Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun will miss the final two games of the season with a lower-body injury suffered during Tuesday's meeting with Calgary, the team announced.
Chychrun was injured upon being tripped by Flames forward Michael Frolik, and underwent an MRI on Wednesday after being unable to finish the game.
The season-ending ankle injury that Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter suffered is no typical hockey wound.
"It's very fluky, an injury that doesn't happen very often in sports," Suter said Wednesday, according to Dan Myers of the team's website. "The doctors have said they usually only see this type of injury in car accidents."
Suter's foot banged into the boards during a puck battle with Dallas Stars foward Remi Elie, and X-rays later revealed a fractured fibula.
Suter said the fact his foot was quickly placed in a walking boot protected his ankle from further damage, but "(doctors have) been pretty worried."
His goal is to be ready for training camp in September, and he'll now have to watch his team make a Stanley Cup push without him.
"It's frustrating," Suter said. "You grind it out all year and to not be able to play and help out in the playoffs ... I feel bad for my teammates, but I know they will do a great job."
The Chicago Blackhawks are going to miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade, but they won't be lacking motivation Wednesday or Friday.
Despite the lost season, the Blackhawks can deal a pair of significant blows to their biggest Central Division rivals, the St. Louis Blues, when the two clubs play twice over the next three nights.
"They’re a good team and they’re fighting for a playoff spot right now," Blackhawks forward Alex DeBrincat told Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. "We’re not going out there and just letting them take it. We want to crush their hopes."
DeBrincat notched a hat trick in their last meeting on March 18.
Entering Wednesday's game, the Blues sit one point behind the Avalanche for the final Western Conference spot with a game in hand. St. Louis will play Colorado in both teams' final regular-season contest Saturday.
Blues head coach Mike Yeo insists his squad knows what's at stake.
"Read the clips, and we don’t need extra motivation right now," he told Lazerus.
If the Blues miss out, it would be the first time they've done so since 2010-11. They have three regular-season games remaining.
It's been a tough season for the Islanders' franchise player on a couple of fronts, with the team's underperformance and, of course, the well-documented fact that he's a pending unrestricted free agent.
Last week, Tavares said he's not sure if he's going to represent Canada at the World Championship next month because he doesn't yet have an NHL contract for next season.
His Twitter account is still active, but he hasn't tweeted since Jan. 31 and has only tweeted 427 times since joining the platform nearly six years ago.
As they continue to fight for their playoff lives, the Florida Panthers have all but acknowledged one of their top prospects could use a bit more seasoning.
The club assigned forward Owen Tippett to the AHL's Springfield Thunderbirds on Wednesday.
He's managed one goal in seven NHL games in 2017-18.
Tippett poured in 36 goals and 75 points in 51 contests for the OHL's Mississauga Steelheads earlier this season, after racking up 44 goals and 75 points with the Steelheads in 2016-17.
The Panthers selected the 19-year-old winger 10th overall in last June's draft.
Florida defeated the Nashville Predators in controversial fashion Tuesday night to keep its postseason hopes alive, but the Panthers sit four points back of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot with three games remaining, and two of those contests will be against the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins.
With this year's Hart Trophy race still wide open heading into the final few days of the regular season, it's a great time to break down some of the other close races over the course of the past half-century.
Here's a look at the 10 best Hart Trophy competitions since 1967 (first-place votes in parentheses where applicable):
10. Joe Thornton, Sharks, def. Jaromir Jagr, Rangers (2005-06)
NAME
VOTES
Thornton
1058 (67)
Jagr
974 (48)
Thornton's first Art Ross Trophy came with his only league MVP title - but both races were rather tight, as the sensational playmaker finished just two points clear of Jagr in the scoring race. Jagr's 54 goals nearly doubled Thornton's output and the Rangers finished with one more point than the Sharks, but in the end, Thornton's whopping 96 assists were the difference.
9. Corey Perry, Ducks, def. Daniel Sedin, Canucks (2010-11)
NAME
VOTES
Perry
1043 (67)
Sedin
960 (51)
Unlike the previous example, scoring more goals actually did make a difference this time around, as Perry's league-best 50 tallies earned him a slight edge despite finishing six points behind Sedin in the scoring race. In fact, by most other accounts, Sedin was actually the better contributor - and the Canucks finished 18 points ahead of the Ducks in the standings.
8. Bobby Orr, Bruins, def. Phil Esposito, Bruins (1970-71)
NAME
VOTES
Orr
151
Esposito
127
Just how good was Orr? He managed to steal the Hart Trophy from a player - and teammate, no less - who had shattered the previous league mark for goals and points in a season. But despite a 76-goal, 152-point masterpiece from Esposito, Orr was the voters' choice for best player in the NHL - and with good reason, as he racked up 139 points while posting a plus-minus of +124.
7. Henrik Sedin, Canucks, def. Alex Ovechkin, Capitals (2009-10)
NAME
VOTES
Sedin
894 (46)
Ovechkin
834 (40)
The Sedins did end up on the right end of a close Hart Trophy vote - though it was playmaker Henrik, not sniper Daniel, who eked out a win over Ovechkin and Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, who was a not-too-distant third in the voting. Sedin fended off both future Hall of Famers by three points for his one and only Art Ross Trophy while leading the Canucks to a 103-point season.
6. Bobby Clarke, Flyers, def. Rogie Vachon, Kings (1974-75)
NAME
VOTES
Clarke
127
Vachon
113
Clarke's second of three Hart Trophies in a four-year span didn't come easily. Despite leading the NHL in assists (89) and finishing with a +79 rating, the Flyers legend ran neck-and-neck with Vachon, who was a fan favorite but wasn't even the best goalie in the league that season. That honor belonged to Clarke's teammate, Bernie Parent, who finished fourth in voting.
5. Wayne Gretzky, Oilers, def. Mike Liut, Capitals (1980-81)
NAME
VOTES
Gretzky
242
Liut
237
Gretzky's Hart Trophy "races" in the early- and mid-1980s weren't all that close, but few fans remember that his second MVP award came by the slimmest of margins. The Great One fended off a spirited charge from Liut, who took home first-team All-Star and Lester B. Pearson Award honors after posting 33 victories and a decent (at the time) 3.34 goals-against average.
4. Alex Ovechkin, Capitals, def. Sidney Crosby, Penguins (2012-13)
NAME
VOTES
Ovechkin
1090 (50)
Crosby
1058 (46)
The lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign produced one of the best Hart Trophy competitions in recent memory, with Ovechkin edging out rival Crosby after both finished with 56 points - four back of Art Ross champ Martin St. Louis. Ovechkin's league-high 32 goals likely swayed the voting contingent. John Tavares was third with 919 votes, while St. Louis finished ninth.
3. Mark Messier, Oilers, def. Ray Bourque, Bruins (1989-90)
NAME
VOTES
Messier
227 (29)
Bourque
225 (29)
You have to feel for Bourque, who was the defensive anchor for a sensational Bruins team but found himself perpetually one step behind the powerhouse Oilers. Messier emerged victorious thanks to having more third-place votes (10) than Bourque (two), who was passed over by a number of voters who opted to make Blues sniper Brett Hull their No. 3 choice.
2. Chris Pronger, Blues, def. Jaromir Jagr, Penguins (1999-00)
NAME
VOTES
Pronger
396 (25)
Jagr
395 (18)
While it might come as a shock to some that Jagr will end his legendary NHL tenure with just one league MVP trophy, this list reveals he easily could have had two more. The problem in 1999-00 was that Pronger was clearly the best defenseman in the league - and that gap between himself and the rest of the field was juuuuust enough to edge out Jagr and his 96 points.
1. Jose Theodore, Canadiens, def. Jarome Iginla, Flames (2001-02)
NAME
VOTES
Theodore
434 (26)
Iginla
434 (23)
It's the only tie atop the Hart Trophy voting in the expansion era - and to this day, there are still fans (many of whom are based in Calgary) who believe Iginla was robbed. But it's hard to argue with Theodore's contributions that season - and if you use Hockey Reference's Point Shares to inform your choice, Theodore (17.4) finished well ahead of Iginla (14.4).
Frolik was assessed a tripping minor for upending Chychrun behind the Coyotes net late in the first period of Tuesday's game.
The Arizona blue-liner left the contest and was then ruled out for the remainder at the start of the second period.
Chychrun will have an MRI on Wednesday, according to Morgan.
Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet wasn't pleased about Frolik's hit when asked about it postgame.
"I know he's not a dirty player, but it's a dirty play," he said. "I don't like it at all. I don't know how (Chychrun) is right now, we've got to evaluate him. It's not good. We're hoping for the best."
As NHL teams are officially eliminated from Stanley Cup contention, theScore NHL freelance writer Katie Brown looks back at the highs and lows of their seasons, along with the biggest questions ahead of 2018-19. The 11th edition focuses on the New York Rangers.
The Good
The next wave is coming. The Rangers might not be in the playoffs, but now that the rebuild is in full swing, they can see what they have in some younger players before the season ends. Brady Skjei has two seasons under his belt and is a veteran compared to some of his counterparts, but he's embraced a leadership role, especially post-trade deadline. Neal Pionk has done well despite the situation on the Rangers' blue line. Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil were recalled from Hartford in late March, and their performances now could very well determine how they'll fit into the lineup next season.
Big trades have yielded top assets. When the Rangers said they were going full steam ahead into a roster overhaul, like several other teams did, they were one of the few who actually took steps to make it happen. That included trading Rick Nash, Ryan McDonagh, Nick Holden, Michael Grabner, and J.T. Miller. Now they have seven picks in the first three rounds of the draft, including three in the first round. That could be a huge win for the Rangers.
Henrik Lundqvist is in on a rebuild.Lundqvist was forced to do something this season he's rarely had to: play NHL games with no chance of making the playoffs. He had some rough stretches but still managed to put up a .915 save percentage, which is above league average. But he's on board with the Rangers rebuild, as he told reporters in March, so he's not going anywhere - at least, not for the remaining three years of his contract.
The Bad
That quick pull of the plug. Once it was clear the Rangers wouldn't be a contender this year, a rebuild or "refresh" was promised immediately. The unfortunate thing is that it should've started with trading Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta in June. Sure, they got Anthony DeAngelo out of it, but could they have gotten more?
The defense. Ranked fifth-worst in the league in goals against, the Rangers are on track to allow more than 250 goals. They've also allowed the third-most five-on-five attempts against and the third-most shots against. Losing Kevin Shattenkirk in mid-January didn't help, and things got worse once McDonagh was traded at the deadline, forcing the Rangers to rely on young players that were often not deployed in the most effective ways.
Lundqvist's workload. Lundqvist has appeared in 50 or more games in four of the last five years. He's been able to withstand the workload, but this year he didn't have the benefit of a reliable backup. Ondrej Pavelec missed significant time with injury, and even when he was healthy, he performed below average and was pulled more than any other season in his career. make no mistake, Lundqvist is still good, but he'll need more rest moving forward. That means having a capable No. 2 behind him.
The Questions
Will Alain Vigneault stick around? Many have called for Vigneault's head this season. The argument is that his voice has grown stale and there needs to be someone else at the helm for the rebuild. The complaints aren't without merit. Players were often used in ways that led to disastrous results, and he's been criticized for his handling of young players. Is this someone GM Jeff Gorton and president Glen Sather want behind the bench of a team that's expected to get an even larger influx of young talent next year? Everyone's frustrated. But it's the first time in a decade Vigneault won't be coaching in the playoffs, and it wasn't that long ago that he led the Rangers to a Stanley Cup Final and Eastern Conference Final in back-to-back years.
Who's the next to go? There will likely be more players sold off before this is over. No one on the roster should feel safe outside of Mats Zuccarello, Lundqvist, Chris Kreider, Shattenkirk, Marc Staal, Ryan Spooner, and Skjei, who will be key to the team's success moving forward.
Anyone who knows hockey knows that Winnipeg Jets blue-liner Dustin Byfuglien is a very large human being who likes to throw his 6-foot-5, 260-pound frame around.
However, Byfuglien's aggressive nature got the better of him in Tuesday's game against the Montreal Canadiens, as he received a 10-minute misconduct for bumping into the referee following a melee in the Jets' crease near the end of the third period.
Check it out:
Following the game, Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice was not concerned about the situation and thought Byfuglien didn't mean to bump the referee at all, according to Ken Wiebe of The Winnipeg Sun.
The Jets went on to take the game in overtime for their 50th win of the season.
