Vegas Golden Knights forward will have a hearing with the Department of Player Safety for his cross-check on Edmonton Oilers forward Trent Frederic.

The 28-year-old was assessed a five-minute major and ejected for the infraction. The penalty occurred in overtime when Roy attempted to cross-check the puck out of the air, missing and hitting Frederic in the face. Frederic was knocked to the ground and was left bleeding. 

The five-minute major was Roy's second penalty of the game. His first was a two-minute minor for high-sticking in the second period.

Roy has never been suspended during his career, but the NHL has attempted to crack down on their discipline for cross-checking infractions, which involve contact to the face, albeit they've been fairly inconsistent. 

Viktor Arvidsson was the culprit of a dangerous trip on veteran defenseman Brayden McNabb, but the Department of Player Safety has confirmed that he won't face any supplemental discipline. 

If the NHL feels Roy deserves a suspension, the Golden Knights could be without two contributing forwards, those being Roy and Pavel Dorofeyev. The team travels to Edmonton for Game 3, with puck drop set for 6:00 PM PST on Saturday.

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Anaheim Ducks signing former Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville could signal future signing of hall-of-fame player

The Anaheim Ducks are looking to do everything they can to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs next season and one of their biggest adds may be yet to come with a hall-of-fame player potentially joining the fold. 

It was reported midway through the NHL season, that longtime Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews is expected to make a return to the NHL, according to an interview he had with GQ Sports. It was confirmed by The Athletic's Mark Lazerus that it won't be with the Blackhawks. This spawned many theories as to which team the three-time Stanley Cup champion may join with Sportsnet's Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman giving their take on why the team could be the Ducks. 

More NHL: Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers Betting Guide: Best Bets, Strategies and Future Options

Bukauskas made the connection that Anaheim recently signed former Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville as their bench boss of the future and noted that Toews may want to play for the coach he won his Stanley Cups with. 

"One thing I can tell you Kyle is a lot of players in the league who like Quenneville and Toews was obviously one of them," "I would say without making a call...that's a really good connection."

- Friedman said in response to the idea

The addition of Toews would be a perfect fit for a young Ducks team that has been vocal about wanting to make the playoffs next season.

We likely won't see odds come out for playoffs next season for some time but this would make the Ducks worth a serious look as they could continue to add pieces as they have draft capital and young talent like Trevor Zegras that teams will want. Anaheim could look to flip Zegras for more experienced that could help lift this team into the postseason. 

Toews missed the 2020–21 bubble season as he recovered from COVID-19 and chronic immune response syndrome but then returned for 124 games over the next two seasons, but in August 2023, he announced he was stepping away from hockey to give himself time to fully recover from his aliments.

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During his last NHL action in the 2022-23 season, Toews recorded 15 goals and 16 assists in 53 games. The Winnipeg native was among the Blackhawks' all-time greats, earning a Selke Trophy in 2013 and ranking sixth in franchise history with 883 points across 1,067 regular-season games. A standout in the playoffs as well, the now 36-year-old sits fifth in team history with 119 points in 139 postseason appearances.

Maple Leafs aim for commanding 3-0 lead while Panthers look to win first game of the series

The Maple Leafs stunned the Cats in the first two game of their second round series, giving Toronto their first sizeable second round lead in over three decades.

The game was a battle with both sides looking to inflict as much pain as possible with Toronto receiving the worst of things as they lost starting goaltender Anthony Stolarz but backup Joseph Woll shined in his absence. 

Game three will make for an exciting showcase as the Panthers will look to exact revenge and claw their way back into the series. Toronto on the other hand, will aim to put Florida firmly against the ropes and secure their second 3-0 series lead of the postseason after doing so to Ottawa in the forest round. 

For bettors, this matchup provides a chance to capitalize on some of our recent strong trends, like our 33-23 record on our last 55 picks, including perfect records during Game 1 and 4 of the Maple Leafs-Senators series. 

More NHL: Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers Betting Guide: Best Bets, Strategies and Future Options

All betting lines are from FanDuel Sportsbook and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers Best Bets:

• Panthers -1.5 (+116)
• Matthew Tkachuk Under 0.5 points (+172)
• Maple Leafs Under 2.5 goals (-130) 

Leafs fans are anxiously awaiting for one thing: a standout game from Matthew Tkachuk.

With just one point through the first two games and no goals in four straight games, the Scottsdale native is becoming more and more due for a big game. Tkachuk recorded 22 points in 24 games last postseason with few cold streaks but it is worth mentioning only six of those 22 points were goals. 

More NHL: Jonathan Toews NHL Return Could Be With Anaheim Ducks, According to NHL Insider

After recording back-to-back 40-goal seasons in 2022 and 2023, he has turned away from goal scoring and has scored 48 goals in the previous two years. This could be attributed to Tkachuk pivoting his style of play to more of a two-way play style similar to Auston Matthews and could cut into his scoring production. 

Matthew Tkachuk has been placed on IR with a groin injury.✔️ Subscribe to ESPN+ https://plus.espn.com/✔️ Get the ESPN App: http://www.espn.com/espn/apps/espn✔️ Subscribe to ESPN on YouTube: http://es.pn/SUBSCRIBEtoY...

It could also be a symptom of his undisclosed injury that he suffered at the Four Nations. He has rarely played big-time minutes this postseason with 13 minutes or fewer in three of his last seven games. We are going to go against the public and actually fade Tkachuk in this spot the limited oppurtunies should continue to hold him back. 

The Panthers should bounce back however as it would be a new world of danger for Florida if goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky had another start with four goals allowed. The 36-year-old has never in his career allowed three or more goals in three consecutive starts versus Toronto in the same season with the only time it happening being in matchups separated by two years apart in 2020 with Columbus and in 2022 with Florida. 

This should help lift Florida to a much needed win and keep themselves off the ropes for another game and give themselves a chance to tie in game four. Florida has also covered the puck line as a favourite in four straight four home matchups versus Toronto.

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The NHL has been celebrating the first quarter century of the league since the calendar flipped to 2025. That has included a first and second all-star team for all 32 franchises that played over the first 25 years of the 21st century. 

The Chicago Blackhawks' first team consisted of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Corey Crawford. The second team comprised Alex DeBrincat, Marian Hossa, Brandon Saad, Brian Campbell, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Jocelyn Thibault. 

This week, the league started announcing the quarter-century team for the league as a whole. With all of the success and future Hall of Fame players that Chicago has had this century, it was clear that they would have at least one representative. 

The first six players named included guys who made their debut before the year 2000 began but did most of their damage once the century turned. That included Nicklas Lidstrom, Teemu Selanne, Zdeno Chara, Joe Thornton, Jarome Iginla, and Joe Sakic. 

On Friday, the league announced the next six players, including Blackhawks legend Patrick Kane. The five others alongside Kane with this announcement are skaters who made their debuts from 2000-2010. 

That includes Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Steven Stamkos, and Pavel Datsyuk. This is elite company for Kane to be associated with, and it’s well deserved. 

Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) on Xit's Showtime for the @NHL Quarter-Century Team!🎬 congrats, Kaner‼️👏

Since the end of the 2022-23 season, Kane has spent time with the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings, but most of his legendary career was spent with the Chicago Blackhawks. On an individual level, Kane won the Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Calder Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award, and the Conn Smythe Trophy.

In 1302 games played, Kane has 492 goals and 851 assists for 1343 points. Those gaudy statistics and all of the awards he has won will get him in the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. 

Of course, Kane has also won the Stanley Cup three times, which is his crowning achievement above all. With a career as decorated as Kane's, it’s hard to argue against him as the greatest American-born player of all time. He is also in the conversation for the greatest Blackhawk ever. 

NHL (@NHL) on X@SAP We're over halfway through unveiling the #NHLQCTeam... Who else was voted to the team? 🗳️ Check back tomorrow to learn about the next group of players! NHL Quarter-Century Team presented by @SAP

The league is now halfway done announcing its quarter-century team. Up to this point, if anyone was going to represent the Blackhawks on the list, it was always going to be Patrick Kane. 

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

Czech goaltender Jakub Škarek, 26, has signed a contract with IFK Helsinki, the Liiga club announced on Friday. The deal is for a year plus an option.

“I am really competitive. For me, the most important thing is to help the team win,” said Škarek. “II am very happy to have signed a contract with HIFK. The club has a long history and is a name known throughout the hockey world. I am really excited to join the team.”

After being a third-round draft pick of the New York Islanders in 2018, Škarek spent almost all of the past six seasons in the Isles organization, mostly in the AHL with the Bridgeport Islanders but he played two NHL games last season.

“Jakub is a very experienced goalie for his age,” said club sports director Janne Pesonen. “His sights are on the NHL and Jakub has already had a taste of that dream. We are happy that he feels that HIFK is the right place for him to take the next step in his career, and he will definitely bring competition to our goaltending department.”

Originally from Jihlava, Czechia and a product of the local Dukla club, this will already be Škarek’s third stop in Finland. After being drafted, he spent the 2018-19 season with the Lahti Pelicans, playing 22 Liiga games and seven in the second-tier Mestis. He returned to Lahti to play four games for Peliitat in 2020-21 while the start of the AHL season was delayed by pandemic-related restrictions.

This past season, IFK Helsinki finished fourth in the Liiga regular season and was eliminated in the quarterfinals – falling behind 3-0, winning three in a row, then losing Game 7 at home to the Lahti Pelicans.

In addition to Škorek, the team has under contract for 2025-26 ex-NHLers Jori Lehterä, Iiro Pakarinen and Petteri Lindbohm, as well as 19-year-old Minnesota Wild prospect Aron Kiviharju. The team will be coached by Olli Jokinen.

Olli Jokinen Explains Viral “F-Bomb” VideoFormer NHL defenseman Olli Jokinen is now in his fourth year of coaching professional hockey, but it’s only been since an expletive-laced video of him trying to motivate his Timrå team went viral in the last few days that many outside of Finland or Sweden have known it.