Shortly after the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers left the building after their game on Saturday afternoon, both organizations got the bad news that Mel Bridgman had passed away at the age of 70.

Bridgman had strong ties to both organizations. He was the first GM in Senators history, but was better known for his playing career, starting with the Flyers. who chose him first overall in the 1975 NHL Draft. That was unusual since they'd just won back-to-back Cups. They acquired the pick by trade, and it was the only time in history that the Flyers have picked first overall.

Bridgman went on to play his first 462 NHL games in a Flyers sweater, and also played for the Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, and Vancouver Canucks. He finished his career with 701 points across 977 regular-season games from 1975 to 1989. Bridgman also never backed down from a scrap and took on all comers, a perfect fit for the Broad Street Bullies, posting 1,625 career penalty minutes.

Two years after retiring as a player, that's when Ottawa entered the picture.

Without much experience at all, the Senators hired him as their first GM. With expansion draft rules much different from what they are now, new teams in those days were set up to fail with a 100 percent guarantee. In fact, with Bridgman only two years removed from playing, he could have jumped into action with the Sens and wouldn't have been their worst player.

Some expansion draft day issues also hampered Bridgman and the Senators, as the club famously had laptop troubles. But Bridgman's only NHL entry draft went better, yielding the very talented Alexei Yashin, still the only Senator in history to be nominated for the Hart Trophy.

The Senators issued this statement on social media:

The Ottawa Senators are saddened to learn that Mel Bridgman has passed away.

After a stellar playing career in the NHL, Mel served as our first general manager when we returned to the NHL for the 1992-93 season. He presided over our inaugural entry draft, where the club selected Alexei Yashin with the second overall selection.

The Ottawa Senators organization sends its deepest sympathies to Mel’s loved ones at this difficult time.

The Flyers also issued a statement:

The NHL Alumni Association announced Bridgman's death on Saturday. The cause of death was not disclosed.

Just like every year, the Montreal Canadiens held their Hockey Fights Cancer on Saturday night, and I’ll admit that I struggled to hold back the tears when they introduced the kids currently battling this awful disease. Not just because of the kids, but because it hit closer to home this year with my dad currently fighting the big C. Hopefully, the themed night prompted a lot of people to donate to cancer research and one day, we’ll have a cure.

Several Canadiens players chose to dedicate their fight against cancer to the coach consultant Roger Grillo, who is currently battling the disease, as announced by the organization this morning. The ceremony came to a close when a youngster who had just beaten the disease rang the bell that symbolizes his victory, to the cheers of 21,000 fans, an inspiring moment, to say the least.

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Inspire Confidence

While a goaltender’s first job is without a doubt to stop the puck, anybody who’s ever manned the net will tell you that another one of their roles is also to inspire confidence. Allowing a goal on the second shot of the game hardly inspires that, and while I don’t want to keep hitting on Samuel Montembeault when he’s down, it’s hard not to mention it.

The first goal came off a rebound he allowed on the first shot he faced from the Utah Mammoth, and while the goal wasn’t entirely on him (Joe Veleno completely lost his man on the play), the result remains the same: a shaken goaltender who struggles to inspire confidence.

A few minutes later, on a shot that wasn’t all that threatening, Montembeault spilled the puck after making a save, and it was slowly trickling into the net when Jake Evans came to his rescue to save the day and prevent the Habs from being down 2-0.

Montembeault bounced back spectacularly, however, stopping 15 of the 16 shots he faced in the second frame and making some key saves in a third period he called the best the team had played this season. Right now, it seems like the goaltender needs to build his confidence all over with every game. While that’s not ideal, it’s better than not having any confidence at all. By his own admission, Montembeault stated that the deeper the game got, the more comfortable he felt.

Reacting To The Refs

Like it or not, referees are mere mortals, and, like every human, they will make some mistakes. Granted, mistakes seem to happen a lot these days, but whatever happens on the ice, players must keep playing.

Early in the second period, Josh Anderson fell to the ice and felt that he had been interfered with. Instead of jumping up and keeping on playing, he wasted some time staying on the ice looking at the ref. As a result, the Mammoth got a three-on-one and scored a go-ahead goal. After the goal, Anderson was looking at the ref as if to say, “Look what you’ve done”. It’s not the first time this has happened this season, and the last time it did, he got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in a game the Canadiens ended up losing against the Edmonton Oilers. Lessons need to be learned. Thankfully for Anderson, Cole Caufield was on hand to tie the game right back.

Minutes later, as the Bell Centre crowd was loudly booing because Jayden Struble had been tripped, Oliver Kapanen and Alex Newhook took off with speed on the wing. The young Finn fed Newhook, who cut inside and scored, making it 3-2 Montreal before the boobirds had even stopped voicing their displeasure. Without a doubt, the much better way to react to a disappointing call or no call in this instance.

Frustration is understandable, but you lose nothing by continuing to play if there’s something you think warrants a penalty. Worst-case scenario, you’ll give a few seconds of unnecessary effort, but it’s much better than costing your team a goal.

Goal Scoring Leaders

At the time of writing, the Canadiens have the league’s top goal scorer and the rookie top scorer as well, a rare feat for this team. Cole Caufield has 12 goals in 15 games, on pace for 66 goals, that’s a Rocket Richard Trophy-winning pace. There’s no guarantee he’ll be able to keep it up, but it’s impressive, nonetheless.

The more he plays, the harder Caufield makes it for Team USA to ignore him for the Olympics. The Americans want to play a rugged game like they did in the 4 Nations Face-Off, but Olympic hockey is a different animal, and it won’t be called the same way. Leaving behind a player who can not only score but also do it in clutch moments could be a tremendous strategic error.

As for Oliver Kapanen, the youngster now has six goals and four assists for 10 points in 15 games, which might be a surprise to some, but not to Martin St-Louis:

He’s such an intelligent player; he does all that without cheating. He does it without just going to get those things (offensive production). I think Kappy has great qualities. He plays the game that’s in front of him, does what the game dictates, and as I said this morning, it’s rare that you don’t get rewarded offensively when you have the skills. And he has the skills, with the computer he has and the skills, I’m not surprised, but I’m happy about how he goes and get those things offensively, he doesn’t do it at the expense of his defensive work.

At the time of writing, the Canadiens had two of the top three rookie scorers in the league. Ivan Demidov has the lead with 13 points, two points ahead of Matthew Schaefer, who stands on 11, while Kapanen trails him by a single point. I don’t think many believed that would be the case when the puck dropped on the season.

In the end, the Habs won this one 6-2, and the locals went home happy after an excellent show.

The Canadiens will enjoy a day off tomorrow before getting back to work with a practice in Brossard on Monday morning. Their next game will take place on Tuesday night when they’ll host the Los Angeles Kings.

Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) on XDans le cadre des initiatives #LeHockeyPourVaincreLeCancer de cette année, Nathan de Leucan a été invité à sonner la cloche à un match des Canadiens pour souligner la fin de ses traitements contre le cancer! As part of this year's #HockeyFightsCancer initiatives, Nathan from

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The Anaheim Ducks wrapped up their brief, two-game road trip that had them take on the Vegas Golden Knights in a Saturday night showdown two days after a barnburner of a 7-5 win against the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

The Ducks were looking to extend their five-game winning streak against a Vegas team that they’ve struggled against, especially on the road, since the franchise’s inception. Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier entered play, each with their own eight-game point streaks they were trying to preserve. Unfortunately for Gauthier, his ended. Carlsson, however, continued his rise toward superstardom with a three-point night.

The Ducks went with their exact lineup that earned them their last three victories.

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The Knights were hoping to retake the Pacific division lead and return to the win column against Anaheim, after dropping their Thursday night game to Tampa Bay 6-3.

The Ducks turned to Petr Mrazek in net for this game, marking just his third appearance in the team’s first 14 games to open the season. After two shaky outings to start the season, he saved 36 of 39 shots. None of the goals he allowed could be classified as “soft,” and he made numerous game-preserving stops toward the end of the third and in overtime, as Vegas made their final push toward a desired two points.

The Knights turned to Akira Schmid in this game, who stopped 25 of the 29 shots he faced.

Game Notes

The two teams were evenly matched to start the game, trading zone time, rush chances, and good defensive efforts. The Ducks seized control of the game during the second, overwhelming Vegas with their relentlessly clean exits and rush chances that led to extended cycle opportunities.

Vegas countered with an onslaught of their own in the third period, where they totaled 21 shots and a whopping 35 shot attempts. Anaheim’s defensive structure, along with Mrazek’s stellar play down the stretch, took the Ducks to overtime with a 3-3 tie, where offensive dynamo Jacob Trouba (kidding…kinda) ended it for Anaheim, sending them home with four points of a possible four on their road trip against a pair of Cup contenders from the West.

Defensive Zone Coverage: The Ducks have become comfortable and effective in their new zone system, as demonstrated best by these last two games against Dallas and Vegas. Even when they don’t get their desired early kills and are hemmed in for spells, as happens from time to time (it is still hockey), they are able to conserve some energy and protect the most dangerous seams.

Their standard positioning makes it easier for puck carriers to know where and when support is arriving, and outlets remain in more predictable spots on the ice, allowing them to exit cleanly and build plays more effectively. The next area to work on will be for the weak-side winger and defensemen to be more aware of activating defensemen or opposing covering forwards as they sneak down toward the back post, looking for soft ice.

Zellweger-Trouba: Once again, this pair showed why they’re analytically one of the best in the NHL. They accounted for four points (1-3=4) between them, 62.9% of the expected goals share, 53.8% of the shot share, and 59.5% of the shot attempts share.

They drive play from the blueline when in the offensive zone, reading off each other and their supporting forwards so they can pinch or cut down from the point to open up space or become passing options. Trouba’s defensive stick has become one of his most effective tools, as he consistently breaks up attacks in the d-zone, after which Zellweger pounces on the loose puck or an open lane to ignite a rush.

Rush Defense: The Ducks' rush/transition defense remains an area of concern. They did well to patch the middle of neutral ice, where they previously would allow cutting forwards to find the ice between defensemen with speed to manufacture breaks. However, Vegas exploited the Ducks’ puck-watching backcheckers and easily found their trailers for the Knights’ first and third goals in this game.

There will need to be increased communication between the retreating defensemen and the backchecking forwards in regards to who needs support and who needs trailers accounted for.

Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier: Not much more can be said about Carlsson, as he has raised expectations to the point where if he doesn’t dazzle, it’s an anomaly. Of course, he dazzled in this one, but the areas where he most impressed were defensively and in surveying opposing attacks in the neutral zone. He anticipated, disrupted, and dug for pucks to create offense in this game. On this trajectory, he could become the 200-foot, dominant, two-way center his ceiling was advertised as when he was drafted in 2023, just with way more offensive upside than expected by most.

Gauthier saw his point streak end, but it’s clear the game is slowing down for the sophomore winger. He is scanning the ice with and without the puck to greater effect, and has improved his play-connecting skills just inside the offensive blueline, even looking for and finding streaking teammates (mainly linemate Beckett Sennecke) in the slot. He’s finding ways to present himself as a passing option for teammates regardless of where he is on the ice: high-danger areas, high middle, on his backhand, on the wall, etc. These are encouraging signs for a budding (or arriving) star goalscorer.

The Ducks’ string of Cup-hopeful opponents continues on Sunday, when they’ll host the Winnipeg Jets at Honda Center, before embarking on a three-game road trip, starting on Tuesday against the NHL-best Colorado Avalanche.

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