Dion Phaneuf's keeping his letter.

Acquired from Toronto in arguably the NHL's most surprising trade this season, the Ottawa Senators defenseman and former Maple Leafs captain will be keeping the "A" he's worn on his jersey over the last two games, head coach Dave Cameron said.

After assistant captain Kyle Turris went down to injury, defenseman Matt Borowiecki took the letter. Borowiecki was lost last week to a torn MCL, and Phaneuf had the "A" in his return to Toronto on Saturday for the first time since the trade.

"You put it on somebody that is a leader. I knew what he was as a player," Cameron said, according to the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch. "I didn't know his personality because I've never spent any time with him."

Cameron's been impressed with Phaneuf in a short time.

"The pleasant surprise for me is his personality. He's here, he comes into the rink every day and you know he's happy to be in the NHL. He has energy, he's engaging, he talks. There's no moping, and that's been missing somewhat with our young team as we've been bouncing up and down. This guy comes in every day, does his work, does it in good humor and brings other guys along."

Phaneuf has a goal and six assists in 13 games with the Senators, while averaging almost 24 minutes of ice time. He has a 49.1 Corsi For rating, down from 52.1 with Toronto, according to Hockey Reference.

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The Washington Capitals needed a shootout to get by the Anaheim Ducks in a sneak peek of what could be this season's Stanley Cup Final on Monday.

Nicklas Backstrom had the shootout winner, while Braden Holtby turned away two of three shooters as the Capitals extinguished the Ducks 11-game win streak.

John Gibson was nearly perfect turning away 31 of 32 shots in a losing effort. The loss snapped his four-game win-streak.

Meanwhile in the Capitals' crease, Holtby collected win No. 41 on the season, matching a franchise record shared with Olaf Kolzig who did so during the 1999-00 season.

The teams will face off one more time in each's regular-season finale, where further playoff speculation is sure to escalate.

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Arizona Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson left Monday's game against the Colorado Avalanche early in the third period and did not return after suffering an upper-body injury.

Head coach Dave Tippett addressed the media postgame, saying that the 24-year-old blue-liner is day to day.

Ekman-Larsson sits sixth in scoring among defenseman with 19 goals and 49 points.

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Semyon Varlamov wants to make Patrick Roy happy.

After the Colorado Avalanche netminder was called out by his head coach asking him to "step it up," Varlamov cashed in a gutsy effort on Monday, turning away 37 of 38 shots and backstopping his team to a 3-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes.

The win came in just Varlamov's second game of the month after he was chased against the Minnesota Wild after conceding three goals on 12 shots.

Monday's victory was Varlamov's first since a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 17. He had gone winless in his three prior starts.

The 27-year-old now boasts a 22-17-3 record in 44 games this season.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs squandered a two-goal lead en route to a 4-3 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Monday, but none of the team's rookies could be faulted for the defeat.

Head coach Mike Babcock addressed the media after yet another one-goal loss, where he pointed out that it was the team's experienced players and not the youngsters who had contributed to the loss.

"It wasn't our kids that made mistakes tonight," said Babcock. "It was two guys we count on big time there in the third period that cost us."

On the flip side, Babcock was pleased with his rookies and showed particular appreciation for the strong play of Nikita Soshnikov and Zach Hyman, the former of which collected his first NHL goal in the loss.

The Maple Leafs have now dropped five straight one-goal games and six games overall with just one point out of a possible 12.

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While Jaromir Jagr used Monday's contest between the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers to make league history, Bruins head coach Claude Julien used it to set a franchise mark.

Related: Jagr passes Gordie Howe on all-time points list

With his team's 5-4 overtime win, Julien became the Bruins' all-time winningest coach, moving past Art Ross with his 388th career win with the club.

Julien now has a record of 388-215-85 in 688 career games with the Bruins. The 55-year-old will be honored by the club ahead of the its March 24th contest again the Panthers at TD Garden.

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Philadelphia Flyers forward Jakub Voracek, out a couple weeks with a lower-body injury, is enjoying watching his team.

The Flyers won for the fifth time in six games Monday, completing a brilliant 5-1 homestand with a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Voracek was a little excited about the win:

Who needs 140 characters when you can get your point across in only 25?

The Flyers are only two points back in the wild-card race. It's going to be an exciting finish to the season.

Voracek has only 10 goals and 38 assists in 60 games. He's no doubt hoping to make amends in the playoffs.

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Jack Eichel is unlike any previous Buffalo Sabres rookie.

The 19-year-old collected his 20th goal of the season Monday against division foes, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In the process, Eichel became the first teenage rookie to hit the 20-goal mark in franchise history while also making him the first Sabres rookie to collect 20 goals in a season since Tyler Ennis did so during the 2010-11 campaign.

The goal now sees Eichel just four goals back of Chicago Blackhawks forward Artemi Panarin for the rookie lead in goals.

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This ghost is for real.

Shayne Gostisbehere continued his sublime rookie season Monday night, scoring two goals for the Philadelphia Flyers against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The second put him into the Flyers' records book.

The goals were the 13th and 14th of the season for Gostisbehere, and No. 14 - a clapper on the power play - set a new Flyers record for goals in a season by a rookie defenseman. Behn Wilson scored 13 for Philly in 1978-79.

Between Gostisbehere, Artemi Panarin, and Connor McDavid, the future of the game's in good hands.

If you didn't know who Gostisbehere was before the season - or how to pronounce his name - you do now.

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Andrei Vasilevskiy is so good he appears to be toying with the opposition.

Related: VIDEO: Lightning's Vasilevskiy foils Flyers' 2-on-0 chance

The Tampa Bay Lghtning goaltender made another miraculous save Monday, this time at the peril of Philadelphia Flyers forward Chris Vandevelde.

Vasilevskiy recovered brilliantly after appearing to lose sight of a shot that rang off the crossbar behind him. Vandevelde had Vasilevskiy at his mercy, but even despite the open net, the 21-year-old backstop got back in time to get a skate on the puck.

Better luck next time boys.

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