Tag: NHL

NHL Four Nations podcast with Len Shapiro: RIP Mike Lange he was my good friend; McDavid scores game winner Canada wins it in OT 3-2

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Pittsburgh Penguins long time broadcaster Mike Lange addresses the crowd before the unveiling of a statue depicting Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame center Mario Lemieux outside the NHL hockey team’s arena March 7, 2012, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Len what can you say about your good late friend Pittsburgh Penguins play by play announcer the great Mike Lange who you roomed with during your college days.

#2 Len, talk about those catch phrases that he used after a goal was scored he was well known for.

#3 Penguins star Syd Crosby said he was proud that Lange called almost all his goals of his career that’s saying a mouthful right there.

#4 Turning to the Four Nations Tournament Team USA and Team Canada battle at TD Garden in Boston on Thursday night Team Canada wins it in overtime 3-2 on Conner McDavid’s goal at 8:18.

#5 No doubt about it there were some gritty hockey played in this tournament no one caved in and all teams played like everything was on the line. It was not like an East vs. West All Star game where they run up the score.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks take on Stars tonight in effort to end three game skid

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Vitek Vanecek (41) puts a stop on the Vancouver Canucks left wing Drew O’Connor (left) in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Feb 6, 2025 (AP News photo)

San Jose podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Vancouver Canucks Drew O’Connor scored on a penalty shot 33 seconds into the overtime stanza as the Canucks got by the San Jose Sharks 2-1 on Thursday night. O’Connor got to make the penalty shot after the Sharks Macklin Celebrini got called for a hooking penalty.

#2 The Canucks Dakota Joshua scored at 8:04 on a power play to get the Canucks on the scoreboard with the lead 1-0.

#3 The Sharks were behind 1-0 in the third period when Tyler Toffoli tied up the game at 1-1 with his 20th goal of the season at 18:32.

#4 Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko was looking for his second shutout in a row but will settle for the win and 33 saves. The Sharks Vitek Vanecek stopped 22 Vancouver shots.

#5 Dallas Stars are second in the central division this is a team that is on a roll with a 38-18-1 with 69 points only behind the mighty Winnipeg Jets. They’re in San Jose tonight how do you see the Sharks chances?

Join Mary Lisa for Sharks podcasts each Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Knights stay perfect in New Jersey with 3-1 win; Lightning open up some offense on Ottawa in 5-1 win; plus more NHL news

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Vegas Golden Knights Tomas Hertl (right) brings the puck up ice against the New Jersey Devils Jack Hughes (left) in the first period at the Prudential Center in Newark on Thu Feb 6, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Vegas Golden Knights had goals scored from three different players in their 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Thursday night. Jack Eichel, Nicolas Roy, and Shea Theordore scored a goal each. Adin Hill will be representing Canada in goal during the 4 Nations Face off on Feb 12-20. Hill stopped 14 shots for the Knights. The Knights have not lost a game in New Jersey in their seven games there since coming into the NHL.

#2 Brayden Point scored a goal and had two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-1 at Amalie Arena on Thursday night. The Bolts Jake Guentzel and Brandon Hagel scored a goal apiece. Nikita Kucherov had two assists and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots. It was Tampa Bay’s second win over three days against Ottawa.

#3 Alexander Ovechkin scored his 879th goal on a on timer just inside of the right face off circle at 19:07 in the first period and is now 16 goals shy of passing Wayne Gretzky for the NHL record of 894 goals. Ovechkin has a hot hand right now he has scored in four straight games with 26 goals on the season. The Washington Capitals get a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

#4 Dylan Guenther scored an overtime goal for the second straight game and the Utah Hockey Club edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Guenther scored at 4:27 getting a pass from goaltender Connor Ingram and got a breakaway scoring on his own rebound for the win.

#5 Filip Gustavsson saved 38 shots for the Minnesota Wild as they win in a one goal difference over the Carolina Hurricanes at the Xcel Energy Center in St.Paul on Thursday night 2-1. Gustavsson made quite a recovery in net after allowing six Ottawa Senators goals in his last start.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fell Short Again in OT Loss Against the Canucks

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Drew O’Connor shot on goal on Vitek Vanecek during overtime at SAP Center in San Jose on Feb 6 (Vancouver Canucks Archive.)

After a painful loss against the Habs, the Sharks have to find a way to get back on track… It did not come Thursday night against the Vancouver Canucks.

By: Fernando Abarca

SAN JOSE –– Thursday night action at the tank and once again the Sharks hosted a Canadian neighbor, the Vancouver Canucks the Sharks wound up losing by another one goal game this time 2-1. Last time at the Tank, the Sharks lost against the Montreal Canadiens with a 4-3 score, with the Habs scoring the goal that gave them the victory in the final minutes of the third, leaving no time for the Sharks to recover last Tuesday night.

The Canucks won their last game against the Avalanche going through a long stretch of winless games since Jan 18, when the Canucks played the Edmonton Oilers. The Sharks added another loss and have gone winless since Jan 14, when the Teal played Detroit.

During the first two periods of the game, the game remained scoreless. Worth mentioning that the first 40 minutes of the game were full of penalties

Both teams were very balanced and even throughout the match. It is worth noting that San Jose was more aggressive during the second period, showing heart and attitude.
Vancouver was under pressure, but Vitek Vanecek had a great performance after being absent from the team since Dec 14.

The action began to be seen in the third period with a goal at 14:40 with a goal by the visitors at 14:40 when Dakota Joshua, with a tip-in shot on a PowerPlay, took the lead 1-0 assisted by Pius Suter and Tyler Myers.

The game looked like it wasn’t going to end 1-0, and just as it looked, it ended up being that way, with Tyler Toffoli scoring with 1.28 left in regulation to give San Jose some life and a chance.

The chance for the long-awaited victory fell short, and this time, the star, Macklin Celebrini, was marked with a penalty for hooking against Drew O’Connor. O’Connor scored an unassisted scored his second goal for Vancouver, and the game winner to call it a night.

With this loss, San Jose is on the verge of going a full month with no victories. The Sharks will host a final game at home against Dallas, with the possible homecoming of former Sharks of Cody Ceci and Mikael Grandlund before the 4 Nations break.

Guenther Lights The Lamp At Overtime Buzzer For Utah HC 3-2 Home Victory Against Philadelphia

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Dylan Guenther scored a overtime game winner for the Utah Hockey Club against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tue Feb 4, 2025 (Utah Hockley Club X photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Dylan Guenther made an immediate impact in his return to the lineup from injury with 2 goals and an assist including the overtime game winner with less than a second remaining on the clock.

Home ice has not been Utah Hockey Club’s friend for much of their inaugural season in Salt Lake City.  Coming into Tuesday night’s matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers, Utah’s home record was 8-12-6, so they hoped that the return of Dylan Guenther from injury would inject some energy into the team’s offense.  Entering the game, Guenther was tied for first in goals among NHL players 21 years old and under.

The Flyers quickly took the lead just two minutes into the first on a snap shot by Rodrigo Abols, his first NHL goal, assisted by Travis Sanheim.  Utah would put 13 shots on net in the frame, but Philadelphia goaltender Samuel Ersson stopped them all. 

Mikhail Sergachev evened the score at 3:32 of the 2nd period with his 10th goal, assisted by Guenther and Barrett Hayton.  Sergachev matched his career high for goals in a season, while Guenther registered his first point since January 2 at Calgary.  Less than a minute later, Tyson Foerster would tip in a shot by Sean Couturier to regain the lead for the Flyers.  Philadelphia seemed to make it 3-1 at 8:44 of the frame, but Utah successfully challenged for off sides, their third successful coaches challenge out of four attempts on the season.

At 8:40 of the 3rd period, Dylan Guenther scored his 17th goal, assisted by Barrett Hayton and Mikhail Sergachev, to even the score at 2 apiece.  At the end of 60 minutes, the score remained knotted up at 2.

With time expiring in overtime, Sergachev fed the puck to Guenther who drove to the net and fired the puck past Ersson with less than a second remaining on the clock to give Utah the home win as the fans erupted in cheers.  Both players factored into all 3 Utah goals on the night.  The Flyers challenged the game winner, hoping to negate it with an off side call, but Toronto confirmed a good goal and the locker room celebration was on. Utah registered 42 shots on goal, the most in the new franchise’s history.

First star of the game, Dylan Guenther, talked about his overtime goal.  “Just not a lot of time left. I was waiting for (Clayton Keller) to get off, and saw it go in and then I saw the clock was at zero, so it was just hoping that it got off in time and it did.” When asked about returning to the ice, the young forward said, “It feels good. I mean, it’s tough getting injured, and I’ve never really gone through that before, so it’s nice that the work that you put in paid off. Just have to keep it rolling here and try to get some more wins.” On the crowd reaction to the goal, Guenther beamed, “It was buzzing. The crowd was buzzing the whole game, even when they announced my name in the starting lineup. I think that feels really good as a player, and that makes you excited to play. It makes you excited to be here in Utah. The support of the crowd helps us win games. So it’s huge.”

Fan favorite Liam O’Brien, who dropped the gloves with Nicolas Deslauriers in the first for his 4th fighting major of the season, also addressed the media.  “I think there’s just so many different plays in a game that creates momentum, whether it’s a defensive play, drawing a penalty, big hit. Those are important plays. So I think we had a lot of those tonight throughout our whole team.” Asked about the fight, he said, “I try to fight at the right time. I felt like tonight was the right time. Sometimes you just want to get the energy going, and that’s what I tried to do tonight.”

Head coach André Tourigny was asked about the impact of Guenther’s return, but he was quick to credit the entire team.  “I think it was a team effort. We were happy about a lot of our games even if we didn’t get the result. We were not happy about our game against St. Louis. I loved the answer (tonight). Not just the score; obviously the score is huge (and) that’s what we’re playing for. But the intensity, the battle level, the number of battles we won, the way we reload, the way we went at the net, the drives to the net we had, I think everybody did their part.”  Talking about what the win does for momentum on the coming road trip heading into Four Nations, Tourigny said, “(Tonight’s win) was absolutely huge. We still very much believe. We don’t look at scores elsewhere, but we know Calgary lost. We know Vancouver is up by one after two. The point is…we know at this point we’ll need a bit of help (to make the playoffs). We didn’t take the straight line. But we can make it and we’ll fight for it. Now we’ll need to go on the road and have a helluva road trip.” Asked about what he told the team during the 30-second timeout near the end of overtime, Bear commented, “They were tired…That’s the only thing I wanted; I wanted to calm the pace a little bit and get a chance for (Mikhail Sergachev, Michael Kesselring and Dylan Guenther) to be at their best. There was 46 seconds left; there was no need to save the timeout for nothing. They were at the end of their gas tank. Just talking for 30 seconds was a welcome addition. Then (Kevin Stenlund) won the draw. That’s another thing; we had a really good overtime. We had a lot of possession, a lot of chances. It started with (Stenlund). He won every draw. You start with the puck 3-on-3, that helps a lot.”

Utah now hits the road for games against Columbus, Carolina, and Washington prior to the 4 Nations Faceoff break. Utah defensemen Olli Määttä and Juuso Välimäki will represent their native Finland in the tournament. The next game at Delta Center will take place January 23 against the Vancouver Canucks.

Sharks Let Another One Go Against the Habs 4-3

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Sharks players celebrate the tying goal over Montreal on Tuesday Feb 4 at SAP Center in San Jose (AP Photo)

As the rain pours heavily in the Bay, so does it for the Sharks in another Tuesday night action

A new month at the tank, and the San Jose Sharks could not get it done losing by a goal to the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 at SAP Center in San Jose on Tuesday night. The Sharks hosted the Montreal Canadiens, trying to start off the new month with a victory after a rather grey week for the team in teal following the horrible defeat in Seattle last week. The Sharks have been having recent activity with the departure of Grandlund and Ceci for Dallas, and now trying to find a win.

The Sharks started the game with a goal by Macklin Celebrini on a powerplay assisted by Tyler Toffoli, who would later also have his moment of glory, and William Eklund.

During the first 20 minutes it seemed that the path to a good night would be on the Sharks’ side.

In the second period, Montreal regained strength and its key character, Nick Suzuki, on a powerplay scored the first goal for the Habs who are also coming off a season full of setbacks in the Atlantic division.

That still wasn’t enough, Montreal made it 2-1 with a goal scored by Alex Newhook assisted by Dach and Carrier.

With that 2-1, the Sharks looked to recover before going to the second intermission, and that’s how they managed to tie it with a goal by Colin Graf to give some breath and life with a tie approaching the last 20 minutes of hockey.

For the third period, Montreal, like in the second period, was a different team and had a different dynamic and took the lead with a 3-2 goal scored by Brendan Gallagher.

Desperately, the Sharks team looked for ways to solve the problem. Tyler Toffoli solved it by tying the match again ten minutes before the end of the match.
Everything seemed to indicate that the match would go to overtime but things decided to take a different turn.

Joel Armia put the Canadiens ahead 4-3 on a powerplay and the night would end with that score, giving the Sharks another loss and again in a one-goal tie.

This Thursday, the Sharks will be hosting the Vancouver Canucks who are coming off a 3-0 win against Colorado.

Utah HC Sings The Blues in 2-1 Loss To St. Louis

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St Louis Blues center Dylan Holloway (81) and Blues center Brayden Schenn (10) with Utah Hockey Club left win Matias Maccelli (63) battle for the puck at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sun Feb 2, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah had defeated St. Louis in each of the two previous matchups, but the Blues take Game 3 of the season series.

The St. Louis returned to the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday night for their third encounter with the Utah Hockey Club this season. Utah prevailed 4-2 in each of the previous two games both at home and on the road.

Alexandre Texier got things going for the Blues at 17:41 of the first period with a wrist shot for his 4th goal of the season, assisted by Radek Faksa and Alexey Toropchenko.

Goaltenders Jordan Binnington and Connor Ingram both defended their nets in the second period to prevent further scoring.

At 3:27 of the third, Utah defenseman Michael Kesselring tied things up with his 6th goal of the season, assisted by Nick Bjugstand and Kevin Stenlund. Unfortunately for the home squad, Blues forward Jordan Kyrou regained the St. Louis lead at 7:13 of the frame with his 22nd goal of the season, assisted by Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. The 2-1 lead would hold up as the Blues broke out of a four-game losing streak while Utah went down to defeat for the fifth consecutive game, and 15 of the last 20.

After the game, Utah’s lone goal-scorer Michael Kesselring talked about his squad’s struggles. “It’s tough, we just got to get more pucks than that, and bodies and bang away. It’s a tough situation. We got to get out of those situations. … Obviously the break is coming up, but these are playoff games for us. We need to win, we need to push. I know we have some injuries, but there’s no excuses. Like I said, it’s the NHL, so we have to find a way here.” Talking about whether the team is getting frustrated, Kesselring responded, “Honestly, the mood is pretty good. Maybe tonight was (not) our best game, but I thought we were playing really well before this. So you have to get over it quick. Watch some video, make some adjustments, but we have to be ready to go next game.”

Defenseman Ian Cole talked about the problem with shot lanes. “They (St. Louis) did a good job. You know, they were coming back to the middle and, off their forecheck through the neutral zone, into their D zone. And then, you get the puck, look up all you really see are white jerseys. So they did a good job with it, so kudos to them. But that being said, we did get good chances when we got pucks down there, so we need to do that.” Cole agreed with Kesselring’s comments about every game at this stage being a playoff game for the team. “I think that’s an accurate assessment in terms of they are playoff games. We’re playing for our playoff lives right now. And (I) didn’t love our first, thought we responded better as the game went on, but again, kind of lost it. Lost it in the third a little bit.”

Head coach André Tourigny addressed his team’s difficulties at producing when pulling the goaltender for an extra attacker. “I think we’ve gotten better lately. I think early on, on 6-on-5, we gave up a lot of goals. We could not sustain a lot of possessions…I think we need to simplify at 6-on-5. … I think (sometimes) we were trying to make too good of a play. The middle was clogged; it’s really tough. Like I said, the last two or three (extra-attacker opportunities) we had shots, we had opportunities. We hit the crossbar today. We’re almost there.” The coach was asked about the importance of finishing strong in the final games leading up to the break for the 4 Nations Faceoff. “It’s super important. For us, we’re in a sprint. I talked before, it’s a race. Every step is important. It’s an extremely huge game for us (Tuesday) against Philly. We need the two points; we need to finish the homestand at least at .500, hit the road and have a helluva road trip before the break. There’s no doubt about it.”

Utah wraps up the four-game homestand on Tuesday with a 7:00pm tilt against the Philadelphia Flyers, after which they will hit the road for games against Columbus, Carolina, and Washington prior to the 4 Nations Faceoff break.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks hope to catch struggling Habs for a win on Tuesday night

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San Jose Sharks center Colin White (16) and goaltender Alexander Georgiev (40) eye the puck against the Seattle Kraken left wing Brandon Tanev (13) in the second period at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Thu Jan 30, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Brandon Montour scored two of four of the Seattle Kraken second period goals and the Kraken picked up a convincing victory over the San Jose Sharks 6-2 at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday night.

#2 For the Sharks Carl Grundstrom and Tyler Toffoli each scored and they were all the scoring that the Sharks would get all evening.

#3 The loss for the Sharks is their sixth in their last seven games. When you look at the loses piling up how much pressure how much work and how many drills during morning skates will head coach Ryan Warsofsky have to push to get the club in the win column.

#4 There was no doubt that when the Sharks dropped the puck against the Kraken they came into a buzz saw as the Kraken have now won 12 out of their last 13 games with at least four goals per game.

#5 The Sharks will try it all over again on Tuesday night against the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs have struggled they have lost four in a row and have not won in six of their last ten games. This could be the Sharks best chance to get back in the win column. The Sharks have lost eight of their last ten games.

Mary Lisa does the Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Utah HC Surrenders 2-0 Third Period Lead As Columbus Comes From Behind For 3-2 Overtime Victory

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It’s the thrill of victory for the Columbus Blue Jackets as they celebrate Zach Werenski’s overtime goal to defeat the Utah Hockey Club at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Fri Jan 31, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah goes 5-6-3 for January and closes out month on four game losing streak with overtime loss to the Blue Jackets.

The Utah Hockey Club welcomed the Columbus Blue Jackets to Delta Center on Friday night for the first of their two matchups this season.

Utah spent much of the opening frame putting maximum pressure on goaltender Danil Tarasov to no avail as he turned away all 13 shots. For his part, Karel Vejmelka stopped all 9 attempts from the Blue Jackets.

The second period began with Utah having just under a minute remaining of a power play resulting from Kent Johnson tripping Michael Carcone near the end of the first. Forward Nick Schmaltz was able to convert it 41 seconds into the period for his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Barrett Hayton and Clayton Keller. Vejmelka turned away another 6 shots during the frame, while Tarasov stopped 9 of 10.

A half minute into the third, Alexander Kerfoot put Utah up 2-0 with his 7th goal of the season, assisted by John Marino and Clayton Keller. Unfortunately for Utah, two goals is never a sufficient third period lead and Columbus would find the back of the net with goals by Kirill Marchenko and Kent Johnson to square things up and send the contest to overtime.

Barely a minute into the overtime period, Utah fans felt that sinking feeling once again as Zach Werenski completed the Blue Jackets comeback victory with his 17th of the season, assisted by Cole Sillinger, to send everyone scrambling to the exits.

Captain Clayton Keller was asked in the locker room about the pattern of third period letdowns. “I don’t know. I get some different bounces there on the one and kind of let them back in the game. 60 minutes, they’re going to have a push. I thought they pushed hard in the third and they made it harder on us. It’s frustrating, for sure. I think we’ve talked about it, we’ve had the right mindset. Just got to keep going, learn from it, having confidence, believe you can make the play in the third. So I think that’s next up. … [We]had a discussion just about our third period, and our mindset, and how we have to play for a full 60. I think it has been better, our attitude on the bench, just our third period in general. I think we’re definitely making strides and it’s hard to win in this league, and it’s hard to do it every night and that’s something we’re still figuring out.”

When asked if the team believes it can still make the playoffs, Keller responded, “Yeah, for sure. There’s never any doubt in this room. There’s a lot of games left in the season. We’ve gotten hot this year before and it takes a game or two and your confidence is at an all time high…you squeeze out some wins that maybe you shouldn’t. We just got to stay confident and keep going. Like I said, there’s a lot of games left and that’s when we have to play our best, is these last games.”

Head coach André Tourigny spoke about his team’s opportunities during the game. “I think it was 15 grade-A chances and 11 B. We had the puck a whole lot. There were really unfortunate stakes in the third period there, out of three scoring chances they scored twice. So it’s the second time in two games, a little bit of the same story. We played much better in the third, we had seven scoring chances against three. It’s tough to swallow.”

Next up on the homestand is a Sunday tilt against the St. Louis Blues at 5:00pm.

Utah HC Naming Notes: Immediately following Wednesday night’s first round of fan voting for the new team name, the Utah Hockey Club announced that it was withdrawing the proposed “Utah Wasatch” option and replacing it with Utah Outlaws. The team posted the announcement to their social media on Thursday: “Hey Utah hockey fans! We listened to your feedback and dug into all the Qualtrics data from last night’s survey. For the team name, it’s clear Outlaws should be in the mix instead of Wasatch, so we’re swapping it out. Surveys will continue at the arena Friday, Sunday and Tuesday for you to vote for the options Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Outlaws. Excited to see the votes roll in.”

At the arena, fans at the voting areas are required to hand over their mobile phones before receiving a tablet device to cast their votes in order to ensure that no one captures images from the voting. The opening display provides a brief background of each name and then fans are asked their initial preference. They are then shown the logo options and indicate their preference. The logos are then shown on various merchandise items, and the fans are asked on a scale of 1-10 if they would be inclined to purchase the merch. At the conclusion, having now seen all of the options, they are asked again which name with logo they prefer, after which they return the tablet device and retrieve their personal phones. Utah HC will know the outcome following next Tuesday night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, but the club is not expected to make any announcements in the near future.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Jets Ford scores first NHL goal; Wild goalie Fleury shuts out Habs 4-0; plus more NHL news

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Winnipeg Jets center Vladislav Namestnkov (7) puts a backhanded shot in the net past the Boston Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo (70) in the first period at TD Garden in Boston on Thu Jan 30, 2024 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Winnipeg Jets Parker Ford who grew up rooting for the Boston Bruins as a kid scored in his NHL debut against the Bruins as well as the Jets scoring a total of four straight goals in the third period in a four goal 6-2 win over the Bruins.

#2  Minnesota Wild goaltender 40 year Mark Andre Fleury stopped 19 shots and recorded his 76th NHL shutout for the Wild’s third straight win 4-0 over the Montreal Canadiens. Fleury picked up his first shutout since March 14th. This could very well be Fleury’s last game in Montreal as he is retiring after this season. Fleury who grew up a Canadiens fan lived in Sorel, Quebec just an hour from Montreal.

#3 The Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin scored his career 876th goal and needs 19 to surpass former Los Angeles Kings NHL goal leader Wayne Gretzky who has 894 career goals. Despite the Ovechkin goal the Caps lost to the Ottawa Senators 5-4 at Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa on Thursday.

#4 Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andre Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots in the Lightning’s 3-0 shutout over the Los Angeles Kings at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay. For Vasilevskiy this was his third shutout for the season and his 37th career shutout. The Lightning got two goals from Brandon Hagel and a goal from Anthony Cirelli.

#5 Mikko Rantanen scored his first goal since joining the Carolina Hurricanes in their 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at Lenovo Center on Thursday night. Rantanen who came over to Carolina from the Colorado Avalanche that involved a three trade deal that included the Blackhawks forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury and a 2025 second round NHL draft pick.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com