Kevin Poulin turned away all 29 shots thrown his way and forward Maxim Lapierre scored what would be the game-winner, as Canada blanked Belarus 2-0 in Olympic pre-tournament action on Tuesday.
Lapierre opened the scoring midway through the first period after depositing the feed from forward Eric O'Dell.
Andrew Ebbett found the back of the net seven minutes into the third to give the Canadians a two-goal advantage.
The game was Canada's second straight shutout of the pre-tournament after the team blanked Latvia 2-0 on Sunday.
It currently appears as though the team could have a goalie battle on their hands. Ben Scrivens was between the pipes during Sunday's contest, meanwhile, Poulin has now put up consecutive shutouts in international play, after shutting out Switzerland in the Spengler Cup Final last month.
Canada will now make the trip to PyeongChang on Wednesday and enjoy some time off before concluding the pre-tournament against Sweden on Sunday.
Andersen was forced to leave Monday's game against the Anaheim Ducks after being hit in the head by the skate of Corey Perry. Curtis McElhinney entered in relief and turned away 15 of 16 shots in the Maple Leafs' 7-4 victory.
While Babcock remains optimistic, he noted that he had not discussed Andersen's status with the team's medical staff.
Frederik Andersen on whether he’ll play for #Leafs tomorrow vs. Nashville: “We’ll see.”
Andersen has arguably been the club's most valuable player this season. He's registered a .921 save percentage, a 2.66 goals-against average, and four shutouts, all while facing more shots than any other netminder.
Jonathan Toews is inextricably linked with his heroics for his national team and though he won't be suiting up in PyeongChang, the Chicago Blackhawks captain provided his full support for Team Canada ahead of the upcoming tournaments.
NHL players will not be participating in this year's event, a point of contention for many potential attendees. Although it was a bitter development, Toews has moved on and will be watching avidly from home.
"Nothing is given there. I can't even stand here and talk like I'd be on Team Canada if we were going; there are so many great players. So any chance you get to represent your country is a great honor," Toews said via Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Toews emerged into the national conscience following a standout performance during the 2007 World Junior Hockey Championships, and excelled for Canada on the big stage in Vancouver and Sochi. The two-time gold medalist also gave a particular nod to Canadian defenseman Chay Genoway, his teammate during his collegiate tenure at the University of North Dakota.
"I'm pretty excited to watch him play," Toews said.
The nation will be standing at attention during PyeongChang 2018, and that doesn't exclude living legends like Toews himself.
Amid another excellent season, Patrik Laine is embracing his status as Winnipeg's favorite son.
Laine submitted a standout rookie campaign in 2016-2017, scoring 36 goals and 64 points, taking the league by storm with his devastating release.
The 19-year-old is following up his debut season by featuring as a key component of a Jets team that's battling for top spot in the Central Division.
In an essay titled "Winnipeg Is Good" for The Players' Tribune, Laine expressed gratitude to his adopted city.
"Other than destroying Nik Ehlers in Call of Duty, I think the best thing to happen to me last year was falling in love with Winnipeg," Laine wrote.
"I mean, I heard some guys talking bad about the city and that Winnipeg was not a good place. What do they know? I love Winnipeg. This is my home. These are my people now. I play for them. It’s a great, great city. Everyone who lives here really cares about one another, that’s what stands out to me. We are one group, all of us. Everybody is your neighbor."
Selected second overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, Laine was considered a vital piece of the Jets' future and he's exceeded some of the loftiest projections during the early stages of his promising career.
After missing the playoffs last season, Laine is clearly embracing the challenge of leading a sleeping contender into battle with the playoffs speeding toward the horizon.
"Yeah, things are good in Winnipeg right now. People are happy around the rink and the season is going well so far. Last year was tough. Everyone was saying I should be happy with how I played and stuff. But, like, I don’t care about that. I want to win. That’s is the only reason I play hockey - or even CoD. I want to beat you. We didn’t do that enough last year. Now we’re winning, and I’m loving it and so is the city."
Laine was destined for stardom in Winnipeg and has been embraced by the city from the minute he was drafted. After starring for the Jets before his 20th birthday, it's clear Laine knows he's on his way to cementing his status in city lore.
Bobby Ryan's latest hand injury will keep him out long term.
Ottawa Senators head coach Guy Boucher confirmed Tuesday that Ryan suffered ligament damage and is out on a week-to-week basis.
The forward suffered the injury after scoring a power-play goal during last Thursday's game against the Anaheim Ducks.
This marks the fourth time Ryan's been sidelined by a hand injury this season alone. The 30-year-old has been limited to 39 games in 2017-18, and has tallied just seven goals and 20 points.
The team's expected to call up a player from the Belleville Senators of the AHL, after which Ottawa will dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
NEW YORK – Take a quick guess at who has the most goals this season for the defending Western Conference champion and current Central Division-leading Nashville Predators. There are two correct answers, so it should be that much easier, right?
Not so fast.
Viktor Arvidsson and Kevin Fiala have scored 17 apiece, which puts them in a 10-way tie for 50th place in the NHL. If that seems particularly low for a team eighth in the league in scoring with 3.08 goals per game, that is by design. The Predators have four more players in double figures in goals – Filip Forsberg (16), Craig Smith (16), P.K. Subban (13), and Calle Jarnkrok (12) – and another five or six who should join them by season’s end.
The Predators attack in waves and never stop, which is how they rallied from a pair of deficits Monday night to win their third straight game, 5-4 in overtime against the New York Islanders. Ryan Johansen netted the equalizer with 42.2 seconds remaining in the third period before Roman Josi converted a give-and-go with Nick Bonino in a free-flowing extra session to bag the two points.
“The depth of our group is what we count on every night,” Johansen said. “It’s not one or two guys that we look to lug the mail here. We count on each other, every single night, to produce at both ends of the rink, and each and every single play we’re using all our D and all our forwards. We’re supporting each other and working for each other. That’s a big reason for our success this year, and will be moving forward.”
Nashville’s ability to cull goals from throughout the roster helps to explain why the Predators have been shut out only twice all season – in the second game of the campaign in Pittsburgh, and on Jan. 2 in Las Vegas, where it seems everyone in the league turns into a shell of themselves. Since that trip to Sin City, though, the Predators have been nearly unstoppable, with 38 goals scored during a 9-1-2 surge.
In the last couple of weeks, the Predators have really been clicking offensively, scoring at least three goals in six of their last seven games, and five in each of their last three.
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
“It doesn’t really matter what team we play, (Peter Laviolette) and our team always puts an emphasis on getting shots on net,” Josi said. “He wants us to get shots from everywhere if we can. … We talked about wanting to get more shots. That’s our identity. So we started shooting more, and in this league, it’s so hard to score goals, we’ve just been getting it to the front of the net, and our forwards are doing a great job to get rewarded for it.”
That was exactly what happened to spark the Predators’ comeback on Monday night. Down 4-2 in the waning minutes of the second period, and looking pretty ragged, Nashville had a decent shift going when Mattias Ekholm decided to fling the puck toward the crease.
It bounced off Scott Hartnell at the doorstep, and in the ensuing scramble, Jarnkrok punched home his second goal in three February games after having gone without a tally in January. Had Jarnkrok not been there, Bonino was right next to him, to the point that even Nashville’s TV crew thought it was his goal.
With the goals that followed, Pekka Rinne was able to pick up his 27th win of the season on a night when the goalie rightly blamed himself for the predicament in which the Predators had found themselves. Rinne, of course, is rarely a problem for Nashville, to which his 2.32 goals against average and .926 save percentage would attest.
Johansen touted his teammate’s Vezina candidacy, and it would be funny if, after years of carrying the Predators and not getting the hardware, this wound up being Rinne’s year for that trophy, when his job has become less stressful, at least to the extent it ever can for an NHL goalie.
“It is nice when you’re getting the goal support that I’m getting right now,” Rinne said. “I can’t say enough about these guys. Those nights (when it’s lopsided), it’s nice, but still ... I try not to put too much on my shoulders. I don’t think I need to. We have so much talent in this room. It is different when you go into the game knowing that you’re probably going to get three goals. You have a little leeway and it’s a good feeling. You don’t stress about it, and you just focus on your game.”
While the Lightning still sit perched atop the NHL standings, captain Steven Stamkos feels the club's recent play has not been up to snuff.
"It's alarming the way we're playing," Stamkos said, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. "It hasn't felt like we've played a solid game in a while."
And Stamkos is correct. Since Jan. 11 - a stretch of 10 games - Tampa Bay has struggled.
Category
Stat
League Rank
Points
10
T-17
Power Play
16.7%
T-25
Penalty Kill
71.9%
26
Goals Against
33
26
Shots Against
350
28
Fortunately for the Lightning, after enduring an eight-game road trip, they will now return home, where they are 17-5-1 this season, to play four of their next six contests.
The first step of Rick Nash's potential departure from the Big Apple has taken place, as the veteran winger submitted an 18-team no-trade list to the Rangers' brass - at their request - leaving 12 clubs available to swoop in for his services before the Feb. 26 trade deadline.
Nash is in his sixth season with New York, but he'll become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. That, combined with the Rangers' apparent desire to rebuild, will make the 33-year-old one of the top rental targets for potential Stanley Cup contenders in this year's winger-heavy market.
Still, there are several factors to consider for teams interested in acquiring Nash, and below, we'll get into the pros and cons attached to one of the biggest names on the block.
Pro: Reliability
Gone are the days of Nash pouring in 40 goals per season, but that's not to say he's lost his effectiveness. He'd be an immediate upgrade on the wing for many teams and can be deployed in any situation. And on top of being a mainstay in the Rangers' top six and first power-play unit, Nash ranks third among all New York forwards in penalty-kill time.
The veteran can be counted on to make smart decisions on the ice and has always excelled at protecting the puck. He's also 13th in the NHL in takeaways, and despite a drop-off in production, still has 15 goals so far this season.
Con: Cost
The main hurdle to overcome will be the cost, as trade partners won't want to take on the entirety of Nash's $7.8-million cap hit. And should a team convince the Rangers to eat a significant chunk of that salary, the next obstacle will be New York's asking price.
Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton received a top-10 pick and developing blue-liner Anthony DeAngelo for Derek Stepan last summer, so it's reasonable to think he'd expect something similar for Nash.
And while Nash is certainly one of the better players available, will a contending team be willing to part with multiple prime assets for a playoff run with a roster reinforced by him? Well, that's for the general managers to decide.
Pro: Strong underlying numbers
Despite converting fewer chances, Nash is still creating offense at a high rate. He's been well below his career shooting percentage (12.1) over the past three seasons, but has still been one of the most dangerous Rangers in the attacking zone.
And even though New York is routinely dominated by opponents on the shot clock, Nash is one of the few Rangers with a positive Corsi For relative to his teammates (2.02). He also leads the club in individual expected goals for (10.26) and individual shot attempts (190). If Nash was just getting a little luckier when it comes to cashing in his scoring opportunities, his trade value would likely be much higher.
(All advanced stats at five-on-five, entering Monday's games. Courtesy: Corsica)
Con: Playoff history
Nash and the Rangers have qualified for the postseason in each of the last six seasons, even reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2014 - a five-game defeat to the Los Angeles Kings. Still, even with ample opportunities, Nash has never established himself as a strong playoff performer.
In 73 postseason games with the Rangers, Nash has recorded 14 goals and 24 assists, including just three goals in 25 contests when New York emerged out of the Eastern Conference four seasons ago.
It's difficult to pinpoint why certain players struggle or excel come playoff time, but unfortunately for Nash, he falls in the former category. Now, whether his underwhelming postseason reputation will be enough to scare off GMs remains to be seen, but it's assuredly going to be considered before any executive mortgages significant pieces of their team's future.
With the five-point performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Edmonton Oilers captain eclipsed the 20-goal and 60-point plateaus, earning him a combined $425,000 in performance bonuses, according to Cap Friendly.
McDavid has now hit all four category "A" bonuses (35 assists, 20 goals, 60 points, and being named to the All-Star Game) for a total of $850,000.
The performance bonuses will look like peanuts next year, when the 21-year-old will earn $15 million in his first year of an eight-year, $100-million contract.
