The Montreal Canadiens ruled out forward Christian Dvorak for the remainder of Monday night's contest against the Minnesota Wild.

Dvorak left the game after Wild captain Jared Spurgeon delivered a blindside hit to his head early in the first period.

Here's a closer look at the incident:

Spurgeon wasn't penalized on the play. Dvorak finished the contest with just 36 seconds of ice time.

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With the Toronto Maple Leafs' forward group being the healthiest it's ever been this season, head coach Sheldon Keefe is looking to spread around his team's star power.

Here's how the Leafs - who currently sit in third place in the Atlantic Division - lined up at practice Monday:

Franchise cornerstone Auston Matthews remained as the top-line center, but hardworking forward Ondrej Kase replaced Mitch Marner on his right wing. Captain John Tavares found himself between the red-hot Ilya Mikheyev and Marner, while William Nylander and Alex Kerfoot joined the defensively sound David Kampf on the third line.

"For me, it's about Matthews, Marner, and Nylander on three separate lines and getting a look at what that looks like, for both our team and how the opposition might look to contend with that," Keefe explained, according to the Toronto Star's Kevin McGran.

The third-year coach added that he's wanted to experiment with this look since training camp, but the team was never healthy enough to give it a go.

Despite the shuffle, Keefe emphasized that his star players' ice time won't change.

"I just like the ability to have lots of options," he said. "It's on me to manage the minutes, and that was my message, not just to Will, but to Mitch and Auston and John."

"There's no demotion here for anyone," Keefe added, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox.

Nylander, who ranks second on the Leafs in points, has high hopes for the team's creative new look.

"I think it's a good way to spread out the guys on the team," he said, per McGran. "Me and Kerfoot had chemistry before and Kampf is a smart player and solid defensively, so I think that could be really good."

Meanwhile, Tavares is looking forward to reuniting with Marner, who played on his wing when he scored a career-high 88 points in his first season with the Leafs in 2018-19.

"(Marner's) ability to read the play and manipulate the opponent is as good as any winger in the game," Tavares said, per TSN.

He added: "As a linemate, you're just always trying to get open knowing that he's got eyes everywhere and he's gonna find you if you're open."

Toronto will practice with the same alignment Tuesday before Keefe makes a decision on Wednesday's lineup against the Anaheim Ducks.

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The NHL was originally supposed to take two weeks off for the Olympics at the start of February, but the league derailed those plans. Instead of Beijing, the sport's top players will head to Las Vegas during the weekend of February 4-6.

As a result, we've got an extended edition of the weekly moneyline betting guide. The natural break - and the NHL's announcement about pulling back on the COVID-19 testing afterward - can give us a better idea of who's going to be in the lineup each night, and that will be a welcome change in a season that has frustrated bettors looking for roster certainty.

The recipe

Before the campaign, we provided a three-chapter series on how to use the regular-season point-total market to create team ratings, how to interpret home-ice advantage, and how to use that information to create your own moneylines.

Five weeks ago, we shared my 2021-22 campaign ratings, which use the metrics I deem important to predict future success. Considering all the lineup inconsistency across the league, I'll continue to rely on a 50-50 split between those ratings and the preseason priors via the regular-season point-total markets. This provides a more consistent base for assessing teams in the future rather than allowing mismatches generated by COVID-19 to pollute the numbers.

The cheat sheet

The following includes my fair price on the games (true moneyline) and the moneyline price I would need to bet either side. I only need a 1% edge for a favorite if we're getting better than a fair price on the club more likely to win. For the underdog, I'll need 4% or better to make it a bet. For games I project to be closer to a coin flip, a 2.5% edge is enough for a worthwhile wager. I also have a 5% win probability consideration for a team playing in the second game of a back-to-back with travel and a 3% consideration for a side on the second leg of a back-to-back without travel.

Matt Russell is a betting writer for theScore. If there's a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.

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The Vancouver Canucks have hired player agent and former NCAA forward Emilie Castonguay as their new assistant general manager.

Castonguay's now ex-clients include New York Rangers winger and 2020 first overall pick Alexis Lafreniere and Canadian star Marie-Philip Poulin, among others.

The new Canucks executive is the first female assistant GM in franchise history. She became the NHLPA's first female certified agent in 2016 and was still the only woman in the role before Vancouver hired her.

Castonguay played four seasons of Division I hockey at Niagara. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in finance and then earned a law degree from l'Universite de Montreal.

The Canucks added former New Jersey Devils player information and video analyst Rachel Doerrie to their analytics department last week.

The Anaheim Ducks named Angela Gorgone the NHL's first female assistant GM in 1996.

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Cam Talbot is ready to return to the crease.

The Minnesota Wild goaltender will start against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night, head coach Dean Evason said after the morning skate, according to the Star-Tribune's Sarah McLellan.

Talbot missed the last six games with an injury he sustained in Minnesota's Winter Classic loss to the St. Louis Blues at Target Field in Minneapolis on New Year's Day.

Kaapo Kahkonen was dominant while starting every game for the Wild in his absence. The backup netminder went 5-0-1 with a .937 save percentage and allowed only 14 goals over the six contests.

Talbot is 15-8-1 with a .909 save percentage in 24 games this season, but the 34-year-old has less flattering underlying numbers. He ranks fourth-worst in the NHL with minus-8.5 goals saved above expected at five-on-five to go along with minus-2.21 goals saved above average in the same situations, according to Evolving Hockey.

Despite Talbot's less than stellar play, the Wild enter Monday's action with the NHL's eighth-best record by points percentage.

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Records are made to be broken, and the owner of one of the most impressive NHL benchmarks welcomes the possibility of being surpassed this week.

Doug Jarvis is all for Keith Yandle breaking his record for consecutive games played. The Philadelphia Flyers defenseman can tie it Monday and establish a new standard Tuesday.

"My emotion is I'm just happy for him," Jarvis told Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli on Sunday. "A lot of people have said to me, 'That record will never be broken.' And I'm like, 'Why won't it be?' I'm really surprised that it's been 35 years."

"I wanted to play every game," added the retired blue-liner and current senior adviser for the Vancouver Canucks. "And before I knew it, they added up and I'm kind of like, 'Well, why can't that happen for anyone else?'"

Jarvis played an all-time best 964 straight games from Oct. 8, 1975, until Oct. 10, 1987. Yandle has suited up for 963 in a row in a run that began on March 26, 2009.

"It's one of those records that you just, at least for me - I'm just speaking for myself - I don't feel you can set out to break or pass,” the 66-year-old Jarvis said. "There's so many things. It's not just injuries. There's been a number of players that have gotten close over the years that ended apart from injuries."

Phil Kessel also has a shot at passing Jarvis, as the Arizona Coyotes forward has played 940 consecutive contests. Patrick Marleau sits at 910, but he remains unsigned this season. Andrew Cogliano was previously in the mix as well, but his streak ended at 830 when the NHL suspended him for two games in 2018.

Yandle's run almost ended last January, when then-Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville nearly made him a healthy scratch before changing his mind. The rearguard scored in the game, and his streak remained intact even though the Panthers ultimately sat him during the playoffs.

Jarvis intends to get in touch with Yandle to laud him for the achievement.

"I'd just say congratulations and well done," Jarvis said. "I'm really happy for him and the career he is having and it's great that he's basically been able to stay injury free through it."

The Flyers signed Yandle to a one-year, $900,000 contract in July. The 35-year-old previously played for the Panthers, the New York Rangers, and the Arizona/Phoenix Coyotes.

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