Starting off February with a trade as the Calgary Flames waive the white flag and begin a rebuild as they trade Elias Lindholm to the Canucks who are all in for this season. It’ll be almost impossible for Vancouver to lose the top spot in the Pacific division now.
And the LA Kings finally make a coaching change. The Locked on LA Kings podcast has been calling for one for weeks. The Kings are holding on to the first wild card spot as of now, but the Pacific is just so tough this season
Minnesota pulled their goalie with a minute to play in OT versus Nashville. It worked, they won and jumped three teams in the wildcard standings. Rare and noteworthy because if they had lost they would not have been given the one standings point for an OT loss.
The NHL network studio crew all said they had never seen that tried.
Isn’t an OT (or SO) loss worth a point no matter how it happens?
By rule, if you pull your goalie in OT, you forfeit the loser point.
You don’t automatically lose the point. You lose it if the other team scores an empty net goal against you.
Do we know why?
Seems pretty draconian.
I guess because if you score a goal and win in overtime you get 1 more point (for 2 total). If a goal is scored against you, you just receive the 1 point you already earned so losing is not costly (except for not winning, but winning gets you something. I guess they believe that makes the incentive too high to pull the goalie.
Okay, I appreciate the explanation, even if I don’t really buy the reasoning on the part of league officials! I don’t really follow hockey, but I’d want to encourage the use of unexpected and uncommon strategies, and pulling the goalie at even strength seems to qualify. Again, though, thanks.
Ovechkin breaks his tie with Mike Gartner for most career 30-goal seasons with his now-record 18th. Guy’s been on a tear lately. Back on track to catch Wayne in 2026.
