When the Los Angeles Kings traded 24-year-old Jordan Spence to Ottawa four and a half months ago, he had just finished a season where he was an everyday player (79 games) on a blue line put together by GM Rob Blake. Blake is a Hall of Fame defenseman who knows a thing or two about great defense. The Kings allowed the second-fewest goals in the entire NHL, which should be a real feather in any young defenseman's cap.

But things can change quickly in the NHL. 

The Kings lost in round one of the playoffs, and Blake left at the end of the season. Since winning their second Cup in three years in 2014, the Kings have either missed the playoffs or failed to get past the first round every season. So Blake was replaced by Ken Holland.

Despite the Kings' defensive success, Holland decided the blue line was too young and opted to go out and sign a free-agent veteran. That later turned out to be former Senator Cody Ceci, but to make room for the signing, that meant someone had to go. And that player was Spence.

Holland called Spence up on NHL draft day to break the news that he'd been traded, and the Kings recorded portions of Holland's side of the conversation for their website.

Jordan? Yeah, it's Ken Holland. How are you doing? I know that opportunity is number one to you, and with Brandt Clarke here, we're gonna try to sign another right-shot D. I don't think you would have the opportunity here that you've earned at this stage of your career. So this (trade to Ottawa) should give you a better opportunity than you're gonna get here. I want to wish you the best. You had a hell of a year last year. Again, I wanna wish you all the best and have a great career.
– Portions of a phone call by Los Angeles Kings GM Ken Holland to Jordan Spence right after trading him to Ottawa on NHL Draft Day back in June.

-

On Saturday night, Spence will face his former team for the first time, and it's a day he had marked on his calendar.

"Yeah, I did actually," Spence said. "Right when I got traded (to Ottawa), I did look at the schedule during the summer to see when we're going to play against them. So I'm really excited for tonight. And I'm excited to hopefully get the win."

With the two clubs both off last night, Spence treated a number of his former teammates to dinner in Ottawa. But while he still has great friends in that room, it will be all business on Saturday. And a little weird.

"Yeah, I mean, it's really different. I got drafted there, and I was there for four or five years. So it is weird seeing the guys and just catching up. But at the same time, it's business. And we're friends off the ice, but not on the ice."

While the trade to the Senators was framed to him as a chance for Spence to play regularly, it certainly hasn't panned out that way, at least not in the first month. Spence didn't dress on opening night, and he's already been a healthy scratch more this season than he was all of last season. He's only played in half of the Senators' 18 games so far. 

Even when he has played, Sens head coach Travis Green and defensive coach Nolan Baumgartner still appear unsure about him. When the Senators lost Thomas Chabot to injury on Tuesday night, they were going to need another defenseman, other than Jake Sanderson, to play in overtime against the Dallas Stars. While Spence has his flaws, his game seems tailor-made for overtime.

But the Sens went with big, stay-at-home defenseman Tyler Kleven, who doesn't have nearly the speed, puck skill or point production that Spence does. Kleven is also younger with less NHL experience. And yet Baumgartner still chose Kleven, who was on the ice for the Stars' winning goal.

Now, until Chabot returns, Ottawa's brain trust has no choice but to use Spence every night, and he hopes to make the most of the opportunity. And when the Senators and Kings face each other on Saturday night, Spence has a chance to try and prove some things to both clubs.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News/Ottawa

More Sens headlines at The Hockey News Ottawa:

Senators Have Big UFA Contract Decisions Over The Next Few Years (Who Stays And Who Goes?)
Brady Tkachuk Tests Out Wrist Injury At Practice, Provides Potential Timeline For Return
Four More Years: Ottawa Senators Sign Shane Pinto To A Four-Year Extension
Senators Lose Defenseman Thomas Chabot To Injury
Former Ottawa Senator GM Passes Away At Age 70

Mackenzie Blackwood acknowledged Jared Bednar’s postgame critique of his performance in Thursday’s 6–3 win over the Buffalo Sabres — and agreed with it. 

The 28-year-old surrendered two goals on the first six shots he faced but steadied himself and delivered several key saves down the stretch. But Bednar was not too impressed with the way the game started. 

Blackwood failed to cover the puck on the first goal, allowing former Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram to jar it loose and finish from the doorstep. The second goal unfolded when Colorado’s defense was beaten to a lofted entry from Owen Power, enabling Jordan Greenway to bat the puck out of midair and past Blackwood to make it 3–2. It was an unusual sequence, but still a save Blackwood should have made. 

"I hate to sound cruel, but that's a Blacky problem at this point," he stated. "It's not a problem for me; I have lots of confidence in Blacky and I know there's lots of minutes between here and the end of the season, but (Scott Wedgewood) is playing great, so I'm not gonna not play Wedge to play Blacky at this point, so those minutes come in practice and hard work he's been doing that and he'll get his games...Wedge is rested and ready to go for Sunday. 

"I'm not gonna not play him because Blacky needs minutes. There's plenty of time to give him minutes. Right now, we're gonna play a rested goalie and play the goalie that gives us a really good chance." 

Blackwood Agrees With Criticism

At Saturday’s practice at Family Sports Center, The Hockey News asked Blackwood whether Bednar’s comments added any extra motivation for him to start stronger. 

“I’m getting closer; I just need reps,” Blackwood said. “It’s hard when you miss all of training camp. I don’t need that to motivate me. He’s not wrong; it’s the truth. It’s my problem to take the opportunities that I get and keep working on sharpness, and those aspects of my game that I need (to address). 

“Everyone in here is a pro, they have to find a way to get their game in order. It’s not terrible, but it’s definitely not where I want it to be. I think the more practice we play, the better it’s gonna get.” 

Blackwood, who was acquired via trade from the San Jose Sharks last season, said today was one of his better practice sessions and that he felt great.  

“Each time I get on the ice it’s an opportunity to refine your smoothness and your timing. I agree with Bedsy; it’s up to me, but it’s not extra motivation. I already kinda knew that, so it’s more telling the truth.” 

Blackwood appeared in 37 games for the Avalanche last season, posting a 22–12–3 record with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. Through three starts this season, he is 2–0–1 with a 3.28 goals-against average and an .870 save percentage. Meanwhile, the Avalanche sit atop the NHL at 12–1–5. 

Next Game 

The Avalanche take on the New York Islanders on Sunday for their annual Hockey Fights Cancer night at Ball Arena. Scott Wedgewood will start in net. Coverage begins at 7 p.m local time.  

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The NHL is filled with amazing quotes. Some are emotional, while others bring humor to the table. Whether it’s players, coaches, front office staff or even pundits, the NHL has no shortage of noteworthy soundbites.

This season alone, we’ve seen Ryan O’Reilly become his harshest critic, Jakub Dobes spill his emotions over a loss, and several others demonstrate anger or playfulness.

Here are some of the best quotes in the NHL of the past week.

John Tortorella Speaks About The Passing Of New York Post Columnist Larry Brooks

If there is one hockey personality who is famous for having the most outrageous quotes, it’s long-time NHL coach John Tortorella. “Torts” received his first NHL head coaching job in 2001 when he replaced Steve Ludzik on Jan. 7 on the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tortorella won a Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2003-04 and then went on to spend seasons as the New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers head coach. 

In his time with New York, he had several discussions with the late Larry Brooks, who worked as a New York Post columnist. Brooks recently passed away due to cancer at the age of 75, and Tortorella had plenty of great things to say about him. 

“He’s an icon,” Tortorella said on Thursday evening during ESPN’s The Point. “We had our disagreements along the way, but the thing I always respected about Larry is no matter what the day brought — we had a lot of disagreements, but we’d disagree and we’d go at it, but he’d be there the next day. Ready to ask another question, he’d be there face-to-face. 

“I had so much respect for how hard he worked at his job. We’re both trying to do our business. I need to protect my hockey team sometimes, he has information — and he has information, that’s one thing, he worked at it, to get information.”

The Hockey World Lost A Titan With The Death Of Larry BrooksLarry Brooks, who died at the age of 75, was a legend and a Hall of Famer in hockey. And he always was in the middle of the story.

Jon Cooper Explains Use Of Timeout

In a battle between two of Tortorella’s two former teams, the Lightning were having an awful time against the Rangers. The result of the contest was very one-sided as the Rangers went on to defeat the Lightning 7-3. 

ESPN’s Jackie Redmond conducted a bench interview with Lightning coach Jon Cooper and asked about his early use of a timeout. Cooper had a hilarious response, in short, calling his team immature.

“Reckless play, bad penalty, tough structure, bad turnover, in the net, in the net, and so, if we’re going to play like that, that’s not winning hockey. Next 57 minutes we need to change our act, or it’s going to get way worse than this. We got better in us. ​​I think there's a little bit of thumb-sucking going on right now.”

The Lightning did up the pressure, finishing with 36 shots on net, but they continued to have issues keeping the Rangers from converting their high-danger chances.

Leon Draisaitl And The Oilers Needed A Slap In The Face

Just a week ago, in a highly anticipated Saturday night matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and the Colorado Avalanche, we witnessed the Avalanche lay a beating on what looked like a lifeless Oilers squad.

The game finished with an astonishing 9-1 scoreline, with plenty of blame to be dished around on the Oilers' end. Leon Draisaitl, who tends to be very open with his responses, not fearing what some may think of what he says, was once again blunt in his description of the game.

“Sometimes a slap in the face is just what you need.” 

Draisaitl may have been right in his analysis. In the two games following the embarrassing loss, the Oilers defeated the Blue Jackets and the Flyers in overtime. There is still plenty to do for the Oilers to turn things around, but Draisaitl is correct in saying that they needed a wake-up call to get going once again. 

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Flyers continue to have no answers for woes in second game of back-to-backs originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Flyers on Saturday night looked like a team playing the second game of a back-to-back set against a Stanley Cup contender.

They were rolled by the Stars, 5-1, Saturday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas. On Friday night, the Flyers had to go the distance to pick up a 6-5 shootout win over the Blues in St. Louis.

The Flyers (9-6-3) had their point streak halted at five games (3-0-2).

Since last season, the Flyers have gone a staggering 1-12-2 in the second game of back-to-back sets and have been outscored 63-34.

Christian Dvorak recorded the Flyers’ lone goal.

Jason Robertson scored a hat trick for the Stars (12-4-3), who are a bona-fide top team. They won their fifth straight.

• Dan Vladar, who entered with a 2.15 goals-against average and .919 save percentage, denied 23 of 28 shots.

The 28-year-old battled, but Dallas was just too much.

Robertson, a two-time 40-plus goal scorer, struck twice in the second period. He completed the natural hat trick on the power play in the final stanza as the Stars’ lead ballooned to 4-0.

The recent trend of poor starts continued for the Flyers. They surrendered a goal 3:48 minutes into the action and have been outscored 7-1 in the first period over the last five games.

Lian Bichsel’s game-opening marker came on a shot that went off Bobby Brink as the Flyers were scrambling in the defensive zone. Dallas went into first intermission with a 10-3 shot advantage and it felt like the Flyers were fortunate to be down only 1-0.

The Flyers found their legs a bit in the second period, but Jake Oettinger didn’t budge. The Stars’ netminder stopped 20 of 21 shots on the night.

In the middle stanza, he denied good looks from Owen Tippett and Matvei Michkov before Robertson struck for his first goal to cushion Dallas’ advantage to 2-0.

Oettinger improved to 5-1-0 lifetime against the Flyers.

• Dvorak, Tippett and Trevor Zegras combined for a goal and an assist.

It wasn’t quite what they did Friday night when they combined for five goals and five assists.

The Flyers’ top line of Michkov, Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny was scored on twice in that decisive second period.

Michkov finished with a team-high five shots.

• After playing three times in the last four days, the Flyers now go four days before they have their next game Thursday at home against the Blues (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

Former Chicago Blackhawks forward David Kampf mutually agreed to have his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs terminated this week. Now, he has already found his new home.

The Vancouver Canucks have announced that they have signed Kampf to a one-year, $1.1 million contract for the remainder of the 2025-26 season. 

Seeing the Canucks sign Kampf is not necessarily surprising, as they need help at the center position and have been dealing with injury trouble. Now, they have brought in a solid veteran forward in Kampf who will provide them with more depth. 

In four games this season with the Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, Kampf recorded one assist and had a minus-1 rating. During the 2024-25 season with the Maple Leafs, he had five goals and 13 points in 59 games. 

Kampf spent the first four seasons of his NHL career with the Blackhawks from 2017-18 to 2020-21, where he recorded 17 goals, 41 assists, and 58 points in 235 games. 

The Edmonton Oilers officially lost defenseman Troy Stecher on waivers to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the reaction is mixed. Some wished the defenseman well. Others took aim at the Oilers for a lack of asset management. Some were fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs suggesting that a move needed to be made, and this wasn't a bad one. 

From frustration to sadness to cautious Leafs optimism, hockey fans had plenty to say after Toronto scooped up the veteran blueliner.

Oilers Lose Popular Defenseman To The Maple Leafs Via WaiversMaple Leafs grab an Oilers' popular defenseman via waivers, boosting their blue line amidst defensive struggles and offering him a fresh start.

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Oilers Fans and Media Weigh In

A chunk of Oilers fans were annoyed the team risked losing Stecher in the first place. One user @OADSBW, called the move “lazy,” adding: “VERY disrespectful by the Oilers… leaving it up to chance, a coin-flip. Hoping you can stash him in the minors? Brutal.”

Others, many of them from the Edmonton-based media, pointed out that Stecher was a good solider and deserved to land somewhere solid. 

Oilers Now host Bob Stauffer noted, "Big fan of Troy Stecher. During his time as an @EdmontonOilers he was a consummate professional who punched above his weight class. Competed every shift! Best of luck to him in Toronto."

  

Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) on XBig fan of Troy Stecher. During his time as an @EdmontonOilers he was a consummate professional who punched above his weight class. Competed every shift! Best of luck to him in Toronto.

Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal wrote, "Leafs claim Stecher off waivers. On one hand, tough to lose a warrior like him for nothing. But Stecher was clearly the #8 here."

Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic wrote, "The Oilers have lost their No. 8 defenceman. Good to see Stecher find a new NHL team."

Mark Spector of Sportsnet tweeted, "So long Troy Stecher, as competitive a battler as ever I've covered. He's small, gets less than 15 points a season, and somehow has carved out a 566-game NHL career. Seven teams later, someone still wants him. And the Leafs will be better for the pick-up."

Hall of Fame writer Jim Matheson noted, "Stecher joins his seventh NHL team and fourth in Canada. Oilers, Canucks, Flames and now Leafs. Also LA, Arizona and Detroit. He is ultimate battler who has made himself useful to one quarter of league."

Leafs Fans Welcome Their New Depth Defenseman

Leafs fans, on the other hand, wasted no time embracing their new addition.

Analyst Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) liked the pickup from a fit standpoint: “Stecher is a depth defenceman but can provide a needed skill for Leafs — puck moving out of the defensive zone… good at getting back on pucks and getting it out with possession.”

Even Leafs writer Nick Barden highlighted why the move made sense, pointing to Stecher’s mobility and reliability as reasons Toronto targeted him.

@APetrielli wrote, "I like the risk-free Stecher claim as it's a fully buriable, expiring contract. Myers has been awful and is their next right-D right now. At least Stecher can pass/play with pace. Leafs need all the puck movement they can get right now."

Ultimate Leafs' fan Steve 'Dangle" Glynn wrote, "Glad they're trying this. I don't expect him to save the day but he's a righty who can move the puck and he's probably better than at least one of their current guys, probably two. I'd rather try this than nothing, which wasn't an option anymore."

Steve “Dangle” Glynn (@Steve_Dangle) on XGlad they're trying this. I don't expect him to save the day but he's a righty who can move the puck and he's probably better than at least one of their current guys, probably two. I'd rather try this than nothing, which wasn't an option anymore.

Oilers Lose a Battler

The numbers game played into why Stecher is no longer an Oiler and the defenseman will be missed. He wasn't having the best season and as he was aging, it was less and less likely he had a future with the Oilers. Still, you never want to lose someone who battles and plays hard every time he's on the ice. 

The Oilers arguably haven't seen enough compete from many of the players on their roster and despite Stecher's size, he was never short of 'try". 

**Author's Take:

I had nothing but positive interactions for Stecher each and every time I had the chance to talk to him. He seemed excited to play and a down-to-earth NHLer who was happy to help in any role asked of him. It will be great to see him get a shot with the Maple Leafs and the hope is that he becomes a regular in the lineup for them. 

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One of the New Jersey Devils' most exciting prospects will make his NHL debut on Saturday night against Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena.

After receiving his first NHL call-up, 22-year-old Shane Lachance will draw into New Jersey's lineup with injuries to forwards Jack Hughes (non-hockey hand injury) and Cody Glass (upper-body injury). 

During his pregame media availability, Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed that Lachance would play via NJD.TV.

Lachance, who spent the beginning of the season in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Utica Comets, will have familiarity with his teammates, as Nathan Légaré and Colton White are also with the Devils due to the influx of injuries to New Jersey's roster. 

Before the team's road trip, White provided insight into Lachance and what he has brought to the ice and to the Comets' locker room.

"He is a phenomenal guy off the ice," White said. "He is really great to be around, and has a great work ethic. On the ice, he does all the little things really well. He works really hard. Good defensively. Good offensively. Good at possessing the puck down low and being a good net front presence.

"You can tell why he was the captain at BU at such a young age," White continued. "Being a young guy and asserting yourself that way, it takes a long time to do that usually, but he seems to do it right away. A special player, for sure." 

Through 11 games with the Comets, Lachance has one assist and two penalty minutes. On April 16, 2025, he signed a two-year, entry-level contract that began with the 2025-26 season.

Puck drop between the Devils and Capitals is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on MSGSN and can be streamed on Gotham Sports.

Make sure you bookmark THN's New Jersey Devils site for THN's latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

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The New Jersey Devils will head to Capital One Arena today to face the Washington Capitals. ​

The Devils are 12-4-1 after beating the Blackhawks in overtime Wednesday. ​

The Capitals are 8-8-1, having most recently played the Florida Panthers on Thursday evening. The team lost 6-3 to the Panthers. ​

Simon Nemec is the Devils' player to watch, having scored his first career hat trick on Wednesday and four goals in the last two games. ​

For the Capitals, Tom Wilson has five goals and two assists in his last 10 games for Washington.​

Injuries

On Wednesday, Zack MacEwen and Cody Glass left due to injuries and are not expected to play Saturday. ​

Another player who will not be in the lineup is Jack Hughes. Hughes underwent successful surgery after sustaining a hand injury. He is expected to be re-evaluated in six weeks.

Devils Provide Update On Jack HughesOn Saturday, the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-jersey-devils/game-day/simon-nemec-s-first-career-hat-trick-leads-devils-to-4-3-overtime-victory-over-blackhawks">New Jersey Devils </a>announced that star forward Jack Hughes underwent successful surgery on his finger.

​The list of injured players for the Devils now looks like: ​

J. Hughes (hand)

MacEwen (undisclosed)

Glass (undisclosed)

Hamilton (undisclosed)

Brown (undisclosed)

Pesce (upper-body)

Dadonov (hand)

Kovacevic (knee)

McLaughlin (undisclosed)

The Capitals released a much shorter injury list.

Dubois (abdominal surgery, out 3-4 months)

This is the first of four meetings this season. The teams play again on December 27, March 20, and April 2. ​

Puck drops at 7 PM as the Devils aim for their second straight win.

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Pittsburgh Penguins 2019 first-round pick Sam Poulin has been off to a strong start to the 2025-26 season with their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. 

In 15 games so far this season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Poulin has recorded seven goals, seven assists, 14 points, and a plus-7 rating. With numbers like these, there is no question that the 24-year-old forward is making a big impact with the AHL squad. 

Yet, what's more encouraging about Poulin's play is that he is only continuing to stay hot as the season progresses. Poulin is currently on a four-game point streak with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he has recorded four goals and two assists over that span. With this, the young forward is red-hot right now down in the AHL. 

Poulin will now be looking to continue to produce offensively with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. If he does, perhaps it could open the door for him to get another call-up to the Penguins' NHL roster in the near future. 

In 13 career NHL games over three seasons with Pittsburgh, Poulin has recorded two assists, four blocks, 18 hits, and a minus-3 rating. 

Follow Michael Whitaker On X

One of the major storylines for the Detroit Red Wings as they began their centennial campaign in the NHL was the emergence of a trio of rookies who made the final roster thanks to their strong showings in both Training Camp and the pre-season.

Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Emmitt Finnie, and Axel Sandin-Pellikka all began the season with the Red Wings for their rookie campaigns in the NHL. While Brandsegg-Nygård has since been returned to the American Hockey League, both Finnie and Sandin-Pellikka continue their tenures in Detroit. 

After a blazing hot start to his career with four goals and four assists, Finnie has hit the wall in terms of offense.

He hasn't registered a point since scoring as part of Detroit's historical 6-4 comeback victory over the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 25, and he's been since been moved down further in Detroit's lineup after having initially spent a few weeks playing on the club's top line. 

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That's not to say that Finnie is concerned about his first career NHL scoring drought, however. 

"This is the best League in the world, and points aren't going to happen every night," Finnie explained. "Droughts are going to happen, and I'm just trying to stay positive and confident and just contribute in other ways."

"I'm just going to keep playing my game, trying to get to the net and the points will come." 

Finnie is known for playing with an edge to his game, which he plans on continuing to utilize while being a nuisance to opposition goaltenders and defensemen in close proximity to the net, the area of the ice he feels he's most effective. 

I like to play hard and get to the net, I feel like that's where I generate most of my chances," Finnie said. "Playing physical and around the net, that's when I feel like I'm at my best." 

Despite his scoring drought, the confidence that head coach Todd McLellan had and continues to have in Finnie has not wavered. 

"If we said that we’d have a seventh-round draft pick that hadn’t really played any pro hockey playing for us 19 games in and playing a prominent role, we would all be happy," McLellan said.

McLellan continued his praise of Finnie by noting the other things that he does that don't show up on the scoresheet. 

“He does so much extra work for a lot of guys,” he said. “He cleans up messes on the way back because he skates so well. He loosens up pucks on the forecheck, he’ll go to the net, he stirs things up a little bit, draws some penalties. There’s a lot of assets there."

"The confidence in him hasn’t gone or diminished at all." 

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Former Montreal Canadiens forward Christian Dvorak signed a one-year, $5.4 million contract with the Philadelphia Flyers this off-season. This officially marked the end of his four-year stint with the Canadiens.

So far, Dvorak has been a nice addition to the Flyers' roster early on, and he certainly made an impact in their most recent matchup against the St. Louis Blues.

Dvorak had a strong night offensively for the Flyers against St. Louis, as he scored two goals and recorded an assist in Philadelphia's 6-5 overtime win. This included him scoring a goal at the 7:53 mark of the third period to cut St. Louis' lead to 5-4. 

With this strong performance against the Blues, Dvorak has now recorded five goals, seven assists, 12 points, and a plus-5 rating in 17 games so far this season with the Flyers. With numbers like these, there is no question that the former Canadiens forward has had a solid start to his Flyers tenure. 

Dvorak has also been red-hot as of late, as he has posted six points in his last four games with the Flyers. 

In 232 games over four seasons with the Canadiens, Dvorak recorded 38 goals, 65 assists, and 103 points.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that they have activated forward Rutger McGroarty and goaltender Joel Blomqvist from season-opening injured reserve.

In addition, both McGroarty and Blomqvist have been assigned to Pittsburgh's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. 

McGroarty played in his first eight career NHL games this past season with Pittsburgh, where he recorded one goal, two assists, three points, 12 hits, and an even plus/minus rating. Down in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton during the 2024-25 season, he posted 14 goals, 25 assists, 39 points, and 37 penalty minutes.

Blomqvist, on the other hand, had a 4-9-1 record, a 3.81 goals-against average, and a .885 save percentage in his first 15 career NHL games last season with Pittsburgh. He also had an 8-7-3 record, a .914 save percentage, and a 2.84 goals-against average in 18 games last season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. 

With McGroarty and Blomqvist being two key prospects in the Penguins' system, it is certainly good news that they are ready to start their seasons. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact they can make with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton from here. 

ST. LOUIS – Consistency and desperation, desperation and consistency.

Two words often spoken but not gained enough on a regular basis when it comes to this year’s St. Louis Blues.

Such was the case again on Friday when the Blues scored five goals in a game but lost, 6-5 in a shootout to the Philadelphia Flyers. They’ll look to get right back on the horse on Saturday when the Blues (6-8-4) host the Vegas Golden Knights (7-4-5) to close out a four-game homestand at Enterprise Center (7 p.m.; FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).

Consistency of stringing consecutive wins together seems to be an issue, and it’s only happened once this season through 18 games (Games 2 and 3).

“Yes, very surprised,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “I think it’s a mental attitude. I have to take ownership of making sure that they trust the habits and want to do it. And then there’s the mental component of attitude of game management goes into it, and that’s a habit too. It’s playing the game the right way. I think four of their five goals are directly the result of poor habits or puck management. And we gained our leads by good game habits and management, and players made plays.”

Montgomery mentioned desperation in his postgame press conference on Friday.

“The urgency we need has to come from within,” he said. “It has to be communicated more consistently by the coaching staff and the players have got to take ownership of owning moments.”

- - -

The Blues will implement three lineup changes for Saturday’s game.

Joel Hofer will start in goal after Jordan Binnington made 26 saves on Friday.

Nick Bjugstad and Tyler Tucker, each a healthy scratch Friday for the first time this season, will come in replacing Mathieu Joseph and Hunter Skinner, who made his NHL debut on Friday, respectively.

Joseph did not see the ice for the final 9:31 of the third period, which included a game-tying goal at 5-5 by Owen Tippett. Joseph’s last two shifts in the game were goals against, including an unfortunate fourth goal in which Matthew Kessel slipped and fell in the D-zone with the puck.

“Yes, he’s not the only one that could have done better in that instance (on the fifth goal),” Montgomery said. “He’s the first forward back; we’d like that play killed when Zegras cuts it back initially. And then he’s supposed to stay low, so he should have been in the middle of the ice. Instead, him and ‘Torpo’ had to make a switch. And then our defensemen didn’t scope out quick enough. We had two at the net and they had four high. And then the slot play, if Joseph’s going to be high, he’s got to shoulder check and make sure he has that play. That’s the exact breakdown of the goal as it happens in our structure.”

The lineup is fluid and the Blues held an optional morning skate today that included six forwards (including Jake Neighbours), four defensemen and two goalies.

They ended the game on Friday playing Brayden Schenn between Dylan Holloway and Jordan Kyrou and could go back to that line again Saturday.

“I thought they gave us a lot of juice,” Montgomery said. “They obviously had the one goal as a line, which gave us a lead 4-3, but I also thought they had one play where they had two chances, the one-timer by Kyrou from the Schenn pass and then we had the rebound off of it. They could have made it 6-3. Some of those things were good to see, and they didn’t spend a lot of time in the D-zone.”

- - -

Blues Projected Lineup:

Pavel Buchnevich-Robert Thomas-Jimmy Snuggerud

Dylan Holloway-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou

Pius Suter-Dalibor Dvorsky-Nick Bjugstad

Alexey Toropchenko-Oskar Sundqvist-Nathan Walker

Philip Broberg-Colton Parayko

Cam Fowler-Justin Faulk

Tyler Tucker-Matthew Kessel

Joel Hofer will start in goal; Jordan Binnington will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Mathieu Joseph, Alexandre Texier and Hunter Skinner. Jake Neighbours (leg) is out.

- - -

Golden Knights Projected Lineup:

Ivan Barbashev-Jack Eichel-Braeden Bowman

Pavel Dorofeyev-Tomas Hertl-Mitch Marner

Brandon Saad-Brett Howden-Reilly Smith

Cole Reinhardt-Colton Sissons-Keegan Kolesar

Brayden McNabb-Shea Theodore

Noah Hanifin-Kaedan Korczak

Jeremy Lauzon-Zach Whitecloud

Akira Schmid will start in goal; Carl Lindbom will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Alexander Holtz and Ben Hutton. Adin Hill (lower body), William Karlsson (lower body) and Mark Stone (upper body) are out.

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When a swarm of young hockey fans wearing Pittsburgh Penguins toques all have their phones out to take a picture with Sidney Crosby outside a hotel in Sweden, you know the NHL's doing a decent job growing the game outside of North America.

The first of two NHL Global Series games between the Penguins and Nashville Predators took place at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, on Friday, with the second game commencing on Sunday. And the hype is palpable. Former NHL goalie Glenn Healy was among those who signed autographs for fans outside the hotel, and not only did spectators pour into the rink for the game, but they were also cheering the Predators on at practice on Saturday. (Thanks to Valtteri Karjula for sharing his Global Series experience in The Hockey News Community forum.)

Friday's 2-1 overtime win for Nashville featured some exciting action, with Swede Filip Forsberg tying the game late in front of nearly 13,000 fans.

This latest installment of the league’s Global Series comes at a time when the NHL is expanding its European footprint by opening up an office in Zurich, Switzerland. 

It will be a thrill for Swedish fans to see Penguins stars Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Swedes Erik Karlsson and Predators star Filip Forsberg live and in person, the truth is that there’s plenty of room for growth in the league’s blueprint to grow the game outside of North America.

As THN.com’s Avry Lewis-McDougall wrote about not all that long ago, the NHL could eventually combine its trips to Europe with outdoor games in places like London, England’s Wembley Stadium and Stockholm’s Strawberry Arena. The prospect of playing in front of 50,000 to 90,000 European fans at an outdoor game would no doubt be financial music to the NHL’s ears, and the visual grandeur of an open-air stadium hosting an NHL game or two is something the league and its sponsors would bend over backward to be part of.

That said, another option for the NHL to increase its footprint would be to host a week’s worth of games – say, four or five games in a seven-day span. To do so, you’d have to involve multiple teams. While the logistics of doing so would be tricky, the benefits of having a full week of games is something that absolutely should put additional games on the league’s radar. 

In any case, the NHL needs to examine all avenues to capitalize on fan interest overseas.

One day, it should make sense for the league to go beyond Sweden, Finland and Czechia for regular-season games. Back in 2008, more than 17,000 fans filled the O2 Arena in London for games between the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, and from 1997 to 2000, the NHL played games in Japan. With a rink being built in Milan, Italy, for the Olympics, it may make sense to go there for the Global Series, or perhaps play some more games in Asia.

But for now, placing deeper roots in places like the United Kingdom and Scandinavia is the most logical evolution for its entertainment product. So there may be additional baby steps for the NHL, but everything NHL-in-Europe is skewing positively, and that means more hockey-related revenue for players and the league to divvy up between themselves.

Imagining the NHL will one day have a full-time team outside North America is a pipe dream at the moment. But the fact that the league now has a permanent office is a testament to the growth of the sport. 

And while it will be exciting for Swedes to host some of the best players on the planet this weekend, there could be even better days soon to come for European hockey fans and players. 

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On Saturday night, the Chicago Blackhawks are going to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at the United Center. This will be the final game of “The Originals”, the first of four chapters celebrating their centennial season. 

A ceremony will precede the game. The Blackhawks are encouraging fans to be in their seat at 5:30 to make sure they don’t miss a thing. Pat Foley is going to host the ceremony, which will celebrate the early days of the franchise. 

At 3:30 PM, the Atrium will open and include exhibits that show displays that include tributes to the original days of the Chicago Blackhawks. At 4:45 in the Atrium, Darren Pang will host a Q&A with Blackhawks alumni. 

Fans can enter the United Center at 4:30. The first 8000 fans will receive a Tony Esposito bobblehead. There will be no shortage of Blackhawks-related things to do ahead of this Original Six matchup. 

On the ice, the 8-5-4 Blackhawks will take on the 8-8-2 Maple Leafs in a battle of two franchises seemingly headed in opposite directions. 

Scouting Toronto

The Toronto Maple Leafs are off to their worst start in a decade. Since they built up the core that has made them contenders, they have never had only 8 wins in their first 18 games.

The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) on XWith Matthews out of the lineup with a lower-body injury and both of their goalies currently unavailable, the Leafs are only four points out of first place. @Michael_Traikos says there’s no need to panic - yet: https://t.co/At0TpLwtHv

Their captain and superstar, Auston Matthews, will be missing due to an injury. Both of their goalies, in addition to Matthews, have also been unavailable in recent games. 

Knies-Tavares-Nylander

Robertson-Domi-McMann

Joshua-Roy-Naccelli

Blais-Lorentz-Jarnkrok

Rielly-Carlo

Benoit-McCabe

Ekman Larsson- Mermis

Matthew Knies and Brandon Carlo missed practice on Friday for maintenance, but they are expected to play. These are the lines they fit in on during Thursday's game. Easton Cowan was recalled from the Toronto Marlies and could draw into the lineup as well. 

Joseph Woll has also been activated and should be the starting goalie against the Blackhawks. 

Projected Blackhawks Lines, Defense Pairs, and Starting Goalie

The Chicago Blackhawks have been dealing with injuries themselves, like every team. On Friday, Jason Dickinson, Frank Nazar, and Andre Burakovsky all returned to practice, but Tyler Bertuzzi was missing. Also, Nazar left early with some discomfort. 

Frank Nazar, Jason Dickinson, & Andre Burakovsky All Returned To Blackhawks PracticeAfter time away with various health issues, multiple Chicago Blackhawks players returned to practice on Friday.

Spencer Knight was in the starter's crease during the morning skate. Expect him to go against the Leafs on Saturday night. Knight has been one of the league's best goalies so far this season, so Toronto has no easy path to getting back on track. 

In front of him, the lineup is projected to look as follows:

Bertuzzi-Bedard-Burakovsky

Teravainen-Greene-Mikheyev

Moore-Donato-Dach

Slaggert-Foligno-Lafferty

Vlasic-Crevier

Kaiser-Levshunov

Grzelcyk-Murphy

During their last game against the New Jersey Devils, Sam Rinzel was moved to the 7th defenseman role, while Louis Crevier moved up to the top pair in his place with Alex Vlasic. For this game against the Maple Leafs, Rinzel is going to take a seat and watch. A reset like this worked for Artyom Levshunov, and they are hoping for similar results for Rinzel. Matt Grzelcyk will take Rinzel's spot on the second power play unit. 

Frank Nazar and Jason Dickinson both were at morning skate, but they skated as extras. Right now, Nazar is a game-time decision, and Dickinson will be out for another game. 

Bertuzzi and Burakovsky are both back on the top line with Connor Bedard. Ryan Greene, who did a wonderful job in tough matchup situations against the Devils, will continue in his role as second-line center if Nazar is still out. Ilya Mikheyev and Teuvo Teravainen help him round out the top six. 

For the first time since Chicago's home opener, after 14 straight games with 11/7, Jeff Blashill is going to dress the traditional 12 forwards and 6 defensemen. The forward scratched will be determined by Nazar's availability at the start of the game. If Nazar is good to go, one of Landon Slaggert or Sam Lafferty is the likely candidate, even though they both scored last game. 

Connor Bedard is looking to make it 10 straight games with a point, which would be a career high for him in terms of a point streak. 

How To Watch

Fans in the Chicagoland area can find the game on CHSN. As part of Hockey Night in Canada, this game can be found on Sportsnet north of the border. The puck will drop shortly after 6 PM CT. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

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.