Jack Campbell's consecutive win streak reached historic proportions Wednesday.
The Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender established a new franchise mark with his 10th straight victory, turning aside 32 of the 34 shots in a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Campbell was in a tie for the record with Felix Potvin (1993-94), Jacques Plante (1970-71), and John Ross Roach (1924-25).
The 29-year-old has become the Maple Leafs' de facto No. 1 goalie as starter Frederik Andersen continues to deal with a nagging injury. Campbell has won every game he's played in 2021, and he entered Wednesday's contest with a .944 save percentage over the previous nine contests.
Toronto acquired Campbell in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings in February 2020.
Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving understands something needs to be done to turn his struggling team around, and he has no shortage of adjectives to describe his feelings about the season to this point.
"You can come up with a whole lot of words: disappointment, frustration, a lot of things," Treliving told TSN's Salim Valji.
However, the GM doesn't think the issue is with his new head coach, Darryl Sutter.
"We're in a results-oriented business, so the results we have are certainly not acceptable and not what we wanted to have happen," he said. "But I think there (have) been some changes that have come into our game, specifically on the defensive side. But the good things that have happened aren't what we want to talk about."
Calgary sits in second-last place in the North Division with a 16-21-3 record and holds the second-worst goal differential (-21) among the Canadian squads. The Flames have gone 5-7-1 since Treliving fired head coach Geoff Ward and replaced him with Sutter following a win on March 4, and the club has won only two of its last eight games.
The GM knows Calgary has underachieved and acknowledges there's work to be done, but wouldn't specify what changes he'll look to make.
"Certainly we have to improve our team. Right now, this is the group of players we have. We've got to find a way to maximize performance out of them, and like every other team, you're going to look at how you can improve yourself and what changes you can make leading up not only to the (trade) deadline but beyond that."
Treliving has been the Flames' GM since April 2014. During his tenure, Calgary has made three first-round playoff exits and another in the second round - its deepest postseason run since he was hired.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are holding forward William Nylander out of the lineup against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday after the forward was exposed to a possible case of COVID-19 with a close contact outside the team, the club announced.
Nylander is isolating and his status will be re-evaluated tomorrow pending the results of further testing.
After consulting with the NHL, the game will go on as planned, the club confirmed. Forward Alexander Barabanov will take Nylander's place in the lineup.
The Vancouver Canucksannounced Wednesday that 21 players and four staff members have now tested positive for COVID-19. An additional player is considered a close contact.
An ongoing investigation by Vancouver Coastal Health and the Canucks' contract tracing staff revealed that the source infection was obtained by a single individual in a community setting, which has since been identified by health officials as a public exposure location. The rapid spread through the team indicates a link between the initial case and that individual's contacts.
The Canucks said the source infection is confirmed as being a variant, but full genome sequencing by the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control is required to determine the specific type. It was previously reported to be the Brazil variant.
Symptoms of those infected by the variant reportedly included vomiting, cramping, and dehydration. Family members of the players and staff have also contracted the virus.
Vancouver's games remain postponed until further notice.
The Montreal Canadiens placed forward Brendan Gallagher on long-term injured reserve, and he's expected to miss at least six weeks with a fractured thumb, the team announced Wednesday.
The Habs receive $3.75 million in salary relief with the transaction, according to CapFriendly, giving them more flexibility ahead of the April 12 trade deadline. There's no salary cap in the postseason.
Gallagher suffered the injury while blocking a shot Monday against the Edmonton Oilers.
The pesky 28-year-old winger finishes his season with 14 goals and nine assists in 35 games.
The 2020-21 regular season is projected to wrap up by May 11 - at the earliest - so it's possible Gallagher returns at some point during Round 1 of the playoffs, should Montreal qualify.
Dallas Stars head coach Rick Bowness will return to the bench Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks, the team announced.
Bowness was forced to leave Sunday's game after two periods due to COVID-19 protocol. However, it turned out to be a false positive test.
The Stars are 13-12-10 in games Bowness coached from start to finish this season. They ended up losing Sunday's tilt and were defeated Tuesday with John Stevens serving as head coach.
With the NHL trade deadline less than a week away, general managers around the league can learn a few lessons from the past.
Below, we analyze some of the biggest trades prior to the 2020 deadline to determine what worked, and what didn't.
Golden Knights improve goal prevention
Zak Krill / National Hockey League / Getty
The Golden Knights made two major splashes last year - both aimed at improving goal prevention.
On Feb. 19, they landed defenseman Alec Martinez from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a second-round pick in 2020 and 2021. On deadline day, Vegas acquired goaltender Robin Lehner from the Chicago Blackhawks for goaltender Malcolm Subban, defenseman Slava Demin, and a 2020 second-rounder. They also surrendered a 2020 fifth-round pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for retaining a portion of Lehner's salary.
Martinez helped stabilize the Golden Knights' defense. He had an additional season left on his contract and is currently in the midst of a career year offensively.
Lehner became Vegas' primary goaltender for the postseason in 2020, sporting a .917 save percentage and 1.99 goals-against average in 16 games during the team's trip to the Western Conference Final. The pending UFA then signed a five-year, $25-million contract to stay in Sin City.
Vegas may not have won the Cup last year, but if they can go all the way this season, Martinez and Lehner will likely play big roles. Having both players for more than one year without giving up a first-rounder was a huge win for Vegas.
The lesson: Term/re-signability is ideal. This year's expansion draft complicates things, though.
Lightning go all in
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / Getty
The Lightning made a pair of key trades in the buildup to the 2020 deadline.
On Feb. 16 - eight days prior - they acquired forward Blake Coleman from the New Jersey Devils for a 2020 first-round pick and prospect Nolan Foote (a 2019 first-rounder). On deadline day, Tampa Bay stayed busy and landed forward Barclay Goodrow and a 2020 third-round pick from the San Jose Sharks for a 2020 first-rounder and AHLer Anthony Greco.
Neither Coleman nor Goodrow were household names at the time. Coleman had never reached 40 points and Goodrow had never reached 30. However, both players had a track record of being excellent defensive forwards; the pair were also on extremely team-friendly deals and signed for an additional season.
The Lightning entered the 2020 playoffs right in the heart of their Cup window, knowing a cap crunch was on the horizon. They choked in 2019 after a record-setting regular season and needed more bite come playoff time. Coleman and Goodrow gave the Bolts exactly what they needed and formed an integral checking line alongside Yanni Gourde en route to winning the Stanley Cup.
Buyer's lesson: Overpaying is worth it if you're a legitimate Cup contender. Seller's lesson: Trading away players with term nets better returns.
Hurricanes make trio of splashes
Gregg Forwerck / National Hockey League / Getty
The Hurricanes swung three major deals on deadline day last year, and there are lessons to be learned from each individual trade.
Trocheck was the best player in the deal and is in the midst of a career year this season. Top centers on team-friendly contracts do not grow on trees and Florida's depth at the position beyond Aleksander Barkov is thin. This was an incredibly short-sighted move by former Panthers GM Dale Tallon.
The lesson: Quality is always better than quantity - especially with centers.
Vatanen was injured at the time of the trade and never suited up for the Canes in the regular season. However, with the NHL's COVID-19 pause, he was able to play in seven of the team's eight playoff games. Even though Carolina didn't make a deep run, he proved to be a valuable commodity after other members of the blue line suffered injuries.
The lesson: It never hurts to add blue-line depth for a low cost.
Trade 3: Acquired defenseman Brady Skjei from the New York Rangers for a 2020 first-round pick.
This was one of the oddest moves of the deadline. There were no rumors Skjei was even available, considering two years earlier he had signed a six-year contract with a $5.25-million AAV. He had an excellent rookie season with New York in 2016-17 but has failed to regain his offensive touch since. His defensive metrics are fairly average, too.
This was a cap dump and some excellent asset management by the Rangers; Skjei has been a serviceable yet underwhelming top-four defenseman for Carolina. If the Hurricanes' impending cap crunch this offseason (Dougie Hamilton and Andrei Svechnikov are due for big raises) forces them to trade Skjei, they'd probably be lucky to get a mid-round pick.
The lesson: Don't commit valuable assets and long-term cap space to unproven players.
Canucks add key forward
Andy Devlin / National Hockey League / Getty
The Canucks joined the frenzy on deadline day by acquiring winger Tyler Toffoli from the Kings for a 2020 second-round pick, a conditional 2020 fourth-round pick, and forwards Tyler Madden and Tim Schaller.
Toffoli was excellent for the Canucks down the stretch, registering six goals and four assists in 10 games. He also recorded four points in seven postseason contests.
While Toffoli was with the Canucks, it seemed like an excellent trade. The team desperately needed another top-six winger, and he appeared to be the perfect complement.
In hindsight, the Canucks were never ready to make a deep playoff run. They also didn't have the future cap space to re-sign the forward. Surrendering a good prospect and a second-rounder (which L.A. used on Brock Faber) was not worth it for 17 games of Toffoli.
The lesson: Don't give up valuable assets for pure rentals if you're not a legitimate Cup contender.
