Top Line: 'That 70s Line' rocks Hawks; war of words in New York; more links
Jeff Carter (right) and Tyler Toffoli led Los Angeles to a 4-3 win over Chicago. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
By Allan Muir
An annotated guide to this morning's must-read hockey stories:
• Los Angeles' so-called second line keyed a second straight comeback win for the Kings. As I wrote last night, they're the difference in the series right now. Jeff Carter, Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli have combined for 15 points through the first three games. Chicago's second line? One.
• The strength of the Los Angeles Kings starts here, which is why they promoted Mike Futa last week. You can't let top talent walk away.
• The Blackhawksmust follow the lead of Jonathan Toews if they hope to dig themselves out of their two-game funk.
• Duncan Keith says penalties continue to be a problem for the Blackhawks. They're giving up too much on the PK and not getting enough on the power play, according to head coach Joel Quenneville.
• The war of words heated up between the Habs and Rangers on Saturday, with Michel Therrien tossing some New York coaches out of his practice and several Canadiens accusing Derek Stepan of faking his injury. You'd almost think they thrive on controversy, eh?
• Someone actually got video of the Therrien incident. Warning: there's some very NSFW language in this, so you might want to mute the volume if the kids are around:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhl054-86RQ
• Watching Mats Zuccarello has become Norway's new national pastime. Herring canning can wait until after the playoffs.
• Mike Vaccaro considers the role of puck luck in a sport where logic rarely applies.
• Could that 10-game suspension he was handed on Friday mark the end of Daniel Carcillo's career? He's an unrestricted free agen this summer and he's carrying a lot of baggage, but Carcillo can be an effective player when he keeps himself under control. He might require a bit of re-inventing, but I'd bet there's a team out there with a need for grit that's willing to take a chance on him next season.
• It sounds like former Nashville coach Barry Trotz has found a new gig...with a team that still needs to hire a general manager. Cart before horse usually works out, right?
• The NHL is one of several leagues looking into the value of wearable technology that tracks an athlete's fitness around the clock. It sounds like real next-gen science, but it's been used for nearly half a decade around the world. About time we're catching up with this valuable tool.
• Is Sidney Crosby a coach killer?
• Fluto Shinzawa says all signs point to a supernova of trade activity when the league's top executives gather at the NHL draft in June.
• Expect the Dallas Stars to be involved as they look to address a glaring need for depth at center. Mike Heika looks at five options, including Jason Spezza, Eric Staal and free agent Paul Stastny.
• A report out of St. Louis says one doctor has cleared Dallas' Rich Peverley to play next season. Seems incredible, so take it for what it's worth.
• Russia will be without its head coach in today's gold medal game at the World Hockey Championship after Oleg Znarok and Swedish assistant Rikard Gronborg exchanged threats in yesterday's semi-final match. Maybe the IIHF didn't make it clear beforehand that throat-slashing gestures were frowned upon...
• With a new champion set to be crowned today, Ryan Pyette wonders which team is the greatest Memorial Cup winner of all-time. The answer, of course, is B.