Kane looking ahead after 400th goal: ‘It leaves you wanting more’

Patrick Kane notched another career milestone Sunday night, and he's already thinking of the next one.

The Chicago Blackhawks superstar buried his 400th career goal in a rout of the Detroit Red Wings. When asked to reflect on the achievement, Kane opted to look ahead.

"I think it leaves you wanting more," he said, per NBC Sports. "I feel pretty good about my game and where it's at right now. I'll just try to keep getting better."

Kane is the 100th skater in NHL history to hit the 400-goal mark. He's also the fourth Blackhawk and ninth U.S.-born player to reach the accomplishment.

The 32-year-old is in the midst of an MVP-caliber campaign, currently tied for second in league scoring behind Connor McDavid with 34 points in 23 games - nine points clear of the next closest Blackhawk.

Kane recorded his 1,000th career point prior to last season's pause and is on the verge of playing his 1,000th NHL game. His resume also features three Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe, a Hart, an Art Ross, and a Calder Trophy.

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Tortorella not worried about job status after Jackets’ 5th straight loss

John Tortorella isn't concerned about his job security after the Columbus Blue Jackets dropped their fifth straight game Sunday.

"I never worry about that. I do my job the best I can," Tortorella said following a 2-1 defeat to the Nashville Predators, according to The Athletic's Aaron Portzline. "If people want to make decisions on me, that's their decision. ... I go about my business, and I'm going to coach this team the best way I possibly can."

The Jackets' recent slide has dropped the club to fifth in the Central Division. They're five points out of a playoff spot despite playing more games than all the teams ahead of them. Columbus has missed the playoffs only once since Tortorella was hired for the 2015-16 season.

The veteran bench boss has preached defense for his entire tenure with the club, but the Blue Jackets haven't met expectations in 2021. They rank 28th in goals against per game this season (3.54) after finishing the 2020 campaign with the NHL's third-best mark (2.61).

Columbus was the talk of the NHL in January after dealing a disgruntled Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Winnipeg Jets for sniper Patrik Laine. Dubois requested a trade in the offseason, and his relationship with the club appeared to become irreparable after Tortorella benched him for a lack of effort.

The Blue Jackets' next chance to snap their skid comes Tuesday versus the Detroit Red Wings.

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Eichel contradicts Krueger, says he didn’t get hurt Thursday

Jack Eichel claims he didn't get injured during the pregame warmup before Thursday's home loss to the New Jersey Devils, contrary to what Buffalo Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger told reporters that night.

After the Philadelphia Flyers shut out the Sabres for the second straight day, Eichel said he got hurt in New Jersey, presumably during Buffalo's win over the Devils on Tuesday, according to The Athletic's John Vogl. He added that the injury that forced him out Thursday, as well as Saturday's contest, wasn't a new development.

The Sabres captain missed the morning skate Thursday and was a late scratch from his team's overtime defeat that evening. After the game, Krueger said Eichel was hurt during the warmup and the injury wasn't related to his absence that morning.

"This was a completely new development," the bench boss said at the time.

Eichel also left Tuesday's game with an injury. However, Krueger said Sunday he wasn't trying to mislead anyone with his statements Thursday.

"When I mentioned it, the specific region that actually took him out of the game (Thursday), the first time I'd heard about it was warmup," Krueger told the media, including WROC's Thad Brown, on Sunday.

"That he was injured and he came out of the Jersey game (Tuesday) injured was clear to me, but it turns out that there was multiple lower-body injuries and whatever," Krueger continued. "The point is that he came out of Jersey hurt. The warmup call and the region that ended up being (aggravated), it was his first time back in his skates since that game and it changed the game."

Krueger added: "I definitely didn't do gamesmanship there. It was just that we had hoped he was going to play that game."

The Sabres have lost three straight contests. Buffalo has only one win in its last five games and has collected only three points during that span.

Eichel leads the club with 12 assists but has produced only two goals in 17 games. He has a goals for percentage of 40 compared to an expected goals for percentage of 60.36 at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick.

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Fantasy: 5 moves you need to make in Week 7

Every week, theScore offers a fantasy hockey column detailing a handful of moves you should make. This edition focuses on Week 7. Roster percentages and position eligibility are courtesy of Yahoo.

Add Vladimir Tarasenko

Scott Rovak / National Hockey League / Getty

Team: Blues
Position: RW
Rostered: 71%

Tarasenko's return to St. Louis' lineup is near, and he's available in more leagues than he should be. There's no concrete date on his season debut, but using an early add this week on the Russian sniper is a savvy move. Tarasenko could make a massive difference for your team down the stretch if he plays anywhere close to his ceiling.

Add Jake Allen

Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty

Team: Canadiens
Position: G
Rostered: 44%

The Dominique Ducharme era isn't off to the smoothest start, as Montreal has collected a single point in two games under its new head coach. Still, Ducharme has already made waves by starting Allen over a struggling Carey Price, which could become the norm for the Canadiens going forward. Allen has far superior numbers this season and is operating on a much longer leash than Price, who may need some additional time on the sideline to rediscover his old self. Take a crack at adding a potential new starter on a playoff hopeful.

Sell high on Mark Scheifele

Jonathan Kozub / National Hockey League / Getty

Team: Jets
Position: C
Rostered: 97%

Scheifele is off to a roaring start this season, currently ranking sixth in scoring with 28 points. He's also fresh off an 11-game point streak. But now is the time to move the Jets pivot for a different superstar or a package of players. Scheifele is bound for some regression. He's shooting a whopping 25% to this point, and his underlying numbers are poor for a top-line pivot. Sell him while his inflated totals are attractive to your fellow competitors.

Move on from John Gibson

Joe Sargent / National Hockey League / Getty

Team: Ducks
Position: G
Rostered: 80%

Gibson has all the tools to be a star goalie, but the Ducks can't be relied upon to give him any help. He's lost five consecutive starts and owns a measly .874 save percentage over his last 10 appearances. It's unlikely anyone would trade for him, and it'll hurt to drop a guy you may have drafted to be your starter. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet, though, and streaming goalies with better odds of winning single games is a better strategy than bearing the burden of rostering Gibson.

Add Mats Zuccarello

Dave Reginek / National Hockey League / Getty

Team: Wild
Position: RW
Rostered: 41%

Zuccarello has been dynamite for the Wild after making his season debut a couple of weeks ago. He's found incredible chemistry with Victor Rask and Calder Trophy favorite Kirill Kaprizov on Minnesota's second line, and Zuccarello's notched 11 points over his last six contests. He doesn't offer much in shots, hits, or blocks, but he's worth taking a chance on as he rides this unforeseen wave of success.

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Capitals’ Samsonov to make 1st start since mid-January

Ilya Samsonov is returning to the Washington Capitals' crease Sunday afternoon exactly six weeks since his last NHL appearance.

The goaltender will start against the New Jersey Devils, Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette confirmed.

Samsonov last played Jan. 17 in his second start of 2021. He entered this season as the Capitals' No. 1 netminder but landed on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list on Jan. 20 and reportedly tested positive.

The league placed the 24-year-old on its list along with Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Dmitry Orlov, and the team later admitted the players had violated protocol by interacting in a hotel room. The NHL fined the Capitals $100,000.

Ovechkin and Orlov returned in late January and early February, respectively. Samsonov initially rejoined the Capitals for practice along with Kuznetsov on Feb. 8, and while the forward resumed playing for Washington on Feb. 14, the team assigned Samsonov to its AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, for a conditioning stint on that date.

Samsonov played four games for the Bears, going 2-1-1 with an .869 save percentage. He earned a victory while stopping 25 of 28 shots Friday against the Binghamton Devils.

The Capitals rode rookie Vitek Vanecek heavily in Samsonov's absence. The 25-year-old started 16 of Washington's 17 games from Jan. 19 through Saturday. He's gone 9-4-3 with a .909 save percentage and 0.8 goals saved above average in 17 contests this season.

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Panthers place Connolly on waivers

The Florida Panthers placed forward Brett Connolly on waivers Sunday, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Connolly, 28, is in the second season of a four-year, $14-million deal he signed with the Panthers ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.

The 6-foot-3 winger tallied 19 goals and 14 assists over 69 games last season but has just one goal and three points through 16 contests in 2020-21.

Selected sixth overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2010 NHL Draft, Connolly has amassed 99 goals and 191 points over 512 career outings.

Florida has 13 wins in its opening 20 games for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign.

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Watch: Blues’ Binnington goes after multiple Sharks after getting pulled

The St. Louis Blues pulled goaltender Jordan Binnington from Saturday's contest against the San Jose Sharks after allowing four goals on 19 shots through a period and a half.

On his way out of the game, Binnington was clearly angry and went after several Sharks players, including opposing goalie Devan Dubnyk.

Binnington was assessed a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the play. Backup goalie Ville Husso took his place in the crease with the Blues trailing 4-3.

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NHL Saturday betting preview: Trust Carolina in Central Division showdown

A split on Thursday takes us to 16-7 on this current run as we look to finish off a strong February.

With injury uncertainties it was difficult to write this in advance, but now that we've got more clarity there's still value on the board heading into Saturday night.

Hurricanes (-115) @ Panthers (-105)

We're getting an excellent number with the Hurricanes here in what's setting up as the ideal goaltending matchup between Sergei Bobrovsky for Florida and James Reimer likely starting for Carolina.

Bobrovsky ranks 61st among all goaltenders in the NHL in GSAx with a minus-7.52 mark, and while his surface stats look improved of late, two of those starts came against the Red Wings. He was lit up for eight goals on 49 shots - an .836 save percentage - in two starts against the Lightning, and now faces a Carolina team with an equally potent offense.

In fact, the Hurricanes actually rate as the league's best five-on-five offense by a decent margin so far this season, generating 2.84 expected goals per 60 minutes. They also boast a top-10 power play. The Panthers have been one of the league's better stories early on, but I have doubts about the sustainability when I look at this roster top to bottom. This is a great price to get in on one of the league's best teams.

Pick: Hurricanes (-115)

Canadiens (-130) @ Jets (+110)

I was on the Canadiens on Thursday and got burned as they blew an early 3-1 lead. There's a lot that went into the loss, and to blame it all on Carey Price isn't fair, but he's a big part of why they lost that game.

Price let in a brutal go-ahead goal to Nate Thompson in the third period, which proved to be the game-winner, just minutes after the Canadiens did well to kill off a pair of penalties. It was a deflating goal and completely took the wind out of their sails. It's been a theme for them of late, with Price letting in soft goals in recent starts against both the Senators and Maple Leafs that have cost the Habs dearly.

It looks like they've learned their lesson, as Jake Allen is getting the start Saturday. Allen has been nothing short of spectacular for Montreal, ranking top 10 in the NHL in GSAA and GSAx, while Price sits 64th out of 68 goalies in both categories. His struggles have plagued this team and it's time the torch is passed to the Fredericton, New Brunswick, native.

The massive uptick between the pipes makes the Canadiens worthy of this price, even without Josh Anderson, who isn't expected to play. Add in the fact the Jets are one of the league's worst five-on-five teams going up against one of the best, and I'm willing to bite again. Let's hope I don't live to regret it once again.

Pick: Canadiens (-130)

(Odds source: theScore Bet)

Alex Moretto is theScore's supervising editor of sports betting. 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, despises how the NHL handles starting goalie announcements, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.

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