Lucic(17) - ASST: Versteeg(23), Kopitar(39) - Streamable

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The Los Angeles Kings struck twice in less than half a minute to put the Chicago Blackhawks in an early hole Monday night.

Milan Lucic snapped one top corner on goaltender Corey Crawford to give the Kings a 2-0 lead, 18 seconds after Kris Versteeg scored his first goal with Los Angeles on a rebound in front.

(Courtesy: NHL.com)

Versteeg ensured himself a multi-point game with an assist on Lucic's goal after being held without a point in his first five contests with the Kings.

It was his first goal in six career games against the Blackhawks, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2010 and 2015.

The winger was traded to Los Angeles by the Carolina Hurricanes on deadline day.

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The Buffalo Sabres have signed goaltender Jason Kasdorf to an entry-level contract after he recently completed his senior college season at R.P.I, the team announced Monday.

The 23-year-old was a sixth-round draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets in 2011, and was involved in the seven-player trade that also sent forward Evander Kane and defenseman Zach Bogosian to Buffalo.

Kasdorf finished his senior year with a 12-12-5 record, posting a 2.30 goals-against average and an impressive .931 save percentage.

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Some were skeptical about the lower-body injury that forced Alex Ovechkin to drop out of January's All-Star festivities in Nashville, but it turns out the issue is still bothering the Washington Capitals captain.

"It still bothers me," Ovechkin said, according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post. "But of course when we have that kind of schedule, it lets you know right away that it bothers you, that it's sore."

The league's leading goal-scorer has struggled of late, failing to find the back of the net during the team's recently completed four-game road trip. He has just one goal in his past eight outings, a stretch where his team has gone 4-3-1.

"If he said it, I have to believe him," coach Barry Trotz said of Ovechkin's injury, adding that the Russian faced a lot of tough matchups over the road trip, but should expect more of the same over the team's final 14 games, and into the postseason.

"For me, in the playoffs, a lot of the times, the top lines get matched up," Trotz said. "If they match up well, they probably neutralize each other, then it's just the depth of your roster sort of takes over. If you can have your top lines dominate the other top lines, you guarantee yourself a win almost all of the time."

The Capitals will return home to host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.

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Anaheim Ducks center Shawn Horcoff will be in the lineup Monday for the first time since serving a 20-game suspension for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program.

"I’m excited," Horcoff said following Monday morning’s skate ahead of the matchup versus New Jersey. "Obviously it’s been a long time coming and I worked hard to get back, so I’m looking forward to tonight."

The 37-year-old also said he was up front with teammates and the coaching staff about the nature of the suspension.

"I wanted to get that out in the open and get my story across and just be honest about it," he said. "I had great support from them. I made a mistake, obviously, not looking into the treatment that I was getting for what was an obvious injury. It would be different if I was out there legitimately trying to performance enhance.

"I think that’s what gave me great support, and they were really supportive right off the bat - the organization, the coaches, the team, fans, other players around the league. That made things a heck of a lot easier for me."

Horcoff has six goals and four assists in 45 games.

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Ray Shero knows at least one thing he'll be doing this summer.

The New Jersey Devils general manager is expecting to put pen to paper on a new deal for the team's leading scorer, forward Kyle Palmieri.

Asked Ray Shero about @NJDevils re-signing Kyle Palmieri, who can be an RFA with arb rights this summer: "We'll get him signed," Shero said.

— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) March 14, 2016

The 25-year-old, who was acquired last summer from Anaheim for the sum of two draft picks, is in the final season of a three-year, $4.4-million deal signed in 2013.

In 69 games with the Devils, Palmieri has 25 goals and 45 points, both team highs.

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What do you do when you have three favorite players and one Florida Panthers jersey?

Put the whole top line on a personalized jersey nameplate, of course.

Aleksander Barkov + Jaromir Jagr + Jonathan Huberdeau = well, this:

Saw this guy Saturday night. I'll give him points for shelling out the cash to do this. Also 11+16+68 = 95 pic.twitter.com/RZtR5RWLsy

— The Keegan (@trinidaddy25) March 14, 2016

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The NFL Referees Association says it agrees with its NHL counterpart in objecting to the reduction of Dennis Wideman's suspension for knocking down a linesman. NFLRA executive director Jim Quirk said Monday that any time an athlete makes unne...

MONTREAL - Defenceman P.K. Subban will sit out at least two more games with a neck injury, Montreal Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. The star defenceman was on hand as a team picture was taken at the Bell Centre on Monday morning but did...

The Pittsburgh Penguins have locked up a trio of forwards for the next two seasons.

Bryan Rust, Scott Wilson, and Tom Kuhnhackl have all signed two-year contract extensions, general manager Jim Rutherford announced Monday.

The deals begin next seasons and run through 2017-18. Rust's contract has an average annual value of $640,000, while both Wilson's and Kuhnhackl's are for $625,000.

As the Penguins pointed out, all three have had an impact on the club when in the lineup this season.

Player	Record With Him In Lineup	Record Without Him In Lineup
	Record / Pct.	Record / Pct.
Bryan Rust	21-9-3 / .682	15-15-5 / .500
Tom Kuhnhackl	17-8-3 / .661	19-16-5 / .538
Scott Wilson	14-8-2 / .625	22-16-6 / .568

In Sunday's win over the New York Rangers, Rust and Kuhnhackl were on the ice with Sidney Crosby in the final minute while clinging to a one-goal lead. The pair combined to set up a Crosby goal to seal the win.

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The Montreal Canadiens will be without P.K. Subban for at least two more games as a result of a neck injury.

The star defenseman, who was stretchered off the ice after an awkward collision March 10, has yet to resume skating with the team and will therefore be held out for games Tuesday against Florida and Wednesday in Buffalo, the team confirmed.

Subban had not missed a game due to injury in his career prior to Saturday.

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