Sports
Dater's Daily: NHL trade freeze lifts, Hall stays with Bruins, NHL schedule out today – Colorado Hockey Now
Good Thursday to you all. Just dropped my 17-year-old, 6-foot-7 son at the airport for a trip back east to visit his grandparents. The kid will see his first Red Sox game ever next week, and he’s pretty excited about that. For him, showing excitement is moving his upper lip a little. Let’s do that hockey, though, starting with some NHL trade freeze talk:
- The freeze lifts at 11 a.m. mountain today. Saddle up, kids, it could be a busy day. Hey, it could be for the Avs too, though I think the main focus of the team remains trying to sign their unsigned guys. I have NOT been told of any talks breaking off between the team and Landeskog or Grubauer. I don’t think much has gone on between the Avs and Brandon Saad, but maybe that will change now that the Avs have more money to spend after losing more than $7 million of payroll in the last few days, with the departures of Joonas Donskoi and Ryan Graves.
- The Kraken seem pretty happy with their new roster (Seattle Times)
- I thought the Kraken getting Jamie Oleksiak from Dallas was a great signing. He’s big and plays with a mean streak.
- The Kraken’s first home and road sweaters look pretty cool (Seattle Times)
- Did the Pittsburgh Penguins screw up over the expansion process? Dan Kingerski thinks so (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)
- Looks like Taylor Hall is staying put in Boston (Boston Hockey Now)
- Jack Eichel continues to be the conversation starter of the offseason as the Wild and Avalanche are mentioned as possibilities for the Sabres superstar. (Hockey News)
- Who would the Avs trade to the Sabres for a Jack Eichel? I would imagine it would have to start with a Bo Byram. Or, maybe Sam Girard.
- With the loss of Donskoi, I expect Sampo Ranta to get quite a chance as a middle six right winger at training camp.
- The Avalanche/NHL schedule will be out today.
- The Red Wings were the only team that didn’t leak the name of their player picked by Seattle (Detroit Hockey Now)
- Mark Giordano, former Norris Trophy winner, was claimed by the Kraken, but is he really headed to the New York Rangers now? (NY Post)
Sports
Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list – CBC.ca
The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.
“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.”
The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.
That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.
Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.
Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout.
The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.
He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League.
“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday.
WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut
Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford.
“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said.
Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday.
Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13.
The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.
Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.
“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”
Sports
Senators score 5 in 1st, cruise past Sabres – NHL.com
“I thought that we were ready to go,” Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. “We got some pucks at the net, we got people at the net. Took advantage of our opportunities and, I think, built a nice lead. And then I thought, in the third period, we continued again. Our goaltending was good. Made some key saves. But I thought we shut them down in the third period good.”
Shane Pinto had a goal and three assists, and Brady Tkachuk, Boris Katchouk, Jakob Chychrun and Drake Batherson each had a goal and an assist for the Senators (31-36-4), who have won three in a row. Korpisalo made 34 saves.
“If you want to win, you need balance,” Pinto said. “And we had that tonight and it’s going to be big for the back-to-back tomorrow (against the Chicago Blackhawks) to have that same thing. So, going to need all the guys on board.”
JJ Peterka and Connor Clifton scored for the Sabres (34-34-5), who have lost four of six. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on nine shots before he was replaced by Devon Levi, who made 31 saves in relief.
“We wanted, I guess, to play as individuals,” Clifton said. “I’m disappointed we let ‘Upie’ down, he’s the heart and soul of this team. He’s kept us in so many games, and just to not show up and play that careless style, give them freebies all over the place. … Yeah, obviously, the first 20 really dictated the rest of the game.”
Artem Zub gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:37 of the first period. He stuffed in a loose puck on the goal line after Katchouk’s shot was redirected by Mark Kastelic between Luukkonen’s pads.
Katchouk made it 2-0 at 4:56, tipping Parker Kelly’s shot from the top of the right face-off circle past Luukkonen.
“It’s keeping the consistency with good effort, right habits,” Katchouk said. “The small things matter so much in this game. And obviously, it worked out tonight with the tip. But kudos to my linemates. ‘Kels’ and ‘Kassy,’ they worked hard to get the puck as well. Those two battle hard every night as well. We feed off each other, and it’s good to play with them.”
Sports
Vasilevskiy stops 23 as surging Lightning beat Bruins – Sportsnet.ca
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