Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

It took 21 games, but the Arizona Coyotes finally have their first regulation win of the season after defeating the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 on Thursday.

Forward Christian Fischer scored the winner for the Coyotes, who battled back from three separate Montreal leads. The Canadiens were up 2-0 after the first period.

Brad Richardson, Christian Dvorak, Tobias Rieder, and Derek Stepan also tallied for Arizona, whose record improved to 3-15-3 on the season.

The victory is long overdue for Arizona, and the first regulation win for Coyotes' first-year head coach Rick Tocchet. Thursday's contest was also the first time this season Arizona scored more than four goals in a game.

The Coyotes previously picked up wins in extra time against the Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes. The team will look to extend its winning streak to two games when they head to Ottawa on Saturday to take on the Senators.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets locked down a big piece of their current and future plans Thursday, signing winger Cam Atkinson to a seven-year extension worth $40.25 million, according to The Athletic's Aaron Portzline.

Atkinson's current deal, which carries an annual average value of $3.5 million per year, expires at the end of this season, which would have made him an unrestricted free agent as of July 1, 2018.

With his new deal inked, Atkinson will now carry an AAV of $5.75 million, and is signed through the 2024-25 season.

Despite starting the year with only four goals and two assists, Atkinson is still a key piece of Columbus' core, and is coming off back-to-back 25-plus goal seasons.

Last campaign, the now-28-year-old registered his best season to date, notching 35 goals and 27 assists.

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Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct Thursday after slashing Winnipeg Jets forward Mathieu Perreault in the back of the head.

Here's the play:

While it's unclear whether Gudas deliberately tried to hurt Perreault, he has a history with the NHL's Department of Player Safety, and the league will surely have a look at his latest incident.

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The owner of the NBA's Rockets is interested in bringing hockey to Houston.

On Thursday, Tilman Fertitta, who gained ownership of the Rockets in September, confirmed his interest to the Associated Press following a recent meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, where the two discussed the possibility of the NHL coming to Houston.

However, the process remains in the early stages.

"I'm very interested in the possibility of bringing the NHL to Houston, but it will have to be a deal that works for my organization, the city, fans of the NHL throughout the region, and the NHL Board of Governors," Fertitta said in a statement on Thursday.

"We are in the very early stage of evaluating what opportunities may exist but look forward to a thorough process."

Should the NHL expand to Houston, or relocate an existing franchise, the team could share the Rockets' home arena, the Toyota Center, which seats 17,800 for hockey.

Houston was previously home to pro hockey with the AHL's Aeros, who left for Iowa in 2013 after a 19-year run in the Texas city.

As recently as 2015, the NHL's board of governors, chaired by Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, expressed interest in Houston, but the idea was unable to gain momentum as former Rockets owner Les Alexander was unwilling to allow a hockey team to share the Toyota Center.

That possibility may have changed with Fertitta now holding ownership of the Rockets, and the NHL has undoubtedly noted the interest.

"If Houston were to express an interest in having an NHL franchise, under the right circumstances, it's something we might want to consider," Bettman said.

Home to about 2.3 million people, Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and offers a natural in-state rival to the Dallas Stars. Houston would also balance the Western Conference by adding an eighth team in the Central Division.

The NHL expanded to Las Vegas this season with the Golden Knights, while a bid from Quebec City was deferred. It was the NHL's first introduction of new teams since the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild joined in 2000.

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A true sign of any quality hockey team is its ability to play through injuries. For the Anaheim Ducks, playing through injuries has become a nightly occurrence.

Despite having the most man games lost due to injury of any NHL squad at 95, the Ducks currently find themselves only five points adrift of the ever-tough Pacific Division lead.

But, with so many man games lost due to injury, how are they doing it?

Here's how the Ducks continue to stay competitive in the face of being the league's most injured club.

Gibson's held down the fort

Before diving into Ducks netminder John Gibson, take a quick look at Anaheim's current list of injuries, to get a better feeling for the team currently playing in front of him:

That is a fairly solid lineup of top-tier players, including two of the Ducks' best defensemen and their captain, so Gibson's 2.84 goals-against average and .920 save percentage look even better under that lens.

A record of 6-6-1 isn't really all that much to be excited about, but given the list of players currently watching from the press box, Gibson's performance has been nothing short of crucial.

Remember, Anaheim had Korbinian Holzer playing the wing last night. Korbinian Holzer is a defenseman.

Just saying.

Getting 'O' from their 'D'

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

The Ducks are getting solid offensive support from their blue-liners, and that's without their top-scoring rearguard in Cam Fowler.

Three of Anahiem's top-seven point-getters are defensemen, with Brandon Montour and Josh Manson each having nine to their credit already. Furthermore, Ducks rearguards account for almost 22 percent of Anahiem's total goal output.

If head coach Randy Carlyle can continue to get some 'O' from his 'D,' expect the Ducks to continue to be in the Western Conference playoff mix.

Balanced attack

With Kesler, Eaves, and Getzlaf all out for prolonged periods of time, Anaheim's supporting cast has stepped up in a big way, with guys like Derek Grant and Andrew Cogliano upping their offensive games with 10 and 11 points, respectively.

In addition, the Ducks continue to get the job done as a group, as Anaheim boasts 21 different goal scorers through the first 18 games.

Solid goaltending, offensive support from the blue line, and a penchant for getting the job done by committee have the Ducks treading water despite being the league's most injured group.

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Detroit Red Wings forward Luke Witkowski has been suspended 10 games for his role in Wednesday's line brawl against the Calgary Flames, the Department of Player Safety announced.

After Witkowski was sent off the ice for a fight late the third period, he interrupted his route to the dressing room and came back to the playing surface upon being prodded by the stick of Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk, resulting in an automatic 10-game ban, per NHL rules.

The entire sequence can be seen here:

Tkachuk will face a discipline hearing Friday.

Witkowski is in his first season with the Red Wings, and has been held pointless through eight games so far.

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