The NHL is postponing the Boston Bruins' next two games after four additional players from the club entered the COVID-19 protocol Friday, the league announced.
The Bruins' matchups against the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders on Saturday and Tuesday, respectively, have been postponed.
Boston canceled its morning skate Thursday after a player entered the protocol. However, the team played its game against the Sabres later that day after further contact tracing and testing.
Pending results in the coming days, the league anticipates the Bruins will be able to reopen their facilities and resume practicing March 24.
The winger suffered the injury during Wednesday's 3-2 shootout win over the Ottawa Senators.
Vancouver also announced Antoine Roussel will return to the lineup Friday against the Montreal Canadiens, while Jimmy Vesey will make his Canucks debut after the team claimed him off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this week. Roussel, 31, missed Vancouver's last three games with an injury.
Pearson, 28, has recorded six goals and five assists over 33 games this season.
Less than one week after collecting his first NHL win, Ottawa Senators netminder Joey Daccord is likely done for the season after suffering an injury during Wednesday's shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
The 24-year-old will be "out for a while" and "most likely the season," Senators general manager Pierre Dorion confirmed Friday, according to Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch.
The 6-foot-3 puck-stopper made 19 saves against Vancouver before exiting in the third period. Rookie Filip Gustavsson made his NHL debut in relief and stopped all eight shots he faced in regulation and overtime.
Daccord inspired the hockey world with his emotional postgame interview Monday after collecting his first win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Both Marcus Hogberg, who remains on the injured reserve list, and starter Matt Murray skated Friday. Murray has been dealing with an upper-body injury and it's unclear who will start in goal for the Senators against the Calgary Flames on Monday.
Welcome to the ninth edition of "Looking North," our weekly Friday dive into the all-Canadian division. This installment dates back to March 12.
The rundown
The Vancouver Canucks put together a flawless week, winning all three of their games. Yes, only one of those victories came in regulation - by a single goal - while the other two were against the lowly Ottawa Senators. And yes, the Canucks still have the second-worst points percentage in the division. But Vancouver is showing signs of improvement, going 7-2-0 so far in March after closing out February on a four-game losing skid.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, meanwhile, suddenly have some company at the top. Toronto was off for four days this week, but it's lost both of its games since last Friday and dropped five of the last six overall.
The Edmonton Oilers equaled Toronto's 40 points with a win over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, but the Oilers have played three more games than both Toronto and Winnipeg. The Maple Leafs and Jets still rank first and second in the division in points percentage.
Team
Points over last week
Vancouver Canucks
6 (3-0-0)
Edmonton Oilers
6 (3-2-0)
Calgary Flames
4 (2-1-0)
Winnipeg Jets
4 (2-2-0)
Ottawa Senators
4 (1-0-2)
Montreal Canadiens
3 (1-1-1)
Toronto Maple Leafs
0 (0-2-0)
The stars
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Forward: Connor McDavid has been the Hart Trophy front-runner for most of the season, and the Oilers superstar continued to dominate this week. McDavid produced a whopping four goals and six assists in five games.
Defenseman: Thomas Chabot hasn't posted gaudy offensive numbers in the last seven days, but he gets the nod here because of his incredible workload. The Senators blue-liner has averaged a remarkable 29:59 of ice time across the last four games, by far the highest such figure in the NHL over the past week. He ranks third in the league in average ice time this season.
Goaltender: Thatcher Demko backstopped all three of the Canucks' victories this past week, turning aside all but five of the 113 shots he faced for a .956 save percentage. He's put his early-season struggles behind him and is now thriving as Vancouver's No. 1 goalie.
Canadian of the week
This has to be McDavid, who continues to leave no doubt that he's the NHL's most valuable player. The Oilers captain is putting up video-game numbers (more on that below) and excelling at both ends while playing over 22 minutes per game. The league's brightest star is clearly Canada's best.
The moments
McDavid gets halfway to 💯
McDavid notched his 50th point of the season in last Friday's 6-2 win over the Senators, hitting the benchmark and adding another point for good measure in his 29th game of the season - just one contest past the campaign's halfway mark. He hit the 50-point plateau in typical McDavid fashion, delivering a beautiful backhand dish to Tyson Barrie.
Crisis averted thanks to J.T. Miller 😅
The Canucks blew a two-goal lead to the Senators on Monday, but J.T. Miller dashed Ottawa's hopes of a comeback victory. The Vancouver forward left a Senators defender in the dust and made no mistake in overtime.
Ehlers sinks Canadiens all by himself 💪
Nikolaj Ehlers is having a terrific season, and his confidence was on full display Wednesday. The Jets winger stole the puck in his own zone, raced end-to-end to create an odd-man rush, and deposited the overtime winner to defeat the Montreal Canadiens.
The question
Jeff Vinnick / National Hockey League / Getty
Should the Maple Leafs be concerned about their recent slide and goaltending issues?
Frederik Andersen admitted Thursday the injury that forced him to miss time earlier in the season is still bothering him. That explains why he's struggled since returning. He's gone 2-4-0 with an .887 save percentage and minus-2.51 goals saved above average since March 3 after missing the previous four games.
To make matters worse, the Maple Leafs' schedule doesn't exactly favor them down the stretch.
just a took a gander at the #leafs schedule for april/may
there's 20 games in 38 days 12 games on the road 5 sets of back-to-backs
While Jack Campbell could return from his injury as soon as this weekend, the team's upcoming grind makes Andersen's lingering ailment all the more worrisome. It isn't yet time for the Maple Leafs to panic, but another disappointing week would certainly be cause for alarm.
Quote of the week
Senators head coach D.J. Smith delighted the team's fan base Monday night, showing a sense of both humor and internet culture in the process. Asked about the "Sickos" meme his club has fully embraced, the bench boss wrapped up his interview by delivering the accompanying phrase, exclaiming, "YES ... HA HA HA ... YES!" before breaking out a smile.
After meeting five times over an 11-day span from Feb. 25 through March 7, the Senators and the Calgary Flames will renew acquaintances for two more tilts Monday and Wednesday in Ottawa. That means we'll likely get seven matchups between the Tkachuk brothers over a 28-day period, with two more on tap for April.
The Senators will also host the Maple Leafs on Thursday after defeating Toronto 4-3 in their previous clash last Sunday. The teams have split their six meetings this season.
Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen says the lower-body injury that forced him to miss time earlier in the season is still bothering him despite his return.
"I'm not really where I want to be, obviously," Andersen said Thursday. "I think I'm working towards just getting to as good as possible. But I think everyone goes through a season where you'll have something going on. It's just a matter of how well you can manage it and play through it.
"I don't think anyone's going to have a season where you don't feel a little bit (banged up) here and there, and you try to do the best you can to manage it and play as well as you can."
Andersen was injured in a win over the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 20. He missed the next four games, then returned for a victory over the Edmonton Oilers on March 3.
The veteran netminder's play has noticeably declined since he rejoined the club. Andersen went 7-1-2 with a .911 save percentage in the 10 games before he got hurt - including the contest against Montreal - but he's won only two of six appearances while posting a .887 save percentage since returning.
Toronto has had four days between games this week and will host the Calgary Flames in a back-to-back Friday and Saturday.
The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without Evgeni Malkin for at least their next three contests. The club placed the star forward on injured reserve retroactive to March 16, meaning he'll be ineligible to return until at least March 23.
Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said earlier Thursday that Malkin would miss the evening's game against the New Jersey Devils. Pittsburgh will also play New Jersey on Saturday and Sunday before getting two days off ahead of a back-to-back against the Buffalo Sabres next Wednesday and Thursday.
Malkin is continuing to be evaluated for a lower-body injury he suffered during Tuesday's contest against the Boston Bruins, Sullivan added Thursday. The Russian sniper returned for one shift before being ruled out for the rest of the game after colliding with defenseman Jarred Tinordi in the first period Tuesday.
The Penguins have recently battled injuries to their forward group, with Teddy Blueger and Jared McCann sidelined with ailments. Despite the injuries piling up, Sullivan believes his group of forwards can battle through it.
"We just got to bring a hard team game with the resilience that's necessary to win in this league," Sullivan said. "Injuries are just a part of our game. For me, it's all about an attitude and making sure that we look at this as an opportunity. Making sure that we play together and we have a collective effort out there."
Malkin was heating up before the injury, recording 12 points over an eight-game point streak. He's managed eight goals and 16 assists in 29 contests this season.
