Comfort food can be helpful when you're feeling down.
For Montreal Canadiens fans living through an up and very down season with their team, the chance to dig into a free Big Mac is worth even an embrace from Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara.
- With h/t to Stanley Cup of Chowder
Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.
Milan Michalek feels like a kid again.
Sidelined with a finger injury since Jan. 22, Michalek - acquired as part of the Dion Phaneuf trade with Ottawa - is expected to play his first game with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday against Buffalo, and is excited to take to the ice with the likes of William Nylander, Nikita Soshnikov, and Zach Hyman.
"There is lots of talent, as everyone can see," Michalek told Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun. "I knew it coming here. I remember playing against (many of the Leafs prospects) in preseason and they looked good. I am excited to play with them.
"It’s amazing. They are so talented and really fun to be around. It’s a joy in the locker room, too. It has been tough for me coming in here being injured. It's going to be nice getting into games and getting to know my teammates that way."
The 31-year-old skated on a line with Brad Boyes and Peter Holland in practice Sunday.
Michalek remains under contract through to the end of next season at a salary cap hit of $4 million. He recorded six goals and four assists in 32 games for the Senators prior to the injury.
Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.
Devan Dubnyk isn't a fan of how the NHL reviews challenged goals.
Pulled from Sunday's loss to St. Louis after allowing three goals on 16 shots, the Minnesota Wild goaltender called into how the officials came to a decision on the second - scored by Ryan Reaves - which was challenged based on the view that the Blues were offside.
"It's so offside that both our defensemen stopped playing and all of a sudden they have twice as much room as they would because both our guys stopped playing," Dubnyk said after the game, according to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. "You have guys on the other bench that are laughing after the goal is called, and I mean, it’s just added to the list of interesting calls on challenges for everywhere around the league this year."
Head coach John Torchetti wasn't using the apparent offside as an excuse.
On Dubnyk's assertion Scandella/Brodin stopped playing bc they thought it was offside, Torch said you have to play to the whistle#mnwild
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) March 7, 2016
In Dubnyk's view, the review shouldn't be conducted by the official who already made the call, especially with the technology they'e been equipped with.
"You don’t have the guy on the ice making the call on an iPad that’s four inches big," he continued. "It doesn’t make sense. You got a lot of technology elsewhere that people can have a look at.
"Don't get me wrong, these are the best referees in the world hands down, but you're asking a guy to go look at a video in front of 20,000 people and overturn a call he just made. It doesn't make sense. There's enough technology to go elsewhere for it."
At the end of the day, three pucks got past him, and Dubnyk was a bit more succinct when it came to judging his own performance.
Dubnyk: "I've got to play better than that." #mnwild
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) March 7, 2016
Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.
Ryan Reaves is a father. And a goal scorer.
The St. Louis Blues forward scored Sunday against the Minnesota Wild, in his first game since becoming a proud papa, but he doesn't have a puck to gift his little one.
"I completely forgot (to take the puck)," Reaves said, according to NHL.com's Lou Korac. "I'm upset with myself. I'll have to keep the stick now."
Reaves scoring 1st game after kid: "The boys were joking I gotta pop one out every day but I don't think I've got time for that." #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) March 7, 2016
Reaves has three goals and no assists in 51 games. We told you he was a goal scorer.
Reaves on his son: "Apparently he's my good little luck charm." #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) March 7, 2016
The Blues beat the Wild 3-2.
Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.
Turns out, all the Edmonton Oilers had to do was trade Justin Schultz.
In all seriousness, the Oilers wrapped up a four-game road trip with a 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday. Edmonton recorded three wins and a loss on the trip, and they have goaltender Cam Talbot to thank.
Talbot's been a wall of late. He stopped a remarkable 105 of 107 shots in three games on the trip, good for an astounding .981 save percentage. He's won four in a row, allowing a goal or less in each start, and has a .979 save percentage over his last four games, and a .967 save percentage over his last six games. Phenomenal numbers, yeah.
After a slow start to his career in Edmonton, Talbot's been heating up since December. He's proving he's a No. 1 goalie, and proving he's worth the draft picks the Oilers used to trade for him, and the faith the club showed in him by signing him to a three-year contract extension.
| Month | Starts | SV% |
|---|---|---|
| October | 9 | .897 |
| November | 3 | .864 |
| December | 6 | .934 |
| January | 9 | .932 |
| February | 12 | .914 |
| March | 3 | .981 |
"Things are going in the right direction right now," Talbot said after Sunday's win. "I just want to keep it up."
"It's almost becoming routine for him, but I don't think it's easy by any means," said head coach Todd McLellan.
They're almost alarming words to write: The Oilers may have themselves a goalie.
Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.