New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier is out week-to-week with a sinus fracture after taking a puck to the visor during Saturday's game against the Washington Capitals, the team announced Thursday.

More to come.

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A rocky start to the week has dropped me to 68-53 (+16.52 units) on the season. There was nothing fun about watching the Panthers and Wild blow late leads on Monday night, only to lose in overtime.

But that's hockey, and we've had a few of those go our way this year as well.

Here are a couple of plays I've singled out for Thursday.

Rangers (-115) @ Devils (-105)

I enjoyed betting the Devils early in the season, but they've managed just 43.18% of the expected goal share at five-on-five across their last seven games. That number drops even further at all strengths, with the Devils struggling a great deal on special teams. Their power play ranks 27th in the league, while the penalty kill is dead last by a wide margin with just a 63% success rate. To put that miserable number into perspective, the Red Wings are second-worst, sitting at 70.4%.

To compound matters, New Jersey will be without captain Nico Hischier once again after he took a puck to the face in Saturday's game against the Capitals. The Rangers appear to be getting Kaapo Kakko back - he hasn't played since Feb. 18 - and while Artemi Panarin remains away from the team for the fifth game, they've been managing well in his absence with 52.48% of the expected goal share at five-on-five.

Oddsmakers were too low on the Devils early on, and after finally catching up, there seems to be an overcorrection happening now. They're also too low on a Rangers team playing strong hockey without their leading scorer. We're getting a bargain on the Blueshirts on Thursday.

Pick: Rangers (-115)

Flyers (-120) @ Penguins (+110)

After cashing on the Penguins on Tuesday, I'm really liking this bounce-back spot for the Flyers. The Pens have struggled in the second of two-game sets, putting in much more convincing performances in the initial meeting. They've lost the second game in three of the last four occasions after winning the first, and the underlying numbers show that's hardly a coincidence.

Thursday's ask is even tougher as they're once again without Sidney Crosby after rallying impressively in the captain's absence in the opener. Meanwhile, the Flyers are getting healthy, and have no notable absences after Travis Konecny returned to the lineup on Tuesday.

Tuesday's scoreline was a bit flattering for the Penguins, who capitalized on a rough outing from Carter Hart. The young netminder has had his share of struggles this season, but we won't have to worry about that here as Brian Elliott is expected to get the start. The man they call "Moose" has been nothing short of spectacular this season, ranking third in the NHL in GSAA/60 among goalies with at least five starts. He's also posted a terrific 4.41 GSAx, ranking ninth in the league, while Hart sits 64th out of 69 goalies with a minus-7.84 mark.

Pick: Flyers (-120)

(Odds source: theScore Bet)

Alex Moretto is theScore's supervising editor of sports betting. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, despises how the NHL handles starting goalie announcements, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs' inability to defend has hindered their progress in recent years, but they appear to be turning a corner this season and allowed just one goal over nine periods in a three-game sweep of the Edmonton Oilers.

Toronto held the NHL's leading scorer, Connor McDavid, pointless in three straight contests for just the third time in his career, according to Sportsnet. The Oilers captain couldn't offer an explanation as to how the Leafs shut him and his club down.

"For whatever reason, we couldn't figure those guys out and they had us pretty figured out," McDavid said following Wednesday's 6-1 loss.

Fellow superstar Leon Draisaitl, who picked up one assist in the three-game set, was equally mystified.

"I think they played really good all three games - made it hard on us," Draisaitl said. "But we also didn't push back enough."

The Maple Leafs' 2.33 goals against per game is the fourth-best in the league. Toronto hasn't finished a season with a top-10 defense since 2002-03 or a top-five defense since 1992-93.

The most notable personnel changes on the blue line came in the form of TJ Brodie and Zach Bogosian replacing the departed Cody Ceci and Tyson Barrie, the latter of whom now plays for the Oilers.

"They gave us a bit of a lesson there that they're probably the team in our division that's the gold standard right now. ... They embarrassed us three games in a row," Barrie said.

Having played under Sheldon Keefe, Barrie knows the defensive system that the Leafs head coach has been trying to implement since he was hired in November 2019. That system appears to be coming together now.

"You can't chase that team," Barrie said. "They're playing super well structurally, and they're not giving us any freebies and any looks that we wouldn't earn."

The Leafs are 45-19-7 since Keefe took over for Mike Babcock last season.

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Washington Capitals sniper Alex Ovechkin was fined $5,000 - the maximum allowable under the CBA - for spearing Boston Bruins forward Trent Frederic in the groin Wednesday, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced.

The two players received minor penalties on the play: Frederic for crosschecking and Ovechkin for slashing.

Ovechkin and Frederic nearly got into a fight earlier in the game.

Ovechkin's fine is the equivalent of $26.21 for someone who earns $50,000 a year, notes The Athletic's Mark Lazerus.

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San Jose Sharks forward Joachim Blichfeld was assessed a match penalty and ejected from Thursday's game after delivering a hit to the head of Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon in the third period.

MacKinnon, 25, stayed down on the ice momentarily before team medical staff escorted him to the dressing room. He didn't return for the remaining 12 minutes of the game.

Colorado head coach Jared Bednar provided a partial update on MacKinnon postgame.

"He seems to be doing good. I think that we got lucky on it," Bednar said. "Hopefully he's feeling good and everything tomorrow, but as of right now he seems to be fine."

Colorado led 2-0 at the time of the hit and scored a goal on the ensuing five-minute power play, and went on to win 4-0. MacKinnon had one assist in 18:05 of ice time before exiting.

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Boston Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask felt it was unfortunate there were no fans present Wednesday to pay tribute to Washington Capitals defenseman Zdeno Chara, who returned to Boston as an opposing player for the first time since 2006.

"That's half the tribute is when the fans are there and they're cheering. I believe he would've gotten a pretty long standing ovation," Rask said postgame, courtesy of NBC Sports Boston. "We lived those moments together. It's odd to see him on the other side, but I think, personally, for me, it wasn't as emotional as it would've been if there were fans in the stands."

The Bruins honored their ex-captain with a touching video tribute during a TV timeout.

Players tapped their sticks and Chara gave some waves of appreciation, but the thunderous applause from a packed house at TD Garden was absent.

The Capitals managed to grind out a 2-1 win in a shootout. Washington head coach Peter Laviolette, who notched his 650th career NHL victory in the process, believes Chara's return helped motivate his teammates.

"Guys played hard tonight," Laviolette said, according to The Washington Post's Samantha Pell. "It was an important game coming back to Boston for Z, important for our team just where we sit, but important for that reason as well. Guys knew that. I'm really happy for him that we were able to come in and help (Chara) out and get a win."

Chara, 43, served as Boston's captain for all of his 14 seasons with the club. He helped lead the Bruins to a Stanley Cup win in 2011 and the finals in 2013 and 2019.

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The Minnesota Wild are sending a message to a longtime fixture of the franchise.

Zach Parise will be a healthy scratch against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night for the first time in his tenure with the Wild, and only the second time during his 16-year career, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo.

Parise skated Wednesday, but he didn't take part in line rushes.

"Not going to get into details, but we as an organization and staff make a decision each night and we've made the decision to go with the lineup that we're going with," said Wild head coach Dean Evason. "It's a group decision, and Zach's out here tonight.

"You hope you go forward when something like this happens and hope you can turn it into a positive," the bench boss added.

Parise didn't go off for a line change with Nico Sturm and Marcus Foligno late in Minnesota's overtime loss to Vegas on Monday night, instead remaining on for 1:33 of ice time. During that extended shift, he deflected Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty's pass right to Mark Stone, who fed Alex Tuch for the tying goal with about 42 seconds left in regulation.

Parise's role has gradually diminished throughout the season. He began the campaign on the team's top line, but the forward has since been demoted to the bottom six.

The 36-year-old has collected only three goals and six assists over 19 games in 2021. The veteran's average ice time of 16:38 is the lowest since his rookie season in 2005-06.

Parise was last made a healthy scratch on Nov. 30, 2005 while with the New Jersey Devils, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. The last time he missed a game while not injured or ill was April 7, 2018 when Parise sat out the final contest of the Wild's regular season to rest for the playoffs, according to the Star-Tribune's Sarah McLellan.

He's been an alternate captain since joining the Wild in 2012, and only new captain Jared Spurgeon carries a larger cap hit than the $7.5 million both Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter carry.

Parise ranks third on the Wild's all-time goals and points lists, and sits seventh in games played despite spending his first seven seasons with the Devils.

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