Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen doesn't plan on making a coaching change amid the team's five-game losing streak.
Kekalainen called a press conference Tuesday to address any questions about head coach John Tortorella's job status.
"I wanted to have this call to just kind of clarify that this coaching staff has got us out of the slumps before, they've done a great job for us in the past five, six years they've been here, and they are the ones that are going to get out of this jam," the general manager said.
Tortorella, who has been Columbus' bench boss since the 2016-17 campaign, is easily the most successful coach in the franchise's history, leading the team to playoff appearances in each of his four prior campaigns at the helm. No other coach in the club's history has led the team to multiple playoff berths.
"He's done a great job for us. I think we owe him a lot for what he's done for this franchise," Kekalainen said of Tortorella, who's in the last year of his contract. "All the other issues will get solved in time."
The 8-10-5 Blue Jackets are seventh in their division in points percentage, ahead of only the Detroit Red Wings. Columbus got off to a slow start last season, too, beginning the year 5-7-3. Kekalainen believes a similar turnaround is in the cards, despite the shortened campaign.
"I have full confidence we're going to snap out of this," Kekalainen said.
Ottawa Senators forward Derek Stepan will miss the rest of the season with a dislocated left shoulder, general manager Pierre Dorion announced Tuesday.
Stepan will undergo surgery later this week to repair labrum damage in his shoulder after suffering the injury during a win over the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 23. The team expects him to be fully recovered for next season.
The 30-year-old center collected one goal and five assists in 20 games with Ottawa this campaign. The Senators acquired him in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes in December, sending a 2021 second-round pick to the West Division club.
Ottawa reportedly tried to trade Stepan earlier this season, but last month, Dorion denied the notion that the veteran wanted to play in the United States to be closer to his wife and newborn child.
Stepan spent the previous three campaigns with the Coyotes after playing seven seasons with the New York Rangers, who drafted him 51st overall in 2008.
The Calgary Flames suffered another embarrassing loss to the Ottawa Senators on Monday, and veteran forward Milan Lucic is holding his teammates accountable despite recent speculation that head coach Geoff Ward could be on the hot seat.
"You hear a lot of outside noise talking about coaching and all this … style of play and all this bullshit," Lucic said after Monday's 5-1 loss, according to Sportsnet960's Pat Steinberg. "But that has nothing to do with the coaches. That has everything to do with the guys that are playing."
Ottawa, currently sitting last in the North Division, routed Calgary 6-1 last week as well. The Flames have only three wins in their last 10 games and tallied just one goal in each of the seven losses during that span.
Ward took over head coaching duties in November 2019 and guided the club to a 24-15-3 record before the campaign paused in March. Calgary has struggled to match that level of play this season, and Ward recently called out his team for its inconsistent play.
Lucic apparently agreed with his coach's message Monday and said it's up to the players to put in the work.
"It seems like … we just want it easy on a night to night basis," Lucic said, per Steinberg. "We don't want to work hard like we did when this coaching staff took over last year. There's more than enough people in this organization that need to look in the mirror."
The Flames own a 10-11-2 record and rank 27th in goals per game (2.52) this season.
Stalock had been sidelined all season with what the Minnesota Wild classified as an upper-body injury before being claimed by the Oilers on waivers Monday.
Stalock said he showed no symptoms and returned multiple negative tests, but team doctors told him last year he was positive. He underwent examinations that revealed myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart muscle and can lead to cardiac arrest. He was told to rest for six weeks.
"Those first couple weeks were scary," Stalock said. "You go on the internet and read stuff and you're like, 'Holy shit.'
"I was completely asymptomatic, but they think because I had no symptoms and had it in my system that because it was right at the time where we were ramping things up with skating and working out and ramping up for the season that my heart was working and working and working and started to get stressed and swell because of the virus in my system."
Stalock continued: "It was mentally draining and very frustrating. Every doctor you talk to, they’re like, 'This is so new, we don’t know what can happen.' And you're like, 'Well, that doesn’t help.'"
Stalock visited a specialist in Boston in mid-January and was given clearance to begin working out again.
The Wild waived Stalock to give way for Cam Talbot and Kaapo Kahkonen in goal, a tandem that's been highly effective for the club this season.
Stalock will have to quarantine for two weeks before being eligible to suit up with the Oilers. The 33-year-old owns a .909 save percentage in 151 career appearances.
I'm sitting at 66-48 on the season entering the week after going 2-3 over the weekend, resting at +19.55 units.
Let's get above that 20-unit mark again, starting with the following games I'm eyeing for the next two nights. And remember, any added bets will be posted on Twitter for full transparency.
Hurricanes (-120) @ Panthers (+100) Mar. 1, 7 p.m. ET
I really had to sweat out my Hurricanes bet on Saturday, with the game between these teams ending in a shootout after Carolina blew a 2-0 lead and almost lost late in regulation. The Panthers, meanwhile, are reviving the Cardiac Cats nickname with their third-period heroics of late, and the results have been well-deserved, according to all the underlying metrics.
After starting the season well, Florida has found another gear while owning 59.6% of the expected goal share at five-on-five over the team's last six games. The club's CF% also sits at 57.5% during that span.
In addition, the Panthers hold the edge in tonight's goaltending matchup, with Chris Driedger getting the nod after Sergei Bobrovsky started in Saturday's loss. Bobrovsky ranks 55th in the NHL in GSAA and 63rd in GSAx, while Driedger enters the contest sitting sixth and 15th in those two categories, respectively.
For the Hurricanes, the difference between their netminders is negligible, though it works in our favor to see Alex Nedeljkovic starting ahead of James Reimer.
Pick: Panthers (+100)
Wild (+125) @ Golden Knights (-145) Mar. 1, 10 p.m.
We're getting really good value here with a Wild team that the market continues to undervalue. Minnesota has been good this season, and all the underlying numbers support its strong start. At five-on-five, the Wild rank first in the NHL in HDCF% and second in xGF%. They're also ninth in expected goals per 60 minutes while allowing the third-fewest per 60.
The club ranks ahead of the Golden Knights in every significant category, and while I'm not suggesting the Wild are better, they're certainly playing that way right now.
Ride the hot team here, because passing on the Wild at this price is tough given how the squad has been playing over the first six weeks of the season.
Pick: Wild (+125)
Sabres (+120) @ Rangers (-140); Mar. 2, 7 p.m.
This is one of a few games I'm looking at for Tuesday, with the Penguins, Red Wings, and Stars also jumping out as teams providing solid value early.
The lookahead line for this matchup has the Rangers at -140, a price I'd jump on given the state of the Sabres right now. They're in absolute shambles, with no end in sight. The Sabres aren't getting production from their top players, they're saddled with several terrible contracts, their starting goaltender is out for at least a month, and the team is now dealing with an unhappy and unsettled Jack Eichel.
Eichel's return on Sunday did nothing for Buffalo, which was shut out in back-to-back games over the weekend, and the club hasn't scored a five-on-five goal over its last eight periods. The Sabres rank 28th in expected goal share at five-on-five, which is especially bad considering they sat fourth after the first two weeks of the season. Since then they've been dead last in the NHL with a miserable 41.6% share.
Conversely, the Rangers rank a respectable 11th this campaign, and they continue to play well despite Artemi Panarin's absence. New York holds a significant advantage over the Sabres at five-on-five, as well as in goal, where Igor Shesterkin has posted strong GSAA and GSAx numbers. Carter Hutton, meanwhile, is 1-6 with a sub-.900 save percentage, ranking 47th in GSAA and 46th out of 50 goalies in Goals Above Replacement (via Evolving-Hockey).
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.
Stalock will report directly to the Oilers following his 14-day quarantine, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
The 33-year-old owns a .909 save percentage and 2.61 goals-against average in 151 career games between the Wild and San Jose Sharks - quality numbers for a backup. He's yet to make an appearance this season.
The underlying numbers don't support Stalock as strongly, though.
Alex Stalock, placed on waivers by MIN, has been the wrong kind of consistent for the Wild over the past three seasons. His save percentage has been propped up by excellent team defence for years. #mnwildpic.twitter.com/2v0NemXWw3
The Oilers didn't have a third goalie with any NHL experience when Mike Smith went down prior to the start of the season, which forced Mikko Koskinen to start 10 consecutive games to begin the campaign. However, Smith has played well since returning.
Stat
Koskinen
Smith
Rec.
7-8-0
6-1-0
GAA
3.26
2.04
SV%
.901
.934
SO
0
2
Stalock is signed through next season with an annual cap hit of $785,000.
Longtime NHL player Todd Bertuzzi was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence last weekend in Michigan, TMZ reports.
The 46-year-old was reportedly swerving all over the road and ran a red light before he was pulled over Saturday morning in Auburn Hills.
Responding officers believed Bertuzzi was under the influence of alcohol, but he refused a breathalyzer test, according to TMZ. He reportedly showed signs of impairment while undergoing other field sobriety tests.
Bertuzzi was eventually arrested and taken to Oakland County Jail, per TMZ. Police reportedly received a warrant for a blood draw, but the results are currently unknown.
The former Vancouver Canucks star is best remembered for sucker-punching Steve Moore and slamming his head into the ice during a game against the Colorado Avalanche in 2004. The NHL suspended Bertuzzi for 20 games, and he pleaded guilty to assault. Moore suffered three fractured vertebrae among other injuries and never played pro hockey again.
Bertuzzi also played for the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Ducks, and Calgary Flames over his 1,159-game career.