NHL NOTEBOOK

Steve Yzerman’s first major hiring decision in 2010 became his first major firing decision when the Tampa Bay Lightning general manager relieved head coach Guy Boucher of his command on Sunday morning. Boucher, pictured, had only one year of professional coaching experience, none on hockey’s highest level. But Yzerman was not deterred from making him the league’s youngest coach, saying the 38-year-old had adapted to the players, personalities and level of play he encountered at every stage of his career. Boucher was a junior league coach for three years before taking over the American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs, Montreal’s top minor league affiliate. He led Hamilton to the second-best record in the AHL then turned down a chance to coach the Columbus Blue Jackets. Tampa Bay is next to last in the Eastern Conference with a 13-17-1 record. The axe fell one day after the Lightning fell behind by four goals in the first period of a 5-3 loss at Ottawa. Ottawa defenceman Eric Gryba, Nashville’s Taylor Beck and the Stars’ Jordie Benn all scored their first NHL goals on Saturday. “I’ve worked my whole life to score goals in the NHL,” Beck said. “Now that I finally got my first, it is a great feeling.” It was Beck’s third career NHL game since being called up from Milwaukee of the AHL on Tuesday. Toronto beat Boston 3-2 on Saturday despite being out-shot 33-13 at home. And that total might have been more concerning had it not been for the number of shots that were blocked en route to the net. The Leafs blocked 31 shots, including a few taken by Zdeno Chara, the rocket-launching Bruins defender. Marlies captain Ryan Hamilton, recalled as insurance with Joffrey Lupul facing suspension last week, blocked two shots. “Those are things that can really pick up a group,” defenceman Mark Fraser said. “As much as a goal or a fight or a big hit — you see a great role player, character guy like Ryan Hamilton stepping up and doing things like that, it certainly makes me want to fall in line and do the same thing.” Phil Kessel, pictured, also blocked one from Chara despite trying to jump out of the way. It hit him as he was coming back to Earth. The Boston Bruins wrapped up their four-game road trip with a 1-3 record and scored just five goals while going 0-for-9 on the power play. Boston plays 11 of its final 18 games at home, where they own one of the league’s best home records at 10-2-1. Devils forward Ilya Kovalchuk will be out 2-4 weeks after hurting his right shoulder. He was injured in the third period of the Devils’ 2-1 victory over Florida on Saturday night when he fell and slammed into the boards behind the Panthers’ net.