Nicklas Backstrom's day came to a premature end several shifts after New York Islanders winger Anders Lee caught the Washington Capitals center with a hard hit Wednesday.

Lee hit Backstrom early in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series, after which Washington blue-liner John Carlson immediately came to his teammate's defense.

The officials assessed Lee an interference minor for the hit and also gave both Lee and Carlson roughing penalties.

Later in the period, Capitals agitator Tom Wilson dropped the gloves with Lee.

Backstrom initially played through the hit, remaining on the ice for nearly a minute of game time afterward and then logging five more first-period shifts.

However, he didn't emerge for the start of the second frame, and the Capitals later ruled him out for the rest of the contest.

Backstrom ranked second in assists among Washington skaters (42) and third in points (54) during the regular season.

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The Washington Capitals have their Norris Trophy finalist in the lineup once again.

John Carlson was deemed good to go for Game 1 of the Capitals' opening-round playoff series against the New York Islanders, his club confirmed prior to puck drop.

The 30-year-old missed all three of the Capitals' round-robin games after suffering an injury late in an exhibition win over the Carolina Hurricanes on July 29.

He led all NHL blue-liners with 75 points during the regular season and topped all Washington skaters in ice time, logging 24:38 per game.

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John Tortorella doesn't know when Elvis Merzlikins will return to the Columbus Blue Jackets' lineup.

"He's out. I'm not sure how long," the head coach told assembled media, including team reporter Jeff Svoboda, on Monday.

Tortorella did not elaborate on why the talented rookie goaltender will miss time.

Merzlikins opened Columbus' qualifying-round matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs as his team's backup netminder but replaced Joonas Korpisalo in Game 3, helping the Blue Jackets erase a three-goal deficit en route to an overtime victory.

Merzlikins then started Game 4, making 49 saves in a 4-3 overtime loss that included a three-goal rally by the Maple Leafs with less than four minutes left in regulation.

Tortorella tabbed Korpisalo as Columbus' starter for Game 5, saying before the contest that Merzlikins was hurt but offering no specifics. Korpisalo ultimately shut out the Maple Leafs to help the Blue Jackets clinch the series.

Merzlikins burst onto the NHL scene in a big way during the regular season. The 26-year-old posted a .923 save percentage and 12.1 goals saved above average in 33 games before the league halted play. He went 13-5-5 with a .935 save percentage and an NHL-best 13.11 GSAA at five-on-five after taking over as the Blue Jackets' No. 1 goalie on Dec. 29.

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The NHL's bubbles remain effective in combatting the coronavirus.

Zero positive COVID-19 tests were recorded in the second week since the return-to-play plan was initiated, the league announced Monday.

More than 7,000 daily tests were conducted on all members of each teams' 52-person traveling group from Aug. 2-8.

The NHL also found no positive test results during the first week of the restart (July 27-1), which followed clean results during the week leading up to the return (July 18-25) as players began reporting to the hub cities.

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The 2020 Hockey Hall of Fame induction weekend is postponed until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hall announced Monday.

The induction ceremony, originally scheduled for Nov. 16, was set to follow the rest of the weekend's festivities, including the annual Hall of Fame Game hosted by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Hall's board of directors plans to discuss rescheduling the induction events when it convenes on Oct. 29. The most probable scenario, according to chairman Lanny McDonald, is delaying the 2020 events until November of the following year.

"While it's possible, the class of 2020 could be inducted on alternative dates during the modified 2020-21 NHL season, the most likely scenario is to postpone to November 2021, either by waiving the 2021 elections or in combination with the 2021 induction class involving adjusted category limits," McDonald said.

"Since the magic of the induction from the honored members' perspective is experiencing several days of close interaction with family, friends, former teammates, and fans, the board ruled out any means of holding the 2020 inductions virtually," he added.

Jarome Iginla, Marian Hossa, Ken Holland, Kevin Lowe, Kim St-Pierre, and Doug Wilson were elected to the Hall in the class of 2020 in late June.

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One of the longest-serving and most well-respected reporters in hockey isn't calling it a career quite yet, but his days as an insider appear to be nearing an end.

TSN's Bob McKenzie, who's covered the game for more than three decades, revealed Monday he'll begin a "semi-retirement" following the NHL's second and final phase of the draft lottery.

McKenzie joined TSN in 1986 after starting his journalism career with print publications including the Toronto Star and The Hockey News.

He's reported and provided analysis on TV and across digital platforms for events such as the NHL draft, free agency, the trade deadline, and the World Junior Hockey Championship.

McKenzie also signed on as a contributor with NBCSN after TSN lost national NHL broadcasting rights in Canada to Sportsnet in 2014.

The Professional Hockey Writers Association honored McKenzie in 2015 with the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, bestowed annually "in recognition of distinguished members of the hockey-writing profession whose words have brought honor to journalism and to hockey."

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The Florida Panthers and general manager Dale Tallon have agreed to part ways, the team announced Monday.

The club will immediately begin a search for its next GM.

Tallon spent a decade with the Panthers, who were eliminated by the New York Islanders in Game 4 of their best-of-five qualifying-round series Friday.

The 69-year-old's contract was due to expire after this season.

He helped assemble a core that includes versatile captain Aleksander Barkov, talented playmaker Jonathan Huberdeau, and cornerstone defenseman Aaron Ekblad.

The Panthers made three postseason appearances during Tallon's tenure but failed to advance beyond the first round; they haven't done so since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 1996.

Tallon joined Florida in 2010 after serving as GM of the Chicago Blackhawks from 2005-09. While with Chicago, he hired head coach Joel Quenneville, who ultimately led the Blackhawks to three championships. Tallon was eventually demoted to senior advisor and replaced as GM by Stan Bowman before leaving for the Panthers.

Tallon reunited with Quenneville in the Sunshine State last April, hiring him as the Panthers' head coach after Florida missed the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons.

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Sheldon Keefe believes his club got what was coming to it Thursday night.

The Toronto Maple Leafs head coach wasn't happy with the team's play in a stunning Game 3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Keefe was disappointed with what he saw, even when the Leafs led the contest before blowing a three-goal lead and losing 4-3 in overtime, falling behind 2-1 in the best-of-five series.

“I didn’t like our game at 1-0, 2-0, 3-0," the bench boss told reporters postgame, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton. "We got what we deserved. We didn’t have any purpose or plan to our game.”

The Maple Leafs went up by three midway through the second period on rookie Nick Robertson's first NHL goal, following tallies from Cody Ceci and William Nylander. However, the Blue Jackets responded with Pierre-Luc Dubois' pair of goals and one from Seth Jones. Dubois later capped off a hat trick with the winner in overtime.

Toronto dominated possession in the opening period. But Columbus improved in the second stanza and controlled play in the third, before the Maple Leafs earned a bigger share in the extra frame.

Neither club will be able to rest much after the extended contest Thursday night. The Maple Leafs will try to stave off elimination in Game 4 on Friday, with puck drop scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.

(Analytics source: Natural Stat Trick)

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Jacob Larsson will continue to suit up for the Anaheim Ducks after inking a two-year contract extension with the club Thursday.

The defenseman's new pact carries an average annual value of $1.2 million, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Larsson was a pending restricted free agent. The 23-year-old collected 11 points in 60 NHL games during the regular season, logging 16:09 of average ice time. He added a goal and an assist in five contests with the AHL's San Diego Gulls in 2019-20.

The Swedish blue-liner spent the majority of the last two campaigns with Anaheim. He came to North America to play in the Ducks organization in 2016-17 after the team drafted him 27th overall in 2015.

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The NHL's best regular-season club will not be one of the Eastern Conference's top two seeds in the round of 16.

The Boston Bruins are unable to finish higher than No. 3 in the East following their 3-2 round-robin loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.

"Well that part sucks, I'm not going to lie to you," Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters, including The Athletic's Scott Wheeler, postgame. "We knew the rules going into it, that we would lose a bit of the advantage we'd gained. Would I have rather been the No. 1 seed? Absolutely."

Boston is now 0-2-0 in the round-robin stage after losing its opener to the Philadelphia Flyers by a 4-1 margin on Sunday.

The Lightning are 2-0-0 in round-robin play after defeating the Washington Capitals in a shootout Monday, while the Capitals are 0-0-1 and the Flyers are 1-0-0.

Philadelphia will hold the tiebreaker over Boston if both teams finish 1-2-0 by virtue of its win over the Bruins.

Boston was the only NHL team to manage a triple-digit point total in the regular-season standings, finishing with 100 in 70 games. The Lightning were second in the conference with 92 points in 70 contests. Washington finished third in the East with 90 points through 69 games and Philadelphia posted 89 points - also in 69 outings - to sit fourth.

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