It’s time to appreciate Sebastian Aho’s rookie season

Patrik Laine, Auston Matthews, and Sebastian Aho.

That's the complete list of rookies who've hit the 20-goal mark so far this season.

Aho reached the milestone Thursday by scoring a pair of third-period power-play markers that propelled his Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers, with the 20th coming off a nice tic-tac-toe passing play.

Aho added an assist in the contest, and has now recorded 38 points through his first 64 NHL games.

What's even more impressive is that Aho had not played hockey in North America prior to 2016-17, developing his game exclusively in Finland. And what he learned over there is certainly paying off.

Of all the players selected over the past two years, only Jack Eichel, Connor McDavid, Laine and Matthews have scored more goals than Aho, who was the 35th pick in 2015.

Aho likely won't garner much in the way of Calder Trophy support, seeing as the NHL is loaded with rookie talent. Still, what's he's accomplished for the Hurricanes to date should not be overlooked.

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Watch: Ligntning’s Johnson injured on knee-on-knee hit from Niederreiter

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tyler Johnson was forced to make an early exit from Thursday's game against Minnesota after receiving a knee-on-knee hit from Wild forward Nino Niederreiter.

Johnson was helped off the ice, and it was later announced that both he and Vladislav Namestnikov - who also left the game with a lower-body injury - would not return.

Tampa Bay entered the contest with a slim shot at making the playoffs, and it could be even more of an uphill battle if Johnson's injury is ruled serious.

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Watch: Nylander snipes with pinpoint wrister

William Nylander doesn't need much time or space to score goals like this.

The Toronto Maple Leafs forward flicked a perfect wrist shot past Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Michal Neuvirth from the faceoff circle on the power play Thursday night.

It was the 20-year-old's 18th goal of the season and his first in seven games.

Half of Nylander's goals this season have come with the man advantage, and this one put him into a tie for the Leafs' rookie record for power-play goals in a single campaign.

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Watch: Kreider’s early tally ends Rangers’ woeful power-play skid

It's been a long time coming for the New York Rangers' power play.

Entering Thursday's contest versus Carolina, the Blueshirts' man advantage hadn't converted in any of its last 10 games, and just once in its last 40 attempts overall.

That all changed early in the first period, however, as the quietly productive Chris Kreider banged in his 26th goal of the season during a 5-on-3 opportunity.

The power-play futility was a bit of an anomaly for the Rangers, who've scored the second-most goals of any team this season.

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NHL considering making protected lists public, broadcasting expansion draft

The NHL's general managers are taking heat for their apparent reluctance to release protected and unprotected lists ahead of the upcoming expansion draft, but one of the league's top decision-makers says there's a chance they'll go public.

"The official answer was it looks like we're going to keep them private, (but) the unofficial answer was nothing's private and it's going to get out," Colin Campbell told Sportsnet 590 The FAN on Thursday.

The NHL's executive vice-president and director of hockey operations reiterated his acknowledgement that any information the GMs attempt to keep from fans and the media will be reported anyway, citing that as a reason they're now considering sharing the lists.

"They may (ultimately) be (public), they may be because of that, it's going to get out there, you know it'll get out there," Campbell said.

Another consideration was whether or not to televise the expansion draft itself, which will take place from June 18-20, with the selections scheduled to be revealed June 21.

It isn't yet being billed as a made-for-TV event, but Campbell told "Prime Time Sports" co-host John Shannon that's also on the table.

"They talked about that a lot too, John," he said. "It's possible, yes."

The GMs initially decided they did not want to share the lists, as ESPN's Pierre LeBrun reported Wednesday, and the executives' sentiment was criticized by multiple media outlets.

Considering the flack some NHL teams take for not disclosing contract details, providing vague injury updates, and now hoping to keep these expansion-draft lists secret, it's refreshing to hear a top league official admit he's aware that there's little point to hiding the info if it's just going to emerge regardless.

Campbell's comments might be seen as reactionary due to the backlash, but they should still be viewed as progress.

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Blues’ goaltending has drastically improved under Yeo, Brodeur

When Ken Hitchcock was let go as head coach of the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 1, much of the team's failures to that point in the season were pinned on poor goaltending, and for good reason.

Both starter Jake Allen and backup Carter Hutton struggled mightily to start the season, and goalie coach Jim Corsi was fired along with Hitchcock.

It's been a different story in St. Louis since Mike Yeo stepped in as bench boss, and assistant general manager Martin Brodeur took over as goalie coach.

In fact, it's been a complete 180.

Allen - who had essentially been put on leave at one point in order to clear his head - has drawn the lion's share of the starts, and while his record stands at 7-5-0 under Yeo, his .941 save percentage since Feb. 1 ranks second among all goalies with at least 10 starts over that span, behind only Ottawa's Craig Anderson (.944).

Hutton has been near perfect in the three starts he's made, recording two shutout wins and allowing a single goal in his only loss, good for a save percentage of .989 after stopping 88 of 89 shots.

With 17 games remaining on the schedule, the Blues hold the second wild-card spot, three points up on Los Angeles. Advancing to the postseason is anything but guaranteed at this point, meaning Allen and Hutton will need to bring more of the same in order to fully salvage an almost disastrous start.

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Look: Which NHL fan base is the most loyal?

In addition to being one of the hottest teams in the NHL at the moment, the Chicago Blackhawks also boast the most loyal fan base.

Fanatics analyzed arena occupancy, social media following, and jersey sales, and discovered that Blackhawks fans have the rest of the league beat when it comes to loyalty. Rounding out the top five are the Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, and Detroit Red Wings.

The study also looked at the correlation between a winning record and sold-out arenas:

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Blind fan has incredible experience watching 1st Flames game

Last weekend, Olivia Lettich, an 11-year-old cancer survivor, was given the amazing opportunity to watch her beloved Calgary Flames for the first time.

Olivia was left with only peripheral vision due to the treatment she received following her diagnosis of a rare form of eye cancer. But thanks to an incredible new technology developed by eSight, and the Flames' generosity, she was able to watch the team she loves like few have before.

Olivia sat on the bench during warmups, stood with the anthem singer, caught the 5-2 win over the New York Islanders from the seats, and then met with Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, and the rest of her favorite players in the dressing room afterward.

(Video courtesy: Flames TV)

Here's what she told the Calgary Herald's Eric Francis about walking into her backyard after putting the eSight glasses on for the first time:

"I could see every little detail in the leaves, and I could read signs - it was so cool.

"I cried in my bed I was so happy. I was just so happy. It changed my life."

Outstanding.

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Flyers’ Filppula confirms shutting down potential deal to Maple Leafs

Philadelphia Flyers forward Valtteri Filppula confirmed Thursday in Toronto that he snuffed out a potential trade to the Maple Leafs by exercising the no-trade clause included in his contract signed with his former club, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"Nothing against Toronto," he said, according to James Mirtle of The Athletic. "Obviously they have a great team and coach."

Filppula was later dealt to the Flyers, a team included on his list of acceptable destinations, for defenseman Mark Streit. He was immediately flipped to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a fourth-round draft pick.

There was talk Filppula was uninterested in a reunion with Mike Babcock, who instructed him while he was a member of the Detroit Red Wings.

Filppula dismissed that theory Thursday.

"I heard the stories, but that's not the case," he told Sami Hoffren. "I don't have anything against Toronto"

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