In the ups and downs of the hockey world, Adam Proteau discusses the Philadelphia Flyers giving a young fan a special night, a women's hockey showcase at the NHL All-Star game, the New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators falling apart in third periods this week and the Buffalo Sabres sending down their rookie.
New Jersey Devils forward Dawson Mercer scores on New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin on Nov. 28.It’s time for another edition of THN.com’s Plus Minus, a feature in which we assign pluses to some positive news items in the hockey world, as well as a couple of minuses.
Each topic links to the original stories from The Hockey News' team and theme sites. Let’s get to it:
PLUS: Philadelphia Flyers Give Fan Unforgettable Night
It’s somewhat of a cliche, but it’s true – the best part of hockey is the people who love the game, and that was apparent Tuesday when the Philadelphia Flyers played host to a young fan currently battling cancer.
As part of the Flyers’ Hockey Fights Cancer Night, nine-year-old Owen Micciche was assigned his own locker in the Flyers locker room, skated a rookie lap during warm-up, got to read the team’s opening lineup in the dressing room and spent time behind the bench with Philadelphia’s players and coaches. Micciche has been dealing with cancer since being initially diagnosed at six months old, but he's an inspiration to hockey fans young and old, and Philly fans in the building gave him a warm ovation.
We often don’t get to choose what happens to us in our lives, but we do get to choose how we react to adversity. Micciche has given us a wonderful example of courage and determination, and the Flyers deserve kudos for giving him a lovely experience he’ll carry with him well beyond Tuesday night.
MINUS: Late-Game Meltdowns for New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators
Losing games is always a downer for teams in any sport, but when you’re an NHL team that collapses in the third period of games, the pain is that much greater.
The Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders were among those teams this week: the Sens were already trying to come back from a 3-0 deficit to the Florida Panthers early in the third period on Monday when the wheels came off. They wound up emotionally overwhelmed and lashed out with a slew of penalties as they eventually lost 5-0.
On Tuesday, the Islanders blew a 4-2 second-period lead to New Jersey, as the Devils scored three unanswered goals in the third period – including the game-winner with just 23 seconds left – to fall 5-4. Among the handful of statistics Stefen Rosner gathered on The Hockey News' Islanders site, it was the seventh time the team blew a multi-goal lead this season, and they've been outscored 28-13 in the third period so far.
The Senators and Islanders both are underachieving this year, but at this point in the year, you’d think they’d at least be able to hold their game together and not embarrass themselves the way they did. There’s still plenty of time to turn their season around, but falling apart is a gloomy harbinger of what could be to come.
PLUS: NHL Gives New Women's League a Boost with All-Star Weekend Inclusion
The NHL’s All-Star Game will take place in Toronto this season, and the emerging Professional Women's Hockey League will have a prominent place on the opening day of that weekend. The NHL announced Monday that a 3-on-3 showcase game will go down at Scotiabank Arena on Feb. 1, giving prime-time attention to the women’s game.
As many have said over the years, a pro women’s league needs buy-in from consistent fans to succeed in the long term. This all-star appearance will generate interest and inspire fans to invest their time, money and emotion into the six-team league and women to take up the sport themselves.
To be sure, there will still be hurdles ahead for the PWHL, but it and the NHL are doing good things with this initiative. There might be no better city than hockey-mad Toronto to stage the event, and NHL players happily will give up some of their spotlight in the effort to grow the sport. Here’s to seeing more collaboration to driving people of all ages to the women’s game.
MINUS: Too Much, Too Soon? Buffalo Sabres Send Down Devon Levi
The Buffalo Sabres demoted rookie goaltender Devon Levi on Tuesday. Expectations heading into the season were sky-high for Levi, even though he's just 21 years old. It may be good for Levi's confidence to play in the AHL after posting a 3.73 goals-against average and .876 save percentage through nine NHL appearances. The Sabres went with the hot hand in net: that would be Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who’s posted three wins, a .941 SP and a 1.67 GAA in the past two weeks.
Levi may well be the long-term solution in net for Buffalo, but in a season where not a lot of things have gone right for them, the Sabres have to use the netminder who gives them the best chance at winning consistently. Right now, that’s Luukkonen, and Levi will have to be patient before he gets a chance to get back to the NHL and improve his 2023-24 season.