Patient Sean Monahan.

The top center on the sputtering Calgary Flames did his best campaigning for Glen Gulutzan, disagreeing with fans and media types who believe the coach should be fired after taking just five wins from his first 16 games at the helm.

"For people to say that is pretty ridiculous," Monahan told Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun.

"It's a process and sometimes things aren't going the way you want them to. I think it's just a matter of the full 20 guys buying in. We've got a lot of skill and you look at our team on paper we're a good team. Right now we're not showing it on the ice."

As much as the Flames talk about being a tough, heavy, puck-possession team that can hold up against mighty Western Conference rivals, their best talents have skills that contrast that vision. Monahan, along with fellow handsomely paid top-liner Johnny Gaudreau and talented defenders Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie, have struggled to maintain their standards under Gulutzan.

This adjustment has taken the sting out of their attack, but the Flames own the NHL's worst goal differential through the first five-plus weeks of the year because they're conceding more goals than any other team.

Part of that's on Gulutzan, but with the Flames allowing a respectable 28.8 shots per game, the goaltending must wear it, too.

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The onslaught continued even after the horn sounded.

After a third, near-effortless victory over the New York Islanders in less than two weeks, the Tampa Bay Lightning were regretting the fact their opponent Monday night won't appear on the schedule again this season.

"I wish we could play them more," Nikita Kucherov told Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times after the 4-0 victory, humiliating the Islanders a little further.

The Lightning swept the season series by a combined score of 14-2, in the process handing the Islanders three of the nine losses they've suffered in their last 10 games.

Kucherov, meanwhile, racked up four goals and nearly 40 percent of his total production so far this season in three contests versus New York, so you can understand where he's coming from.

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The coach has the captain in his corner.

Following the New York Islanders' 4-0 loss Monday to the Tampa Bay Lightning, John Tavares faced reporters and was met with a question about Jack Capuano's seemingly tenuous position behind the bench.

Not surprisingly, Tavares didn't seem anxious to welcome a new coach to the fray:

Still, the team's performance of late is certainly increasing the temperature on the proverbial hot seat.

Through seven November games, the Islanders have a 1-3-3 record, and the loss to the Lightning kept them in 15th spot in the Eastern Conference, a single point ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes.

For his part, Capuano has been vocal about the impact of the offseason losses of Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen, but isn't pinning the team's struggles on roster composition:

If things don't turn around soon, general manager Garth Snow could very well be in the market for a new coach, no matter what Tavares says publicly.

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The 2016 Hall of Fame class has entered hockey's cathedral. Finally.

Eric Lindros, Sergei Makarov, Rogie Vachon, and Pat Quinn were enshrined during an induction ceremony Monday in Toronto, and are now included alongside players, builders, officials, and media members that have left an indelible imprint on the sport throughout its rich history.

With the quintessential power forward, a transcendent talent from the Russian Five, a trailblazing goalie decades removed from his playing days, and a universally revered, larger-than-life character strewn through the history of essential hockey markets, the 2016 class arrived tremendously diverse. But Lindros, Makarov, Vachon, and Quinn do share a distinct commonality: these legends waited far too long to be included in the sport's iconic collection.

This shone through in each speech, starting with Vachon, who closed his address with a heart-wrenching message for his late wife, who died just nine months ago.

Vachon, who won three Stanley Cups and the 1968 Vezina Trophy, received the call in his 31st year of eligibility.

This sentiment was felt again in the words of Kalli Quinn, who spoke on behalf of her father, who was immortalized posthumously. Kalli delivered a beautiful speech for Pat, touching on the characteristics and aspects that made her father so special to the game.

She then summed up his legend perfectly:

"I'm sure he's looking down on this with a glass in one hand, and a cigar in the other. And that wonderful smile he had, a twinkle in his eye."

Lindros had the shortest wait among the 2016 class, receiving the call in his seventh season of eligibility. But considering his achievements, this delay may have been the most unjust. With a singular blend of skill and size, the first overall draft selection of the Quebec Nordiques in 1991 was once the league's most dominant player. He won a Hart Trophy, Olympic gold, World Junior gold, and amassed 865 points in 760 career games - a top-20 point-per-game rate in the NHL all time.

Monday's headliner spoke last, and from the bottom of his heart.

Beginning with his family, who he said "never wavered," Lindros thanked everyone who helped shape him as a player and individual. He then closed his speech by inviting brother Brett - who shared in their dream of making the NHL - on stage with him.

Makarov was introduced by 2008 inductee, and linemate on the legendary KLM unit, Igor Larionov.

The "Russian Gretzky" entered the Hall with one of the greatest international resumes in the sport's history, helping drive his nation's dominance in the 1980s. Makarov's game translated seamlessly to the NHL, where he won the Calder Trophy in 1990 as a 31-year-old rookie with the Calgary Flames.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have quite the duo in Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos.

Not that long ago, Stamkos' future with the team was relatively uncertain, and Kucherov remained an unsigned restricted free agent deep into the offseason.

But on Monday, Kucherov and Stamkos were in fine form, taking advantage of a New York Islanders miscue while once again proving their full worth to the Lightning.

Here's how it happened.

Islanders forward Josh Bailey (No. 12) had possession of the puck behind the Lightning net, and was challenged by Andrej Sustr (62).

Jason Chimera (25) skated in to help Bailey, and with Victor Hedman (77) bearing down, he grabbed the puck after it came loose and whipped it along the boards.

Adam Pelech (50) stood ready to accept the pass, with Brian Boyle (11) looking to pounce.

Rather than dumping the puck back deep into the offensive zone, Pelech's next move was an ill-advised pass toward the blue line. One can imagine Kucherov (86, bottom-left corner) beginning to salivate at this moment.

Let's skip ahead a second ...

Kucherov gobbled up the puck, and skated with haste down the ice. He entered the Islanders' zone with Boyle to his left, and Stamkos (91) - who was being watched by John Tavares (also 91) - trailing behind.

Kucherov skated toward Calvin de Haan (44), and instead of attempting a shot through a possible screen, he dropped the puck past Tavares and back to Stamkos.

Kucherov and Stamkos then crisscrossed, with Tavares trailing the former and Bailey having caught up to track the latter. Meanwhile, Boyle made a beeline for the net, with Pelech on his tail attempting to make amends for his gaffe. Stamkos spotted a seam and slid the puck back over to Kucherov.

Left untouched over the course of the entire rush, Kucherov received the pass from Stamkos, and promptly one-timed the puck past a helpless Jaroslav Halak (34).

At the conclusion of the flawless give-and-go, Kucherov and Stamkos each circled around to meet in the middle of the ice and congratulate each other for what they had just pulled off, with Boyle surrounded by a bunch of frustrated Islanders.

The goal was Kucherov's sixth, while Stamkos - known more as a sniper - recorded his 10th assist on the play.

Beyond the numbers, though, it demonstrated the high-end awareness and skill of the Lightning's top players, gave further evidence as to why Tampa Bay's considered one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the game ... and raised some questions about which direction the Islanders are heading.

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The addition of P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators' blue line seems to finally be paying off.

While Shea Weber made an immediate and noticeable impact with the Montreal Canadiens, Subban's new club got off to a slower than expected start.

The Predators, however, have picked up at least a point in six November games, and it appears as though Subban is finally finding his way in Peter Laviolette's system.

Why is it taking time?

For starters, Subban is no longer a lone offensive driver, but one of many players capable of grabbing the wheel.

"The way the team has been built, there's a lot of skilled guys here," Subban explained to Adam Vingan of The Tennesean. "The styles are different. In terms of in Montreal, it was like I had to defend, but I was expected to drive offense. If I wasn't scoring goals, it's like, 'Why aren't you scoring?' Here, it's a little different. It's about producing offense. ...

"It's not about who scores the goal, but it's about generating offense and influencing it."

Subban has recorded three goals and five assists in 14 games, putting him on pace for 47 points. For his career, he's averaging 52.3 points for every 82 games, meaning he's close to his regular pace despite the change in circumstances.

Weber, on the other hand, was brought in to shore up Montreal's defense with a view to settling things down as a calm and steady presence. It's been a boon for the Canadiens that he has played well above his normal production rates, and as the beneficiary of a significant amount of "puck luck," his numbers are likely to level off sooner than later.

For his part, Subban isn't trying to force things.

"I'm still trying to learn how to bring my attributes that I was traded for, to implement that into our system and work within our system to give us the best advantage," Subban said.

He added, "I still want to be patient, because it's a process. It just doesn't happen in the first 10 games. It might take a full season. It might take 40 games. I don't know. But I'm just happy to see that every game that goes by, it feels like we're gaining ground and getting better and better. That's the important thing."

Subban, of course, is set to be a Predator through to the end of the 2021-22 season, and some growing pains will be quickly forgotten should Nashville win when it matters most.

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Gary Bettman didn't mince words when asked about the city of Seattle's pursuit of a new multi-sport arena.

"We're not paying a lot of attention to Seattle," the NHL commissioner said Monday at the PrimeTime Sports & Entertainment Conference in Toronto, according to NHL.com's Dan Rosen.

"If they ever put a shovel in the ground and actually build a building instead of just talking about one, we might pay attention. But it's not something we're monitoring. We're not focusing on future expansion at this point and we're not focusing on Seattle over anywhere else."

Related: Russell Wilson partners with NBA, NHL arena group in Seattle

Despite Bettman's talk, deputy commissioner Bill Daly stressed that expansion to Seattle isn't completely off the table.

"I certainly wouldn't rule out the possibility of further expansion at some point in the future, but it's certainly not on the radar screen today," he said.

"Our primary focus on the expansion front is making sure Las Vegas gets in successfully and that everything we've put into place for them to enter the league progresses the way it was intended to progress."

Las Vegas was the only city awarded an NHL expansion franchise in June. Quebec City's bid was accepted but ultimately deferred, while Seattle's did not make the final stage of the bidding process.

Last month, Chris Hansen and his group of investors offered to privately finance their proposed arena project that would bring a new single-venue NHL and NBA facility to Seattle's SoDo neighborhood.

Mayor Ed Murray told local TV station King 5 News that he's targeting early spring for a decision on whether to approve Hansen's plan or potentially entertain another option, such as renovating KeyArena, the former home of the NBA's SuperSonics.

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Russell Wilson announced he's joined a group dedicated to bringing NBA basketball back to Seattle.

The Seattle Seahawks quarterback has been a vocal proponent of building a state-of-the-art arena, in an effort to bring back the NBA's SuperSonics and potentially lure an NHL expansion franchise to the city.

It's unclear in what capacity Wilson will work with the Sonics Arena Group, but the movement to build a facility without public funds has been growing recently, with the organization proposing a plan to privately finance the project in October.

The SuperSonics played in Seattle from 1967-2008 (winning one NBA championship), before moving to Oklahoma City when a publicly financed deal for a new arena could not be reached.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning will likely play without one of their most reliable defensemen for most of their five-game road trip.

Anton Stralman will miss the next two games - and could possibly be out longer - due to an injury he suffered in Saturday's loss to the San Jose Sharks.

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper didn't want to speculate about whether Stralman would miss the entire trip.

"I can't sit here and say that, to be honest," Cooper told reporters including Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times on Monday.

"Definitely not playing in these two, probably won't play in the first three. We'll start making a decision here after a week. It'd be later in the trip if we're going to see Anton."

Stralman is considered day to day with what the club would only classify as an upper-body injury. He left Saturday's defeat with about five minutes remaining.

He scored in the game, and has seven points in 15 contests.

Stralman ranks second on the Lightning behind Victor Hedman with an average time on ice of 22:07.

The Lightning play the New York Islanders on Monday night, then travel to the Motor City to face the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday before heading to Buffalo, Philadelphia, and Nashville to round out the trip.

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