Daily Scan: Gaudreau NHL’s first star, will Nordiques be reborn?

One of the best quotes from the Calgary Flames road trips came from head coach Darryl Sutter when asked about Johnny Gaudreau. It came after the 5-0 win in Buffalo. Gaudreau scored twice and was all over the ice in the victory.

“Johnny lit it up tonight,” Sutter said. “Lots of speed. He’s got that jump in his game again.”

That jump earned Gaudreau the NHL’s first-star honours after the Flames’ star forward scored four times and had three assists in four games last week. The Calgary Flames record over that span was 3-0-1.

Gaudreau capped the trip by opening the scoring less than two minutes into the impressive 4-0 shutout in Boston and carries a four-game point streak into Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. The impending free agent is on pace for 35 goals and 95 points this season with eight goals and 22 points through 19 games so far.

The 28-year-old star now has the fourth-most game-winning goals in franchise history. He passed Joe Nieuendyk with his 21st in Boston and his next will tie him with Theoren Fleury in third place.

The way he’s been playing, that could come sooner than later.

On to the links …

NHL News & National Hockey Now

Daily Faceoff: Gary Bettman will meet with the Quebec Premier about bringing a team back to Quebec City. The hockey world is ready, willing, and waiting for the story to become a reality.  Imagine that scenario – Quebec Nordiques legend would include the Winnipeg Jets and Arizona Coyotes history …  but the actual Nordiques lore would remain in Colorado?

I guess the Jets did a good job reclaiming theirs.

Tampa Bay: Brayden Point is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. With Nikita Kucherov already out, this is a big loss for Tampa Bay.

Ottawa: The Senators have removed eight players from Covid protocol.

Anaheim: Max Comtois is out six weeks after hand surgery.

Washington: This is such a great story and PR move. Vitek Vanecek was a Seattle Kraken for seven days before Seattle traded him back to Washington. During the Capitals’ first visit, yep, Seattle paid tribute to Vanecek.

Oh Canada! Canada Hockey Now