Daily Nuggets: Stone, Hill, Cassidy Win; Hagel, Canada Chirp USA

The Vegas Golden Knights will play hockey tomorrow at T-Mobile Arena. Their last home game– a 2-1 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets– was on January 30th. It wasn’t even a month, but it feels like ages. 

The 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament ended quite poetically. Connor McDavid scored 11:42 into overtime to give Team Canada the win. Does that count as a Golden Goal, or do those have to come in the Olympics? Either way, he received a gold medal, as did Mark Stone, Adin Hill, and Bruce Cassidy.

Elsewhere in the Daily Nuggets, Matthew Tkachuk looks seriously injured, and a veteran defenseman is on waivers. The Pittsburgh community pays tribute to the legendary Mike Lange. Brad Marchand dropped some golden quotes postgame, and Brandon Hagel had the last laugh in his chirp-war with Tkachuk.

Golden Knights News

Jack Eichel was excellent in Team USA’s overtime loss to Team Canada. He’s showing the world just how good he is defensively. After Connor McDavid scored the overtime winner, he admitted that he hadn’t played well earlier in the game. I’d disagree with that. I thought McDavid played well; however, I thought Eichel shut him down defensively. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that McDavid scores the game-winner as soon as his line escapes the Eichel matchup. 

Eichel has consistently limited McDavid’s offensive production since his trade to the Golden Knights. It’s no longer a small sample size. I have a piece on that coming out this afternoon.

Guy Gaudreau was on the ice yesterday when the Golden Knights practiced. He and his wife, Jane, will be at the game against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

Speaking of the Canucks game, Quinn Hughes practiced in a regular contact jersey yesterday. It’s unknown as of now if he’ll play against the Golden Knights on Saturday. But it’s been confirmed that Thatcher Demko will not.

NHL History: On February 21, 2017, the Vegas Golden Knights set a record for most points by a team in its inaugural season with 84 points in 60 games. 

4 Nations Face-Off News

Colorado Hockey Now: Connor McDavid scored the overtime winner, and Nathan MacKinnon won tournament MVP. Canada’s two best forwards showed up. Two of Team USA’s didn’t—all that and more in Aarif Deen’s 10 Observations.

Boston Hockey Now: Team USA ultimately lost, but injured Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy read out the starting lineup before the game.

It’s very possible that Brandon Hagel and Brad Marchand were the biggest winners last night. Marchand was full of good quotes. This one was my favorite— ice cold.

Oh, and here’s another instant classic. I’ll admit that Marchand probably had the better idea– wait until the war is over before you brag about winning battles.

I’m sure you remember Brandon Hagel’s back-and-forth battle with Matthew Tkachuk after the first Canada-USA meeting. It appears that he’s going to have the last laugh. 

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

Sportsnet: The Calgary Flames placed defenseman Tyson Barrie on waivers. If he weren’t making $1.25 million, I’d wonder about the Golden Knights taking a flyer on him. Barrie can run a power play fairly well, and Shea Theodore is out for the foreseeable future.

Sportsnet: Bad news for Panthers fans– Matthew Tkachuk looks seriously hurt. 

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The whole hockey world mourns Mike Lange’s death. Sidney Crosby and Mike Sullivan give some touching tributes to the late great broadcaster.

Philly Hockey Now: John Tortorella and the two Travises– Travi?– Konecny and Sanheim were absent, but the Flyers held practice yesterday. William James tried to figure out their lines and defensive pairings, and things didn’t look great for Matvei Michkov. Torts wasn’t there, but I still blame him.

NHL History: On February 21, 1970, Bobby Hull of the Chicago Blackhawks became the third player to score 500 goals. At that time, the only two others were Guy Lafleur and Maurice “Rocket” Richard.