Morgan Rielly never gave up.

The Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman followed through Monday after grabbing a backhanded pass from rookie forward Mitch Marner before knocking the puck past Boston Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask.

The goal marked Rielly's third in his past five games.

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Ben Bishop's introduction to Los Angeles isn't off to a Hollywood start.

Acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning at this year's trade deadline, Bishop is winless in four efforts since the deal that sent him to California:

Bishop's most recent loss came Sunday at the hands of the Calgary Flames, when starter Jonathan Quick's night ended early after allowing two goals on seven shots. Bishop didn't fare much better in mop-up duty, allowing two on 16.

As for Quick, who missed four months with a groin injury after being lost in the season opener, he's been solid since his late February return. The 2012 Conn Smythe winner has appeared in eight games since coming back, securing five wins alongside a .920 save percentage and a 2.19 GAA.

The Kings are 4-3-1 since the trade deadline, with Quick recording all of the victories. Meanwhile, Bishop - a pending unrestricted free agent - has left critical points on the table against some inferior opponents, like the Vancouver Canucks and Arizona Coyotes.

After winning its first Stanley Cup in 2012 and repeating the feat two seasons later, Los Angeles has appeared in just one playoff series since. Now six points shy of the postseason, there is a growing possibility the Kings will once again be on the outside of the playoff picture.

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John Tortorella, one of the best.

After defeating the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, the Columbus Blue Jackets collected two points to reach the century-point club for the first time in franchise history. It was the third time for coach John Tortorella.

Tortorella is now just one of eight coaches to total a 100-point season with three different clubs. The surly bench boss previously did so in 2011-12 with the New York Rangers (109 points) and in 2003-04 with Tampa Bay (106 points), a year in which the Lightning went on to win the Stanley Cup.

It marks another accomplishment in a season in which the veteran coach has rebranded himself. Just don't tell Tortorella.

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The Detroit Red Wings will miss the postseason for the first time in 25 years, but there is at least one bright light as their playoff streak comes to a close.

Sophomore forward Dylan Larkin, among last year's top rookies after finishing with 45 points, has finally rediscovered his offensive touch after struggling to score through much of the season:

Second-year slumps aren't uncommon. Just ask Arizona's Anthony Duclair, who finished in the top 10 in Rookie of the Year voting last season, only for his production to dry up in 2016-17, where he's collected just 10 points and even saw a stint in the minors. Or Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon, who won the Calder Trophy in 2014 with 63 points, but hasn't matched that total in his three following campaigns.

Larkin's uptick in offense lines up with his move to center, his junior position. He played wing in his freshman year and has spent most of this season playing the left side, but the organization projects him as a pivot long term. That has seen coach Jeff Blashill pair Larkin as the center to rookie Andreas Athanasiou, who he credits in part for his late-season turnaround.

"Playing with a guy like Andreas is huge," Larkin told Helene St. James of the Detroit Fress Press. "It makes myself, as a centerman, worry less about how we are going to get up the ice. In the Colorado game, a few times, I just threw it to his wing, where he was flying. You know he is going to get the puck in the other zone and then we are going to have chances to play offense."

Larkin recorded a goal and an assist against the Avalanche on Saturday.

As for the Red Wings, they'll sit out the playoffs for the first time since 1990, but with Larkin, alongside Athanasiou, Anthony Mantha, and a host of other emerging talents charged with leading the next wave, Detroit can't overlook the value in its young star regaining his scoring punch, and likely his confidence, with the team now looking ahead to its future.

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Zdeno Chara is tired of the lack of progress in the Olympic participation saga.

"Any time there's some sort of interference, it looks bad on the sport and it looks bad on the people making the decisions," the Boston Bruins captain said Monday, according to ESPN's Pierre LeBrun.

"We are at a point where people need to really sit down behind one table and find a solution, instead of always kind of being defensive I would say, or finding ways not to find solutions."

A league source told LeBrun on Monday that no Olympic meetings are "currently on the docket," but Chara wants to see future in-person discussions that lead to a resolution.

"That's what I'm hoping for and believe that it will eventually happen," he said. "Things will find a way and fall into place for the Olympics, for the sport and for the history of all the nations being in the same place; come together and we will see the best hockey players for their countries at the Olympics.''

Chara has played in three Olympic Games, and the hulking Slovak defenseman hopes to take part in a fourth.

"I think every player wants to be part of the Olympics. It's one of the biggest stages that any athlete can participate in and compete in. It makes it so special when you have your best athletes all over the world competing against each other."

Many players have vocalized their desire to go to South Korea in 2018, and some have said they'll go individually whether or not the NHL agrees to participate.

Related - Flyers' Voracek: NHL's indecision on Olympics is 'ridiculous'

Last fall, the International Olympic Committee set a deadline of Jan. 15 for a decision, but that passed without one and the issue remains unresolved.

At the All-Star festivities in L.A. in January, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly implied that Olympic participation in 2018 was unlikely.

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Safe to say Daniel Winnik doesn't like the NHL's postseason format.

"It's stupid," the Washington Capitals forward told The Washington Post's Isabelle Khurshudyan Monday. "It's the stupidest thing ever."

The league's divisional playoff format, instituted in 2014-15, matches the second and third-place teams in each division against one another in the first round.

It was brought in to foster intra-division rivalries and create new ones, but Winnik thinks people are getting tired of watching similar matchups each spring.

"I’m sure fans are getting sick of seeing the same two teams play each other in the first round and second round," he said, according to The Associated Press' Stephen Whyno.

The Capitals became the first team this season to clinch a playoff spot Saturday night and currently hold the tiebreaker over the Columbus Blue Jackets for the league's best record.

Related: Blue Jackets putting serious heat on Capitals in Presidents' Trophy race

A first-place finish would ensure the Capitals of a first-round matchup against the worse of the two Eastern Conference wild-card teams (right now, that's the Toronto Maple Leafs), whereas a slip to second place would force Washington to battle either the Blue Jackets or the Pittsburgh Penguins.

That underscores just how important it will be to finish first, and those three Metropolitan Division foes are separated by a single point through Sunday's games.

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Like the players they employ, NHL executives get paid by performance, and Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving is owed some financial security.

Treliving is the only GM in the league without a contract for next season, and while the focus in Calgary has suddenly shifted into a race for home ice in the Pacific Division playoffs, an extension for the 47-year-old is a must for the Flames this summer.

Since his tenure begun in 2014, Treliving has built a strong roster short of any cap-restricting contracts, and his club is on the verge of reaching the postseason for the second time in three seasons.

His track record isn't perfect - that's the nature of the beast as an NHL GM. However, his body of work far outshines his predecessor, Jay Feaster, who despite drafting the franchise cornerstones Treliving has masterfully kept together, has a trade track record that's far better left unseen for Flames fans.

Here's a look at the current makeup of the Flames' core, all of whom had their contracts extended by Treliving.

Treliving's heist of Hamilton from the Boston Bruins and the extension that followed may stand as his best move to date. He's also responsible for drafting forwards Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk, who look to be on a fast track to increased prominence in Calgary's offensive strategy going forward.

After Treliving gets signed, Calgary's roster situation is destined to shift, as Dennis Wideman's ($5.25M) and Deryk Engelland's ($2.9M) hefty cap hits come of the books.

Ideally, the extra money can be allocated to the expiring deals of Bennett, trade deadline steal Michael Stone, and Brian Elliott, who looks to have returned to the form Treliving desired when pulling the trigger to acquire him at the draft.

All in all, Treliving has built a young, competitive roster that's improved drastically under his command, and it's imperative to the Flames' future success that he's awarded the chance to bring the club to the next step.

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There's just something about Boston-based sports stars.

Bruins forward Brad Marchand channeled New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski when asked about Bobby Orr on the legendary defenseman's 69th birthday.

"It's a great age," Marchand told reporters Monday, according to CSNNE's Joe Haggerty. "Great year. He's an incredible human being."

The comment came less than an hour after Marchand was named the NHL's first star of the week for piling up five goals and nine points in three games.

Gronkowski has shown a near-obsessive fascination with 'the sex number' over the years.

Related: Gronkowski's GF says he's been telling 69 jokes since he was 3

By all accounts, this is new territory for Marchand, but we eagerly await Orr's response.

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Markus Granlund is going under the knife.

The Vancouver Canucks forward will have surgery to repair an ongoing wrist issue and his recovery timetable won't be provided until after the procedure, the club announced Monday.

Granlund posted 19 goals and 32 points in 69 games with the Canucks this season.

The 23-year-old was a second-round pick of the Calgary Flames in 2011.

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It's been nearly three weeks since the clock struck 3 p.m. ET on trade deadline day, so it's time to take stock of how some of the biggest acquisitions have fared.

There have been a few early disappointments, but most of the players dealt on or before March 1 have already made an impact with their new teams. Thomas Vanek, Drew Stafford, and Alex Burrows have each produced at an impressive clip since changing uniforms.

Ben Bishop, the deadline's biggest goaltending prize, has allowed only 10 goals in four games since being traded from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Los Angeles Kings, but he is 0-2-2 with an .899 save percentage with his new squad.

Here's how the most significant skaters have done since their respective deals:

Vanek hasn't scored much since being acquired by the Florida Panthers, but he posted a four-point game against the Toronto Maple Leafs last week.

Burrows leads all deadline acquisitions with four goals, but his production comes with an important caveat.

Jarome Iginla had only eight goals and 18 points in 61 games with the Colorado Avalanche this season, but the 39-year-old has looked somewhat rejuvenated with L.A., scoring twice, including the overtime winner, against the Nashville Predators earlier this month.

It's been a tough start to Jannik Hansen's tenure with the San Jose Sharks. The former Vancouver Canucks forward was initially held up for multiple games due to visa issues, and now he's banged up after suffering an injury Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks.

Johnny Oduya has only nine points all season, but he has a pair in the five games since being reacquired by the Chicago Blackhawks.

Curtis Lazar isn't included in the chart, but he notched an assist in his first game with the Calgary Flames on Sunday night. He was acquired from the Ottawa Senators on deadline day.

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