NHL NoteBook
“Old habits die hard. I was encouraged with certain things going through the pre-season. I was more encouraged even though we let that game get away against Winnipeg. Tonight we are back to square one. This isn’t going to be an easy process here. We will dig our heels in and continue on.” —Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins after his club was dominated 6-2 by Vancouver on Saturday night. Eakins spent the pre-season trying to shake the team’s image of being in a perpetual rebuilding mode, stressing that the time to win is now. It’s clearly going to take some time. For Vancouver, it was exactly as envisioned when head coach John Tortorella was hired. Fast, aggressive forecheck and relentless puck pressure in all three zones are hallmarks of the fiery coach’s style, and it was all on display. “I know you’re probably going to ask about 15 questions about shot blocking. Alex Burrows made the right play and if he doesn’t make that play, he’ll probably never kill a five-on-three again here. So don’t turn it into that. It was the right play to be made. Injuries happen in a lot of different ways.” — Tortorella, announcing that Burrows would miss about two weeks with a foot injury. He was hurt blocking a shot while killing a two-man advantage in Vancouver’s NHL season-opening 4-1 loss to San Jose on Thursday. The Senators knew they had some kinks to work out after their season-opening victory. After blowing a two-goal lead in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Maple Leafs on Saturday night, it’s clear they aren’t close to being done with that process. The kind of loose play in all zones, coupled with turnovers that didn’t kill them Friday night against the Sabres because of goaltender Craig Anderson’s stellar performance, doomed the Senators this time. Senators head coach Paul MacLean lamented “casual plays with the puck and casual plays without the puck,” which were not characteristic of the Senators last season. For their part, the Leafs were themselves marked with 33 giveaways. Ottawa leaves Tuesday for a four-game, West Coast trip and don’t play their home opener until Oct. 17. The young guns are hot for the Montreal Canadiens to start the NHL season. Centre Lars Eller had a goal and an assist as his line with Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk clicked twice in the Canadiens’ 4-1 victory over Philadelphia on Saturday night. The 24-year-old Eller has five points in Montreal’s opening two games of the campaign, while Gallagher has two goals and Galchenyuk has four assists. It’s a good time to be hot. The team’s top line is struggling with winger Max Pacioretty out with a wrist injury. Now the youngsters are getting more ice time, especially on the power play, than they got last season. Maple Leafs general manager Dave Nonis was taken to the hospital after feeling “unwell” during Saturday night’s game, according to a team spokesman. Nonis was feeling sick during the second period and saw team physicians at the Air Canada Centre. “As a precaution, [Nonis] was asked to go to the hospital for further testing,” a Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment statement released Sunday read. “He has progressed very well overnight and is expected to be discharged today.” Nonis, 47, is in his second season as Toronto’s general manager. Tampa Bay failed to register a shot on net in the first period in Chicago on Saturday. Despite that, the Lightning came back to win 3-2 as Ben Bishop made 37 saves and Valtteri Filppula scored the only goal of the shootout. It was the first time an NHL team had failed to register a shot on goal in a period since Edmonton on March 3 at Minnesota, according to STATS. It was the third such period for Tampa Bay in franchise history, and only the second time Chicago had pulled off the feat. The other instance was the first period of a scoreless tie against Detroit on Dec. 4, 1946. Jaroslav Halak passed Hall of Famer Glenn Hall with his franchise-record 17th shutout to lead the Blues to a 7-0 win over Florida on Saturday. Hall had 16 shutouts for St. Louis in 196771. Florida goalie Tim Thomas was pulled after the second period. He allowed five goals on 28 shots. “When it started to go downhill, it snowballed quickly,” said Thomas. “That’s a lesson. That can happen in this league. I was kind of waiting for the momentum to switch over to us, but it never did.” Marc-André Fleury, the goalie who has had trouble stopping the puck in the last two playoff seasons, set a Penguins franchise record on Saturday with the longest shutout streak to start the season: 1:15:06. “When it has been difficult, there have been breakdowns or chances, [Fleury] has been up to the task and has been really solid.” Fleury has sparkled through two games, turning aside 47 of 48 shots. He earned his 250th career victory and 24th shutout in a 3-0 win Thursday against New Jersey, and nearly wound up with consecutive shutouts. The Sabres’ Thomas Vanek finally beat him at 15:06 of the third period in Saturday’s 4-1 Pittsburgh victory.