NHL Thread Because There Isn't An NHL Thread

It's been a rocky start for Patrik Laine with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The 22-year-old sat for the entire third period of the club's 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday. The benching was the result of Laine verbally disrespecting a member of the Blue Jackets' coaching staff, a source told The Athletic's Aaron Portzline.

It's unclear which coach Laine reportedly clashed with, as the circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear.


Laine's last shift on Monday came with 6:19 remaining in the second period, and he logged a season-low 11:14 of ice time.

The 6-foot-5 winger appeared to miss his assignment leading up to the Hurricanes' second goal, but head coach John Tortorella said the benching wasn't due to the miscue, and that a "number of things" came into play.

Columbus acquired Laine from the Winnipeg Jets for the disgruntled Pierre-Luc Dubois in January. The Finnish sniper has recorded three goals in four games with the Blue Jackets.
 
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Zach Whitecloud scored the first game-winning goal of his career late in the third period to lift the Vegas Golden Knights over the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 on Tuesday night.

After the Golden Knights improved to 7-0-1 at home, no players or coaches were made available for interviews on Zoom. The team released a statement that read: “Due to COVID-19 protocols, tonight’s Vegas Golden Knights postgame media availability is cancelled. We will provide additional updates when appropriate.”

Later, the Golden Knights announced they won't hold practice or a media availability Wednesday.


Vegas has already had three games postponed and its season halted once, when defenseman Alex Pietrangelo ended up on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol-related absences list, and three coaches — including head coach Peter DeBoer — were isolated in connection with the league’s virus protocol.

Anaheim made one player available to reporters in a Zoom session that lasted roughly eight minutes, but then canceled the remainder of the postgame availability because the club was “uncomfortable” with the situation, a team spokesperson said.

Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore was involved in a vicious collision with Ducks forward Nicolas Deslauriers in the first period and left for the dressing room but returned for the second period. However, neither he nor forward Tomas Nosek were seen on the bench for the third period.

Chandler Stephenson, Jonathan Marchessault, Alex Tuch and Nicolas Roy also scored for Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury, now 17-4-0 against the Ducks, improved to 5-0-0 this season after making 19 saves.

The Golden Knights have earned 15 of 16 possible points at home this year.

Isac Lundestrom, Troy Terry, Adam Henrique and Ryan Getzlaf scored for Anaheim. Ryan Miller made 26 saves.

Vegas has scored at least four goals in all but one home game this season, a 2-1 overtime win against Anaheim on Jan. 16. The Golden Knights have outscored their guests 34-21.

After William Carrier sent the puck to the net, Whitecloud’s keen instincts found him skating into the slot where he punched home the rebound for his second goal of the season with 3:56 left in regulation. The goal came after Anaheim scored three straight in the third period to tie it 4-all.

Vegas improved to 8-1 all-time at home against the Ducks, outscoring them 34-17.

Stephenson opened the scoring with his third goal in two games. He skated in on an odd-man rush, took a pass from Mark Stone and went forehand-backhand to beat Miller through the legs.

Stone’s assist was his 400th career point, while Dylan Coghlan got his first NHL point with the secondary helper.

Marchessault redirected a shot from linemate Reilly Smith to make it 2-0 just before the end of the first period.

Tuch pushed the lead to three goals early in the second when he collected a pass from Cody Glass and whipped a backhand over Miller’s glove.

Anaheim finally got on the board when Lundestrom skated into the high slot and beat Fleury with a wrist shot, cutting the deficit to two. Glass picked up his second assist of the game when he dropped the puck off for Roy, who blistered a wrist shot from the top of the right circle that Miller never saw.

Anaheim scored three consecutive goals in the first half of the third period to tie it.

“The comeback, I think it shows our team’s resiliency and that we can play with any team in this league. But there’s no one that’s happy right now,” Terry said. “It’s a mindset thing. It’s been this way since I’ve been here, and I’m guilty of it. We can’t be happy with coming back and making it close and playing Vegas to a close game.

“That’s one of the hardest parts about playing professional hockey, is to take what you learn from games and move on. There’s all kind of lessons from that game tonight. We need to figure out how to get off to a better start.”

DUCK FACE

Anaheim starting goalie John Gibson suffered a facial laceration as a result of a collision during Monday’s practice but is expected to be available for Thursday’s game against Vegas.

GETZ BACK

Getzlaf returned to the lineup after missing two games with a lower-body injury.

PAYING HOMAGE

The Golden Knights introduced their reverse retro red jerseys, which pay tribute in design to Las Vegas’ defunct minor league hockey clubs, the IHL’s Thunder (1993-99) and ECHL’s Wranglers (2003-15).

WHAT’S NEXT

The Ducks and Golden Knights conclude their two-game set in Vegas on Thursday.

___

More AP NHL coverage: NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
 
Place your bets 💵💰

It may feel like we're still in the infant stages of the 2021 NHL season, but most teams - those that haven't battled COVID-19 issues - are through at least 20% of the schedule.

That's more than enough of a sample size to begin separating the pretenders and contenders, with teams like the Canadiens and Canucks revealing their true worth to bettors through the opening month.

Here's a look at the current Stanley Cup oddsboard compared to what it looked like before the season:


TEAMODDS (2/9)ODDS (1/12)
Colorado Avalanche+450+450
Tampa Bay Lightning+600+800
Vegas Golden Knights+700+900
Boston Bruins+1000+1200
Philadelphia Flyers+1200+1600
Toronto Maple Leafs+1200+1200
Carolina Hurricanes+1500+2000
Dallas Stars+1800+1800
Montreal Canadiens+1800+3500
St. Louis Blues+1800+1800
Washington Capitals+1800+2000
New York Islanders+2200+2200
Pittsburgh Penguins+2200+2200
Edmonton Oilers+2500+2500
Calgary Flames+2800+3500
New York Rangers+3200+2800
Columbus Blue Jackets+3800+3800
Nashville Predators+4000+3000
Florida Panthers+4500+4500
Winnipeg Jets+4500+4500
Minnesota Wild+4800+6000
Vancouver Canucks+5000+2500
Arizona Coyotes+6000+8000
New Jersey Devils+6000+8500
Buffalo Sabres+6500+5000
Los Angeles Kings+8000+7000
Anaheim Ducks+8500+7500
Chicago Blackhawks+12500+8500
San Jose Sharks+12500+7000
Detroit Red Wings+25000+25000
Ottawa Senators+35000+20000
(Odds source: theScore Bet)

Trending up​

Montreal Canadiens (+3500 to +1800)

It's hard to find any faults in the Canadiens' game right now. Despite sitting just below the Leafs in the standings, the underlying numbers - including the league's joint-best goal differential and leading the NHL in expected goals percentage at five-on-five (Evolving-Hockey) - all support the Habs as the team to beat in the North Division. There's not a weak spot on this roster, and even with their odds being slashed in half, there's still some value here.

Minnesota Wild (+6000 to +4800)

The Kirill Kaprizov era is officially underway, but I'm not ready to buy in on the Wild yet. The underlying metrics support their strong start, but eight of their 11 games have come against the Ducks, Kings, and Sharks. They were certainly competitive against the Avalanche despite losing two of three, but I need a much bigger sample size against the West Division's true contenders before I'm ready to say the Wild have arrived - and I say that as someone who was on their bandwagon coming into the season.

Arizona Coyotes (+8000 to +6000)

Perhaps the team we really should be looking out for in the West is Arizona. The Coyotes (6-5-1) own virtually an identical record to the Wild (6-5), but have faced a much tougher schedule to date with eight games against the Blues and Knights. They've also yet to face the basement-dwelling Kings, a team the Wild have faced four times. Despite the tough schedule, Arizona ranks second in expected goals for per game and 10th in expected goal share at five-on-five. Its young forwards have all taken a step forward, and the ceiling is high with Darcy Kuemper in goal. At 60-1, there's still value on the Coyotes.

Trending down​

Nashville Predators (+3000 to +4000)

It's been tough sledding for the Predators, who are 3-8 since starting 2-0. I dug to try and uncover reasons for optimism in Nashville, but it wasn't pretty. They're average at best at five-on-five, and an unrivaled disaster on special teams with the league's worst penalty kill joined by an equally feeble power play. And to top it off, both goaltenders are struggling. With a rapidly ageing core, all signs point to this being the start of a steady decline.

Vancouver Canucks (+2500 to +5000)

It's looking like a lost season for the Canucks, who appear to be much closer to Ottawa's tier in the North Division. A 6-10 record has left them in a massive hole at the quarter mark of the season, and the underlying numbers show just how miserable the team has been, sitting 28th in expected goal share and Corsi For percentage at five-on-five. That's largely down to how bad they've been defensively, ranking dead last on a per game basis in shots allowed, goals against, expected goals against, and scoring chances against at five-on-five. They've allowed at least five goals in nine of their 13 non-Ottawa games this season. Yikes.

Chicago Blackhawks (+8500 to +12500)

It's hard to make any sense of the Chicago's slide down the oddsboard which, if nothing else, presents a great buying opportunity. The Blackhawks have found something in rookie goalie Kevin Lankinen. He sits third in the NHL with a 5.30 GSAA, and they've taken points from eight of his nine starts (5-1-3). The team in front of him is also playing well after a slow start, generating offense at an above-average rate. They're proving to be undervalued, winning three in a row against the Hurricanes and Stars, while losing just once in regulation in the last 11 games. It's a wide-open race for fourth place in the Central Division, and they're forcing themselves into the conversation.

Alex Moretto is theScore's supervising editor of sports betting. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, strongly believes in the power of the jinx, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.
 
The Vegas Golden Knights were notified during Tuesday's game against the Anaheim Ducks that one of their players tested positive for COVID-19; upon learning of this, Vegas removed forward Tomas Nosek from the contest and placed him in isolation, the NHL announced Wednesday.

Nosek played over nine minutes but did not appear in the third period.

The Golden Knights and Ducks remain scheduled to play again Thursday. Care tests will be administered to all players and staff members on both teams ahead of the contest.


Vegas canceled its practice and media availability Wednesday due to COVID-19 protocols.
 
Habs - Oilers game delayed 1 hr because one Oiler was placed on the COVID protocol (seems to be Puljujarvi @Hollywood).

NHL needs the time to test the rest of the Oilers before the game. They say that the player placed on the COVID protocol did not necessarily get a positive test, but may have been in contact. The game is still on at this point.

Article in french:

 
Habs - Oilers game delayed 1 hr because one Oiler was placed on the COVID protocol (seems to be Puljujarvi @Hollywood).

NHL needs the time to test the rest of the Oilers before the game. They say that the player placed on the COVID protocol did not necessarily get a positive test, but may have been in contact. The game is still on at this point.

Article in french:

TABARNAK!
 
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo will be back in the lineup Thursday versus the Anaheim Ducks, head coach Peter DeBoer announced.

Pietrangelo hasn't played since Jan. 26 and was on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list after members of Vegas' coaching staff tested positive Jan. 28. There's been no confirmation as to whether Pietrangelo had the virus.

The Golden Knights had a series of games postponed due to COVID-19. Forward Tomas Nosek was pulled from Tuesday's contest versus Anaheim after testing positive, but the rematch is going on as scheduled.


Pietrangelo's appeared in seven games this season, notching four points while averaging over 25 minutes per contest.

While his return is a big boost for the first-place Golden Knights, Vegas won't be at full strength as blue-liner Shea Theodore is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
 
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