe Vilardi is reality: ‘It’s almost like breaking up with a girlfriend focused on his recovery after missing a year with a b 1166477 With Blackhawks’ season on the ropes, Patrick Kane 1166508 DECEMBER 15 RAPID REACTION: KINGS 4, RED takes charge WINGS 2 1166478 Blackhawks’ plays in 10th NHL game, 1166509 GAME 35: LOS ANGELES AT DETROIT officially starting the clock on his entry-level contract 1166510 DECEMBER 15: LINEUPS UNKNOWN, BACK-TO-BACK, 1166479 Blues’ run provides tangible, if small, CARTER’S CREATION, MO-TOWN MAN evidence to support Blackhawks’ optimism 1166511 PREVIEW: ONTARIO VS. IOWA, 12/15 1166480 With 10th NHL game this year, Adam Boqvist will finish 1166512 WAKING UP WITH THE KINGS: DECEMBER 15 3-year deal in 2021-22 1166513 GOOD MORNING, DETROIT 1166481 Kane scores 3 times as Blackhawks beat Wild 5-3 1166482 Kane throttles Blackhawks to win over Wild with hat trick 1166483 Adam Boqvist's entry-level contract with Blackhawks 1166514 Vegas hosts Minnesota after Pacioretty's 2- game officially kicks in 1166515 Wild-Chicago game recap 1166484 Patrick Kane's hat trick propels Blackhawks over Wild 1166516 Playing catch-up finally stings Wild in loss to Blackhawks 1166485 3 Takeaways: Blackhawks bounce back with character win 1166517 Kane scores 3 times as Blackhawks beat Wild 5-3 over Wild 1166518 Patrick Kane's hat trick sends Blackhawks over Wild 5-3 at 1166486 It's time for Blackhawks to develop Kirby Dach and Adam United Center Boqvist 1166519 Return to action is near for Wild's Mikko Koivu and Jared Spurgeon 1166520 Wild kicks off road trip with first matchup of the season vs. 1166487 Avalanche travels without defensemen Cale Makar and Blackhawks Erik Johnson 1166521 Wild can’t complete comeback this time in 5-3 loss to 1166488 Silver lining: Injured Avalanche star Gabe Landeskog was Blackhawks all about family in November 1166522 Matt Dumba’s slump worsens, Eric Staal gets 1,000th 1166489 Suddenly, the Avs have the combinations to unlock a as Wild fall in Chicago potentially deadly top-six forward group 1166523 Slumping Canadien Jeff Petry will emerge from funk | HI/O 1166490 Senators 4, Blue Jackets 3, OT | The 3-2-1 postgame Bonus rundown 1166524 Fans boo Predators off ice at Bridgestone Arena after loss 1166570 Golden Knights 6 Canucks 3: Leaving Las Vegas empty- to Stars handed 1166571 Canucks at 50: Acting swiftly on 'dreaded waver of towels' was puzzling to pundits 1166525 What could Devils get in a Taylor Hall trade? A look at 1166572 Canucks at 50: A protest and promoter whip up Towel targets from 4 contending teams Power to enhance unlikely Cup run 1166526 How Devils’ Mackenzie Blackwood, Michael McLeod 1166573 Canucks Game Day: Markstrom hopes his shining armour provided needed performances in win vs. Coyotes holds up against Golden Knights 1166527 How the NJ Devils took a step forward without Taylor Hall 1166574 Three thoughts on Sven Baertschi hitting waivers and in Arizona where the Canucks go from here 1166575 The Armies: The goalie curse, the Myers oopsie and the Hughes love fest 1166528 Jordan Eberle is heating up after slow start for Islanders 1166558 It’s not a 2nd chance, but Zykov has new opportunity 1166529 Rangers’ defensive disaster leading to unfair scapegoat 1166559 Golden Knights ride dominant 2nd period to victory over Canucks 1166560 Golden Knights’ Gerard Gallant earns seniority in Pacific 1166530 Game Day: Senators at Panthers Division 1166531 Warren's piece: Black-and-blue blueline, Barkov recovers, 1166561 How to watch Golden Knights vs. Canucks Quenneville is wary of Senators and a sea of Santas 1166562 Golden Knights must get more production from their 1166532 The Browns: All in the hockey family centers, and they can 1166533 Duclair shines with proud Dad along for the ride 1166563 On Kids Day, Knights Control Canucks In 6-3 Win Before 18,066 Sunday 1166534 Battered Flyers lose to Jets, 7-3, after Joel Farabee’s leads to two goals and breaks open close game 1166564 Capitals’ annual fathers’ trip brings fond memories, rare 1166535 As Flyers’ injury list grows, Carsen Twarynski, Nic bonding time Aube-Kubel are recalled from Phantoms 1166565 Eller, Hathaway score 45 seconds apart, Capitals beat 1166536 Flyers dedicating season to cancer-stricken Oskar Lightning Lindblom 1166566 Capitals at Blue Jackets Game 35: Time, TV Channel, 1166537 Controversial, confusing hit by Joel Farabee on Mathieu Live stream, how to watch Perreault crushes Flyers (and it could cost him) 1166538 Fans can show support by voting for Oskar Lindblom as Websites 2020 NHL All-Star Game captain 1166576 .ca / Examining where the Devils' Taylor Hall 1166539 Flyers prospect WATCH: Identifying those in AHL call-up trade situation currently stands rotation 1166577 Sportsnet.ca / Beyond Headlines: Devils looking to trade 1166540 Logan Pyett overcame a sarcoma diagnosis and is now Hall before holiday roster freeze rooting for Oskar Lindblom 1166578 Sportsnet.ca / Tom Wilson is redefining physical play in the NHL — one hit at a time 1166579 Sportsnet.ca / Canucks crumble against Golden Knights, 1166541 4 games in 4 days were ‘blessing’ to Penguins forward Sharks as hectic stretch looms Joseph Blandisi 1166580 TSN.CA / Confident, faster Lafreniere wants puck at 1166542 Jack Johnson becoming a leader off the ice, while 'playing second World Juniors his best hockey' as a Penguin 1166543 Tristan Jarry’s charmed season for Penguins now includes a hat trick of stellar saves on Anze Kopitar 1166567 Big-league goal a boost for Shaw 1166568 Explosive second period gives Jets 7-3 victory over Flyers 1166569 Jets crush Flyers after four-goal second-period explosion 1166544 Takeaways: Sharks win brings closure to tumultuous week SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129 1166545 NHL rumors: Ex-Sharks coach Peter DeBoer 'willing to listen' to offers St Louis Blues 1166546 Blues storm back with four goals in final 15 minutes for stunning win over Blackhawks 1166547 A close call for Schenn costs him a piece of his ear 1166548 Blues score four in third for historic comeback win over Blackhawks 1166549 Steen back in Blues lineup for Blackhawks game 1166550 Blues to host MacKinnon and the Avalanche 1166551 De la Rose, Faulk rally Blues to 4-3 win over Blackhawks 1166552 How Nikita Kucherov’s injury could affect the Lightning 1166553 Nikita Kucherov leaves Lightning’s loss to Washington 1166554 Maple Leafs return home with brighter outlook after encouraging road trip 1166555 Auston Matthews has been the Leafs’ best forward this season. So why do we feel like he could be better? 1166556 Leafs send Sandin to WJC 1166557 Good things come in threes for Leafs 1166462 Anaheim Ducks “I think we know what everybody’s going to bring to the table,” Comtois said. “Obviously, playing a couple (games) together really helps. When we go out there, we know exactly what everyone is doing. We just ‘We’ve come a long way’: Max Comtois, Sam Steel and Troy Terry show wanted to stick to the basics. potential together “We all know we’re a rookie line. We didn’t want to make a mistake. We wanted to have the confidence for Dallas (Eakins, the coach) to put us back (together). And I think we did a really good job and we played a By Eric Stephens really good game.”

Dec 15, 2019 All three made their NHL debuts in the 2018-19 season opener. Steel and Terry waded more into the waters at the end of the year while

Comtois was sent back to his junior club and wound up reuniting with ANAHEIM, Calif. — If a rare Saturday home matinee went any worse for Steel for the AHL playoffs. Between this season and last, the trio has the Ducks than allowing one goal 10 seconds in and another within four suited up for the Ducks for a combined 143 games. None has played minutes, such contests at Honda Center would have been under close to the equivalent of an 82-game season. consideration to be outlawed. The numbers haven’t been there for any of them. Derek Grant has two The Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad got a gift of a turnover as Ryan Getzlaf got more goals than the three combined. Getzlaf has one more point. And in in the way of a pass Josh Manson floated toward Devin Shore that an age when who’s next and what can they do often bring more should have been zipped to him instead. And Artemi Panarin was left excitement out of a fan base than the tried and true, the lack of alone to beat John Gibson as multiple Ducks defenders mysteriously immediate results can bring some consternation. failed to pick up New York’s star scorer. But in a season when it’s evident the Ducks are looking more at the long- Just like that, the Ducks were down 2-0 and once again battling uphill. term view and willing to deal with the short-term pain, why not go all in They’ve needed scoring from all corners, and a line of Max Comtois, and keep throwing the Comtois, Steel and Terry line out there regardless Sam Steel and Troy Terry did not get a point, which has often been the of results or matchups? Why not do that regardless of whether they’re case for each of the youngsters this season. playing at home or on the road, where it’s tougher to get those desired matchups? There was one big exception: Sure, there was no production, but they were productive. Putting together one win has been a chore, much less stringing them together. The Ducks have shown a commitment to Steel and Terry by “What I’m most proud of early on was when (the Rangers) scored two keeping them in Anaheim despite their occasional struggles. Nick quick goals, I think we were all kind of scrambling and I actually thought Ritchie’s knee injury, which will sideline him for several more weeks, has at that time, our line kind of provided energy and we had some really opened the door for Comtois to make his latest attempt at sticking for good shifts,” Terry said. “Our first two shifts were really good. I think that good. Let the three form the third line and see if they sink or swim. was big, kind of helping the team get back into rhythm. Or better yet, simply grow. “We weren’t able to produce on the scoreboard. But I think that’s the way we definitely helped.” “We’ll highly consider it,” Eakins said. “And the thought process was easy. When you’re searching to score goals and win games, it’s The Ducks earned a rare comeback win to thrill the 14,707 in attendance. important to go back and look at the past sometimes. We went back. We Jakob Silfverberg started the rally with his team-leading 12th goal in the started the season fairly well, whatever it was, 4-1 or something like that. first on a power play and Erik Gudbranson pulled the Ducks even early in But we went back and started looking at old combinations that were the second. The power play continued to push into the light by delivering good. in the third straight game, with Hampus Lindholm scoring the unit’s second goal of the day on the man advantage. His laser with 1:46 left “What it enabled us to do is put them together. I think they fight for each was his first of the season and forged another tie to answer Zibanejad’s other. I think they like playing with each other. I think they like the second goal of the game. challenge of it. Which brings energy. And by putting those guys together, it also enables us to get the guys that we all consider our top players As the contest moved to a shootout, Ondrej Kase kept Anaheim alive together as well. … It works out on both fronts. We’ll see how long it with a forehand-to-backhand move on Henrik Lundqvist, and Silfverberg lasts.” clinched the 4-3 win with a straight move to his backhand instead of his usual quick-forehand wrister. They were the main playmakers who came Wins tend to allow a coach to keep his lines intact. The Ducks have had through with the headline moments. five wins in their last 18 games. Only the fourth line of Grant, with Carter Rowney and Nic Deslauriers, has largely stayed together over than run. Behind them was a big effort from a threesome who offered a glimpse into becoming a line worthy of a nickname. (The “Roaring Twenties” But Anaheim has often played better than the results show. The line?) The Ducks are hoping the productive start for Terry, 22, Steel, 21, youngsters who are being incorporated into the lineup have had varying and Comtois, 20, will meet with production more often. They’ll gladly take degrees of success and failure. The Ducks should see if the three who more of how they played the game Saturday. have a good feel for each other can turn their near misses on plays into emphatic scoreboard-changing finishes. They should be allowed to All three played 15 shifts as a complete unit and they drove puck withstand the mistakes that will invariably happen and keep seeing what possession on most of them. Natural Stat Trick gave Comtois a 58.33 is possible. Corsi-for rating, with Steel at 56.67 and Terry at 55.56. Terry and Steel each put three shots on goal, with Terry continuing to let it fly more often “If we’re winning, I’m excited to see how we can keep this going,” said by taking seven attempts. And their success as a line wasn’t just about Terry, who has been productive in driving possession in eight of his last favorable metrics. 11 games. “Kind of just keep building momentum with the young guys. And I do want to stop saying the phrase ‘the young guys’ because I think Steel took an interference penalty in the first period but then drew two we’re past that.” within three minutes against the undisciplined Rangers. Terry drew a pivotal tripping call on Brady Skjei that Lindholm cashed in with his Saturday’s game was notable for Steel. Eakins pulled him from the lineup power-play strike. Comtois had a quality chance on a two-on-one with Tuesday in Minnesota after a run of four games without a point; he last Terry turned away by Lundqvist a couple of minutes after Zibanejad put scored a goal at Arizona on Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving. He the Rangers up again early in the third. has had ample opportunity to produce, whether through playing with linemates like Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell or getting plenty of power All three were making an impact on the ice, even if the closest thing to play time. Steel has just two goals and eight assists in 28 games. direct involvement in a goal was Comtois taking a one-time shot on the power play that hit Silfverberg in front. It allowed the Ducks to keep But Eakins put him right back in Thursday against the Kings, slotting him possession and ended with Silfverberg deflecting in Lindholm’s point as the left wing on the top line with Getzlaf. It was an odd fit. Still, it shot. Yes, it was one game, but the three wouldn’t mind sticking together showed Eakins was sticking with the plan to have Steel play and for a while and seeing what happens. develop. And when Steel moved back to center Saturday, he responded with his best game in a while as he made better decisions with his playmaking in the offensive end. He was looking for Comtois, created a great chance for Shore and found Michael Del Zotto, who was just a stride away from reaching the cross-ice pass and trying to go backdoor on Lundqvist.

All that’s left is for his superior vision to meet up with execution.

“I thought he worked his tail off last game,” Eakins said, referring to putting Steel back in the lineup. “But fully out of position. We had tried them on the wing earlier in the season. I can’t remember what game it was. But I thought he played well there. So, we just wanted to look at it again.

“He’s a centerman. I thought he was very, very good tonight.”

Terry liked a lot of what his line did Saturday. The personable winger doesn’t feel the trio’s play has dramatically wavered. As to production, he remains insistent.

“It’ll come,” he said. “I’ve been saying that for a while. It’ll come.”

Until it arrives, they’ll be pleased with a pointless game, one that hardly told what kind of point they actually made.

“I think that game put on display that we’ve come a long way,” Terry said. “I think we’ve probably played together at some point at the beginning of the year. But it was not that way. Not what you saw tonight.

“If we stay together, it’s a good opportunity for us to keep providing energy. I think when the team sees three young guys out there buzzing around and playing in their end and having good shifts, it brings a lot of momentum. Yeah, I’m excited.”

The goal Zibanejad scored to give New York a 3-2 lead was not one Gibson had no chance of stopping. In fact, he appeared to have had the short side locked down but gave some ground with his positioning and allowed the puck to get through as Zibanejad went around defenseman Cam Fowler.

After a ragged 2018-19 in which he often had to be Superman in net, Gibson has been much more mortal. He isn’t facing the nightly barrage of repeated chances like he did a year ago. More stoppable shots have managed to find their way through. Since opening the year with three wins, he has yet to get on a run and string them together. Even with how bad last season was, he was able to do that after the Ducks found their second wind with Bob Murray behind the bench.

But Gibson was at his best after Zibanejad’s goal. He made a number of big stops to let the Ducks stick around until they could tie it. And he made his best save on Zibanejad in overtime, making a stellar arm stop after the center had the space to wait him out. He finished the night by stopping three of the Rangers’ four shootout tries.

He hasn’t been putting up zeroes or limiting teams to a single goal most nights, but Gibson continues to keep his usually low-scoring team in games.

“The but is that on any given night, let’s say there’s a goal that you question,” Eakins said. “Maybe it shouldn’t have gone in on Gibby. I can usually show you three (stops) that he shouldn’t have had and he had them.

“He’s a competitor, man. He’s a true, true high-compete guy. I think we got a good look at that tonight.”

Gibson is 10-13-2 with a 2.79 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. His only shutout was Nov. 25 against the New York Islanders.

The Athletic LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166463 Arizona Coyotes "Our team’s sole focus continues to be on winning hockey games, giving back to the community we call home and doing everything we can to grow Our Pack and the game of hockey throughout Arizona," Cohen said Arizona Coyotes, winning more games and drawing larger crowds, will on Friday. stay in Glendale next season

Arizona Republic LOADED: 12.16.2019 Jen Fifield, Arizona Republic

Published 7:00 a.m. MT Dec. 15, 2019 | Updated 8:26 a.m. MT Dec. 15, 2019

Arizona Coyotes officials have confirmed the team will stay in Glendale for another season as the team draws larger crowds to Gila River Arena than it has in years.

"We will absolutely play the 2020-2021 NHL season in Gila River Arena," Coyotes CEO Ahron Cohen said in a statement on Friday.

The team is riding a high this year, with more people at its games and a better record on the ice than it has enjoyed in years.

It has been under an annual lease with arena manager ASM Global, formerly AEG Facilities, since 2016. The lease automatically renews at the end of each year unless the team opts out, which Cohen said it doesn't intend to do.

The short-term nature of the lease leads to constant speculation about whether the Coyotes will leave Glendale with little notice.

Team officials have been clear that Gila River Arena isn't a viable arena for the team in the long run, and rumors circulate often about where the team will go next, whether it be elsewhere in the Valley or somewhere outside the state.

Glendale City Manager Kevin Phelps said Friday the city is happy to keep the Coyotes for another year.

The Coyotes' new majority owner, Alex Meruelo, indicated when he joined the team this summer that staying in Glendale long-term would be difficult.

At the time, Meruelo also made clear his goal for this season, with his memorable "I sure as s--t want to win," comment.

Coyotes new owner Alex Meruelo speaks to local media at a press conference at Gila River Arena, in Glendale on August 1, 2019. Thomas Hawthorne,

So far, the Coyotes are winning — at least more than usual. The team sits at the top of its division nearly halfway through the season.

The team isn't doing nearly as well at home as it is away, but it continues to draw large home crowds.

Average attendance at home games is higher this year so far than it has been since the 2008-2009 season. An average of about 14,064 people have attended after 16 of 41 home games, according to NHL data.

Glendale builds argument for long-term solution

Westgate Entertainment District, where the stadium is located, relies heavily on those home games to bring in people and revenue.

So does Glendale, which is still paying down debt related to building the arena in 2003.

Phelps has indicated since this summer that he hopes to sit down with Meruelo, or team ownership, to tell them about all of the activity happening in the immediate area and the entire region that will benefit the team if it stays in the arena.

"There is a tremendous amount of activity going on," he said Friday.

That includes development within a mile of the arena, such as the opening of the new West Valley Desert Diamond Casino, as well as ongoing regional freeway projects that will shorten travel time to the arena.

"The Westgate Entertainment District is going to look is less and less out there ... in terms of the Valley," Phelps said.

Cohen has said before that it's the team's goal to find a long-term arena solution in Arizona. But he also just wants the team to keep winning. 1166464 Arizona Coyotes and the family updated and then he brought Aaron his phone the following morning.

To the amazement of everyone, Ness suffered only neck spasms that Ten-year pro Aaron Ness is still chasing his NHL dream forced him to miss, mostly for precautionary reasons, the next three games of the series. He returned for Game 5 of a series that Hershey won. By Craig Morgan “I had zero thought of him potentially playing again that year and if I’m Dec 15, 2019 being honest, I was worried about him ever playing again in his life,” Carbery said. “I am trying to think of a more dangerous situation for a

coach to witness. You have seen players get paralyzed from that exact About 30 minutes after a 5-2 Coyotes loss to the Calgary Flames at Gila play. It was miraculous. They did all the tests, they got all the imaging River Arena on Tuesday, Aaron Ness emerged from the team’s newly and the doctors all felt comfortable with what they saw so he was able to renovated gym and a workout so exhausting that it looked as if he had start skating again and play.” added 10 pounds of muscle in that session. As happy as Carbery was that his star defenseman was all right, he was “It’s good to be back on the ice, but obviously that’s not how you want the just as happy to have him back in the lineup. Ness led all AHL first one to turn out,” he said, still catching his breath. “Tonight was not a defensemen with 50 assists and 55 points last season, helping Hershey good showing. I’ll obviously have to play a lot better than that to continue rebound from a poor start to earn a playoff berth. to stay in the lineup and I know that.” “We had a new coaching staff, a lot of new players, a lot of roster Ness couldn’t recover in time to stop Michael Frolik’s goal at 2:11 of the movement and we didn’t get a lot of breaks so we were 0-5 and hitting first period after defense partner Jordan Oesterle turned the puck over the panic button,” Carbery said. “So we decided to pair him with Tyler inside the Coyotes blue line, but he was far from the only culprit on a Lewington and lean on them heavily. He was playing 25-plus minutes a night that coach noted was filled with costly mistakes. night. His ability to break out a puck, defend, read situations, defend the Tocchet even provided cover for Ness when he pointed out that Ness rush — every time he does something he does it with good habits, and hadn’t played in nearly three weeks, but Ness wasn’t accepting that there is never a time when he deviates from that so it really helped lead excuse. Nine seasons bouncing around the us and get us going.” have taught him that infrequent opportunities, fewer minutes and less Ness has a hockey pedigree. He grew up in Roseau, Minn., (a stone’s margin for error are the realities he must overcome if he is to achieve his throw from the Canadian border) where he played for Roseau High and dream of a permanent NHL gig. was named Minnesota Mr. Hockey in 2008. His prep success began a “I’ve been up and down, back and forth my whole nine years as a pro,” recruiting war between nearby North Dakota and the University of said Ness, 29, who was in the New York Islanders and Washington Minnesota 350 miles to the south. Capitals organizations before signing a two-year, two-way contract with “We had a pretty good tradition of offensive defensemen in Alex the Coyotes as a free agent last summer. “You’re up in the NHL, down in Goligoski, Keith Ballard, Paul Martin and Erik Johnson, and I think that is the minors, always riding that curve. I have had some good years where I one of the things that attracted him,” said former Gophers coach Don still didn’t get call-ups, and then some teams have different ideas of who Lucia, whose parents grew up a block away from Goligoski in Grand is going to be in those spots, but the great thing is you meet a lot of good Rapids, Minn. “He was a special player because of his skating ability and people along the way and you never forget why you play the game. his passing ability; his ability to move the puck.” “Everyone wants to play in the NHL and that’s what keeps the fire under The challenge for Ness has always been his size. At 5-foot-10, he does you whether it’s three games in three days in the minors or playing at not strike the pose of a traditional NHL defenseman, even as the game night in the NHL. We’re all very fortunate to be doing this.” has grown more accepting of undersized players. Ness got a forceful reminder of that privilege last season when his “You have the battle of how many points you are putting up on your size,” Hershey Bears (Capitals’ AHL affiliate) began the Calder Cup Playoffs Lucia said. “A lot of NHL teams will say, ‘Well, geez, I’d rather have a 6- with a first-round series against his former team, the Bridgeport Sound foot-2, 215-pound guy back there defending, but Aaron’s ability is to Tigers (Islanders’ AHL affiliate) at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, defend with his feet and his stick.” Conn. Midway through the third period, Ness was tripped while jumping up into the rush to take a pass for a scoring opportunity. As he hit the ice, Coyotes first-year assistant coach Phil Housley is trying to build on those he caught a net post, spun and slammed headfirst into the end boards. assets.

“I went in at a weird angle and there’s nothing you can do at that point,” “Size is a big part of the way people view him and I can relate to that,” he said. “I couldn’t grab onto anything. I was going into the boards feet said Housley, 5-10, who has the fourth-most points in NHL history by a first and I thought, ‘OK, this is going to be bad but at least I can catch defenseman (1,232). “I think he has good foot speed and puts himself in myself.’ Then I clipped my legs on the net so I spun around so my head good position to get to pucks and make a play; to not take the big hit or went straight in.” even absorb a hit in a way that it won’t be a pounding on his body.

Hershey coach Spencer Carbery said the arena went silent seconds after “As far as defending the net, it’s just about maintaining that inside body the play. position. If you always keep yourself between the opponent and the net that’s a great job of defending. Sometimes, bigger guys will be able to get “As soon as it happened you’re thinking, ‘Please get up and move and some space but as long as you have a good stick and get stick on puck when he didn’t do that, that’s when you hold your breath and panic a bit,” you can still defend. You don’t have to ride a guy and pin a guy. Carbery said. “When they rushed on the ice with a stretcher your mind is Everybody does it differently. When the size factor comes in, you’ve just going in 100 directions. Did he break something? Is it his neck? Is it his got to be smarter.” back? The last thing you’re thinking about is the playoff hockey game you’re in. It was awful.” Ness isn’t blind to his current situation. Injured defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson and Jason Demers will be back in the lineup soon. When Ness knew the possibilities as he lay on the ice, waiting for the Hershey they are — assuming everyone else is healthy — there will be one blue- training staff to arrive. line spot available for Ilya Lyubushkin or Ness to fill. Lyubushkin has the “You always think you want to get up right away because you want to advantages of being right-handed and 6-foot-2, 201 pounds, and he has know that you’re OK, but I was trying to be smart in that circumstance,” played 22 games to Ness’ 15. he said. “I knew what just happened and I didn’t want to make anything Ness doesn’t need any reminders about how fragile his pro career is for a worse and regret it forever. I was just thinking, ‘I’m just going to stay here variety of reasons, but when teammate Lawson Crouse went crashing and wait for the trainers to come and make sure everything is good.’” into the boards in an eerily similar manner to Ness’ incident in a game Hershey head trainer Murphy Luatua and manager of wellness and team against the Kings on Nov. 23 in Los Angeles, it reinforced the carpe diem affairs Dan Stuck were on the ice well before the stretcher arrived to take approach that Ness has adopted. him off and rush him to a nearby hospital. Ness didn’t have his phone with him to call anyone, but Stuck called his wife, Samantha, to keep her “You don’t really understand what you have, that you’re able to live out a dream of playing professional hockey until it’s possibly gone,” he said. “You actually have that thought when you go through it and then you have a greater appreciation for everything, not just the game but for family and friends and some of the people — so many good people in Hershey — who did what they did for me in those circumstances.

“I’m lucky to still be playing and not have anything nagging or any remnants of that incident, and it’s obviously exciting every time you get called up to the NHL. That’s why we play the game is to be in the NHL, so that’s going to be my goal until I am done playing, whether I’m here or in the minors. It gives you something to push for. It keeps you up at night and it wakes you up in the morning.”

The Athletic LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166465 Boston Bruins Kings’ Stanley Cup season of 2014. The three-time 20-goal scorer (and one-time 30-goal man) couldn’t finish last year: 13 goals; and at 5 on 5, six goals on 3.4 percent shooting. Krejci has a way of improving the Bruins relieved to end road trip with victory scoring touch of others.

Charlie Coyle looked good as a No. 2 right wing Saturday, but with this current mix, he’s a better fit as a third-line center. Adding Toffoli for picks By Matt Porter Globe Staff and/or prospects could allow Krejci, Toffoli, and Jake DeBrusk to stay together, and let an Anders Bjork-Coyle-Danton Heinen third line shine Updated December 15, 2019, 6:06 p.m. against lesser competition.

Toffoli gets to the net. He’s on an expiring deal, and makes $4.6 million SUNRISE, Fla. — Thoughts and shots at the end of a four-game Bruins against the cap, so Bruins general manager Don Sweeney would have to road trip . . . play with his numbers a little. But it seems like a fit. At his best, Toffoli is a defensively responsible sniper. A move to Boston could rejuvenate him. ■ “It was a big win for us, and very much needed,” said David Pastrnak, feeling relieved to see the puck go in the net twice Saturday. ■ The Islanders (22-7-2) look like a team that’s one scorer away from going on a long run. Already with a lockdown defense, with toughness In a 4-2 win over the Panthers, we didn’t see Pasta in full. The league’s and goaltending, they could use a dynamic threat up front. Perhaps leading goal scorer (28) didn’t show the fans in Sunrise one of his someone who could, in theory, arrive via public transit. spectacular finishes, though he was plenty happy to redirect a hard Brad Marchand dish 10 feet and throw in a center-ice empty-netter. On the Hard to see Ray Shero trading Hall within the Metro division, because power play, where he later scored, he whiffed on a signature one-timer NHL GMs traditionally handcuff themselves when it comes to such from the left circle. He was also shaking his head about his penalty shot, moves. The Isles may not have the defense and goaltending prospects sounding like a player who was eager to get home and sleep in his own New Jersey wants. But Hall would be a game-changer for them. bed. If believes his club is good enough to bring the first Cup Anyone paid to fill the net rests easier when their team’s power-play unit to Long Island since 1983 (and he should), why not take a swing? is working the way the Bruins were Saturday. On Pastrnak’s tip, which made it 3-0 in the second period, they created a goal off a shot, moving into perfect position to set up a high-skill play. Boston Globe LOADED: 12.16.2019 Pastrnak took a shot from above the right circle, Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar stung by the wrister to his torso. As Weegar got up, Pastrnak collected the rebound and slipped a backhand to Torey Krug at the point. Krug slapped a pass to Marchand, in the left circle, as Danton Heinen went to work screening goalie and Patrice Bergeron attracted attention between the hashes. Florida was scrambling into position, but Boston was about to execute.

When Marchand sent his feed to Pastrnak at the far post, Heinen was blocking Bobrovsky’s vision and Bergeron was lifting Weegar’s stick to fully clear the lane. Marchand sold the shot, freezing defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who didn’t do anything to take away the pass. Marchand turned his wrists at the last moment, hitting Pastrnak on the tape.

“Lately we’ve been getting chances, but obviously no goals,” said Pastrnak, still on pace for 68 goals this season despite scoring once in his previous six games.

Entering Saturday, the Bruins were on 0-for-7 and 2-for-27 stretches on the man-up.

“It was getting a little bit frustrating for us,” Pastrnak said. Good for us we got a PP goal.”

After a tough 1-3-0 road trip — heavyweight Washington, dangerous Tampa Bay, scrappy Ottawa, and inconsistent-but-talented Florida — bet on Pastrnak and Co. cooking up something tasty this week. They can make use of the training and treatment facilities at Warrior Ice Arena, and get some quality holiday time with their families. Being on the road let them refocus on the game, but there’s nothing like the comforts of home.

■ With 48 points, the Bruins (21-7-6) sit second in the East. The four- game homestand, which runs through the holiday break (Dec. 24-26), includes the Kings (Tuesday), Islanders (Thursday), Predators (Saturday), and Capitals (Monday). First up: Los Angeles, on the end of a three-in-four that took the team through Pittsburgh and Detroit. Since the Kings are getting crowned, last in the Pacific, other teams are looking at who might be available.

■ Polled a few veteran player agents on this topic: Would the Bruins be more inclined to trade for the Devils’ Taylor Hall or the Kings’ Ilya Kovalchuk? Unanimous word came back: Hall, even though that’s highly unlikely.

As strong a scorer as he’s been over the years, Kovalchuk’s time in LA has proven he’s no longer a top-six guy. The Bruins don’t need to get slower.

■ Spitballing here, but if there’s a Kings winger who might fit, it could be Tyler Toffoli. He checks a few boxes: righthanded shot, 27 years old, and potentially a finisher for David Krejci’s right wing. He’s also in need of a fresh start, his production plummeting since his playoff breakout in the 1166466 Boston Bruins

Charlie Coyle on the wing may be Bruins’ solution, for now

By MARISA INGEMI | [email protected] | Boston Herald

December 15, 2019 at 6:50 PM

SUNRISE, FL — The Bruins’ second line right wing conundrum doesn’t have an easy solution.

There are plenty of ideas — shifting David Pastrnak down, Karson Kuhlman returning, moving Anders Bjork to the right, hoping Brett Ritchie gets it together all among them.

The only one that might work for now, though, is Charlie Coyle.

The Bruins have always believed they operate better with Coyle centering the third line, and that’s likely true. But until a better option arises, Coyle’s veteran presence and offensive ability alongside David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk might be the only viable option.

There was some evidence of that in Florida on Saturday night, when the second line finally produced in the Bruins’ win over the Panthers that snapped their five-game losing streak.

“They certainly were excellent,” said Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy. “Was it Charlie or was it the other two guys just knowing that sooner or later, they’re good players, they’re gonna come around? I think it’s a bit of both. Charlie’s a good presence in the slot, he’ll help below the goal line.”

Coyle didn’t actually register a point, but his linemates did, with DeBrusk opening the scoring and Krejci putting the B’s ahead by two.

It might not have been anything Coyle did in particular, but it was refreshing to see that line keep pace all night long. Ritchie hasn’t worked there, and they were running out of options.

“Jake’s goal was tough luck on them, but good second effort by us,” said Cassidy. “I thought for most of the night they were finding those soft areas because they recovered pucks. It worked out well for us because we won the game and we had some offense. Three good players that knew they could be better and they were.”

Because the Bruins are so deep up the middle, they can afford to move Coyle, even when they don’t want to. On Saturday, they shifted typically- left winger Chris Wagner to center on the fourth line and bumped Sean Kuraly up to center the third.

Par Lindholm, also a center, didn’t play but they’ve trusted him when he’s in there, and David Backes can take draws, too.

For now, until they can figure out a permanent solution to the right wing spot on the second line — whether that be external or someone like Ritchie finally steps up — it seems like Coyle playing there might be the only move that makes sense for a productive top-six unit.

“It was the first time in a while that we kind of controlled the pace of play when we were out there and it’s just one of those things that you try to keep building as the year goes along,” said DeBrusk. “It was nice to produce two goals five-on-five. That’s something that we want to do, especially this time when it’s kind of backs against the wall going up against a good Florida team with a good home record. We knew that we had to be good and it was nice to see.”

Boston Herald LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166467 Boston Bruins For that to be the case after a five-game losing streak for the B’s tells you that the division truly is over and wrapped up, and perhaps that played into some of the malaise we saw from the B’s players during the two- Bruins-Panthers Review: Boston responds after five-game losing streak week slump.

Plus

By Joe Haggerty *David Krejci finished with a goal, two points and a plus-2 rating in 16:20 of ice time after not lodging a single point in the Bruins' five-game losing December 15, 2019 6:26 PM streak. He was creative, playing with plenty of energy and really drove the second line to their best game in weeks.

*Jake DeBrusk similarly played with a very high motor and was far more Here’s what we learned in the Bruins' 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers than a one-dimensional winger who not only scored a goal and had two at the BB&T Center on Saturday night. points, but won battles along the boards, blocked a couple of shots and • The Bruins' response to their losing streak was impressive. Bruce made himself a factor all over the ice. Cassidy called out the second and third lines for not really doing much *Jaroslav Halak made 31 saves for the Bruins and was rock-solid aside during the five-game skid, and he had the numbers to back it all up. from one bad goal allowed to Keith Yandle that made it a 3-2 hockey That changed against the Panthers as forwards like Jake DeBrusk and game in the third period. But Halak stood tall after that with the game on David Krejci not only got on the score sheet, but they also were engaged, the line and earned the victory while showing once again that the B’s can fighting for pucks and winning battles along the boards. DeBrusk and rely on elite goaltending all year. Krejci each set the other one up for five-on-five goals in the first couple of Minus periods and Danton Heinen had seven shot attempts in 13:32 of ice time while playing a very active, noticeable game. *Jonathan Huberdeau had no shots on net, three giveaways and was on ice for a pair of goals against in 21-plus minute of ice time, and wasn’t Certainly the goals and the offense were nice, but it as much about the able to match the high level of play that Boston’s top-6 forwards brought competitiveness and the urgency as it was about the actual point to the table. production. But there’s no coincidence that Krejci got on the scoresheet and the B’s snapped their losing streak. Those two things are very much *One hit, no shots on net and a minus-1 in 11:43 of ice time for Noel intertwined to Boston’s success. Acciari, who wasn’t playing with physicality, energy or anything noteworthy against his old Bruins teammates. He also lost 10-of-17 LIVE stream the Celtics all season and get the latest news and analysis faceoffs. on all of your teams from NBC Sports Boston by downloading the My Teams App. *For a guy who was scratched for a couple of games, David Backes didn’t play with the kind of energy one might have expected when he was • David Pastrnak isn’t going to break Phil Esposito’s Bruins goal-scoring pushed back into the lineup for Brett Ritchie. One shot on net, one hit, 0- record for a single season. It was nice while it lasted and it looks like it’s for-1 on faceoffs in 9:09 of ice time in a very eventless game for him. going to be a lay-up for Pastrnak to have 30 goals scored by the time Christmas break rolls around for the NHL, but he still isn’t back to a 70- goal pace even after tallying two more goals in Saturday night’s win over the Panthers. Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.16.2019

Pastrnak is still on pace for 68 goals this season and leads the NHL by a wide margin (he’s got a five goal lead over Jack Eichel), but even a slump for a handful of games is enough to make a 70-goal season more pipe dream than possibility. And it would appear that’s already happened for Pastrnak, so Bruins fans will have to settle for daydreaming about a possible 60-goal season when it comes to their young scoring superstar.

The 76-goal record for Espo seems like it’s going to be safe again this year and it’s going to take something ridiculous for anybody in a Bruins uniform to ever get that many again.

Could Bruins trade for Devil other than Taylor Hall?

• The Bruins won’t have any extended losing streaks that will take them out of the top spot in the Atlantic Division. These past couple of weeks was the perfect example of this with the Bruins losing five games in a row, the longest losing streak of the Bruce Cassidy era coaching the Bruins.

The last four of those defeats were of the regulation variety, so it was most definitely a notable low point for the year. But between Jaroslav Halak’s strong 31-save effort between the pipes and the Bruins' return to defensive basics against the Panthers, there is only so long that the Bruins are going to lose games barring unforeseen crazy injuries to key players like Zdeno Chara and Brandon Carlo.

Certainly, the Bruins finally paid the piper for some slack in their game over the last several weeks, and they also ran into a number of very good teams in a short proximity with the losses to Colorado, Washington and Tampa Bay all within a week’s time. But the Bruins have the goaltending, they have the defense, they have Pastrnak always on the verge of a two- goal explosion and they have good enough complementary players that they’ll be able to score against lesser defensive teams like Florida even when their top guns are silenced from time to time.

Perhaps the most disheartening part for every other team in the Atlantic Division? The other teams really didn’t make up any discernible ground despite Boston’s extended slump, with Buffalo still a distant nine points behind the Bruins, and every other team still 12 points or more back in the standings. 1166468 Buffalo Sabres

Former Sabres winger Vladimir Tsyplakov dies at age 50

By Staff

Published Sun, Dec 15, 2019|Updated Sun, Dec 15, 2019

Vladimir Tsyplakov, who played left wing for the Sabres from 1999 to 2001, has died, according to multiple reports. He was 50.

The cause of death has not been announced.

Tsyplakov, a third-round draft choice of the Los Angeles Kings in 1995, played 331 NHL games from 1996 to 2001, including 70 regular-season games with the Sabres. He had 13 goals and 33 points for the Sabres after being acquired for an eighth-round draft pick during the 1999-2000 season. He also had one goal and two points in 14 playoffs games with Buffalo.

He finished his playing career with four seasons in Russia for Ak Bars Kazan, TsSKA and . He then went on to coaching, including for Shakhter Soligorsk in Belarus in 2017-18, according to EliteProspects.com.

Tsyplakov won gold with the Soviet Union in the Junior World Championship in 1989, then represented Belarus at the Winter Olympics in 1998 and 2002 and at four World Championships.

His debut in the United States came with the Detroit Falcons in the then- Colonial Hockey League in 1992-93. He spent part of the next three seasons in the International Hockey League before joining the Kings.

Buffalo News LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166469 Buffalo Sabres Mittelstadt also performed well during his freshman season at the University of Minnesota, scoring 11 goals among 30 points in 34 games. He signed his entry-level contract with the Sabres in March 2018 and Casey Mittelstadt sent to Rochester after playing 114 games with Sabres scored one goal among five points in six games before the end of the season.

It was widely expected that Mittelstadt would fill the void at center created By Lance Lysowski when the Sabres traded Ryan O'Reilly to the St. Louis Blues that July. Mittelstadt, though, struggled to adjust to the 82-game NHL schedule and Published Sun, Dec 15, 2019|Updated Sun, Dec 15, 2019 finished with 12 goals among 25 points and a minus-19 rating in 77 games as a rookie.

The Buffalo Sabres are no longer willing to wait for Casey Mittelstadt to Mittelstadt spent the offseason adding muscle mass to better prepare learn on the job in the . himself for the physical grind, but his development will now take place under coach Chris Taylor in Rochester. The Amerks are in first place in Mittelstadt, a 21-year-old drafted eighth overall in 2017, was assigned to the American Hockey League's North Division with a 18-4-2 record, a the Rochester Americans on Sunday night after being a healthy scratch three-point lead over the Toronto Marlies. in three of the Sabres' past four games. Mittelstadt has struggled to adjust to playing center in the NHL, and he was not showing Though Thompson remains out with an upper-body injury, Rochester's improvement under coach Ralph Krueger. roster also includes Curtis Lazar, Jean-Sebastien Dea, C.J. Smith, Andrew Oglevie, Brett Murray, Lawrence Pilut, Jacob Bryson, John Mittelstadt had four goals among nine points with a minus-5 rating in 31 Gilmour and Will Borgen. games this season. An admittedly poor defensive effort Dec. 7 at Vancouver resulted in Mittelstadt being a healthy scratch for the first time The Sabres, meanwhile, have 12 forwards and eight defensemen, this season, as he sat in the Rogers Place press box the following night including Zach Bogosian, who reportedly requested a trade. for the Sabres' 3-2 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers.

"Obviously you want to play every game, but it's not a secret I didn't play Buffalo News LOADED: 12.16.2019 well in Vancouver," Mittelstadt said he drew back into the lineup Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues. "You obviously watch a little bit of film and had a nice talk with coach. It’s nice watching a game from up top, too. I think when you’re always playing you get stuck in it and when you kind of get to watch from up top and see the whole rink. See some room and think about what you would do in certain situations. It was good."

Against the Blues, he recorded no shots on goal with a minus-1 rating in 10:26 of ice time. He was scratched Thursday in KeyBank Center against the Nashville Predators and Saturday for the Sabres' 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Islanders.

Mittelstadt struggled during training camp and preseason in September, however, he had three goals among seven points with a plus-6 rating through the Sabres' first six games this season. In addition to developing chemistry with Jimmy Vesey and Conor Sheary, Mittelstadt showed progress in Krueger's defensive system.

Mittelstadt's play with and without the puck began to slip, though. He had zero points with a minus-7 rating and only 12 shots on goal, five of which came Nov. 25 against Tampa Bay, during a 15-game span from Oct. 24 through Nov. 27.

Krueger and General Manager Jason Botterill showed patience with Mittelstadt. After a brief but failed experiment last season, Mittelstadt was again shifted to the wing. The thinking was that a positional shift would free him up to create more offense.

His scoring drought ended Nov. 29 with a deflection goal a 6-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs inside KeyBank Center. More defensive lapses, including a minus-2 rating during a 6-5 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks, proved to be Mittelstadt's undoing. He will head to Rochester with 114 games of experience in the NHL.

"We’re just nothing but excited with the way he dealt with (being scratched) and the time we had with him and the coaching we were able to do with him," Krueger said after scratching Mittelstadt in Edmonton on Dec. 8. "It’s part of what we’re doing, growing these players with different kinds of experiences. Today was his turn to take a look."

Among the 217 players selected in the 2017 draft, only six have played more than 100 games in the NHL: Mittelstadt, New Jerseys' Nico Hischier, Philadelphia's Nolan Patrick, Dallas' Miro Heiskanen, Vancouver's Elias Pettersson and the New York Rangers' Filip Chytill.

Despite Mittelstadt's struggles, it's still a significant philosophical shift for Botterill, who expressed confidence in the young center's ability to adjust. Botterill waited 65 games before sending Tage Thompson to Rochester last March.

Significant expectations have followed Mittelstadt since he became Botterill's first draft pick. Less than seven months after being selected by the Sabres, Mittelstadt had a breakout performance at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo by tying for the tournament lead with 11 points in seven games for the United States. 1166470 Buffalo Sabres "I thought he was great on the power play," Eichel said. "It’s great to see him back. It looks like he’s finding his groove again. You see him moving around there making plays. A player like Ras is going to attract so much Rasmus Dahlin stands up to Islanders, ignites Sabres' power play attention from the other team. He’s a defenseman who has the puck on his stick for a lot of the game. He does a good job of handling it, moving the puck. He’s got some grit in his game and it’s good to see."

By Lance Lysowski "He’s so good at drawing guys in to him and many times he either gives it to me or Jack, and we have lots of time," Olofsson said. "He creates time Published Sun, Dec 15, 2019|Updated Sun, Dec 15, 2019 and space for us on the power play and 5 on 5. It’s great to have him back."

UNIONDALE – Rasmus Dahlin smirked and rolled his eyes clockwise in Like most of his teammates, Dahlin's play dipped in November, and he a playful manner Saturday afternoon when asked about his repeated was benched for the third period of a 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators in encounters with New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal. KeyBank Center on Nov. 16. The former Calder Trophy finalist seemed to be putting too much pressure on himself, which resulted in turnovers Dahlin, the Buffalo Sabres' 19-year-old defenseman, exchanged verbal and mistakes in the defensive zone. and physical jabs with Barzal during the latter portion of a 3-2 overtime loss to the Islanders inside NYCB Live/Nassau Coliseum. The latter grew However, Dahlin had four strong games before the concussion, including so agitated with Dahlin that he took a two-minute roughing penalty that two assists in a 5-2 road win over the Florida Panthers. Dahlin spent his resulted in Jack Eichel scoring the game-tying power-play goal with 1:46 time out of the lineup watching the Sabres from the KeyBank Center remaining in regulation. press box or on television. That gave him an opportunity to view the game from a different perspective, opening his eyes to where he could "I kind of like it," Dahlin said. "It gets me going, too. It’s hockey. It's tough find an open teammate on the power play or on the breakout. out there." The absence didn't seem to affect him, after all. Dahlin frustrated the Islanders with his effortless stickhandling and eagerness to lay a body check. He played a season-high 24:02, which "It’s hard to say you played good when you lose, but I felt really good," led all Sabres defensemen, and had the primary assist on Victor Dahlin said. Olofsson's goal in the second period. Dahlin was also the quarterback of a power play that converted on two of its three opportunities. Buffalo News LOADED: 12.16.2019 "Rasmus Dahlin was outstanding and he earned his 24 minutes," coach Ralph Krueger said. "Just pleased to see how he’s come out of his injury, and he seems fresh and energized and definitely helps on the power play, too."

The nerves from returning to the lineup were gone. So was the rust from missing eight games as the result of a concussion suffered on an illegal hit to the head by Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak on Nov. 25.

Dahlin led all Sabres defensemen with six shots on goal, not including his attempt that hit the post during their final power play Saturday. His impact was not limited to the man advantage, either. Dahlin and Brandon Montour formed a shut-down pairing, holding the Islanders to only six shot attempts at 5 on 5.

The Sabres had a 78.6% shot differential at 5 on 5 with Dahlin on the ice against Barzal, who centers the Islanders' top line. Opponents began to get more physical with Dahlin during the second half of his rookie season, when his 44 points were second in NHL history by a defenseman younger than 19 years old.

Dahlin didn't back down against the Islanders. He followed Barzal back to the bench during one verbal exchange, which forced a referee to skate over to encourage Dahlin to skate to the Sabres' bench. When Barzal's high hit resulted in a roughing penalty late in the third period, Dahlin shoved back and confronted him near the end boards.

"He wanted to fight a couple times, but I don’t know how to fight," Dahlin said of Barzal. "Give me a couple more years and I’ll learn from (Zach Bogosian). We’ll see."

The Sabres' power play was amid an 0-for-8 slump when Brock Nelson was penalized for holding Kyle Okposo's stick at 4:37 into the second period. Dahlin then corralled the puck near the blue line, drew an Islanders' defender toward his left to cut off a lane to Eichel and sent a pass over to Olofsson, whose slap shot from atop the right-wing circle tied the score, 1-1.

Dahlin did not have more than four shots on goal in any of his first 25 games this season and did not have one in 15:20 of ice time in his return from the concussion Thursday against Nashville. He also had a strong game defensively against the Islanders, knocking Barzal off the puck midway through the third period and setting up for a scoring opportunity on the same shift.

With Barzal in the penalty box, Dahlin helped the Sabres cycle the puck on the power play in a way they had not been able to do since October. He hit the post with a wrist shot, twice kept the puck from crossing the blue line and helped set up Eichel's game-winning goal. 1166471 Buffalo Sabres

Sabres hand Amerks an early Christmas present, former first-round pick Mittelstadt

Leo Roth, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Published 6:32 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019 | Updated 8:21 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019

The first-place Rochester Americans have gotten an early Christmas present from the Buffalo Sabres.

On Sunday, the parent club assigned former first-round draft pick Casey Mittelstadt, 21, to Rochester, a move that had been simmering for awhile and is meant to help the third-year center find his scoring touch and work on his defensive game.

He has been a healthy scratch for the Sabres in three of their last four games.

The 6-foot, 209-pound Mittelstadt has tallied just nine points on four goals and five assists in 31 games and is a minus-5. He has struggled developing into the second-line center general manager Jason Botterill envisioned when he drafted the Eden Prairie, Minnesota native with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2017 NHL draft.

He has no goals in his last five games and just one in his last 22.

After a season at the University of Minnesota, Mittelstadt made an instant jump to the NHL and spent his entire rookie season with the Sabres, appearing in 77 games and accumulating 25 points, including 12 goals, and going minus-19.

Mittelstadt struggled in training camp picking up new coach Ralph Krueger’s defensive system and was rumored to be in danger of being assigned to the minors then before a strong camp finish.

If he can find a spark and regain his confidence in Rochester, an already strong Amerks team will become only stronger.

Rochester (18-4-2-2) has picked up points in 14 of its last 15 games, going 13-1-1-1 in that span after Saturday’s 5-0 win at Laval. The Amerks have a three-game lead over Toronto in the AHL’s North Division.

Democrat and Chronicle LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166472 Calgary Flames Saturday’s game, of course, was a different scenario for the team which took a bench minor for an unsuccessful offside challenge which Carolina subsequently scored on, putting them behind 2-0. But as things tighten Goals! Goaltending! No more penalties? — Five things sure to be on the up and the level of play increases, discipline is important. In other words: Flames' Christmas List more Silent Nights.

3. GOALS FOR EVERYONE!

Kristen Anderson, Postmedia OK. Not exactly a feasible request for the big man in the red suit. Not everyone is paid to be a goal scorer, and many players bring different December 15, 2019 3:56 PM MST elements to the Flames roster other than their penchant for finding the back of the net. But a balanced scoring attack is key if they want to keep

the good times rolling. Splitting up Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, ‘Twas four games before Christmas, and down at the Dome. and Elias Lindholm was one of the reasons to spread out their offence — and keep things fresh. But it’s also led to contributions from elsewhere in The Calgary Flames are rolling, despite their latest loss at home. the lineup. The directive from interim head coach Geoff Ward and his staff to the players is simple: try to score when you have the puck. It’s The Western Conference standings are log jammed, the Pacific Division worked. And it needs to continue. too. 4. HEALTH AND HAPPINESS But at 18-13-4, the Flames have no reason to feel blue. The happiness part is, of course, relative. But being healthy has been At the beginning of the year, Matthew Tkachuk was waiting to get paid. definitely a blessing for this group, which has been relatively injury-free It’s all over and done with now, so bring on the Purple Gatorade. for much of the year. Of course, Juuso Valimaki’s knee injury in the off- season was a bummer. And there was the scary incident with TJ Brodie With Big Save Dave as the No. 1 ‘tender, Mark Giordano is feeling and subsequent precautionary measures. Travis Hamonic was banged ‘young and fresh,’ up with a lower-body issue, Sam Bennett has been battling a shoulder ailment, and Austin Czarnik was dealing with a knee injury. Matthew Can you believe it? The new lines are starting to mesh. Tkachuk missed last week’s date at Arizona but was back in action two James Neal is an Oiler, Milan Lucic is a Flame. nights later. But there haven’t been any devastating blows delivered to this team — knock on wood — and they’ll want to be healthy as possible They’ll wear the retro white jerseys ONLY two more times, isn’t that a as the months drag on. shame? 5. A HOLLY JOLLY DRESSING ROOM This team has overcome adversity, injuries and a coaching swap. This group plays better loose … well, let’s be honest, what team doesn’t? What’s to come for the rest of the season? And how do they avoid a first- It’s a simple wish but that’s been the biggest reason why the Flames round playoff flop? were able to roll to seven straight wins before Saturday’s 4-0 loss to the With the tunes blaring at practice, Queen, ABBA and ‘Dad Rock.’ . They’re having fun, they’re growing closer as a group, and they’ve been through some heavy issues off the ice — all of Geoff Ward behind the bench, it’s time to walk the walk. which has caused them to block out the outside noise. And, of course, turn up the tunes. Now Lindholm! Now Backlund! A seven-game winning streak certainly makes things more enjoyable. Now, Doc and Johnny! But, over the last three weeks, there’s been an air of optimism around On, Dube! On, Frolik! this group. They need that to continue.

On, Andersson and Monny!

To the edge of Calgary’s South, North, East and West! Calgary Sun: LOADED: 12.16.2019

What’s next for this group, how can the Flames be at their best?

Here’s a list of five things Santa should include on his sleigh.

So GM Brad Treliving, doesn’t pick first overall on NHL Draft Day.

1. GOOD TIDINGS (IN THE GOALTENDING DEPARTMENT)

The biggest question mark heading into the 2019-20 season was if the Flames were going to get the type of goaltending they needed from David Rittich and Cam Talbot. Through 35 games, expectations have been exceeded. Rittich has proven to be a bonafide No. 1 goalie, although there is still lots of hockey left to play in his first campaign as the go-to-guy. The circumstances (coaching change, losing streak, and general chaos of the last three weeks) have forced the Flames to play him, probably, a lot more than he should right now. Not that Big Save Dave is complaining about his league-leading minutes. But this type of pace is probably not sustainable.

If the Flames want a long spring — or, at least, longer than their 2019 Stanley Cup playoff appearance — they’re going to need Rittich to go the distance. And, in the interim, that means playing him a little bit less. Good news, because Talbot seems to have rediscovered his game.

2. PEACE ON EARTH … AND ON THE ICE

Heading into Sunday’s action, the Flames were the fourth-most penalized team in the NHL, tied with the Washington Capitals with 143 penalties taken this year. Their 132 minors were No. 1. Averaging 9:17 of penalty kill time per game, they’ve been in the sin bin for 325 total minutes. It’s no secret that penalties are torture for a team’s momentum, and while the team’s penalty kill is humming along at a ninth-best 83.8 per cent, being more disciplined is a point of focus for this group right now. 1166473 Chicago Blackhawks few times. Those guys can make plays when you turn the puck over and you lose your check. So just got to keep going back to the drawing board, make sure we're better defensively, especially when we've got leads."

3 takeaways from the Blackhawks’ 4-3 loss to the Blues, including Column: The Blackhawks are bordering on being a hot mess this season Jeremy Colliton’s job security taking a big hit — but that might not be the worst of their problems. Everything should be on the table to fix things. »

By JIMMY GREENFIELD Toews was on the ice for the Blues' second and third goals, which were scored 12 seconds apart, as was Seabrook. CHICAGO TRIBUNE "We got to be better in that situation," Seabrook said. "I know I'm on DEC 15, 2019 | 6:38 AM there for two, the second and third one. That's a huge part of the game, it's a critical part of the game and I got to be better in those moments."

When it was pointed out that Toews and Seabrook stepped up, Colliton ST. LOUIS was pleased. But pointed the finger at himself as well. The Blackhawks would like to quickly forget Saturday’s epic collapse. "Yes, as they should," he said. "We all take responsibility. With the The Blues may not let them forget one of the most memorable coaches, we have to find a way to prepare these guys better so that they comebacks in their history. can execute those types of reads when the game's on the line." For just the second time since the Blues joined the NHL in 1967, they 2. Jeremy Colliton’s job seems less safe with each Blackhawks loss. overcame a third-period deficit of at least three goals to win a regular- season game. The Blues scored four straight goals over a span of 12 Hawks fans calling for Jeremy Colliton to be fired will likely be louder minutes, 54 seconds in the third period to deliver the Hawks a crushing after Saturday’s loss. They’ll also have a better case. 4-3 loss at the Enterprise Center. The Hawks didn’t seem to learn anything when they also blew a three- "I think we got to forget about it as fast as we can," said. goal lead in the third period against the Bruins last week. Maybe that’s "It's a tough loss. I thought we gave ourselves a chance to win tonight because the Hawks ended up winning that game in a shootout. Or and didn't. We got to come back tomorrow night (against the Wild) and maybe the idea that it could happen again so soon was unthinkable. have a big effort at home." Either way, the Hawks failed when the moment presented itself again The Hawks return to the United Center losers of four straight, including against the Blues. three embarrassing defeats on their current trip. The Golden Knights and Coyotes dominated the Hawks from start to finish. "The last 10 minutes we made a lot of decisions that we hadn't been making earlier in the game," Colliton said. "So that's disappointing What the Blues did seemed almost cruel. They suckered the Hawks in because I think we showed some growth for a lot of the game and then it and allowed them to build a lead before asserting their dominance over all kind of fell away underneath pressure. That's disappointing and the final minutes to finish them off. unacceptable.

"It sucks to give up that lead," said. "But we've got to "We got to find a way to under pressure to do the right thing every time bounce back tomorrow night, and that's pretty much all we can control." and not put ourselves in a position where we give up those huge opportunities when the game's on the line. Obviously, no one's happy." Here are three takeaways from Saturday's game: However, Colliton said drastic changes won't be made. 1. Everybody on the Blackhawks deserves some of the blame. "No," he said. "We need to, when the game's on the line, buckle down, Alex Nylander’s mistake was one of the most glaring. But it was far from stop and start, make the right read. I know they know and I know we as a the only one. group know what we have to do to have success and it's just a matter of Shortly after the Hawks took a 3-0 lead early in the third period, Nylander doing it." picked up a puck in the slot and turned to move out of the Hawks' zone. The problem is the Hawks aren’t doing it. They’re mired in a four-game But the Blues' Robert Thomas was there to force a turnover and dish to losing streak, having loat 10 of 13 games to be firmly entrenched at the Tyler Bozak to get the Blues on the board. bottom of the Western Conference standings, just one point ahead of the It was a brutal mistake that gave the Blues the spark they needed. Kings.

The Blues' Tyler Bozak scores past Chicago ≠Blackhawks goaltender Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington stops a puck as the Blackhawks' Corey Crawford during the third period. Dylan Strome watches during the third period.

Nylander, a 21-year-old rookie, has no goals and two assists in his last Jonathan Toews pushed back on the idea that the Hawks played scared 14 games. He has just 18 shots on goal during that span, including none at the end. against the Blues in 10:46 of ice time. "I don't know if we curled into our shell a little bit when we gave up a He came to the Hawks with a reputation as an underachiever last couple," Toews said. "I think guys kept playing, it's just we gave up some summer in a trade that sent Henri Jokiharju to the Sabres. So far, with quality chances and they burned us. It's easy to look at the storyline and four goals and seven assists in 32 games, Nylander has done nothing to get really discouraged and come up with the wrong mentality in your shed it. mind about what can happen going forward, but it's the wrong way to go about it. But Jeremy Colliton was quick to point out that Nylander shouldn't be the poster child for what went wrong in a mistake-filled game. "We've just got to focus on (Sunday) night and build off the things we keep doing well. Each guy has to look at himself and try to find ways to "Well, OK, that was a mistake but there was a mistake on the entry, there bring more out of himself every night." was a mistake on the coverage where we double up," Colliton said. "If we bench everyone who makes a mistake we're not going to have any 3. The first period was arguably worse than the third period. players, so yeah there's a time and place for that, no question. It’s hard to imagine that a period where the Hawks didn’t allow any goals "But I think the real issue is that up and down the lineup we don't do the was actually worse than one where they gave up four — but an argument right things all the time every shift. And again, until that changes it's hard can be made. to win." The Hawks were outshot 13-2 in the scoreless first period and neither In a somber locker room, Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook each shot against the Blues was dangerous. Brandon Saad sent in a wrist shot tried to accept responsibility for the loss. from near the right faceoff circle and the second shot of the period — an easy one from near the blue line in the waning seconds — was easily "That sucks to blow that one with the lead that we had," Toews said. "But blocked away by Blues goalie Jordan Binnington. there's situations where we've got to get pucks out, and I lost my check a Rookie Kirby Dach is staying with the Blackhawks instead of playing for Canada in the World Juniors » Chicago Tribune LOADED: 12.16.2019 The Blues held a 25-4 lead in shot attempts in the first period and rarely spent any time in their own zone. Whenever the Hawks gained possession, they either dumped the puck in and never regained it, or the Blues easily took it away.

Jeremy Colliton seemed to include the first period in his initial remarks following the game when he said he liked how the Hawks played overall.

"I thought for most of the game we played the type of road game you have to to survive in a rink like this against a team like that," he said. "We got a lot of saves, no question. And they carried the play for a lot of the game, but we did little things that helped us to survive. We made enough plays to put ourselves in position to succeed."

Corey Crawford was the reason the game was tied after one period. He stopped all 13 shots he faced, many from near the crease. But beyond Crawford, Colliton said he was content with how the first period ended.

For Kris Versteeg, the end of his NHL career is now a reality: ‘It’s almost like breaking up with a girlfriend when you don’t want to break up’ »

“I think we didn’t make really any plays so it was hard to create any momentum, create any zone time,” he said. "But I thought we found a way to survive and sometimes that’s what you have to do on the road. And so we get through the first period, we had some saves no question, but I thought we defended well considering we made almost no plays.

"We couldn't get any zone time, we couldn't get a forecheck going, but then because you do that then you have the opportunity to win and we put ourselves in a position where it's 0-0, we had a better start, better period and now you have a chance to win the game."

Here’s coverage from Saturday’s game:

The similarities were eerie. The outcome was far more painful.

The Blackhawks blew a three-goal third-period lead Saturday night to the defending champion Blues nine days after doing the same in a victory against the Bruins — last season’s other Stanley Cup finalist.

But this time the Hawks failed to come away with even a point. The Blues roared back with four goals — including Justin Faulk’s winner with 2 minutes, 26 seconds left — for a 4-3 victory at the Enterprise Center.

The Hawks had a power play in the final two minutes but failed to score the equalizer despite pulling goalie Corey Crawford. The loss was their fourth straight and 10th in 13 games.

The game was reminiscent of the road win against the Bruins on Dec. 5, when the Hawks were outplayed at the start only to take a 3-0 lead early in the third period.

Brandon Saad had goals in the opening minute of the second and third periods Saturday, and Patrick Kane added his 15th of the season with 15:44 remaining in the third.

But just as they coughed up the lead against the Bruins, the Hawks did the same against the Blues. An Alex Nylander turnover in the Hawks zone on the next shift gave the Blues life just 24 seconds after Kane’s goal. Robert Thomas stripped Nylander and got the puck to Tyler Bozak, who made it 3-1 at the 15:20 mark.

Bozak added his second goal with 6:52 left, and just 12 seconds later Jacob de la Rose tied it on a backhander from the slot.

The Blues spent nearly the entire first period in the Hawks zone, outshooting them 13-2 and posting a 25-4 advantage in shot attempts. Whenever the Hawks touched the puck, the Blues effortlessly took it back and raced up ice to create opportunities.

The Hawks turned the tide in the second. Jonathan Toews nearly scored on a 2-on-1 off the opening faceoff, and 19 seconds into the period Saad slipped a shot from the high slot past Jordan Binnington for his ninth goal to give the Hawks a surprising 1-0 lead.

The rest of the period was fairly even, though most of the Hawks’ scoring opportunities came while going 0-for-3 on the power play — including a two-man advantage for 41 seconds that they failed to convert.

Saad’s 10th of the season 30 seconds into the third period made it 2-0. Toews won a puck battle in the corner and found Saad streaking into the slot. He picked up the pass and easily deked Binnington to score into an open net. 1166474 Chicago Blackhawks

Patrick Kane’s 6th regular-season hat trick lifts the Blackhawks to a 5-3 victory over the Wild

By JIMMY GREENFIELD

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

DEC 15, 2019 | 8:49 PM

Patrick Kane had the sixth regular-season hat trick of his career and Brandon Saad scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period to help the Blackhawks overcome a pair of blown leads and beat the Wild 5-3 on Sunday night at the United Center.

The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the Hawks, who improved to 13-15-6. They came into the game with one regulation win in their last 13 games while the Wild had just one regulation loss in their last 13 games.

Saad’s game-winner, which came with 6 minutes, 17 seconds remaining in the third period, was his 11th goal of the season and third in the last two games. Kane’s third goal — his 18th of the season — came on an empty-netter with 1:03 remaining. Kane also has had two hat tricks in the postseason.

Robin Lehner stopped 23 shots for the Hawks.

Kane’s first tally barely made it over the goal line and wasn’t confirmed until after play stopped and a video review found it had gone in.

His second of the game deflected off a stick and found its way through goalie Kaapo Kahkonen’s legs to put the Hawks up 2-0 with 8:27 left in the first period.

Right on target!

A little over a minute later, Eric Staal picked up the 1,000th point of his career when he blew a slap shot past Lehner to make it 2-1.

The Wild tied it early in the second when Kevin Fiala scored the first of his two goals on a breakaway. The Hawks regained the lead on David Kampf’s deflection of a Connor Murphy shot for his fifth goal of the season that set a career high.

But before the second period could come to a close, the Wild tied it again as Fiala’s shot through the crease deflected off Olli Maatta’s skate and into the net to tie it at 3.

The Hawks are off for a couple of days before opening a two-game road trip on Thursday against the Jets.

Chicago Tribune LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166475 Chicago Blackhawks Last season, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Alex DeBrincat and Erik Gustafsson had remarkable offensive campaigns. All of them — even Kane, who hardly has been a problem — are well off that pace, and Column: Why can’t the Blackhawks be fixed? Let’s count the ways. nobody else has picked up the slack.

Even the goaltending of Robin Lehner and Corey Crawford has come back to earth after their terrific starts. In their last four starts, Lehner has By JIMMY GREENFIELD an .887 save percentage and Crawford is a tad above at .896.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE Because the team isn’t responding to Jeremy Colliton.

DEC 15, 2019 | 6:37 PM The Hawks coach has tried countless line combinations and defensive pairings, and after the slow start he changed a key part of their defensive

structure. That adjustment initially led to more offense, but the Hawks A little optimism is not a bad thing when a season is crumbling before have scored only 28 goals in their last 13 games entering Sunday’s game your eyes. against the Wild.

That’s a team captain’s responsibility, and Jonathan Toews has been X’s and O’s aside, Colliton’s style hasn’t produced a consistent effort one of the NHL’s best for more than a decade. When he’s inevitably night in and night out. inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame years from now, his leadership will Too many times following a loss, Colliton has had to point out that his be one of the attributes that gets him in. team didn’t work hard for a full 60 minutes. Too many periods have So when Toews was asked following Saturday’s collapse against the inexplicably been taken off when it could have been the difference in the Blues whether the Blackhawks’ problems are fixable, he didn’t hesitate to game. respond. After Thursday’s 5-2 loss to the Coyotes — a game in which the Hawks "Why not?" he asked. fell behind 3-0 after one period and never were in the game — captain Jonathan Toews referred to the team’s lack of energy. Good question. And Toews provided his answer. "When that energy is there and we want the puck and are tough on the "It's easy to look at the storyline and get really discouraged and come up puck battles everything falls into place for us," he said. "Hasn't been with the wrong mentality in your mind about what can happen going there these past two games." forward," he said. "But it's the wrong way to go about it. We've just got to focus on (Sunday) night and build off the things we keep doing well. Each Because the future is in doubt. guy has to look at himself and try to find ways to bring more out of It’s dangerous to look too far down the road and make predictions, but it’s himself every night." hard to see when the Hawks will emerge from their status as a perennial There’s nothing wrong with believing in your team, especially when more lottery team. than half the season remains and it’s faced with 3½ months of playing Kane and Toews aren’t getting any younger. The defense is in flux with out the string. Keith in his mid-30s, Brent Seabrook a shadow of his former self and no But that doesn’t make many of the problems facing the Hawks fixable in clear future No. 1 in the organization. Boqvist could fill that role, but at 19, the short term or even the long term. it’s not happening soon.

Why not? Here's why not. Most worrisome might be the future of Lehner and Crawford, both of whom are are free agents after the season. It's not out of the realm of Because too many important players are hurt. possibility that Crawford retires and Lehner signs elsewhere.

We’ll start with one that provides the Hawks some cover. The loss of The Hawks are in decent shape with the to re-sign either Duncan Keith (groin), Andrew Shaw (concussion), Calvin de Haan Lehner or Crawford, give Dylan Strome a deserved raise when he (shoulder) and Drake Caggiula (concussion) for lengthy periods has been becomes a restricted free agent this summer and maybe add a free difficult. None has a return date scheduled, and according to one report agent. They’ll have to do that with the minors barren of top-tier prospects. de Haan will miss the rest of the season. Because nothing lasts forever. The Hawks are 2-6-1 since Keith was injured on Nov. 29. They lost de Haan near the end of the first period Tuesday against the Golden Knights Part of the angst over the Hawks’ demise is the incredulity about how far and were outscored 14-6 in the next eight periods while losing three and fast they have fallen. They were very good for a very long time, but straight. the good times are over, at least for the time being.

Injuries matter. Which leads us to the next reason why the Hawks aren't It’s also painful for Hawks fans to see teams they used to compete with fixable. for Stanley Cups — the Penguins, Bruins and Lightning — maintaining excellence. Time will get them eventually. Just ask the Kings, Red Wings Because they don’t have adequate replacements for injured players. and Devils.

The Hawks spoke of having more depth at the NHL level this season and But that shouldn’t comfort fans who look at the Hawks these days and believed Rockford was well-stocked to help if needed. That hasn’t been can’t muster the optimism to ask, Why not? the case. Instead, most are asking a more honest question: When will change Adam Boqvist, Matthew Highmore, Dylan Sikura, Dennis Gilbert and come? Anton Wedin have joined the Hawks from Rockford in the last few weeks — all but Wedin are still with the club — and have combined for no goals It’s a fair question. And if the Hawks are wise, they’ll start to provide and two assists in that time. answers soon.

Gilbert has been a physical presence, but the others, including Boqvist, have contributed little. Chicago Tribune LOADED: 12.16.2019 Because even when healthy the team isn’t good enough.

Even before Keith’s injury, the Hawks were hardly world-beaters. They were 10-9-5 prior to Keith getting hurt, and after opening the season 0-2- 1 haven’t spent a day in playoff position.

If a number of players were having career years the Hawks would be in a different situation, but you could say that for every team. 1166476 Chicago Blackhawks Kris Versteeg greets fans during the opening ceremony of the 2015 Blackhawks Convention in July.

With that kind of imagination, it’s no wonder Versteeg is looking to a For Kris Versteeg, the end of his NHL career is now a reality: ‘It’s almost career in front of the camera. Nothing is set, but he has had talks with like breaking up with a girlfriend when you don’t want to break up’ Sportsnet, a Canadian sports network, about a broadcasting job after the Slovakian season ends.

By JIMMY GREENFIELD Versteeg won the Stanley Cup with the Hawks twice — in 2010 and 2015. But he realizes he won’t be remembered in the same way as CHICAGO TRIBUNE Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.

DEC 15, 2019 | 8:00 AM Which is why being honored Sunday at the United Center is so important to him and other players who were important to the organization but

weren’t superstars. GLENDALE, ARIZ. “I know I’m not a Hall of Famer,” Versteeg said. “So when they do things The next time Kris Versteeg steps on the ice in a hockey uniform will be like this for players, it means a lot because we’ll never have our day in Sunday at the United Center as part of the Blackhawks’ “One More Shift” Toronto or anything. For us to say thanks and say goodbye to the fans is program to honor former players. really special.”

But it won’t be his last shift. Versteeg isn’t retiring yet.

Not until he can live out one final dream. Chicago Tribune LOADED: 12.16.2019

After leaving the Rockford IceHogs last month, Versteeg flew to Slovakia and joined his brother, Mitch, playing for HK Nitra in the country’s top professional league. It was the first time they had played together professionally, and it won’t be the last.

Versteeg plans to play for Team Canada in the , an international tournament in Switzerland, then return to HK Nitra and finish out the season.

“(In) the second game (Mitch) scored a goal and we were on the ice together,” said Versteeg, who left the team after two games because of an elbow injury. “It’s different when you go into a goal celebration when you get to hug your brother.”

The transition away from an NHL career has been ongoing for Versteeg, who grew up in Lethbridge, Alberta, in a difficult environment. There wasn’t much money, and trouble seemed to find him and his friends.

But there was support along the way.

“If it wasn’t for my grandparents, there’s no way we could have played sports in the area I grew up in,” he said. “Some kids I grew up with and friends — some actually aren’t even here anymore and some have had tough times. It’s very fortunate for me that I had good people to help me out. I did get in trouble when I was younger. I’ve always looked at how fortunate and lucky I am beyond anything else.”

At 33, Versteeg still believes he is capable of playing in the NHL. But not in the same way he did during an 11-year career in which he had 358 points (149 goals, 209 assists) in 643 games.

[Most read] Chicago spot makes TripAdvisor’s list of world’s top tourist attractions in 2019 »

He sees how former teammate Troy Brouwer, now with the Blues, has adapted his game from being a 20-goal scorer who played third-line minutes to a fourth-line winger whose primary responsibility is to help on defense.

“I wasn’t really willing to block a shot every single game just to stay in the NHL,” Versteeg said. “I wanted to play in the NHL, play offense and play the way I can. I wasn’t going to mold myself or change the way I play in order to stay in the league. That’s what certain guys have done, and you’ve got to give them credit because they’re willing to do it. I wasn’t willing to do it, though.”

Which is why retirement is just around the corner. He has struggled to use that word but came up with a tremendous analogy to describe what it’s like to no longer live an NHL lifestyle.

“It’s like going on ‘The Bachelor’ for 11 years, and then all of a sudden for this guy and girl, the show’s over and they’re not on yachts anymore,” Versteeg said. "They’re in a one-bedroom apartment. Not saying it’s to that degree, but you play in the NHL and live this fantasy. It can alter your perception. It’s very stressful.

“It is difficult, though, when you start throwing the word around and start thinking about retirement and where to go next. It does get difficult, especially being in the league that long. It’s almost like breaking up with a girlfriend when you don’t want to break up with them.” 1166477 Chicago Blackhawks ‘‘He had a hell of a game,’’ Lehner said of Kane. ‘‘He’s one of our leaders, and he stepped up and helped turn this around for us.’’

With Blackhawks’ season on the ropes, Patrick Kane takes charge Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 12.16.2019

By Ben Pope@BenPopeCST

Dec 15, 2019, 9:58pm CST

Patrick Kane felt his play slipping, the Blackhawks declining with him and another season moving steadily in the wrong direction.

Motivated to take it upon himself to do something — anything — about it, Kane delivered a vintage performance in a 5-3 victory Sunday against the Wild that ended the Hawks’ four-game losing streak.

‘‘I don’t think I’ve been playing as well the past 10 games or so, so I want to start playing better for the team,’’ Kane said. ‘‘If I play better, it’s obviously going to bring more to the group and a better chance for us to win.’’

Kane scored twice in the first 12 minutes, finished with seven shots on goal and capped his sixth career hat trick with an empty-netter.

As caps cascaded onto the ice at the United Center, delighting a crowd that began the night heartily booing coach Jeremy Colliton, and Kane pointed and smiled at longtime partner-in-crime Jonathan Toews, the gloom of the Hawks’ 4-3 loss Saturday to the Blues — in which they squandered a 3-0 lead in the third period — was miraculously forgotten.

That’s because the Hawks, despite their many weaknesses, have proved to be a resilient group in back-to-backs this season. They’re 6-1-0 in second legs, somehow unaffected by the fatigue of two games in a 24- hour span.

It’s just another weird quirk in a season that so far has been full of them.

‘‘I saw when we play every other day, our record hasn’t been very good,’’ Colliton said. ‘‘But then when we have a lot of rest or no rest, we’re good. You break that down for me.’’

‘‘It was nice that we played again [Sunday], to be honest with you,’’ Kane said. ‘‘Never want to sit on that for a few days.’’

Kane now has scored 18 goals, tied for ninth in the league. He’s on pace for 96 points, which would be the third-most in his much-decorated 13- year career.

While so many other members of the Hawks’ core desperately search for their old ‘‘A’’ games, Kane clearly hasn’t taken a step back. He’s a bright spot — albeit one virtually taken for granted at this point — on a blatantly dysfunctional roster.

‘‘He has such patience with the puck, and he’s so accurate with his shot,’’ said goalie Robin Lehner, who made 23 saves. ‘‘He doesn’t shoot in the conventional [way]. . . . He goes between the arms, between the legs, over the pads. It’s very hard, as a goalie, to get a read. He waits you out, and then it’s in.’’

The dysfunctional aspect of the Hawks isn’t eliminated by one game, either. They still managed to blow the 2-0 lead Kane gave them — their fourth blown multigoal lead in their last seven games — and conceded more shots and scoring chances (at five-on-five) than they generated.

But having a superstar of Kane’s caliber gives them a chance to keep the game at least somewhat balanced every night. And he proved that again against the Wild.

‘‘Sometimes when I’m not playing as well, I’m waiting around for [the puck] instead of going and getting it myself,’’ Kane said. ‘‘Both goals that I had tonight, I get the puck and I’m moving and I have the puck in motion.’’

He was in motion on both goals, the first a surprising wrap-around stuff-in ruled a goal upon review and the second a wrist shot from the slot that glanced off the stick of a Wild player.

The Hawks hadn’t had much luck with either of those things earlier this season. But a monster game from their best player is enough to change that pattern. 1166478 Chicago Blackhawks

Blackhawks’ Adam Boqvist plays in 10th NHL game, officially starting the clock on his entry-level contract

By Ben Pope@BenPopeCST

Dec 15, 2019, 6:46pm CST

A fact that had become increasingly clear in the last week is now official: The Blackhawks are committed to making rookie Adam Boqvist an NHL defenseman this season.

Boqvist, 19, played in his 10th NHL game Sunday against the Wild, guaranteeing that the first year of his three-year entry-level contract will kick in this season. That means the contract will expire in the summer of 2022 rather than in the summer of 2023, making him a restricted free agent that offseason.

It was a calculated decision on the Hawks’ end. Despite bouncing back and forth between Rockford and Chicago this fall, Boqvist has seen his role on the Hawks increase dramatically in recent games, thanks to the absences of Duncan Keith and Calvin de Haan, and has a promising opportunity to cement his role as a full-time NHL player.

With Boqvist reaping minutes and experience so rapidly right now, sending him down to the minors again to save a contract year wouldn’t make much sense. The Hawks made this same decision with center Kirby Dach earlier this season with an equal lack of hesitation.

‘‘As far as coach perspective, we like him,’’ coach Jeremy Colliton said Sunday. ‘‘I think he’s played well, and it’s an opportunity, with some injuries, to give him some ice time. He’s handled it well so far.’’

Of note now is the 40-game milestone. If Boqvist spends 40 games on the roster (he’s at 11 now), 2019-20 will count as an ‘‘accrued season.’’ That means he would become eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2026 (seven accrued seasons).

A day after committing an egregious defensive-zone turnover that jump- started the Blues’ comeback, wing Alex Nylander was elevated, not demoted, for the game against the Wild.

Nylander was moved to a high-firepower line with Patrick Kane and Dylan Strome for the Hawks’ return home after skating on lower lines throughout their recent road trip. The switch resulted in Nylander assisting on a goal by Kane in the first period.

The young forward has enjoyed a generous leash from the Hawks despite his recent lack of productivity. To his credit, he has been honest about his struggles and about his need to make changes.

A month after leaving his post as Rockford’s captain, former Hawks wing Kris Versteeg was honored with ‘‘One More Shift’’ before the game.

Versteeg became the third retired Hawks player to be so honored this season, joining Dave Bolland and Brian Campbell.

The two-time Stanley Cup winner appeared to be holding back some emotions as he stood alongside captain Jonathan Toews during the national anthem.

Versteeg was granted mutual termination of his American Hockey League contract Nov. 17 after dealing with recurring injuries and running into a mental wall during the early portions of the IceHogs’ season. He told reporters at the time he felt guilty about occupying a roster spot and keeping a hungry prospect out of the lineup.

‘‘If I’m in there and I’m not pulling my weight — and I know I’m not — then it’s not fair to them,’’ he said at the time.

Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166479 Chicago Blackhawks “They showed it’s possible,” Colliton said. “But ultimately, we have our own situation. They improved, so that’s what we need to do.”

Blues’ Stanley Cup run provides tangible, if small, evidence to support Blackhawks’ optimism Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 12.16.2019

By Ben Pope@BenPopeCST

Dec 15, 2019, 6:55am CST

ST. LOUIS — The 2019 Stanley Cup -banner hangs directly above the benches, gazing down on the Enterprise Center’s new lower-bowl seats and new sellout streak and new hockey obsession.

For the Blues’ franchise, the banner has no peers. Two rows of comparatively insignificant division titles and retired numbers bookend its place in the rafters.

For the Blackhawks — and many of their current players — it would be a different story, no matter how much the old core wants to add a fourth title to their legacy. But for rookie Kirby Dach, there’s something a little special about the image of that silver trophy, even in a division rival’s digs.

“Every game you play as a kid is for a Stanley Cup,” Dach said Saturday. “Road hockey, pond hockey, anything you’re doing, it’s always for the Stanley Cup. It’s a dream of mine, and obviously I want to make that come true.”

“The way that St. Louis turned it around last year and where they were in the standings just shows how much parity there is in the league and [how] you’re able to flip-flop positions pretty easily. Once our group gets hot, we’ll get on a roll, and things will be -pretty good for us.”

That degree of optimism — “once” and “when,” not “if,” are always the words used when speculating about a season turnaround — permeates the Hawks’ dressing room. It’s what one would expect from the Blues, who are leading the Western Conference and well-positioned for a possible championship repeat, but not so much the Hawks.

To their credit, the Hawks haven’t let the recent blowouts and meltdowns and their spot at the bottom of the division — just one point ahead of last place in the conference — greatly affect their psyche.

“Considering we haven’t been getting the results, the morale’s pretty good,” coach Jeremy Colliton said. “Ultimately, the way to get the results is to get better. We have to improve, and that’s been our focus, whether it’s been in practice or meetings [or] in the games.”

Of greater concern is how much tangible evidence supports that positivity.

Unlike during the seven-game homestand in October, when the Hawks were losing but playing pretty well, neither quality performances nor victories have happened much lately. Thanksgiving, a popular cut-off date for separating contenders and pretenders, is weeks into the rear- view mirror.

By now, the odds are bleak: Of the 15 teams outside the playoff picture on Dec. 15 last season, only four eventually qualified. But one of those was the Blues, who had limped to a 12-14-4 record by this date last year.

Their storybook ascent from last in the NHL on New Year’s Day to a postseason berth in April to a banner-raising ceremony in October continues to give hope to many down-and-out teams this season, including the Hawks.

“You’re never really out of it,” Alex DeBrincat said. “It’s so close in the standings. For a while there, from the bottom to a wild-card playoff spot was a few points. You get one good streak, and you get the confidence and can get rolling.”

The gap is no longer just a few points, at least for the Hawks. Their postseason chances, according to Moneypuck, had dropped to a season- low 14.5 percent by Saturday afternoon, and took another hit with the 4-3 loss Saturday night.

Yet it takes just one glance up from the Blues’ ice to see real-life proof that 14.5 percent is not the same as zero -percent. 1166480 Chicago Blackhawks

With 10th NHL game this year, Adam Boqvist will finish 3-year deal in 2021-22

John Dietz

Follow @johndietzdh

Updated

12/15/2019 10:46 PM

The Blackhawks' decision to play Adam Boqvist against Minnesota on Sunday means the rookie defenseman's three-year, entry-level deal will end in 2021-22, not 2022-23.

If Boqvist played in nine or fewer NHL games this season, his contract would have extended one year, but he played in his 10th contest against the Wild at the United Center on Sunday.

"Maybe that was a discussion very early on," coach Jeremy Colliton said of keeping Boqvist in the AHL for the majority of the season. "But as far as a coach perspective, we like him. I think he's played well and it's an opportunity with some injuries to give him some ice time. He's handled it well so far."

Boqvist will become a restricted free agent in 2022-23.

When he becomes an unrestricted free agent, however, is still up in the air. If he plays 39 or fewer games this season, he won't become a UFA until 2026-27; if he plays in 40 or more, his first UFA year will be 2025- 26.

Boqvist, who was paired with Olli Maatta, has 1 goal and 1 assist. He is averaging almost 15 minutes per game.

Injury updates:

Duncan Keith, who has missed nine games with a groin injury, has resumed skating. There is no timetable for the defenseman's return, however.

Coach Jeremy Colliton also said the Hawks are still deciding what to do with Calvin de Haan, who suffered a shoulder injury during a 5-1 loss in Vegas on Tuesday. Colliton has already said it's "likely" that de Haan will miss significant time.

Slap shots:

Patrick Kane notched the sixth hat trick of his career in the Hawks' 5-3 victory over Minnesota at the United Center on Sunday. He is tied for seventh in team history. Bobby Hull is the leader with 28. ... Kane now has 374 career goals, 3 shy of tying Denis Savard for fourth on the Hawks. ... Brandon Saad's game-winner was the 35th of his career. He now has 11 goals on the season. ...

Jonathan Toews (3 assists) has 50 points against Minnesota, the most against any team in the NHL. He is also 31-for-37 (83.8 percent) on faceoffs over the last two games. ... David Kampf's second-period goal was his fifth of the season, a career high. ...

Minnesota has played 21 of 31 games on the road, where it is 7-12-2. The Wild are 9-1-3 at home. ... Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk has missed the last 13 games to deal with a medical condition to his wife that required hospitalization. He was at the United Center on Sunday.

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166481 Chicago Blackhawks off the outside of Blackhawks defenseman Olli Maatta's right skate and through the legs of Lehner with 5:40 left in the period.

Kane scores 3 times as Blackhawks beat Wild 5-3 Daily Herald Times LOADED: 12.16.2019

By JAY COHEN

Associated Press

Updated

12/15/2019 10:58 PM

CHICAGO -- While the Chicago Blackhawks have a whole bunch of issues at the moment, they also have Patrick Kane.

Kane scored three goals for his first hat trick of the season, and the Blackhawks stopped a four-game slide by topping the Minnesota Wild 5- 3 on Sunday night.

Brandon Saad and David Kampf also scored for Chicago, which had dropped seven of nine overall. Jonathan Toews had three assists, and Robin Lehner made 23 stops.

Kane scored Saturday night, helping the Blackhawks open a 3-0 lead in the third period at St. Louis. But the Stanley Cup champions roared back for a 4-3 victory.

'œIt was nice we played again today, to be honest with you," Kane said. 'œYou never like sitting on that one for a few days."

Kevin Fiala scored twice for Minnesota in the opener of a three-game trip. Eric Staal also scored for his 1,000th career point, and Ryan Suter had three assists.

The Wild, who beat Philadelphia 4-1 on Saturday night, dropped to 10-2- 4 in their past 16 games.

'œI don't think we were as fresh as we have been," Staal said. 'œWe looked a little fatigued at times and I don't think our execution was as high."

The game was tied at 3 in the third period when Saad muscled his way to his 11th goal of the season. The rugged forward was grappling with Minnesota defenseman Matt Dumba in front when he managed to tip Connor Murphy's shot from the right point past Kaapo Kahkonen with 6:17 left.

'œSometimes you've got to be lucky to get a bounce there," Saad said. 'œThat's what we needed tonight.'•

Kane then added an empty-netter with 1:03 left, completing his sixth career regular-season hat trick. He has a team-high 18 goals this season.

'œI don't think I've been playing as well the past 10 games or so," he said. 'œI want to start playing better for the team. If I play better, it's obviously going to bring more to the group, a better chance for us to win.'•

Kane got his first goal when he poked in a rebound of his own wraparound shot 7:42 into the first. It was a close call at the post and play was allowed to continue, but a replay review showed the puck crossed the line before Kahkonen knocked it away.

Kane then made it 2-0 when he scored from the high slot at 11:33 on a power play. Kane's shot went off Suter's stick before going into the net.

Chicago rookie Kirby Dach was sent off for hooking just 11 seconds after Kane's second goal, and Minnesota took advantage.

Staal converted a one-timer off a pass from Suter for his 12th at 12:37. The veteran center became the 89th player in NHL history to reach 1,000 points.

'œIt's difficult sometimes reflecting in the middle of a season and a career, but four numbers is a lot of numbers and I'm obviously proud of that," Staal said.

Fiala got each of his goals in the second. He beat Lehner on a breakaway for his seventh at 1:59. After Kampf redirected Murphy's shot past Kahkonen at 8:13, Fiala tied it again when his centering pass went 1166482 Chicago Blackhawks "Both (first-period) goals that I had tonight, I get the puck and I'm moving and I have the puck in motion," Kane said. "That's something I'm always trying to work on, and sometimes when I'm not playing as well I'm kind of Kane throttles Blackhawks to win over Wild with hat trick waiting around for it instead of going and getting it myself."

Minnesota fell to 16-13-5 and lost for just the second time in regulation in the last 16 games. John Dietz

Follow @johndietzdh Daily Herald Times LOADED: 12.16.2019 Updated

12/15/2019 10:12 PM

How would the Blackhawks respond?

That was the question on everyone's mind after they closed out an 0-3-0 road trip with a gut-wrenching 4-3 loss in St. Louis by blowing a 3-0 third- period lead.

Considering coach Jeremy Colliton is currently using six players with under 55 games of NHL experience and a dozen with under 200, his injury-plagued squad could easily have continued its tailspin into the depths of the Western Conference.

But Patrick Kane would have none of it.

The Hawks' superstar -- who admittedly was unhappy with his play during the past couple of weeks -- scored the game's first 2 goals, then put the nail in the coffin with an empty-netter that lifted his team to a 5-3 victory over Minnesota at the United Center on Sunday.

"We needed it," said Kane, who upped his goal total to 18 and point total to 40.

David Kampf and Brandon Saad also scored, Jonathan Toews (3) and Connor Murphy (2) had multi-assist efforts, and Robin Lehner stopped 23 shots as the Hawks won for just the third time in 10 outings.

"Happy with the result and pleased we were able to finish it off," said Colliton, whose team is now 13-15-6 and 6-0-1 on back-to-backs. "Right from the start I thought we were engaged and doing a lot of little things right."

This was the fourth time in seven games the Hawks jumped out -- and then blew -- a multi-goal lead. In this case, Minnesota knotted things up on a Eric Staal power-play goal at 12:37 of the first period and a Kevin Fiala breakaway tally at 1:59 of the second.

David Kampf put the Hawks back ahead at 8:13 of the second, but Fiala tied things up again six minutes later when his centering pass deflected off Olli Maatta's skate and got past Lehner.

Unlike against Arizona and St. Louis, however, the Hawks didn't go into a shell and kept coming hard at the Wild.

"It's what you want to see -- some resiliency," Colliton said.

He was also thrilled to finally see some much-needed net-front presence. It was the primary reason behind Kampf's goal and Saad's game-winner, which game with 6:17 remaining. Both players got position near the net and deflected long shots from the point by Murphy.

"You just leave a lot on the table when you don't have that net presence," Colliton said. "You should have someone at the net and someone on the way all the time. Then any puck you send there can go in. So we're just going to keep working at it."

Kane scored 4 goals over the weekend after managing just 3 points -- all assists -- in the previous six contests.

"I don't think I've been playing as well the past 10 games or so," he said. "Want to start playing better for the team."

Kane's goal in St. Louis came when he skated to the middle of the offensive zone and caught Blues goalie Jordan Binnington leaning to his left.

Against Minnesota, Kane first scored by tapping home his own rebound in front of the net, then added another less than four minutes later by going after a loose puck and working a pretty give-and-go with Toews. Kane patiently skated to the middle of the zone and snapped off a shot that deflected off Ryan Suter's stick and found its way past Kaapo Kahkonen. 1166483 Chicago Blackhawks

Adam Boqvist's entry-level contract with Blackhawks officially kicks in

By Charlie Roumeliotis

December 15, 2019 9:50 PM

The youth movement is underway in Chicago and it's happening quicker than expected.

Adam Boqvist played in his 10th NHL game of the season on Sunday, officially triggering the first year of his entry-level contract. That means he will become a restricted free agent at end of the 2021-22 season. If he appeared in nine games or fewer, his contract wouldn't have kicked in until next season, which would've bought the Blackhawks an extra year of Boqvist playing at a cap hit of $894,167.

"Maybe that was a discussion very early on but as far as coach perspective, we like him," head coach Jeremy Colliton said on whether he and GM Stan Bowman had conversations about burning Boqvist's first year. "I think he's played well and it's an opportunity with some injuries to give him some ice time. He's handled it well so far."

Boqvist is the second rookie on the Blackhawks this season to burn their first year, joining No. 3 overall pick Kirby Dach. Whether the decisions were dictated by circumstances or not, the Blackhawks have seen enough of both of them to feel they can have an impact on the team in the short term without hindering their developments in the long term.

The number to watch now is 40. Like Dach, if Boqvist appears in 40 or more games this season, it will count as a full season and bring him one year closer to unrestricted free agency. Any player that's accrued seven full seasons or is at least 27 years old as of June 30 of that respective year can become an unrestricted free agent.

Boqvist appeared in six games for the Blackhawks during the month of November before getting reassigned to the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League on Nov. 14 when Connor Murphy was ready to return from his groin injury.

But with Calvin de Haan (shoulder) expected to be out long term and Duncan Keith still out with a groin injury, the Blackhawks called up Boqvist for insurance and because they lacked defensemen with offensive upside. It appears he will remain with the big club for the time being and it serves as a chance for their No. 8 overall pick in 2018 to prove he can handle NHL minutes on a consistent basis during a desperate time for the Blackhawks.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166484 Chicago Blackhawks

Patrick Kane's hat trick propels Blackhawks over Wild

By Scott King

December 15, 2019 9:41 PM

As things seemingly spiraled out of control for the Blackhawks, who had lost four straight games - being outscored 14-6 in their past three - and going 3-8-2 in their past 13, they needed their top player to step up. Step up is exactly what Patrick Kane did Sunday night against a hot Minnesota Wild team.

The three-time Stanley Cup champ and 2013 Conn Smythe trophy winner scored two goals early in the first period before throwing the puck into the Wild's empy net for the 5-3 final score with a little over one minute remaining in regulation.

"It was nice to get one," Kane said of snagging his sixth career regular season hat trick. "You get two early on, you think, 'Maybe I have a chance at one.' Obviously it came a little bit later in the game, but huge fourth goal for us (from Brandon Saad) and I was able to finish it off with an empty net. Obviously that's a big win for us."

Kane made a wraparound attempt at 7:42 of the first period and the Minnesota Wild's Kaapo Kahkonen seemingly denied him with his left pad. However, the United Center crowd went crazy when they saw the replay of the attempt on the jumbotron. After a video review officials determined the puck completely crossed the goal line and the Hawks were up 1-0.

Kane recorded his second goal of the game, putting the Hawks up 2-0 at 11:33 of the first, scoring from the slot off a give-and-go with Jonathan Toews on Chicago's first power play of the game.

"Showtime" scored into the Wild's empty net at 18:57 of the third period to complete the hat trick. It was his 18th goal of the season.

"He’s such a well-rounded player," Robin Lehner said of Kane. "I think as a goalie, going in practice every day against him, he has such patience with the puck and he’s so accurate with his shot.

"He doesn’t shoot in the conventional — just go high or try to go bar and in. He goes between the arms, between the legs, over the pads, you know it’s very hard as a goalie to get a read.

"He waits you out and then it’s in. He had a hell of a game today. He’s one of our leaders and he stepped up and helped turn this around for us."

Kane felt he's been in a rut and knows when he's able to produce, it can give the team a lift.

"I don't think I've been playing as well the past 10 games or so," he said. "Want to start playing better for the team. If I play better it's obviously going to bring more to the group and (there's) a better chance for us to win. That's something we're all trying to do in here is take pride and ownership."

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166485 Chicago Blackhawks

3 Takeaways: Blackhawks bounce back with character win over Wild

By Scott King

December 15, 2019 5:59 PM

The Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild 5-3 on Sunday. Here are three takeaways:

No one thought much of Patrick Kane's wraparound attempt at 7:42 of the first period after the Minnesota Wild's Kaapo Kahkonen seemingly denied him with his left pad. However, the United Center crowd went crazy when they saw the replay of the attempt on the jumbotron. After a video review, officials determined the puck completely crossed the goal line and the Blackhawks were up 1-0 on Kane's second goal in two games.

Kane scored his second goal of the game, putting the Hawks up 2-0 at 11:33 of the first, from the slot off a give-and-go with Jonathan Toews on Chicago's first power play of the game.

Kane scored into the Wild's empty net to put the Hawks up 5-3 at 18:57 of the third period for the final score. It was his 18th goal of the season and sixth career regular-season hat trick.

"We needed it," Kane said of the win. "You know we had a good start; kind of gave up the lead again. But overall we didn't give up too many chances (and) we gave up less shots, which is good. I still think we can improve and get better. Overall probably a step in the right direction."

After losing four straight games - including Saturday's 4-3 contest in St. Louis - and being outscored 14-6 in their past three, the Blackhawks played much better on Sunday vs. Wild. Brandon Saad deflected in the game-winning goal, his third in two games, at 13:43 of the third period to make it 4-3 Chicago.

"Yeah, it’s a little puck luck," Saad said. "I think last night you get a lucky one and feel good and then tonight you just get a bounce off a deflection and that's what it takes sometimes, getting to the dirty areas."

The red-hot Wild had gone 10-1-4 in their past 15 games heading into Chicago and were two points shy of a wild card spot ahead of Sunday's game.

"Right from the start I thought we were engaged and doing a lot of little things right," Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton said. "Our puck management was good, we were playing with speed and that allowed us to get off to a pretty good start. Obviously, a couple big goals. It was nice to see the puck in the net and we were able to play from ahead. We were under control."

The Blackhawks coughed up two leads in Sunday's game. The first came after Kevin Fiala scored to make it 2-2 at 1:59 of the second period for Minnesota after Chicago led 2-0 following Kane's second goal. It was the fourth time in seven games Chicago blew a multi-goal lead. Eric Staal scored the Wild's first goal at 12:37 of the first.

The Blackhawks were also leading 3-2 in the second period (off a goal from David Kampf at 8:13), when Fiala scored again to tie it 3-3.

Unlike on Saturday, when the Hawks allowed four third period goals from St. Louis, Chicago was able to regain the lead when it counted and finish the game victorious.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166486 Chicago Blackhawks

It's time for Blackhawks to develop Kirby Dach and Adam Boqvist

By Scott King

December 15, 2019 10:37 AM

It's no secret things are rough for the Blackhawks, who are 12-15-6, right now. They've lost four straight games, been outscored 14-6 in their past three and are last place in the Central Division.

The team reached a new low after blowing a third period three-goal lead in St. Louis Saturday night and falling 4-3 in regulation to the Blues. A brutal turnover in the Hawks' defensive zone from Alex Nylander gave St. Louis their first goal of the game and all the momentum they needed to win. Nylander didn't miss a shift after.

"Okay, that was a mistake," Hawks head coach Jeremy Colliton said of Nylander's egregious error after the game. "But there was a mistake on the entry, there was a mistake on the coverage where we double up.

"If we bench everyone who makes a mistake, we're not going to have any players. So yeah, there's a time and place for that no question, but I think that the real issue is that up and down the lineup we don't do the right things all the time every shift. And again, until that changes, it's hard to win."

If the team's play has reached a level where they're doing the wrong things so consistently that an individual can't be punished with missing a shift, then you might as well throw center Kirby Dach and defenseman Adam Boqvist some more responsibility.

Saturday we learned Dach, 18, would be sticking with the Hawks and not playing in the World Junior Championships and Sunday we learned the same about Boqvist, 19.

Dach, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, and Boqvist, selected No. 8 overall in the 2018 draft, have the highest ceilings of all the Hawks' youngsters and look to be the biggest pieces of the franchise's future moving forward.

The Hawks made the decision to burn the first year of Dach's contract earlier this season. If Boqvist plays Sunday night, it'll be his 10th game with Chicago this year, meaning the first year of his contract will be burnt as well. Seeing as he's still with the club and not headed to World Juniors, it's likely to happen sooner rather than later.

As the team struggles, why not see what Dach, a big two-way center can do and give him the reps and situational experience to improve. Have him play 16-17 minutes a night instead of the 13:03 he logged in St. Louis Saturday. The rookie already has five goals and five assists with limited ice time, but what could he have playing with guys like Patrick Kane or Jonathan Toews if he got more reps as a top-six forward. He could learn a lot from them as well.

Since the D seems to struggle shift to shift as it is, why not let Boqvist, a puck-moving defenseman with a great shot, hold onto it more and let it rip?

Defenseman Dennis Gilbert, who's only played in 10 games for Chicago the past two seasons, logged 19:03 of ice time in St. Louis to Boqvist's 14:56. Boqvist needs to be out there more. He needs to spend time quarterbacking every power play as he's expected to do for years to come in a Hawks sweater.

Let the kids play. Up their ice time, give them more minutes and let them see tough matchups. At this point, I can't imagine it can hurt the Hawks more than they're already hurting. Building Dach and Boqvist's skillset, comfort and confidence now is building a better future for the Blackhawks.

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Avalanche travels without defensemen Cale Makar and Erik Johnson

By MIKE CHAMBERS | [email protected] | The Denver Post

December 15, 2019 at 4:48 PM

The Avalanche recalled defenseman Anton Lindholm ahead of its two- game road trip that goes through St. Louis and Chicago this week.

Lindholm, who has one goal in 23 games for the American Hockey League’s Colorado Eagles, has yet to play in the NHL this season. The Avs are without D-men Erik Johnson and Cale Makar, both of whom skated in red non-contact sweaters Sunday. Both are out with upper- body injuries, both believed to be to the shoulder. Johnson has missed nine games and Makar has missed three.

Neither will travel or play on the road trip, coach Jared Bednar said after Sunday’s practice.

Colorado will take a Western Conference-high 21 wins into Monday’s game against the Blues, who lead the Central Division with 46 points; the Avs are second with 45, having played two fewer games.

“They’re all important but here’s the way I look at it: When you get a chance to play the team you’re battling with for first place, or one of the teams you’re battling with for first place, it’s a measuring-stick game,” Bednar told reporters Sunday. “I see this as a game where we want to prepare like it’s a playoff game and go in there and lay it on the line. That’s a mental adjustment.

“It’s hard to create those type of circumstances without actually being in them. But I want to see what our team can do against the best team in the conference right now, and that’s St. Louis. It’s in their building and it should be a good game — not unlike the game we just had against Boston (a 4-1 win Dec. 7 at Boston).”

The Avs (21-8-3) are on a nine-game points streak (8-0-1) and lead the NHL in scoring at 3.66 goals-per-game.

St. Louis (20-8-6), the defending Stanley Cup champion, is on a two- game winning streak after losing three in a row. The Blues rallied from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 on Saturday night.

Denver Post: LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166488 Colorado Avalanche Calvert estimates that around 20 babies of Blue Jacket players were born during his eight years in Columbus, and every player knew the organization wanted the player to be at the hospital. “You really Silver lining: Injured Avalanche star Gabe Landeskog was all about appreciate when your bosses have your back, and they want you to be family in November there for your family and give you that space,” he said.

Bednar wouldn’t have it any other way.

By MIKE CHAMBERS | [email protected] | The Denver Post “Family comes first for me, and for Joe — that’s kind of the culture we’ve built here,” he said. “We would have had a conversation with Gabe and if December 15, 2019 at 6:00 am he wanted to stay home and take a day or two I’m sure we would have granted….Happy players, comfortable players, are more productive

players.” As a husband and expectant father, Gabe Landeskog was in the right Gabe and Melissa met while Gabe was playing junior hockey for the place at the right time Nov. 1. ’s Kitchener Rangers from 2009-11 and Melissa On injured reserve. was a college student in Guelph, Ontario. They were just friends at first. But the more Melissa learned about Gabe, the family man, the more she That’s when Linnea Rae Landeskog was born, all 6 pounds, 5 ounces, wanted to be around him. nearly a month before her due date. In a walking boot on his right leg, proud father Gabe — the Avalanche’s 27-year-old left wing and team They were married in the summer of 2018. They knew they wanted captain — witnessed the birth and has spent more time than he thought children. But they were both concerned about Gabe’s travel schedule he would have by his wife’s side ever since. and not having any family members in Denver.

The Avs played 17 of their first 29 games on the road, including eight of “I was always adamant about, I wasn’t going to miss it, wherever we 13 in November. Gabe never played last month, but he did change a lot were,” Gabe said of his daughter’s birth. “But it was nerve-wracking. She of diapers. was born 3 1/2 weeks early, but even when I was playing — basically a week before she was born — we were on a road trip and I kept buying “You would never wish an injury on your husband, or anybody,” said wifi on the plane in case she decided to come even earlier than that.” Melissa Landeskog, Gabe’s wife and Linnea’s mother. “It was a bittersweet feeling having him home. He was amazing. I don’t think I Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, his wife Melissa, and could have done it without him.” their 6-week-old baby girl, Linnea at their home Dec. 12, 2019.

Silver lining: Gabe is from Sweden and Melissa from Canada. No other Said Melissa: “I made a joke: Even if you get wifi and I tell you I’m in members of the family were in Denver on Nov. 1, and if Gabe wasn’t on labor, what are you going to do? You can’t tell the plane to go faster. But IR, he would have had a game that night. it’s weird how it worked it because she did come early and she came fast. So if he was on the road there was a good chance he wasn’t going Gabe was diagnosed with a broken foot Oct. 28 and missed 16 games to make it.” before returning Dec. 5. If he was healthy during that time, he would have had to make a decision about playing in the Nov. 1 home game against The Avs expect their captain to be at his best the rest of the season after the , which would have started approximately three hours not playing in what goes down as a special November for the after Linnea was born. Landeskogs.

Melissa Landeskog, wife of Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel “No question, he’ll look back on that time and be thankful for it,” Bednar Landeskog, holds their 6-week-old baby girl, Linnea at their home Dec. said. “Getting injured is never fun but to be able to spend that time with 12, 2019. his family and his family coming into town is good. And hopefully that time off makes him stronger the rest of the year. It’s a long season and “As a professional athlete, I don’t think you are at this level without being we need him most at the end. selfish — in the way of putting in the work,” Gabe said. “You think about your family and friends, and me of course about Melissa. But you don’t “Life is more important than hockey. Players appreciate that more when get to this level without a certain amount of selfishness. But with this one they come back and play.” joining us (looking down on Linnea), it’s not about me anymore. I’m doing my job; I have a job to do. But this is the main priority.” Denver Post: LOADED: 12.16.2019 The Avalanche supported Gabe being there for his family long before he broke his foot.

“The team has been great all along. We’ve had a steady conversation throughout the whole training camp and start of the season,” Gabe said. “We talked about the due date — she was supposed to come Nov. 24, a day after my birthday. But things happened and she needed to be induced at Week 37. (The team) said it from the get-go: ‘You do what you need to do. If you want to keep playing and fly home for the delivery, do that. If you want to take a few days off, no problem.'”

The organization members making those decisions were general manager Joe Sakic, assistant GM Chris MacFarland and head coach Jared Bednar. They allowed forward Matt Calvert to miss last Saturday’s game at Boston to attend his grandmother’s funeral in Manitoba, Canada.

Calvert’s youngest son was born when he was playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and as he feared, his wife, Courtney, went into labor when the Blue Jackets were on the road, flying home after playing in San Jose.

“Like Landy, it was two-to-three weeks before her due date,” Calvert said. “Little bit of panic. I had like two hours left, I think. I told the flight attendants — they actually sped up the plane. We gained 20 minutes. I was waiting at the front of the plane. Got off, got into my truck right away and probably sped all the way to the hospital and then about an hour later my youngest was born.

“I just made it and it worked out great. But definitely a little anxiety (when) she thinks she’s going to have the kid without you.” 1166489 Colorado Avalanche for possession and control the net front with the fact MacKinnon is an all- around goal-scoring threat any time he touches the puck to go with Rantanen’s playmaking prowess inside of a 6-foot-4 frame.

Suddenly, the Avs have the combinations to unlock a potentially deadly Then came the injuries. Landeskog and Rantanen’s absences forced top-six forward group Bednar to experiment at a time when the Avalanche were just starting to see sustainable success with Burakovsky, Joonas Donskoi and Kadri becoming a multifaceted second line capable of supplementing the first By Ryan S. Clark unit.

Dec 15, 2019 MacKinnon remained at center while Bednar tested out J.T. Compher, Donskoi, Tyson Jost, Kadri and Matt Nieto in determining if those players

could generate the cohesion required of a top line. The Avalanche went Injuries forced Jared Bednar and his coaching staff into shuffling their 0-4 in those games. top-six forwards over the last several weeks because it was a necessity. Sifting through those options to find a successful combination is what But now that everyone — for the time being — is healthy, the Colorado guided Bednar to see if placing Matt Calvert and Donskoi with Avalanche can use whatever combination possible to fill out their first and MacKinnon could work. The Avalanche were 4-1 in those games when second lines. Calvert and Donskoi used their puck-winning traits to grant possession to MacKinnon so he could then orchestrate scoring chances. And that’s the point. Of course, that partnership abruptly ended when Calvert inadvertently “We haven’t really had everybody healthy so it’s not like we’ve had this blocked a puck with the side of his head in a 5-4 overtime win over the all year,” Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon said. “We’re just getting Vancouver Canucks. back to our top six and obviously, figured some things out. It’s good to have depth with () in the middle; it adds a lot more depth to Burakovsky soon replaced Calvert with the Avalanche splitting the four our threats and hopefully, we get going more.” games he played with Donskoi and MacKinnon. Still, one of the takeaways of having Burakovsky play with MacKinnon was seeing him Look no further than Sunday when the Avalanche practiced before flying score three goals while finishing with five points in those contests. to St. Louis, where they will face the Blues on Monday at Enterprise Center. And, then, yes. Burakovsky got injured, too.

MacKinnon, per usual, was down the middle on the first line with Andre Rantanen soon returned and formed the MacFinland line with Donskoi Burakovsky at left wing opposite Mikko Rantanen on the right side. There and MacKinnon. Landeskog then returned to the lineup and was reunited are a couple of items worth noting. Burakovsky and MacKinnon have with MacKinnon and Rantanen. played together six times this season whereas Rantanen, along with Yet Bednar broke them up for two games because he did not like what Gabriel Landeskog, has played on the top unit with MacKinnon on what’s he was seeing from Landeskog and Rantanen as of late. become a near-exclusive basis in the last few seasons. Having Burakovsky, MacKinnon and Rantanen operate on the top line It would be the first time this season Burakovsky, MacKinnon and hypothetically provides the Avalanche with a few options in terms of their Rantanen would play together should Bednar opt to use them against the personnel. MacKinnon can drive a line with sizable wingers on the flanks. Blues. Or Rantanen can use his creativity to provide shooters Burakovsky and “We have a lot of really good top players within the whole team,” MacKinnon with scoring chances. Then again, Burakovsky could Burakovsky said before he played alongside Joonas Donskoi and potentially serve in a role that allows him to operate at the net front or MacKinnon in the team’s 3-1 win Friday against the New Jersey Devils at find openings when the attention is on MacKinnon or Rantanen. Pepsi Center. “I think we can mix them wherever and we can find “I felt like last game, especially, Mikko was working real hard and making success. That’s the depth we have on this team and right now, we have some plays,” Bednar said. “Both of our top lines were just OK in those lines that work and really work for each other and do the job. games, so I want to try to get Mikko back with Mack and see how it works “That’s something we want to keep up by playing for each other, doing out.” the job for each other and help each other out. That is how you find So what about the second line? Finding a consistent second line was an success.” issue largely due to inconsistencies among personnel. Thus the fact Along with finding options that could potentially work in the interim or Bednar went through 15 amalgamations. There have been eight different later down the road. combinations this season with most of that being attributed to injuries.

Even having six forwards capable of being used in a number of One of the primary contrasts between the second line last season amalgamations is the latest sign the Avalanche are a different team compared to this year’s edition is Kadri providing stability down the compared to last season. Much of their success throughout the 2018-19 middle. campaign was predicated on Bednar developing a strategy around The Avalanche struggled to find a permanent No. 2 center behind Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen on the top line while later filling in MacKinnon causing them to largely rotate between Compher, Jost, the rest. Alexander Kerfoot and Carl Soderberg at various times in the season. Those factors along with fewer injuries when compared to last season Kerfoot recorded 32 games in that role followed by Soderberg with 26 are why the Avalanche went with the same first line pairing for their first while Jost checked in with 11 games as Compher logged 10. 38 games. In all, Bednar only went through seven different first-line Kadri has already occupied the second-line center role 26 times out of combinations. the Avalanche’s 32 games. That number could be higher if not for the two So far, the Avalanche have gone through eight different medleys on the games he played as MacKinnon’s left winger along with the fact he first unit with MacKinnon serving as the primary constant in whatever missed three contests due to injury. triumvirate Bednar has created. “I think that’s the best part: We keep doing what we’re doing,” Kadri said “I think what it does is you get into some games and things aren’t of the second line. “I think everybody has that chemistry and knows each working, you have the freedom to try and spark your team and juggle other’s tendencies by now. You’re just able to read off guys and that’s guys around a little bit,” Bednar said. “With some of the injuries that what hockey is all about. Read and react and we’re doing a good job so we’ve had to this point in the season, we’ve been forced to shuffle things far.” around and found some other combinations besides the just regular ones Bednar chose to place Donskoi, Kadri and Landeskog together to create we started the year with that have worked and have helped us win a line that should utilize their tendencies to work for possession in an hockey games and getting some good production out of those guys.” attempt to hold onto the puck while creating scoring chances. Bednar opened the season by playing his traditional first line of Donskoi and Kadri already have a familiarity because they were paired Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen for the first nine games. It is a trio together to start the season. But they have not been on the same line in that complemented one another by utilizing Landeskog’s ability to fight more than a month with injuries limiting their partnership to 12 games. Kadri and Landeskog, who have operated on the first-team power-play unit together, have played together twice this season and that came in the Avs’ two most recent games.

For those scoring at home, Monday would mark the first time Donskoi and Landeskog would start on the same line all season if the lines from practice are used against the Blues.

“It’s a great problem to have for sure,” Kadri said of the Avs having so many top-six forward options. “Whereas last year I don’t think they had nearly that same problem. So, it’s always nice for guys to come in and out of the lineup, spark some lines and it gives other teams different looks and makes it harder to defend against when the same two or three guys aren’t playing together.”

Arguably one of the more intriguing aspects of Bednar having this many options were the questions about how it would all work when the season started.

Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen were a proven combination. Kadri also had the required credentials of being a second-line center who scored 32 goals in consecutive seasons before the Toronto Maple Leafs signed John Tavares, moving him to a third-line role.

The same could not be said of Burakovsky and Donskoi. Burakovsky had some second-line experience but largely played outside of that capacity with the Washington Capitals while Donskoi was used as a bottom-six option during his time with the San Jose Sharks.

“It’s obviously fun and something I’ve been working hard to try to achieve and I’m trying and I will do everything I can to keep that spot,” Donskoi said. “That means playing my best and hopefully I am able to do it. But it’s a lot of fun and I’ve had a lot more ice time than I had in San Jose and it’s obviously more fun.”

Burakovsky is on pace for a 33-goal season and is one more away from passing the 12-goal mark he has reached the last three years.

Donskoi is also on trajectory for a 33-goal campaign while being two goals away from surpassing what he achieved by scoring 14 goals over the last two seasons.

Again. Options.

“We have a lot of depth in this room and it’s early in the year so we’re kinda still trying to find the right lineup and the right lines and try mixing and matching,” Donskoi said. “Sometimes, some guys are not maybe playing their best and then we can switch. A lot of guys have experience playing with each other. I think it’s a good thing.”

The Athletic LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166490 Columbus Blue Jackets It would be cliché to say that losing to the Senators added insult to injury, but it’s not in this case. After the Jackets lost Sonny Milano, Josh Anderson and Ryan Murray to upper-body injuries, this time it was the Senators 4, Blue Jackets 3, OT | The 3-2-1 postgame rundown other way around.

Injuries were added to insult.

Brian Hedger The Columbus Dispatch "We’re a young team," one player said afterward. "We’re developing our young guys, but that doesn’t mean we’re throwing in the towel. This is an Dec 15, 2019 at 7:25 AM 82-game season. We still want to make a push for it and we’re doing way better than people thought. So, that’s a positive sign."

The Blue Jackets, of course, can only wish one of their own had said OTTAWA, Ontario – There are a lot of ways to experience agony in those words. Instead, it was Ottawa’s leading scorer. hockey. Goes by the name of "Duclair." Puck to the face. Puck to exposed areas. Stick to the face or straight in the teeth. Skate wounds. Huge hits. Fists crashing into your head. Here is a 3-2-1 rundown on the Jackets’ latest agonizing loss – three takeaways, two questions and one more thing to know: And that’s just the physical kind. Three takeaways There is also a mental torment the Blue Jackets are saddled with right now. It’s coming at them from all sides, there’s not much they’ve been 1) Opportunity rocks able to do about it and there are 50 games left for things to either get a whole lot better or keep getting worse. Duclair’s goals were his 16th, 17th and 18th, which means he is eight goals ahead of Pierre-Luc Dubois’ 10 to lead the Blue Jackets. He also The latest sting arrived in the form of yet another overtime loss, their fifth has seven assists and 25 points, which would also lead the Blue Jackets of the season. This time, they lost 4-3 to the rebuilding Ottawa Senators by three over Dubois. in a Saturday matinee at Canadian Tire Centre. This isn’t a commentary on Dubois, though. He’s one of the few Blue That would’ve been bad enough, coming on the heels of a 1-0 overtime Jackets forwards who is producing points amid their season-long struggle loss Thursday in Pittsburgh, but the who and the how of this game made to score. it even worse. No, this was more about Duclair and the freedom he’s gotten from coach Remember Anthony Duclair, the highly-skilled, enigmatic young forward D.J. Smith in Ottawa. Duclair still has defensive issues and times when the Blue Jackets signed last season as a pet project for coach John he makes egregious mistakes – the kind that drove Tortorella crazy. He’s Tortorella? just playing on a team now that doesn’t need to bench him because of them. He’s getting second, third and fourth chances on a team that Remember what happened with that experiment and how it ended with knows the playoffs are pipe dream, which means he’s getting loads of ice Tortorella finally throwing his hands up after Duclair’s inconsistent play time and opportunities to create offense. turned his face a reddish purple at times? "I’ve just been given the opportunity of proving myself every shift," Duclair remembers, along with the Blue Jackets and a vocal group of Duclair said. "Sometimes I don’t have a good shift or make a bad play, their maligned fans. In case anybody forgot him, though, Duclair sent a but the big thing is I’m right back out there the next shift and I can prove personal reminder with his third career hat trick as an NHL player – the myself, that it won’t happen again … compared to, in the past, last goal another gut punch to the Jackets in overtime. sometimes if I make a mistake or whatnot, I’m sort of glued to the bench. It was another stinging defeat for his former team, as the Jackets quickly So, I’m just happy to get continuing opportunities." and solemnly packed their bags afterward. It wasn’t so much the fact Duclair’s first goal was a gift from rookie goalie Elvis Merzlikins, who was Duclair was the guy who delivered the knockout punch so much as the beaten on the glove side by a shot that is usually stopped. His other two fact he isn’t the only familiar face who has done that to them recently. were one-time blasts that neither Merzlikins nor his replacement to start This is about agony, remember? the second, Joonas Korpisalo, had a chance to stop.

The Jackets have also lost recently to the New York Rangers on a Duclair pounded the puck home to cap a 2-on-1 in the first period, giving winning goal scored by Artemi Panarin at Nationwide Arena and then Ottawa a 2-1 lead, then ended the game with a one-timer from the right were beaten 4-1 by the Florida Panthers in a game that helped former face-off circle to cap a power play in overtime. teammate Sergei Bobrovsky get out of new coach Joel Quenneville’s dog "He’s a good player," Dubois said. "Sometimes opportunity is refreshing. house. He’s been playing really well since he’s been in Ottawa. He played well in In between those games, they lost in Pittsburgh against a team missing Columbus, but he’s got a good role here and he’s got a lot of confidence. five lineup regulars that included stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. He’s a good guy, a good teammate ... so, everybody in here, we all like That one prompted coach John Tortorella to call it an "embarrassing" him and we’re all happy for him." effort for all involved, including himself and his assistant coaches. 2) Cam’s close encounters A big response was expected against Ottawa, right off the hop, but then The good news for Cam Atkinson is that he scored another goal, which Duclair scored a goal just 2:16 into the game - his first of two goals in the was his eighth of the season and fourth in the past five games. The bad first period alone. news is he could’ve had a hat trick of his own. This is hockey agony. Atkinson played a strong game, forcing multiple turnovers, but one It’s getting painful to watch and even more bitter for the Blue Jackets to vexing area put a damper on his day. It’s the same area that has caused accept, too. They entered this season fully confident that losing Panarin, him to shake his head in disbelief after numerous failed scoring chances Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene and others wouldn’t keep them from qualifying this season. for the Stanley Cup Playoffs a fourth straight time. Creating scoring chances is the good part, but the number of missed After 32 games, including 20 decided by just one goal, they are miles shots, great goalie saves and shots that hit metal instead of mesh is away from playoff contention and wondering how, exactly, they got here. weighing on him. Even his goal was scored the hardest way possible, Part of the reason is a middling 9-5-6 record in those one-goal games, with a video review that determined his beautiful deke to the forehand part is tied to not winning enough when scoring first (12-4-1) and a huge actually did send the puck over the goal line ... inside goalie Anders part is what happens when they don’t score the first goal (0-10-5). Nilsson’s outstretched glove.

It’s agony, plain and simple. It’s mental brutality. They are in just about Atkinson wasn’t nearly as fortunate the rest of the game. every game, but haven’t turned nearly enough of them into victories. In the second period, he intercepted another pass in the neutral zone that led to an uncontested rush with Nick Foligno. It looked like a sure goal in the making, after Foligno fed a pass over, but Atkinson’s shot appeared Asked one of his teammate or Anderson himself and the answer is to clip the edge of Nilsson’s glove and deflect wide. almost certainly going to be yes. Ask somebody outside the team, it’s at least debatable. An inch higher and it would’ve been tied 2-2 at 7:45 of the second period. Instead, Connor Brown scored off his own breakaway 32 seconds later to There was no postgame update given about any of the Jackets’ trio of put Ottawa up 3-1. injured players and it’s unclear when, exactly, Anderson sustained his upper-body injury. That sequence was a snapshot of how this entire season has gone for both Atkinson and the Blue Jackets, who again outshot an opponent by a If it happened during his scrap with rugged Senators defenseman Mark wide margin (41-27) and lost. Borowiecki, whose hit injured Milano, Anderson’s decision to challenge him off the next face-off might be seen in a slightly different light. That wasn’t the end of Atkinson’s frustrations, though. There are merits to both sides. He also missed off Foligno’s rebound in the third, sending a backhand attempt wide from close range, and then Nilsson got him with the glove The reason Anderson did it was because Borowiecki slammed Milano’s on another breakaway in overtime. Duclair scored the winner 33 seconds face into the boards in the Ottawa zone. Milano stumbled and was on his later, after Alexander Wennberg took a slashing penalty at the other end knees when Borowiecki skated back and stapled him, but it didn’t look of the ice. like he knew what would result by doing it. Milano stayed down for a while and left on wobbly legs, which Anderson felt was a fight-worthy 3) Elvis exits early scenario.

Despite Korpisalo looking razor sharp in his last two starts, Tortorella He and Borowiecki went at it right off the next puck drop, with Anderson gave Merzlikins the nod. Still looking for his first career victory, Merzlikins landing five punches before Borowiecki could get in any of his own. The made his eighth start – all in road games – and ninth appearance. fervor Anderson threw his punches with was eye-opening, as was It did not go well. It also did not last long. Borowiecki’s ability to weather it.

Merzlikins was replaced by Korpisalo to start the second, after allowing A message was loudly sent on behalf of the Blue Jackets, but if Duclair’s first two goals in the first. Anderson misses further action because of it, the benefits could be overshadowed. It’s been a frustrating season for Anderson, the Jackets’ Until this game, he’d begun to look a lot more confident in net. That top power forward. He only has one goal and four points in 26 games, wasn’t the case in Ottawa, where Merzlikins looked off from the start. The but it would be worse for the Jackets if he misses additional time. Senators actually could’ve led 3-1 in the first period had the Jackets’ video review not erased a snipe by Nick Paul to the far side. After Milano and Anderson left, the Blue Jackets were down to 10 forwards. That’s enough for three lines plus one extra skater to be mixed Tortorella had seen enough by the end of the period. Asked after the and matched. game about the first goal, he didn’t mince words. Tortorella started out trying to keep fourth-line center Riley Nash "It’s something we can’t have right now," Tortorella said. involved, but another line caught his eye in the third period: rookie left- wing Eric Robinson, Dubois and Texier. Two questions Nash became the odd man out of the playing mix, skating just one third- 1) Is it time to shift the focus? period shift, while Robinson, Dubois and Texier generated Texier’s two This was as close to a "must-win" game as you’re going to get at this goals. Things change quickly among Blue Jackets forward lines this point in the NHL regular season. It was the Jackets’ second straight season, but this combination has potential. Robinson and Dubois each overtime loss and sixth defeat in their past seven games, with a limited picked up assists on Texier’s goals and there was notable chemistry bright side of a point earned in the past two. between the three of them.

After their humbling loss Thursday in Pittsburgh, when Korpisalo almost "When we put them together, they played well," Tortorella said. "I was single-handedly earned the point with 31 saves, the expectation was a alternating Nasher and Robby for a few shifts with Luc and Tex, but it just big rebound in Ottawa. It didn’t happen until the third period, when the kind of took off in the third period, so we just stayed with it. Nasher kind Jackets’ desperation level finally kicked in while trailing 3-1. They outshot of had to sit." the Senators 20-5 in the period, tying it on goals by rookie Alexandre

Texier. Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 12.16.2019 Once again, though, it was too little and too late - a repeating occurrence this season.

The loss dropped Columbus to 12-14-6 overall and erased the cushion in points they had over the Senators within the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets are still 13th with 30 points, but Ottawa now has 30 points, as well. The Senators have played one more game, so they’re technically 14th.

The Blue Jackets still believe they can make the playoffs and will continue to believe that until they are mathematically eliminated, which might not happen until March. Management and the coaching staff, however, are a different story. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen, Tortorella and others within hockey operations may need to start thinking about the future sooner than later.

That means ice-time decisions, lineup decisions, possible moves to gain draft picks and preparation for the draft - which is widely believed to be rife with impact players.

"We have a lot of things going on with our club, and as I’ve said (before), you want to win now but I also have to realize - and I’m in total communication with Jarmo, too - as far as we have to look at future too," Tortorella said. "That’s just the lay of the land with our team right now."

2) Was Anderson’s fight the right decision?

Depends on who you ask. 1166491 Detroit Red Wings Zadina ended the Kings' shutout bid when he scored off a rebound from the left side. Bowey and Mantha had the assists.

Bowey scored on a shot from the point with 2:23 remaining. Detroit Red Wings take a step back in 4-2 loss to Western Conference- worst Kings

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 12.16.2019

Dana Gauruder,

Published 9:55 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019

Updated 10:40 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019

The Detroit Red Wings reverted to form Sunday night, again looking like the worst team in the NHL.

Facing the team with the fewest points in the Western Conference, the Wings were thumped by the Los Angeles Kings, 4-2, at Little Caesars Arena.

The Wings had won their previous two games — a 5-2 home triumph over Winnipeg on Thursday, which snapped a 12-game winless streak, and a 2-1 victory at Montreal on Saturday.

Eric Comrie, making his second start in goal since being acquired from Arizona on Nov. 30, made 28 saves but gave up two goals off rebounds.

Anze Kopitar had two goals for the Kings, who defeated the Wings 3-2 in overtime at Staples Center on Nov. 14 in Los Angeles.

Filip Zadina and Madison Bowey each scored his second goal of the season.

Nielsen still can't buy a goal

The frustration for Frans Nielsen continued to pile up in the opening period.

The fourth-line center has no goals and one assist despite missing just four games this season. He had a chance to score during a power play in the opening minutes. He parked himself near the net but whiffed on an attempted one-timer.

Nielsen had the team's first shot on goal more than eight minutes into the game, but Jack Campbell, who got the start with No. 1 goalie Jonathan Quick getting the night off, made a left pad save.

Nielsen also had the Wings' next shot on net during a short-handed situation but Campbell made another leg save on his backhander.

Power play comes up empty

The Kings entered the game 29th on the penalty kill on the road but the Wings came up empty on three first-period power plays, when they managed only two shots on goal.

Passing was a major issue, as their attempts to set up plays from the point often led to the puck trickling out of the zone.

Can't cope with Kopitar

A bad bounce put the Wings in a 2-0 deficit in the opening minute of the second period. Kopitar passed the puck from the left circle and it bounced off defenseman Jonathan Ericsson's skate and past Comrie.

Kopitar's second goal of the period came on a rebound. Alex Iafallo took a shot from the left side that Comrie stopped but didn't secure. Kopitar banged it home past Comrie's catching glove for his team-high 13th goal.

Through the first 16 minutes of the period, Kopitar had as many goals as the Wings had shots on net. Detroit finally perked up at that point but couldn't break through.

Campbell made a sliding stop on Zadina and caught Robby Fabbri's blast from the edge of the right circle. Anthony Mantha's backhander in the final minute was also turned aside.

Signs of life come too late

Los Angeles' fourth goal, which was scored by Tyler Toffoli at 6:40 of the third, was a result of a defensive breakdown. Toffoli skated in unhindered along the right side and Nikolai Prokhorkin made a perfect pass to him. Comrie had no chance to recover as Toffoli fired a shot into the wide open net. 1166492 Detroit Red Wings

Game thread: Red Wings lose to Kings, 4-2

Kirkland Crawford,

Published 6:00 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019

Updated 9:38 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019

Detroit Red Wings (9-22-3, 21 points) vs. Los Angeles Kings (13-18-3, 29 points)

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Little Caesars Arena.

TV: Fox Sports Detroit.

Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1; other radio affiliates).

BOX SCORE

Game notes: Look out for these red-hot Red Wings. They've won two straight after taking down the Canadiens, 2-1, in Montreal on Saturday night. Expect to see Eric Comrie in goal for the Wings against Los Angeles, lost in a shootout on Saturday in Pittsburgh.

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166493 Detroit Red Wings that was put on hold. This is what Yzerman said at training camp: “I want to get to know all these guys — a few of the veteran guys I know somewhat from when I left the organization, but it’s an opportunity to take Detroit Red Wings mailbag: What on earth is wrong with them? the time to get to know everyone and when we eventually do name a captain, I intend that person to be the captain for a long time.”

What can be done about Nielsen? - S.W., via email Helene St. James, Yzerman placed veteran defenseman Jonathan Ericsson on waivers in Published 6:02 a.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019 October, but I doubt Nielsen will be put on waivers this season. Maybe he gets bought out this summer, but he is signed through 2021-22 at a

salary cap hit of $5.25 million, so doing so would ding the Wings for four The Detroit Red Wings’ dismal start to the 2019-20 season is raising years. According to CapFriendly, this is the breakdown: $3.4 million in questions about why they are struggling so much. 2020-21, $4.4 million in 2021-22, and $666,667 each of the last two years. Buying him out in 2021 would count $4.25 million in 2021-22, but The team just avoided breaking the franchise record 14-game losing only $500,000 in 2022-23. streak set in 1981-82, going winless in 12 games between Nov. 12-Dec. 12. It’s not even the halfway point of the season and the Wings are at the Comparatively, if a player on a one-way NHL contract is assigned to the bottom of the NHL standings. minors, teams receive a measure of salary cap relief. This season and next it’s $1.075 million, so if Nielsen was assigned to the AHL next There is very little for anyone on the team to feel good about, except the season, he would count $4.175 million against the salary cap. With draft lottery odds. If the Wings finish 31st, they could be pushed no $1.125 million relief in 2021-22, Nielsen would count $4.125 million further back than fourth. This week’s mailbag focuses on why the Wings against the cap in the final year of his contract. look worse than a year ago, the captaincy, and underperforming veterans.

@HeleneStJames I'm sure you get asked this all the time, but what on Detroit Free Press LOADED: 12.16.2019 Earth is wrong with the Wings? It's going to be almost a month since they've had their last point in a game...They often look non-competitive. Thoughts??

— John-Mark (@JohnMar87232550) December 12, 2019

Jeff Blashill is under a spotlight, as coaches tend to be when their teams perform so poorly, but there is recognition within the organization that the team is patched with veterans performing below expectations and AHL call-ups. The Wings simply do not match up against their opponents most games. Thursday’s victory over the Winnipeg Jets put the Wings at 8-22- 3 after 33 games. They had scored 72 goals and allowed 131, a goal differential of minus-59. It is in stark contrast to last season — in 2018- 19, it took the Wings eight games to seal their first victory, but they were 14-15-4 after 33 games. They had scored 93 goals and allowed 108, a goal differential of minus-15.

There are several names that jump out as far as what is different. Gustav Nyquist was second on the team with 29 points (every statistic in this answer is though 33 games last season and this one). He was traded by former general manager Ken Holland at the deadline because of a contract demand upwards of $5 million annually (the Columbus Blue Jackets coughed up $22 million over four years in free agency). In exchange from the Sharks, the Wings received a second-round pick in 2019 (used on defenseman Albert Johansson) and a third-round pick in 2020.

Nick Jensen is another player who was traded at the deadline. He was a stabilizing force on the defense corps, and had seven points after 32 games. The Wings have also missed defenseman Danny DeKeyser, who was injured Oct. 22. He has yet to practice, but Blashill said Friday that DeKeyser is closer, though no timetable was provided.

Dylan Larkin led the team a year ago with 31 points, compared to 20 this season. Andreas Athanasiou had 11 goals and eight assists on Dec. 14, 2018; he was at five goals and 15 points after Thursday’s game. But of the players who were on last year’s team and this year’s, veterans Frans Nielsen and Mike Green stand out for their staggering falloffs. Nielsen was third in team scoring with 20 points last December; he had one point, an assist, entering Saturday’s game at Montreal. Green, who missed the start of last season because of a virus, still managed to pump 16 points into 23 games by mid-December; this season he had five points after 25 games.

Jimmy Howard is another veteran with a jarring contrast: Last season he was 10-7-4 with a .922 save percentage and 2.69 goals-against average. This season he is 2-11-1 with a .887 save percentage and 3.94 GAA.

Why has the team still not named a Captain and when do they plan on naming one? Would be nice to see who the franchise sees as its future leader

— Adam Joel (@coachsayre92885) December 13, 2019

Holland had planned to name Larkin captain before the start of the season. When Steve Yzerman was named general manager of the team, 1166494 Detroit Red Wings rebound — and Comrie allowed more than a few rebounds — and flicked the puck into the net.

The Wings had two power-play opportunities in the last half of the first 'Never got going': Kings top sluggish Red Wings, end modest win streak period, an excellent chance to get back into the game. But a power play that's shown signs of life recently put no pressure on the Kings.

Ted Kulfan, The Kings crushed a lot of the Wings' momentum in the opening moments of the second period. Published 9:47 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019 Kopitar, who has dominated the Wings in his career, appeared to be Updated 11:10 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019 intending to pass the puck to a streaking Dustin Brown. But the puck bounced off the skate of Jonathan Ericsson and past Comrie, just 40

seconds into the second period. Detroit — Unfortunately for Red Wings fans, this is the type of game After a pair of Kings power plays went nowhere, Kopitar extended the they’ve been more accustomed to this season. lead to 3-0 with his 13th goal at 11:14 of the period. After two victories and two games where the Red Wings did plenty of Alex Iafallo put a shot on net that Comrie stopped, but left the rebound positive things in a variety of areas, it was back to normal Sunday. directly for Kopitar on the doorstep. The Wings looked sluggish, unenergized, and mostly bad, in a 4-2 loss to

Los Angeles at Little Caesars Arena. Detroit News LOADED: 12.16.2019 “I know how we played the first periods, it was no good,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “We got out-competed, out-executed, outworked, and if you do those three things, you have no chance.

“This ends up 4-2, but that doesn’t tell the story of the game.”

Even in some one-sided losses this season, the Wings have generally been hard-working and tough to play against.

Sunday wasn’t one of those times, though.

“We looked like a team that wasn’t ready to play and that’s ultimately on me,” Blashill said. “We never got our game going. You give up easy goals, you give away goals, it’s hard to win.”

Kings center Anze Kopitar, left, scores a goal past Red Wings goaltender Eric Comrie in the second period on Sunday.

Anze Kopitar had two goals, Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli each scored once, and goalie Jack Campbell (Port Huron) made 22 saves as the Kings (14-18-3) swept the two-game season series against the Wings.

Filip Zadina and Madison Bowey produced the lone Wings' highlights with late goals.

Zadina scored his second goal of the season in the third period. Zadina now has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his last eight games while securing his spot on the roster.

“Filip Zadina was probably our best forward,” Blashill said.

Zadina put back a rebound of Bowey's shot at 9 minutes, 51 seconds of the third period, cutting the Kings' lead to 4-1.

More: Zadina's performance keeps him with Wings as they focus on his development

Bowey sliced the Kings' lead to 4-2 with his second goal of the season, at the 17:38 mark, on a shot from the point that appeared to deflect off a Kings' stick past Campbell.

Los Angeles is 10 points and two places above the Wings (9-23-3) in the overall standings, but the gulf seemed more than that most of Sunday’s game

“Both teams played (Saturday) but nobody’s using that excuse, especially in this league,” Bowey said. “Games like that, we have to bear down from the get-go and play a full 60 (minutes). We had good compete in the third period, but those aren’t going to get you the wins.”

The Kings outshot the Wings 32-24, dominated possession of the puck for much of the game, and didn’t let the Wings get close to Campbell.

“Anytime you’re on a back-to-back like that, you want to make sure you’re keeping plays simple,” forward Justin Abdelkader said. “The puck was bouncing, but it happens for both teams. We have to make sure we’re playing a straightforward game and not giving up chances.”

Carter opened the game's scoring at 12:15 of the first period with his 10th goal.

Carter put a shot on goalie Eric Comrie, who was making his first start at Little Caesars Arena, and it was denied. But Carter pounced on a juicy 1166495 Detroit Red Wings

OctoPulse podcast: Red Wings bounce back, revisits 2002 Cup

The Detroit News staff

Published 8:15 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019

Updated 8:19 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019

Here are some of the highlights from Episode 9 of OctoPulse:

►2:10: Robby Fabbri on getting under the skin of the Winnipeg Jets

►4:00: Lowlights from the 12-game losing streak

►6:20: Los Angeles Kings president Luc Robitaille

►9:30: Robitaille on Steve Yzerman "playing a heavy game."

►11:00: Robitaille on the Wings "doing whatever it takes to win."

►16:40: Robitaille on overcoming 2-0 deficit vs. Vancouver in 2002

►19:00: Robitaille on watching the Wings rebuild through the draft

►20:45: Robitaille on the NHL's new code of conduct: "Can't cross the line."

Detroit News LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166496 Detroit Red Wings “Where you get in tough spots is when you worry so much about matchups that you get out of your own groove a little bit,” Blashill said. “Sometimes guys end up sitting too long and other guys get overplayed.

Filip Zadina's performance keeps him with Red Wings as they focus on “It does help that we feel real comfortable (about) four lines offensively his development and defensively.”

Getting players like Mantha and Athanasiou back was a boost for the Ted Kulfan, Wings.

Published 7:00 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019 “A little bit two different animals in the sense that Andreas was only out for two games,” Blashill said. “But when you add a couple players like Updated 11:00 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019 that, it’s certainly a big boost. From a confidence standpoint, a shot in the arm. You get two guys back that our guys know are real dynamic

offensive players, and when they’re on their games can be some of the Detroit — Filip Zadina was in the lineup Sunday, playing his 10th game of best players in the league.” the season for the Red Wings.

That was significant in one sense. Detroit News LOADED: 12.16.2019 By playing a 10th game, that put the first year of Zadina’s three-year, entry-level contract into effect.

Coach Jeff Blashill had said previously that the contract situation wouldn’t factor into the Wings’ decision on what to do with Zadina as much as what is best for Zadina’s development.

And that continued to be Blashill’s way of thinking Sunday.

“That wasn’t ever going to be the overriding factor, or anything like that,” Blashill said. “The biggest thing is where is best for his development.”

In nine games, heading into Sunday night’s game against Los Angeles, Zadina has done everything he could to state his case to stay in the NHL.

More: Bernier backstops Red Wings to second straight victory in Montreal

Zadina had six points (one goal, five assists), with an even rating, and showing a better all-around game — especially from a defensive standpoint — and playing with confidence.

The Wings promoted Zadina when Anthony Mantha was injured and the Wings badly needed offense.

Zadina has done an adequate job providing it, and now with Mantha back in the lineup, Zadina’s presence could deepen and broaden the lineup.

“When we called him up, we needed him,” Blashill said. “He’s staying because he’s played well enough. What needs to do to stay is to keep building on his play. (Saturday) he played with (Valtteri) Filppula and Mantha. He’s on the power play.

“Keep being a big factor in games. Two games ago he was excellent, and last night he was good. Keep going between good and really good as much as he can.”

Defensman Mike Green had a goal and assist in the Wings’ 2-1 victory Saturday in Montreal, one of Green’s better games this season.

Green only has seven points (two goals, five assists) in 26 games this season, with a minus-16 rating.

Nagging injuries have knocked Green twice out of the lineup this season. But Blashill feels Green might be finding some consistency and confidence in the last few days.

“The last two games were two of his better games all season,” Blashill said. “He was more assertive with the puck, he won more puck battles. Mike is hard on himself, and when he makes mistakes, he beats himself up a little bit, and the team was playing poorly at the time.

“Mike has been one of the best offensive players in the league for a long time. (The last two games) he’s gone out and played with that type of confidence and swagger, and he deserves to have done so.”

Four lines

The addition of Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou to the lineup the last two games has given Blashill options.

All four forward lines right now have a semblance of offense and defense, and deepens the Wings’ lineup and allows Blashill to play four lines without worrying about matchups. 1166497 Detroit Red Wings

Listless start costs Red Wings in loss to Kings

Updated 10:55 PM;Today 9:31 PM

By Ansar Khan

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings showed some promise by taking two steps forward this week but retreated swiftly on Sunday against another struggling team.

The Los Angeles Kings thoroughly outplayed the listless Red Wings through much of the game, getting a pair of goals from Anze Kopitar and prevailing 4-2 at Little Caesars Arena.

Filip Zadina and Madison Bowey scored for Detroit in the third period to make the final score respectable, after the Kings had scored four to put the game out of reach.

Zadina’s goal at 9:51 was his second of the season, giving him seven points in his past seven games. Bowey scored on a blast with 2:23 remaining.

The Red Wings (9-23-3) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped. The Kings (14-18-3), who entered the game with the third- fewest points in the NHL, are 3-0-1 in their past four.

The Red Wings had ample opportunity for a good start with three power plays in the first period. They failed to score, generating only two shots. They had difficulty gaining entry, and when they did, they maintained little pressure.

They had gone 7 for 25 on the power play in their previous six games.

Eric Comrie, making his second start for the Red Wings, faced 32 shots and had difficulty controlling rebounds, which is how the Kings scored two of their goals. Jack Campbell made 22 saves for the Kings.

Kopitar scored twice in the second period.

He put the Kings ahead 2-0 at the 40-second mark when his pass attempt to Trevor Lewis deflected in off Jonathan Ericsson’s skate.

He scored at 11:14, skating to the net to banging in the rebound of a shot by Tyler Toffoli.

Toffoli made it 4-0 at 6:40 of the third.

The Kings registered the game’s first seven shots before Campbell faced his first shots nearly midway through the opening period.

Jeff Carter scored at 12:15, banging in his own rebound after Filip Hronek put the puck right on his stick with an errant pass.

Michigan Live LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166498 Detroit Red Wings

How to watch, listen and stream Detroit Red Wings vs. Los Angeles Kings

Posted Dec 15, 2019

By Lauren Williams

The Detroit Red Wings won their second game in a row on Saturday night when they downed the Montreal Canadiens 2-1. Detroit hosts the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday at Little Caesars Arena. The Red Wings lost to the Kings in the first meeting between these teams this season and they look to avoid a sweep.

The Kings, on the other hand, look to rebound from a tough loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Los Angeles matchup lost to Pittsburgh in a shoot out.

The Red Wings (9-22-3) and the Kings (13-18-3) face off at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15 at Little Caesars Arena.

WATCH

Broadcast: Fox Sports Detroit

Live Stream: Hulu | YouTube TV | fubo (free trial)

LISTEN

Red Wings Affiliates: Detroit (WXYT-97.1 FM/ 1270 AM); Ann Arbor (WTKA-1050 AM); Grand Rapids (WTKG-1230 AM); Kalamazoo (WQLR- 1660 AM); Saginaw (WSGW-790 AM)

Live Stream: TuneIn Radio

Michigan Live LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166499 Detroit Red Wings

Kopitar scores 2, Kings beat Red Wings 4-2

By PAUL HARRIS

DETROIT (AP) — Anze Kopitar scored two goals and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 Sunday night.

Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli also scored for Los Angeles, which has won three of its last four (3-0-1). Alex Iafallo had two assists and Jack Campbell, who is from Port Huron, Mich., stopped 22 shots.

Defenseman Madison Bowey had a goal and an assist, and Filip Zadina also scored for Detroit. Eric Comrie finished with 28 saves.

Carter gave the Kings a 1-0 lead with 7:45 left in the first period when he put in his own rebound from just below the left circle, after intercepting a pass by Red Wings defenseman Filip Hronek. It was Carter’s 10th goal.

Kopitar scored twice in the second period to make it 3-0. His attempted pass from the top of the left circle went in off the skate of Detroit defenseman Jonathan Ericsson 40 seconds into the period and Kopitar cashed in on a rebound with 8:46 left in the middle period forhis 13th.

Toffoli scored 6:40 into the third period, getting his ninth, for a 4-0 lead. Toffoli has seven points (three goals and four assists) in his last four games.

Zadina thwarted Campbell’s shutout attempt midway through the final period. It was his second goal of the season and second in two games. Bowey added his second goal with 2:23 left.

NOTE: Kopitar’s goals gives him 919 points to pass Wayne Gretzky and move into fourth place on Los Angeles’ franchise list. ... It was Zadina’s 10th game of the season. That means his three-year, entry-level contract begins this season. Zadina was the sixth overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. ... Former Red Wings defenseman, Hall of Fame member and seven-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom was in attendance on Sunday night. ... Both teams played on the road Saturday night. Los Angeles lost 5-4 in a shootout to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-1.

UP NEXT

Kings: At Boston on Tuesday night.

Red Wings: Host Columbus on Tuesday night.

Macomb Daily LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166500 Edmonton Oilers was solid (Saturday). We have got to find a way to capitalize on some more of those chances and still take some of those chances away.

“We are still making some errors that end up in the back of our net. It’s VAN DIEST: Oilers desperate for a win, currently on season-long losing not that the other team is not making errors, we just have to make them skid pay for the errors they make and we have got to try and take some of the errors away. The margin of error is slim when you are not scoring much, you have to make sure you are taking care of all parts of the game. Our Derek Van Diest discipline has been pretty good, there have just been a few mistakes that have cost us.” December 15, 2019 9:11 PM MST Heading towards the Christmas break, it’s becoming evident the Oilers

might need some help from general manager Ken Holland, who was in When they started the season winning seven of their first eight games, Moscow taking in the Channel One Cup and beating the bushes for a the Edmonton Oilers were not as good as their record indicated. Russian free agent who might be able to help out. The Oilers are not getting winger Jesse Puljujarvi back and are having difficulty finding a Having lost four straight, the Oilers are not as bad as their losing skid trade partner for him. would lead one to believ. The notoriously patient Holland is not likely to mortgage the future to Precariously close to having the bottom fall out as they head off on a two- acquire immediate help. But if he stands pat and waits for this group to game road trip to face the Dallas Stars on Monday and the St. Louis turn things around on its own, and then they don’t, the heat will be turned Blues on Wednesday before returning home to host the Pittsburgh up on Holland. Penguins and Montreal Canadiens, the Oilers are in desperate need of a win.

And as they were doing just enough to win during the good times, they Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 12.16.2019 are falling just short during the losing skid.

“I liked our effort, our compete was there, our energy was there, we just couldn’t find a way to get any back,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said following a 4-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. “I thought we had a pretty good start. They obviously get one fairly early and we’re chasing it, but I thought we did a good job competing. We worked hard.”

McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are playing their part. The two are taking turns leading the NHL scoring race. McDavid currently leads with 57 points with Draisaitl one back. But they could use a little help and it’s up to the rest of the squad to get the Oilers back on track, starting in their own end of the ice.

Where the Oilers were defensively sound through the start of the season, they are making basic coverage errors in front of their goaltenders during the slide.

On the Maple Leafs’ first goal Saturday, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was caught puck watching and allowed Alexander Kerfoot to slip in behind him and bury a centring pass from Pierre Engvall.

Goaltender Mikko Koskinen was already on his knees on the play before the pass came out in front and Kerfoot had a lot of net to look at on his one-timer.

On the second goal, both Zack Kassian and Draisaitl turned to head up ice as Koskinen was making a pair of saves, leaving their goaltender to fend for himself against Kerfoot and Ilya Mikheyev.

After Alex Chiasson scored to cut the Maple Leafs lead to 2-1 and the Oilers were pushing to tie the game, Ethan Bear allowed Frederik Gauthier to take a pass in front of him and then skate past him to lift a shot past Koskinen. Gauthier had been a healthy scratch the previous four games.

“That’s frustrating there,” McDavid said. “You need to hold them at two and give ourselves a chance to tie the game and we didn’t do that.”

The Oilers should figure it out. Dave Tippett is too good a coach not to.

However, if they don’t figure things out defensively and start getting production from someone not named McDavid or Draisaitl, then things could go south in a hurry.

“We were outscoring some of our mistakes earlier this season and our goaltending was very good early,” Holland said. “Every game is different, but the last few games our chances against were down but we were still struggling to find ways to stay in the game.”

Fortunately for the Oilers, both the Calgary Flames and Arizona Coyotes lost on Saturday night as well. Arizona woke up on Sunday leading the Pacific Division standings with 42 points, two ahead of the Oilers, Flames and Winnipeg Jets, who are holding down the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. The Vegas Golden Knights were three points back and the Minnesota Wild are making a charge as well.

“The group is not down, they are pushing hard,” Tippett said. “We are trying hard, but now we need to find a way to win games. Our goaltender 1166501 Edmonton Oilers Nugent-Hopkins has two five-on-five goals and James Neal five. That’s seven from the second-line. That can’t stay that way. Neal’s game against Toronto was very good as was his play in Minnesota, but you Edmonton Oilers killing it on power play but struggling at even strength can’t have two second-liners with only seven ES goals approaching the halfway point.

In the bottom six, Jujhar Khaira can be inconsistent with the puck but all Jim Matheson, six of his goals are ES, so he’s doing his part. Gaetan Haas and Markus Granlund have three each, Nygard two. Riley Sheahan, Josh Archibald December 15, 2019 3:25 PM MST and Sam Gagner have one apiece. Patrick Russell none.

“Obviously our power play has been really effective but you can’t expect DALLAS — The Edmonton Oilers have the most lethal power play with to score every game that way,” said Klefbom. “It’s been our strength … the man advantage and one of the top eight penalty-kills when we’re in the top five (actually top seven) in PP and PK but to be a shorthanded, but they are far from a special team at even strength. consistent playoff team, going against a heavy team like a St. Louis, Boston, they’re so good five-on-five.” It’s a not a deadly problem yet, but it’s festering and something to watch very closely. Why aren’t the Oilers good five-on-five?

While the Oilers have a playoff spot in the Western Conference today, “It’s tough to put words to it, why we can’t score that way,” said Klefbom. how they are going about is not sustainable. Score on the power play, Here’s one reason. Their checkers can normally check but can’t score today, tomorrow … the rest? enough to offset breakdowns. Well it’s time to get to that elephant in the room — mediocre play even- “Look at Carolina, they’re a great example for us because they’re so strength. deep and all the lines can score. An underrated team five-on-five. “Five on five play is what, 80 percent of the game,” said Oilers winger Obviously our power play is winning games for us but if we can’t keep the Alex Chiasson. goals down or score five-on-five, that’s not good,” said Klefbom.

In the case of the Oilers they are getting about three power plays a game Their power play scores one out of every three times but how long can and having to kill the same, so 12 minutes out of 60, or 48 minutes even- that last? The Oilers sickly five-on-five play is draining the life out of strength. They are first on the PP, seventh on the PK. No NHL team has them. those bases covered like the Oilers.

Coaches always like to say, if you add up power play percentage and Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 12.16.2019 penalty-kill percentage and if comes to 100, you are doing well. The Oilers are 32.4 and 84, so 116.4, through the roof good.

Only Carolina (109.5), Washington (108.6) and St. Louis (106.3) are in the neighbourhood. On the road, the Oilers have the best PP and the top PK. Heading into Dallas, in 18 games,they’ve only given up five goals in 55 tries shorthanded (90.9) away from Rogers Place, and they’ve scored 15 times in 46 tries on the PP in 17 games.

Problem is what happens on nights when you only get two power plays like against the Leafs? And you only have to kill one minute of a penalty. On Saturday, more than 55 minutes of the game was five-on-five and the Oilers were out-scored 3-0 by two third-liners Alex Kerfoot and Ilya Mikheyev and Toronto’s fourth-line centre Frederik Gauthier.

“We have to find a way to stay in games five-on-five,” said defenceman Oscar Klefbom.

No kidding. In the last 10 games, which goes back to the road game in Arizona Nov. 24, the Oilers have scored 16 ES goals and given up 32.

Little wonder they are 3-7 in that time. The Oilers have scored a PP goal in seven straight games (two by Chiasson and Leon Draiasitl, singles by Oscar Klefbom, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Joakim Nygard), their longest PP streak in 11 years, and with that feat, they are 2-5.

“Your special teams will only take you so far…five-on-five is the big majority of the game and we have to get one up or keep it tied (even strength),” said Chiasson, like most Oilers struggling to score five-on-five.

After 35 games, the Oilers have scored 106 goals, 33 on their PP which means about two goals a game when they aren’t on it. They have given up 109 goal, 17 on the other team’s PP, and five shorties. A big gulp discrepancy, PPs aside.

What’s become abundantly clear is Oilers don’t have nearly enough offensive drivers after the top line, which is why GM Ken Holland is working the phones for a third-line centre and second-line left-winger, without selling the farm, knowing he needs both to have a really legit shot at the playoffs.

Fifteen of Leon Draisaitl’s 20 goals are ES, Connor McDavid 12 of 20. Fellow first-liner Zack Kassian 11 of 11, with negligible second-unit power play time. Problem is Draisaitl and McDavid are carrying such a load 5- on-5, their trying to do too much and their defensive peccadillos are coming out.

Draisaitl is minus-5, McDavid even. 1166502 Edmonton Oilers The Maple Leafs also did well to stay out of the penalty box where McDavid and Draisaitl have done most of their damage this season. The Oilers had two power-play opportunities in the contest and ended up Oilers notes: Good start a saving grace during season-long losing skid scoring a goal through Alex Chiasson.

“Our penalty killing has gotten a lot better,” Hyman said. “The past five games it’s gotten really good. I think it’s more aggressive. As you get Derek Van Diest more success, you get more confidence and it’s really important for a penalty kill to be confident. It’s important as a four-man unit not to December 15, 2019 12:38 PM MST hesitate and I think that’s what we’ve done a good job of, being on the same page making sure we know all what we have to do and we’re doing well.” Good thing the Edmonton Oilers got off to the start they did or things could be really scary at the moment.

The Oilers won their first five games of the season and seven of their first Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 12.16.2019 eight to give themselves a buffer for when they fell on hard times.

They have officially fallen on hard times, losing their fourth straight with games at the Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, and then home to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens on deck.

A four-game losing skid can become six or seven in the blink of an eye, leaving the Oilers treading water before the Christmas break.

“In hindsight that’s what you’re trying to do, you have to get out of the gate and get as many points as you can early, because it is a long season and you’re going to go through some ebbs and flows, be it injuries or something else, whatever it may be,” Oilers coach Dave Tippett said before losing 4-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. “We’re still right there at the top of the division, we have to continue to play well.”

The Oilers have not won more than two games in a row since winning five straight to start the season. They’ve won just two of their past nine, and after once having a comfortable lead in the Pacific Division, are starting to slide south.

“There are some parts of our game that I like,” Tippett said. “And there are some other parts that we have to clean up if we’re going to expect to win every night.”

Lately the Oilers have struggled at even strength, relying on their top- ranked power play to bail them out.

They’ve also fallen behind in games forcing them to chase their opponent. It’s starting to wear on the top line, who have basically produced all the offence this season.

“When you’re the team that’s got the lead, you’re playing comfortable, you’re making smart plays and when you’re the team that chases, you have to push the issue a little bit so you’re leaving yourself vulnerable in places,” Tippett said. “You’re definitely using more energy, so anxiety, energy whatever you want to call it.

“We’ve been alright, our energy levels have been pretty good, we’ve been pushing hard to get back in games, we’ve competed hard to stay in games, but we’re just making some mistakes that have cost us lately and we need a few more saves at the right time and that would help us.”

FACING DRAISAITL AND MCDAVID

The Maple Leafs came into the contest knowing the Oilers go only as far as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl take them.

Concentrating most of their efforts on stopping the top line, the Maple Leafs held McDavid off the scoresheet and limited Draisaitl to one assist.

“If we can make them defend and spend time in their own end, that would be a good for us,” Maple Leafs forward Zach Hyman said before the contest. “Obviously we know they have very dangerous people that are tough and not a lot of teams in the league have had success in neutralizing them. That’s our challenge and also recognizing that we have good players too, we want to attack and look to score ourselves and force their whole team to have to defend.”

The two tops lines cancelled each other out and the Maple Leafs won the battle of the bottom-six to win the game. John Tavares scored into an empty net to account for the only goal Toronto’s top line would produce.

“We tried to play a smart road game, and take care of the puck play with it, create our opportunities and defend well when we had to,” Tavares said. “It was a good job by everyone. I thought the D stepped up big time, guys played hard especially when we went down to five so it was a huge credit to them and obviously Freddy (Andersen) made some big saves.” 1166503 Edmonton Oilers A general manager can’t proceed with any single situation heavily guiding his view. In this way, the Chris Pronger example applies. Kevin Lowe was general manager when the Pronger request was made in Lowetide: Connor McDavid’s frustration and the impact it could have on 2006, and accommodated the veteran shortly after the season ended for the Edmonton Oilers Edmonton. Although the return was substantial, the mistake for the Oilers surrounded not replacing Pronger with a veteran capable of at least playing the position adequately. The return involved a lot of futures, and the team sank like a stone in the season that followed. By Allan Mitchell Holland must proceed as if McDavid will be the heart of this roster from Dec 15, 2019 now through the end of the contract, no matter where the team finishes this year or the next one.

In the third period of the Saturday night game against the Toronto Maple Why is this relevant? Leafs, an exhausted Connor McDavid was unable to impact a play This is germane to Edmonton’s situation today because of the Taylor Hall defensively and the result was a goal against his Edmonton Oilers. A few sweepstakes. Many of the Oilers fans who believe time is short in minutes later, an errant pass from Ethan Bear to Darnell Nurse resulted McDavid’s Oilers career believe trading for Hall is the right play. in an empty-net goal against and a 4-1 loss on home ice to Toronto. In However, if Edmonton trades a valuable piece (Evan Bouchard, Philip the seconds after the empty-net goal, McDavid’s frustration was evident. Broberg, 2020 first-round selection) for UFA Hall, and he signs elsewhere That frustration, which in the moment was absolutely understandable July 1, Holland will have made a critical error. (one might say expected), gave fuel to a gathering storyline within A signed Hall? Different story. An acquisition that involves Jesse portions of Oilers nation. Puljujarvi and a pick, as suggested by Postmedia’s Jim Matheson, that The theory goes that if Edmonton doesn’t make the playoffs soon, the stays away from the blue-chip prospects and offers a second-round pick? captain will want out. Ask for a trade. A more reasonable acquisition cost, even for pending free agent Hall.

The genesis of the idea goes back to April of this year. With the team What does it all mean? officially eliminated from the playoffs, McDavid told Postmedia’s Rob I interact with Oilers fans every day, and a large portion of the fan base Tychkowski about his frustration level: “It’s really high. It’s really, really believes the organization has less than 18 months to straighten things high. We want to play in the playoffs as a team. I personally want to play out before McDavid asks out. That’s a sobering thought. in the playoffs. I’m not happy about it. It’s going to be a long summer.” At the same time, it would be impossible (and reckless) for the Oilers fans organization to transact business with that possibility as its guiding light. Since that day in April when McDavid said he was unhappy, many Oilers Ken Holland needs to continue to perform due diligence, on the Taylor fans have viewed the team’s transactions, wins and losses and all news Hall option and all others that come available. He needs to do so with the on the club through the lens of McDavid’s frustrations rising and now and the future in mind, and with no specific deadline involving any (possibly) a trade request. one player.

I believe fan reaction this year spiked via commentary right at the end of Connor McDavid wants to win. Previous Oilers management placed Ken the 2019-20 season, in the wake of McDavid’s comments. Elliotte Holland in a difficult spot, but it isn’t impossible. If he can acquire Taylor Friedman (quoted by Greg Wyshynski of ESPN via Friedman’s podcast) Hall for a package that excludes all of Edmonton’s lottery pick in the 2020 had an interesting take right after the season, from April: “What the draft, Evan Bouchard and Philip Broberg, the Oilers will have improved Edmonton Oilers realize, what they haven’t realized before, is that they the team, eased McDavid’s frustration and ignited the fan base all at have maybe two years to get this right or else there’s going to be a very once. That would represent an exceptional result from one trade. unpleasant conversation where Connor McDavid says he’s done.”

Oilers should file that possible conversation under “a must to avoid” and Allan Mitchell, the hiring of Ken Holland (and new coach Dave Tippett) speaks to the urgency felt by ownership (with or without a push from the captain).

The reaction from Oilers fans has been louder than the words, as is often The Athletic LOADED: 12.16.2019 the case.

Why do Oilers fans react so strongly?

Fan reaction might sound out of step from afar, but it’s important to remember Oilers history. From the Wayne Gretzky sale (it was not a trade) by owner Peter Pocklington to the heartbreaking trade request (and execution) by Chris Pronger in the hours after Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, the back pages of this franchise are fertile ground for mistrust and belief in impending doom.

Everything about Connor McDavid the public person suggests he is about team and dedicated to success in Edmonton. He signed an eight- year deal with the team, three more than had originally been anticipated. His frustration was understandable, his words were (as always) measured and well chosen. He wants to win.

It doesn’t change a thing

Connor McDavid signed his eight-year extension on July 5, 2017, in the weeks after the Oilers had playoff success for the first time in over a decade. A lot has changed since then, but the contract has six years after 2019-20 before expiring. That represents commitment from both sides. Nothing that is public has really changed from that day.

However, it shouldn’t matter. Ken Holland’s job as general manager of the Edmonton Oilers is to win championships. Form a plan, execute it and (as he has stated) build a strong organization for now and into the future. He is charged with conducting business in the best interests of the organization, pay heed to the now and the long view. 1166504 Florida Panthers Duclair, 24, has eight goals in his past five games and a team-high 18 on the season.

Panthers in a three-game funk: ‘It’s unacceptable,’ coach Joel Quenneville said. Miami Herald LOADED: 12.16.2019

BY WALTER VILLA

DECEMBER 15, 2019 04:13 PM

Prior to Saturday night’s game against the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers coach Joel Quenneville moved Vincent Trocheck to the top line with Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau.

Quenneville also reinstated defenseman Mike Matheson after a one- game benching, and the coach moved Mark Pysyk from defense to forward.

Pysyk scored just his second goal of the season on Saturday, and Trocheck had an assist … but the Panthers still lost 4-2.

The Panthers trailed 3-0 before scoring the next two goals. But Boston’s empty-net goal with 2:10 left sealed Florida’s fate, and the Panthers have now lost three consecutive games, tying for their worst stretch of the season.

“It’s unacceptable,” Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. “In our last three games, you can take chunks out of it and say, ‘It’s not even close to being good enough,’ and we’re at home.”

Indeed, the Panthers are in the final stages of a nine-game homestand, the longest in franchise history. But Florida has not taken advantage, posting a 3-4-0 record so far in that span.

Here are some takeaways on the Panthers:

1: Forwards step back: In hockey shorthand, they are known as “Barky,, “Huby” and “Daddy.” But Barkov (no points), Huberdeau (one assist) and Evgenii Dadonov (one goal) have been quiet during this three-game skid.

In fact, the same thing can be said about all six of the Panthers’ top forwards as Frank Vatrano (no points), Brett Connolly (one assist) and Mike Hoffman (one goal, one assist) have stalled to various degrees.

Barkov was helped off the ice on Saturday night after he sustained a right-leg injury with 1:23 left in the game. But Quenneville said the injury was not serious.

Oddly, the only goal scored by a Panthers forward on Saturday came from Pysyk, who is normally a defenseman. Both of his goals this season have been scored when he was used at forward.

2: Hall Pass: Published reports have indicated the Panthers as one of a handful of teams in the mix to trade for New Jersey Devils star winger Taylor Hall.

The first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, Hall was the league MVP for the 2017-2018 season, when he posted 39 goals and 93 points.

Hall, 28, is set to become a free agent after this season, and he is not expected to re-sign with New Jersey. The Devils have held him out of the past two games, a signal that a trade could be imminent.

Other teams reportedly in the mix for Hall are the St. Louis Blues, Arizona Coyotes, Montreal Canadiens and the Colorado Avalanche.

3: Home not sweet: The Panthers have just two home games left on this stand — Monday against the Ottawa Senators and Friday versus the Dallas Stars.

The Panthers, who are 3-7-0 in their past 10 games overall, won three of four contests from the rebuilding Senators last season.

This will be their first meeting this season, and Ottawa is coming off a 4-3 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

The Senators, just 3-6-1 in their past 10 games, will be looking for their first back-to-back victories since Nov. 19-22.

However, you can bet the Panthers will pay special attention to Senators winger Anthony Duclair, who had a hat trick against Columbus, including a power-play goal in overtime. 1166505 Los Angeles Kings

Anze Kopitar scores twice to lead Kings past Red Wings

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

PUBLISHED: December 15, 2019 at 9:11 pm

UPDATED: December 15, 2019 at 9:12 PM

DETROIT — Anze Kopitar passed Wayne Gretzky on the all-time scoring list — for the Los Angeles Kings, that is.

Kopitar scored twice to help the Kings beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 Sunday night.

The goals gave Kopitar 919 career points, moving him past Gretzky and into fourth place on the franchise list.

“I mean, he probably got his points in 400 games, not the number it took me to do it, but when you are mentioned in the same sentence as Wayne, it’s a pretty big deal,” Kopitar said. “Maybe I can brag about this one for just a little bit, because I’m not going to break any of his other records.”

Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli also scored for Los Angeles, which has won three of its last four (3-0-1). Alex Iafallo had two assists and Jack Campbell, who is from Port Huron, Mich., stopped 22 shots.

“We got off to a good start. We checked really well and had a good structure for about two periods,” said Kings coach Todd McLellan, a former Red Wings assistant coach. “I thought we got away from it a little in the third period, and that’s a lesson to learn. We haven’t played a lot with a three or four-goal lead and we’re still learning how to handle it.”

Defenseman Madison Bowey had a goal and an assist, and Filip Zadina also scored for Detroit. Eric Comrie finished with 28 saves.

“I thought we got out-competed, out-executed and outworked,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “If you do those three things you have no chance.”

Carter gave the Kings a 1-0 lead with 7:45 left in the first period when he put in his own rebound from just below the left circle, after intercepting a pass by Red Wings defenseman Filip Hronek. It was Carter’s 10th goal.

Kopitar scored twice in the second period to make it 3-0. His attempted pass from the top of the left circle went in off the skate of Detroit defenseman Jonathan Ericsson 40 seconds into the period and Kopitar cashed in on a rebound with 8:46 left in the middle period for his 13th.

Toffoli scored 6:40 into the third period, getting his ninth, for a 4-0 lead. Toffoli has seven points (three goals and four assists) in his last four games.

Zadina thwarted Campbell’s shutout attempt midway through the final period. It was his second goal of the season and second in three games. Bowey added his second goal with 2:23 left.

NOTE: It was Zadina’s 10th game of the season. That means his three- year, entry-level contract begins this season. Zadina was the sixth overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. … Former Red Wings defenseman, Hall of Fame member and seven-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom was in attendance on Sunday night. … Both teams played on the road Saturday night. Los Angeles lost 5-4 in a shootout to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-1.UP NEXT

Kings: At Boston on Tuesday night.

Orange County Register: LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166506 Los Angeles Kings 2020 draft, but lately the varsity is winning just enough games to damage their lottery chances.

Losing now to win later is the utilitarian view. The immediate view is that Whicker: Kings are following Gabriel Vilardi as closely as the puck does winning always beats losing, especially it validates coach Todd in Ontario McLellan’s way of doing things.

“It’s not fair to talk about what Gabe will do based on how much he has By MARK WHICKER played,” Stothers said. “But you can see he has a skill set. He makes plays. That is what the organization is looking for. He makes plays on his PUBLISHED: December 15, 2019 at 6:04 pm own terms and you don’t see that many guys do that.

UPDATED: December 15, 2019 at 6:56 PM “He goes to the areas where the goals are. He’s not a perimeter player at all. I don’t want to say he’s (Ryan) Getzlaf-like, but if you’re looking for a

comparison….He’s a big guy with a good set of hands, and a great ONTARIO — They say the puck follows Gabriel Vilardi, like an eager hockey IQ and great vision.” Lab. It’s one of those hockey sayings that makes little sense until you see Someday Vilardi will be showing all those things 37 miles west of here. it. He might even use the carpool lane, If his little friend keeps following. “I don’t know what it means,” said Mike Stothers, coach of the Ontario

Reign. “I was a lousy player. It never followed me around. Mark Whicker “Maybe it’s because some guys can read and react quicker, have better anticipation. Or they know where the puck is heading. I do know that when he gets it, he doesn’t let go of it.” Orange County Register: LOADED: 12.16.2019 Last season the puck didn’t get much exercise. A back ailment sentenced Vilardi to the monotony of endless rehab. Now the puck has to hustle to keep up. He has notched eight points in nine games for the Kings’ American Hockey League affiliate.

On Saturday he scored in the final minute to give the Reign a chance to beat the Iowa Wild in a shootout.

Vilardi was the 11th player picked in what has become a bountiful 2017 NHL draft. Miro Heiskanen (third, Dallas) and Elias Petterson (fifth, Vancouver) are All-Stars, and Cale Makar (fourth, Colorado) is bearing down on the Calder Trophy for top rookie. Nico Hischier (first, New Jersey) and Nolan Patrick (second, Philadelphia) are making their way, along with Cody Glass (sixth, Vegas), Casey Mittelstadt (eighth, Buffalo) and Nick Suzuki (123th, Montreal).

The Kings were unaccustomed to picking as high as 11th but were ecstatic over Vilardi, who had 157 points in 143 Ontario Hockey League games, and was a 6-foot-3 center with a righthand shot.

But Vilardi played only four games in Ontario last season and didn’t make his 2019-20 debut until Nov. 22. Significantly, he has played back-to- back games twice.

“My legs are coming around,” Vilardi said at the Reign’s Friday practice. “I’m not gassed out right away. It’s been great so far. I’m playing hockey again, right?”

Vilardi wants to put all the injury talk behind him, but that can’t be done with a back problem. It flared and disrupted his third junior season, in Kingston, and then attacked him in earnest last season.

Since this is hockey, there isn’t much specificity about the injury, but Vilardi knows he must deal with it for the duration.

“I don’t want to say I’m not a regular guy out there but the truth is I’m not,” he said. “I have to do different things to prepare for a game. It doesn’t take much longer than the things the other guys do, which is what I used to do. But the whole thing was way worse mentally than physically.

“It was really hard not playing. I don’t want to say it was depressing, but maybe more like ‘angering,’ I kind of got caught last year into saying why me, why did this happen? My goal this year was to stay mentally strong no matter what. Last year I tried to go out there and I never felt 100 percent. I’m past all that now.”

Vilardi’s parents, Natale and Giovanna, came to Canada from Italy. He was born in 1999, the year after they settled in. Brother Francesco took up the game and played at Queens College in Toronto. He gave Gabriel a peg to reach. Now Natale keeps up with the games through the Internet, staying up past midnight, but Giovanna remains too nervous to watch.

The Kings are too excited not to. Their next chapter is largely based on Vilardi’s ability to play behind Anze Kopitar and become an alpha center himself. They also expect a high pick in what is being called a classic 1166507 Los Angeles Kings “He’s a very smart player,” forward Rasmus Kupari said. “Good hands. Can handle the puck and makes very smart passes.”

Defenseman Tobias Bjornfot has been living with three other Reign ‘I’m here for a purpose’: Kings prospect Gabe Vilardi is focused on his players, including goaltender Matt Villalta. Vilardi and Villalta, both from recovery after missing a year with a back injury Kingston, Ontario, are close friends, so Bjornfot has gotten to know Vilardi off the ice.

By Lisa Dillman “He’s a tremendous hockey player and so much fun to watch,” Bjornfot said. “(Villalta) and Gabe are playing some FIFA (soccer video games) Dec 15, 2019 against each other. We are good buddies, too.”

So who wins between Bjornfot and Vilardi?

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The first hurdle was simply returning to action “No, actually, he beat me last time,” Bjornfot said, smiling. shortly before Thanksgiving, playing in a hockey game for the first time in nearly a year. That was followed by a new challenge: playing in games Almost a year ago, Team Canada announced Vilardi was ruled out for on consecutive nights last week. the IIHF World Junior Championships in British Columbia. Considering what Vilardi went through before and since, he is appreciative of the big So far, Gabe Vilardi has easily cleared the barriers with the Ontario moments. Reign in what has been the resumption of a professional career full of starts and stops because of a troublesome back. The mundane ones, too.

In eight games with the Reign entering Sunday, Vilardi has four goals “I wouldn’t say it feels like me again,” Vilardi said. “But I’m back in that and four assists, including two power play goals and one game-winner. grind. I guess I do appreciate it more. I’m just taking it day by day. It’s He had a goal and an assist in Saturday’s 4-3 shootout loss against easy to get caught up and go through the motions even on a practice Iowa, with his late goal forcing overtime. It was also his second multipoint day. And I find I don’t do that as often as I used to do. performance with the Reign. “Every day I’m here, I’m here for a purpose. I have to do the stuff for my Vilardi spoke after practice Thursday about the progress he has been body and obviously, I want to try to get better every day.” making and how he is managing expectations. When asked if it was difficult to keep up with the off-ice regime to help “What’s improved the most is my legs, not dying out there,” he said. “If I strengthen his body now that he is practicing and playing again, Vilardi get caught out there, I can keep moving a bit more. I’m still not where I cracked a joke. want to be. But I think that’s improved the most. I’m not fatiguing as fast.” “It’s not hard to fit in. I’ve got nothing to do. I’m a hockey player,” he said. Then there is the matter of fine-tuning his reaction time, a longer-range “That’s pretty much it right now. I’ve got plenty of time on my hands.” assignment. Stothers said Vilardi is almost like a different person this year.

“In terms of what I want to improve the most is still my hockey sense, in “Last year, we saw a guy that was very frustrated in how his body was how quick I make plays,” Vilardi said. “I’m finding that sometimes, I’m reacting and he wasn’t happy about it,” he said. “At that point, there were double-clutching, overthinking things, and it’s just, you don’t have time. If some doubts about how long this was going to go on. you overthink, the play is gone in split seconds. But that’s coming. “He seemed to look down, had his shoulders slumped, didn’t seem to be “It’s not just my first year playing in two years. It’s my first time playing enjoying the sport. Then we come back this year and you can see the professional hockey. So, I’ve got to learn.” passion in his game again. You can see he’s having fun hanging with his Ontario coach Mike Stothers noted Vilardi’s “uncanny ability to have the teammates and he’s having fun coming to the rink. I just think it’s he’s puck.” just feeling better about himself and he’s feeling healthy. So, I think that’s made a world of difference for him.” “It’s not an easy thing to do,” Stothers said. “I mean, he’s not in full game shape yet, so it’s not like he’s tracking pucks down and out-skating Kings fans are understandably eager to see what Vilardi can do in the opponents. It just seems to come to him. When he has it, he’s very good NHL. But staying in Ontario for a full season might well be the best path at hanging onto it. for Vilardi’s career development. The lack of urgency and the lack of a timetable have served him well, so far. “When he has it, he always seems to find the open guy. Then when he’s had some chances, I know he was pretty hard on himself earlier when he “I’m focusing on myself right now,” he said. “I just want to get better, a lot first came back. He had some chances and they weren’t finding the back better. I’m not thinking that way.” of the net. Now they seem to be going in, so we need to create things At this point, Vilardi has been put in an advantageous position, clearing offensively.” the necessary hurdles with the Reign.

Stothers cited gifted goal-scorer Martin Frk as an example. Frk, who is “Not too much was thrown on him too early and that’s why I think it’s nearly six years older than Vilardi, is on nearly a point-per-game pace good that he’s playing for us,” Stothers said. “It’s not like he’s stepping with 21 points (13 goals and eight assists) in 22 games. right in with the Kings. That’s probably going to be a whole new level … “That’s a goal-scorer’s goal,” Stothers said. “(Frk) fans on the shot and it understandably so. still finds a way to go in five-hole. There are guys who shoot 100 pucks “I always kind of want to caution that. We’re trying to utilize him in and it would never go in. We got guys that would shoot 100 pucks 99 situations where he’s going to have success. Try and put him with some times and they missed the net.” players where he’s going to have some success and keep this good Stothers has noticed gradual improvements in other aspects of Vilardi’s feeling that he has and we all have as an organization for him. Let’s just game. keep that all going in a positive direction.”

“I don’t think you’re ever going to say, ‘Oh my, (Vilardi) just gets up and down the ice effortlessly like, say, (defenseman) Kale Clague does,’” Lisa Dillman Stothers said. “We’ve seen some good strides. He’s now managing to get through the shift length without you noticing, from the bench, a real dropoff in his legs. Typically, when a guy’s tired, you know that the legs get heavy. They straighten up. The Athletic LOADED: 12.16.2019

“They become a mouth-breather. Now he’s not so much of a mouth- breather. I think that’s a good sign.”

Vilardi’s teammates have been impressed in a short period. 1166508 Los Angeles Kings Jack Campbell on getting a win in his first start in his home state of Michigan

It’s really special. I know Royzie and I, it was our first game in Detroit, so DECEMBER 15 RAPID REACTION: KINGS 4, RED WINGS 2 just thinking of all the memories coming here, well to the Joe, and watching, whether it was college hockey or the Wings, it was pretty cool to be out there today and more importantly get a big win. That’s huge. ZACH DOOLEY On the spells when he didn’t have a ton of action, and how he stays DECEMBER 15, 20190 sharp in those situations

I’m still working on that. I just think it’s a matter of just reiterating your details and in my head, I say a few things to myself to make sure I’m still Well, we got off to a good start and we pushed a team that played last structurally on point. Then, when the time comes to make the save, that’s night, checked very well, we had real good structure throughout two the fun part, so it’s fun when the team’s playing that well though for sure. periods. I thought near the end of the second, we got away from it a little bit and I think there’s always lessons to be learned. We haven’t been in On the two-pad stack in the second period that situation a lot, where we have a three or four nothing lead and we’re still learning how to play in that situation. We took our foot off the gas a Whew, it happened so quick I don’t even really know what it looked like little bit. The win is great, the opportunity to learn from it is even better. to be honest. I just tried to battle and make the save and it worked. I’m We’ll get some rest now, because we need it, big game coming up. kind of excited to see what I did, but if there’s something I can correct on that too, we’ll do it. On the team’s better starts as of late On how good the team was in front of him in the first two periods You know, I’m asked that question because of the score. Sometimes, you start and you play well and the other team scores and all of a They were outstanding. Even in the third, Detroit’s got a lot of great sudden, you get a question about the effort or the input into the game. I offensive players, and you knew they’d make a push. I still thought our think, for the most part this season if we evaluated the 34, 35 games, I guys played well and we just played so well and we’ve got to keep that think we’re on the positive side of good starts and coming out and trying going, a big one against Boston coming up. to establish our game and the way we want to play. Sometimes, we’ve Postgame Notes been scored on and we fall behind, but that’s not because of the effort we’re trying to put into the game. This start tonight, the start in Pittsburgh, — With the win, Los Angeles improved to 89-83-32 all-time against even in Anaheim, they were good nights. We need that on the road and Detroit a record that includes a road mark of 37-48-17. Tonight’s meeting certainly we’re going to need that in the next building we go to. concludes the season series between the two teams.

On Kopitar surpassing Gretzky’s total in all-time Kings scoring — With the win, Los Angeles improved to 4-5-1 against the Eastern Conference, 2-3-1 against the Atlantic Division, 3-5-0 in two-goal games, I think it’s great. I remember Anze coming into the league and being a 12-4-1 when scoring first, 11-2-0 when leading after one period, 10-0-0 young guy and people were wondering was he picked at the right spot. when leading after two periods and 10-15-1 when outshooting their Four or five years later, practically everybody is going “jeez, I wish we opponent. would’ve picked him.” He’s been that good ever since. What impresses me the most is the way he carries himself around his teammates. They — The Kings have now collected points in three consecutive road games always come first, he’s not a selfish guy, he plays the defensive side of for the first time since Feb. 4 – 7, 2019. the puck as well as he plays the offensive side. To hear him be talked about in the same name as Wayne Gretzky, that’s a great thing. — Anze Kopitar’s two-goal game was his first of the 2019-20 regular season and his first overall since February 28, 2019 vs. DAL. On the tic-tac-toe goal from Toffoli – Amadio – Prokhorkin — Tyler Toffoli has now collected points in four consecutive games, his It was [a pretty nice passing play]. Pro has that in his game, he has great longest scoring streak of the season. Toffoli has goals in three of those vision, I think he sold the shot. Mads did a real good thing in the neutral four games, and six points (3-3-6) in total on the streak zone, to stay over a bouncing puck and keep the play alive and Toff has the hands to finish. They were rewarded, I thought that line had a good — Alex Iafallo collected two points in a game for the fourth time this night. season, and two assists in a game for the second time (11/25 vs. SJ).

Anze Kopitar on the team’s faster starts as of late — Jeff Carter has now collected a point in three straight games, dating back to Tuesday in Anaheim. Carter has three points (2-1-3) over that Yeah, we realized especially on the road, we’re going into a hostile stretch, his first scoring streak of the season. environment, where teams are ready to rock, so you’ve got to match their intensity. I think, for the most part, we did a pretty good job of keeping it — Los Angeles attempted 54 shots (32 on goal, 13 blocked, 9 missed). all in front of us and really going after them more so and creating Detroit attempted 38 shots (24 on goal, 8 blocked, 6 missed). Jeff Carter chances off of that. led all players with six shots on goal and eight shot attempts.

On his line and chemistry with Iafallo and Brown — The Kings won 28-of-53 faceoffs (60%). Michael Amadio won 2-of-4, Anze Kopitar won 12-of-17, Blake Lizotte won 4-of-10, Jeff Carter won 4- Well, now it’s nice because we’ve been together for three years now, so of-12, Adrian Kempe won 0-of-1, Trevor Lewis won 1-of-1 and Nikolai the chemistry’s there. There’s a few games, the past few games, where Prkohorkin won 5-of-7. we were just a bit off, we were generating some chances, we just couldn’t get on the scoreboard. It was nice to see. The Kings are scheduled to fly to Boston tonight following the game. The team is not expected to skate tomorrow in Boston, and is expected to On the team’s high shot volume as of late and generating second return to the ice for a morning skate on Tuesday. opportunities

I mean, there’s not very many goals that are going to be pretty goals, so it’s shooting, trying to create second chances and go to the net and see if LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 12.16.2019 there’s anything laying around.

On passing Wayne Gretzky on the King all-time list, and if it’s kind of cool any time you can pass someone like Gretzky

I mean, he probably did it in 400 games, it took me a little bit longer [laughs]. Yeah, whenever you’re mentioned in the same sentence as Wayne, it’s obviously a pretty big deal. Maybe I can brag about this one for just a little bit….I don’t think I’m going to touch any of his other records. [Reporter: I mean, he can’t pass you back.] No, he can’t pass me, not here. 1166509 Los Angeles Kings

GAME 35: LOS ANGELES AT DETROIT

ZACH DOOLEY

DECEMBER 15, 20190

SOG: LAK – 31; DET – 21

PP: LAK – 0/3; DET – 0/3

First Period

1) LAK – Jeff Carter (10) (unassisted) 12:15

Second Period

2) LAK – Anze Kopitar (12) (Alex Iafallo, Matt Roy) 0:40

3) LAK – Anze Kopitar (12) (Alex Iafallo, Kyle Clifford) 0:40

4) LAK – Tyler Toffoli (9) (Nikolai Prokhorkin, Michael Amadio) 6:40

5) DET – Filip Zadina (2) (Madison Bowey, Anthony Mantha) 6:40

6) DET – Madison Bowey (2) (Tyler Bertuzzi, Filip Hronek) 6:40

Third Period

Los Angeles Kings (13-18-3) at Detroit Red Wings (9-22-3)

Sunday, December 15, 2019, 4:00 p.m. PT

Little Caesar’s Arena – Detroit, MI

Referees: #4 Wes McCauley, #33 Kevin Pollock

Linesmen: #93 Brian Murphy, #79 Kiel Murchison

Fox Sports West, FOX Sports GO, LA Kings Audio Network

LAK starters: G Jack Campbell, D Ben Hutton, D Matt Roy, LW Alex Iafallo, C Anze Kopitar, RW Dustin Brown

LAK scratches: D Paul LaDue, F Ilya Kovalchuk, F Matt Luff

DET starters: G Eric Comrie, D Patrik Nemeth, D Mike Green, LW Darren Helm, C Luke Glendening, RW Andreas Athansiou

DET scratches: F Brandon Perlini, F Christopher Ehn, D Trevor Daley

LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166510 Los Angeles Kings When asked yesterday morning what he’s liked about his team as of late, McLellan has been happy with the play of the group at even strength.

“5-on-5 play,” McLellan said, when asked what’s stood out to him over DECEMBER 15: LINEUPS UNKNOWN, BACK-TO-BACK, CARTER’S his team’s two wins this week. “We’ve been able to check pretty well, SHOT CREATION, MO-TOWN MAN especially on the defensive side. If you look at the goals that we gave up, going back in our last 4 or 5 games, some have been on the penalty kill, not many 5-on-5, so the ability to check and give ourselves a chance in ZACH DOOLEY low-scoring affairs has been a nice thing, something that we need. If you look at the beginning of the year, We were scoring enough but giving up DECEMBER 15, 20190 way too many, so I think we’re starting to find a balance and starting to do a better job of that.”

GAME PREVIEWLINEUP CHANGES At even strength, one player who has generated opportunities as of late is forward Jeff Carter. Carter has had a shot on goal in 19 consecutive The Kings, coming off a game last night in Pittsburgh, visit the Red games, with multiple shots on goal in 17-of-19 and 3+ shots on goal in Wings, coming off of a game last night in Montreal, to complete the back- 11-of-19, including three last night against Pittsburgh with one of which to-back set for both teams. (4:00 p.m. PT / FOX Sports West / FOX leading to a primary assist. Sports GO / LA Kings Audio Network). We have……no clue really on how either team will line up this evening, after neither side skated today “I think, if you look at my career, I’ve always been a guy who shoots the in Detroit. puck,” Carter told Jon Rosen earlier this week. “You can’t score if you don’t shoot, so when I go out there, if I have a chance to put it on net it’s Notes! going on net. I’m not trying to make the fancy play, so that’s kind of where we’re at.” KINGS VITALS: The Kings have played back-to-back games four times this season and have rotated goalies from Game 1 to Game 2 in each set At 3.24 shots on goal, Carter is averaging his highest total since the thus far. If that pattern remains consistent, it would point to Jack 2013-14 season (3.56) and his seven even-strength goals is just one Campbell getting the start tonight in his native state of Michigan. fewer than he collected all of last season – He is also tied for the Kings Campbell has never started an NHL game in Detroit, but is 1-0-0 against lead in even-strength tallies this season, with Anze Kopitar and Dustin the Red Wings lifetime, after he stopped 36-of-38 in a 4-2 Kings victory at Brown. Compared to that 2013-14 season, Carter is averaging STAPLES Center in October 2018. essentially an identical number of shots per 60 minutes. While below his career average (.26 even-strength goals per game), Carter is on pace to Los Angeles has won four of the past six meetings against Detroit, post a clip of .21 per game in the 2019-20 season, which would amount including a 3-2 overtime victory on home ice earlier this season. Anze to ~17 goals at 5-on-5 over the course of 82 games. Kopitar, Adrian Kempe and Alex Iafallo scored in that win, with Kempe’s goal coming inside two minutes remaining in regulation to tie the game Many of Carter’s chances come from in close and if you look at and Iafallo’s tally coming in overtime for the game winner. especially where his goals have come from, it’s been from getting into good areas on the ice and his goals have come from close in on the Here’s how the Kings lined up last night – crease. Last night’s Kings victory was a testament to that, as all four of Iafallo – Kopitar – Brown the team’s goals came from close range.

Clifford – Carter – Lewis “You look at the game now, 90% of the goals come from within three feet of the net, probably, unless it’s a point shot that goes through five guys Kempe – Lizotte – Wagner and the goalie doesn’t see it,” Carter said. “Not too often, and not too many guys in the league, are coming down and ripping shots from the Toffoli – Amadio – Luff top of the circle and going straight in. Pucks and bodies to the net.” Ryan – Doughty While by self admission, his shot totals might be a bit inflated, he still Hutton – Roy ranks third amongst Kings forwards in 5-on-5 shot attempts for this season while he’s been on the ice. Carter’s assist yesterday was a prime MacDermid – Walker example of how pucks to the net can lead to scoring opportunities. Carter Quick wired a slap shot from the top of the right circle, a low percentage shot to go in on its own, but a high percentage shot to generate some sort of Campbell rebound. In this instance, the puck fell to Kyle Clifford charging the net, who was able to slot it home into a gaping net. RED WINGS VITALS: Similar to the Kings, the Red Wings played last night, so their lineup remains a bit of a mystery for tonight’s game. Also “A lot of the [opportunities] are within three, four, five feet of the net,” he similar to the Kings, the Red Wings have not started a goalie on back-to- added. “I think with me, I throw a lot of pucks to the net, from the corner, back nights yet this season through six editions of games on consecutive from the half-wall, wherever, that probably gets my totals up a little higher days. Goaltender Jonathan Bernier had the nod yesterday against than high-quality chances, but pretty much all of my goals have been Montreal, and earned a 2-1 victory, with Eric Comrie, who was recently around the net, so that’s where I’m going.” claimed on waivers, currently on the roster as the second goaltender. The Mo-Town Man If it is indeed Comrie who gets the nod, he would be making just his third NHL appearance of the season, all of which have come with Detroit. As mentioned earlier, Jack Campbell could play tonight in his home state Comrie’s path to the Red Wings has been a windy road, as he began the of Michigan, alongside defenseman Matt Roy, who is a Canton, Michigan season in Winnipeg’s organization, was claimed off waivers by Arizona native. and then traded to Arizona, with visa issues in between limiting him to Roy is a Canton, MI native, which is about 25 minutes away from Detroit. just two appearances in the NHL and four in the AHL this season (with The blueliner is expecting a large contingent of friends and family in the Tucson Roadrunners). Comrie earned one of two career NHL attendance at tonight’s game at Little Caesar’s arena. victories versus the Kings in the 2017-18 season, as he made 16 saves on 17 shots in a 2-1 Winnipeg overtime victory over Los Angeles. While it will be Roy’s first NHL game in his home state, it won’t be his first game overall – While in the AHL last season with Ontario, Roy skated in But anyways…..here is how the Red Wings lined up last night – Grand Rapids, MI, as the Reign skated to a 4-3 victory over the Griffins, Tonight’s projected lineup. with the defenseman collecting a pair of assists in a comeback victory. But tonight’s game marks an even more special moment for Roy, who Puck drops at 7:00pm. grew up watching and supporting the Red Wings.

Five-On-Five “I actually didn’t go to too many [Red Wings games] growing up, but I watched every single one that I could,” Roy said. “It’ll be my first time After losing four straight, the Kings have now collected a point in three playing there, so it’ll be fun playing in front of my friends and family.” straight games, including two in a row on the road. While his first game here in Detroit, the two teams did square off earlier this season in Southern California, with Los Angeles skating to a 3-2 win and Roy collecting an assist on the game-tying goal. Roy pointed to that first meeting as helping to dampen the nerves a little bit in advance of tonight’s action.

“Yeah, it’ll be a little bit weird at first. I mean, we played them earlier in the year, so I think that I won’t be as nervous going into it, but it will be special.”

LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166511 Los Angeles Kings

PREVIEW: ONTARIO VS. IOWA, 12/15

ZACH DOOLEY

DECEMBER 15, 20190

GAME PREVIEWONTARIO REIGN

WHO: Ontario Reign (11-11-3-1) vs. Iowa Wild (13-10-2-2)

WHAT: AHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME

WHEN: Sunday, December 15, 2019 – 3:00 PM

WHERE: Toyota Arena – Ontario, CA

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Reign conclude a five-game homestand this afternoon, with a rematch against the Iowa Wild. Ontario fell for the first time in the shootout on the season, with a 4-3 SOL last night against their foes from the Central Division.

A WILD FINISH: The Reign and Wild skated to a hectic finish to regulation last night. Iowa appeared to have claimed victory, with the go- ahead goal with 27 seconds remaining in regulation, but Ontario fought back to force overtime just 15 seconds later. This marks the second straight season with a crazy ONT-IA game in Ontario, following last season’s late-game, three goal comeback win for Ontario, featuring four goals on a single major power play inside the game’s final five minutes of regulation and into overtime.

SHORTHANDED BANDIT: Ontario scored while shorthanded for the first time all season, as forward Lance Bouma found the back of the net on the penalty kill late in the third period. The Reign scored a total of 10 shorthanded goals a season ago, with 30% of those tallies still on the roster (Brett Sutter x2, Chaz Reddekopp). For Bouma, the shorthanded tally was the first of his AHL career, and the second of his professional career (11/18/13 – CGY @ WPG).

GOALS FOR GABE: Reign forward Gabriel Vilardi continued his hot run of form, as he collected a goal and an assist yesterday to move to a point-per-game pace on the season, with eight points (4-4-8) from eight games played. Vilardi has now found the back of the net in four of his last five games, and tied the game with just 12 seconds remaining yesterday to force overtime and earn Ontario a valuable point in the standings.

THE TEDDY TOSS KID: Ontario forward Rasmus Kupari joined an exclusive club as players to trigger the Toss – Kupari’s second-period tally opened the scoring for the Reign, as the stuffed animals flooded the ice at Toyota Arena. For Kupari, he scored his sixth goal of the season, which leads all first-year Reign players. The 19-year- old forward is set to join Team Finland at the World Juniors following this afternoon’s game against Iowa.

A FRK’N FIVE GAMER: Ontario forward Martin Frk extend his scoring streak to five games, as he collected an assist on Kupari’s tally. While he saw a four-game goal streak come to an end, Frk still leads all Reign skaters with 21 points (13-8-21) from 22 games played this season. Frk also found the back of the net in the shootout, as he improved to 2-of-2 on the season, and is tied for fifth across the AHL in shootout goals on the season.

MY TWO CENT(RAL): The Reign will close their slate against the Central Division this afternoon against Iowa. The Wild enter today’s action with the 4-3 points advantage in the season series to date, following last night’s 4-3 shootout victory over Ontario. Ontario and Iowa previously split their first two meetings this season in Des Moines, with the Reign winning 3-2 on December 9 and the Wild winning 3-0 the following night.

SCOUTING THE WILD: Iowa was led yesterday evening by forward Will Bitten, who collected a goal and an assist in the shootout victory. Bitten’s multi-point effort was his second of the season, and the eighth of his AHL career. Joining him with multiple points on the evening was forward Kyle Rau, who tallied a pair of assists and now has 15 points (5-10-15) from 18 games played this season.

LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166512 Los Angeles Kings

WAKING UP WITH THE KINGS: DECEMBER 15

ZACH DOOLEY

DECEMBER 15, 20190

For starters, let’s start by just recapping last night’s roller coaster ride that was the Kings 5-4 shootout defeat against Pittsburgh.

The Kings opened up a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes, lost that lead through 40 minutes, went down 4-2 midway through the third, bounced back to tie the game late in the third and eventually lost in the shootout……and exhale. I mean, how often do you see a team both lose and comeback from a two-goal lead in the same game? The Kings achieved (?) the feat in a span of 32:52 last night.

Last night’s storyline was the tale of two elements of the game. On the positive side, LA controlled the play at 5-on-5. Overall, the Kings outshot Pittsburgh 42-27 and out-attempted the Penguins 70-47, with the Kings in control 30-15 in shots on goal at 5-on-5 and 34-17 when the teams were even. As Todd McLellan noted after the game, “we are a volume shooting team, and we take a lot of shots. They’re not always high danger shots, but we believe that leads to the second and third opportunities and rebounds.” Throughout the game, the Kings generated a high quantity of shots, even if the quality of the looks was not necessarily always there. Kyle Clifford’s third period tally was a prime example of that, as Jeff Carter’s slap shot from a distance was easily saved by Jarry with the blocker han, but that shot wasn’t always meant to score, as the rebound was directed into Clifford’s path crashing down the left wing.

The Kings also showed an ability to create quality chances, at times, with really each of the other three goals representing that. Austin Wagner’s goal was a result of Blake Lizotte and Adrian Kempe using their speed to transition from zone-to-zone, while Tyler Toffoli’s goal later in that period came from Sean Walker using his own skating ability to drive down the left wing and change directions quickly to feed Toffoli in front. Walker and Toffoli were again involved on the game-tying goal, as Walker held the puck in the zone and fed Toffoli in a dangerous area, with the 27-year-old winger using his hands in a tight space to get the puck to the net and create a mad scramble that led to Michael Amadio’s tally.

On the other hand, however, was special teams, which for this purpose is non 5-on-5 play. Pittsburgh scored both a power-play goal (in a 5-on-3 situation) and a 4-on-4 goal, while also winning the shootout battle at the end of the game. The Kings generated six shots on the power play as opposed to Pittsburgh’s four and four shots at 4-on-4 in comparison to Pittsburgh’s two, but still found itself on the wrong side of the special teams battle. It’s hard to blame the three on the ice for conceding while down two men, especially with that advantage there for more than 90 seconds. The 4-on-4 goal is one the Kings would like to have back, as former LAK draft pick Jack Johnson seemingly worked his way in between a trio of defenders, 1-on-3, but still got to the rebound first. Add into that mix that Anze Kopitar earned a penalty shot in the third period, with Tristan Jarry denying his bid through the five hole, and the Penguins getting one to go in the shootout, and the hosts won last night’s game by capitalizing on their special teams opportunities, while the Kings did not.

It was good to see the Kings score four goals when the Kopitar line was held pointless. Each of the other three units chipped in with at least one goal, with the listed fourth line chipping in with a pair of goals, including the tying goal in the third period. Sean Walker showcased this abilities on each of his two assists. His helper on Toffoli’s goal was prime example of his skating ability, not only using his speed to beat his man wide but a quick stop and start to shake his defender behind the net and feed the puck in front. His offensive zone awareness helped him to not only hold the zone late in the third, but in a high-pressure situation, he made the soft, touch pass to Toffoli in front, which led to the high danger situation before Amadio’s goal. A good showing from Walker, along with Toffoli, who produced what he needed to in both of the above situations.

LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166513 Los Angeles Kings

GOOD MORNING, DETROIT

ZACH DOOLEY

DECEMBER 15, 20190

Good Morning Detroit and Good Morning, Insiders.

It’s a back-to-back day after a late night last night. We departed Pittsburgh at approximately 11:30 PM Eastern Time and arrived to the hotel in Detroit at approximately 1:15 AM. No skate today for the Kings, so we won’t see much on tonight’s game until much later on. Like us, Detroit played last night in a different city and traveled, so not expecting any kind of skate on their end either.

A quick good morning post –

We seem to be following the NFL around the country. In Pittsburgh, entering our hotel as we were exiting were the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NBC Sunday Night Football crew – I was told that Al Michaels, in a Kings hat, was working out in the gym on Friday. Pretty cool. The big, Sunday Night Football bus was parked across the street from the hotel and it was wild to see the number of credentials that crew had at check in, for one game.

Now, as we arrive in Detroit, we get in on a Lions game day as they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this afternoon at 1 PM. A pretty meaningless game by standings standards, and one you’d imagine won’t be particularly well attended, but still a busy day here in Detroit. Plenty of tickets available on Stubhub and Ticketmaster for around 30 bucks….not too shabby for NFL action!

Coming up later today is Waking Up With The Kings, a preview of tonight’s action in Detroit and a preview of the Ontario’s Reign’s 3 PM matinee against Iowa. Much more to come, talk soon!

LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166514 Minnesota Wild

Vegas hosts Minnesota after Pacioretty's 2-goal game

By The Associated Press

DECEMBER 16, 2019 — 2:30AM

Minnesota Wild (16-13-5, fifth in the Central Division) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (18-13-5, second in the Pacific Division)

Paradise, Nevada; Tuesday, 10 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Vegas hosts the Minnesota Wild after Max Pacioretty scored two goals in the Golden Knights' 6-3 victory against the Canucks.

The Golden Knights are 12-8-2 in conference matchups. Vegas leads the league shooting 33.9 shots per game while averaging 2.9 goals.

The Wild are 8-9-2 in Western Conference play. Minnesota is fifth in the league shooting 10.7% and averaging 3.1 goals on 28.5 shots per game.

The matchup Tuesday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams.

TOP PERFORMERS: Pacioretty has recorded 34 total points while scoring 15 goals and collecting 19 assists for the Golden Knights. Jonathan Marchessault has five goals and three assists over the last 10 games for Vegas.

Zach Parise leads the Wild with 13 goals and has recorded 19 points. Eric Staal has five goals and four assists over the last 10 games for Minnesota.

LAST 10 GAMES: Wild: 7-2-1, averaging 3.8 goals, 5.9 assists, 3.2 penalties and 7.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game with a .911 save percentage.

Golden Knights: 7-2-1, averaging 3.1 goals, 5.3 assists, three penalties and 6.5 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game with a .916 save percentage.

INJURIES: Golden Knights: Cody Glass: day to day (upper body), Cody Eakin: out (upper body).

Wild: Joel Eriksson Ek: day to day (upper-body).

Star Tribune LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166515 Minnesota Wild

Wild-Chicago game recap

DECEMBER 15, 2019 — 10:54PM

SARAH MCLELLAN

GAME RECAP

STAR TRIBUNE’S THREE STARS

1. Patrick Kane, Blackhawks: The winger recorded a hat trick, the eighth of his career.

2. Ryan Suter, Wild: The defenseman tallied three assists, tying his career high and the Wild record for a defenseman in a single game.

3. Jonathan Toews, Blackhawks: Assisted on three goals.

BY THE NUMBERS

2 Goals by winger Kevin Fiala.

1,000 Points for center Eric Staal, who became the 89th player and seventh active to reach the milestone.

SARAH MCLELLAN

Star Tribune LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166516 Minnesota Wild Star Tribune LOADED: 12.16.2019

Playing catch-up finally stings Wild in loss to Blackhawks

By Sarah McLellan

DECEMBER 15, 2019 — 10:14PM

CHICAGO – The Wild surrendered the first goal in each of the three games during its recent homestand but rebounded to go 2-0-1.

Chasing the opposition was a bit harder, though, when the team returned to the road on the second half of a back-to-back.

Although it twice erased deficits to the Blackhawks, the Wild couldn’t overtake Chicago and fell 5-3 Sunday at United Center to open a three- game road trip with a rare regulation loss – just its second in the last 16 games.

“You can’t [rally] all the time,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. “It’s going to catch up to you. It caught up to us tonight.”

The game was a particularly tough one for defenseman Matt Dumba, who finished a minus-3 and was ultimately demoted from the top pairing to the third unit.

Afterward, he discusses his recent struggles – which include a 14-game pointless skid.

“I still want to be there for my teammates any way I can,” he said. “Try to get up in the dressing room, try to make good plays defensively, hit and be vocal and try to bring those intangibles. Yeah, it’s a little frustrating when you sit down and look at it. But guys go through stuff like this. I’m not the first player to ever go through a slump. I’m not going to sit here and feel sorry for myself. I don’t want to dog on my teammates. I’ve just got to be better, plain and simple.”

Defenseman Ryan Suter said he can sense this funk is weighing on Dumba, but he’s confident Dumba will rebound.

“It is hard. But he’ll be fine, though," Suter said. "He just has to continue to work at it. It’ll turn for him. We’re trying to talk to him throughout the game, just putting positive thoughts in his head. He’s a good player. We know it. We just gotta get him back to the player that he can be.”

While the night was rough for Dumba, a few players had memorable offensive showings.

Center Eric Staal notched his 1,000th point on a first period power play marker.

Staal became just the 89th player in NHL history to reach the plateau and just seventh among active players. Usually known for his passionate celebrations, his reaction after this goal was tame – raising his stick before getting surrounded by his teammates.

“It's difficult sometimes to reflect in the middle of a season and a career,” Staal said. “Four numbers is a lot of numbers, and I'm obviously proud of that. I couldn't have got to this number or this level without a ton of help from so many people. That’s something I reflect on a lot in this kind of moment. It would've been nicer in a win but hopefully a few more left ahead of me for the next couple of years. It's nice to get that one out of the way.”

Winger Kevin Fiala was responsible for the rest of the Wild’s offense, scoring twice – the first of which came on a slick finish during a breakaway, as Fiala lifted the puck over goalie Robin Lehner.

In his last 12 games, Fiala has 11 points.

“I feel better and better and more confident, for sure,” he said. “I’m still young [at 23]. Hopefully I’m going to be even better and better, but I feel pretty good right now.”

OLDER POST

Wild kicks off road trip with first matchup of the season vs. Blackhawks

Sarah McLellan

1166517 Minnesota Wild Monday. Dubnyk's wife is dealing with a serious medical condition, and he hasn't played since Nov. 16. "I think when he does get in that he's going to be fine," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "Just got to get some Kane scores 3 times as Blackhawks beat Wild 5-3 practice time for him." ... Blackhawks D Duncan Keith (groin) is skating again, but coach Jeremy Colliton said he doesn't have a firm return date at this point. ... Wild F Joel Eriksson Ek (upper-body injury) did not travel with the team. Boudreau said he might be able to play on the current By JAY COHEN road trip. DECEMBER 15, 2019 — 10:00PM UP NEXT

Wild: Visit the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night. CHICAGO — While the Chicago Blackhawks have a whole bunch of Blackhawks: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night. issues at the moment, they also have Patrick Kane.

Kane scored three goals for his first hat trick of the season, and the Blackhawks stopped a four-game slide by topping the Minnesota Wild 5- Star Tribune LOADED: 12.16.2019 3 on Sunday night.

Brandon Saad and David Kampf also scored for Chicago, which had dropped seven of nine overall. Jonathan Toews had three assists, and Robin Lehner made 23 stops.

Kane scored Saturday night, helping the Blackhawks open a 3-0 lead in the third period at St. Louis. But the Stanley Cup champions roared back for a 4-3 victory.

"It was nice we played again today, to be honest with you," Kane said. "You never like sitting on that one for a few days."

Kevin Fiala scored twice for Minnesota in the opener of a three-game trip. Eric Staal also scored for his 1,000th career point, and Ryan Suter had three assists.

The Wild, who beat Philadelphia 4-1 on Saturday night, dropped to 10-2- 4 in their past 16 games.

"I don't think we were as fresh as we have been," Staal said. "We looked a little fatigued at times and I don't think our execution was as high."

The game was tied at 3 in the third period when Saad muscled his way to his 11th goal of the season. The rugged forward was grappling with Minnesota defenseman Matt Dumba in front when he managed to tip Connor Murphy's shot from the right point past Kaapo Kahkonen with 6:17 left.

"Sometimes you've got to be lucky to get a bounce there," Saad said. "That's what we needed tonight."

Kane then added an empty-netter with 1:03 left, completing his sixth career regular-season hat trick. He has a team-high 18 goals this season.

"I don't think I've been playing as well the past 10 games or so," he said. "I want to start playing better for the team. If I play better, it's obviously going to bring more to the group, a better chance for us to win."

Kane got his first goal when he poked in a rebound of his own wraparound shot 7:42 into the first. It was a close call at the post and play was allowed to continue, but a replay review showed the puck crossed the line before Kahkonen knocked it away.

Kane then made it 2-0 when he scored from the high slot at 11:33 on a power play. Kane's shot went off Suter's stick before going into the net.

Chicago rookie Kirby Dach was sent off for hooking just 11 seconds after Kane's second goal, and Minnesota took advantage.

Staal converted a one-timer off a pass from Suter for his 12th at 12:37. The veteran center became the 89th player in NHL history to reach 1,000 points.

"It's difficult sometimes reflecting in the middle of a season and a career, but four numbers is a lot of numbers and I'm obviously proud of that," Staal said.

Fiala got each of his goals in the second. He beat Lehner on a breakaway for his seventh at 1:59. After Kampf redirected Murphy's shot past Kahkonen at 8:13, Fiala tied it again when his centering pass went off the outside of Blackhawks defenseman Olli Maatta's right skate and through the legs of Lehner with 5:40 left in the period.

NOTES: The Blackhawks improved to 6-1-0 in the second half of back- to-back games. ... Wild G Devan Dubnyk, C Mikko Koivu (lower body) and D Jared Spurgeon (hand) are on the trip and expected to practice 1166518 Minnesota Wild with 5:40 remaining in the second. Fiala has 11 points in his past 12 games.

But by falling behind early, the Wild didn’t just have to catch up to the Patrick Kane's hat trick sends Blackhawks over Wild 5-3 at United Center Blackhawks. It also had to surpass them, and that’s where it failed.

“You get to the last 10 minutes of the game on the road and you’re tied, By Sarah McLellan you gotta get it into at least overtime,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. “You can’t allow that.” DECEMBER 15, 2019 — 11:44PM Sarah McLellan

CHICAGO – Defenseman Matt Dumba was trying to do his job, jostling for positioning with the Blackhawks’ Brandon Saad in front of the net. Star Tribune LOADED: 12.16.2019

But instead of getting rewarded for the effort, the sequence only magnified Dumba’s recent struggles.

A point shot clipped Saad’s stick and caromed off the back of Dumba’s left arm before sailing over goalie Kaapo Kahkonen and falling into the Wild net, the decisive goal in a 5-3 letdown to the Blackhawks Sunday in front of 21,513 at United Center – just the Wild’s second regulation loss in its past 16 games (10-2-4).

“It felt like I was right there,” Dumba said. “He was juggling his stick. I was boxing him out. I don’t know. It’s just kind of my luck lately.”

That wasn’t the only bounce that went against the Wild; the night was rife with them.

Before Patrick Kane completed a hat trick into an empty net with 1 minute, 3 seconds to go, Chicago was the beneficiary of three deflections (including one off the Wild) and a puck that barely rolled in — fluky breaks that trumped a few strong individual performances from the Wild.

Wild goalie Kaapo Kahkonen was fooled on a deflection by the Blackhawks’ David Kampf during the second period Sunday.

Center Eric Staal registered his 1,000th career point, defenseman Ryan Suter tied a career high by assisting on three goals and winger Kevin Fiala scored twice.

“I don’t think we were at our best,” Staal said. “We looked a little fatigued.”

Saad’s finish at 13:43 of the third, which broke a 3-3 tie, was the most egregious.

By then, Dumba — who was also on the ice for the first three Blackhawks goals – was demoted to the third pairing. Not only did he finish minus-3, but Dumba logged just 18:13 (his second-lowest ice time this season).

And the game continued an offensive slump for the usually offensive defenseman, signaling his 14th consecutive game without a point.

“I’ve never really gone through a stretch like I have right now,” said Dumba, calling it a mental battle that he’ll overcome while also acknowledging the torn pectoral muscle he suffered last season is in the past. “Trying to just bring your best and try to bring something more if you’re not bringing what you usually think you’re capable of. I just got to work through this. I have to keep working hard.”

Kane scored his first two goals in the first period, at 7:42 when his wraparound narrowly cleared the goal line and at 11:33 on a power play shot that got a piece of Suter’s stick before going five-hole on Kahkonen – who’s now 3-1-1 after making 22 saves.

Only 1:04 later, Staal scored on a rising shot to become the 89th player all-time and seventh active to reach 1,000 points.

“I couldn’t have got to this number or this level without a ton of help from so many people,” Staal said. “That’s something I reflect on a lot in this kind of moment.”

Not only was the goal Staal’s fourth in the last three games, but it snapped a 0-for-18 rut for the power play. The Wild finished 1-for-1, while the Blackhawks went 1-for-2.

Just 1:59 into the second, Fiala tied it on a breakaway, but the Blackhawks responded at 8:13 when David Kampf deflected a Connor Murphy shot past Kahkonen.

Again, the Wild pulled even — this time on its own fortuitous play, a centering feed by Fiala that nicked Olli Maata’s skate and caromed in 1166519 Minnesota Wild Dubnyk also singled out Kahkonen and Alex Stalock for their strong play, adding that the team's performance overall while Dubnyk has been away has made his absence easier to handle.

Return to action is near for Wild's Mikko Koivu and Jared Spurgeon "If the walls are crumbling down, all of a sudden, you're starting to look to get back and you'd be playing a game here, a game there and ducking in and out," Dubnyk said. "It certainly adds more pressure to a difficult By Sarah McLellan situation. But to be able to watch these guys play as well as they have, it lets you forget about it and get everything in order here so that when I do DECEMBER 15, 2019 — 11:33PM come back I'm ready to go."

Sarah McLellan CHICAGO – Captain Mikko Koivu and defenseman Jared Spurgeon accompanied the Wild to Chicago for the start of the team's three-game road trip and although neither injured player suited up Sunday against Star Tribune LOADED: 12.16.2019 the Blackhawks, both could be back in action as soon as Tuesday in Las Vegas.

"I guess we'll see [Monday] at practice how they feel, and then we'll figure it out from there," coach Bruce Boudreau said.

Koivu and Spurgeon were hurt Dec. 3 at Florida, with Spurgeon suffering a hand injury in the first period and Koivu exiting the third because of a lower-body injury. Both have been skating, but Monday would be the first time they've joined a full Wild practice since they were injured.

Whenever the two return, Boudreau acknowledged he'd have some difficult lineup decisions to make — not just where to put Koivu and Spurgeon, with the current lines and pairings rolling, but also who to sub out.

The most intriguing dilemma could be on the blue line, since Jonas Brodin and Carson Soucy have emerged as a formidable duo. After another terrific showing by the two Saturday in the 4-1 win over the Flyers, Brodin ranked plus-10 over his previous six games and Soucy sat second among NHL rookies at plus-15.

If the Wild keeps those two together, that could push Matt Dumba to the third pairing next to Brad Hunt should the team reunite Spurgeon with Ryan Suter on the top unit.

"Usually these things all sort themselves out and players find a way to stay in or stay out," Boudreau said.

Aside from defenseman Greg Pateryn (lower-body injury), the only other player who didn't make the trip was center Joel Eriksson Ek.

He suffered an upper-body injury in the second period Saturday, looking wobbly after he was hit in the corner by Philadelphia's Sean Couturier. The team is hopeful Eriksson Ek joins the trip in Vegas or the final stop in Arizona.

Without Eriksson Ek, Luke Kunin centered the third line between Jordan Greenway and Ryan Hartman. Gerald Mayhew filled out the fourth line next to winger Marcus Foligno and center Victor Rask.

Back to Kahkonen

Goalie Kaapo Kahkonen was back in net Sunday, his third start in the past four games.

By going 1-0-1 earlier in the week, the 23-year-old rookie became just the 48th goalie all-time to begin his career with a point streak of at least four starts (3-0-1), according to NHL Stats.

Kahkonen is also just the second goalie in team history to start his Wild career on a point streak of at least four starts; he joins Ilya Bryzgalov, who went 2-0-2 en route to a 7-0-3 debut with the team.

Watching and texting

Goalie Devan Dubnyk, who's been mostly away from the team since Nov.20 while his wife, Jenn, deals with a medical situation, also traveled with the Wild this trip.

Before then, Dubnyk kept tabs on the Wild by watching games and tried to stay in touch via text message.

"The guys have been playing awesome," Dubnyk said. "They're playing fast and defending well and not just that but just kind of the game flow — we seem to be reacting extremely well to just about every single situation and putting ourselves in a great opportunity to get points and get two.

"It's been fun to watch. I'm looking forward to hopping in there and being a part of it." 1166520 Minnesota Wild points (37). Through 49 career games against the Wild, Kane has 46 points.

OLDER POST Wild kicks off road trip with first matchup of the season vs. Blackhawks Wild downs Flyers, overcomes adversity during three-game homestand

NEWER POST By Sarah McLellan Playing catch-up finally stings Wild in loss to Blackhawks DECEMBER 15, 2019 — 9:04AM Sarah McLellan

CHICAGO – After a successful 2-0-1 homestand, the Wild will wrap up its work week by starting another road trip – this one a three-game trek that Star Tribune LOADED: 12.16.2019 begins Sunday in Chicago for a Central Division clash against the Blackhawks.

“Now we want to take this momentum on the road,” center Eric Staal said.

Before taking off for Chicago, the Wild dispatched the Flyers 4-1 Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center – a win that improved the team to 10-1-4 in its last 15 games. The Wild’s 24 points since Nov.14 rank first in the NHL.

A chunk of that run has come on the road, with the Wild 4-1-2 in its last seven road contests, and how defensively stout the Wild was Saturday would translate well to being the visitor; the team gave up a season-low 18 shots to Philadelphia.

“Shots against were great,” winger Marcus Foligno said. “They’re a team that always kind of tries to make an extra play in the zone, so we got lucky with that. We had good sticks. [Penalty kill], I think that was the biggest thing. Last year we had a big lull in the PK, and we were thinking it was going in that direction again unfortunately. Big play by us to keep it going and try to get that PK done and against a team like that, I mean a lot of one-timers, a lot of guys that can tip pucks like [James] van Riemsdyk. So to shut them down it was good.”

Goalie Kaapo Kahkonen is expected to start in net for the Wild, but it’s unclear if there will be other changes to the Wild’s lineup.

Center Joel Eriksson Ek left Saturday’s game after getting hit by Sean Couturier and although coach Bruce Boudreau said after the game Eriksson Ek was doing better, whether Eriksson Ek could play vs. the Blackhawks wouldn’t be determined until Sunday.

The team didn’t skate Sunday morning. Boudreau will address the media at approximately 4 p.m.

Projected lineup:

Jason Zucker-Eric Staal-Mats Zuccarello

Zach Parise-Ryan Donato-Kevin Fiala

Jordan Greenway-Joel Eriksson Ek-Luke Kunin

Marcus Foligno-Victor Rask-Ryan Hartman

Ryan Suter-Matt Dumba

Jonas Brodin-Carson Soucy

Brad Hunt-Brennan Menell

Kaapo Kahkonen

Key numbers:

999: Career points for center Eric Staal.

4: Game-winning goals this season for Staal.

4: Points for center Ryan Donato in his past four outings.

1-2-1: Record for the Wild last season vs. Chicago.

6-4: Performance by the Wild in its past 10 trips to United Center.

About the Blackhawks:

Like the Wild, the Blackhawks were in action Saturday night and they fell 4-3 in St. Louis. That dropped the team to 12-15-6, and Chicago is 28th overall in the NHL with 30 points. In their last 10, the Blackhawks are 3-6- 1. Winger Patrick Kane leads the team in goals (15), assists (22) and 1166521 Minnesota Wild

Wild can’t complete comeback this time in 5-3 loss to Blackhawks

By DANE MIZUTANI

PUBLISHED: December 15, 2019 at 8:34 pm

UPDATED: December 15, 2019 at 10:14 PM

CHICAGO — Though the Wild just finished a homestand with a 2-0-1 record despite falling behind in every game, coach Bruce Boudreau knew it wasn’t a sustainable model for success.

So it wasn’t necessarily surprising to him that the luck finally ran out Sunday night at the United Center when an early deficit ended in a frustrating 5-3 loss to the rival Chicago Blackhawks.

“You can’t do it all the time,” Boudreau said. “It’s going to catch up, and it caught up to us tonight.”

Never mind the fact the Wild dug themselves out of an early deficit for the umpteenth time this season. They used so much energy to keep things close, playing on the second half of a back to back nonetheless, that they couldn’t complete the comeback down the stretch.

“I don’t think we were as fresh as we have been,” veteran forward Eric Staal said. “We looked a little fatigued at times, and our execution wasn’t as high, and we didn’t spend enough time in their end.”

For the Wild, it didn’t help that Blackhawks star Patrick Kane erupted for a hat trick. That said, they played a huge role in their own demise, allowing Kane to get going with a pair of goals in the first period.

Luckily for the Wild, they were able to keep it close as Staal cut into the deficit with a blistering slap shot. That helped him reach the 1,000-point plateau in style as he became only the 89th player in NHL history to join that exclusive club.

“It would’ve been nicer in a win,” Staal said before taking some time to soak in the moment. “You know, four numbers is a lot of numbers, and I’m obviously proud of that. I couldn’t have got to this number or this level without a ton of help from so many people. That’s something I reflect on a lot in this kind of moment. Hopefully a few more (milestones) left ahead of me.”

Perhaps using Staal’s milestone as motivation, the Wild slowly chipped away, creating scoring chance after scoring chance before Kevin Fiala finally broke through with a breakaway goal in the second period to tie the score. He scored again later in the period, too, as the Wild took a tie game into the final period.

That’s where things finally unraveled for good for the Wild, as the Blackhawks took the lead on a fluky bounce in front of goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen, and Kane completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal in the closing minutes.

“A game like that, sometimes it bounces the other way, and tonight it was maybe that night,” Fiala said. “We just have to react to it and be better next game.”

Joel Eriksson Ek did not make the first leg of the road trip after suffering an injury Saturday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. There’s a chance he could meet up with the Wild later this week.

“We’re hoping that he joins us in Vegas or Arizona,” Boudreau said. ” I haven’t talked to (trainer John Worley) about it today. I just know he didn’t come last night.”

Meanwhile, Mikko Koivu, Jared Spurgeon, and Devan Dubnyk traveled after missing games recently, meaning they could draw into the lineup later this week.

Dane Mizutani

Pioneer Press LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166522 Minnesota Wild Maybe it should have been expected, but Dumba has not been able to rediscover yet the impactful player he was offensively, physically and defensively, which is where he had improved the most in recent seasons.

Matt Dumba’s slump worsens, Eric Staal gets 1,000th point as Wild fall in “Obviously he’s struggling,” Boudreau said. “If we’re going to have Chicago success, we have to get him un-struggling.”

Suter says Dumba has talked to him a lot lately about his goal-scoring By Michael Russo slump, and the defenseman did admit that it has been weighing on him. Remember, this is a guy who openly said his objective was to score 30 Dec 15, 2019 goals this season.

But opponents aren’t stupid. They know he’s one of Minnesota’s biggest threats, especially on the power play, so defenders are draping CHICAGO — You could tell it was going to be one of those nights for the themselves to him or fronting him any time it looks like he’ll get the puck. struggling Matt Dumba the first two shifts of the hockey game when he turned the puck over twice and was knocked off the puck two other times. “He’s a guy that cares and wants to win and when he’s not contributing, whether it’s points or whether it’s just good play, I’m sure he’s really By the end of a dreadful evening — a 5-3 loss as the Wild’s latest taking it to heart,” Boudreau said. comeback attempt fell short to the Chicago Blackhawks at an overstuffed United Center — the Wild defenseman was demoted to the third defense But now his shoddy defensive play has become too frequent to ignore. pair, logged less than 20 minutes for only the third time this season, had We especially saw it last weekend in Raleigh when both he and Suter a ghastly team-worst 37.84 Corsi-for percentage and was on the ice for struggled. three goals against, including the late tie-breaking goal that ricocheted off Dumba’s body before lofting over rookie goalie Kaapo Kahkonen. “I still want to be there for my teammates any way I can,” he said. “Try to get up in the dressing room, try to make good plays defensively, hit and Dumba’s recent struggles have been overshadowed by the Wild’s be vocal and try to bring those intangibles. Yeah, it’s a little frustrating monthlong hot streak. Since Nov. 14, no NHL team held a better record when you sit down and look at it. But guys go through stuff like this. than the Wild’s 10-1-4 run before they were defeated for the second time in regulation in the past 16 games thanks to Patrick Kane’s latest hat trick “I’m not the first player to ever go through a slump. I’m not going to sit against one of his favorite foes and Brandon Saad’s winner off Dumba. here and feel sorry for myself. I don’t want to dog on my teammates. I’ve just got to be better, plain and simple.” But Dumba’s poor outing Sunday did cap a string of bad games and big- time concerns for an offensive defenseman who has not recorded a He genuinely doesn’t think this has anything to do with last season’s single point in 14 games since Nov. 16. injury, saying, “I started good. It’s in the past now. It is what it is.”

“It felt like I was right there,” said Dumba, who battled in front of the net He also said his recent play has nothing to do with no longer playing next with Saad. “He was juggling his stick. I was boxing him out. I don’t know. to Brodin. It’s just kind of my luck lately.” “We’ve all played together for a long time, so it shouldn’t,” Dumba said.

The storyline heading into the game was what coach Bruce Boudreau Two years ago, Suter sustained a career-threatening ankle injury that would do with Dumba once Jared Spurgeon returns to the lineup perhaps required months are exhausting rehab and a tough season last year in Tuesday in Las Vegas or Thursday in Arizona. which Suter struggled to rekindle his play.

Spurgeon would almost assuredly be reunited on the top pair with Ryan “It is hard. But he’ll be fine, though,” Suter said of Dumba. “He just has to Suter, but it would seem ill-advised to break up the Jonas Brodin-Carson continue to work at it. It’ll turn for him. We’re trying to talk to him Soucy second pair. throughout the game. Just putting positive thoughts in his head. He’s a With Dumba playing up alongside Suter, the left-shot Soucy was good player. We know it. We just gotta get him back to the player that he elevated into Dumba’s spot next to Brodin and has been exceptional can be.” even though the rookie’s playing his off-side. Since Dec. 3, Soucy, who Staal hits the one grand mark leads all NHL rookies with a plus-16, is a league-high plus-13 and playing tremendous hockey in every area. Brodin ranks second with a plus-10. One night after scoring two goals to reach 999 points, Staal became the 89th player in NHL history to hit the 1,000-point plateau. This would seem to indicate Dumba would have to drop to the third pair with Brad Hunt. Staal snapped the Wild’s 0-for-18 power-play drought with a scorching one-timer. But because of his struggles against the Blackhawks, we didn’t have to wait to learn what Boudreau was thinking. “It’s difficult sometimes to reflect in the middle of a season and a career,” Staal said. “You know, four numbers is a lot of numbers and I’m Dumba was downgraded in the middle of the second period to the point obviously proud of that. I couldn’t have got to this number or this level Suter, who assisted on three goals including Eric Staal’s blast for his without a ton of help from so many people. That something I reflect on a milestone 1,000th point, played next to rookie Brennan Menell, who was lot in this kind of moment. It would’ve been nicer in a win but hopefully a playing just his fourth NHL game, during the third period. few more left ahead of me for the next couple of years.”

“I’ve never really gone through a stretch like I have right now,” said Since 2003-04, Staal has played the second-most games in the NHL at Dumba, who has three goals in 34 games, has no goals since Nov. 12 1,208, scored the fourth-most goals at 429, has the fifth-most points at and is a blue line team-worst minus-11. “I’ve just got to work through this. 1,000, taken the second-most shots at 3,800, has scored the eighth-most I have to keep working hard and I don’t know what else to say really. It’s power-play goals at 131, has the ninth-most game-winning goals at 69 a little mental battle. I’ll get over this.” and logged the most minutes among all NHL forwards at 23,716 minutes, Sunday night marked exactly one year since Dumba’s tremendous start 45 seconds. to the 2018-19 campaign was interrupted by a devastating injury Since going his first eight games without a goal, Staal has 12 goals and sustained when Calgary’s Matt Tkachuk felt Dumba had to fight in 24 points in the past 26 games. Zach Parise fished the milestone puck response to his high check on Flames center Mikael Backlund late in the out of the net. third period of a game the week before. Suter was proud he was the one to tee the milestone point up for his Dumba had 12 goals in 32 games and was on pace for 31 at that buddy, who’s a fellow 2003 draft pick. juncture. It was his fourth consecutive season with double-digit goals. “It was awesome. It was awesome,” Suter said. “I actually really wanted But then, in a snap, it was over. Dumba sustained a torn pectoral muscle, that so it worked out perfect that I was able to pass it to him. Couldn’t one that required season-ending surgery and several setbacks during a have happened to a better person. He is a class act on and off the ice. long, arduous rehab process. Just a great person, a great parent and a great teammate. “Last year, maybe two years ago, I told him he was going to be a Hall of Famer. This just solidifies that for sure.”

Fiala continues to soar

On a night Staal said it was evident several Wild players were fatigued, one player who was going was Kevin Fiala, who scored two goals and had two chances for his first career hat trick during one late third-period shift.

He scored one goal on a breakaway, another where he banked a centering feed for Suter off a Blackhawk skate.

Fiala has scored eight goals and 18 points and has 47 shots in his past 21 games.

“I feel better and better and more confident, for sure,” said the 23-year- old Fiala. “I mean, I’m still young. Hopefully I’m going to be even better and better, but I feel pretty good right now.”

Odds and ends

After falling behind 2-0 and 3-2, the Wild tied the game twice before the Saad winner with 6:17 left. In the past couple weeks, the Wild trailed vs. Ottawa, vs. Dallas, at Florida, at Tampa Bay, vs. Anaheim, vs. Edmonton and vs. Philly and still rallied for a 6-0-1 record.

“You can’t do it all the time,” Boudreau said. “It’s going to catch up to you. It caught up to us tonight. Allowing the first goal, the first two goals in this case. But at the same token, and you’ve heard me talk about it, when you’re on the road and you get to the last 10 minutes of the game on the road and you’re tied, you gotta get it into at least overtime. You can’t allow that.” …

Center Joel Eriksson Ek didn’t travel to Chicago after getting hit high by Philadelphia’s Sean Couturier the night before. Boudreau said the Wild hope he’ll feel better enough to meet the team later in the road trip in Vegas or Arizona. Against Chicago, Luke Kunin moved to center on a new third line with Jordan Greenway and Ryan Hartman and Victor Rask centered Marcus Foligno and Gerry Mayhew.

Michael Russo

The Athletic LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166523 Montreal Canadiens

Slumping Canadien Jeff Petry will emerge from funk | HI/O Bonus

MONTREAL GAZETTE staff

Updated: December 15, 2019

In this bonus episode, our panelists — Montreal Gazette columnist Stu Cowan, CBC Daybreak Montreal’s Jessica Rusnak and comedian Joey Elias — along with host Adam Susser discuss defenceman Jeff Petry’s recent struggles after a strong start to the season.

Montreal Gazette LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166524 Nashville Predators

Fans boo Predators off ice at Bridgestone Arena after loss to Stars

Paul Skrbina,

Published 7:38 a.m. CT Dec. 15, 2019

Bridgestone Arena was filled with more boos than usual Saturday night.

Predators fans — what was left of them, anyway — made their statement loud and clear as the team left the ice after an uninspired 4-1 loss to the Stars in a preview of the Winter Classic, booing the team.

And for good reason.

This one was a dud for the home team, which allowed four goals on eight shots during the second period, including a shorthanded score. The Predators fell closer to the bottom of the standings — second-to-last in the Central and 11th in the Western Conference — than to a playoff spot.

"It's been a rough go for too long," goalie Pekka Rinne said. "Another tough loss, especially at home. By the end of the game there was probably half the people left in the arena and it makes me embarrassed by the results at home."

Predators forward Austin Watson, who gave his team a 1-0 lead Saturday, used a different version of the same word to describe the effort.

"Frustrating? Yes. Embarrassing is another one that can cover that," he said. "It just hasn't been good enough.

"They scored a shorthanded goal and the life kind of went out of our game."

The Predators didn't give fans much reason to stick around. They fell to 14-12-5 overall and 9-6-1 at home.

Saturday wasn't the first time fans showed their frustrations audibly. In fact, boos could be heard after the team left the ice after the second period, similar to the ones that were showered on the team during a loss to the Canucks on Nov. 21 when the Predators allowed five power-play goals.

"We can't let that happen," Filip Forsberg said.

Once again, the Predators far outshot an opponent — this time 38-22. Once again, the result wasn't in their favor.

Once again, Rinne took part of the blame.

"I've got to find a way to make some of those saves," he said.

Predators coach Peter Laviolette was more interested in talking about quality vs. quantity when it came to the Stars' chances.

"It wasn't a quantity thing," he said. "It was the quality, starting with the first one — a breakaway. The second one, we have a chance to clear pucks out of there and we don't. ... It's not like we're under siege, but the mistakes we're making, they're costing us. They're too big. We need to quiet the game down defensively just from a quality (shots allowed) standpoint, not a quantity standpoint."

The Predators, who were without defenseman Mattias Ekholm (illness) and forwards Mikael Granlund (lower body) and Viktor Arvidsson (lower body), refused to use that as an excuse.

"We need to invest more in the game," Laviolette said in reference to his team's overall effort.

That investment can begin Monday, when the Predators begin a four- game road trip that will take them to New York for two, Ottawa and Boston.

Tennessean LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166525 New Jersey Devils Draft picks available

1st: 2020, 2021, 2022

What could Devils get in a Taylor Hall trade? A look at targets from 4 2nd: 2020, 2021, 2022 contending teams 3rd: 2020, 2020 (via Avalanche), 2021, 2022

Potential prospects to include Updated Dec 15, 2019;Posted Dec 15, 2019 Top target: Landing a top defenseman prospect would be ideal for the By Chris Ryan Devils, but when looking at the Panthers’ system, it’s a goalie that stands out. Spencer Knight was the 13th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft after anchoring the U.S. National Development Program Team led by Hughes. GLENDALE, Ariz. -- A Taylor Hall trade appears to be a matter of when, After the Panthers picked Knight, they signed Sergei Bobrovsky to a not if, for the Devils, after scratching the left winger for the past two seven-year contract in free agency. Knight will certainly have a place in games on Friday and Saturday. the NHL even with Bobrovsky there, but parting with him to land Hall might be something the Panthers are willing to do for short-term success. Nothing is done yet, as multiple teams continue to work to put together a And by getting Knight, the Devils could eventually pair him Mackenzie package to land 2017-18 NHL MVP in a trade with New Jersey. Blackwood for their long-term answers in net.

So what could the Devils get in return when Ray Shero ultimately pulls Other prospects: The Panthers’ system features plenty of forward the trigger on a trade? options, including 2018 first-round pick Grigori Denisenko and 2017 first- round pick Owen Tippett. The Panthers might not want to part with them, There have been plenty of teams that have expressed interest in Hall, but but wingers Serron Noel and Logan Hutsko carry plenty of NHL upside. four stand out as the reported top contenders: The Arizona Coyotes, 2016 first-round pick Henrik Borgstrom has some NHL experience, but Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche. he hasn’t carved out a full-time role with the Panthers yet and is currently Introducing Devils Insider: Sign up for exclusive news, behind-the-scenes in the AHL. observations and the ability to text message directly with beat writers In terms of an NHL piece, 26-year-old Vincent Trochek has also been In any trade for Hall, the Devils will likely be looking for a few pieces: a floated as a possible piece to a Hall trade. He has 261 points in 390 high draft pick, and possibly an additional conditional pick if Hall signs a career games with the Panthers. long-term contract extension with his new team. The Devils will also seek ST. LOUIS BLUES a top prospect, or at least one or two solid prospects if they can’t pry away an organization’s best. Draft picks available

With that said, here’s a look at what each of those four teams has to 1st: 2020, 2021, 2022 offer. Below are the first, second and third-round draft picks available over the next three years for the Coyotes, Blues, Panthers and 2nd: 2020, 2022 Avalanche, along with a top prospect for each team and other potential 3rd: 2020, 2021, 2022 prospects in each organization the Devils could target in a trade. Potential prospects to include ARIZONA COYOTES Top target: The Blues don’t have a loaded farm system — not shocking Draft picks available given their Stanley Cup win in 2019 —and most of their impact 1st: 2020, 2021, 2022 youngsters are already in the NHL. Their best young players, center Robert Thomas and defenseman Vince Dunn, were part of last season’s 2nd: 2020, 2021, 2022 Stanley Cup team, and they’re not going anywhere as the Blues aim to repeat. But there are still some prospects to be the centerpiece to build a 3rd: 2021, 2022 deal around. So here we’ll go with Niko Mikkola a 23-year-old Potential prospects to include defenseman and 2015 fifth-round pick who is currently in the NHL. He’s a lefty shot with a big body at 6-4 and 205 pounds, and while he’s probably Top target: Barrett Hayton is the top overall prospect in Arizona, but for not going to turn into a top-pairing defenseman, he’s would fill a need in the Devils’ purposes, they should be aiming for their best defenseman the Devils’ system. prospect: Victor Soderstrom. Soderstrom was the 11th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft after the Coyotes traded up three spots to take him. The Other prospects: Given the Blues’ lack of a clear-cut elite prospect, the Coyotes had Soderstrom as their third-ranked prospect overall behind Devils would likely look to add multiple pieces in a deal. Scott Perunovich Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko, so in their minds, they got a steal at No. is another potential defenseman to target. The left-handed blue liner and 11. However, that doesn’t mean he’s untouchable, and the Devils should 2018 second-round pick is a junior at Minnesota-Duluth, where he’s won have their sights on him in any talks with Arizona. two national championships. Since the Devils already have Will Butcher and Smith coming soon, they may not seek another smaller, Other prospects: Hayton, the fifth overall pick in 2018, is projected to be offensive-minded defenseman. Mitch Reinke also fits that same mold, a top-line center in the NHL, and on top of the Coyotes likely wanted to though he plays the right side. retain him, the Devils already have Hughes and Nico Hischier down the middle. 2016 second-round pick Jordan Kyrou has 58 points in 63 AHL games over the past two seasons, but he hasn’t gotten a major NHL opportunity Defenseman Kevin Bahl fits the description of an old-school defender, yet. Klim Kostin was the last pick of the first round in 2017, and he’s coming in at a monstrous 6-7 and 240 pounds, and he’s got some decent played the last three seasons in the AHL. While he’s produced less than offensive skills to accompany a body the Devils lack in their system. Lefty half a point per game there, he’s still just 20 years old. Goalie Joel Hofer, defenseman Kyle Capobianco has 10 NHL games to his name, and the a fourth-round pick in 2018, is having a terrific season in the WHL with a 2015 third-round pick has put up strong offensive numbers in the AHL, 1.81 GAA and .937 save percentage, and he’ll be ready to turn pro next including 32 points in 40 games last season. He also brings good size season. with his 6-1, 196-pound frame. COLORADO AVALANCHE If the Devils wanted to target a goalie prospect from the Coyotes, Ivan Prosvetov or Adin Hill would be names to watch. Prosvetov, 20, has put Draft picks available up stellar numbers in his first AHL season (1.97 GAA and 944 save 1st: 2020, 2021, 2022 percentage in eight games this season) and is just 20 years old. Hill is a bit more seasoned, as the 23-year-old has 17 NHL games under his belt. 2nd: 2021, 2022

Buy Devils tickets: StubHub, SeatGeek 3rd: 2020 (via Maple Leafs), 2021, 2022

FLORIDA PANTHERS Potential prospects to include Top target: Of the teams and potential prospects involved, is the Holy Grail. The No. 4 overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft went to the Avs with the pick that originally belonged to the Ottawa Senators, and he became the latest blue-clip defenseman in the team’s system. The Avs might not want to part with Byram under any circumstance, but the Devils would be making a mistake if they didn’t at least inquire about him.

Other prospects: Even if the Devils couldn’t land Byram in a deal — it’s a big ask for a team to part with a No. 4 overall pick less than a year after drafting him — Colorado’s system features plenty of viable young players. Center Alex Newhook was also selected in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft, going No. 16 overall. Samuel Girard has established himself as a full-time NHL player at this point, but with Byram on the way and Cale Makar looking like the 2019-20 NHL rookie of the year, they have the pieces on the blue line to part with Girard.

Defenseman Connor Timmins has battled injury issues — he missed the entire 2018-19 season — but the 2017 second-round pick still has a ton of upside. The Avs also have some young players in Tyson Jost and Martin Kaut, among others.

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Star Ledger LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166526 New Jersey Devils his five games entering Saturday, but they had a 0-4-1 mark to show for it.

In a season already in dire straits, getting one win to end a long, mentally How Devils’ Mackenzie Blackwood, Michael McLeod provided needed challenging road trip gave the Devils something to hang their collective performances in win vs. Coyotes hat on.

“Seven games in a row, it was kind of starting to wear on everybody,” Posted Dec 15, 2019 Palmieri said. “It’s a lot of (expletive) bus rides and a lot of (expletive) plane rides. It’s good. We’ve got a long flight home tonight. We’ve got By Chris Ryan four games before the Christmas break, trying to finish on a high note. It was wearing on everybody in this room, Nas, everybody in this locker

room. GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Michael McLeod waited nearly 22 years for this “It’s been a tough ride, but tonight’s a positive, and we’ll take that.” moment. Get Devils Insider text messages from reporters: Cut through the clutter His shot off a rebound less than three minutes into the Devils’ game of social media and communicate directly with Devils beat writer Chris against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena found the back of the Ryan. Plus, exclusive news and analysis every day. Sign up now. net, and after taking a moment to realize the puck truly crossed the goal line, the 2016 first-round pick wheeled to the left circle, dropped to a knee Chris Ryan and pumped his fist. At last, McLeod had his first NHL goal.

Except, he really didn’t. Star Ledger LOADED: 12.16.2019 Despite hearing his name announced over the arena’s PA system, the scoring quickly changed, after it became clear tipped the shot en route to the net. McLeod went right back to waiting for that first NHL goal.

“Obviously thought I had scored. Really exciting,” McLeod said. “But I’m just happy we got that early goal, and obviously kept going as the game went on.”

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He still got a primary assist on the play, and another assist on Kyle Palmieri’s game-winning goal in the third period gave McLeod his first career multi-point game in the Devils’ 2-1 victory over the Coyotes.

McLeod was called up earlier in the week after starting the season in the AHL, and it was unclear when he would get to make his 2019-20 NHL debut. But Taylor Hall’s sudden healthy scratches amid trade rumors opened the door for McLeod to play Friday and Saturday, and he took full advantage each night.

Points aside, McLeod looked like a sharper, more impactful player in both games compared to his 21-game NHL stint last season.

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“It’s not even about the points but the way he played the two games,” interim head coach Alain Nasreddine said. “He’s heavy on pucks. He gets in on the forecheck, he’s a big body, good energy, and he played with confidence. And he was a major impact in (Friday’s) game, and obviously again (Saturday) with two assists. But it’s not just about the assists. Every time he gets in on the forecheck, for some reason he stops the puck or comes out with it, and that’s what we need on this team. Guys like him making a difference.”

The Devils needed both of McLeod’s assists on Saturday to generate enough offense to edge the Coyotes, and on the other end, goalie Mackenzie Blackwood made them stand up.

His 31-save effort helped the Devils snap their seven-game losing streak, and in a season where consistent goaltending has a recurring issue, he capped off a strong week that finally ended with a win.

In two starts plus one relief outing in a five-day stretch, Blackwood allowed just four goals on 86 shots — good for a .953 save percentage. When the Devils had their breakdowns, Blackwood was there to bail them out.

“I’m always just trying to get better and work to grow my game. Sometimes results don’t go the way you want, but you feel better than the result," Blackwood said. "Sometimes you don’t feel great, but you get a good result. I think it’s a long-term game. It’s not a one week on, one week off and a slump, back-and-forth kind of thing. Last couple starts, I felt really good and had some good results, but the work doesn’t stop.”

The efforts from McLeod and Blackwood, who are both still rookies since they played less than 25 games last season, helped give Nasreddine his first NHL coaching win. The Devils put together stronger efforts in four of 1166527 New Jersey Devils They finished the trip 1-3-0 but Blackwood gave them a chance in two of those losses and backstopped them to their only win. It looks as though he’s finally hitting his stride.

How the NJ Devils took a step forward without Taylor Hall in Arizona “Hopefully he keeps it going and I don’t see why he wouldn’t,” Nasreddine said. “Everything seems to be in control. He was a major factor tonight why we won.” Abbey Mastracco, However, Blackwood himself is hesitant to say he’s on any sort of roll. He Published 6:15 a.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019 won’t say that when the wins aren’t coming. He’s probably been the best player for the team throughout the last week but there are still questions

about the play in front of him and behind him, since Domingue hasn’t GLENDALE, Ariz. — If this is what the New Jersey Devils look like been spectacular. without Taylor Hall then the result is, well, underwhelming. But to be fair, “I think it’s a long-term game,” Blackwood said. “It’s not a one week on, it’s not like the team was lighting it up with him this season, which led one week off slump kind of thing. I think the last couple starts I felt really them to the position they’re in now with Hall in the pressbox instead of on good and had some good results but the work doesn’t stop, I have to the ice. keep continuing to work on my game and keep trying to get better every But in the face of adversity, the Devils were resilient, snapping their day from now until the end of my career.” seven-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on The hard part comes next. The Devils will trade Hall at some point in the Saturday night at Gila River Arena, giving interim coach Alain Nasreddine next few days. It will almost assuredly come before the roster freeze on his first win. Dec. 19, but as of Saturday, he was still with the team in Arizona. “It’s a lot of emotions and it’s been an emotional 10 days so I’ve been Replacing him and his production is not going to be easy, but if the Devils looking forward to this,” Nasreddine said. “We’ve had some cracks at it can keep getting production from rookies like McLeod and Boqvist it will and finally to come through, especially the way we did it, kudos to the lessen the blow, although not by very much. guys.” “It’s not about the points, but the way (McLeod) has played the last two New Jersey Devils center Jesper Boqvist (90) scores a goal against games, he’s been heavy on pucks, he gets in on the forecheck, he’s a Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper (35) as Coyotes big body and has good energy,” Nasreddine said. “He played with defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, right, and Coyotes defenseman Ilya confidence.” Lyubushkin (46) look on during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Hall is stuck in a weird purgatory right now, but the team has no choice Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019 in Glendale, Ariz. but to start moving on and living life without their best player. Kyle Palmieri scored his 12th of the season with a go-ahead goal 11:34 Abbey Mastracco into the third period, Jesper Boqvist scored his third NHL goal, Michael McLeod recorded two points and Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves.

It was the Devils' first since Thanksgiving and did they ever need it. Bergen Record LOADED: 12.16.2019 “It was starting to wear on everybody,” Palmieri said. “It was wearing on everybody in this locker room, Nas, the coaching staff and probably everybody in this organization. It’s been a tough ride and tonight is a positive and we’ll take that.”

How they won

One night after coming into a game in relief of the injured Louis Domingue, Blackwood showed no signs of fatigue. The Devils helped him out with an early lead when McLeod, playing in just his second NHL game of the season, pounced on a rebound in the slot and Boqvist tipped it past goalie Darcy Kuemper just 2:17 into play.

Later in the period, Alex Goligoski launched a rocket through traffic and past Blackwood on the power play to tie the game.

Blackwood had his work cut out for him. Don’t let the shots on goal total fool you, Arizona out-chanced New Jersey 23-7 through the first two periods, according to NaturalStatTrick.com, and it was 29-15 for the game. They didn’t generate a ton of offense and much like before the club held Hall out with the purposes of trading him, they were one-and- done in the offensive zone.

But the effort level couldn’t be questioned. Blake Coleman and Nico Hischier battled the Coyotes as hard as they battled the flu on this road trip. Hischier was engaged in a one-on-one battle with Jakob Cychrun all the way down the wall to the net in the waning seconds, trying desperately to get that empty-netter to put the game away.

“Those guys did a great job of battling,” Palmieri said. “Sami (Vatanen) was another guy who was up all night. It’s one of those things that works its way through a team but I think all of those guys came ready to play and made a huge impact.”

The team got energy from Blackwood. It was just enough for Palmieri to light the match and score a highlight-reel of a game-winner.

What’s next?

This team has been hamstrung by bad goaltending throughout most of the season. Blackwood was inconsistent to start the season, often putting together a stellar performance just to follow it up with a bad one. The biggest takeaway from this road trip is the way Blackwood has established some consistency. 1166528 New York Islanders

Jordan Eberle is heating up after slow start for Islanders

By Andrew Gross

Updated December 16, 2019 1:25 AM

The Devils appear on the verge of trading Taylor Hall, and there’s certainly a bit of a drool factor imagining what it would be like having the former Hart Trophy winner rushing up ice alongside Mathew Barzal, the Islanders’ elite playmaker.

Most likely, that will be an image limited to fantasy. The marketing-driven Devils are unlikely to deal their superstar left wing to another New York- area team, even as a rental.

Up to six teams reportedly are engaged in trade talks with the Devils — it’s unclear whether the Islanders are in the mix — but the consensus is the most likely destination for Hall is a Western Conference team.

As this concerns the Islanders, who did not practice on Sunday after pushing their winning streak to three games with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Sabres on Saturday afternoon at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum, it would seem their most immediate avenue for increased scoring on the wing comes from Hall’s former Oilers teammate, Jordan Eberle.

Eberle extended his point streak to three games (one goal, three assists) on Saturday with a third-period score off Brock Nelson’s feed that put the Islanders ahead 2-1.

“I feel like the last seven, eight games, I’m really starting to feel my game,” Eberle said. “First and foremost, I’m feeling healthy.”

He missed 10 games from Oct. 14 to Nov. 7 with an ankle injury and had only two assists in his first nine games back in the lineup.

“When you come back from an injury, you’re a little rusty and you’re hurting a little bit,” said Eberle, who has three goals and nine assists in 21 games. “You’re playing through it. Now it’s starting to feel better. I’m starting to feel some confidence and the puck is going in.”

President and general manager Lou Lamoriello certainly invested in more point production than the 12 points Eberle has when they agreed on a five-year, $27.5 million extension.

Eberle had a disappointing 19 goals and 18 assists in 78 games last season, his second with the Islanders after former general manager Garth Snow fleeced former Oilers counterpart Peter Chiarelli in a straight-up deal for Ryan Strome, now with the Rangers.

But Eberle finished strong with six goals in the season’s final 11 games, then scored a goal in each game of the Islanders’ first-round sweep of the Penguins. He had four goals and three assists in eight postseason games.

So that’s the hope for the Islanders now: that the streaky Eberle again is heating up.

“If you look back, probably the last eight, 10 games, he’s been scoring pretty regularly,” coach Barry Trotz said. “You see what he can do in the offensive zone and how he complements different players on our roster.”

Trotz has started Eberle and Anders Lee on Derick Brassard’s third line the past five games, though that may change if right wing Michael Dal Colle, who left Saturday’s game in the first period with an upper-body issue, is unavailable.

The Islanders next face the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night at the Coliseum.

By Andrew Gross

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166529 New York Rangers So it goes for these Rangers — up and down, stop and start. And so it only makes sense that the same goes for their penalty kill. It’s just in the nature of this young team, no matter which coach is in charge.

Rangers’ defensive disaster leading to unfair scapegoat

New York Post LOADED: 12.16.2019

By Brett Cyrgalis December 15, 2019 | 5:28PM

David Quinn seems at least somewhat aware that there was a growing amount of noise — warranted or unwarranted — surrounding his veteran assistant coach, Lindy Ruff. It seemed inevitable, as Ruff helps manage the defense that is surrendering the second-most shots against in the league (35.3), as well as the penalty kill, which is ranked 25th (77.1 percent) mostly by way of a few stupendously bad games.

So twice over the past few weeks, including during the Rangers’ successful four-game western road trip when they went 2-1-1, Quinn, unprompted, mentioned Ruff by name in terms of the improving penalty kill.

“I give Lindy a lot of credit,” Quinn said back on Nov. 30. “He’s worked awful hard at it, and our guys have really responded. That being said, you go from one extreme to the other, which tends to be our habit, no matter what topic it is.”

A lot might have happened in the past two-plus weeks since Quinn said that — well, if a lot is the fact that the Rangers have spent the past 10 games following every win with a loss, one defeat in overtime and one in the shootout coming in the trip’s finale, a 4-3 loss Saturday in Anaheim. In the five games prior to Anaheim, the Rangers’ penalty kill had gone 13-for-13, but against the Ducks, they allowed two power-play goals, including the game-tying tally to Hampus Lindholm with 1:56 remaining in regulation.

“Unfortunately, when we struggle on the PK, it seems to come in bunches within a game,” Quinn said after that contest. “So this one certainly didn’t help us.”

There was quite a bit for Quinn to be happy about during this trip, and it will likely come back into better perspective once there is more distance between him and the shootout loss to the Ducks, where a skill competition soured what could have felt like a huge road trip. The club had a day off Sunday before the Predators come in for a Garden match Monday night. Then the Blueshirts will have three days to relax and practice before three games in four nights, including a back-to-back before the three-day Christmas break. Then comes the New Year’s trip to Toronto and Western Canada.

It was a road trip through Florida a month ago when the attention turned toward the penalty kill, losses in Tampa and Sunrise, Fla., when the Rangers allowed seven power-play goals on 11 chances. There was the embarrassing 9-3 loss to the Lightning, followed by a 4-3 loss to the Panthers that put the Rangers at 8-8-2 on the season and made things seem rather bleak.

But this club is nothing if not plucky. They managed to pick off a few more wins before the seesaw of alternating wins and losses began after Thanksgiving, getting them to 16-12-4, three points out of the second wild-card spot going into games on Sunday. Yet during this stretch, the Rangers have been more consistent defensively — although far from perfect — which is something they needed with the stated goal of making the playoffs.

“Your special teams are pivotal,” Quinn said, “but not only are they pivotal, they’re pivotal at key times.”

A perfect example of that would be the power-play goal Mika Zibanejad scored early in the third period in San Jose on Thursday, tying the game, 3-3. Then after Zibanejad gave them the lead just under five minutes later, Kaapo Kakko was called for a trip and the Blueshirts had a huge penalty kill. They executed to perfection, allowing Artemi Panarin to score twice down the stretch (one empty-netter) to complete his hat trick en route to a heartening 6-3 win.

“You’re not going to come upon two bigger situations for your special team to deliver,” Quinn said, “and they delivered.” 1166530 Ottawa Senators

Game Day: Senators at Panthers

Ken Warren

December 15, 2019 9:34 PM EST

Blueline survival

If defenceman Nikita Zaitsev is unable to play for the Senators on Monday, veterans Thomas Chabot, Mark Borowiecki and Ron Hainsey will need to shoulder big loads. It could be a tough test for recent Belleville call-ups Max Lajoie and Andreas Englund.

Angry Panthers

Florida coach Joel Quenneville put his team through the paces Sunday, upset at the club’s work ethic and slow starts during a three-game losing streak. Expect the Panthers to come out hungry.

Nilsson or Hogberg?

It’s likely the Senators will stick with red-hot goaltender Anders Nilsson, who bailed out his team in the third period of Ottawa’s overtime victory over Columbus on Saturday, but coach D.J. Smith says both goaltenders will play on the road trip.

Keeping the special teams going

The Senators have scored power-play goals in back-to-back games, including the Anthony Duclair overtime winner Saturday. The Panthers, meanwhile, have numerous talented forwards with a history of power- play success and they’re ranked seventh in the NHL on home ice.

On or off Bobrovsky?

Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, signed to a seven-year, $70 million contract in the off-season, has had an inconsistent opening couple of months in South Florida. He wasn’t on the ice for Sunday’s workout, in what likely was a rest day in preparation for facing the Senators.

THE BIG MATCHUP

Anthony Duclair vs. Mike Hoffman

Once upon a time, Hoffman was the offensive flavour of the day in Ottawa. When his stick was on fire, he was hard to slow down, but he also had extended slumps. It has been a similar story in Florida and he has scored once in his past four games. Duclair, meanwhile, should be in the running for one of the NHL’s three stars of the week after scoring five goals — finishing off a hat trick with the overtime winner in Ottawa’s 4-3 victory over Columbus on Saturday — along with one assist in Ottawa’s three contests. Duclair’s 18 goals puts him in a tie for eighth in the NHL goal-scoring race entering play Sunday.

Ottawa Sun LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166531 Ottawa Senators The Panthers, meanwhile, have been guilty of starting slow, forced to try and come from behind, leading to their three-game losing streak.

“We shouldn’t have been chasing the game, we should have been Warren's piece: Black-and-blue blueline, Barkov recovers, Quenneville is dictating the game. And then you say, why didn’t we win or why did we wary of Senators and a sea of Santas have poor games and I think the effort or the compete level is not high. We need a standard and an expectation level across the board.”

Quenneville is doing what countless coaches have done before and will Ken Warren do again to break slumps. He’s juggling his forward lines, looking to wake some players up. December 16, 2019 12:10 AM EST THAT FLORIDA LIFE: Some of the things you see in the Sunshine State

without even trying (a bikini contest in a hotel ballroom Saturday evening) CORAL SPRINGS, Florida — The hits keep coming to the Ottawa probably shouldn’t be surprising. Some other things (a couple thousand Senators blue line. Santa Clauses jogging down the Fort Lauderdale strip as part of a fun run early Sunday morning) do catch you off guard … And about that 25- After a rough afternoon of blocking shots in Saturday’s 4-3 overtime win foot high fake snowman welcoming you to the Fort Lauderdale beach? over the Columbus Blue Jackets, defenceman Nikita Zaitsev was not on Merry Sandy Christmas. the ice for Sunday’s workout here.

While Zaitsev is in Florida with the team, there’s a very real chance he could miss both Monday’s game against the Panthers and Tuesday’s Ottawa Sun LOADED: 12.16.2019 contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

In Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens, Dylan DeMelo took a shot off the hand and could be out of the lineup for another three weeks.

“He’s sore,” coach D.J. Smith said of Zaitsev. “We’re hopeful that he’ll play (Monday), but we’ll know a little bit more later.”

If Zaitsev can’t go, the Senators will be forced to dress both Max Lajoie and Andreas Englund, who was recalled from Belleville of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis after the DeMelo injury.

“There’s a chance (Englund) could play,” said Smith. “I’m going to talk to the other coaches, but he looked good at practice. He’s a big guy and we did want to watch him in practice.”

What will also be intriguing is what the coaching staff chooses to do with Lajoie, who played only 3:52 against the Blue Jackets.

ENGLUND TAKES ON FLORIDA: The way Englund sees it, the style of game being employed by Belleville coach Troy Mann is ideal for him.

“The way I get noticed is to focus on the stuff I do, to be physical and use the short outlet passes,” said Englund, who has played in nine games over three seasons with the Senators after being drafted 40th overall in 2014 … On the topic of Belleville, goaltender Joey Daccord was all over Saturday’s 4-1 win over Toronto. He stopped 34 of 35 shots for the win and assisted on Erik Brannstrom’s first goal while playing in the Senators organization. Belleville has won three straight and is 8-2 in its past 10 games.

GOOD NEWS ON PAUL FRONT: Only minutes into Sunday’s workout, Nick Paul crashed into the boards after tripping over Chris Tierney’s stick. He lay on the ice for several minutes before helped to the bench by teammates. Paul did, however, return for the tail end of the workout and he is expected to play against the Panthers … Jonathan Davidsson, who might have been in the lineup if Paul was out of the lineup, was re- assigned to Belleville late Sunday afternoon. It’s possible J.C. Beaudin could be coming back the other way.

GOOD NEWS ON BARKOV FRONT: The Panthers were also breathing a sigh of relief Sunday. Captain Aleksander Barkov, who has 10 goals and 26 assists, was back on the ice at practice. Barkov’s status had been unclear after the crashed into the boards following a collision with Boston’s Charlie McAvoy late in Saturday’s 4-2 loss.

“I tried to get up and I just couldn’t get up,” he said following Sunday’s practice. “But maybe a minute after that, I was fine and everything came back to normal. I haven’t seen (the replay) and I don’t actually remember what happened. I just hit my leg into the boards and when it first happened, I couldn’t feel my leg for a minute. After that, I shook it off.”

BEWARE THE ‘DANGEROUS’ SENATORS: Panthers coach Joel Quenneville was touting the success of the Senators Sunday, while also discussing his team’s inability to play complete games lately.

“We’ve got a real dangerous team coming in here,” he said. “There’s some familiarity with this team and where they’re at. I don’t know if you can say they’ve surprised teams, but, hey, they’re right there in the mix. They’ve got a lot of life in that situation from their perspective.” 1166532 Ottawa Senators

The Browns: All in the hockey family

Ken Warren

December 15, 2019 4:07 PM EST

CORAL SPRINGS — Early Sunday afternoon, Jeff Brown had one eye on what was happening with his son Logan in Florida and the other one on what was going on with son Caden in Russia.

While Logan, the Senators’ 21-year-old centre was on the practice ice here, Caden was playing for the United States’ Under-17 National Development team in Kazan, Russia, a game that the father was checking out live on his iPhone.

Such is life for a proud father of talented hockey playing sons.

This weekend represents the first time that Jeff Brown, who grew up in Nepean, played 750 NHL games and later served as coach and general manager of the Ottawa 67’s, has been on a father’s trip.

“It’s always what he wanted to do,” Brown said of Logan. “His whole life, on the ice, off the ice, all of the extra ice, all of the summer work, it’s all about being able to realized this. I was never able to do this with my Dad.”

Jeff Brown insists that his days of coaching his son are in the past.

No other player in the Senators organization has been as closely watched, positively and negatively, and he doesn’t want to add to that pressure.

“I am just a Dad and because he has had so many trials and tribulations, I’ve been more consoling,” he said. “There are enough people who are hard on him. I just tell him he’s a great player and keep working hard. That means being early every day and being the hardest worker every day and being a great teammate. It’s all the stuff I’ve been telling him since he was three years old.”

Ottawa Sun LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166533 Ottawa Senators When reminded that his father stopped coaching him directly at an early age, Duclair said the support went a lot deeper than that.

“He was still very heavily involved,” the young Duclair said. “Every Duclair shines with proud Dad along for the ride practice, every game, he was there. He was doing the same thing with my little brother and my little sisters (whose passion is tennis) back home. He was definitely heavily involved and so was Mom, as well.”

Ken Warren It’s hard to imagine a parent receiving a better early Christmas gift than what Wendell Duclair has witnessed. December 15, 2019 8:50 PM EST

Ottawa Sun LOADED: 12.16.2019 CORAL SPRINGS, Florida — Life’s a beach these days for Wendell Duclair.

When he wasn’t basking in the sun with the rest of the Ottawa Senators’ fathers in Florida on the weekend, he was basking in the red-hot success of his son.

That, of course, would be Anthony Duclair, who registered the third hat trick of his NHL career — and the first with proud father in attendance — in the Senators’ 4-3 overtime victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday.

The other time Duclair capped a hat trick by scoring in overtime came against the Senators, while he was with the Arizona Coyotes in 2017.

“That was awesome,” the senior Duclair said while checking out the Senators’ Sunday workout in Coral Springs, in preparation for Monday’s game against the Florida Panthers.

“I was hoping for a goal or at least an assist, but this is over the top and we’ll take it.”

Naturally. After Duclair’s recent tear, he has 18 goals, tied for eighth in the NHL goal scoring race before Sunday’s games, a group that includes Boston’s Brad Marchand.

While the Senators’ gamble in trading for Duclair at last February’s trade deadline has been well-documented — the Blue Jackets also sent the Senators a pair of second round picks in exchange for Ryan Dzingel — the father always believed his son could be a major part of an NHL squad if given the proper chance and circumstances.

Just the same, the Senators represented Duclair’s fifth — and perhaps final — opportunity to prove himself. Primarily, the challenge was to be adequate enough defensively so that coaches could trust him.

“The one thing that has never been a question is his talent and his desire,” said Wendell Duclair.

“In terms of doing exactly what coaches wanted and that kind of stuff, the difference here is they let him play. Of course, you have to have a (defensive) structure to follow. But also be yourself. In the past, people wanted him to do everything exactly … maybe there were specifics he wasn’t geared to do or it would take him a little more time to.”

Don’t get Papa Duclair wrong. He isn’t pretending to know more about the game than the people who coach professional hockey for a living. He jokes that he stopped coaching Anthony when he was in novice hockey — “I retired, because other people should be doing that,” he said — content to share in fun games in the basement or garage of their Montreal home.

While his son has endured some very public criticism of his game, most notably from Columbus coach John Tortorella, Wendell Duclair says he has done his best to let his son live his own life.

“We just support him,” he said. “We’re not talking about hockey much when he comes to visit in the summer or whenever. We just let him loose and let him figure it out for himself.”

The younger Duclair can’t say enough about the support of his father along the way.

“It’s definitely special, definitely a fun one,” Duclair said of Saturday’s triumph in front of the fathers.

“It’s huge motivation. I think I can speak for everyone in saying we wouldn’t be here without these guys. It’s nice for them to experience this and see how we live on the road and see what we go through and especially here in Florida, when the weather is nice. (We’re here) because they sacrificed so much when we were younger.” 1166534 Philadelphia Flyers That left just six of the 12 forwards who played in the opener in Prague: Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Jake Voracek, Kevin Hayes, James van Riemsdyk, and Twarynski.

Battered Flyers lose to Jets, 7-3, after Joel Farabee’s penalty leads to “We definitely miss the guys that are out and you want them back as two goals and breaks open close game soon as you can,” Ellliott said. “[But] you don’t want to use that as an excuse. It’s an opportunity for guys to step up, myself included, and we didn’t get it done tonight.” by Sam Carchidi Van Riemsdyk and Gostisbehere scored their fourth goals in the last eight games, and Hayes (two assists, six shots) had a strong game

against his former team. WINNIPEG, Manitoba — All you need to know about the state of the Other than that, it was difficult to find any positives. Flyers these days is that six of their 12 forwards in the lineup Sunday weren’t with the team at the start of the season. The Flyers will try to regroup at home. They need their top line — Couturier centering Giroux and Voracek — to show the way. The unit Predictably, their injury-ravaged lineup fell short. produced just one goal on the three-game trip. Far short.

Winnipeg pulled away from a 2-1 lead with four second-period goals in a Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 12.16.2019 little over four minutes en route to a 7-3 win over the Flyers at Bell MTS Place.

The Flyers faced just a 2-1 deficit when rookie right winger Joel Farabee was called for a five-minute interference penalty and given a game misconduct midway through the second period.

The Jets scored twice on the ensuing power play and quickly added two more goals after the penalty ended, building a 6-1 lead.

“It was a huge moment in the game,” defenseman Matt Niskanen said. “I felt like we had the potential to get a little momentum back there. It’s a good power play to give five minutes; they popped a couple and we ended up chasing.”

The Flyers finished 0-3 on the road trip and were outscored by a combined 14-5 by Colorado, Minnesota, and Winnipeg. They have lost three straight and four of their last five games.

“Everybody in here feels we can all play better,” said Niskanen, whose team hosts Anaheim on Tuesday. “We’re disappointed in the results of this trip and how we played, and we look forward to going back home and playing better at home.”

Brian Elliott, who was not given much support, allowed six goals on 17 shots and was replaced by Carter Hart at the start of the final period.

Farabee’s major penalty on Mathieu Perreault — the veteran right winger had to be helped off the ice and didn’t return — will be reviewed by the league and he could face disciplinary action.

The Flyers’ penalty kill has been superb for most of the season, but it was not on the Jets’ five-minute power play.

“We get a five-minute penalty with a lot of our penalty-killers not being in our lineup tonight,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “So it obviously made it challenging against a power play that has some big weapons.”

Blake Wheeler (blast past a screened Elliott) and Mark Scheifele (one- timer from the slot) scored to make it 4-1. Logan Shaw (left-circle) and Patrik Laine then scored 16 seconds apart to make it 6-1.

Laine’s goal was a pass that deflected off Shayne Gostisbehere and into the net, giving the Jets four goals in a 4:17 span.

“That was a mountain to climb,” Niskanen said.

Wheeler and Scheifele each finished with a goal and two assists for the Jets, who were coming off a 5-2 loss Thursday to woeful Detroit.

The Flyers, playing 22 hours after a loss in Minnesota, had cut it to 2-1 with 15:45 left in the second as Niskanen scored on a rebound, the Flyers’ first power-play goal in the last seven games. The Flyers then started applying pressure on Connor Hellebuyck, but Farabee’s penalty took away their momentum.

The Flyers used six forwards who didn’t start the season with the club, including five who began the year with the Phantoms: Farabee, Morgan Frost, Nic Aube-Kubel, David Kase, and Vorobyev.

In addition, Carsen Twarynski, who has spent a large part of the season with the Phantoms, and Chris Stewart, a training-camp invitee, were in the lineup. 1166535 Philadelphia Flyers

As Flyers’ injury list grows, Carsen Twarynski, Nic Aube-Kubel are recalled from Phantoms

by Sam Carchidi

WINNIPEG, Manitoba – After being recalled from the AHL’s Phantoms earlier in the day, wingers Carsen Twarynski and Nic Aube-Kubel each played over 13 minutes in the Flyers’ 7-3 loss Sunday in Winnipeg.

Both weren’t exactly tearing up the AHL, but they were needed because injuries to Scott Laughton (groin) and Tyler Pitlick (concussion) Saturday in Minnesota left the Flyers with just 10 healthy forwards.

Pitlick is out indefinitely, and head coach Alain Vigneault said that he wasn’t sure if Laughton was day to day or week to week and that he would know more on Monday after the team returns home.

The Flyers have six forwards sidelined: Pitlick, Laughton, Oskar Lindblom (Ewing’s sarcoma), Travis Konecny (concussion), Nolan Patrick (migraine disorder), and Michael Raffl (broken finger).

“It’s a part of hockey,” Vigneault said before the game, referring to the surge of injuries. “These situations throughout an 82-game schedule are going to happen. What you need is your top players to lead and to play the right way. That dictates the way to play for everybody else.”

The latest injuries caused Vigneault to scramble the lines Sunday. Each line had at least one rookie on it, and there were six rookies among the 12 forwards: Joel Farabee, Twarynski, Morgan Frost, Aube-Kubel, David Kase, and Mikhail Vorobeyev.

The team’s latest lines: Sean Couturier centering Claude Giroux and Farabee; Kevin Hayes centering Twarynski and Jake Voracek; Frost centering James van Riemsdyk and Aube-Kubel; and Vorobyev centering Kase and Chris Stewart.

The fourth line, centered by Vorobyev, was the Flyers’ most effective unit in Sunday’s first period.

At Lehigh Valley this season, Aube-Kubel, 23, had seven points (four goals, three assists) in 25 games, while Twarynski, 22, had three points (two goals, assist) in 11 games. In three different stints with the Flyers this season, Twarynski has played a total of 15 games.

Aube-Kubel, pointless in nine games with the Flyers last season, collected his first NHL point Sunday, a primary assist on Shayne Gostisbhere’s third-period goal. Aube-Kubel, playing his third game in three nights, also had three hits in 13:07.

Twarynski had two hits and blocked two shots in 13:54.

Breakaways

Defenseman Luca Sbisa, a 2008 top-round draft pick of the Flyers who has played well for Winnipeg, gave the Jets a 2-0 lead Sunday. .... Defenseman Robert Hagg replaced Phil Myers in the lineup. Vigneault was unhappy with Myers’ play in Saturday’s 4-1 loss in Minnesota. ... Odd stat: The Flyers outshot the Jets, 32-24, in their blowout loss.

Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166536 Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers dedicating season to cancer-stricken Oskar Lindblom

by Sam Carchidi

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Flyers are playing the rest of the season for teammate Oskar Lindblom, the talented left winger who is preparing to get treatment for a rare type of bone cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma.

“We’re a tight team and what we want to do right now is win hockey games for Oskar,” captain Claude Giroux said before Saturday’s night game in Minnesota. “…. I’m sure that’s what he would want.”

As a tribute to him, equipment manager Derek Settlemyre placed Lindblom’s No. 23 jersey, uniform, and equipment in a locker-room stall, between Giroux’s and Kevin Hayes', as if he were playing against the Wild.

“I just went into the room and I saw it and it’s kind of tough not to be emotional,” Giroux said two hours before the game. “It’s good for everybody to see his jersey there.”

“It’s just a sign of respect; he’s still part of the team,” Couturier said.

Lindblom, 23, who co-led the Flyers with 11 goals, is expected to miss the season and he will find out the best course of treatment in the coming days.

Mark Herzlich, a Wayne, Pa., native who overcame Ewing’s sarcoma and later played linebacker for the New York Giants, said Saturday that his treatments lasted seven months. His tumor was in his leg; Lindblom’s is in the upper part of his body.

“It’s not easy when one of your teammates is going to go through a fight like this,” Giroux said. “I know we’re all behind him, we’re there to support him. He’s a huge piece to our team. We love Oskar a lot, and he’s a strong kid. This isn’t the news you like to hear. The last few days have been tough on us, and I can only imagine how Oskar is feeling.”

Flyers general manager announced Lindblom’s condition Friday, but the players said they knew about it before they lost in Colorado, 3-1, on Wednesday.

“It definitely puts things in perspective,” Giroux said.

Defenseman Robert Hagg was teary-eyed and his voice cracked with emotion as he talked about Lindblom. They are close friends and are both are from Sweden.

“He’s shocked, for sure,” Hagg said. “I was with him when they told him [his condition] and it was hard to see.”

Hagg has had a few conversations with Lindblom since the diagnosis.

“He found out a couple days ago. Sometimes he starts crying, and 10 minutes later he feels fine,” said Hagg, who has known Lindblom for nine years. “He doesn’t feel sick. You feel healthy, but someone is telling you you’re sick. It’s tough on everyone.”

Hagg kiddingly referred to Lindblom as his “annoying little brother.”

He paused.

“He’s awesome,” Hagg said. “I just want to see him back.”

Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166537 Philadelphia Flyers Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.16.2019

Controversial, confusing hit by Joel Farabee on Mathieu Perreault crushes Flyers (and it could cost him)

By Jordan Hall

December 15, 2019 8:20 PM

The Flyers' lineup had a supremely uncharacteristic look Sunday at Bell MTS Place.

Joel Farabee then made an uncharacteristic play and the Flyers' road trip went completely haywire with a 7-3 loss to the Jets.

The Flyers (17-11-5) limped through an 0-3-0 swing away from home in which they were outscored 14-5. Prior to this stretch, the Flyers had lost three straight games in regulation only one other time — Oct. 15-19.

The Jets (20-11-2) pounced on the Flyers in a ripe opportunity.

• In his quick climb to the NHL, Farabee had been lauded for his smarts and the way he thinks the game at an advanced level.

On Sunday, though, the 19-year-old rookie made a dumb, ill-advised play and it crushed the Flyers. Really, it cost them any chance at a win and it could cost the rookie a game or two.

With the Flyers trailing, 2-1, almost midway through the second period, Farabee flattened Mathieu Perreault just as the Jets' forward was turning from sending a pass up the boards. Perreault left the game and did not return.

Farabee may have been frustrated as he was crosschecked in the back moments before the hit. Still, the Flyers had just trimmed the deficit to one and were already playing with a patchwork group of forwards.

Farabee was whistled for interference and given a game misconduct, putting Winnipeg on a five-minute power play. The Jets went on to score four goals in fewer than six minutes and the game was over (see highlights).

The NHL will look at the Farabee hit. Stay tuned.

• This was not a game the Flyers could afford mental mistakes or self- inflicted wounds.

The club rushed Carsen Twarynski and Nicolas Aube-Kubel to Winnipeg on Sunday because it's ravaged by injuries at the forward position.

The Flyers came in without Scott Laughton (groin), Tyler Pitlick (concussion), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma diagnosis), Travis Konecny (concussion), Michael Raffl (broken right pinkie finger) and Nolan Patrick (migraine disorder).

6 of #Flyers' 12 forwards have played combined 87 games in NHL:

Joel Farabee — 26

Mikhail Vorobyev — 24

Carsen Twarynski — 14

Morgan Frost — 12

Nicolas Aube-Kubel — 9

David Kase — 2

Matt Niskanen has played in 38 more playoff games (125 overall) than that regular-season total.

— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) December 15, 2019

To the Flyers' credit, they played with great energy during the first period and were in the game midway through the action.

• Matt Niskanen, James van Riemsdyk and Shayne Gostisbehere scored goals for the Flyers.

Niskanen's marker was actually meaningful. When van Riemsdyk and Gostisbehere lit the lamp, the game was out of reach. 1166538 Philadelphia Flyers

Fans can show support by voting for Oskar Lindblom as Metropolitan Division 2020 NHL All-Star Game captain

By Jordan Hall

December 15, 2019 2:10 PM

How awesome would this be?

Reddit user u/arahn17 came up with a heartwarming idea to vote for Oskar Lindblom as the Metropolitan Division All-Star Game captain.

You can do so by clicking here, scrolling down and searching Lindblom's name to place a vote. The 2020 NHL All-Star Game is on Jan. 25 in St. Louis.

The unofficial campaign is another beautiful form of support for Lindblom, a 23-year-old forward on the Flyers who has been diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that occurs in bones or in the soft tissue around the bones.

“He’s a fighter, he’ll get through this," Ivan Provorov said to NBC Sports Philadelphia's Taryn Hatcher on Saturday (see story). "We love him, we’ll support him all the way and he knows we’re here for him. He’s not fighting this fight alone and we’ll do everything that we can to make sure he feels that there’s all people supporting him.”

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166539 Philadelphia Flyers that chance until Sunday under Chuck Fletcher’s watch due in part to inconsistent play in the minors.

Androckitis’ take: “Despite going 15 games without a goal prior to Flyers prospect WATCH: Identifying those in AHL call-up rotation Saturday night's game against Hartford, NAK has been generating chances on a semi-regular basis for the Phantoms this season. With a little more puck luck he might have 10 goals through 26 games instead of the five he has been credited with on the scoresheet. Still, watching eight Dave Isaac, NHL writer forwards (Andy Andreoff, Connor Bunnaman, Frost, Farabee, Kase, Published 2:00 p.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019 German Rubtsov, Twarynski and Vorobyev) get some NHL time before his first chance with the Flyers this season has to be mentally wearing on him.”

This wasn’t the plan. For either team. Connor Bunnaman, forward, Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL)

In Philadelphia, the Flyers were hoping to have Nolan Patrick playing by Age: 21 now. There was no way to predict they’d also lose both their leading goal scorers, Travis Konecny to a concussion and Oskar Lindblom to a Height/weight: 6-foot-1, 207 pounds terrifying cancer diagnosis. Acquired: 2016 fourth-round pick (109th overall) With the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the strategy was to bring a few This season: 10 games, 1 goal in AHL; 4 games, 0 points in NHL prospects up in a winning environment with the impetus on winning a Calder Cup. That's why their first day of free agency featured eight The skinny: Bunnaman has only played six games since returning from players who were AHL veterans. injury. If he were a little sharper on his game, a little less rusty from the time off the ice, he might’ve rejoined the NHL sooner. There’s still a So instead the Flyers were forced to tap into the Phantoms’ roster early. decent shot for him to return to the Flyers if Vorobyev starts to struggle Six players have already made their NHL debuts this season and, as again. injuries pile up with the big club, the Phantoms have been depleted between losing players to call-ups and injuries on their own roster. They Androckitis’ take: “Back to game action in December after missing last got four players back Friday night. The result has been a mediocre 11- month with a lower body injury, it's important for Bunnaman to re- 11-1 showing in the standings for the Phantoms before their matchup establish himself at the AHL level. He's likely not going to replicate his against the Hershey Bears Sunday evening. 19-goal rookie season but the second-year pro did make the Flyers' season-opening roster and knows it'll be more about being a reliable 200- Depth is being tested. The Flyers recalled both Carsen Twarynski and foot player that will get him back to Philly.” Nicolas Aube-Kubel before their game in Winnipeg Sunday night, creating a scenario for both players where they had to play three games Matt Strome, left wing, Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL) in as many days. Age: 20 With that, the Flyers have six players (Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Mikhail Vorobyev, David Kase, Aube-Kubel and Phil Myers) who started Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 210 pounds the season on the Phantoms’ roster. So who’s in that call-up rotation Acquired: 2017 fourth-round pick (106th overall) these days? This season: 15 games, 1 goal, 1 assist That’s where we go with this week’s prospect report, including two forwards who just re-joined the NHL. Thanks for added insight from Tony The skinny: This is the prospect that probably had the furthest to come at Androckitis of insideAHLhockey.com. the start of the season and, as usual, the criticism starts with his skating. Strome spent some time in the ECHL this season as well and probably *all statistics through Saturday, December 14 won’t be in the NHL call-up rotation anytime soon. Isaac Ratcliffe, who Carsen Twarynski, winger, Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL) missed some time to injury, is ahead of him in the list of power forwards.

Age: 22 Androckitis’ take: “Now that the Phantoms are getting healthier up front, Strome has been back to being the odd man out as the 13th forward Height/weight: 6-foot-2, 198 pounds where he's sat as a healthy scratch in most of the 12 AHL games he has missed so far this season. He scored his first pro goal Nov 29 and Acquired: 2016 third-round pick (82nd overall) mentioned feeling a weight lifted off of him after ‘finally’ getting his first This season: 12 games, 2 goals, 1 assist in AHL; 14 games, 1 goal in one. Hopefully, he'll continue to progress and be a more regular NHL presence in the lineup heading into the new calendar year.”

The skinny: It seems like Twarynski is one of those players who can turn it on a little bit more in the higher league. It makes sense from an Courier-Post LOADED: 12.16.2019 adrenaline standpoint, but not the way to earn a full-time spot in the NHL. With all the injuries the Flyers are dealing with, he’s got another chance now. He also plays that bottom-six role in both leagues so the ice time should be roughly the same.

Androckitis’ take: “Getting re-adjusted to the AHL has taken him some time. After a recent three-point game both Twarynski and head coach Scott Gordon mirrored their responses about what Twarynski needs to do moving forward. He has a great shot, which he needs to use more often. And he needs to be more consistent on a nightly basis.”

Nicolas Aube-Kubel, winger, Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL)

Age: 23

Height/weight: 5-foot-11, 210 pounds

Acquired: 2014 second-round pick (48th overall)

This season: 26 games, 5 goals, 3 assists

The skinny: Sure seems like this front office has a different opinion of Aube-Kubel than the administration. In limited ice time last season in the NHL, Aube-Kubel was pretty productive. He hadn’t gotten 1166540 Philadelphia Flyers lump in your body,” Pyett said. “Once they took it out, there’s been no other cancer in my body.”

Through it all, he said, the Flyers were a big help and he wasn’t even on Logan Pyett overcame a sarcoma diagnosis and is now rooting for Oskar an NHL contract. Ron Hextall, the Flyers' ex-general manager, kept in Lindblom touch even after Pyett's contract was up.

“They obviously stayed with me ‘til the end, staying updated,” Pyett said. “I had surgery done in Philly and then shortly after that I was gone. It was Dave Isaac, NHL writer the offseason and I was on a one-year deal. After that there wasn’t much going on (with recovery or treatment). I exchanged some messages with Published 11:12 a.m. ET Dec. 15, 2019 Mr. Hextall. My mom exchanged messages with him a bit. He treated us really well. The whole organization took great care of me. I can’t speak highly enough about Ron and everybody in the management in both Logan Pyett remembers the shock from four years ago that Oskar those teams, the Flyers and the Phantoms, for everything. They never Lindblom felt a few days ago. pushed me to do anything and kept me comfortable and got me good care. It would have been a lot different had I not had that support. Oskar The Flyers announced Friday that Lindblom, the Swedish 23-year-old left is definitely in good hands there. wing who co-leads them in goals, has been diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare cancer found in or around the bones. The team expects “I wish I had a little bit more information about what his situation is. That he will not play for the remainder of this season, which is also the would maybe make my advice a little different. Hopefully they caught it remainder of his contract. early. I don’t know, I’m standing here today feeling fine and healthy. Chemo and the radiation stuff was OK. That stuff isn’t fun. They’re Pyett had signed a one-year contract with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in pumping a bunch of nasty crap into your body. I hope he doesn’t have to 2015 and felt a lump in his leg during training camp. He got some deal with as much of that stuff as I did. Hopefully his diagnosis is (good treatment from the Flyers’ medical staff but thought nothing of it until he and) they caught it quick.” started feeling pain from what turned out to be a blood clot caused by a tumor. He was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma and missed all of that season and the next. Courier-Post LOADED: 12.16.2019 “I don’t remember being overwhelmed with fear or sadness at any time,” Pyett said by phone. “It was kind of like, just a shock. You don’t expect it to happen. You’ve got doctors talking to you and family is obviously worried. There was lots of support around. The Flyers organization and the team down in Lehigh, they were nothing but supportive. It’s going to be similar for Oskar.”

Lindblom’s teammates were still in shock too, speaking to reporters in Minnesota Saturday night before the team’s 4-1 loss to the Wild. The Flyers didn’t release any information about how quickly doctors think they found the sarcoma in Lindblom, only that he will start treatment potentially as soon as this week.

The tumor was found in Lindblom’s upper body somewhere — the team didn’t specify exactly where — and he will be working with doctors at the University of Pennsylvania to battle the disease like Pyett did four years ago.

“One of the first things they told me was it was a similar type of cancer as Mark Herzlich (a former linebacker for the New York Giants, who had Ewing’s sarcoma like Lindblom),” Pyett said. “They had a couple examples of younger athletes who had been diagnosed with either the same or something similar to me and they came out of it fine. That was one of the things they first told me and that was reassuring. I never once was made to feel like anything was life threatening and I never felt that way myself. When it got time for surgery, I was a little more nervous about the surgery part because the tumor was wrapped around my vein and artery in my leg and what would come out with it. You hope that the vascular side of surgery goes well and you don’t wake up missing a leg or something. That was the only time I had any fear but it wasn’t overwhelming.”

No two bodies are the same and Pyett and Lindblom have different types of sarcoma so it’s not fair to compare the two patients or their outlooks. Pyett just hopes doctors caught the tumor in Lindblom as early as they caught the one in his leg in October 2015.

He also made some pretty big lifestyle changes. Doctors told Pyett to stay away from sugar in his diet but he also completely stopped eating animal products. The plant based diet he subscribed to is something Pyett endorses.

Now 31, the defenseman is in remission. Pyett had six three-week cycles of chemotherapy before surgery to remove the tumor from his leg in May 2016. He was able to finally return to the AHL last season, playing 10 games for the Hershey Bears. He would have been able to come back sooner, but he needed another surgery because there was a second blood clot in his leg. This season he started playing in Denmark, but the team couldn’t afford his contract anymore, so they severed ties. He is now in California, hoping to find a new team to hang on with.

“Throughout the whole process I was told that this is just kind of a fluke, just kind of a rogue cell that mutates and all of a sudden you’ve got a 1166541 Pittsburgh Penguins “That’s a lot of hockey for sure,” Blandisi said. “Especially, high-paced hockey. Tight games. The margin for error is pretty tight. I’m just trying to do the best I can mentally and physically and trying to get the most I can out of my body.” 4 games in 4 days were ‘blessing’ to Penguins forward Joseph Blandisi Said goaltender Tristan Jarry: “I was in that position two years ago. Just going back and forth a lot. It’s just something that you can’t really prepare for. You have to be ready at the same time that you could get the call.” SETH RORABAUGH It remains to be seen if the Penguins will keep Blandisi on the roster as Sunday, December 15, 2019 6:39 p.m. they embark on a three-game swing of Western Canada. If for no other reason than the considerable logistical challenge of getting a human being from the Poconos to the Canadian Rockies, keeping a 13th forward Joseph Blandisi had a simple goal Sunday. on the NHL roster would be convenient in the event of an injury, illness or other absence among the top 12. Sleeping in. He certainly appears to have the endorsement of coach Mike Sullivan for “I’m hoping,” Blandisi said. “I’m hoping. We’ll see what happens, though.” such a role. As it turned out, nothing happened to Blandisi on Sunday morning. He “Joseph has done a real nice job for us,” Sullivan said. “He’s a straight- didn’t have to go anywhere for the first time in four days and was in line player, he skates well, he’s strong on pucks, he can play the center- position to engage in some well-deserved slumbering. ice position, he can play the wing, he brings a lot of energy for us. He’s Over the previous three days, he had been moved between the played a safe, reliable, trustworthy game, and that’s what we’re asking.” Penguins’ NHL and AHL rosters with a series of transactions. They asked quite a bit of him over the course of 96 hours last week. That led to a lot of time in cars traversing the Rust Belt, and as a result of “Four days,” Blandisi said. “I haven’t played four professional games over coincidental meshing of the AHL and NHL schedules, Blandisi ended up four days of my career. This was definitely a first. But it’s all good stuff.” playing four games in four days.

To wit: Tribune Review LOADED: 12.16.2019 • Wednesday, Blandisi recorded three shots and two penalty minutes for the AHL Penguins in a 4-2 road loss to the Rochester Americans at Blue Cross Arena.

• Thursday, Blandisi had one shot against the Blue Jackets in a 1-0 overtime win at PPG Paints Arena.

• Friday, he recorded two penalty minutes in a 4-0 road loss to the Cleveland Monsters at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

• Saturday, Blandisi had two penalty minutes in a 5-4 shootout win against the Los Angeles Kings at PPG Paints Arena.

Over the past week, Blandisi was like Johnny Cash. He had been everywhere, man … provided “everywhere” was limited to upstate New York, northeastern Ohio and southwestern Pennsylvania.

That meant a lot of hours in a vehicle and not attending to the business of being a professional hockey. In other words, little sleep and even less working out or watching film.

“Obviously, you get some aches and pains, especially from all the travel and sitting in that same position for quite a while,” Blandisi said. “I’m doing the best I can to stay on top of it. And obviously the staff here (Pittsburgh) and in Wilkes-Barre has been great giving me everything I need to have success. Kudos to them for helping me out.”

The Penguins initially recalled Blandisi from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Thursday morning under emergency conditions — a designation that can impact the next time Blandisi would need to clear waivers for any potential future recalls or assignments — because forward Evgeni Malkin was sidelined by illness. Blandisi made the trek to Pittsburgh a few hours after traveling with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins from Rochester, N.Y., to Cleveland.

The following morning, he was returned to the AHL Penguins, who were still in Cleveland.

When it became apparent Malkin’s malady was lingering, Blandisi was recalled under emergency conditions Saturday morning.

Though it hardly was an ideal scenario, Blandisi is grateful to be wanted.

“Anytime you get an opportunity to help two teams, I think it’s a blessing,” said Blandisi, a sixth-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2012. “At one point in my career, I didn’t know if I would ever play a professional hockey game. So I think four games in four nights definitely isn’t something to complain about.”

It’s definitely something to consider remarkable, however. Even when he played as an adolescent, a time in life when doubleheaders and weekend tournaments are common, Blandisi said he could not recall playing so many games in such a short period of time. 1166542 Pittsburgh Penguins “I try to do things for those guys that Rob [Blake] did for me,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, you’ve just got to be a friend and a teammate. They’ve got plenty of coaches. You don’t need me to be another coach for them.” Jack Johnson becoming a leader off the ice, while 'playing his best hockey' as a Penguin There’s any key piece to this story. Players respect Johnson off the ice because he’s backing it up on game nights.

When he signed with the Penguins last year, he endured an up and down Staff Report season. He finished the season a minus-4 rating and was a healthy scratch for the Game 1 of what become a four-game Islanders PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE postseason sweep of the Penguins. In fairness, some of that is because DEC 15, 2019 6:50 PM Pittsburgh didn’t necessarily put him in the best circumstances when they asked the left-shot to play on the right side.

Either way, he quickly became a punching bag on Twitter and a scape Even now, as a grizzled, 32-year-old NHL veteran with more than 900 goat on social media. The Penguins gave up a goal? Must have been games under his belt and three teams on his resume, Penguins Jack Johnson’s fault. Pittsburgh lost? Blame Jack Johnson. My dog ran defenseman Jack Johnson can remember life as a rookie. away, my truck broke down and my wife left me? Jack Johnson!

It was 2007. Johnson chose to forgo his junior and senior seasons at the In the offseason, trade rumors swirled – including one specific report that University of Michigan to sign his first NHL contract with the Los Angeles said he would be traded in the days leading up to the season opener. But Kings at just 20 years old. What he found was that adjusting to life as a Johnson blocked out the noise. He’s still here and he’s established his pro was about more than just what happened for 60 minutes on the ice. place on the blue line.

“In college, everyone is around the same age,” Johnson said. “You’re Now, as the mid-point in the season approaches, he’s played a steady within four years or so. After practice, we’d all hang out together. We’d game on injury-plagued team. Across the board, the Penguins are eat at the cafeteria together and hang out on weekends together. playing a more disciplined, structured brand of hockey. Odd-man rushes are down. High-danger scoring chances are down. Johnson is one of the “You get to pro hockey and some guys are twice your age. Some guys many skaters contributing to those stats. have families. When practice is over, everyone kind of goes their own ways.” Through the 31 games that he’s played, Johnson has tallied five points and a plus-nine rating. He’s also become a mainstay on the Penguins’ Josie Blandisi, the mother of Penguins forward Jospeh Blandisi, won a penalty-killing unit, which for a big portion of the year was among the provincial championship when she was 16 years old in Ontario, Canada. league’s best. Even in her mid-50s, she pulls on the pads and plays goalie for a competitive hockey league. “I think he’s playing his best hockey right now,” Sullivan said.

Luckily for Johnson, defenseman Rob Blake was there to take him under Saturday night was another example. During the Penguins’ 5-4 shootout his wing. Blake was, at the time, a 38-year-old veteran who would go on victory, Johnson got lost in coverage during 4-on-4 play, floated to the to play more than 1,200 career games before retiring at 40. He wore the front of the net and backhanded the puck past Jonathan Quick. The goal “C” on his sweater that season for Los Angeles and went so far as to helped the Penguins beat the Kings, the team where Johnson started his open the doors to his house to let the young rookie live with him. career.

This season, as a father of three in his 14th professional season, The goal and the opponent served as yet another reminder of that rookie Johnson finds himself on the opposite side that big brother/ little brother season, and the lessons learned along the way. dynamic.

The Penguins locker room has been infused with youth over the last 12 months. More than a dozen players are 25 years old or younger, Post Gazette LOADED: 12.16.2019 including Sam Lafferty (24), Dominik Kahun (24) and John Marino (22), who have all played fewer than 125 games in their NHL careers.

Penguins general manager and coach Mike Sullivan have consistently praised Johnson as one of the leaders. As a visual representation, they sewed the “A” on his sweater for a handful of games as the team endured numerous injuries to its captain and a few assistant captains.

“His leadership has emerged as he’s gotten to build relationships with his teammates,” Sullivan said. “Our guys have a lot of respect for him, as they should. He’s a hard-working player. He’s a great teammate. He’s good with the young guys.”

Marino, the rookie defenseman, is in some ways like Johnson was all those years ago. He could be studying for finals at Harvard right now and looking forward to winter break. Instead, he’s being asked to play on the top defensive pair on a team where it’s Stanley Cup or bust every season. He’s been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Johnson’s locker- room presence.

“I think it speaks for itself what he’s been able to accomplish in his whole career,” Marino said. “Playing with a guy like that, I think you learn how to become a pro on and off the ice – little things that go along with the game. It’s been great.”

Pittsburgh Penguins' Jake Guentzel reaches for the puck as Los Angeles Kings' Trevor Lewis defends along the boards during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019, in Pittsburgh.

The tips are sometimes small. Where are the best places to grab a bite on the road? Where’s the entrance to the road rink? But for newcomers, it’s a steadying force in a new world. 1166543 Pittsburgh Penguins “I just think he’s playing really well right now,” Sullivan said. “He’s seeing the puck. He’s tracking the puck. His rebound control is great. He’s just seeing it really well. He’s playing very well for us.

Tristan Jarry’s charmed season for Penguins now includes a hat trick of “You know, (the Kings) had a fair amount of quality chances, and he stellar saves on Anze Kopitar made some big saves. And that’s what he’s done. I think our team is competing hard in front of him, but certainly when we have broke down, he’s been there to make some huge saves for us.”

By Rob Rossi In seven fewer games, Jarry tops Matt Murray in high-danger (+.025), medium-danger (+.080) and low-danger (+0.39) save percentages. The Dec 15, 2019 Penguins do not surrender a lot of high-danger shots — their 190 allowed ranks seventh in the league — so their goalie must make the most of facing middle- or lower-danger shot attempts. Anze Kopitar is no second-tier offensive talent. In fact, he might have qualified as the most skilled player on the ice even had Kings teammate Jarry has made those stops, which is probably the biggest factor in his Ilya Kovalchuk and Penguins centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin recent emergence as their go-to goalie. played at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night. As they head to Western Canada for three games before the break, the Kovalchuk was a healthy scratch. Neither Crosby nor Malkin dressed Penguins, who have become adept at winning with only Crosby or Malkin because of injury and illness, respectively. in the lineup, have won two in a row without either. Now they can reasonably begin to anticipate the return of each of their former two-time So it was, then, that Kopitar had the spotlight to himself on the last NHL scoring champions. game in Pittsburgh before the NHL’s Christmas break. That light shined on him three times, too. Malkin’s illness is not expected to keep him from playing in Calgary on Tuesday night. Sullivan said after the Penguins’ victory over the Kings Each time, Kopitar ceded it to Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry. that he was not sure if Crosby would accompany the Penguins on their trip to Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. The first time occurred when Kopitar was denied on a short-distance breakaway by Jarry’s left pad. The second time was on an ensuing Crosby is now into the fifth week of a minimum six-week recovery from penalty shot — the result of a call so iffy that Kris Letang didn’t even want sports hernia surgery. The Penguins will not practice or play for five to address the subject after the game. Whether the call was good or bad, consecutive days after the conclusion of their Western trip, and they it positioned Kopitar to again go one-on-one with Jarry. When he did, come out of the break with a home-and-home series on consecutive Kopitar tried to open up Jarry, who squeezed the puck between his pads nights against the Nashville Predators. almost as quickly as he had kicked it away from Kopitar on the previous attempt. To look so far ahead would border on the point of tempting fate for these Penguins. After all, at one point against the Kings, it appeared as though When a back-and-forth game — the Kings and Penguins each blew two- they were going to lose another forward when winger Brandon Tanev goal leads — went to overtime and then to a third round of the shootout, was followed to the dressing room by a team physician in the second probably everybody inside the arena expected Kopitar to avenge the period. chances upon which he had failed to score in the third period. He avoided the dark cloud that has failed to overtake these Penguins. Nope, Jarry bested him in the shootout as well. From Rust’s injury in the preseason finale through Saturday night, when their first and second lines were centered by Jake Guentzel and Jared Each of Jarry’s shutdowns on showdowns with Kopitar set up winger McCann — skaters who would be wingers were everybody (or at least Bryan Rust to earn a treasured second point for the Penguins. Rust, who most bodies) healthy — the Penguins have had to count on a few to had scored their first couple of goals to rally the Penguins from an early carry the heaviest scoring load. 2-0 deficit, scored in the fourth shootout round against Jonathan Quick, and Jarry didn’t even need to make another save for the Penguins to Even after center Teddy Blueger and defenseman Jack Johnson tallied snag a 5-4 victory from the Kings. against the Kings, five skaters had accounted for 61.6 percent of the goals scored by players who dressed for the Penguins on Saturday night. Winger Adrian Kempe sailed a shot wide when Los Angeles needed him to match Rust’s score. Just like that, the Penguins had their 19th victory. At some point, the Penguins will need their better players to return so They are now on pace for 104 points, which would be tied for their sixth- they can ease the burden on the likes of Guentzel and Rust to carry the most of the Crosby/Malkin era — not bad considering they’ve never had offense. However, their past two victories have been 1-0 in overtime and those two franchise players for a lesser percentage of games in the first 5-4 in the shootout, so Sullivan’s squad continues to show it can win half of a season. almost any type of game.

Back to those saves on Kopitar, though. What did each time look like to Their opponents in Western Canada figure to finish this season a good Jarry? bit ahead in the overall standings than the past two clubs they’ve beaten. But that should not take away what the Penguins managed against the “Just staying with him, making sure I’m keeping the puck between my Kings on Saturday night and the Columbus Blue Jackets two nights prior. shoulders and trying to do my best to give him nothing to look at,” Jarry said, adding he was unaware of Kopitar’s mostly successful preference “I’m happy with the win,” Sullivan said. “Our guys are playing hard. to goad opposing goalies into offering the five-hole. They’re competing.”

“I’m just playing how I normally play it. I don’t really change for any One of those guys is authoring an unlikely hero’s story. The plot of the different player. It’s something we practice a lot, and the guys are really latest chapter was whether the upstart goalie could stand up to the most good at the breakaway and the shootout — so it was just really making talented player on the ice. sure I went for what I practiced.” On Saturday night, Jarry did more than stand up to Kopitar. Hey, if no-selling a hat trick of what was essentially three breakaway saves on Kopitar is how Jarry wants to work it, who is anybody to argue? He played it perfect all three times.

He is 8-2-0 with a .941 save percentage and 1.79 goals-against average dating to Nov. 16. Jarry has since started 9 of 14 games for the The Athletic LOADED: 12.16.2019 Penguins, including each of the past four in Pittsburgh.

Coach Mike Sullivan has not publicly declared Jarry the No. 1 goalie, but Jarry is getting the No. 1’s share of games over the past month. He also received some noticeable praise from Sullivan even after allowing four goals to the Kings, including a couple late in regulation. 1166544 San Jose Sharks as he’ll make consecutive starts for the first time since Nov. 23 and 24 of last season.

“Not my call. I just want to try and help the team win,” Dell said of starting Takeaways: Sharks win brings closure to tumultuous week Tuesday. “If that’s how it goes, I’ll go. But it’s Boogie’s call in the end.”

Hertl and Thornton rediscover chemistry: Boughner made a counter- intuitive move as one of his first orders of business earlier this week, as By CURTIS PASHELKA | [email protected] | Bay he moved Joe Thornton up to play center on the second line with Tomas Area News Group Hertl and Kevin Labanc on his wings.

PUBLISHED: December 15, 2019 at 5:07 am | UPDATED: December 15, Hertl had been the second line center for the entire season when he was 2019 at 3:18 PM healthy, and Thornton had a little bit less responsibility as the third line center.

It’s worked well so far. Hertl is moving better after dealing with an ankle SAN JOSE — Aaron Dell made the last of his 33 saves and swept the injury in recent weeks is and playing more free and easy. Thornton’s got puck over to Marc-Edouard Vlasic. The Sharks defenseman then points in the last two games and seems to have picked it up a notch reached down and picked it up as the horn sounded on the Sharks’ 4-2 since the coaching change. victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Hertl had three shots on goal and scored for the second straight game, A keepsake for Vlasic, perhaps, from his 1,000th NHL game Saturday? this time off an assist from Thornton at the 10:50 mark of the first period. “No, it was for Bob (Boughner),” Vlasic said of the Sharks’ new bench “Those guys have been our best line when it comes to possession down boss. “I’ll just pick up a random puck and tell everybody it’s from the low,” Boughner said. “(Thornton’s) hockey IQ and his smarts, he’s been thousandth game. Nobody will know the difference.” around a long time. He’s using the back of the net a little more, playing It was a lighthearted moment at the end of a tumultuous week, as the below the circles, that’s an advantage for him. Sharks ended their six-game losing streak and got their first victory for “Tommy’s that big guy, they complement each other because (Hertl) can Boughner, who took over on an interim basis Wednesday after Pete create space for Jumbo and (Labanc’s) got the hands, got the finesse. DeBoer and three assistant coaches were let go. It’s been a good combination and I think they’ve been our best line the Dell finished with 33 saves, Tomas Hertl and Timo Meier both scored and last two games.” Evander Kane and Logan Couture each had a goal and an assist as the Thornton’s play to set up Hertl was vintage, as he took control of the Sharks finally got a chance to exhale after a difficult few days. puck to the left of Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom, went to his “It’s a special thing for (Bob). Glad we could all be a part of that for him,” backhand to get the puck past a prone Tyler Myers and over to Hertl for a Dell said. “Hopefully he had to get one eventually. Glad it was this one.” fairly easy goal.

Takeaways from Saturday night. Is this 2013 all over again?

Aaron Dell seizes the moment: Dell was given a chance to play Saturday “Our line had chances to score more than one. We had three or four that after Martin Jones allowed five goals on 29 shots in the Sharks’ 6-3 loss were right there,” Hertl said. “I really like playing with him. He’s strong on to the New York Rangers two days prior. the puck. He holds it, makes space and creates scoring chances. Made a great play to me. It’s working, so hopefully we can continue.” Dell will get another chance to start Tuesday against the Arizona Coyotes after an exceptional effort against the Canucks in which he stopped all 12 shots he faced in the second period and 14 more in the third. San Jose Mercury News: LOADED: 12.16.2019 The game would have had a much different outcome had it not been for Dell, who stopped quality scoring chances by J.T, Miller, Tanner Pearson and Brock Boeser within the first six minutes of the third period. The stops on Pearson and Boeser came after Sharks giveaways.

“He was our best player,” Boughner said. “He made some key saves at key times and kept us in it when we were starting to take on water.”

Staying with him?

“Absolutely. This is a competition. Both guys are good goalies. Jonesy’s going to get a chance to work with (new goalie coach Evgeni Nabokov) for a few days, which is an advantage for us.

“Dell goes in net next game and Jones continues to work with Nabby, so we can get his game to where it needs to be.”

After Thursday’s game, Jones had a 4-5-0 record, an .895 save percentage and a 3.22 goals against average in nine games since Nov. 20. In that same time frame, Dell is now 2-1-1 with a .919 save percentage and a 2.51 goals against average in six games.

Dell credited some of his recent play to the work he did with Sharks goalie consultant Adam Francilia in the summer, and again in early November. During that time a little more than month ago, Dell was sitting for an extended period after DeBoer had lost confidence.

Dell’s last start before Saturday was Dec. 5, when he made 27 saves in the Sharks’ 3-2 loss to Carolina.

“I felt good. I felt my reads were pretty on,” Dell said. “That makes a big difference. The work with Adam Francilia I did on the control really came into play on the last couple that I played.”

After Saturday, the Sharks (16-17-2) were five points back of a playoff spot. For the Sharks to get back in the mix in the Western Conference, they’re going to need to get a goalie to get hot. Dell’s getting his chance, 1166545 San Jose Sharks

NHL rumors: Ex-Sharks coach Peter DeBoer 'willing to listen' to offers

By Marcus White December 15, 2019 1:26 PM

Former Sharks coach Peter DeBoer has not been out of a job long, and he reportedly might not wait longer.

DeBoer is open to coaching elsewhere this season, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported Saturday night during "Hockey Night In Canada."

"Sometimes coaches wanna take time, maybe the rest of the season before they come back," Friedman said. "The word is ... that, depending on the situation, Peter DeBoer is willing to listen and will consider coaching this year. But again, it depends on the situation."

The Sharks fired DeBoer, assistant coaches Steve Spott and Dave Barr and goaltending coach Johan Hedberg on Wednesday. Bob Boughner was the only coach retained and he now is the Sharks' interim coach, with longtime coach Roy Sommer and former Sharks Mike Ricci and Evgeni Nabokov filling out the rest of the staff.

DeBoer's tenure in San Jose lasted parts of five seasons, which was his longest stint as an NHL coach. He led the Sharks to a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2015-16 and another appearance in the Western Conference final last season.

The Sharks started slowly this season, winning just four of their first 15 games. San Jose later rattled off a six-game winning streak, but DeBoer's time behind the Sharks bench ended with another five-game losing streak.

Goaltenders Martin Jones and Aaron Dell did not bounce back as expected this season, and the two combined for the NHL's fourth-worst save percentage (.887) at the time of DeBoer's firing. Those struggles coincided with others in the Sharks' defensive zone, as San Jose allowed the fifth-highest rate of expected goals (2.41 per 60 minutes) and rate of high-danger chances (11.73 per 60 minutes) in the league this season under DeBoer, according to Natural Stat Trick. A rash of offseason departures, including the loss of captain Joe Pavelski, didn't help the Sharks, nor did the slow acclimation of the team's prospects trying to take their place.

The Sharks opted to change the coaching staff in order to correct for those circumstances. They won't be the last team to do the same this season, and DeBoer -- whose .548 winning percentage is better than all but five active coaches -- reportedly will listen when another comes calling.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166546 St Louis Blues Then came de la Rose’s first goal since the Nov. 6 Robby Fabbri trade that brought him to St. Louis from Detroit. Berube has mentioned on a couple of occasions that de la Rose has untapped offensive potential.

Blues storm back with four goals in final 15 minutes for stunning win over As if on cue, de la Rose unleashed a wicked backhand that rocketed past Blackhawks Chicago goalie Corey Crawford to tie the game at 3-all with 6:40 to play. It came just 12 seconds after Bozak’s second goal of the night and the roof almost came off the joint afterwards.

By Jim Thomas St. Louis Post-Dispatch “I’ve got some secret weapons in my toolbox,” de la Rose said, in his first recorded joke to the St. Louis media as a member of the Blues. “No, I

can’t say that. I just tried to hit the net to be honest with you. It’s a nice Saturday night in St. Louis against the dreaded Chicago Blackhawks. On feeling to see it go in.” a chilly mid-December evening, it doesn’t get much better in the Gateway Faulk, who has struggled to find the net, could say the same about his to the West. game-winner. But for the second Saturday in a row, the Blues were well on their way to “I was just trying to read their forward and got my head up in time to take posting their second clunker in a row at Enterprise Center. A week ago a look at Crawford to see what I thought I had, and got a little help from against visiting Toronto, they got flattened out of the gate, trailing 4-1 the post,” Faulk said. after the first period en route to a 5-2 loss. And so the Blues (20-8-6) have leapfrogged ahead of the Colorado This time around, they were down 3-0 in the third period to Chicago. Yep, Avalanche once again for first place in the Central Division. The Blues the same Chicago squad that resides in last place in the Central Division. have 46 points; Stan Kroenk's club (21-8-3) has 45. The teams meet The same Blackhawks the Blues shut out 4-0 just 12 days ago in the Monday night at Enterprise in a nice little midseason showdown. Windy City. And the crowd at Enterprise, who looked to be in for another sad Sorry folks, but thanks for coming. Maybe next time. Saturday, went home with one of the most thrilling regular-season “There’s a lot of confidence in this room and we know if we stick with it, victories in franchise history. we’re going to get rewarded,” forward Jacob de la Rose said, showing “You could feel it,” goalie Jordan Binnington said. “We knew if we got one he’s a quick study in Blues’ culture. (goal) we had a chance to get a couple more. The momentum was on A third period unlike any in Blues history unfolded over the final 15 our side and the atmosphere in here was crazy for Saturday night, good minutes 20 seconds. First a goal by Tyler Bozak. Then another by Bozak. to see the city of St. Louis having a good time.” Then de la Rose — yes, Jacob de la Rose — scored his first goal as a On his 24th birthday, Ivan Barbashev did not play the third period with Blue to tie the score at 3-3. what Berube called an upper-body injury. Barbashev's head slammed And with 2:36 to play, Justin Faulk — yes, Justin Faulk — scored his against the boards after a big by Dennis Gilbert late in the second period. second goal as a Blue for the game-winner and a 4-3 triumph. He skated one more shift near the end of the period and then was done for the night. “I think we’ve come from behind before,” coach Craig Berube said. “We’ve come from behind quite a few times this year in games, so they have confidence that they can do it.” St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 12.16.2019 Yeah, but 3-0 is a pretty steep hill.

“Yeah, it is,” Berube said. “It doesn’t happen very often.”

Actually it’s happened only twice in franchise history during the regular season — that the Blues have trailed 3-0 in the third period to win a hockey game. And Saturday marked the only time in franchise history the Blues have trailed by three or more goals to win in regulation.

(They trailed Toronto 5-0 in the third on Nov. 29, 2000, before winning 6- 5 in overtime.)

“We’ve been through a lot as a group,” Bozak said. “We stay even-keeled no matter what’s going on. We don’t get too high or too low. We know there’s going to be stretches of the game that don’t go your way and you’ve got to keep pushing. Luckily it worked out for us tonight.”

It worked out because they stuck with it. And it worked out because they got goals from unexpected sources. Entering Saturday’s game, Bozak (three), Faulk (one) and de la Rose (zero) had combined for four goals all season with the Blues.

They combined for four on Saturday in a span of 12 minutes 54 seconds in the third period.

“I’m sure we all would like to have a couple more in the bank there, but that’s the way it goes,” Faulk said. “You go through those moments sometimes, but I think we’re all capable players and can get it done. And we did it tonight.”

Bozak’s two goals were especially meaningful given that Saturday marked the 700th regular-season game of his NHL career.

“I’m really proud,” Bozak said. “I wasn’t drafted, so to be able to carve out a career like that. I’ve made a lot of memories, met a lot of really good people, so I’ll keep playing as long as I can and keep enjoying it.”

Both Bozak goals came on assists by Robert Thomas, who matched his career-high with three assists and was spectacular in a gritty, determined way. 1166547 St Louis Blues

A close call for Schenn costs him a piece of his ear

By Tom Timmermann St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Blues center Brayden Schenn is missing a piece of his left ear lobe and has a two-inch long triangle-shaped gash on his neck after getting caught by a skate on Tuesday in Buffalo. But it could have been a lot worse.

“I got lucky,” he said.

Schenn got knocked down in the second period of that game and looked up to see Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen’s skate heading straight for him. “He stepped on my neck with his skate,” Schenn said. “Whenever you see a skate come you try to get out of the way as fast as possible. Sometimes you just can’t.”

Ristolainen’s skate caught Schenn’s ear and moved down his neck. Schenn got up, blood coming down his neck, and skated to the bench and then went to the dressing room for treatment. He didn’t need stitches because the angle turned the impact into a scrape rather than a slash. If it had been a more direct hit, or a hit to a different part of his neck, the story may not have had a happy ending.

“Talking to the doctors, obviously a skate to the neck can go bad in a hurry,” he said. “There’s facial nerves in there, there’s arteries in there. I kind of felt like I was cut, I just didn’t know how bad. I got lucky.”

The incident happened early in the second period and Schenn didn’t miss a shift. A doctor put something on to stop the bleeding and then addressed it fully during the intermission. Schenn isn’t sure what happened to the part of his ear he lost and any repairs will be made later.

“We’ll figure it out after the end of the year and fix it,” he said.

Alexander Steen returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing 16 games. The other injured Blues forward, Zach Sanford, has been cleared to return after going through the league’s concussion protocol but Craig Berube held him out on Saturday.

Since Sanford wasn’t on injured reserve the Blues didn’t have to make any roster moves.

Berube said that he would know “a lot more” by the middle of next week about the status of defenseman Carl Gunnarsson (upper body injury), but that the injury wasn’t thought to be long term.

Niko Mikkola, called up from San Antonio, was on the ice for the morning skate on Saturday and took pregame warmups but his NHL debut will wait for another day.

“He’s been good,” Berube said. “He is what he is, he’s a solid defending defenseman, big, closes plays out, an aggressive player. He’s got a real good stick at defending. He’s played well. I thought he had a good camp here and we like him a lot. He’s improved his puck movement, which is good. That’s important. I think he’s got a good future. We’ll see if we can get a look at him up here. We’ll see how he goes.”

St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166548 St Louis Blues "It was a great job by the guys," Berube said. "Having Steener back in that situation is important for sure. He knows how to close games out. They did a really good job -- all eight guys we used -- to kill that off."

Blues score four in third for historic comeback win over Blackhawks The Blues had a 25-4 edge in shot attempts in the first period, but it took the Blackhawks just 19 seconds to score in the second period, on a fairly straightforward shot by Brandon Saad that seemed to cross up Jordan Binnington, who had the puck go in off his skate. By Tom Timmermann St. Louis Post-Dispatch The Blues had a chance to get even soon after when they went on a Dec 14, 2019 power play, but 41 seconds in, Brayden Schenn was called for interference to wipe out the rest of it. And then during the four-on-four, the Blues had too many men on the ice, which gave Chicago 41 seconds The Blues dominated much of their game Saturday night with the with a two-man advantage and 1:17 of one-man advantage after that, but Blackhawks, outshooting them, outchancing them, and somehow fell the Blues killed it off. behind 3-0. The Blues weren't quite as dominant in the second as in the first, but they And then, in a development every bit as unlikely as that, scored four still outshot Chicago 14-9 and had a 22-19 edge in shot attempts. goals in the third period, by three players who had combined for four goals with the Blues all season and beat the Blackhawks 4-3. It was the The Blues are 0-3 in the game on the power play, running their futility first time in franchise history the team had come back from three goals streak to 14 straight power plays without a goal. down in the third period to win in regulation. The only other time they've The Blues had the puck for pretty much all of the first period but couldn't come from three or more goals down in the third to win was their score. legendary comeback from a 5-0 deficit against Toronto in 2000, where they won 6-5 in overtime. The Blues had a 13-2 edge in shots on goal and a 25-4 edge in shot attempts. One of those Chicago attempts, however, was almost a goal. In "This team went through so much last year, the ups and downs they had a two-on-one break for the Blackhawks, Ryan Carpenter put a shot off and obviously came out on top," forward Jacob de la Rose, who scored the goalpost. the game-tying goal, said. "There's a lot of confidence in this room and we know if we stick with it, we're going to get rewarded. Same thing Ivan Barbashev had three shots on goal for the Blues and six shot today, we never stop pushing. We just kept pushing and it was an attempts. awesome win." The Blues kept taking the puck away from Chicago and sending it back "We kept pushing and stayed with it," goalie Jordan Binnington said. "We into the zone, giving them a seemingly constant presence with the puck. had a lot of shots tonight and a lot of work and offensive zone time. It's good to see us hanging out back there … they really stepped up and The last 7:27 of the first period was played without a whistle. were huge in that third period. It's a big win for us."

"Once you get one goal, you get energized," coach Craig Berube said. St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 12.16.2019 "That gets everybody up."

Justin Faulk scored with 2:26 to go to put the Blues ahead. Prior to that, Tyler Bozak, who came into the game with three goals, scored twice, and Jacob de la Rose, who had yet to score with the Blues, scored the goal that tied it.

Robert Thomas assisted on the first, second and fourth goals.

Bozak started the comeback by getting behind Chicago goalie Corey Crawford and finishing off a pass from Robert Thomas to make it 3-1 4:40 into the third period. That goal came 34 seconds after Patrick Kane had scored to make it 3-0. The quick response was essential.

"That helps for sure," Berube said. "That gets everybody pumped, everybody energized. They can see light at the end of the tunnel."

It was still that way with seven minutes to go, but Bozak took a pass from Thomas, swung, had his stick lifted, and instead had the puck hit his skate and slide into the net to make it 3-2.

And then, 12 seconds later, de la Rose backhanded a shot off crossbar and in to tie the game with 6:40 to go in the third. De la Rose was out on the ice with Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron, the first time Berube had put that group together that game.

"I had a couple shifts (with them in another game)," de la Rose said. "That was the first shift with them today. When you get the opportunity to play with those guys, you've just got to take it and make the best about it."

"I just didn't see anything else going on with guys," Berube said of the move. "He's been playing well."

The finish was a bit agonizing as Faulk was called for delay of game with 1:55 to go and the Blues had to kill off a 6-on-4 after Chicago pulled its goalie.

"It wasn't great," Faulk said of having to watch the finish from the penalty box. "Don't like to do that. That would have been a tough bounce if they got one. Boys did a good job. They stepped up big. I was happy when (the clock) hit zero, I can say that. I did not want that to go any longer. I don't think the boys wanted to play any longer than we had to. Hopefully I don't do that again." 1166549 St Louis Blues

Steen back in Blues lineup for Blackhawks game

By Tom Timmermann St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Dec 14, 2019

Alexander Steen, who missed 16 games with a high ankle sprain, will be back in the lineup for the Blues on Saturday. Troy Brouwer comes out of the lineup.

Coach Craig Berube wouldn't say if Steen would go into Brouwer's spot on the third line or somewhere else. Steen could fit in on the second line, with Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron, which would mean Tyler Bozak moving back to center on the third line.

"I could," Berube said. "They played together last year for a stretch and they were really good, I thought."

Steen has been eager to get back in, but having had a high ankle sprain before, he knows to be careful.

"I was a little bit younger the last time it happened," he said. "You know what you need to be doing for the injury, but also for conditioning and making sure you're ready to go when you get back as well.

"I think the last week to 10 days was a little bit more frustrating than the start," he said. "I think I was getting really close. It just couldn't get over that last thing, but I feel good and ready to go tonight, so I'm excited."

Berube welcomed getting Steen back.

"He plays the right way and effort based, works extremely hard out there, does all the right things, both ends of the ice," Berube said. "Kills penalties. It's good to have him back."

Zach Sanford is fit to play, coming out of the league's concussion protocol, but isn't in the lineup. "It was my decision to keep him out tonight," Berube said.

The rest of the lineup is the same. Niko Mikkola, just called up from San Antonio, skated with the team. Berube said the injury to Carl Gunnarsson, who went on IR on Friday, wasn't thought to be anything long term, but they would know better next week.

"The middle of the week, we'll know a lot more," Berube said. "That's probably a good timeline."

As for Mikkola, Berube said: "He's been good. He is what he is, he's a solid defending defenseman, big, Closes plays out, an aggressive player. He's got a real good stick at defending. He's played well. I thought he had a good camp here and we like him a lot. He's improved his puck movement, which is good. That's important. I think he's got a good future. We'll see if we can get a look at him up here. We'll see how he goes."

St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166550 St Louis Blues

Blues to host MacKinnon and the Avalanche

Staff Report

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DECEMBER 15, 2019 02:15 AM

St. Louis; Monday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Nathan MacKinnon leads Colorado into a matchup against St. Louis. He’s third in the NHL with 50 points, scoring 20 goals and recording 30 assists.

The Blues have gone 7-1-1 against division opponents. St. Louis has scored 22 power-play goals, converting on 21.6% of chances.

The Avalanche are 5-4-0 in division play. Colorado is the NHL leader with 6.2 assists per game, led by MacKinnon averaging 0.9.

In their last matchup on Oct. 21, St. Louis won 3-1. Vladimir Tarasenko recorded a team-high 3 points for the Blues.

TOP PERFORMERS: David Perron has recorded 30 total points while scoring 12 goals and collecting 18 assists for the Blues. Ryan O’Reilly has collected one goal and eight assists over the last 10 games for St. Louis.

MacKinnon leads the Avalanche with 20 goals and has 50 points. Valeri Nichushkin has scored six goals over the last 10 games for Colorado.

LAST 10 GAMES: Avalanche: 8-1-1, averaging 3.9 goals, 6.4 assists, 3.1 penalties and seven penalty minutes while giving up 2.1 goals per game with a .933 save percentage.

Blues: 6-3-1, averaging three goals, 4.8 assists, 2.9 penalties and 6.4 penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game with a .924 save percentage.

INJURIES: Blues: Zach Sanford: day to day (upper body).

Avalanche: Philipp Grubauer: day to day (undisclosed), Andre Burakovsky: out (upper body).

Belleville News-Democrat LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166551 St Louis Blues Belleville News-Democrat LOADED: 12.16.2019

De la Rose, Faulk rally Blues to 4-3 win over Blackhawks

BY STEVE OVERBEY ASSOCIATED PRESS

DECEMBER 14, 2019 11:21 PM

ST. LOUIS

Jacob de la Rose reached deep into his bag of tricks to help the St. Louis Blues get a big comeback win from three goals down.

Justin Faulk capped a four-goal, third-period rally with a late tally as the Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 on Saturday night.

Acquired from Detroit in early November, de la Rose keyed a four-goal third period rally with a wicked backhand to tie the scoret 3-3.

“That’s the secret weapon in my tool box,” he joked.

Faulk followed de la Rose’s first goal as a member of the Blues with a blast off the post with 2:26 left in regulation to cap the comeback. St. Louis won in regulation after trailing by three goals in the third period for the first time in franchise history.

Tyler Bozak scored twice for the Blues, who won their second in a row.

Brandon Saad tallied twice for the Blackhawks, who have dropped four straight.

Patrick Kane put Chicago up 3-0 with his 15th goal of the season with 15:44 left in regulation.

Bozak began the comeback just 24 seconds later.

“I think we knew we were playing pretty well, creating a lot of opportunities,” Bozak said. “I don’t think we ever had any doubt. We felt if we got one, maybe we could get another one and keep piling them on.”

St. Louis scored four times in a span of 12:54 to erase the deficit.

Bozak chopped the deficit to one with his fifth goal of the season with 6:52 left.

De la Rose then tied it 12 seconds later.

“I didn’t really have time to put it to my forehand,” de la Rose said.

De la Rose was acquired on Nov. 6 in exchange for Robby Fabbri. He was making his 15th appearance with the Blues and picked a perfect time for his first goal in a St. Louis uniform.

Faulk followed de la Rose’s tally with the game-winner.

“It was nice to see us keep pushing,” Faulk said. “That first one gave us some momentum and we went on from there. We were able to stick with it. It doesn’t go like that all the time - but we’ll take it.”

Jordan Binnington made 19 saves to improve to 15-6-4.

Saad scored the game’s first goal just 19 seconds into the second period. He added another 30 seconds into the third period for a 2-0 cushion.

Corey Crawford made 34 saves for Chicago, which was 10-0-3 when leading after the second period.

“We’ve got to be better in that situation,” Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook said.

Jonathan Toews, who had two assists for the Blackhawks, added: “It hurts. We kept them off the scoresheet for the first couple periods. It (is terrible) to blow that one.”

NOTES: Kane has 63 points in 64 games against St. Louis, his highest total against any NHL team. ... St. Louis public address announcer Tom Calhoun worked his 1,500th successive game on Saturday. The streak began on Jan. 4, 1987. ... The Blackhawks had a string of five successive games with a power-play goal snapped. ... Bozak skated in his 700th contest. ... St. Louis LW Alexander Steen returned to the lineup after missing the previous 16 games with a high ankle sprain. He had one shot in 15:13. 1166552 Tampa Bay Lightning Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 12.16.2019

How Nikita Kucherov’s injury could affect the Lightning

By Diana C. Nearhos

Published Yesterday

Updated Earlier today

TAMPA — The sight of forward Nikita Kucherov trying not to put weight on his right leg, then limping away from the bench struck concern into Lightning fans.

Kucherov blocked a shot by Capitals defenseman John Carlson and didn’t return to Saturday’s game, a 5-2 loss for the Lightning.

Carlson won the hardest shot competition at last season’s All-Star Skills, reaching 102.8 mph. There was no radar gun on Saturday’s shot that hit Kucherov’s right shin, but suffice to say there’s no such thing as a soft slap shot.

Blocked shots can be stingers that a player shakes off, but a shot like the one by Carlson often takes a player out for a game or two. It also can cause a hairline fracture that forces a player out longer.

Coach Jon Cooper did not have an update on Kucherov’s status after the game, and the team did not practice Sunday.

“Hopefully he’s going to be okay. Obviously, he’s a huge part of our team,” Cooper said of the reigning Hart Trophy winner as the league’s MVP.

If Kucherov is out for any length of time, the Lightning will have to make some changes. They do not have an extra healthy forward on the roster. The team could go back to playing 11 forwards and seven defensemen, which it did with mixed success for 10 games.

Cooper might take that route if the time without Kucherov is short or between Kucherov and Tyler Johnson’s potential return from his own lower-body injury.

The Lightning have no qualms about using their recalls, and they have an opening with Braydon Coburn on injured reserve. Cory Conacher could return to the team yet again. Or perhaps the Lightning could take another look at forward Alex Volkov or a first look at someone such as Alex Barre-Boulet, last season’s AHL rookie of the year.

The Lightning played an 11-7 lineup in the game that Kucherov missed earlier this season. If they stick with the traditional lineup and Kucherov can’t play, they could move Steven Stamkos from his current line with Alex Killorn and Anthony Cirelli. That line had good chemistry Thursday against the Bruins and some strong play Saturday, particularly early in the game, though Stamkos finished with only one shot on goal against the Caps.

Another option could be moving Mathieu Joseph up, matching his speed with Brayden Point’s speed on a line. Maybe the Lightning give Carter Verhaeghe, who led the AHL in scoring last season, a chance to see what he can do playing with Point.

Whichever tact the Lightning take with the lineup, no one can just slot into Kucherov’s role. He is one of the most skilled players in the NHL and, as Point said Saturday, cannot be replaced.

Even more than Kucherov’s impressive skill is his impact that comes from his vision of the game. On Thursday against Boston, he made two power-play assists, digging the puck out and passing it to a teammate without looking up.

On the first one, as he turned away from the boards, he flung the puck to Stamkos at the hash marks. On the second, he didn’t even turn, instead throwing the puck straight backward to Point.

Kucherov missed one game earlier this season after taking a big hit from St. Louis’ Brayden Schenn. He played every game last season and only missed two the previous one. The last time he missed any extended time was Dec. 14-28, 2016.

1166553 Tampa Bay Lightning

Nikita Kucherov leaves Lightning’s loss to Washington

By Diana C. Nearhos

Published Yesterday

Updated Yesterday

TAMPA — Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov hunched over, on his knees, at the blue line. The nearly-full Amalie Arena was just about silent.

Kucherov blocked a rocket of a shot from John Carlson wand left the game, limping heavily as he made his way down the tunnel, during Saturday night’s 5-2 loss to the Capitals.

Immediately, you could tell something was wrong. Kucherov took one step after blocking the shot at his right ankle/shin area and then didn’t put any more weight on that leg.

He tried to get back to the bench but ended up on the ice, hunched over himself. Officials stopped play and head athletic trainer Tom Mulligan came out to check on Kucherov.

The NHL’s defending MVP left the ice under his own power but did so by gliding, still bent in half. He stayed on the bench for a couple of minutes before heading toward the dressing room.

“You guys saw what happened,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I don’t have an update on him. Hopefully he’s going to be OK. Obviously, he’s a huge part of our team.”

Kucherov is not be scoring at the historic clip he did last year when his128 points set the Tampa Bay franchise record and became the most ever scored by a Russian player in NHL history. Still, he’s been hugely effective for the Lightning. He leads the team with 33 points and his 10 goals are third to Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos.

The play-making star set up two power-play goals in Thursday’s win against the Bruins. One was one of those plays that makes you wonder if he has eyes in the back of his head, a backward, no-look pass to Point. The other was a nice dish to Stamkos.

Kucherov missed one game earlier this season after leaving the Nov. 19 loss to St. Louis earlier this year with a lower-body injury.

The Lightning haven’t fixed all the mistakes. They opened with a big one against the Capitals. The play looked simple enough. Defenseman Jan Rutta held the puck behind the Lightning goal, to start the play. But his pass ended up in the goal instead.

Wing Ondrej Palat cut across Rutta and had the puck go off his skate right. Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom picked up the loose puck for a point-blank shot on Andrei Vasilevskiy at 6:42 in the first period for the game’s first goal.

It was exactly the kind of mistake the Lightning are looking to eliminate.

Then later on, after the Lightning overcame the first mistake, the quick- goal issue arose again. The Capitals scored twice in 45 seconds of the third period to erase Tampa Bay’s 2-1 lead.

First, Lars Eller scored on a one-timer. Then, Garnet Hathaway scored on a flukey play. His shot deflected off Vasilevskiy’s stick and wobbled past the goalie. Flukey or otherwise, the spurt gave the Capitals momentum.

Even after Rutta ended his 30-game goal drought to bring the Lightning back within a goal at 11:06, T.J. Oshie responded to put the Caps up 4-2 just 1:03 later.

Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166554 Toronto Maple Leafs “It was huge for us,” said Tavares, who went 14-9 in faceoffs. “It is great to see those guys rewarded. Everybody loves scoring a goal. [I am] happy for everybody.”

Maple Leafs return home with brighter outlook after encouraging road trip Marner scored on a power play into an empty net. He has goals in consecutive games and had seven points during the trip.

The Maple Leafs still have much to figure out, including what to do about MARTY KLINKENBERG a backup to Andersen. Forward Trevor Moore is expected to return from injury this week and that will prompt changes to the roster. EDMONTON They are 7-4 now under Keefe, who seems to be enjoying his first NHL PUBLISHED 9 HOURS AGO gig after long-term success as coach of the AHL’s Marlies. UPDATED DECEMBER 15, 2019 “It has been fun,” Keefe said. “I am learning a lot. It is a hurdle when you come in like this and you are swimming upstream.”

The Maple Leafs lost back to back by a cumulative score of 9-2 before they headed out on a difficult trip. Only marginal improvement had Globe And Mail LOADED: 12.16.2019 occurred since Sheldon Keefe replaced Mike Babcock as head coach, and the Stanley Cup champions were next up on the calendar.

It is too early to say the season hung in the balance, but a disastrous swing through the west would have buried Toronto deeper in the standings and left its confidence in tatters.

About the last thing that anyone could have expected happened: The Maple Leafs dismantled the Blues in St. Louis in their best performance of the season, and returned home on Sunday having won three of four games against teams with winning records.

Suddenly, the outlook is a wee bit brighter.

“It was a great road trip for us," Alexander Kerfoot said after a 4-1 defeat of the Oilers on Saturday at Rogers Place. “It was only four games, but hopefully we can parlay that to success for the rest of the season."

Toronto’s only loss was in Calgary against a Flames team that had won six in a row. The Leafs didn’t look good and a discussion was held on the ice about that before practice in Edmonton the next day.

“It was not a message we haven’t been sending every day,” Keefe said. “It was just a chance to regroup and reflect. We have set ourselves up well in most games, but haven’t managed it well enough after that.

"We want to make sure our team knows where it can get better without losing sight of the gains that have been made.”

On Saturday, the Maple Leafs held Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to one point between them, and now start the new week fourth in the Atlantic Division after falling to sixth. They have a chance to gain on the second-place Sabres when Buffalo visits Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday night.

“It was a good week for our team," said John Tavares, the Toronto captain. “It should give us some confidence. We need our momentum to continue to move forward.”

Tavares scored three times on the trip. The top line of Tavares, Mitch Marner and Zach Hyman combined for eight goals and 16 points over the four games.

The Maple Leafs beat the improved Oilers on the back of goalie Frederik Andersen and third- and fourth-line players.

Andersen, who remains the most consistent player on the team, had 36 saves against Edmonton as he posted the 200th victory in his NHL career. With it, the 30-year-old Dane became the fastest European goalie to win 200.

That wasn’t the primary thing on his mind afterward.

“The road trip had been really good up to this point, so we wanted to finish it off the right way,” Andersen said. "It was great tonight and that was awesome to see. I think overall [it was] a really good game.”

Toronto got goals from Kerfoot, Ilya Mikheyev, Frédérik Gauthier and Marner.

Kerfoot, who has been injured and suspended, had not scored in 12 games. Mikheyev, a rookie from Russia, did not have a goal in 22 games. And Gauthier, who had not dressed for the previous four games, scored for the first time since Oct. 7.

That is an outburst in scoring that has been sorely lacking from secondary players. 1166555 Toronto Maple Leafs themselves out over time, and it’s easier for us to teach and coach in spots like this, as the other night (in Vancouver) when we got away with it.”

Auston Matthews has been the Leafs’ best forward this season. So why Still, Matthews played 21 minutes in that one. But against Edmonton, do we feel like he could be better? Keefe went with the guys who were going.

Look, this isn’t redux. Kessel used to get a similar strain of criticism, and all he did was pile up points, give a so-so defensive effort, By Bruce Arthur and drive his coaches crazy. Which, at least in Pittsburgh before they traded him to Arizona, was still going on. Sports Columnist Matthews isn’t Kessel. C’mon. As departed coach Mike Babcock said Sun., Dec. 15, 2019 earlier this season, Matthews could become the best two-way centre in hockey.

EDMONTON—The Maple Leafs did a pretty good job on Connor But have we seen that? Have we seen a player who isn’t just very good, McDavid on Saturday night, and it felt like dodging lightning that had but is great? Who hounds the game, until it’s his? Who forces his way been thrown by an expert god. Goaltender Frederik Andersen even into the Hart conversation? Hockey people who see Matthews and laughed when he recalled McDavid’s first-period rush that saw Jake McDavid up close, and who know how the gears work, will tell you that Muzzin grab at McDavid like someone trying to grab on to a wild horse, the Leafs centre has the best chance of becoming the next-best player in followed by McDavid’s slashing dekes that nearly slid a puck between the game. McDavid is clearly a preposterous player; imagine him on a Andersen’s legs and in. team that didn’t ask him to play half of every game.

“I was expecting another move,” Andersen said. “Yeah, he definitely had Matthews is just 21, and he’s had moments of greatness for him this me in the blender there a little bit.” season. But not every night, and not enough. It’s OK to say he could be more. He could afford to be magnanimous, because McDavid had been muffled. And on the other side, Toronto’s young and aspirationally equivalent superstar Auston Matthews was … well, he was there, but in a Toronto Star LOADED: 12.16.2019 minor key. He managed five shots on goal, none especially dangerous, while the Oilers got much better quality with him on the ice.

And more notably, Matthews played 14:34, which was the third-lowest number of his four-year career of any game that didn’t involve an injury, after a Bruins game in his rookie season, and a meaningless season- ender against Montreal in 2018. The Leafs needed the Edmonton game, as they need every one these days. The top line centred by John Tavares, and the third line centred by Alex Kerfoot, played better. So they played more.

In the bigger picture, Matthews is having a very good season. But it seems entirely reasonable to ask for more.

Criticizing Matthews’s year seems a little silly, if you look at the numbers. He’s been the most productive Leafs forward, by a lot. He leads the team with 19 goals and 34 points in 34 games. He leads in power-play goals and points. He leads the team in puck possession numbers among players who have played regularly; when he’s on the ice the Leafs get 55.77 per cent of the shot attempts and 57 per cent of the goals. He’s scoring more than he did last year. Most of his numbers are up, actually, other than his assist rate. Other Leafs have had, relative to expectations, worse years. Almost all of them.

But you can say that, and still think Matthews has left plenty on the table. Expected goals are an imperfect but helpful way of measuring where shots come from: Shoot from the distant wilds of the point, and you’ll have lower expected goals than if you work to the slot, or closer. Last year, Matthews produced 1.06 expected goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, per the website Natural Stat Trick. That was elite.

This year, it’s at 0.76, as part of a teamwide gap between having the puck and getting it to more dangerous areas. That’s above average. His shots are down, too, though more of them are going in. Matthews has such preternatural shooting talent that he can score on shots that others can’t; he got to 100 even-strength goals faster than any active player other than Alexander Ovechkin, and it only took him one extra game.

So of course he’s got 19 goals, because he’s Auston Matthews. And combined with William Nylander’s ability to veer between defenders and in and out of zones, their puck possession numbers are stellar. Matthews has been the best of Toronto’s forwards. Nothing wrong with that.

But watching him, it’s hard to shake the idea that he could be better. Matthews was barely visible against Calgary, with no shots through two periods, and one on the night; Keefe didn’t single anybody out afterward, but said there was one line that worked, and it was the Tavares line.

“We had one line I thought that was outstanding, and after that it would be hard to find a guy who had a great day today,” the Leafs coach said. “It’s easy to say that the lines weren’t good today because of how they didn’t play, but it’s hard to judge because none of the individuals had good games … The game works in funny ways, and things usually even 1166556 Toronto Maple Leafs

Leafs send Sandin to WJC

Lance Hornby

December 15, 2019 8:29 PM EST

After starting the season with the Maple Leafs and moving down to the Marlies for more development, 2018 top pick defenceman Rasmus Sandin was released Sunday to join his native country at this month’s world junior hockey championships. The holiday tournament in the Czech Republic, which also features this year’s top Leafs pick, forward Nick Robertson on Team USA, is a valuable high-performance event that tests the mettle of the best youngsters among the hockey powers. Last year, Sandin had four points in five games at the WJC.

Sandin had 12 points in 19 games for the Marlies through Sunday’s 4-2 loss to Rockford. With the Leafs, he had a break with Travis Dermott missing training camp and the first month of the season. But after six games, with his ability to handle NHL contact in doubt and less ice time than a player of his caliber needed to find an NHL comfort zone, he was demoted.

He still had three games to go before a decision was required on using up his first year of entry-level salary.

Former coach Mike Babcock, who nicknamed Sandin, said in October before his firing that he and general manager Kyle Dubas arrived at the demotion decision after careful monitoring of his progress in the Leafs’ compacted schedule.

“We can’t get him on the power play in front of the guys we got, can’t get him on the penalty kill. So in the end, a real good night for him is (just) 14 minutes,” Babcock said at the time. “This (demotion) is the best thing for his development.”

Toronto Sun LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166557 Toronto Maple Leafs about much, but I just think his physicality, mobility and plays he’s making, becoming such an all-around solid guy for us on the back end.”

It has some people wondering why he wasn’t used more after Babcock Good things come in threes for Leafs scratched him 71 times last season, though there were extenuating circumstances with a mostly healthy defence.

Winning three of four on the road against teams that were ahead of them Lance Hornby in the standings certainly made for a happy plane ride home.

December 15, 2019 9:16 PM EST But the quest this week is get back in wildcard playoff position among a pack separated by just a few points. Home highlights will be a game

against surging Jack Eichel and the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday and a After being dealt some unsuitable roster cards, the Maple Leafs might beatable Detroit team that could see winless Michael Hutchinson’s first have found a third line that’s three-of-a-kind. start since Nov. 29, if not the night before in Manhattan. The ‘Next Generation Game’ is Monday afternoon at SBA versus Carolina. For the better part of three months Mike Babcock and now Sheldon Keefe tried to assemble a chain that could be quick, defensively reliable “This (trip) should give us some confidence,” Tavares said as the Leafs and take some scoring pressure off the top two groups. Success could headed to Edmonton airport. “It should have been even better (they fell be at hand following a road trip that ended with Alex Kerfoot, Ilya back to old ways in a loss to Calgary), but it is what it is. Now we have to Mikheyev and Pierre Engvall having a pair of strong games in Calgary follow it up, turn the page. Heading into the Christmas break we want to and Edmonton, striking twice against the Oilers in Saturday’s 4-1 win. make the most of the games we have.”

After John Tavares joined the team last season, it was the Leafs’ master LOOSE LEAFS plan to have three centres who could stretch the enemy’s checking An update on Barrie is expected Monday. X-rays after his painful shot resources. That worked at times with Nazem Kadri, except for his habit of block were negative … Winger Pontus Aberg and defenceman Martin getting suspended at crunch time. He was traded to Colorado for Kerfoot Marincin were shifted to the Marlies roster on Sunday, but the farm team and defenceman Tyson Barrie, but Kerfoot started slow, seemed doesn’t play all week. Greg Moore officially takes over as Marlies coach incompatible with numerous wingers, including Mikheyev on his right on Monday … Frederik Andersen on McDavid’s best chance against him, side. The return of injured Zach Hyman and Mitch Marner restored order pulling around Holl and trying a dizzying set of dekes to get the Dane’s to the first two lines, leading to Keefe’s latest experiment, Marlies call-up five-hole open: “I was expecting (one more) move,” Andersen joked. “He Engvall on Kerfoot’s right with Mikheyev moving to the left. definitely had me in the blender for a little bit, but I was able to squeeze it On Saturday, with Tavares’ line keeping focus on Connor McDavid and and hang on. I think Hollsy helped me back there a little bit, made sure it Leon Draisaitl and Auston Matthews’ trio neutralized, the Kerfoot crew didn’t squeeze by.” could shine.

“They worked, they made plays, they attacked the net … they were Toronto Sun LOADED: 12.16.2019 feeling it today,” Keefe said. “That’s a good sign for our team, three guys like that who skate. I felt comfortable every time they were on the ice, even against McDavid.”

Kerfoot, still wearing full facial protection after an mishap required jaw surgery, said the low autumn output was beginning to wear on he and Mikheyev, who had gone 22 games without a goal before Edmonton.

“It’s never a good feeling. You want to help the team. This has been a tough stretch for me in particular and I guess him as well. But this was a great road trip for our line,” said Kerfoot.

Mikheyev has experienced a lot in his first few months with the Maple Leafs — a new team, new city, language lessons, the high of a fast start and his ‘Soup Man’ nickname, the low of the protracted scoring slump. He was no doubt shaken by the Babcock firing after he’d signed in Toronto in large part because the famous coach came to Russia and made a strong pitch.

“Micky’s young and he’s still finding his way,” said Tavares. “I still think he has so much room for growth. You see his potential, his skill set, how dynamic he can be and how effective he is for us. I played with him a few weeks ago and he was fun to be with. You could tell with that speed, his tenacity and that poise with the puck, it makes him dangerous.

“It can’t be easy with the language barrier and coming to a place you’ve never been and settling in. We try to make him as comfortable as we can. He’ll only get better from here.”

Mikheyev is feeling less intimidated about large interview pools. He cracked up the crowd when he profusely apologized for destroying the net cam on his goal. He and Kerfoot are communicating well.

“His English is a little better than my Russian,” said Kerfoot.

Yes, that was second star Justin Holl with the coveted Hockey Night In Canada towel on his shoulder for the post-game interview on Saturday night. A solid 26:10 of work after Barrie was hurt by a first period shot block, much of it helping partner Jake Muzzin lasso McDavid.

Tavares didn’t mind sharing his usual post-game spotlight with the defenceman.

“You can just see his confidence and feel for the game continue to grow,” the captain said. “He’s been great for us this season. It doesn’t get talked 1166558 Vegas Golden Knights It’s true Zykov makes less than both and his NHL salary of $700,000 is a friendly number for a team that has spent most of the season filing out paperwork while (supposedly) sending players up and down to accrue cap space. It’s not a 2nd chance, but Zykov has new opportunity For this, promoting Zykov makes sense.

It makes even more if he can continue being active on both ends. When By Ed Graney Las Vegas Review-Journal he forechecks as he did Sunday, Zykov’s role becomes that much more clear. December 15, 2019 - 10:01 PM He was the team’s best player in the first period along the third line with

Paul Stastny and Alex Tuch, finishing with his goal and five shots in isn’t getting a second chance. 12:27 of ice time.

Not really. Zykov might act lost in translation when it comes to dealing with media, but not so when the puck drops. It’s more like, well, a chance. “I say hello to him every morning and, ‘Have a good practice, have fun, He has never been as good with the Golden Knights as his Sunday let’s go to work,’” Gallant said. “He’s not perfect in English but he performance. He gave his team a lead it wouldn’t relinquish and then understands the hockey part of English, so there are no issues. He’s a forechecked furiously during a 6-3 victory against Vancouver before an good teammate and the guys enjoy that he’s come back and played real announced gathering of 18,066 at T-Mobile Arena. good hockey for us.”

His first goal of the season and first point since returning from a 20-game Eakin and Glass will eventually return. Yet it’s difficult at this point seeing suspension for violating the league’s Performance Enhancing why the Knights would send Zykov back to Chicago. He could play well Substances Program came via a power play at 9:51 of the first period. enough to remain in the lineup or simply become a healthy scratch.

Max Pacioretty shot. It rebounded to Zykov. He scored. He wasn’t all that great before being suspended (just two assists in seven games), but perhaps the time off lit an internal fire. It gave the Knights a 2-1 advantage on the scoreboard and Zykov even more confidence, a trait that should prove valuable during his current He was really good Sunday. opportunity. It’s not a second chance. Suspended. Thrown under the bus. Put on Nobody knows how long that will last. But more efforts like that of Sunday waivers. might at least cause management to take a much longer look in the direction of the 24-year-old Russian. It’s just a chance.

“He played real well,” Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “I like his overall game. He has played well and worked hard and really come to LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 12.16.2019 the forefront.”

Zykov wasn’t made available for comment following the victory. And if he’s not going to talk after a performance that saw him named one of the game’s three stars, I’m not sure we will ever hear from him again.

Not that he says much, anyway.

He followed a short-and-sweet outlined script when addressing the suspension for the first time last week, stating time and again he was only focused on playing hockey. That’s fine.

He was asked legitimate questions about a situation in which he obviously ingested illegal substances and chose not to answer. Nothing new in these types of cases.

But make no mistake, no matter what they say now, the Knights were hardly believers in Zykov at the time of his suspension and again as it neared its end.

On the day it was announced that Zykov tested positive, the team threw him headfirst under the proverbial cheating bus, with president of hockey operations George McPhee stating the forward had told him he had been taking supplements for four years.

The Knights then welcomed Zykov off his suspension by putting him on waivers.

None of the 30 other teams claimed him — gee, I wonder why — and so the Knights sent him to Chicago of the American Hockey League.

But then something happened on his way to an endless stay in AHL purgatory.

The Knights showed some belief in him. Or they just liked how little money he makes.

Cody Glass and Cody Eakin are out with injuries, yet neither center is on injured reserve. But they were hurt badly enough that someone from Chicago had to be summoned.

It could have been Brandon Pirri.

It could have been Nicolas Roy.

It was neither.

Money matters? 1166559 Vegas Golden Knights first period and also had a scoring chance in the second period in what was easily his best performance of the season.

“Right now, we’re trying to use our entire depth, which tonight, I think, Golden Knights ride dominant 2nd period to victory over Canucks showed,” Stone said. “(The fourth) line really didn’t get on the scoresheet but ultimately completely dominated their matchup every time they went on the ice.”

By David Schoen Las Vegas Review-Journal 3. Poke it away

December 15, 2019 - 7:47 PM Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 26 saves for his 452nd career victory, two behind Curtis Joseph for sixth all time. Updated December 16, 2019 - 12:37 am But his best move came late in the second period when he poke-checked

the puck off the stick of Josh Leivo, who had a breakaway after leaving Of the 200 regular-season games the Golden Knights have contested in the penalty box. their existence, nine have been against the Vancouver Canucks. Fleury moved to 12-2-1 lifetime against the Canucks. And Sunday’s outcome wasn’t much different from those previous “I just saw the opportunity,” Fleury said. “It was coming very fast and I matchups. thought I could block his way. It’s about timing and it worked out pretty Max Pacioretty finished with two goals and two assists as the Knights good.” rolled to a 6-3 victory at T-Mobile Arena to move one point behind first- place Arizona in the Pacific Division standings. LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 12.16.2019 “We know that we play a lot of important games, divisional games, teams that are kind of right there in the wild-card race,” Pacioretty said. “Definitely an important game for our group. At the same time, we just worry about our game, which we have done pretty well as of recently.”

Jonathan Marchessault tallied his 100th career goal and Mark Stone broke a 10-game goal drought with his first since Nov. 27.

Shea Theodore had three assists and reached 100 points for his career.

Nick Holden and Valentin Zykov had the other goals for the Knights, who are 112-69-19 all time and own the second-best record in NHL history through a franchise’s first 200 games. The original Ottawa Senators went 124-72-4.

The Knights improved to 8-0-1 all time against Vancouver and took advantage of a weary Canucks team playing the second game of a back- to-back.

It was the Knights’ third win in their past four games, and they improved to 7-2-1 in their past 10.

Pacioretty put the Knights ahead 5-2 when he had a partial breakaway and scored on a backhander. Pacioretty used almost an identical move for the winner in overtime Friday at Dallas.

He added his team-best 15th goal in the final minute on a power play. The Knights finished 2-for-4 with the man advantage after entering with one goal in their past 13 power play opportunities.

“It’s just good to get our mojo back and get some confidence,” Marchessault said. “We’re a tough team to play against when we play with that intensity.”

Here’s what stood out from the Knights’ win:

1. Dominant second period

On paper, the second period has been the Knights worst this season, with a minus-5 goal differential entering Sunday. But for the second straight game, the Knights owned the middle stanza.

Marchessault and Stone scored less than five minutes apart for a 4-1 advantage, and the Knights finished with a 19-5 advantage in shots on goal.

“I thought we played a good all-around game,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “I really liked the way we played in the second period. I thought we dominated that period, kept a lot of pucks down low and really forced them down low.”

2. Unexpected contributions

Holden appeared in his fourth straight game, as defenseman Nic Hague recovers from the flu, and collected his third goal when he sent a wrist shot from the point through traffic at 2:22 of the first period.

That was followed by Zykov’s first of the season at 4:03 when he pounced on a rebound and lifted the puck over Markstrom.

Zykov, who served a 20-game suspension for violating the NHL’s performance-enhancing substance policy, had three shots on goal in the 1166560 Vegas Golden Knights

Golden Knights’ Gerard Gallant earns seniority in Pacific Division

By Ben Gotz Las Vegas Review-Journal

December 15, 2019 - 4:50 PM

Sunday’s game between the Golden Knights and the Vancouver Canucks featured the two longest-tenured coaches in the Pacific Division.

“That’s not a good thing,” Knights boss Gerard Gallant said.

That’s because it didn’t take long for Gallant to earn seniority. His April 13, 2017 hire date beats the Canucks’ Travis Green by 13 days, but Sunday was only his 200th game with his current team. Three of the division’s eight teams made coaching changes this offseason, and another two — the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks — shook things up midseason.

Peter DeBoer, who was hired May 28, 2015, was previously the division’s oldest hand before the Sharks fired him Wednesday.

“It’s unbelievable what’s going on,” Gallant said.

Gallant, of course, is no stranger to the brutal nature of his profession. He was fired 22 games into his third season with the Florida Panthers on Nov. 27, 2016, after being a finalist for the Jack Adams Award (best coach) the year before.

That setback didn’t keep him down for long. He got back in the game soon after and his experienced hand was a major reason behind the Knights’ early success. Several of his former colleagues will now look to follow his example.

“Guys enjoy playing for him,” right wing Mark Stone said. “He’s fair and he’s honest. That’s all you can ask for from a coach. To be fair, to be honest and put a plan in place that guys can get on board with. That’s been the MO since I’ve been here.”

Winding down 2019

Including Sunday, six of the Knights’ last eight games of 2019 are against division opponents. They entered Sunday 7-3-1 against the Pacific and 10-10-4 against everyone else.

“We want to find ways to move up (in the standings),” Stone said. “If we can start to string some wins together, I like our chances.”

Injury updates

■ Center Cody Eakin appeared on the City National Arena bench and in the locker room Sunday, but Gallant said he remains week to week with an upper-body injury. Eakin will likely not play Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild, and Gallant said he was unsure whether the veteran will go on the Knights’ two-game trip later this week.

■ Gallant said rookie center Cody Glass is still day to day with an upper- body injury he suffered Dec. 8 against the New York Rangers.

■ Rookie defenseman Nic Hague participated in the Knights’ morning skate Sunday but was scratched for the third straight game due to an illness.

LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166561 Vegas Golden Knights

How to watch Golden Knights vs. Canucks

Staff Report

The Associated Press

December 15, 2019 - 1:22 PM

Line: Off

BOTTOM LINE

The Vancouver Canucks visit Vegas after the Knights took down Dallas 3-2 in overtime.

The Knights are 11-8-2 in Western Conference games. Vegas leads the NHL shooting 33.5 shots per game while averaging 2.9 goals.

The Canucks are 4-4-1 against opponents from the Pacific Division. Vancouver ranks sixth in the league averaging 5.6 assists per game, led by Quinn Hughes with 0.7.

The teams match up Sunday for the first time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS

Max Pacioretty leads the Knights with 13 goals, adding 17 assists and totaling 30 points. Alex Tuch has recorded four goals and four assists over the last 10 games for Vegas.

Elias Pettersson leads the Canucks with 34 points, scoring 13 goals and collecting 21 assists. Hughes has recorded eight assists over the last 10 games for Vancouver.

LAST 10 GAMES

Canucks: 5-5-0, averaging three goals, 5.4 assists, three penalties and six penalty minutes while giving up 2.7 goals per game with a .917 save percentage.

Knights: 6-3-1, averaging 2.7 goals, 4.6 assists, three penalties and 6.5 penalty minutes while giving up 2.7 goals per game with a .912 save percentage.

LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166562 Vegas Golden Knights The problem certainly hasn’t been Karlsson. Serving as the Golden Knights’ top center for nearly the entire franchise history, Karlsson has played well and produced at a solid rate. Through 200 regular-season games, Karlsson leads the franchise with 162 points. Golden Knights must get more production from their centers, and they can This season, Karlsson is third on the team with 28 points. He’s on pace for 64 points, which is a bit below what you’d like to get out of him, but Karlsson’s production is far from being an issue.

By Jesse Granger Where the Golden Knights have struggled immensely is below Karlsson, where Stastny is going through one of the worst slumps of his career, Dec 15, 2019 and the third-line center — whether it’s Eakin or Cody Glass — has been invisible.

William Karlsson raced down the ice, barely beating Canucks Stastny is on pace for 32 points. That’s about half of his career average, defenseman Quinn Hughes to a loose puck. Just as fast as Karlsson’s which is 63.2 points per 82 games. Stastny is getting older at 33, so stick touched the puck, he stopped on a dime, sending a cloud of snow Vegas doesn’t need him to be at his career-high numbers, but at least 50 into Hughes’ face, and backhanded the puck through two more points should be expected, especially considering the offensive talent defenders onto the stick of Reilly Smith. Stastny is surrounded by.

Smith made the extra pass to Jonathan Marchessault, who was waiting The good news for Vegas is Stastny’s slump is highly unlikely to on the backdoor, and sent the puck into the net for a spectacular goal in continue. He’s actually playing much better than the numbers suggest. Vegas’ 6-3 win over Vancouver. “He’s definitely creating,” teammate Max Pacioretty said. “Nice to see Earlier in Sunday’s game, Paul Stastny dished a pass to Nick Holden, him get rewarded with a play to Holden early in the game. I think that who ripped a wrist shot through traffic for his third goal of the season. gave him the confidence to really play with the puck tonight.”

It was a welcome sight for the Golden Knights, who haven’t gotten nearly So once again it returns to the Golden Knights’ struggles finishing scoring enough offense from their top three centers this season. chances.

The helper on Holden’s goal was only Stastny’s sixth assist of the “He set a couple guys up really well tonight. That’s his job, and it can be season. The veteran center known best for his vision and playmaking frustrating with his job because you are relying on other guys to put the ability has been uncharacteristically ineffective in the offensive end this puck in the net when you’re making those plays,” Pacioretty said. “When season. Not only is Stastny on pace for a career low in assists, but he’s I was playing with him, and the puck wasn’t going in when he was giving also registered only two in his past 23 games. it to me, you kind of feel bad because he does so much to help his line mates. You want to see a guy like that get rewarded.” Stanley Cup-winning teams are built from the center outward. Strong center play has long been considered one of the most critical aspects of The numbers back up what Pacioretty has seen from Stastny. Out of 84 team building in the NHL, and the numbers back it up. centers with at least 400 minutes of ice time this season, Stastny ranks 13th in shots per 60 minutes (35.27), 14th in expected goals per 60 The past 10 Stanley Cup champions have averaged 167 points from their minutes (2.64) and 17th in scoring chances per 60 minutes (30.27). top three centers combined, excluding the shortened season in 2012-13. None of those 10 teams got fewer than 129 points from their top three “I like the way Stastny is playing,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “Seriously, centers, and two of the teams received more than 200 points. I didn’t notice (the drought) until I saw it in the paper the other day. I don’t read it often but I saw it. I like the way he’s playing. He’s working hard Centers carry play, driving offense in the attacking zone. Whether it’s and doing the right things. I don’t care who scores and gets the assists been Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal in Pittsburgh, on our team, as long as they’re doing a good job, and Stastny is doing a Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp and in Chicago, or Anze great job.” Kopitar, Jeff Carter and in Los Angeles, centers have carried teams to championships. Stastny clearly has the talent to produce offense, and all signs point to a drastic uptick in his numbers. Which is good, because Vegas will need it. Last year’s Cup champions — the St. Louis Blues — got a combined 169 points from Ryan O’Reilly, Brayden Schenn and Tyler Bozak. The year As far as the third center, a new contender has emerged in the past before, Washington finally lifted the Cup with the help of 201 points from couple of weeks. Since being traded from the Washington Capitals, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom and TJ Oshie. Chandler Stephenson has impressed Gallant enough to be elevated to a second-line role, between Mark Stone and Pacioretty. Which brings us back to the issue at hand: The Golden Knights simply aren’t getting enough from the center position. In seven games with the Golden Knights, Stephenson already has two goals and two assists. He’s played well during Eakin and Glass’ injuries Through 35 games, Vegas received only 47 points from its top three and should serve as great center depth at the very least when those two centers, on pace for a meager 110 points over an 82 game season. return. Alex Tuch’s offensive outburst has also helped the third line That’s the fourth-worst in the NHL. The only teams with fewer points from produce. The Golden Knights will need more consistent offense out of their top three centers are Columbus, New Jersey and Detroit, who that line (and whoever centers it) to cover up for the occasional slump by currently sit 26th, 30th and 31st in the standings. the top two centers.

After Sunday’s game, Vegas’ centers are up to 49 points. Karlsson leads So while Vegas’ centers as a group haven’t produced nearly enough the way with a more-than-respectable 28 points, but Stastny’s 14 and offense, there’s plenty of reason to believe that will change. If it does, the Cody Eakin’s seven points in 24 games are a problem. Golden Knights should be one of the most dangerous teams in the Western Conference. It might seem unfair to compare Vegas’ center production with the last decade’s worth of Cup winners, but if that’s where the Golden Knights Speaking of which, Sunday’s win lifted the Golden Knights to second want to be by this June, history says they need to just about double their place in the Pacific Division, only one point behind the first-place Arizona current rate of production from their centermen. Coyotes.

Not only is Vegas’ 110-point pace nowhere near the 167-point average by the last 10 Stanley Cup winners, but it’s also brutally low compared with the NHL average this season. The top three centers on each NHL The Athletic LOADED: 12.16.2019 team are averaging a pace of 145.8 points. Currently sitting at only 47 points, the Golden Knights would need 99 points from Karlsson, Stastny and Eakin over the final 46 games just to finish with an average output. If the Golden Knights are going to become a true contender, that needs to happen. 1166563 Vegas Golden Knights

On Kids Day, Knights Control Canucks In 6-3 Win Before 18,066 Sunday

December 15, 2019

By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com

The Golden Knights delivered Lego-themed graphics on the Jumbotron and snacks for the youngins on kids day Sunday, with fans soaking up the holiday season with seasonal outfits. The Knights also delivered a win for 18,066 fans, defeating the Vancouver Canucks, 6-3.

Golden Knights with a Sunday game.

The Knights received a balanced goal attack, with defenseman Nick Holden and forwards Valentin Zykov, Jonathan Marchessault, Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty (two goals) notching the tallies. Goalie Marc- Andre Fleury picked up the win.

Here’s Marchessault discussing his milestone 100th career goal.

Next up is Pacioretty, who scored his 15th goal this season. He discussed playing on home ice.

Here’s Fleury postgame:

A relaxed VGK coach Gerard Gallant was pleased with the team’s performance in period two.

Before the Canucks lost, they did enjoy going to their seats before the game.

The Knights’ average attendance entering the Sunday game was 18,257, so the crowd was just under 200 less than average.

LVSportsBiz.com LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166564 Washington Capitals see where we’ve got to now. It is interesting to them and also a sense of pride when they come here.”

Capitals owner Ted Leonsis on a possible NHL game in Russia: ‘We are Capitals’ annual fathers’ trip brings fond memories, rare bonding time all in on this’

Overall, the dads trip had a bit of different feel this year than in years past. Instead of a rather strict agenda in each city, the team decided to Samantha Pell allow more one-on-one time with fathers and their sons. It gave the players more time to casually go out to dinner with just their dads or in December 15, 2019 at 11:19 AM EST small groups. The biggest group event was the team cruise Thursday, the first night of the trip.

TAMPA — Familiar faces sauntered through the hall near the “It is kind of special because Braden and I, actually, in this stage of his Washington Capitals’ dressing room in Tampa, with the older versions of life, don’t get a lot of time just him and I,” said Greg Holtby, who has been themselves casually in tow. There were the stalwarts in Anders on at least six dads trips. “There is usually a chance on this trip for it to Backstrom, Dick Carlson and Greg Holtby — all used to the ins and outs be just him and me.” of the Capitals’ annual dads trip yet all wearing the same recognizable Anders Backstrom will be staying around with his wife to be with Nicklas joyful face. and his family through the holidays but thoroughly enjoys his alone time There were Vladimir Orlov, Aleksei Samsonsov and Evgeny Kuznetsov, with his son. all going back and forth in Russian as their sons did the same. There was “We don’t have so much time now,” Anders said. “Much more when he Karel Vrana, giving out quick nods of hello as his son, Jakub, routinely was younger, and now he has his family and stuff like that. It is nice for does. There was John Hathaway, the epitome of a gleeful, proud father him to meet him for three or four days and of course meet the other dads watching from afar. There was Alan Dowd, who had worn his son’s and hang around and have fun. It is very nice.” college hockey hat on the plane ride over for the start of the two-game road trip. He also enjoys seeing the maturing players and their growing families, such as the Ovechkins and the Holtbys. Their kids aren’t the only ones All and more made up — as Hathaway’s dad would proudly say during who have grown up together — the dads have, too. the intermission report in the Capitals’ 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning — the Capitals’ family, a melting pot of influences coming “Our kids have grown up, and our grandkids, they don’t know what it is together to celebrate their sons. not being like this,” Greg Holtby said. “We have so much fun.”

“I just want to say that I know it is everybody’s dream as a kid to be in the NHL, everybody here,” John Hathaway said on the team cruise Thursday night as he addressed the entire contingent of dads and Washington Post LOADED: 12.16.2019 players. “I congratulate all of you because we all know how difficult that dream is.”

Capitals practice what they preach in a balanced 5-2 victory over Lightning

Every player had at least one dad or mentor on the Capitals’ annual excursion except for captain Alex Ovechkin. T.J. Oshie brought his father-in-law, Dave, and Lars Eller brought his brother-in-law, Christian. Team employees also were allowed to bring their fathers on the trip, taking part in the fun that brought over 30 extra bodies on the road for games against the Lightning on Saturday and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.

“Some guys are very similar to their dads, and some guys are extremely opposite,” Braden Holtby said. “Even just looks-wise you can see and immediately know whose dad it is, and others you have a bit tougher time. It is interesting to see the background of where people grew up and that kind of thing you don’t always get to talk about.”

There are a couple of newbies to the dads’ trip, including ’s father, Leo. Despite Gudas being in the league for eight years, his father always had been coaching professionally overseas, so he could never make it when Gudas was with Tampa Bay and the Philadelphia Flyers. This past year, Leo decided to coach a younger team, allowing him to make his first dads trip. It was almost derailed when he was offered another professional coaching job, but he got the team to delay the start date until after the holidays, all for Radko.

Ilya Samsonov’s father, Aleksei, is also experiencing his first dads trip, with the rookie goaltender getting his first taste of the NHL this season. Saturday’s win was the first time Samsonov’s father saw his son play in an NHL game in person. The 22-year-old didn’t disappoint, recording 26 saves in a stellar performance that kept the league-leading Capitals rolling.

“I win this game for him,” the young Russian goaltender said postgame.

For some dads, such as Greg Leipsic, the experience is still rather fresh. Leipsic is on his third dads trip with a different team because Brendan has hopped around the league in his career. He has been a fan of the game for a while and was “pretty fired up” to go on the trip and meet multiple cornerstones he has watched from afar over the past decade.

“It’s pretty special, something pretty unique to our sport,” Holtby said of the trip. “Obviously, for the most part, our dads have had a big part in our lives in hockey growing up, kind of the dog days in hockey, so they can 1166565 Washington Capitals Soon after Vasilevskiy made a short-handed glove save when Carl Hagelin’s shot that went off Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, Point tied it a 1 from the slot 5:45 into the second.

Eller, Hathaway score 45 seconds apart, Capitals beat Lightning

Washington Times LOADED: 12.16.2019

By Mark Didtler - Associated Press

Sunday, December 15, 2019

TAMPA, Fla. — The Washington Capitals used a quick start during the final period for another win away from home.

Lars Eller and Garnet Hathaway scored 45 seconds apart early in the third period and the NHL-leading Capitals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Saturday night.

Ellers scored from the left circle at 1:58 and Hathaway made it 3-1 from in-close.

The surge came after Washington allowed just one goal on four short- handed situations during the second period against Tampa Bay’s potent home power play, which entered a league-leading 21 for 58.

“We regrouped, we talked about it between the second and the third,” Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. ” It was up to us to get back to our game for the third period where if we do that come out with the outcome we wanted.”

Nicklas Backstrom, T.J Oshie and Tom Wilson had the other Washington goals, and rookie goalie Ilya Samsonov stopped 26 shots.

Samsonov (8-2-1) played in front of his father, who made the trip from Russia to see his son play for the first time in NHL.

“I feel good the whole game,” Samsonov said. “It was really important because of the father’s trip. Real important win today. Really good team win.

The Capitals are on their Mentor’s Trip, which includes many of the player’s fathers.

Washington (15-2-1) tied the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres for the fewest game to reached 15 road wins.

Tampa Bay got goals from Brayden Point and Jan Rutta. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves.

“I thought we played well in the second period,” Point said. “We had some good looks. Bottom line is in the third period we gave up some opportunities to a team you can’t give opportunities to and they capitalized.”

The Lightning dropped to 8-7-1 at home, matching the total of losses (32- 7-2) from all of last season.

Tampa Bay’s overall record this season is 16-12-3. The Lightning, who tied an NHL-record for wins (62-16-4) in 2018-19, didn’t lose their 12th game in regulation until Feb. 28 (49-12-4).

Lightning star Nikita Kucherov, last season’s NHL MVP, left midway through the second after taking John Carlson’s shot off the right foot-shin area and did not return.

“You guys saw what happened,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I don’t have an update on him. Hopefully he’s going to be OK. Obviously, he’s a huge part of our team.”

Rutta stopped a 30-game goal drought at 11:16 of the third but Oshie put the Capitals up 4-2 just 1:03 later.

Wilson added an empty-netter.

Backstrom opened the scoring at 6:42 of the first. Rutta was getting ready to make a pass when teammate Ondrej Palat skated in front of him behind the net on a breakout play and had the puck go off his skate right to Backstrom in the low slot.

Samsonov kicked out his left leg to stop an in-close back-hander by Mikhail Sergachev early in the first. Kevin Shattenkirk sent a shot from a tough angle behind Samsonov later in the period but the puck went through the crease along the goal line and went off the post. 1166566 Washington Capitals

Capitals at Blue Jackets Game 35: Time, TV Channel, Live stream, how to watch

By Raichele Privette

December 15, 2019 7:29 PM

The Washington Capitals are off to a good start on the road following Saturday night’s wing against the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2.

It was two quick goals late in the third period by Lars Ellers and Garnet Hathaway that sealed the deal for Washington.

The Caps look to win their second straight road game and fifth straight win in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.

We’ve got you covered with everything you need to know about the Monday night face-off that takes placed at 7:00 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Washington.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166567 Winnipeg Jets The union of Shore, Shaw and Bourque provides Winnipeg with some veteran savvy, patience and know-how, far more than when youngsters David Gustafsson and Joona Luoto were part of the mix.

Big-league goal a boost for Shaw Rarely did Maurice turn to the fourth unit in tight games, but now the bench boss maintains he can.

"With Nick there and those two guys, I can play them. In the last game By: Jason Bell and the one prior, they had two or three shifts against (Dylan) Larkins line (for Detroit), and I’m not particularly worried about it. I’m not hiding them," Posted: 12/15/2019 10:59 PM he said.

"They gotta score once in a while just to feel good. Since we brought Logan Shaw impersonated an NHL sniper Sunday afternoon, a role he’s Nick in, they’re getting more opportunities in the offensive zone. There’s unaccustomed to playing. more plays. They need that. They need to score, they need to feel like they’re a part of it. There’s not a lot of minutes there... (and) veteran guys The fourth-liner unleashed a wicked shot that clanked the top bar inside there that understand. They can sit for a while and come out. It’s nice for the cage behind goalie Brian Elliott and ricocheted out in a fraction of a those guys to get a payoff. (Shaw) got a good shot. He’s had that. That second, boosting the Winnipeg Jets’ lead to 5-1 over the Philadelphia was a high-end shot he scored on." Flyers.

Winnipeg Jets' Logan Shaw (38) celebrates his goal as Philadelphia Flyers' Ivan Provorov (9) looks on during second period NHL action in Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 12.16.2019 Winnipeg on Sunday Dec. 15, 2019.

Goals in the big league are few and far between for the 27-year-old from Glace Bay, N.S., who has just 13 in 199 contests since he broke in with the Florida Panthers during the 2015-16 campaign.

Shaw last scored in NHL on Feb. 8, 2018, while playing for the Montreal Canadiens. He managed to beat Elliott that night, too.

Naturally, a payoff for his rapid release was mighty satisfying.

"Yeah, that was a long time ago," Shaw said smiling, referring to the stat he picked up 21 months and 41 games ago. "It definitely felt good to get that one (Sunday). For us, as a line, we’ve been trying to work hard each and every day. That’s definitely just a bonus for us right now, and it felt good."

Shaw plays on the right side of centre Nick Shore, while Gabriel Bourque mans the left side. Jets head coach was afforded the opportunity to send out the unit more than usual after the home squad built a 2-0 lead on the Flyers after the opening period.

When Mathieu Perreault was felled by a thunderous, illegal hit by Joel Farabee, Maurice rotated the bottom-three forwards in with Adam Lowry and Andrew Copp. And their minutes shot up with the home team enjoying a commanding advantage by the time the third period rolled around.

"It’s tough to get that rotation going when somebody goes down, but I think coach did a great job with it. We all want play. We all want to get out on the ice, but sometimes it’s tough when you’re sitting on the bench for a little bit. He got us out there as much as he could, and it was great," Shaw said, on the increased playing time.

Shaw — 6-3, 208 pounds, a former third-round pick of the Panthers who has also played in Anaheim and Montreal — inked a one-year, two-way deal with Winnipeg last November and immediately became one of the offensive drivers of the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League, scoring a team-leading 27 times in 63 games.

He re-signed with the Jets in the summer and lit the lamp three times in Manitoba’s first eight games of the 2019-20 season before getting a promotion in late October.

Shaw said showing some offensive flash last season and performing in key situations for Moose coach Pascal Vincent bolstered his belief in himself.

"Confidence is one of the biggest parts of the the game, I think, to going in the right direction. Last year, it brought my confidence back," he said. "There’s a different side of it where you don’t necessarily want to be in the American (Hockey) League, but there’s a positive to it, and you have to find the reason you’re down there and keep working on it and make sure you get back up here. It’s sometimes just about staying patient.

"It felt really good tonight to score. I know it was the fifth goal, but for me, individually, it was a little weight off my shoulder and just kind of, ‘I can still do it.’ That’s kind of what last year was for me with the Moose, knowing I can still score goals. They don’t come very often up here, but they feel good when they do." 1166568 Winnipeg Jets of the season. Defenceman Luca Sbisa doubled the lead at 11:49 with a perfectly-timed cannon from the shot, which Elliott couldn't see thanks to a maze of players in front of him. That's the second goal of the year for the waiver-wire pickup, who has quickly earned the trust of Maurice and Explosive second period gives Jets 7-3 victory over Flyers become a big part of the blue-line.

Winnipeg Jets' Nikolaj Ehlers (27) celebrates his goal against the Philadelphia Flyers with teammates Blake Wheeler (26), Nathan By: Mike McIntyre Beaulieu (88), and Anthony Bitetto (2) during the first period. Posted: 12/15/2019 6:43 PM | Last Modified: 12/15/2019 8:31 PM | Philadelphia cut the deficit in half when defenceman Matt Niskanen Updates | Comments: scored on a rebound early in the second period. But then came Farabee's reckless play a few minutes later that put his team in a major hole. Mathieu Perreault never saw it coming, the victim of a blindside hit that knocked him from the game. But hockey justice often has a way of Perreault didn't have the puck when Farabee stepped into him, his sorting things out, and it came swiftly and severely for the Philadelphia shoulder appearing to connect with the veteran's head. As part of a new Flyers on Sunday afternoon at Bell MTS Place. rule this year, referees were allowed to review their own call of an interference major. After looking at the video, it was upheld. After watching their groggy teammate helped off the ice midway through the second period, the Winnipeg Jets exploded for four goals on five "If they come out if it at 2-1 and we burn through five minutes, you’re also shots in a 4:17 span, turning a close game into a rout. Two of those running four forwards on both (power play) units, that kind of top six to tallies came on a pivotal five-minute power play, with Flyers rookie Joel eight guys hard, back to back. And you’ve lost another player so you’re Farabee ejected for the headshot on Perreault that has earned him a really pushing your bench at that point of the game. So scoring two, and hearing on Monday with the the NHL's Department of Player Safety. the momentum shift that came off of it, two more right after," Maurice said of taking advantage. The end result was a 7-3 victory for the Jets. Wheeler's ninth and Scheifele's team-leading 15th were welcomed signs "That’s the most dangerous play in hockey. Even a hit from behind a for a power play that has struggled for most of the season. Shaw's first of player has a sense that it’s coming. And that’s why that five minute the season, and Laine's 10th, had the hometown fans in full-on party interference came in. Because it can be devastating. The referee’s mode. certainly got it right on the ice," said coach Paul Maurice. James van Riemsdyk scored on a rebound in the final minute of the Winnipeg Jets' Mathieu Perreault (85) is helped off the ice after being second, but the damage was already done. Carter Hart came on to injured against the Philadelphia Flyers by teammates Nathan Beaulieu relieve Elliott in the third period, only to be beaten by a Neal Pionk shot (88) and Andrew Copp (9) during the second period. that was tipped by Scheifele and went off Kyle Connor's leg, once again on the power play, for Connor's 14th. It was clearly the turning point of the game, especially after Philadelphia had just pulled within a goal a few minutes and were coming on strong. Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) makes a glove save But the Flyers poked the bear in the Jets, who quickly channelled their on a shot as Philadelphia Flyers' David Kase (72) looks for the rebound anger and used it to repeatedly light the lamp. during the first period.

"That’s a big point in the game. They had just scored to make it 2-1, kind Shayne Gostisbehere finished off the scoring later in the final period. of riding some momentum, so that was a big moment in the game, had to take advantage of that. I thought we did enough good things, got Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves for his 16th win of the rewarded," said captain Blake Wheeler, who scored the first power play season, including several big stops in the first half of the game when the goal and then set up Mark Scheifele's marker later in the extended man- outcome was still very much in doubt. advantage shortly after. "It was even until we break it open, right? Right until the power play Just like that, the Jets were up 4-1. But they weren't done yet, as Logan there. When they make it 2-1, you’re starting to feel uncomfortable," said Shaw scored right after the power play ended, followed 16 seconds later Maurice. "But we’ve still got to battle some pucks that we missed or we by Patrik Laine's goal. need a save from Connor on some reads that we just can’t get to in our end of the ice and then like we’ve said, stay in the fight, stay in the fight "We don't want to see that, no matter who it is on either side," Shaw said and then we do have some firepower up front and you put us on the of seeing Perreault go down. "For us, I don't want to say it paid off but we power play — even though it’s not as lethal this year — for five straight were pretty upset with that hit and I think the power play came out and minutes and we’re going to generate." handled that, it's a good sign for us. I hope Frenchie's OK." Winnipeg has now won five straight home games and can extend that A further update on Perreault's status was expected in the coming days. streak this week as the three-game homestand continues with visits from Carolina on Tuesday and Chicago on Thursday. "He’s moving around. I’m not saying he’s fine. He’ll get checked and tested (Monday)," said Maurice.

Winnipeg improves to 20-11-2. Philadelphia falls to 17-11-5, having now Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 12.16.2019 lost three straight games. They've been decimated by injuries in recent days, including a bone cancer diagnosis to young forward Oskar Lindblom last week. They also played less than 24 hours earlier in Minnesota, then travelled to face a well-rested Winnipeg club.

"They played (Saturday) night at six and then four o’clock (Sunday). That’s tough. We’re going to face that at some point this year. You know that coming in. You know that you got to jump on them. The more you allow them to hang in the game, the more they are going to get their legs under them. But playing two NHL games in under 24 hours is damn hard. We knew that coming in and it was important for us to have a good first," said Wheeler.

The Jets were looking to rebound after a tough outing Thursday night in Detroit, in which they fell 5-2 to the NHL's worst team. And they got it in spades, with seven different goal scorers and 12 of the 18 skaters collecting at least a point.

Nikolaj Ehlers got the offensive party started just 4:57 into the game, ripping a shot past Flyers goalie Brian Elliott right off a faceoff for his 14th 1166569 Winnipeg Jets Just 16 seconds later, Patrik Laine would score his 10th of the season after trying to centre a pass that went in off a Flyers defender instead.

The four goals came on five shots, and the Jets had six goals on 16 Jets crush Flyers after four-goal second-period explosion shots at that point in the game. The cluster of markers came in the second-fastest span in franchise history, 27 seconds shy of the four goals in 3:50 set back in a 5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils during the 2017-18 season. Scott Billeck James Van Riemsdyk would score with 28 seconds left in the second December 15, 2019 9:29 PM CST and Kyle Connor and Shayne Gostibehere traded tallies in the third.

“We had a lot of fun tonight,” Shaw said. “It was nice to see different goal Duclair shines with proud Dad along for the ride scorers and that everyone’s contributing. There were a lot of other great plays tonight that weren’t goals, we had a lot of good chances and a lot To steal a line from Will Ferrell in the seminal comedy, Anchorman: of good defensive-zone stuff. It’s nice to see everyone contribute and all “Well, that escalated quickly.” lines in on it.”

Yes. The second-period smashing was quite the departure from the period that preceded it. Yes, it did. Looking to encapsulate Winnipeg’s season inside 20 minutes? Watch A closely contested game nearing the midway point of the second period Sunday’s opening frame and you’ll have a pretty good picture. took a quick, dramatic turn inside the confines of BellMTS Place on Sunday. Whether they deserved a 2-0 lead after the opening frame is debatable, but they came away with that scoreline and the way they got there was a When the dust eventually settled, the Winnipeg Jets made the short walk good summation of the first 30-plus games for the Jets. from their bench to their dressing room with a 7-3 win in their back pocket and their 20th win of the season. Defence was merely optional for the Jets in the first 20 minutes, and if not for Connor Hellebuyck (again), Winnipeg would have been tending to The Flyers weren’t as fortunate, picking up their third straight loss and their wounds during the first intermission. second inside the past 22 hours after losing 4-1 to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night. Instead, Hellebuyck made 10 saves in the frame, including a trio of saves that have become the standard for the early frontrunner for the Vezina “Every team is going to play a game like they had to play today,” Jets this season. The prettiest of those saves came on Flyers forward Mikhail captain Blake Wheeler said. “They played last night at six and then four Vorobyev, whose clap bomb was labelled for the back of the net if not for o’clock today. That’s tough. We’re going to face that at some point this Hellebuyck’s outstretched glove hand. year. You know that coming in. You know that you got to jump on them. The more you allow them to hang in the game, the more they are going As they have all season, Hellebuyck’s heroics energized the Jets. to get their legs under them. But playing two NHL games in under 24 hours is damn hard. We knew that coming in and it was important for us The Jets took the lead at 4:57 of the first. A draw to the right of Brian to have a good first.” Elliott was won by no one, but Jack Roslovic was able to move in from the wing and put the puck back to Nikolaj Ehlers, who wired his 14th to Philly’s downfall on Sunday had little to do with fatigue or a good start by make it 1-0. Winnipeg and a lot to do with a self-inflicted wound busted wide open by rookie standout Joel Farabee, who drilled Mathieu Perreault with a late A couple of Hellebuyck saves later and the Jets led 2-0. This time, hit in the middle frame. Perreault’s thievery led to Luca Sbisa uncorking a cannon past Elliott at 11:49. Perreault had to be peeled off the ice with the help of a couple teammates and was forced to the quiet room and then eventually out of The two-goal cushion would last until 4:15 of the second when Matt the game with an upper-body injury. Niskanen cleaned up in front of Hellebuyck, who had been stung by a shot to the mask just seconds before the 2-1 goal. Kevin Hayes, the Farabee wasn’t injured on the play, but he, too, was forced from the former Jet, grabbed his first of two assists in the game on the goal. game after being assessed a five-minute major for interference and then tossed with a game misconduct for his efforts. (He will also have to The goal would prove insignificant as all hell broke loose not long after. answer for his actions after being summoned for a hearing on Monday by Hellebuyck, meanwhile, finished the game with his 16th win, tying the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.) Washington’s Braden Holtby and Toronto’s Frederik Andersen for the “That’s the most dangerous play in hockey,” Jets head coach Paul league lead after making 29 saves. Maurice said. “Even a hit from behind a player has a sense that it’s Elliot allowed six goals on 17 shots and was pulled after 40 minutes. coming. And that’s why that five-minute interference came in. Because it Carter Hart, who played the night before, allowed a goal on the six shots can be devastating. The referee’s certainly got it right on the ice. he faced. “(Perreault’s) moving around. I’m not saying he’s fine. He’ll get checked When five of your top-six forwards all find the back of the net in a romp, and tested tomorrow.” some of the other stats don’t always find their way into the spotlight. A formerly tight game prior to a boneheaded decision by Farabee was As good as Neal Pionk has been for the Jets this season defensively, he about to be anything but over the next several minutes. was quite good at the other end of the rink on Sunday. The Jets scored twice on the ensuing power play, with Blake Wheeler Pionk finished the game with a trio assists, including two apples on the extending the lead to 3-1 and Mark Scheifele pushing his point streak to power play where the 24-year-old continues to acclimate well. six games to make it 4-1. Those goals came 41 seconds apart and were apart of a four-goal outburst in a span of 4:17. “There’s just so many little nuances that you have to understand,” Wheeler said. “When that puck comes to me, you’re making reads really “You get a five-minute power play, you want to take advantage of it,” quickly on the fly. You got to have guys where you need them and if Wheeler said. “That’s a big point in the game. They had just scored to there’s a little bit of hesitancy and maybe not everyone in the right spot, make it 2-1, kind of riding some momentum, so that was a big moment in in kind of ruins the flow of the power play. I think he’s been a quick study, the game, had to take advantage of that. I thought we did enough good realizing where the weapons are and how we need to set up in order to things, got rewarded.” have success.” The siege continued when the play returned to even strength. Pionk’s comfort level is buoyed by having Scheifele and Wheeler on the Logan Shaw scored his first in 41 games to make it 5-1 some 80 seconds power play along with him. after Scheifele’s goal. “Pretty easy game up there,” Pionk said. Shooting, something Pionk said opens up opportunities for the rest of the players on the top power-play unit, is something the Jets are happy they have on the point.

“The most important thing is he’s not scared to shoot the puck,” Wheeler said. “That was our message to him early on. For a young kind to come in, new to the team, he wants to make everyone happy. Sometimes it’s hard to walk in there and want to start ripping shots, you want to set up guys for one-timers and be everyone’s buddy. But it’s important for him to shoot it. I think he’s starting to establish that he’s a threat up there. Obviously, that’s going to lead to more open looks for other guys.”

He didn’t play long enough with the club to warrant a tribute video from Jets, but the man the Jets acquired at last year’s trade deadline was back in the building on Sunday.

Kevin Hayes became a member of the Jets when the team shipped off Brendan Lemieux, a 2019 first-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2022 to the New York Rangers last February.

He was brought in to become the team’s second-line centre for Winnipeg’s playoff push, one that only lasted six games after the team’s first-round playoff exit to the St. Louis Blues.

In 20 games with the Jets, Hayes scored five times and added eight assists. He scored two more times and added one more assist during that brief playoff showing.

“It was great,” Hayes said of his brief stint in Winnipeg. “I’ve got some good memories here. It was a short time but made some good friends over there… Nothing but good things to say about this organization but it just didn’t work out.”

Prior to Sunday’s game, Logan Shaw hadn’t scored in 41 NHL games — nearly two years.

His last goal came on Feb. 8, 2018, when Shaw was playing with the Montreal Canadiens.

But there was a thread that linked Shaw’s last goal and the latest in the second period in Sunday’s win.

Two, actually.

That night in February, the Habs were playing the Flyers. In goal, Brian Elliott stood.

A bit of deja vu for the journeyman.

“Yeah, that was a long time ago,” Shaw said. “It definitely felt good to get that one. For us, as a line, we’ve been trying to work hard each and every day. That’s definitely just a bonus for us right now and it felt good.

Shaw has played 19 games with the Jets this season due in large part to injuries that have plagued the team. But even with some players having returned from their stints in the infirmary, Shaw has remained in his fourth-line role.

“It sometimes just about staying patient,” he said. “Last year was tough a year to start, I didn’t really know where I was going to be or where I was going to play. But I just had to stick with it and that’s moreso of how I was brought up and where I’m from. It’s just about working hard and keep going in the right direction. It felt really good tonight to score. I know it was the fifth goal but for me individually it was a little weight off my shoulder and just kind of, ‘I can still do it.’ That’s kind of what last year was for me with the Moose, knowing I can still score goals. They don’t come very often up here but they feel good when they do.”

Winnipeg Sun LOADED 12.16.2019 1166570 Vancouver Canucks Pettersson couldn’t convert with Fleury down and out a couple of minutes later.

Max Pacioretty then put the final nail in the Canucks’ coffin when he beat Golden Knights 6 Canucks 3: Leaving Las Vegas empty-handed Myers down the ice before deking Markstrom.

That goal also marked the end of Markstrom’s night. Mikey DiPietro made his first appearance of the season and the second of his NHL ED WILLES career in relief. DiPietro, of course, allowed seven goals in a loss to San Jose last season. December 15, 2019 9:02 PM PST He stopped six of the seven shots he faced, surrendering a late marker

to Pacioretty. LAS VEGAS — If it’s any consolation, the Vancouver Canucks aren’t the “Obviously there were nerves when you go into a building like that,” first visitors to leave Las Vegas without anything to show for their trip. DiPietro said. “I just tried to keep it simple and stop the pucks that came Here’s what we learned from their 6-3 loss to the Golden Knights on my way. Sunday night: “I think my comfort level is better. I think playing the pro game for the first Giving up ground time has settled my game. It’s a jump from the AHL to here but I feel more confident.” As is their wont, the Canucks ceded the early advantage to the home team but, unlike their 4-2 loss in San Jose on Saturday night, they didn’t Jake Virtanen, with his second goal of the road trip, scored a late one on make any noise until the outcome was all but decided. The Knights took a nice individual effort on a Canucks’ power play. Virtanen now has nine a 2-1 lead after the first period and a 4-1 lead after the second before goals on the season, eight at even strength. coasting to victory. Tyler Motte played his first game for the Canucks since breaking a bone The result was the Canucks’ second straight loss of the mini roadie, but in his foot against Washington on Oct. 25. Motte had one assist in six that was only part of the story. games when he went down but the Canucks were also 4-1-1 in that stretch. Following their 1-0 win over Carolina on Thursday night, Travis Green’s team was hovering around the second wild-card spot in the West and “The game is so fast now; fast, tenacious, skilled and he brings a lot of held games in hand over the teams above and below them. those elements,” Green said. “He gets on top of people quickly. He’s a big part of our penalty kill. He hasn’t brought offensive numbers but he After two losses, they now sit 10th in the West, four back of eighth place brings a lot of intangibles that people don’t always talk about but you and five back of the Golden Knights. miss in the lineup.”

One other thing to consider. The Canucks are 1-7-1 against the Knights in their two-plus years in the NHL. Vancouver Province: LOADED: 12.16.2019 “I didn’t think we had it tonight,” said team captain Bo Horvat. “It’s a tough back-to-back but you can’t use that as an excuse. You have to be ready to go no matter what and these are big points now.

“We need to win in order to stay in the race. It’s tight right now and our division is tough.”

On the Knights’ first shot of the game, Nick Holden’s muffin from the blue-line went through Jacob Markstrom and the Canucks, yet again, were in chase mode.

Elias Pettersson tied the game briefly two minutes after Holden’s goal but Valentin Zykov scored on a Knights’ power play midway through the first and the Knights never relinquished the lead.

From the second period on, in fact, the Canucks were a distant second to a faster, more-skilled team.

Traditional Canuck killer Jonathan Marchessault finished off a pretty three-way passing play with linemates William Karlsson and Reilly Smith for the third Knights goal. Five minutes later, Quinn Hughes was caught deep and Mark Stone rifled a wrister past Markstrom on an odd-man rush.

That was the extent of the damage on the scoreboard in the middle frame, largely because Markstrom stepped up over the final half of the period. The Knights outshot the visitors 19-5 in the second.

“We weren’t very good,” Canucks head coach Travis Green said.

Could you be more specific?

“Every area. We got beat to every puck in the second period. When that happens you spend a lot of time in your zone.”

Tyler Myers said the Canucks fed into the Knights’ speed game by turning over pucks all over the ice.

“We have to simplify it on back-to-backs,” Myers said. “Chips pucks in, chip pucks out. Create some chaos in front of the net. I thought we tried to make a few too many plays, especially in the neutral zone.

“It’s tough. Whenever you’re chasing the game it’s the hardest way to play, for sure. It’s something we have to address as a group.”

To their credit, the Canucks did show up in the third. Brock Boeser converted a Hughes feed early in the period to make it 4-2 and 1166571 Vancouver Canucks punched with relative impunity he was in no danger whatever of being waved at by a sweaty white towel.

At least, not by Roger Neilson and his Canucks. Thanks to a fiendish Canucks at 50: Acting swiftly on 'dreaded waver of towels' was puzzling promotion by the utterly unbiased folks down at Frank Griffiths’ radio to pundits station (If you want something spontaneous, you’ve got to organize it), the Pacific Coliseum stands were awash with white towels — and at least one pair of men’s white undershorts — held by people determined to show that rotten Bob Pulford that we have a lot of class, and so does PAUL CHAPMAN Neilson, so there. December 15, 2019 2:04 PM PST In one deft stroke, Brian O’Neill, NHL executive vice-president and leading candidate for towelling’s Man of the Year award, has turned a mildly funny, isolated incident into a nationwide cause celebre almost as In the Campbell Conference Final in 1982 the Canucks started the series laughable as the bubbleheaded reaction that triggered it. in Chicago against the Blackhawks. The Canucks won Game 1 in double overtime. In Game 2, the Canucks were down 3-1 in the third period You think there won’t be white towels at every game in the series? You when they scored what they felt was a good goal. It was disallowed. A want to bet they won’t be at the ready in the Stanley Cup Final, no matter couple of incidents looked like penalties that weren’t called. Then four what teams are in it? But that doesn’t matter, does it, Mr. O’Neill. For did consecutive penalties were called on the Canucks, and Chicago scored a not you yourself explain in the handing out the fines: power-play goal to go ahead 4-1. Assistant coach Ron Smith yelled, “Actions that demean our game and officials will not be tolerated.” “that’s it, we give up, we surrender” and it prompted coach Roger Neilson to put a white towel from the bench onto a stick and raise it in mock One cannot help but admire the swiftness of your actions against surrender. Neilson, the dreaded waver of white towels.

The Canucks returned home to find thousands of fans at the airport It took 15 days for your league to decide on Jimmy Mann’s punishment waving towels. Game 3 at the Pacific Coliseum saw more than 16,000 for shattering Paul Gardner’s jaw; 10 days to mete out the suspension to fans waving towels in support of the Canucks. Beat writer Jack Keating Perry for asking a player to fight: 19 days to settle on Holmgren’s wrote in The Province: sentence for slugging van Hellemond; six days to hit Harry Neale with his 10 games for swinging at a fan. We have yet to hear a peep out of you Blackhawks’ coach and GM Bob Pulford claimed the Canucks used on what Boston’s Terry O’Reilly can expect for his punch at van ‘football tactics’ on his star centre, Denis Savard. Savard was so Hellemond, April 25. But Roger Neilson waves a towel aloft Thursday incensed over his treatment that he was handed a gross misconduct at night in Chicago and, in less than 48 hours, he feels the full brunt of your the end of the game by referee Andy van Hellemond for allegedly spitting executive wrath. at the official as they left the ice. Towels, of course, are dangerous weapons. Waving a towel at a man’s “It’s pretty hard to play hockey when we’re carrying them on our back all head could cause head colds. Waving hockey sticks or fists at his head night,” said Pulford. “How they let all that go on Savard is beyond me. could cause nothing more than serious than contusion, concussion or Maybe those white flags worked.” brain damage. Congratulations, sir. There is no substitute for a good Pulford was referring to the white towels that Vancouver coach Roger sense of priorities. Neilson and several players hoisted on the end of sticks in a mock form As the Canucks celebrate their 50th season, we’re looking back at the of surrender to referee Bob Myers during a 4-1 loss Thursday in Chicago. moments that stand out as the biggest in franchise history on the ice and The league fined the Canucks $11,000 for the display which NHL off, good, and a few bad. We will highlight the top moments from the executive vice-president Brian O’Neill said “disgraced the championship 1970s through November, the ’80s in December, the ’90s in January, the series. Actions that demean our game and officials will not be tolerated.” ’00s in February and the ’10s in March.

Pulford, who couldn’t stop talking about the Canucks’ tactics said: “It’s ridiculous. One referee (Myers) calls it by the book and the next night Vancouver Province: LOADED: 12.16.2019 they’re letting everything go. You can’t allow that. How you allow it I can’t understand. I think Roger made a hell of a deal with the white flag.”

Tony Gallagher wrote on the Canucks’ locker-room after Game 3:

Dave (Tiger) Williams had perhaps the best tongue-in-cheek response to Bob Pulford’s charge that the Vancouver Canucks clutched and grabbed their way to Saturday night’s thoroughly entertaining 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

“We’re used to riding in the rodeo out west at this time of year,” he said. “It’s May now, Cloverdale will be opening soon.”

With the waving white towels in the capacity house, the crowd certainly gave the Canucks a lift.

“It sent shivers up my spine,” said captain Stan Smyl. “I guess they’ve deserved a winner after all these years and they’re helping us. It’s a great feeling.”

Columnist Jim Taylor pointed out that Neilson’s fine for raising the towel was more than Paul Holmgren got for punching referee van Hellemond. Taylor wrote:

Well, now we know: It’s not nice to punch a referee, but it’s even worse to wave a towel at him. For hoisting a white towel on a hockey stick and waving it at referee Bob Myers minutes from the end of a game already lost, Roger Neilson is fined $1,000 and the Canucks are hit with a $10,000 fine.

Now that’s what I call backing your officials. What a heartwarming sense of security it must have given van Hellemond yesterday as he skated out to handle the third game of the series, knowing that while he could be 1166572 Vancouver Canucks Molin, Marc Crawford) who found a common purpose under Neilson, the ideal coach for this motley assortment.

Taking over for Harry Neale following an incident that has been featured Canucks at 50: A protest and promoter whip up Towel Power to enhance elsewhere in this series, Neilson installed a defence-first system that unlikely Cup run featured a standout goalie in Brodeur, a hard-rock blue-line and a number of gritty, two-way forwards who made life difficult for the opposition.

ED WILLES “It was Roger’s system and everyone believed in it,” says Smyl. “We had some skill but it was all about the system.” December 15, 2019 2:03 PM PST “Roger was my hero,” said Campbell, the Canucks’ defenceman who

also played for Neilson in Peterborough, Ont. “He was so sharp, so “We had no idea,” promoter Butts Giraud says of Towel Power. “Well, we prepared and that team represented Roger at his best.” had some idea. I just thought this was a great opportunity. Sometimes That team also finished the season three games under .500 and went they stick to the wall and sometimes they don’t. This one stuck” into the playoffs unburdened by the weight of expectations before the This is the way Stan Smyl remembers Game 2 of the 1982 Campbell universe aligned itself perfectly for the Canucks. It started with the L.A. Conference Final between the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Kings massive upset of the 111-point Edmonton Oilers in the first round Canucks, and the moment that changed his NHL team and his city. that neatly removed the one elite team in the West that season.

Following Denis Savard’s late power-play goal, the Canucks’ captain Chicago followed by pulling upsets over Minnesota and St. Louis which returned to the bench muttering oaths about the work of referee Bob meant, remarkably, the Canucks faced teams that finished below them in Myers when he noticed head coach Roger Neilson conferring with trainer the standings in their first three series. Larry Ashley. In the Blackhawks they also found the perfect counterpoint to their Smyl heard something about throwing sticks on the ice. No, tried that, uncompromising style. Neilson said, didn’t really work. Upon further deliberation, Neilson asked The Hawks had star power, led by Savard, who compiled 119 points in Ashley for a stick and a white towel that the Canucks’ head coach affixed his second full NHL season, and complemented by a supporting cast that to the end of the stick, then held it aloft as the fans at Chicago Stadium included defenceman Doug Wilson (39-46-85 that season), centre Tom went nuts. Lysiak (82 points) and wingers Al Secord (44 goals) and Darryl Sutter (23 Then Smyl saw another towel being raised. Then another. And another. goals in 40 games). But they were also exposed by the Canucks’ He tried to join the protest but, alas, his towel fell of his stick and into the grinding style. Canucks’ bench. At least they were after Game 2. Returning home — Neilson was fined No matter. The point had been made. Like most great movements in $1,000 for his protest, the team was fined $10,000 — the Canucks history, “Towel Power” started as a simple act of defiance and grew into downed the Hawks 4-3 in Game 3 and 5-3 in Game 4 before finishing the something much bigger, something symbolic, something that required the series with a 6-2, Game 5 win back in Chicago. world’s belly flop champion to make truly memorable. Brodeur was the MVP of the series while the line of Smyl, Gradin and But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Fraser posted six goals and 12 points over the final three games. The Canucks also set a franchise record with 285 penalty minutes in the In the spring of 1982, the late, great Neilson captured something that series. lives on with Canucks’ fans 37 years later. Cynics will point out that an act of surrender might be the ultimate commentary on this franchise but, That, at least, was the story on the ice. But the larger story took place off in that time and place, it meant so much more to the Canucks and our the ice and it starts with the aforementioned world belly flop champion, town. one Butts Giraud, a larger-than-life figure who fit in perfectly with the cast of characters the Canucks assembled that season. “The refereeing was horse (bleep),” the noble Steamer recalls of the night in question. “We took a bunch of penalties (four straight to be Giraud’s first calling was football and he made his way from Florida State precise along with a disallowed goal) and maybe we deserved most of to Western Washington to the B.C. Lions and the Winnipeg Blue them but Roger was sending a message. Bombers before he became a professional wrestler, started The Dog’s Ear T-shirt company and won the world belly flop championship four “He knew the game was out of hand (a 4-1 Blackhawks’ win) but he was times. telling us, ‘I’ve got your backs here’ and we won three straight after that.” Did we mentioned he now plays blues harmonica in a band? OK, goalie Richard Brodeur had more to do with the Canucks dusting off the Blackhawks but why ruin a good story? Giraud says he was never much of a hockey fan but he was a marketing guy and when he saw Neilson raise the white towel, he also saw an “I’m not so sure that was the reason we came back but you can say now opportunity. Early the next morning he met with two of his colleagues at it was,” said Thomas Gradin. “That was a special team.” Dog’s Ear, ordered 5,000 towels emblazoned with the call to arms: Canucks Take No Prisoners, then took the promotion to CKNW. And a special time. The Canucks’ radio rights holder signed on and Giraud sold 1,000 towels The stories from the Canucks’ 82 Cup run have been told and retold by 6 p.m. that day. countless times but the Saga of the White Towel stands alone. Almost 40 years after the fact, it remains an enduring part of Canucks’ lore. If the Game 3 was scheduled the next day and Giraud and his team took 5,000 team ever makes the playoffs again, we’ll see the towels again. more towels to the Coliseum where they began selling the items at five bucks a pop. They were sold out in 90 minutes. But the original story takes place in ’82 when Neilson, Smyl and a team of originals fought their way, literally and figuratively, to the Stanley Cup “It was unbelievable,” Giraud now says from his Nanaimo home. “People Final. were literally throwing five-dollar bills at us. There were 10 of us (selling) and we’d just grab the money and stuff it in our pockets.” “We talk about it,” Smyl says. “There’s not enough of those character guys in the game today. I know the game’s changed and you couldn’t get Trying pulling that stunt today. As it was, the Canucks’ brass got wind of away with a lot of that now. But those guys made a difference on our Giraud’s initiative and decided to partner with the promoter. That night, team.” virtually every fan waved a white towel as the Canucks took to the ice.

The ’82 Canucks, in fact, were a fascinating collection of hard men (Tiger Game 4, a new set of towels was issued along with a new rallying cry: Williams, Ron Delorme, Curt Fraser, Harold Snepsts), talented men The Canucks Show No Mercy. This time 8,000 towels were sold before (Smyl, Gradin, Darcy Rota, Ivan Boldirev), journeymen (Jim Nill, Gerry puck drop and another Vancouver win. Minor, Colin Campbell), and never-quite-were men (Neil Belland, Lars “We had no idea,” Giraud says. “Well, we had some idea. I just thought this was a great opportunity. Sometimes they stick to the wall and sometimes they don’t. This one stuck.”

Game 4 against the Blackhawks, alas, represented the high-water mark for towel power. The Canucks eliminated the Blackhawks in Game 5 before meeting the New York Islanders in the Cup final and you know what happened there.

Still, they left behind an indelible moment in this province’s sports history that spring, a moment that after all these years is remembered more than any goal or any play from that great run.

Campbell, who’s spent some 25 years at the NHL head office including a long run as the czar of discipline, was asked how he’d police Neilson’s action today.

“That’s a tough one,” he said. “I wouldn’t have done anything because Roger was right. I was a Canuck, remember?”

And we remember.

Vancouver Province: LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166573 Vancouver Canucks

Canucks Game Day: Markstrom hopes his shining armour holds up against Golden Knights

ED WILLES

December 15, 2019 6:43 AM PST

THE BIG MATCHUP

The goalies

This was written before the Canucks faced the Sharks in San Jose on Saturday but, with Thatcher Demko out with a concussion, it figures Vancouver coach Travis Green will ride Jacob Markstrom until Christmas.

Markstrom, of course, is coming off his best performance as a Canuck in the team’s 1-0 overtime win against Carolina on Thursday. Michael DiPietro has been called up from the AHL Utica Comets to serve as backup. Malcolm Subban earned the decision in the Knights’ 3-2 overtime victory over Dallas on Friday which means Marc-Andre Fleury will likely get the nod against Vancouver.

Both teams rely on elite goaltending to mask defensive deficiencies.

FIVE KEYS TO THE GAME

1. Playoffs? You want to talk about playoffs?

Heading into the weekend the Canucks were three points back of the Golden Knights for the second wild-card spot in the West with three games in hand. The West is tighter than James Brown’s rhythm section. If the Canucks hope to stay in the playoff hunt these are the games they have to win.

2. A history lesson

In their brief NHL history, the Golden Knights have gone 6-1-1 against the Canucks while outscoring them 35-18. This is the first of four meetings between the two teams this season but, after two remarkable seasons, the Knights have fallen off and the Canucks have improved. We’ll find out tonight how much the Canucks have closed the gap.

3. Best players

The Golden Knights’ best players — Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone — are deeper into their NHL careers than the Canucks’ core group and the Canucks have had their hands full trying to contain this group. Elias Pettersson and his linemates will be seeing a lot of either Smith’s line or Pacioretty’s line. The Canucks need, at worst, a push from that matchup.

4. Home cooking

In their first two seasons, the Golden Knights were a combined 53-24-5 at T-Mobile Arena which adds up to 111 points over 82 games. This season they’re a pedestrian 8-6-3 at home. The Canucks will be looking to continue that trend.

5. The supporting cast

A couple of games ago, the Canucks looked like they’d found something with a third line of Adam Gaudette, Antoine Roussel and Jake Virtanen. They’ve been shut out the last two games but, overall, the Canucks can’t complain about production from their middle six. The Golden Knights’ third line features Paul Stastny and Alex Tuch who are both having down seasons.

Vancouver Province: LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166574 Vancouver Canucks It’s clear also that he’s way too talented for the American League. He has 26 points in 19 games with the Utica Comets, including 13 in nine since his latest reassignment in late November.

Three thoughts on Sven Baertschi hitting waivers and where the He also fared pretty well, in terms of underlying performance, during his Canucks go from here NHL stint this season. Baertschi wasn’t productive and his shooting accuracy looked a bit off, but he generated chances and helped supporting offensive lines control play.

By Thomas Drance Then he had one unconscionable back check in a 6-1 loss to the Dallas Stars and was scratched when Canucks coach Travis Green looked to Dec 15, 2019 send a message by inserting Zack MacEwen and Tyler Graovac into the lineup. The Canucks won their next game in Nashville, and that was that.

The relationship between the Vancouver Canucks and winger Sven You never say never in this crazy league, but it certainly feels like Baertschi is disintegrating before our eyes, in very public fashion. Baertschi has played his last game for Vancouver.

On Sunday morning, the Canucks posted the Swiss-born winger to So Baertschi doesn’t really have a spot with the Canucks and, because waivers after some strident comments and a public trade demand that of durability concerns and the second year on his current contract, he’s Baertschi’s agent Andre Rufener issued through The Athletic Vancouver not easy to move. columnist Rick Dhaliwal: “They do not need to put extra people on the switchboards to field these The Canucks haven’t made a secret of their desire to move on from calls,” joked Sportsnet analyst on Saturday night, of the Baertschi and the $3.366 million cap hit he carries this season and next, demand around the NHL for Baertschi. but they also haven’t done much to pump his tires. So forget the Canucks netting something of value in a possible trade. In an interview with Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province this weekend, This isn’t the sort of deal that returns a third-round pick. Canucks general manager Jim Benning implied that Baertschi was a It’s a deal that, assuming Baertschi clears waivers, the Canucks are player with “soft skill” and conceded the Canucks aren’t asking for much more likely to have to attach something of value to facilitate it. Whether in return. that’s taking some money back, retaining salary or sweetening the deal In a move that underlined his point, Benning and the Canucks took the — that’s probably what this is going to take. step of posting Baertschi to waivers on Sunday — making him available From the Canucks’ perspective, in fact, you can understand why the club to all 30 rival NHL clubs at no acquisition cost. might be reluctant to do any of that. There are a few things worth going over in analyzing the situation, so Because the final year of Baertschi’s deal costs only $2.4 million in actual let’s share three thoughts on where we are and how this situation might salary, it isn’t prohibitive to buy it out after this season. The team would resolve itself: probably narrowly prefer to find a retained salary trade for Baertschi, but 1. The waiver thing the margins are fine.

When a player agent makes a public statement like Rufener did late last The incentives for the Canucks to make a deal here, really, are about week, it’s with the intention of shaking some branches to see what falls doing what’s best for a player who has been a quality contributor and out. person over the years but has fallen out of the club’s long-term plans.

In this case, while there’s yet to be a trade or a new destination secured 3. What comes next? for Baertschi, at the very least he’s available on waivers to all 30 rival That Baertschi has hit waivers on Sunday suggests that the club is NHL clubs should anyone decide to give it a shot. motivated to do something. For Baertschi’s camp, that’s progress, even if I’d be surprised were a The team might not like how Baertschi’s agent went public, but the claim to come in Monday. gambit worked to some extent. The team has responded, and its From the Canucks’ perspective, this move accomplishes a couple of response has changed the dynamic somewhat. things. Whether that facilitates any movement or a waiver claim remains to be Firstly, in the event that Baertschi is claimed, it would save the Canucks seen. This is a tricky one, as any deal for an expensive supporting player money and cap space and it would also give the 27-year-old winger a with muted value and a significant injury history is. chance to retrieve his spot in an NHL lineup elsewhere. Win-win for all If Baertschi is claimed, that’s the end of the story. involved. In the more likely event that he’s not, then it’s worth bearing in mind that Secondly, assuming Baertschi clears waivers, which I suspect is more the club will still be motivated to work toward a solution. Only a few days likely, then the Canucks have made sure that Baertschi’s camp and the remain before the NHL’s roster freeze for the holidays hits, following public know the player has limited trade value around the league. games Thursday, Dec. 19, so if a deal isn’t completed before then, it We see teams use this tactic on occasion, most frequently in advance of can’t really be done before the 28th. a scheduled arbitration hearing. It’s the team’s way of saying, “You’ve Benning and the Canucks have tried to move Baertschi. They’re still been made available at no acquisition cost to all 30 teams and no is one trying. From the way this team does business, it’s clear that they’d prefer biting.” to have found an Alex Biega-style accommodation for Baertschi months There’s a third element here that’s rather technical but worth noting. ago. Baertschi can be claimed by an interested team and left in the American Unfortunately for all parties involved, assuming Baertschi clears waivers League. So a team claiming him would really be committing to taking on Monday, there will once again be no easy solution. his somewhat more palatable buried $2.291 million cap hit.

And if Baertschi clears waivers on Monday, as expected, then his 30 days or 10 games waiver counter resets, which gives the Canucks some The Athletic LOADED: 12.16.2019 added flexibility on the back-end to facilitate a trade.

2. Baertschi’s ‘value’

This really is an unfortunate situation for Baertschi all around.

The well-spoken, skilled winger has mostly been a bright spot throughout his Canucks tenure, a player who performed well during some of the leanest years in franchise history. 1166575 Vancouver Canucks Best oopsie The first Sharks goal showcased Tyler Myers utilizing something out of

the Erik Gudbranson playbook, which is probably all the foreshadowing I The Armies: The goalie curse, the Myers oopsie and the Hughes love need to give you: fest Yes, that is the vaunted slip-and-slide defence made popular by Kevin Bieksa during his last few seasons in Vancouver, except in this case, there was no sliding. It was just sort of like that meme where the little girl By Wyatt Arndt decides she’s just going to sit down and take a nap right here.

Dec 15, 2019 “Goodnight.”

There is something very deflating about a 6-foot-7 hockey player stretching out to block a pass only to have the puck go right around him There’s a scene in the original “Ghostbusters” in which every member of and lead to a goal. I think the worst part of this goal is that Myers is the team has to try to clear his mind of any thoughts because the first making this play against Joe Thornton, a player who hasn’t scored a goal thing he think of will be summoned by an enemy God to destroy the in around 40-plus games, dating back to last season. world. Dan Aykroyd’s character thinks of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man because it seems like a safe choice, because how could a friendly giant I think we can all safely say that even if Myers ran screaming at Tomas made of marshmallows hurt anyone? Hertl to bear hug him to death and left Thornton a free lane to the net, Thornton still would have tried to pass the puck. It was the same way As it turns out, anything can become an evil horrifying nightmare in the with Henrik Sedin. Remember when he passed through the goalie? right situation, which brings us to Saturday’s Canucks game. If the Sedin and Thornton are all about that passing lifestyle. Canucks were in that scene in “Ghostbusters,” you can almost guarantee they would think of “average-to-below-average goalie with a sub-.900 We also have to point out that even though Quinn Hughes lost his stick, save percentage” because, hey, how could that hurt anyone? his effort probably could have been better utilized in the play. Don’t get me wrong, playing without a hockey stick is like John Garrett trying to eat Yet here we are, wondering how Aaron Dell ended up terrorizing the a hot dog without ketchup (only with more dry heaving), but Hughes Canucks, looking like a young Evgeni Nabokov and turning aside 33 of should at least be trying to initiate body contact there. 35 shots, instead of looking like the goalie who entered the game with a 3.32 GAA and an .893 save percentage. The annual tradition in Also, while we’re throwing people under the bus, Brock Boeser is just Vancouver of elevating goaltenders to look like Vezina candidates kind of watching the whole thing go down like a neighbour checking out a continues, as the Canucks fell 4-2 to the Sharks on Saturday night. garage sale and finding nothing to their liking.

If you’re looking for a silver lining, it’s going to focus on the second half of Again, it’s easy in hindsight to break these things down. And on a broken the game. After being soundly outplayed for the first period and a half, play in which everything is happening so quickly, it’s not easy to pick up the Canucks managed to finally find a way to effectively attack the reads and try to figure out who to cover. Sharks’ offensive zone. It was probably a little bit of score effects, and a little bit of third-period desperation, but either way, the Canucks finally But I will say that if you are going to utilize the “having a nap right here” managed to make the Sharks sweat after seemingly being unable to defence, make sure you only use it in emergency situations. It’s so easy make a clean-zone exit for the entire first period. Alas, with Dell facing to be made to look like a fool when you go down on your face like that. them down, and Antoine Roussel’s mustache curse hanging over the Going down to one knee, like Elias Pettersson showcased here, feels like team, it was too deep a hole for the Canucks to climb their way out of. a much better strategy: You can also add Bo Horvat to the list of people who know the Canucks Pettersson still gets to cut off the ice on a pass by going to a knee, but he need to find a way to start their games more effectively. can get up and continue to close the gap on his check. Yes, the pass “I mean, it’s never easy chasing the game the entire game,” Horvat said. gets through, but luckily the Canucks are covering everyone really … OK “I did think we played a pretty good game for 40 minutes. I think our start well, they aren’t covering everyone really well, but I do like Pettersson’s wasn’t good enough, and when you’re playing catch-up the rest of the play. As you can see, though, Jake Virtanen decides to just ghost on game, we’ve got to find a way to start right off the bat and play as well as Couture, and Jimothy Timothy Miller is seemingly guarding Malcom we did in the last 40 minutes.” Crowe. The point remains, though, that going all-in on dives in hockey is a dangerous game. And since we’re talking about porous defensive Jacob Markstrom, who followed up his tremendous outing against coverage: Carolina with another solid game, agreed that Dell, and perhaps some puck luck, were the deciding factors. This was the kind of first period the Canucks were having. It involved a lot of scrambling around in their own zone, and it felt like the Sharks were “They came out really fast and got a power play early and got a little the fastest kid alive, as they had Vancouver on the ropes with their momentum with that, and obviously up 1-0, then second and third period, forechecking. It led to a lot of dangerous chances for the Sharks and I think we’re playing a really good game,” Markstrom said. “We had our once again the Canucks had to thank their lucky stars that Markstrom chances, and Dell made a couple of really big saves in the third, and you was feeling good about his game. know, we couldn’t really get the puck in and it didn’t want to bounce our way today.” Best oopsie No. 2

And while the Canucks’ ability to find their feet and play better as the We talked about it the last Armies in that a top-four defenseman is going game wore on was admirable, for a team that is looking to make the to play a lot of minutes and will by nature, showcase more mistakes than playoffs, they are going to need to start finding a way to win multiple poor Troy From Richmond, who has a curfew of 15 minutes a game. games in a row. That being said, Myers has seemed to struggle in his own zone as of Even in games against back-up goaltenders. late, and Evander Kane drove right around the large fella Saturday, leaving him spinning in his tracks: Best Frozen reaction To make matters worse, Myers would then take a penalty on Logan It gets a little lonely. Couture:

All these empty scores. The problem here is Couture would never dive, he’s too honest for that, so that’s an automatic call from the referees every time. Just watching the hours tick by. Myers ended the night with 22:43 of ice time, and to his credit, he does Best reaction continue to look good in the offensive zone. However, at six points If you’re too sad to read a summary of the game, and/or words upset and through 32 games, he is on pace for one of his worst offensive seasons. frighten you, this GIF summarizes the game nicely. Whether that’s indicative of his overall play, or his lack of power-play time, or just the team’s general issue with five-on-five scoring, remains to Frustration, cursing and then laughing sheepishly at yourself. be seen. All we do know is if you add in his giant contract and the fact he tends to Horvat was the only other Canucks player to score on the night, notable make very visual mistakes (hard to hide mistakes when you’re a giant, for the fact it was Hughes’ 23rd assist on the season, and because just ask Hagrid), Myers is firmly in the spotlight of many fans right now. Horvat really, really needed a goal.

Best advice “Hopefully, the flood gates open for me,” Horvat said. “I’m just trying to create chances for my linemates and I’m still getting my chances, and You either die a leaf eater or live long enough to see yourself become the they’re feeding me, it’s just a matter of one going in for me. Luckily villain. tonight it did.”

Best plea Best empty-net goalie

The Canucks said they felt they played better as the game wore on, and Is it really pulling your goalie if Pettersson is out on the ice? These are to be fair, they did generate chances. It’s just that against Dell, if you the questions hockey men refuse to answer. don’t make the perfect shot, you’re out of luck. This marks the second game in a week in that Pettersson balled out and JT Miller, who continues to impress with his ability to bust out “NHL 20” made a glorious empty-net save. Full credit to Dekey Pete for utilizing dekes on command, almost broke through the Sharks defence to score a Hasek-style goaltending instead of sticking to straight butterfly. highlight-reel goal, only to miss high and wide: If anything gets Alexander Edler to rush back from injury it will be this, Pettersson would have his turn next, but with three Sharks players though. Seeing another man trying to take his backup goalie spot will irk closing in on him, was unable to close the gap enough to utilize the him to no end. Backhand of Doom™ that Petr Mrazek is probably still watching sadly on a loop: Best of Maverick

The returning Brandon Sutter was almost able to call Baton Rouge but I just want to state, it is a delight to watch Hughes play. After years of just tipped the puck wide on Dell: having to watch borderline defencemen play hockey, it is downright mind- blowing to watch what this 20-year-old kid is doing on a nightly basis. Even when Erik Karlsson started feeling so bad for the Canucks that he You know who led the team with 27 minutes of ice time? Maverick. began passing the puck to Miller for one-timers, they were unable to beat the Sharks goalie: And it’s stuff like this, where just when you think you’ve escaped Hughes causing havoc on your own zone, there he is, jumping up and shoving At which point, someone used the “Always Sunny” implications logic: that puck right down your throat:

Yes, yes it did. That should be a rush the other way but because Hughes is the Will Normally, Tanner Pearson is an empty-net specialist, but even with great Hunting of hockey. He pinches and turns an odd-man rush against into a patience, he was also unable to find the back of the net: mini-breakaway for.

Then, in the most cliche hockey moment of the game, the Canucks had a And while Brent Sopel of all people got this super-weird reputation as great chance at one end of the ice, only to be scored on at the other end: being the best guy in the world at keeping the puck in at the line (2001 was a weird time), Hughes’ ability to keep the puck in and dance the line Not shown here is Karlsson passing the puck to Boeser in the slot earlier is truly something to behold: in the play (such a polite host), but what is shown here are the Canucks failing to score on a good chance once again. Even worse for the Now, there are some mistakes. But watch this play where he passes the Canucks, Karlsson finally remembers his team is in dark jerseys, and he puck to the Sharks. Clearly, clearly Horvat was in the wrong spot. If makes the pass that leads to the second goal for the Sharks. Hughes passes the puck and you’re not there for it, you were in the wrong, end of story: I listed all of these GIFs to show you, that yes, the Canucks did play much better as the game wore on, it wasn’t just lip service. And they Every time you think you’ve got Hughes on the ropes, he manages to find probably did deserve a better fate if we’re being honest. It’s just, how a way to squirm out of danger. Even on plays where his size should be many times can you say that before the season starts slipping away? an issue, he finds a way to protect the puck and keep it moving: That is the question the Canucks have to be asking themselves right Also, if Kane thought he was going to beat Hughes by banking the puck now. off the back of the net, he was sadly mistaken:

Best Scrum Lord King exchange Summary, Hughes is really good at hockey.

Markstrom talking about the second goal in Saturday’s game. Best shoutout

“Yeah, I want to save it. I want to save the first one, too. I want to save That is indeed a very positive sign for Oscar Fantenberg because I never the third one too, and the fourth one. I want to save all goals.” find myself clipping video of him. Which is a very good thing when it It felt like a Sarah McLachlan song should be playing in the background, comes to a player who has been asked to jump into the lineup to help eat but kudos to Markstrom for shouldering the blame for even empty-net up some of Edler’s minutes. What I like about his game is he isn’t just a goals at this point. This guy is the ultimate teammate. You can almost “chip off the glass and out, try and survive” kind of guy, he actually will try hear him wishing he could go back in 2011 and save the goals from and make smart passes and do more than just pray Green doesn’t yell at Game 7 of the Finals as well. him. He has the veteran savvy of a guy who feels like he can play in the NHL. Best of the Abbotsford way I did want to use one GIF, though, that just kind of shows his solid play in While the game started with Virtanen on the first line (the Lotto Line his own end: reunited after the first period), he eventually ended up on what continues to be an intriguing line for the Canucks. Playing with Roussel and Adam It’s just a smart, simple play, but noticeable because he does this a lot Gaudette, Virtanen looks like he might have found himself a permanent during games. And on this one, it leads to a solid zone exit, something home, as that line continues to look like it might have some chemistry. the Canucks were struggling with early. There are no pizzas being handed out or Derek Pouliot rushes in front of his own goalie where it And it was Shotgun Jake who finally found a way to solve the unbeatable seems he’s determined to score on his own net. It’s just reliable hockey Dell: from him so far. He might be the most impressive injury call up D-man the Canucks have utilized in quite some time. What makes this goal the good stuff is the fact it involved solid defensive work, a nice toe drag-zone entry by Gaudette, and then Virtanen simply Worst passing shooting the puck on net instead of like, circling the net three times before firing the puck at the goalie from the corner. It was the eighth Boeser’s passing has been quietly gaining some critics, as he has been even-strength goal for Virtanen, and if you’re on his booster club, that is a noticeably giving away the puck as of late, on shall we say, high-hope number you will be smashing your finger against repeatedly as you passes. defend him on online hockey forums. While he can, and has, threaded the needle on these passes before, it Best grease seems like lately he’s been trying to force the puck a little too much: He continues to try high-risk, low-reward passing, and it has led to some needless turnovers:

I’m not saying Boeser is the world’s worst passer or that his game is falling off a cliff, but I do agree that lately his passing has not seemed very crisp, and we wouldn’t be doing The Armies correctly if we didn’t point it out.

The Athletic LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166576 Websites Owners David Blitzer and Joshua Harris also run the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. That league went through a wild scenario in 2018-19 when the New Orleans Pelicans refused to play superstar forward Anthony Davis for nine straight games prior to the trade deadline. Davis wanted out, and Sportsnet.ca / Examining where the Devils' Taylor Hall trade situation the club didn’t want to risk injury. When the deadline passed without a currently stands deal, the Pelicans reportedly threatened to sit him the rest of the season, only to have the NBA demand he be re-inserted.

It became a farce, with Davis playing barely 20 minutes a night before Elliotte Friedman being sat the last seven games of the year. He was eventually traded to December 15, 2019, 8:29 PM the Lakers.

If Hall hasn’t been dealt, will New Jersey sit him again? I have to think the Devils approach it the same way they did last weekend — that if Wanted to do some extra work on Taylor Hall. there’s enough traction in the moment, it’s in the best interests of both the team and the player. Does Hall agree? What about the NHL and What a unique situation. Hands-up all of you who thought he’d take the NHLPA? We’re a loooooong way from the trade deadline. If they’re team plane back to New Jersey on Saturday night after being scratched forced to dress him, does he just sit on the bench? in Colorado and Arizona.

You liars. Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 12.16.2019 My fantasy football elimination freed up Sunday to consider the situation. Here are a few ideas on where this stands and where we’re going:

WHO’S IN?

I always ask myself: what don’t I know? In the craziness of the last 24-48 hours, it didn’t seem like there were a ton of teams in the Hall Derby. Compadre Chris Johnston reported Arizona as the favourite, and he wasn’t the only person who thought so.

According to multiple sources, the Coyotes were not offering either of their last two first-round draft picks, centre Barrett Hayton (2018) and defenceman Victor Soderstrom (2019). Both are scheduled to play at the upcoming World Junior Championships. I had heard the two teams were haggling over another Team Canada player, 19-year-old Kevin Bahl from OHL Ottawa. He was drafted 55th in 2018 by the Coyotes.

I assume there is more to the package, but don’t know the details. It is believed, however, to be more of a futures-based offer. GM John Chayka would not comment on Sunday, but a couple of teams do think Arizona will go in a different direction if this continues too long without a resolution.

Since Saturday’s show, a few sources have reached out to suggest the Devils may have an offer or two that revolve around current roster players. We’re not talking about 30-year-olds at the end of their careers, but younger, established NHLers under team control. I’m lacking on particulars, but it indicates New Jersey GM Ray Shero must consider two different paths — a futures offer versus a “hockey trade” that can inject some talent right away. Or, can he work these proposals to do a little of both?

At the very least, we’ve learned to re-consider our timeline. When Hall was scratched back-to-back, I thought this journey was nearing its end. So did some clubs who kicked the tires. Now it’s less certain — especially if you consider one more variable…

Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman talk to a lot of people around the hockey world, and then they tell listeners all about what they’ve heard and what they think about it.

During Headlines on Saturday night, I reported that, to this point, no one’s been given permission to talk extension with Hall or agent Darren Ferris.

I’ve mentioned several times I don’t believe Hall will sign during the season, and New Jersey is well aware of that. But, that doesn’t mean the Devils won’t allow a conversation if they get an offer they like that’s contingent on one. Not every team will consider that essential, but a couple might.

We’re used to players being sat out right before the trade deadline. Last Feb. 21, when New Jersey hosted Ottawa, five guys — Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, Marcus Johansson, Ben Lovejoy and Mark Stone — didn’t dress. All were dealt. That’s life in the big city.

We don’t see this too often in December. It’s good for social media buzz, but I can’t imagine it is fun for Hall.

So, what happens if he’s still a Devil on Wednesday? That’s New Jersey’s next game — home against Anaheim. 1166577 Websites Now that Ilya Kovalchuk has received a second $2.65-million bonus payment from the Los Angeles Kings, he’s hoping to get playing again.

Kovalchuk has been nothing more than a practice player since early Sportsnet.ca / Beyond Headlines: Devils looking to trade Hall before November and his agent, J.P. Barry, plans to touch base with Kings holiday roster freeze management in the days ahead to chart a way forward.

His contract now looks less onerous — with a little more than $400,000 owing for the balance of this season and $4.25-million next — and there Chris Johnston | @reporterchris are a couple of potential outcomes here.

December 15, 2019, 3:55 PM Assuming the Kings have no plans to reinsert Kovalchuk into their lineup, the trade market might open up somewhat (with Los Angeles retaining as

much as 50 per cent of his $6.25-million cap hit) — although the interest It must have been an unusual flight back to Newark for Taylor Hall. was limited when they tested it previously. Failing that, Kovalchuk could leave the team and have the remainder of his contract terminated, After being held out of Friday’s game in Colorado and Saturday’s visit to making him an unrestricted free agent. Arizona while trade rumours swirled around him, Hall was on the overnight flight home with the New Jersey Devils afterwards. Of course, the 36-year-old winger could also continue to practice and travel with the Kings while collecting the money he’s still owed. The team was due to hold its annual holiday party on Sunday and, for now, Hall is still part of the team. But that could change at any moment. However, Kovalchuk still believes he can help a team offensively. He’s not ready to slip into semi-retirement just yet. Devils general manager Ray Shero is attempting to deal him before the NHL’s holiday roster freeze takes effect at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday and HALL CALL some rival executives believe that his decision to hold Hall out of the David Amber tossed out a challenge for Friedge and I during a quiet lineup over the weekend was done to drum up a stronger trade market. moment on Saturday night: Count how many sure-fire Hockey Hall of Of course, it’s also a preventative act to protect the 28-year-old winger Famers are currently playing in the NHL right now. from potential injury — something we typically see NHL teams do with These are players that would make the Hall even if they never played impending free agents in the week leading up to the trade deadline, but another game — eliminating some of the young stars whose careers are rarely, if ever, at this stage of the season. on a Hall-worthy trajectory, but haven’t yet had the longevity to get in. Stream over 500 NHL games blackout-free, including the Flames, Oilers, After plenty of debate, we came up with a list of 15. Leafs and Canucks. Plus Hockey Night in Canada, Rogers Hometown Hockey, Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey and more. How many players do you think fit the bill?

You’d have to imagine it signals that Hall has already played his final game for the Devils, but we’re in uncharted waters here. That’s why there’s so much intrigue surrounding the future of the 2018 Hart Trophy Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 12.16.2019 winner.

Hall is being shopped as a rental for the remainder of the season and isn’t believed to be interested in talking about an extension as part of a trade. That’s a key factor at play when negotiating the return. Some of the interested teams would also need to clear cap space to accommodate what’s left of his $6-million contract this season.

The big “what if?” here is what New Jersey does if the offers don’t improve.

Some close to the situation expected Hall to be dealt over the weekend, but as of Sunday afternoon that hadn’t materialized. The Devils don’t play again until Wednesday and are operating in the shadows of the holiday roster freeze.

As for Hall?

All he can do is endure the uncomfortable wait.

Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman talk to a lot of people around the hockey world, and then they tell listeners all about what they’ve heard and what they think about it.

An interesting “Headlines” nugget from Elliotte Friedman that the Edmonton Oilers are preparing to start contract negotiations with impending free agent Zack Kassian.

For starters, it tells us how the organization feels about a player that’s reinvented himself since arriving in a December 2015 trade from Montreal following a stint in the NHL/NHLPA substance abuse program.

But it also offers a window into how they plan to start preparing for an off- season that could see as many as 10 current Oilers become unrestricted free agents. The list includes Kassian and fellow forwards Sam Gagner, Riley Sheahan, Markus Granlund, Josh Archibald, Gaetan Haas, Joakim Nygard and Patrick Russell.

On one hand, that roster uncertainty offers the Oilers a chance to remake its forward depth beneath stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. But the organization will also be challenged by salary cap constraints.

That’s why it probably makes sense to lock in a couple known pieces long before July 1. 1166578 Websites Wilson says that last detail is a shade dramatic. “My dad’s memory is probably foggy,” he says, laughing. “But yeah, I did want to go back and play forward because it’s more action.”

Sportsnet.ca / Tom Wilson is redefining physical play in the NHL — one What Al Crawford noticed when he coached an 11-year-old Wilson is that hit at a time the team’s best player was also its strongest leader. “It’s something I really didn’t believe in, naming captains at that age, but he stood out so much as a team guy in the room, not a guy who tried to make it all about himself, that you had to acknowledge it somehow,” Crawford says. “He by Eric Engels was always communicative, always positive. He was very competitive, but in the healthiest possible way. He had something like a 95-per cent average in school as he got older, too. One of the NHL's most polarizing players, Tom Wilson is working to clean up his game without sacrificing its physical edge — and laying out the “I know this may sound a little, ‘Are you sure this kid’s real?’” Crawford blueprint for the league's new breed of power forward in the process adds, laughing. His family also has three boys, and the Crawford and Wilson kids all grew up together. “Well, it’s so true,” he says. “He was the Tom Wilson starts nodding before he hears the end of the question — type of athlete and kid that you looked at and said: ‘Whatever you decide that’s an emphatic “yes.” He’s sitting in a small conference room above to do, you’re going to go deep.’ Everything was impressive about him.” the Washington Capitals’ practice facility after an off-day skate. At the end of practice, Wilson flipped a puck over the glass to a kid holding a Heck, Wilson started walking at eight months. He played lacrosse and sign saying: “A puck from Wilson is my #1 birthday wish!” Wish granted, soccer and baseball, and even sort of ran track. When he was in Grade buddy. Then, in a real jiffy — 10 minutes, tops — Wilson got his 6, nobody from his school had signed up for the 10-kilometre race at equipment off, had a “quick rinse” (“I used soap, don’t worry,” he swears) Toronto’s city-wide public school track meet, so he filled the void. He’d and turned up here. never run that far in his life. Wilson showed up wearing basketball shoes and shorts and a Steve Nash jersey. Out of 175 kids, about 174 of whom The Capitals winger immediately got comfortable in his chair, legs were wearing running gear, Wilson came 10th. “He wasn’t too pleased stretched out under the table in front of him, sockless feet in a pair of with the outcome, but we thought it was a victory,” Keven says. Capitals flip-flops. He’s dressed head-to-toe in team gear, and since it’s “Afterwards, he was just exhausted. He’s got a big heart.” mid-November, he’s also sporting an aggressive moustache. Running certainly wasn’t his thing (Wilson vowed he’d never run that far The question that set Wilson nodding was about whether his play has again), but when he was about 14, he decided hockey was. Always a always elicited an impassioned reaction from opposing fans and players. high-profile player in the minor ranks, Wilson had a huge growth spurt at Yes, it sure has, and the 25-year-old doesn’t recall a time when it didn’t. 14. “I kind of had to learn to skate again, because my limbs were flailing “I remember pretty vividly a dad coming over the glass and being like, everywhere,” he says. The summer before his OHL draft year, an agent ‘Wilson, you suck!’” he says. His own dad, Keven, was one of his team’s told Wilson: “I think you can play hockey for a living.” Wilson couldn’t coaches back then, and to avoid targeted heckling from irate parents for believe it, since most of his elite teammates had months earlier the rest of that season, they took the kids’ nameplates off the backs of committed to agents and even colleges. “I said, ‘Really? That’s exciting,’” their jerseys. Wilson was eight years old. he recalls. “It was kind of that belief in yourself that maybe you could do it.” He received his first pre-game threat at nine or 10. “’My son’s going to take care of you on the ice, and I’m going to go take care of your dad in That belief only grew in Plymouth with the Whalers. Wilson came in at 16 the stands!’” Wilson says. His voice gets a little deeper imitating the — already six-foot-two and 185 pounds — and realized his physical play angry dad. “Stuff like that, you wouldn’t believe,” he says. “I learned to could help keep him in the lineup. As a rookie in the OHL he had six deal with it at a very young age.” points and 71 penalty minutes in 28 games. “He played hard, he played physical, but what I really liked is he also had skill,” says then-Whalers The reaction has only spread and intensified as Wilson has grown up and coach, Mike Vellucci. “That’s a rare combination. Everybody looks for played under an increasingly bright spotlight. Now seven years into his that.” NHL career, there isn’t a player in the league quite as polarizing as the Toronto-born power forward, and maybe that’s because there aren’t The trouble Vellucci found was that Wilson focused mostly on the many players in the NHL quite like him — full stop. The blend of new and physical. He got rewarded for it, too, voted the OHL’s “best body old school, skilled and physical as all hell — Wilson is a bit of a unicorn, checker” after his rookie season. And that’s the one-dimensional brush and that’s part of what makes him so valuable. A new breed of power many painted him with. “I always thought Tom got a bad rap,” Vellucci forward in a league that’s ever-changing in its tolerance of physical play, says. “People think he doesn’t have skill and that’s totally false. He has he’s writing a blueprint for the role in the modern NHL; a how-to on incredible speed, he can play with the top players. skating the line between tough guy and dangerous liability. And, as Wilson has found, that line is incredibly fine. “It’s a question I’ve been “My thing with Tom is I wanted him to work on his skill more and try to working on for years,” he says. “It’s what I’ve been trying to find the use it more … I kept telling him I wanted him to make more plays. I just answer to.” don’t know if he believed in himself as an offensive player. I don’t know if he ever had that encouragement from a coach before.” Wilson is beloved by D.C. fans. On the road? Not so much. Vellucci always told Wilson: “You can play physical but you can also play Tom Wilson has always enjoyed slamming his body into other people’s. the game. Combine the two and you’ll be a very special player.’” He couldn’t wait until he was old enough to have time in practice devoted to learning body checking. “It was, ‘Okay, next year’s hitting. Can’t wait,” Wilson managed the combination in his third and final year in Plymouth, he says. “It was fun for me.” when he put up more than a point- and penalty-per game in the regular season, then had 17 points and 41 penalty minutes in 12 playoff games. He remembers his first practice to feature checking, back at North Toronto Arena (the answering machine message there now advertises The season prior, the Capitals had drafted him in the first round, 16th the barn as the “home rink of Stanley Cup champion, Tom Wilson”). overall. Vellucci had watched Wilson grow from a fourth-liner to one of “Literally one guy was in the middle, everyone else was around the the Whalers’ biggest offensive and physical threats. He figured Wilson faceoff circle and each guy would take a turn to go in and hit the guy in could do the same at the highest level, especially given his work ethic. the middle,” Wilson says. “That was a drill.” Body checking was “He’s all-in at all times,” the coach says. “I love and respect that about introduced in games when he was nine; these days across Canada, it’s him.” introduced at 13 and 14. Case in point: Near the end of a scrimmage at training camp ahead of Keven Wilson says his second of three boys (“we gave up trying for the Wilson’s second season with the Whalers, a veteran hit the team’s top daughter,” he quips) was an instant bruiser while playing defence during import pick, Rickard Rakell. It wasn’t a cheap hit, Vellucci recalls, “but it his first year of AA. But his stint on the point didn’t last long. “It drove him was pretty hard.” absolutely crazy to have to stand at the blueline and watch his Enter Tom Wilson. He chased down the veteran. They dropped the teammates battle in the corners,” Keven says. “He wanted to be in that gloves and got some punches off, but the fight was quickly broken up. battle. He told me he’d quit if he couldn’t go back to forward.” “Will, what are you doing?” Velucci asked. “What are you thinking?” “You can’t hit the first-rounder,” Wilson responded. contact on a hit where such head contact was avoidable and causes an injury.” “But that guy’s your teammate!” Vellucci told him. Since Wilson is a repeat offender, suspended twice in the previous pre- “Yeah, I know,” Wilson said. “But you can’t hit the first-rounder.” season and then again in the playoffs for a check that concussed Zach Wilson remembers the fight. He says a lot more gloves were dropped Aston-Reese and broke his jaw, the penalty this time is more severe. It’s during training camps in those days, and even at the NHL level when he Wilson’s fourth suspension in 105 games, and the NHL video explaining broke into the league. He decides: “It was probably a little much.” the decision points out it’s “an unprecedented frequency of suspensions in the history of the Department of Player Safety.” Leipsic says that a Wilson hit makes a unique sound because No. 43 isn't just a big body, he also "comes at you with pace" Wilson signed a $31 million, six-year contract in the off-season. He’ll have to wait 14 games — an arbitrator will reduce the ban from 20 — to At six-foot-four and 220 pounds, the most common thing you’ll hear get started on the 2018–19 campaign. about Wilson when speaking to other Capitals is that he’s “big” and “strong.” You’ll hear that he’s “fast” and “creates a lot of space” with that It happens at least once or twice a game, Wilson says, his hands flat on frame. It’s the Tom Wilson on-ice refrain. the conference room table. He’ll be skating towards an opposing player who’s carrying the puck with his head mostly down. Wilson could Here’s a sampling of the off-ice Wilson refrain. absolutely demolish a guy working with that level of on-ice obliviousness, but instead of finishing his check like he would’ve a year or two ago, “He’s a really good human being,” says Washington’s head coach, Todd Wilson will offer a verbal warning and then go after the puck. He’ll say: Reirden. “He leads a lot by example in terms of how he trains, how he “Heads up.” prepares, how he eats and how he practices. He lives life the right way, so he’s a great role model for our young guys.” It’s one way Wilson says he has adapted to the new NHL. Following each suspension, the big winger cited a lesson learned, and there have been “He thinks of the team before himself in many regards,” says fellow many along the way. He says since there’s so much less hitting than Capitals forward, T.J. Oshie. “I think on the ice speaks for itself — he even five years ago, players aren’t expecting impact, and they’re in does all the little things, plays in all situations, sticks up for anyone that “different positions than they’ve ever been before.” In other words, they’re he has to. But in the room, he always knows things. He knows what guy’s more vulnerable. wives’ and kids’ names are. If I have family in town, I would go to Tom to ask him where I should bring them for dinner. He’s very interested in Wilson remembers his rookie season in 2013–14, when he’d get the puck what other guys are doing, not just what he has to do on that given day.” on the boards for a breakout and instantly dish it off and get ready to absorb a hit. “Now you see wingers making small little plays right on the Radko Gudas fought Wilson in 2014 while playing with the Tampa Bay boards, and it’s like, ‘Don’t hit me. Don’t hit me,’” he says. Often, Wilson Lightning. (“I know how strong he can be,” Gudas says, and that’s “very doesn’t. “It’s the way the game is going, so you’re continuously adapting.” strong.”) When he joined the Capitals this season, Gudas found Wilson was central in ensuring he felt comfortable. “He wants to take care of While forechecking, Wilson says he has to be aware of who on the new guys that come in, wants to make them feel very welcome,” the opposing team is collecting the puck in the corner. “Brooks Orpik [who’s defenceman says. “And you want that from a guy that’s as physical as he now retired] goes back differently for the puck than someone that just is, to be a great guy in the locker room, too. He’s a glue guy.” came into the league,” Wilson says. “Everything’s different. I came into the OHL, it was fighting, hitting, line brawls. Now it doesn’t happen. So Last season, Wilson launched “Forty Three’s Friends,” which sees him when these younger guys come into the NHL, they’re playing differently donate tickets to kids waiting for wishes to be granted by the Make-A- than the era before. A 10-year-old is not doing body checking practice as Wish Foundation. He donates money to a local youth organization every I was as an eight-year-old. The feeders, the minor hockey, junior hockey, time the Capitals win. When Wilson had his day with the Stanley Cup in it’s trending a different way. That’s what’s changing the game, right? It’s 2018, he invited a recent cancer survivor from SickKids in Toronto, and why a guy like Brooks Orpik plays differently than a Christian Djoos, or a $100 donations to the hospital that day earned fans a photo with Wilson guy who just came in.” and the Cup. “I hope people understand, there’s a hockey player and then there’s a person,” Wilson says. “A lot of people don’t, right? A lot of It has taken time to adapt along with the constantly evolving league. “I the time they’re looking at us and we’re like — items or whatever. We had a year or so there where it felt like a lot was going wrong, I was play, but there’s a person to every player.” getting a lot of heat and got some suspensions,” Wilson says. He was labelled a head-hunter, a predator, seen as the biggest villain in the Dwayne Blais is one of the Capitals’ skill coaches and he’s been working game. “It was just the snowball effect,” he says. The snowball stopped with Wilson since early last season. After a conversation about Wilson’s growing last November, when he served the last of his 14 games. Wilson skill, Blais wants to add something he feels hasn’t been addressed. “The hasn’t been suspended since. “Then as we played more games, you’re one thing to stress with Tom,” the coach says, “he’s a good guy. I mean, thinking, ‘It’s all going to be okay.’ But it’s tough,” he says. “It was a time Tom’s a really great guy.” in the game where big hits and physicality are in the spotlight — that’s PLENTY TO LOVE what everyone was talking about.”

Wilson's coaches and teammates stress that when he's not demolishing Little has changed there. Oshie has long been a vocal supporter of opposing players "he’s a really good human being" Wilson’s, one of many in the Capitals dressing room who stands up for his teammate. “I think he’s drawn the short end of the stick on a bunch of The Washington Capitals are coming off a summer of partying in suspensions and they’ve been trying to make an example out of him for a fountains and celebrating their Stanley Cup win in the city for weeks on while now,” Oshie says. “I think he’s gotten real unlucky because he’s a end. It’s fair to say no NHL team has been drunk in public as much as the lot bigger than people. I know I get elbowed in the head all the time by Capitals have been, led by ringleader and captain Alex Ovechkin. But guys, but they don’t seem to get in trouble for it. The league has kind of today, it’s back to business and all the partying is in the rear-view: The made Tom out to be some bad guy, so I blame them for that. Capitals are three days away from opening the 2018–19 season, and the defending champions are playing in a pre-season game against the St. “But he’s found how he has to play to keep people focused on him Louis Blues. playing hockey and not him hitting or getting suspended,” Oshie continues. “There’s a lot of guys he could have hit this year and last year It’s the second period. Blues forward cuts across the that he just doesn’t, and that’s probably a problem for that guy because middle of the ice in Washington’s zone. He gets a weak shot off just he didn’t get to learn the lesson that you can’t go down the middle of the before Wilson comes at him, left shoulder down, and — BOOM. The high ice with your head down. That’s kind of the way the league’s trending, hit sends Sundqvist’s body spinning through the air. He settles face down these guys that are fast and no one can ever hit them. Well, now you’ve on the ice. Sundqvist has a concussion, a cut on his face and a shoulder got a guy like Tom, who’s faster or as fast as them, who’s bigger and injury. He won’t play again until October 25, missing St. Louis’s first eight stronger, and these guys don’t know how to protect themselves.” games. When Wilson does go for a full-force hit, look out, and opponents still The day the Capitals open their regular season, the NHL hands Wilson a have to look out on the regular — he’s fourth overall in the league in hits 20-game suspension — the sixth-longest in the league’s history — citing this season. Capitals forward Brendan Leipsic knows what it feels like to a “high, forceful hit, which makes Sundqvist’s head the main point of be on the receiving end, having played against Wilson in training camps for Team Canada over the years, and during their junior days. He says it hurts extra because Wilson is not only a big body, “but he can skate as under the microscope now.” Because of Wilson’s history, the GM adds, “I well as anybody on our team, so he comes at you with pace. think every time he hits someone, people are throwing up red flags.”

“I try to stay away from him now on the ice. Even on our own team he And how. Wilson is no stranger to red flags, and making sure all his hits can sometimes get in your way in practice,” Leipsic says. “You can really are clean in a fast-paced game remains a work in progress. It might hear the crunch.” always be. “You have to be very cerebral while you’re on the ice and try and trust your tendencies. But you still want to play physical,” Wilson The 25-year-old from Winnipeg heard “the crunch” recently, when Wilson says. “It’s difficult. I mean, there really is no good answer. hit Rangers forward Brendan Lemieux, who he later fought. “He hit him right by our bench and he hit him really hard,” Leipsic says. “Tommy can “You just have to try to find that balance.” really hit. He plays hard but he also plays kind of nasty, and you don’t see a lot of guys like that.” 'WILSON, YOU SUCK!'

Wilson’s speedy and skilled sometimes-linemate, Jakub Vrana, has Detroit fans' response to a third-period goal of Wilson's in November never been on the other end of a Wilson hit, not even due to an pretty much sums up the reaction he's inspired since he was eight years accidental collision. “I don’t want to be hit by him, ever,” Vrana says, old brow furrowed, sitting in his stall after a pre-game skate. “I’m five-foot-11, Wilson has been sitting in the boardroom for 45 minutes now, and though how do you think that would go?” He answers his own question: “Not he says talking about himself isn’t his favourite, he’s enjoying debunking really good.” Vrana makes a fist and knocks three times on his teeth for stories his dad relayed about him. Wilson confirms he did not call the luck — a Russian version of knocking on wood. Capitals captain “Mr. Ovechkin” when they first met, as Keven tells it. “I “I see people disappear in front of my eyes a couple of times,” Vrana think I called him ‘Ovi,’” he says, grinning. says. “Guy in front of me, he just disappears because Tom hit him. It One of the team’s media relations staff members has arrived to signal it’s happens. The way he plays, there’s a lot of people that probably hate time to go, and he’s been waiting for at least 15 minutes. “I’m almost him. Once he hits people really hard, obviously you don’t want to play done,” Wilson promises, looking over at the very patient Tommy Chalk. against that guy.” Wilson isn’t done because he’s been thinking about his family, who What Blais has been working on with Wilson is being more in control of helped him get here: About Keven; about his 92-year-old grandpa, Jake his body when he’s doling out those hard checks. “When he goes in to Avery, who golfs and watches every Capitals game; about his mom, make hits, being aware where his stick is and where his hands are and Neville, who took a lot of heat from other hockey parents when he was a his upper body is,” the coach says. “Have a little bit more control, so at kid. His brother, Pete, is five years older and always let him tag along; least going in he doesn’t have one arm going one way and one arm Jamie is two years younger, and they hang out all the time. “Brothers are going the other way that may catch a guy in the head, or may create a a big part of it,” Wilson says. “I wasn’t playing on the backyard rink by vulnerable situation.” myself.”

Blais began working with Wilson during his last suspension, and found he And oh, the battles on the backyard Wilson rink in North Toronto were adapted quickly to suggestions. “He was trying to make sure he kind of epic. More often than not, the middle Wilson kid was involved, since the creates a new image of himself,” Blais says. “I think coming out of that seven-year gap between Jamie and Pete was a tad unfair. “My older [last suspension] he did a really good job of reinventing himself as an all- brother would feel bad picking on my younger brother, so I was in the around player in that top-six role on a really good team, and being a big middle and I would kind of get it from both sides,” Wilson says. part of their success. As he gets older, I think you’re going to see more Most fights were between Wilson and Jamie, since they’re closest in age. and more of him figuring out what he can and can’t do, and knowing what Neville would usually ask Pete, the eldest and presumably most mature, the guidelines are a little bit more for him.” to break up the younger two while they were brawling. “He was generally Through 30 games this season, Wilson had 20 points and 29 penalty the one that had the calm head,” Wilson says. But that didn’t always minutes. Back in 2017–18, he had 83 PIM through 30 games. He has work. come as close as ever to mastering playing on the edge (so far) while “Sometimes,” Wilson says, grinning, “the agitator that I was, I would find continuing to improve his skill. Last season, Wilson had a career-high 40 a way to bring Pete into the fight.” points, and he’s been a staple in the team’s top six the past couple years, playing these days on the No. 1 line alongside Ovechkin and Evgeny Wilson loves this stuff, the fighting and hitting. It’s at his core to be a Kuznetsov. He kills penalties and he’s on the second power-play unit. In bruiser, and it’s been part of his identity basically forever. But he’s a Nov. 23 shootout loss to Vancouver, he logged the most ice time of any learned a lot since those early days, and he swears he’s always ready to Capitals forward. The first player in the NHL this season to record a learn more, to continue to evolve as the league does. For now, he’s power-play, short-handed and game-winning goal — to check off all three found the balance that makes him one of the most imposing and valuable — was Wilson. “I think skill-wise he got way better over a couple years,” players in the NHL. And maybe, just maybe, he’ll continue to skate that Vrana says. “He’s got a really good shot and he has the speed, he can fine line, offering one kind of heads up to opponents who are looking make the play. Once he plays with the skill players he can join in pretty vulnerable and another to opponents looking ready to absorb a hit. If you good.” want to play incident-free in today’s NHL, you have to constantly adapt — the blueprint is ever-changing. Just ask Tom Wilson. Reirden took over as head coach ahead of the 2018–19 season, so he started off without Wilson in the lineup. “That wasn’t a great situation,” Reirden says. “Tom’s a guy who brings everybody into the game for us Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 12.16.2019 — he brings everybody into the fight, so to speak. I don’t mean actual fighting, I mean competitiveness and battle and being all-in, to try to help our team win. We missed that. He’s a special guy in terms of that and his leadership ability. And it’s only going to get better and better.”

General manager Brian MacLellan says he’s seen “tremendous” growth from No. 43 since Wilson’s rookie season, especially when it comes to on-ice maturity. “I think he’s adjusted his game to the way the game is being called,” MacLellan says. “I think he’s figured out how to be physical, how to do it in the right time, how to eliminate the high-risk hits that the Department of Player Safety takes a microscope to, and he’s produced offensively. He’s done everything that we could possibly imagine him doing.”

It isn’t easy to play the way Wilson does, MacLellan acknowledges, which is probably why there aren’t many players like him. “It’s hard to contribute offensively and to be physical, not to take penalties,” he says. “Because of the way he skates and the strength he has, the hits are going to be impactful, and it seems to me that every impactful hit gets put 1166579 Websites It was a nightmare NHL debut: two goals allowed before DiPietro made a save, and seven goals against on 24 shots in a 7-2 embarrassment for the Canucks.

Sportsnet.ca / Canucks crumble against Golden Knights, Sharks as Nearly a year later, DiPietro is having an excellent rookie season in the hectic stretch looms AHL, building a .910 save percentage while going 8-4-1 with the Utica Comets. On Sunday, DiPietro got his first NHL action since last winter’s disaster, and stopped six of seven shots over the final nine minutes in Vegas while mopping up for Markstrom. Iain MacIntyre | @imacSportsnet Before Pacioretty beat him on a last-minute power play, DiPietro made December 16, 2019, 1:25 AM major-league saves on Mark Stone and William Carrier.

You can’t judge anything on so small a sample, but it was an interesting December weekends can be brutal. relief appearance with the Canucks playing every second night until Christmas and then nine times in 17 nights to start January. There’s shopping-mall gridlock and hand-to-hand combat in the stores, Christmas parties and social functions, trees and houses to decorate, With top defenceman Alex Edler still out, 20-year-old rookie Quinn and the San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights to play back-to- Hughes logged 50:12 of ice time on the weekend, including a personal- back. best of 27 minutes against the Sharks. He easily led Vancouver in playing time, set up a goal each night and had a shots-for percentage of We’re not sure about the other stuff, but the Sharks and Knights wiped 52.5, which is more impressive than it seems given the Canucks’ results out the Vancouver Canucks, who saw their weekend crumble away and, especially, how badly they were outplayed through two periods by Sunday with a 6-3 loss in Las Vegas less than 24 hours after a 4-2 defeat the Golden Knights. in San Jose. The Canucks still miss Edler. But they’d be in a crisis right now without The Canucks could have beaten the Sharks, but really weren’t close to the Calder-candidate Hughes. the Golden Knights, who outshot them 46-29 and led 4-1 with 15 minutes to go. Vancouver looked like how you feel after a busy, hectic, non-stop The NHL stats crew loves themselves some hits in Las Vegas, which December weekend. statistically is about the roughest place in the league. Hits spill forth like coins from the jackpot of old slot machines. But the stats still have After winning three out of four games, the Canucks have now lost three relative meaning, which is why it was impossible to ignore the 11 hits out of four and that .500-hockey two-step has them dancing backward in Tyler Motte registered for the Canucks in his first game in seven weeks. the National Hockey League standings. They’re now four points adrift of the last playoff spot in the Western Conference and things aren’t getting Canucks head coach Travis Green has said several times how much the much easier. fourth-liner has been missed since breaking his foot on Oct. 25 against Washington, as Motte is an excellent penalty killer and brings consistent Starting Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens, the Canucks finish energy, speed and physicality to his even-strength shifts. He didn’t play their pre-Christmas schedule with four games in seven nights. fourth-line minutes in Vegas, logging 17:11 of ice time. The rest of the Canucks, outmuscled by the brawny Golden Knights, combined for 16 Here are some takeaways from their lost weekend. hits, four of them by five-foot-10 defenceman Troy Stecher. Home of the Canucks Brandon Sutter played both weekend games, primarily as a winger, after Stream all 82 Canucks games this season with Sportsnet NOW. Get over missing 13 with a groin injury. 500 NHL games, blackout-free, including Hockey Night in Canada, all Winger Michael Ferland, who was moved with his $3.5-million salary to outdoor games, the All-Star Game, 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and more. the long-term injured list in order to activate Sutter and Motte, is the only It took three games, but the Thatcher Demko effect was obvious on forward still out. Besides Sutter and Motte, Jay Beagle and Antoine Sunday. Roussel have also returned to the lineup this month from significant injuries, so Green has his healthiest forward group since the season The Canucks’ backup, who went on to the injured list Thursday with a began. concussion suffered in practice, would have had the second start of the weekend back-to-backs. Instead, Jacob Markstrom had to play his The coach attributed some of the Canucks’ problems during its 3-7-2 second game in 22 hours and looked ragged. November slump to a critical mass of injuries in the bottom six, which affected Vancouver’s style of play. Those conditions no longer exist. Any On the Golden Knights’ opening goal just 2:22 into the game, Nick problems now sustaining a direct, physical game won’t be because of Holden’s point shot tumbled into the net off Markstrom’s glove, although injuries; it will be because of the players. both Canuck Jamie Benn and Knight Alex Tuch were screening the goalie. Tim Schaller, a wonderful comeback story in October before he largely disappeared in November, was healthy-scratched to make room in the But after Elias Pettersson tied it 1-1, Markstrom looked suspect again on lineup for Motte. After scoring four goals in three games in late October, another quick go-ahead goal for Vegas, spilling the rebound from Max Schaller is pointless in his last 22 games. Pacioretty’s shot back to the front of the net for Valentin Zykov to convert when it looked like the puck should have been swallowed or angled into Ferland’s move to LTIR saved Loui Eriksson, who has become a $6- the corner. million spare part, a probable trip through waivers and to the minors. For now. With the Golden Knights outshooting the Canucks 19-5 in the second period, Markstrom still made some tough saves but was pulled with 9:11 Sven Baertschi, meanwhile, is probably done in Vancouver. Unclaimed remaining after Pacioretty made it five goals on 39 shots for the Golden on waivers before the season, the four-year Canuck was sent to the Knights. American Hockey League before injuries brought him back to the NHL for what amounted to a six-game last chance in November. The 27-year-old, Demko was similarly concussed at the start of last season – friendly fire who battled concussion and anxiety last season, was returned to the off his goalie mask – and missed two months, so there is serious concern Utica Comets three weeks ago. about this new injury’s implications for the 24-year-old and the Canucks. Markstrom has always been sharpest with regular resets, and focussed Canucks general manager Jim Benning tried to trade Baertschi before practice time with goaltending guru Ian Clark while his backup plays. the roster cutdown in September, and has been trying to trade him since. But Baertschi’s $3.367-million salary is a deal killer, even with the If Demko is out long-term, Markstrom could get run into the ground. Canucks willing to absorb a share of it.

When Demko was out last winter with a knee injury and Markstrom said When Baertschi’s agent, Andre Rufener, complained to The Athletic on he was unable to start after playing 12 out of 13 games, the Canucks Saturday that the Canucks didn’t give his client a fair chance in were forced by minor-league injuries to start junior goalie Michael Vancouver, Benning responded by dumping Baertschi on waivers again. DiPietro in a Feb. 11 game against the Sharks. Criticizing the Canucks while the team has been trying to do everything it can to find another NHL team for Baertschi was a bad look for Rufener. But a bad look for Benning is the combined current cap-hit for Baertschi, Eriksson and Schaller: nearly $10.2 million.

Sportsnet.ca LOADED: 12.16.2019 1166580 Websites "It's something you like," he said of pressure. "In big games, in big moments you want to be on the ice and you want to make the difference so it's something that's pretty fun."

TSN.CA / Confident, faster Lafreniere wants puck at second World Lafrenière is also supremely motivated after last year's bitter sixth-place Juniors finish in Vancouver.

"For sure it's always in the back of your mind," he admits, "a tough loss like this is always hard and we're proud Canadians, we want to win." By Mark Masters Lafrenière will also play a leadership role off the ice this year. Hunter describes him as the kind of guy who always has a smile on his face while Hayton notes the native of Saint-Eustache, Que., is "a bit of a TSN reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes on Team prankster … I'm sure a couple stories will develop through this Canada, which practised Sunday at the Albert Schultz Eishalle in Vienna. tournament." Alexis Lafrenière scored just one goal in five games at the World Juniors Hot Button Issues: Will Lafreniere have a breakout tournament? last year and was actually benched at one point, but what stood out the most to Arizona Coyotes forward Barrett Hayton was how the team's With some World Junior seasoning under his belt already, what are the youngest player reacted to the adversity. expectations for Alexis Lafreniere? Is Finland the favourite to win it all? Will Sweden be able to keep up its group play dominance? TSN Director "I know he got sat there for a little bit, but his response was unreal and it of Scouting Craig Button shares his thoughts. just says a lot about his character," Hayton said. "We had an older team last year, we had a lot of 19-year-olds so his opportunity and role was a Lafrenière will start on a line with Hayton and Kelowna's Nolan Foote. smaller role than what he's used to and I think he learned a ton. I was When it came to putting that trio together, Hunter didn't overthink things. impressed with his development even through that short time we had." "They're offensive guys and you need a top line," the coach said. Lafrenière was the ninth youngest player to ever suit up for Canada at "Footer's got a great shot, can score, and Barrett and Laffy are skilled the World Juniors and only made the team because Gabe Vilardi was guys that can move pucks. It's one of those things where you put them injured. But even in a limited role in host cities Vancouver and Victoria, together, they scored some goals today and we'll see how it goes." the big left winger was able to show off his high hockey IQ. What potential does Byfield see in that line? "Skill-set's unbelievable, everyone knows that, there's no doubt in that," Hayton said, "but it's an intense tournament, it's high competition and the "Oh, I see a lot of goals, that's all I know," the 17-year-old said with a game's fast, the reads are really quick so I think just his ability to adapt to wide smile. "There's (already been) a couple tic-tac-toes, Foote finishing, that was impressive." I think that's going to be unreal to watch. I'm just going to be there enjoying the ride and seeing them play. It's something special, for sure." "His hockey sense is off the charts," said Team Canada coach Dale Hunter. "He can sense where people are going and strip pucks and I "There's high expectations for us," said Hayton. "I know we all hold think it's important to strip pucks and get going the other way." ourselves to a very high standard and they're two special players and it's going to be fun." With 70 points in 32 games this season with Rimouski, Lafrenière only seems to be getting better. The biggest difference this year? Foote has potted 15 goals in 25 WHL games this season and possesses one of the best shots on the team. "Much more confident," he says. "I've been through it last year a little bit so I know what to expect and, for sure, I got better over the last year skill- "It's pretty heavy," Lafrenière said with a chuckle. "When you're on the wise and got faster." ice with him and you see him shoot it’s impressive. He can really shoot so we'll try to get him the puck." "He wants to be in that moment and make the play," observed Hockey Canada head scout Brad McEwen, "and I think that’s just evolved as he's Lafrenière also owns an excellent shot, which gives Hayton, who had gone along." four assists in five games at the World Juniors last year, plenty of options. "I want the puck a lot," Lafrenière agreed, "and I'm asking for the puck, what I maybe didn’t do as much last year, and I think that's good. I'm "The biggest thing is they just find those holes," Hayton said. "Obviously, involved in the play and when you have the puck then you can make their shots are deadly so my job is just to find space and create room and plays and that's where my game is good." feed them the puck."

'I want the puck': Lafreniere 'much more confident' heading into second Hayton posted 40 assists in 39 OHL games last season with the Sault WJC Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

Alexis Lafreniere is handling the hype extremely well. The projected No. What to expect from top line of Lafreniere-Hayton-Foote? "A lot of goals" 1 pick in the next NHL draft has posted 70 points in 32 games with Canada's top line at the 2020 World Juniors is bound to have high Rimouski so far this season, and big things are expected from the big left expectations, but what are the realistic goals for the trio of Alexis winger at this year's World Juniors where he is one of five returning Lafreniere, Barrett Hayton, and Nolan Foote? players eager to avenge a heartbreaking quarterfinal loss. Byfield was a standout performer at Canada’s selection camp, earning a As for the speed element, Lafrenière believes that's been a big help roster spot despite his draft-eligible status. But the native of Newmarket, when it comes to busting through the neutral zone. And he points out that Ont., is far from satisfied regardless of the rave reviews. will be an even bigger factor on the bigger ice surface in Europe. "I definitely have more to give," he said. "It wasn't a bad camp. I showed After sitting out all of selection camp to rest a sore ankle, Lafrenière has them what I need, I guess, to make the team, but there's a lot more I can now taken part in two practices with Team Canada and even in those give out there. They really want me to play, as they say, I'm there to play workouts his new teammates have been blown away. and if I want to play with the best I can." "He's an exceptional player," said Sudbury’s Quinton Byfield, who's trying Team Canada's staff appears poised to give Byfield a prominent role as to displace Lafrenière and be the top pick in the next draft. "All around I he's been skating on a line with Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Dylan Cozens think he's just insane. He has quick hands, a nice shot and you saw in at practice. When Joe Veleno joins the group, it seems likely the Grand the battle drills how he can shield the puck really well. He's just really Rapids centre will replace Groulx on that line making it the second unit. exciting to watch." Where, in particular, does the six-foot-four, 215 pound Byfield feel he can Lafrenière seems immune to pressure. He was a stud at the 2018 Hlinka improve? Gretzky Cup captaining Canada to gold in Edmonton and also produced 23 points in 13 QMJHL playoff games last spring. "I can definitely be a lot more physical for a bigger guy," Byfield said. "It's harder to be physical on the bigger ice, but I think I can definitely do that and show my skating ability as well." Byfield unsatisfied despite strong camp: ''I definitely have more to give''

17-year old centre Quinton Byfield shares his excitement about making Team Canada and says that despite a strong camp he can be a lot more physical and show more of his skating ability.

Aidan Dudas skated on his own before practice and then stayed out for a couple drills in the main session as he continues to recover from a hand injury. Is the Owen Sound forward getting closer to returning to full practice?

"He is," confirmed Hunter. "He took a few shots, but he hasn't taken full shots, but he’s getting closer every day."

If Dudas is able to suit up in Ostrava, Team Canada will need to release one more forward. Has the management staff already identified who will go?

"We're evaluating," Hunter said. "It's a process right now."

The coach also there has been no decision on who will be the third goalie.

Canada Ice Chips: Dudas making progress, evaluation on last cut continues

TSN's Mark Masters reports on the status of Canada's Aidan Dudas, as well as crucial roster decisions that are in the immediate future of head coach Dale Hunter.

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