Coyotes captain Shane Doan left the game after Gudas knocked him to the ice and sandwiched him into the boards. No update has been given on Doan's condition, but it appeared he may have suffered a head injury.
Hanzal, meanwhile, forced Claude Giroux from the game after hitting him into the boards from behind. The Flyers have announced their captain is "fine" and will be available for Monday's game against the Jets.
The Coyotes forward was not penalized for the hit on Giroux, but did receive a misconduct for boarding Wayne Simmonds in an ensuing scrum.
The Minnesota Wild signed forward Mario Lucia to a two-year, entry-level contract beginning next season, the club announced Sunday.
The 22-year-old wrapped up his career at Notre Dame on Friday with a 3-2 overtime loss to Michigan at the NCAA Tournament. In four seasons with the Fighting Irish, Lucia recorded 61 goals and 49 assists in 110 games.
Selected in the second round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft (60th overall), he will report to the Wild's AHL affiliate in Iowa on an amateur tryout for the remainder of this season.
If the Colorado Avalanche are going to climb back into a playoff spot, they'll have to press on without two of their best players.
Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon, both of whom are dealing with knee injuries, have been ruled out of at least the next two games, the team announced Sunday.
Duchene has missed the past six games, while MacKinnon has sat out five. The pair has combined for 108 points this season.
Colorado is scheduled to visit Nashville on Monday with a game the next night in St. Louis. At that point, the Avalanche will have five games remaining on the schedule, but it may already be too late to make up the gap between them and Minnesota for the final wild-card spot.
The New Jersey Devils goalie has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to March 4 after suffering a Grade 1 MCL sprain in his right knee, the team announced Sunday.
Schneider has been assigned to the club's AHL affiliate on a conditioning stint and will practice with Albany on Monday. He will then return to New Jersey for Tuesday's practice in advance of their game that night against Boston.
There's no official word yet on whether he will suit up for that game.
Schneider posted a record of 26-23-6 with a .923 save percentage prior to the injury.
The Philadelphia Flyers appear to have dodged a huge late-season injury scare.
Captain Claude Giroux said he felt "pretty good" after being forced out of Saturday's game in Arizona late in the third period as a result of this hit from Coyotes center Martin Hanzal.
While nothing will be made official until Sunday evening when the Flyers will update his condition, it's expected Giroux will be ready to play Monday against Winnipeg.
Giroux's presence in the lineup is obviously critical for a Flyers club clinging to a wild-card spot with eight games to go.
Based on the way he was talking after the game, he appears set to play each one.
"There's not a lot of games left. We need to keep working on our game, and I think we've been doing that all season long," he told reporters. "I think the next eight games are going to be fun to play."
It's only been five games, but Mike Smith has been playing at an incredibly high level since returning to game action for the Arizona Coyotes.
The veteran goalie, who was sidelined for over three months with a core muscle injury, has posted a record of 4-1-0, with a save percentage of .965.
Date
Opponent
Result
Saves
March 12
@ Edmonton
W 4-0
44
March 17
San Jose
W 3-1
27
March 20
@ San Jose
L 0-3
33
March 22
Edmonton
W 4-2
27
March 26
Philadelphia
W 2-1
34
Yes, two of those games came against lowly Edmonton, but San Jose is a playoff team, and Philadelphia is desperate to be one, which adds credence to the majority of those starts.
Considering Smith is the team's highest-paid player and remains under contract for three more seasons at a cap hit of $5,666,666, it must be heartening for the Coyotes to see some value being squeezed out of a major investment.
Keep in mind, backup Louis Domingue, who more than admirably held down the fort in Smith's absence, is set to become a restricted free agent at season's end, meaning more cap dollars will be slotted at the one position for the young, building club.
Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, and Hudson Fasching, all key pieces in general manager Tim Murray's rebuilding plans, combined to make Sabres history during Saturday's game against Winnipeg.
All three forwards scored in the 3-2 comeback win over the Jets, marking the first time in franchise history that three different rookies accounted for all of Buffalo's goals in a single game, according to NHL public relations.
For Fasching, it was his first at the NHL level after signing with the Sabres out of the University of Minnesota less than a week ago. It's kind of becoming an old habit for Eichel and Reinhart at this point, however, as both have already eclipsed the 20-goal mark, now with 23 and 21 respectively.
With 72 points through 75 games, the Sabres have already improved by 18 points in the standings over last season, and at this time next year, they could very well be talking playoffs in Buffalo.
John Torchetti has been preaching the same thing over and over since becoming interim head coach of the Minnesota Wild, and what he clearly wants to see out of his players is a solid, responsible, two-way game.
Torchetti's system demands tempo and accountability on both sides of the puck, but it also allows his players more freedom to make something happen at even strength. The mentality is attack the opposing net, rather than simply defend their own at all costs.
That philosophy was on full display early in Saturday's massive win over Colorado, courtesy of Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund.
During the second period of what was a scoreless game up to that point, the Avalanche started moving the puck out of the defensive zone off of a somewhat ill-advised backhand pass from winger Mikkel Boedker to center Mikhail Grigorenko.
Rather than retreating, Parise challenged the breakout, aggressively pursuing the puck.
Having forced a turnover, and with Colorado's defensemen on their heels, Parise (11) looked cross ice and dished the puck to an eager and expectant Granlund.
As Granlund appeared to wind up for a slapshot - which Francois Beauchemin (32) was more than willing to block - and with Wild center Mikko Koivu surrounded by both Grigorenko and defenseman Erik Johnson in the slot, Parise slid behind a previously sprawled out Blake Comeau (14) and positioned himself to the right of goaltender Semyon Varlamov.
Granlund wisely elected to fire a slap pass Parise's way, and the winger was able to open the scoring on a simple tap-in into a wide-open net, with Comeau and Johnson both helplessly watching on.
Context is huge here. Heading into this game, only three points separated these two teams. And with the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference on the line, no one would have questioned a conservative, defensively-minded approach in this situation, especially more than halfway through a scoreless contest.
Instead, Parise's aggressive play forced a turnover that led directly to a game-winning goal, giving his team a five-point lead over the Avalanche with six games remaining on the schedule.
He would add a power-play goal later in the game, giving his teammates a perfect example of what's expected from them under Torchetti's watch.
Torch on Parise: "That’s what I expect every night. That’s what he’s all about. He’s our best competitor." #mnwild
Kuznetsov is having a breakout season with the Capitals, leading the team with 53 assists and 73 points, and was named a NHL All-Star. His rookie campaign last year was rather unimpressive, seeing him manufacture just 37 points. But then the playoffs happened.
The 23-year-old shared the team lead with five goals in 14 games during the postseason while giving a sneak peak of his pure offensive skill with an incredible solo-effort goal that would hold up as the game-winner in the first round against the New York Islanders.
One year later such pretty goals have become the norm for Kuznetsov, and who can forget that deadly no-look pass he seems to have mastered.
The Capitals will be a fun team to watch this spring, and you can thank the new kid on the block for that.
The 20-year-old rookie has really started to produce like a pro with 11 points in his last 12 games. He's shown he belongs at the NHL level, scoring 18 goals and chipping in 19 assists, while earning his minutes on the second line and the second power-play unit.
The playoffs are a different beast, though, and the pressure is squarely on Hitchcock and the Blues, who've been ousted in the first round in each of the last three seasons.
Alex Steen should be back for the playoffs, but St. Louis' additional forward depth should continue to allow Fabbri to succeed in a supporting role. While much will be expected of the Blues, Fabbri won't be held to the same standard as his veteran teammates in his first postseason experience, and that lack of pressure could help him extend his recent success into the playoffs.
Andrew Ladd
Ben Whyte: After being traded by the Winnipeg Jets in late February, Ladd started his second stint with the Chicago Blackhawks at an impressive pace with points in four of his first five games, but his play - and the team's - has since gone sour.
Prior to his three-point night Saturday, the forward had just one point in six games, which came in the Blackhawks lone win over that stretch.
The reigning Cup champions remain at risk to drop into a wild-card position if their struggles continue. If the Blackhawks hope to defend their title, and the 30-year-old hopes to take a second drink out of Lord Stanley's Mug in the Windy City, he will need to be a key contributor come playoff time.
While many expected him to push for 40 goals while playing wingman to either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, he's sitting on a modest 22 through 74 games, and is on pace for his lowest point total since his first year in Toronto back in 2009-10.
The potent winger leads the Penguins in total shots (242), but his shooting percentage sits below his career average and is well down from the success rate posted during his two 37-goal seasons with the Maple Leafs.
The 28-year-old has scored an impressive 13 goals in the 22 playoff games on his NHL resume, and he will be called upon to step things up in the first round especially, to make up for the absence of the injured Evgeni Malkin.
Kessel, who carries a hefty $8-million cap hit (part of which is still being paid by Toronto), broke out in a big way with a five-point game Saturday against Detroit, and can write a new story about his first year with the suddenly rolling Penguins by making an impact when it matters most.
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