Yesterday’s NHL Scores
Last Night’s News 📰
KANE AN OILER: After much speculation, Evander Kane officially joined the Edmonton Oilers on a one-year contract on Thursday. The 30-year-old had his contract with the San Jose Sharks voided earlier this month after being found to be in breach of COVID protocols.
DOUGHTY HITS 1,000: Drew Doughty hit the 1,000-game plateau in the Los Angeles Kings’ 3-2 win over the New York Islanders on Thursday night, a game that also featured Quinton Byfield’s first NHL goal. In other NHL action, Adam Fox left the New York Rangers’ 5-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets early with an undisclosed injury, while J.T. Miller’s hat trick propelled the Vancouver Canucks to a 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
ZEGRAS DOES IT AGAIN: Prepare to see a new wave of Trevor Zegras highlights after the Anaheim Ducks rookie scored a lacrosse-style goal in a 5-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. The flashy first-year forward has been confirmed to participate in the Breakaway Challenge as part of this year’s NHL All-Star Skills Competition.
HOLDEN STEADY: The Ottawa Senators have extended defenseman Nick Holden for one more year. The contract is worth $1.3 million for the 2022-23 season. The 34-year-old is in the middle of his first season with the club and has previously played for five teams, including spending his last three seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights.
VIRTANEN CHARGED: Former Vancouver Canucks forward Jake Virtanen has been charged with one count of sexual assault stemming from a 2017 incident that occurred while Virtanen was with the club. Virtanen, now with Spartak Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League, was placed on leave by Vancouver following the allegations and never returned to the organization.
Friday Favorites
Let’s look back at our favorite moments of the week.
Home Sweet Home
Man, it is fun to be a hockey fan in Colorado right now. The Avalance have now won 17 straight games at home after a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over the Boston Bruins, with defenseman Cale Makar delivering OT heroics for the second time this season. They are currently the hottest team in the league, winning eight straight games and only losing one all month: an overtime defeat at the hands of the Nashville Predators.
Ennis Nets Hat Trick
It has to feel good to score a hat trick, especially against your former team. Senators forward Tyler Ennis notched his second career “hatty.” It came down to the wire as he completed the hat trick with 30 seconds left in regulation. Fans are not allowed inside Canadian Tire Centre due to local COVID regulations, but one hat did make it onto the ice courtesy of backup goaltender Anton Forsberg. Talk about being a team player!
Lights, Camera, Action!
Henrik Lundqvist made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and talked about the upcoming retirement of his jersey as well as reminiscing about playing in Madison Square Garden. The New York Rangers are set to raise number 30 to the rafters tonight prior to their game against the Minnesota Wild. He is currently part of the MSG Network’s Rangers coverage.
By The Numbers: Drew Doughty’s First 1,000
Last night, Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty played his 1,000th regular-season game, recording an assist in the club’s 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders. The 32-year-old is the fourth-youngest player in NHL history to reach the mark, behind Scott Stevens, Luke Richardson and Larry Murphy. To commemorate his accomplishment, let’s take a look at some numbers from Doughty’s first thousand games.
1 – The number of teams Doughty has played for over his career. The Kings drafted him second overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, and he has spent all 14 seasons in LA.
18 – Doughty’s age when he made his NHL debut. On Oct. 11, 2008, four months after being drafted, he played his first game. He was held scoreless in 17:30 of ice time during a 3-1 road loss to the San Jose Sharks.
2 – The number of times Doughty has hoisted the Stanley Cup. He and the Kings won one in 2011-12 and another in 2013-14. It is also the number of Olympic gold medals he has won representing Canada (in 2010 and 2014).
5 – The number of times Doughty has been named an NHL All-Star. He played in the All-Star Game in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
20 – Doughty’s age when he was named a finalist for the Norris Trophy in 2010. He became the second-youngest finalist for the award, behind only the great Bobby Orr.
4 – The number of times Doughty has finished as a finalist for the Norris Trophy. He was named one of the top defensemen in the NHL in 2009-10, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2017-18. He was named the league’s best defenseman in 2015-16, becoming the second player in Kings’ history to win the award (Rob Blake, 1997-98).
8 – Doughty’s number, which he wears because his birthday is Dec. 8. It is also the number of years he played for the London Junior Knights, starting when he was three. The team retired his number eight in 2017.
Views From Up North: Woe Canada!
While Canadian hockey fans find themselves Googling names like Corban Knight and Devon Levi ahead of the Beijing Olympics, now seems like as good a time as any to check in on what’s going on with the country’s NHL teams. Spoiler alert: the news isn’t great north of the border.
Let’s take a closer look at how things are going with the seven teams in the Great White North:
Calgary Flames
Nobody’s hotter than Johnny Gaudreau right now. The 28-year-old had six goals and 21 assists over 10 games before being stymied against St. Louis last night. Since last Tuesday, Gaudreau has registered a pair of four-point nights and a three-point night.
Edmonton Oilers
Years and years down the road, you get the feeling that hockey historians will struggle to make sense of the 2021-22 Edmonton Oilers. Did their star players not perform up to standard? Certainly not! So, did they fire their coach? Nah. Even in the moment, it’s hard enough to make sense of the Oilers’ spectacular implosion that has seen them collect more wins in their first 14 games (11) than in their past 25 (10).
Montreal Canadiens
The 1939-40 Montreal Canadiens went 10-33-5, finishing the season with a .260% winning percentage to earn the distinction of worst Habs team in franchise history. Could the current Canadiens (8-27-7, .274%) actually be worse? They’ll likely produce more wins with 34 more games, but the winning percentage could represent a more accurate measure.
Ottawa Senators
The Drake Batherson injury is a tough blow for a team that continues to play hard for head coach D.J. Smith on most nights despite their lack of talent and dependable goaltending. Also a tough break: Ottawa hosts 11 home games between January 25 and February 21, a stretch when the Canadian Tire Centre is limited to just 500 fans due to local COVID regulations.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Fatigue shouldn’t be a problem for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have played just nine games since December 14. More troubling is a trend that has seen them cough up multi-goal leads in five of their last seven games. That said, the team still came away with seven points in those games and continues to mostly look strong, so the worry remains minimal.
Vancouver Canucks
For all the ongoing excitement taking place in the offices of Rogers Arena these days, the Vancouver Canucks’ on-ice efforts have been less inspiring. After kick-starting the Bruce Boudreau era by winning six in a row and eight of their first nine, the Canucks have won just three of their past nine games. For Vancouver, the staggering early season hole looks to be too big to climb out of at this point.
Winnipeg Jets
The good news: Cole Perfetti is here and looks to be acquitting himself nicely right now. The bad news: since his call-up, the Winnipeg Jets have gone winless in six games and are suddenly staring down a significant deficit in the Central Division playoff picture.
NHL Standings
NHL’s Leading Scorers
Today’s NHL Schedule
- Today’s newsletter was edited by Ben Fisher and Kristy Flannery, with contributions by Grant Tingley.
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