On Alex Ovechkin …
Dan Rosen: Washington Capitals Alex Ovechkin is the fourth NHL player to score 600 goals in less than 1,000 games. Wayne Gretzky scored 600 in 718 games, Mario Lemieux in 719 games and Brett Hull in 900 games.
On the Columbus Blue Jackets …
Aaron Portzline of The Athletic: Defenseman Seth Jones was held out of the third period with an upper-body issue for precautionary reasons according to John Tortorella.
“He wanted to play (in the third),” Tortorella said. “I wanted to sit him out in the third period, just to make sure. That’s how important he is.”
Pressed on the matter, Tortorella said: “Something was aggravated tonight, yes.”
Friday night Jones had said he had sore ribs after being cross-checked.
On the New Jersey Devils …
Amanda Stein: Forward Travis Zajac will travel with the team. Forwards Pavel Zacha and Marcus Johansson won’t travel with the team, but Zacha could join them at some point.
On the Philadelphia Flyers …
Adam Kimelman: Defenseman Johnny Oduya missed Saturday’s games with an upper-body injury. He was on the ice yesterday and is day-to-day.
On the Tampa Bay Lightning …
Tampa Bay Lightning: The Lightning recalled Peter Budaj.
Bryan Burns: Forward Ondrej Palat is still wearing a no-contact jersey at practice.
On the Toronto Maple Leafs …
Dave McCarthy: Coach Mike Babcock said that Auston Matthews won’t be in the lineup on Wednesday. That could also mean that he won’t be ready for Thursday either. They are off on Friday, so they may get a better idea of his status after their morning skate on Saturday.
Kristen Shilton: Babcock on defenseman Nikita Zaitsev: “Didn’t bounce back the way we expected. He’s seeing the doctor here today, and we’ll know more. We just think it’s the flu, but it wasn’t done as quickly as we expected.”
Eastern Conference Playoff Race (Games Ending 3/12) pic.twitter.com/5stF9p483Z
— Damian Echevarrieta (@Ech28) March 13, 2018
