Richie's first G. Great hustle Willy. #CapsYotes #RockTheRed pic.twitter.com/LKUPTz6DbK
— Washington Capitals (@washcaps) February 23, 2016
Mike Richards can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Held without a point through his first 14 games with Washington, the veteran forward gave his new team a 3-1 lead Monday by drilling home his first goal as a member of the Capitals after Tom Wilson knocked the puck loose out from under the glove of Arizona Coyotes goalie Louis Domingue.
That’s Mike Richards’s first goal since January 3, 2015 with Los Angeles.
— Chris Gordon (@Chris_Gordon) February 23, 2016
"With my luck, I thought it'd be disallowed," Richards quipped after the game. A scrum ensued shortly after he scored, but his goal was met with a great reception from the Verizon Center fans who gave the 31-year-old a lengthy standing ovation.
Don't get goosebumps very often, but knowing Mike Richards as long as I have and what he's been through, that ovation did it. #CapitalsTalk
— Chuck Gormley (@ChuckGormleyCSN) February 23, 2016
The goal would stand as the game-winner with the Capitals hanging on to win 3-2. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin scored the other two Washington goals with the captain netting his league-leading 39th of the season, while Braden Holtby earned his NHL-best 38th win.
The Capitals have now own nine of their last 10 games and sit atop the Eastern Conference standings by a whopping 17 points ahead of their nearest competitors, the Florida Panthers.
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Jake Allen might be returning to a starter's role after all.
The league's hottest goaltender, Brian Elliott, exited with a lower-body injury Monday versus the San Jose Sharks after awkwardly twisting to the ice in an attempt to reach back and prevent a puck from trickling into the net.
He tested the injury, performing some movements in the crease, but had to make way for Allen, who was thrust into goal a day after being activated from injured reserve. He missed 17 games with a lower-body injury himself.
Elliott won 12 games in his counterpart's absence, and in the process shot to the league lead among active goaltenders in both save percentage (.932) and goals-against average (2.06) heading into Monday's contest.
A significant injury would render the Blues once again thin in goal, of course, but they remain in good hands. Allen's .924 clip before his setback represents a top-10 rate among goaltenders with at least 30 appearances.
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St. Louis Blues defenseman Ryan Reaves received a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct after nailing San Jose Sharks defenseman Matt Tennyson face-first into the boards during the first period Monday.
Tennyson appeared to be unconscious as his head slammed against the ice after the hit. He slowly skated off with help from teammates before heading to the dressing room.
Reaves will certainly be hearing from the NHL's Department of Player Safety. The 29-year-old received a maximum $5,000 fine earlier this season for catching forward Anze Kopitar with a cheap shot during a Nov. 3 game against the Los Angeles Kings.
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The San Jose Sharks made a move ahead of the Feb. 29 trade deadline Monday by acquiring defenseman Roman Polak and forward Nick Spaling from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for forward Raffi Torres and a pair of draft picks.
Related: Maple Leafs trade Polak, Spaling to Sharks for 2 second-round picks, Torres
While many see this deal as a depth move for a potential Sharks playoff run, Polak is heading to San Jose optimistic that he and Spaling can provide more.
"Nick and I will be part of the power play for sure because we have two goals together," Polak joked Monday, according to Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun. Both players have just one goal this season, with Spaling's lone tally coming Saturday - in his final game as a Leaf.
While they may not see much time on the man advantage, Polak is certainly excited about moving to a competitive team.
"It's always to nice to play a game that actually means something," he said.
The pair aren't available for Monday against the St. Louis Blues, but could make their debuts Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche.
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Hunter Shinkaruk got a fair shake, at least in the mind of Jim Benning.
The Vancouver Canucks GM defended his contentious decision to part with the 21-year-old former first-round pick and perhaps the club's top prospect at wing to acquire Markus Granlund from the Calgary Flames in a trade completed Monday.
Related: Canucks deal Hunter Shinkaruk to Flames for Markus Granlund
"I don't think we gave up on Hunter Shinkaruk," Benning said in a conference call. "He's having a good year in the (AHL) for us this year. We worked with him to improve the details in his game. But we just felt that we're getting a good player for him in return.
"This is a move that when we get to where we want to be (competitively) and win on a nightly basis that Markus is the guy that can do that for us."
Benning further explained why Shinkaruk, who ranks seventh in American Hockey League goal scoring this season, had only been called up for one game in his brief tenure with Vancouver.
"When we call players up, it's to fit a role with our group," he said. "I think at the end of the day, we didn't feel he was ready to be a full-time NHL player yet. We thought it was important for him to stay down in Utica and keep developing the parts of the game that he needed to work on.
"Our goal, if we were to have kept him, was for him to be ready to play in the NHL next season."
Benning acknowledged Shinkaruk's penchant for finding the back of the net, but indicated he wasn't convinced that skill would translate to the next level.
Vancouver and its 29th-ranked offense sits nine points out of the final postseason spot in the Pacific Division.
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Hunter Shinkaruk probably needed a seat when he heard the news.
The 21-year-old was traded by the Vancouver Canucks to his hometown Calgary Flames on Monday, and while being dealt for the first time in his career is jarring, there's relief in knowing he's going somewhere familiar.
"I've never been traded before in junior or pro, so obviously it's a big surprise and a big shock," Shinkaruk said, according to the Vancouver Province's Ben Kuzma.
"Obviously my head is spinning," he added, "but I could not be happier."
More from #Flames Shinkaruk: "When you get a chance to play for the team you grew up cheering for, it’s a pretty amazing feeling."
— Wes Gilbertson (@WesGilbertson) February 22, 2016
"A kid growing up in Calgary, he wants to win in Calgary," Shinkaruk said. "So it's pretty cool I have that opportunity."
Shinkaruk never got much of an opportunity in Vancouver, the Canucks deeming him not NHL-ready. After a full season in the AHL in 2014-15, in which the winger scored 16 goals and added 15 assists in 74 games, Shinkaruk's taken strides this season. He has 21 goals - good for seventh in the AHL - in 45 games, along with 18 assists.
Shinkaruk will report to Calgary's AHL affiliate in Stockton, but he's a Flame, and will soon live out a dream he undoubtedly had as a child.
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