USA Hockey hiring Bruce Guerin feels wrong; Edmonton still haunted by this ghost

As you may have heard after considerable wailing from players and at least the Canadian fanbase who need anything to feel good about themselves these days, the NHL has finally reinstituted an international calendar for not only the Olympics but eventually a World Cup the next few years. The latter won’t be coming until 2028, so in the meantime next year the All-Star game will be scrapped for a four-team mini-tournament between Canada, the US, Sweden, and Finland to whet everyone’s appetite for the Olympics the following year in Italy (no one’s quite sure yet if it’ll be in Milan, the host city, or back to Turin because of arena issues). - Sam Fels Read More

With all apologies to the Vancouver Canucks, actually, no, no one should ever apologize to the Canucks for anything. They know what they are and what they’ve done. While they may be on top of the Pacific Division, the other teams in that division are still going to measure themselves against the Vegas Golden Knights. They hold the hardware, they’ve been the main obstacle for most of their existence, and that’s just how this works. - Sam Fels Read More

The Vegas Golden Knights scored three times in the first period in a 3-2 win against the host Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.

Jonathan Marchessault, Nicolas Hague and Chandler Stephenson scored for Vegas, which is 8-2-1 in its past 11 games. Adin Hill made 20 saves.

Jason Zucker and Clayton Keller scored for the Coyotes, who have lost four in a row. Connor Ingram allowed three goals on six shots before being replaced by Karel Vejmelka (28 saves) in the first period. - Field Level Media Read More

Six different players scored Thursday night for the host New York Islanders, who rolled to a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Elmont, N.Y.

Noah Dobson, Mathew Barzal and Kyle Palmieri scored in the first while Ryan Pulock, Bo Horvat and Casey Cizikas scored in unanswered fashion in the second for the Islanders, who improved to 3-2-1 under new head coach Patrick Roy. - Field Level Media Read More

Jacob Markstrom made 37 saves as the Calgary Flames recorded a 5-3 road win over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday in Newark, N.J.

Connor Zary and Andrew Mangiapane each had a goal and an assist, and Noah Hanifin collected two assists. Mikael Backlund, Kevin Rooney and Andrei Kuzmenko scored Calgary’s other goals. - Field Level Media Read More

Carolina’s Martin Necas produced his first career hat trick in the first 17 minutes as the Hurricanes defeated the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Thursday night at Raleigh, N.C. - Field Level Media Read More

Ryan Lomberg scored the game-winning goal with 5:32 left in the third period as the host Florida Panthers sent the Washington Capitals to their sixth straight loss with a 4-2 win on Thursday night in Sunrise, Fla. - Field Level Media Read More

Travis Konecny had one goal, one assist and one fight for a Gordie Howe hat trick to lift the host Philadelphia Flyers past the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 on Thursday. - Field Level Media Read More

Brad Marchand and Danton Heinen bookended the first period with short-handed goals and Linus Ullmark made 17 saves to propel the Boston Bruins to a 4-0 win over the visiting Vancouver Canucks in a Thursday night clash of the NHL’s top two teams. - Field Level Media Read More