Hall of Fame player Ron Francis is out as general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes

RALEIGH Youth Matt Duchene Jersey , N.C. (AP) Hall of Fame player Ron Francis is out as general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes after four years but will remain with the team in another front-office position, new owner Tom Dundon said Wednesday night.Dundon says the team will begin a search for a new GM who will report directly to the new owner, while Francis will move into a new role as the team’s president of hockey operations.”Since I took control of the team, I’ve had a good chance to be around and assess the operations,” Dundon said. ”There are a lot of good people working in the organization, but I feel that a change in direction is needed when it comes to hockey personnel decisions.”The move came a day after the Hurricanes’ 6-2 loss at Minnesota, which left Carolina four points outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture. In that game, former Carolina captain Eric Staal scored two goals against his former team while helping the Wild jump out to a 5-0 lead. Francis traded Staal two years ago to the New York Rangers in a deadline deal for a prospect and two draft picks.Francis Mike Condon Jersey , 55, has served several roles with the Hurricanes and took over as general manager in 2014 after being groomed for the position by former GM Jim Rutherford, who has since helped lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to consecutive Stanley Cups. The Hurricanes have not made the playoff since 2009 – the longest active postseason drought in the league.Francis was a four-time All-Star who won the Cup twice with the Penguins in the 1990s. He finished his 25-year career with 549 goals and 1,249 assists and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.Francis brought in goalie Scott Darling from Chicago during the offseason and signed him to a four-year, $16.6 million contract. Darling has the worst save percentage in the league at .889 and has allowed at least four goals in half of his last 12 appearances.Dundon has been quick to shake things up in the two months since he purchased a majority interest in the team from longtime owner Peter Karmanos Jr. In his introductory news conference in January, he explained that the advice he received was that ”you’ve got to trust” the hockey-minded employees because ”I don’t think I’m going to walk in and understand more hockey than (general manager Ron Francis). That would be ridiculous.” WASHINGTON (AP) — Evgeni Malkin will not have a disciplinary hearing for his shoulder to the head of T.J. Oshie during the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 2-1 loss at the Washington Capitals.Two people with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press that Malkin would not face a hearing with the NHL department of player safety and therefore won’t be suspended. The people spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday because the league does not announce the lack of a hearing.With Pittsburgh on the power play early in the third period, Malkin passed the puck and lifted his right shoulder into Oshie’s head and kept skating. The officials conferred before deciding to give Malkin a five-minute major penalty for an illegal check to the head and eject him from Wednesday night’s game.Oshie, who returned and scored the game-winner with 1:14 left Ryan Dzingel Jersey , was not mad at Malkin for what he perceived to be an accident.“He maybe thought I was coming to hit him and so he threw the reverse shoulder out there, which I try to do that all the time,” Oshie said. “I just wasn’t expecting it being on the PK.”League officials agreed with Oshie’s assumption that Malkin was bracing for contact, not trying to deliver a vicious headshot. Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said after the game he was not concerned about the star Russian center facing further discipline, though Washington’s Todd Reirden left open the possibility.“That’s definitely a blow to the head,” Reirden said. “Those are things we’re trying to remove from the game. … We’re just really fortunate that it wasn’t something that was more serious and he was able to come back.”Malkin, the Penguins’ leading scorer, will be eligible to play Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes. Pittsburgh has lost five in a row and has just one point during that stretch.Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 41 of the 42 shots he faced for his first win since Oct. 22. He got some help from the post on almost a half-dozen occasions Womens Tom Pyatt Jersey , but Holtby also turned in his best performance of the season.“I felt comfortable as the game moved on,” Holtby said. “I got some breaks, too, early on. The posts obviously was a break we weren’t getting in the past.”Holtby kept the Capitals in the game, and Oshie provided the heroics. He left the game early in the first period after taking a stick to the face from Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta and needed two stitches to close a cut next to his left eye.Oshie returned for the second period but had to leave again after the hit from Malkin. He returned for the second time with about five minutes remaining.“My face is a little messed up, but I’m feeling pretty good now,” Oshie said. “He caught me there, and it is what it is. I passed my concussion test Jordan Nolan Jersey Womens , went out and won the game.”Pittsburgh outshot Washington 42-22 and got 20 saves from Casey DeSmith in his first career start against the Capitals. He was powerless to stop Oshie’s goal after a pass from John Carlson gave him a wide-open net.Late in a sloppy game full of turnovers and whiffs on the puck, Oshie just wanted to make sure he didn’t shoot so high he missed the net. After missing most of the first and third periods, Oshie made the most of his only shot in 13:51 of ice time.“I barely saw him on the bench there,” center Nicklas Backstrom said. “He came back right in time. That’s what big players do. They come back, they score the game-winner.”NOTES: F Zach Aston-Reese made his season debut and LW Garrett Wilson made his Penguins debut after being called up Tuesday. … Penguins C Derick Brassard missed his sixth consecutive game with a lower-body injury. … Capitals D Brooks Orpik missed his fourth game with a lower-body injury. … Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom was honored before the game for recording his 600th NHL assist. He’s the first player in franchise history to reach that milestone. … NASA engineer and Apollo 13 flight director Gene Kranz was in attendance and got a standing ovation when shown on the video boards during the second period.UP NEXTPenguins: Look to stop their skid Saturday at home against the Arizona Coyotes.Capitals: Continue their home stand Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.