Getty Images

Matthews scores 2 and helps Maple Leafs beat Red Wings 5-3

Associated PressOct 12, 2018, 12:12 PM EDT

DETROIT (AP) — Auston Matthews heard the short list of NHL greats he joined by scoring nine times in the first five games of the season.

Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Marleau, Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy are the only other players in league history to pull off the feat.

”Nice,” Matthews said after scoring twice for a league-leading nine goals to help Toronto beat Detroit 5-3 Thursday night.

Matthews is the third player in franchise history to score in the first five games of a season.

”He had a fast start last year, too, unfortunately he got injured,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. ”He’s a big man. He’s really worked hard on his body. He’s worked hard on his skating and all parts of his game. With and without the puck, he’s better.”

Morgan Rielly had a goal and an assist, giving him 12 points to surpass Bobby Orr’s strong start during the 1973-74 season. Among defensemen, Rielly trails only Harry Cameron, who had 15 points in the Toronto Arenas’ first five games of the 1917-18 season.

”I’m not going to address personal stuff,” Rielly said. ”I think it’s more important to move on.”

Nick Jensen gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead midway through the first period and scored a second goal midway through the third to pull them within a goal.

”It’s never as sweet when you get the goals but you don’t get the win,” he said.

Soon after Jensen’s second goal, Matthews took advantage of a power play by scoring his second goal of the game.

Detroit pulled within a goal again when a review determined Dylan Larkin scored with 6:04 left in the game. The Red Wings pulled Jimmy Howard to add an extra skater, but Ron Hainsey scored an empty-net goal to seal the win.

”I didn’t like the third,” said Babcock, a former Detroit coach. ”We didn’t take care of the puck as good and we didn’t keep our foot on the gas.”

Frederik Andersen made 26 saves and Mitch Marner had a goal for the Maple Leafs.

Howard had 30 stops for the rebuilding Red Wings, who have lost their first four games for the first time since the 1980.

”Bits and pieces of the game we did some of the good things, but it wasn’t enough done right,” Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall said.

John Tavares, the top prize in free agency last summer, had four assists for the Atlantic Division-leading Maple Leafs, winners of three straight.

”It’s great for the all the guys who are doing some scoring right now,” Babcock said. ”It makes you feel good. In the end, though, it’s about winning. It doesn’t really matter who does the scoring as long as you find a way to win. It’s an exciting time for our team, but we’ve got to get a lot better.”

NOTES: Matthews joined Sweeney Schriner (1944-45) and Corb Denneny (1921-22) in team history as the three players who scored in each of its first five games in a season. … The Red Wings announced before the game they will retire Hall of Famer Red Kelly’s No. 4 jersey on Feb. 1, 2019, when they host Toronto. Kelly played in Detroit from 1947-60 and for the Maple Leafs from 1960-67. Toronto retired his jersey two years ago. … Jensen has scored three of the six goals in his career against Toronto. The defenseman did not score in 81 games last season and had four the previous season as a rookie.

Mike Green may miss start of Red Wings season with scary ailment

Getty Images

By James O'BrienSep 21, 2018, 3:49 PM EDT

8 Comments

Early word of Detroit Red Wings defenseman Mike Green dealing with fatigue issues in the preseason seemed unusual, but it turns out there’s a rather frightening reason why he might be dealing with energy issues.

Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill announced that Green is sidelined indefinitely, as he saw an infectious disease specialist regarding “a virus that attacked his liver,” according to Dana Wakiji of the Red Wings website.

“(Green’s) not available right now,” Blashill said, via Wakiji. “He’s got a virus that attacked his liver, so he’s seen an infectious disease person today and we should know more here in the next little bit. I don’t know how long he’s going to be out. I don’t know the totality of it.”

Scary stuff. (You can read more about viruses that affect the liver here.)

Green is no stranger to injury issues, including ailments that plagued him during his offensively dominant days with the Washington Capitals. Not long ago, Green spoke in positive terms about how he was feeling coming off of neck surgery.

This is unsettling news for a defenseman who’s already dealt with tough injury luck during his career. Here’s hoping that Green and the Red Wings take every precaution before he returns to the ice.

One silver lining is that, with Green sidelined, the Red Wings can open the door for some defensive prospects to get a longer look than they might have received under different circumstances. In particular, Dennis Cholowski and Filip Hronek stand out as blueliners who could really benefit from some additional opportunities, while Libor Sulak and Joe Hicketts should also be in the mix.

GM Ken Holland acknowledged as much while discussing Green’s health challenges, according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free-Press.

“Now we have five D, and we are probably going to start with seven,” Holland said. “Now, how long is Mike Green out? Certainly it appears he is going to be out for a little period of time. So probably we are going to start with two of these defense prospects – either Sulak or Hicketts or Cholowski or Hronek.”

One might argue that the Red Wings should already be taking measures to skew in a younger direction on defense, anyway. Getting more intel on Sulak, Hicketts, Cholowski, and Hronek would give them a better idea regarding how soon they might be able to contribute, or if they even figure into future plans.

Consider the ages of the Red Wings more settled defensemen. Green is 32, Jonathan Ericsson is pretty broken down at 34, Trevor Daley is 34, and Niklas Kronwall‘s nearing the end of his career at 37. It’s plausible that Nick Jensen and Danny DeKeyser (both 28) will be in a decline and/or out of the picture by the time the Red Wings wade out of the darkness, too.

The Red Wings have made some significant progress toward a rebuild – the Tomas Tatar trade was wonderful, and they followed it up with shrewd picks at the 2018 NHL Draft – yet there still seem to be moments where they’re too stubborn to fully embrace the growing pains. Bringing Green back felt a little bit like that, as there’s a strong chance that a healthy Green would provide better immediate returns than a Cholowski or Hronek. But, realistically speaking, would the upside be that strong?

Either way, here’s hoping there will be happier news for Green soon.

MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule

—

James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

US shut out Danes, Czechs top Slovakia at ice hockey worlds

AP Images

Associated PressMay 6, 2018, 8:25 AM EDT

HERNING, Denmark (AP) — The United States dominated host Denmark 4-0 for a second straight victory at the world ice hockey championship on Saturday.

The Czech Republic rallied from a goal down to beat Slovakia 3-2 in overtime, and South Korea’s debut at the championship was memorable for the wrong reason as it lost to Finland 8-1.

Also, France beat Belarus 6-2 to rebound from losing to Russia 7-0 on Friday in Group A in Copenhagen. Latvia outlasted Norway to win 3-2 in overtime, and Switzerland prevailed over Austria 3-2, also in overtime.

After an opening win over favorite Canada in a shootout, the U.S. had an easier time against Denmark.

After saving 40 shots against Canada, goalie Keith Kinkaid was outstanding again, finishing with a 20-shot shutout.

”I felt pretty sharp today,” Kinkaid said. ”Maybe even sharper than yesterday.”

Will Butcher and Chris Kreider each had a goal and an assist.

Butcher wristed the first goal over the shoulder of goalie Frederik Andersen in the first period.

Kreider deflected a slap shot by Quinn Hughes on a power play to double the lead in the second, and Cam Atkinson made it 3-0 on a rebound.

The U.S. killed Denmark’s two-man advantage in that period.

”It was a good job by us to finish out,” Kreider said.

Nick Jensen finished the scoring in the final period.

In Copenhagen, Dmitrij Jaskin scored the winner for the Czechs in overtime that was forced by a goal from Martin Necas with 10 seconds to go in regulation.

Sebastian Aho scored twice and added two assists for Finland. His NHL teammate Teuvo Teravainen also had a goal and three assists.

”We’ve been playing together a couple years now, we know our game pretty good, and we know where we are on the ice,” Teravainen said. ”We just try to make some plays and have some fun.”

Canada-born Matt Dalton in the South Korea goal made 37 saves.

”You cannot give up three short-handed goals,” Dalton said. ”It’s a different level.”

South Korea next faces Canada.

Latvia’s Rudolfs Balcers scored just 24 seconds into overtime to settle their match with Norway in Herning.

Anders Bastiansen and Alexander Bonsaksen established a 2-0 lead for Norway before Balcers reduced the deficit with his first goal and Rodrigo Abols equalized in the third period.

Enzo Corvi scored the winner for Switzerland with 1:42 remaining against Austria in Copenhagen.

Nino Niederreiter and Gaetan Haas also had a goal each for a Swiss 2-0 lead.

With eight minutes remaining in the second, Austria defenseman Steven Strong received a hit from Sven Andrighetto and was taken off on a stretcher.

Dominic Zwerger scored the first goal for Austria on the subsequent power play and Manuel Ganahl equalized in the final period, forcing overtime.