In today’s News and Notes, Pheonix Copley signed a new contract, Tuukka Rask has made history and the NHL announced their three stars of the week for the first week of February.
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Copley Signs Contract Extension
The Washington Capitals have signed Copley to a three-year contract worth $3.3 million. The deal carries an annual cap hit of $1.1 million and will keep the 27-year-old goalie with the team through the 2021-22 season. He was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 but both he and the Capitals opted to re-up their union together.
“It means a lot obviously”, Copley said after practice. “It’s a great organization and I’m excited to continue to have the opportunity to help the organization and do what I can to win games,”
Copley has gone 10-5-3 this season with a 2.98 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage and one shutout in 19 games. He really shined at the end of November until the beginning of January when he would go 6-0-1 between Nov. 24 and Jan. 9, the longest point streak for any Capitals’ goaltender this season.
Rask Sets Bruins’ Franchise Win Record
Rask made Boston Bruins’ history when he and the team were finally able to conquer the Washington Capitals on Sunday. The Bruins pulled out a 1-0 shutout victory against the Capitals which marked their first victory against the defending Stanley Cup Champions since March 29, 2014. Rask would come away from this game as the new all-time leader in Bruins’ wins with 253 victories under his belt, topping Bruins’ legend Cecil “Tiny” Thompson’s record of 252 wins.
Rask had a very rough start to his season but has since turned things around and is now up to an impressive 2.35 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in 28 games. He carries a 15-8-4 record on the year and has fully regained his status as the Bruins’ No. 1 netminder ahead of Jaroslav Halak.
Rask is no longer just approaching Bruins’ greatness, he’s reached it.
NHL 3 Stars of the Week
Mika Zibanejad has been named the NHL’s third star of the week.
The New York Rangers’ center would tie for the league-lead in scoring with six points, including three goals, in three games. He’d record a point on each of the Rangers’ six goals last week and was only held off of the scoresheet in a 1-0 shutout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 29.
Carter Hart has been named the NHL’s second star of the week. It’s been an incredible start to a career for Hart as he’s already being considered one of the best goalies this season despite only playing in 15 games this season. Still, in that time he’s gone 9-5-1 with a 2.58 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage and is appearing to be the goalie that the Flyers have been searching for over the last few years.
The 20-year-old Hart would post a perfect 3-0-0 record last week with a 2.27 goals-against average and .931 save percentage and has looked every bit the star that he was expected to be at the next level.
Jack Roslovic has been named the NHL’s first star of the week.
The Winnipeg Jets’ center would tie Zibanejad for the league-lead in scoring with six points, though he’d top Zibanejad with five goals in the week in just four games. The Jets would win three of four games last week and a large part of that was due to Roslovic’s impressive week, bringing him up to seven goals and 16 points in 51 games this season.
