Wednesday's game between the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres was a spirited tilt considering both teams are well out of playoff contention.
The Atlantic Division rivals combined for 66 penalty minutes in the first two periods, and after a large scrum ensued in front of the Sabres' net, there was nearly a goalie fight - though officials intervened.
Canadiens netminder Ben Scrivens skated to his own blue line to see if Sabres goalie Robin Lehner - who's no stranger to fighting - would take him on. The pair stared each other down, but as Lehner went to skate toward Scrivens, an official held him back.
The stare down between Robin Lehner and Ben Scrivens. #Sabres #Canadiens pic.twitter.com/NHPcrlUsqM
— Pat Malacaro (@PatWGR) March 17, 2016
Lehner nearly got in a separate fight himself after he pulled Michael McCarron down by the jersey. The Montreal forward then grabbed him by the mask before the two exchanged jabs.
Earlier in the game, Lehner had been victim of a hard hit from Alex Galchenyuk - who somehow avoided a goalie interference penalty - but was able to keep his cool.
The goaltenders exchanged words as they skated to the bench at the end of the second period, but even Scrivens' Wikipedia page felt he dodged a bullet by not having to fight the Swede.
Lehner is 3" taller and about 40lbs heavier than Scrivens. Someone already updated Scriven's Wikipedia page hahaha pic.twitter.com/XG46YrX4pc
— Emma Beep Watts (@emerson5watts) March 17, 2016
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Philadelphia Flyers forward Chris VandeVelde caught Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews with a headshot Wednesday night.
VandeVelde received a two-minute minor for elbowing with 30 seconds left in the first period.
Toews gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead less than five minutes into the second, scoring his 25th goal of the season.
VandeVelde was suspended three games by the AHL for a hit to the head in 2012.
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Though retired NHLer Sean Avery drew the ire of many throughout his 11-year playing career, no one seemed more bothered by his antics than his last NHL head coach, John Tortorella.
Avery criticized the current Columbus Blue Jackets bench boss in an interview with ESPN's Dan Marrazza after complimenting Mike Babcock, who coached him in the minors. Avery said Babcock has a "manipulative personality" that makes him effective at his job, then contrasted him with Tortorella.
"John Tortorella has no manipulation in him whatsoever," Avery said. "He only has one gear, and that's to scream at people and thinks that that's manipulation or motivation. But it's not. It doesn't work on rich players.
"They can say, 'F--- you. We're going somewhere else.' Or 'We'll get rid of you' - and we will."
Though Tortorella outlasted the forward on Broadway, Avery got the last laugh in 2013, telling the New York Post he "had a huge smile" on his face after learning the Rangers fired the coach after they bowed out in the second round of the playoffs.
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Call it what you will, but Gary Bettman says NHL clubs aren't intentionally losing.
"Our teams don't tank," the commissioner told the National Post's Michael Traikos at the general managers meetings Wednesday.
"If you're a team that knows it's not going to make the playoffs and you want to start focusing on the rebuild, you're going to do certain things unrelated to the draft that are going to give you assets that are going to help you develop for the future."
The NHL's old system gave the highest odds of winning the draft lottery and the right to draft first overall to the league's worst team, but the new format involves a separate lottery for each of the top three picks.
"The beauty of a weighted lottery is there's no incentive to doing anything other than win," Bettman said. "We have a system that we think works."
One general manager agrees.
"There’s no incentive to lose now," said Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray. "The odds are no longer in your favor. The Toronto Maple Leafs, if they happen to be that team (that finishes last), have a 20 percent chance of winning (the lottery). Any guy that questions it now is wrong."
Bettman has no issues with the way the Leafs are rebuilding.
"I think they've decided that they need to regroup and … they're developing the young kids and they're building for the future," he said. "I'm not an expert in putting teams together, but it's clear that they have a plan and they're sticking to it. And that's the most important thing."
The Buffalo Sabres finished dead last in both of the past two seasons, but were awarded the second overall pick (Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel, respectively) in 2014 and 2015.
The new three-tiered lottery doesn't fully discourage what general managers do, but Sabres GM Tim Murray says it might help how their work is perceived.
"Does that change how we do business? Probably not," Murray said. "Does it change the perception of what we're doing? Maybe it does."
Arizona Coyotes GM Don Maloney admitted in February that his attitude last season was, "If we were going to be bad ... let's be real bad," and that he "did not do much" to help the team in the last two months, when the opportunity to draft Connor McDavid was within reach.
The Coyotes were ultimately awarded the third overall selection, drafting Dylan Strome, while the Edmonton Oilers won the lottery and chose McDavid, giving them a fourth first overall pick in six years.
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If only once, the Detroit Red Wings have been here before.
With just one win in six games, and four left in the lockout-shortened 2013 season, the Red Wings trailed the Columbus Blue Jackets by three points, and their 21-year consecutive playoff appearance streak hung in the balance.
Legend has it that Henrik Zetterberg stood before the room, at one point, and delivered a passionate speech that included the words: "(It's) not going to happen on my watch."
The Red Wings went on to outscore the competition 15-3 over their final four games, nabbing all eight available points and earning their 22nd consecutive postseason berth with 56 points to Columbus' 55.
In those waning nights, it was the first time in 20 years that the odds weren't in the Red Wings' favor. Three seasons later, the captain, his team, and his timepiece are being tested again.
After Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, the Red Wings, though still in wild-card position, saw their postseason odds drop to 43 percent, as tabulated by Sports Club Stats.
They no longer have complete control of their fate, but they have 12 games left. So it's not quite time to set the nuclear option (though Anthony Mantha's arrival may be considered that) in motion. But if Tuesday's loss to the only team ostensibly capable of ending their historical run is any indication, the Red Wings might be plum out of resolve.
Everyone and their mother knew how important that game was; passionate speeches, strings of championship banners, or the reminder that a win would inch the franchise toward a quarter-century's worth of playoff appearances would have been superfluous. The pressure was there, and still, they were flat - as they've been all season.
Only six teams - four of which are locked into lottery seeding - have averaged less goals per outing than the Red Wings, who have possessed a negative goal differential for large portions of the season. Petr Mrazek, who stopped pucks at a Vezina-like rate for the first four months, owns a substandard .906 save percentage since Feb. 1. And Zetterberg, who delivered the perhaps record-prolonging speech, needs a goal next time out to avoid going a full month without scoring.
It will indeed be on Zetterberg's watch if the Red Wings fail to pick themselves up off the mat this week, and outperform the Flyers (or Pittsburgh Penguins) down the stretch. But despite his scoring woes, it won't be his failure. It won't be Pavel Datsyuk's or Jeff Blashill's, or Ken Holland's, either. And it certainly won't be due to the absence of Mike Babcock.
It's been a culmination of cosmic factors that have gone into one of the greatest franchises in history achieving one of the more remarkable streaks in sports. And when it comes to an end, whether it's this season, next, or decades down the line, it won't be any different.
Only the speeches, banners, and the weight of a quarter-century might have the adverse effect on a team that simply might not be good enough.
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As another disappointing season for the Columbus Blue Jackets winds down, the team's fans could get a close-up look at one of their top prospects as soon as Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings.
General manager Jarmo Kekalainen announced Tuesday that forward Oliver Bjorkstrand was recalled from the AHL's Lake Erie Monsters, along with forward Michael Chaput and defenseman John Ramage.
Bjorkstrand, a third-round draft pick in 2013, will become the 11th Denmark-born player to skate in the NHL. The 20-year-old has 25 points in 46 AHL games this season, one year removed from being named the 2014-15 WHL Player of the Year after a 118-point campaign with the Portland Winterhawks.
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With many NHL executives currently involved with clubs for the highly anticipated World Cup of Hockey in September, Hockey Canada has turned to a pair of veteran executives to select their squad for the upcoming IIHF World Championships in May.
Brad Treliving and George McPhee have been named co-general managers of the Canadian team, according to multiple reports, that will head to Russia and look to defend last year's gold medal win.
Treliving was named general manager of the Calgary Flames in April 2014 after spending over 10 years as an assistant general manager with the then-Phoenix Coyotes.
McPhee currently serves as a special advisor to the general manager with the New York Islanders, following a 17-year stint as the GM of the Washington Capitals that ended in 2014.
Last year's first-place performance in Prague ended a five-year absence from the podium for Canada, and a long gold medal drought dating back to 2007, the last time the tournament took place in Russia.
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With his Chicago Blackhawks winless in their last three games, scoring just four goals in that span, head coach Joel Quenneville has shaken up his forward lines in hopes of sparking his offense in time for Tuesday's meeting with the Philadelphia Flyers.
League-leading scorer Patrick Kane - who has just one point in his last five games - has been removed from the wing beside Artem Anisimov and Artemi Panarin, and will team up with captain Jonathan Toews on the top line. Trade-deadline addition Tomas Fleischmann will skate on the left side.
"The one line's been together all year and there was probably never a need to change it," Quenneville said, according to CSN Chicago. But I feel right now that a different look can help everyone and give us more balance throughout the lineup."
Marian Hossa will join Kane's former linemates on the second unit, while Andrew Ladd moves down to help form an impressive third line with Teuvo Teravainen and Andrew Shaw.
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Fleischmann | Toews | Kane |
| Panarin | Anisimov | Hossa |
| Ladd | Teravainen | Shaw |
| Mashinter | Desjardins | Weise |
Quenneville will hope the more balanced attack will be enough to take two points from the red-hot Flyers, as his Blackhawks now trail the St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars by three points in the Central.
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