Aaron Ekblad Out
Florida Panthers defenseman and captain Aaron Ekblad left tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning after suffering what looks like a head injury. Lightning forward Gabriel Dumont hit Ekblad in the corner and Ekblad immediately went down clutching his head. The Panthers later announced that Ekblad will not return tonight.
Losing Ekblad would certainly hinder the Panthers’ playoff hopes. The team sits 6 points out with 16 games remaining. Ekblad has 10G and 11A in 66 games. The Panthers have some backup with UFA signing Keith Yandle, but Ekblad leads all defensemen in goals, and all players in shots. With four teams to jump, the Panthers need to almost run the table for the rest of the season. Losing Ekblad makes that almost impossible.
The head injury is Ekblad’s second head injury this year, and third in 20 months. In September Ekblad suffered concussion-like symptoms at the World Cup of Hockey that the Panthers eventually called whiplash. Ekblad also suffered a concussion in January 2016. His injury history may worry the Panthers, expecially after signing EKblad to a eight-year, $60MM extension that kicks in next season.
Snapshots: Canadiens, Trouba, Andersen
The Canadiens received some good news and some bad news on the injury front today. Right winger Alexander Radulov skated on the second line in practice today and could be ready to return to the lineup tomorrow against the Oilers, notes Marc-Antoine Godin of La Presse. Radulov is Montreal’s second leading point getter this season with 46 points in 63 games and would be a welcome addition to a team that has struggled to score with consistency over the past few weeks.
Carey Price (flu) also returned to practice but the team announced via Twitter that left winger Paul Byron is now under the weather. Byron is in the midst of a career season and sits second on the team in goals with 16. The team also revealed (Twitter link) that center Tomas Plekanec skated with a non-contact jersey which would put his status for tomorrow in question. Plekanec has missed the last two games due to an upper body injury.
Other notes from around the league:
- Although it wasn’t all that long ago that he was involved in a contract dispute, talk has already shifted to the possible contract extension that Winnipeg’s Jacob Trouba could be eligible to sign as of July. The blueliner mentioned to Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press that he hasn’t given much thought to a new contract as of yet. Trouba had been hoping to be dealt earlier this season but wound up settling for a two year bridge deal and said at that time that he had rescinded his trade request. The injury to Tyler Myers allowed the 23 year old to play on his natural side as desired and he has responded with what is shaping up to be a career season.
- Toronto goaltender Frederik Andersen will set a career high in games played tonight against the Hurricanes with 55. He’s likely to see the bulk of the workload the rest of the season as well which should have him up near the 70 game mark when all is said and done. While the potential for fatigue is certainly a valid concern, Andersen told Mark Zwolinski of the Toronto Star that he isn’t tired nor is he dealing with a lingering injury. The 27 year old is in his first season with the Maple Leafs after being acquired in the offseason from Anaheim and aside from the beginning of the year, has given the team high quality goaltending and is a big reason why they remain in the thick of the playoff race.
Lundqvist Expected To Miss 2 – 3 Weeks
The New York Rangers will be without star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist for 2 – 3 weeks with what the team is calling a “lower-body injury,” according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, via Twitter. The scribe adds that the team has recalled Magnus Hellberg from Hartford of the AHL.
The worst case scenario would see Lundqvist return for the team’s final four or five contests, allowing the 35-year-old netminder enough game action to shake off any rust ahead of the postseason. “The King” was apparently injured at some point during the Blueshirts 5 – 2 win over Florida Tuesday night. The victory was number 404 of Lundqvist’s career and propelled him past Grant Fuhr for 10th place on the league’s all-time wins list. It also represented the 30th win of the 2016-17 campaign with Hank becoming the first goaltender in NHL history to record 11, 30-win seasons in his first 12 years in the league. The only season in which Lundqvist has failed to reach the 30-win plateau was the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign in which The King managed 24 victories in 43 starts.
Hellberg has made just one relief appearance in 2016-17 for the Rangers, stopping all four shots faced in a wild 7 – 6 loss to Dallas on January 17th. With four back-to-back sets over the next 15 days, it’s inevitable Hellberg will see some action in the next couple of weeks. In 31 AHL appearances Hellberg has recorded 11 wins against 11 losses with a GAA of 2.91 and a Save % of 0.902.
New York will likely rely heavily on Antti Raanta in Lundqvist’s absence. Raanta has turned in a stellar campaign as Hank’s understudy, winning 13 of 19 starts with a GAA of 2.33 and a Save % of 0.922. He’ll have to continue his strong play for the Rangers to have a realistic chance of catching either Pittsburgh or Columbus and sneaking into the top-three in the highly competitive Metro Division. Then again their best chance for a lengthy playoff run might come by securing the top wild card spot and shifting over into the Atlantic Division bracket thus avoiding a potential match-up with any of their Metro rivals until the Conference Final.
Lightning Recall Forward Matthew Peca
The injury-riddled Tampa Bay Lightning recalled center Matthew Peca from the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL, the team announced this morning. Thursday night, the team lost centers Tyler Johnson, Vladislav Namestnikov and Cedric Paquette to in-game injuries and Peca will help provide the Lightning with additional depth at the center position.
At this point the injuries to Johnson, Namestnikov, and Paquette appear minor, with the trio each considered day-to-day, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. However, it’s unlikely any of the three will be able to suit up for tonight’s contest against Florida, necessitating the call-up of Peca.
In nine games this season with the Lightning, the 23-year-old Peca has registered two points while posting a -3 plus-minus rating. He has tallied eight goals with 22 assists in 53 appearances for the Crunch. After a strong four-year stretch with Quinnipiac University, Peca joined the Crunch and has scored 17 goals and 77 points in 126 career AHL matches. Peca was originally a seventh-round draft choice by the Lighting in the 2011 entry draft.
Snapshots: Jackals, Lightning, Oilers
The ECHL continues to shrink, as the Elmira Jacksls announced today that they will cease operations at the end of the season. That’s the second team in less than a month to announce they are shutting down, after the Alaska Aces broke the news to their fans a few weeks ago. The Jackals have been around for 17 years, and are currently the affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. They will play out their remaining 14 games but, as they are at the very bottom of the league standings, will be shutting their doors immediately afterwards.
- Tampa Bay looks like it might have avoided certain doom last night when they lost three centermen to injury. The team reports that Tyler Johnson, Vladislav Namestnikov and Cedric Paquette all are day-to-day with lower-body injuries. All three looked much worse during the game, but each player has been spotted walking around the arena today.
- The Edmonton Oilers will welcome Benoit Pouliot, Kris Russell and Iiro Pakarinen back into the lineup tonight, as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. None of the three have played yet in March, with Pouliot’s injury taking him back even further than that. As the team fights with the surging Calgary Flames in the Pacific Division, they’ll welcome all the help they can get.
- Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg is reporting that the Flames will recall Rasmus Andersson before they take on the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow night. The Flames’ second-round pick in 2015, Andersson has impressed during his first taste of professional hockey and has 22 points in 50 AHL games. The Swedish defenseman could step into a spot vacated by Dougie Hamilton or Michael Stone, should either one miss time with their nagging injuries.
Morning Notes: Glendale, Niederreiter, Halverson
When Gary Bettman wrote a letter to Arizona lawmakers compelling them to pass Bill 1149—which would allow more than $200MM to be allocated from the state budget to build a new arena for the Coyotes closer to downtown Phoenix—he used some very strong wording. “The Coyotes cannot and will not remain in Glendale,” the Commissioner wrote in a thinly veiled threat that would hopefully force the Senate’s hand. He has received much backlash from the letter, including from a former mayor of Glendale herself, Elaine Scruggs (published by AZCentral).
Before the Coyotes moved out of downtown Phoenix they ranked 29th in attendance out of the league of 30 teams. Their first year in the Glendale Arena they ranked 19th in attendance. Attendance stayed in that tier until the floundering team started losing their disappointed fans’ support.
The truth is that the Coyotes have a world-class, taxpayer-funded arena that is designed for hockey and is only 12 years old. They have a City Council and City Manager ready to work with them to achieve an equitable long-term lease.
Scruggs makes a clear point in her letter, saying that it is not the people or city of Glendale’s fault, but the ownership groups the NHL has installed over their 19-year run. As the team struggles in last place in the Pacific Division, it is looking more and more like it won’t matter for the city that once loved their Coyotes. If they don’t get funding for another new arena, they might end up moving further than anyone—fans or the NHL—have ever wanted.
- According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, Nino Niederreiter will not receive any supplementary discipline for his knee-on-knee collision with Tyler Johnson last night. The Tampa Bay forward had to leave the game and is still being evaluated, but looks like he’ll miss at least some time with an injury. The Lightning also lost Vladislav Namestnikov and Cedric Paquette to injury last night, leaving them with several openings going forward.
- The New York Rangers have sent Brandon Halverson back to the ECHL after his emergency backup last night. The Swamp Rabbits goaltender filled in for Henrik Lundqvist on the bench last night, but wasn’t needed for any time on the ice. Lundqvist appears healthy enough to play in one of the Rangers’ back-to-back games against the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday and Monday.
- Ottawa has called up Phil Varone today prior to their game against the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow. It’s the final game of their current three game road trip, and as Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen reports, the team will likely be without Kyle Turris and Mark Stone. They’ll try to get a win against the NHL’s worst team before licking their wounds in the comfort of their own homes for the next three games.
Lightning Lose Two Players During Wild Game
The Tampa Bay Lightning may be dominating the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Wild so far tonight, but they’ve lost two regular forwards in the process.
According to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun, Tyler Johnson and Vladislav Namestnikov have both left the game with lower-body injuries and will not return.
Namestnikov left the game clutching his left leg; Tampa Bay Times reporter Joe Smith tweeted that the injury “doesn’t look good.” After the Lightning went up 3-0 on the Wild, Johnson was hit by winger Nino Niederreiter and needed to be helped off the ice by his teammates.
If Johnson is out for any extending time, it could seriously hurt the Lightning’s slim playoff chances. He has 43 points in 63 games, good for third in team scoring. However, a serious injury to Johnson could be partially relieved by Steven Stamkos‘ impending return to the lineup.
Namestnikov, meanwhile, has 24 points in 61 games, which ranks eighth on the Lightning for the season.
Tom Sestito Suspended Four Games
Last night, Pittsburgh Penguins enforcer Tom Sestito was given a five-minute major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct after a hard hit from behind on Winnipeg Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom. The league announced this morning that Sestito would have a phone hearing today on supplemental punishment for the incident. Well, that hearing has come and gone and NHL Player Safety has decided to hand down a four-game suspension for the veteran winger.
As Player Safety acknowledges, Enstrom did see Sestito coming and turned away from the check. However, they continue that Enstrom slowed and made his move earlier enough that Sestito had “sufficient time to minimize the force of the hit”. Instead, Sestito continued at full-force and caused injury to Enstrom because of it. The suspension will hopefully work toward teaching Sestito that hitting someone right on the numbers from behind is the exact kind of dangerous play that the NHL is looking to eliminate.
Sestito has only played in nine games this season -while racking up 44 penalty minutes in that time – with the Penguins and his presence will hardly be missed. However, the hope is that the missed games and subsequent loss of pay will impart some knowledge and sense of responsibility on Sestito in the future, if and when he gets back on the ice. Sestito is one of the few pure enforcers remaining in the NHL as the league moves away from violence for violence’s sake.
Playoff Puzzle: Western Goaltending Experience
Corey Crawford must feel like an old man these days. When the Chicago Blackhawks goaltender looks around at the creases of his main rivals in the Western Conference, one thing is constant: inexperience. He knows it well, from when he took on the Vancouver Canucks in 2011 as a rookie. At the other end of the rink was a 31-year old Roberto Luongo, who had already been through three playoff runs and was about to win the Jennings trophy for dominating in the regular season.
Crawford and the Hawks would lose in seven games, but it was an important step towards their cup win in 2013 when he would post a .932 save percentage—still the best mark of his career. It’s not easy to backstop a team to the Stanley Cup, even if you do have an excellent group in front of you. Just ask Martin Jones, who actually played his best hockey last year in the Finals against Pittsburgh, despite losing. It took a while for him to really find his groove and even then it wasn’t enough.
So when Crawford sees the standings and notices a trend among the biggest contenders, it might make him even more confident heading into this year’s tournament. Perhaps even if he is a bit older, that experience will pay off in the toughest two months of any sport.
Injury Notes: Stamkos, Borowiecki, Kinkaid
Steven Stamkos was again skating with teammates this morning, as he inches his way back to the lineup. While there is a good chance the Tampa Bay Lightning captain will return to the ice this season he might not be as effective right away. That’s what Zach Parise told Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times a few weeks ago, speaking from experience. Parise had the same surgery on his knee in November of 2010, and though he returned later that year as well, didn’t feel right until the following Christmas.
I’d say it took probably a year and a half to get back to feeling back to normal. That’s what my therapist said, six months to heal, a year you feel better. But to get back to that level for me, I feel like it was almost the following Christmas.
So Stamkos, who may get a chance to help his team in a playoff race—the Lightning are just four points out with 17 games left to play—likely won’t be the elite offensive presence he’s proven to be over the past eight years. Fear not Lightning fans, though Parise says he didn’t feel right until Christmas, he still scored 30 goals and 69 points the year following surgery. It wasn’t all bad.
- The Ottawa Senators will be without Mark Borowiecki tonight against the Arizona Coyotes after tweaking an injury last night in Dallas. Borowiecki is leading the league in penalty minutes this year and gives the Senators a destructive physical presence on the blue line. His 288 hits easily pace the NHL, 38 more than Matt Martin despite playing in eight fewer games.
- Keith Kinkaid has injured his right knee and will be out tonight for the New Jersey Devils, meaning newcomer Ken Appleby will be the backup for Cory Schneider. Andrew Gross of The Record reports that though the Devils don’t think Kinkaid’s injury is serious, if he’s held out of the lineup for a few more games they’ll get Appleby some playing time. The 21-year old has played well at the AHL and ECHL level this season.
- The Nashville Predators will be without P.A. Parenteau and Vernon Fiddler tonight, meaning Kevin Fiala and Colton Sissons will figure back into the lineup. Parenteau practiced this morning but will be held out for precautionary reasons, while Fiddler was absent from practice.
- Tyler Bozak was absent from this morning’s Toronto Maple Leafs practice, but Mike Babcock says he’s a game-time decision. If he’s out, Eric Fehr will get into his first game since being traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins at the deadline. The former Penguin has had a rough season including being waived just before the deadline.