Ottawa netminder Craig Anderson wasted no time making his mark in his return to the lineup Saturday, shutting the door against the New York Islanders as the Senators captured a 3-0 victory.
It was Anderson's first game since Dec. 5, after which he took a leave of absence to be with his ill wife. Saturday's victory was Anderson's 13th on the season.
Despite his limited playing time this year, Anderson's shutout marked his fourth goose egg of 2016-17. Earlier this season, the veteran netminder blanked the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and New York Rangers.
In Anderson's absence, the Senators acquired Mike Condon from the Pittsburgh Penguins, who recently appeared in his 27th straight game.
Hammond has played in six contests with the Senators this season, going winless while recording an .837 save percentage and 4.08 goals-against average.
The 29-year-old was a hero in Ottawa during the 2014-15 season, when he posted a miraculous 20-1-2 record and pushed the Senators into the playoffs. That performance earned him a three-year contract, which expires at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.
Anderson recently returned to the team following a leave of absence to be with his ill wife.
The veteran goaltender has appeared in 19 games with the Senators this season, posting a 12-6-1 record and a .924 save percentage. In his absence, Ottawa has relied on Mike Condon, who recently made his 27th consecutive appearance.
It's no secret the Toronto Maple Leafs need to upgrade their blueline, ideally adding a right-shot defenseman to play the top pairing alongside Morgan Rielly.
At their disposal, the Maple Leafs have a prime winger in James van Riemsdyk to offer up for that much-needed piece. With that in mind, here are three teams who boast the defensive depth but could use a boost to their scoring ranks to make such a move possible:
The 25-year-old Fowler is in the midst of career year, already with 11 tallies on the season, while Lindholm remains the team's top defender on the left side. At the same time, young and affordable blue-liners like Shea Theodore and Brandon Montour are pushing for more minutes, and moving out another defender like Vatanen could create that space.
With just 147 goals on the season, ranking 19th league-wide, the Ducks lack secondary scoring, and could cash in on offense if the team is willing to strip a piece from its blueline. Adding van Riemsdyk could reinvigorate Anaheim's scoring punch, as his 19 tallies would be the best on the Ducks behind only Rickard Rakell.
Minnesota Wild
The Wild are too good for their own good. That's because the team faces a crunch ahead of the summer expansion draft, when the Vegas Golden Knights will get to pick off a piece of the Wild roster.
Teams can protect either three defensemen and seven forwards from the expansion, or a combination of eight skaters, the latter option being likely for Minnesota, given that the Wild have at least four blue-liners they will want to keep in the fold. Ryan Suter is an automatic, plus he has a no-movement clause, while the likes of Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, and Marco Scandella are also worth keeping around. That means the odd man out could be young defenseman Matt Dumba.
Up front, Minnesota has three more no-move deals, but could the team approach a veteran winger like Jason Pominville to waive his clause ahead of the expansion to give the team some more flexibility? Doing so would give the Wild another two protection slots, one it will need for Finnish forward Mikael Granlund, while the other could go to van Riemsdyk, should he be acquired from Toronto.
New York Islanders
It's been a turnaround season for the Islanders, where after months of sub-par play the team has found its game under new bench boss Doug Weight.
While early season losses displayed some of the Islanders' weaknesses, one area where the team is strong is its blueline, featuring a depth of talent including Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy, and Travis Hamonic. A season ago, Hamonic asked for a trade to be closer to his Manitoba home, and while that request has since been rescinded, the Islanders may still be open to a move.
While the team's blueline is strong, New York's forward ranks aren't nearly as deep, where the club has shuffled through a host of players to skate alongside captain John Tavares, a free agent after next season. In recent weeks, the captain has paired with Anders Lee and Josh Bailey, though neither player is on the same level as van Riemsdyk. This season, the Maple Leafs winger sits just one point shy of Tavares, who has 44 points on the year.
The performance by Montreal's captain certainly wasn't lost on his coach, Michel Therrien.
"Patch was a true leader tonight, a true captain," Therrien told reporters following the win. "He took charge, he played a hell of a game, and he deserves a lot of credit."
Pacioretty's 27 goals this season are now nearly double the next highest scorer on the Canadiens; both Alexander Radulov and Paul Byron have found the back of the net 14 times.
Thursday also marked the second time this season that Pacioretty has recorded at least four points in a game, having tallied four goals and an assist in Montreal's lopsided victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 10.
Pavelec suffered the injury Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild, after which Connor Hellebuyck relieved him midway through the second period.
Pavelec has appeared in eight games since his recall on Jan. 17. The veteran netminder has posted a 4-4-0 record in that time, alongside an .888 save percentage and 3.55 goals-against average.
Each week, theScore looks at the teams, players, and other hockey figures trending upward and taking a step back.
▲ Petr Mrazek
It's been a bounce-back week for the Detroit Red Wings netminder, who made three straight starts since Feb. 3. Mrazek went undefeated in regulation over that stretch, owning a 2-0-1 record alongside a .933 save percentage.
It's a stark difference from what's been a difficult season for the 24-year-old. He grabbed the top job in Detroit a year ago en route to 54 nights in the crease, but the Czech goaltender has struggled in his third full campaign with the Winged Wheel.
Through 31 games this season, Mrazek's save rate has dipped to .899, while his 3.07 goals-against average needs improvement. That's led to greater workloads for Jimmy Howard and Jared Coreau. In the meantime, the second week in February was an encouraging one for Mrazek.
The veteran goaltender has done an admirable job filling in for Kings starter Jonathan Quick, coming away with a 25-16-3 record through 47 games this season. Not bad for a netminder who found himself on the waiver wire following a poor training camp.
But after recording three shutouts in four games ending Feb. 4, Budaj followed up that performance with a pair of ugly nights against the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning. In those two matches, Budaj stopped just 27 of the 36 pucks that came his way, while his GAA reached 5.44.
After last season, in which Schneider was the Devils' most valuable player on many a night, his game has dropped off this year. His save rate's fallen from .924 to .912, while his GAA has ticked up from 2.15 to 2.66.
But in the past three games, Schneider tallied 87 saves and allowed just six goals, good for a .935 save percentage with a GAA a notch below 2.00. The Devils sit three points outside of the East's final playoff spot, and strong performances down the stretch from Schneider will be key to New Jersey making its first playoff appearance since 2012.
▼ Andrew Hammond
The good news is it can't get much worse. Hammond, the Ottawa Senators' backup goaltender, struggled through his lone start this week, a 6-0 shelling at the hands of the St. Louis Blues.
Hammond made 24 stops against the Blues, but it wasn't enough, as the B.C. native struggled through his sixth appearance this season. Hammond has yet to find the win column, and his .837 save percentage and 4.08 GAA are among the league's worst.
He appears to be a shell of the goaltender who captured a 20-1-2 record with the Senators in 2014-15 and dragged Ottawa into the postseason. The good news for Senators fans is that Craig Anderson's return to the crease is not far off, and he'll share netminding duties with interim starter Mike Condon while Hammond goes back to the minors.
Surely the general manager of the Dallas Stars watched as his team and its goaltending imploded in the second round of last year's playoffs.
In Game 7 against the St. Louis Blues, the Stars were embarrassed on home ice as the tandem of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi allowed six goals on just 18 shots. Lehtonen got the call for the Stars, allowing three on eight shots through one period, while Niemi didn't much fare better in the final two frames.
It was a sombre end to an exciting season in Dallas. The combination of Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn united to provide the Stars with offensive flair - the team's 267 goals for were the most the Stars recorded since arriving in Texas in 1993, and Dallas finished with a best-in-the-West 109 points.
Then, Nill decided to bring back the same two netminders who'd sunk the previous season. Rumored deals for Marc-Andre Fleury from the Pittsburgh Penguins or Ben Bishop from the Tampa Bay Lightning never happened. The Stars' reward for sticking with the status quo? This year, Lehtonen and Niemi have combined for a laughable .896 save percentage - only the Blues are worse at .892.
The Maple Leafs paid the price to bring in Andersen, but Toronto now has what appears to be its first legitimate starter since Ed Belfour last donned the blue and white a decade ago. On Tuesday, Andersen watched his Maple Leafs take down the Stars 3-1 in a rare strong game for Niemi, who allowed three goals on 34 shots in the loss.
Andersen wasn't the only option. Both Calgary's Chad Johnson and Ottawa's Mike Condon have new addresses this season, were acquired on the cheap, and are performing better than the duo in Dallas.
Leaky goaltending has left the Stars chasing on too many nights. Now 54 games into the season, Dallas sits nine points out of the playoff picture, poised to miss the postseason and fail to build on its impressive campaign a year ago.
Goalie
Age
Term
Cap
Salary
Buyout
Lehtonen
33
1
$5.9M
$5M
$1.67M x 2 years
Niemi
33
1
$4.5M
$4.5M
$1.5M x 2 years
The worst part is that both Lehtonen and Niemi are signed through next season. But neither has earned an invite back.
It'd be in the Stars' best interest to start anew. That means buying out each netminder - it'd cost about $3.2 million combined over each of the next two seasons - but a clean slate would grant Nill the opportunity to find a more reliable solution between the pipes.
Hockey Canada has announced the distinguished honorees of the 2017 class of the Order of Hockey in Canada, recognized for their outstanding contributions to the growth and development of hockey in Canada.
Bowman, the legendary NHL coach, was among the honorees. He made his debut behind the bench with the St. Louis Blues in 1967, beginning a career that spanned five decades before his final season with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002.
He coached the Red Wings to three Stanley Cups and captured five more as bench boss of the Montreal Canadiens between 1972-79. His coaching career also included stints with the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins, leading the latter to a Stanley Cup in 1992.
Bowman's 1,244 wins rank first in NHL history. He currently serves as a senior advisor with the Chicago Blackhawks, where he has won another three Stanley Cup championships.
Murray Costello and Fran Rider were also among the distinguished honorees in the 2017 class.
Costello served as vice-president of the IIHF from 2008-12. He directed the merge of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and Hockey Canada in 1994. He is also regarded for his involvement in the creation of the Program of Excellence and Canada's national women's team.
Rider is the president and CEO of the Ontario Women's Hockey Association. Since 1982, she has chaired six international committees and two national women's under-18 championships. She was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame as the first female builder in 2015.
Veteran NHL forward Martin Havlat announced his retirement Wednesday.
The Czech winger had stints with six clubs in his decorated career, including a five-year run with the Ottawa Senators. He appeared in two games with the St. Louis Blues last season, scoring one goal.
Through 790 career games, Havlat tallied 242 goals and 352 assists, making two All-Star Game appearances (2007 and 2011).
Drafted 26th overall by the Senators in 1999, he's the fourth-highest scorer among his draft class, behind only Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and Henrik Zetterberg.
