The United States advanced to the gold-medal game at the Women's World Hockey Championship after defeating Finland 3-0 in the semifinal on Monday afternoon.
The game remained a scoreless tie following the first period, but Alex Carpenter put the Americans on the board early in the second.
Abbey Murphy tacked on another goal toward the end of the second frame. The team held on to close out the game, adding an empty-netter in the final minutes.
The U.S. outshot Finland 32-14.
The Americans will now take on the winner of Canada vs. Switzerland, a matchup slated for 7 p.m. ET Monday night. The U.S. defeated Finland during the 2019 tournament and is the defending champion.
Benn spent last season with the Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks. The 34-year-old collected one goal and nine assists in 39 games while also blocking 51 shots.
The blue-liner is a veteran of 556 career games, scoring 24 goals and adding 103 assists. Benn's also managed 670 hits and 908 blocked shots.
John Tavares appears to be on track to return at full health next season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs captain is recovering from a big collision that sent him to the hospital during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"It's been a great offseason for myself, obviously from a health standpoint, but even more so I think just continuing to get back to work and try to get better and recover well, obviously I think some time really helps," Tavares said on NHL Network. "I'm really fortunate that it wasn't anything much more than the incident and I really kind of came out of the hospital and I've been doing really well ever since and didn't really have any hiccups or any issues, just kind of kept building from there.
"So it's been a good offseason, I'm doing great."
Tavares collided with Montreal Canadiens forward Corey Perry in the opening minutes of the playoffs, taking a knee to the head at full speed. He suffered a concussion and knee injury on the play but was discharged from the hospital the following day.
The 30-year-old resumed light skating not long after being discharged but had no timetable for a return to playing. He's slowly ramped up his offseason routine to get ready for the upcoming campaign.
"It was nice to just kind of get back out and working on some things I wanted to work on," Tavares said. "Come off the injury and be on the ice a lot and get a good feel for my game and go from there and then just try to be out there with a good bunch of guys up here up north."
Tavares posted 19 goals and 31 assists in 56 games last season.
The Jack Eichel saga in Buffalo has a new development.
The Sabres star has parted ways with longtime agents Peter Fish and Peter Donatelli and is now represented by Pat Brisson of CAA Hockey, reports The Buffalo News' Mike Harrington.
Brisson is one of the biggest agents in hockey, representing the likes of Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Anze Kopitar, Patrick Kane, and John Tavares. His roster of clients also includes young stars such as Trevor Zegras, Jack Hughes, Elias Pettersson, and Cole Caufield.
Eichel's previous agents were actively trying to broker a trade for the disgruntled forward over the summer. In late July, the agents issued a statement that the "process is not working" and they expected a trade to happen before the opening of the league's free-agency period.
The 24-year-old is still reportedly seeking to undergo an artificial disk replacement surgery for his neck, but the Sabres have denied his request to undergo the procedure. With the season now rapidly approaching, it's unclear when Eichel will be able to resume play.
Svechnikov just wrapped up his third season with the Hurricanes since being selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. The 21-year-old put up a career-high 24 goals and 37 assists in 68 games during the 2019-20 campaign, and he's scored 59 goals and added 81 assists in 205 career contests.
"Andrei is one of the cornerstones of this organization, and we are thrilled to reach a long-term commitment to keep him here," general manager Don Waddell said. "He is one of the brightest rising stars in our sport and will play a key role in our efforts to bring the Stanley Cup to the Triangle this decade."
Svechnikov recorded 15 goals and 27 assists in 55 games last season, ranking third on the team in points (42) and second in hits (114).
Brassard, 33, spent last season with the Arizona Coyotes. He registered eight goals and 12 assists in 53 contests.
The center played for a handful of teams over the last few seasons, spending time with the Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, and New York Islanders since 2016. He also had stints with the New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets earlier in his career.
Brassard played under Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault while with the Rangers and was a part of the roster that made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2014.
Over his career, Brassard has appeared in 905 games, scored 194 goals, and contributed 309 assists.
Henrik Lundqvist may have never lifted the elusive Stanley Cup, but that doesn't change the fact that he's retiring as one of the top goalies the NHL has ever seen.
Backstopping the New York Rangers for his entire 15-season career, Lundqvist strung together one impressive campaign after another, accumulating several notable accolades and moments along the way. Let's take a look at seven of the most memorable.
The King denies Briere in Winter Classic
Up 3-2 with time winding down in the 2012 Winter Classic against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Rangers looked well on their way to winning the outdoor game. But in the dying seconds with Philadelphia applying pressure, Ryan McDonagh was whistled for covering the puck in the crease - gifting the Flyers a penalty shot with 19.6 seconds left on the clock.
The Flyers selected Daniel Briere to take the shot. With the game on the line, Lundqvist didn't crack under pressure, coming up with a huge save to secure the victory for New York.
Lundqvist finally secures Vezina
Lundqvist was a perennial Vezina Trophy contender for most of his career. He was nominated for the award in each of his first three NHL seasons from 2006-08 but never managed to come out on top.
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / Getty
He wasn't nominated again until 2012 when he went up against Pekka Rinne and Jonathan Quick. But the fourth time was clearly the charm, as Lundqvist was finally voted the long-overdue winner thanks to a 38-19-5 record, a sparkling .929 save percentage, and a 1.97 goals-against average. Lundqvist garnered his fifth and final Vezina nomination in 2013.
Hank earns career win No. 400
Only 13 goalies in NHL history have hit the 400-win mark, and Lundqvist became one of them with a victory against the Colorado Avalanche in 2017. He was the first European-born goalie to reach the mark and the fastest NHL netminder to do so, needing just 727 games. He joined Martin Brodeur and Tony Esposito as the only goalies to win 400 games with one franchise.
Lundqvist retires sitting sixth all-time in wins among goalies with more victories than any other non-Canadian NHL netminder.
Lundqvist helps Rangers reach Stanley Cup Final
Lundqvist and the Rangers ran into a hot Montreal Canadiens squad in the 2014 Eastern Conference Final. Entering Game 6 with a 3-2 series lead, New York needed a win to clinch its first trip to the Stanley Cup Final since 1994.
The contest was still scoreless when Lundqvist made an incredible twirling save on a redirected shot from Thomas Vanek near the end of the second period. The stop clearly sparked the team in front of him, as Dominic Moore scored two minutes later for the eventual game-winner and series-clincher.
Etched in Rangers record books
It seemed inevitable that Lundqvist would end his Rangers tenure as the franchise's leading netminder in most regards. On March 18, 2014, he secured his 302nd regular-season win with the club in an 8-4 thumping of the Ottawa Senators, officially eclipsing Mike Richter as the winningest goalie in franchise history.
Lundqvist finishes his career leading all Rangers goalies in games played (887), wins (459), saves (23,509), save percentage (.918), and shutouts (64). It's safe to say nobody will touch some of those records anytime soon.
Sweden snags gold in Turin
Early in his career, Lundqvist helped lead his native Sweden to a gold medal at the Turin Olympics in 2006. He started six games at the tournament, surrendering just 12 goals and recording a .907 save percentage.
DON EMMERT / AFP / Getty
Facing rival nation Finland in the gold medal game, Lundqvist delivered a fantastic performance, stopping 25 of 27 shots and making several highlight-reel saves in the third period to keep Sweden on top. He would also help Sweden secure a silver medal in Sochi in 2014.
Lundqvist dethrones Hasek
Dominik Hasek was one of the first European-born goaltenders to make a significant mark in the NHL and is considered one of the best goalies to ever suit up in the league.
But on New Year's Eve in 2016, Lundqvist backstopped the Rangers to a 6-2 victory over the Avalanche to earn career win No. 390 - surpassing Hasek for the most regular-season wins by a European goalie.
Zadorov was a restricted free agent and had filed for arbitration. He'll be an unrestricted free agent after the 2021-22 season.
The Flames acquired the 26-year-old from the Chicago Blackhawks in July in exchange for a 2022 third-round pick.
Zadorov skated in 55 games with the Blackhawks last season, recording one goal, seven assists, and 190 hits. He's collected 23 goals and 60 assists in 411 career games split between the Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, and Buffalo Sabres.
Lundqvist was forced to sit out this past season after undergoing surgery to repair a heart condition. He had signed a one-year deal with the Washington Capitals last offseason before team doctors discovered the condition.
The 39-year-old was gearing up for a potential return to the NHL this year, but didn't receive medical clearance to play.
“I was hoping I would be 100% by this time," Lundqvist said, according to The New York Post's Larry Brooks. "But I was told that inflammation takes a long time to correct and with medication I might be out of the woods, but it could be another full year before I would be 100%.
“So I thought about this, talked with my closest friends, my family, and my wife, Therese. This year was probably harder for her than for me. She is such a strong woman. It came down to how badly I wanted to push it, how much of a gamble did I want to take? And I came to the conclusion that there are too many unknowns and too much risk for not enough reward for me to keep playing."
Lundqvist retires as the sixth-winningest goalie in NHL history, recording a 459-310-96 record with the Rangers alongside a .918 save percentage, 2.43 goals-against average, and 64 shutouts.
The Arizona Coyotes will need to find a new home at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season.
The city of Glendale announced that it has informed the NHL club that it will not renew the operating agreement for Gila River Arena - the home of the Coyotes - and that the team will need to vacate the arena at the end of the upcoming campaign.
The city and the team have had ongoing negotiations over the last several months on the terms of a lease extension and potential renovations to the arena, reports The Athletic's Katie Strang. The club also reportedly had multiple notices about outstanding balances owed.
