Are referee/linesman injuries this season’s answer to the mumps?
It’s getting kind of weird, as another official was on the wrong end of on-ice play during Thursday’s Capitals – Islanders game. In this case, Steve Miller was struck by a puck, as you can see from the video above.
(At least, in this case, there wasn’t an accidental/maybe not-so-accidental body check on a ref.)
Then again, maybe it’s just Miller who’s having a bad day?
Previous “cases”
On Thursday night, the OHL game between the Niagara IceDogs and London Knights was cancelled after IceDogs goalie Tucker Tynan suffered a nasty injury to his leg.
The incident occurred in the opening minute of the second period when Tynan and a Knights player collided resulting in the 17-year-old suffering a nasty gash on his leg. Trainers and paramedics were on the ice for a while before they were able to take Tynan off the ice on a stretcher.
The young netminder was eventually taken to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. Thankfully, the IceDogs were able to announce that Tynan’s surgery was a success and that he was in stable condition.
We would like to sincerely thank our training and medical staff, @GoLondonKnights training staff, the parademics onsite, and the medical staff of the Niagara Health System in St. Catharines for their immediate and precise attention in treating Tucker Tynan tonight.
— Niagara IceDogs (@OHLIceDogs) December 13, 2019
“You never expect an injury like that to occur so your first reaction is just to hope and pray for the player that has been hurt,” said Knights Associate General Manager Rob Simpson, per Global News.
“Right now we are all praying for Tucker and hoping he can have a speedy recovery.”
Similar injuries have occurred in hockey before. Former Sabres goalie Clint Malarchuk suffered a horrific gash to his throat in March of 1989. Also, Donald Audette’s wrist was cut by a skate in December of 2001, and Richard Zednik took a skate to the throat from a teammate while with the Florida Panthers. These injuries are all just so frightening and unfortunate.
There’s still no word on how long Tynan will need to stay in hospital or how long his recovery will be, but it’s just encouraging to hear that he’s doing better.
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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.
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• The Hockey News breaks down the top 30 free agents to be. (The Hockey News)
• Justin Holl and Travis Dermott have really helped the Maple Leafs blue line. (TSN)
• It’s been a tough year for Wild defenseman Matt Dumba. (Hockey Wilderness)
• It might be time for the Preds to turn to Juuse Saros a little more often. (Predlines)
• What are the fancy stats saying about the Los Angeles Kings? (Jewels from the Crown)
• Max Pacioretty is on pace to have a career year. (Sinbin.Vegas)
• The Coyotes have loaned Barrett Hayton to Team Canada for the World Juniors. (Five for Howling)
• The Blues are about to have a lot of tough decisions to make on their roster. (Bleedin’ Blue)
• It’s time for the Lightning to give Cal Foote a chance to make their roster. (Raw Charge)
• Is it time for the Devils to start worrying about Jesper Bratt? (All About the Jersey)
• Cayden Primeau is showing that he’s already NHL ready. (Habs Eyes on Prize)
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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.
Three Stars
1. Jacob Markstrom, Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks probably had no business winning this game. They were badly outshot, outplayed, and needed to rely on their goalie to keep them in it. Fortunately for the Canucks, Markstrom was up to the challenge and played one of the best games of his career as he stopped all 43 shots he faced in a 1-0 overtime win. He held on just long enough for Elias Pettersson to score the game-winning goal thanks to a fluky assist from an unlikely source. Read all about it here.
2. Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers. The Rangers spoiled Bob Boughner’s San Jose coaching debut with a 6-3 win that was highlighted by another huge game for Panarin. He scored three goals and added an assist in the win to continue his incredible 2019-20 performance. His first year with the Rangers has been everything the team could have hoped for as he is now up to 18 goals and 41 total points in 31 games. The Sharks, meanwhile, are now 0-5-1 in their previous six games.
3. Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres. His point streak is now up to 15 consecutive games thanks to a two-goal effort in a 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators. It is the second game in a row that Eichel has scored a pair of goals as he continues to climb the NHL’s scoring leaderboard. He is unstoppable right now and trying to carry the Sabres to a playoff spot all by himself.
Other notable performances from Thursday
Highlights of the Night
It came in a losing effort, but Nashville’s Matt Duchene scored an absolute beauty of a goal in Buffalo.
Check out this quick tic-tac-toe passing by the Islanders to set up Mathew Barzal for a power play goal against the Panthers.
It's always a good time when Mat Barzal (@Barzal_97) is finishing plays. pic.twitter.com/4II5IoiwWL
— NHL (@NHL) December 13, 2019
Eichel’s goal to extend his point streak was an absolutely perfect shot.
Blooper of the Night
The puck ended up getting lost in Markstrom’s equipment and he needed a lot of assistance in finding it.
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) December 13, 2019
Factoids
Scores
Buffalo Sabres 4, Nashville Predators 3
Tampa Bay Lightning 3, Boston Bruins 2
New York Islanders 3, Florida Panthers 1
Pittsburgh Penguins 1, Columbus Blue Jackets 0 (OT)
Detroit Red Wings 5, Winnipeg Jets 2
St. Louis Blues 4, Vegas Golden Knights 2
Minnesota Wild 6, Edmonton Oilers 5
Calgary Flames 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 2
Arizona Coyotes 5, Chicago Blackhawks 2
Los Angeles Kings 2, Anaheim Ducks 1
Vancouver Canucks 1, Carolina Hurricanes 0 (OT)
New York Rangers 6, San Jose Sharks 3
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.
Sometimes you need a little bit of luck to win in the NHL.
The Vancouver Canucks received a healthy dose of it on Thursday night.
They were 1-0 winners against the Carolina Hurricanes thanks to an incredible goaltending performance from Jacob Markstrom and an overtime goal from emerging superstar Elias Pettersson. Markstrom’s performance gave them a chance, but it was a stroke of good fortune and a filthy finish from Pettersson that put them in the win column.
While the stat sheet will officially give the assist on Pettersson’s goal to Brock Boeser, the real assist came from an abandoned stick that previously belonged to Carolina’s Jaccob Slavin. As the Canucks controlled play in the offensive zone, Slavin lost his stick in a battle for the puck with Boeser.
It would prove to be costly for the Hurricanes because, well, watch for yourself in the video above.
Maybe Pettersson still ends up collecting the puck and scores the winner anyway if that stick isn’t sitting there. But Slavin’s stick sitting in the exact perfect spot made it significantly easier for him to score the winner.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.