Flames’ Tkachuk suffered concussion vs. Stars in Round 1

Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk suffered a concussion during the team's first-round series against the Dallas Stars, general manager Brad Treliving said on Monday, according to Postmedia's Wes Gilbertson.

The concussion forced the star out of the team's final four postseason games.

The 22-year-old left Game 2 of the series after getting sandwiched between two Dallas players. He managed one goal and one assist in six playoff games prior to his departure.

Treliving also said two other key players suffered significant injuries during the club's qualifying-round series against the Winnipeg Jets. Defenseman Rasmus Andersson played through a broken foot, and forward Sam Bennett played with a torn tricep muscle.

Bennett was a vital piece for the Flames during the postseason, racking up five goals and three assists over 10 games. Andersson was equally important, recording three goals and two assists in five contests while averaging 21:27 minutes of ice time.

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Rutherford: ‘Very, very good chance’ Penguins trade Murray or Jarry

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford knows keeping both of his top two netminders beyond this offseason is a luxury his team likely can't afford.

"We know that there's a very, very good chance that we're going to have to move one of them," Rutherford told The Athletic's Josh Yohe regarding goaltenders Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry.

He added: "There is already interest. And it looks like we're going to have to move one of them."

Murray and Jarry are both restricted free agents this offseason, and allotting valuable salary-cap space to both doesn't seem necessary; the team has a capable backup in Casey DeSmith under contract at a modest $1.25 million annually for two more seasons.

The Penguins are projected to have $12.4 million in cap room this offseason, according to CapFriendly. But Pittsburgh also has six pending RFAs in addition to Murray and Jarry - including Jared McCann - who are in need of new contracts. The team also has a trio of pending unrestricted free agents in Conor Sheary, Patrick Marleau, and Justin Schultz.

It also wouldn't make sense for the Penguins to have both Murray and Jarry on the roster by the time the 2021 Seattle expansion draft rolls around; each team is permitted to protect just one goalie in the draft.

"I haven't gotten to the point yet where I'm having serious talks or seeing exactly how much I can get," Rutherford said. "But, I will say, I'm getting close to that point, to understanding just what people are willing to give.

"So, we'll see. I don't know exactly how it's going to go, but I can already see that there is going to be a lot of interest."

Deciding which goalie to trade could prove difficult. Murray, 26, led the Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles, but he struggled mightily this season. Jarry, 25, is far less proven at the NHL level, but he enjoyed a breakout 2019-20 campaign that resulted in an All-Star nod.

Stat (2019-20) Murray Jarry
GP 38 33
SV% .899 .921
GAA 2.87 2.43
GSAA -11.6 11.07

With Pittsburgh's Stanley Cup window closing, it's critical Rutherford both keeps the right goaltender and nets a valuable return for the goalie he moves. No pressure.

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Red Wings ink Fabbri to 2-year deal with reported $2.95M AAV

The Detroit Red Wings have signed forward Robby Fabbri to a two-year contract extension, the club announced Monday.

Fabbri's new deal carries an average annual value of $2.95 million, reports The Athletic's Craig Custance. His current contract has a $900,000 cap hit, according to CapFriendly.

The 24-year-old, who was a pending restricted free agent, collected 14 goals and 31 points in 52 games with the Red Wings this season after the St. Louis Blues traded him to Detroit for center Jacob de la Rose in November.

Fabbri had registered only one goal in nine games with the Blues in 2019-20 at the time of the trade, but he made an immediate impact upon joining the Red Wings. He notched two goals in his debut with his new club and racked up eight markers and 15 points over his first 16 contests with Detroit.

Though he was frequently beset by injuries through his first three NHL seasons with the Blues, Fabbri was a member of St. Louis' championship squad last season. He suited up for 10 playoff games in 2019, including two in the Stanley Cup Final.

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NHL records no positive COVID-19 tests for 5th straight week

The NHL's bubbles are still working.

For the fifth consecutive week, the league recorded zero COVID-19 cases among the 4,644 tests it conducted from Aug. 16 to 22.

As usual, testing was done daily on players and every other member of the teams' 52-person traveling groups.

The NHL also recorded perfect testing results in the week leading up to the restart when players reported to the hub cities.

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Avs’ Grubauer, Johnson out indefinitely

The Colorado Avalanche will be without two key pieces for the foreseeable future, as goaltender Philipp Grubauer and defenseman Erik Johnson are out indefinitely with undisclosed ailments, head coach Jared Bednar said Monday, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Both players were injured in Game 1 against the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

The Avs will roll with backup Pavel Francouz - who was actually the team's most effective goalie this season - in Grubauer's absence.

Stat Grubauer Francouz
GP 36 34
SV% .916 .923
GAA 2.63 2.41
GSAA 6.48 13.06

Both netminders have been sensational in the postseason thus far, though.

Stat Grubauer Francouz
GP 7 3
SV% .922 .941
GAA 1.87 1.59
GSAA 0.67 1.63

Losing Johnson is a massive blow. The veteran blue-liner averaged 21:03 of regular-season ice time - the third-most on the team behind Samuel Girard and Nathan MacKinnon. The club counts on the 2006 No. 1 pick to play a shutdown role.

Kevin Connauton, a veteran of 314 NHL games, will draw into the lineup in Johnson's place. Bednar said he liked the play of young rearguards Bowen Byram and Conor Timmins in training camp, but the bench boss values Connauton's strength, puck-moving ability, and experience, according to The Athletic's Ryan Clark.

Forward Matt Calvert will also remain out of the lineup for Game 2, which is set for Monday at 9:45 p.m. ET.

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Report: Panthers interview Sean Burke for GM role

The Florida Panthers interviewed Sean Burke for their general manager vacancy, a source told Arizona Coyotes insider Craig Morgan.

Burke is currently a scout and goaltending consultant with the Montreal Canadiens. He worked in the Coyotes organization for nearly a decade from 2007-16 in a number of roles, including goalie coach, director of player development, and assistant GM. Burke also served as the GM for Hockey Canada at the Spengler Cup (2017-present), World Championship (2018), and Olympic Games (2018).

The 53-year-old enjoyed an 18-season playing career as a goaltender. He played 66 of his 820 NHL games with the Panthers.

Florida fired Dale Tallon as GM on Aug. 10.

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Lehner: Fleury’s agent ‘looks terrible’ for tweeting backstabbing photo

Marc-Andre Fleury's agent, Allan Walsh, tweeted out a photo Saturday of a sword inscribed with Vegas Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer's name stabbing his client in the back.

Walsh is obviously not pleased DeBoer has rolled with Robin Lehner as the team's No. 1 goalie during the playoffs (he's started seven of nine games) instead of Fleury. Lehner addressed the tweet on Sunday after his shutout in Game 1 against the Vancouver Canucks.

"Me and Marc were just laughing. It's always the media and everyone else that makes a big deal out of this," Lehner said, according to TSN. "I think me and Marc we get along great; he's a really good guy.

"This team is a (heck) of a group and everyone is really tight, and when this happened, I saw Marc and we were just laughing. That's all it is. At the end of the day, he didn't do anything. It was his agent, and if he wants to be unprofessional, go ahead. He looks terrible, but it is what it is."

Fleury declined to answer whether he knew Walsh was going to tweet the photo, but the veteran did say he asked his agent to delete the image the following morning. Fleury also noted that he and Lehner maintain a good relationship.

Lehner, whom the Golden Knights acquired at the trade deadline from the Chicago Blackhawks, is 6-1 in the playoffs with a .918 save percentage and a 2.10 goals-against average. The 29-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent.

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Ovechkin named NHL 21 cover athlete

Washington Capitals sniper Alex Ovechkin will grace the cover of NHL 21, EA Sports announced Monday.

This isn't Ovi's first time on the front of a video game. He was the cover athlete for EA Sports' NHL 07 and 2K Sports' NHL 2K10. He also appeared on the front of the Russian edition of NHL 09.

Here's a look at the trailer:

Ovechkin was well on his way to another 50-goal season before the NHL halted the 2019-20 campaign, tying for the league lead with 48 tallies. The Great Eight fittingly ranks eighth on the NHL's all-time goals list with 706 and is 188 back of Wayne Gretzky for most ever.

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NHL playoff picks: Flyers poised to make a statement

Find line reports, best bets, and subscribe to push notifications in the Betting News section.

We closed out Round 1 with a 2-0 night and opened up Round 2 by cashing in on the Dallas Stars at a generous price.

Let's keep the momentum going into Monday night.

New York Islanders (+100) @ Philadelphia Flyers (-120)

This is a huge game for the Flyers. It feels somewhat ridiculous to say that - when isn't a Game 1 huge for everyone involved? But it's particularly massive for Philadelphia after the team largely struggled to get out of first gear against the Canadiens.

The Flyers know they weren't good enough against Montreal. Offensively, they struggled to generate anything, and defensively, they uncharacteristically gave away a lot of chances, only to be bailed out by Carter Hart. This is a relatively veteran team. They don't need anyone to tell them that level of play wasn't good enough for a Cup run, and they won't be ignorant of the fact that everyone is picking the Islanders to pull off the mild upset as a result.

If the Flyers remain stuck in mud - outskated and outworked by a relentless Islanders team - they can start packing now. But this team is a lot better than that. Philadelphia's inconsistencies are what have me on the Islanders to win the series, but I expect a strong response tonight. The Flyers' Round 1 series was a wake-up call and I predict they'll find another gear, much like they did in Game 3 against the Canadiens - their best of the series - following an embarrassing 5-0 Game 2 loss.

Pick: Flyers (-120)

Dallas Stars (+125) @ Colorado Avalanche (-145)

These teams put on a show Saturday night to kick off Round 2. The Avalanche were all over the place defensively, but it was a really strange game; they fell behind early and never could quite recover, losing both Erik Johnson and Philipp Grubauer to injury.

The Stars have found a groove on offense, scoring five or more goals in four of their seven playoff games thus far, while the Avalanche have scored 17 goals in their last three. That said, when we look back on this series in a couple of weeks, I feel comfortable saying Game 1 will be an outlier. These are two structured teams that aren't looking to play pond hockey.

Dallas continues to play a tidy defensive game, excelling at suppressing offense, and the Avalanche - while revered for their offensive capabilities - have allowed the second-fewest expected goals against per 60 minutes among Western Conference teams in the bubble. And that was reflected in Game 1, despite what the scoreboard suggested. The Avalanche posted just 1.52 expected goals for at five-on-five, compared to 1.87 for the Stars, with those tallies only jumping to 2.1 each at all strengths.

All four meetings between these teams in the regular season finished under 5.5 goals - a more accurate representation of how they will play each other - and, without him having to come off Colorado's bench cold, expect a much better showing from Pavel Francouz, a wildly underappreciated goalie and one of the league's best backups.

Pick: Under 5.5 (-115)

(Odds source: theScore Bet)

Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.

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