The Vancouver Canucks and Brandon Prust have mutually agreed to shut the forward down for the balance of the season as a result of nagging discomfort in his ankle, the team announced Thursday.
Prust will return to his hometown of London, Ont., for his rehab but will remain under the supervision of the team's medical staff.
The 31-year-old had been assigned to the AHL's Utica Comets after clearing waivers in early February. There, he recorded a goal, six assists, and five penalty minutes in nine games.
Prust is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
On the outside of the playoff picture, the Minnesota Wild will be without their starting goaltender for Thursday's game against Edmonton.
Devan Dubnyk will be unavailable due to illness, meaning Darcy Kuemper will draw the start. Steve Michalek, who was recalled from the AHL on an emergency basis, will serve as the back up.
The Wild sit two points behind Colorado for the Western Conference's second wild card spot, albeit with two games in hand.
Speculation over possible offseason moves by the Vancouver Canucks, Dallas Stars & Pittsburgh Penguins in your NHL rumor mill. No Lucic, but maybe Eriksson for the Canucks? TSN 1040 (VIA TODAY’S SLAPSHOT)/THE PROVINCE: Bob McKenzie and Ben Kuzma rule out the possibility of Los Angeles Kings left wing Milan Lucic signing with the Vancouver Canucks this […]
NHL announces 4 outdoor games for 2016-17, latest suspensions & more in today’s collection of NHL headlines. NHL Game Recaps. LOS ANGELES TIMES: After blowing a three-goal lead, the Los Angeles Kings edged the Washington Capitals 4-3 on an overtime goal by Jeff Carter. STLTODAY.COM: Troy Brouwer, Kevin Shattenkirk and Patrik Berglund scored shootout goals […]
LOS ANGELES - Jeff Carter scored with 2:10 left in overtime and the Los Angeles Kings blew a three-goal lead in the third period before rallying for a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
Vincent Lecavalier, Jake Muzzin and Milan Lucic scored in a dominant first period for the Kings, who reclaimed the Pacific Division lead from Anaheim with their seventh victory in nine games.
T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom and Dmitry Orlov scored in the third for the NHL-leading Capitals, who awoke from two somnolent periods for a furious finish. Braden Holtby stopped 26 shots in Washington's second loss in six games.
Although the @LAKings pulled out the W in OT, we must watch this FILTHY goal by Orlov a few more times.https://t.co/7Fdng2qJ6O
After both teams had golden overtime chances, Carter scored on an exceptional cross-ice pass from Lucic to end a thriller between two Stanley Cup contenders.
Jonathan Quick made 29 saves as the NHL's best defensive team held on late to beat the Capitals, who lead the league in scoring.
The Kings' victory and the Ducks' 3-0 loss at Colorado pushed Los Angeles one point ahead of Anaheim atop the Pacific. The Kings led the division for two months before the Ducks overtook them with a 3-2 win in Los Angeles last weekend.
Staples Center gave separate video tributes to Williams and Richards on the scoreboard during the first period. Richards warmly acknowledged the cheers after his stormy departure from the Kings, including a demotion to the AHL before the club reached a settlement on his hefty contract. The dispute followed Richards' arrested at a Canadian border crossing in June, when he was charged with possession of a controlled substance. The charge was stayed in February.
Williams, the beloved forward who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the NHL's postseason MVP in 2014, left as a free agent last summer. The veteran known as ''Mr. Game 7'' acknowledged the ovation and video tribute with a curt wave of his hand.
After Lecavalier got credit for a goal that grazed his skate, Muzzin and Lucic scored 1:21 apart against the Capitals, who scarcely showed life for the first two periods.
But Oshie scored his 20th goal during a scramble early in the third, and Backstrom scored with 8:58 to play after a dominant shift by his line with Alex Ovechkin.
Orlov tied it by stickhandling through the Kings' entire defense and beating Quick with an artful backhand for the defenseman's eighth goal. Williams got the first assist for the Caps, who outshot Los Angeles 18-6 in the third.
MEDICINE HAT, Alta. - Chad Butcher had two goals and two assists as the Medicine Hat Tigers came from behind to stun the Prince Albert Raiders 4-3 on Wednesday in Western Hockey League action.
Prince Albert jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Med...
Andreas Martinsen and Shawn Matthias also scored to help the Avalanche earn a critical win. They're in a heated race with Minnesota for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
The Ducks have now dropped two straight for the first time since December and ended a six-game road winning streak.
#Ducks suffer their 1st road shutout loss since Dec 17 at BUF, 1st loss in reg. since Feb 8 & just their 2nd reg loss in 22 GP since Dec 26
Anaheim goaltender John Gibson had a rare off night. He entered tied for the league-lead with a 2.04 goals-against average, but stopped just 23 of 26 shots.
Colorado has outscored Anaheim 6-0 in two meetings this season.
Things got a little chippy in the waning seconds when Colorado defenseman Francois Beauchemin and Anaheim forward Jamie McGinn exchanged shoves. Beauchemin played parts of nine seasons with Anaheim while McGinn used to play for Colorado.
Martinsen returned to the lineup after not playing the last four games. He took a pass from Matt Duchene and beat Gibson with a backhanded shot. It was Martinsen's first goal since Dec. 12.
The last one may have been been blown dead (¯_(ツ)_/¯) but this tally by Marty was pretty awesome!https://t.co/5ler5w2yTI
With 28.3 seconds remaining in the second period, Matthias knocked in a pass from Carl Soderberg. Matthias has three goals since being acquired from Toronto on Feb. 21.
Matthias nearly had another goal early in the third period when he took a long pass at the blue line on a breakaway and beat Gibson with a shot. The officials ruled Matthias was offside, but replays seemed to indicate his skate might have been on the blue line when he entered the zone.
No matter, the three-goal cushion was more than enough for Varlamov. One of his best of the night was in the second period when he redirected a tip by David Perron just wide of the goal.
It was Varlamov's second solid start after a recent rash of subpar performances led to a few starts for backup Calvin Pickard. Hall of Fame goaltender turned coach Patrick Roy said he never lost confidence in Varlamov but needed him to be more consistent.
Colorado scored midway through the first when Erik Johnson lofted the puck from blue line to blue line, where a speeding MacKinnon quickly settled it onto his stick with defenseman Josh Manson draped on him. MacKinnon was able to lift the puck over Gibson's glove for his 21st goal of the season.
Before MacKinnon's goal, Gibson made two sensational saves - one with his stomach to stop MacKinnon's liner and another by using his right pad on a shot from Matt Duchene.
Strong goaltending is nothing new for the Ducks, who are the only team with both of their net-minders ranked in the top-10 this season in goals-against average. Frederik Andersen is ninth (2.21 GAA).
NOTES: Anaheim wraps up a two-game trip Friday in St. Louis. ... Avalanche D Chris Bigras (head) missed a second straight game. ... F Jack Skille was a scratch. ... Colorado killed off three Anaheim power-play opportunities. The Avalanche have now killed off 22 straight penalties.
VANCOUVER - Markus Granlund scored in overtime as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 on Wednesday at Rogers Arena.
Radim Vrbata and Luca Sbisa also scored for the Canucks (26-28-12). Jacob Markstrom stopped 32 shots for Va...
The Predators nearly stole the victory from the Flames, who held a 2-0 lead before Mike Fisher went off for two points in the third period, including the game-tying goal with the goalie pulled and just 1:18 left on the clock.
The Predators' late-game heroics pushed their franchise-record point streak to 14 games.
ST. LOUIS - Kevin Shattenkirk scored the decisive goal in the sixth round of the shootout to lift the St. Louis Blues to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night for their fourth straight win.
David Backes and Troy Brouwer...