Articles in NHL Teams

Our TSN Hockey insiders Chris Johnston, Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun have the latest on how the NHL is handling helmet protocol in pre-game warmups, how the Jets are handling the injury to Nikolaj Ehlers, and more in this edition of Insider Trading.

Glenn Schiiler: Guys, the one chance fans get to see stars on the ice without a helmet is during warmups but Chris, are the days of the 'hair skate' numbered?

Chris Johnston: Yes, take a picture now because it won't last long, as the NHL has mandated that all future players wear a helmet during warmups. This will be grandfathered, of sorts, to begin with: any players that entered the league in the 2019-20 season or after have to immediately adhere to the rule, but any player that started before has the option to choose what they want to do with their helmet. It results from a recommendation from the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association committee on concussions and also the health and safety committee, so this was the way forward and it is now in effect.

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15 1/2 minutes of your time.

* The League-leading Bruins remained undefeated at TD Garden, while the Metropolitan Division-leading Devils picked up an overtime win at Scotiabank Arena to keep pace.

* New NHL “Ironman” Phil Kessel skated in his 1,000th consecutive game as Vegas earned a victory versus his former club.

* Ten of 13 games contested Thursday were decided by a one-goal margin or two-plus including an empty-netter, which marked the most in a single day in NHL history.

* The Kings, who are 5-1-0 in their last six outings and occupy second place in the Pacific Division, will contest a third consecutive game in Western Canada before concluding their road trip in Seattle on Saturday.

via the YouTube page of Sportsnet,

Watch as New Jersey Devils forward Yegor Sharangovich puts home the rebound off Jack Hughes' effort, and extends their winning streak to 11 games.

Game highlights are below.

Just over 5 minutes to watch,

Most Leafs fans are banking on the post-season. Even with all their warts, Tuesday night showed the Leafs should be fine over the course of an 82-game regular season. And gaining a top-three position in the Atlantic Division is all the more likely given how these first few weeks have shaken out.

But the reality is Leafs fans may have to accept who this team is — and isn’t. You can expect to watch this spaghetti western for the rest of the regular season. “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” did not win an Oscar. This regular season may not either. But it should be good enough to give the Leafs another chance to get past the first round.

-Nick Kypreos on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Read more from Kypreos at the Toronto Star.

Below, watch a sure goal that wasn't.

* The Blues celebrated their fourth straight win as they were cheered on by their mothers, who have accompanied the team during its last two victories as part of their moms’ trip.

* Trevor Moore scored his first career hat trick to help the Kings inch closer to top spot in the Western Conference.

* Ottawa continued its scoring ways at Canadian Tire Centre and overtook the League lead for most home goals as the club earned a win on its Hockey Fights Cancer Night.

* Thursday’s slate is set to feature several streaks on the line as well as milestone games for head coach John Tortorella and the NHL’s new “Ironman” Phil Kessel.

from Travis Yost of TSN,

Having a dominant first line or a stifling top-pairing is a major competitive advantage in the NHL. Possessing both at the same time can mean the difference between fighting for a playoff spot and being a true Stanley Cup contender.

Some of the most dominant teams in league history had an elite five-man unit capable of taking the air out of games for shifts for long stretches.

The late 2000s Detroit Red Wings could get the Pavel Datsyuk line on the ice with the Nicklas Lidstrom pairing, a silly advantage that guaranteed Detroit would own more than 60 per cent of the shots on a nightly basis. The Chicago Blackhawks (Jonathan Toews’ line with the Duncan Keith pairing) and Boston Bruins (Patrice Bergeron’s line with the Zdeno Chara pairing) of the 2010s had similar success and weren’t knocked off their pedestal for many years.

It’s not difficult to see what those elite units look like in 2022. Two of the most prominent examples probably can be found in Colorado and Vegas, where the unifying of players like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, or Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore, has meant staggering advantages for their respective teams. They are, simply put, blowing opponents off the ice. The idea here is that the sum of the parts can be greater than the whole, even when it concerns top-tier players.

That brings me to the Edmonton Oilers and Connor McDavid. McDavid is easily the league’s most dominant player and elevates the play of everyone around him. The Oilers have tried to address the team’s blueline for years with what has been limited success, owing in part to the realities of a hard-cap league where most of the talent skews to the forward position, but also owing in part to misevaluations at the player level.

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15 goals.

from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,

Speaking after the GM’s wrapped up meetings at the Ritz Carlton hotel, Dorion said the club needs to start winning games after coming out of the gate with a 5-9-1 record, but doesn’t believe a coaching change is the answer.

“Coaching is not the issue. Simple as that. That’s it,” said Dorion. “For me, it’s the first time we’ve given D.J. a team that can compete for a possible playoff spot. So I think we’ve got to be patient there.”

Dorion is right because it’s too easy to blame the coach. The problem has been inconsistency from virtually every player, with the exception of rookie defenceman Jake Sanderson.

Coming off a 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders Monday at the Canadian Tire Centre, the level of frustration is building with the club sitting in second-last place in the Eastern Conference.

This isn’t the way anybody envisioned the Senators would start this season.

While it appears goaltender Craig Anderson will make his return to Ottawa sitting on the bench Wednesday with the Buffalo Sabres for the first time since the club didn’t bring him back at the end of the 2019-2020 campaign, the Senators need to find a way to get back on track.

After adding forwards Alex DeBrincat (Chicago) and Claude Giroux (Philadelphia) along with goaltender Cam Talbot (Minnesota) in the off-season, Dorion is disappointed with the club’s record to start the season and last week called this stretch of the schedule “pivotal”.

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* The Devils extended the NHL’s longest active win streak to 10 games – their third-longest run in franchise history – after a season in which three straight victories in a row was their most.

* Mitchell Marner established the third double-digit point streak of his career while Michael Bunting achieved a rare franchise feat after his two goals came in the opening and final minute of the second period.

* Five players reached milestones Tuesday, including Matthew Tkachuk who hit 400 career points, adding him and his father Keith’s names to a short list of father-son duos to each reach the mark.

from Sean Farrell at NHLcom,

Jack Hughes scored twice and had an assist, and the New Jersey Devils extended their winning streak to 10 games with a 5-1 victory against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

Dougie Hamilton and Jesper Bratt each had a goal and an assist, and Dawson Mercer had two assists for New Jersey (13-3-0), which hasn't lost since Oct. 24.

Vitek Vanecek made 25 saves. The goalie did not dress Saturday after being replaced in the third period of a 4-3 overtime win against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.

"We were loose in the first period, trading chances, and weren't really committed to getting above the puck and preventing opportunities," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "And I've got to give [the Canadiens] some credit. They skated well, they hit a few holes on us. I thought the first period both goalies really made big saves."

The winning streak is the third longest in Devils history, trailing 13 games in 2000-01 and 11 in 2005-06.

"We knew they wanted to attack from our mistakes," New Jersey defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler said. "We just tried to limit our mistakes and have good gaps against them and give them nothing, be close to them, don't even give them a shot, and I think we were pretty good tonight."

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Game highlights are below.

from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- At Tuesday’s NHL GM meetings, there was a straw poll asking whether or not the assembled wanted to drop the penalty for an unsuccessful coaches’ challenge. The answer was no.

- The GMs asked for more information about the net being pushed off its moorings. Anecdotally, it’s happening more often, maybe there should be a penalty. The request is for more data.

- Ottawa’s sale machinations are expected to ramp up after American Thanksgiving. There is hope the new owner will be decided by early January so they can negotiate a new building with the government.

a few more Thoughts...

After the injury to Evander Kane last week, the TSN Hockey Insiders discuss how the GMs spoke about possibly mandating cut-resistant sleeves at the Board of Governors meetings in Toronto, how Bruce Boudreau is on borrowed time with the Canucks, how active Senators GM Pierre Dorion has been exploring the trade market and why the Sharks are open to listening to offers for Erik Karlsson.

Watch at TSN

from Bennett Durando of the Denver Post,

St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington, still public enemy No. 1 in Colorado after last season’s second-round playoff series, lunged back in front of the net as Hunt tried to get off a shot in the third period of the Avalanche’s riveting 3-2 loss Monday night. Josh Leivo’s stick disrupted Hunt as he tried to turn and fire. Some 18,000 Ball Arena thought the game was tied, but Binnington recovered in time.

It was one of Binnington’s 44 saves, and ironically the best Avalanche opportunity in a frantic third period that ended with a 6-on-3 mad dash caused by two Blues penalties in the last two minutes.

“I felt like our intensity when the game was on the line and our attack mentality was probably better than it was at times during the game,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “But at the same time, I thought we created lots of chances. Enough chances to win.”

After Colorado (8-5-1) cleared the net to upgrade from 5-on-3 to 6-on-3 in the final minute, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar missed the net. A four-game winning streak came to an end despite the kind of end-to-end action that usually favors the Avalanche.

It was also the kind of onslaught Colorado produced throughout last season’s six-game playoff win against St. Louis, a team that is currently trying to climb out of the division cellar after a startling eight-game losing streak. Now the rival Blues have won three in a row.

read on

Game highlights are below.

from Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press,

Every win is worth the same two points in the standings, but some victories are more valuable than others.

That’s certainly the case with the Winnipeg Jets and their most recent triumph on Sunday night in Seattle.

The way in which they rallied to solve the Kraken — a game-tying goal in enemy territory with five seconds left, then the overtime kill-shot less than a minute later — speaks volumes about the current state of the club.

It also furthers the growing belief — inside the room, but externally, too — that this squad might just have something special going on.

Sometimes, they DO ask how, not just how many. And Winnipeg’s latest answer is a doozy.

The good vibes started flowing during the team’s retreat in Banff to wrap up training camp, an event that saw them create and sign a unique mission statement now hanging on their dressing room wall.

And they haven’t stopped flowing since, despite a healthy dose of early adversity thrown their way.

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* Pyotr Kochetkov recorded his fifth straight win to begin his career by way of securing his first NHL shutout. Only three goaltenders in the past 27 years have posted more consecutive victories to start their career: Martin Jones, Spencer Knight and Frederik Andersen.

* Mikko Rantanen boosted his season totals at home to 9-11—20 (7 GP) and became the first skater to reach 20 points in seven or fewer home contests since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96.

* A number of winning, point and assist streaks will be on the line Tuesday on a nine-game slate, which will also feature the Penguins, Blue Jackets and Ducks each hosting their Hockey Fights Cancer Night.

from Mark Lazerus of The Athletic,

Do you have any mixed emotions about this start? The pro scouting has been a success, the guys you’re bringing in are the right fit, they work hard and Luke (Richardson)’s obviously building an identity. You’re establishing something here. But it’s also messing up the plans a little bit. We all know the worst thing you can do is finish like 10th place in the conference.

It’s not mixed emotions. It’s just kind of, when it comes time to pick, wherever we’re going to pick, you just have to find talent wherever you end up. Before the season and over the summer, it was just, ‘Oh, they’re just doing whatever they can to get a top-three pick.’ The idea of trying to do that is so hard. To finish anywhere specific in the standings is so damn hard. Because one, there’s much more parity in the league than anyone really wants to say. And two, the players just want to win.

Right, players don’t tank.

They do not. They just want to win every night. And we’re trying to build an identity of a way we think we can win down the road. And we’ve got a coach that’s aligned in that. So that’s going to lead to some good nights and some good stretches. And you know what? I think it’s more important that we do show some positive steps throughout the season because that’s going to be conducive to winning. And where we end up, we’ll see. It’s our job at that point to find the talent wherever we pick. It’s way too hard to say, “Oh, we’re going to do whatever we can to finish last.”

read on ($)

NEW YORK (Nov. 14, 2022) – Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen, Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark and New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Nov. 13.

“We haven’t allowed negativity to creep in even when it’s gotten frustrating. That’s been a focal point. We’ve had one team discussion up to now, but there have been a lot of player-to-player talks, a lot of discussion within the leadership group.

“If we weren’t playing hard, that would be one thing, but that’s not the case.

“So we’re not getting down. We know what we have to do as a team. We know what we are.”

-Jacob Trouba, captain of the New York Rangers/ Larry Brooks of the New York Post has more.

* MikhailSergachev had a four-point first period to match the NHL record for points in a frame by a defenseman.

* The Bruins set a club benchmark for the longest season-opening home winning streak, 98 years after their inaugural season.

* Blake Wheeler scored with six seconds remaining in regulation to match the latest game-tying goal by a Jets skater since the franchise relocated to Winnipeg, while Erik Karlsson added to his defensemen-leading point total as the Sharks recorded the NHL’s 20th multi-goal, third-period comeback victory of 2022-23.

from Dave Poulin at the Toronto Star,

The league will balance out and the teams that are struggling will elevate. Perhaps Nazem Kadri’s supreme confidence and great start in Calgary will rub off on Jonathan Huberdeau and restore his offensive game. The Penguins’ Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will convince their newcomers that it’s OK to steal the spotlight on occasion. Alex DeBrincat will start scoring in Ottawa and Claude Giroux will continue to lead and the Senators’ returning young stars will realize the new guys fit with the old, and both need each other.

There’s a balance between collective and singular and both are necessary in a team game. Someone has to be selfish at the right time. Someone has to close the sale on a sales team, or make the critical decision on a medical team. There is only the name of the author on the cover of a bestseller, despite the praise given inside to the many contributors. Individual brilliance is a part of collective success.

When your favourite player scores the game-winning goal with an extraordinary effort, you’ll smile with his decision to be selfish and shoot, rather than pass the puck looking for the perfect play. Just don’t be surprised in the post-game presser when he sheepishly praises his teammates for making it all possible.

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from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- It’s uncomfortable to watch Jack Campbell struggle in Edmonton in the early season, the first year of five on his contract. You know how much he beats himself up when he isn’t doing well so you hope for the opposite. You may not be an Oilers fan but it’s hard not to care for Campbell.

- his is where fans get cheated by the salary cap: The Leafs sign, draft or develop Zach Hyman, Connor Brown, Ilya Mikheyev and Nazem Kadri, all smart, hard-driving, team-changing NHL players and then can’t afford to keep them. The system penalizes teams that develop too many quality players.

- aid Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, probably speaking for the entire league: “We need to eliminate the volatility in our game.” The NHL is an explosive place right now — with no form to it, and almost no certainty to be found anywhere.

- My 2023 Hockey Hall of Fame class would include Henrik Lundqvist, Alex Mogilny, Henrik Zetterberg and the always-forgotten Rick Middleton....

- Time was, goalies were the least-coached players in hockey. Now, a former goalie tells me, they’re the most overcoached players in the game.

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