#_author:Nick Ashbourne

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Henrik Sedin's game is getting more extreme in old age

Vancouver Canucks’ Henrik Sedin (33) is checked by Edmonton Oilers’ Adam Larsson. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

When you play 1,285 games in the National Hockey League, everyone knows what you bring to the table. In Henrik Sedin’s case, that’s world-class passing.

Sedin has led the NHL in assists three times, and is behind just Jaromir Jagr and Joe Thornton on the active assist leaderboard. For 17 seasons he’s made his name – and some pretty good loot – putting his teammates in position to score.

Although his ice time has been reduced this season as he’s eased into a secondary role, that’s essentially what he’s done this year. His 24 assists ranked 13th in the league and he’s on pace for a 58-point season, which is pretty much in line with his late-career averages. Throw in some truly outstanding possession numbers and it looks like it’s same-old same-old for Sedin at the age of 37.

That’s not entirely true, though. Sedin is sitting on just two goals, which rather amazingly isn’t the result of some epic shooting slump. Instead the veteran centre has basically stopped firing altogether.

When we talk about shots, it’s almost always in the context of guys who pepper the opposing net like a year-round hailstorm – the Alex Ovechkin and Brett Burns types. Unsurprisingly, guys who are on the opposite end of that spectrum don’t capture the imagination in quite the same way. That said, Sedin has been unique in his reluctance, indifference, or inability, to shoot the puck.

Through 37 games the Swedish centre has just 27 shots, or 0.73 shots per game. In a vacuum that might not seem extraordinary, but with a little context it’s unbelievable. Sedin logs significant minutes, gets tonnes of offensive zone starts, plays on the power play, and sees the Canucks out-attempt opponents 628-402 when he’s on the ice. You’d think even a playmaker would put a few on net in that scenario.

Since 1997-98 – when we first got accurate time on ice data – there have been 3,872 player seasons by forwards averaging at least 15 minutes a night and playing at least 35 games. Only 18 times has a player meeting that criteria failed to register at least one shot per game. It happens with fewer than half of a percent of forwards seeing this kind of ice time.

That 0.73 number mentioned before is actually the second lowest we know of. This is what the bottom 10 list looks like:

Sedin’s actually not in bad company here as most of these players were second-line level contributors. Knutsen had his only standout year and Oates was a star. We’re talking about a statistical oddity here, not an indication that Sedin has been ineffective.

Though the longtime Canuck is primarily a playmaker, he’s been good for double-digit goals every season since 2002-03 and always puts at least between one and two on net per game. Even last year he was held shot-less in just 26.8 percent of his games – compared to 51.4 this year.

You don’t have to watch too much of Sedin before you see him pass up shots for teammates, but that’s always been his way, and it’s hard to fault his judgement. His last assist came in exactly that type of instance – one where he could have taken a clean shot but deferred to his twin brother.

Courtesy Sportsnet

But the story here isn’t that this is happening, it’s the frequency with which it is. Sedin was already an unselfish puck distributor, and now he’s taken it to a new level.

The conventional folk wisdom is that as we age we tend to crystalize as a human beings, firming up what we are and leaving little room for change. Perhaps that’s what’s happening to Sedin; he’s becoming an exaggerated version of himself in the twilight years of his career.

Whatever the reason, Henrik has gone from playmaker-first to playmaker-only lately. It’s a bit peculiar, but it’s hard to say it’s diminished his effectiveness much.

In what could be his final tour of duty with the Canucks, it’s hard to complain about him doing what he does best more than ever.

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Russian MMA fighter pens poem praising Putin

Alex Ovechkin appears to be just one of Vladimir Putin’s admirers in the world of sports. (Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)

Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin recently made some waves with his outspoken support of Russian president Vladimir Putin, but it looks like he isn’t the controversial leader’s top fan in sports.

That title now belongs to MMA fighter Alexander Emelianenko. Emelianko, whose brother Fedor is in the same line of business, wrote a poem Saturday encapsulating his feelings about Putin.

The piece – translated by Slava Malamud of Sport-Express – goes like this:

We are proud of our leader

We are proud of Putin forever

He is the strongest, the highest, the fastest

He is like our guiding star

I will follow our President forward

Through water and through flames

He got Russia off its knees

He pulled it up by its ears

With you, Vladimir Putin, I sleep at night without fear that tomorrow will come

And nobody will be protect us

Keep ruling our world

For Russia, you are air and water

Our flag, the hero of Russia

We will follow you to the end.

Given that this is a translation, unfortunately it would be unfair to evaluate Emelianko’s merit as a poet. It’s pretty fair to say it doesn’t work in English, but perhaps it flows like a gentle river in Russian.

What we can say is that the tone is a little overwrought combining aspirational bromance and over-the-top nationalism. His art would probably be better served by a pinch of subtlety. The best poems don’t beat you over the head with their themes.

Ultimately, the idea a prominent Russian athlete would support Putin isn’t particularly surprising. The way, Emelianko chose to express that support, though, most certainly is.

More MMA Coverage from Yahoo Sports:

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Canadian anthem gets butchered at All-Star Game with bizarre giggle

In a general sense, Canadians are not quick to anger. It’s a stereotype, but it’s a positive one with a fair amount of truth to it.

That can change when Canada’s honor is at stake, as Canucks don’t take kindly to outsiders disrespecting their nation. It’s a reasonable position because Canada has a pretty pleasant and benign impact on the world and asks for little in return.

What it does tend to demand is a half-decent rendition of its national anthem at major sporting events. At last year’s MLB All-Star game that bar was not cleared when a member of The Tenors held up an “All Lives Matter” sign as a misguided political statement.

On Tuesday, before the American League’s 2-1 win over the National League in this year’s MLB All-Star Game, Canada got another eventful version of “O Canada”. This time it was one of the worst attempts in recent memory, courtesy of Jocelyn Alice.

The reactions from Joey Votto & Justin Smoak during the Canadian anthem, was, uhh, something? What's with that laugh? #Remix #MLBAllStarGame pic.twitter.com/QaofBFbVK8

— Grady Sas (@GradySas) July 12, 2017

There are some issues in here that can be forgiven. Alice was undoubtedly trying to add her own touches. None of them worked mind you, but it’s not uncommon for an anthem singer to try to spice things up. She tried and failed with this version – which was an absolute disaster rhythmically – but her mistakes were largely understandable.

The Canadian national anthem did not go off with out a hitch at the All-Star Game. (Wilfredo Lee/AP)

What didn’t make sense – and did not sit well with the Canadians watching – was a bizarre giggle thrown into the mix. The best reaction to the odd moment came from Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak.

When singer laughs or giggles in the middle of the Canadian anthem. Justin Smoak noticed #MLBAllStarGame #ohcanada #getitright #bluejays pic.twitter.com/0At9M3YGMZ

— Bob Speers (@BobSpeers) July 12, 2017

Canada did not care for this addition to the anthem.

#MLBAllStarGame Worst Rendition of a National Anthem. She should apologies to every Canadian ever. What was that?!

— T (@acpearson1989) July 12, 2017

Thank you Jocelyn Alice for completely obliterating the Canadian anthem.

— AJ Wideman (@72waphtuos) July 12, 2017

Is it just me, or did the Canadian National Anthem just get butchered at the MLB All Star game?

— Sean Jackson (@mrjacksondotca) July 12, 2017

That was an insulting performance of the Canadian National Anthem lol #MLBAllStarGame2017

— youfy (@YLaHaye) July 12, 2017

How dare you laugh while signing the Canadian national anthem at the MLB Allstar game. What the hell is wrong with you lady?#MLBAllStarGame pic.twitter.com/rpTUcWX92z

— Justin James (@Jdogg2k7) July 12, 2017

Ultimately, it’s hard to be too mad about an honest mistake. On the other hand, perhaps a rendition of a national anthem from someone who sounds like they’ve heard it before – and can get through it without laughing – is a reasonable expectation.

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We've never seen an Erik Karlsson slump like this before

Erik Karlsson is having himself a rough stretch. (Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

It’s a matter of fact that Erik Karlsson is held to a higher standard than other NHL defencemen. His work in his own zone is more heavily scrutinized than anyone else, and once a year people seem to talk themselves out of giving him the Norris Trophy.

Criticism of Karlsson is often unfair as it expects him to be something he’s not and fails to appreciate the unique talent that he is. In recent weeks though, Karlsson is finally earning the flak he always seems to attract. Not with his entirely-reasonable comments about his upcoming free agency, but instead with a cold streak on the ice.

Right now, the gifted Swede is in the midst of the worst slump of his career. Now, when it comes to defencemen we rarely use the term “slump,” but when you’ve posted more than 70 points in four of your last six seasons the goalposts move a little bit. There’s no escaping that producing offensively is a huge part of Karlsson’s role, and when he’s absent from the scoresheet he’s not at his best.

Over the last nine games the 27-year-old hasn’t registered a point. Last season he never went more than four games without a point. The previous year that number was three.

The only comparable pointless streak Karlsson’s had in his illustrious career came back in January 2010 when he spent eight games off the scoresheet. That was a very different situation as he was a 19-year-old rookie on the way to a 26-point season, not the Senators’ franchise player. He was also carrying a far lighter load and worked 154:54 minutes during that span compared to the 227:50 he’s logged over his last nine.

With any extreme outlier like this, luck is playing a role. Karlsson has had 24 shots on goal during his slump without a tally to his name. That’s not going to happen too often. On the defensive side he’s also been on the ice for four empty-net goals, which makes the plus/minus a little exaggerated. From a possession perspective he’s +13 on five-on-five shot attempts, so he’s certainly not getting bombed out there.

Karlsson doesn’t deserve to be exonerated based on poor fortune alone, though. In recent weeks he’s made a few ugly mistakes that have wound up in the Senators net.

His game against the Islanders was particularly poor as he got clobbered in a one-on-one battle in front of the net with Anders Lee that resulted in a New York goal:

Courtesy of Sportsnet

Karlsson starts the play between Lee and the net, but gets completely outmuscled and ends up way out of the play crumpling awkwardly and perhaps trying to draw a penalty.

Later in that game he breaks his lumber, giving the Islanders a breakaway goal.

Courtesy of Sportsnet

That’s more bad luck than bad play, but it’s certainly not a great look.

During his current slump, Karlsson has also made some mistakes you never like to see from a defenceman — first pair or third. In a loss to the lowly Arizona Coyotes, the Senators captain let Anthony Duclair slip behind him to go in alone for the tying goal.

Courtesy of Sportsnet

At the end of the play Karlsson seems to shift into low gear and simply drift to the net. Whether he’s made the calculation that he can’t affect the play or — in a more generous interpretation — figures there’s a chance for some kind of play off the rebound, pulling up like that never looks like the best play.

Against Washington, Karlsson had one of his most damning breakdowns in coverage. Watch how he floats high in the slot here without cutting off the passing lane or picking up the backside forward who fires the puck past Craig Anderson.

Courtesy of Sportsnet

A defenceman who plays as many minutes as Karlsson is going to make some mistakes, and his offensive genius does have some accompanying risks. Right now, his downside is just more visible because his upside is absent. It’s always there and it’s always a price worth paying.

There are a lot of blueliners who don’t have to produce offensively to be valuable, but Karlsson does. He needs to be the engine that drives the Senators attack — especially seeing as they don’t have anyone else capable of doing that.

The Senators are 1-7-1 over their last nine games. They’ve been outscored 33-15. Their power play is humming along at 9.4 percent. Is all of that Karlsson’s fault? Of course not. Is all of that happening if he’s at his best? Absolutely not.

Karlsson is as relied on by his team as much as anyone in hockey. As he goes, so go the Senators. We saw how magical that can be during last year’s playoffs. Now we’re seeing the worst case scenario for that reliance.

In all likelihood, Karlsson will turn the corner any day now. The shots will start going in and the slick passes will find their way to waiting sticks in the most dangerous areas of the ice. He’ll put the Seantors back on his back and carry them farther than they deserve to go. Until that happens, though, it’s going to be grim for the Senators.

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Leafs really don't need to worry about Nylander-Marner duo

William Nylander and Mitch Marner both appear to be in sophomore slumps, but each is going to be just fine. (Getty Images)

On balance, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ problem this season has not been an inability to put the puck in the net. They currently rank fourth in the NHL in goals per game with 3.48 and have demonstrated the kind of scoring depth that was supposed to be a strength heading into the year.

Although the overall picture is promising, there is some concern when it comes to their super sophomores. Auston Matthews has been outstanding despite missing time, but the duo of William Nylander and Mitch Marner have scored a combined six goals – fewer than Connor Brown and half as many as James van Riemsdyk.

Now, both of these players – particularly Marner – are playmakers first, but they managed 41 tallies last season providing valuable secondary scoring to Matthews, Nazem Kadri, and van Riemsdyk. This year, not so much. So, what’s the problem?

The simplest answer is bad luck. Nylander and Marner are shooting a combined 5.4 percent, which is not in line with their skill sets. Last year, the two wingers shot 10.8 percent, finding the net precisely twice as often. If they had 12 goals right now they probably wouldn’t be moving up the lineup having their production questioned.

Otherwise it’s hard to see the difference in their games. In terms of both assists and possession numbers, their numbers are very similar to last year – with a nice Corsi boost for Marner.

Mitch Marner

William Nylander

If neither has fallen off when it comes to driving play or setting up teammates, the struggles pretty much amount to a shooting issue. Marner is finding his shot less and getting it through less frequently, whereas Nylander is going at the same rates as last season.

Mitch Marner

William Nylander

It seems like there’s a little more substance to Marner’s slump, whereas his Swedish counterpart is doing approximately what he’s always done. That’s borne out by the Canadian’s shot charts – which show a little bit more perimeter shooting than he did last year.

2017/2018

Via IcyData

2016/2017

Via IcyData

Marner’s size is always going to prevent him from being the next Tomas Holmstrom in front of the net, but he can do a better job of getting low for opportunities off rebounds or on the power play.

For those determined to be worried about one of these two wingers, Marner is the more logical pick, but realistically neither is cratering offensively, even if their goal totals remain unimpressive. We’re talking about shooting slumps here, which are difficult to predict and understand.

Sidney Crosby didn’t score for 11 games this year, then he scored four in his next six. Brent Burns has one goal on 88 shots this season after finding the net 56 times in the previous two. These things just seem to happen, and just because they fit into the narrative of a “sophomore slump” that doesn’t make them any more meaningful.

If you think Mitch Marner has forgotten how to shoot, keep in mind that his last goal looked like this:

Courtesy Sportsnet

Similarly, Nylander’s last goal was this nasty number.

Courtesy Sportsnet

When it comes to shooting neither player is a slouch, with Nylander possessing an especially dangerous wrister. That’s a big reason why both were high draft picks who found success early in their NHL careers.

As players with unsustainably high shooting percentages like Brown (27.6%) and Kadri (19.3%) fall to earth a little bit in the games to come, Nylander and Marner are two of the best candidates to pick up the slack.

There are plenty of things Leafs fans should worry about from a sometimes-porous defence, to a dubious backup goaltending situation, to the fact the team is getting outshot virtually every night. William Nylander and Mitch Marner don’t belong in that category.

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Ducks pull 'insensitive' NHL100 video of Ryan Kesler walking around naked

Ryan Kesler starred in a profoundly odd video on Sunday. (Getty Images)

Theoretically speaking, there’s no wrong way to celebrate a birthday. Some like lavish parties, some prefer more intimate events, some would rather not acknowledge the signposts on their unceasing march to the grave at all. All of those preferences are valid.

However, it’s probably safe to say that the best way to celebrate the passing of time isn’t to strip down and walk through an office in the nude. But that’s precisely what Ryan Kesler and the Anaheim Ducks decided on for their nod to the NHL’s 100th birthday on Sunday.

The Ducks have since deleted the “insensitive” video, apologizing for its poor taste. But being it the internet, the 37-second clip lives on. Give it a watch and we can discuss.

The @AnaheimDucks released this cringe-worthy and tone-deaf video of Kesler walking the office naked. The tweet has since been deleted. pic.twitter.com/b0DNTyT0aE

— GrandStand Central (@GrandStCentral) November 26, 2017

Now that you’ve subjected yourself to that, there are certainly a number of things to ponder – beyond just the simple, “why?”

They include, but are not limited to:

Why is the musical accompaniment the sort of thing you’d hear in the saloon in Westworld?

I understand the tone they’re trying to set here is casual nonchalance, but there’s got to be a better way to do that. Music sets the scene in a video like this and the Ducks set a baffling scene right away here.

Who wrote the script?

There are actually only two lines in this, which go as follows:

Random Ducks employee: Kes, what are you doing bud?

Ryan Kesler: It’s the NHL’s 100th birthday, so I’m celebrating in my birthday suit, dude

It wouldn’t be too hard to improvise something like that, but I’m guessing on some piece of paper or napkin someone actually wrote this. Then they decided it was funny and ready to shoot. That’s rather astounding.

Did anyone think it might be the right climate for a video about someone exposing themselves in a workplace?

Considering the revelations coming out seemingly daily about sexual harassment in workplaces from newsrooms to film sets, maybe just maybe now isn’t the time to make a joke like this. It still doesn’t have comedic value in a vacuum, but it’s especially unfortunate in the current climate.

Where is Kesler meant to be going?

As with all great works of fiction, with this video one wonders what happens in the story after the curtain goes down. Kesler is walking through the office naked, but to what end? He turns right when he enters the office of the only employee brave enough to confront him, but where is he going? The owner’s office? The street? We know he’s probably ultimately going to be arrested, but where’s it going to happen?

What in the world is with the shoulder shimmy at the end?

I’m not sure there’s any way to explain it, but it’s needs to at least be acknowledged.

More from Yahoo Sports: • Vietnam vet gives gift to protesting Seahawks star • NFL Winners and Losers: Time to bench Alex Smith • Cristiano Ronaldo gets new, less offensive bronze bust • Dan Wetzel: The irresponsible attack on Greg Schiano by angry fans

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There's no easy fix for what ails the Oilers

Coming into Tuesday night’s game against the St.Louis Blues, it was no secret the Edmonton Oilers were struggling, but nothing punctuates a team’s issues like a massive blowout loss.

Against a dangerous Blues squad, Edmonton fell 8-3 to drop to 7-12-2 — the third-worst record in the NHL. It was an effort that could only be described as ugly — not entirely representative of what this team has to offer, but not nearly as much of an outlier as they might like.

When a team that was supposed to be a Western Conference contender finds itself buried in the conference cellar it’s tempting to think of it as an anomaly that will soon normalize. However, the Oilers’ problems look like they’ll require more than a minor course correction. When a team ranks 27th in the league in scoring and 26th in goals against, there isn’t a single fix to be made — there are many. Here’s what the confluence of improvements the Oilers need to get back on track:

The defence corps needs to provide something offensively

There’s a reason the most common proposed fix for Edmonton is some kind of upgrade on the blueline. In recent years, the team has continued to add forward talent at the top of the draft, but developing defenders has been an issue. That’s led to defensive problems (more on that later), but the current group has also been particularly anemic when it comes to providing offensive support.

Last season, Oscar Klefbom showed an ability to do just that on the way to a 12-goal, 38-point season while Andrej Sekera chipped in another 35 points. From there on out, there wasn’t a lot of offensive flair, but the group as a whole didn’t drag down the Oilers offence.

This season has been another story. Sekera is hurt, Klefbom is struggling and notorious stay-at-home defender Kris Russell leads this blueline with seven points. The power-play contribution has been particularly dire with five total points and major minutes being logged by Russell and Matt Benning, who combined for four goals last season.

When we’re talking about secondary scoring, normally that’s meant to mean bottom-six forwards, but it also applies to defencemen. If the Oilers can’t get some scoring from their back end their offence will continue to lag. Sekera’s return in the new year should help, but only an addition from outside the organization would provide a real improvement.

The defence corps needs to provide something defensively

Defensive play is devilishly hard to quantify, but it’s not hard to see. In last night’s game alone three of the goals allowed came on egregious defensive errors that can be pinned on an individual defenceman.

On the first goal of the game, Klefbom gets bumped off the puck with ease in the corner which leads to a deadly Vladimir Tarasenko one-timer.

Courtesy of Sportsnet

The play looks relatively innocuous as it happens, but if your top defenceman loses the puck that easily you’re going to be digging the puck out of your net far more often than you’d like.

In the second period, Adam Larsson got his pocket picked on a goal that gave the Blues a 4-0 lead and essentially put the game away.

Courtesy of Sportsnet

Turnovers can kill no matter where they take place on the ice, but that close to net the mortality rate increases substantially. None of Larsson’s teammates recovered well to bail him out here, but without his error the Blues don’t deliver the game-winning dagger.

Even when the contest had long ceased to be competitive the defensive lapses continued. On the night’s final tally, Russell was the guilty party on a Paul Stasny marker.

Courtesy of Sports

Russell overreaches in an attempt to knock his man off stride and ends up losing him and watching helplessly as he taps the puck in.

Last night’s performance was an exaggerated example of the Oilers’ defensive woes, but these are exactly the kind of plays that have happened all too often.

Some of the team’s young forwards need to take the next step

One of the issues most cited as the root of the Oilers’ disappointing season is a lack of secondary scoring. Connor McDavid is close to an 100-point pace, so it’s hard to lay blame at his lap. His fellow forwards are a different matter.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins looks on the way to a career season, and Leon Draisatl has been close to a point-per-game when healthy. Beyond that there hasn’t been much production. Patrick Maroon and Milan Lucic have been slightly off their 2016-17 paces and after that it’s been a black hole.

The reason for that is that the Oilers have filled out many of their forward spots with talented-but-unproven youngsters. Kailer Yamamoto flashed intriguing ability, but ultimately didn’t stick. Drake Caggiula hasn’t done much. Anton Slepyshev was quiet before getting injured. Jesse Puljujarvi has yet to make an impact. Ryan Strome isn’t taking a step forward at 24. Theoretically, these guys could have been an exciting under-25 wave to support McDavid. Some of them likely still will, but none of them have yet. Until they do this offence will be uncomfortably top-heavy.

Cam Talbot needs to return to form

Blaming the goalie is a popular tactic whenever things go sideways with a team and it’s almost never the whole explanation. In this case it is definitely part of the explanation, though.

Cam Talbot was very strong last year while logging the biggest workload in the league. This year he’s getting used the same way, but isn’t nearly as effective as his save percentage has dropped to an even .900.

On Monday, he posted a very rare .333 save percentage as he let in two goals on three shots, including a Dmitrij Jaskin wrister from the half boards that he’d certainly want back.

Courtesy of Sportsnet

He wasn’t much better in his last start either, conceding six goals on 21 shots to the Dallas Stars and he’s posted an .858 save percentage in his last five — with only a win over the expansion Vegas Golden Knights to his credit.

Goalies are notoriously fickle beasts, and trying to predict when they might go hot or cold is a fool’s errand. What we do know is that Talbot is ice-cold right now and that’s particularly hard for a team that leans on him so hard and only has the scuffling and unproven Laurent Broissot as an alternative.

Everything we know about Talbot suggests he’ll bounce back, but the “when” is more important than the “if” to a team that’s already dug itself a significant hole.

As it stands, the Oiler are way off a playoff pace and they’ll need to turn on the jets any day now if they’re going to squeak in, let alone become the Cup contender they were expected to be. A ton would have to go right for that to happen, and not much has gone right yet.

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We are seeing the best possible Johnny Gaudreau right now

Johnny Gaudreau is in the midst of the best stretch of his career (Getty Images)

Johnny Gaudreau might be just 5-foot-9 and 157 pounds, but he’s not sneaking up on anybody. Although he’s just 24, the Calgary Flames winger is already established as one of the scariest men in hockey to defend.

Last year he fell slightly short of expectations — still putting up 61 points — but he has been a top-10 points getter in the league before and his speed changes games. With that in mind, it would be hard for an offensive outburst from him to come as much of a surprise.  What he’s doing right now, though, is on a different level.

On Monday night, Gaudreau potted a goal and added a helper to bring his points streak to 10 games. He’s scored in six straight, and the last five have been multi-point efforts. All of those numbers are unprecedented in his career and as a result of them he now sits third in the NHL with 31 points — or first in the non Kucherov-Stamkos bracket.

It would be unfair to say he’s doing anything differently per se, but rather doing the same things better and more consistently. He’s still burning defenders on the rush, he’s still finding air-tight passing lanes, and he’s still doing an excellent job of holding the puck the extra second to find the perfect play. Everything is classic Johnny Hockey — just more of it.

For example, on Monday the goal he scored was exactly the type of tally we’ve seen from him so many times before.

Courtesy of Sportsnet

There’s not much more to the play than speed to press his advantage on the out-of-position defence and a wrister to finish. Just because it’s simple, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. A slower player wouldn’t have had as much time and there are plenty of wingers who wouldn’t execute that shot on a squared-up Braden Holtby.

He scored a similarly-typical Gaudreau goal on a breakaway against the Philadelphia Flyers two nights prior.

Courtesy of Sportsnet

When you picture a Gaudreau goal, that’s pretty much what it looks like. Breakaway speed and then a perfect shot. Really it’s the shot that makes it, because there are players that can get free but can’t finish like Michael Grabner for most of his career.

Despite the fact Gaudreau is rarely banging pucks from right in close he still tends to run above-average shooting percentages, which is no accident. When the Flames winger gets time to shoot he can do so with impressive precision.

His goal against the Detroit Red Wings last week was a perfect example of what he can do with his shot, putting it over a prone Justin Abdelkader into the top corner.

Courtesy of Sportsnet

As impressive as these highlights are they don’t tell the whole story of Gaudreau’s torrid run because he’s a playmaker first. The Salem, N.J., native ranks second in the league in assists with 21 and has 11 in his current streak.

Unsurprisingly, a few of these assists have come on the rush, like his setup of Jaromir Jagr’s only goal as a Flame against the Detroit Red Wings.

Courtesy of Sportsnet

Gaudreau shows excellent patience on the play and slides the puck perfectly under Jonathan Ericsson’s stick to find a man rather familiar with the back of the net. Considering the contrast in size, speed, and age, a line with Gaudreau and Jagr would be a lot of fun, but it’s probably not imminent for the Flames. Even so, the goal was a nice cross-generational moment.

More often than not, Gaudreau’s trigger man is Sean Monahan, who has excelled at making his star linemate’s creative passing count. Against the New Jersey Devils, Monahan scored a nice goal sliding behind the defence and roofing one over Keith Kinkaid.

Courtesy of Sportsnet

What makes this play so impressive from Gaudreau’s perspective is that he doesn’t take the puck cleanly, but still manages to find a passing lane right to the net between two defenders. Part of the reason he’s able to do that is because the defence collapses on him when he loses the puck and Monahan comes free. Some of the best Gaudreau-to-Monahan goals come from the former’s ability to draw defenders in.

The prettiest assist of Gaudreau’s recent run is precisely that kind of play.

Courtesy of Sportsnet

When Gaudreau wheels, he sucks the Capitals in and Monahan is left all alone at the doorstep. He then threads the needle to his man and the goal is a no-doubter. Monahan is dangerous in his own right, but Gaudreau is a different animal and his opponents have to recognize that.

It’s hard to say whether we’ve learned anything new about Gaudreau in the last few weeks. We’ve seen most of what he’s done from him before.

The difference is that right now he’s doing it more consistently. Almost every player in the NHL has the skill to do something pretty from time-to-time, the difference is who can do it every night. Right now, Gaudreau is doing it every night — usually more than once. It’s hard to say if he’s a new man or just the best possible version of the one we know, but either way, anyone drawing the Calgary Flames in the near future should be very afraid.

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Senators' Mark Stone is the biggest one-man band in hockey

Mark Stone has been criminally underrated for the vast majority of his career. (Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)

Generally speaking, the hockey world doesn’t spend nearly enough time appreciating Mark Stone.

Since he broke in as a full-time player in 2014-15, Stone has more points than Jonathan Toews, the same number of goals as Jeff Carter, and 105 more takeaways than anyone else in hockey. He’s also been a possession god to boot with a relative Corsi that has climbed every season from 2.6, to 6.8 then 8.4 last year and a gaudy 10.4 this season.

The fact Stone is good is no longer a surprise, but just how good he is eludes many because he plays in Ottawa and has yet to post a 30-goal season or make an all-star team. Both of those things could easily change this season.

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Right now, the 25-year-old is tied with Alex Ovechkin for third in the NHL with 13 goals (in two fewer games) and stands on the precipice of a career year that could finally shine the spotlight on him. He is shooting an unsustainable 25 percent, but he’s shot 16.5 percent in his career to this point so we are looking at more of a minor correction than a harrowing plummet to earth.

More impressive than what Stone’s done individually is just how essential that contribution is to his team. The Senators sit at a less-than-impressive 8-6-5, but without him they’d be be deep in the cellar, not hanging around the wild card.

Stone doesn’t just lead Ottawa in goals, he’s got more than next two guys combined (Derick Brassard and Mike Hoffman). The seven tallies between him and the second-highest scorer on his team is tied for the biggest gap in the league with Nikita Kucherov — the most dangerous man in hockey right now.

Not only has Stone been essential to the Senators’ offence, he’s done all his damage at even strength. The team already has a highly-accomplished power-play triggerman in Hoffman, so they’ve needed him to carry the load when they don’t have the man advantage — and he’s done exactly that.

Stone’s 13 goals at even strength rank second in NHL (to Kucherov’s 14), but perhaps more significant than that total is its proportion of the Senators’ offence. Ottawa has scored 46 goals in that game state, meaning Stone has accounted for 28.3 percent of his team’s EV attack — tops in the NHL. Kucherov ranks second at 25.4 percent, while Arizona Coyotes rookie sensation Clayton Keller rounds out the podium at 21.9 percent.

It’s not as if Stone is taking a huge chunk out of a tiny pie either. The Senators score 2.05 5-on-5 goals per game, which is the 10th highest total in the league. Stone isn’t just carrying any even-strength offence on his back, he’s lugging a pretty good one.

Even when he’s not scoring goals Stone is valuable. He takes the puck away and drives the play. He plays defensively responsible hockey and kills penalties. He logs more minutes than any winger in the NHL except for Brad Marchand. When he’s scoring like Ovechkin though, that package goes from under-appreciated excellence to downright dominance.

That’s what the Senators are getting from him right now. They might not get it all year, but right now when they desperately need it Stone is coming through to keep them in the race. If they’re going to stay in it, someone else will have to as well.

More NHL coverage on Yahoo Sports

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Auston Matthews lights the lamp twice in return to action

Auston Matthews made a triumphant return to the matchup for the Maple Leafs (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

On Saturday night the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t need any magic from Auston Matthews. He showed them some anyway.

In a 6-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens, the 20-year-old scored twice to announce with some level of certainty that he’s ready to make a difference after missing four games with an upper-body injury. The Maple Leafs went 4-0-0 in his absence, but there’s no wrong time to get a superstar back – and it appears Matthews is back.

Just under halfway through the third period, Matthews took a backhand pass from Mitch Marner and made no mistake on a goal Charlie Lindgren had absolutely no chance on.

Wicked pass from Mitch Marner to Auston Matthews and its 5-0 Leafs pic.twitter.com/F1aFSSIbOa

— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) November 19, 2017

To be fair, Marner deserves more credit for the play and Matthews is expected to finish these kind of chances. Still, it was a good sign for the Maple Leafs.

His second goal, however, was not just capitalizing on an opportunity. It was classic Matthews brilliance with a strong zone entry, a subtle toe drag, and a devastating wrister.

Auston Matthews makes it 6-0 Leafs in the third period pic.twitter.com/UMvHhGiTwB

— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) November 19, 2017

What makes these goals a little more interesting is that they came following a mid-game line swap that put Marner and Matt Martin on the sophomore’s flanks. Matthews opened the game with his traditional linemates Zach Hyman and William Nylander, but after the Maple Leafs’ slow start Mike Babcock mixed it up.

It would be exceedingly surprising to see Martin riding shotgun with Matthews for an extended period of time, but Marner could conceivably be a different story. From a stylistic perspective it’s easy to dream on a Matthews-Marner combo, and the latter has had a hard time finding his spot in the lineup this season. If Babcock continues to shuffle it’s difficult to imagine a better trigger man for his young winger than the best scorer on his squad – and it hasn’t been tested yet.

Mitch Marner had never set up an Auston Matthews goal until tonight. Not one assist on Matthews' first 50 goals in the league.

— Jonas Siegel (@jonassiegel) November 19, 2017

Matthews finished the game a plus-2 with three shots on goal and a block in 16:54 of ice time.

Update: Mike Babcock is reportedly going back to his standard lines on Monday, so the Matthews-Marner experiment will have to wait.

Sounds like Matthews-Marner combo will be short-lived. Mike Babcock says he’ll revert to lines that started the game tonight on Monday.

— Jonas Siegel (@jonassiegel) November 19, 2017

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Matthews-less Maple Leafs somehow continue to roll

Frederik Andersen has been very solid for the Toronto Maple Leafs of late (Getty Images)

Hockey is not a one-man game at the NHL level. If it was, there’s no way the Edmonton Oilers would sit outside a playoff spot. Any superstar, even Connor McDavid, needs help.

The other side of that coin is that a team can win without any one player — even their best. That’s precisely what the Toronto Maple Leafs had been doing sans Auston Matthews coming into Thursday night’s 1-0 overtime win against the New Jersey Devils.

In three games prior, the Maple Leafs dropped the Boston Bruins twice and the Minnesota Wild once by a combined score of 11-5, seemingly a strong demonstration that playing without Matthews is an obstacle, but far from a crippling one. William Nylander’s buzzer-beating brilliance on Thursday helped reinforce that notion.

William Nylander wins it for the Leafs in overtime, 1-0 final. pic.twitter.com/mLEPp5YE0V

— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) November 17, 2017

Looking a little deeper it’s clear the Maple Leafs have been struggling without their stud centre despite their success in the standings. Despite managing another win, the absence of Matthews is getting awfully noticeable.

In the last four games Toronto has been outshot 152-102. In the 16 games Matthews played this season it was a more even 510 shots for to 518 against. That’s far too much of a difference to peg on one player, but it’s also exactly the area where the star centre makes a difference. The 20-year-old has been a strong possession player so far in his career, and when he’s out the rest of the centres on the Leafs draw harder competition, making it more likely they’ll fail to control the pace of play.

The other area where Matthews’ absence has been felt is five-on-five scoring. Although 12 goals in four games is an adequate number, it’s a deceptive one. Of those tallies only six of them were of the five-on-five variety. Two came on the power play, two were three-on-three winners, one came on an empty net, another came with Toronto’s net empty. Those goals certainly still count, but sustained success is best built on filling the net at even strength.

Meanwhile, Matthews was the NHL’s top even-strength goal scorer last season. Only nine of his 50 career goals have come on the power play. Now, there’s an argument to be made that coach Mike Babcock should be giving him more five-on-four minutes on the first unit, but that’s neither here nor there. The relevant fact is that when Matthews is in the lineup the Maple Leafs can create more offence without relying on the assistance of the referees.

It’s always going to be hard to complain about any 4-0 stretch, but it’s clear Toronto may have lucked into some of its Matthews-less success. It’s hard to keep shooting 11.8 percent without your best shooter, and it’s borderline impossible to keep up a save percentage of .967 with a Frederik Andersen-Curtis McElhinney tandem — or any goalies really.

This team deserves credit for capitalizing on their chances, and making some creative plays, in front of a red-hot Andersen. When the end of the season comes, the eight points they’ve managed over the last four may well be crucial to playoff seeding.

But make no mistake, the Maple Leafs need Auston Matthews back soon and badly.

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A guide to naming your children: NHL edition

(Getty Images)

In recent days the NHL world became aware of the existence of Malkin Crosby Long, a young Pittsburgh Penguins superfan named after two franchise greats.

It’s a cute story about the strength of fandom, but it’s also a premise that’s poorly executed upon. Malkin Crosby just doesn’t pass mustard as a name despite its good intentions. As a result, here at Puck Daddy we’ve decided to provide you the best superfan names for your children made from combining the last names of players on each team.

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If you must name your child to honor your favorite hockey team, here’s how you do it:

Anaheim Ducks – Manson Silfverberg

Silfvervberg is too cool a last name to pass up here and Manson has plausibility as a first name with a touch of absurdity to boot.

Arizona Coyotes – Rieder Perlini

Rieder looks like a bad misspelling of an already-unforgivable first name while Perlini sounds like someone failing to improvise a type of pasta. Together? Magic.

Boston Bruins – Spooner McQuaid

Spooner McQuaid seems like a tragically unsuccessful outlaw in the Old West. This name could help your child get cast for a minor role in Westworld.

Buffalo Sabres – Baptiste Fedun

This name has the kind of cultural ambiguity that will make people more interested in your kid, even if that interest is unwarranted.

Calgary Flames – Glass Stone

With this pair of nouns you can make those around you wonder if you even understand the concept of names. That has to be a bonus.

Carolina Hurricanes – Skinner Slavin

With this assassin/boxer name people will leave your kid alone on the playground.

Chicago Blackhawks – Bouma Wingels

Realistically, anything with Wingels is good.

Colorado Avalanche – Compher Kerfoot

Nothing like presenting every person who ever meets your offspring with an intermediate-level tongue twister.

Columbus Blue Jackets – Sedlak Jenner

The Jenner name is worth something nowadays, so why not slap it on your kid with a little Eastern European spice to boot.

Dallas Stars – Benn Johns

This sounds just off in every direction which makes it perfect.

Detroit Red Wings – Green Frk

This name sounds like a classification of Frk which could be animal, mineral, or vegetable.

Edmonton Oilers – Nurse Malone

Naming a child after a profession gives them a real sense of purpose, while the name Malone gives them the out to be a gangster if nursing doesn’t suit them.

Florida Panthers – Weegar Malgin

Definitely some kind of alien ambassador.

Los Angeles Kings – Quick Forbort

This one sounds like an oxymoron. A Forbort certainly doesn’t sound quick.

Minnesota Wild – Spurgeon Dumba

Dumba has to be in there and Spurgeon is close enough to sturgeon to sound disturbing as a first name.

Montreal Canadiens – Schlemko Scherbak

It’s got a ring to it. Not a good ring per se, but a ring.

Nashville Predators – Josi Salomaki

If you squint hard enough it looks like it could be a kind of sushi, which is really all you can ask for in a novelty name.

New Jersey Devils – Wood Butcher

This kid is going to wear a lot of plaid and make his living in the forest.

New York Islanders – Prince Nelson

Whether it refers to  a wrestling move or a member of a royal family, Prince Nelson is a solid option.

New York Rangers – Holden Fast

Holden Fast would be a stubborn, unyielding sort and those are arguably good qualities. Arguably.

Ottawa Senators – Dzingel Oduya

Dzingel Oduya seems like an exceedingly ill-advised character name in an unpublished sci-fi novel. But that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be a good fit for your kid!

Philadelphia Flyers – Hagg Raffl

No one wants to participate in a contest where they have a chance to win old crones, but they might want to meet someone named after one.

Pittsburgh Penguins – Rust McKegg

While Malkin Crosby just sounds silly, Rust McKegg sounds dignified and powerful … and silly.

San Jose Sharks – Heed Burns

Why not make your kid a human PSA? Burns can’t be ignored, they need to be heeded.

St. Louis Blue – Sundqvist Bortuzzo

Sundqvist Bortuzzo almost sounds sophisticated. The key here is “almost.”

Tampa Bay Lightning – Point Johnson

As if Point Johnson isn’t going to be a great hockey player. Make it pre-ordained.

Toronto Maple Leafs – Borgman Rielly

Borgman is a fantastic first name and there’s huge bonus points for the name sounding so much like Morgan Rielly.

Vancouver Canucks – Gaunce Biega

Gaunce sounds like a hit man/globetrotting professional poker player. That’s what everyone wants for their kid. Right?

Vegas Golden Knights – Stoner Hunt

It’s never too early to decide where your child stands on the War on Drugs.

Washington Capitals – Beagle O’Brien

Crime solving dogs never get old, nor do names that sound like they belong to them.

Winnipeg Jets – Little Wheeler

Eventually your kid might be big, but that’s a problem for future you.

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Matt Martin has wildly improbable career night for Leafs

Matt Martin had himself a night on Saturday against the St. Louis Blues. (Getty Images)

Matt Martin’s role on the Toronto Maple Leafs is not to create offence. He’s not a goon in the traditional sense, but he earns his ice time by bringing a physical element.

On Saturday night he brought something else. In a 6-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues, Martin had an extremely improbable career game, producing three assists for his first three-point night in 534 tries.

To put his three-helper game in perspective he managed four all of last season despite playing 82 games. He’s never had a double-digit assist season.

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Making the whole performance even more bizarre was the quality of the assists. Here they are in order on goals by Andreas Borgman once and Tyler Bozak twice.

.@andreasborgman with the blast. #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/BwfzSjJd9t

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 4, 2017

Threading through traffic. #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/O7QUpqa0mi

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 5, 2017

.@Bozie42 tips it home. #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/9TKD1IqO9m

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 5, 2017

The middle effort was a second assist – although one where he played an important role in the play – but the other two are nice cross-ice feeds that weren’t easy.

Not a bad night’s work in only 8:38 on the ice.

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Unusual Rielly-Hainsey pairing paying off for Leafs

Morgan Rielly and Ron Hainsey have been a productive pair for the Maple Leafs so far this season. (Getty Images)

Given his quiet style of play it’s not often that Ron Hainsey gets to play the hero for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but on Wednesday night he was front and centre.

In a 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks, he posted two assists with a plus-3 rating and played an astounding 7:38 out of the team’s eight minutes of perfect penalty killing time, including a potentially goal-saving block on Antoine Vermette.

It was arguably the most conspicuous performance of the year by an otherwise inconspicuous performer, helping to highlight the strength of the Maple Leafs’ most effective defence pairing this season: Hainsey and Morgan Rielly.

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Rielly, at 23, is arguably the team’s top defenceman whereas Hainsey, 36, is a guy who profiles more as a third pairing type, making it a superficially odd combination. They also are an exception to Mike Babcock’s left-right pairing dogma as both shoot left.

The best logic to bind Rielly and Hainsey is that Rielly is an offensive-minded puck mover and Hainsey can enable his risk-taking with more steady play. To some extent that’s what we’ve seen this year, although Hainsey actually has more points at even strength (9) than Rielly (6). That said, a better representation of the difference in their offensive inclination is the shot total where the young former fifth overall pick is unsurprisingly blowing away the vet 34 to 12.

More important than how it works for the Maple Leafs is that it works, and so far it works by pretty much any measure you can point to. Offensively speaking, the pair has 15 even strength points to date. The rest of the defence corps has combined for 16.

Possession-wise Rielly is the top player on the team after two consecutive seasons of failing to post a positive Relative Corsi. Hainsey isn’t far behind as the fifth-best Corsi player on the team with only the dynamic trio of Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner sandwiched between them. Hainsey is coming off 11 consecutive seasons of negative Relative Corsi having posted a modest 0.4 mark back in his rookie year of 2007-2008. When it comes to driving play, something about this pairing is clearly clicking.

An underrated aspect of the duo has also been their disciplined play. Rielly has four penalty minutes — all coming in the Maple Leafs opener against the Winnipeg Jets. Hainsey has taken a single minor penalty. For comparison’s sake, the now-split pair of Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev has taken a combined 11 penalties in a similar amount of ice time. One of the best ways to keep the puck out of your net is to stay out of the box, and these two have done that.

When it comes to special teams, Rielly and Hainsey have divided and conquered impressively. The 23-year-old has become a staple on the power play after failing to consistently hold a role there last season. Having unseated Zaitsev, his four power-play points rank second on the club to James van Riemsdyk.

Hainsey, on the other hand, has been Babcock’s penalty-killing ace. The veteran blueliner is averaging 4:55 minutes of short-handed time a night — tops in the NHL. In fact, his 63:58 played short-handed is 10:13 more than the next most prolific penalty killer in the league, Matthias Ekholm of the Nashville Predators. No one has more ownership over the team’s top-10 penalty kill unit than Hainsey, an especially impressive feat given Frederik Andersen’s bumpy start to the season.

Prior to the Maple Leafs’ California road trip, Babcock made radical changes to the team’s lineup in an effort to hit the reset button. There were only two units he kept the same: the Matthews line and the Rielly-Hainsey pairing. The latter certainly isn’t as dominant as the former, but there’s a reason they were untouched.

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Tyler Seguin makes tone-deaf comments on NHL language barrier

Tyler Seguin’s comments his teammates speaking languages other than English has not gone over well – and rightly so. (NBC)

Generally speaking, the NHL is not a very diverse league. It draws players, almost exclusively white, almost exclusively higher income, from a northern sliver of the world.

However, accepting that premise, the league is certainly enriched by the talent from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In decades past, the NHL was a purely North American league, but no one would dispute the influx of Europeans has made the game better.

That increase in European content has also made locker rooms more complex, as there are more languages and cultures in play. Emily Kaplan of ESPN wrote an excellent feature on that topic (read the full piece here), where a number of players weighed in on the topic.

There are a number of somewhat uncomfortable answers within, but the winner for most unacceptable undoubtedly goes to Tyler Seguin:

“Guys always talk in different languages. Sometimes you just put your foot down. We’re in North America, we’re not going to have a team of cliques.”

This answer is horrifying for a number of reasons, so let’s list them:

No one has any right to tell another human being what language they get to speak, and they especially don’t get to put their foot down.

This is pretty self-explanatory.

North America is not exclusively a place for English speakers.

Seguin was born in a country (Canada) with 7.2 million people who speak French as their first language, according to the 2016 census. South of the border it was estimated that 38.3 million people speak Spanish as their primary language in 2012, that’s a number that’s undoubtedly grown.

The implication that North America is for English speakers is offensive and ill-informed. English wouldn’t be spoken west of the Atlantic at all if it weren’t for a violent colonization to begin with, so it’s pretty hard to justify it as the official and exclusive language of the continent. Long story short, there’s no way to say “This is North America we speak English here” without sounding ignorant.

Avoiding a team of cliques isn’t a possible or necessary goal

Teams in all sports tend to have cliques regardless of languages. Position groups tend to hang together. High-paid veterans often don’t mix with fresh-faced rookies. In baseball clubhouses, Spanish-speaking players usually gravitate to each other for obvious reasons that aren’t remotely malicious in a way that doesn’t tend to undermine team unity.

The idea that everyone needs to hang out as one big family is a fantasy, and a convenient excuse to ask someone to conform. Teams can have social factions and still pursue a common goal effectively. They do it everyday.

There is a 99.999999% chance this statement is enormously hypocritical

The cherry on the sundae of Seguin’s words is that he had a chance to live by his “When in Rome” principles. During the NHL lockout the Dallas Stars centre played in Switzerland, a country with four official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh.

By his own principles he should have accommodated the locals by conversing with them in their turn. Moreover, he had a few options (although Biel, the city he played in, French and German were the primary choices). Here’s betting that he pretty much stuck to English though. That can’t be proven definitively, but there is a clip of him being interviewed in English by a Swiss reporter for whom English was not a first language, despite the fact both parties were clearly in Switzerland and should have been conversing in the local tongue.

Seguin’s lucky none of his teammates with Biel HC put their foot down.

Beyond Seguin, Kaplan’s article is peppered with NHL stars responding to questions about the language barrier with answers that are, let’s say, less than optimal.

Patrick Kane describes speaking to Russian teammates in English but with a Russian accent as if it’s some sort of compromise. He also recalls simply leaving an area of the bench when another language is being spoken. Jack Eichel frets that his Swedish teammates might be talking about him.

The voice of reason in the piece is undoubtedly Kevin Shattenkirk, who says the sort of thing a decent human would.

“You have to respect the fact that a lot of times it’s just easier for them to communicate that way. But it also goes outside the rink. You’ll see them going to dinner together on the road. There’s a comfortability factor — being able to speak their language gives them a sense of home. You can’t take it as them not wanting to hang out with you.”

That about sums it up.

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Casey DeSmith surrenders goal 11 seconds into NHL career

Casey DeSmith didn’t get the start he wanted to his NHL career.

When Casey DeSmith imagined his NHL debut it probably ranged from a 50-save shutout to simply a win – depending on his level of ambition.

What it certainly didn’t involve was allowing a goal almost immediately after entering the crease. Unfortunately for the University of New Hampshire product, that’s precisely what happened on Sunday.

Just 11 seconds into his NHL career, Blake Wheeler of the Winnipeg Jets put a puck over his right shoulder to give the Jets a 5-0 lead and complete a hat trick for Wheeler.

Casey DeSmith gets introduced. *seconds pass* Blake Wheeler completes hat trick. pic.twitter.com/QhqAk0eYJG

— Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey) October 29, 2017

To be fair to DeSmith, it was a nice move by the Jets winger and far from a soft tally. It’s not like he allowed a trickler from centre. Even so, it’s got to be a little frustrating and embarrassing for a little-known 26-year-old getting an unlikely shot.

On the plus side, DeSmith brought a 3-0 record and .965 save percentage at the AHL level into Sunday’s action – so he seems unlikely to keep up the 327.27 goals against average he was initially on pace for.