The Montreal Canadiens currently have a 20-12-5 record and are third place in the Atlantic Division standings. Due to this, there is an expectation that they will continue to try to improve their roster after acquiring Phillip Danault from the Los Angeles Kings.
One of the Canadiens' needs right now is another impactful and skilled winger. Due to this, they are now being viewed as a potential fit for one of the NHL's best trade candidates.
In The Athletic's latest NHL trade matchmaker column, insider Chris Johnston named the Canadiens as a potential trade fit for Nashville Predators winger Jonathan Marchessault.
"This is a move that would certainly sit well with Marchessault, which is important given the fact he’s got that NMC in his contract. The former Conn Smythe Trophy winner would bring some experience to the NHL’s youngest roster and should be able to add offensive pop to the Habs’ top-six forward group," Johnston wrote.
Johnston also mentioned that the Canadiens could move Patrik Laine, who has an $8.7 million cap hit, to the Predators in a hypothetical Marchessault deal to make things work out financially.
It is worth noting that Marchessault is having a down season by his standards with the Predators, as he has recorded seven goals and 10 points in 28 games. Yet, when looking at his resume, there is a clear reason to believe that he should bounce back. Just last season with Nashville, he posted 21 goals and 56 points in 78 games. This was after he had 42 goals and 69 points in 82 games with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023-24.
Marchessault would be more than a rental for the Canadiens if acquired, too. This is because he has a $5.5 million cap hit until the end of the 2028-29 season. Thus, he would have the potential to be a nice part of the Canadiens' forward group for multiple seasons if brought in.
Minnesota sent forward prospect Michael Milne to the Lightning for a veteran power forward Boris Katchouk.
Milne, 23, was drafted by Minnesota in the third round, 89th overall, in the 2022 NHL Draft. He has been very injury prone in every season he has been in the Wild's organization.
The 5-foot-10 forward has appeared in 15 games with the AHL’s Iowa Wild this season, recording two goals and five points. He has played 172 career AHL games, all with Iowa, and has recorded 32 goals and 65 points.
Katchouk, 27, was a second round pick by the Lightning in 2026. He has played in 261 career AHL games and has recorded 64 goals, 90 assists and 154 points. He has played in three NHL games this year and has zero points and five hits.
In 179 career NHL games, Katchouk has 15 goals, 21 assists, 36 points, 310 hits and is a minus-23. The 6-foot-3 forward has played four seasons in the NHL with three different teams and is expected to go to the Iowa Wild.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Matthew Tkachuk played hockey on Sunday, which was a jolt of long-awaited good news for the Florida Panthers.
How long it’ll take him to go from the practice rink to the game rink remains unclear.
Wearing a yellow non-contact jersey, Tkachuk practiced Sunday for the first time this season and more than four months after he had surgery to repair a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle.
Tkachuk has not played since Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, when the Panthers clinched their second consecutive title by again topping the Edmonton Oilers. He went through the summer trying to rehab — but eventually decided that he needed the surgery knowing it would cost him the first few months of the season.
The wait isn’t over. But it’s close.
“He looks awesome,” Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe said. “Good to see him back out there. He brought us some energy today, that’s for sure.”
Now the waiting game shifts to when Tkachuk will play a game. Florida plays host to Washington on Monday and Montreal on Tuesday, then will be the home team for the NHL Winter Classic at the Miami Marlins’ ballpark against the New York Rangers on Friday.
The Panthers are scheduled to practice at the ballpark on Thursday. Other than morning skates, that will be their next practice. And there’s no guarantee that Tkachuk will play Friday. Florida is not going to rush it just for him to be part of an event.
“There’s a whole bunch of things he’s got to get through. The question is, is there enough time,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “He might be healthy enough or close to enough that he could play, but we’re not guessing on this. ... As much as we like the spectacle of it and we’d love for him to be a part of it — it would be great for the game to see him out there — the Florida Panthers need him healthy for the rest of the year.”
After the Panthers won their second straight Stanley Cup in June, Tkachuk revealed that he had sustained the injuries while playing for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. He missed the final 25 games of the regular season but returned for Game 1 of the Panthers’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tkachuk had 23 points — eight goals and 15 assists — in 23 playoff games, including seven points in the Stanley Cup Final. He’s expected to address reporters later this week and indicated after the practice Sunday that all went well with the workout.
The Panthers have been without a slew of key players all season, including captain Aleksander Barkov. They entered Sunday tied for the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, only five points out of the lead in the Atlantic Division.
Florida has gone through this season with the expectation that Tkachuk would be back on a “December-ish” timeline. He has said he wants to play in the Winter Classic, the Panthers’ first outdoor game, and for Team USA at the Milan Cortina Olympics in February.
“We will enjoy the talent upgrade,” Maurice said. “He’s a great player. But it’s the personality more. He’s chirping on the ice, right? He’s giving it to guys. They’re laughing. He’s bringing a little joy to everyone. He’s funny on the bench. He has an incredible emotional IQ in terms of the game of hockey. When nothing needs to happen, he doesn’t do anything. When something needs to happen, he figures out the right way.”
The Chicago Blackhawks just earned their gutsiest win of the season on Saturday night. They woke up after a three-day holiday break, got on a plane, flew to Dallas without Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, and beat one of the best teams in the NHL to snap a six-game losing streak.
Now, on the second half of a back-to-back, the Blackhawks will face the Pittsburgh Penguins at the United Center. Quickly, the mentality is to turn the losing streak into a winning streak.
Scouting Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Penguins have had a lot of success over the last 20 years. However, they are in a strange phase right now as their aging superstars are still great, but the rest of the team is not good enough to be a playoff team.
At 15-12-9, the Penguins are only three points below the playoff line, but they are the third-to-last team in the conference. Anything can happen, but making the postseason would be a tremendous challenge for them at this point.
Rakell-Crosby-Rust
Mantha-Novak-Brazeau
McGroarty-Kindel-Koivunen
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
Wotherspoon-Karlsson
Kulak-Letang
Shea-St. Ivany
Silovs
For the last 20 years, everything to do with the Pittsburgh Penguins started and ended with Sidney Crosby. It still does in 2025-26. He leads the team with 20 goals and 38 points in 36 games played.
He will lead their top line alongside Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust. This is the line that the Blackhawks will need their best against at all times. Crosby knows how to defend well, be hard to forecheck against, and turn it all into offense.
This forward group has some notable players alongside some young guys looking to establish their games at the NHL level.
They will, however, be missing Evgeni Malkin, who has missed the last 10 games with an injury. He won't return against Chicago, but he did skate before practice on Saturday. Malkin, like Crosby, will be a first ballot Hall of Famer and one of the greatest ever.
On defense, Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang are the two leaders. Fittingly, they are aging superstars who will be in the Hall of Fame like Crosby and Malkin, but they still know how to get it done at a high level. In goal for Pittsburgh will be Arturs Silovs.
Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago
The Chicago Blackhawks, playing the second half of a back-to-back with travel, have the cards stacked against them in this matchup as well. However, they've proven that they can compete in situations like this. Without Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, it's an even harder challenge, but coach Blashill will have them prepared to give it a good effort.
Bertuzzi-Dickinson-Slaggert
Teravainen-Donato-Burakovsky
Moore-Greene-Dach
Lardis-Toninato-Lafferty
Vlasic-Crevier
Grzelcyk-Levshunov
Kaiser-Murphy
Knight
Captain Nick Foligno has been unable to return over their last couple of games, but every match is a chance for him to come back. If it is in this matchup, you can expect one of Sam Lafferty or Dominic Toninato to take a seat from this group.
Landon Slaggert was called up from Rockford to replace Ilya Mikheyev, who is out due to the birth of his child, but he played so well against the Stars that it would be hard to bench him one night later.
Arvid Soderblom started in goal for the Blackhawks on Saturday night. That means that Spencer Knight will likely get the nod against the Penguins on Sunday.
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. Nationally, it can be streamed on ESPN+. The puck will drop shortly after 6 PM CT.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
The Ottawa Senators’ 7–5 loss in Toronto on Saturday night won’t go down as the greatest game ever played in the Battle of Ontario, but it was certainly entertaining. Matthew Knies had two goals and an assist for Toronto, which snapped a five-game losing slide against the Sens.
Neither team seemed to be at their best, which isn’t uncommon following a three-day holiday break when players are completely off skates and – how shall I put this? – their standard nutritional intake is ignored.
In a lot of ways, the game resembled a holiday skate on the ODR, with loads of goal scoring and only a passing interest in defence.
The Senators’ penalty kill proved to be the perfect tonic for Toronto’s 32nd-ranked power play, which went to work early to give the Leafs a 2–0 lead by way of William Nylander, who would later leave the game with a lower-body injury and did not return. Knies got into the act with a snapshot from the bumper position on a nice pass by Max Domi, who finished the night with three assists.
But the Senators fought back to tie the game.
Nick Cousins tucked home his sixth of the year with under three minutes left in the period to make it 2–1. Then, 18 seconds into the middle frame, Ridly Greig charged to the net with the puck with Leafs defenceman Philippe Myers all over him. Greig managed to get the puck to the net, but Myers ended up plowing Greig, the puck, and Leafs goalie Joseph Woll into the Toronto net.
After review, it was determined that Myers was the one responsible for putting the puck into the Leafs’ net, and the goal stood.
With the score now tied and the ship apparently righted, the Sens began taking on water again after Linus Ullmark let in a pair of goals that head coach Travis Green admitted after the game he didn't like.
The first restored Toronto's lead when a slow-moving puck trickled through Ullmark's legs and sat exposed near the goal line. Bobby McMann whacked it into the vacant net. On the next one, Ullmark gave up a big rebound, which fell right to Auston Matthews, who was standing near the crease right beside Thomas Chabot. Let completely untouched, Matthews crammed in the rebound for one of the easiest goals of his career, which would be the end of Ullmark’s night.
He certainly wasn’t good on Saturday, allowing four goals on 14 shots, but he didn’t get much help either. Backup Leevi Merilainen was scored on with the first shot he faced from Nicholas Robertson.
Down 5-2, the Senators came out and made a game of it in the third.
Drake Batherson scored 14 seconds in, taking a pass from Dylan Cozens in the slot and roofing a beauty over the top of Woll. Tim Stützle then made it 5–4 just over five minutes into the third, cutting into the slot and ripping a wrist shot that Woll got a big piece of, but not enough to stop it from going in.
That momentum didn’t last even a minute, as Knies scored his second of the game to put Toronto back up 6–4.
Jordan Spence made it 6–5 when his wrist shot hit Claude Giroux on the skate, which stung the veteran, but the puck bounced right back to Spence, who had all kinds of room to reload and shoot to make it 6–5.
Giroux, despite the bruise, ended up with two assists in his 1,300th NHL game.
Ottawa continued to push in the late going, but John Tavares put it away with an empty-net goal with 1:16 to play.
Now that the Sens have shaken off the eggnog, they’ll be back home to host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night to kick off a four-game homestand that take them into 2026 and finish off the first half of their regular season.
By Steve Warne The Hockey News Ottawa
Read more Ottawa Senators news and features at The Hockey News:
Steve Warne is the Ottawa Senators site editor at The Hockey News. Steve has covered the Senators since day one, first as Sports Director for Rogers Radio in Ottawa on AM 1310 and FM 105, then as the long-time host of the morning show at TSN 1200 radio, the Sens' flagship station. Steve is also the owner and host of TheSens Nation Podcast.
Ducks forward Cutter Gauthier (61), center Mason McTavish (23), right wing Beckett Sennecke (45), defenseman Olen Zellweger (51), and right wing Frank Vatrano (77) celebrate after scoring against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 7 at Honda Center. (Ethan Swope / Associated Press)
R.J. Prewitt has been a Ducks fan since the first puck dropped in Anaheim, so he’s known good times and bad.
He was there when the team won the Stanley Cup in 2007, for example, and when it took another final to a seventh game four seasons earlier. But he was also there through each of the last seven seasons, when the Ducks never placed higher than sixth in the Pacific Division and finished a combined 74 games under .500.
“It's my team,” said Prewitt, wearing a white-and-orange Ducks’ sweater as he waited to enter the Crypto.com Arena for Saturday night’s game with the Kings. “I'm going to have faith no matter what.”
That faith is getting another stern test this month. Because after entering December atop the division standings for the first time in more than a decade, the Ducks have lost six of their last eight, with the most ignominious loss coming Saturday in a 6-1 thrashing by their neighborhood rivals and winger Alex Laferriere, who got his first career hat trick.
Ducks left wing Alex Killorn skates with the puck during a loss to Kings Saturday at Crypto.com Arena. (Katie Chin / Associated Press)
For the Kings, the season-high six goals comes at the end of a slide that had seen them lose six of their last seven, averaging less than two goals a game over that stretch.
Laferriere scored more than that by himself Saturday.
The Kings’ first two goals, from Drew Doughty and Trevor Moore, came in the first four minutes. Laferriere got his first midway through the first period and when Quinton Byfield scored on a power play just before the intermission, the Kings took a 4-0 lead into the locker room at the break.
For the Ducks, who have been plagued by slow starts — 11 of their 21 wins came in games in which they trailed; only the Philadelphia Flyers have more — that deficit was too much to overcome.
“That’s unacceptable,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “You’re not going to make the playoffs being at that level. So we’ve got to make sure that we recapture that feeling of what it takes to be consistent.”
Ducks coach Joel Quenneville yells instructions to his players during a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 19. (Paul Beaty / Associated Press)
Yet despite Saturday’s loss, the Ducks and their fans still have a lot of positives to celebrate — especially given the team’s recent history.
The Ducks’ 21 wins are still most in the division; they didn’t get their 21st win until Jan. 28th last season. And their 130 goals through 38 games — an average of nearly 3 ½ a night — rank fourth in the NHL. They were in the bottom three in scoring in each of the last three seasons.
But what had been the most remarkable turnaround in the league through the first three months has suddenly hit a rough patch, challenging the narrative that new coach Quenneville had finally taken the team from pretenders to contenders.
“Well, we’ve got to prove it,” Quenneville said after Saturday’s humiliation, the Ducks’ most lopsided loss of the season. “We can talk about [how] we want to be a harder-working team this season. But the game tonight didn’t indicate that at all.
“The tenaciousness and the relentless has to go be part of our identity. But we can’t talk about it. We’ve got to prove that.”
Quenneville has been here before. In 2008, he took over a young Chicago Blackhawks team that hadn’t been to the playoffs in five seasons and guided it to the conference finals. A year later, it won the Stanley Cup.
Then in 2019, he took over a young Florida Panthers’ team and led it to the franchise’s first playoff appearance in three seasons.
Both teams had to learn to win, had to believe they could win, before they actually did so. Now Quenneville’s young Ducklings are having their beliefs tested by their worst eight-game stretch of the season.
“I’ve never been on a winning-record team in the NHL. And I’m not the only guy,” said 22-year-old center Mason McTavish, one of six Ducks younger than 23. “It’s a learning curve for sure.
“But at the same time we know how good we are. And this last six, eight games, it’s not been up to our standard. We’ve taken a huge step this year. But that’s not our end goal. We want to make the playoffs. We want to win the Stanley Cup.”
The Ducks will have to become a lot more consistent to have a chance to make that happen. Because while they’re one of the league’s top scoring teams, only the St. Louis Blues have allowed more goals than the Ducks, who have a minus-2 goal differential. And they’ve been outscored 34-19 in their last eight games.
The slump, then, is looming as a test of character and resolve. At a similar point in Quenneville’s first season in Chicago, the Blackhawks lost five times in an eight-game stretch. But they rebounded by winning nine of their next 12 and never looked back.
McTavish, who had his team’s only goal Saturday, said the Ducks have to do the same thing if they hope to show the playoffs are now a realistic goal for a franchise that hasn’t had a winning record in seven seasons.
Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal is congratulated by Nikita Nesterenko and Mason McTavish after blocking a shot by Panthers center Evan Rodrigues to win during a shootout on Oct. 28 in Sunrise, Fla. (Lynne Sladky / Associated Press)
“We have to come out the next game and really prove to ourselves that we can play with the top teams in the league,” he said. “And beat them.”
The Ducks long-suffering supporters are also ready for the pain of the last seven seasons to ease.
“Yes, yes, yes. I believe,” said Daniel Núñez of Bakersfield who, like Prewitt, has been a fan from the first season. “We have a good shot, I think, to win the Pacific Division. We have a really good team.”
“Whatever they're doing,” Prewitt agreed “I'm there with them.”
After snapping their eight-game losing streak against the Montreal Canadiens last Sunday, the Penguins lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Tuesday, their final game before the holiday break. The Penguins and Leafs were tied at three early in the third period before Max Domi walked around Brett Kulak for the game-winning goal. The Leafs added two empty net goals to seal the win.
The Penguins will take on a Blackhawks team that's fresh off a 4-3 shootout win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. It was a win they really needed since they came into the game on a six-game losing streak.
They'll still be without star forward Connor Bedard on Sunday after getting hurt against the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 12. Bedard has been fantastic this season and is trying to make the Team Canada Olympic roster, compiling 19 goals and 44 points in 31 games.
Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom started on Saturday, meaning that the Penguins will see Spencer Knight on Sunday. Knight is having an outstanding season, saving 17.8 goals above expected with a 2.55 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage.
Tyler Bertuzzi is second on the Blackhawks in goals with 18 and has 28 points in 34 games. He's on the top line, which is currently being centered by Jason Dickinson.
Arturs Silovs was the first goalie off at the morning skate, and Penguins head coach Dan Muse confirmed to reporters after the skate that Silovs will start in goal.
Blake Lizotte could make his return to the Penguins' lineup after fully practicing on Saturday. He was in his usual spot on the fourth line with Connor Dewar and Noel Acciari and has missed the last nine games with an injury.
Here's how the rest of the practice lines looked:
Forwards
Rakell-Crosby-Rust
Mantha-Novak-Brazeau
McGroarty-Kindel-Koivunen
Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari
Defensive pairs
Wotherspoon-Karlsson
Kulak-Letang
Shea-St. Ivany
Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh. Fans can also listen to the game on 105.9 'The X.'
The Florida Panthers received a late Christmas gift when they held their first post-holiday break practice on Sunday.
As the team trickled out of the locker room at the Baptist Health IcePlex in their usual blue, white and red jerseys, there was one eye-catching outlier.
Skating in a Panthers practice for the first time since last year’s playoffs was forward Matthew Tkachuk.
After helping Florida win their second straight Stanley Cup back in June, Tkachuk underwent offseason surgery on a torn adductor and sports hernia that he’d been playing through for several months.
Now, after spending much of the time since recovering and building up the strength needed to resume his ascending NHL career as one of the league’s premier power forwards, Tkachuk is as close to a return as ever.
Wearing a gold, non-contact jersey, Tkachuk was on the ice with his teammates.
The process from this point will be fun to track as the Panthers enter a very busy and exciting week.
Florida has back-to-back home games coming up on Monday and Tuesday against the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens, respectively.
Then, they’ll have an off day on Wednesday before holding a practice on the ice at loanDepot park Thursday in order to get an idea of what to expect for Friday’s Winter Classic against the New York Rangers.
Will Tkachuk be able to suit up for the big game in the Little Havana ballpark in five days?
Photo caption: Nov 14, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) looks on against the New Jersey Devils during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
During the 2025 NHL off-season, the Buffalo Sabres signed defenseman Zac Jones to a one-year, two-way contract. This was after Jones posted one goal and 11 points in 46 games with the New York Rangers during the 2024-25 season.
Overall, signing Jones was one of the Sabres' smaller moves of the summer, but there is no question that the left-shot defenseman has been making a big impact in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Rochester Americans.
In 25 games so far this season with Rochester, Jones has posted two goals and an AHL-leading 27 assists. The Glen Allen, Virginia native also currently leads the Amerks in points with 29, so there is no question that he is having a strong season with the AHL club.
While Jones has yet to make his regular-season debut with the Sabres this season, he is providing Rochester with plenty of value. The 25-year-old blueliner is helping create offense for the AHL club, and the Sabres' prospects are benefiting from it.
If Jones continues to produce strong offense from the point for Rochester, perhaps it could open the door for him to get a chance on Buffalo's roster before the season is over. This is especially so if the Sabres end up getting bit by the injury bug as the campaign rolls on.
In 115 career NHL games over five seasons, Jones has recorded four goals, 24 assists, and 28 points.
The Buffalo Sabres seemed a big sluggish after the first period of their first game after the Christmas holiday break, but in a second period in which they took control of the game, the unlikely Sabres scoring star was blueliner Mattias Samuelsson, who assisted on goals from Ryan McLeod and Peyton Krebs before scoring a career-high sixth goal of the season in a 4-1 victory at KeyBank Center on Saturday night.
Samuelsson, who had seven career goals in 212 regular season games going into the campaign, is tied with Bowen Byram in defensive scoring with 18 points and has more goals than regular defense partner Rasmus Dahlin, but unlike his teammates, he has been stout at the defensive end of the ice, which is reflected in his team leading +15 plus/minus rating.
"His physicality has been really good this year. I think he ends a lot of plays. He's really on top of his game,"Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. "From what he's done, chipping in offensively and the work he just done on the PK, then playing against every top line and big minutes every night, he's really playing a good brand of hockey for us."
Samuelsson’s contribution was necessary with Dahlin still not back from Sweden. The Sabres eighth win in a row has them back to within range of an Eastern Conference playoff spot, as they are tied with the Florida Panthers for the last wildcard spot, but they need to keep winning, as they are only three points from second-last in the conference.
Dahlin is expected to meet the Sabres in St. Louis, where they will take on the Blues in the first of a three-game road trip on Monday.
After resuming training on Saturday, the Montreal Canadiens will play their first post-Christmas game when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena this afternoon. While the Habs eased themselves back in yesterday, the Bolts were taking on the Florida Panthers in a battle of Florida. It turned out to be a spirited tilt, with 136 penalty minutes handed out. Jon Cooper’s men still prevailed 4-2, but it certainly wasn’t a walk in the park.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens provided an update on Jake Evans, who will be missing four to six weeks because of a lower-body injury. Evans had left the previous game just minutes in after a knee-on-knee collision. In a way, the worst has been averted since he’s not going under the knife, but knee injuries (if it is a knee injury) are tricky to recover from, and it does happen that a conventional approach turns out not to be enough. Fingers crossed this is not the case here.
As for Alexandre Texier, who also left the last game after being shaken up in a hard collision, he was practicing and wearing a regular jersey, which means he will be available this afternoon. In Evans’ absence, the lines at practice were as follows:
Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki - Zach Bolduc
Ivan Demidov – Oliver Kapanen – Juraj Slafkovsky
Texier – Phillip Danault – Josh Anderson
Owen Beck/Samuel Blais – Joe Veleno – Brandon Gallagher
On the backend, the pairings were the same as they were before the break:
Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Lane Hutson – Alexandre Carrier
Arber Xhekaj/Jayden Struble – Adam Engstrom
With Samuel Montembeault being officially recalled, Martin St-Louis wasted no time in announcing that Jacob Fowler would be getting the start against the Lightning. The Florida native posted a 6-2 win against the Boston Bruins on the eve of the Christmas break and had shut out the Pittsburgh Penguins in his previous start, so the coach has decided to ride the hot hand for now. Still, he did mention that the plan was to get Montembeault some game action soon.
It’s the second year in a row that the traditional road trip over the holidays includes some uncertainty in net. Last year, Jakub Dobes made his debut in this road trip after Cayden Primeau was assigned to the Laval Rocket. The Czech goalie never went back down; it remains to be seen if the result will be the same for Fowler.
Fowler has never taken on the Lightning, while Montembeault has a 3-3-1 record against Tampa Bay with a 2.99 goal-against-average and a .898 save percentage. As for Dobes, he has a 0-1-0 record with an 8.80 GAA and a .727 SV against the hosts.
At the other end of the ice, Andrei Vasilevskiy, who was in the net on Saturday against the Panthers, has a 16-3-2 record against the Habs with a 2.08 GAA and a .931 SV. As for backup Jonas Johansson, he’s 3-2-0 with a 3.81 GAA and a .872 SV and was in the net for the only game between the two sides so far this season.
Up front, the Canadiens will need to keep a close eye on the usual suspects. Nikita Kucherov has 46 points in just 39 games against the Sainte-Flanelle, while Brayden Point has 26 points in 30 games, and Jake Guentzel has 23 points in 19 duels.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens have only three players who have reached double digits in points against the Florida outfit: Gallagher with 19 points in 38 games, Danault with 14 points in 27 games, and Suzuki with 13 points in 19 games.
Today’s game will be the second of four duels planned this season, with the other two taking place on March 31 and April 9. Tampa has won seven of the last 10 tilts between the divisional rivals, but it hasn’t been that long since the Habs grabbed a win at Amalie Arena. Montreal won there on December 29 by a score of 5-2 with Montembeault in the net.
The game is set for 5:00 PM, and you can catch it on The Spot, TSN2, and RDS. After the tilt, the Canadiens will take a short flight to Fort Lauderdale in readiness for their next game, a battle with the Panthers on December 30.
If things don't shake out the way the Philadelphia Flyers might hope, they could find themselves a little lighter on their salary cap hit with a contract termination.
Though they started the season without him, the Flyers have turned to Emil Andrae on defense and haven't really looked back.
That decision, of course, has had consequences, leading both Egor Zamula and Adam Ginning, who made the NHL roster to start the season, back to the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Zamula, unlike Ginning, had become an established NHL player over the last few seasons, but strings of poor performances has seen him play himself off the Flyers... perhaps for good.
According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Zamula's camp has offered the Flyers an opportunity for a mutual contract termination, though the Flyers would prefer to trade the struggling 25-year-old defender for an asset.
"One player who I think is trying to work out something. . . is Egor Zamula. He was sent on waivers earlier this year, he's at $1.7 million for this year and next [sic]. He's represented by Alex Texier's agent who terminated his deal so he could sign as a free agent in Montreal," Friedman reported in his most recent "Saturday Headlines" segment for Sportsnet.
"I believe the offer is there to do this too. I think there'd be interest at a lower number. Philly prefers a trade for a player who can help them at the AHL level or later this year in the NHL, but Zamula's going to be a name to watch because he cleared waivers and he is an NHL defenseman, just not at the number right now for Philadelphia."
Zamula is a pending restricted free agent at the end of this season and, as Friedman noted, carries a $1.7 million cap hit this season. That's a bit rich for a team that would like to add a depth defender on waivers, especially if that team is a contender of some sort.
As of now, the Flyers are saving $1.15 million by stowing the 6-foot-3 Russian in the AHL, but can move his full $1.7 million off their books via trade or the aforementioned contract termination offer from Zamula's camp.
The end of Zamula's tenure with the Flyers has felt almost inevitable since head coach Rick Tocchet called for him to pick up the pace in the preseason and the results, of course, never followed.
The Chicago Blackhawks snapped their six-game losing streak on Saturday night. After traveling to Texas earlier in the day, the Blackhawks took on the Dallas Stars. Coming off a bad run entering the holiday break, playing against this elite Stars team on the same day as traveling was a tough break.
It doesn’t make it easier that it’s another game without both Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar. Ilya Mikheyev also missed the game due to the birth of his child, so the Blackhawks called up Landon Slaggert. Everything was stacked against the Blackhawks entering the contest.
However, the Blackhawks found a way to overcome that adversity by defeating the Stars in a shootout. Rookie forward Nick Lardis was the hero as he scored the shootout-winning goal. Ryan Donato also scored in the shootout.
During regulation, Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice and Jason Dickinson once to contribute to the 3-3 tie that went past regulation. Alex Vlasic, who was very strong in all three zones, assisted on both Bertuzzi goals.
In goal, Arvid Soderblom was given the unexpected start following the break. He played very well as he made 28 saves on 31 shots. Some of those stops were of the high-danger variety, which allowed the Hawks to stay in it.
With a back-to-back situation looming, this was a big performance by Arvid Soderblom, which rewards Jeff Blashill’s decision-making.
If you had to pick apart one thing about the Blackhawks game, it is that they let Mikko Rantanen run wild out there. He finished with one goal and two assists, contributing to all three Stars goals, but it could have been much worse than that if it weren't for Soderblom and the goalposts.
Still, now the Blackhawks can let the memory of the losing streak evade them as they focus on what's ahead on the schedule.
The Blackhawks are back in action on Sunday night, where they will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. This match at the United Center will see a legend like Sidney Crosby battle against this young Hawks team.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
From an entertainment standpoint, Saturday night's Oilers-Flames game in Calgary was kind of disappointing.
Edmonton lost 3-2 in regulation. Connor McDavid extended his point streak to 12 games. Evan Bouchard scored on the power play. Blake Coleman, Yegor Sharangovich, and Ryan Lomberg scored for Calgary. Connor Ingram made 29 saves. It was a perfectly fine hockey game.
But where was the spice? Where was the chaos? Where was the intensity we saw from the Edmonton Oilers four days ago?
No real fighting. Sure, guys were getting shoved around—Ryan Lomberg chopped up a conversation with Darnell Nurse in warmups, Adam Klapka tried making statements with a few deep skates over the red line—but it's still the NHL. Players talk in warmups. They skate around. That's not exactly entertainment.
No Trent Frederic doing what Trent Frederic was brought to the Oilers to do. Tuesday he fought Kevin Bahl after a blindside hit on Zach Hyman. Saturday? Nothing. He dressed. He played 7:15. He wasn't a factor.
Four days after a 5-1 beatdown that featured Leon Draisaitl's hat trick, Connor McDavid's five assists, and Mackenzie Weegar getting kicked out for bashing his stick against the glass in protest, you might expect a little more from the visiting team.
Now don't get me wrong, this was far from a boring game. But it wasn't quite what we were hoping for.
The moral of the story is that had we had nothing to compare this to, it'd actually be a really good game. Calgary came out fast and energetic. They scored first through Sharangovich at 7:00 of the first period. Edmonton responded with Bouchard's power play goal at 8:36. The game stayed tight. Calgary took the lead on Lomberg's steal and breakaway goal at 3:28 of the second. Blake Coleman made it 3-1 at 12:31 of the third. McDavid cut it to 3-2 with 4:32 left, but that was as close as Edmonton got.
From Calgary's perspective, this is exactly the kind of game the Flames need to play. They were fast. They were physical without taking stupid penalties. They defended well. Dustin Wolf made 29 saves. They protected a lead against one of the league's best offences and walked away with two points.
If they play like they did Saturday night every night, then we should all be worried. The Flames looked structured, committed, and dangerous. They scored timely goals. They didn't collapse when McDavid started pushing late. They earned the win.
But good news is they don't play like that every night. Calgary is 16-18-4 and outside the playoff picture for a reason. Saturday was them at their best, responding after getting embarrassed at Rogers Place four days earlier.
"Coming out of three days off, we wanted to have a little better start than we did," Bouchard said afterward. "But I thought as the game went on, we got better."
Andrew Mangiapane, a former Flame, had basically the same thing to say.
"I think their intensity was kind of up there today. I think it also falls on us that our start was a little slow and sluggish. It's a couple of days off, and all that you don't want to use as an excuse because they're going through the same thing."
That's the problem. Both teams were coming off the holiday break. Both had three days off. Calgary came out with energy. Edmonton didn't match it until the third period when it was too late.
"We did get off to a slow start. We had a push in the third period," summed up Kris Knoblauch. "They were hanging on, and we just couldn't find that tying goal. Some goal posts and chances, but we weren't as sharp as we were before the break."
So there you go; not as sharp. Tuesday's game spoiled us. Five goals. A hat trick. Five assists from one player. Fights. Misconducts. Players getting kicked out. Complete domination from start to finish.
Saturday was just hockey. Good hockey, even. But after Tuesday's circus, good hockey felt a little flat.
The Oilers went 1-for-3 on the power play after going 3-for-6 on Tuesday. McDavid had one goal instead of five assists. Draisaitl was held off the scoresheet. No fights broke out. No one got kicked out. Calgary didn't fall apart. Edmonton didn't dominate.
It was a 3-2 game that stayed competitive until the final five minutes. That should be entertaining enough. But context matters, and the context is that four days ago we watched these two teams produce one of the most lopsided Battle of Alberta games in recent memory.
Saturday was fine. It was respectable. It was a game both teams could take positives from.
But where'd all the excitement go? Because it wasn't around in that 3-2 loss in regulation to the Flames.
LAS VEGAS -- Another overtime. Another loss for the Golden Knights.
Vegas blew a pair of two-goal leads against the league's top team Saturday night, and the Colorado Avalanche made the Knights pay with a 6-5 shootout win.
Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas scored in the shootout, while Mitch Marner was the only one to score for Vegas, which lost for the fourth time in five games.
It marked Vegas' 15th time it played past regulation, while it dropped to 4-11 in overtime and shootout games. The Golden Knights are now 1-5 in shootouts this season.
Five different skaters scored for the Knights, while 12 collected points.
Alexander Holtz, Ivan Barbashev, Ben Hutton, Brett Howden and Colton Sissons scored in regulation for Vegas. Carter Hart made 33 saves and dropped to 4-1-3 since making his debut on Dec. 2.
"We should have been able to close the game out, recognizing, okay, now it's 5-4 (and) the goalie is out," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We're usually pretty good in those scenarios. There's a simple breakdown. They got the puck in the middle. That should never happen. So we'll address that.
"After that, overtime, we never got control. We try to challenge people one-on-one in overtime, and unless you're flying, that's a tough way to go, because if you lose possession, now you're chasing it again. So I think a bit of our overtime mentality has to change a little too, when to attack, when not to.
"The shootout is the shootout. I don't know what to say there. We just haven't been able to finish in that."
KEY MOMENT
MacKinnon's game-tying goal at the 8:21 mark of the third period was Colorado's first that didn't deflect off a Golden Knight, and a statement that the Avalanche weren't going away that easily. After Hart stopped Sam Malinski's shot from the blue line, the puck squirted free and MacKinnon was there to punch it home and tie the game, giving Colorado life in the third period with the game tied at 4-all.
KEY STAT
5 - All five of the Golden Knights' goals were at even strength. While Vegas had its six-game streak with at least one power-play goal come to an end, Cassidy was pleased with the fact his troops were able to put five in the net during 5-on-5 against the league's top team, which arrived in Vegas leading the league in goals against per game (2.11).
"They're clearly a better team than we are right now, you can see that with their record and their push," Cassidy said. "But I also feel like we're walking out of here tonight, and couple of things change, and where we get the two points, right?"
"No one feels good when you lose, I don't. We'll take the positives. We got to fix some things."
WHAT A KNIGHT
Holtz scored his first goal of the season and also had an assist. Playing in just his ninth game this season, Holtz made his presence felt early with the game's first goal 2:43 into the opening period. Holtz had two shots and also blocked two shots, in what was arguably his best performance of the season.
"Yeah, he was feeling it, I think," Hutton said about Holtz. "He scored early, he got his confidence and he was flying out there. Confidence goes a long way, especially with a guy like that. And I was happy for him tonight."
UP NEXT
The Golden Knights continue their four-game homestand by hosting the Minnesota Wild on Monday night.
PHOTO CAPTION: Colorado Avalanche center Martin Necas (88) collides with Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart (79) after scoring a goal during a shoot out at T-Mobile Arena.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
