Monday's hockey: Canucks' Zadorov praises Yzerman, mocks Walman: 'No time to dance'
Nikita Zadorov's favorite player growing up in Russia was Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman.
Now public enemy No. 1 in Detroit for receiving a two-game suspension for an illegal head hit against winger Lucas Raymond at Little Caesars Arena on Feb. 10, Zadorov discussed a number of Red Wings' topics on Saturday's edition of "After Hours on Hockey Night in Canada".
▶ On whether "Russian Rocket" Pavel Bure was his favorite player growing up in Moscow:
"No. I never liked Russian players," Zadorov said on "After Hours". "I liked Steve Yzerman when I was growing up. I was a Red Wings fan. Obviously, the Russian Five. Growing up it was Steve Yzerman and Darren McCarty.
"McCarty was just fine in those playoff series against Colorado. It's funny, I've got (Adam) Foote as an assistant coach and he tells me all those stories about the rivalry. It's too funny."
▶ On Jake Walman’s celebration after defeating Vancouver in overtime on Feb. 10:
“I think that’s disrespectful to the team,” Zadorov said. “We beat them next game. That’s all that matters.”
▶ On Walman's dance called the "Griddy":
“I don’t even know where it came from. What is the 'Griddy?'” Zadorov said. “I don’t play video games".
▶ On Zadorov mocking Walman with his own version of the "Griddy" during a 4-1 win over Detroit on Feb. 15:
“I was just trying to show them the scoreboard and tell them there’s no time to dance right now,” Zadorov said.
▶ On illegal hit against Raymond:
"This one, I told George (Parros, NHL director of player safety) straight up, I missed him," the 6-foot-6, 236-pound Zadorov said. "Obviously, he's a smaller guy and it's hard for me. I mis-timed it and take all responsibility."
Monday's NHL games
(At) L.A. Kings 3, N.Y. Islanders 0: David Rittich stopped 26 shots for his sixth career shutout, Adrian Kempe reached the 20-goal mark for the third straight season and Los Angeles snapped New York's six-game winning streak.
It was the Kings’ fifth shutout this season and the second for Rittich. The Czech-born goalie made 26 saves in a 4-0 victory over Edmonton on Feb. 10, which was Jim Hiller’s first game as interim coach.
Trevor Moore had a goal and an assist and Phillip Danault also scored for the Kings, who went 3-1-1 during their five-game homestand. Los Angeles is third in the Pacific Division with 77 points.
The Islanders didn’t convert on any of their five power-play opportunities and were blanked for the fifth time. They are tied with Detroit for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card with 72 points. Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves.
(At) Winnipeg 3, Washington 0: Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce Township) stopped 23 shots for his fourth shutout of the season as Winnipeg beat Washington.
Hellebuyck improved to 30-14-3, becoming the fourth goalie this season to reach the 30-win mark. He accomplished the feat for the fifth time in his career. It was Hellebuyck’s 36th career shutout.
Neal Pionk, Alex Iafallo and Kyle Connor scored for the Jets, who were coming off a 5-0 shutout loss to Vancouver on Saturday that Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness described as the worst game “by far” the team had played in his two-year tenure. The Jets have won eight of their last 11.
Charlie Lindgren had 26 saves for Washington, which began a five-game road trip with its third loss in six games.
St. Louis 5, (at) Boston 1: Kasperi Kapanen and Robert Thomas each scored in the first period and Joel Hofer stopped 35 shots for the Blues.
Entering the night eight points out of a wild-card spot and tied for 10th in the Western Conference with two other teams, the Blues snapped a three-game losing streak and completed a five-game road trip (2-3) with a solid win.
Kevin Hayes, Brandon Saad and Alexey Toropchenko also scored for St. Louis, which had just three goals during its losing streak.
David Pastrnak scored his 41st of the season for Boston, which had a two-game winning streak stopped.
(At) N.Y. Rangers 3, New Jersey 1: Mika Zibanejad and Erik Gustafsson scored in the second period, Vincent Trocheck also scored and Jonathan Quick made 20 saves as the first-place Rangers won their second straight after losing three of four.
Devils defenseman Simon Nemec spoled Quick’s shutout bid with 2:34 remaining. Kaapo Kahkonen finished with 23 saves in his New Jersey debut after he was acquired from San Jose last Friday.
The Devils lost for the eighth time in 11 games and for the third time in four games under interim coach Travis Green, who replaced Lindy Ruff on March 4. They trail Detroit by six points for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Quick improved to 14-5-2 this season and with his 389th career victory. The 38-year-old tied Dominik Hasek for 15th in league history and moved within two wins of Ryan Miller for the most triumphs among American-born goalies.
Playoff tracker
Atlantic
▶ Panthers (92)
▶ Bruins (91)
▶ Maple Leafs (82)
Metropolitan
▶ Rangers (88)
▶ Hurricanes (84)
▶ Flyers (74)
Wild card
▶ Lightning (74)
▶ Islanders (72)
(Top two wild-card teams make the playoffs)
▶ Red Wings (72)
▶ Capitals (69)
▶ Devils (66)
▶ Buffalo (65)
▶ Pittsburgh (64)
Zito a thinker, problem-solver
Sunrise, Fla. — There’s a question that Florida Panthers general manager Bill Zito likes to ask people. “What’s two plus two?”
The person typically seems a bit confused before telling Zito the answer is four. And that leads to follow-up queries from Zito, a lawyer turned agent turned general manager. He’ll ask if they considered another answer. Why not say six minus two? Eight minus four? Three plus one?
“They came up with an accurate solution to the equation,” Zito said. “But was it the best solution? And did they even take time to consider another solution? It’s all about problem solving and really thinking about the best solution.”
That's not Zito's approach to math. It's his approach to everything. He is a thinker. A problem solver. And he’s turned the Panthers, who played for the Stanley Cup last season and are at the top of the NHL again this season, into something they never were before he arrived – a consistent winner.
It’s an era like none other in team history, and the run toward this all seemed to really begin when Zito arrived.
“Bill takes in all opinions, but he does what he thinks is right,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “He has a very strong vision and belief. Bill has a tremendous capacity to process and work. He never stops. It never ends for him. He has the ability to stay on an idea and thrash it through and come to a decision.”
Some decisions, like trading for Matthew Tkachuk, are easy. Some decisions, like trading away Jonathan Huberdeau – the primary piece Florida gave up for Tkachuk – are hard. But most of them have paid off nicely for the Panthers.
Here’s the stat that might sum everything up: In the team’s 26 seasons before Zito’s arrival, the Panthers won more than half their games only three times. The club has already clinched that it'll happen this season for a fourth consecutive season in the Zito era. And since the team has the best record in the NHL, a second Presidents’ Trophy in the last three seasons is very much in play as well.
All this success under Zito has happened with three different head coaches in those four years, plenty of roster shakeups and while dealing with some salary-cap restraints that Zito had to navigate to make moves such as the one that brought Tkachuk to Florida. This past week, he made other big moves, bringing in Vladimir Tarasenko in a trade from Ottawa to help with the playoff push and signing defenseman Gustav Forsling to an eight-year extension.
He's setting Florida up for success now – with a vision toward the future as well.
“My first year, I came from Finland and everything here felt like it was on a different level. It felt like a dream,” said Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, who had already been in Florida for seven seasons before Zito arrived. “I thought nothing can get better. And then Bill came in, and he brought this way of thinking that we’re going to keep making everything better. Everyone works together.”
The Panthers have a .675 point percentage – meaning they’ve collected slightly more than two of every three possible points – in the Zito era; among every general manager in NHL history with at least 250 games on the job, only one has a better record. Sam Pollock’s point percentage was .685 in his 14 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens. Nobody else has a better record than Zito does.
Not bad for a guy who was a Milwaukee Brewers batboy as a kid, played college hockey at a little place called Yale, nearly aced his LSATs on the way to becoming a lawyer, coached for a bit as Wisconsin, was a past GM for USA Hockey and spent the first phase of his NHL life as a highly successful agent before moving into the front-office world as an assistant GM in Columbus before finally taking over in Florida in September 2020.
“He understands how to make a place a great destination for players to go to,” Panthers President Matthew Caldwell said when Zito was hired.
Time has proven how right that statement was. Zito has rebuilt the Panthers’ roster; no NHL team stays intact year to year, but the only primary players who were on the ice with Florida prior to Zito’s arrival are Barkov, Aaron Ekblad and Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Panthers have had 11 different general managers. None of the first 10 won more than half their games. Zito is the exception.
“He has a great eye for players. A great eye for people,” Tkachuk said. “Whether it’s players or trainers or a coach, he always has the right eye for the right type of people. And then he just goes after what he wants.”
Michigan-area hockey this week
Tuesday
▶ Red Wings at Buffalo, 7 (BSD/97.1)
▶ Grand Rapids at Cleveland, 7 (AHL/106.9/1300)
Thursday
▶ Arizona at Red Wings, 7 (BSD/97.1)
Friday
▶ Iowa at Grand Rapids, 7 (AHL/106.9/1300)
▶ Western Michigan at St. Cloud State, 8:30
▶ Cedar Rapids at NTDP U18, 7
Saturday
▶ St. Louis at Red Wings, 12:30 (NHL/BSD/97.1)
▶ Iowa at Grand Rapids, 8 (AHL/106.9/1300)
▶ Michigan State at Ohio State, 6:30 (Big Ten/1240)
▶ Michigan at Minnesota, 8 (Big Ten)
▶ Western Michigan at St. Cloud State, 7
▶ Minnesota State at Michigan Tech, 5
▶ Cedar Rapids at NTDP U18, 7
Sunday
▶ Red Wings at Pittsburgh, 6 (NHL/BSD/97.1)
▶ Western Michigan at St. Cloud State, 7 (if necessary)