NHL Pacific

Connor McDavid turned in another out-of-this-world performance Friday night to help the Edmonton Oilers even their second-round playoff series against the Calgary Flames at 1-1.

After falling 9-6 in the opening act of the Battle of Alberta and falling behind 1-0 in the series, McDavid put the team on his back in a 5-3 victory in Game 2.

The electric forward ended up with one goal and one assist for two points, putting him in elite company:

McDavid nearly had three points, but a second-period goal by Leon Draisaitl that would have yielded him an assist was waved off when it was deemed that McDavid interfered with Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom.

Mere seconds later, McDavid made up for the call by scoring a slick goal of his own off a feed from Duncan Keith:

McDavid made Markstrom look silly on the goal, which resulted in a ton of reaction on social media.

Observers primarily marveled at McDavid's ability, put him head and shoulders above the rest and even openly wondered if there is a more elite league than the NHL for him to dominate as well:

The Oilers were down by scores of 2-0 and 3-1 in Game 2, and they appeared to be in dire straits after already dropping Game 1.

McDavid's goal to cut the deficit to 3-2 seemingly energized the Oilers, as it was the first of four consecutive goals they scored, including Zach Hyman's go-ahead shorthanded goal in the third period.

Edmonton is far from out of the woods since it is facing a stacked Flames team in the midst of goalie Mike Smith struggling in between the pipes, but McDavid gave the Oilers new life and a fighting chance to reach the Western Conference Finals.

San Jose Sharks legend Patrick Marleau, the NHL's all-time leader in regular-season games played, announced his retirement Tuesday.

Marleau, who didn't play during the 2021-22 season, confirmed the decision in a piece for the Players' Tribune entitled "Thank You, Hockey":

It's bittersweet for sure, but I have so much to look forward to. Who knows what the world has in store for me. If you would have told that kid on the frozen pond that he would break a games-played record held by none other than Gordie Howe, he would have thought you were crazy. It was never something I aimed for; it was just me loving this game so much that I never, ever wanted to hang up my skates. I am beyond lucky to have had the career I had, but I did not get here by myself.

Marleau, 42, was selected by the Sharks with the No. 2 pick in the 1997 NHL draft after a standout junior career with the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds.

The Canadian center spent the first 19 seasons of his 23-year career in San Jose. He owns numerous franchise records, including goals (522), points (1,111) and games played (1,607).

He left the Sharks in 2017 to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He came back to the Shark Tank in 2019 before getting traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 2020 playoff run. He then returned to San Jose one last time to finish his career.

"I can't stress this one enough: thank you to the people of San Jose and the Sharks franchise," Marleau wrote. "I came to San Jose as a 17-year-old boy. I had big dreams and you showed faith in me from day one. Thank you for allowing me to put that jersey on, year after year, decade after decade."

In all, the dynamic forward tallied 1,197 points (566 goals and 631 assists) across 1,779 games. He passed Howe, who'd owned the games-played record since 1961, in April 2021.

His career accolades also included three All-Star Game appearances and two Olympic gold medals while playing for Team Canada at the 2010 Vancouver and 2014 Sochi Games.

Along with the Sharks, Marleau thanked his parents, his wife and kids, several members of the San Jose organization, his teammates—including a shoutout to "Jumbo" Joe Thornton—and the other teams he suited up for over the past two-plus decades.

"And lastly...Thank you, hockey," he concluded. "For the lessons. The laughs. The tears. You let me live out my dreams."

Marleau should receive strong consideration for the Hockey Hall of Fame once his three-year waiting period is complete.

Edmonton Oilers star center Connor McDavid earned the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL scoring champion for the fourth time in his career, putting him in some elite company.

McDavid is just the seventh player ever to earn the scoring title four or more times, joining the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux.

It's McDavid's second straight season taking home the Art Ross Trophy. Gretzky and Howe are the only other players to win it four or more times before their 26th birthday. McDavid was joined by Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, who also won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the NHL’s goal-scoring leader for the second consecutive year.

McDavid recorded 44 goals and 79 assists in 80 games to finish with a career-high 123 points. It's the second-highest point total recorded by an NHL player over the last 15 seasons. He finished way ahead of Calgary Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau and Florida Panthers left wing Jonathan Huberdeau, who both notched 115 points this season.

A two-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner as the league's MVP, McDavid now has compiled 239 goals and 458 assists for 697 points through his first seven NHL seasons. His career average of 1.43 points per game that ranks fourth in league history behind only Gretzky (1.92), Lemieux (1.88) and Mike Bossy (1.50) among players with a minimum of 100 appearances.

With McDavid leading the way, the Oilers finished second in the Pacific Division with a 49-27-6 record. Edmonton will host the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Monday.

San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson, who has been on a medical leave of absence since Nov. 26, announced Thursday that he is stepping down from his post to focus on his health.

Wilson released a statement, which closed as follows.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who has reached out during my leave of absence. While I have made great progress over the last several months, I feel it is in the best interest of the organization and myself to step down from my current duties and focus on my health and full recovery. I look forward to continuing my career in the NHL in the future.

Joe Will, who has been serving as the interim general manager, will continue in that role until a full-time GM is found.

The Athletic reported the following on Wilson's health when the medical leave of absence was announced.

"Wilson has been dealing with a persistent cough since the Sharks’ rookie camp in Scottsdale, Ariz., in mid-September. It is not believed to be COVID-related. He is expected to remain at his home in Arizona while he recovers."

Per Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News, Wilson stayed in contact with both Will and Sharks Sports & Entertainment president Jonathan Becher during his leave.

An "extensive, external search" will now take place to find Wilson's replacement.

That person will have big shoes to fill. The 64-year-old Wilson guided the Sharks to 14 playoff appearances in his first 15 seasons. San Jose made the conference finals five times and reached the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, where it fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Sharks also won 51 or more regular-season games four times.

The Sharks have missed the playoffs each of the last two seasons and will almost certainly fail to make the postseason this year; there's work to be done for the next GM.

However, Wilson's legacy is one of remarkable success. San Jose had never made the conference finals in 12 seasons before Wilson's arrival, and the team was coming off a 73-point season when he arrived.

Wilson changed the narrative quickly, with the Sharks improving to 104 points and making the 2004 Western Conference Finals. Thanks to him, San Jose was a powerhouse for a decade-plus.

The Calgary Flames announced Monday they have acquired Tyler Toffoli in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens.

Montreal will receive a 2022 first-round pick (top-10 protected), a 2023 fifth-round pick, forward Tyler Pitlick and unsigned drafted player Emil Heineman, who was a second-round pick in 2020.

Toffoli scored nine goals with 17 assists in 37 games for the Canadiens, which are looking to rebuild after producing an NHL-worst 23 points in 48 games.

The 29-year-old has been much more effective in the past, scoring a team-high 28 goals for the Canadiens in 2020-21 as the squad m  ade a surprising run to the Stanley Cup final. He tallied five goals and nine assists in 22 postseason games.

Toffoli also helped the Los Angeles Kings win a championship in 2014 and has scored at least 20 goals in four different seasons.

The experience and production could be huge for Calgary as the team looks to make a deep run in the playoffs.

A six-game winning streak put the Flames at 26-13-6, good for second in the Pacific and one point behind first-place Vegas Golden Knights. The organization has just one postseason series win since 2004, but the tools are there to contend in 2022 with a defense that ranks second in the NHL in goals allowed per game (2.40).

Scoring depth was one of the biggest question marks with few reliable options behind Matthew Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane. Strengthening the second and third lines will be key when the playoffs come around.

Montreal adds an experienced center in Pitlick as well as significant draft capital to build toward the future. Heineman, 20, also has plenty of upside after scoring 11 goals in 36 games this year for Leksands IF in the Swedish Hockey League.   

The Edmonton Oilers reportedly fired head coach Dave Tippett on Thursday following back-to-back lopsided losses to the Vegas Golden Knights and Chicago Blackhawks.

TSN's Darren Dreger reported Tippett, who compiled a 95-62-14 record across two-plus seasons, and assistant Jim Playfair were both dismissed.

Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson, who were part of the coaching staff of the team's AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, will take over on an interim basis, per Dreger.

The Oilers came out firing on all cylinders to open the 2021-22 season. They started 9-1-0 and stood at 16-5-0 following a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 1.

They've gone just 7-13-3 since that point, however, and it appears the losses to the Golden Knights and Hawks by a combined score of 8-1 were the final straw. They now sit five points behind the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

While Tippett's regular-season record with the Oilers was well over .500, the team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs each of the past two years. Their odds to reach the 2022 postseason had dipped 61 percent amid the recent cold spell, per Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic.

So Edmonton is betting on a coaching change will provide a spark to get the club trending back in the right direction before those playoff chances fade any more.

Woodcroft and Manson inherit a roster led by two of the NHL's best players, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but also a group that features limited depth. McDavid and Draisaitl are both over 60 points (125 combined), but only one other player (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) has over 30.

Trying to generate more production outside that dynamic duo will be crucial if the Oilers are going to turn things around and make a serious push toward the Stanley Cup.

The front office will likely be active leading up to the March 21 trade deadline in pursuit of a couple top-six forwards to bolster the scoring depth.

Edmonton can't wait another six weeks for its play to improve, though. So a coaching change was the short-term solution, and JFresh of EP Rinkside noted the team is due for some positive regression following some miserable puck luck:

Some fresh ideas from the coaching staff, a few more lucky bounces, modestly improved goaltending and a key acquisition could put the Oilers back on the path toward contention.

J.T. Brown and Everett Fitzhugh will form the first-ever all-Black broadcasting duo in NHL history when they call the Seattle Kraken's Feb. 17 road game against the Winnipeg Jets.

Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic revealed the news on Wednesday. 

Brown, 31, is the Kraken's television analyst alongside play-by-play announcer John Forslund. Fitzhugh, 33, is the team's radio voice.

Forslund will be working a nationally televised NHL game on TNT Feb. 17, so Fitzhugh will shift to TV for the Jets matchup. ROOT Sports will carry the game.

Brown played professional hockey for 11 years, including seven in the NHL with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild.

The 31-year-old spent more than five of those years with the Lightning and finished his career with 23 goals and 49 assists. Brown also represented the United States at the 2012 Ice Hockey World Championships.

"Just being a part of it is crazy to think about," Brown said, per Clark.

"Any time something like this happens, I think about a year ago and ask, 'Would I have thought this is where my path would be?' Here we are. We did know this was eventually going to happen at some point."

Fitzhugh's resume includes a stop as the play-by-play announcer and color commentator for Bowling Green State University. He also called play-by-play for the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms.

Fitzhugh pulled double duty for the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones, working as the team's radio broadcaster and the Director of Media Relations. The Kraken hired him in 2020.

"I've been trying to wrap my head around it," Fitzhugh said, per Clark.

"It might be one of those situations where it hits me in that moment. It’s something that has never happened before to have two Black men commenting on an NHL game together in the same booth. … I know that it is special and it is a big deal. But it truly will not hit me until I start doing that game."

Game time for the Kraken at Jets game is 8 p.m. ET from Winnipeg's MTS Centre.

Evander Kane is returning to the NHL three weeks after the San Jose Sharks placed him on unconditional waivers. 

Kane agreed to a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, agent Dan Milstein announced.

The Athletic's Corey Masisak and TSN's Darren Dreger previously reported a deal was in the works.

The NHL announced on Thursday that Kane won't be subject to further discipline after being unable to find "conclusively find that Mr. Kane knowingly made misrepresentations regarding his COVID-19 status or test results in connection with his international travel."

The league previously announced on Oct. 18 that Kane was suspended for 21 games without pay for violating the agreed-upon COVID-19 protocols by the league and NHL Players Association. 

The punishment came after A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports reported Kane was being investigated amid allegations he submitted a fake vaccine card to the NHL. 

The Sharks assigned Kane to their American Hockey League affiliate on Nov. 30 after his suspension ended. He was placed in the AHL's COVID protocols on Dec. 22. 

San Jose announced on Jan. 8 Kane was placed on unconditional waivers with the intention of terminating his contract. 

Per Kevin Kurz of The Athletic, the Sharks decision to waive Kane stemmed "primarily" from him allegedly taking an unauthorized trip to Vancouver in late December while in COVID-19 protocols after testing positive.

The NHLPA did file a grievance on Kane's behalf amid the Sharks' decision to terminate his contract. 

Kane's agent, Dan Milstein, tweeted on Jan. 8 the Sharks did "not have sufficient grounds for taking this action."

Kane has played 12 seasons in the NHL. He was the No. 4 overall pick by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009. The Vancouver native has played for the Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres and Sharks. 

The Oilers are currently sixth in the Pacific Division standings with 42 points.