Auston Matthews scored his 55th goal of this season Thursday night against the Dallas Stars, setting a new Toronto Maple Leafs record for markers in a single campaign.

Matthews accomplished the feat in his 400th career game and his 66th of 2021-22.

The 24-year-old entered the contest tied with Rick Vaive, who notched 54 with Toronto in 1981-82.

Matthews' 2021-22 total leads the NHL. The defending "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner is also this season's Hart Trophy favorite.

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Taylor Hall won't miss any games for his actions toward Ilya Lyubushkin on Tuesday night.

The Boston Bruins forward was fined $5,000 for roughing the Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman late in the second period of Toronto's 6-4 win.

Hall sucker-punched Lyubushkin from behind after the Russian blue-liner hit him near the boards. The officials handed Hall a minor penalty.

Lyubushkin left the game, and the Leafs later ruled him out for the remainder of the contest as a precaution alongside fellow rearguard Justin Holl.

Hall has been suspended once in his 12-year career. He sat out two games while playing for the Edmonton Oilers in February 2013 for kneeing then-Minnesota Wild winger Cal Clutterbuck. He was also fined in January 2018 as a member of the New Jersey Devils for boarding Buffalo Sabres forward Kyle Okposo.

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Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion vowed to complete the plan he and the late Eugene Melnyk envisioned before the team owner's death Monday.

"He meant a lot to a lot of people; our players, coaching staff, and obviously our management group," an emotional Dorion told the media, including TSN, at the NHL GM meetings Tuesday.

Dorion continued: "He'll be missed dearly. We started something together, and we're going to finish it. He'll be so proud of us, and he'll be looking down on us."

Melnyk died Monday at the age of 62. He bought the Senators in 2003, helping them escape bankruptcy. Ottawa named Dorion GM in April 2016. The 49-year-old had spent nine years with the club before his promotion, including two-plus campaigns as an assistant GM.

Dorion added Tuesday that he believes the Senators will win the Stanley Cup someday, and Melnyk's lasting legacy is he would be "a big part of that, if not the biggest."

Ottawa head coach D.J. Smith also gave a statement about Melnyk.

"It's very unfortunate for the Senators organization and for the city of Ottawa," Smith said. "Condolences to (Melnyk's daughters) Anna and Olivia. Ultimately, that's what's most important at this time."

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The Colorado Avalanche will be without Nathan MacKinnon when they face the Calgary Flames in a key Western Conference showdown Tuesday night, and he may be out longer than that.

MacKinnon won't play due to an upper-body injury, the Avalanche announced, according to The Athletic's Peter Baugh. MacKinnon flew back to Denver to be re-evaluated, and head coach Jared Bednar said concern is "high," per the Denver Post's Mike Chambers.

It's unclear when and how the superstar center got hurt. MacKinnon logged nearly 20 minutes of ice time Sunday in an overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild. He came on for eight shifts in the third period, though his final one in the last minute of regulation was only eight seconds long. He didn't play in overtime, but Minnesota won 15 seconds into the extra frame.

The 26-year-old fought Wild defenseman Matt Dumba earlier in the third period, and Bednar said Tuesday it's possible MacKinnon's injury was a result of that bout, according to Baugh.

MacKinnon has missed 15 contests this season due to injuries and COVID-19, which he contracted at the beginning of the season. He was forced to forgo the All-Star Game and four regular-season tilts after sustaining a concussion and a facial fracture.

The Nova Scotia-born forward has 22 goals and 48 assists across 51 games in 2021-22.

Colorado is also without one of MacKinnon's usual linemates, Gabriel Landeskog. The Avalanche captain hasn't played since March 10 because of a knee injury. He underwent surgery four days later and is expected to return for the playoffs.

The Avalanche are currently on a two-game road trip and will return to Denver to host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.

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The next World Cup of Hockey will not feature any untraditional squads.

Team North America and Team Europe won't be part of the planned tournament for 2024, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Tuesday, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

The forthcoming event will return to its previous format, which includes only teams representing specific countries.

The 2016 tourney was made up of eight teams including the North America and Europe sides. The former was made up of Canadian and American players who were 23 years old and under. The latter comprised players from European countries not including Czechia (then known as the Czech Republic), Finland, Russia, and Sweden, all of which had their own entries in the event.

Team Europe - led by Anze Kopitar and Leon Draisaitl along with head coach Ralph Krueger - made an improbable run to the final before Canada claimed the title in two games during the best-of-three championship round.

Team North America featured young superstars Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, and Johnny Gaudreau. That squad failed to qualify for the knockout stage and finished fifth in the tournament.

The NHL initially mulled having another World Cup of Hockey in February 2021 but called off that plan in December 2019.

It was reported in February of this year that the NHL and NHLPA had already met to start planning an event for the same month in 2024.

The next World Cup of Hockey would be the fourth edition after 1996, 2004, and 2016. The United States won the original tourney, and Canada won the other two.

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The NHL informed its general managers that the salary cap will increase by $1 million to a total of $82.5 million beginning next season, reports TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

The league has operated with a cap ceiling of $81.5 million since 2019-20.

This would be the first increase and first change to the NHL's salary cap since it rose by $2 million for that same campaign.

When the league and the NHLPA renegotiated the CBA in June 2020, it was reported that part of the agreement called for the cap to remain close to $81.5 million for three seasons. Ultimately, it didn't fluctuate from that figure at all.

The cap ceiling rose every season from 2013-14 until the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign.

Here's a look at the changes since the league reinstituted the cap in 2005-06:

(Source: PuckPedia)

The NHL first installed a salary cap during the Great Depression, when teams were allowed to spend a maximum of $62,500 on rosters and $7,000 per player.

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The NHL is changing the location of its annual awards show.

The festivities will take place on either the night before Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final or on the off-day between Games 3 and 4 in the city hosting those tilts, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

It'll reportedly be a one-hour event and presumably be in-person, unlike the last two years when the league held it remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NHL has held the awards show in Las Vegas since 2009, using various hotels and casinos to host the gala. The league moved it to Vegas from Toronto that same year.

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College hockey standout Bobby Trivigno has no shortage of NHL suitors.

The Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, New York Islanders, and Rangers are the finalists to sign the University of Massachusetts forward, reports the New York Post's Mollie Walker.

Trivigno has reportedly already met with the Rangers' front office. His former adviser, Brett Peterson, is an assistant GM for the Panthers.

He's one of 10 players vying for the Hobey Baker Award, which the NCAA hands out annually to its top men's hockey player. The 23-year-old tied for third in Division I with 49 points over 37 games during his senior year in 2021-22.

Trivigno would be the second UMass player in four years to claim the honor after Cale Makar secured it in 2019. Trivigno is the third Minutemen skater in that span to be named a Hobey Baker finalist, including John Leonard in 2020.

The undrafted free agent helped the Minutemen win their first-ever national championship last season, after which he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. The Setauket, New York-born winger also helped Massachusetts reach the national final in his 2018-19 freshman season.

The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers eliminated the Minutemen in the first round of this year's NCAA tournament Friday, thereby beginning the Trivigno sweepstakes.

"Everybody can talk about Cale Makar, but the guy who will, for me, go down in history for changing this program is Bobby Trivigno," UMass head coach Greg Carvel recently told Walker.

"He's not the hockey player Makar is, but what he did for four years here - two Hockey East Championships, a regular-season championship, and a national championship - he is more responsible for the success of this program than any other player."

Trivigno would've taken part in the Rangers' development camp before this season, according to Walker. However, he wasn't allowed to because NCAA rules prohibit players from missing school for NHL events.

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The Ottawa Senators inked top prospect and defenseman Jake Sanderson to a three-year, entry-level pact on Sunday that takes effect immediately.

Sanderson will join the Senators this week and may play in NHL games within the month.

The 19-year-old posted eight goals and 18 assists over 23 games in his recently concluded sophomore season at the University of North Dakota. He ranked third on the team in points despite missing 16 contests due to injury.

Sanderson is currently working his way back from a hand ailment.

The Montana-born blue-liner represented the United States at the Olympics in Beijing and the World Junior Championship. Ottawa selected him fifth overall in 2020.

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Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron is in the lineup for Saturday's game against the New York Islanders, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed.

Bergeron missed four games after the re-emergence of a previous injury. The club said at the time that he'd sit out at least two contests, and they were being cautious due to the risk of infection.

The 36-year-old has excelled this season, posting 17 goals and 28 assists while averaging over 18 minutes of ice time across 56 games.

Bergeron's typically stellar defensive play hasn't declined either, as he's again in the Selke Trophy conversation. He has claimed the award four times, and he's tied with Montreal Canadiens legend Bob Gainey for the most Selke wins.

Boston entered Saturday's slate sitting in fourth place in the Atlantic Division in terms of points percentage.

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