Daily Nuggets: Chink in Golden Knights’ Armor; Throw the Rat, Monday Night Fights

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; the Vegas Golden Knights are back in action on Tuesday. They’re in the great state of Pennsylvania to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second time in five days– five days? I think my math is right. Please, no one check me on that. They’ll look for a palette cleanser after their disastrous start against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday; a bottom-feeder team could be just that.

Elsewhere in the Daily Nuggets, the Florida Panthers had a real case of the Mondays. Brad Marchand met with the media for the first time since being traded; later in the day, their best defenseman was suspended for 20 games for using performance-enhancing drugs. There were some late-night fireworks at Delta Center when the Utah Hockey Club hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Nathan MacKinnon made some history.

Golden Knights News

The Golden Knights have 19 games remaining in the regular season, and every point matters. Sunday’s game eliminated all doubt from my mind; if the Golden Knights want to make a deep playoff run, they have to avoid the Los Angeles Kings in the first round. The Golden Knights don’t match up well against the Kings, and I’ve figured out why. My analysis here:

The Edmonton Oilers ever so helpfully lost to the Buffalo Sabres in regulation on Monday; the Golden Knights lead the standings by four points and have a game in hand. 

On Monday’s ESPN broadcast of the Buffalo Sabres-Edmonton Oilers game, A. J. Mleczko ranked her top five teams in the Western Conference. She put the Colorado Avalanche at one and the Golden Knights at two.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

Sportsnet: Will this be the last Mikko Rantanen update? At this point, your guess is as good as mine. Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour attests the disgruntled winger was never interested in re-signing. Allegedly, Rantanen said, “There’s four teams I’ll go play for, but you’re not one of them.” Yeesh!

Sportsnet: Monday night’s alright for fighting– Maple Leafs defenseman Simon Benoit landed a Superman punch when he scrapped with Utah Hockey Club defenseman Michael Kesselring. Sure, Benoit didn’t land another hit, and sure, he got fed his lunch. But come on, pulling a stunt like that takes some real chutzpah.

Boston Hockey Now: Lindsey Buckingham lied– it was Monday morning, but this didn’t look fine. Brad Marchand is officially a Florida Panther, and he met with the media for the first time on Monday.

Florida Hockey Now: Aaron Ekblad failed a drug test; the Panthers will be without their top defenseman for the remainder of the regular season and two playoff games. 

Colorado Hockey Now: Nathan Mackinnon recorded his 1,000th NHL point on Monday. He’s the fourth-fastest active player and the first of the 2013 draft class to reach that milestone.

Chicago Hockey Now: The Blackhawks care far more about letting their young core develop than they do about the result of their games. They were shutout by the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, but Artyom Levshunov, the 2nd overall pick in 2024, made his NHL debut and proved he deserves a spot in the lineup.

Philly Hockey Now: With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, there’s finally some time to reflect. William James analyzes the Flyers’ moves and explains why fans should be encouraged moving forward.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Devils defenseman Jonathan Kovacevic signed a shiny new extension to stay in New Jersey for five more years. Good for him– but what does it mean for Seamus Casey and Šimon Nemec?

NHL History: On March 11th, 1971, Phil Esposito became the first player to score 60 goals in a single season.