The Boston Bruins received some words of encouragement from Conor McGregor prior to the UFC star dropping the ceremonial puck at TD Garden on Saturday night.
"He's an incredible guy, very energetic," Marchand said of McGregor, according to Ken Powtak of the Associated Press. "He was humble. He was happy to be here. He's expressed that to everyone. It was an honor to meet him. It was great to have him here. It's something we'll remember."
Peter DeBoer reportedly doesn't need to worry about being in the final year of his contract as head coach of the San Jose Sharks.
"It's imminent that he'll sign a multi-year agreement with the San Jose Sharks, so he's not going anywhere," Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos said on "Saturday Headlines."
DeBoer is in his fourth campaign as the Sharks' bench boss, and he's on pace for his best regular-season finish with the team. San Jose entered Saturday's action sitting second in the Western Conference with a 43-20-8 record.
DeBoer guided the Sharks to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 after stints with the New Jersey Devils and Florida Panthers. He also led the Devils to the final in 2012.
American forwards Jack Hughes and Cole Caufield are projected to be first-round selections in the 2019 NHL Draft, and on Friday night, each set a record on the same goal when the USA Hockey National Team Development Program defeated Green Bay.
Hughes picked up his fifth assist of the night on Caufield's sixth goal of the game, placing him atop the program's points list, while Caufield moved into first place for goals.
"I mean, we were so proud of each other and we just said, 'Congrats,' and it was just a really special moment," Caufield said, according to NHL.com's Mike Morreale. "We worked so hard for this; I can't say enough about my teammates."
The 17-year-old Hughes is a strong candidate to be selected with the first overall pick at the 2019 NHL Draft. His 190 points over two seasons with the program moves him past Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller and into the top spot on the all-time list.
"With all the players who have come through the program and being able to pass some of those guys was really cool," Hughes said. "You look at the list with Keller, Auston Matthews, and Patrick Kane; it's just cool to be mentioned with them."
Caufield buried his 105th goal with the program, passing Pittsburgh Penguins forward Phil Kessel for the all-time lead. The 18-year-old's big night also moved him within four goals of the NTDP single-season goals record held by Matthews with 55.
Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar was exasperated by his team's lack of intensity after dropping a critical home game to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.
The Avalanche carried a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, but a three-goal second period sparked the comeback victory for a Ducks team playing their third game in four nights.
“We were checking with our eyes,” Bednar told reporters after the game, including the Denver Post's Mike Chambers. “We got to check with our legs. We’re supposed to be the rested team. We didn’t win enough races. We didn’t check the puck back enough. We build a lead and it looked like we got comfortable with it and just stopped working."
Colorado has now dropped five of its last seven contests and sits five points back of the final wild-card berth in the Western Conference. Bednar pointed to the team's lack of urgency and inability to learn from past mistakes as a reason for their late-season struggles.
“As a team, you can’t continually learn the same lesson," Bednar said. "It just seems like we’re learning the same lesson, over and over on our losses. I know our guys care but we didn’t play an inspired game today, like we really needed it - like it was mandatory that we won. The urgency, for me, wasn’t there.”
With 11 crucial games left on the schedule, the Avalanche continue their playoff push Sunday when they host the New Jersey Devils.