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Flames Daily: Calgary’s pillow fight, GMs reject LTIR playoff proposal

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Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings is a big one for the Calgary Flames. Remember the funny comment from head coach Darryl Sutter about their cushion in the standings and feathers in a pillow? It’s been losing feathers, and the Los Angeles Kings are seven points behind in the Pacific right now. Meanwhile, the salary cap is rising and the Kucherov loophole isn’t going anywhere yet. Also, everything is fines across the league. Sorry about the bad pun, but a couple of incidents have cost players a little money.

Speaking of dollars, I wrote this week about how Johnny Gaudreau’s on-ice play is also leading to the one thing that could lure him to stick around – winning in the playoffs. My gut says they win at least a round and both he and Matthew Tkachuk will sign new deals here so they don’t break up the bromance. There is video evidence of the glove kiss going back to at least 2019.

Colorado: The Calgary Flames lost to the Avs on Tuesday even without the services of Nathan Mackinnon, who appeared to injure himself in a fight with Matt Dumba of the Minnesota Wild.

Standings Update:

Central- COL 100, MIN 86, NSH 82
Pacific- CGY 88, LAK 81, EDM 79
Wild Card- STL 81, DAL 77
Out- VGK 76, WPG 74, VAN 73, SJS 66, ANA 65, CHI 58, SEA 48, ARZ 45

NHL NEWS, FINES, AND NATIONAL HOCKEY NOW

Ottawa: Former Ottawa Senators captain Erik Karlsson opened up about the sudden passing of Senators owner Eugene Melnyk. The Senators are also the favorites to host the 2023 World Junior Championship.

Nashville: Calder candidate and rookie forward for the Nashville Predators, Tanner Jeannot has been fined $2,000 for keening Brady Tkachuk. But that’s not the fine that everyone is talking about.

Boston: Bruins forward Taylor Hall has been fined $5,000 for his sucker punch to the back of the head to Toronto Maple Leafs’ defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin. Some are comparing the sucker punch to the Todd Bertuzzi incident but let’s come back to reality here. Yes, it was a sucker punch from behind, but the former Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames winger Bertuzzi did much more than that in the Steve Moore pileup.

Vegas: What does the failed Evgenii Dadonov trade mean for the Golden Knight’s salary cap troubles?

Good news, though, it doesn’t look like NHL general managers are interesting in closing the “Nikita Kucherov” LTIR cap loophole which the Golden Knights will most certainly use if they make the playoffs.

Oh, and as expected, the NHL salary cap will go up next season by $1 million.

Philly: Marc-Andre Fleury and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday night, which has officially eliminated the Flyers from Stanley Cup Playoff contention.

Minnesota: The Minnesota Wild have re-signed veteran NHL defenseman Alex Goligoski to a two-year $4 million dollar extension.

Montreal: The Canadiens have signed Joshua Roy to an entry-level contract. It also looks like prospect Jesse Ylonen is ready for the NHL as soon as next season, maybe even this season.

Clip of the day: This was a couple of days ago but the fluke goal scored by the Buffalo Sabres on the Chicago Blackhawks led to a rage stick snap by the goaltender. Hope your days are better than this one for Lankinen.