The good news: Mike Hoffman had arguably the best seat in the house. The bad news: he was benched.
The Ottawa Senators forward played a season low 10:45 in Toronto against the Maple Leafs, watching the third period from the bench. He had only 15 shifts.
After the game, head coach Dave Cameron brought the heat.
"Ice time is distributed with what I think gives us the best chance to win," Cameron said, according to TSN's Ian Mendes.
Hoffman leads the Senators in goals with 25 and is fourth on the team in points, with 46. The new year has brought struggles, though, as Hoffman has only seven goals and five assists in 28 games in 2016.
Earning $2 million, Hoffman's set for restricted free agency this summer.
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The Columbus Blue Jackets are moving on in a hurry.
Head coach John Tortorella made it clear after Saturday's 6-0 loss to Philadelphia that game tape will not be reviewed.
#CBJ coach John Tortorella has asked asst. coach Brad Larsen to make sure tape of tonight's game never sees the light of day. #chuckit
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) March 6, 2016
Related: Gudas gold: Flyers D-man posts elite-level stat line vs. Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets have posted a record of 27-23-8 under Tortorella, but clearly he won't be using this one as a teaching tool.
Overall, the team sits at 27-31-6 after beginning the season with eight straight losses.
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The book on Dion Phaneuf's time as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs officially came to a close Saturday night.
The former Toronto captain made his first visit to the Air Canada Centre since a February blockbuster trade to the Ottawa Senators, and he did what he didn't do often enough while in the blue and white: win.
The Senators took a 3-2 decision, keeping their slim playoff hopes alive, and Phaneuf was celebrated with a video tribute by the Maple Leafs and a standing ovation from the crowd that left him - it appeared - fighting back tears.
Related: Alter: Phaneuf feeling 'mixed emotions' before facing Maple Leafs in Toronto
After the game, Phaneuf was appreciative.
"It's a night I'll remember forever and a for me it's a pretty good way to go out," Phaneuf said, according to TSN's Jonas Seigel. "I just want to thank the fans for what they did. It meant a lot to me and that was some good closure. Real classy by them."
After emotional tribute, rough start, Phaneuf said "I kind of dialed in and I said 'I've got to be better than I was for this team'."
— Jonas Siegel (@jonassiegel) March 6, 2016
Phaneuf captained the Maple Leafs for 397 games, leading the club to the playoffs once - a memorable (for all the wrong reasons, if you're a Toronto supporter) seven-game defeat to the Boston Bruins.
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The Washington Capitals are the first team to hit the 100-point mark this season, thanks to a 2-1 overtime win in Boston on Saturday.
The two points were earned one night after Washington lost on home ice to the New York Rangers, continuing a trend of great resilience shown by Barry Trotz's squad this season.
.@washcaps moved to 12-0-1 in games after reg. loss this season. They also became 1st team to hit century mark in 2015-16 (48-13-4, 100 PTS)
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 6, 2016
The Capitals now sit 15 points clear of idle Chicago and Dallas atop the NHL standings, and are all but sure to win the Presidents' Trophy as the league's top regular-season club.
Since the award was instituted prior to the 1985-86 season, only eight winners have gone on to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Washington's ability to shake off losses, then, bodes well for that long-awaited run deep into the playoffs.
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Alex Killorn ensured the Tampa Bay Lightning made history in style.
The top-liner shook Carolina Hurricanes center Victor Rask and went the length of the ice to score the winner in overtime Saturday night, giving the Lightning a franchise-record ninth straight win.
Related: Lightning make it a record 9 in a row, take 1st in Atlantic
Killorn was named the first star of the game for helping the Lightning eclipse the previous team record set in 2003-04.
(Courtesy: NHL.com)
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