While rumblings out of Montreal seem to have pitted head coach Michel Therrien and defenseman P.K. Subban against one another, the Canadiens faithful have made it clear where their allegiances lie.
Related: Subban-Therrien incident remains the talk of the town in Montreal
The Canadiens were in action Friday for the first time since Therrien called out his star defenseman for a miscue in Wednesday's game against the Colorado Avalanche that led to the game-winning goal. Fans appeared to take Subban's side, serenading the 26-year-old with cheers early in the first period.
Subban would pick up a pair of assists on goals by Dale Weise and Max Pacioretty to surpass the 40-assist mark, joining Ottawa Senators blue-liner Erik Karlsson as the only defensemen in the league to reach that territory (Karlsson has 54 helpers).
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New Jersey Devils forward Jordin Tootoo was ejected from Friday's game against the New York Islanders for a dangerous hit from behind.
Tootoo received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for sending defenseman Johnny Boychuk head first into the boards with a cross-check during the second period.
Here's the Boychuk hit. Think he cut his face on the boards. pic.twitter.com/iHGhpN03M1
— connor (@ConIsles) February 20, 2016
Boychuk left for the dressing room in obvious discomfort, but was back on the bench to start the final frame.
Boychuk and Jordin Tootoo (5:00 major) talked in the hall outside the dressing rooms after the game, so no lingering bad feelings.
— Rich Chere (@Ledger_NJDevils) February 20, 2016
The hit will be reviewed by the NHL Department of Player Safety. Tootoo has been suspended twice in his NHL career, including a five-game suspension in 2007 for punching then-Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas.
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Starting his 11th consecutive game Friday, Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo will have a tough time blaming this goal on fatigue.
With the Blue Jackets on a power play, Buffalo Sabres forward David Legwand cleared the puck from his own end and watched as it bounced down the ice, and over the glove of Korpisalo from 150 feet away. The gaffe increased the Sabres' first-period lead to 2-0.
😱😱😱😱😱😱https://t.co/e7sCky0xoJ
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) February 20, 2016
Don't worry Joonas, Vesa Toskala knows exactly how you feel.
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Teemu Selanne continues to do retirement right.
The former Anaheim Ducks star showed off his latest post-hockey shenanigans Thursday when he pulled off a ridiculous golf trick shot while fooling around at the driving range.
Selanne, of course, already proved he has good hands with 684 career NHL goals.
- With h/t to BarDown
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After Tommy Wingels left Thursday's game against the Florida Panthers with an upper-body injury after crashing into the boards, San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer gave an update on the forward's condition Friday.
"He's been seen by everybody here," DeBoer said of Wingels, per Curtis Pashelka of the San Jose Mercury News. "We don't think it's long term, but he's definitely out for the near future."
DeBoer added that the 27-year-old would remain with the team for the remaining three games of its five-game road trip which concludes Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche.
Wingels has six goals and nine assists in 56 games this season.
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While forward Ryan Johansen has certainly lived up to expectations since being traded to the Nashville Predators, the team hasn't exactly set the league on fire since acquiring its new No. 1 center.
But with the team now hanging on to a wild-card position in the Western Conference, general manager David Poile isn't feeling any extra pressure to add more pieces ahead of the Feb. 29 trade deadline.
"If we don't make any trades this year, I'm comfortable," Poile said, per The Tennessean. "We've made a big trade. We've made a big trade that should have made our team better. And to this point, it hasn't, but I believe all the ingredients are there within our team to carry us into the playoffs and have success in the playoffs."
Since the Jan. 6 swap that sent defenseman Seth Jones to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Johansen has produced at near a point-per-game pace with four goals and 12 assists in 18 games.
While fellow forwards Filip Forsberg and James Neal have remained consistently productive, some secondary scoring would certainly help the team's playoff hopes as a number of Predators forwards are well below their scoring pace from a year ago.
| Name | 2014-15 | 2015-16 |
|---|---|---|
| Craig Smith | .54 | .36 |
| Colin Wilson | .55 | .39 |
| Mike Fisher | .66 | .28 |
Poile admitted he is frustrated some players aren't playing at the level they are expected to, but is ultimately content with his team as it hopes to clinch a playoff berth for the second straight season.
"I am doing my job in terms of making calls, and if something is there that can improve our team, I will do that," he said. "But I'm comfortable with the makeup of our team. I'm just not totally happy with the production that we're getting on an individual basis and we just need to play a little bit better."
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We've released initial 16-man rosters for Team Canada, Team USA, and the Team North America outfit that will fuse the best 23-and-under prospects from both countries. Now it's time to name the other 80 players who will be named to the tournament on March 2, when the rosters are due for submission.
Remember, this is the NHL's baby, and it likely wants as many players under the league's banner as it can get involved. That's not to say there won't be representation from the KHL, and other top flights, when rosters are cemented, but for now, expect partiality to those plying their trade on this side of the pond.
With perhaps one exception for Russia.
Mikkel Boedker, Arizona Coyotes (Denmark)
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers (Germany)
Nikolaj Ehlers, Winnipeg Jets (Denmark)
Marian Gaborik, Los Angeles Kings (Slovakia)
Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks (Slovakia)
Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings (Slovenia)
Frans Nielsen, New York Islanders (Denmark)
Tomas Tatar, Detroit Red Wings (Slovakia)
Thomas Vanek, Minnesota Wild (Austria)
Mats Zuccarello, New York Rangers (Norway)
Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins (Slovakia)
Roman Josi, Nashville Predators (Switzerland)
Andrej Sekera, Edmonton Oilers (Slovakia)
Mark Streit, Philadelphia Flyers (Switzerland)
Frederik Andersen, Anaheim Ducks (Denmark)
Jaroslav Halak, New York Islanders (Slovakia)
Artem Anisimov, Chicago Blackhawks
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington Capitals
Ilya Kovalchuk, SKA St. Petersburg*
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
Vladislav Namestnikov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Artemi Panarin, Chicago Blackhawks
Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues
Alexei Emelin, Montreal Canadiens
Dmitry Kulikov, Florida Panthers
Andrei Markov, Montreal Canadiens
Dmitry Orlov, Washington Capitals
Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets
Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche
Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals
Loui Eriksson, Boston Bruins
Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators
Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche
Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Alex Steen, St. Louis Blues
Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Niklas Hjalmarsson, Chicago Blackhawks
Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
John Klingberg, Dallas Stars
Hampus Lindholm, Anaheim Ducks
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
Robin Lehner, Buffalo Sabres
Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
Joonas Donskoi, San Jose Sharks
Valtteri Filppula, Tampa Bay Lightning
Mikael Granlund, Minnesota Wild
Jussi Jokinen, Florida Panthers
Mikko Koivu, Minnesota Wild
Leo Komarov, Toronto Maple Leafs
Jori Lehtera, St. Louis Blues
Teemu Pulkkinen, Detroit Red Wings
Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche
Teuvo Teravainen, Chicago Blackhawks
Olli Maatta, Pittsburgh Penguins
Rasmus Ristolainen, Buffalo Sabres
Sami Vatanen, Anaheim Ducks
Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators
Michael Frolik, Calgary Flames
Martin Hanzal, Arizona Coyotes
Jiri Hudler, Calgary Flames
Jaromir Jagr, Florida Panthers
David Krejci, Boston Bruins
Ondrej Palat, Tampa Bay Lightning
David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins
Tomas Plekanec, Montreal Canadiens
Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks
Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia Flyers
Radim Vrbata, Vancouver Canucks
Zbynek Michalek, Arizona Coyotes
Andrej Sustr, Tampa Bay Lightning
Marek Zidlicky, New York Islanders
Petr Mrazek, Detroit Red Wings
Michal Neuvirth, Philadelphia Flyers
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