Arizona Coyotes Tobias Rieder's impact on Coyotes grows in 2nd NHL season

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1 SPORT-SCAN Anaheim Ducks Ducks up next: vs. Pittsburgh on Sunday Ducks cage up Sharks: What you need to know Ducks' Andersen waiting to make his comeback Pittsburgh-native John Gibson, Ducks host Penguins in Anaheim Arizona Coyotes Tobias Rieder's impact on Coyotes grows in 2nd NHL season Boston Bruins Tuukaa Rask, Bruins blank Canucks Matt Bartkowski finds his fit in Vancouver Harry Sinden remains active in Bruins hockey operations Brad Park knows what it s like to play in a new city Bruins allow tying goal with 1.2 seconds left, then lose in OT Bruins on thrill ride in third Bruins try to salvage win in trip finale All-Star but no sense Bruins notebook: Bartkowski achieves his goal Bruins back on track Muzzin leads Kings past Penguins 5-3 for 3rd straight win Beleskey ends goal drought in Bruins' loss Costly turnovers by Chara hurt Bruins in loss Run-and-gun style once again poses problems for Bruins Talking Points: Marchand overcomes dirty spear Rask has 17 saves for 3rd shutout as Bruins beat Canucks Haggerty: Bruins must save themselves at end of a bad trip Haggerty's Morning Skate: He's Anders the Giant for Oilers Buffalo Sabres McGinn back in the swing of things Oilers still waiting for improvement John Vogl s Sabres mailbag: Gionta needed on right wing now Amerks come up short in 2-1 loss to Albany Calgary Flames Calgary Flames set franchise history against Boston Bruins Boston University D-man & Flames prospect Brandon Hickey heads to junior selection camp Carolina Hurricanes Di Giuseppe wants to prove he belongs Peters shakes up Canes lineup Carolina Hurricanes get hard-fought 3-2 win over Montreal Canadiens Chicago Blackhawks Blackhawks place Viktor Tikhonov on waivers, could Bryan Bickell be returning? Sunday's preview: Jets at Blackhawks Bryan Bickell's return imminent as Viktor Tikhonov put on waivers Bickell to return to Chicago Blackhawks soon? Chicago Blackhawks' Kane looks to make history Blackhawks' Hjalmarsson rewards Buffalo Grove school with visit Blackhawks 'could' recall Bickell after placing Tikhonov on waivers Patrick Kane ready to pass Bobby Hull for Blackhawks point-streak record NHL 12/06/15 DAILY BRIEF Colorado Avalanche SEMYON VARLAMOV WILL BE IN NET IN AVS' FIRST OF BACK-TO-BACK GAMES AGAINST WILD FREI: ALEX TANGUAY CONNECTS AVALANCHE ERAS NO ID NEEDED FOR FAMOUS PETER FORSBERG COLORADO AVALANCHE ONCE AGAIN CAN'T CONTAIN THE WILD IN A LOSS AT MINNESOTA Columbus Blue Jackets Blue Jackets' probable lines Philadelphia Flyers at a glance Blue Jackets at a glance Blue Jackets notebook Second ex-jacket joins Monsters Blue Jackets 4, Flyers 1 Jackets rebound big after bad outing Save of the year candidate? Bobrovsky shuts door with sprawling stop Detroit Red Wings Wings' Andersson looking to step up in place of Miller Ticker: Maybe it should be called a Shanahan Hat Trick Wings overcome Weber hat trick, win in OT Wings show spirited defense of each other Detroit Red Wings notes: Dylan Larkin's plus-minus rating tops NHL, way ahead of teammates Red Wings Gameday: Nashville Predators have struggled to score goals in last eight games Red Wings lineup vs. Predators: Joakim Andersson relied on for defense, penalty killing in return Griffins' Andreas Athanasiou makes his case for Red Wings return Red Wings postgame: Dylan Larkin's goal, assist hike plus-minus rating to NHL-best plus Gustav Nyquist scores in overtime as Red Wings rally to extend points streak to 10 games Second-period analysis: Predators 3, Red Wings First-period analysis: Red Wings 1, Predators Recap: Red Wings-Predators stats, scoring summary, video highlights and more Red Wings keep points streak going with 5-4 OT win over Predators Edmonton Oilers Rare back-to-back victories not without coaching moments for Edmonton Oilers No. 2 draft pick Eichel says his focus is on his team, not on McDavid Oilers have lost enough close ones that they're quite comfortable taking two points from Stars Sabres' Jack Eichel to face Edmonton Oilers, but not McDavid Florida Panthers DAY OFF IN THE CITY: Panthers enjoy day off, winning streak on line Sunday in Newark Florida Panthers try to cap perfect trip Panthers' penalty kill gives life to five-game winning streak Preview: Panthers at Devils; Sunday, 7:30 p.m.

2 Los Angeles Kings Kings beat Pittsburgh Penguins, Defensemen go on the offense in Kings' 5-3 victory over Pittsburgh LA Kings turn to Drew Doughty for leadership in win over Penguins Game report: LA Kings 5, Pittsburgh Penguins GAME 25: LOS ANGELES VS PITTSBURGH GAME 25 PREVIEW: LOS ANGELES VS PITTSBURGH DECEMBER 5: BUS TEXTS WITH STOTHERS DECEMBER 5: REIGN GAME BREAKDOWN DECEMBER 5 POSTGAME NOTES DECEMBER 5 POSTGAME QUOTES: LUCIC, MUZZIN DECEMBER 5 POSTGAME QUOTES: PITTSBURGH DECEMBER 5 POSTGAME QUOTES: DARRYL SUTTER Minnesota Wild Big opportunity for Colorado tonight when the Avs visit Minnesota Yeo on injured Devan Dubnyk: "I don't expect it to be serious at all" Wild-Colorado game recap Kuemper closes out shutout for Wild after Dubnyk hurt Sunday Q&A: Jared Spurgeon, Wild defenseman Mike Reilly is learning lots off the Wild ice NHL Insider: Kane's game reaching new highs for Blackhawks Wild, Darcy Kuemper blank Colorado after Devan Dubnyk injured Wild prospect Mike Reilly soaking up one-on-one lessons during call-up Montreal Canadiens Skinner s second goal of game gives Hurricanes 3-2 win over Canadiens Canadiens vs. Hurricanes preview This Date in Habs History: Dec In the Habs' Room: This game should have been a gimmie Habs Game Report: Skinner's two goals hurdle Hurricanes over Montreal About last night Nashville Predators takeaways from Predators' loss to Red Wings Predators still looking for first overtime goal Preds fall to Red Wings despite Weber's hat trick Predators emphasize defense with offense struggling New Jersey Devils Will Lou Lamoriello attend ceremony when Devils retire Martin Brodeur's No. 30? Will Devils roll out welcome mat for Jaromir Jagr and Panthers too? Home-ice woes holding team back Devils hoping to fix home-ice struggles New York Islanders Islanders top Blues in shootout, show they didn't waste it all on Rangers Islanders fall to Senators in overtime, Islanders allow two-goal lead to evaporate as win streak ends Islanders fall in overtime to Senators New York Rangers NY Rangers' Big Three of Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal, Dan Girardi first must return to form to right Blueshirts' Rangers need more out of 'Big Three' on defense Rangers latest roster shakeup could put Lindberg in spotlight Rangers biggest strength has become major liability New lines; what Staal s doing wrong Rangers' Tanner Glass understands the big picture Alain Vigneault juggles slumping Rangers lines NHL Hockey in the Mountains, a High Point in Their Lives Ottawa Senators Z's are wild as Senators take on New York Islanders Saturday Weekend Game Days: Senators versus Islanders, Rangers Leafs draft pick Marner, Knights hand Ottawa 67's another lopsided loss Ottawa Senators rally to win a wild one in overtime, but lose Turris to injury Dziurzynski recalls some of the glory and gory details of his past GAMEDAY: Ottawa Senators vs. New York Rangers Mika Zibanejad returns to lineup, Andrew Hammond still out Bittersweet victory for Senators New York Islanders rolling out the hits Senators' Dave Dziurzynski plays first NHL game in almost 3 years Senators' Zack Smith should shoot the puck more Philadelphia Flyers Flyers send Nick Cousins and Colin McDonald down to Lehigh Valley Flyers fall to Blue Jackets, ending four-game winning streak Flyers Notes: Hartnell back in for Blue Jackets one night after benching Flyers beat Devils 4-3 in OT for 4th straight win Could 'lost years' cost Lecavalier career legacy? Ex-Flyer Hartnell not blue over Jacket benching Umberger, White activated; Cousins, McDonald back to AHL Flyers-Blue Jackets 5 things: Keep positive vibes going Flyers Notes: Patience finally pays off for Matt Read Flyers' 4-game win streak snapped in ugly loss to Blue Jackets Instant Replay: Blue Jackets 4, Flyers things to watch in Game 27: Flyers vs. Blue Jackets Scott Hartnell haunts Flyers, ends winning streak Flyers' Bricker hits 2,000 professional games Left-wing experiment ends for Scott Laughton year-old N.J. girl signs 1-day contract with Rangers Pittsburgh Penguins Penguins notebook: Maatta is Penguins' comeback kid Penguins' rally comes up short in loss to Kings Penguins' Letang a scratch with undisclosed injury On the Penguins: Change isn't always the answer Penguins notebook: Lovejoy, Bonino to play vs. old friends today in Anaheim Kings' four goals in second period too much for Penguins to overcome San Jose Sharks San Jose Sharks rally but fall 4-3 to Tampa Bay Lightning Sharks lose Vlasic, then game to Lightning Notes: Sharks without Vlasic; Tierney returns to lineup Morning Skate: Stalock gets call for Sharks vs Lightning Sharks defenseman Vlasic out with lower body injury December 5, 2015, 11:15 pm Instant Replay: Sharks struck too hard by Lightning St Louis Blues Parayko shows no ill effects of Friday's spill Blues drop third straight, fall to Leafs Wasted chances costly as Blues fall Parayko, after scare on Friday, in lineup on Saturday

3 Tampa Bay Lightning California trip good for Bolts as they win second in row Bolts Notes: Stamkos contract not the talk of locker room Lightning beats Sharks Lightning works on getting more shots on net Recoveries taking longer than expected for Johnson, Paquette Lightning Nuts & Bolts: Assistant coach Thomas has very fond memories of Anaheim Lightning can learn from Kings' lost season Johnson and Paquette 'doubtful' for this weekend Toronto Maple Leafs Kadri scores twice, Polak has two assists against former team as Maple Leafs beat Blues Leafs show goaltending experience can be overrated Maple Leafs sticking with goalie plan Kadri pots pair as Leafs sink Blues Leafs Locker: Hitchcock liking what Leafs are doing Toronto Maple Leafs propelled past St. Louis Blues with pair of goals from Nazem Kadri Montreal Canadiens Mike Condon benefiting from better shot differential Vancouver Canucks Losing continues for Canucks after 4-0 loss to Bruins Canucks Game Day: Markstrom gets call in goal against Bruins, vets Hamhuis, Prust and Higgins all expected to How low can the Canucks go? Bruins 4 Canucks 0: 'Must' game becomes bust game The Provies: Henrik calls for unwinning, Willie questions effort, and the mess of gm 7, I mean Saturday #PhotoShaps of the night: Canucks vs. Bruins Washington Capitals Capitals trip to Winnipeg is a return home for Coach Barry Trotz Barry Trotz has yet to win a coach s challenge this season Marcus Johansson day-to-day with lower-body injury Capitals win streak halted at six as Jets finally solve Holtby in OT, AAA Keys to the Game: Caps look to clean up sloppiness vs. Jets Caps lose to Jets on disputed OT goal Websites Sportsnet.ca / Maple Leafs first fight of the year was by Nazem Kadri Sportsnet.ca / Five things we learned in the NHL: Crosby, Kunitz reunite Sportsnet.ca / Game 28 Lessons: At least Carr had a good day Sportsnet.ca / Coach s Corner: Superstars fighting is ridiculous Sportsnet.ca / Expansion to be discussed at NHL board of governors meeting Sportsnet.ca / Jets and Trouba won t discuss extension until off-season Sportsnet.ca / Capitals coach Barry Trotz critical of OT goal review TSN.CA / Whirlwind week for Leafs' Sparks in the books TSN.CA / 5 Minute Abbs: Canucks vs. Bruins TSN.CA / Thumbs up to the Flames and Gaudreau USA TODAY / Red Wings' Jeff Blashill is early leader for Jack Adams Winnipeg Jets Hellebuyck has everyone s hopes up Jets topple Caps after long-drawn-out goal review Hellebuyck gets another call for Jets Scheifele's OT goal makes Hellebuyck, Jets a winner SPORT-SCAN, INC

4 Anaheim Ducks Ducks up next: vs. Pittsburgh on Sunday Curtis Zupke DUCKS VS. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS When: Sunday, 5 p.m. On the air: TV: Prime; Radio: 830. Update: The Ducks are coming off a dominating defensive performance against San Jose on Friday, a 1-0 win that could be their new template for victory. Anaheim ranks last in the NHL with 1.93 goals per game after 27 games, so defense remains its foundation in its fifth try at back-to-back wins since it last did it on Nov Goalie John Gibson recorded his second shutout in five starts since his Nov. 24 recall and has a 0.67 goals-against average in his last three games. Gibson, a Pittsburgh product, lost his only appearance against his hometown team in a throwaway 6-4 season-opening loss last season. Penguins defenseman Kris Letang missed Saturday because of an undisclosed injury, but Olli Maatta returned from injury. Southern California's Beau Bennett played on a line with Sidney Crosby and former Ducks player Chris Kunitz. LA Times: LOADED:

5 Anaheim Ducks Ducks cage up Sharks: What you need to know Dec. 4, 2015 Updated Dec. 5, :11 a.m. By ERIC STEPHENS / STAFF WRITER ANAHEIM Here s what you need to know about the Ducks 1-0 win over the San Jose Sharks on Friday night: THE GAME IN 140 CHARACTERS OR FEWER - The Ducks were dogged from the first minute to the 60th and one of the team's best defensive efforts in recent years got its just reward. QUOTE OF THE NIGHT Oh, that was awesome. Anytime you get two or three shots [against] in a period, you really tip your cap. Not just the defense. The whole team really. - Ducks goalie John Gibson STAT OF THE NIGHT - Mike Santorelli and Chris Stewart played fewer than seven minutes and Nate Thompson didn t reach 10 but all three fourth-liners combined to provide the only goal by Santorelli. PLAYER OF THE GAME - John Gibson got a lot of help from some determined teammates in front of him but it is pretty hard to ignore a second shutout in five starts. Gibson did made a good save through a screen on Brenden Dillon in the final seconds. He s also two stunning late goals by Chicago from a third blanking. How can he go back to San Diego now? ANALYSIS - For years, it seemed as if the Ducks were never truly committed to playing a defensive-minded game. There would be the games where they were solid, even strong in that department but they were also more explosive offensively and knew they d eventually score. With an offense that is dead last in the NHL (1.93 average), it appears they re realizing they have to be committed to that if they want to win games especially when they have to start stringing victories together sooner than later. Shawn Horcoff s value is showing itself more and more and the teaming of him, Andrew Cogliano and Carl Hagelin has given the Ducks a go-to shutdown line. Patrick Marleau came in with a four-game goal scoring streak and was held to one shot. Adding Nate Thompson gives the Ducks another defense-first forward that Bruce Boudreau is eager to put out with Ryan Kesler and Jakob Silfverberg in the times when they re protecting a lead. In this one, the Ducks never sat back when they finally got the lead and throttled the Sharks at every turn. KEY MOMENT - When the Sharks have given the Ducks trouble in recent years, it s usually because they ve been able to play fast, jump out early and flourish on the power play. None of that happened as the Ducks put the clamps on Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Tomas Hertl while also taking care of all four Sharks power plays in the first two periods. ANY NEWS? - It isn t clear if the flu that wracked him last week is still a factor or not but Frederik Andersen has yet to become available for action. Anton Khudobin backed up Gibson for a fifth consecutive game. Andersen has been practicing daily since coming back on Sunday. MORE POSTGAME QUOTES BRUCE BOUDREAU (on shutting down Marleau and his line ) They just checked. It worked. Those three guys can skate, Cogliano, Hagelin, Horcoff. They can all skate. Marleau is one of the greatest skaters ever to lace up. To be able to keep him and then Kes did a real good job on Thornton I thought our big line had an awful lot of opportunities to score. Just couldn t buy one. (on Thompson having an impact in second game ) I thought when we put him on left wing for the last 10 minutes, he was also very good too. We ve missed that element, in the penalty killing and chipping in an assist on the winning goal. If you can get the fourth line to score, it s such an advantage for your team. (on Gibson not wanting to go back to San Diego ) Yeah. Probably not, it s a beautiful city but NATE THOMPSON (on the mindset heading into the third ) We just made sure we were going in there confident. I think basically we wanted to make sure we were on our toes. We weren t sitting back. We were going to get that win. I thought we did a tremendous job in the third period of not giving them a whole lot and making sure that we were staying on the forecheck and make it hard for them to get out of their own zone. (on the effective forecheck ) Our forecheck was great. It was five-man effort on the ice from everyone tonight. We were getting pucks in, we d get them back. Guys were backing each other up. We were doing everything that we re supposed to be doing and we got results. (on the goal ) It was just a good play by Santo and Stew. Just good work down low. I managed to get some body position on Pavelski there. Just kind of take it off the wall. I saw Santo in the slot. Kind of hit his skate and it still managed to go to his tape. He made a nice shot. It was a good goal. JOHN GIBSON (on the final shot by Brenden Dillon ) You know where it s coming from. Just try to take the best angle you can and play big. (on holding the Sharks to two shots in third ) We re playing really good right now. We know if we can play like that, we ll win a lot more games than we ll lose. Just got to play like that more consistently and string some wins together. (on beating a divisional opponent ) We know now that every divisional game is a lot bigger than usual. Get two points out of it and start catching some teams the best we can. SHAWN HORCOFF (on whether it was their best defensive game of the year ) I think so. We ve been preaching defense and that type of hockey all year long. I think we want to build a game that obviously we can rely on when the pucks aren t going in. we ve been working towards that so tonight it all kind of came together. It was a great defensive effort. (on whether they ve accepted winning 1-0 or 2-1 games ) Yeah, absolutely. If you want to go on long stretches, you re going to have to. Playoff games are a lot like that. You have to learn how to deal with closing games out. And that was a great effort by us. We did it by being aggressive. I thought we did a good job in the third especially. MIKE SANTORELLI (on the matchups with San Jose ) It was a tight checking game. The three games we ve played so far against them, they ve been good examples of that. It was a divisional game so it was pretty big." SAN JOSE COACH PETER DeBOER (on the key to the game ) Both goalies were great. Special teams were even. It just came down to who s probably going to get that first goal is probably going to win. We had our opportunities early in the game, I thought they were a little better in the third, but it was a tightly played game. It was a good hockey game. POSTGAME NOTES Cam Fowler played a season-high 26:50 the fifth time he s played 25 minutes or more and third in the last four games. Kevin Bieksa registered five hits, blocked two shots and is a plus-5 in his last three games. John Gibson has given up eight goals on 135 shots in his five starts (.941 save percentage), two of which have been shutouts.

6 Nate Thompson got his first point in just his second game back after recovering from off-season shoulder surgery. The Ducks have won two of three games from San Jose, both by 1-0 scores. Rickard Rakell, Corey Perry and Sami Vatanen each led the Ducks with five shots on goal. DUCKS RECORD/STANDING (3-8-1 on road, at home), fifth place in Pacific Division WHAT S NEXT? - The Ducks play the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday at Honda Center at 5 p.m. Orange County Register: LOADED:

7 Anaheim Ducks Orange County Register: LOADED: Ducks' Andersen waiting to make his comeback Dec. 5, 2015 Updated 9:50 p.m. By JANIS CARR / STAFF WRITER ANAHEIM Frederik Andersen stayed on the ice Saturday long after the other goalies had headed to the locker room. He knocked puck after puck away until it was time to leave. Brushing aside speculation of his future with the Ducks isn t as easy. Andersen, who has been sidelined the past six games because of a nasty flu, has lost his job to John Gibson and whispers that he could be moved before the March trade deadline have surfaced. Andersen doesn t seem bothered by his situation. Beneath that serene exterior seemingly is a serene interior. It doesn t make a different in what I have to do, Andersen said. Gibby has been playing great. He s given them a chance to win every night. They guys have been playing well for him, so it s all about winning. It s good to see we re doing better. Andersen said he has recovered from the flu, which sapped his energy and strength. He said he didn t eat for four days so everyone can relate as to how much that can drain you. That s been a bit of an obstacle to get back, but I feel like I m in good shape to take on more work. But when? Gibson is a bigger obstacle for Andersen. Gibson, 22, has started in goal the past six games and is with a 1.55 goals-against average and a.942 save percentage, plus two shutouts after Friday s 1-0 victory against San Jose. Meanwhile, Andersen was with a 2.54 goals-against average and a.914 save percentage before getting sick. Still, Andersen isn t worrying about percentages, number of goals or rumors. He s only focusing the team s number of victories. It doesn t matter if I pay attention or not, he said. It s nothing I can control anyway. I m just happy to be around and work my hardest toward coming back and playing like I did at the start. I want to get back to that. BACK-TO-BACK CONCERNS Finding success in back-to-back games has been a struggle for the Ducks this season. Outside of a four-game winning streak they put together early last month, they have been wildly inconsistent. The Ducks have another shot at putting together two victories Sunday when they face Pittsburgh. They are hoping to follow up Friday s 1-0 victory against San Jose with another strong effort. We have to play like that, maybe better, Coach Bruce Boudreau said. We can t rest on our laurels because we won one game. The NHL is about winning, winning every day so we have to play a better game tomorrow than we did last night. Boudreau said he has seen signs lately that the team is playing better. He said it s a matter establishing on-ice consistency on a nightly basis. Sometimes we ve been a group that s been satisfied with mediocrity, and we want to become a group that s only satisfied with perfection, if that makes any sense. That s where winning, two, three, four, multiple games in a row is going to take place. PENGUINS TOP DUO Stringing together consecutive victories for the first time in more than a month won t be easy against the Penguins Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby Going into Saturday s game against the Kings, Malkin had 12 points through the first 17 games, but only four were goals and he failed to score any in the past seven of that stretch. The 2012 Hart Trophy winner has since turned things around, though, scoring eight goals and assisting on five others in his past seven. So what s Bourdreau s game plan? Take away their skates, he deadpanned.

8 Anaheim Ducks Pittsburgh-native John Gibson, Ducks host Penguins in Anaheim POSTED: 12/05/15, 4:34 PM PST UPDATED: 7 HRS AGO Elliott Teaford PENGUINS AT DUCKS Faceoff: 5 p.m. TV/Radio: Prime / 830 AM Update: Ducks goaltender John Gibson, a Pittsburgh native, is with a 1.55 goals-against average, a.942 save percentage and two shutouts in six appearances since he was recalled from San Diego of the AHL on Nov. 24. Gibson and the fifth-place Ducks blanked the second-place San Jose Sharks 1-0 on Friday, moving within three points of a playoff spot in the lackluster Pacific Division at the start of business around the league Saturday. The Ducks ( ) gave up two shots to the Sharks in the third period. They also killed off four shorthanded situations during the game to improve their league-leading penalty-killing to 87.5 percent (84 for 96). Corey Perry leads the Ducks with 18 points, including nine goals. Ryan Getzlaf has 17 points, including 16 assists. The Penguins are after a 5-3 loss Saturday to the Kings. LA Daily News: LOADED:

9 Arizona Coyotes Tobias Rieder's impact on Coyotes grows in 2nd NHL season Sarah McLellan, azcentral sports 2:16 p.m. MST December 5, 2015 RALEIGH, N.C. The last time the Coyotes visited the Hurricanes, winger Tobias Rieder was a spectator in Albany, N.Y. Rieder was with the organization s minor-league affiliate, resting up for a game the next day as he watched the action from his hotel room. Arizona ended up falling 3-0, a third straight loss that initiated a change, and the next day, Rieder recorded his first goal -- the game-winner -- in his NHL debut in Washington against the Capitals. All of a sudden I was standing on the ice with (Alex) Ovechkin, he recalled with a smile. That was pretty crazy. Rieder didn t look out of place as a rookie and now, as a sophomore nearing his 100th career game, the 22-year-old could easily be considered one of the Coyotes more vital forwards. He s a very unheralded player but a very solid player, coach Dave Tippett said. He s today s NHL player where he plays fast, he s smart, has good skill. I think we ve probably overused him at times because of some injuries and trying to get competitive. But he s going to be a real good, solid player for a long time. Just does a lot of things right that sometimes go unnoticed. The Coyotes are 7-1 when Rieder records an assist and 9-3 when he tallies a point. Amid the team s current three-game slide, Rieder hasn t managed a point and he hasn t scored since Nov. 5 against the Avalanche but he still finds ways to be effective as one of the few Coyotes called upon in every situation 5-on-5, power play and penalty kill. He s got great hockey sense, Tippett said. He reads the game well. He doesn t put himself in bad positions. Some of that awareness is learned. Rieder, who is on track to play Game No. 100 Tuesday in St. Louis against the Blues, acknowledged he has a better understanding of how much time he has to execute in Year 2 than he did in Year 1. But much of his intuition is ingrained byproducts of time spent playing against men in Germany as a 16-year-old, in the junior ranks and in the American Hockey League. And now, as an NHLer, Rieder has emerged as a valuable two-way presence that is regularly a catalyst for the team's success. When I got called up, I thought I m going to be playing 12, 13 minutes for a while but that changed pretty quick, he said. All I can say is thanks to the coaches for giving me that trust, and it s just been unbelievable. Back to business Arizona dropped three games in four nights to start this five-game road trip this after three wins in four nights at home. The Coyotes return to the ice Sunday afternoon to take on the Hurricanes after having Saturday off. When adversity hits, we can t feel sorry for ourselves, goalie Mike Smith said. Only the guys in here can get us out of it. It s easy to hang your head and say, Poor me. But the character of this group needs to show in those hard times. Smith has started all three games on the trip but finished only two. After giving up three goals in the first period en route to a 5-1 loss to the Red Wings Thursday, Smith was pulled from the game but was back in the crease Friday against the Sabres and was on the hook for four goals in a 5-2 defeat. Goaltending has to be your best player and with this group if it s not, we re going to be in trouble, Smith said. So I think it starts with me. Lineup change Defenseman Connor Murphy was a healthy scratch against the Sabres. Murphy has committed a string of penalties recently, going to the penalty box five times in his past four games. We re trying to get better, Tippett said. What we re doing lately is not good enough. We have got too many people playing below par. He s a young player. You take a day and watch a game and see where he s at. Reach the reporter at sarah.mclellan@arizonarepublic.com or Follow her at twitter.com/azc_mclellan. Sunday's game Coyotes at Hurricanes When: 3 p.m. Where: PNC Arena. TV/radio: None/KTAR-FM (92.3). Hurricanes update: The Hurricanes hosted the Canadiens Saturday and are in the second game of a back-to-back this season. Before playing Montreal, Carolina had lost three in a row and was outscored 13-5 in those games. Entering play Saturday, the Hurricanes sat 28th in the NHL with 2.04 goals-per-game. They also ranked 25th in goals-against-per-game (2.96). Defenseman Justin Faulk paced the team with 18 points. He and center Victor Rask were tied for the team-lead in goals with eight. Arizona Republic LOADED:

10 Boston Bruins Tuukaa Rask, Bruins blank Canucks These kind of wins for me just solidifies the fact that we know what we need to do to have success, said Julien, and hopefully we embrace the style of play that s given us success. Boston Globe LOADED: By Amalie Benjamin GLOBE STAFF DECEMBER 06, 2015 VANCOUVER, British Columbia If it wasn t clear by coach Claude Julien s words on Saturday morning that the night s game in Vancouver was an important one, it was crystal clear by the time the lineup sheets came out. Out were Dennis Seidenberg, Colin Miller, and Jimmy Hayes. In were Kevan Miller, Joe Morrow, and Zac Rinaldo. For Morrow, it was his first game since Nov. 5 in Washington. He had been a healthy scratch in 12 consecutive games. So, no, Julien would not stand for the effort that the Bruins had put forward in the first two games of the series, games in which the team had suffered a shootout loss and an overtime loss to two of the worst teams in the NHL. Whatever Julien did or said, it worked. Boston didn t repeat the failures on Saturday night, against a team tied for the fewest wins in the NHL this season. The Bruins won, 4-0, over the Canucks at Rogers Arena to move to in their last eight games. We played a real good game tonight, said Julien. We have a tendency sometimes to be hard on our team because we don t do it all the time, and yet when you look at games like tonight, you really see what this team, when it really sets its mind to it, is capable of. The Bruins put together a complete defensive effort, one night after sloppiness in the defensive zone led to an overtime loss in Calgary. Our forwards along the wall were solid tonight, our [defensemen] were making real good decisions with the puck to help us get those out, Julien said.... There was a real solid commitment from everybody to protect that area. It wasn t long before one of the inserted players, Rinaldo, tried to do something to jump-start his team, dropping the gloves with Derek Dorsett just 2:07 into the game. Perhaps it worked, with Brad Marchand scoring his third goal in two nights 47 seconds later. The feed came from Patrice Bergeron and Marchand one-timed it past Jacob Markstrom for his 13th of the season. They built on the lead, too, with Torey Krug converting on a slap shot from beyond the right circle at 7:03. But just before that, something more troublesome happened. Adam McQuaid made a big block at the other side of the ice on Vancouver s Jared McCann, with the puck popping up off his left wrist. McQuaid bent over in pain immediately and came off the ice, heading right down the tunnel. He did not return to the game. Landon Ferraro made it made it 3-0 at 8:02 of the second period, beating Markstrom with a wrister high for his second goal of the season from just outside the right faceoff dot. And Tyler Randell, who played just four shifts on Friday night in Calgary, scored his fourth goal of the season to provide some breathing room at 11:32 of the third. Combined with a relatively easy shutout from Tuukka Rask his third of the season the Bruins did everything they needed to do against the Canucks. We weren t running around out of place. We were within the system pretty much the whole game, Rask said. That shows that they only had 17 shots on net and all the shots they had were from the outside or not very difficult shots. That s a good sign. So the Bruins returned to Boston on Sunday with another challenging week ahead, starting with the Predators on Monday and continuing in Montreal on Wednesday, but in a much better frame of mind than that which they had entered Vancouver. It s big, David Krejci said before the win. This is the difference between a successful and really disappointing road trip. If the Bruins had gotten just 2 points on the trip, if they had lost in Vancouver, Julien said he would have qualified it as a failure. If we want to stay in the run, and if we want to continue to be a playoff team, I think these are the kind of games you ve got to win, Julien said. That was exactly what they did.

11 Boston Bruins Matt Bartkowski finds his fit in Vancouver By Amalie Benjamin GLOBE STAFF DECEMBER 06, 2015 VANCOUVER, British Columbia Even from across the country, there was still some chirping from one former Bruin to a current one. The Canucks Matt Bartkowski he of the epic goal-less streak during his time in Boston had two goals this season before Torey Krug had any. And so Bartkowski made sure to remind the Bruins defenseman of that fact. We were just joking around a little bit, Bartkowski said on Saturday morning at Rogers Arena before his new team took on his old team in Vancouver. I was razzing him for a little bit. I don t even know how many he has now, but I m assuming it s more than me. Apprised that both Bartkowski and Krug have two goals, Bartkowski said, So I can still make fun of him. It s good to give him a hard time about that. Bartkowski had gone 136 games into his NHL career before scoring his first regular-season goal he did have one in the playoffs and then scored twice in six games. Of course, it hardly caused a blip in Vancouver. The funny thing was nobody here really knew, Bartkowski said. I guess it was good they didn t know, first of all. It was just kind of like, oh he scored, great. Bartkowski s tenure in Boston which lasted from to last season was marked by severe ups and downs. The defenseman, who can skate and move the puck struggled with consistency on the ice and the mental part of the NHL off it. He said that has changed with the Canucks, where he has become more steady mentally. Some guys do, some guys don t, he said, when asked if he needed to feel like he wasn t going to lose his job with every mistake. I guess I was one of those guys. At times it was difficult. At the end of the day, every coach you play for wants the best for you because that s the best for the team. It s really no excuse, in that sense. But he has gotten a fresh start in Vancouver, where former Bruins assistant general manager Jim Benning signed him this summer. That has helped. I think the coaches here instill the D more to skate more and in that sense, that kind of fits my game better, Bartkowski said. That d be the main difference. They want us skating, making the first pass, getting it in the forward s hands. But if we can beat guys, they want us beating guys. If you turn it over in the neutral zone, it s on you. The Bruins, though, are now moving more in that direction, with players such as Colin Miller. I noticed that this year, he said. It s changed. It s good, I mean, that s kind of the way the league s going. You need to have D that can skate the puck out of bad areas and bring the puck out when they need to. Though his time in Boston was sometimes rocky, Bartkowski admitted it was also important. The Bruins made him into an NHL player. Vancouver, though, has become the right place for him. Coming up from Providence to Boston, they molded me in the player I am now and made it possible for me to succeed here, Bartkowski said. So all the hard times I went through only made me better. I appreciate everything they did. Saturday marked the 400th career game for Brad Marchand, with the milestone fittingly coming in a place where he has had more than a few career highlights (and lowlights). Asked whether he knew it was coming up, Marchand said, No, I had no idea. It s obviously a nice milestone, and actually one time someone said to me that you re a real NHLer when you ve played 400 games, so I guess that s a nice milestone to hit. But hopefully there s another 400 in store for me. And the fact that it was coming in Vancouver? A lot of good memories there, Marchand said, smiling. Marchand was the victim of a spear to the groin by Brandon Prust with 1:53 remaining in the third period. The spear earned Prust a 10-minute misconduct and left Marchand down on the ice for a lengthy period. It prompted Zac Rinaldo and Tyler Randell to come to Marchand s defense. Prust will likely be fined for the spear, but spearing is not a suspendable offense. The issue was raised at the most recent GM meetings, but the general managers voted it down, according to a league source. I think it was Prust. I didn t really see who did it when it happened, but just kind of gave me a jab, got me in the fun spot, Marchand said. Marchand said he didn t think there was anything that precipitated the incident. The Bruins 5-4 overtime loss Friday against the Flames marked the first time that coach Claude Julien pulled a goalie this season. Julien yanked Jonas Gustavsson 1:56 into the second period for Tuukka Rask with the score 3-2 in the Flames favor. Julien said he did it to change his team s momentum. It was something that happened three times last season with Niklas Svedberg (and once with Malcolm Subban), with Rask needing to go into the game in relief. Gustavsson stopped 8 of 11 shots. Rask saw 26 shots the rest of the way, stopping 24. It s never fun to go in there when you re cold, Rask said. So you just try to go in and give your team a chance to get back in the game. I think at that point we were in the game, we scored a goal, tied it up. So I just tried to stand still and make some saves and give us a chance, but it s never easy. Watching his progress The Flames front office was very intrigued to get a chance to watch Frank Vatrano on Friday night. Vatrano attended development camp in Calgary in 2012 and the Flames seriously considered drafting him. Vatrano had five shots on goal in the game and two other attempts, but was on the ice for two goals against... Julien ended up seriously shortening his bench Friday, using Randell who entered the lineup for Rinaldo for just four shifts in the game and only one past the first period. Ryan Spooner played only one shift in the third period... Matt Beleskey ended a stretch of in which he had gone 13 games without scoring a goal on Friday night against Calgary. Asked if there was some relief in deflecting a Zdeno Chara shot past Karri Ramo in the first period, Beleskey said, Definitely. Sometimes it takes an off-the-shin-pad. Hopefully they keep coming. He later added the primary assist on Chara s second-period goal that knotted the score at 3... Julien brought the team in at 11:30 a.m. local time to Rogers Arena, a rarity on the second day of a back-to-back. Ten players took the ice for the optional skate. It just gets them up and gets them going, Julien said... Marchand s penalty shot Friday was his third shorthanded goal of the season and 18th of his career, which leads the league since Boston Globe LOADED:

12 Boston Bruins Harry Sinden remains active in Bruins hockey operations By Fluto Shinzawa GLOBE STAFF DECEMBER 06, 2015 Don Sweeney had been on the job for only a month when his first crisis erupted. In June, the Bruins new general manager learned the young defenseman he projected to be Zdeno Chara s replacement wanted out. Sweeney could have tried reasoning with Dougie Hamilton. He could have waited for former colleague Peter Chiarelli to sign Hamilton to an offer sheet and match the number. He could have stared down Hamilton, not signed him to a summertime extension, and made him reconsider his wish when training camp arrived. Instead, Sweeney acted swiftly to show Hamilton the door. It was something his former boss might have done had a player said he didn t want to be a Bruin. He had guts. He had guts to do it, Harry Sinden said of the executive who holds his former title. He could have signed him, then figured out some way to make us meet the salary cap. I don t know what would have happened. I shouldn t say it this way, but I don t think I could have done it any better than that. As senior adviser to the owner, Sinden helped to shape the process that resulted in Sweeney s promotion. With Sinden s counsel, president Cam Neely interviewed candidates, ultimately selecting his former teammate as Chiarelli s replacement. For Sinden, participating in hockey operations was an opportunity that did not arise often under Chiarelli s watch. He showed me a great deal of respect, which I was happy for, Sinden said of Sweeney s predecessor. He was really nice to me. But we never really had any conversations. He was going to do his thing, which he should have. Sinden can t help feeling more engaged with colleagues he once considered employees. Sinden drafted Sweeney in the eighth round in Two years later, Sinden traded for Neely. Sweeney and Neely have become like sons to the 83-year-old Sinden. That they re calling the shots like he once did is just fine with the Hall of Fame builder. To see them come here and do so well as players, and then move into the management of this team and run this whole operation, Sinden said, I ve got to feel good about it. I do. I feel good about it. The NHL has turned upside down since Sinden served as GM from 1972 to The salary cap shapes most of Sweeney s decisions. Goalies have turned into armored giants. The game rewards speed and skill more than size. GMs make their calls with analytics, not just their guts, as guidance. Players demand communication from their bosses instead of accepting benchings or demotions without a word of explanation. But Sinden still knows what he sees. His description of the Bruins is spot on. It s not quite a real contender at the moment, Sinden said. But it s shown signs that it can move into that second level of contention. As we all know, there s nothing like the Stanley Cup playoffs for upsets. There s just nothing like it. Eighth seeds win sometimes. I think we re on the edge of that. We ve shown improvement. We re showing signs of playing offensively, which I wasn t sure we were going to show. To Sinden s eye, Claude Julien has steered an in-flux roster in the right direction. Julien has designed and implemented a transition game with a higher metabolism. He s welcomed rookies Colin Miller and Frank Vatrano and helped them become effective players. Julien s challenge is to figure out how to squeeze more complementary production out of Brett Connolly, Jimmy Hayes, and Ryan Spooner. What we have is a real good coach, Sinden said. He controls this team. He controls our players. But what Julien can t control is roster composition. Sinden sees a class structure that has not expanded since when Chara joined the organization. Sinden terms Chara as a Category A player along with Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Tuukka Rask, and Brad Marchand. The Bruins are fortunate to have their skills. But they have been in the organization for a long time. Bergeron was drafted in They took Krejci the following year. On June 24, 2006, the Bruins acquired Rask from Toronto. On the same day, they drafted Marchand in the third round. Since then, their Category A players have gone elsewhere. They traded Phil Kessel, Tyler Seguin, Milan Lucic, and Hamilton. How they ll refill their top-tier bucket remains to be seen. David Pastrnak could develop into a first-line wing. Malcolm Subban might become an ace goalie. Based on their draft positions, 2015 first-rounders Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk, and Zach Senyshyn should turn into high-impact NHL players. In Sinden s day, it was easier to acquire Category A players. Some of Sinden s top-end in-season acquisitions included Jason Allison, Adam Oates, Andy Moog, and Brad Park. Two months into , zero trades have taken place. Only three players have played for two NHL teams this season: Bobby Farnham, Landon Ferraro, and Chris Wagner. All three were claimed on waivers by their current clubs. Every time Sweeney talks trade, the cap comes up before names. It s really hard. Really hard, Sinden said of making trades. I don t know how you do it today. I don t know how they do it. Trades in November? That was a good month to make trades. Nobody does that anymore. The salary cap makes you think before you do anything. The Bruins best route for continued relevance is internal. Sinden acknowledges there are no alternatives for team building in the cap age. We ve got to find a way to add either from people like Connolly and these guys we have already one or two players to come into what I call the A category of players, Sinden said. We might have had one in Hamilton. We probably had one in Lucic. Maybe in Seguin, but in a different way. We need to have these drafts he s making, all these picks come into this team and be pretty good players. That will improve this team a lot. When forwards work the puck low in the offensive zone, it seems natural to send in as many reinforcements as possible. But coaches are especially mindful about keeping a third forward high when the cycle is flowing low. Even savvy players like Patrice Bergeron need reminders about staying high. Forwards who get excited about creating offense cluster around the puck or even drift behind the goal line. Good for support, but not for spacing or preparing for a turnover. Before the Bruins departed on their three-game trip to Western Canada, coach Claude Julien drilled into his forwards, including Bergeron, the importance of stretching out the defense. Those are small adjustments we ve seen in our game where sometimes we get dragged in a little too deep, Julien said. When the puck gets turned over, you don t have that guy there. At the same time, I really find that when our third man has been high, he s also been in great position to receive a pass. Julien used Bergeron s goal against the Rangers on Nov. 27 as an example of what can happen when the third forward stays high. After winning a faceoff, Bergeron held his ground at the right dot. Oscar Lindberg remained close on Bergeron in coverage. As Torey Krug wound up for a shot, Brad Marchand and Frank Vatrano drove to the net, taking defensemen Marc Staal and Kevin Klein with them. Bergeron was in position to fend off a counterattack if Krug s shot didn t get through. He also was in the right spot to take advantage of open ice. Lindberg blocked Krug s blast. But by staying high, Bergeron was stationed to find the rebound and whip the puck into the net. Keeping a third man high may seem like a good scheme to slow counterattacks. But it s just as much about scoring as defending. From Oct. 25 to Nov. 15, the Rangers ripped off nine straight wins, mostly thanks to Henrik Lundqvist. Without that winning streak, they might be in even deeper trouble. Derek Stepan (ribs) could be out for a month. Kevin Klein will not be available until later this month because of a strained oblique. The Rangers were already in a tough spot before their No. 2 center and a dependable defenseman went down. Lundqvist has been under siege all season. Through 21 games, he had seen 684 shots on his net, the most any goalie has faced. It s not just because of his workload. It s because his teammates never have the puck. Only Colorado is a worse possession team than the Rangers. The Avalanche are out of the playoff picture because their goaltending hasn t approached Lundqvist s level. Dan Girardi, under contract through 2020, is fighting the puck in a big way. He s been up and down the lineup because of inconsistency. Captain Ryan McDonagh is not playing as well as he should, partly because he s