Sport The Buzzer: Blue Jackets, Jets win without Laine and Dubois; NWHL season begins

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Three Stars

1. Patrice Bergeron – Brad Marchand

It looks like Bergeron, Marchand, and the Bruins got the memo. They already showed signs of life in a previous showing against the Flyers, but really dominated on Saturday.

As is often the case between Bergeron and Marchand (and David Pastrnak when healthy), it’s difficult to distinguish which star was the biggest Bruins star. Both Bergeron and Marchand generated three points (2G, 1A apiece), so it makes perfect sense to give them the top star slot as a duo.

In particular, Marchand probably didn’t deserve too much heat for the Bruins’ bumps on offense. He only failed to score in a single game so far this season, with this three-point night pushing him to seven points in five contests. It’s promising that Bergeron is heating up, as the 35-year-old continues to battle Father Time (six points in five games).

Pierre-Luc Dubois talks about why he requested trade from Blue Jackets

Pierre-Luc Dubois talked on Saturday night about why he requested a trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets and how he ended up in Winnipeg.It came after Dubois had requested a trade out of Columbus and went through a rocky four-game stretch to open the season where he was benched on two different occasions. That includes one benching that covered nearly an entire game. It was at that point that it became clear a trade was going to be a necessity sooner rather than later.

Who won the Laine - Dubois blockbuster? Thoughts from executives and scouts around the NHL, along with the analytics, to grade the deal. The Winnipeg Jets receive center Pierre-Luc Dubois and a 2022 third-round pick. The Columbus Blue Jackets receive winger Patrik Laine and center Jack

Blue Jackets to send Dubois to Jets for Laine , Roslovic. Dreger: 'Indications are that Jets are front runner to land Dubois '. Laine has appeared in just one game for the Jets this season due to injury. He has two goals and one assist so far in 2020-21. In 2017-18, he had a career-high 44 goals and 70

At this rate, the Flyers must feel somewhat fortunate that their record isn’t worse than 3-2-1.

Sums up the start to this season. pic.twitter.com/e3qS8RASmM

— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) January 24, 2021

2. Elvis Merzlikins

It’s easy to say that a team like the Blue Jackets might be motivated with the Pierre-Luc Dubois saga behind them. But it’s another thing to push all of those distractions aside and beat the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

Merzlikins helped the Blue Jackets to lock down an afternoon win with a strong 30-save performance.

So far, the Blue Jackets have struggled a bit this season, and Merzlikins hasn’t been immune to those issues. This marks his first win of the 2020-21 campaign.

3. Paul Stastny

For a while, the Jets struggled to pull away from the Senators. In fact, the Senators carried a 3-2 lead into the third period.

The Buzzer: Suter tricks Red Wings; Fleury, Wedgewood blank foes

A look at Sunday's busy schedule around the NHL.2. Scott Wedgewood, New Jersey Devils: The netminder made 28 saves for his third career shutout as the Devils topped the Islanders 2-0. His last NHL shutout came Dec. 2017 when he blanked the Devils while a member of the Coyotes. The win was his first in the NHL since Feb. 2018. New Jersey defenseman Ty Smith recorded two assists and now has points in his first five games.

The Jets have retained 26% of Laine ’s salary for the final year of his current contract, according to Dubois and Laine are a similar caliber of player, with almost identical draft billing and both currently Not only did the Jackets succeed in making this deal without giving up a Vladislav Gavrikov, but they

In a blockbuster deal, the Columbus Blue Jackets sent Dubois and a third-round pick to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Laine and Roslovic, capping Laine ’s current deal runs through the end of this season and is worth .75M. The Jets are retaining a portion of his salary in the trade to balance out

Even with Patrik Laine out of town, and Pierre-Luc Dubois’ window for a first game unclear, the Jets still boast serious firepower. More than the scrappy Senators, at least right now.

Stastny scored the game-winning goal on the power play, while also adding two assists. With PLD soon to be added to the lineup, Stastny’s probably the most likely player to see a lesser assignment. Production like this might force Paul Maurice to get creative to make sure that Stastny can still be a regular contributor.

[Dubois – Laine trade … What it means for Jets … many Blue Jackets questions]

NHL highlights from Saturday

Evgenii Dadonov scored his first Senators goal with some sneaky style:

The Buzzer: Electric Ehlers, red-hot Gibson, and one angry Tkachuk

Highlights, scores, and more from both the NHL and NWHL.Well, Ehlers might not want to reveal his other good friends, as the Jets might be tempted to trade them away. (Hey, hockey teams are superstitious.

The only way the Blue Jackets ' acquisition of Patrik Laine in a trade with Winnipeg turns out to be a success is if the star wing commits to Columbus Kekalainen didn’t acquire the 22-year-old sniper, along with Jack Roslovic from Winnipeg for disgruntled center Pierre-Luc Dubois , in order for him to

The Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets shook up their rosters significantly Saturday with a blockbuster trade involving forward Pierre-Luc Just two seasons ago, Dubois set career highs with 27 goals and 34 assists for 61 points in his age-20 season . Those numbers fell off a bit last season

When you’re as large as Victor Hedman, you’re not supposed to be able to score goals like these.

NHL scores from Saturday

Blue Jackets 5, Lightning 2

Bruins 6, Flyers 1

Canadiens 5, Canucks 2

Blues 4, Kings 2

Jets 6, Senators 3

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

The Buzzer: Blue Jackets, Jets win without Laine and Dubois; NWHL season begins originally appeared on NBCSports.com