NHL News and Notes from Wednesday, December 15th, 2021
News
- COVID-19 continues to take it’s toll on the NHL as the Calgary Flames game on Saturday against Columbus.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs will be reducing their fan attendance to 50% capacity.
- The Florida Panthers added five players and a member of their travel party to COVID-19 Protocols.
- Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov would be placed in COVID-19 protocol.
- The Nashville Predators would place six players and six members of their traveling party into COVID-19 protocol.
- Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron would be placed in COVID-19 protocol.
- The NHL introduced new enhanced protocols that will last until at least Jan. 7th.
- The Washington Capitals re-assigned forward Brett Leason to Hershey of the AHL.
- The Capitals also activated forward Nicklas Backstrom from the Injured Non-Roster List.
- Forward Nic Dowd and defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk would both be activated from the COVID protocol list.
- Forward Anthony Mantha would be placed on LTI.
- The Chicago Blackhawks and Kyle Beach have reached a settlement in Beach’s negligence lawsuit against the Blackhawks.
Game Recaps
- Washington Capitals v. Chicago Blackhawks – 8p ET
- In Chicago the Washington Capitals would continue their road trip with a battle against the Blackhawks. After a scoreless first period Alex Ovechkin would open the scoring to give the Caps the 1-0 lead, but the Blackhawks would respond with three goals in 34 seconds as Alex DeBrincat, Philipp Kurashev would net powerplay goals and MacKenzie Entwistle would score to take the 3-1 lead. Daniel Sprong would score with 42 seconds left in the second period to get the Caps back within one. Then in the third period Lars Eller would score to tie the game at three, but DeBrincat’s second powerplay goal would but the Blackhawks back in the lead. However, with three seconds left in regulation Conor Sheary would strike to tie the game at four and force overtime. In the extra frame Caleb Jones would net his first as a Blackhawk to give them the 5-4 victory over the Capitals.
- New York Rangers v. Arizona Coyotes – 9p ET
- In Arizona, the Coyotes would take on the New York Rangers, and in the first period Loui Eriksson would net his first as a Coyote to give them the 1-0 lead. In the second period Kaapo Kakko would score to tie the game at one for the Rangers. In the third, Clayton Keller scores a power play goal, his seventh of the year, to give the ‘Yotes the 2-1 lead. However, the Rangers tie the game with Mika Zibanejad’s sixth of the year and then Kakko scores his second of the night to give the Rangers the 3-2 win over the Coyotes.
- Seattle Kraken v. Anaheim Ducks – 10p ET
- In Anaheim the Ducks would take on the Seattle Kraken, and in the first period Trevor Zegras and Derek Grant would both score to give the Ducks the 2-0 lead. In the second, Troy Terry goes on to score his 18th of the year to give the Ducks the 3-0 lead and then the Kraken get on the board when Ryan Donato scores his seventh of the year. As the contest moves to the third, Sam Carrick nets his sixth to give the Ducks the 4-1 win over the Kraken.
- PHI v. MON – 7p ET
- OTT v. TB – 7p ET
- LA v. FLA – 7p ET
- VGK v. NJ – 7p ET
- DET v. CAR – 7p ET
- BOS v. NYI – 730p ET
- COL v. NAS – 8p ET
- BUF v. MIN – 8p ET
- TOR v. CAL – 9p ET
- CLB v. EDM – 9p ET
- VAN v. SJ – 1030p ET
Noteworthy in Hockey
- 32 Thoughts Blog: As urgency over COVID-19 grows, pausing schedule will be last resort (SportsNet)
- The NHL has a COVID problem (The Hockey News)
- If NHL players skip the Olympics, what happens to the schedule in February? (The Athletic – $)
- My Husband, Marc-Andre Fleury (NHL.com)
