DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings today signed left wing Lucas Raymond to a three-year entry-level contract beginning with the 2021-22 season.

via the YouTube page of the NHL,

Recapping another legendary equipment manger moment, a way-too-many-men penalty, fluke bounces, mad scrambles and a wild Joe Thornton cameo.

from Gentry Estes of The Tennessean,

A season once drowning in disappointment was saved in time for the Nashville Predators to play meaningful games and chase a playoff spot at the end of a shortened regular season.

But on Wednesday night in Chicago, the added significance only made a fresh setback even tougher to swallow.

The 5-4 overtime loss to the Blackhawks will go down as a stunningly disappointing moment in this season, especially if the point the Preds dropped by blowing a late three-goal lead ends up costing them in the NHL's Central Division three-team race for one playoff spot.

"We were playing really good until that moment," said forward Mikael Granlund. "I think we got a little loose there, and it just happened. ... We had a great chance to get two points, and we only got one tonight. That's on us."

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Watch the game highlights below.

Watch the Morning Skate below and as always, I will update this post with any worthwhile news.

added 11:24am, Ansar Khan tweets...

Blashill said Larkin (upper body) out tonight and maybe longer. Will be re-evaluated tomorrow. Bertuzzi officially out for season, might need surgery. Nielsen (lower body) out for season. Fabbri remains out tonight. day to day.

Also said Joe Veleno, who's been skating with the team, has not been cleared to play yet. He declined to reveal Bertuzzi's upper-body injury.

added 11:48am, Video of Jeff Blashill after the skate is below.

THREE HARD LAPS

* The Golden Knights defeated the Sharks and became the NHL’s first team to clinch a berth into the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* The Blackhawks kept their playoff hopes alive after scoring three third-period goals in a span of 2:51 to erase a 4-1 deficit and defeat the Predators.

* Alex Ovechkin has scored some monumental goals against the Islanders as of late. Will the trend continue tonight at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum?

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

The plays have been happening more frequently over the last month to six weeks, showing the completeness and competitiveness of a young hockey player who is growing his game.

And though this is about Filip Zadina, it’s not plays of the jaw-dropping variety offensively. No booming shots off one-timers or nifty passes showcasing Zadina’s playmaking ability.

You can find Zadina's exploits with the puck on the stick on YouTube and they are impressive.

But just as impressive have been recent defensive plays.

Those might be tougher to find, but just as important.

There was a play earlier in the month, with Tampa Bay looking to clinch the game in the third period, which had Zadina backchecking vigorously, skating hard down the ice, and getting his stick on a pass to Brayden Point near the net. In doing so, he upended what looked like a sure-fire scoring chance.

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Ten of them in under five minutes.

from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- Injuries aren’t just a factor for teams, they are also affecting the officials. Three linesmen who retired last season (Scott Driscoll, Darren Gibbs, Brian Murphy) were not replaced. Four others — Derek Amell, Greg Devorski, Brian Mach and Steve Miller — have been out most of the year. As a result, the NHL’s needed to use minor-league referees as linesmen on a few occasions.

The league is also down two referees: Tim Peel (suspended) and Chris Rooney (injured). This doesn’t include short-term injuries, which pop up from time to time. It’s been a struggle.

- Get well soon, Carey Price. The Canadiens’ netminder was injured Monday night in the first period of their 4–1 loss to Edmonton and will miss at least a week in concussion protocol. Cayden Primeau is up on an emergency basis, and could face Calgary this week.

The secondary concern is the roster headaches this creates for Montreal. If they activate Cole Caufield, it will be their last available post-deadline recall. (You get four, and the previous were used up by Paul Byron, Xavier Ouellet and Alexander Romanov.) Adding Caufield would put someone on the taxi squad (Byron?) who cannot be recalled. It’s an extremely delicate dance, and I wouldn’t want to depend knowing only an injury could make someone like Byron eligible again.

-. Spencer Knight made his NHL debut Tuesday night, as the Panthers beat Columbus 5-1. He might have played sooner, but had to get his equipment modified to NHL standards. His chest protector, pads and pants all had to adjusted. (It’s possible he wears one of Sergei Bobrovsky’s old chest protectors.)

- Chris Johnston reported last week that the NHL sent a note to all teams warning of increased scrutiny on long-term injury usage, specifically when it came to cap manipulation. I don’t get riled up about this issue, since I try to manipulate the rules of every pool I’m in. But it drives some teams absolutely crazy.

more Thoughts

from Neil Best of Newsday,

In case it was not evident before Tuesday night, the Islanders reminded everyone that they are the best hockey team in New York State, routing the Rangers, 6-1, at Nassau Coliseum.

Up next, three games against the Capitals, with whom they are tied for first place in the East Division. Fun? Sure. But even in a 56-game sprint, this regular-season story is starting to get a little stale.

Just wake us in mid-May, will ya, guys?

In the meantime, let us say a few words before it is too late about another interesting New York hockey team, one built for the near future more than the present.

Will the Rangers catch the Bruins for a playoff spot? That is increasingly unlikely. Tuesday’s loss, combined with surging Boston’s 2-0 victory over the Sabres, left the Rangers six points out with 10 games to play, two fewer than the Bruins have left.

It was a cold, hard slap in the face after four consecutive victories over the Devils’ JV squad.

Humbling? "Yeah, sure," Brendan Smith said. "They’re a good squad. They’re playoff-ready, and we got a little taste of that, for sure."

Said coach David Quinn, "When you lose 6-1 in the fashion we did, it certainly is humbling, that’s for sure."

The good, big-picture news for the Rangers is that making the playoffs is of secondary concern. Competing for them is the point, as the young Blueshirts try to deliver on the organization’s famed "we’re rebuilding" letter of Feb. 8, 2018.

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from Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun,

William Nylander showed up on time on Tuesday night.

Not all of his Maple Leafs teammates could make a similar claim.

We’re looking at you, goaltender David Rittich.

After getting a reprieve for missing a team meeting on Monday, Nylander redeemed himself with a couple of assists on two John Tavares goals against the Vancouver Canucks.

As effectively as Nylander played in the offensive zone, Rittich was wretched at the other end, allowing two soft Canucks goals in the third period.

The result was a 6-3 Leafs loss, marking the first time Toronto has lost five in a row since Mike Babcock’s last stand as Leafs coach. The Leafs had lost six consecutive games when Babcock was fired on Nov. 20, 2019, and won its first three under Sheldon Keefe.

The fall on Tuesday came 48 hours after the Leafs lost 3-2 in overtime to the Canucks, a loss that included a couple of weak goals on Jack Campbell.

“I’m concerned about our goaltending,” Keefe said. “We got to get that sorted out. I’m not concerned about our team. I believe in our group. We played well enough to win, we played well enough to win the other night. But we got to get better goaltending to give our group confidence.”

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Below are the game highlights.

from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

Several blowout losses aside, the Detroit Red Wings are better defensively than they were last season. It is the one area in which they have improved.

That wasn’t apparent, however, from their rash of fundamental defensive mistakes in Tuesday’s 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.

Blown coverage allowed the Stars unfettered access to the area in front of the Detroit net, leading to three goals. Another was the result of a turnover. Dallas capped the night with an empty-net goal.

“I think this crew has been pretty good defensively. We haven’t given up many Grade A (scoring opportunities) compared to the rest of the league,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “Tonight, I thought we were terrible defensively in those situations. We competed like crazy in the offensive zone. We were on them. We worked hard. Then they came down and we gave easy goals away. We have to be a great defensive team. What happened tonight isn’t good enough.”

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from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

THREE HARD LAPS

* The Penguins achieved a first-of-its-kind NHL win after withstanding a six-goal, third-period rally by the Devils.

* Spencer Knight, the first goaltender born in the 2000s to appear in an NHL game, turned aside 33 of 34 shots to earn a win in his League debut.

* The League-leading Golden Knights look to extend their lengthy winning streak in the second half of an NBCSN doubleheader.

The Wngs failed to start the game on time and found themselves down 3-0 after 20 minutes.

Dallas basically sat on the lead and won 5-2.

Detroit goals are below.

Team Stats

added 11:48pm, Below, find a mix of media post game. added11:59pm, Sam Gagner and Jeff Blashill in one video, watch below.

Trouba has not returned.

This is a very quick turnaround. Two games in two nights makes for at least one tired team. Yesterday's game wasn't too bad. It was kind of boring actually. The good news is, the home stretch is in sight, and we'll soon be able to forget about another awful season.

It's a Live Blog!

via the Bob McGown podcast YouTube page,

NBC hockey insider, PIERRE MCGUIRE joins the podcast to let Bob and John know why Sidney Crosby is the most disrespected superstar in the NHL. That leads the gentleman to discuss the top talents in the league, and who is at the top of Pierre's list when it comes to the greatest hockey player playing in the NHL today.

The three also chat about how the size of goaltenders equipment has gotten out of hand, the shelf life of an NHL coach today and Pierre informs us as to why thinks having playoff experience isn't going to make or break your post season performance.

Watch the 46 minutes show below.

NEW YORK (April 20, 2021) – “While we hope the end of the trial offers a chance for healing, we remain committed to actively engaging in the movement for equality and we invite our fans to join us in supporting systemic change.”

from Frank Seravalli of TSN,

On the night Patrick Marleau made history, Connor McDavid offered yet a reminder that his shortened season may be history in the making.

McDavid scooped up a loose puck just inside the Edmonton Oilers’ blueline, fired up the jet packs and picked his way through two Canadiens defenders – including one (Jeff Petry) who will receive Norris Trophy votes this season – to break open a tied game with less than five minutes to play.

Another three-point third period? Yawn. That was McDavid’s league-leading 130th end-to-end rush, according to Sportlogiq, some 28 more than New York Islanders centre Mathew Barzal, the NHL’s next closest player.

“I’m never really afraid to take on two defenders,” McDavid told reporters postgame. “It can get me into trouble sometimes … [but] I was able to get it in good stride and I was just trying to make a play.”

Yes, the greatness of hockey’s most highly evolved player is on display with such regularity that we’ve run out of superlatives to describe McDavid. Nights like Monday, when No. 97 takes a game over, have become routine.

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Witness another great goal from McDavid below.

Just over three minutes.

On Blashill, "his contact expires after this season, has had a lot of good conversations with Steve Yzerman, the general manager over the year. They are going to wait until the season ends and then they'll address his situation..."

Joe Micheletti's exact words. He said nothing about a new contract but you decide.

The 'blah' feeling I was experiencing today has been replaced with just get the job done.

So we have Luke Glendening and Jeff Blashill up first and below find the game highlights.

Congrats Patrick Marleau. If Gordie Howe was still around, he would have been the first to shake your hand, of course followed by a sneaky elbow to the ribs.

added 10:31pm, Below a longer version with Randy Hahn, the TV voice of the San Jose Sharks.

I've been fighting a 'blah' feeling all day and it would be unfair for me to do the recap of a Detroit 3-2 shootout loss.

Detroit goals are below, called by the Dallas Stars broadcasting crew.

Team stats and the post game media talk will be posted either late night when most of you are sleeping or early in the moring when most of you are still sleeping.

See you tomorrow at 8:30pm ET, same teams, different channel