News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- Boston Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller is out tonight with the flu, the team announced. Colin Miller will replace him in the lineup. The flu bug is common this time of year, with Miller joining notable NHLers Nick Foligno and Ryan McDonagh among those sidelined recently because of the flu. Teams take strict care when dealing with players with the flu because the virus’s high contagiousness could wreak havoc on a hockey team sharing close quarters. Meanwhile, coach Claude Julien said that Anton Blidh will draw into the lineup tonight, skating on the fourth line. Blidh, who was called up this morning from the Providence Bruins, has 1 assist in four games for Boston, but 6G and 4A in 21 games for Providence.
- Toronto Maple Leafs forward—and 2015 1st overall draft pick—Auston Matthews plays his first game against his hometown Arizona Coyotes tonight. Matthews was raised in Scottsdale, Arizona after his family moved there from California when he was small. The American-born forward represents a new wave of American NHLers and is seen as a successful product of the NHL’s sunbelt expansion.
- The Edmonton Oilers recalled AHL point leader Taylor Beck from the Bakersfield Condors today. They reassigned Anton Slepyshev to make room for Beck, and hope that his offense bolsters an already stacked forward unit. Beck has 9G and 21A in 19 games for the Condors, and many wondered why this move hadn’t come sooner. As for Slepyshev, the Russian forward has struggled with the big club, scoring only 2G and 2A in 15 games so far this season.