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Los Angeles Kings’ Jeff Carter gets toilet paper delivery from teammate via drone

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Athletes are not exempt from the everyday problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic and that includes being susceptible to the shortage of household supplies.

Los Angeles Kings center Jeff Carter was apparently running low on toilet paper this weekend when teammate Alex Iafallo thought of a creative way to help out while still adhering to the CDC’s recommendation of social distancing.

CUBS’ ANTHONY RIZZO PROVIDES NEARLY 700 HOT MEALS TO HEALTH CARE WORKERS ON CORONAVIRUS FRONT LINES

Carter’s wife posted a video to Twitter of Iafallow airdropping a roll by a drone.

Grocery store shelves have been emptied out since local governments began implementing self-quarantines as a result of COVID-19.

Commissioner Gary Bettman suspended the season for an unknown period of time.

“Nobody knows how long the hiatus may be. Nobody, even the medical community, can predict it with certainty. And what we’re doing is, we’re modeling every conceivable alternative so that when it’s appropriate to go back to work, we will know what our options and our alternatives are,” he said.

The NHL suspended its season with nearly 200 games remaining before the playoffs.

Bettman said he remained optimistic about resuming and still awarding the Stanley Cup, which has only not been handed out twice since 1893: in 1919 during the Spanish flu outbreak and in 2005 because of a lockout.

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There are more than 46,000 cases confirmed in the U.S., with 11,226 cases confirmed in just one day. There have been at least 593 deaths.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Kings extend win streak to 6, Avs’ MacKinnon injured

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Mikey Anderson scored his first career goal, Jonathan Quick made 21 saves and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Monday night for their sixth straight win.

Austin Wagner and Alex Iafallo also scored for the Kings, who are on their longest winning streak of the season. Los Angeles is 7-1-1 in its past nine home games, including five straight wins.

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“I thought that we were doing a lot of things right these last five games and even before that. Everybody’s been ready to play, and that’s a big thing for our team right now,” Wagner said. “You know, this year hasn’t gone as planned as everybody expected, but at the end of the season here we’re trying to make a push and everybody’s just trying to get some wins here and still climb the standings.”

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored and Pavel Francouz made 32 saves for the Avalanche, who could have moved into first place in the Central Division with a win. Colorado lost for just the second time in its past 12 road games.

Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon did not return after sustaining a lower-body injury in the second period. Coach Jared Bednar did not know the extent of the injury or when it happened.

“He leaves the game, I’m concerned right away,” Bednar said. “I know that he wasn’t good enough to come back in the game tonight, so, yeah, I’d say that is concerning.”

With the Avalanche looking tired in the second game of a back-to-back, the Kings led 2-0 after the first period. Wagner converted a sharp-angle shot at 14:22, and Anderson scored when Colorado defenseman Kevin Connauton redirected his shot from the blue line past Francouz.

It was Anderson’s first career point in five games. Anderson is the fifth Kings player 22 years old or younger to score this season, joining Wagner, forward Matt Luff, and centers Blake Lizotte and Gabriel Vilardi.

“To see somebody score their first, there’s a lot of joy in that,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “It’s contagious throughout the whole bench. I think everybody on our team now, if I’m correct, has a goal. And there’ll be more to come as more kids enter the lineup, but it’s a really exciting moment when that happens for the team as well as the individual.”

Los Angeles outshot Colorado 11-4 in the first, though MacKinnon missed the net on a breakaway midway through the period.

“They deserved those goals in the beginning, even if it was a lucky bounce. They worked for it,” Bellemare said. “Then I feel like we could have packed it in and felt sorry for ourselves, but we battled all the way to the end.”

Valeri Nichushkin had his penalty shot saved by Quick at 12:15 of the second period.

Bellemare got the Avalanche within 2-1 at 2:19 of the third period when his shot took a late bounce and hopped over Quick’s glove, but Iafallo made it 3-1 at 14:35 on a breakaway.

NOTES: The Kings are 9-2-1 in their past 12 games. … Los Angeles went 2-0-1 in the three-game season series against Colorado. … Avalanche F Gabriel Landeskog had his eight-game point streak end, one shy of tying his career high.

UP NEXT

Avalanche: Host the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.

Kings: Host the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night.

Kings extend win streak to 6, Avs’ MacKinnon injured

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Mikey Anderson scored his first career goal, Jonathan Quick made 21 saves and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Monday night for their sixth straight win.

Austin Wagner and Alex Iafallo also scored for the Kings, who are on their longest winning streak of the season. Los Angeles is 7-1-1 in its past nine home games, including five straight wins.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

“I thought that we were doing a lot of things right these last five games and even before that. Everybody’s been ready to play, and that’s a big thing for our team right now,” Wagner said. “You know, this year hasn’t gone as planned as everybody expected, but at the end of the season here we’re trying to make a push and everybody’s just trying to get some wins here and still climb the standings.”

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored and Pavel Francouz made 32 saves for the Avalanche, who could have moved into first place in the Central Division with a win. Colorado lost for just the second time in its past 12 road games.

Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon did not return after sustaining a lower-body injury in the second period. Coach Jared Bednar did not know the extent of the injury or when it happened.

“He leaves the game, I’m concerned right away,” Bednar said. “I know that he wasn’t good enough to come back in the game tonight, so, yeah, I’d say that is concerning.”

With the Avalanche looking tired in the second game of a back-to-back, the Kings led 2-0 after the first period. Wagner converted a sharp-angle shot at 14:22, and Anderson scored when Colorado defenseman Kevin Connauton redirected his shot from the blue line past Francouz.

It was Anderson’s first career point in five games. Anderson is the fifth Kings player 22 years old or younger to score this season, joining Wagner, forward Matt Luff, and centers Blake Lizotte and Gabriel Vilardi.

“To see somebody score their first, there’s a lot of joy in that,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “It’s contagious throughout the whole bench. I think everybody on our team now, if I’m correct, has a goal. And there’ll be more to come as more kids enter the lineup, but it’s a really exciting moment when that happens for the team as well as the individual.”

Los Angeles outshot Colorado 11-4 in the first, though MacKinnon missed the net on a breakaway midway through the period.

“They deserved those goals in the beginning, even if it was a lucky bounce. They worked for it,” Bellemare said. “Then I feel like we could have packed it in and felt sorry for ourselves, but we battled all the way to the end.”

Valeri Nichushkin had his penalty shot saved by Quick at 12:15 of the second period.

Bellemare got the Avalanche within 2-1 at 2:19 of the third period when his shot took a late bounce and hopped over Quick’s glove, but Iafallo made it 3-1 at 14:35 on a breakaway.

NOTES: The Kings are 9-2-1 in their past 12 games. … Los Angeles went 2-0-1 in the three-game season series against Colorado. … Avalanche F Gabriel Landeskog had his eight-game point streak end, one shy of tying his career high.

UP NEXT

Avalanche: Host the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.

Kings: Host the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night.

Growing pains: Krueger, Eakins and McLellan staying positive

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Buffalo’s Ralph Krueger, Anaheim’s Dallas Eakins and Los Angeles’ Todd McLellan had no illusions about quick fixes in their first seasons. But in a league that has seen plenty of coaching changes the past couple seasons, all three have remained consistent in their message since training camp in September.

“We have not discussed in our room anything beyond what we can take care of today. We’ve done this since September and we’re going to continue to do it, so, really, those are big-picture discussions,” Krueger said.

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When it comes to this season, the Sabres, Ducks and Kings will not make the playoffs. Los Angeles and Anaheim once again are in a battle for the bottom of the Western Conference, but have shown strides in implementing more up-tempo styles of play.

Of the three teams, the Sabres have shown signs of the most improvement, despite losing their last four. After winning 10 straight to match a franchise record in Nov. 2018, Buffalo proceeded to win just 16 of its remaining 57 games (16-33-8), leading to Phil Housley being fired.

General manager Jason Botterill then went outside the box in hiring Krueger. The 60-year-old had extensive coaching experience in North American and abroad but had been out of hockey for five years, serving as a director and president of Southampton of the English Premier League.

Krueger has brought in a philosophy of wanting his team to “play connected,” meaning all five skaters working as one. It’s an attacking approach that emphasizes always moving the puck toward the opponent.

“It’s not like last year,” forward Jack Eichel said. “We’ve been through these times where we take a couple of hits at this time of year … and then all of a sudden the wheels fall off. That’s not happening here.”

Eakins was promoted to Anaheim’s top bench spot after four seasons with its San Diego AHL affiliate. He has characterized the organization’s philosophy as transitioning instead of rebuilding, equating it to the process Boston went through a couple years ago.

While Eakins has been pleased with his team’s effort and being more aggressive on the forecheck, the main thing he has been stressing the past couple weeks is trying to rush the net and getting more goals that might now show up in highlights.

“It doesn’t have to be a clean shot on the net. If you watch the highlights every night, there are a whole lot of dirty goals being scored everywhere,” he said. “That’s how we’re going to have to keep committing to getting pucks into the zone in front of the net. The biggest thing is to not be frustrated by it, dig in and stay after it.”

McLellan has always had the toughest rebuilding job of all. The Kings are hampered by veterans with large contracts while trying to slowly work in younger players. McLellan has liked that the veterans have bought in to a quicker pace of play, especially on the power play, but has stressed that the last quarter of the season will be an evaluation period for everyone.

“This is the group that is going to move the needle, as we talked about. Individually and collectively. It’s time to dig in,” he said. “The people that are in that locker room right now, the older players and veterans, we’ve addressed all of them and are aware what their roles could be and how hard they have to play in practice so everybody else can keep their eyes on them. Then there are the followers. The leaders and the followers have to do it all together.”

SIX DEGREES FROM EDMONTON?

McLellan, Kreuger and Eakins share one thing in common — they all coached Edmonton. Of the five teams with first-year coaches, the Oilers are the only one that may make the playoffs, as Dave Tippett has them second in the Pacific Division.

Joel Quenneville has had Florida in postseason contention for most of the season, but the Panthers are five points out of a wild-card spot.

GAME OF THE WEEK

Late-season games between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins always carry high stakes and Saturday’s will be no different. The Capitals lead the Metropolitan Division, but just four points separate the top three spots in the division.

LEADERS (through Tuesday)

Goals: David Pastrnak (Boston) 47; Assists: Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton), 65; Points: Draisaitl, 108; Ice time: Thomas Chabot (Ottawa), 26:01; Wins: Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay), 33; Goals-against average: Tuukka Rask (Boston), 2.13; Save percentage: Pavel Francouz (Colorado), .929; Darcy Kuemper (Arizona), .929; Anton Khudobin (Dallas), .929.

Growing pains: Krueger, Eakins and McLellan staying positive

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Buffalo’s Ralph Krueger, Anaheim’s Dallas Eakins and Los Angeles’ Todd McLellan had no illusions about quick fixes in their first seasons. But in a league that has seen plenty of coaching changes the past couple seasons, all three have remained consistent in their message since training camp in September.

“We have not discussed in our room anything beyond what we can take care of today. We’ve done this since September and we’re going to continue to do it, so, really, those are big-picture discussions,” Krueger said.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

When it comes to this season, the Sabres, Ducks and Kings will not make the playoffs. Los Angeles and Anaheim once again are in a battle for the bottom of the Western Conference, but have shown strides in implementing more up-tempo styles of play.

Of the three teams, the Sabres have shown signs of the most improvement, despite losing their last four. After winning 10 straight to match a franchise record in Nov. 2018, Buffalo proceeded to win just 16 of its remaining 57 games (16-33-8), leading to Phil Housley being fired.

General manager Jason Botterill then went outside the box in hiring Krueger. The 60-year-old had extensive coaching experience in North American and abroad but had been out of hockey for five years, serving as a director and president of Southampton of the English Premier League.

Krueger has brought in a philosophy of wanting his team to “play connected,” meaning all five skaters working as one. It’s an attacking approach that emphasizes always moving the puck toward the opponent.

“It’s not like last year,” forward Jack Eichel said. “We’ve been through these times where we take a couple of hits at this time of year … and then all of a sudden the wheels fall off. That’s not happening here.”

Eakins was promoted to Anaheim’s top bench spot after four seasons with its San Diego AHL affiliate. He has characterized the organization’s philosophy as transitioning instead of rebuilding, equating it to the process Boston went through a couple years ago.

While Eakins has been pleased with his team’s effort and being more aggressive on the forecheck, the main thing he has been stressing the past couple weeks is trying to rush the net and getting more goals that might now show up in highlights.

“It doesn’t have to be a clean shot on the net. If you watch the highlights every night, there are a whole lot of dirty goals being scored everywhere,” he said. “That’s how we’re going to have to keep committing to getting pucks into the zone in front of the net. The biggest thing is to not be frustrated by it, dig in and stay after it.”

McLellan has always had the toughest rebuilding job of all. The Kings are hampered by veterans with large contracts while trying to slowly work in younger players. McLellan has liked that the veterans have bought in to a quicker pace of play, especially on the power play, but has stressed that the last quarter of the season will be an evaluation period for everyone.

“This is the group that is going to move the needle, as we talked about. Individually and collectively. It’s time to dig in,” he said. “The people that are in that locker room right now, the older players and veterans, we’ve addressed all of them and are aware what their roles could be and how hard they have to play in practice so everybody else can keep their eyes on them. Then there are the followers. The leaders and the followers have to do it all together.”

SIX DEGREES FROM EDMONTON?

McLellan, Kreuger and Eakins share one thing in common — they all coached Edmonton. Of the five teams with first-year coaches, the Oilers are the only one that may make the playoffs, as Dave Tippett has them second in the Pacific Division.

Joel Quenneville has had Florida in postseason contention for most of the season, but the Panthers are five points out of a wild-card spot.

GAME OF THE WEEK

Late-season games between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins always carry high stakes and Saturday’s will be no different. The Capitals lead the Metropolitan Division, but just four points separate the top three spots in the division.

LEADERS (through Tuesday)

Goals: David Pastrnak (Boston) 47; Assists: Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton), 65; Points: Draisaitl, 108; Ice time: Thomas Chabot (Ottawa), 26:01; Wins: Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay), 33; Goals-against average: Tuukka Rask (Boston), 2.13; Save percentage: Pavel Francouz (Colorado), .929; Darcy Kuemper (Arizona), .929; Anton Khudobin (Dallas), .929.

Can Ovechkin catch Gretzky? NHL’s new Mr. 700 has a chance

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Alex Ovechkin is making the seemingly impossible appear to be not so far-fetched after all.

Wayne Gretzky’s 894 career goals has, for decades, loomed as one of hockey’s most untouchable records. The “Great One” set the bar so high it appeared out of reach for even the NHL’s best scorers.

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Ovechkin, on Saturday, became the second-fastest and second-youngest player to reach 700 goals behind only Gretzky. Because he’s only 34 and shows no signs of slowing down, belief is growing that Ovechkin can challenge Gretzky’s mark.

“Alex is going to score another probably 150 goals, maybe more, before he retires,” Hall of Famer and fellow 700 goal-scorer Phil Esposito said. “He’s got a chance to catch Wayne. There’s no doubt about that.”

Gretzky scored his 894 goals in 1,487 games over a 20-year career with the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers. A vast majority of his goals came during the sport’s highest-scoring era, and Gretzky reached 40 in a season for the last time at age 30.

Ovechkin is in the midst of his fifth 40-goal season since turning 30. Last season, he became the oldest to win the goal-scoring title since Esposito in 1974-75, and he’s on pace for 57 this year.

“I think he’ll score 50 until he’s 50 years old it seems like,” Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon said. “I never thought (catching Gretzky) would happen. I hope he can get close.”

Ovechkin is under contract through next season and would likely need to play four more seasons to take a legitimate shot at the mileston. Longtime running mate Nicklas Backstrom just signed on for five more years, so it’s not impossible to think Ovechkin stays around long term.

Asked what Ovechkin needs to do to approach Gretzky’s record, Esposito said: “Stay with the Washington Capitals. Stay with a good team.” They’d sure like that.

“He loves to score and continues to bring that to rink every day,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said. “I think he’s energized by seeing where he can finish in the top 10, and it’s kind of fun to watch an older guy keep it going like he has.”

Gretzky recently told NHL.com he’s rooting for Ovechkin to break his record, with staying healthy and playing on a good team the two necessary ingredients. Ovechkin has been one of the most durable players in hockey during his career, and the Capitals could extend their run of contending for several more years.

“The guy’s missed 17 games in 15 years due to injury — that’s freaking incredible,” former player and executive-turned NHL Network analyst Brian Lawton said. “They have a quality team that has staying power. He’s going to get three or four more years of being on an elite team.”

Backstrom, center Evgeny Kuznetsov and defenseman John Carlson are all signed long term after winning the Stanley Cup with Ovechkin in 2018. Wrapping up his playing days back home in Russia could be alluring to Ovechkin, so it’s unclear how many more years he wants to remain in the NHL.

“It just depends on how long he wants to play,” said Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who allowed Ovechkin’s 600th goal. “You know he’s going to put up anywhere from 40 to 50 goals a year, and he’s going to be dangerous no matter what his age is or what his team’s like. You know he’s got a phenomenal team around him, and you know he’s just going to continue to beat goalies.”

Ovechkin wasn’t always scoring at this pace. At the low point of his career, he scored 32 goals in 2010-11 and 38 in 2011-12 before Washington bowed out in the second round of the playoffs.

An elite NHL goal-scorer’s prime usually ends in his mid-20s, and doubt crept in that the same would happen to Ovechkin. Not so fast.

“I think everyone halfway through his career would’ve said, no, he’s going to tail off at some point,” Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano said. “But he hasn’t stopped, so he has a chance.”

Two-time NHL leading scorer Connor McDavid grew up watching Ovechkin play plenty against his idol, Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, and has been impressed with the consistency of the goals piling up.

“He just seems ageless and just keeps on scoring goals,” McDavid said. “I don’t see any reason he can’t keep doing that.”

The desire is still there. Veteran coach Todd McLellan enjoys watching Ovechkin’s excitement for scoring goals — except against his own team — and because of that is hoping he cracks 894.

“It’s great for our game to see him,” McLellan said. “As long as that excitement stays there, he’s still going to have the skill and the shot. He’s going to have a great team around him. I think he can do it.”

Lawton has run the numbers and can’t imagine Ovechkin not breaking Gretzky’s record. He’s conservatively predicting a 55-goal season, which would mean Ovechkin at his career rate needs to play roughly 300 more games to get close.

“Alex is in a completely different position (than Gretzky),” Lawton said. “Back then, players, we didn’t know and understand as much about nutrition and training as we do today. … Overall, looking in the future, I just don’t see there’s any way how he doesn’t break it.”

Boston’s David Pastrnak, who is currently neck-and-neck with Ovechkin and Toronto’s Auston Matthews in the goal-scoring race and might one day be the NHL’s next 700-goal scorer, “can’t really see” Gretzky’s record being broken. Pastrnak thinks Ovechkin will join Gretzky and Gordie Howe by surpassing 800, though Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy wonders about the goals beyond that.

“I think health-wise will determine that,” Cassidy said. “If he can stay healthy to at least 38, 39, 40, I don’t see why he won’t at least push up against it.”

Ovechkin is already in elite company in the 700 club with Gretzky, Howe, Jaromir Jagr, Brett Hull, Marcel Dionne, Esposito and Mike Gartner. He recently climbed past Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman and Mark Messier on the all-time list.

Yzerman closed a video message for passing him to Ovechkin by saying, “If you ever do break Wayne Gretzky’s all time record for the most goals in the league, after watching your Stanley Cup celebrations, I want to be invited to your party.”

Perhaps Ovechkin would party like it’s 2018, and it would possibly be an accomplishment that’s never matched again.

NHL teams get jump on deadline with flurry of early trades

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Tom Fitzgerald changed teams twice at the NHL trade deadline as a player and knows how it feels.

As interim general manager of the New Jersey Devils, he didn’t wait until deadline day to trade captain Andy Greene or forward Blake Coleman. Beating the buzzer by more than a week, Fitzgerald recalled his own rough experiences of getting dealt late.

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“I wish I was traded a week and a half before so I could get adjusted a little bit quicker,” he said.

Greene and Coleman are among more than a half-dozen players who are already adjusting to a new team because of an early trading flurry. The deadline isn’t until Monday, but some major moves are already done thanks to a clear definition between buyers and sellers, contenders interested in the same possibilities, and reasonable prices around the league.

“Over (last) weekend, a lot of things started to pick up,” said Los Angeles Kings GM Rob Blake, who has already made three trades and could still be active. “It seems after the All-Star break, a lot of teams start finding their direction on where they’re going, what’s available and prices.”

Los Angeles got things going by dealing goaltender Jack Campbell and versatile forward Kyle Clifford to Toronto in early February, and this week traded winger Tyler Toffoli to Vancouver and defenseman Alec Martinez to Vegas. On Tuesday, Pacific Division rival San Jose traded defenseman Brenden Dillon to Washington, and the Winnipeg Jets got blue liner Dylan DeMelo from Ottawa.

A couple of days earlier, the Devils traded Greene to the New York Islanders and Coleman to the Tampa Bay Lightning within hours of each other.

It isn’t taking much time to close the book on some big trades.

“I think there’s probably five or six teams talking to the same teams about the same players,” Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said. “And it sorts itself out for each team and then it happens quickly because then you’ve got to react to what happens with your other conversations.”

MacLellan didn’t rule out the Capitals making another move. But by getting Dillon early, he could be in the lineup for three extra games — which is significant given how tight the standings are.

It helps Dillon get acclimated, too. The 29-year-old who was considered the top pending free agent defenseman available didn’t have to sit around and wonder when San Jose would trade him.

“I’m sure you guys can read the papers just as much as we are, or social media,” Dillon said. “It was definitely nice just from the mental side of things to get that done with.”

The NHL several years ago moved the trade deadline from March to February to give teams more time to benefit from acquiring players. Fitzgerald was traded in March each time and played 11 and 15 regular-season games, respectively, after getting moved.

Times have changed.

“A lot of teams like to get to things early,” Fitzgerald said. “(Teams) want you to mesh with the team quicker rather than later. … A little bit longer runway is useful.”

DEADLINE DAY

All the early trades does not mean Monday might be quiet. The New York Rangers could wait until the last minute to trade forward Chris Kreider or one of their goaltenders. The Devils, Kings and Senators still have assets, too.

A few days after Montreal traded defenseman Marco Scandella to the St. Louis Blues, speculation continues to swirl around the Canadiens. Coach Claude Julien said, “I don’t know that the noise is done,” and players involved in rumors are trying to block it out.

“Anything can happen, obviously,” winger Tomas Tatar said. “I’m not too worried now. It’s just part of the business.”

WHO’S GONE

— Campbell and Clifford traded from Kings to Maple Leafs for Trevor Moore, 2020 third-round pick and conditional 2021 third-round pick

— Jason Zucker traded from Wild to Penguins for Alex Galchenyuk, Calen Addison and conditional 2020 first-round pick

— Greene traded from Devils to Islanders for David Quenneville and 2021 second-round pick

— Coleman traded from Devils to Lightning for Nolan Foote and 2020 first-round pick

— Toffoli traded from Kings to Canucks for Tim Schaller, Tyler Madden, 2020 second-round pick and conditional 2022 fourth-round pick

— DeMelo traded from Senators to Jets for 2020 third-round pick

— Dillon traded from Sharks to Capitals for 2020 second-round pick and conditional 2021 third-round pick

— Scandella traded from Canadiens to Blues for 2020 second-round pick and conditional 2021 fourth-round pick

— Martinez traded from Kings to Golden Knights for 2020 second-round pick and 2021 second-round pick

WHO’S LEFT

— Rangers: F Chris Kreider, G Alexandar Georgiev, F Jesper Fast

— Kings: F Trevor Lewis

— Devils: F Wayne Simmonds, D Sami Vatanen, G Louis Domingue

— Senators: F Jean-Gabriel Pageau, F Vladislav Namestnikov

— Red Wings: F Andreas Athanasiou, D Mike Green, D Trevor Daley

— Canadiens: F Ilya Kovalchuk

— Sharks: F Patrick Marleau, F Joe Thornton

— Jets: D Dustin Byfuglien

WHO COULD STAY

— Rangers: G Henrik Lundqvist

— Devils: F Travis Zajac

— Senators: F Anthony Duclair

— Canadiens: F Tomas Tatar, D Jeff Petry

— Sabres: D Zach Bogosian

— Wild: D Jonas Brodin

LA Kings trade Cup-winning goal scorer Martinez to Vegas

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The Los Angeles Kings have traded Stanley Cup-winning goal scorer Alec Martinez to the Vegas Golden Knights for two second-round draft picks.

The Kings announced the deal Wednesday moving the 32-year-old Martinez, their long-serving defenseman who scored the overtime goal that won Los Angeles’ second Stanley Cup in 2014.

Martinez has spent his entire career with the Kings, who drafted him in 2007. Although he has never scored more than 11 goals in a regular season, he earned a permanent place in franchise lore by scoring the series-winning overtime goals in both the Western Conference finals and the Stanley Cup Final six years ago.

Martinez also was a member of the Kings’ first championship team in 2012. He has 62 goals and 136 assists in 597 career games, and he has six goals and 10 assists in 64 career postseason games.

Toffoli scores NHL’s first outdoor hat trick, Kings beat Avs

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Tyler Toffoli will remember the Los Angeles Kings‘ 3-1 win over Colorado on Saturday night at the Air Force Academy for so many reasons.

The thundering jets’ flyover. The cadets high-fiving players as they came off the ice. The long clouds of breath, the short shifts.

Oh, and his three goals, the NHL’s first outdoor hat trick.

He didn’t even keep his stick for posterity.

He gave it to one of the cadets cheering him on.

“It was really cool. I think this whole experience has been pretty incredible. They did a great job,” Toffoli said. “The things that they do for the United States, all over the world, is pretty impressive. So, it wasn’t a very hard decision.”

Toffoli put Los Angeles ahead 2-1 with 54 seconds remaining when he scored off a face-off, and then he added an empty-netter with 4.3 seconds left in the third and final outdoor game in the NHL this season.

Teammates Anze Kopitar and Alex Iafallo encouraged Toffoli to get open after the Avalanche pulled their goaltender following Tofolli’s tie-breaking goal.

“I think that’s the most nervous I’ve ever been putting the puck in an empty net in my life,” Tofolli said. “But it worked.”

Aside from Tofolli’s hat trick, Kopitar said he took in many memorable moments in the NHL’s second service academy game.

“We didn’t have the flyover in the first two (outdoor games) we played in in LA and San Jose, so I was looking forward to that,” Kopitar said. “Just the atmosphere around here. The setup was great. And getting the win at the end of the day, it certainly helps with the experience.

“I guess the two Cali games weren’t as cold as this one, so that’s going to stick with me for a little bit,” Kopitar said.

Toffoli said in the third period “we were all kind of looking at each other as we were lining up and we’re like, ‘Did the temperature go down that much?'”

By then, it was a frosty 26 degrees but felt like 17 with the wind chill and high humidity.

The Kings won their second straight, improving to 4-12-1 since New Year’s Day.

At 6,621 feet above sea level, this was the highest altitude ever for an NHL game. Unlike during the week when the rink was installed, the snow stayed away. It was 32 degrees with 66% humidity at puck drop with 6 mph winds. The temperature quickly dipped into the 20s.

“I think having this outdoor game adds a little bit of adrenaline to the fact, so once you get out on the ice, you kind of forget about the altitude,” Kopitar said. “Until you get stuck out there for a long shift. But I think we managed it pretty well throughout the game. I don’t think anybody was too winded.”

At least not after the first 10 minutes.

Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick survived Colorado’s 15-shot flurry in the first period, when the Kings took a 1-0 lead at Falcon Stadium, where an F-16 fighter jet highlighted the north end of the field and cadets sat on the south side of the rink on either side of a runway complete with synchronized red lights.

The Stadium Series game was a sellout — 43,574 fans, more than twice the capacity of the Pepsi Center some 60 miles north of the Air Force Academy.

Colorado goaltender Philipp Grubaurer stopped 14 of 15 shots before leaving with a lower body injury after teammate Ian Cole slammed into him early in the third period and sent him tumbling. He was replaced by backup Pavel Francouz with 17 1/2 minutes remaining.

“It sucks. I don’t know, hopefully he’s not out too long,” Colorado’s Nathan McKinnon said. “I haven’t talked to him yet. Just a frustrating, frustrating game.”

The Avalanche outshot the Kings 33-23 and two power plays early on were wiped off within seconds by Colorado penalties.

“It would have been nice to see the Kings play from behind,” McKinnon said. “They were pretty passive after they got the lead. We blew a point, at least. I like our chances in overtime. If we’re a little more ready to bury those early, I had a couple of good looks myself I wish I would have scored on. A couple of rebound looks. It’s just unfortunate.”

Despite the disappointments, McKinnon said he appreciated the atmosphere.

“The coolest part was seeing the cadets and all the people who serve,” McKinnon said. “They had so much energy when we were coming in and out of the dressing room. That was really cool; it definitely stuck out for me.”

Tofolli’s first goal came in the first period when Iafallo tipped Joakim Ryan’s shot, which went off the left post and slid across the crease where Toffoli tapped it.

Country singer Sam Hunt serenaded the crowd from a stage near the fighter jet after the first period.

Quick stopped the first two dozen shots he faced but he lost his stick in the final minute of the second period after two quick stops and while he was reaching for it, Samuel Girard sent the puck sailing over his right shoulder to tie it at 1.

NOTES: The NHL announced that the Carolina Hurricanes will host an outdoor game on Feb. 20, 2021, at Carter-Finley Stadium on the campus of N.C. State in Raleigh. … This was the Avs’ second outdoor game and the Kings’ third. Los Angeles split its first two outdoor games, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles (3-0 loss to Anaheim) in 2014 and at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, in 2015 (2-1 win over San Jose). Colorado lost to the Detroit Red Wings at Coors Field in downtown Denver on Feb. 27, 2016. … This was the league’s 30th outdoor game. The other two this season were the Heritage Classic in Regina, Saskatchewan, on Oct. 26 (Jets 2, Flames 1) and the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas (Stars 4, Predators 2). … This is the second outdoor game played at a service academy. Washington beat Toronto 5-2 at the Navy-Marine Crops Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, on March 13, 2018. … The Kings have just one more road game this month, at Winnipeg on Tuesday night.

Toffoli scores NHL’s first outdoor hat trick, Kings beat Avs

By

Tyler Toffoli will remember the Los Angeles Kings‘ 3-1 win over Colorado on Saturday night at the Air Force Academy for so many reasons.

The thundering jets’ flyover. The cadets high-fiving players as they came off the ice. The long clouds of breath, the short shifts.

Oh, and his three goals, the NHL’s first outdoor hat trick.

He didn’t even keep his stick for posterity.

He gave it to one of the cadets cheering him on.

“It was really cool. I think this whole experience has been pretty incredible. They did a great job,” Toffoli said. “The things that they do for the United States, all over the world, is pretty impressive. So, it wasn’t a very hard decision.”

Toffoli put Los Angeles ahead 2-1 with 54 seconds remaining when he scored off a face-off, and then he added an empty-netter with 4.3 seconds left in the third and final outdoor game in the NHL this season.

Teammates Anze Kopitar and Alex Iafallo encouraged Toffoli to get open after the Avalanche pulled their goaltender following Tofolli’s tie-breaking goal.

“I think that’s the most nervous I’ve ever been putting the puck in an empty net in my life,” Tofolli said. “But it worked.”

Aside from Tofolli’s hat trick, Kopitar said he took in many memorable moments in the NHL’s second service academy game.

“We didn’t have the flyover in the first two (outdoor games) we played in in LA and San Jose, so I was looking forward to that,” Kopitar said. “Just the atmosphere around here. The setup was great. And getting the win at the end of the day, it certainly helps with the experience.

“I guess the two Cali games weren’t as cold as this one, so that’s going to stick with me for a little bit,” Kopitar said.

Toffoli said in the third period “we were all kind of looking at each other as we were lining up and we’re like, ‘Did the temperature go down that much?'”

By then, it was a frosty 26 degrees but felt like 17 with the wind chill and high humidity.

The Kings won their second straight, improving to 4-12-1 since New Year’s Day.

At 6,621 feet above sea level, this was the highest altitude ever for an NHL game. Unlike during the week when the rink was installed, the snow stayed away. It was 32 degrees with 66% humidity at puck drop with 6 mph winds. The temperature quickly dipped into the 20s.

“I think having this outdoor game adds a little bit of adrenaline to the fact, so once you get out on the ice, you kind of forget about the altitude,” Kopitar said. “Until you get stuck out there for a long shift. But I think we managed it pretty well throughout the game. I don’t think anybody was too winded.”

At least not after the first 10 minutes.

Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick survived Colorado’s 15-shot flurry in the first period, when the Kings took a 1-0 lead at Falcon Stadium, where an F-16 fighter jet highlighted the north end of the field and cadets sat on the south side of the rink on either side of a runway complete with synchronized red lights.

The Stadium Series game was a sellout — 43,574 fans, more than twice the capacity of the Pepsi Center some 60 miles north of the Air Force Academy.

Colorado goaltender Philipp Grubaurer stopped 14 of 15 shots before leaving with a lower body injury after teammate Ian Cole slammed into him early in the third period and sent him tumbling. He was replaced by backup Pavel Francouz with 17 1/2 minutes remaining.

“It sucks. I don’t know, hopefully he’s not out too long,” Colorado’s Nathan McKinnon said. “I haven’t talked to him yet. Just a frustrating, frustrating game.”

The Avalanche outshot the Kings 33-23 and two power plays early on were wiped off within seconds by Colorado penalties.

“It would have been nice to see the Kings play from behind,” McKinnon said. “They were pretty passive after they got the lead. We blew a point, at least. I like our chances in overtime. If we’re a little more ready to bury those early, I had a couple of good looks myself I wish I would have scored on. A couple of rebound looks. It’s just unfortunate.”

Despite the disappointments, McKinnon said he appreciated the atmosphere.

“The coolest part was seeing the cadets and all the people who serve,” McKinnon said. “They had so much energy when we were coming in and out of the dressing room. That was really cool; it definitely stuck out for me.”

Tofolli’s first goal came in the first period when Iafallo tipped Joakim Ryan’s shot, which went off the left post and slid across the crease where Toffoli tapped it.

Country singer Sam Hunt serenaded the crowd from a stage near the fighter jet after the first period.

Quick stopped the first two dozen shots he faced but he lost his stick in the final minute of the second period after two quick stops and while he was reaching for it, Samuel Girard sent the puck sailing over his right shoulder to tie it at 1.

NOTES: The NHL announced that the Carolina Hurricanes will host an outdoor game on Feb. 20, 2021, at Carter-Finley Stadium on the campus of N.C. State in Raleigh. … This was the Avs’ second outdoor game and the Kings’ third. Los Angeles split its first two outdoor games, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles (3-0 loss to Anaheim) in 2014 and at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, in 2015 (2-1 win over San Jose). Colorado lost to the Detroit Red Wings at Coors Field in downtown Denver on Feb. 27, 2016. … This was the league’s 30th outdoor game. The other two this season were the Heritage Classic in Regina, Saskatchewan, on Oct. 26 (Jets 2, Flames 1) and the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas (Stars 4, Predators 2). … This is the second outdoor game played at a service academy. Washington beat Toronto 5-2 at the Navy-Marine Crops Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, on March 13, 2018. … The Kings have just one more road game this month, at Winnipeg on Tuesday night.