German_Force » Blues have earned points against the Avalanche

John Tavares isn’t the only free agent going back to a familiar place.Several players are returning to their former teams and comfortable situations – from James van Riemsdyk going back to Philadelphia on the second-richest July 1 deal to Matt Cullen taking a significant pay cut to rejoin the Pittsburgh Penguins he helped win the Stanley Cup twice. It’s not quite the tug at the heartstrings that led Tavares to sign a $77 million Adidas Noah Hanifin Jersey , seven-year deal with his boyhood Toronto Maple Leafs, but familiarity was part of the bustle on the opening day of NHL free agency .”I have that comfortablity with knowing a lot about the organization having played there in the past and having a lot of familiar faces still on the staff and stuff like that,” van Riemsdyk said after signing a $35 million, five-year deal with the Flyers. ”Even just remembering to my time previously is just how bad obviously they want to win and they’re willing to put the resources into that. That passion and that commitment to that was a big thing for me.”Unsure there’d be room for him after his old team re-signed Riley Sheahan, Cullen signed a $650,000, one-year deal with the Penguins after spending a season back home in Minnesota. Tomas Plekanec was away from Montreal for only a few months, signing a bonus-laden $2.25 million, one-year deal with the Canadiens after they traded him to the rival Maple Leafs at the deadline.Plekanec had planned since the end of the season to go back to Montreal, where his family remained when he went to Toronto. He will be back at the Bell Centre on a contract that can be worth another $1.25 million in incentives. The 35-year-old will get to play his 1,000th career regular-season game in his familiar blue, white and red uniform this October.”That was my priority,” Plekanec said. ”I wanted to come back.”While Plekanec obviously felt a strong connection to Montreal after 14 seasons there, David Perron will be playing for the St. Louis Blues for the third time in his NHL career after signing for $16 million over four years. Perron spent his first six seasons with the Blues after they took him in the first round in 2007, returned as a free agent two summers ago, was taken by the Golden Knights in the expansion draft a year ago and is back again after setting career highs with 50 assists and 66 points in Las Vegas.”Obviously (the Golden Knights) made the right decision with the way that David played for them,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. ”He certainly could’ve made more money on the market. He wanted to come back.”Thomas Vanek enjoyed his 48 games with the Detroit Red Wings in 2016-17 so much he wanted to sign with them last July but they didn’t have enough salary-cap space. When the opportunity presented itself this time, the 34-year-old winger zeroed in on a one-year deal and chose Detroit’s $3 million offer over a few other options.”I loved it there,” Vanek said. ”It was a good it. I really liked the whole culture of the organization and the guys were great. We tried to make it work last year. It didn’t work out, so I’m happy it did this year.”No one says hockey players can’t go home Adidas Alan Quine Jersey , but there has to be mutual interest. It was simple for the Penguins, who lacked something without Cullen in their second-round loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals. Pittsburgh had tried to reacquire the 41-year-old center at the trade deadline.It was a bit more complicated for the Flyers, who traded van Riemsdyk to Toronto in 2012 in a one-for-one deal for bruising defenseman Luke Schenn. That was under a previous regime that believed the 6-foot-3, 217-pound left winger wasn’t tough enough, but GM Ron Hextall sees a player who checks the boxes for a playoff contender with a few holes.”We felt with the fit that we needed some size,” Hextall said. ”We needed goal-scoring. We need a left winger. This one just fit all around for us and I think James felt the same way.”The personality fit was there, too, because Flyers management knew van Riemsdyk, who is 29. Coming through Philadelphia’s system as the second overall pick in 2007 helped with Hextall being willing to make his biggest free agent splash.”We know the person – people inside this organization – (and) obviously that helps,” Hextall said.Van Riemsdyk did his homework by talking with captain Claude Giroux, winger Jakub Voracek and recent Flyers players before choosing to return to his first NHL organization. He also fondly remembered the Flyers’ run to the Cup Final in 2010.”Hopefully again we get a chance to do something like that in the future,” he said.— TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Nikita Kucherov stopped an 11-game goal drought, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves for his NHL-best 32nd victory, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Thursday night.Yanni Gourde, Adam Erne, Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman also scored for the Lightning, who returned home after a 5-3 trip.Vancouver’s Brock Boeser scored his 26th goal and Anders Nilsson stopped 31 shots.Kucherov opened the scoring on his 28th goal by converting a rebound 14:36 into the first period.After Gourde got his 20th goal during a power play at 1:38 of the second, Erne made it 3-0 with 6:20 left in the second in his first NHL game this season.Stamkos completed Tampa Bay’s three-goal second when he picked his up 20th goal late in the period.COYOTES 4, WILD 3 Adidas Dougie Hamilton Jersey , OT.ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Clayton Keller scored Arizona’s fourth straight goal at 3:55 of overtime to give the Coyotes a comeback victory over Minnesota.Nick Cousins scored twice for Arizona. His second goal tied it with 18.3 seconds remaining in regulation after Arizona pulled goalie Antti Raanta for an extra attacker.Kevin Connaughton also scored, and Raanta stopped 25 shots.Eric Staal, Matt Cullen and Mike Reilly scored to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead.GOLDEN KNIGHTS 5, SHARKS 3SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – James Neal and Jonathan Marchessault scored in a 3 1/2-minute span in the third period, helping Vegas to the win.Brayden McNabb, William Karlsson and Erik Haula also scored for the Golden Knights, who closed out a 4-2 road trip. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 shots.Joe Pavelski scored twice for the Sharks, who lost their second straight. Timo Meier also scored, and Martin Jones made 28 saves.STARS 4, BLACKHAWKS 2CHICAGO (AP) – Tyler Seguin scored twice, Ben Bishop made 37 saves and Dallas beat fading Chicago for its fourth straight win.Tyler Pitlick connected with 4.5 seconds left in second period, and Stephen Johns also scored for the Stars, who strengthened their hold on the top wild card in the Western Conference and remained one point behind third-place St. Louis in the Central Division.Jonathan Toews and Artem Anisimov scored for Chicago, which lost its fourth straight overall and sixth straight at home. Anton Forsberg blocked 26 shots.SABRES 4, ISLANDERS 3BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Sam Reinhart poked in a rebound with 4:14 left, and Buffalo beat New York after squandering a three-goal lead.Jack Eichel and Evan Rodrigues each had a goal and an assist for Buffalo, and Ryan O’Reilly also scored. Robin Lehner stopped 26 shots to help Buffalo salvage the finale of a five-game homestand after going 0-3-1 in its previous four games.John Tavares Adidas Julien Gauthier Jersey , Anders Lee and Ross Johnston scored for New York.SENATORS 4, PREDATORS 3, OTOTTAWA, Ontario (AP) – Mike Hoffman scored 3:01 into overtime, lifting Ottawa past Nashville.Chris DiDomenico, Max McCormick and Magnus Paajarvi also scored to help the Senators win for the fourth time in five games. Craig Anderson made 35 saves for his 15th win of the season.P.K. Subban scored twice for the Predators (32-12-9), and Calle Jarnkrok picked up his 13th goal. Juuse Saros stopped 32 shots.Veteran forward Kyle Turris returned to Ottawa for the first time since he was traded to the Predators in November. He received a standing ovation during a video tribute in the first period.BLUES 6, AVALANCHE 1ST. LOUIS (AP) – Brayden Schenn scored twice and Vince Dunn had a career-high three assists to help St. Louis beat Colorado.Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist, and Ivan Barbashev, Kyle Brodziak and Alex Pietrangelo also scored. The Blues scored more than four goals for the first time since Dec. 9.Carter Hutton made 23 saves as St. Louis beat Colorado for the fourth straight time. The Blues have earned points against the Avalanche in 12 consecutive games. Gabriel Bourque scored for the Avalanche.FLYERS 5, CANADIENS 3PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Travis Konecny scored twice and Claude Giroux had a goal and two assists to help Philadelphia beat Montreal.Jakub Voracek and Ivan Provorov also scored, and Shayne Gostisbehere had three assists. Logan Shaw, Artturi Lehkonen and Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal.FLAMES 3, DEVILS 2NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Johnny Gaudreau scored the go-ahead goal and set up linemate Sean Monahan’s second of the game, and Calgary won its third straight.Backup David Rittich made 30 saves, giving Mike Smith a rare night off and helping the Flames improve to 15-5-5 on the road. Taylor Hall and Pavel Zacha scored for New Jersey.