Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago Blackhawks

Winnipeg is coming off a big win, and they're a tough team at home. They're playing a lot better, and they're a big, heavy team. The top line is dangerous, for sure, and obviously, their goalie is elite. We have to do a good job against that top line, and we're going to have to out-compete that goalie tonight. He is good, so we need second and third opportunities around the net.

After appearances from some of Fedorov's former Red Wings teammates, namely Nicklas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, Bob Rouse, and Chris Chelios, Ovechkin, the lone Capitals representative, shared some words for his countryman. "Hey, Feds, congrats on your jersey retirement," Ovechkin said. "Obviously, you have unbelievable career. You help me growing up as a person, as a player. One of the best player I ever play with."

Yeah, I feel like I was cursed for a while, Thompson said. I've been feeling pretty good about my game, but couldn't find a way to get a point or two points. Really happy. The guys in front of me were tremendous tonight made my life easy. Just happy to get the two points. I didn't care how many goals I let in today; I just wanted to win.

No Connor Bedard, no Frank Nazar, and the Capitals still got dominated five-on-five by one of the worst teams in the league. The Blackhawks owned 57.5 percent of the shot attempts, 53 percent of the scoring chances, and 55.6 percent of the expected goals. I know the Capitals were also missing three of their top forwards, but they still have plenty enough to beat a team that will be all over the draft lottery again.

After carving up the ice with the Medicine Hat Tigers and establishing himself as the likely top prize of the 2026 NHL draft lottery, the kid from the Yukon moved to the Big Ten, where he was expected to play one impressive year before signing with whichever bad pro team got the luckiest. He's a little on the small side, though he literally just turned 18,

The Maple Leafs have received good news on the injury front as Joseph Woll could return very soon. Woll may return to the Leafs' lineup for Tuesday's game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Joseph Woll believes that he has been progressing well, and his body has been feeling better every day. Woll has been out of the lineup after being sidelined with a lower-body injury on December 4th in a 5-1 win against the Hurricanes.

I'm excited to see the guys,

It's getting hard to keep track of all the milestones Matthew Schaefer is smashing these days. On Friday night, the 18-year-old rookie defenseman added another to the growing list, becoming the youngest player in NHL history to score an overtime goal when he buried the game-winner for the New York Islanders in their 3-2 win over the Utah Mammoth. At 18 years and 70 days old, Schaefer broke a record previously held by Sidney Crosby, who scored his first OT goal at 18 years and 101 days back on Nov. 16, 2005.

Alex Ovechkin has played 21 seasons in the NHL and recently suited up in his 1,500th game, becoming only the 24th player in league history to reach the milestone. To put Ovechkin's longevity into perspective, ESPN shared a mind-blowing statistic during their telecast of the Capitals-Stars game. Ovechkin has played against 32 percent of all NHL players... ever. Meanwhile, fellow sports legends LeBron James (22 NBA seasons) and Tom Brady (23 NFL seasons) have played against 35 percent and 21 percent of their league's total players.