The NHL Daily Fix is your morning wake-up call with news and notes for the day's hockey action. Today is Monday, Jan. 21, the third and final day of opening weekend (hooray three-day weekends!) of the 2013 season.
| Morning Buzz |
The best of the NHL on Sunday
While the end of this most recent lockout didn't come with a host of new rules such as the elimination of the red line or the introduction of the shootout, it did still bring some new rules to the game. We saw the first instance of one of them on Sunday night, as seen above.
No longer are players allowed to use their hands on a faceoff, but that's just what Brent Sutter of the Penguins did and he was called on it. It came immediately after another penalty to give the Rangers a full 5-on-3, which they converted.
Manny Malhotra, you have been warned.
• Islanders coach Jack Capuano was not on the bench for Saturday's opener on Long Island, N.Y. He was at the hospital. You would hope that's not an omen for the Islanders' season, but this is the Isles we're talking about here.
But the news is good for Monday's matinee against the Lightning as Capuano tells Brian Compton of the NHL.com that there's a good chance he'll be coaching today -- he's at the arena preparing for the game. (@BComptonNHL)
• It's been a few days now since Scott Gomez was officially bought out from his contract with the Montreal Canadiens and he hasn't signed a new deal quiet yet. But there is plenty of talk that he's close to one with the San Jose Sharks.
Gomez is actually with the team in Canada right now while he waits for the franchise to decide if they want to sign him, and at what price. Gomez took a lot of heat based on his contract and lack of goal-scoring, but it's not like he was a total waste on the ice -- he's still a play-making center to a degree. (Mercury News)
• His partner in buyout bonanza Wade Redden is now officially a member of the St. Louis Blues. He signed a one-year, $800,000 deal after his buyout from the Rangers and then he passed his physical over the weekend, meaning the deal is done.
Still, he's not quite ready to play. When the Blues are on the ice in Nashville on Monday evening, Redden will be on the scratch list, probably a wise decision considering how little time he's had to practice with his new team and learn coach Ken Hitchcock's system. (Blues official site)
• Just one more example of how strong the NHL fans have returned after the lockout: The Boston Bruins also enjoyed record-high ratings in their opener on Saturday.
In the New England area on NESN, the Bruins first game against the Rangers drew a whopping 9.4 rating. To put that in perspective, that was higher than the Bruins' much-anticipated, and very entertaining, rematch with the Canucks last season. In fact, it was NESN's most-watched regular-season Bruins game ever. Amazing. (Steve Lepore)
• While it's certainly not time to press the panic button -- it's just two games into the season after all -- there is some unease surrounding the Rangers' 0-2 start, including Sunday's 6-3 loss at home to the Penguins.
It's a brutal start for a team with such high hopes, yes, but it's not crippling. The Rangers (and other teams in similar situations such as the Flyers and Canucks) can't let it become that. It's already nearing put-up-or-shut-up time for the blueshirts according to Sean Hartnett.
Just a note, in the last shortened season, no team that had a three-game losing streak made the playoffs. At the same token, some teams got off to really bad starts and still got in, such as the Cup champion Devils, who won just 10 of their first 27 games. (CBS New York)
• He didn't make it into our Best of Sunday post unfortunately, but just a quick word on Marian Hossa of the Blackhawks.
What a start, both for him and the Hawks. It's absolutely crazy to think of the last time we saw Hossa before a few days ago was when he was being carted off the ice on a stretcher. He was just cleared to play a few weeks back. And here he is with two two-goal games to start the season. Rather remarkable.
| Monday schedule |
Tampa Bay at N.Y. Islanders (1 ET)
Winnipeg at Boston (1 ET)
St. Louis at Nashville (6 ET)
Buffalo at Toronto (7 ET)
Florida at Ottawa (7:30 ET)
Detroit at Columbus (7:30 ET)
Anaheim at Calgary (9 ET)
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