Trotz: High-sticking call on Backstrom was ‘disrespectful to the game’

The Washington Capitals were not pleased with a third-period penalty call on Nicklas Backstrom that led to a game-winning goal for the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.

More specifically, it was Barry Trotz who had some choice words for what appeared to be some serious embellishment on the part of Nick Foligno.

Here's a look at the play in question:

Trotz added he hopes the NHL looks at Foligno's actions and hands out a fine, but the coach may also get a call for publicly criticizing the officiating.

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NWHL DJ plays ‘Bitch Better Have My Money’ in warmup after salary cuts

There are fitting musical choices, and then there's this truly inspired selection made by a DJ in the NWHL.

Rihanna's "Bitch Better Have My Money" rang out during the warmup between the Buffalo Beauts and the Boston Pride at HarborCenter in Buffalo on Sunday afternoon, two days after NWHL commissioner Dani Rylan confirmed cuts to player salaries amid declining attendance.

Here's the tune, for the uninitiated:

On Friday, Rylan revealed that the players were not initially consulted about the salary cuts, and they responded Saturday by requesting an audit of the league's finances.

The four-team NWHL, which also includes the New York Riveters and the Connecticut Whale, began play in 2015.

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Watch: Blue Jackets score late tic-tac-toe winner

Better late than never for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

With less than a minute remaining in Sunday's match versus the divisional opponent Washington Capitals, the Blue Jackets executed a nifty tic-tac-toe passing play to grab the lead, and the eventual game winner.

On the powerplay, the play began when winger Sam Gagner fed a point shot to captain Nick Foligno on the left side. Foligno then slid a cross-crease pass to Alexander Wennberg, who buried it into an open net behind Capitals netminder Braden Holtby.

The goal marked Wennberg's third of the season, and his 17th point in 16 games. As for the Blue Jackets, their record improved to 10-4-2, while the Capitals fell to 11-5-2.

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Report: No Maple Leafs-Canadiens supplemental discipline expected

It appears Matt Martin and Alexei Emelin are off the hook.

No players are expected to receive supplemental discipline following a couple of incidents near the end of Saturday's game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs, reports Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

Martin caught Nathan Beaulieu with a blindside hit and Emelin boarded James van Riemsdyk from behind minutes later as time expired in the Canadiens' 2-1 victory.

Related: Emelin sends Van Riemsdyk into boards with nasty hit from behind

The Canadiens earned their 12th consecutive win over the Maple Leafs on Saturday night, a streak that spans parts of four seasons.

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Coyotes return Strome to junior

The Arizona Coyotes have returned forward Dylan Strome to the Erie Otters of the OHL, the club announced Sunday.

Strome has appeared in seven games with the Coyotes this season, recording one point and averaging 13:41 in ice-time. The 19-year-old scored 111 points in 56 games with Erie last season.

"Dylan has made exceptional progress and continues to make strides to being an elite center in this league," Coyotes general manager John Chayka said in a statement. "At this point in time we felt it was best for his development to get him back playing in junior, but his future in the NHL is very bright."

The possibility exists that Strome could join Team Canada at the upcoming World Junior Championship. Strome scored six points in five games with Canada last year. This year's event, which begins Dec. 26, will be split between Toronto and Montreal.

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Healthy Vanek insists he won’t be Red Wings’ savior after 11-game absence

Thomas Vanek will be back in the lineup Sunday night, but he's trying to keep expectations in check.

The Detroit Red Wings forward cautioned against assuming he'll be able to single-handedly reverse the team's fortunes when he plays against the Calgary Flames after missing the last 11 games.

"I'm not here to save anything," Vanek told Dana Wakiji of the Red Wings' official website.

"Before when I first got here I felt like I could still play in this league and make my teammates better. That's what good players can do and I feel like I'm still a good player. I'm not here to go out there and score three goals and try to be some kind of hero. Whoever I play with tonight, I'll try to make those two better. And If they make me better, hopefully we have success as a line."

Vanek set the bar high with four goals and four assists in seven games for his new club before suffering a hip injury.

The Red Wings went 3-7-1, scoring only 18 goals and being shut out three times in his absence.

Vanek is tied for second on the team in goals and points despite missing more than half of Detroit's first 18 games.

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Boudreau calls out team after loss to Avalanche

Bruce Boudreau isn't wild about his offense.

Following Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, the frustrated Minnesota Wild bench boss told reporters, "I need more from a lot of guys. When was the last time any of us had a multi-point game? You can't win in this league every night 1-0, 2-1."

Through eight games in November, the Wild have scored more than two goals just once. That's a stark contrast from the first month of the season, in which the Wild scored two-plus in eight of nine contests, averaging 3.56 goals per game.

The Wild have dealt with their share of injuries - particularly star forward Zach Parise, who missed six games with a lower-body injury - but it's no excuse for the team's overall offensive game.

As it stands, Eric Staal and Charlie Coyle are the team's only forwards with five goals and double-digit points.

"You got to be able to forecheck and you got to be able to fight to get inside. There's loose pucks there, if you want to score, you got to get it," added Boudreau, who is now focused on preparing his team for Monday's match versus the Dallas Stars.

"There are too many games in this league to sit and get pissed off about a game for two days because by the time you start worrying about Dallas, that's going to be behind you."

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Maurice takes blame for Jets’ poor showing vs. Bruins

Paul Maurice knew who to blame following Saturday's 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins.

"I got two jobs. One is to prepare my hockey team and the other is to run the bench, and that team wasn't prepared to play. That's on me," the Winnipeg Jets coach told reporters. "I'm not looking at that room. I'm looking at what I did to get this hockey club ready because it wasn't good enough for this league.

"I'm not in there reading them the riot act. I got to get my act here together because we weren't ready to play."

The Jets were largely outplayed for much of the game, finishing the night with just 12 shots on goal. Winnipeg goalie Michael Hutchinson faced 38 shots in the loss.

Related: Jets can't muster an even-strength shot in 2nd period vs. Bruins

"There isn't a piece of that game that we were good at," Maurice said. "If we have to sit here today and get a silver lining, if you're going to be bad, you might as well be bad in all parts of your game, so then you have the hope that you can write that one off."

The Jets will have a quick shot at redemption on Sunday when they travel to Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes.

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Squad Up Daily NHL Fantasy Dose: Laine and Scheifele will blow the Hurricanes away

Follow theScore's fantasy feed on Twitter (@theScoreFantasy) for the latest news, features and more. And download Squad Up, theScore's free-to-win-money sports game.

Here is a look at the Squad Up daily NHL fantasy picture for Sunday, November 20:

Triple Threat

  • C Mark Scheifele (68K), RW Patrik Laine (47K), D Dustin Byfuglien (54K), Jets (at Hurricanes): The Jets are as dynamic a scoring team as you'll find. Scheifele leads the league with 22 points and nobody has more goals than Laine (priced lower than he should be). Meanwhile, Byfuglien leads the league in ice-time per game. This is as high a floor as you'll find. Opportunity knocks, Jets answer.
  • C Mikael Backlund (47K), LW Matthew Tkachuk (29K), RW Michael Frolik (40K), Flames (at Red Wings): Tkachuk is so inexpensive, that rostering this line makes it possible to select the most expensive options at goaltender and defense and still have budget to spare. This is the bargain line of the day. This is a tournament option only as Calgary features the league's worst power play despite goal-scoring talent.
  • C Nicklas Backstrom (70K), LW Alex Ovechkin (81K), RW Justin Williams (41K), Capitals (vs. Blue Jackets): While the trio only skates together on the PP, it's the best Capitals combo. Williams benefits from playing with Backstrom, who leads the team in points (15). Ovechkin's slow start is likely tied to him not taking as many shots as normal and converting at a slightly lower tick. Expect a correction.

Bargain Plays

  • LW Matthew Tkachuk (29K), Flames (at Red Wings): Since the injury to Johnny Gaudreau, Tkachuk has seen his ice time steadily increase. He only has one point over his last five games, a goal, and he's not taking enough shots (averaging two per game) to make his palpable upside a reasonable expectation. Still, at his salary, he provides a ton of freedom at other positions and even a single point will return appropriate value.
  • RW Michael Grabner (27K), Rangers (vs. Panthers): Grabner is third on the Rangers with 14 points, 11 of which are goals. His shooting percentage (25.6%) is not sustainable, but expect Panthers G Roberto Luongo to have the night off after playing Saturday, facing 40 shots in Ottawa. Grabner, at his price, could buck expectation yet again.
  • G Connor Hellebuyck (80K), Jets (at Hurricanes): The Hurricanes have scored more goals than only five other teams. Hellebuyck is the cheapest goaltender who isn't normally a backup who is likely to start Sunday. Save some capital with Hellebuyck and trust the Jets' young firepower to get him the win.

Top Fades

  • G Cam Ward (99K), Hurricanes (vs. Jets): Winnipeg's top line is enough to cast doubt on any goalteneder this season. Ward has played well enough with his .912 save percentage, but it's a lofty investment despite playing at home. Even if the Jets fail to score, they are near the bottom in shots per game, so Ward isn't likely to tally up a large save total regardless.
  • C Ryan Getzlaf (87K), Ducks (vs. Kings): At his salary, which is the highest for a center in Squad Up on Sunday, Getzlaf's not worth it even with the Kings rotating backup goalies in Jonathan Quick's absence. He's been very consistent, but with less goal-scoring upside (one goal on the season) he's not worth the investment.
  • RW Rick Nash (53K), Rangers (vs. Panthers): Despite the Rangers' success in winning seven of nine November games, Nash has had little to show for it with only four points in that span. He doesn't have a goal in four straight and his ice time bottomed out at 13:27 against Vancouver on Tuesday. He's not the consistent threat he once was.

Contrarian Options

  • C Evgeny Kuznetsov (59K), Capitals (vs. Blue Jackets): Kuznetsov is neither taking enough shots nor converting on enough of the ones he's taking. He has only taken more than one shot in a game once in his last 12. When the Capitals beat Pittsburgh 7-1, he had nothing to show for it. On the bright side, he's getting good ice time and is still featured on their underwhelming PP. A turnaround is imminent.
  • RW Jaromir Jagr (44K), Panthers (at Rangers): Coming off his strongest offensive output of the season (three points) Saturday, Jagr remains relatively affordable. It's a difficult road matchup on the tail end of a back-to-back, which will keep ownership low. Jagr is usually good for close to four SOG per game and his shooting percentage is an uncharacteristically low 4.8.
  • G Sergei Bobrovsky (82K), Blue Jackets (at Capitals): No one will be targeting Bobrovsky on the road against the Capitals, even at his reduced Squad Up salary, but he's been absolutely stellar other than a couple poor showings. He has defeated both the Rangers and these same Capitals within the last week, allowing only three goals on 49 shots between them.

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