In a recent article for The Athletic, Jeremy Rutherford and Chris Johnston looked at eight St. Louis Blues who could be traded, with the Central Division club being open to making moves. One of the players discussed was forward Jake Neighbours.
In the article, the Pittsburgh Penguins were named as a team that could have interest in Neighbours.
If the Blues end up making Neighbours available for trade, it would make a lot of sense for the Penguins to make a push for him. At 23 years old, he would have the potential to be an excellent long-term fit on a retooling team on the Penguins. Furthermore, he would also help them immediately, which would be a good thing when noting that Pittsburgh is still in the playoff race even with their recent struggles.
In 24 games so far this season with the Blues, Neighbours has recorded eight goals, seven assists, 15 points, and 64 hits. This is after he had 22 goals, 46 points, and 173 hits in 82 games this past season with the Blues. With numbers like these, he would give the Penguins an impactful power forward to work with in their top nine if acquired.
It will be interesting to see if the Penguins end up making a push for Neighbours, but the fit looks good on paper.
NEW YORK — Denver Barkey didn’t look out of place Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
Not at all.
Playing his first career NHL game, Barkey made a major impact, but it was spoiled by a blown lead as the Flyers stumbled to the Rangers, 5-4, in a shootout.
The Flyers were on the power play for 2:51 minutes in overtime and failed to convert.
“You’ve got to come up with a goal for the team there,” Trevor Zegras said. “Just not good enough.”
Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck scored in the skills competition for New York. Zegras and Travis Konecny came up empty for the Flyers.
Rick Tocchet’s club scored two power play goals, an even strength goal and a shorthanded goal, all in the second period.
But the Flyers couldn’t nail down a 4-2 third-period lead. Mika Zibanejad tied the game for the Rangers with just 2:34 minutes left. It was a power play goal after Rasmus Ristolainen was penalized for hitting the puck over the glass.
“We’ve just got to learn how to handle pressure,” Tocchet said. “We knew at the beginning of the year it was something we were going to have to do. But we’ll take the point when we thought we should have had two.”
Zegras, Travis Sanheim, Owen Tippett and Rodrigo Abols provided the Flyers’ markers. Abols’ tally came on the penalty kill as the Flyers were nursing a one-goal lead. Sanheim made a great play to find him.
In the third period, Sanheim was left bloodied after taking a puck to the face. The 29-year-old defenseman had to exit before eventually returning.
The Flyers (17-10-7) finished their road trip 1-1-2. They couldn’t rebound from a bad 5-3 loss Thursday night to the Sabres. But they avoided dropping consecutive games in regulation, something they’ve done just once this season (Nov. 1-2).
“We’re only just past a third of the way in, so there’s still lots of hockey to be played,” general manager Danny Briere said an hour before puck drop. “We saw last game, a little bit of a bump in the road in Buffalo, didn’t have our best game, it’s going to happen, there are going to be ups and downs. We’re trying to stay even-keeled as much as possible.”
The Rangers (18-15-4) improved to just 5-10-3 at home.
“Metro Division matchup, you obviously want to get as many points as you can and not give any up,” Tippett said. “It’s one point. We’d like to have two, but there are things to work on.”
• Barkey made his NHL debut after being called up Friday from AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley.
“He won a lot of battles,” Tocchet said. “He’s a good player. I like him a lot.”
The 20-year-old’s parents and brother were in attendance after they arrived around 3 a.m. ET.
“I think there was a bunch of Toronto snow and their flight got delayed,” Barkey said, “but thankfully they’re here.”
In just a 23-second span of the second period, the winger picked up two assists as the Flyers flipped a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead. Barkey had a primary helper on Sanheim’s game-tying power play goal before recording another one on Tippett’s go-ahead goal.
“A super skilled player,” Tippett said. “Brings a lot of energy.”
A little over three minutes later, Barkey drew a penalty and Zegras then padded the Flyers’ lead to 3-1 on the ensuing power play.
“I thought he was great,” Zegras said. “Obviously the offense was good, but he’s a really smart player, made a lot of plays, so I was very impressed.”
Not even three and a half minutes into the game, Barkey nearly scored his first goal. He had back-to-back looks right in front, but was denied by New York netminder Igor Shesterkin.
Barkey played on a line with Tippett and Sean Couturier. The 2023 third-rounder is just 5-foot-9 and around 170 to 175 pounds, but his hockey IQ and motor are excellent. He has opened eyes in Year 1 with the Phantoms.
“He came in, he played extremely well,” Briere said. “I think the biggest thing from the reports was his consistency. He was good night after night and has earned a look.”
Denver Barkey takes rookie lap ahead of his NHL debut at Madison Square Garden. Not a bad place to do it. pic.twitter.com/pW57G56uQE
• Samuel Ersson was in net for the Flyers as Dan Vladar missed the game with an upper-body injury.
The Flyers don’t believe the injury is serious. Briere even jokingly called it a “boo-boo.”
“He should be back, we hope, by Monday,” the Flyers’ GM said. “We don’t know for sure, but that’s what we’re hoping for.”
Ersson had 23 saves on 27 shots against the Rangers and wasn’t sharp in the third period.
Trocheck trickled one past him to make it 4-3. It was a shot that the 26-year-old goaltender knew he should have denied.
Panarin beat Ersson twice in regulation. He had the game-opening goal with 36 seconds left in the first period and then drew New York to within 3-2 during the second period before Abols scored at shorthanded.
Shesterkin stopped 28 of the Flyers’ 32 shots.
• The Flyers were also without key center Christian Dvorak. The 29-year-old is considered day to day with a lower-body injury.
“Just needs a few days,” Briere said. “He won’t be able to dress today, but we don’t expect him to miss, hopefully, no more than today.”
Garnet Hathaway was a healthy scratch for the first time this season.
It couldn’t have been an easy decision for Tocchet, even with the veteran winger’s drought offensively. Hathaway hasn’t recorded a point in 33 games.
“I think he’s had some tough moments, he’s trying to find his game,” Tocchet said. “But it’s not just him. He’s good when he plays with speed guys, so we’ve also got to help him, too.”
• The Flyers return home for a matchup Monday with the Canucks (7:30 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
A former Chicago Blackhawks forward is on the move.
The Montreal Canadiens have announced that they have acquired former Chicago Blackhawks forward Phillip Danault from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick.
Danault had been one of the NHL's top trade candidates, and the Canadiens were one of the clubs that he was heavily linked to. Now, with this move, the former Blackhawks forward is set to begin his second tenure as a member of the Canadiens.
Danault will be looking to bounce back with the Canadiens, as he has had a tough start to the 2025-26 season. In 30 games so far this campaign, he has recorded zero goals and five assists. This is after he had eight goals and 43 points in 80 games this past season with the Kings.
Danault kicked off his NHL career with the Blackhawks, as the Central Division club selected him in the first round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft with the 26th overall pick. From there, Danault played two seasons with the Blackhawks from 2014-15 to 2015-16, where he recorded one goal and five points in 32 games.
Danault's time with the Blackhawks ended during the 2015-16 season when he was traded to the Canadiens with a 2018 second-round pick in exchange for Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann. He would break out and become a solid top-six two-way center with the Canadiens following the move.
Anaheim Ducks - 20-12-2 - 42 Points - 5-4-1 in the last 10 - 2nd in the Atlantic
Columbus Blue Jackets - 14-14-6 - 34 Points - 3-5-2 in the last 10 - 8th in the Metro
Blue Jackets Stats
Power Play - 18.1% - 18th in the NHL
Penalty Kill - 72.0% - 30th in the NHL
Goals For - 98 - 20th in the NHL
Goals Against - 119 - 31st in the NHL
Ducks Stats
Power Play - 17.7% - 21st in the NHL
Penalty Kill - 76.3% - 27th in the NHL
Goals For - 120 - 3rd in the NHL
Goals Against - 120 - 25th in the NHL
Series History vs. TheDucks
Columbus is 32-29-1-8 all-time, and 15-16-1-3 on the road vs. Anaheim.
The Jackets are 2-1-2 in the last 5 games against the Ducks.
The CBJ have gone 5-of-19 on the PP in the last 6 games.
The Blue Jackets have killed off 46 straight Ducks man-advantages.
Who To Watch For TheDucks
Leo Carlsson leads the Ducks 41 points.
Troy Terry and Leo Carlsson lead the team with 24 assists each.
Cutter Gauthier leads Anaheim with 18 goals.
Lukáš Dostál 12-6-1 with a SV% of .905. He started and won last night against the Rangers.
Goalie Carter Ville Husso is 5-3-1 with a SV% of .884. He started and lost against the Jackets this past Tuesday.
CBJ Player Notes vs.Ducks
Zach Werenski has 13 points in 15 games against Anaheim
Boone Jenner has 9 points in his last 16 games against the Ducks.
Sean Monahan has 29 points in 36 games vs. Anaheim.
Injuries
Erik Gudbranson - Upper Body - Missed 26 Games - IR - No timeline for a return
Mathieu Olivier - Upper Body - Missed 11 Games - IR- No timeline for a return - He is skating
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 67
How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be on FANDUEL SPORTS NETWORK. Bob Wischusen will be on the play-by-play. The radio broadcast will be on 97.1 THE FAN, with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play.
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With only three games left before the Christmas break, the Montreal Canadiens will host the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bell Centre on Saturday night before heading to Pennsylvania for the second part of the back-to-back on Sunday.
The big story for the weekend, aside from the fact that Kent Hughes brought back Phillip Danault, will be Sidney Crosby’s chase for the Penguins' all-time scoring lead. As things stand, the Penguins’ captain sits on point behind Mario Lemieux with 1,722 points; the “kid” needed 1,385 games to get there, while Lemieux recorded 1,723 points in just 915 games. In other words, in Saturday night’s tilt in Montreal, Crosby could tie the Montreal native Lemieux’s point total or even set a new record.
Pittsburgh was shut out in its last game against the Ottawa Senators, but Crosby has an excellent record against the Canadiens with 70 points in 53 career games. Tying or breaking Lemieux’s record in the province where Crosby played his junior hockey would be a great scenario.
The Penguins have been struggling of late; they are 2-4-4 in their last 10 games and are currently 12th in the Eastern Conference. They are still without Evgeni Malkin, who’s on injured reserve, and Kris Letang is having an awful season, becoming the target of the Pens’ fans' ire with only 16 points in 33 games with two more years left on his contract and a full no-movement clause.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens are 5-4-1 and still struggling with consistency. Martin St-Louis has yet to confirm who the starter will be for the tilt, but both goalies should see a game, given that the Habs are playing two games in two days. Jakub Dobes has never taken on the Pens, but he had a good game on Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Czech netminder has a 12-5-2 record with a 2.91 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage this season. As for Jacob Fowler, he made his NHL debut a little over a week ago against the Pens, and he signed a 4-2 win, saving 36 of the 38 shots he faced for a .947 SV.
As for the Penguins, they recently traded Tristan Jarry to the Edmonton Oilers for Stuart Skinner. The latter has played only one game since the trade, and he allowed five goals on 22 shots against his former team. However, he has a 4-1-0 record against the Canadiens with a 2.75 GAA and a .898 save percentage. He’s 11-9-4 on the season with a 2.93 GAA and a .887 SV. As for Arturs Silovs, he has never taken on the Habs in his young career, and he has 4-5-6 record with a 3.26 GAA and a .890 SV on the season.
Up front, Brendan Gallagher is the Canadiens’ most productive player against the Pens with 16 points in 32 games, followed by Nick Suzuki, who has 12 points in 16 games and Mike Matheson with 10 points in 20 games. The
defenseman missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, but he did
skate on Friday while the team was off.
The Canadiens have acquired forward Phillip Danault from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a 2026 second-round pick.
At the other end of the ice, Crosby is unsurprisingly the Pens most productive player against the Habs with 70 points in 53 games, as mentioned above. Erik Karlsson comes in second place with 43 points in 53 games, followed by Letang with 40 points in 48 games.
Pittsburgh has won six of the last 10 duels between the two sides, including a whooping 9-2 triumph the last time they met in Montreal. Still, the Habs have won the sole meeting this season, and the Penguins have lost their last seven games, not all in regulation, but still, they haven’t pocketed two points since December 4.
The referees will be Peter MacDougall and Frederic L’Ecuyer, with Devin Berg and Andrew Smith acting as linesmen.
The Canadiens will be celebrating Christmas at the Bell Centre tonight. The first 7,500 fans through the doors will receive a Christmas ornament exclusively designed for the event, and there will be a tailgate at La Cour Rio Tinto, where you can grab a free hot chocolate from the Tim Hortons food truck. If you’re watching the game at home, it’s scheduled for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on TVAS, CITY, SNE, and SN-PIT.
The Chicago Blackhawks are set to play an afternoon matinee against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Losers of four straight, they have fallen out of favor in the Western Conference. At 13-15-6, they sit five points behind the playoff line.
As for Ottawa, winners of two straight, they are now 16-13-4. It's been an up-and-down season for them, as they are four points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The difference between the two conferences is evident in this matchup.
Scouting Ottawa
The Ottawa Senators have the expectation of being a playoff team in 2025-26. They were a playoff team last year and gave the Toronto Maple Leafs all they could handle in the first round. Now, they'd like to take another step, but there is some work to do.
Their captain, Brady Tkachuk, was injured for some time during this season, but he's back and starting to light it up. Around him is a ton of talent at every position.
Tkachuk - Stutzle - Zetterlund
Perron - Cozens - Batherson
Amadio - Greig - Giroux
MacDermid - Halliday - Cousins
Sanderson - Zub
Kleven - Spence
Matinpalo - Jensen
Ullmark
Merilainen
Linus Ullmark started in goal for Ottawa in their last game, which means that Leevi Merilainen could get the nod in this one, but Ullmark is no stranger to making two starts in a row.
The trick for the Senators is that they play again on Sunday, so each of them is going to get a start. Ullmark is more likely to go against the team he won the Vezina Trophy with in the Boston Bruins, leaving Merilainen for the Chicago game one day prior.
Outside of Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle is the catalyst for all offense on this team. That top line is as good as it gets in the NHL. Ottawa needs some of their depth to start showing out a little more.
On defense, Jake Sanderson is an elite player. When he is on the ice, you can expect the Blackhawks to pay extra close attention to him.
Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago
The Chicago Blackhawks are trying to change up all sorts of things in order to get back on track. That includes their line combinations.
Burakovsky - Nazar - Bertuzzi
Mikheyev - Dickinson - Moore
Donato - Greene - Teravainen
Lafferty - Dach - Lardis
Vlasic - Crevier
Grzelcyk - Levshunov
Kaiser - Murphy
This is entirely different from the lineup that they used against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. After practice on Friday, head coach Jeff Blashill wouldn't confirm that these lines would stick for the game. Warmups will be very telling in this regard.
Ethan Del Mastro and Dominic Toninato were the extras in practice, but their status for this game against Ottawa is still unknown based on Blashill's lineup comments.
Following this game, the Blackhawks don't play until Tuesday night, so it is hard to predict what the goaltending situation will be. Arvid Soderblom has been struggling a bit lately, but this is a typical situation he encounters. If Blashill wants to change it up and use Knight with two days of rest and the holiday break upon them, that wouldn't be much of a surprise either.
How To Watch
The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. To view this game, it can be found locally on CHSN. It can be streamed nationally on ESPN+. The puck will drop shortly after 2:00 PM CT.
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While word around the league was that the Kings were aiming to get a roster player in return, they ultimately agreed to send Danault back to Montreal for a second-round pick, not the Habs’ own pick but the Columbus Blue Jackets’, the one they acquired when they agreed to take on Patrik Laine’s full $8.7 million cap hit for two seasons.
Given the fact that the Jackets are currently 25th in the league with 34 points, it could be a reasonably high pick, but the Canadiens could afford it. They still have eight picks for the upcoming draft, including one in the first three rounds and two in the fourth round (thanks to the Jonathan Kovacevic trade).
In an ideal world, the Canadiens would have liked to acquire a second-line center this summer, but none were available on the market, and Danault is not one of them, not anymore. What he can still do, however, is win a lot of draws and make the Canadiens’ penalty kill much better. While everyone was on board with moving on from Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak, their departure significantly hurt the PK. Martin St-Louis hoped that Alex Newhook would pick up the slack, but that worked for 17 games before he fractured his ankle. He then had surgery that ruled him out for four months, which means until mid-March.
Since then, St-Louis has made do with Jake Evans, Josh Anderson, Oliver Kapanen and Joe Veleno. At times, Nick Suzuki has also pitched in, but overusing him is less than ideal. Danault has a 52.9% faceoff percentage and can definitely help on the penalty kill, but he cannot roll into town hoping to play as significant a role as he once did for the Canadiens.
In his last season with the Canadiens, he was forming the top line with Brendan Gallagher and Tomas Tatar. The latter is long gone, while the former currently skates on the fourth line, and in an ideal world, that’s where Danault needs to land. Looking at the big picture, a player like Kapanen, who has established good chemistry with Ivan Demidov and is working on it with Juraj Slafkovsky, needs to continue gaining valuable experience. Danault is 32 and is only under contract until the end of next season; he’s not going to be there long-term.
While the Canadiens haven’t announced it yet, the AHL transactions page shows that Jared Davidson was loaned back to the Laval Rocket yesterday, a move necessary to comply with the 23-man roster limit. It will be interesting to see who makes way for Danault in the lineup; Veleno and Owen Beck are the two likeliest candidates. Beck is pointless in seven games this season, while Veleno has three points in 29 games. Still, the veteran saw over 14 minutes of ice-time in the last match, while Beck only saw 11:24 of action. The 21-year-old could be best served by playing more minutes down in Laval than being on the Canadiens’ fourth line right now.
The Habs have yet to confirm when Danault will join the team, we’ll probably know more on Saturday morning when the Canadiens hold their morning skate at the Bell Centre at 10:30. It’s worth noting that the centerman hasn’t played since December, 10 because of a virus (that’s the official reason, but it could have been linked to the fact that a trade was in the works as well).
With the Kings not retaining any salary, it will be interesting to see how the Canadiens will navigate the numbers when their injured players come back, but that's a topic for another day.
He's baaaaaacccckkkkk! #Habs with a late night trade before the #NHL holiday roster freeze kicks in acquire Phillip Danault from the #GoKingsGo in exchange for a 2nd round pick in the 2026 Draft pic.twitter.com/yQehAE7TVo
The vibes inside Amerant Bank Arena were immaculate at the end of Friday’s game between the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes.
For the first time in franchise history, Florida erased a three-goal deficit with less than ten minutes to go, earning a resounding 4-3 shootout victory over the Hurricanes.
The victory was the fourth in a row for the Cats and the seventh over their past eight games.
It also moved Florida, for now, into second place in the Atlantic Division, one point back of first-place Detroit.
There was a lot to like about Friday’s win, so let’s get to the takeaways:
LUNDELL SAVES THE DAY
Florida’s epic comeback was nearly thwarted by Andrei Svechnikov in the final moments.
With Sergei Bobrovsky on the bench for an extra attacker, Svechnikov picked up the puck and had only Anton Lundell standing between him and a game-sealing empty-net goal.
As Svechnikov approached Florida’s blue line he attempted to stickhandle himself to a position where he could put the puck on net. That’s when Lundell stepped up and disrupted the play, taking the puck off Svechnikov’s stick and moving it back toward Carolina’s end of the ice.
Moments later, Florida scored the game-tying goal with 41.1 seconds on the clock.
“That was pretty good,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said with a smile.
“He saved the game,” added Panthers forward Brad Marchand. “Svechnikov is a great player that can easily make a move on a D-man and get a shot on net with that much space, so yeah, he completely saved the game. He made a great play, and then we go down score right after. A great job by him.”
BELIEF NEVER WAVERED
For those who have been paying attention over the past several years, the Comeback Cats are nothing new.
This time, however, there was a little more gravity to the situation.
The scoreboard did not scream ‘you can do it’ with Florida down 3-0 and the clock ticking past the 10-minute mark.
But between the veterans on the bench helping maintain the team’s composure and the skilled players who never say die no matter what the numbers on the jumbotron says, it was quite impressive to see the Panthers pull off such a startling comeback, and against perhaps the stingiest team in the NHL.
“You know what? It's easy to believe, but at the same time, you also know how hard it is,” said Maurice. “There's nothing easy about winning that game tonight. We will have plays that we didn't like and parts of the game that we didn't like, but we also had a bunch of things just didn't go for us. We had a bunch of chances that didn't go, and that's usually what the losing coach says, we had our chances, but I was good with our game. Like where we are in the year, and where we are trying to build our team this year and the way we play, when you look up (and the score is) 3-0, and you don't think that's quite the way the game was played. So we needed one of these where a couple things went our way in the end.”
MARCHAND THE CHEAT CODE
It’s pretty unbelievable what Marchand has been doing this season for the Panthers.
The 37-year-old is looking 10 years younger, playing some elite hockey on the ice while being an incredibly positive emotional leader off the ice.
Marchand scored his 20th goal of the season during the third period on Friday to spark Florida’s comeback.
He’s now racked up four goals and eight points over his past four games and his line with Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe has been incredibly effective on both ends of the ice.
“Marchy, as he always does…we're down three, he’s screaming, ‘We can do this’ and he scores the first goal,” Maurice said. “That was really the big one that kind of gave us some life. It almost takes some pressure off you at that point. You can throw it at them, pull the goalie, and so those guys got it done.”
Photo caption: Dec 19, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; The Florida Panthers celebrate their win against the Carolina Hurricanes following the shootout at Amerant Bank Arena. (Rhona Wise-Imagn Images)
Also, the Kings now own two draft picks in the second round of the 2026 draft.
This trade follows several reports, including from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, about Danault and the Kings being willing to part ways.
Danault is returning to his home province of Quebec in his reunion with the Habs. The 32-year-old played parts of six seasons with Montreal.
Across those years, he played 360 games for the club, scoring 54 goals and 194 points. He was also a part of the Canadiens team that advanced to the Stanley Cup final in 2020-21.
With the Kings this season, Danault has had a very slow start. In 30 appearances, he's scored zero goals and put up five assists while averaging 16:19 of ice time per game, spending most of his time on the third line. Furthermore, he's missed the last four games due to illness.
The shutdown, two-way center is signing off on his Kings tenure after five seasons and 349 games. In that span, Danault scored 70 goals and 200 points.
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Dec 14, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Buffalo Sabres defenseman Conor Timmins (21) passes the puck during the second period against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Blake Dahlin-Imagn Images
Blake Dahlin-Imagn Images
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said defenseman Conor Timmins is expected to miss between six to eight weeks after breaking his left leg in the third period of a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night .
Timmins was hurt with 5:20 left in regulation in what appeared to be a non-contact injury while several players battled for a puck along the boards in the neutral zone. A replay showed Timmins' left skate may have caught a rut in leading to his left leg bending awkwardly.
The 27-year-old has seven season of NHL experience and in his first year in Buffalo after signing a two-year contract in free agency last summer. Timmins has six assists in 32 games, with the injury expected to sideline him through the NHL's Olympic break in February.
Ruff did not have an immediate update center Tyler Kozak, who left the game with upper body injury in the second period.
The tenure of former Detroit Red Wings 2018 second round (33rd overall) pick Jonatan Berggren came to an official close this week, as he was placed on waivers and subsequently claimed by the St. Louis Blues.
In his second game with the Blues on Thursday night against the New York Rangers at Enterprise Center, he demonstrated why the Red Wings once viewed him as a potential key contributor on offense by sniping a shot past goaltender Igor Shesterkin.
Yeah, you're going to want to see this shot by Jonatan Berggren. 🎯
“I just play my game,” Berggren said. “I haven't played a lot of hockey this season, so it's just fun to be out there and be with the boys and play good hockey. … It's easy for me to adapt, a really fun group and very skillful. So yeah, they make it easy for me.”
While he began the game playing alongside another former Red Wings forward in Pius Suter, he would later be elevated to the top line alongside Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich.
“I just try to play my game and hopefully keep doing that and play good," Berggren continued. "It's super fun to play with those two guys. Really skillful players. So yeah, let's keep going.”
Berggren showed flashes of offensive upside during his rookie campaign with the Red Wings, scoring 15 goals in 67 games. However, he was unable to secure a roster spot with the club the following season, playing the majority of 2023-24 with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Last season, his last full campaign in the Red Wings' organization, he scored 12 goals while adding 12 assists in 75 games.
The Red Wings chose to re-sign Berggren, who was a restricted free agent, over the summer to a one-year contract worth $1.825 million.
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Avalanche score nearly 10 minutes into the game and it's Brent Burns. He snapped a shot from the point that deflected off the skate of a Jet defender and it's 1-0 Colorado.
Colorado would go on the penalty kill right after, though, as Gabe Landeskog was called for holding Josh Morrissey. The Avs would go on to kill the penalty and it was a complete team effort. Cale Makar forechecked like a beast and Brock Nelson made a key interception to disrupt the Jets' momentum.
Martin Necas scored off a feed from Nathan MacKinnon on a 2-on-1 rush to give the Avalanche a 2-0 lead with just under five minutes left in the first.
Wedgewood made a highlight-reel save in the closing stages of the first. The puck got underneath of him in the crease and he kicked his left leg out and knocked the puck out of danger.
Second Period
Josh Manson laid out Cole Perfetti with a hard hit early in the frame, but Jets forward Tanner Pearson took exception and challenged Manson to a fight. And it went poorly for him, as Manson dropped him with a series of blows.
Mark Scheifele was subsequently penalized for holding MacKinnon and the Avalanche were awarded with a power play.
We're halfway through the period. The score hasn't changed. Winnipeg's Logan Stanley one-timed a shot from the point, but Scott Wedgewood made the stick save.
The Jets were subsequently penalized for too many men on the ice and Colorado got another chance on the man advantage. Landeskog also checked Winnipeg defenseman Dylan Samberg into the boards after the whistle.
Martin Necas took a hit along the boards and just went down the tunnel. You hate to see that. Hopefully it's nothing too serious.
Jets score shorthanded late in the period and it's Morgan Barron. Winnipeg cleared the puck and Barron won the foot race and snuck the backhand by Wedgewood. Barron has scored in back-to-back games against the Avalanche and has registered points in three out of his last four against Colorado.
Third Period
Parker Kelly scores 1:58 into the final period to give Colorado a 3-1 lead. Manson fired the initial shot, and Kelly, who was screening Hellebuyck, deflected it by the reigning Hart Memorial Trophy winner.
Devon Toews gets penalized for hooking Gabriel Vilardi. The Jets respond with a goal off the next draw. Haydn Fleury fires a slap shot that Scheifele redirects from the backdoor past Wedgewood to make it a 3-2 game.
Near the halfway point of the period, Kelly tipped a shot from Samuel Girard by Hellebuyck, but it was immediately ruled no goal by the officials because Kelly played it with a high-stick.
This week was the last episode of the season, so co-hosts Roy Bellamy and David Dwork were extra motivated to squeeze as much hockey goodness as they could into this week’s show.
Joining Roy and Dave was THS’ official Anaheim Ducks correspondent, comedian Brad Williams.
In addition to gushing over the solid season his Ducks are having, Brad also chatted about the challenging Western Conference, chirping his fellow comedians while on the road and the importance that Waffle House plays on any road trip.
Wins and fails of the week included Leon Draisaitl scoring his 1,000th point on former Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, a pair of defensive fails by the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins, an interesting jersey choice by Tate McRae in Calgary and a goaltending matchup in South Florida featuring the sons of Hall of Fame netminders Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo.
The full episode and interview can be seen in the videos below:
The Philadelphia Flyers are giving one of their exciting prospects a chance on the NHL roster.
The Flyers have announced that they have recalled forward Denver Barkey from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
The Flyers also shared that defenseman Egor Zamula has been assigned to the Phantoms after clearing waivers.
With Barkey being one of the Flyers' most promising prospects, it is undoubtedly notable that he has been called up. The young forward will now be looking to make a big impact after getting his first NHL call-up from here.
Barkey has appeared in 26 games so far this season with the Phantoms, where he has posted seven goals, nine assists, and 16 points. This is after he had 25 goals and 82 points in 50 games with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) last season. He also recorded nine goals and 20 points in 10 playoff games for London this past spring.
As for Zamula, he will now be getting into his first AHL action since the 2022-23 season. In 13 games this season with the Flyers, he has recorded one assist and a plus-4 rating.
Buffalo Sabres star forward Alex Tuch is a player to keep a very close eye on this season. The star winger is a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA), so questions have naturally come up about his future in Buffalo.
The Sabres' hope is to sign Tuch to a contract extension, and it is easy to understand why when noting that he is one of their most impactful players. It would not be easy for the Sabres to replace him if they lose him, as he is a top-six power forward who is a major scoring threat.
Yet, if the Sabres do not have Tuch signed to a contract extension by the deadline and they are still out of a playoff spot then, they may end up having no choice but to shop Tuch.
According to The Fourth Period, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dallas Stars, Carolina Hurricanes, and Los Angeles Kings are four teams that are expected to express interest in Tuch this season if the Sabres make him available.
With all four of these teams having high expectations, it would make all the sense in the world for them to pursue a star like Tuch near the deadline. Any of them would be lucky to land Tuch, but the same could be said for every other playoff club in the NHL, as he is a proven top-six winger.
In 32 games so far this season with the Sabres, Tuch has recorded 11 goals, 18 assists, 29 points, and a plus-3 rating.
