Stop the presses. The Vancouver Canucks have scored a goal.

Nikolay Goldobin fired one home on a power play midway through the first period against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night, ending the Canucks' goal drought at 222 minutes and 57 seconds.

Vancouver was shut out in three straight games this week, against the Arizona Coyotes, Los Angeles Kings, and Anaheim Ducks, respectively.

Before Goldobin snapped the goalless skid, the Canucks' previous one came courtesy of Jussi Jokinen in the second period of a loss to the Minnesota Wild on March 9.

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Reinforcements are on the way.

Following a win over Montreal on Saturday, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock indicated center Auston Matthews and goaltender Frederik Andersen could be back for Tuesday's showdown with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"I think (Matthews) is playing right away here, I'm not 100 percent certain," Babcock said. "I think Freddie (Andersen) is playing right away. I think."

Matthews has not played since Feb. 22 because of a shoulder injury, while Andersen has been out since March 14 with an upper-body issue.

Thanks to the win over Montreal, Toronto sits five points back of Boston and seven points behind Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division standings.

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The St. Louis Blues' playoff hopes are fading, and now they've lost their best player to an injury.

Vladimir Tarasenko sustained an ailment Saturday night against the New York Rangers that the club would only classify as being of the upper-body variety, and the team revealed just before the second intermission that he would not return to the contest.

Tarasenko played nine shifts in the first period but none thereafter.

There was no indication of anything out of the ordinary on his last shift of the first period, according to Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Tarasenko leads the Blues with 27 goals and came into Saturday's game tied with Brayden Schenn for the team lead with 58 points.

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The Boston Bruins keep finding ways to get the job done.

Without a host of key players, the Bruins went into Tampa Bay on Saturday and came out with a 3-0 win over the Eastern Conference-leading Lightning.

They did it while missing Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, Charlie McAvoy, and Jake DeBrusk to injury, and losing David Backes in the first period with a laceration above his knee.

Stepping up in their absence was Tuukka Rask, who made 23 saves for his third shutout of the season, as well as Torey Krug, who recorded three assists.

Not only did the Bruins prevent Tampa Bay from clinching a playoff spot, they also moved to within two points of the Lightning, with a game in hand.

The Atlantic Division is far from settled and these two clubs will face off twice more before season's end - March 29 in Boston, and April 3 in Tampa Bay.

Buckle up.

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Ottawa Senators forward Ryan Dzingel was forced to leave Saturday's game in Columbus after taking a Mike Hoffman slap shot to the back of the head.

The shot was so hard, it actually knocked the No. 8 sticker off the back of Dzingel's helmet.

He was able to skate off the ice with assistance from the team's medical staff.

Earlier this season, Montreal's Philip Danault was hospitalized after taking a Zdeno Chara slap shot to the head.

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A veteran Boston Bruins forward was involved in a scary moment Saturday night.

David Backes departed the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning after it appeared Yanni Gourde's skate cut his leg in the Lightning crease in the first period.

That was confirmed in the second intermission, when the Bruins revealed Backes sustained a laceration above his right knee that required several stitches. The club added that Backes was resting and wouldn't return to the game.

As the video shows, Backes immediately went off to the dressing room and wasn't putting any weight on his right leg.

He was not on the Bruins bench to begin the second period, according to CSNNE's Joe Haggerty.

Bruins defenseman Torey Krug seemed very concerned about his teammate when asked about the incident by Boston radio station 98.5 The Sports Hub shortly thereafter.

"Scary, man," Krug said, according to Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe. "Any time you see a cut like (that) and a lot of blood, it's a scary thing."

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A veteran Boston Bruins forward was involved in a scary moment Saturday night.

David Backes departed the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning after it appeared Yanni Gourde's skate cut his leg in the Lightning crease in the first period.

That was confirmed in the second intermission, when the Bruins revealed Backes sustained a laceration above his right knee that required several stitches. The club added that Backes was resting and wouldn't return to the game.

As the video shows, Backes immediately went off to the dressing room and wasn't putting any weight on his right leg.

He was not on the Bruins bench to begin the second period, according to CSNNE's Joe Haggerty.

Bruins defenseman Torey Krug seemed very concerned about his teammate when asked about the incident by Boston radio station 98.5 The Sports Hub shortly thereafter.

"Scary, man," Krug said, according to Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe. "Any time you see a cut like (that) and a lot of blood, it's a scary thing."

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With his team's playoff hopes fading, New York Islanders head coach Doug Weight is willing to try anything.

That includes planning to deploy franchise center John Tavares as a winger during Sunday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes, putting him on the left side of a unit comprised of Mathew Barzal (center) and Jordan Eberle (right wing).

It's not permanent, Weight qualified, but rather an attempt to put his best offensive players on the ice at the same time.

"It doesn’t mean he’s going to play wing and it doesn’t mean he’s not a centerman," Weight said, per Andrew Gross of Newsday. "It’s an experiment. Moving forward it gives them (Tavares and Barzal) some experience together. I’m excited to see it."

Tavares has played center since being drafted by the Islanders and will be entering the offseason set to enter unrestricted free agency, having likely missed the playoffs once again.

For his part, however, Tavares appears open to the experiment.

"It’s not my natural position but I’ve played it before and I just try to have a lot of versatility with my game to begin with," Tavares said. "Mentally, I’ll prepare myself a little bit on what to expect and there are certain things that come with playing (wing)."

Tavares added, "Your career only lasts so long. You want to enjoy every second of it, every challenge no matter how tough it’s going."

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The Carolina Hurricanes are apparently pressing the pause button on their pursuit of a new general manager.

Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon is putting the GM search on hold for now, Sportsnet's John Shannon reports.

"Tom hasn't had the time he needs to do face-to-face interviews and feels that waiting will pay off," a Carolina source told Shannon on Saturday.

The club will wait until the offseason, when a wider field of candidates may emerge, TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported earlier in the day.

Several candidates have withdrawn from consideration for the vacant position over the last week, including Los Angeles Kings assistant GM Mike Futa, Nashville Predators assistant GM Paul Fenton, and New Jersey Devils AGM Tom Fitzgerald.

The Hurricanes made it clear upon stripping former GM Ron Francis of that title and appointing him president of hockey operations that the new GM will report directly to Dundon.

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Roberto Luongo was taking responsibility for a loss to the Oilers in Edmonton on Saturday.

Despite entering a save-of-the-year candidate in the second period, the Florida Panthers goalie was highly critical of his play later in the game, saying the winner off the stick of defenseman Adam Larsson is one that should have been stopped.

"It's just a bad goal, I don't know what happened exactly," he said via Fox Sports Florida. "It went underneath my glove and between my pants. It's a bad goal, no excuse for it. That shouldn't go in ever."

Here's a look at the play in question:

Luongo reiterated the goal was his fault, adding, "Needless to say I don't feel too good about myself after tonight, and feel like I cost the team a win here."

As a result of the loss, the Panthers failed to make up ground in the wild-card race, and with only 13 games remaining, time is running out to make up the difference.

For the season, Luongo has posted a record of 14-8-2 with a .926 save percentage, and his performance since returning from an early-season injury is a major reason why Florida has any chance at all of grabbing a playoff spot.

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