Craig Cunningham returned to greet his former Tucson Roadrunners teammates and received a standing ovation from the crowd during Saturday night's win over the Texas Stars.

The former Arizona Coyotes farmhand collapsed and went into cardiac arrest before a game in November, and eventually had to have part of his left leg amputated to prevent possible infection and ensure his recovery.

His playing career is over at age 26, but the fact that he's seemingly in good spirits and well enough to attend a game is wonderful to see.

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A Canadian hockey legend was honored prior to the latest chapter in the Battle of Alberta.

Hayley Wickenheiser, who announced her retirement from hockey a day earlier, was introduced by none other than Wayne Gretzky, who lauded her heart, desire, finesse, speed, and skill as a player.

She then dropped the puck for a ceremonial faceoff between Connor McDavid and Mark Giordano, who presented her with commemorative Oilers and Flames jerseys.

Wickenheiser, who lives in Calgary, followed it all up with a touching speech, reiterating it was the greatest honor of her life to play for Canada.

Wickenheiser ends her playing career with four gold medals and one silver from the Winter Olympics, along with seven gold medals and six silvers from the Women's World Championships. She's also the all-time leading point scorer in both tournaments.

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OTTAWA, Ontario - Nazem Kadri scored twice and Curtis McElhinney made 35 saves, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs past the Ottawa Senators 4-2 on Saturday night.

It was McElhinney's first start with the Leafs after being picked up off waivers earlier in the week from the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Tyler Bozak and Connor Brown also scored for the Maple Leafs, who moved into a tie with the Senators for third in the Atlantic Division at the halfway point of the season.

Dion Phaneuf and Kyle Turris had goals for Ottawa, and Mike Condon made 23 saves.

Kadri's second goal of the game gave the Leafs a 3-2 lead just 2:31 into the third period.

The Senators got their first power play of the game when Frederik Gauthier went off for tripping at 4:01. Ottawa looked to have the equalizer, but McElhinney made a sprawling save to deny Mike Hoffman on his one-timer.

Minutes later, Erik Karlsson hit the post behind McElhinney and, within seconds of that, Brown gave the Leafs a 4-2 lead with a quick shot after Auston Matthews won a faceoff in Ottawa's zone.

The teams were tied at two through 40 minutes after the Leafs had jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

Kadri opened the scoring on the power play when he tucked a rebound underneath Condon at 6:26 of the opening period.

Bozak gave the Leafs a 2-0 advantage just 1:07 into the second when he intercepted a clearing attempt from Bobby Ryan, moved in on the Ottawa goal and waited for Condon to make a move before beating the netminder.

The Leafs were carrying the momentum through the period, but that changed when Phaneuf got the Senators on the board at 9:15 of the second. His point shot hit Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner before eluding McElhinney.

The Senators tied it at 18:50 when Turris beat McElhinney with a shot far side to the top corner.

NOTES: Fredrik Claesson was scratched for Ottawa. Josh Leivo and Garret Sparks were scratches for the Maple Leafs. ... Chris Wideman became the 100th player to play in 100 games for the Senators when he suited up against the Leafs. It was also the 100th game of his NHL career. ... Senators F Mark Stone remains one assist shy of 100 for his career.

UP NEXT: Senators: play their next three games on the road, starting with the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

Maple Leafs: host the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.

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It took a while, but the Montreal Canadiens' offense erupted in a flash Saturday night against the New York Rangers.

Alexei Emelin, Max Pacioretty, and Paul Byron each scored goals in a span of 1:02 midway through the third period as the Canadiens overcame a 3-2 deficit and hung on for a 5-4 victory.

Emelin fired a wrist shot through traffic from the point that found its way past Henrik Lundqvist to tie the game.

Less than 40 seconds later, Max Pacioretty turned on the jets and scored on a breakaway to give the Canadiens the lead.

Then, less than 30 seconds after that, Paul Byron gave Montreal a crucial insurance marker when his backhand flick on goal somehow eluded the Rangers' veteran netminder.

Byron's goal was critical because Derek Stepan brought the Rangers within one about three minutes later, but the Canadiens held on for a 5-4 victory.

(Videos courtesy: NHL.com)

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Auston Matthews appeared to display hockey smarts beyond his years Saturday in Ottawa.

Presented with a faceoff opportunity in the offensive zone, the Toronto Maple Leafs teenage rookie sensation lost the draw, only to use that to his advantage en route to setting up an important third-period insurance marker.

Here's how it happened.

With the Maple Leafs already up by a goal 12:10 into the final frame, Matthews (34) and Senators center Jean-Gabriel Pageau (44) set up at the dot for an important draw to goaltender Mike Condon's (1) left.

Pageau won the draw cleanly - too cleanly - and Matthews immediately darted for the loose puck heading to no-man's land, with Ottawa defenseman Cody Ceci (5) and winger Tom Pyatt (10) stationed in front of Condon, and defenseman Mark Borowiecki (74) lined up at left wing.

Matthews was indeed able to scoop the puck, and drew the attention of both Ottawa defensemen and its center. Meanwhile, Toronto winger Connor Brown (12) - unchecked by Pyatt - waited expectantly in front of the Senators' net.

Matthews was able to whip a backhand pass to Brown, who promptly fired a one-timer that sailed past Condon's blocker side.

In went Brown's 11th goal of the season, while Matthews recorded his 16th assist and drew an impressive comparison in the process.

Matthews admitted after the game it was indeed by design.

"We kind of planned it, said Matthews," per Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. "I said I was going forward so we found a really good spot. I kind of just knew where he was going to be."

Now that Connor McDavid had turned 20, Matthews is without question the best teenager in hockey, at the very least.

(Images courtesy: NHL.com)

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RALEIGH, N.C. - Brock McGinn had a goal and three assists, linemates Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm each had a goal and two assists and the Carolina Hurricanes pulled away late to beat the New York Islanders 7-4 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory.

The Hurricanes overcame a 3-1 deficit with three straight goals in the second period and improved to 14-1-1 in their last 16 home games.

Carolina scored three more times in the third to make it a rout, including Lee Stempniak's goal 5:42 into the final period that broke a 4-4 tie.

McGinn has scored in three straight games and has seven points overall in that span.

Justin Faulk, Brett Pesce and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for Carolina. Cam Ward made 28 saves.

John Tavares scored twice for the Islanders a night after recording a hat trick against the Panthers. Thomas Greiss gave up all seven goals on 43 shots before being pulled.

Carolina outshot New York 45-32.

The Islanders appeared in control early. Tavares and Anders Lee scored in the first period, and Jason Chimera made it 3-1 early in the second when he came streaking down the middle uncovered and buried a slick pass from Anthony Beauvillier in the left corner.

Then Lindholm, McGinn and the rest of the `Canes jumped into gear, with a kick start from the Islanders defense.

Shortly after Chimera's goal, Faulk unleased a wrist shot from the faceoff circle that was saved by Greiss, but Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield inadvertently kicked the rebound through Greiss' legs and into the net.

The miscue in their favor got the Hurricanes rolling, and they took off from there.

McGinn and Lindholm teamed up to tie it with a brilliant rush down the ice, with McGinn dishing a perfect cross-ice pass for Lindholm to bury past Greiss along the far post with 11:02 left in the second.

Pesce gave the Hurricanes their first lead after another quick rush up ice. Pesce outskated defenseman Thomas Hickey to get behind him at the net and then redirected McGinn's saucer pass on the move along the far post.

Tavares briefly pulled the Islanders back into a tie, but Stempniak collected the loose puck off a faceoff in the right circle and fired a pristine wrist shot just under the crossbar over Greiss' shoulder to give Carolina the lead one final time.

NOTES: Teravainen and Staal closed out the scoring for Carolina. ... It was McGinn's first career four-point game. ... Lindholm has five points in his last three games since returning from an upper-body injury. ... Staal has points in four straight games and Faulk in three straight. ... The Hurricanes improved to 5-0-0 this season when wearing their black alternate home jerseys. ... Tavares appeared to have a hat trick for the second straight night, but his second goal was credited instead to Lee after multiple revisions. ... There were no penalties called in the game.

UP NEXT: Islanders: Finish a three-game trip at Boston on Monday before returning home to start a six-game homestand.

Hurricanes: Visit the NHL-best Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night, exactly one week after beating them 5-3 at home.

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Now Athanasiou, now you don't.

Detroit Red Wings forward Andreas Athanasiou put his speed and skill on full display on this coast-to-coast rush and goal against Pittsburgh.

The goal was his ninth in 28 games, which is good for a 26-goal pace over 82 games.

Not bad for a fourth-round pick, but Detroit is used to finding diamonds in the rough at this point.

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Here's a stat line one rarely sees.

Dallas Stars goaltender Antti Niemi was pulled from Saturday's game against Minnesota after allowing three goals on three shots in the opening 4:01. Add it all up, and he finished with a save percentage of zero and a 44.81 goals against average.

It's only a somewhat exaggerated look at Dallas' state of affairs in net.

As a team, Dallas entered the game with a .900 save percentage, good for 26th in the NHL. And unlike in past seasons, the offense isn't firing enough to compensate for shoddy play in the defensive end.

To be fair, Niemi watched as Johnny Oduya knocked the puck into his own net on Minnesota's first goal, and didn't exactly get strong defensive support on the other two. Prior to Saturday's game, Niemi had posted a January save percentage of .938, offering signs he could be relied upon down the stretch.

Still, more than a season and a half into the Niemi / Kari Lehtonen dual starter system crafted by general manager Jim Nill, it's clear neither option is really the answer. And with the Stars sitting outside the Western Conference playoff picture, it's high time to look for a more permanent solution.

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Andrew Shaw didn't waste much time getting up to his old tricks.

The Montreal Canadiens pest was kicked out of his first game back from injury Saturday night after catching New York Rangers forward Jesper Fast with an ill-timed, ill-aimed hit that forced Fast out of the game late in the first period.

Shaw hit Fast behind the play and after the Rangers winger had passed the puck. J.T. Miller came to his teammate's defense and fought Shaw in the aftermath.

When the dust settled, the Canadiens agitator was assessed a five-minute major for interference, five more for fighting, and a game misconduct.

Shaw missed 14 games recovering from a concussion and was playing his first game since Dec. 12.

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Bill Daly doesn't seem too concerned about the possibility of the NFL invading hockey's new turf.

The NHL deputy commissioner said his league isn't worried about the Oakland Raiders' potential relocation affecting the expansion Vegas Golden Knights when reached via email by Yahoo Sports' Josh Cooper on Saturday.

Related - Report: Raiders to submit relocation papers for Vegas move

Daly took a predictable stance when asked whether the NHL views the NFL franchise's possible arrival in Sin City as positive, negative or neutral.

"I would say overall, it's neutral," he told Cooper. "We were certainly aware of the talk and the possibility of the NFL locating a franchise in Vegas at the time we made the decision to expand into Las Vegas.

"So, obviously, we felt an NFL team - if it transpired (and certainly time will tell on that) - wouldn’t materially affect the business of the hockey team. That continues to be our feeling. I think while fan bases undoubtedly overlap, the sports ‘buy’ for sponsors is materially different as between football ‎and hockey.”

Las Vegas was granted an NHL expansion franchise last summer, and the Golden Knights' name and logo were awkwardly revealed in November.

They'll take the ice for the first time this fall following the expansion draft in June.

Raiders owner Mark Davis has said that if the team's relocation is confirmed when NFL owners vote on the matter in the spring, the club will still need to play in Oakland for several additional seasons while a new stadium is built in Las Vegas.

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