Rosner’s Wrap: Eyes on Clutterbuck, Healthy Caps, Montreal on Fire?

The New York Islanders, after falling to the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in a shootout on Monday face the Seattle Kraken Tuesday night. A source indicated to NYI Hockey Now that Colorado Avalanche’s GM Joe Sakic, who was on hand for the New York Islanders latest loss, had his eyes on Cal Clutterbuck. After a stint in COVID-19 protocol, goaltender Semyon Varlamov was activated and rejoined the Islanders for Monday’s practice.

These stories and more in today’s Rosner’s Wrap!

The UBS Arena crowd and the usual media personnel were not the only ones who watched the New York Islanders fall to the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in a shootout on Sunday afternoon. NHL trade rumors swirled when Colorado Avalanche GM Joe Sakic was in attendance, and he wasn’t just on hand to see the new state-of-the-art arena in Elmont. A league source indicated to NYI Hockey Now that eyes were on an Islanders forward. The belief is that Sakic’s interest lies in a part of the best fourth line in hockey: Cal Clutterbuck (NYI Hockey Now)

Prior to practice on Monday in Seattle, the New York Islanders announced that goaltender Semyon Varlamov was out of COVID-19 protocol. Goaltender Cory Schneider was returned to Bridgeport (AHL). (NYI Hockey Now)

The Boston Bruins defeated the elite Colorado Avalanche on Monday night by a score of 5-1 in Boston. Bruins’ forward Taylor Hall collected three assists and Avalanche’s Nathan Mackinnon accidentally slashes a referee. Here are the talking points from the win. (Boston Hockey Now)

At a Presidents’ Day practice, the Washington Capitals saw a sight they haven’t seen since 2020-21: their full lineup on the ice together. T.J. Oshie, Vitek Vanecek and Justin Shultz were all on the ice in full-contact jerseys. Anthony Mantha skated with the team for the full practice, but was in a no-contact sweater. (Washington Hockey Now)

The Pittsburgh Penguins probably disappointed some fans on Monday when the team demoted Radim Zohorna to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The team also activated second-year pro Drew O’Connor from LTIR and assigned him to WBS, too. Also, defenseman Mark Friedman was assigned to WBS on a conditioning assignment. (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

It has been a while since the Florida Panthers have played a home game. That one was a doozie. On Jan. 29, the Panthers rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits in the third period before beating the San Jose Sharks 5-4 in overtime in front of the largest announced crowd — 18.152 — of the season. Now the Panthers are back home.(Florida Hockey Now)

Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill admitted that he didn’t see much of the Olympic hockey action from the Beijing Winter Games. He did, however, see his former player Valtteri Filppula captain Finland to the gold medal on Sunday. “A very cool experience,” Blashill said. “[Frans] Nielsen was the flag bearer (for Denmark). Fil won the gold. That’s awesome for those guys to get those opportunities. (Detroit Hockey Now)

The Montreal Canadiens have now won three-straight games after a 5-2 thrashing of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Josh Anderson scored two goals and added an assist; Cole Caufield scored a goal and had two assists and Brendan Gallagher finished with two assists for the Montreal Canadiens. Samuel Montenmbeault made 35 saves in the win. Ilya Mikheyev and Pierre Engvall scored for the Leafs and Petr Mrazek was shelled allowing five goals on 24 shots.(Montreal Hockey Now)

The Vegas Golden Knights got back in the win column Sunday afternoon as they defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-1. Jack Eichel scored his first-ever goal with the Golden Knights and Logan Thompson collected his first-career NHL win. Here are six takeaways from the win. (Vegas Hockey Now)

Other than that Mrs. Lincoln… Yeah, it was that kind of day for the Avs in Boston, my old stomping grounds. I have a couple of wicked Bruins fan friends who rode me unmercifully throughout the game, a 5-1 loss to the Bruins. In the parlance of their wicked Mass. accented tongues, “You guys were a disastah out theyahh.” (Colorado Hockey Now)

What do the San Jose Sharks have in waiver claim Ryan Dzingel? “I’m not excited for him shooting me in practice,” goaltender James Reimer, who played with Dzingel in Carolina, joked today. “He’s one of those guys, they can find a way to score.” That seems to be the consensus among NHL scouts. (San Jose Hockey Now)

On Monday, the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Seattle Kraken by a score of 5-2 in Vancouver. Brad Hunt replaced Kyle Burroughs on the blueline, the latter out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Canucks D-man Oliver Ekman-Larsson missed part of the third period Saturday night but played Monday. Here’s what happened. (Vancouver Hockey Now)

In case anyone doubted the notion that Elias Lindholm is a game-breaker as Darryl Sutter mentioned after the Calgary Flames centre netted the winning goal against the Seattle Kraken this week, Lindholm proved it again. The relatively unheralded Lindholm tipped in the game-winner in a 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday to equal a franchise record with a goal in his eighth-straight game. (Calgary Hockey Now)