Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid was nearly at a loss for words after his club's 6-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

"I'm not sure what to tell you," McDavid said when asked to evaluate what happened in the defeat. "Obviously, it's been a long layoff. Come in and work ourselves to a 3-1 lead and give it away."

The 25-year-old added: "I wish I had an answer for you. We've talked it over and over and over again in that room and, obviously, we haven't found an answer yet. That being said, we gotta show up, and we got three practices here before our next one, and we get back to work."

The Oilers entered the third period of Saturday's contest with a 3-1 lead but surrendered five goals in the final frame. It was Edmonton's first contest in 10 days after several of its games were postponed.

McDavid finished the game without a point, with the Oilers getting goals from Brendan Perlini, Darnell Nurse, Zack Kassian, and Kailer Yamamoto. Third-string goaltender Stuart Skinner allowed five goals on 25 shots.

Kassian didn't offer any excuses about the team's performance.

"Hockey's a weird game at times. (This is) the same group at the beginning of the year that was one of the best teams in the league, and now we seem like we're finding ways to lose when we need to find ways to win," he said. "That snowball going downhill, I don't think that's an excuse anymore. We had that off break; all those postponements, I think, was a perfect time to regroup."

The Oilers sit sixth in the Pacific Division with an 18-15-2 record. The club is 2-6-2 in its last 10 games after a hot start to the 2021-22 season.

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Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon didn't hold back when discussing teammate Nazem Kadri's current exclusion from the upcoming All-Star Game.

"It's silly. I don't think every team should send a guy," said MacKinnon, the Central Division's All-Star captain, according to The Athletic's Peter Baugh.

MacKinnon added: "It's an All-Star Game, not a participation game."

Kadri is easily having the best season of his career so far, posting 48 points in 30 games. He ranks fourth in the league in points and second in points per game.

However, the NHL's current All-Star format requires each team to have at least one representative. Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller was named an All-Star for the Central Division despite having 22 fewer points than Kadri in four more games.

Now, Kadri's fate rests in the hands of fans as he can still be voted in as one of the "Last Men In."

MacKinnon also believes the Avalanche should have "five or six" guys on the team. Although Cale Makar earned an All-Star nod, other notable teammates like Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, and Devon Toews weren't recognized.

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Thursday night's contest between the Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens ended in unique fashion.

The clubs went to overtime tied 2-2, and Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev sprung free for a breakaway in the extra frame. Mike Hoffman chased him down and hit him from behind, sending the pair crashing into Habs goalie Sam Montembeault.

Officials reviewed the play to determine if the puck crossed the goal line. The referee quickly announced that the goal was good, but then added that the play was under a second review to see if it was offside.

The goal was eventually confirmed, giving the Blackhawks a 3-2 win.

"We've got to be 0/10 on those calls," Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme said postgame, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels. "Definitely hard to swallow."

Meanwhile, Kurashev added that he went through all of the emotions while waiting through the two reviews.

"I was YES, and then NO again. I was just hoping they're going to count it," Kurashev said, according to The Athletic's Mark Lazerus. "And thank God they did."

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The Vancouver Canucks are open to the idea of trading backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak, reports the Toronto Star's Chris Johnston.

Halak has two performance bonuses tied to the one-year contract he inked with the Canucks during the offseason. He will be owed $1.25 million if he appears in 10 contests this season and will earn an additional $250,000 if he finishes the year with a save percentage above .905, according to CapFriendly.

If he can unlock the bonuses, the money would count against the Canucks' salary cap next year. As a result, Halak's contract only carries a cap hit of $1.5 million this season.

Halak has currently appeared in eight games and owns a .915 save percentage this season. He's finished with a mark below .905 only once in his career - in 2012-13 with the St. Louis Blues - and appeared in fewer than 10 games once in 2007-08.

Thatcher Demko is locked into the Canucks' starting role, as he's played 27 games this season. The club also has goaltender Spencer Martin on its taxi squad and youngster Michael DiPietro in the AHL.

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Detroit Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi exited in the final seconds of overtime against the Anaheim Ducks after suffering an apparent skate laceration to his wrist.

Head coach Jeff Blashill said postgame the anticipation is that Bertuzzi is OK, according to The Detroit Free Press' Helene St. James.

Here's a look at the play:

Bertuzzi had one goal and an assist prior to his exit during the 4-3 shootout loss.

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Pittsburgh Penguins president of hockey operations Brian Burke knows his club can contend for the Stanley Cup this season but hinted the team likely won't be massive buyers leading up to the trade deadline.

"What assets are we going to give up to add? The answer is not many," Burke told NHL Network Radio on Sunday, according to NHL.com's Dave McCarthy. "It's time for this team to stop the steady, and this will come out as a negative and I don't want it to because I love Jim (Rutherford), but stop the trend where we are going to give away a lot for a 20% chance at winning. You get close, you add, and Jim did what he was supposed to do. But we have to stop that trend at some point."

The Penguins have notoriously been big spenders for much of the past decade and notably under ex-general manager Rutherford. The team currently owns all three of their first-round picks for the next three drafts.

In 2020, the club unloaded a first-round pick, Calen Addison, and Alex Galchenyuk to acquire Jason Zucker. In 2019, the club sent three draft picks alongside Riley Sheahan and Derick Brassard to bring in Jared McCann and Nick Bjugstad.

After recently winning 10 straight games, the Penguins have shown they still have what it takes to be a legitimate contender in the NHL. However, Burke hinted the club will likely have to work with what they have and reinforcements won't be guaranteed.

"Do we believe we are a contender? Yes, we do, and we (GM Ron Hextall) have since we got here," Burke said. "Can we add with our cap situation if we decide to? We are pretty limited with the salary cap restrictions that we are under, so making a big deal probably would be difficult to do. But we would look, certainly."

The Penguins have a 20-9-5 record and currently sit in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division.

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The New York Rangers placed head coach Gerard Gallant in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol, the team announced Sunday.

The Rangers previously placed Ryan Reaves, Julien Gauthier, and Igor Shesterkin in the protocol on Jan. 6.

Kris Knoblauch will assume coaching duties in Gallant's absence. Knoblauch is the head coach of the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack. He previously served as head coach of the Rangers for six games last season when ex-coach David Quinn was placed in COVID-19 protocol. Knoblauch went 4-2, including a 9-0 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers.

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The Los Angeles Kings hired Marc Bergevin as a senior adviser to general manager Rob Blake, the team announced Sunday.

The ex-Montreal Canadiens GM was fired from his position in November after 10 years with the club.

"Marc brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our hockey operations staff and will be a valuable addition to our group," Blake said in a press release. "We look forward to his contributions."

Prior to joining the Canadiens, Bergevin spent seven seasons as an executive with the Chicago Blackhawks in numerous different roles, including assistant GM from 2011-12.

"I’ve enjoyed my time away, but I’m excited to join the LA Kings and become an active part of helping the team reach its objectives," Bergevin said. "I have a great amount of respect for (Kings president) Luc (Robitaille), Rob, and the staff they have in place and it’s an honor to provide my input to this highly regarded group."

Bergevin's time with the Canadiens was a mixed bag of success and hardship, but he ultimately led the club to a Stanley Cup Final berth last season. He consistently made big splashes in the trade market and free agency as one of the league's most active GMs.

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The New York Rangers placed goaltender Igor Shesterkin in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol, the team announced Thursday.

The club recalled netminder Keith Kinkaid from the taxi squad in a corresponding move to join Alexandar Georgiev on the active roster.

Shesterkin joins Artemi Panarin in the protocol, but the latter is expected to rejoin the team when it takes on the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday, according to Mollie Walker of the New York Post. Panarin won't play versus the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.

Shesterkin has been one of the league's best goaltenders so far this season, tallying a 15-4-3 record with a .936 save percentage and 2.09 goals against average.

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The Vancouver Canucks placed forward Elias Pettersson in COVID-19 protocol, the team announced Wednesday.

He joins four other Canucks currently in the protocol: Brock Boeser, Phil Di Giuseppe, Justin Dowling, and Jason Dickinson.

Vancouver is slated to play the Ottawa Senators at home Saturday before taking on the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.

Pettersson has six goals and 11 assists in 34 games this season.

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