Looking at the League: Playoff berths, Toews and Malkin injured, Jumbo Joe’s 1,200th NHL game

Image courtesy of Boston.SportsThenAndNow.com
The playoff picture is still a bit blurry in the Eastern Conference, but several of the teams in the Western Conference have grabbed a playoff spot. Along with the playoff race nearing an end, a new Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee was announced and is filled with several of the biggest names in the hockey World. There were also a few NHL milestones reached this week, as Vincent Lecavalier potted his 400th goal in the NHL this weekend. Here’s a look at the league:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

The Boston Bruins continue to roll over whatever opponent is next on their schedule, as they have already clinched the Atlantic Division title and sit at the top of the league with 110 points. After an eventful 2-1 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Monday snapped their 12-game winning streak, the Bruins responded with three straight wins, including a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. In Monday’s loss, a game where Ray Bourque dropped the ceremonial faceoff, Milan Lucic called Alexei Emelin a chicken after a hip check from the Habs’ d-man in the opening frame, while defenseman Kevan Miller injured Dale Weise with a check from behind before he cracked Travis Moen in a bout forcing both Weise and Moen to leave the contest. Along with the Vezina-worthy season from Tuukka Rask and the Norris-worthy season from Zdeno Chara, two reasons the Bruins are chugging along are due to the play of Patrice Bergeron and Jarome Iginla. Bergeron is currently on a career-high seven-game goal streak, while Iginla has reached the 30-goal plateau for a 12th time in his career.

At the moment, Boston is set to play the Columbus Blue Jackets in the opening round of the NHL postseason. Despite Sergei Bobrovsky battling the flu all week, and Urban Meyer stating early in the week that Columbus is “a large city that really has no professional sports team,” the Blue Jackets needed a controversial goal to help them beat the Red Wings on Tuesday and overtime to beat the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. In their 4-2 decision on Tuesday, Cam Atkinson potted the game-winner on a play where it looked as though he personally knocked the net off its pegs by himself without the help of Brendan Smith, who was the closest Wings’ d-man to him. Ryan Johansen scored in overtime on Saturday, while Artem Anisimov had a goal and an assist for Columbus in their overtime victory against the Canes on Saturday. The power play, which went 0-for-35 in the nine-game stretch leading up to their win on Tuesday, was 4-for-8 this week.

At the top of the Metropolitan Division are the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are the only other team in the Eastern Conference that has clinched a playoff spot besides the Bruins. Although the Pens have learned that blue liner Kris Letang is able to return, and that the decision for when to return is up to him, Pittsburgh learned that Evgeni Malkin will be sidelined for the rest of the regular season with a foot injury and that Marcel Goc is sidelined indefinitely after an injury he suffered in the team’s loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. One positive the Pens can take away from this week was the return of Beau Bennett, who returned to action in the team’s 2-1 win over Columbus on Friday after missing 51 games with a wrist injury. As for news about former Penguins, Martin Straka announced his retirement as a player this week.

If the playoffs were to start today, the Pens would take on the Detroit Red Wings, who sit in the first wild card spot with 84 points. After dropping their third straight game on Thursday to the Canadiens, the Red Wings beat both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning over the weekend. On top of back-to-back wins, the Wings can be happy that Pavel Datsyuk is skating again, as the team’s elite forward has missed significant time with a knee injury. David Legwand, who experienced a hot streak shortly after being acquired from the Nashville Predators, has been relegated to the third line. Off the ice, the state of Michigan approved funds for the demolition of Joe Louis Arena, which will take place after the team moves into a new arena on the north end of downtown. In terms of their young players, the Wings signed their sixth-round pick from the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Marc McNulty, to an amateur try-out contract. Reporting to Grand Rapids, McNulty is an 18-year-old d-man who had 42 points and 115 PIMs in 67 games with the Prince George Cougars of the WHL this season. Along with McNulty, Mitch Callahan became the eighth rookie to play for Detroit this season, as he made his NHL debut in the team’s 4-2 loss to Columbus on Tuesday. Callahan had two hits in 9:01 of action.

The Montreal Canadiens sit third in the conference with 93 points, as they are second in the Atlantic Division. Goaltending helped the Habs remain near the top of the division, as Peter Budaj stopped 28 of 29 in the team’s shootout win over the Bruins on Monday before Carey Price recorded a 24-save shutout over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. Although Weise and Moen are still out from the sequence of events from Miller, Montreal had Michael Bournival return to action last Monday against the Bruins, as he had two PIMs and a blocked shot in his first game after missing 14 tilts with a concussion. When it comes to Montreal’s prospects, the Canadiens learned that Tim Bozon, who had been placed in a medically-induced coma just a few weeks ago, has left the hospital on good terms. Along with Bozon, Montreal has signed Mac Bennett, their third-round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, to a two-year entry-level contract. The 23-year-old defenseman had 14 points in 31 games as captain of the University of Michigan squad this season. As for keeping the talent they currently have, Mike Zeisberger of The Toronto Sun reports that P.K. Subban is looking for an $8 million per year deal and wants to stay with the Habs. Also, former Canadien great Serge Savard has been selected for the HHOF selection committee.

It seems likely the Canadiens will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the postseason, who are third in the Atlantic Division with 91 points. Before their 3-2 loss to Detroit yesterday, the Bolts grabbed a point in 11 straight games thanks to the play of Steven Stamkos and Valtteri Filppula. Stamkos had two goals, one of which came in overtime, and an assist in the team’s 4-3 win over the Sabres on Saturday, while Filppula is currently riding a 12-game point streak where he has five goals and 11 assists. Tampa Bay endured a 13-round shootout against the New York Islanders, but thanks to Sami Salo converting in the final round, the Lightning grabbed a 3-2 win against the Isles. The Lightning could possibly grab the second seed in the division if they can beat the Canadiens on Tuesday and take advantage of their remaining games against the Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Washington Capitals.

Second in the Metropolitan Division are the New York Rangers, who have two more points than the Philadelphia Flyers, but have also played two more games than the Orange and Black. The good news for the Rangers, who seem most likely to host the Flyers in the opening round of the postseason, extended their win streak to eight over Philly at Madison Square Garden, while Dominic Moore has been nominated for the Masterson Trophy, as the forward took off all of last season after his wife passed away from Cancer. The negatives are Martin St. Louis is still goalless after being with New York for 14 games, while the team learned Chris Kreider will be sidelined indefinitely after he had surgery on his hand. In interesting news relating to a former Ranger, Sean Avery, who was recently eliminated from Dancing With the Stars, exchanged verbal jabs with New Jersey Devils’ goaltender Martin Brodeur this week. After Brodeur said, “What more could he do to embarrass himself? There it is,” in relation to Avery being eliminated from the popular show, Avery tweeted, “Woke up beside a #Supermodel to hear news that #Fatso made a comment…@DancingABC equals Thousands of $ for charity,” followed by, “Embarrassing is when u sleep with the #Nanny and get caught :).”

The team most likely to face New York in the opening round of the playoffs are the Philadelphia Flyers, who went 1-2-1 this week and are currently third in the Metropolitan Division. In a week where Bobby Clarke was named to the HHOF selection committee and Ron Hextall was named to the Team Canada World Championship staff, Vincent Lecavalier recorded his 400th NHL goal in the team’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Bruins yesterday. Lecavalier’s career goal came in a two-goal performance and a three-goal weekend, as the forward had been demoted to the fourth line and made a case as to why he shouldn’t be there for long. As for Flyers’ prospects, the organization signed forward Kevin Goumas to an amateur try-out contract with the Adirondack Phantoms. Goumas is a 22-year-old undrafted left winger who had 52 points in 40 games for the University of New Hampshire this season, as he scored a goal in his first two games for the Phantoms.

The first team currently out of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference are the Washington Capitals, who are one point out of the second wild card spot. A big reason why the Caps are currently out of the playoffs is the fact they have blown 13 two-goal leads this season, as they are 2-0-4 in six situations where they blew a two-goal lead in the third period. Also hurting them are situations like the injury to Jack Hillen, who has missed the last two games after he was nailed by Alex Ovechkin on accident in the team’s loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. Two positives are that Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his first NHL goal and Dustin Penner scored his first goal as a Capital in the loss to the Kings, and that Mikhail Grabovski, who missed 14 games with a sprained left ankle, returned to the lineup in yesterday’s shootout loss to the Nashville Predators.

Two points out of the final playoff spot despite playing the most games in the conference are the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are currently on an eight-game losing streak. In a week where Dion Phaneuf had to call into Sportsnet Fan 590 to defend his play as of late, as well as his teammates’ play, Jonathan Bernier’s return to action couldn’t even help the Maple Leafs, as their starting netminder went 0-3-0 allowing 12 goals against in the process. Looking past this losing streak, as well as this season, Elliotte Friedman believes the Leafs will move one of their “offensive-minded forwards” for a “more defensive player” and mentioned how P.K. Subban and Ryan Miller are waiting until the offseason to talk about their contracts. On the prospect front, Toronto signed Eric Knodel to a one-year entry-level contract. A fifth-round pick of the team in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Knodel had 28 points in 41 games this season as captain of the University of New Hampshire. He will finish the season on an amateur try-out contract with the Toronto Marlies in the AHL.

With their playoff dreams slipping away, the New Jersey Devils now sit five points outside the final playoff spot. It was a week of bad news for the Devils headlined by New Jersey’s captain Bryce Salvador missing each game this week with a nagging groin injury. On top of the embarrassing argument with Avery, Brodeur has stated that if the Devils don’t want him back next season he will test the free agency market. To go along with Salvador’s injury and Brodeur’s all-around messy week, Michael Ryder, who has one goal in his last 28 games while providing a cap hit of $3.5 million, was demoted to the team’s fourth line. One has to also wonder how New Jersey’s season would be going if they could win a shootout, as their 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday dropped the Devils to 0-10 in the skills’ competition this year.

Having shut down Bobby Ryan for the season, it seems as though the Ottawa Senators season isn’t likely to extend into the postseason. With Ryan shut down after a sports hernia surgery, GM Bryan Murray came out and told TSN 1200 that, “We thought this team was better.” Not only will it hurt to not make the postseason, the Senators will have to deal with attempting to sign free agent Ales Hemsky at the end of the season and making sure Jason Spezza will want to stay in Ottawa after the 2014-2015 campaign. As for their play on the ice, Kyle Turris had two goals and an assist while Milan Michalek had two goals in the team’s 6-3 win over the Calgary Flames last night.

The Carolina Hurricanes are looking forward to next season, as it sounds as though the franchise will be enduring major changes. Although it’s likely GM Jim Rutherford will remain as the team’s president, it sounds as though he will hand over his GM duties to Ron Francis. This comes a week after Darren Dreger noted that major changes were coming to Carolina, which likely includes the departures of Cam Ward, Jeff Skinner, and Eric Staal. Two players that will be with Carolina for the next few years it seems are Justin Faulk and Phil Di Giuseppe. Faulk, a Team USA representative, has signed a six-year extension with an annual average value of $4.833 million. As for Di Giuseppe, the team’s second-round pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, the forward has agreed to a three-year entry-level deal with Carolina. He had 78 points in 115 games at the University of Michigan over the last three seasons.

Below the Hurricanes in the standings are the New York Islanders, who seem likely to be enduring major changes with their franchise as well. Along with the possible firing of GM Garth Snow, it was leaked this week that owner Charles Wang is attempting to sell the team. This news comes during a season that was supposed to be a year that the Islanders built off of their postseason appearance last season, but they are now reeling in the standings thanks to an injury to John Tavares and now Kyle Okposo, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Aside from the news stemming from Wang’s situation, Arthur Staple reported this week that the Isles might be interested in re-signing Evgeni Nabokov and using him as a backup goaltender for next season. One lone bright spot for the Islanders this week was the NHL debut of John Persson, who was minus-1 with three shots on goal in 12:49 time of action in the team’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Lightning on Thursday.

Already out of playoff contention, the Florida Panthers saw two of their better players leave the ice this week due to different situations. After blue liner Tom Gilbert was shut down for the season due to a sports hernia operation, Roberto Luongo left the team’s 3-0 loss to Carolina on Thursday after Radek Dvorak collided with the netminder. Luongo is still day-to-day with an upper-body injury, as he has yet to return to game action since the incident. The Panthers also lost assistant GM Mike Santos, who was fired by Florida this week. A major piece to Florida’s team is Dmitry Kulikov, who is a restricted free agent after this season and the team has yet to start contract talks with him, according to George Richards.

Dead last in the Eastern Conference, and in the NHL, the Buffalo Sabres finally signed a three-year extension with head coach Ted Nolan. While being shut out for the 10th time this season in their 2-0 defeat to the Canadiens on Tuesday, defenseman Tyler Myers suffered an injury after he crashed into a goalpost in the third period and has yet to return to the lineup. The team is also dealing with a back injury to Zenon Konopka, who is day-to-day and hasn’t played since last Monday. Another key injury to watch for Buffalo is a possible concussion to Ville Leino. Buffalo most likely plans on using a compliance buyout on the former Flyer, but the Sabres can’t use such a buyout if the forward is injured at the end of the season. A positive note for the Sabres this week was the announcing that they plan to retire Dominik Hasek’s number 39 next season, as they inducted their former netminder into the team’s Hall of Fame on Saturday night.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Second in the league with 107 points, and first in the Western Conference, the St. Louis Blues are one of the five teams in their conference to already clinch a playoff berth. Thanks to a hat trick from David Backes on Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs and a hat trick from T.J Oshie on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild, the Blues are currently riding a four-game winning streak. On Saturday, Backes recorded an assist to move past Pierre Turgeon for 11th in Blues’ franchise history in the statistical category. Although the team is riding high and looks poised to make a deep postseason run, one fear the team may have is the future of Ryan Miller. According to Bob McKenzie, Miller is waiting until July 1st to see if there is any interest from the Anaheim Ducks.

At the moment, the Blues are set to face the Phoenix Coyotes in the first round of the postseason. After suffering an apparent right knee injury against the New York Rangers on Monday, Mike Smith is still out of action for the Coyotes, as he will be evaluated again soon for his injury. Along with Smith’s injury, both Mike Ribeiro and Derek Morris were healthy scratches this week, as the team has lost three of their last five games. Phoenix is also trying to deal with an injury to David Moss, who left Thursday’s shootout win over the New Jersey Devils with a lower-body injury. Two positives for the team are that bottom-six forward Kyle Chipchura has four points in his last four games and that the team’s assistant GM Brad Treliving has been named to Team Canada’s World Championship staff.

Second in the Western Conference are the Anaheim Ducks, who lead the Pacific Division with 104 points and have already clinched a playoff berth. After tying the franchise record for road wins in a season with a 3-2 decision over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, the Ducks set the franchise record with a 23rd road win on Saturday in a 5-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Although they suffered a 4-3 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday, Anaheim is riding a four-game point streak with a 3-0-1 record. In addition to the off-the-ice news relating to Miller possibly heading to California, the Ducks signed a pair of players to entry-level contracts this week, as Josh Manson and Matt Bailey have joined the organization. Manson was a sixth-round pick of the team in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and has signed a two-year entry-level deal with the club after the blue liner had 10 points and 65 PIMs in 33 games as the captain of Northeastern University this season. Bailey also signed a two-year entry-level contract, as the undrafted right winger had 38 points and 49 PIMs in 38 games with the University of Alaska-Anchorage this season.

The Ducks look as though they will face the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the postseason, as the Central Division club is in the first wild card spot with 87 points. Although they lost Clayton Stoner for the season with a knee injury and Niklas Backstrom and Jason Zucker underwent season-ending surgeries this week, the Wild are still in the playoff picture. The team’s success isn’t due to Dany Heatley’s season, as the forward was a healthy scratch against the Coyotes on Saturday and is currently enduring a 14-game goal drought. In prospect news, the Wild signed two 19-year-old defensemen in Gustav Olofsson and Dylan Labbe this week. Olofsson inked a three-year entry-level contract and was picked in the second round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by Minnesota, as the blue liner had eight points in 30 games with Colorado College this season. As for Labbe, the fourth-round pick of the team in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft signed an amateur try-out contract with the Iowa Wild after he had 27 points in 63 games with the Shawnigan Cataractes of the QMJHL this season.

The San Jose Sharks are second in the Pacific Division and third in the Western Conference with 103 points. It was mainly positive news this week for San Jose with the exception of Adam Burish’s injury, as the forward blocked a shot in the team’s win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday and underwent surgery to repair the gruesome finger injury. There was fear Logan Couture was going to miss time after blocking a Mark Giordano shot against the Flames last Monday, but the forward took part in the team’s games against the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche later in the week. Moving away from the injuries, two figures in the organization reached milestones this week, as Joe Thornton took part in his 1,200th NHL game and Worcester Sharks’ head coach Roy Sommer set the record for most games coached in the AHL. Thornton is the 100th NHLer to reach the 1,200 games played mark as he hit the mark on Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets, while Sommer coached his 1,257th AHL game on Wednesday. In other big news related to the Sharks, the franchise has signed undrafted 23-year-old forward Ryan Carpenter to a two-year entry-level contract. Carpenter had 16 points in 15 games as the captain of Bowling Green State University this season.

The Sharks are going to face the Los Angeles Kings in the opening round of the postseason. Jeff Carter scored against his former team on Monday in his return to Philadelphia, as the Kings enjoyed a win on Monday night against the Flyers before winning their next three to reach their current six-game winning streak. With their win over the Penguins on Thursday, the Kings have tied their franchise record of eight straight road wins, which they will attempt to snap this Thursday against the Sharks. In news relating to former players, former Kings’ great and owner Luc Robitaille was added to the HHOF selection committee this week. Also, current assistant GM Rob Blake was named the GM of Team Canada’s World Championship roster. As for roster news in the postseason, Colin Fraser, who broke his hand recently with the Manchester Monarchs in the AHL, is expected to join the Kings in the postseason without cap restriction.

Sitting second in the Central Division, the Colorado Avalanche have 100 points in 74 games. With their win over the Sharks on Saturday, thanks to a 47-save performance from Semyon Varlamov, the Avs clinched a postseason appearance for the first time since 2010. Also on Saturday, Ryan O’Reilly took his first penalty of the season after going 71 games without taking one, as he was whistled for playing with a broken stick in the win. In Erik Johnson’ 400th NHL game on Thursday, Tyson Barrie scored his third overtime goal of the season in a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks. In transaction news, Colorado signed a pair of recent draft picks to amateur try-out contracts this week, as both Luke Moffat and Mason Geertsen joined the organization. Moffat is a seventh-round pick of the team from the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and had 25 points in 34 games for the University of Michigan this season. A fourth-round pick of the Avs in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Geertsen is an 18-year-old d-man who had 23 points and 166 PIMs in 66 games this season with the Vancouver Giants in the WHL.

The Avs look destined to take on the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round of this year’s postseason, as it looks as though the Hawks suffered another blow on Sunday night. Not only did Chicago lose 4-1 to the Penguins last night, Jonathan Toews left the game after he was decked by Brooks Orpik into the boards. With Patrick Kane already out for the season, the Blackhawks can’t stand to lose Toews for an extended period of time as well. In other news that most likely depresses Hawks’ fans, long-time Blackhawks’ beat writer Tim Sassone passed away on Tuesday. Sassone covered the team for 26 years. A couple positives for Chicago this week were the NHL debut of Teuvo Teravainen and the signing of Trevor van Riemsdyk. Teravainen won all seven of his faceoffs against the Dallas Stars in the team’s win on Tuesday, as he saw 11:39 time on the ice. As for van Riemsdyk, James’ younger brother is an undrafted 22-year-old d-man who had 23 points in 26 games for the University of New Hampshire this season. TvR’s two-year entry-level deal will begin in 2014-2015.

One point out of a playoff spot are the Dallas Stars, who have played one less game than both the Wild and the Coyotes. Dallas destroyed the Nashville Predators on Friday with a 7-3 decision, as the Stars had seven different goal scorers in a game for the first time since their 10-2 win over the New York Rangers in February of 2009. Alex Goligoski tied a career-high with four assists in the monstrous win, while Vernon Fiddler recorded his 200th career point in the team’s 4-2 win over the Blues on Saturday. Tyler Seguin had his point streak snapped on Saturday, as the forward had seven goals and 11 assists in his previous 11 games. When it comes to transactions, the Stars signed a pair of players to two-year entry-level deals, as both Alex Guptill and Justin Dowling joined the organization. Guptill was a third-round pick of the team in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and had 25 points in 31 games with the University of Michigan this season. Dowling is an undrafted 23-year-old center who has 40 points in 67 games with the Texas Stars this year. In a bit of positive news for the Stars this week, Rich Peverley stated that he does want to try and return to play hockey again sometime in the near future, although it won’t be this season.

Essentially out of the playoff race, the Vancouver Canucks suffered more injuries this week, as well as more news came out relating to the Steve Moore case. With Henrik Sedin still out two more weeks with a lower-body injury, defenseman Kevin Bieksa is most likely playing through a lower-body injury. Vancouver did call up blue liner Frank Corrado in case Bieksa does miss time due to the injury. As for the Steve Moore case, former Canucks’ owner John McCaw Jr. has been ordered to testify in the case. The case isn’t expected to start until September, as the incident that took place on the ice between Todd Bertuzzi and Moore took place over 10 years ago. Times may not be getting any easier for Vancouver, as their next four games are against the Rangers, Kings, Ducks, and Avalanche.

Although they have been out of the playoff hunt for awhile, the Nashville Predators are still competing, as they are 4-1-1 in their last six tilts to sit seven points out of the final playoff spot. Although Seth Jones missed his first game of the season on Tuesday with concussion-like symptoms, and is still out of action, head coach Barry Trotz made a big statement about Shea Weber’s season by stating, “it’s by far his best season in terms of production.” Unfortunately for Weber, his 600th NHL game was the Predators’ 7-3 loss to the Stars on Friday. Roman Josi continues to impress on Nashville’s blue line, as he has two goals and two assists in his last four games. Also impressing in Nashville is the newly acquired Calle Jarnkrok, who registered a point in his first five NHL games before he was held pointless against the Caps yesterday.

The Winnipeg Jets were recently in the playoff discussion, but thanks to going 3-7-3 in their last 13 games, Paul Maurice’s club is well out of the final playoff spot. Jets’ captain Andrew Ladd had yet to miss a single game since the team relocated to Winnipeg, but the forward missed Monday’s game against Dallas to be with his wife for the birth of their daughter. As for Ondrej Pavelec, the goaltender returned after missing several games with a lower-body injury only to hurt himself again in a 13-save performance against the Kings on Saturday. One bright spot for Winnipeg is the play of Blake Wheeler, who has four points in his last two games and currently leads the team with 63 points in 75 games.

Mathematically eliminated from reaching the postseason, the Calgary Flames made a pair of signings this week, as Ryan Culkin and Bryce Van Brabant inked entry-level contracts with the organization. Culkin, who was drafted in the fifth round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Flames, signed a three-year deal. He had 50 points in 55 games between the Quebec Remparts and the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL this season. Van Brabant signed a two-year deal, as the 22-year-old undrafted center had 22 points and 113 PIMs in 40 games with Quinnipiac University this season. As for their current roster, there are rumblings that Mark Giordano should be considered for the Norris Trophy, but the blue liner will most likely lose to either Zdeno Chara or Duncan Keith.

Last in the Western Conference, the Edmonton Oilers aren’t receiving help from Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, as both players have had poor second halves to their seasons. In addition, Viktor Fasth was injured at practice this week, which led to Laurent Brossoit being called up on an emergency basis, while Ryan Jones is out for the remainder of the season with a left knee injury. As for the positives, defenseman Anton Belov returned against the Ducks on Friday after missing 11 games with an oblique injury, while former goaltender Curtis Joseph was honored before the game. As for the result of Friday’s game, Ben Scrivens stopped 48 of 51 while Andrew Ference scored the winner in overtime in a 4-3 decision over Anaheim. Oscar Klefbom scored his first NHL goal in the overtime win on Friday.