Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Tony DeAngelo has been suspended two games for spearing Tampa Bay Lightning forward Corey Perry on Tuesday, the Department of Player Safety announced.

DeAngelo received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for spearing Perry below the equator.

DeAngelo said postgame that he didn't intend to catch Perry in the nether regions.

"I was trying to give him a little shot," DeAngelo said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer's Olivia Reiner. "I wasn't looking for it to go there."

The incident occurred with 2:40 remaining in the contest and the Flyers trailing 4-2. They eventually lost 5-2. Perry's teammates mobbed DeAngelo immediately after he speared the forward.

DeAngelo said he wanted to fight but that Perry wouldn't answer the bell.

"He tried to slash my stick out of my hands the second beforehand," DeAngelo said. "He talks all game. So, (I) asked him to fight. (Perry) doesn't want to fight. He'll tell you that he's asked me to fight for years. I don't say no. So there's not much of an argument there."

DeAngelo added that he's upset he didn't get to throw a few punches after the Lightning came to Perry's defense.

"I took 30 punches on the ground," he said. "And when I get up, they don't let me do what I got to do. So it's whatever."

This marks the second suspension of the 27-year-old's seven-year career. The league banned DeAngelo for three games in 2017 while with the Arizona Coyotes for verbal abuse toward an official.

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Ottawa Senators goaltender Cam Talbot will miss three weeks due to a mid-body injury, head coach D.J. Smith announced Wednesday, according to TSN.

Talbot missed Ottawa's game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. The club recalled Kevin Mandolese from the AHL for the contest, while Mads Sogaard earned the start in the 5-0 loss.

The Senators are amid a five-game road trip, and Talbot is returning to Ottawa for treatment, per TSN. The club is pushing for a playoff berth this season but sits five points back of a wild-card spot with 19 games remaining.

Ottawa brought in Talbot via trade from the Minnesota Wild last offseason. The 35-year-old has appeared in 32 contests with the Senators, posting a 15-14-1 record with a .905 save percentage.

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We have a pint-sized three-game slate ahead of us Wednesday night. Luckily, there's still plenty of value on the board, so let's dive into it with three best bets.

Wild (+110) @ Jets (-130)

The Wild have gotten a ton of positive results lately, picking up at least a point in 10 consecutive games.

While Minnesota might extend that streak to 11 in Winnipeg, I don't see it leaving with two points.

Despite their recent success, the Wild are still really laboring offensively. They've generated high-danger chances at a below-average rate and rank dead last in goals per game during this stretch.

Facing Connor Hellebuyck won't be the elixir to their offensive woes. Despite his recent struggles, he ranks fourth in the NHL in goals saved above expected (plus-22.8).

It generally doesn't take long for Hellebuyck to get back on track, and a game against Minnesota - in a back-to-back situation for it, no less - could be just the spot to do it.

Conversely, the Jets' offense should benefit greatly from Marc-Andre Fleury drawing the start instead of Filip Gustavsson, who played Tuesday and has been one of the league's best netminders this season.

Fleury's numbers lag significantly behind Gustavsson's in every sense. He also has a poor recent history against Winnipeg, conceding at least four goals in four of his last five games against them.

Look for the Jets to take advantage of a strong scheduling spot and get back in the win column following a dud of an effort against the Sharks last time out.

Bet: Jets (-115)

Kyle Connor over 3.5 shots (+105)

Connor has hit another gear lately. He's attempted 70 shots over the past 10 games, leading the Jets in that category, scoring chances, and expected goals over the stretch. He's been Winnipeg's biggest offensive threat.

I expect that to be the case again versus the Wild on Wednesday. For one, Connor is significantly more efficient on home ice. His hit rate in Winnipeg is 52%, while he's come through just 29% of the time on the road.

Connor also has a pretty strong history against Minnesota, hitting in three straight games against the club and four of the last six.

The Wild are generally a stout team at suppressing shots. However, they rank middle of the pack over the last 10 contests and played 65-plus minutes of hockey last night. That, coupled with travel, could lead to some fatigue Wednesday.

Look for Connor to take advantage.

Elias Pettersson over 3.5 shots (-130)

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That certainly applies to backing top shot generators when going up against the Ducks.

Anaheim has bled shots, chances, and goals all season and continues to show no signs of improvement. Over the past 10 games, the Ducks have conceded an average of 41 shots while giving up high-danger looks and expected goals at a higher clip than every other team.

Pettersson is the player primed to benefit most from such an advantageous matchup. He leads the Canucks in attempts (by 17) over the past 10 contests, taking just under seven per game.

He should have a field day at five-on-five, while his one-timer will be heavily featured on each power play.

Pettersson had eight shots on goal the last time these two teams met. I don't expect him to reach those heights again, but he should cruise past four.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato was left baffled after referees reversed course to allow Hudson Fasching's controversial game-winning goal in a crucial contest Tuesday against the New York Islanders.

Fasching had a puck deflect off his leg and into the net with 12 minutes left in the third period. It was originally blown off for a kicking motion, but after a review, the goal was awarded. It stood as the decider in a battle between two clubs fighting for an Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

"It's shocking. I don't know how to explain it, I didn't get an explanation," Granato said, according to Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News. "So I don't have an explanation for it. I've not seen that happen."

Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen thought it was kicked as well.

"It happens fast in the game. But, for sure, to me it looks like a kicking motion," he said. "But in the end, I can't say without the replay and all that. It looked like it shouldn't be a goal but in the end, the ref makes the call and we have to trust it's the right one. It just kind of (stinks) that it was the winning goal."

The Sabres entered the contest four points back of the Islanders for the top wild-card seed. With the loss and a Pittsburgh Penguins win on Tuesday, Buffalo is now five points back of the playoff cutline with 19 games remaining.

The Sabres haven't qualified for the playoffs since 2010-11, the longest active drought in the NHL.

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Welcome to the fifth in-season edition of theScore's 2022-23 Vezina Trophy rankings. On this month's list, we have a pair of fringe contenders who have struggled of late, one newcomer, and a familiar favorite who can seemingly cruise to the finish line at this point.

GSAA = Goals saved above average
GSAx = Goals saved above expected

5. Filip Gustavsson, Wild

Previous rank: N/A

Gustavsson is one of the league's hottest goalies and has played considerably better than any other fringe Vezina contender of late, hence his perhaps surprising inclusion on our list. He doesn't have the sample size to warrant serious consideration at this point, but keep an eye on the Wild's new No. 1, who's taken the starting gig from Marc-Andre Fleury and might work his way up our rankings if he maintains this form down the stretch and guides Minnesota into the playoffs.

Since our last edition Feb. 8, Gustavsson owns a .956 clip in 11 appearances and only has one regulation loss. He's also skyrocketed up the leaderboard in GSAA and GSAx for the season, currently ranking top five in both categories. The Wild appeared to be on the losing end of the offseason deal that brought Gustavsson in and sent Cam Talbot out, but Minnesota may have found its goaltender of the future for pennies on the dollar.

4. Jake Oettinger, Stars

Previous rank: 4th

We've mentioned several times throughout the year that Oettinger has the ability to play his way into the top three, but an underwhelming stretch between the pipes kept him in our fourth spot for the time being. The 24-year-old lost five of nine starts this past month and saw his numbers drop across the board. Oettinger is still among league leaders in said stats but has lost a step in the race for hardware. Perhaps the biggest workload of his young career has begun to take its toll deep into the season, but Stars fans shouldn't be too worried about their No. 1 rediscovering his form in time for the playoffs.

3. Connor Hellebuyck, Jets

Previous rank: 3rd

Hellebuyck and Oettinger have been virtually intertwined in our rankings all season, and this past month reinforced their similarities perhaps more than ever as the two Central Division stalwarts both struggled. The Jets netminder was particularly - and uncharacteristically - poor, registering an .898 save percentage in eight starts and a miserable minus-7.05 GSAA. It's no surprise Winnipeg has struggled to string together wins of late.

While Hellebuyck's recent stretch has been worse than Oettinger's, the former remains ahead on our list by a hair due to greater cumulative numbers on the season. The analytics lean slightly in Hellebuyck's favor, and he routinely faces more shots and difficult chances. Neither goalie is likely to win the Vezina at this point due to the strength of our top two contenders, but the third spot is wide open with just over a month to go in the regular season.

2. Ilya Sorokin, Islanders

Previous rank: 2nd

Sorokin simply doesn't believe in inconsistency, but unfortunately for him in his quest for goaltender of the year, he backstops a team fighting for a playoff berth and is up against one of the most ironclad cases to win in recent memory. We're not taking anything away from Sorokin's outstanding season - he deserves credit for thriving in a difficult situation and has unquestionably made a name for himself as one of the best goalies in the world.

There's a case to be made that Sorokin has been better than Boston's Linus Ullmark this season, but this award is voted on by NHL general managers, who generally lean on the side of traditional statistics rather than analytics. Still, it's worth noting Sorokin leads the league in GSAx by 13 and has faced 50 extra expected goals than Ullmark on the year due to New York's inferior defensive structure. As good as Sorokin's been, though, sometimes the right choice is simply too obvious.

1. Linus Ullmark, Bruins

Previous rank: 1st

After Ullmark narrowly missed an empty-net tally at the Winter Classic in January, we wrote that he'd have won the Vezina unanimously if he scored. Well, the Bruins netminder has lost only three contests since his attempt at Fenway Park and added an entry into the goal column to boot. We don't see any way Ullmark doesn't win the award at this point.

He paces his peers in nearly every statistical category, and if the campaign ended today, his .938 save percentage would be the fifth-highest single-season mark in NHL history for a goaltender to play at least 25 games. His goals against average would be 15th. Some may use playing for the juggernaut Bruins as a knock on the Swedish netminder, but he has shown no flaws in his game whatsoever this season and has the individual stats to prove he's impactful as any player on the Presidents' Trophy favorites.

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Erik Karlsson doesn't resort to projectiles very often, so he was clearly bothered by a missed call during Tuesday night's game between his San Jose Sharks and the Colorado Avalanche.

The officials handed the bleeding Sharks defenseman a 10-minute misconduct for tossing his headgear in frustration after Avalanche forward Alex Newhook's high stick to Karlsson's face went unpenalized early in the third period of Colorado's 6-0 win.

Karlsson was also given a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The 10-minute misconduct was the first of his 14-year career, according to The Mercury News' Curtis Pashelka.

The Norris Trophy favorite said postgame he felt slighted by the officials, though he did apologize for letting his emotions get the best of him.

Karlsson is having a vintage campaign with 19 goals and 63 assists in 65 contests for the rebuilding Sharks. He entered Wednesday leading the NHL in even-strength points with 62.

Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar and forward Valeri Nichushkin collected a goal and three assists apiece in Colorado's blowout victory Tuesday night.

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