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Tag: NHL Western Conference

  • Chicago Blackhawks won’t wear Pride warmups because of security concerns | CNN

    Chicago Blackhawks won’t wear Pride warmups because of security concerns | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks are opting not to wear specialized Pride warmup jerseys on Sunday when the team holds its Pride night, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

    According to the report, the team is not wearing the jerseys because of security concerns involving Russian players, citing unnamed sources close to the team. The Sun-Times also reports, according to sources, that the decision was made by the front office and not the players.

    In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill that expands a ban on so-called LGBTQ “propaganda” in Russia, making it illegal for anyone to promote same-sex relationships or suggest that non-heterosexual orientations are “normal.”

    CNN has reached out to the NHL for comment. “The Chicago Blackhawks organization is proud to continue its annual Pride Night celebration, an evening – alongside year-round efforts – fueled by partnership and LGBTQIA+ community engagement,” the team told CNN in a statement on Thursday.

    “Together, our activities will focus on fostering conversation and more equitable spaces in our pursuit to make hockey more inclusive. We do not condone anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric, and we stand firmly with the community.

    “While we know game-day celebrations like these are an important way we can use our platform to bring visibility, it is the work we do together 365 days a year that can create true impact in ensuring all of our colleagues, fans and communities feel welcomed and safe within our sport.”

    On the Blackhawks’ website, advertising for the Pride night promotion for the team’s Sunday game against the Vancouver Canucks, says: “Pride Night brings the entire Blackhawks organization together to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and stand together for inclusion. A special pregame event in the United Center Atrium will kick off the evening featuring special performances, photo opportunities and more.”

    The Blackhawks currently have one Russian-born player on their roster, defenseman Nikita Zaitsev, who is from Moscow, and there are also other players on the team who have ties to Russia.

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  • Giroux scores on OT breakaway, Senators beat Kings 3-2

    Giroux scores on OT breakaway, Senators beat Kings 3-2

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    LOS ANGELES — Claude Giroux scored on a breakaway 20 seconds into overtime, Brady Tkachuk had a goal and an assist and the Ottawa Senators beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Sunday night.

    Alex DeBrincat had a power-play goal, Cam Talbot made 25 saves and the Senators won consecutive games for the first time since a four-game winning streak in late October.

    “When you play well, and you look after the game and you’re happy with your game but you didn’t get the result, it’s easy to go off page and start doing your own thing,” Giroux said. “But it’s good to know that we played the way we wanted to tonight and we have the result, so we know it works.”

    Arthur Kaliyev scored two power-play goals for the Kings, winners of just one of their past five games. Kaliyev became the fifth Los Angeles player in the past decade to score twice on the man advantage in one period.

    “He’s a great shot, and he knows where to be, and we just try to find him,” Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson said. “Today, he buried two, and it was good.”

    Jonathan Quick allowed three goals on 39 shots, and Phillip Danault had two assists, but Los Angeles did pick up at least one point for the seventh time in its past nine home games.

    Giroux waited out Quick for his ninth goal on the breakaway set up by Tim Stutzle’s stretch pass. Stutzle had two assists, while Giroux had an assist for his fifth multipoint game of the season.

    “I’m pretty sure it was a back-end saucer pass all the way down there. The whole goal was special,” Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot said. “G, what a move. And, obviously, it was big for us. It’s a lot of confidence for our group, and to see that we can do it that way, it’s big for us.”

    Tkachuk’s 99th career goal was the only scoring of the first period. He jammed the puck in at the near post after Chabot’s shot deflected wide and caromed off the boards to put Ottawa up 1-0 at 4:55.

    The power play became a factor in the second period, with Kaliyev striking twice with the man advantage to tie it. His first came midway through the period, but DeBrincat had his own power-play goal less than two minutes later to give the Senators a 2-1 lead.

    Kaliyev then unleashed a blistering wrist shot from the right circle to tie it with 2:25 left in the middle period. It was his first career game with multiple power-play goals, and his six tallies on special teams leads Los Angeles.

    “We needed something because we sure didn’t start the game very well,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “Power play, obviously, gave us some life. It gave us a chance to crawl back into the game. For as poorly as we were playing, it didn’t get away on us, so that was a good thing.”

    UNUSUAL STOPPAGE

    There was a lengthy delay midway through the first after a deflected shot by Kings D Sean Durzi cracked the kick plate along the bottom of the boards on the Zamboni tunnel before arena personnel were able to replace it.

    WORTH NOTING

    Kings F Gabe Vilardi, the team’s leading scorer with 11 goals, did not play because of an upper-body injury. He is day to day.

    UP NEXT

    Senators: Host the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.

    Kings: Host Seattle on Tuesday night.

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    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Jaret Anderson-Dolan help Kings beat Sharks 5-2

    Jaret Anderson-Dolan help Kings beat Sharks 5-2

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    SAN JOSE, Calif. — Jaret Anderson-Dolan had a goal and an assist for his first two points of the season and the Los Angeles Kings beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2 on Friday night.

    Phillip Dananult, Victor Arvidsson, Anze Kopitar and Rasmus Kupari also scored for the Kings, and Jonathan Quick made 29 saves.

    “I think we’re all just working, doing the little things right and it was paying off,” Anderson-Dolan said. “It turned into opportunities and we capitalized on a couple of those tonight.”

    Kevin Lebanc and Alexander Barabanov scored for the Sharks, and James Reimer stopped 24 shots.

    “It’s unfortunate that my performance wasn’t up to par tonight,” Reimer said.

    Anderson-Dolan scored his first goal of the season midway through the first period with a shot that beat Reimer to the glove side.

    “Feels great. It’s been a while so it definitely felt good,” Anderson-Dolan said.

    Anderson-Dolan also assisted on Kupari’s goal early in the third.

    “I thought our first period got better as it went on, and then they got the power play,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “And you know, listen, that’s a good team. They’re hard. They’re quick. At times we matched them and at times we didn’t.”

    Kings coach Todd McLellan was thrilled with his fourth line’s performance.

    “I couldn’t be happier for that group. That line played their best game of the season together. They were firm, they were hard, and they won a lot of puck battles,” McLellan said.

    INJURY UPDATE

    Reimer returned to the lineup after a one-game absence.

    Sharks defenseman Radim Simek was activated off IR and played his first game since Nov. 13.

    UP NEXT:

    Kings: Host Ottawa on Sunday night.

    Sharks: Host Vancouver on Sunday.

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    More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • McDavid scores in OT, Oilers beat Golden Knights 4-3

    McDavid scores in OT, Oilers beat Golden Knights 4-3

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    EDMONTON, Alberta — Connor McDavid scored 1:17 into overtime to give the slumping Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night.

    McDavid danced around a defender and chipped a shot over Adin Hill for his NHL-leading 16th of the season.

    Warren Foegele, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman also scored to help the Oilers improve to 10-8-0. They had lost five of seven overall and three straight at home.

    Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had three assists and McDavid added another. Stuart Skinner stopped 31 shots.

    Mark Stone scored twice for the Golden Knights. Keegan Kolesar also connected and Hill made 19 saves. Vegas has lost three of four to drop to 14-4-1.

    UP NEXT

    Golden Knights: At Vancouver on Monday night to wrap up a two-game trip.

    Oilers: At New Jersey on Tuesday night to open a three-game trip to New York.

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    AP NHL: www.apnews.com/hub/NHL and www.twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Canucks top Penguins 5-1 for 2nd straight after opening skid

    Canucks top Penguins 5-1 for 2nd straight after opening skid

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    VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Bo Horvat scored twice, Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist and the Vancouver Canucks won their second straight after a season-opening skid, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 on Friday night.

    Tanner Pearson and J.T. Miller also scored, Ilya Mikheyev had two assists and Spencer Martin made 34 saves. On Thursday night in Seattle, the Canucks beat the Kraken 5-4 to end their season-opening losing streak at a franchise-record seven games.

    “Obviously there’s a lot more energy, obviously the smiles on our faces,” Horvat said. “But I mean, we’ve got to dig ourselves out of the hole here. Obviously, we put ourselves in this situation. Just because we won two games, you can’t be satisfied. We’ve got to keep going here.”

    Rickard Rakell scored for Pittsburgh and Tristan Jarry made 24 saves. The Penguins have lost three straight in regulation to fall to 4-3-1.

    “I just don’t think we’re putting a 60-minute effort together, and it’s hard to win in this league when you don’t,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.

    Weariness appeared to creep into the home side’s game, with the Penguins outshooting the Canucks 30-19 across the second and third periods, but Martin held fast for the victory. The 24-year-old goalie is 4-0-4 with Vancouver.

    “Eight games now and he’s gotten points in eight straight, so I haven’t seen him do anything negative,” Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “And that’s great when you can have your other goaltender doing that, that makes an inner competition a little bit.”

    The Canucks took a 2-1 lead into the third period and struggled in the opening minutes, fighting mightily to get out of their own zone.

    Martin said he wasn’t concerned.

    “Honestly, I don’t think they had much,” he said. “We did a fantastic job, obviously. They have a lot of firepower there. They did a good job getting behind the net, I thought, but we kept them to the perimeter. So it was a good game.”

    After the barrage, Vancouver erupted with three goals in just over seven minutes.

    Kuzmenko tipped in a long shot from defenseman Luke Schenn and Horvat scored on a power-play before Miller added an empty-netter with 2:10 remaining.

    Third-period collapses have become a trend for the Canucks this season, and Boudreau said his group appeared as if “the weight of the world was lifted off (their) shoulders” after weathering the adversity.

    “Every other third period has been like ‘Oh, what’s gonna happen that’s negative?’” Boudreau said. “And I think once we got through the first three minutes, and it was like, ‘OK, let’s go.’ And everybody just played. … And I thought it was really good.”

    TRADE ADDITIONS

    Vancouver acquired defenseman Ethan Bear and forward Lane Pederson from Carolina a few hours before the game for a fifth-round draft pick. The 25-year-old Bear has not played this season after finishing with five goals and nine assists in 58 games for the Hurricanes last season. Carolina will retain $400,000 of Bear’s $2.2 million contact. Pederson, also 25, is scoreless in four games this season for the Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League.

    UP NEXT

    Penguins: At Seattle on Saturday night.

    Canucks: Host New Jersey on Tuesday night.

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    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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