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Juraj Slafkovsky makes Canadiens’ roster for NHL season opener

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Juraj Slafkovsky — the No. 1 overall pick at this year’s NHL draft — will start the season with the Canadiens.

The Canadiens announced Monday morning that five players had been sent down to the AHL’s Laval Rocket: defencemen Justin Barron and Otto Leskinen, forwards Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and Jesse Ylönen, and goalie Cayden Primeau.

Kaiden Guhle, the Canadiens’ first-round pick (16th overall) at the 2020 NHL draft, is also sticking with the team, as are fellow defencemen Jordan Harris and Arber Xhekaj, even though he wasn’t on the official 23-man roster the Canadiens released late Monday afternoon.

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Xhekaj was sent down to Laval Monday afternoon, but that was just a temporary salary-cap move with the future of Paul Byron still uncertain because of a hip injury that sidelined him throughout training camp and will likely land him on long-term injured reserve. The Canadiens claimed defenceman Jonathan Kovacevic off waivers on the weekend and made him part of their 23-man roster.

“I texted my parents (back in Slovakia) right away that they can come now,” Slafkovsky said after practice Monday in Brossard about making the team.

The Canadiens will open the regular season on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre against the Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m., SN, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio). Canadiens GM Kent Hughes is scheduled to speak with the media at noon Wednesday to discuss the final roster.

“I hope so they will make it,” Slafkovsky said about his parents getting to Montreal in time for the opener. “I’m sure they will do their best.”

The 6-foot-3, 238-pound Slafkovsky said he always believed he could make the team, but added: “There’s some work to do, starting Wednesday.”

When asked what he has to do to stick with the Canadiens all season, Slafkovsky said: “Just play my best game every time I get the chance to play. I think if I give everything then I can stay here for a long time and that’s what I will try to do.

“I think I improved my game, skating and winning the pucks and doing the right things,” Slafkovsky added about his performance during training camp. “But still, there’s a lot of the things I’m still not doing and I still need to do better and better. I still need to do them better. I’m happy that I am here and I will try to do them better.”

Slafkovsky was at left wing on a line with Christian Dvorak and Brendan Gallagher at practice Monday.

“A lot of experience they have,” Slafkovsky said about his linemates. “It’s just good that from the start I get to play with older guys. They know how the game goes and I’m sure they will help me during the games and (practices) as well.”

Kovacevic, who was claimed off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, joined his new teammates Monday and will wear Jeff Petry’s old No. 26 with the Canadiens.

“Big boy,” head coach Martin St. Louis said when asked about his first impression of the 6-foot-4, 208-pound Kovacevic. “I told him: ‘I don’t know much about you and I want to see how you move and we’ll go from there.’ But seems like a pretty good first impression, just the size, the way he moves on the ice, and we’ll see.”

Defenceman Logan Mailloux, who has been dealing with a shoulder injury, also took part in Monday’s practice. He is expected to return to the OHL’s London Knights after testing out his shoulder in practices. The Canadiens selected Mailloux, 19, in the first round (31st overall) of the 2021 NHL draft.

Harris, 22, played 10 games with the Canadiens last season after graduating from Northeastern University, while Guhle, 20, Slafkovsky, 18, and Xhekaj, 21, have yet to play a game in the NHL. The Canadiens selected Harris in the third round (71st overall) of the 2018 NHL draft, while Xhekaj was never drafted and was a dark horse to make the team. Xhekaj’s physical style of play stood out during training camp and he outperformed Barron.

The Canadiens acquired Barron from the Colorado Avalanche in the Artturi Lehkonen trade at last season’s NHL trade deadline. The Avalanche selected Barron, 20, in the first round (25th overall) of the 2020 NHL draft.

“When I heard it, a lot of things are going through my head,” Xhekaj said about being told Monday morning by Canadiens management that he had made the team. “The past two years have been the craziest years as a kid can have for me. My parents, they are the biggest things. Without them I wouldn’t be here. It’s going to be super special for them.”

St. Louis called Slafkovsky, Harris, Guhle and Xhekaj in for a meeting before practice to let them know they had made the team.

“They told us also that it’s only starting,” Slafkovsky said. “We know that we need to fight for a spot still every day. Nothing is handed.”

Harris said it was “really special” to know he had made the team along with the three other young players after a long training camp.

“I feel like we’ve been playing for three months together,” Harris said. “We’ve grown quickly together as a group off the ice and on the ice. Very special. These guys have a great career ahead of all of them, so definitely it’s cool to be a part as a group.

“We have a really good young core, so hopefully we can grow together.”

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Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list – CBC.ca

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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.

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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

Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut

1 month ago

Duration 2:20

Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.

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.”

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Senators score 5 in 1st, cruise past Sabres – NHL.com

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“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.”

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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.”

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Vasilevskiy stops 23 as surging Lightning beat Bruins – Sportsnet.ca

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