Five Minute Major

*Photo from Yahoo! Sports*     Well this trade certainly sprung out of thin air. The New York Islanders have acquired C Bo Horvat from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for LW Anthony Beauvillier, C Aatu Raty, and a conditional 2023 first round pick, according to both teams.    In the trade, the Canucks are retaining 25 percent of Horvat's $5.5 million contract for this year, with the former Canucks captain scheduled to be a UFA at the end of the year. The first round pick going to Vancouver is top 12 protected, so the pick will be a 2024 first round pick if the Canucks pick within the top 12 in the 2023 draft.    Horvat is enjoying a career year with the Canucks, his 4th season as the captain. Horvat has tied a career high with 31 goals, adding 23 assists and a +3 rating while averaging 20:49 of ice time per game in 49 games so far this season. Horvat was slated to represent the Canucks at the All Star Game.    Vancouver GM Patrik Allvin said of ...

*Photo from the Rocky Mountain Outlook*     It was a big game for the Toronto boys at home. Morgan Rielly scored, John Tavares had two assists, and the Toronto Maple Leafs rolled past the Washington Capitals with a 5-1 victory on Sunday afternoon in Toronto.    The win goes down as the Maple Leafs' 6th in 10 games, with a 6-3-1 record. Tavares and Michael Bunting were the only multi point scorers for the Maple Leafs, with Tavares having a two assist game and Bunting recording a goal and an assist. Rielly also broke through with his first goal of the year.    Asked about Rielly finally scoring, Tavares said that "I don't know if I've ever played with a better professional than Morgan. The way he carries himself, you'd never know. I think he is a world-class player, person and leader, and when the puck hasn't been going in, it's never easy especially between the ears. You don't see him hanging his head or sinking his shoulders."    Nicklas...

*Photo from the New Haven Register*     They came out determined and did their job. Jared Spurgeon scored, Frederick Gaudreau won the game, and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Buffalo Sabres with a 3-2 shootout victory on Saturday night in Saint Paul.    With the win, the Wild head into the all star break and their bye week with two wins in a row and back in the playoff picture, moving into 3rd place in the Central Division and ahead of the Colorado Avalanche. 6 different skaters registered a point for the Wild in the shootout win.    Minnesota head coach Dean Evason said after the game that "It was close, it was tight. We made some mistakes for sure, but guys were backing each other up and picking each other up on the bench. We didn't have the jump that I think we normally have, so we grinded, which is how we're going to win hockey games anyway. They put a little more emphasis on that, and we got it done."    Kicking off the scoring was Buffalo's...

*Photo from ESPN*     There's a rising star getting a new contract out west. The Vancouver Canucks and RW Andrei Kuzmenko have agreed to a two year, $11 million contract extension, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The Canucks have officially confirmed.    After signing with the Canucks in the offseason from Russia, Kuzmenko was a pending UFA on a one year deal and has put together a strong first season in North America. He is tied for second in goals on the Canucks and 3rd in points after playing for 8 years in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League.    Kuzmenko said of his situation in Vancouver that "I like the fans. I like my partners in the game. I like the coaching staff. I'm happy in Vancouver, why not sign two years? I think it's a good deal for two sides. And my side is a good bridge in Vancouver. For me it's a very important moment because I don't like changes, a second team in the NHL is a new city, new team, it's not a good situ...

*Photo from The Rink Live*    The young Ducks are beginning to fly. Cam Fowler had two assists, Frank Vatrano scored a hat trick, and the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Colorado Avalanche with a 5-3 victory on Thursday night in Denver.    With the win, the Ducks have now won two in a row, 3 of their last 4, and end their 6 game road trip with a 3-2-1 record, improving to 15-29-5 on the season. Fowler and Vatrano were the only multi point scorers for the Ducks, who got a surprising win against the defending champions.    Ducks head coach Dallas Eakins said that "This was a huge game for us. I'm not so sure about them, but we talked before the game about we don't have to beat these guys four times in two weeks. We just have to beat them tonight, and that was going to be our measuring stick."    Kicking off the scoring was Colorado's Mikko Rantanen, who gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead 3:56 into the game, scoring his 32nd goal of the season with D...

*Photo from TSN*     Chalk this one up in the comeback column. Boone Jenner scored, Kent Johnson won it, and the Columbus Blue Jackets rallied to defeat the Edmonton Oilers with a 3-2 overtime victory on Wednesday night in Edmonton.    Trailing 2-1, the Blue Jackets were able to tie the game in the 3rd period and win it in overtime for their second win in 3 games. There were no multi point scorers for the Blue Jackets, with 7 different skaters collecting a point as the Blue Jackets have 5 points in 3 games.    Columbus head coach Brad Larsen said that "I thought in the third, we had some good shifts and Marchenko does a heck of a job pulling it from below the goal line and getting to the other side of the net and jamming away there. Then you can feel there was energy in our group. It was a good period, a solid period."    Starting the scoring for the Blue Jackets was their captain Jenner, giving them a 1-0 lead at the 12:25 mark of the f...

*Photo from The Rink Live*     A new era is off to a good start. Dakota Joshua scored, Andrei Kuzmenko had a two goal game, and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Chicago Blackhawks with a 5-2 victory on Tuesday night in Vancouver.    Rick Tocchet was making his debut behind the bench as the head coach of the Canucks after replacing Bruce Boudreau on Sunday. Assistant coach Trent Cull was also fired with Boudreau, with Adam Foote becoming an assistant coach on Tocchet's staff, and Sergei Gonchar being hired as a defensive development coach.    Tocchet said that "The players kind of bought in. There's been some tough circumstances the last few days. There was a lot of emotions and heads spinning. I threw some stuff at them today; we had longer meetings than I like to. For them to take it in and play good, I commend the players."    For the Canucks, it was only their first 3rd win in 13 games, but it was a positive that they were able to win To...

*Photo from the Sun Sentinel*     It was a big game for the Blue Shirts. Mika Zibanejad had two goals and an assist, Adam Fox had a goal and two assists, and the New York Rangers defeated the Florida Panthers with a 6-2 victory on Monday night in Manhattan.    Zibanejad and Fox each had 3 point games for the Rangers in the win, now with a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 games. Kaapo Kakko had two assists as well, with Artemi Panarin having 3 assists. The Rangers are now 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division with a 26-14-7 record.    Fox said of all the 3 point games that "I think we were just getting to open areas for each other. The big thing on a couple of those goals was spread the ice, spread them out, open things up and got some good looks from that."    It was Fox who started the scoring for the Rangers, giving them a 1-0 lead with his 10th goal of the season, coming 3:03 into the game. Carter Verhaeghe scored his 23rd goal of the season...

*Photo from Yahoo! Sports*     There was simply no way they were going to lose in those jerseys. Nick Schmaltz had two assists, Clayton Keller picked up a hat trick, and the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Vegas Golden Knights with a 4-1 victory on Sunday night in Tempe.    On the back of Keller's second career hat trick, the Coyotes were able to score and win after being shut out in their last two games, giving the Coyotes just their second win in their last 13 games. At home, they are 9-7-2 at their temporary building in Mullett Arena.    Coyotes head coach Andre Tourigny said that "We're trending in the right direction. It’s a journey. You need to build your culture, your program, every day. The players know where we are going. That doesn’t mean it’s not frustrating. It is. We want it to be frustrating in the sense of we want our guys to be competitors and wanting to win every night. We need to build our foundation brick by brick."    Startin...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     By the time the clock expired, the Flames had made their impact. Tyler Toffoli had a goal and an assist, Rasmus Andersson had a goal and two assists, and the Calgary Flames defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 6-3 victory on Saturday afternoon in Calgary.    It was a back and forth game after two periods, until the Flames opened the floodgates with a 3 goal 3rd period, improving to 5-3-2 in their last 10 games. Toffoli and Andersson had multi point games for the Flames, as did Dillon Dube, who had a goal and an assist. Noah Hanifin collected 3 assists, and Andrew Mangiapane had two.    Dube said of the win that "We competed every shift. We didn't take too many off and played the right way. There was a lot of compete from the guys out there today. We were really prepared to play and prepared to win. Really good job by our group."    Nazem Kadri got the only goal of the first period, giving the Fl...

*Photo from AP News*     Hopefully, this is a sign that they're starting to climb out of the hole. Bryan Rust had two assists, Jake Guentzel had a 3 point night, and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Ottawa Senators with a 4-1 victory on Friday night in Pittsburgh.    Entering play having a 3-5-2 record in their last 10 games, the Penguins showed signs of life, beating the Senators to hopefully break out of their funk. Rust and Guentzel were the multi point scorers for the Penguins, with Rust notching a pair of assists and Guentzel producing two goals and an assist.    Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said of the game that "I thought there were momentum swings in the game. There were times where Ottawa had it, there were times where we had it. I thought the shots came in flurries. They tended to come in flurries when they did."    It was Rickard Rakell who started the scoring for the Penguins, giving them a 1-0 lead with a power play go...

*Photo from The Olympian*     They came out determined and ready, and got the job done. Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist, Tyler Seguin had two goals and an assist, and the Dallas Stars defeated the Los Angeles Kings with a 4-0 shutout victory on Thursday night in Los Angeles.    With the win, the Stars moved into first place in the entire Western Conference with 61 points, with a 27-13-7 record. They did so after blowing a 3-0 lead to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night, ending the game with a disappointing 5-3 loss.    Seguin said of the bounce back that "We rebound well. I don't know what's going on with our schedule, but it feels like we've been away for a while. I think we're all ready to get home. I thought that was a huge thing for us tonight, talking about that and saying this is the last one on the road for a while, so that was big for us."    It was in fact Seguin who started the scoring for the Stars, with Robertson and Joe Pa...

*Photo from CBS News*     There's a reason why no team is better than the Beantown gang. Charlie McAvoy had a goal and an assist, Brad Marchand scored, and the Boston Bruins defeated the New York Islanders with a 4-1 victory on Wednesday night on Long Island.    With the win, the Bruins improved to 35-5-4 on the season, the only 30 win team in the NHL. Additionally, they've won 3 games in a row, are 8-1-1 in their last 10, and are 7-1-0 since the calendar turned to 2023. They did so thanks to 4 unanswered goals this time around.    Asked about the game, Marchand said that "We’re resilient, we’re able to find another level. We have experience. The older guys know how to play."    Zach Parise got the scoring started, giving the Islanders a 1-0 lead at the 15:41 mark of the first period, with Sebastian Aho and Jean-Gabriel Pageau assisting. 7:48 into the second period, it was McAvoy's turn, scoring his 3rd goal of the season to tie the game 1-1,...

*Photo from Seattle Sports-My Northwest*     They aren't a good team, but boy do they play hard. Mike Hoffman scored, Evgenii Dadonov scored twice, and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Winnipeg Jets with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday night in Montreal.    Getting the start in goal for the Canadiens was Sam Montembeault, who had a strong performance in a win. Montembeault stopped all but one of the 26 shots he was tested with, recording a .962 save percentage as his record bumps up to 9-7-2 on the season.    Montembeault said after the game that "We just beat two of the best teams in the League. So it just shows that when we play for 60 minutes and we play our kind of hockey that we can compete with anybody."    Starting the scoring early in the second period was Kyle Connor, giving the Jets a 1-0 lead with a power play goal 1:24 into the period. Dadonov tied it 7:46 into the second on his 3rd goal of the season. Hoffman followed that up with th...

*Photo from Yahoo News*     Needing to quickly bounce back, they found a way to do it. Kaapo Kakko had two assists, Barclay Goodrow had a goal and assist, and the New York Rangers defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 3-1 victory on Monday night in Columbus.    After dropping the first half of a back to back on Sunday, the Rangers quickly bounced back to take the second half before a few days off. Kakko and Goodrow were the only multi point scorers for the Rangers, who saw 5 other skaters register a point in the win.    New York head coach Gerard Gallant said of the win that "The first two periods we were pretty dominant, and I loved the way we played. They get that goal early in the third period, and it puts a little scare into you. We played well and we competed real hard tonight. I like the win."    It was Mika Zibanejad who started the scoring for the Rangers, giving them a 1-0 lead with his 20th goal of the season, coming 12:39 into ...

*Photo from TheScore*     They needed to snap a skid, and they took to the road and did it. Brock Boeser scored the tying goal, Elias Pettersson won the game, and the Vancouver Canucks rallied to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes with a 4-3 shootout win on Sunday afternoon in Raleigh.    Vancouver won just their second game in their last 9 and 3rd in 10 games, sitting at an 18-22-3 record and 6th place in the Pacific Division. Andrei Kuzmenko was the only two point scorer, posting a pair of assists. 7 other Canucks registered a point in regulation.    Canucks captain Bo Horvat gave his thoughts on the recent stretch, saying that "It's been pretty much one-goal games this whole time. We fought our way back and at least made it interesting in a lot of games. To finally get rewarded tonight definitely feels good."    Paul Stastny got the Hurricanes started early, scoring 2:25 into the game to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead. With 34 seconds left in ...

*Photo from the NewsTimes*     When things are tough, the Edmonton Oilers lean on the stars. Leon Draisaitl scored two goals, Klim Kostin scored the game winner, and the Oilers defeated the Vegas Golden Knights with a 4-3 victory on Saturday night in Las Vegas.    The Oilers moved to win number 3 in a row with their latest win, including a 6-3-1 record in their last 10 games. Draisaitl led the way on the scoresheet with his pair of goals, and Mattias Janmark had a goal and an assist to go with a two assist game for Zach Hyman.    Edmonton head coach Jay Woodcroft said of the game that "It was a really competitive, entertaining hockey game. There were some moments we'd like to have back on the defensive side. For the most part, we controlled most of that game. We got contributions from all of our 11 forwards. I thought the seven, in different ways, affected the game tonight. I thought it was a mindset that's going through our group."   ...

*Photo from the Pehal News*        The Jets were cleared for takeoff to start the weekend. Mark Scheifele scored two goals, Cole Perfetti had 3 assists, and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 4-1 victory on Friday night in Pittsburgh.    Recently, the Jets have been taking off quite frequently. They've won two games in a row and 7 of their last 8. Scheifele's two goals, Perfetti's 3 assists, a goal and an assist from Blake Wheeler, and two assists from Dylan DeMelo rounded out the multi point nights for the Jets.    Jets head coach Rick Bowness gave his thoughts, saying "Give the players full marks for responding the way they did, good for them. That was probably about one of the best games we've played all year. It really was, in terms of how we want to play and how you can be successful moving forward. Certainly, no passengers tonight, everyone contributed."    Wheeler kicked off the scoring for the Jets, giving ...

*Photo from the Globe and Mail*     It's over Detroit, the streak is over. Robby Fabbri scored the winning goal, Lucas Raymond had a 3 point game, and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 4-1 victory on Thursday night in Detroit.    Since beating the Maple Leafs on February 1, 2019, the Red Wings had gone 9 straight games against the Maple Leafs without a win, until Thursday. Raymond had a goal and two assists and Dylan Larkin had two assists, the only multi point scorers for the Red Wings.    Detroit head coach Derek Lalonde said of the win that "This is a really good win for us, because we've had a lot of games where we played well at 5-on-5 but didn't execute on special teams. Tonight, we played a good game at 5-on-5 and executed on special teams."    Raymond scored the only goal of the first period, giving the Red Wings a 1-0 lead on his 12th goal of the season, with Larkin getting the lone assist. Fabbri scored t...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     Things might be starting to click for the former Broad Street Bullies. Scott Laughton had a goal and two assists, Travis Konecny had 3 goals, and the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Washington Capitals with a 5-3 victory on Wednesday night in Philadelphia.    Konecny rattled off a hat trick to reach 24 goals on the season, tying a career high for the right winger. He also extended his ongoing point streak to 10 games, scoring 12 goals and 8 assists in that time. It's the longest point streak by a Flyer since Claude Giroux had a 10 game point streak in 2017-2018, and it's the longest active point streak in the league.    He also helped to keep the Flyers sizzling hot as well. They've now picked up two straight wins, 6 wins in 7 games, and 7 wins in 10 games, now 17-18-7 this season. Laughton's 3 point night and a two point game from Owen Tippett also keyed the win for the Flyers.    Tippett said of the ...