The Columbus Blue Jackets and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky are hoping to put a recent incident that saw the former Vezina Trophy winner benched Thursday in the rear-view mirror.

A day after the club announced Bobrovsky was being held out against the Nashville Predators for failing to meet certain "expectations and values," general manager Jarmo Kekalainen told TSN's Pierre LeBrun that the issue has been resolved and the Blue Jackets are "moving on" from the situation.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Kekalainen refused to divulge what exactly the incident entailed, according to The Athletic's Aaron Portzline. The club's GM wouldn't comment on whether the team had asked Bobrovsky to waive his no-movement clause.

Bobrovsky was back with his teammates at practice Friday and spoke to reporters at its conclusion.

"Tuesday night against Tampa was a tough loss for everybody, so ... it was emotional," Bobrovsky said. "We might play them in the playoffs. I let my emotions get to me when I shouldn't. So, yeah. We had the meeting with the team.

"I've been always ... I pride myself to be a good teammate all the time, wherever and whomever I've played. I addressed that to the team. It is what is it. What happened has happened. We cleaned the air and we're ready to move on. It's unfortunate for the fans, too, that it happened. But it's going to stay in the room and between us and that's it."

Bobrovsky will travel with the team to Washington for a game against the Capitals on Saturday night, though Portzline notes there's no word yet on whether the Russian will get the start.

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Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon says his outburst directed at head coach Jared Bednar during Wednesday's game was unacceptable.

The 23-year-old was seen screaming at Bednar on the bench in a game the team dropped 5-3 to the Calgary Flames.

"That's unacceptable on my part," MacKinnon said on Friday, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels. "I can't be doing that stuff... I was just really frustrated, but I love playing for Bedsy."

"We spoke after the game and Bedsy’s the least sensitive guy ever, so it’s all good."

MacKinnon said he became frustrated when the Avalanche didn't pull their goalie with the team trailing by two goals late in the game.

Bednar, meanwhile, held no hard feelings toward MacKinnon, and was happy to see his star player show passion.

"All of us, at the time, were frustrated. I thought we played two really good games, could've come out with four points," Bednar said. "To me (the outburst) didn't bother me at all. That's what I love about Nathan and about certain guys on our team is the fire and passion and emotion they play with, they have. That's what you need in this game... that’s what makes him so good, so I never want to curb that."

The club has lost eight of its last nine games, which could also be causing some frustration. The Avalanche will look to get back into the win column Saturday when they take on the Canadiens.

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Six-time NHL All-Star Rick Nash is retiring, citing ongoing concussion symptoms and the risk of further brain injuries, his agent announced in a statement Friday.

The 34-year-old most recently played for the Boston Bruins in the 2017-18 season after being acquired ahead of the trade deadline from the New York Rangers. Nash suffered a concussion in March 2018 and missed the end of the regular season, but returned for the playoffs. Boston was eliminated in the second round.

He was an unrestricted free agent this summer. Leading up to July 1, he informed teams that he would forgo the process, since he hadn't decided whether he would return for another season.

In October, Nash said that while he missed the game, there was a good chance that he wouldn't return.

Nash captured the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy (along with Ilya Kovalchuk and Jarome Iginla) during the 2003-04 season. He also enjoyed incredible success on the international stage, winning two Olympic gold medals for Canada and three silvers at the World Championship.

The 2002 first overall pick still ranks first in Blue Jackets history in games played (674), goals (289), assists (258), and points (547).

Nash concludes his career with 437 goals and 805 points in 1,060 games split between the Blue Jackets, Rangers, and Bruins.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets will sit No. 1 netminder Sergei Bobrovsky for Thursday's game against the Nashville Predators for disciplinary reasons, the team announced.

"There are certain expectations and values that we have established for our players that define our culture," general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in the release. "An incident occurred in which Sergei failed to meet those expectations and values, so we made the decision that he would not be with the team for tonight's game. This is an internal matter and we will have no further comment at this time."

The "incident" is believed to have occurred in Tampa Bay following the team's 4-0 loss to the Lightning (where Bobrovsky was pulled after the fourth goal), and prior to the team's flight out of town, sources told The Athletic's Aaron Portzline.

Members of the team's leadership group pulled Bobrovsky aside for a meeting on the tarmac before their departure, Portzline notes.

Kekalainen confirmed that the incident did not involve head coach John Tortorella.

"It's got nothing to do with the coach," Kekalainen said. "It's a decision we made as an organization. Obviously, we had the coach involved in that decision, but it's got nothing to do with Tortorella vs. Bobrovsky.

"People seem to be thinking there’s some kind of issue between the coach and the goalie. There's no issue."

In a corresponding move, the team recalled goaltender Jean-Francois Berube from the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League.

Bobrovsky is in the midst of a down year by his standards, having gone 18-13-1 with a 2.87 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage in 32 games. The 30-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent at the end the season.

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Arizona Coyotes forward Nick Schmaltz will miss the remainder of the season with a lower-body injury, the team announced.

The news is a big blow for the Coyotes, as Schmaltz - who has been out since Dec. 30 - was given an original prognosis of week to week.

Since joining the team from the Chicago Blackhawks via trade Nov. 25, Schmaltz had been red-hot, tallying five goals and 14 points in 17 games.

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The New Jersey Devils have signed head coach John Hynes to a multi-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday.

Hynes is in the last year of his current contract and fourth season with the Devils. He surpassed Peter DeBoer to become the second-winningest coach in franchise history earlier this season, trailing only Jacques Lemaire.

"John's leadership has been instrumental in building both culture and systems that are focused on the development of our players," Devils general manager Ray Shero said in a statement. "He has cultivated a group of veteran leaders while helping our young players develop and gain experience.

"John is to be commended for the progress the team has made under his direction and this commitment shows that we are confident in the role he will play in our future success."

Last season, Hynes led the Devils to their first playoff appearance in six years after the team finished with 97 regular-season points for their highest total since the 2011-2012 campaign. They were dispatched in the first round of the postseason in five games by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

New Jersey has taken a step back this year, currently sitting 13th in the Eastern Conference and 10 points out of the final wild-card spot.

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With a new year, comes resolutions.

Atop every goaltender's list of hopeful changes is to win more games, but the elite netminders of the league will also set their sights on adding some hardware in 2019.

Here are five goalies poised to make a run at the Vezina Trophy over the final three months of the season.

5. Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights

The Golden Knights have quietly climbed up the Western Conference standings and now trail only the Calgary Flames by a mere two points. The club has gone 6-1-3 in its last 10 games and Fleury has played a vital role in that run.

He leads the league with 23 wins - on pace for a career-high 43 - and six shutouts. After a shaky October, Fleury's gone 18-6-3 with a .916 save percentage, 2.48 goals-against average, and looks to have Vegas in line for a second straight playoff run.

4. Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators

Rinne and the Predators have endured a recent tough stretch, but the reigning Vezina Trophy winner is still in the running to repeat this year.

The 36-year-old boasts the second-best goals-against average (2.25) among those to play at least 15 games, to go along with a .920 save percentage.

His .905 high-danger save percentage ranks second and he's fourth in goals saved above average.

3. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning

He's back!

Vasilevskiy returned from a foot injury that caused him to miss a month and subsequently jumped back into the running for the Vezina Trophy.

He's made numerous highlight-reel saves, ranks among the league leaders in all major goaltending categories, and has helped the Lightning retain their status as the team to be feared.

The 24-year-old is rocking an absurd 15-3-2 record, and with the club's offense running as hot as it is, he's sure to keep piling up the wins.

2. Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs

Outside of the Lightning, the Maple Leafs have arguably been the most dominant club in the East, and while the team's offense has been stellar, so, too, has its netminding.

Andersen sits second in wins, fifth in shots faced, second in goals saved above average at five-on-five, and sixth in save percentage and eighth in goals-against average among goalies to play at least 15 games.

The Leafs might be stacked up front, but it's quite clear their most valuable player is the man between the pipes.

1. John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks

It's astonishing that the Ducks remain in a playoff spot, but that's just a testament to how great Gibson has been this season.

The Ducks average the fewest shots per game, allow the second most, and average the second-fewest goals per game, and still sit in the second wild-card spot in the West.

Gibson is keeping the Ducks above water, which is nothing short of spectacular.

Honorable mentions: David Rittich (Flames), Jaroslav Halak (Bruins), Ben Bishop (Stars)

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The injury that sidelined Carey Price for two games following the Christmas break is something he's been dealing with for some time.

The Montreal Canadiens netminder recently missed the club's games against the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning with a lower-body injury. He admitted Wednesday that the injury is one he's been playing through for about seven weeks, according to Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette.

The good news for the Canadiens is that Price noted he could have played had the two contests been playoff games.

Price said after practice he is feeling well enough to play Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks, but head coach Claude Julien didn't want to commit to a starter.

The Canadiens sent goaltender Michael McNiven back to the AHL's Laval Rocket on Wednesday afternoon, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels, meaning Price will likely back up Antti Niemi even if he doesn't start.

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Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill isn't overly impressed with how CEO Jim Lites decided to call out stars Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin.

Lites went on an expletive-infused rant Friday about the play of Benn and Seguin, accusing the forwards of being "f---ing horse----." On Sunday, Nill insisted that while he supports Lites' message, he does not agree with the language used in his tirade.

"I was aware he was going to talk to the media," Nill told Nick Alberga and David McCarthy on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. "First of all, I don't condone Jim's language and the tone and we've talked about that and we've addressed that internally. Jim's a very emotional guy. I just think he let the best get a hold of him a little bit, but in the long run, I don't want the message lost either about how the players have to be better. That's the main message.

"Once again I don't condone the language that was used and Jim and I have talked, he agrees. He knows he got carried away, but in the end, the message is our players do have to be better and that's the message he wanted to get out there."

On Saturday, owner Tom Gaglardi told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman that no one would be traded or fired in the wake of the recent comments and that the team's best players must perform as such. For his part, Seguin admitted that he and his teammates "hear the message."

In the short term, the remarks seem to have given the team a bit of a kick, as Dallas dismantled the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 on Saturday. With victories in back-to-back games, the Stars occupy the final wild-card spot in the West and sit just two points out of third place in the Central Division.

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Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien is expected to be out until after the All-Star Game on Jan. 26, head coach Paul Maurice said Sunday, according to team insider Mitchell Clinton.

The 33-year-old suffered a leg injury Saturday night after taking a hit from Minnesota Wild forward Luke Kunin.

A minimum four-week absence is a significant blow for the Jets as Byfuglien's been the club's most productive blue-liner, having tallied 29 points in 32 games. The good news is that the Jets have gone 5-0-1 in the six contests that Byfuglien has missed this season.

The Jets currently sit tied for top spot in the Western Conference with 50 points despite coming off back-to-back losses to the Minnesota Wild and Calgary Flames.

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