#anze-kopitar

#anze-kopitar

The NHL has begun rolling out the finalists for each of its major awards, with several nominees already announced.As a first-year member of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, Yahoo Sports was not granted an official ballot this year, but that doesn't mean we can't get in on the fun.Stay tuned for updates throughout the week as the nominees are unveiled, culminating with the Hart Trophy on Friday, May 12.
Norris Trophy
Nominees: Adam Fox (Rangers), Erik Karlsson (Sharks), Cale Makar ( Avalanche)
Yahoo Sports' ballot Adam Fox, Erik Karlsson, Hampus Lindholm (Bruins), Cale Makar, Rasmus Dahlin (Sabres)
We have a larger breakdown of each major candidate's season and a number of Canucks fans took umbrage with the idea that we didn't place Quinn Hughes in the top-five.

The NHL announced the finalists for two awards on Tuesday: the Selke Trophy ( see the players up for the award here) and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.The Lady Byng is annually awarded "to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."

(Andy Devlin / NHLI via Getty Images)

In almost any other situation, in almost any other game, Quinton Byfield and the Kings would have celebrated his third-period goal Tuesday night against Edmonton with rounds of hugs and cheers instead of quick fist-bumps and a respectful tap or two on his helmet.

Funny how the puck bounces, eh?A day after the Kings traded two-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Quick to Columbus to upgrade their goaltending for what they hope will be a long playoff run they learned Quick had been traded again - and is now in position to block their postseason path.The Blue Jackets, rebuilding as they sit at the bottom of the NHL East, acquired Quick from the Kings on Wednesday for draft picks, goalie Joonas Korpisalo and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov.

STATS Record: 13-21-8Streak: W1Goals Leader: Timo Meier (23 G, 18 A)Assists Leader: Erik Karlsson (13 G, 42 A)Power Play: 20.2%Penalty Kill: 84.6%Goals For/60: 3.03Goals Against/60: 3.59Shots For/60: 29.48Shots Against/60: 29.78
LINES Timo Meier - Tomas Hertl - Kevin LabancMatt Nieto - Logan Couture - Alexander BarabanovNick Bonino - Nico Sturm - Michael EyssimontJonah Gadjovich - Steven Lorentz - Oskar Lindblom
Jaycob Megna - Erik KarlssonMario Ferraro - Matt BenningScott Harrington - Marc-Edouard Vlasic
James ReimerKaapo Kahkonen
Expected Scratches:Injured Reserve:STATS Nikolai Knyzhov (Achilles), Markus Nutivaara (lower body), Radim Simek (upper body) LINES Evgeny Svechnikov, Nick Cicek, Noah Gregor Record: 24-14-6Streak: W2Goals Leader: Adrian Kempe (17 G, 11 A)Assists Leader: Kevin Fiala (15 G, 31 A)Power Play: 24.7%Penalty Kill: 73.4%Goals For/60: 3.22Goals Against/60: 3.31Shots For/60: 31.84Shots

The Kings' dismissal of the Edmonton Oilers on Monday felt like much more than one of 82 games, more than a nice, dry place to go on a rainy night in Los Angeles.It was a statement.It was the Kings at their best, doing good things big and small while they nearly silenced runaway NHL scoring leader Connor McDavid and got a superb performance from a penalty-killing unit that has sometimes sabotaged otherwise strong efforts.

In less than 48 hours the Kings went from the sublime - a dramatic shootout victory over defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado - to the ridiculous, with a lethargic effort in a 4-2 loss to the struggling Philadelphia Flyers at Crypto.comArena.The Kings' defensemen were turned inside out too many times.

The Boston Bruins defeated the Tampa Bay Lighting on Monday night by a final score of 5-3.It was a good game for them as they now lead the entire NHL with a record of 17-2-0 for 34 standings points.Right now, they have to be considered one of the Stanley Cup favorites.After going down 1-0 in the first period, the Bruins scored five unanswered goals.

Heading into Tuesday night, the general sentiment amongst Calgary Flames fans was that their team needs to be nearly perfect down the stretch to get into a playoff position.That said, the first of their final eight games wasn't an easy one, as they were taking on a red-hot L.A. Kings team.They were able to persevere, however, putting together one of their better efforts of the season to walk away with a 2-1 victory.

Just the facts
When: Tonight, 7:00 PM
Where: TD Garden - Boston, MA
How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub
Rival SBN site: Jewels From the Crown
Know your enemy


     15-12-5, 35PTS, tied for 2nd in Pacific Division
     Kevin Fiala: 32GP, 9G, 23A, 32PTS; Anze Kopitar: 32GP, 10G, 17A, 27PTS; Viktor Arvidsson: 29GP, 8G, 14A, 22PTS
     Jonathan Quick: 8-8-3, 3.55 GAA, .882

Game Thread
The Rangers have looked bad the last few games, with yesterday's clunker in Washington possibly the worst we've seen the Rangers all season.It won't get better soon, as the Blueshirts are likely to play today's game against the LA Kings with a short handed blue line
To clear the necessary cap space for Patrick Kane, the Rangers traded Vitali Kravtsov and waived Jake Leschyshyn yesterday.

Over the weekend, Sharks coach David Quinn became demonstrably upset at NHL referee Gord Dwyer.Tuesday, it was Erik Karlsson's turn.Early in the third period of what became a 6-0 Sharks loss to Colorado at Ball Arena in Denver, Karlsson took a stick to the face from an Avalanche player that drew blood.

Over the weekend, Sharks coach David Quinn became demonstrably upset at NHL referee Gord Dwyer.Tuesday, it was Erik Karlsson's turn.Early in the third period of what became a 6-0 Sharks loss to Colorado at Ball Arena in Denver, Karlsson took a stick to the face from an Avalanche player that drew blood.

BOSTON - The Boston Bruins lost another home shootout Thursday night, falling, 3-2, to the Los Angeles at TD Garden.The Bruins improved their NHL-best record to 23-4-2, while the Kings fell to 16-12-5.ONE BIG TAKEAWAYThe Bruins have been the best third period team in hockey this season, holding an undefeated when entering the third period with a lead.

Monday night was all about Patrice Bergeron, and many coaches and players around the league took the time to acknowledge the future Hall of Famer's accomplishment.The Bruins captain provided an assist on a Brad Marchand goal in Boston's 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.Bergeron recorded his 1,000th career point with that assist, making him the fourth player in franchise history to achieve that mark.

Happy Tuesday, folks.American Thanksgiving is in sight.You're almost there.The Bruins gave you something to be thankful for last night, starting off their nine-game gauntlet with a 5-3 win over Tampa.While it wasn't a wire-to-wire performance (Tampa tilted the ice early on), it was one of those games where once the Bruins turned it on, the opposition couldn't do much to slow them down.

More than a dozen goaltenders have challenged Jonathan Quick's hold on the Kings' net.Not one has succeeded.Erik Ersberg couldn't beat him out for the No. 1 job.Nor could Jason LaBarbera, Jonathan Bernier, Ben Scrivens, Peter Budaj, Ben Bishop, Jeff Zatkoff, Martin Jones, Jhonas Enroth, Jack Campbell, Darcy Kuemper or, most recently, Cal Petersen.

Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron recorded his 1,000th career point in the National Hockey League on Monday night in the Bruins' 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.After the career Bruin grabbed the assist that fully stamped his spot in hockey history, the team posted a video of fellow 1,000-point club members from around the league congratulating him on the achievement.