Zach Werenski can relate to what Colorado Avalanche forward Matt Calvert went through Saturday night, and the Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman says the officials should have blown the play dead after his former teammate took a puck to the head.

"Has to be blown down. This play has to stop," Werenski tweeted early Sunday morning before issuing a clarification about seven hours later.

"To clarify, this is a tough spot for the refs based on the rule, it puts them in a tough position and I’m sure they don’t want to see anyone hurt on the ice," he added. "Have to find a way to make it more clear in situations like this."

In the final minutes of Saturday's game between the Avalanche and the Vancouver Canucks, Calvert took an Elias Pettersson shot to the head. The Canucks scored shortly thereafter, as play continued with Calvert bleeding while laying on the ice.

Avalanche blue-liner Erik Johnson tore into the officiating crew postgame, saying, "It's a f------ joke," and the refs "should be ashamed of themselves."

Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon also questioned the decision not to stop the play, calling the rule "pretty crazy." While acknowledging it wasn't the refs' fault, MacKinnon said he didn't think Calvert was "faking it, trying to get a whistle."

Under Rule 8.1 of the NHL rule book, officials aren't mandated to immediately blow a play dead when a player can't continue playing:

When a player is injured so that he cannot continue play or go to his bench, the play shall not be stopped until the injured player’s team has secured control of the puck. If the player’s team is in control of the puck at the time of injury, play shall be stopped immediately unless his team is in a scoring position.

In the case where it is obvious that a player has sustained a serious injury, the referee and/or linesman may stop the play immediately.

Werenski found himself in a similar situation in 2017 when referees let play continue after he took a puck to the face during a playoff game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who scored the tying goal with Werenski laying on the ice in pain.

Calvert was a member of the Blue Jackets at the time, and the two players were teammates through 2017-18.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

It's suddenly not so far-fetched to say Calder Trophy favorite Cale Makar should be in the early conversation for a Norris Trophy nomination.

The Colorado Avalanche phenom racked up a career-best four points - all assists - in Saturday's win over the Vancouver Canucks, giving him 22 points through 20 games this season.

Makar's second helper of the contest put him in rarefied air, as he became the first rookie defenseman with 20 points in his team's first 20 regular-season games since Hall of Famer Brian Leetch in 1988-89, according to Sportsnet.

The 21-year-old reached the 20-point mark faster than any other defenseman to debut with the Quebec Nordiques or Colorado Avalanche, and only five skaters in franchise history required fewer games to notch 20 points in their first season. Those forwards were Real Cloutier, Hall of Famers Peter Stastny and Joe Sakic, and Stastny's brothers, Marian and Anton.

Makar leads by seven in the NHL's rookie points race and sits tied for second among all of the league's rearguards entering Sunday's action.

He burst onto the NHL scene last spring, posting six points across 10 games in the playoffs. The 2017 fourth overall pick won the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA's top men's hockey player in April after piling up 49 points through 41 contests in his sophomore season with UMass-Amherst.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Colorado Avalanche held on to a win over the Vancouver Canucks in overtime, but defenseman Erik Johnson wasn't a fan of one particular decision the referees made late in the match.

Up by two with under three minutes to play, Avs blue-liner Matt Calvert blocked Elias Pettersson's shot with his head. The referees opted not to blow the play dead, and the Canucks scored with Calvert on the ice in pain and bleeding from his head.

"It's a f---ing joke. You want to protect a guy? Guy's got a family at home, he's laying there bleeding out of his head and you don't blow the whistle?" Johnson said, according to The Athletic's Ryan S. Clark. "It's a complete joke. An absolute joke. They should be ashamed of themselves."

"That rule is pretty crazy, a guy laying there bleeding out the side of his head," Nathan MacKinnon said postgame. "I know it's not the refs fault, it's the league rule ... I don't think he's faking it, trying to get a whistle."

The Canucks went on to score again, forcing overtime. MacKinnon, who was visibly frustrated with the referees after they allowed play to continue, ended things quickly by scoring 27 seconds into the extra frame.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Auston Matthews admits the Toronto Maple Leafs are a disheartened group after a 6-1 thumping against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday marked the club's fifth straight regulation loss.

"It's tough to get worse from here," Matthews said, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton. "It's frustrating. In the locker room, confidence isn't exactly high right now. We have nobody to blame but ourselves. It's really up to us."

The Leafs found themselves trailing early once again after the Penguins opened up a 2-0 first-period lead against backup netminder Kasimir Kaskisuo, who was making his NHL debut.

Toronto has now allowed the opening goal in seven straight contests and has only two regulation wins in its last 15 outings.

"We're 22 games into the season," Matthews said. "These points start to matter. We can't just say, 'It's just one game. We'll get it next time.' It's been repetitive, and for us, we want to make sure it stops now and we want to get back on track."

With a 9-9-4 record, the Leafs have suffered their worst start through 22 games with this core group and sit two points out of a wild-card spot.

Toronto continues its six-game road trip with a battle against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

One of the Toronto Maple Leafs' biggest offseason acquisitions, defenseman Tyson Barrie, has failed to make a splash so far with his new club.

With the team struggling to get in the win column and Barrie failing to produce, the Leafs have received calls regarding the blue-liner, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

"I'm hearing Toronto's received calls on him," Friedman said on Hockey Night In Canada's "Headlines" segment. "So far, they've rejected the idea, they don't want to trade him."

The Leafs sent Nazem Kadri, Calle Rosen, and a 2020 third-round pick to the Colorado Avalanche for Barrie, Alexander Kerfoot, and a 2020 sixth-round pick. Colorado also retained half of Barrie's salary in the trade.

Barrie is set to hit free agency at the end of the season. He currently carries a cap hit of $2.75 million.

"He has not asked for a trade. However, I think that there's an understanding that it hasn't worked," Friedman added.

Barrie has yet to score a goal this season and has six assists in 22 games. He recorded 14 goals and 59 points in 2018-19.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean addressed former "Coach's Corner" partner Don Cherry and his divisive comments directed at Canadian immigrants on Saturday.

During the first intermission of the Toronto Maple Leafs-Pittsburgh Penguins contest, MacLean spoke about the ending of "Coach's Corner," his relationship with Cherry, and why he chose to speak out against his longtime partner.

"Coach's Corner is no more," MacLean said. "We are all hurting, I have collapsed a 100 times this week, if not more.

" ... I've sat all week long reflecting, and I've heard you (the viewer) I've reflected by listening to my own heart, and I've struggled mightily to find the words and I'm not sure I have them even now," MacLean said. "But they say it's a good thing because when you can find the words, it's dead in your heart, and it's not dead in my heart."

The 59-year-old publicly apologized for Cherry's comments Sunday on Rogers Hometown Hockey. Cherry said MacLean "buried" him with his response, but MacLean said he believed it was important to do what he felt was right despite their longtime friendship.

"I've decided to go one way and he another, and you say well OK how could you choose principle over friendship, but I had to," MacLean continued. "I thought a lot about falling on my sword, too, but if I do that, I infer what happened was right somehow or that I'm going along to get along, or that I'm going to sit silently by or be a bystander again in the situation ... Don taught me to stand right."

MacLean then explained what was going on in his mind during the broadcast and why he failed to react in the moment.

"I was kind of processing what he was saying and thinking I wasn't in an ideological bubble at all, I might have been in a friendship bubble because I was kind of praying that I don't think I'm hearing trouble but I might be hearing trouble, anyway, it was done, and then you called us on it and I thank you for that."

The pair had co-hosted "Coach's Corner," a Saturday night hockey staple, since 1986. MacLean concluded the first intermission by chatting with 2019 Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Hayley Wickenheiser and Guy Carbonneau.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

If there wasn't any bad blood between the Arizona Coyotes and Calgary Flames, there certainly is now.

Tempers flared between the two sides after Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau cross-checked Coyotes defenseman Jason Demers in the dying seconds of the second period Saturday.

After Calgary's Matthew Tkachuk followed up with a nudge to the fallen Demers, Arizona netminder Darcy Kuemper took exception, throwing Tkachuk to the ice. Kuemper's response prompted Flames goaltender David Rittich to join the action as a full-on melee ensued.

No players were injured nor ejected following the brawl.

Gaudreau was assessed a two-minute minor for cross-checking, while Kuemper and Tkachuk were each handed a double minor for roughing. Demers also picked up a roughing minor, while Rittich was slapped with a two-minute penalty for leaving his crease.

Kuemper made 37 stops for his second shutout of the season as the Coyotes blanked the Flames 3-0.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.