Category Archives: Hockey News

Canadiens’ Gilbert to undergo season-ending knee surgery

The Montreal Canadiens announced Monday that defenseman Tom Gilbert will undergo surgery on his left knee and miss the remainder of the season.

The 33-year-old left Friday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers after blocking a shot during the second period.

Gilbert had one goal, one assist, and a plus-3 rating in 45 games for the Canadiens this season.

With Gilbert heading to injured reserve, the team has recalled defenseman Victor Bartley from the AHL's St. John's IceCaps.

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Capitals beat Coyotes, collect 44th win in record time

Forty-four, the fastest.

A 3-2 Washington Capitals win over the Arizona Coyotes on Monday saw Mike Richards score his first with the club, Alex Ovechkin notch his league-best 39th goal, and the team become the fastest in NHL history to hit 44 wins, needing only 58 games.

The Capitals bumped their point total to 92 in the process, pushing their lead atop the Metropolitan Division to 18 points, and moving 11 clear of the Chicago Blackhawks in the race for the President's Trophy.

Braden Holtby backstopped the noteworthy - albeit slightly trivial - win, inching closer to a milestone of far greater significance in the process. The Vezina Trophy frontrunner is now just 10 wins shy of Martin Brodeur's single-season record with 24 games left on the schedule.

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VIDEO: Craig Smith blocks own shot on wide-open net

It appears Craig Smith's greatest enemy is an empty net.

The Nashville Predators forward had a wide-open net in the final minute of overtime Monday against the Montreal Canadiens, but somehow managed to block his own one-timer attempt with his follow-through.

The blooper reminded many of a similar situation in 2011 when he skated alone towards an empty net against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and proceeded to shoot the puck over the glass in his attempt to roof an easy goal.

Thankfully for Smith, he redeemed himself in the shootout by scoring the game-deciding goal to give the Predators their third win in five games.

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Mike Richards scores 1st goal, gets standing O in Capitals win

Mike Richards can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Held without a point through his first 14 games with Washington, the veteran forward gave his new team a 3-1 lead Monday by drilling home his first goal as a member of the Capitals after Tom Wilson knocked the puck loose out from under the glove of Arizona Coyotes goalie Louis Domingue.

"With my luck, I thought it'd be disallowed," Richards quipped after the game. A scrum ensued shortly after he scored, but his goal was met with a great reception from the Verizon Center fans who gave the 31-year-old a lengthy standing ovation.

The goal would stand as the game-winner with the Capitals hanging on to win 3-2. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin scored the other two Washington goals with the captain netting his league-leading 39th of the season, while Braden Holtby earned his NHL-best 38th win.

The Capitals have now own nine of their last 10 games and sit atop the Eastern Conference standings by a whopping 17 points ahead of their nearest competitors, the Florida Panthers.

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Blues lose Brian Elliott to lower-body injury

Jake Allen might be returning to a starter's role after all.

The league's hottest goaltender, Brian Elliott, exited with a lower-body injury Monday versus the San Jose Sharks after awkwardly twisting to the ice in an attempt to reach back and prevent a puck from trickling into the net.

He tested the injury, performing some movements in the crease, but had to make way for Allen, who was thrust into goal a day after being activated from injured reserve. He missed 17 games with a lower-body injury himself.

Elliott won 12 games in his counterpart's absence, and in the process shot to the league lead among active goaltenders in both save percentage (.932) and goals-against average (2.06) heading into Monday's contest.

A significant injury would render the Blues once again thin in goal, of course, but they remain in good hands. Allen's .924 clip before his setback represents a top-10 rate among goaltenders with at least 30 appearances.

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VIDEO: Blues’ Reaves ejected for hit from behind on Sharks’ Tennyson

Reaves hit on Tennyson knocking him out

St. Louis Blues defenseman Ryan Reaves received a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct after nailing San Jose Sharks defenseman Matt Tennyson face-first into the boards during the first period Monday.

Tennyson appeared to be unconscious as his head slammed against the ice after the hit. He slowly skated off with help from teammates before heading to the dressing room.

Reaves will certainly be hearing from the NHL's Department of Player Safety. The 29-year-old received a maximum $5,000 fine earlier this season for catching forward Anze Kopitar with a cheap shot during a Nov. 3 game against the Los Angeles Kings.

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