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.

continued

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.

continued

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.”

continued

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.”

continued

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.

continued

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

No, I'm not quoting scripture here, but, to Red Wings fans this day marked the return of one of our own. Two years ago today, one Steven Gregory Yzerman returned home where we believe he belongs. No, he hasn't changed water into wine. In fact, since his return Wings fans still have plenty of whine. Those expecting miracles will just have to slow it down a notch or two, keep the faith, and, trust the Yzerplan.

In his short tenure as GM he has made a few trades, delt a player who was once considered untouchable, and most importantly, garnered a ton of picks in order to build a viable, competitive, shot at a Stanley Cup team. No one in their right mind should think this rebuild was going to happen overnight. Oh, did I mention there's a pandemic to boot, so try working around that obstacle.

Needless to say, we're still here, all 19 of us. Through thick or thin, and as far as I can tell, we're all in.

It's a Live Blog!

Three minutes worth of top goals.

NEW YORK (April 19, 2021) – Buffalo Sabres goaltender Dustin Tokarski and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center RN Michaela Pastorius have been named the NHL’s “First Stars” for the week ending April 18.

Throughout the 2020-21 season the NHL is celebrating the remarkable efforts of the off-ice stars who make it possible for us to play our games amid a pandemic by honoring frontline healthcare heroes from the regions represented by the League’s weekly and monthly “Stars.”

Pastorius works as a nurse at Buffalo’s Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, where just a few years ago she was walking the same halls as a patient battling a cancer diagnosis. Pastorius put nursing school on hold while going through treatment, but vowed to finish her degree and now works alongside the nurses who once cared for her as a patient.

The inpatient unit at Roswell Park where Pastorius works – known as 6West – is typically for cancer patients with solid tumors, but has become a designated COVID-19 space over the past year. Pastorius understands what these patients are going through and brings a positive attitude to the floor despite the incredibly challenging and emotional experience of the pandemic on both patients and staff.

"When I was going through inpatient chemotherapy at Roswell Park, the Buffalo Sabres gave me motivation to continue fighting,” Pastorius says. “The amount of support the Sabres show for Roswell and its patients felt personal to me since I am such a big fan . . . The appreciation I had and still have for their support is bottomless.”

Rounding out the “Three Stars” of the week are New York Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin and Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone. More on each NHL player’s performance can be found below:

Blashill says Joe Veleno on the trip but won't play in either game in Dallas.

from Bob McKenzie of TSN,

The TSN Mid-Season 2021 NHL Draft Rankings have become a Power Ranking.

As in, Owen Power.

It’s unanimous - 10 out of 10 NHL scouts surveyed by TSN have the 6-foot-5 1/2 University of Michigan freshman defenceman at No. 1. The Mississauga, Ont., native has solidified and enhanced his No. 1 standing from last fall’s preseason rankings, when only four of those same 10 scouts had him ranked first overall.

That said, it should be noted that Power’s No. 1 status on draft day is not an absolute lock. His mantle is not unassailable. Most of the scouts who ranked him first do allow for the possibility he could still be challenged for top spot and a name other than Power could be called out on July 23.

He is, however, the consensus favourite.

“I don’t know what percentage number you would want to put on it,” said one scout, “60, 70 per cent? I’m not sure. It’s certainly more than 50 per cent, but this is not a draft where there’s one dominant prospect who is the unquestioned No. 1 choice. I mean, it’s close enough between Power and the other top guys that you couldn’t rule out someone else. There are some defencemen who could still challenge him and if the team picking first overall this year really wants or needs a forward, well, there are a couple of forwards who could still be [viable options at] No. 1.”

It’s a draft year like no other.

continued, with 100 names on the list...