Penguins Notes: Murray, Sheary, Hagelin
The Pittsburgh Penguins will take on the San Jose Sharks tonight in a rematch of the Stanley Cup Final from last season, and there will be a familiar face in net. Matt Murray will make his second start of the season after allowing just a single goal in his debut against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. Even though Marc-Andre Fleury has played exceptionally well to start the year, head coach Mike Sullivan says both netminders will continue to play, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
We’re fortunate. We have two really good goaltenders that we know are going to give us a chance to win. We’re going to do our best to keep them both in the mix. We’ll go from there. These situations always have a way to work themselves out. Inevitably performance is always the dictator.
Mackey expects that Murray’s play tonight will factor large in the decision of who to start on Tuesday at home, though it’s up in the air from that point. The team doesn’t have another back-to-back situation until November 18th and 19th.
- The Penguins will get some help up front to try and score some goals for Murray, as Conor Sheary will return from a seven game absence to play tonight. Sheary suffered an eye injury last month in Montreal and has been itching to get back into game action. According to Mackey, he’ll start on the fourth line with Matt Cullen and Eric Fehr, though he could quickly ascend back up the lineup. Sheary has one goal and two assists on the season in just four games.
- The ‘HBK’ line (Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel) is officially broken up, according to Adam Gretz of NBC. The trio that was so dominant in the playoffs is now spread out over the Penguins top three units, with Hagelin skating alongside Sidney Crosby and Patrick Hornqvist. As Gretz notes, Hagelin brings a lot of the same aspects that Pascal Dupuis added so effectively to Crosby’s wing over the years. Hopefully it will spark something in the speedy winger, as he only has two points on the season so far. Kessel on the other hand is off to a great start this season and now finds himself skating alongside Evgeni Malkin and Chris Kunitz. #81’s ten points this year trails only Malkin on the Penguins, and he leads the team in assists.
Versteeg To Miss “A Couple Of Weeks”
Calgary Flames forward Kris Versteeg will miss “a couple of weeks” with a groin injury, according to coach Glen Gulutzan. Versteeg suffered the injury against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. He left the game after playing just 3:19.
The Lethbridge-native has been held off the scoresheet for four straight games, and has just one assist to show for his last six games. Versteeg has just two goals this season, both coming versus the Blues on October 22. He’s also one-for-two in the shootout, having scored the winner against Chicago earlier this season.
The Flames signed Versteeg away from division rival Edmonton, where he was in training camp on a PTO. Calgary is Versteeg’s seventh NHL team in 10 seasons.
With Versteeg back in Calgary for evaluation, the Flames further broke up their top line, splitting up Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau. Sam Bennett will center Gaudreau and Troy Brouwer, while Monahan is centering Micheal Ferland and Alex Chiasson. Calgary will visit the injury-plagued Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.
Flyers’ Michael Del Zotto To Return Saturday
After a suffering a knee injury at the beginning of October, Flyers’ defenseman Michael Del Zotto is set to return to the lineup on Saturday night, according to Sam Carchidi of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Del Zotto was placed on injured reserve on October 7th, and originally given a timetable of 4-5 weeks which was clearly accurate.
After a successful first season with the Flyers in 2014-15, Del Zotto fought his way through another injury plagued year in 2015-16, a situation far too familiar to the 26-year old. He’s played in 80+ games just once in his career, his rookie season with the New York Rangers, and has eclipsed 70 just one other time. If he’s to make the impact many Philadelphia fans hope, he’ll have to avoid injury for the rest of this season.
[Related: Philadelphia Flyers Depth Chart]
Expected to skate alongside Flyers’ star sophomore Shayne Gostisbehere, Del Zotto will deepen a Philadelphia defense corps that has allowed a league-leading 43 goals through 12 contests. Remarkably, the team is at 6-5-1 on the year and still poised to take a run at the playoffs again this season.
The team will have some roster work to do however before activating the defenseman, as they currently sit more than $1MM over the cap and have to be compliant before bringing Del Zotto back into the fold. The team could perhaps move Andrew MacDonald to LTIR, as he’s out at least a week with a lower-body injury.
Snapshots: Vrbata, Detroit Injuries, Beleskey, Flyers
Arizona right winger Radim Vrbata holds a unique distinction among the 719 players to suit up in the NHL this season, writes Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated. Vrbata is the lone player in the league to be in his third stint with the same organization. Vrbata played with the Coyotes in 2007-08, then was traded back there again in 2009, staying until 2014. After a two year stint with Vancouver, he returned to the desert, signing a one year, incentive-laden deal with Arizona this summer.
When he had signed with the Canucks, Vrbata admitted that he never really wanted to leave the Coyotes and had stayed in touch with plenty of players and staffers over the past two seasons with the hope of returning down the road. The 35 year old enjoyed the familiarity that only Arizona could provide, from the market to the coach (Dave Tippett), to even his linemate in Martin Hanzal.
That comfort level appears to have been quite helpful for Vrbata in his third stint with the team. After following up a 63 point effort two years ago with arguably the worst season of his career in 2015-16, he’s off to a strong start with Arizona this season with four goals and six assists through his first nine games and is currently skating on their top line.
[Related: Coyotes Depth Chart]
Elsewhere around the league:
- Red Wings right winger Thomas Vanek is expected to miss the next 2-3 weeks with a hip strain, GM Ken Holland told MLive’s Ansar Khan. Holland remains hopeful that defenseman Niklas Kronwall, who has yet to play this season with a knee injury, will be able to return to the lineup in the next week or so. Meanwhile right winger Tomas Jurco, who is still recovering from offseason back surgery, is likely to be cleared for contact sometime next week. Holland anticipates Jurco would need another 7-10 days beyond that to get into game shape.
- Bruins left winger Matt Beleskey is set to be a healthy scratch tonight against Tampa Bay, notes CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty. Beleskey is off to a tough start this season with no points and a -7 rating in nine games. Prospect Sean Kuraly will make his NHL debut in Beleskey’s spot on Boston’s third line.
- The Flyers have sent center Scott Laughton to their AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley on a conditioning assignment, the team announced. The 22 year old suffered a lower body injury back in training camp and is currently on long-term injury reserve. He’s eligible to be activated on Saturday but it would appear that he’ll get into a couple of games in the minors before joining Philadelphia’s active roster. Still with Philly, defenseman Andrew MacDonald is expected to miss at least the next week with a lower body injury, the club announced (Twitter link).
Christian Dvorak Back With Arizona Coyotes
According to Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News, the Coyotes have recalled Christian Dvorak prior to tonight’s game versus the Predators. Dvorak, expected to make an impact this year as a rookie was sent down on Monday after just seven games. He’ll replace the injured Martin Hanzal in the lineup.
After a junior career that saw Dvorak score over 100 points in two straight seasons (including 121 last year to come second in league scoring), the London Knight center hoped to make an immediate impact with the NHL club this season. With three points in seven games, he was at least contributing in the offensive end, however his defensive game still needs work.
With Hanzal day-to-day with a lower body injury, he’ll get another chance. Dvorak was a second round selection in 2014, and is among the young group of forwards the Coyotes are looking to build around.
Los Angeles Kings Recall Kevin Gravel
According to Jon Rosen of FOX Sports, the Los Angeles Kings have recalled defenseman Kevin Gravel from the AHL to replace Brayden McNabb who was placed on injured reserve this week.
Gravel is a former fifth-round pick who made his NHL debut last season with the Kings, getting into five games. The hulking defenseman has played two successful seasons in the minors since coming out of St. Cloud State, including two long playoff runs. The 24-year old will try to make his mark on the NHL club this time around, and prove that he deserves a longer chance.
For McNabb, it’s rest and rehab as he tries to work back from an upper-body injury suffered Saturday night. The team will try to replace his outstanding possession numbers somehow; Tom Gilbert, first in line to try, will have a disciplinary hearing today over his hit of Nick Ritchie on Tuesday.
Teenage Superstars On A Historic Pace
The NHL has always been good to its young stars, allowing the top-tier talents to succeed at the earliest of ages. Teenage superstars are not something new, we’ve seen them with every generation. Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Eric Lindros, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky. All have had huge seasons before they were able to drink (in the US at least).
This year, there is a new crop trying to put their name in the history books. Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, Zach Werenski, Travis Konecny are all off to blistering starts and look like all-stars already in the league.
There have only ever been 22 seasons in which a teenage player scored at a point-per-game pace (minimum 40 games), but that is what each of these players is close to. Obviously, to keep it up for an entire year is incredibly difficult but it isn’t so long since we’ve seen it happen.
McDavid fought through injury last season to put up 48 points in 45 games, though the second ranked teenage Jack Eichel only had 0.69 PPG. Both teenagers are leaders of their teams already, and expected to lead their franchises to the promised land.
We saw Crosby do it twice, in both 2005-06 and 2006-07. He recorded seasons of 102 and 120 points, actually setting the high mark for his career so far. He was alone though in the teenage group, as Alex Ovechkin lost out on his age-19 season due to a lockout (he’d go on to score 106 points as a 20-year old).
Perhaps the best example of a group this talented, this young, is way back in the early 80’s, when we saw the debuts of Larry Murphy, Denis Savard, Ron Francis, Dale Hawerchuk, Phil Housley and Steve Yzerman, among others. It was an unprecedented youth movement, that defined the game as we know it. While obviously this isn’t quite the same as those all-time greats (especially when speaking after just 10 games), this group should at least compete to have their names put in the all-time teenager lists.
Zach Bogosian Out “Weeks” With Sprained Knee
The Buffalo Sabres will be without one of their top defencemen for almost a month, as it was announced today that Zach Bogosian will be out for a few weeks with a sprained knee. The injury was first sustained on Tuesday night against Minnesota, when Bogosian needed to leave the game in the first period.
After an injury plagued 2015-16 that saw Bogosian only suit up in 64 games, he was expected to log big minutes for a young Buffalo club as they tried to climb out of the bottom of the league. Instead, the team will have to look elsewhere to fill his skates, perhaps leaning a bit more on veteran Cody Franson on the right side.
Buffalo has already had to endure injuries to star forwards Jack Eichel and Evander Kane, and losing Bogosian doesn’t help matters. With the team on a surprising three game winning streak, they’ll bring in the upstart Maple Leafs tonight for a matchup of rebuilding clubs. Bogosian likely would have been given the assignment of containing one of Toronto’s young guns, Auston Matthews or Mitch Marner. Casey Nelson will likely figure into the lineup playing on the right side, though it’s unclear who he’ll be paired with.
Craig Anderson Again Away From Team; Timetable Uncertain
In a story that sounds like it will be one of the focus points of the season for the Senators (however unfairly), Craig Anderson has again left the Ottawa Senators to be with his wife Nicholle. The goaltender’s wife was recently diagnosed with cancer, prompting the team to go out and get Mike Condon from the Pittsburgh Penguins for exactly this reason.
The 35-year old Anderson recorded an emotional shutout in his return to the net after learning of the diagnosis, and stopped 32 of 33 shots on Tuesday over Carolina. In his career with Ottawa, the veteran netminder now carries a 2.63 GAA and .919 save percentage, both outstanding numbers.
Even though the Senators were forced to give up a fifth-round pick for Condon, a player Pittsburgh had only just acquired on waivers three weeks earlier, it should provide them with some stability behind Anderson while Andrew Hammond nurses a groin injury. Even when Hammond returns, the team might elect to carry three goaltenders for the remainder of the year.
As everyone does when they write about this story, the staff here at PHR would like to extend our thoughts to the Anderson family. Many people’s lives are affected by cancer every day, but usually sports tends to provide relief from serious matters. If you’d like to help, check out #HockeyFightsCancer for donations and support.
Snapshots: Desjardins, Fisher, Gilbert, Chychrun
Darren Dreger’s been making the radio rounds of late and today, while appearing on Ottawa’s TSN 1200, among many notes the NHL insider discussed was the suggestion that Vancouver bench boss Willie Desjardins could soon find himself on the hot seat if the Canucks can’t right the ship in short order. Dreger was clear that he didn’t believe that was the case as of this moment but the organization believes it has a roster capable of making the playoffs and if the team falls further out of the race, they could decide to make a change behind the bench.
“I’m not suggesting he’s on the hot seat today as we have this conversation. But Jim Benning, the general manager, had a much higher view of where he thought this team was coming out of training camp. He told many that he believed that the Vancouver Canucks are a playoff team and would definitely contend for a playoff spot. And they’re not playing that way right now.”
The Canucks got off to a surprisingly strong start winning their first four games but have since lost five straight to even their record at 4 – 4 – 1. Offense. or rather a lack of, is the biggest issue in Vancouver as the team is last in the league in goal scoring, averaging just 1.78 per contest. Their power play is also among the worst in the NHL converting just 10.7% of their opportunities, which ranks 26th overall.
The team invested heavily in skilled Swedish winger Loui Eriksson, to the tune of a six-year, $36MM contract this offseason but the former Bruin has failed to find the back of the net in nine games with Vancouver. Bo Horvat leads the club in goals with four but only five players have tallied more than once this season. At the other end of the scoring spectrum, the New York Rangers lead the league averaging four goals per contest with 10 players who have at least two markers on the campaign.
Chris Nichols of Today’s Slapshot relays a quote from Pierre LeBrun indicating the Canucks would like to pull the trigger on a deal for a proven 20-goal scorer, assuming they can find a trade partner. They’ve been rumored to be in that market since the summer but aside from inking Eriksson the Canucks have done little in the way of adding impact offensive talent.
Desjardins is in his third season as coach of the Canucks and owns a career mark of 83 – 71 -19. He guided the team to a 101-point season and a second place finish in the Pacific Division in 2014-15, his first as bench boss. Last season, Vancouver dropped 26 points in the standings and placed sixth in their division. Prior to being hired in Vancouver, Desjardins served as head coach of the Dallas Stars AHL affiliate and guided them to the Calder Cup championship in 2014.
Elsewhere around the league:
- Mike Fisher, who was injured in Tuesday’s 5 – 1 win over Colorado, is being listed as day-to-day with an upper-body-injury, tweets Adam Vingan of The Tennessean. Fisher, who replaced Shea Weber as Nashville’s captain, is tied for second on the club in scoring with five points in eight games. Now in his 17th season in the NHL, Fisher has scored 261 goals with 287 assists in 1,024 contests.
- According to the NHL Department of Player Safety (Twitter link) Los Angeles Kings defenseman Tom Gilbert will face a hearing for his hit on Nick Ritchie of the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night. No penalty was assessed on the play but the league indicated the hearing is for boarding/charging. Eric Stephens of The Orange County Register provides an update on Ritchie and says the big winger won’t be in Anaheim’s lineup tonight as the Ducks host Pittsburgh. Gilbert has appeared in eight of L.A.’s 10 games this season and has recorded three points. Ritchie, meanwhile, has scored two goals and three points in 10 contests with Anaheim.
- The Arizona Coyotes have elected to keep rookie defenseman Jakob Chychrun on the roster instead of returning the 18-year-old blue liner to his junior team, according to Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports. As a result, Chychrun will burn the first season of his three-year entry-level contract. The Coyotes made a trade with Detroit during the 2016 entry draft to move up four spots to select Chychrun and so far has rewarded management’s faith. Chychurn has averaged 17:15 of ice time and has three points in eight games so far.