The NHL return's to action following a briefly extended Christmas break. Here is everything going on around the league that you need to know.
The longest active win-streaks before the break
The Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins have both been red-hot right up until Christmas. Both teams are on a 7-game win-streak.
The Vancouver Canucks have also been hot, riding a 6-game win-streak with their newly acquired coach Bruce Boudreau at the helm.
Who's been hot, And who's fallen off
The Hot
Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs is currently surging with 13 goals in his last 10 games. His streak has pulled him into third-place in goal scoring in the NHL. Only behind Leon Draisaitl and Alex Ovechkin.
Kirill "Krill The Thrill" Kaprizov has been dynamite for the Minnesota wild in his previous 15-games, putting up an outstanding 25 points as he takes the NHL by storm. He is now 5th in the NHL with 36 points in 30 games.
Falling off
Troy Terry of the Anaheim Ducks has been struggling as of lost, putting up a lowly 8-points in his previous 14 games. Prior to his current "slump", Terry had 22 points in 17 games and had been making a name for himself as an avid goal-scorer as he pulled the Anaheim Ducks into a playoff position.
Anze Kopitar of the LA Kings has been struggling as of late after a strong start to the season. He has put up 4-points in his previous 9 games in what has been a tough stretch for his LA kings team.
Canadian teams will no longer have full arenas
Following guidance from Public Health Officers in Canada, all Canadian NHL teams will either be reducing their capacity to 50%, or playing in completely empty arenas. Here's the impact the new order's will have on each Canadian team:
Calgary Flames: Capacity reduced to 50%, food/drink consumption banned until further notice
Edmonton Oilers: Capacity reduced to 50%, food/drink consumption banned until further notice
Montreal Canadiens: No fans permitted for the time being
Ottawa Senators: Capacity reduced to 50%, food/drink consumption banned until further notice
Toronto Maple Leafs: Capacity reduced to 50%, food/drink consumption banned until further notice
Vancouver Canucks: Capacity reduced to 50%
Winnipeg Jets: No fans permitted until at least January 11, 2022
Taxi Squads return to the NHL
The Taxi Squads were used in the COVID-19 shortened seasons, and will be making a return to teams this season. This allows for each team to have 6 stand-by players ready to play incase of a COVID outbreak. The hope of this move will be to allow teams to avoid postponement in the future.
After each club’s final game before the All-Star Break, its taxi squad will dissolve, the league said.
COVID-19 continues to linger around the NHL
30 players have been entered into COVID-19 protocol today, which is to be expected as cases increase heavily in the US and Canada. Almost all cases have been Extremely Mild or Asymptomatic, and testing has recently been increased as part of the NHL's updated protocol.
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