Florida Panthers tough guy Shawn Thornton took a deflected puck to the face tonight, late in the first period, in Philadelphia.
Thornton, who doesn’t wear a visor, left to the dressing room to get stitched up.
PHT Morning Skate: Hawerchuk’s cancer fight; NHLers on rules
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Welcome to the PHT Morning Skate, a collection of links from around the hockey world. Have a link you want to submit? Email us at phtblog@nbcsports.com.
• Hockey Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk is undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed with stomach cancer in August, saying he is optimistic as he battles “the fight of my life.” [TSN]
• Before Monday night’s game against Columbus, Mitch Marner paid tribute to seven-year-old Hayden Foulon, who passed away over the weekend after battling leukemia for the past six years. [Sportsnet]
• NHL players talk about the current rules they’d love to see changed: “Losing in a shootout, it’s probably the worst feeling ever. I’d rather, you know, lose it going against your opponents and fighting for it.” [Toronto Star]
• Ben Bishop‘s home was damaged turned a tornado that hit the Dallas area on Sunday. A house that Tyler Seguin is currently selling was also damaged. The Stars forward moved to a different home last November. [Dallas Morning News]
• Why the struggling Blues need to find the “buy-in” again. [Post-Dispatch]
• Trade winds may be swirling around Kyle Turris, but his play has been strong for the Predators. [Nashville Post]
• Local boy Sam Lafferty is authoring a really nice story with the Penguins. [Tribune-Review]
• Flames defenseman Travis Hamonic has a lot of “old school” in him. [Calgary Herald]
• Should the Flyers trust Alain Vigneault’s process? [NBC Sports Philadelphia]
• Paul Maurice on how the Jets want to approach shot blocking. [Jets]
• A ranking of “worst to first” jerseys for the Jets. [Hockey by Design]
• The Rangers are “struggling” to find out what’s gone wrong during their current losing streak. [NHL.com]
• Andrew MacDonald has signed a one-year deal with SC Bern of the Swiss league. [Swiss Hockey News]
• Explaining Todd McLellan’s system for the LA Kings. [Frozen Royalty]
• Colby Saganiuk making impression with U.S. Under-17 team. [NHL.com]
• Ovie the Bulldog talks friendships, snacks and what he’d do as NHL commissioner for a day. [Dog o’Day]
• Finally, what’s a number worth? A pretty good haul for the Panthers’ Frank Vatrano:
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.
Russian hockey team fined for coach’s arson threat
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MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian hockey team has been fined after its coach threatened to set fire to a referee’s car.
The Kontinental Hockey League fined Amur Khabarovsk 300,000 rubles ($4,700) after coach Alexander Gulyavtsev shouted ”I’m going to set fire to your car in Perm,” a reference to the Russian city where both he and referee Viktor Gashilov are from.
Gulyavtsev was protesting a penalty awarded against his team in Monday’s game against Dynamo Moscow.
Gulyavtsev later claimed he meant the comments as ”a joke,” adding that ”I just said car, it’s not as if I said apartment.”
However, the KHL ruled the comments breached its rules on insulting and threatening officials. The league warned Amur that cases like this ”tarnish the image” of the league.
Dynamo Moscow won 5-1.
The Buzzer: Tarasenko’s three-point night; Nyquist nets OT penalty shot
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Three Stars
1. Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues: The Blues forward had a hand in all three of their goals during a 3-1 defeat of the Avalanche. The loss was Colorado’s first regulation defeat of the season, while St. Louis snapped a four-game losing streak. Tarasenko assisted on goals by Brayden Schenn and David Perron before being on the receiving end of this nice bank pass by Jaden Schwartz:
2. Michael Raffl, Philadelphia Flyers: The Flyers built up a 5-0 lead by the end of the second period en route to a 6-2 win over the Golden Knights, snapping a four-game losing streak in the process. Raffl chipped in a pair of goals and added an assist for his first multi-goal game since March 15, 2016. Oskar Lindblom and Travis Konecny each recorded a goal and an assist, while Brian Elliott turned away 33 shots.
3. Anders Nilsson, Ottawa Senators: The Senators netminder put forth a strong effort during a 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars. Nilsson stopped 41 shots as the Stars won consecutive games for the first time this season. This was the second straight start for the Swedish netminder where he faced at least 43-plus shots.
Highlights of the Night
• Raffl showed off his moves on this one:
• Gustav Nyquist‘s penalty shot goal in overtime put the Blue Jackets over the Maple Leafs 4-3:
Factoids
Scores
Flyers 6, Golden Knights 2
Blue Jackets 4, Maple Leafs 3 (OT)
Blues 3, Avalanche 1
Stars 2, Senators 1
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.
Avs’ Rantanen leaves game with ugly-looking foot injury
The last thing the red-hot Colorado Avalanche wanted to see was an injury to one of their star players. Off to a 7-0-1 start and atop the Central Division, things have been going well for a team many expect to take a large leap forward this season.
But now they might have to deal with a blow to their lineup after Mikko Rantanen suffered a lower-body injury during Monday’s 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues.
The Avalanche forward was skating alongside the wall when his skate got caught in the ice and turned his foot in a very wrong direction. Rantanen, who did not make contact with any Blues player during the play, limped to the dressing room and was later ruled out for the remainder of the game.
Your foot should not be looking that way…
Rantanen has five goals and 12 points through eight games this season. He’s been relatively healthy in his three full NHL seasons, missing only 16 games since 2016-17.
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.
