One of the bright spots for the Vegas Golden Knights during their 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens Friday in Game 3 of their Stanley Cup semifinal series was the return of center Tomas Nosek. The former Detroit Red Wing was seeing his first action since suffering an injury in Game 2 of the opening round against the Minnesota Wild. Nosek was hurt when checked by Minnesota forward Marcus Foligno.

His return helped fill the void down the middle for Vegas. The Golden Knights found themselves with a shortage of centers. The injury loss of first-line center Chandler Stephenson was creating this dilemma.

Tremendous, subtle play by Nosek along the wall to exit the zone and lead to the Pietrangelo goal. @NHLNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 19, 2021

Nosek won 62 percent of his faceoffs (8-of-13). He also made a dandy play along the boards to get the puck free for a counter-attack on the Alex Pietrangelo third-period goal that put the Golden Knights ahead 3-2.

Vegas selected Nosek from the Wings in the 2017 NHL expansion draft.

Rumor Of The Day

Could Minnesota Wild forward Kiril Kaprizov be a one-and-done NHLer? Is he packing up? Will he be taking his Calder Trophy and going home to Russia? That’s what Kevin Weekes of the NHL Network is reporting.

As of now talks with likely Rookie of the yr Kaprizov & @mnwild have gone cold. My understanding is he’s in Moscow and it’s believed CSKA is interested in signing him for KHL & Olympics. @NHL @NHLNetwork #HockeyTwitter

— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) June 18, 2021

Weekes tweeted that contract talks between Kaprizov and the Wild have gone cold. He’s already back in Russia. CSKA Moscow, the KHL team with ex-Wing Sergei Fedorov as manager, is pushing hard to get Kaprizov’s name on a contract.

Deja Vu All Over Again?

Will Marc-Andre Fleury’s Game 3 turnover resulting in Montreal’s tying goal prove to be his Marty McSorley moment?

“Fleury’s puck handling has made a difference, huh Joe?”
*10 seconds later*
Oh lord.pic.twitter.com/xDhUV9llrs

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) June 19, 2021

In the 1993 Cup final series against Montreal, the Los Angeles Kings were moments away from taking a 2-0 lead over the Habs. Suddenly, Canadiens coach Jacques Demers, the former Red Wings bench boss, was calling for a measurement of the stick of Kings defenseman McSorley.

His curve was illegal. Montreal scored on the power play and won in OT, going on to take the series in five games. There was 1:45 left in regulation at the time of McSorley’s infraction. There was 1:55 left in regulation when Fleury made his puckhandling gaffe, offering Josh Anderson the empty-net tap in. In 1993, Eric Desjardins scored the game-tying and winning OT goal. On Friday, Anderson scored the game-tying and winning OT goal.

Around The Hockey Now Network

• Vegas Hockey Now: The absence of Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme due to a positive COVID-19 test is reminiscent of the 2002 conference finals, when Toronto lost coach Pat Quinn for two games due to an irregular heart beat. With assistant Rick Ley behind the bench, the Carolina Hurricanes ended up beating the Leafs in six games before losing the Cup final in five to the Red Wings

Adds that Oliver Wahlstrom is an option, but no decisions have been yet for Game 4.

Says he has “a lot of faith” in Wahlstrom if they decide to put him in. #Isles

— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) June 18, 2021

• New York Islanders Hockey Now: The Isles are desperately searching for answers to overcome the Tampa Bay Lightning in a playoff series. Remember what that was like, Red Wings fans? New York may turn to forward Oliver Wahlstrom for Game 4 of the series
• Florida Hockey Now: Panthers forward Sasha Barkov is finally getting recognition for his work at both ends of the rink. Barkov is the Selke Trophy winnner. He led the Panthers in both goals and takeaways this year. Kind of like that Datsyuk fellow used to do for the Red Wings

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