Daily Scan: Motivated Flames face Kucherov and deep Lightning team

Blake Coleman got his championship keepsake and the rest of his Calgary Flames now want one. Meanwhile, Nikita Kucherov is back for the Tampa Bay Lightning,  and Tuukka Rask is ready to make his comeback. Check all that out, and more, in Thursday’s edition of the Daily Scan with news from around the National Hockey League and hockey world.

Coleman was given his Stanley Cup ring on Thursday morning and young Flames took notice. Dillon Dube said the keepsake is motivating.

“Huge. It’s big. You definitely want one after that. It’s pretty special. It’s pretty cool,” Dube said of the ring. “(Coleman) was pretty pumped about it. So are we for him.

“It’s great to have a guy in our locker-room that achieved that. It’s awesome for him. He deserved that. It’s awesome to have a leader like that in the room, who knows how to win.”

The Lightning, who get Kucherov back in the lineup in time for their battle with the Calgary Flames, won back-to-back titles because of guys like Coleman. His third line contributed a lot of scoring for his former squad.

“If you have depth, that’s how you win championships,” said Calgary Flames head coach Darryl Sutter. “We could have won it three years in a row in L.A. It was because of the depth of our organization.

“(The Lightning) lost the Gourde line and they lost Tyler Johnson. That’s because people get paid to win championships. There’s a salary cap, so you move on. You still have the basic star nucleus of your team. I’ve seen it work before and that’s what they’re doing again.”

NHL NEWS, TRADE RUMORS, AND NATIONAL HOCKEY NOW

Boston: Goaltender Tuukka Rask has signed a professional tryout with the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League.

Tampa Bay: Just in time to face the Calgary Flames, Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov is also expected to return. Kucherov has missed the last 32 games for the Lightning with a lower-body injury.

Sportsnet: Could longtime NHL goaltender Carey Price reasonably be on the NHL Trade Block?

Sportsnet: Price and Marc-Andre Fleury are some potential names the Edmonton Oilers could be interested in on the NHL trade block as the team continues to struggle.

Vegas: Ryan Reaves returns to T-Mobile Arena Thursday night. Watch some of Reaves’ best moments with the Golden Knights such as his feuds with Tom Wilson and Evander Kane.

Edmonton: The Edmonton Oilers lost Wednesday night to the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 without Connor McDavid in the lineup. The Oilers have only two wins in their last 13 games and have lost five straight.

Pittsburgh: That’s nine straight wins for the Pittsburgh Penguins who came back and defeated the St. Louis Blues Wednesday night.

Despite the win, the Penguins had to pull backup goaltender Casey DeSmith midway through the game. Is there a cause for concern with the Penguins’ backup goaltender position?

Colorado: Where does Cale Makar’s fantastic overtime-winning goal the other night rank amongst great goals in Colorado Avalanche history?

Florida: The Calgary Flames just had to deal with him. Here’s the case for Jonathan Huberdeau to win the NHL’s Hart Trophy in 2022.

Montreal: Nobody cares about this Calgary Flames record being broken. The Canadiens have set the bar for the number of players in COVID-19 protocols with 22.