All posts by Josh Gold-Smith

Jets giving Brossoit 2nd straight start

Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice isn't turning back to No. 1 netminder Connor Hellebuyck for Sunday night's road game.

Backup goaltender Laurent Brossoit will make a second consecutive start when the Jets face the New York Islanders, Maurice confirmed after Sunday's morning skate.

Brossoit, 26, allowed four goals on 39 shots in a shootout victory over the New Jersey Devils on Friday.

"I just really liked his game," Maurice told reporters Sunday. "That gave us the chance to mount the comeback."

Hellebuyck gave up five markers on 31 shots in a 6-4 loss to the New York Rangers in Winnipeg's season opener on Thursday. He also struggled in the preseason, allowing 12 goals in three games for an .813 save percentage - the second-worst preseason rate in the NHL.

Winnipeg is in the midst of a season-opening, four-game road trip that concludes Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Report: Canucks to make Eriksson healthy scratch vs. Flames

It's only Game 2 of the regular season, but an uninjured Loui Eriksson is reportedly being left out of the lineup.

The Vancouver Canucks forward will be a healthy scratch Saturday night against the Calgary Flames, according to TSN 1040's Jeff Paterson.

Adam Gaudette will draw in.

Eriksson, the Canucks' highest-paid forward, did not participate in line rushes at Saturday's morning skate, according to Sportsnet 650's Brendan Batchelor.

The 34-year-old played in Vancouver's season-opening loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday but skated only 13:12 while producing only one shot on goal.

Canucks head coach Travis Green also made him a healthy scratch for a game in March of last season. In May, Eriksson told a Swedish outlet that he and the bench boss "don't really get on 100 percent."

Eriksson inked a six-year, $36-million contract with the Canucks on July 1, 2016, coming off a 30-goal, 63-point season with the Boston Bruins. He's been a disappointment since, managing only 32 goals and 76 points in 197 games over three-plus campaigns with Vancouver.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Fleury laughs off giving away Sharks stick: ‘We’ll just say it was broken’

Marc-Andre Fleury is one of a kind.

After passing a Sharks player's stick to a fan through the photographer's hole in the glass Friday night in San Jose, the Vegas Golden Knights goaltender played coy when asked about his sneaky, charitable gesture.

“It was broken right? No? We’ll just say it was broken," Fleury quipped postgame to The Athletic's Jesse Granger.

Fleury donated the opponent's twig in the aftermath of a third-period melee that resulted in five players receiving 10-minute misconducts.

The veteran's shutout was spoiled shortly before the brouhaha, but the Golden Knights cruised to a 5-1 victory.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Report: Rangers won’t name captain this season

For the second straight NHL campaign, it appears no one will wear the "C" for the New York Rangers.

The club won't name a captain for the 2019-20 season, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports.

Marc Staal, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, and Jesper Fast will serve as alternates, adds Brooks.

The Rangers haven't had a captain since Ryan McDonagh, who donned the "C" from 2014-18 before being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Canucks name 4 alternates, will reveal captain at home opener

The Vancouver Canucks aren't sewing a "C" on anyone's jersey just yet, but they will in due time.

Bo Horvat, Alexander Edler, Chris Tanev, and Brandon Sutter have been named alternate captains, the club announced Tuesday.

"We are going to name a captain this season," Canucks head coach Travis Green said. "It's a special moment. Something our fans should be able to witness firsthand. We'll make the announcement Wednesday at our home opener."

Horvat was expected to be given the "C" entering the 2019-20 campaign.

Vancouver hasn't had a captain since Henrik Sedin served in the role from 2010 to 2018.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Sharks’ Kane suspended 3 games for abuse of official

San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane has been suspended three games for violating Rule 40.4 governing the physical abuse of officials, the NHL announced Tuesday.

The incident occurred during a preseason game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.

It's an automatic three-game suspension that the Sharks can appeal, at which point NHL commissioner Gary Bettman could consider a reduction, TSN's Darren Dreger noted.

Kane was ejected from Sunday's heated exhibition contest after an altercation involving Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland and linesman Kiel Murchison. The Sharks winger slashed Murchison in an apparent attempt to whack Engelland, and then shoved Murchison after the official took him down to the ice.

Kane said postgame that the linesman's actions were "an absolute joke."

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Sabres assistant coach Don Granato hospitalized with severe pneumonia

Buffalo Sabres assistant coach Don Granato has been hospitalized with severe pneumonia and will be taking a medical leave from the team, the club announced on Tuesday.

Chris Taylor, the head coach of the Sabres' AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, will assist the Sabres' coaching staff in the interim. Meanwhile, Americans assistant coach Gord Dineen will serve as head coach of the AHL squad.

Granato, 52, joined Ralph Krueger's staff with the Sabres in June following two seasons as an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks. He previously served as associate coach at Wisconsin and spent seven campaigns as head coach of the St. Louis Blues' AHL affiliates.

He also won the ECHL's Kelly Cup as head coach of the Peoria Rivermen in 2000 and led the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2013 to 2016.

Granato is the brother of former NHL forward and current University of Wisconsin bench boss Tony Granato, as well as U.S. women's hockey legend Cammi Granato.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Boeser cleared for Canucks’ season opener

Brock Boeser is good to go.

The young Vancouver Canucks forward and teammate Oscar Fantenberg have been cleared to play in the team's season opener Wednesday night against the Edmonton Oilers, Canucks general manager Jim Benning told reporters Monday.

Both players were injured on hits in a preseason win over the Ottawa Senators on Sept. 23. Boeser entered concussion protocol after being checked from behind by Senators forward Chris Tierney.

The American winger returned to practice Saturday.

Boeser signed a three-year, $17.63-million contract with the Canucks as a restricted free agent on Sept. 16.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Sprong, Gagner, Baertschi among 39 waived players

Daniel Sprong, Sam Gagner, and Sven Baertschi were among a slew of NHLers placed on waivers Monday, the penultimate day before the start of the 2019-20 regular season.

Here's the list of all 39 players waived by their respective clubs:

Team Player Position
ANA Sam Carrick F
ANA Daniel Sprong F
BOS Peter Cehlarik F
BUF Remi Elie F
BUF Curtis Lazar F
BUF Casey Nelson D
BUF Scott Wilson F
CAR Clark Bishop F
CAR Anton Forsberg G
CAR Gustav Forsling D
CBJ Marko Dano F
CGY Alan Quine F
CHI Carl Dahlstrom D
COL Jayson Megna F
EDM Sam Gagner F
EDM Brandon Manning D
MIN J.T. Brown F
NJ Matt Tennyson D
NSH Miikka Salomaki F
NSH Steven Santini D
NYI Tanner Fritz F
NYI Thomas Hickey D
NYI Josh Ho-Sang F
NYR Cristoval Nieves F
PIT Casey DeSmith G
TB Luke Schenn D
TOR Kenny Agostino F
TOR Kevin Gravel D
TOR Nicolas Petan F
TOR Garrett Wilson F
VAN Sven Baertschi F
VAN Alex Biega D
VAN Nikolay Goldobin F
WPG Eric Comrie G
WPG JC Lipon F
WPG Nelson Nogier D
WSH Christian Djoos D
WSH Liam O'Brien F
WSH Michael Sgarbossa F

Sprong tallied 14 goals in only 47 games for the Anaheim Ducks last season.

Gagner, the Edmonton Oilers' sixth overall pick in 2007, collected 10 points in 25 contests for the club in 2018-19 after being acquired in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks.

Baertschi produced nine goals and 14 points in 26 games with the Canucks in 2018-19. He's spent parts of five seasons with Vancouver after beginning his career with the Calgary Flames.

The New York Islanders raised eyebrows earlier Monday when general manager Lou Lamoriello revealed Josh Ho-Sang and Thomas Hickey would be placed on waivers.

Casey DeSmith was the Pittsburgh Penguins' backup goaltender last season and posted a .916 save percentage in 36 contests.

The Tampa Bay Lightning waived Luke Schenn on Monday after signing him to a one-year, $700,000 contract on July 1.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Sharks’ Kane calls linesman’s actions ‘an absolute joke’

San Jose Sharks winger Evander Kane made it clear he wasn't happy with how he was treated by the officials in Sunday night's heated preseason contest against the Vegas Golden Knights.

"It's funny how, if you look at the way I get treated out there when it comes to the scrums or whatever it may be, what the other team's trying to do to me, there's a massive difference compared to everybody else on the ice," Kane said postgame, according to the Mercury News' Curtis Pashelka. "I've never seen, I get kicked out of the game for getting jumped from behind by a referee (Kiel Murchison)."

Kane was ejected following an altercation Sunday with Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland and linesman Murchison.

With about eight minutes remaining in the third period, Kane slashed Murchison in an apparent attempt to whack Engelland. Moments later, Murchison skated over to further separate the two players and brought Kane down to the ice.

"I've never seen the refs take five strides and if you look at his face, he's getting all his power and trying to drive me into the ice, which is what he did," Kane said. "That's unbelievable. Talk about abuse of an official, what about abuse of a player? It's an absolute joke."

The San Jose forward added that he wasn't given an adequate explanation for why he was ejected.

"I have no idea, and then I got kicked out of the game," he said. "I was just skating up the ice. Whistle went, minding my own business, and next thing you know, I'm driven into the ice by the official for doing nothing. I wasn't even engaged with one of their players. So you have to explain that to me how that makes any sense, how I get kicked out of the game for that. Baffling."

Kane's abuse of official penalty generally carries an automatic 10-game suspension, but that would need to be enforced by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who's unlikely to do so before Tuesday, TSN's Darren Dreger reports.

Sunday's 5-1 win by the Golden Knights featured 114 penalty minutes.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.