Category Archives: Hockey News

3 teams that wish they’d lost a different player to the Golden Knights

The NHL's expansion to Vegas has been a great success story thus far, but not everyone is exactly filled with glee. Each of the other 30 NHL teams lost a player in the expansion draft process, and three teams in particular likely wish the Golden Knights went a different route with their selection.

Blue Jackets, William Karlsson

The Blue Jackets are one of the league's best teams, but their biggest flaw is their depth down the middle. Nick Foligno, who had been primarily a winger for his entire 10-year career heading into this season, has been forced to play center. Alexander Wennberg enjoyed a breakout campaign last year, but has struggled mightily this season.

Karlsson averaged just 13:23 minutes with the Jackets in 2016-17, but is enjoying a tremendous season of his own in a larger role, centering the Knights' top line. The 24-year-old has 10 goals and eight assists in 20 games. Defensively, he ranks second on the team with 19 takeaways and owns a 53.1 Corsi For percentage, despite starting over 55 percent of his shifts in the defensive zone.

Karlsson's strong play is essentially the reason why the Golden Knights didn't need Vadim Shipachyov.

Penguins, Marc-Andre Fleury

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Fleury has played only four games due to injury, but he has been sharp in the small sample size, owning a 3-1 record with a .925 save percentage and a 2.48 goals-against average.

Meanwhile, the Penguins have been unable to find a reliable backup netminder. Antti Niemi, Casey DeSmith, and Tristan Jarry have combined for an .839 save percentage.

Matt Murray has started 19 of the team's 23 games, but appears to either be fatigued by the larger workload, or enduring a possible sophomore slump. Regardless, his .907 save percentage and 2.88 goals-against average are both worse than the league average.

Being able to turn to a veteran like Fleury to give Murray a breather is a luxury the Penguins certainly still wish they had.

Capitals, Nate Schmidt

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

Boy oh boy could the Capitals ever use a puck-mover like Schmidt on their blue line right about now. Thanks to the losses of Schmidt, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Karl Alzner in the offseason, and an injury that has kept Matt Niskanen out for most of the year, the Caps' blue line has been in shambles.

Both John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov are smashing their previous career high in average time on ice. Even 37-year-old Brooks Orpik is playing 22 minutes per night.

After allowing the fewest goals in the league last year, the Caps have allowed the seventh-most this season.

Meanwhile, Schmidt leads the Golden Knights in ice time, ranks third on the team in assists, and is on pace for 41 points.

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Golden Knights tie NHL record for most wins through 1st 20 games

They weren't built like any previous expansion team, but their solid start is still impressive.

The Vegas Golden Knights rallied from a two-goal deficit to stun the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 on Wednesday night, matching the NHL record with 13 wins in the first 20 games of their inaugural season.

Only the Montreal Canadiens won as many through the first 20 contests of their opening campaign in 1917-18, going 13-7-0. The Golden Knights have gone 13-6-1.

Vegas moved into first place in the Pacific Division with 27 points, leapfrogging the slumping Los Angeles Kings, who fell to the Winnipeg Jets.

It's early, but that point total certainly bodes well.

The Golden Knights have had the fifth-easiest schedule among the NHL's 31 teams early on, according to Hockey Reference's strength of schedule metric, and the Pacific is the least competitive of the four groups in the standings.

Still, they've pulled this off despite losing multiple goaltenders to injury, and that's made them one of the NHL's best stories so far.

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Red Wings’ Blashill calls out Mantha: ‘Not OK to just be a passenger’

There were some harsh words for Anthony Mantha on Wednesday night.

The Red Wings forward received the brunt of his coach's criticism following Detroit's 6-2 blowout loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

Mantha skated for just under 19 minutes, but was held off the scoresheet as he wrapped up the night with three shots and a minus-one rating.

That performance, or lack thereof, didn't sit well with Red Wings bench boss Jeff Blashill.

"It's a hard league if you don't show up with shift-to-shift intensity every single night," Blashill told reporters following the loss. "We've got some young guys that have really helped in our success, when we've had success, but with those types of minutes comes big-time responsibility.

"Anthony Mantha has got to be way better. Way better. It's not okay to just be a passenger when you're given the opportunity to be an impact player."

Mantha has been one of the Red Wings' top performers this season, as he leads the team with 10 goals and sits one point behind Dylan Larkin for top spot in club scoring. However, he failed to produce against Edmonton.

"(Mantha) is not alone, but he's a guy who I said to at the beginning of the year, 'For us to be great, you've got to be great,'" Blashill added. "He's gone through large stretches of being great. He hasn't been great the last two games."

The 23-year-old will soon have the opportunity to redeem himself, as the Red Wings face off against the New York Rangers on Friday.

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Subban called Gallagher short during scrum: ‘He didn’t like that too much’

P.K. Subban apparently goaded former teammate Brendan Gallagher into taking an extra penalty during a brawl in the third period of Wednesday's contest.

Related - Watch: Predators, Canadiens get into heated brawl

During the altercation, the Montreal Canadiens forward gave Subban a face wash - one the Nashville Predators defenseman admitted was likely the result of him chirping Gallagher's size.

"I called him short, he didn't like that too much," Subban told Sportsnet's Kyle Bukauskas postgame. "When I was talking to him I was just kind of looking over his head and I didn't think he'd like that too much. So I took the face wash, sometimes you've got to take it. Fortunately he got the extra minutes so that's why I was smiling."

Subban and Gallagher were each assessed a two-minute minor for roughing on the play, while Gallagher was also given a minor for unsportsmanlike conduct on Kyle Turris.

In the end, the Predators prevailed in a shootout, adding insult to injury for Gallagher and the Canadiens - who dropped their fifth straight game.

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Ranking the best OT, shootout winners from Wednesday’s action

The NHL schedule featured a whopping 15 games Wednesday, with every team in action except for the St. Louis Blues.

Regulation wasn't enough for a handful of those contests, with varying degrees of excellence on display in deciding the eventual victors.

Here's how we rank the six shootout- and overtime-winning goals.

6. Turris making friends in Nashville

Playing in his sixth game for his new team, Nashville center Kyle Turris beat Montreal goalie Antti Niemi to help P.K. Subban get the better of his old mates.

5. Anderson goes top shelf on Smith

Columbus' Josh Anderson found himself alone in front of the Calgary net, firing a Nick Foligno pass top shelf on Mike Smith.

4. Bjugstad's cheeky shootout move

Florida's Nick Bjugstad came in hot and dangled around a Frederik Andersen poke check to finish off a hot Toronto squad.

3. Lightning get to the Point

Tampa Bay knows how to move the puck. The Lightning made good on an overtime power play with this slap pass from Steven Stamkos to Brayden Point, who made no mistake to cap a comeback win over Chicago.

2. Boston's young defenseman gets offensive

It took 11 rounds and a rookie defenseman, but Boston prevailed over New Jersey thanks to this slick backhand effort from Charlie McAvoy.

1. Tavares' magic along the boards

Josh Bailey scored the goal, but what makes the Islanders' overtime winner so special is the work put in by John Tavares along the boards to make it happen. Even more impressive is the fact that the opposing player was Philadelphia's Sean Couturier, who could very well win a Selke Trophy one day.

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Rookies steal spotlight on jam-packed night of hockey

The kids came to play.

On a night when 30 of the NHL's 31 teams suited up - only the St. Louis Blues watched from the sidelines - a handful of freshmen stole the spotlight.

Vancouver Canucks rookie Brock Boeser and Washington Capitals first-year player Jakub Vrana led the way with a pair of goals apiece, while four other freshmen also found the back of the net Wednesday.

Jake DeBrusk of the Boston Bruins was the first to do so, as he picked up his fifth of the season by firing a perfect shot past New Jersey Devils netminder Cory Schneider. It marked his second goal in as many games.

The Bruins rookie wasn't the only first-year skater to tally in the game, as Devils forward Jesper Bratt recorded his sixth of the year. The point moved Bratt to 14 on the season, one behind teammate and 2016 first overall pick Nico Hischier.

In Brooklyn, two rookies connected to power the New York Islanders to a thrilling overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Josh Ho-Sang recorded his second goal of the season, and his third point in the last five games since being recalled from the minors Nov. 11.

Islanders forward Mathew Barzal also chipped in, collecting his fifth goal and 20th point. Barzal sits one point shy of Boeser for top spot in the rookie scoring race.

In a season that began with no clear favorite to take home the Calder, several candidates have put together solid cases for top rookie honors, and added to their respective resumes with Wednesdays performances.

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Watch: Predators, Canadiens get into heated brawl

Things got a little chippy between the Nashville Predators and Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night.

Midway through the third period - after a collision in front of Predators goalie Pekka Rinne - a mini-brawl ensued with P.K. Subban and Brendan Gallagher front and center. After things had mostly settled down, Rinne gave Gallagher a shove and chaos erupted once again.

The shenanigans concluded with a total of five minor penalties handed out.

As for Rinne, he later apologized to Gallagher, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels.

That's hockey for you.

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Evander Kane building the perfect case to be traded

No disrespect, Buffalo, but your hockey team is terrible.

So it comes as no surprise that one of the Sabres' biggest potential trade chips in Evander Kane is playing his way toward just that: a one-way ticket out of the Nickel City.

Despite being one of the better pure scorers in the game today, Kane has struggled to find a fit with both the Sabres and his last team, the Winnipeg Jets, having his name constantly mentioned in trade talks and rumors.

Now that the rumor mill has begun to swirl, once again with Kane in the mix, the 26-year-old Vancouver native is building the perfect case to be one of the next players shipped out of Buffalo.

Following the Sabres' seventh consecutive loss against the Minnesota Wild at KeyBank Center, Kane now has nine points in his last 10 games (five goals, four assists).

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

It should be noted that Kane is also set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, so it's understandable that he's currently playing some of the best hockey of his career.

As it stands, Kane is on pace for his highest goal total since netting a 30 spot with the Jets in 2011-12, as the talented winger is on pace to bag 44 goals this campaign.

Through 22 games, Kane has registered solid offensive numbers, racking up 12 goals and nine assists, which includes his league-leading three shorthanded tallies.

Simply put, the Sabres would be wise to cast Kane's name out into the open market now while his trade stock continues to skyrocket.

Realistically, there is no telling whether Kane wants to stay or go, but let's be honest: with the Buffalo losing at an embarrassing rate, his case to be traded gets stronger with each passing day.

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