Time for the beat writers to express their views. After the first period.   #RedWings trail 4-0 after 1 period...shots 16-8 in favor of Chicago....yes, um, not a great period in the least for the Wings. Not good. — Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) January 27, 2022   Blackhawks lead #RedWings 4-0 after one period. Promising first half of the period for Detroit and a disastrous second half. Chicago registered 14 of the final 15 shots and has a 16-8 edge. — Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 27, 2022 After 40 minutes.   #RedWings score three unanswered in the second and trail Blackhawks 4-3 at the intermission. Chicago has 27-21 edge in shots. — Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 27, 2022 Midway in the 3rd.   Oof. Bertuzzi got sloppy trying to make a behind the back pass on the rush and Chicago takes it the other way for a 6-3 lead. DeBrincat on the goal — Max Bultman (@m_bultman) January 27, 2022   Seider (4th) on PP, one-timer from slot, 6-4 at 12:05 3rd period. #RedWings keep hanging around — Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) January 27, 2022   Dylan Larkin pops in his 20th of the year and it's suddenly 6-5 with 4:33 to play. Heck of a shot by Larkin, off the post and under the top bar — Max Bultman (@m_bultman) January 27, 2022 Blackhawks score with just under four minutes left to make it 7-5 and add an ENG to make it 8-5. Below are a few related tweets and the Detroit goals.  Next game is Friday at 7pm in Pittsburgh.

Nathan MacKinnon left the ice after a big hit from Taylor Hall. In the end, Hall received a two-minute penalty for interference. pic.twitter.com/dVIn1etL8W — Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 27, 2022 added 10:51pm, longer version of the video is below.

The Wings are facing off against the Cawks tonight, and, it's always a huge deal when these two teams meet. Classic rivalries are always the most fun to watch. These teams are pretty evenly matched so it's anybody's game, but, it always so satisfying to beat this team. D-Boss is showing just why he's the Captain. He's been on a mission of late, playing extremely well with such determination and heart. Here's hoping he can bring this team together, and, tonight bring one home for all Wings fans to enjoy. It's a Live Blog!

Interference.  

via the NHL PR department, With 653 games played to date, the 2021-22 regular season will eclipse the halfway mark Wednesday, Jan. 26. QUICK HITS * The Art Ross Trophy race is among the closest the NHL has seen in the modern era (since 1943-44), with only two points separating the top four point-getters ahead of the halfway mark. * The battle for the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy has the five front-runners separated by only six goals, with everyone chasing down leader Chris Kreider who recently reached the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career. * Entering the second half of the 2021-22 NHL season, 23 players are on pace to score 40 goals and 10 are tracking toward a 100-point campaign. * As Alex Ovechkin continues his pursuit of third place on the NHL’s all-time goals list, he has put himself within reach of becoming the oldest player in League history to lead all players in goals and points at the end of a season.

from Matt Larkin of The Hockey News, THN: You started as an NHL official in 1990. What do you think is the biggest change in calling a game between then and now? WALKOM: It used to be, when you refereed the game, it was “your game.” You refereed the game. There was really no NHL standard on penalty calling and enforcement. Now in the game, there’s a standard on everything from how we set up at faceoffs, to how we present the puck, to hooking, to holding, to interference, and it doesn't matter what you're doing as an official in the game of hockey. There has been video guidance given to everybody, a standard that's expected by fans, players, coaches and even officials on how the game is to be called. We never had video back then. When we came to training camp, we would read the rulebook. Now we see the rulebook and we see lots of plays, lots of situations, and we see them visually, so that's a big change from an officiating perspective. I also think it’s affected the way the game is called. There’s a lot more consistency right across the NHL. When I came into the NHL a long time ago, we were looked at as a league that was an outlier compared to all other hockey leagues. Now I think the NHL is really a leader in (officiating), because no matter what we do in the NHL, every other professional league in the world and a lot of the amateur leagues are all trying to duplicate it almost immediately. Everything from all the faceoffs on the nine dots, to pucks deflecting off in the attacking zone and all staying inside, standard of enforcement, across a whole multitude of penalties. Everybody is looking at our situation handbook, everybody's looking at our rulebook, and everybody's looking at our best practices in terms of how we apply them and try to duplicate them. That, to me, is great for the game. THN: With social media spawning mobs of fans scrutinizing replays every night, is officiating a tougher job than it used to be? read on

Just over four minutes of your time.  

via Kevin Weekes at NHL.com, Blackhawks Pluses: Marc-Andre Fleury is having a good season for them after a tough start. Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat are leading the way offensively as they have for a while. Seth Jones has been a great addition on defense. Chicago is still making games competitive in their rebuild and playing harder under coach Derek King since he replaced the fired Jeremy Colliton on Nov. 6.. Minuses: They've lost four in a row (0-2-2) following a four-game winning streak and have had trouble scoring, ranking 30th in the NHL (2.29 goals per game) and the penalty kill ranks 26th (75.6 percent). That's not a good recipe for success when you're not scoring goals but allowing them on the penalty kill. Red Wings Pluses: Lucas Raymond (33 points) and Moritz Seider (26 points) are each in the Calder Trophy conversation for rookie of the year. Captain Dylan Larkin has scored 37 points (19 goals, 18 assists) in 37 games and Tyler Bertuzzi has scored 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists) in 34 games. Goalies Alex Nedeljkovic and Thomas Greiss have been good and the rebuild is ahead of schedule after they missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs the past five seasons. Minuses: They rank 24th in goals per game (2.67) and the power play is 29th (14.8 percent). Also, I would like to see more from their support players. It's usually not a good sign when two of your top five scorers are defensemen (Seider, Filip Hronek). Remember the game tonight is a TNT exclusive. Below find the game day preview with Ken Kal and Daniella Bruce, scheduled to start streaming at 4pm ET.

Jeff Blashill said Gus Lindstrom would be available tonight, but is not 100%. #LGRW — Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) January 26, 2022   Jeff Blashill after the morning skate...  

from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, - Calgary’s social media team clowned Justin Faulk following the Flames’ 7-1 win over St. Louis on Monday night. Prior to the road trip, Faulk admitted, “I’m not looking forward to going to Canada one bit. But we’ll play some hockey games and get it over with and then come back.” Faulk doesn’t say a ton -- I was surprised he’d be the one to go there -- but he’s highly respected among his peers. He said what a lot of them are thinking, and that’s bad news for Canadian teams at the trade deadline. As I’ve written before, there’s at least one big-time rental who’s indicated he won’t come north of the border. Not everyone will be like that, but it’s a challenge. Might be very good news for Canadian sellers. - With that in mind, the last time Ben Chiarot was a free agent, Toronto was very interested. It couldn’t work at the time, but it’s something to remember. Calgary, Florida and St. Louis are among the other parties looking into him. - If Philadelphia had been willing to take a late-round pick for Martin Jones, it’s possible he would already be an Edmonton Oiler. But the Flyers wanted something better and felt the market will strengthen as we get closer to the deadline. Name a goalie -- Alexander Georgiev, Braden Holtby, Ville Husso, Anton Khudobin, Joonas Korpisalo, Vitek Vanecek, Semyon Varlamov -- they looked at it. There undoubtedly are others, rentals, non-rentals, you name it. GM Ken Holland held. He doesn’t want to trade his first-rounder, and multiple teams indicated that the higher it looked the second-rounder could be, he wasn’t thrilled about moving it, either. (That pick or the Oilers’ third will go to Chicago, pending their playoff performance.) Their fourth-rounder already belongs to New Jersey. Dallas prefers moving Khudobin over Holtby, and several people made a good point about Varlamov. If he goes, there’s no Russian on the roster with Ilya Sorokin -- not a small thing. many more Thoughts...

Vancouver, B.C. - Vancouver Canucks President, Hockey Operations, Jim Rutherford announced today that Patrik Allvin has been named the 12th General Manager in franchise history.   "I am pleased to welcome Patrik and his family to Vancouver," said Rutherford. "Patrik and I worked together for seven years, and I believe he will be an excellent General Manager. He has won three Stanley Cups and has experience at all levels of hockey operations. He is intelligent, works hard, makes strong decisions and I believe he will help us build a winning team in Vancouver."   "I am grateful and humbled for this opportunity and want to thank Jim and the Aquilini family for their belief in me," said Allvin. "Leading an NHL team in Canada is an honour and building a championship team in Vancouver is our goal. Jim has assembled a diverse and talented hockey operations group in Vancouver, and I look forward to working closely with all of them as we build a team that fans will be proud of and will ultimately compete again for a Stanley Cup."

from TSN, The Jakob Chychrun sweepstakes appear to be heating up. TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger points to the Toronto Maple Leafs among many teams to 'kick tires' on the Arizona Coyotes defenceman but adds that at least five teams have "strong interest" in the 23-year-old. "Well look, Arizona Coyotes’ defenceman Jakob Chychrun has term left on his contract and I can tell you, the Toronto Maple Leafs are among many teams who have at least kicked tires on Chychrun, but you look at the Toronto Maple Leafs’ roster, how they move forward, it seems like a tough fit for the Maple Leafs to try and manoeuvre unless Kyle Dubas gets extraordinarily creative," Dreger said on Insider Trading. "Now, sources say that the list of teams with strong interest in Chychrun includes L.A., Florida, Boston, Anaheim and the St. Louis Blues. Now, Bill Armstrong obviously has time on his side, so he is going to let this marinate a little bit more, unless he gets the four components that are needed." continued

from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, Pius Suter wanted to give back to the man who picked him off the free agent pile, to show it was a smart investment. He already played his former teammates when the Detroit Red Wings went into Chicago Oct. 24, but that was near the start of the season. The Blackhawks make their appearance at Little Caesars Arena Wednesday, at the halfway point of the season, meaning Suter has had time to reinforce general manager Steve Yzerman's decision to sign him. Suter became an unrestricted free agent last summer when the Blackhawks decided not to keep him even after a very good rookie season; 14 goals among 27 points in 55 games. He described being rejected by the Blackhawks as disappointing, but getting a call from Yzerman was a pretty sweet balm. "You take it as a big compliment," Suter said Tuesday. "It means you did something right. You take it with pride and hopefully you can give that trust back." Suter has nine goals among 19 points in 42 games, averaging around 17 minutes per game. "When we signed Suits as a free agent, we felt he was one of the top guys available to be able to fill a top-two line role at the center ice position," coach Jeff Blashill said. "We felt we had a need there so it made sense to put him there and give him opportunities to play with some guys, and then you spend some time to see who has chemistry." continued ($$$)

from Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette, This could end up being the worst team in Canadiens history. In 1939-40, the Canadiens finished in last place in the seven-team NHL with a 10-33-5 record and a .260 winning percentage. This season, the Canadiens reached the midway point with an 8-2 loss to the Wild Monday night in Minnesota , leaving them in last place in the 32-team NHL with an 8-26-7 record and a .280 winning percentage. One thing the 1939-40 Canadiens were able to do that this year’s team hasn’t done so far is win two games in a row. The 1939-40 team did that three times. The worst team in NHL history was the 1974-75 expansion Washington Capitals, who finished with an 8-67-5 record for a .131 winning percentage. They never won two games in a row. The Canadiens look like they could match that this season. Just when it appeared the Canadiens might be making some headway, going 1-0-2 in their previous three games, they were totally outplayed in Minnesota. As one fan noted on Twitter: “At least there’s no cannon like in Columbus.” continued

* For the first time in over 30 years, the NHL has a new “Ironman” as Keith Yandle passed Doug Jarvis for sole possession of the longest consecutive games played streak in League history. * Sidney Crosby collected the 155th three-point game of his NHL career, while Joe Pavelski posted multiple points for the fourth time in his last five appearances. * Colorado can claim its 17th consecutive home win as the Avalanche welcome the Bruins to Ball Arena Wednesday.  

Steve Dangle (he still scares me) with his plays of the week starting with this Larkin goal.  

via Bruce Garrioch tweets, Batherson will be out long term. DJ Smith says he won’t go to the all star game. It’s an an ankle injury. Smith calls the play “ridiculous” and says Dell has a history for doing what he did to Batherson. Smith it’s tough. “Our best leading scorer is going to be out and it didn’t have to happen.” Watch the injury below.

via TSN's YouTube page, Recently, the Canadiens placed Jonathan Drouin on the injured reserve with a lower body injury. Inconvenient for sure, but nothing compared to the reason he had to leave the team last April, which had him miss Montreal's Stanley Cup run. Drouin later explained he was dealing with mental health issues - including anxiety and insomnia. The Canadiens forward sat down with TSN's John Lu to discuss how he's dealing with it now.  

from Bob Duff of Detroit Hockey Now, Michael Rasmussen is the latest bandage being affixed to the ailing power play of the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings will try the 6-foot-6 Michael Rasmussen as a net-front presence in Wednesday’s game at Little Caesars Arena against the Chicago Blackhawks. “It can definitely be an advantage,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “When you have a huge man in front of the net it’s different than if it’s a little guy.” Detroit’s power play is currently residing in 29th place among the 32 NHL teams. It’s clicking at a dismal 14.8% rate with 18 goals in 127 opportunities. Blashill is constantly demanding of his team that they create more chaos at the net front. They’re hopeful Rasmussen could be the key to unlocking that strategy. “Certainly when you’re a big, big man like that, you’re hard to move and they do take away the eyes,” Blashill said. “I also would say that Ras in his repertoire of skill sets has the ability to be pretty good around the net. continued from Ansar Khan of Mlive, Sam Gagner’s advice to younger players is to watch how Tyler Bertuzzi does it. “You certainly gain a deeper appreciation for his game when you’re on his team and you see what he’s able to do night in and night out,” Gagner said. “We were talking about it the other night -- he’s just one of those guys that the puck seems to follow him around. You think he loses it, and he gets it back and he strips a guy, makes a play through somebody. He’s just a great hockey player, that’s what it comes down to. “He’s a guy that I would tell younger players to watch him play. He’s all over the puck, he hounds it. When he gets it, he keeps it.” continued from Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News,

via the NHL PR department, Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle skated in his 965th consecutive regular-season game Tuesday and passed Doug Jarvis (964 GP from Oct. 8, 1975–Oct. 10, 1987) for sole possession of the longest “Ironman” streak in League history. * Jarvis had held the distinction since Dec. 26, 1986, when he played in his 915th straight contest to grab the League record from Garry Unger (914 GP from Feb. 24, 1968–Dec. 21, 1979). Jarvis extended his career-opening streak to 964 consecutive games before it ended when he was sent down to the Binghamton Whalers of the AHL. * When Yandle’s run began on March 26, 2009: Instagram had not yet officially launched; the first Uber ride had yet to happen; Netflix was not available in Canada; Barack Obama was two months into his first term as President of the United States; and it had been less than a year since Iron Man (2008) began the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

What team (s) has/have impressed you the most at this point of the season? Me- Florida, Colorado, Tampa and Nashville. Now for the disappointing teams? Me- Philadelphia, Montreal, NYI and Ottawa (they had high expectations from inside the organization). You?

Pius Suter first, coach Blashill below.  

via Ansar Khan tweet, Lines at RedWings practice before tomorrow’s game against Blackhawks at ?@LCArena_Detroit? Namestnikov-Larkin-Raymond Fabbri-Suter-Bertuzzi Erne-Rasmussen-Zadina Smith-Veleno-Gagner DeKeyser-Seider Staal-Hronek Leddy-Lindstrom/Oesterle Nedeljkovic/Fulcher Greiss still out

from Michael Traikos of the National Post, I’ve watched — and re-watched — the video of Jacob Panetta shrugging his shoulders towards Jordan Subban during an ECHL game on the weekend many times in the past 48 hours. To me, it did not look like it was racially motivated. But I wasn’t on the ice. More importantly, I’m not black. So I don’t know — and I can’t know — what must have been going through Jordan Subban’s mind when he saw an opponent making what looked like “monkey gestures” at him. To Subban, who is black, it must have looked similar to the racist gesture that occurred days earlier in the American Hockey League, when a player  made a racial gesture  towards Boko Imama. Panetta, who was released from his team and suspended indefinitely, said that wasn’t the case. In an interview with Postmedia on Monday night, the 26-year-old claimed he was only making “a tough-guy, muscle-flexing pose” towards Subban and that it got misinterpreted. It’s the same gesture Panetta said he has made many times before. There’s even video evidence to back that up, as well as of Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson doing the same thing at the NHL level. continued Watch the incident below.

from Stan Fischler at the Hockey News, Do you believe that Connor McDavid wants to spend the rest of his hockey-playing life in Edmonton? I don't. Did Wayne Gretzky? No. The Great One loved L.A. Did Mark Messier? No. He loved New York. Or, recent Hall of Famer Kevin Lowe? No again. (See Mess) At least the above trio previously had enjoyed Stanley Cup years in The True North. So far, Lord Connor has known nothing but cold and cold-hearted underachieving Oilers sextets. As Rob Tychkowski noted in The Hockey News Yearbook: McDavid has "One playoff win to show for the first six years of his NHL career." You'd think he'd tell his battery of agents, marketeers and assorted other reps something akin to "Enough already! Get me outa here!" Granted that Edmonton ranks among the all-time intense hockey cities, overflowing with super-intelligent fans and writers who can tell the expiration dates on Official NHL Pucks. read on

* Keith Yandle skated in his 964th consecutive regular-season game and tied Doug Jarvis for the longest “Ironman” streak in NHL history. Yandle is set to pass Jarvis when the Flyers visit the Islanders Tuesday.  * Chris Kreider reached the 30-goal mark in a single season for the first time in his career and overtook top spot in the NHL’s 2021-22 Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy race. * Minnesota matched a franchise record with eight goals as Kirill Kaprizov joined elite company by recording his 100th career point in 92 contests.  

Just over three minutes long.  

from Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province, Jim Rutherford promised to cast a wide and diversified hiring net. On Monday, the Vancouver Canucks ‘ president of hockey operations and interim general manager delivered by hiring Émilie Castonguay as the club’s assistant general manager. Castonguay, who had a vision board to plot her preferred career destination and job description, becomes the first female AGM in team history and continues the hockey operations department re-shape after John Weisbrod and Chris Gear were fired last month. “It’s a big day, a historic day, and it goes to show that women have a place in sports and in hockey,” Castonguay said during a Zoom conference call from Montreal. “Obviously, I’m starting as assistant general manager and we’ll see where that takes me. I’ve always had high aspirations in my career, and in life in general. I’ll start with this for now. “I’ve had (a personal vision) board for over five or six years, and on it I had written a certain age and Vancouver beside it. I wanted to be in Vancouver at that point in my life and I didn’t know how I was going to get there — whether working as an agent or with the NHL — but I turn that age in about a month and a half. It’s pretty awesome that it worked out that way.  “Vancouver was a no-brainer — a good, young team that is hungry to win. I’m just really happy to be part of the journey.” continued

Jeff Blahill first, Sam Gagner is below.  added 1:34pm, Video profile of Elmer Soderblom is below.  

NEW YORK (Jan. 24, 2022) – New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider, St. Louis Blues goaltender Ville Husso and San Jose Sharks right wing Timo Meier have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Jan. 23.

Amazing how I still remember these goals today.  

Ansar Khan tweet, lines in practice: Namestnikov-Larkin-Raymond Fabbri-Suter-Bertuzzi Erne-Rasmussen-Zadina Smith-Veleno-Gagner DeKeyser-Seider Staal-Hronek/Oesterle Lindstrom was injured in Saturday’s game and isn’t practicing. Leddy also isn’t skating. Greiss (COVID protocol) still out

from Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, Former Blues goalie Jamie McLennan was in St. Louis last week for the retirement of Chris Pronger’s No. 44 jersey. Before leaving town, he was well aware of the debate about who should be starting games: Jordan Binnington or Ville Husso. “I came in on (Jan. 16), which was the day after Binnington gave up the game-winner against Toronto,” McLennan said. “I know there’s been some inconsistencies with Jordan’s game, so I know there is a pressure point based on Husso’s play. I know it’s a hot-button topic.” It will get even hotter after the Blues gave Husso a third consecutive start on Sunday in Vancouver, where he won his fifth straight game. The 26-year-old Finnish netminder followed up his 27-save, 5-0 shutout over Seattle on Friday with 38 saves in a 3-1 win over Vancouver. It was nearly another shutout, as the Canucks’ lone goal came just four seconds after a full two-minute, two-man advantage expired. Either way, in Husso’s last five games, he’s 5-0 with a 1.20 goals-against average and a .963 save percentage, stopping 154 of 160 shots. Binnington is expected to get the nod on Monday, as the Blues play the second night of a back-to-back set in Calgary. But Husso’s recent run has led to some legitimate questions: Can Binnington find some consistency in his game again, and if not, will the club regret his long-term contract extension? Will Husso, an unrestricted free agent next summer, be re-signed, and if not, is there a chance he could be traded? continued (paid)

from Travis Yost of TSN, Could this be the year for the Toronto Maple Leafs? That’s not something I have written during my tenure at TSN because for as long as the new-era Maple Leafs have existed, there has always been a fundamental flaw. Unreliable goaltending, a porous blueline, star players going quiet during pivotal stretches – the organization and fans have seen it all. There is no doubt that Toronto is one of a handful of teams in this year’s Stanley Cup race. Most sportsbooks see five genuine favorites – Toronto joined by the Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights, and Florida Panthers, with plenty more competition within the Eastern Conference. But this year feels a bit different. One of the things I’ve been paying attention to in recent years is what I’ll call Players Above Break-Even, or the percentage of rostered players carrying expected goal rates north of 50 per cent. It’s a simple but an effective approach for analyzing full roster performance; it simultaneously captures the ability of top-end players to dominate their opponents, and weeds out top-heavy teams that generally struggle in the postseason against better competition. continued

from George Richards of Florida Hockey Now, The Florida Panthers have not been a team that draws attention in a positive way for much of the past 20 years, but times have changed. The Panthers came into the weekend with the best record in the entire National Hockey League and are looked it — both internally and externally — as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. Their coach would like them to start acting like it a little bit when they go on the road. “We were flat again and it was a disappointing start,’’ coach Andrew Brunette said following Florida’s 5-3 loss at the hands of the expansion Seattle Kraken on Sunday night. “It’s the price of being a good team in this league; teams are going to be ready for you, they’re going to come at you hard. We haven’t really, in each of our road games so far, figured that out yet.” It’s a learning process, going from the hunter to the hunted and the Panthers are going to have to get used to the fact that for teams like the Kraken, beating a team like Florida is a big deal. It did not used to be this way, obviously. It is now. continued