Articles in NHL Teams

Watch it below. He received a match penalty for the hit.

* In the span of 10 days, the Eastern Conference playoff race has morphed from one team being within five points of the bracket to a five-team mix entering a pivotal afternoon of play that includes contests on ABC, ESPN+, Hulu, Sportsnet ONE and NHL Network.

* The Art Ross Trophy race will be front and center as well on Saturday as leader NathanMacKinnon faces third-ranked Connor McDavid on Hockey Night in Canada. Other top storylines will see the Stars honor Mike Modano and the Predators put their lengthy point streak on the line in a key Wild Card race matchup.

* Friday saw both the Jets and Kings claim their sixth shutout of the season, as Tyler Toffoli scored his first two goals in a Jets uniform (to help them regain first place in the Central Division standings) and Kings captain Anze Kopitar set a franchise record by hitting the 20-goal mark for the 13th time in his career.

* Offensive performances from Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov – with six- and five-point outings, respectively – allowed Point to match a franchise record and Kucherov to move within three points of League-leader Nathan MacKinnon in the Art Ross Trophy race.

* The Eastern Conference Wild Card race intensified further Thursday after the Islanders suffered a loss while the Capitals, Sabres, Devils and Penguins moved within one, three, four and five points, respectively, of a playoff spot.

* Auston Matthews became the first player to score 40 even-strength goals in multiple seasons in more than two decades, while Ilya Samsonov tied a Maple Leafs mark with his seventh straight road win.

* Connor Bedard will look to become the first 18-year-old in NHL history to post three consecutive games with three-plus points when the Blackhawks face the Kings during a two-game slate.

6 1/2 minutes of your time.

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

Nathan MacKinnon’s power-play one-timer in overtime was mostly blocked by Juulsen, but as the puck ascended roughly towards Whistler, it struck the visor of Nichuskin in front of the Vancouver net and tumbled past goalie Casey DeSmith to give the Avalanche a 4-3 win in a game the Canucks led 3-0 until the final seconds of the middle period....

That first Colorado goal, just so you know, was directed in by Mikko Rantanen’s stick with 1.8 seconds remaining after an Avalanche shoot-in was going to rim around to Juulsen but hit the photographer’s hole in the glass and bounced crazily towards the slot.

There was some bad luck to go with the dodgy calls that went against the Canucks, as their four-game winning streak ended while the Avalanche extended their run to five straight victories.

But, as Juulsen said, the Canucks never should have been in a spot where a bad call or bad bounce could cost them this game.

They led Nathan MacKinnon’s team 3-0 on home ice and were yielding next to nothing in scoring chances (and had allowed only 15 shots) prior to a defensive-zone faceoff that the Canucks actually won with 16 seconds remaining in the second period.

“That goal definitely gave them belief,” Canuck centre J.T. Miller, who scored 24 seconds into the game and set up Ilya Mikheyev’s first goal in 35 games at 2:44, lamented to reporters. “It's all that team really needed.

“Sh-- happens though. We should be able to come up in the third, two-goal lead at home against one of the best teams in the league. I don't understand any better reason to get up for that. It just sucks.

“This (loss) is all us. We didn’t win our battles, didn’t execute our passes. We were dumping it in for no reason. No forecheck. They outplayed us, they deserved to win.”

read on

Game highlights are below.

* Zach Hyman became the first Oilers skater to score four hat tricks in a season since Wayne Gretzky did so nearly 40 years ago and added $5,000 more to AstraZeneca’s donation to the Hockey Fights Cancer Fund of the V Foundation.

* Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen both extended lengthy streaks as they helped Colorado earn its League-leading third three-goal comeback win.

* A handful of Eastern Conference clubs are set to battle for playoff positioning during a 12-game Thursday, highlighted by the Flyers hosting the Maple Leafs on Hulu and ESPN+.

10 minutes for 10 goals.

What was the hearing like?

"It would be foolish for me to go on record that I wasn't at fault. There's no doubt that I hit Laycoe and had also hit Thompson. The point is that there was a great deal of provocation in both instances. I think my penalty (suspension for the remainder of the season and the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs) wouldn't have been so severe if Lynn Patrick had told the absolute truth to Campbell at the hearing. To this day I can't forgive him."

Explain what you mean?

"Patrick said that I started the fracas and had hit Laycoe first. Everything Patrick said to Campbell was completely different from the way I remembered it or the way the referee, Frank Udvari, recalled. Overall, Laycoe wasn't a bad guy, but his testimony left much to be desired."

What kind of punishment did you expect?

"I probably deserved to be suspended for the final three games of the season or possibly 10 or 15 games in the following season but not for the playoffs. I could see no justification for Campbell punishing my teammates or me by docking me from the Stanley Cup round. I still say that if justice was truly done, I wouldn't have been kept out of any of the Stanley Cup games."

-Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers each Wednesday.

This week, Stan presents his popular "Voices from The Past" on the 69th anniversary of "The Richard Riot" in Montreal with a one-on-one interview with Maurice "Rocket" Richard from his book, "The Flying Frenchmen: Hockey's Greatest Dynasty," co-authored with the Hockey Hall of Famer. Richard details the roots of the conflict and opines about his controversial suspension in the spring of 1955.

Read more from Richard.

* Connor Bedard became the fifth 18-year-old in NHL history to record five points in a game and did so while he was mic’d up by NBC Sports Chicago.

* The “Comeback Cats” rallied from a multi-goal third-period deficit to defeat the Stars, who they are set to face as part of the 2024 NHL Global Series presented by Fastenal, and increase their lead atop the League standings.

* Wednesday’s four-game slate features an NHL on TNT doubleheader as well as Nashville looking to extend its lengthy point streak and Western Conference-leading Vancouver hosting Colorado on Sportsnet programming.

Watch the hit below.

NEW YORK/TORONTO (March 12, 2024) – The National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), together with Live Nation, today announced that the 2024 NHL Global Series™presented by Fastenal will be headlined by the Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers.

The Sabres and Devils will begin the 2024-25 regular season by facing off in a pair of games in Prague, Czechia, at O2 Arena, Friday, Oct. 4 and Saturday, Oct. 5. The Stars and Panthers will then meet at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland, on Friday, Nov. 1 and Saturday, Nov. 2.

* Mika Zibanejad became one of just six Swedish-born players in NHL history with nine 20-goal seasons as the Rangers strengthened their grip on first place in the Metropolitan Division.

* Connor Hellebuyck shut out the Capitals and set a Jets/Thrashers benchmark for fewest games to 30 wins in a season by a goaltender.

* The Wild, Kraken and Flames will all look to gain ground on the Golden Knights for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference during Tuesday’s 10-game slate.

He actually raised his elbow to make head contact.

* Sebastian Aho factored on three of seven Hurricanes goals to help Carolina move within two points of the top spot in the Metropolitan Division while Mathew Barzal picked up multiple assists to help the Islanders grab a playoff spot for the first time in nearly two months.

* Matt Boldy scored the game-winning goal for the Wild, who benefited from an unconventional play in overtime to gain ground in the Western Conference Wild Card race.

* Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard posted three points apiece Sunday while Colin Blackwell scored his first career hat trick to bump AstraZeneca’s donation to the Hockey Fights Cancer Fund of the V Foundation to $455,000.

* Three teams in the running for the Presidents’ Trophy are in action Monday, including the Bruins (38-13-15, 91 points) who can claim first place in the League standings from the idle Panthers (44-17-4, 92 points).

NEW YORK (March 10, 2024) – Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella has been suspended for two games and fined $50,000 for unprofessional conduct directed at the officials by refusing to leave the bench area after being assessed a game misconduct at 10:49 of the first period of NHL Game No. 1,016 on Saturday, March 9, NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell announced today.

Tortorella will miss the Flyers’ next two games — March 12 versus the Sharks and March 14 versus the Maple Leafs.

The fine money goes to the NHL Foundation.

* The Bruins won the NHL Big City Greens Classic 2 and remained one point back of the League-leading Panthers, who defeated the Flames on Saturday thanks in part to a 2-1—3 showing by new forward Vladimir Tarasenko.

* Darren Raddysh had a career night by becoming the first defenseman in Lightning history with a five-assist game, while also joining Kris Letang and Torey Krug as the third blueliner to achieve the feat in 2023-24.

* Jonathan Marchessault scored the NHL’s 90th hat trick of the season – six shy of the entire total from 2022-23 (96). AstraZeneca, which is donating $5,000 to the #HockeyFightsCancer Fund of the V Foundation up to $500,000, needs just 10 more three-goal performances to reach its donation goal.

* A five-game Sunday opens with the 13th all-time meeting between Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby when the Oilers visit the Penguins at 1 p.m. ET (TNT, MAX, SNP, SNW, SN360, TVAS).

Sportsnet mentioned John Tortorella's 12th ejection.

Correct call but what a crowd drainer.

from Jesse Granger of The Athletic,

McCrimmon is well aware of the polarizing reputation he and his organization have acquired.

“Contrary to popular belief, we don’t go after every good player,” he said. “We go after good players we like, good players we identify, and opportunities we identify.”

McCrimmon, Vegas president of hockey operations George McPhee and their pro scouting staff sure seem to like a lot of players.

Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Max Pacioretty, Ivan Barbashev, Alec Martinez and Chandler Stephenson were all traded for in the last six years. Now, add Hanifin and Hertl to the list.

A lot of front-office executives probably like those players, and with good reason. The difference is that McCrimmon and his staff find a way to get the players they want on their team at an incredible rate — one that is seemingly much higher than other GMs around the NHL.

Why?

“It’s hard to say,” McCrimmon replied. “You have conversations with people and it depends on your approach. We pay. I think that’s part of it. We have made some good deals for other teams as well.”

The Golden Knights haven’t been afraid to send high-end draft picks and prospects out in order to acquire players they believe in, players in the prime of their careers.

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NEW YORK (March 8, 2024) – NHL clubs made 23 trades involving 33 players today prior to the 3 p.m., ET, trade deadline. Following is a list of the transactions:

Arizona traded LW Jason Zucker to Nashville for Dallas' 6th-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft (previously acquired by Nashville).

Arizona traded D Matt Dumba and its 7th-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft to Tampa Bay for Tampa Bay's 5th-round pick in 2027.