Jason Spezza likes life in Dallas, so much so that he won't let salary cap concerns stop him from sticking with the Stars.

The veteran forward is in the final season of a four-year, $30-million pact he inked in 2014, but handing out another big-money extension to the aging talent may not be an option for the Stars, particularly with a lucrative new contract set to kick in next year for Tyler Seguin.

Fortunately, there appears to be plenty of room for negotiation on Spezza's side of the table.

"I really don't care (about the value of the next contract), like I really could care less," Spezza told Sportsnet's Chris Johnston. "I have lots of money."

Now in his fifth season with the Stars, Spezza is experiencing an offensive renaissance under new bench boss Jim Montgomery, already with 10 points in 13 games, while the turnaround also appears to have erased any possibility of the 35-year-old hanging up his skates any time soon.

"I want to stay and play, and as long as I have a good role they can take my money and give it to someone else and give us more depth," Spezza added. "I'd take it, you know?"

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Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith received a five-minute major and was ejected for his hit on Calgary Flames forward Dillon Dube on Saturday night.

Here's a look from a different angle.

Calgary managed to score one goal on its prolonged power play.

Dube did not return to the game.

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Brad Marchand was up to Brad Marchand things on Saturday night.

In the closing minutes of the first period between the Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators, Marchand managed to rack up 14 penalty minutes in one play. He was initially called for a high stick on Colton Sissons, even though his stick clearly missed Sissons' face.

Marchand then proceeded to mock Sissons' acting job, which earned him an additional two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. As he continued, he was eventually handed a 10-minute misconduct.

Boston managed to kill off Marchand's penalties, but the forward's on-ice immaturity continues to be a growing concern for the Bruins.

Ironically, Marchand has been fined for embellishment on numerous occasions.

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Happy Birthday, Pekka Rinne.

The Nashville Predators and their star goaltender have agreed on a two-year, $10 million extension, the team announced Saturday.

Rinne, who turned 36 Saturday, was set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.

The 2018 Vezina Trophy winner is off to a strong start so far this year. He missed nearly two weeks due to an injury, but owns a sparkling .940 save percentage and 1.91 goals-against average in six games.

The instant analysis of Rinne's contract can be summed up in one word: bargain. When his contract kicks in next season, his $5-million cap hit will rank tied for 13th in the league with Frederik Andersen among the league's highest-paid goaltenders - and that doesn't include pending free agents Sergei Bobrovsky or Semyon Varlamov.

Rinne's contract also includes a 10-team no-trade list, according to The Athletic's Adam Vingan.

Oddly enough, Rinne signed his previous extension - a 7-year, $49-million deal - on his birthday as well.

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Winnipeg Jets forward Brendan Lemieux will have a hearing for an illegal check to the head on Florida Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck, the NHL's Department of Player Safety announced Saturday.

The incident occurred during the second period of Friday's game as part of the NHL Global Series in Finland, and saw Lemieux receive a match penalty on the play.

Luckily for the Panthers, Trocheck was no worse for wear from the hit as he remained in the game.

No date or time for the hearing has been set. The Jets won't return to action until Friday when they host the Colorado Avalanche.

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Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin was forced from Saturday's game against the Ottawa Senators with an undisclosed injury, the team confirmed.

The 18-year-old blocked a shot in the second period and did not return for the third, according to Sportsnet's John Shannon.

The injury is not believed to be serious and head coach Phil Housley noted postgame that Dahlin will travel with the team to New York for its game against the Rangers on Sunday, but there has been no diagnosis yet, according to Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News.

Dahlin, the first overall pick in June's draft, picked up an assist Saturday before exiting, giving him five points in 14 games this season.

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Good luck stopping Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog, especially when they're all on the ice with the man advantage.

Late in Friday's game against the Vancouver Canucks, the Colorado Avalanche's red-hot trio connected on the power play, pulling off a flawless passing sequence to take a 6-5 lead with under two minutes to go in regulation.

Let's take a closer look at how they did it.

We pick things up with Rantanen (No. 96) controlling the puck as Colorado sets up with about 20 seconds left in the penalty to Canucks center Bo Horvat.

Rantanen evaluates his options with Landeskog planted down low, Matt Calvert in the slot, Tyson Barrie at the blue line, and with the path to MacKinnon obstructed by two Canucks penalty killers.

Rantanen elects to move into the faceoff circle, drawing in multiple Vancouver defenders in the process. Ben Hutton takes him on directly.

Hutton appears to be playing Rantanen well, but the Avalanche winger feathers a beautiful pass between the blade of Hutton's stick and the Canucks rearguard's skates, and the puck goes by him on the way to Landeskog.

Landeskog stops the puck on his stick for a split-second while sitting on the doorstep and quickly recognizes both that he can't safely get it to Calvert and that MacKinnon is lurking unattended in the other circle.

Landeskog quickly slings it in MacKinnon's direction.

MacKinnon goes down on one knee and rips a one-timer, to which Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom barely has time to react.

It's a perfectly placed shot, and it beats Markstrom short side.

The whole sequence was textbook power-play strategy and execution, carried out about as well as possible.

The awareness and passing ability shown by both Rantanen and Landeskog, plus the finish by MacKinnon, made it a shining example of how and why they've been so dominant this season.

Colorado ultimately gave up the tying goal with 36 seconds left and then lost the game in overtime, but MacKinnon's second marker of the night served as an immaculate illustration of the chemistry the trio has developed.

(Images courtesy: NHL.com)

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