NHL pluses and minuses: Canadian teams honor fallen soldiers

Times columnist Helene Elliott rates the pluses and minuses in the NHL from the past week:

+ Bravo to the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens for coordinating a stirring ceremony Saturday to honor Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent, Canadian soldiers killed last week in Canada. High marks to the Senators and New Jersey Devils for standing together in a circle as “The Star Spangled Banner” and “O Canada” were sung in Ottawa and fans in Montreal and Toronto joined in.

+ The Hockey Fights Cancer initiative, staged by the NHL and NHL Players’ Assn. to raise funds for local and national organizations involved in cancer care and research, has been inspirational. Players, coaches and broadcasters have worn special jerseys and ties and auctioned them to raise funds, and each team will hold a Hockey Fights Cancer night to increase awareness and honor cancer patients and their families.

+ The Kings’ line of Tanner Pearson, Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli has been sensational, scoring 16 of the team’s 21 goals. Nicknamed “That 70s Line” for their uniform numbers (70-77-73), they’re speedy and efficient. Pearson has seven goals in 15 shots, a shooting percentage of 46.7. Carter is five for 19 (26.3%) and Toffoli is four for 18 shots (22.2%).

- Carolina Hurricanes Coach Bill Peters is from a town in Alberta, Canada, by the name of Three Hills. That’s three more hills than games his team has won this season. The injury-depleted Hurricanes are 0-5-2 and are leading the conversation about the draft lottery.

- Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta will undergo surgery next week to remove a thyroid tumor that the team doctor said has an 85% chance of being cancerous. The 20-year-old Finn, who is scheduled to play this week, is expected to make a full recovery without radiation or chemotherapy. He probably will be out for a month. Best wishes to him.

- Unhappy fans serenaded the Maple Leafs with chants of “Let’s Go Raptors” during the team’s 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins last Saturday at the Air Canada Centre. That wasn’t as bad as the 15-minute postgame scolding from Coach Randy Carlyle.