National Hockey League

National Hockey League

SAN JOSE Winger Tyler Toffoli missed Wednesday's practice with a lower-body injury, leaving his availability for the San Jose Sharks' next regular-season game somewhat in question. Toffoli was injured in the Sharks' game against the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 4, with coach Ryan Warsofsky saying Toffoli absorbed a hit, possibly in the second period. Toffoli finished the game and was listed as having three shots on net and two giveaways in 14:59 of ice time as the Sharks lost 4-2 at Ball Arena.

I'm not sure I thought I'd ever see the day when an American hockey player who has only worked in Vancouver and St. Paul would be getting covered by E! News, or serve as the lure in catfishing attempts. Quinn Hughes, mainstream celebrity? What a world. Being the subject of memes that allege he's haunted by the ghost of a Victorian child, and acknowledging said meme, helps. Being the best defenseman in the world doesn't hurt.

Despite being the first overall pick at this past NHL draft, Schaefer was not a lock to make the Opening Night roster. The Islanders wanted to see how he looked during camp before making that decision. But Schaefer has proven the front office was smart to put him on the roster. In 58 games this season, he has racked up 16 goals and 23 assists for 58 points.

As soon as U.S. hockey defender Laila Edwards skates onto the Olympic ice ahead of Thursday's gold medal game against Canada, she will scan the stands for the real MVP: her 91-year-old grandmother. Their shared ritual was on display at Team USA's semifinals game on Monday night only made possible through an outpouring of donations to a GoFundMe drive, with by far the biggest individual contribution coming from NFL brother tandem and hometown allies Travis and Jason Kelce.

"I think that one of the unique things about Willy is he can play with good players and highly-skilled players, and we did talk about that, even dating back to pre when I was here. His ability to play with some of the most talented [players], whether it was Nick Backstrom, so we just had some good conversations about him being able to play that [role]."

In overtime, the two teams traded chances, without many of them materializing into anything high-danger. That is, until Minnesota Wild defenceman Quinn Hughes took advantage of some space on the ice and wired home the overtime winner at 3-on-3. Matthews picked up an assist on the play, bringing him to six points in four games to lead the United States in scoring at the tournament thus far.

In his rookie season with the Toronto Marlies, Tverberg put up a decent showing with nine goals and 23 assists in 46 games played. Then last year, those numbers dropped to just four goals and seven assists through the same number of appearances. Taking a major step down instead of a step forward, it was a disappointment of a season, and this year Tverberg needed to show he could return to form.

Checking back in on Olympic hockey, where the U.S. women are in the midst of an epic run that can only be described as dominant. Through the entire Olympics, teams have collectively scored just one goal against the Americans. That's right. One goal. That includes America's closest rival on the ice, Canada. America beat Canada 5-0 in the round robin play, a game Canada certainly remembers and will be using as fuel on Thursday.

Slovakia follows shortly 2 minutes later at 29:48, tying the scores once again with another goal from Martin Gernát, assisted by Peter Čerešňák and Adam Ružička. Sweden dominated the boards once again from Elias Pettersson, recording his first ever WInter Olympics goal, assisted by Filip Forsberg and Victor Hedman, as fans cheered in the stands with Sweden making the scores 3-2.

Berube: We wanted to just get moving again, with a lot of puck touches and skating up and down the ice. That is basically what practice was. The guys worked hard, and I thought they looked pretty good, given the amount of time they had off. Berube: It is great having him back out there. We'll see where he gets to. He is feeling good and ready to go. We'll see how it goes this week.

The last time Sweden won gold at the Winter Olympics was in 2006. That men's hockey entry, captained by Mats Sundin, rallied from a third-place group stage finish and to eventually secure the gold medal. Since that point, the men's national hockey program won just one silver medal while making it to the bronze medal game once. They also haven't won gold at the IIHF World Championship since 2018.

Is there more than 100%? he asked with a laugh after backstopping the U.S. past Germany in the round-robin finale. I feel good. It's pretty hot out there. I'm sweating a lot now I have to stand around and do a bunch of (interviews), so I'm going to chill now. I guess I'm at 99% right now as we speak. But, yeah, I feel good out there.

France's Pierre Crinon, who fought Canada's Tom Wilson at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, was suspended Monday by the French ice hockey federation. Crinon will not play in the qualification round Tuesday against Germany after the federation said the defenseman's actions following the fight were against its values. He also would not play if France unexpectedly advances. Crinon and Wilson fought with seven minutes left in Canada's 10-2 rout of France on Sunday.