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Saturday Snapshots: Final Saturday Of The Regular Season

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8:48pm: The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3, clinching a playoff spot for the first time since 2013. Despite losing goaltender Frederik Andersen, the Leafs rallied for three goals in the third to punch their ticket to the playoffs. TSN’s Bob McKenzie sums up the seedings with tomorrow’s results. If Toronto gets one point tomorrow, they will take on Ottawa in the first round while Boston faces off against Washington. Should they lose, they draw Washington and the Bruins get Ottawa.

2:54 pm: Today is the second last day of the regular season, and as such, there’s a lot going on around the National Hockey League. The entire playoff bracket can be finalized this evening, stars will be healthy scratched, and milestones hit.

Playoff Matchups:

  • Two Eastern Conference matchups have already been set: Canadiens vs Rangers and Penguins vs Blue Jackets. Another could be set tonight, if Toronto, Ottawa, and Boston all win. That would mean Capitals vs Maple Leafs. Should the Maple Leafs lose while the other two win, then that would guarantee Senators vs Bruins.
  • Wild vs Blues is clinched by a St. Louis win or a Nashville loss.
  • Oilers vs Sharks would be clinched by:
    • An Oilers extra-time loss vs the Canucks tonight, OR
    • An Oilers regulation loss and a Sharks loss in any fashion.
  • Blackhawks vs Predators happens if:
    • The Predators lose in regulation, OR
    • The Flames win and the Blues get a single point, OR
    • The Flames and Predators both lose in OT.
  • The Flames would take on the Ducks if:
    • The Oilers lose, the Blues get a point, and the Flames win, OR
    • The Oilers lose, and both the Flames and Predators lose in OT, OR
    • The Oilers lose, and the Predators lose in regulation.
  • The Flames would take on the Blackhawks if Calgary loses and the Predators win.
  • The Ducks would take on the Predators if:
    • Both Edmonton and Calgary lose, and the Predators win, OR
    • Nashville gets a point, while Edmonton loses and Calgary loses in regulation.

Other clinching scenarios:

  • The Oilers clinch home-ice with a single point. They visit Vancouver tonight, and host them tomorrow.
  • The Ducks clinch the Pacific Division with an Oilers loss of any kind.
  • To pass Anaheim and win the Pacific, the Oilers would need to sweep the Canucks this weekend and have Anaheim lose to Los Angeles tomorrow.
  • Should the Toronto Maple Leafs win tonight against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto will clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2013. That would eliminate the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning.
  • The Islanders could also be eliminated with a regulation loss or any kind of loss if the Maple Leafs get a single point.
  • UPDATE: Ottawa clinched home ice by defeating the Rangers, 3-1.
    • They defeat the Rangers today, OR
    • Boston and Toronto lose in regulation, OR
    • The Bruins and Senators each get a single point combined with a Maple Leafs OT loss.

Scratches:

Milestones:

  • Oilers captain Connor McDavid could become just the fifth player to score 100 points since 2010. He’s sitting at 97 points in 80 games, the seventh-most points in a season during in that time frame. Only Evgeni Malkin, Daniel Sedin, Crosby, and Patrick Kane have cracked the century-mark this decade. McDavid is nine points ahead of Crosby and Kane for the NHL scoring lead, and looks poised to take home the Art Ross in his first full season at age 20.
  • With one more goal this season, Auston Matthews can become the fifteenth rookie in NHL history to score 40 goals. Currently, he’s tied with Crosby, Steve Yzerman, and Peter and Anton Stastny at 39. Kings’ coach Darryl Sutter, Sylvain Turgeon, and Warren Young all scored 40 goals in their rookie seasons.

Jonathan Quick Injury Update

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Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick gets closer and closer to a return, reports LA Kings insider Jon Rosen. Quick took to the ice in full gear this morning for the first time since injuring his groin midway through the season opener. He’s spent the last four months recovering off-ice, respecting the injury and wary of progressing too fast. Kings GM Dean Lombardi has gone back and forth on a planned return date, at times stating early March or mid-February. Having Quick on ice in full equipment by February 1st is right on schedule, at least according to Kings coach Darryl Sutter.

Quick’s injury initially spelled doom for the Kings as the organization had no viable backup ready to take the reins. They had signed former Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Jeff Zatkoff—who was relegated in Pittsburgh to a third-string role after Matt Murray’s surprise success—but his play quickly indicated that he was not ready for the starting role.

Luckily for the Kings however, veteran Peter Budaj stepped up and manned the crease admirably. Budaj is putting up the best numbers of his career this season. In 44 games Budaj is 24-14-3 with a .922 SV% , a 2.01 GAA, and 6 shutouts. Not bad for a goaltender on the brink of retirement. Budaj’s performance has kept the Kings in playoff contention, and Quick’s return could solidify its ticket down the stretch.

Budaj’s strong performance also allowed Quick to rehabilitate properly and not rush back to action too soon. Groin injuries are incredibly tricky for goaltenders as they rely heavily on lateral side to side movement. Ensuring that Quick is 100% before starting him significantly reduces the chances of him relapsing.

 

Quotable: Darryl Sutter

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Los Angeles Kings head coach Darryl Sutter has been one of the best interviews in hockey for a long time. He’s the perfect blend of one-liners and no-nonsense. In her latest “Practice Quotes” column, Lindsay Czarnecki jotted down some of Sutter’s latest responses. The whole thing is an amazing read as always, but here are some highlights:

On the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Victor Hedman (the Lightning are in town to face the Kings tomorrow):

He’s going to win the Norris. Now they don’t say is he, they say he is. He’s dynamic. He has some risk in his game. He can play physical, he’s fast. Plays special teams. There’s a handful of guys in the league, exciting guys to watch, don’t like playing against them. Wish I had two or three of them.

On long playoff runs:

It takes its toll. Guys are human, not machines. Look at guy like Jonathan [Quick]. Since I’ve been here in six years he’s had three major surgeries. It takes its toll. These guys play a lot of — everybody looks at these sexy numbers, how many games they’ve played and all that. You should also factor 150 playoff games as they count almost as double.

On expanding roster limits:

I think as long as you’re under the cap why can’t you have whatever you want? What difference does it make? To me it doesn’t make — what’s the point? You got a salary cap, everybody’s now at 75 million dollars, well, why can’t you have 25 guys?

The Kings will take on the Lightning tomorrow afternoon at 3pm before welcoming in the San Jose Sharks to town. After that is stretch where the team will play nine out of ten games on the road before their mandated bye-week. The team currently sits in the final wild card position in the West, but has several teams nipping at their heels. This stretch will be huge in deciding the team’s fate this season.

Pacific Division Notes: Brown, Gaborik, Bieksa

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Former Los Angeles Kings team captain Dustin Brown was scratched from this afternoon’s road contest in Boston. According to Jon Rosen of L.A. Kings Insider, Brown is battling an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.

Brown, who was stripped of the captaincy and replaced by Anze Kopitar this last summer, has had a moderate bounce-back campaign after the worst season of his career in 2015-16. Through 30 games Brown has contributed 14 points to the Kings attack and he’s already halfway to his points total from last year when he tallied 28 in 82 games. He is a five-time 20-goal scorer and netted 18 in the strike-shortened 2012-13 season.

With the expansion lurking around the corner, it’s been wondered whether the Vegas Golden Knights would gamble and take Brown, who is almost assuredly going to be left exposed by the Kings. While he is still capable of playing a physical role on a team’s third-line and obviously would provide the new franchise with veteran leadship, Brown has another five seasons left on his pact with an AAV of $5.875MM. Some have suggested the price tag would simply be too high for Vegas but if the Kings were willing to retain salary then it’s at least feasible the two sides could work out a trade following the expansion draft.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division on this Sunday:

  • Rosen also pointed out that it appeared right wing Marian Gaborik would be a healthy scratch today for the Kings based on what he saw at this morning’s warm-ups. That premise was confirmed by Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Gaborik, who has been prone to injuries throughout his career, has missed all but nine games this season after hurting his foot while representing Team Europe in the recent World Cup of Hockey. He has potted just a single goal to go along with three helpers in those nine appearances and it could be that Kings head coach Darryl Sutter is growing impatient waiting for the Slovakian sniper to find his offensive game. Gaboriak is averaging just 14:28 of ice time per game, a rate that is 3 1/2 minutes below his career average. Like Brown, Gaborik is in the midst of an expensive, long-term contract that has four seasons remaining beyond 2016-17, and comes with a cap charge of $4.875MM.
  • Kevin Bieksa has spent the vast majority of his 11-year career as a reliable, two-way top-four blue liner. Now in his second season with Anaheim, the 35-year-old Bieksa is averaging less than 20 minutes of ice time per game for the first time since his 39-game debut campaign in 2005-06 while with Vancouver. As Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register writes, Bieksa is not only adjusting to a lesser role but he is adapting his playing style to mask the fact he is no longer a player in his prime. Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle has encouraged the veteran blue liner to embrace the adjustments: “I think every player has to become somewhat of a chameleon,” Carlyle said. “You have to change with the game and what’s going on with it. I coached Kevin Bieksa when he was in his first year pro out of college. He was not a player, I can tell you, that many people would have believed was going to be an NHL prospect. He worked and he committed. “His personality is one that he’s a striver. And he’s done that and he’s done very well. He’s had a great career. … There’s never ever been a doubt that this guy’s not going to try. He’s going to give you everything he’s got.” As Stephens noted, Bieksa has played less than 15 minutes in each of the team’s last two contests and is skating on the third-pair. Bieksa understands the situation he is in, and as always is willing to whatever it takes to help his team: “To be a good teammate, sometimes you have to take a role that maybe you don’t like,” he said. “But if that’s what they think is in the best interests of the team, you take it, accept it and you do the best that you can.” With a plethora of NHL-caliber defenders in the organization and little cap space available to upgrade the roster elsewhere at the deadline, there have been some suggestions the team could look to move Bieksa, who has one year left at $4MM, to create added flexibility. He does possess a NMC, which adds a further layer of complexity to making a deal beyond his salary and age, however.

Jonathan Quick Not Close To Returning

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It hasn’t been a very quick recovery for an injured Los Angeles Kings goaltender.

Jonathan Quick injured his groin in the Kings’ first game of the season, leaving Jeff Zatkoff and Peter Budaj to mind the net in his expected three-month-long absence. While the Kings have been better than many expected with a record of 14-11-2, they’re still just fifth in the Pacific Division and hanging on to the last Western Conference Wildcard spot.

Coach Darryl Sutter provided an update on his superstar goaltender’s recovery to L.A. Kings Insider:

“In terms of [his progress], he’s just starting moving to the end of training from therapy. He’s still very much in the rehab mode. They’re still talking about a month before he could even begin to say what that next step was. It’s not in this year [2016] before there’s any sort of update.”

That means the Kings will be without Quick until late January or early February. While Budaj has been decent at 0.910 SV%, it’s still below league-average goaltending. The Kings have gone the first two months of Quick’s injury without acquiring another goalie, with just Anders Lindback being brought in to their AHL team on a tryout basis. Quick will be very motivated on his return, as he was rather poor in his World Cup appearance. He was 0-2, with an 0.863 SV% and seven goals against in his two games. If Quick comes back and plays to the high level that he can, then the Pacific Division should be very wary of the Kings.

Kings Activate Marian Gaborik From IR

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The Los Angeles Kings have activated right wing Marian Gaborik from IR, according to Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider. Gaborik is expected to take the ice for warm-ups and head coach Darryl Sutter will make the decision of whether the Slovakian forward will make his 2016-17 season debut tonight. A broken foot suffered during the World Cup of Hockey kept sidelined Gaborik all season.

No announcement of a corresponding move has been made but the Kings don’t need to clear a roster spot to accommodate Gaborik. With the 34-year-old winger back in the lineup, the Kings have 21 skaters – 14 forwards and seven defensemen – and two goaltenders.

Currently tied for 15th in the NHL in scoring, the Kings could certainly use the infusion of skill Gaborik brings to the table. A seven-time 30-goal scorer, Gabroik’s production has tailed off in recent seasons, however. He tallied just 12 goals in 54 contests during the 2014-15 campaign but netted 27 in 69 the season before, suggesting he still has something left to offer.

Now entering his 16th NHL season, the 34-year-old Gaborik has scored 386 regular season goals in 933 games. He was originally drafted third overall in the 2000 entry draft by the Minnesota Wild and has also spent time with the New York Rangers and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Snapshots: Kovalchuk, Sabres, Kings

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Could former NHL star Ilya Kovalchuk be looking to follow in Alexander Radulov’s footsteps next summer?

KHL analyst Aivis Kalniņš believes Kovalchuk wants to return to the NHL. The Russian sniper retired from the NHL back in 2013 in order to play in the KHL after 11 seasons in North America. He was just three seasons into a controversial 15-year, $100MM contract when he retired.

Kalniņš reported that CSKA has begun contract talks with former NHLers Kovalchuk and Viktor Tikhonov; while Tikhonov is considered close to an extension, Kovalchuk is not. It’s a similar situation to Radulov, in that CSKA attempted to sign him but he chose to leave money on the table to give the NHL another go.

Whether or not the NHL allows Kovalchuk to return is another question. Because he signed his voluntary retirement papers, all 30 NHL teams would have to approve the move. It’s unlikely that 29 teams would approve a competitor’s bid to sign a former consistent 30-plus goal scorer.

  • Brayton J. Wilson of WGR 550 in Buffalo reported a hard-to-believe stat about the Sabres. With their win over Minnesota, the Sabres are now 4-3-2, or one game over 0.500. Wilson reported that this is the first time the Sabres have been over 0.500 since the third game of the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. That’s 299 games ago, and a sign of the harsh realities of being a struggling franchise in the NHL.
  • After being shut out for the third consecutive game, Los Angeles Kings coach Darryl Sutter told reporters his message to the team was “there’s nobody coming in on a white horse to play goal for us or score goals or to come up [from the minors].” The Kings have approximately $1MM in salary cap space, despite placing the injured Jonathan Quick on LTIR. While Quick’s injury does give them some space in the interim, that would go away when he returns in three months, which rules out trading for Jaroslav Halak and likely Ondrej Pavelec too.

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