At least one NHL general manager wants to limit the opposition's dances with lady luck to once in five years.

In advance of this week's general manager meetings in Florida, St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong is talking about reducing the chances of winning the lottery for teams that don't finish in 30th place.

"The theory is that if you finish last you always have a chance to win the lottery," Armstrong said, according to Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun. "So, if you finish last three years in a row, you can win the lottery three years in a row. But if you didn’t finish last and win the lottery, you can’t do it again for another five years.

"If you are like Edmonton last year and finished 28th and won the lottery, you couldn’t win it again this year if you didn’t finish last."

For Armstrong, the question of teams tanking in order to ensure a last-place finish isn't a concern.

"For me it’s not a thing of concern because of the parity," he said. "I just don’t think you can make yourself that much better at the (trade) deadline or that much worse at the deadline.

"Ultimately players have no stake in tanking," he continued. "And when you see the number of young players in the game today, well, usually when a player gets called up, he’s hungrier. It’s almost the reverse philosophy. The logic is that when you trade veteran players you get worse. The reality is, when you trade veterans and bring up younger guys, in a lot of instances you get better. The statistics actually show that."

The draft lottery is expected to be one of the main topics addressed at the GM meetings.

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Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Dalton Prout will have a hearing for roughing/sucker punching Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning, the NHL's Department of Player Safety has announced.

The incident occurred during a scrum behind the net, and the punch forced Kucherov to make an early exit from Sunday's game.

The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

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Having basically already conquered the NHL's regular season, Washington Capitals head coach Barry Trotz is weary of his team becoming complacent.

Washington has amassed 103 points through 68 games, enough for a 12-point advantage in the race for the Presidents' Trophy.

But this is a team with playoff-heavy aspirations, and with a 5-4-1 record over the past 10 games, is trending the wrong way at the wrong time.

As a result, Trotz is warning his players not to take their feet off the gas.

"Everybody we’re playing is in playoff mode. They’re fighting for playoff position and they’re marking us and they’re using us as a little bit of a yardstick based on our record and every game is hard," Trotz said Sunday, according to Chuck Gormley of CSN. "You’ve got to fight for inches and right now we’ve got some guys, they’re playing hard but we’re not fighting for enough inches.

"You’re going to have to fight for the inches in the playoffs and you’ve got to prepare that way for the playoffs."

Of particular note, superstar winger Alex Ovechkin has a single goal in seven March games and dropped only two shots in a 5-2 loss Saturday in San Jose.

Trotz's thoughts?

"I need all our guys to play at the level they need to play at."

Shots fired. Or, rather, more shots need to be fired.

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The NHL's 30 general managers are in Boca Raton, Fla. for their annual meetings.

Here's a look at the expected talking points, according to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN:

• Coach's challenge: One of the big questions around this topic is whether the reviews should be handled by the on-ice officials or if the decision should come from the league's war room in Toronto. Much has been made about the size of the screens used by the officials, and the idea of assessing a two-minute delay-of-game penalty to the team that loses a coach's challenge could also be floated as a possibility for next season.
• Expansion draft: The NHL is expected to present the general outline for a possible expansion draft. While there's been no decision on whether teams will be added, general managers are looking for a heads up in terms of how it could play out so they can plan ahead.
• Rule 48: It's believed some GMs would like Rule 48 - which addresses hits to the head - to be redefined so it covers incidents where the perpetrator didn't necessarily extend upwards and outwards to make contact with the head, or regardless of whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position. This hit by Anton Stralman on Bryan Little, which was not penalized, is likely to be used as an example:

• Draft lottery: This is expected to be a hot topic, especially with the Edmonton Oilers in the running to "earn" their fifth first overall pick in seven years. The argument will be made that teams shouldn't be able to win in back-to-back years or two within a certain number of years.
• Goal scoring: Reducing the size goalie equipment is set to be the likely first step in the quest to increase the number of goals scored around the league.

The meetings were expected to begin Monday at 8 a.m. ET.

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With the last-place Toronto Maple Leafs in town Sunday night, the Detroit Red Wings had a tremendous opportunity to not just jump back ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but to open up a five-point advantage on the surging Philadelphia Flyers.

But they couldn't slip one past Jonathan Bernier.

Behind 38 saves from the Maple Leafs goaltender, Mike Babcock earned his first win in Detroit since leaving the organization last summer, 1-0.

Bernier's clean sheet was his second of the season, and the first shutout by a Maple Leafs netminder in Detroit in more than 15 years.

Michael Grabner underscored what was a highly unusual contest, scoring his first goal in 30 games - and the eventual game-winner - with his backside as he slid into Petr Mrazek's crease after being hauled down on a breakaway.

It's just one defeat from 82 games, but one the Red Wings may live to regret come mid-April.

Babcock led the Red Wings into the playoffs each season in his decade behind the bench, helping extend the organization's longest active postseason appearance streak in North American sports to 24 years. This season, under rookie head coach Jeff Blashill, the Wings will carry a three-point lead over Philadelphia - while conceding two games in hand - into the final month of the campaign after Sunday's loss.

And though his team took the points Sunday, Babcock acknowledged he'll be pulling for his former employer down the stretch.

The Red Wings will visit Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Toronto, meanwhile, remains in last place in the overall standings, but is now three points behind the Edmonton Oilers with a trio of games in hand.

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Michael Grabner pulled out a horseshoe.

The snakebitten Toronto Maple Leafs winger used the seat of his pants to snap a 30-game goalless drought Sunday night while spilling into the Detroit Red Wings net on a breakaway attempt.

Grabner was initially awarded a penalty shot, but after review, it was ruled that the puck did indeed beat his person into the net.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning prevented the cannon from sounding Sunday afternoon in Columbus, but didn't leave Nationwide Arena unscathed.

Forwards Nikita Kucherov and Valtteri Filppula both exited with injuries, and did not return to the 4-0 win.

There was no update after the game, and Kucherov's issue remains unclear, but the Bolts did announce during the game that Filppula suffered an upper-body injury.

It's believed Filppula suffered the knock on a hit from Blue Jackets defender Fedor Tyutin.

Kucherov has 25 goals and 54 points this season, while the modest-scoring but useful Filppula has 28 points and appeared in every game for Tampa.

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Because what's cooler than NHL ice?

A small bird ventured from the rafters to cool its toes on the ice at Nationwide Arena during Sunday's matinee between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Blue Jackets were unable to fire the cannon and perhaps spook the bird back to the rafters, however, losing 4-0.

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Though Brad Treliving and his Calgary Flames brass have potentially franchise-defining contracts to broker with restricted free agents Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, the club's priority this summer is to unearth a bona fide No. 1 starter.

"No ifs, ands, or buts," Treliving confirmed to Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun.

"We will leave no stone unturned and see where we go. It's obviously a critical position and we'll cast a wide net."

The Flames are the only team stopping pucks at a sub-.900 rate this season, and own the fifth-worst team save percentage in the two seasons since longtime starter Miikka Kiprusoff sprung for retirement.

Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo, both pending unrestricted free agents unlikely to be retained, have essentially split duties over that span, each having failed to nail down the starter's role. Joni Ortio, meanwhile, who's made the Flames' last four starts, is a restricted free agent after this season. He could return in a backup role, but owns a sub-.900 save clip for his career himself.

Frederik Andersen of the Anaheim Ducks might be the most attractive option available through trade, while the likes of James Reimer and Cam Ward will be free to choose their destination this summer.

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Should he choose to take it through to July 1, Steven Stamkos will carry a 30-goal season - at minimum - into unrestricted free agency.

The Tampa Bay Lightning captain clapped No. 30 short side on Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky on Sunday, reaching the milestone total for the fifth time in his eight NHL seasons.

Stamkos will not challenge his career-best 60 scored in 2011-12, and would need to average one per game down the stretch to match his 43-goal campaign from a season ago.

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