Rules remain in place for emergency goalies

NHL general managers discussed the league’s emergency backup goaltending protocol at their regularly scheduled March meetings Monday in Boca Raton, Fla., but decided not to make any changes to the procedure.

“At the end of the discussion, the majority was happy with where we are at on it,” NHL director of hockey operations Colin Campbell said.

“It’s a good human-interest story. I think the process works ... our general managers are fine with where it’s at right now.”

Emergency backup goaltenders (or EBUGs) became a hot topic after 42-year-old Zamboni driver David Ayres was forced into action last month during a Carolina-Toronto when both of Carolina’s goaltenders exited with injury.

Ayres, a regular participant at practices for the Maple Leafs and their minor league affiliate, let in two goals on the first two Maple Leafs shots he faced but then recorded eight consecutive saves to earn a win for Carolina.

Avalanche

Vladislav Namestnikov and rookie Logan O’Connor, neither of whom were with Colorado 10 days ago, scored as the visiting Avalanche beat Detroit, 2-1, Monday night.

Namestnikov was acquired at the trade deadline from Ottawa and O’Connor was recalled over the weekend because of an injury run among the Colorado forwards.

The victory moved the Avalanche to within one point of Western Conference and Central Division-leading St. Louis, the defending Stanley Cup champion. It also extended Colorado’s franchise-record for consecutive road wins to nine and their season-high winning streak to seven.

Oilers

Leon Draisaitl had four goals to raise his season total to 43 and added an assist and linemate Connor McDavid had a goal and four assists Monday night as visiting Edmonton routed Nashville, 83. Three of Draisaitl’s goals came as part of a five-goal, third-period surge to blow the game open.

With the win, the Oilers closed to within two points of Pacific Division-leading Vegas.

Blue Jackets

Columbus right winger Josh Anderson underwent season-ending surgery for a posterior labral tear in his left shoulder, the team announced. Anderson was expected to be a desirable commodity at the trade deadline last week, but his injury appeared to derail talks. He was injured during a Dec. 14 game against Ottawa.

All attempts at rehab were unsuccessful and led to the decision for surgery. The timeline for the injury is four to six months.

Elsewhere

The NHL has not ruled out several options such as postponing or canceling regular-season or playoff games, or even playing them in empty arenas because of coronavirus outbreak but so far has taken no action on any changes. No deadline for making decisions involving playoff games was established, either.

The NHL, however, is unlikely to have any teams make a trip to China next season, as hoped. The league played preseason games in China in 2017 and 2018, but missed this past fall because of logistical issues with booking arenas. While the NHL was optimistic about a return ahead of the 2020-21 season, Daly said the outbreak has made it difficult to firm up plans.

Meanwhile, the International Hockey Federation canceled six upcoming lowerdivision world championship tournaments scheduled for March and April. The IHF made no changes or cancellations in the schedules for the top-division tournaments.