Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice isn't happy with how one of his team's best players, Mark Scheifele, was injured in Saturday's 4-1 loss during the first day of the NHL's return.

Scheifele left the contest versus the Calgary Flames minutes into the opening frame after he got tangled up with Matthew Tkachuk along the boards. The Flames forward's skate appeared to nick the back of Scheifele's leg, sending him to the ice writhing in pain.

In the eyes of the Jets bench boss, the move was certainly no accident.

"It was intentional. It was a filthy, dirty kick to the back of the leg," Maurice said, per Sportsnet. "You can't see it on the program feed, but you take the blueline feed and you zoom in. He went after the back of his leg. Could have cut his Achilles. Could have ended the man's career. It's an absolutely filthy disgusting hit."

While Maurice may have deemed the move intentional, Tkachuk quickly denied that idea when speaking after the game.

"I feel terrible. Such a great guy," Tkachuk said, according to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. "It’s not good for the game when someone like that isn’t in the game. It was an accident and I feel terrible about it."

It isn't just the one injury that Maurice needs to worry about going forward, as the head coach added that Patrik Laine, who injured his hand late in the game, will join Scheifele in seeing a specialist on Sunday to be evaluated, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

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The Calgary Flames dominated the Winnipeg Jets for the majority of the game Saturday, defeating them 4-1 in the opening contest of their qualifying round best-of-five series.

More to come.

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The Boston Bruins received some good news about one of their stars, but some potentially bad news about another on Saturday.

Forward Brad Marchand is expected to play in his team's opening round-robin game on Sunday after suffering an injury during their exhibition game. Meanwhile, goaltender Tuukka Rask is questionable to man the crease due to an illness, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer's Sam Carchidi.

Head coach Bruce Cassidy said he's sure Marchand will be "ready to go" and expects him to be at 100%. However, Cassidy says he will have to talk to Rask, who missed practice on Saturday, to "see where he's at."

Earlier this week, Cassidy announced that the netminder is starting the first game of the round-robin against the Philadelphia Flyers. He added that if Rask is unable to go, backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak will be ready to take the net.

The two goalies nearly split starts this season, with Rask playing in 41 games and Halak in 31. The pair combined to win the William M. Jennings Trophy, awarded annually to the goaltending tandem that allows the fewest goals.

The Bruins will take on the Flyers at 3 p.m. ET Sunday.

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The conditional draft pick involved in the deadline deal that brought Sami Vatanen to the Carolina Hurricanes from the New Jersey Devils has some new stipulations attached.

If Carolina beats the New York Rangers in the qualifying round and Vatanen plays in 70% of the Hurricanes' games after the play-in round, New Jersey will acquire the Canes' 2020 third-round pick, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports.

Should the Hurricanes beat the Rangers and Vatanen play in less than 70% of playoff contests, it will depend on how many games he played against the Rangers. If he plays at least two games and Carolina wins the series, the Devils get a 2020 fourth-round pick. But if he makes two appearances and the Rangers win, the Hurricanes can send a 2020 or 2021 fourth-round pick, according to Friedman.

Finally, if Vatanen doesn't appear in at least two games against the Rangers, the Devils won't receive a pick, Friedman adds.

At the time of the trade, Carolina agreed to surrender a 2020 fourth-round selection if Vatanen played in five regular-season games. The pick would have become a 2020 third-rounder if he played in 12 regular-season contests or 70% of playoff games.

The 29-year-old defenseman didn't get a chance to suit up in a regular-season game for Carolina due to a lingering injury. After playing in the Hurricanes' exhibition game this week, he's expected to be in the lineup for Game 1 of the play-in round beginning Saturday.

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The Edmonton Oilers will have to surrender a third-round pick to the Calgary Flames after all.

The NHL ruled the Oilers must transfer either their 2020 or 2021 third-rounder to Calgary to complete last summer's James Neal-Milan Lucic deal, the Flames announced Friday.

Edmonton will have until the third round of the 2020 draft to make its decision.

The forwards were swapped last July, and the condition attached to Edmonton's third-round pick was that it would only transfer if Neal, whom the Oilers received, scored at least 21 goals in 2019-20 and Lucic finished with at least 10 fewer markers than his counterpart.

Those conditions were extremely close to being met when the season was paused March 12; Neal scored 19 goals and Lucic had eight.

Neal potted all 19 of his goals in the first 42 games of the season before missing a month due to a foot injury. Lucic collected four over his last 15 contests, including two in his last four.

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Sidney Crosby offered his thoughts Friday on the ongoing fight against systemic racism.

"We're role models, first and foremost. I think we understand that. We understand what's going on in the world," the Pittsburgh Penguins captain said Friday. "We're important when it comes to being part of change. I just think there are important conversations that you have to have. I know, personally, I've had some of those."

Crosby's comments come one day after Evander Kane called out the NHL for its lack of support of its Black players.

Teams and players have stood in solidarity before games in support of Black Lives Matter since the NHL returned to the ice earlier this week for exhibition contests.

Crosby said he spent the last few months better educating himself and learning about the issues the Black community faces, and he'll continue to try to help encourage diversity in hockey.

"But I still need to continue to (have those conversations). Just educate ourselves," Crosby said. "Whether it's where we play or in our communities, how we can make a difference."

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The NHL's bubble plan appears to be working.

About 1,500 daily COVID-19 tests have been conducted in each of the Toronto and Edmonton hubs since teams arrived Sunday, and zero have returned positive so far, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

The NHL is working with LifeLabs in Toronto and DynaLIFE in Edmonton to administer the tests. Results are processed within 24 hours.

Each team was permitted to bring 52 people into the bubble, and everyone is tested daily.

Every club has played an exhibition game since arriving, and teams have held numerous practices. The qualifying round starts Saturday.

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Since the Hockey Diversity Alliance formed a bit over a month ago, Evander Kane says the group has been unable to find common ground with the NHL in its discussions.

"The NHL can put ‘Black Lives Matter’ all over the rink, shout ‘Black Lives Matter’ from the mountains,” the San Jose Sharks forward said, according to TSN's Frank Seravalli. "No matter what they do or say, it’s all going to fall on deaf ears with me and every other person in the HDA because the league has made no effort to support its own Black players.”

Kane, Akim Aliu, Trevor Daley, Anthony Duclair, Matt Dumba, Nazem Kadri, Wayne Simmonds, Chris Stewart, and Joel Ward all helped create the organization.

The HDA has presented ways the league can help the cause to the NHL over the past few weeks, but they have yet to agree on anything, and discussions remain ongoing, Kane said.

The 28-year-old added that the HDA and NHL met over a Zoom call on Wednesday and that it was "pretty hostile at times."

Kane criticized the league's upcoming #WeSkateFor initiative that will roll out when games resume on Aug. 1. The NHL's plan revolves around several issues and causes that encompass the Black community, LGBTQ community, frontline workers, and many others.

"We support all of those issues and we always have. But this is the NHL’s campaign to talk about our issue," Kane added.

"They’re trying to wrap all of these separate issues – including mental health, LGTBQ, women’s rights, everything – into one when our message is about racism. It completely yet again misses the mark and is so out of touch with what we’re talking about."

The NHL's senior vice president of social impact Kim Davis responded to this by saying, "Until you see how the treatment of anti-racism and ‘Black Lives’ actually rolls out on Saturday, it’s probably premature to judge how effectively we deliver the message, and whether we’ve ‘missed the mark.'"

Earlier on Thursday the HDA released a video that included a number of star athletes from across all sports leagues such as Patrick Mahomes, Brooks Koepka, and Connor McDavid expressing their support for the organization:

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Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand left his team's exhibition game against the Columbus Blue Jackets early Thursday after hitting Zach Werenski along the boards. The incident occurred near the end of the third period, and he did not return.

“He left. I don’t think it’s anything serious,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said, according to MassLive's Matt Vautour. “But we’ll have a better idea in the morning.”

The Bruins will take on the Philadelphia Flyers in their first round-robin game on Sunday. Marchand racked up 28 goals and 87 points in 70 games this season.

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The AHL plans to start its 2020-21 season later than usual.

At the recommendation of the AHL's Return to Play Task Force, the board of governors approved moving the anticipated start date to Dec. 4, the league announced Thursday.

Further specifics have not yet been determined. The league added it will continue to work with clubs to monitor developments and local guidelines in all 31 league cities.

The AHL paused its season March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently canceled its Calder Cup playoffs.

The league campaign customarily begins in the first week of October.

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