NHL Thread Because There Isn't An NHL Thread

Hollywood said:
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Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen will be out for eight weeks with a lower-body injury.

Allen has already missed four games after departing early in a loss to the Boston Bruins on Jan. 12. The 31-year-old left the Canadiens' road trip for further evaluation. Montreal head coach Dominique Ducharme initially said the netminder would need at least one week to recover.

The struggling Canadiens have leaned on Allen without Carey Price so far this season. The former St. Louis Blues puck-stopper is 5-16-2 with a .901 save percentage while playing 24 of Montreal's 39 contests in his second campaign with the club.


Sam Montembeault has gone 1-0-2 with a .926 save percentage in Allen's absence. Montembeault excelled while being bombarded in the last two contests, stopping 97 of the 104 shots he faced.

The Canadiens acquired Allen from the Blues for a pair of seventh-round picks in September 2020.
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This, right here, is how you do tanking, my friends.
 
R.I.P. Clark Gillies 🙏❤

New York Islanders icon and Hockey Hall of Famer Clark Gillies died at 67 years old, the team announced Friday.

Gillies played 12 seasons with the Islanders, winning four consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1980s. He finished his career with a two-year stint in Buffalo, ultimately racking up 697 points in 958 games.

He had his No. 9 retired by the Islanders in 1996 and was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2002.


"The entire Islanders community is devastated by the loss of Clark Gillies," Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello said.

"He epitomized what it means to be a New York Islander. The pride he felt wearing the Islanders sweater on the ice was evident by his willingness to do anything to win. Off the ice, he was just as big of a presence, always taking the time to give back to the local community.

"The New York Islanders have four Stanley Cups because of the sacrifices he and the members of those dynasty teams made for the franchise. On behalf of the entire organization, we send our deepest condolences to the entire Gillies family."

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman released the following statement:

"The National Hockey League mourns the passing of Clark Gillies, a tower of strength on the ice for the dynastic New York Islanders of the early 1980s and a pillar of the Long Island community ever since. Gillies helped define the term "power forward" during a 14-season, Hall of Fame career with the Islanders and Buffalo Sabres that was highlighted by winning four Stanley Cups with the Islanders."

Gillies was one of 17 Islanders to win every championship between 1980 and 1983.
 
Buffalo Sabres phenom Jack Quinn will miss four-to-six weeks with a lower-body injury, the team announced Saturday.

The 20-year-old rookie made his NHL debut Jan. 11 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played his second game on Thursday against the Dallas Stars and recorded two points, including his first NHL goal.

Quinn had been tearing the AHL up this season before his recall, producing 35 points in 24 games with the Rochester Americans.


The Sabres selected the winger eighth overall at the 2020 draft.
 
The Washington Capitals have looked into the possibility of adding free agent Evander Kane to their roster, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday's edition of "32 Thoughts."

"Another team that has at least discussed it and considered it is the Washington Capitals," Friedman said. "There's nothing done, no contract or anything like that, but the Capitals are another team, in addition to the Oilers, that have looked into this."

Kane became a free agent Jan. 9 after his contract with the San Jose Sharks was terminated due to a breach of contract and violation of the AHL's COVID-19 protocol.


Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland said earlier in January that he believes in "second chances" and had spoken to Kane's agent. Kane is reportedly free to sign with another club as he awaits the results of the grievance the NHLPA filed on his behalf.

The NHL is still investigating the situation, and it remains unclear if Kane will be suspended further for his actions. The 30-year-old was banned 21 games earlier this season for violating the NHL's COVID-19 protocol.

Kane skated with the AHL's San Jose Barracuda for five games this year, recording eight points. He had 22 goals and 27 assists in 56 games with the Sharks last season.
 
Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun is one of several intriguing blue-liners on the market, and contending teams are reportedly doing their due diligence with the trade deadline just two months away.

The New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, and Florida Panthers are among the clubs interested in acquiring the 23-year-old's services, Sportsnet's Jeff Marek reported on Saturday's edition of "32 Thoughts."

The Coyotes are reportedly looking for a young player, a prospect, and a first-round pick to pry Chychrun from the desert. Arizona has "at least one offer" that fits the bill, Marek added.


The Rangers have discussed including 2018 first-round pick Vitali Kravtsov in a potential deal, but it's unclear if the 22-year-old forward would significantly pique the Coyotes' interests, per Marek.

Kravtsov didn't make New York's opening night roster this season, and the team reportedly granted him permission to seek a trade in October. The club loaned him to the KHL's Traktor Chelyabinsk in November.

However, the Panthers may be the "team to watch," according to Marek.

The Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, and Columbus Blue Jackets are also reportedly interested in Chychrun.

The sixth-year defenseman has struggled this season, recording two goals and six assists over 28 games with the basement-dwelling Coyotes. Chychrun broke through offensively during the 2020-21 campaign, registering 41 points in 56 contests.

He's currently in the third season of a six-year deal with an annual cap hit of $4.6 million.
 
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The Vancouver Canucks have hired player agent and former NCAA forward Emilie Castonguay as their new assistant general manager.

Castonguay's now ex-clients include New York Rangers winger and 2020 first overall pick Alexis Lafreniere and Canadian star Marie-Philip Poulin, among others.

The new Canucks executive is the first female assistant GM in franchise history. She became the NHLPA's first female certified agent in 2016 and was still the only woman in the role before Vancouver hired her.


Castonguay played four seasons of Division I hockey at Niagara. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in finance and then earned a law degree from l'Universite de Montreal.

The Canucks added former New Jersey Devils player information and video analyst Rachel Doerrie to their analytics department last week.

The Anaheim Ducks named Angela Gorgone the NHL's first female assistant GM in 1996.
 
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Pittsburgh Penguins forward Teddy Blueger is expected to be sidelined for six-to-eight weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured jaw, the team announced Monday.

Blueger suffered the injury after taking a hit during the first period of Sunday's contest against the Winnipeg Jets.

The 27-year-old has eight goals and nine assists in 40 games this season.
 
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Keith Yandle's streak earned him a standing ovation, stick taps from his Flyers' teammates and a slice of NHL history.

As for the Flyers' streak? Their ignominious run got them booed of the ice — fed-up fans showing no love for anything except for the NHL's Iron Man.

Yandle tied the NHL record for consecutive games played with 964 and Philadelphia tied a franchise record with its 12th straight winless game, losing 3-1 to the Dallas Stars on Monday night.


The Flyers have lost all 12 games over that span, matching a mark for futility set during the 1998-99 season when they lost eight games and tied four over a 12-game stretch. There are no ties to save them from this indignity.

The Flyers can hit their all-time worst streak — and Yandle can take his spot in history — on the road Tuesday against the New York Islanders.

“I tried to keep it as normal as possible. do my same thing, do my same routine,” Yandle said. “Kind of worry about the game. I tried to go about my day as normal as possible.”

For the Flyers, losing is the new normal.

Yandle waved to the crowd from the bench after his shift helped the defenseman tie retired center Doug Jarvis atop the NHL’s list.

“It wasn’t really something I expected. I just kind of never really thought about it,” Yandle said. “I saw the guys standing for me, cheering. All the fans. It definitely meant a lot.”

Jacob Peterson scored the go-ahead goal with 3:25 left and Joe Pavelski added an empty-netter to seal the win.

“Huge. Jacob is sneaky good,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “He hangs onto the puck and he tries to make plays. He doesn’t panic with it. That’s one thing we noticed from the first day of camp, the kid has good hockey sense.”

The 35-year-old Yandle started his streak March 26, 2009, with Phoenix, and he has played 1,074 games with the Coyotes, New York Rangers and Florida Panthers.

A three-time All-Star, Yandle is in his first season with the Flyers and set the mark when he hit the ice minutes into the game for his first shift.

“It’s an incredible accomplishment,” Flyers interim coach Mike Yeo said. “No. 1, you have to love the game, you have to battle through sickness, injuries. A level of professionalism to come the rink every day and be ready to go. And he’s a phenomenal teammate and I thought he played a hell of a game tonight.”

Jarvis, a senior adviser for the Vancouver Canucks, said Monday he would call Yandle and congratulate him on the streak.

“I just commend him. I think the streak is a real tribute to his character, his commitment, his love of the game to be in there every night,” Jarvis said.

Arizona’s Phil Kessel is third on the list at 940 straight games and could also pass Jarvis before the end of the season.

The Flyers already became the first team in NHL history to suffer two 10-game losing streaks within the first 40 games of the season.

The Flyers also lost 10 straight from Nov. 18 to Dec. 18; the first skid cost coach Alain Vigneault his job after the first eight games in the skid. Yeo lost the final two games of that one and, of course, all 12 in this streak that started Dec. 30 at San Jose. The Flyers went 0-8-4 from from Feb. 24, 1999, to March 16, 1999.

Roope Hintz beat Carter Hart on a breakaway for a 1-0 lead in the first and the Stars gave the Flyers a rare break in the second period. Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov’s shot from the boards knocked off John Klingberg’s skate and into the net for the tying goal.

“It's hard on anybody when you lose 12 in a row, no matter what sport you're playing,” Hart said. “I think there are a lot of things in our game tonight that are strides in the right direction.”

The Flyers could only pack a bar on the concourse for a pregame Grateful Dead tribute band concert, and the ones that stuck around only briefly got loud — to cheer Yandle — until the final horn when they booed the team off the ice.

“They want to see us win,” Hart said. “They're passionate about all their sports, about the Flyers. We appreciate their support. When we're winning, they're awesome.”

STREAK INTERRUPTED

Yandle's tenure with the Panthers ended with one giant asterisk in his Iron Man status: Yandle had played in 57 straight playoff games, but was a healthy scratch in three of Florida’s playoff games last season.

UP NEXT

Stars: Play Tuesday at New Jersey.

Flyers: Yandle goes for the record against the Islanders.
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Wild have struck a fresh balance this season.

Goals are coming from everywhere in the lineup, an everyman vibe that begins in the locker room and carries onto the ice.

Connor Dewar got his first career goal and added an assist when Nico Sturm scored 22 seconds later, helping the Wild match their franchise record for goals in an 8-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night.


Jared Spurgeon, Marcus Foligno, Mats Zuccarello, Matt Boldy, Jordie Benn and Kevin Fiala also scored as Minnesota dominated NHL-worst Montreal to ease Cam Talbot’s return to the net.

“Everybody can play. Everybody works hard. It’s a pretty special team here,” Benn said.

Zuccarello squeezed a bad-angle shot past goalie Cayden Primeau with 31 seconds left in the second period for a 5-1 lead for the Wild, who are 10-0-1 with a 56-25 scoring margin in their last 11 games at Xcel Energy Center. Their only home regulation loss since Nov. 16 was to St. Louis in the Winter Classic at Target Field on Jan. 1.

“It must be an absolute wonderful environment to come into, because of the people that are in there. We’ve talked about it so many times with how accepting they are,” Minnesota coach Dean Evason said.

Mike Hoffman gave the Canadiens the lead by slamming a pass to the slot past Talbot's glove just 1:23 into the game, but Spurgeon tied it less than two minutes later with an uncontested slap shot for the captain's first goal since Nov. 11. He missed a total of 15 games with two different injuries.

Talbot made 14 saves in two periods for his first win since Dec. 9. The All-Star missed the last six games with a lower-body injury sustained in the subzero temperature during the Winter Classic, and over the three weeks prior to that the Wild also had four games postponed by opponent COVID-19 outbreaks.

Kaapo Kahkonen, who went 5-0-1 during Talbot's absence, took over for the third period and gave up a goal to former teammate Rem Pitlick. Talbot aggravated the injury, Evason said, but not seriously, and his absence was only precautionary.

Pitlick has two goals in six games with the Canadiens, who claimed him off waivers from the Wild two weeks ago when he was struggling to accept a bottom-six forward spot.

The fourth line Pitlick left behind made quite a mark on this game, more evidence of the enviable depth the Wild have assembled under general manager Bill Guerin.

Dewar scored on a shot from the slot that scraped the crossbar. Then he used his stick to route Spurgeon's pass toward Sturm for the tap-in and a 4-1 lead at 4:23 of the second period.

“For us as a line, most nights there’s not a lot of glory in the kind of game that we play. It feels good for all of us," said Sturm, who was beaming about his buddy Dewar's first goal.

Dewar, Sturm and Brandon Duhaime all developed together for Minnesota's AHL affiliate in Iowa.

“We used to joke about, ‘When we’re in the league,’ and I thought it was very fitting that it was those two who were the first guys to hug me when I scored tonight,” said Dewar, a third-round draft pick by the Wild in 2018.

The Canadiens dropped to 8-26-7. They’re 1-5-4 in their last 10 games. Primeau, making his 12th career start, was pulled after two periods for Michael McNiven, who allowed three goals on seven shots in his NHL debut.

With goalie Carey Price in treatment for substance abuse and Jake Allen sidelined by a long-term injury, the Canadiens also recently lost Sam Montembault to an injury.

“We were losing those 1-on-1 battles too often, and just made it too easy on them,” coach Dominique Ducharme said.

BAD BLOOD

The Wild had a 21-8 shots advantage in the first period over the depleted Canadiens, who lost center Christian Dvorak to an unspecified injury on his first shift after a hit by Spurgeon.

“I didn’t like the hit. It was just quickly, but it looked like he clipped him pretty good in the head,” said Canadians right wing Josh Anderson.

HUNDRED DOLLAR BILL KIRILL

Alex Goligoski, Jordan Greenway, Kirill Kaprizov and Sturm each had two assists. Kaprizov’s helpers gave him 100 career points and earned him a hearty ovation from the crowd when he was captured on the video board during a stoppage in play.

Kaprizov became the fourth-fastest active player in the NHL to hit the milestone, in 92 career games — trailing Alex Ovechkin (77), Sidney Crosby (80) and Evgeni Malkin (89).

GAME NOTES

Fiala and Zuccarello each have at least one point in nine straight games. ... Hoffman has 10 goals and eight assists in 20 career games against the Wild. ... The Canadiens made their first trip to Minnesota in more than 27 months and have lost eight straight road games against the Wild.

UP NEXT

The Canadiens host Anaheim on Thursday night, their first of eight consecutive home games.

The Wild play their first of four straight road games Friday night against the New York Rangers.
 
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Ben Chiarot appears to be drawing significant interest in the trade market.

The Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers, and St. Louis Blues are among the teams that have looked into adding the blue-liner, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman wrote in Tuesday's edition of "32 Thoughts."

The 30-year-old is set to become a free agent at the conclusion of the season. He carries a $3.5-million cap hit.


Chiarot was a revelation for the Canadiens during their trip to the Stanley Cup Final last season. The bruising defender averaged 25:15 of ice time per game while laying 88 hits and blocking 48 shots across 22 contests.

Chiarot has five goals and three assists in 38 games with Montreal this season.
 
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