NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 18, 2022

by | Jan 18, 2022 | News, NHL | 49 comments

A record night for Timo Meier, the Blues retire Chris Pronger’s number, an update on Carey Price, the stars of the week are revealed, and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

GAME RECAPS

NHL.COM: San Jose Sharks winger Timo Meier set a personal and franchise record with a five-goal performance in a 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. Tomas Hertl collected four assists and Erik Karlsson had three as the Sharks (44 points) opened a four-point lead over the Calgary Flames for the final wild-card berth in the Western Conference.

San Jose Sharks winger Timo Meier (NHL Images).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Meier is the fifth player in the past 25 years to score five goals in a game, joining Mika Zibanejad (2020), Patrik Laine (2018), Johan Franzen (2011) and Marian Gaborik (2007). The last player to tally six goals was Hall-of-Famer Darryl Sittler in 1976.

The Colorado Avalanche extended their home winning streak to 14 games by downing the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on a shootout goal by Mikko Rantanen. Pavel Francouz made 25 saves for the Avalanche after Darcy Kuemper left the game midway through the second period with a head injury following a collision with Wild winger Jordan Greenway. Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon each had a goal and an assist in regulation. Kirill Kaprizov tallied twice for the Wild.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Avalanche moved into first overall in the Western Conference with 53 points. With 47 points, the Wild holds the first wild-card spot.

Jason Zucker scored twice and Jake Guentzel tallied as the game-winner as the Pittsburgh Penguins overcame a 3-0 deficit to down the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3, handing the latter their fifth loss in their last six games. Jeff Carter and Kasperi Kapanen each collected two assists as the Penguins have won 13 of their last 15 contests to move into third place in the Metropolitan Division with 51 points. The Golden Knights (48 points) sit in first place in the Pacific Division with a three-point lead over the Kings.

The St. Louis Blues beat the Nashville Predators 5-3 on the night they retired former captain Chris Pronger’s No. 44. Brayden Schenn and Ivan Barbashev each scored two goals and collected two assists while Ryan O’Reilly had a three-point performance. Both clubs have 51 points but the Blues moved ahead of the Predators into second place in the Western Conference standings with a game in hand.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Pronger spent nine of his 18 NHL seasons with the Blues, winning the Hart Memorial Trophy and James Norris Memorial Trophy in 1999-2000. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015 and was named as one of the 100 greatest players in NHL history in 2017.

New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves in a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, handing the latter their eighth straight defeat. Brock Nelson had a goal and an assist for the Isles, who’ve won five of their last seven contests.

Dylan Larkin scored twice, including the winner in overtime, to lead the Detroit Red Wings over the Buffalo Sabres 3-2. Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist for the Sabres.

The Seattle Kraken snapped a nine-game losing skid by dropping the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on shootout goals by Ryan Donato and Joonas Donskoi. Blackhawks goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made 35 saves.

A three-point performance by Nick Schmaltz gave the Arizona Coyotes a 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens, giving the latter their sixth straight loss. The sad-sack Canadiens are dead last in the overall standings with seven wins and 19 points in 37 games.

HEADLINES

MONTREAL GAZETTE: Speaking of the Canadiens, they announced goaltender Carey Price will have to restart rehabilitation on his surgically repaired knee. He underwent arthroscopic surgery in the offseason but the week-long break due to COVID-19 earlier this month that closed the club’s practice facility put him back at square one in his rehab. There is no timetable for his return.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: I’ll be very surprised if Price returns to action before the end of this season. His rehab was also delayed by a month earlier in this campaign after spending four weeks in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program.

This should also put the kibosh on that silly speculation suggesting teams in need of a proven starting goalie (hi, there, Edmonton Oilers!) would try to acquire Price before the trade deadline. His hefty contract and full no-movement clause made moving him almost impossible. The uncertain deadline for his return should kill off that slim chance.

NHL.COM: Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand, Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov are the NHL’s three stars for the week ending Jan. 16, 2022.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Yes, that will mollify critics who believe Marchand got screwed by being passed over for the 2022 All-Star Game (end sarcasm mode).

TSN: Ottawa Senators forward Connor Brown will be sidelined at least three weeks with a broken jaw.

SPORTSNET: Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas, Colorado Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin, Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and Detroit Red Wings goaltender Thomas Greiss are among the latest players to enter the NHL’s COVID protocol.

BOSTON HOCKEY NOW: The Seattle Kraken claimed Karson Kuhlman off waivers from the Bruins.







49 Comments

  1. Did the price for Zucker just take a monumental leap forward?

    • Yes, two goals in one night? Now other teams will have to throw in their best player and add picks!

      • Chrisms he is a decent player and would be moved quicker if his salary was 4 4million instead of $ 5.5 …

        Everybody bags on this guy he is decent, he has had injuries, bad luck, covid he can help someone

        A Detroit or an Anaheim who have cap space and could use some depth

      • Zucker isn’t unmovable. He only has the one year left on his deal. He just has little no trade value at his current salary. If salary was held he’d have some value. But not much. I could see him dealt in offseason with 1-1.5 held for the year for a mid round pick.

    • George O… I have said all along he is a solid NHL player who hasnt found that magic in Pittsburgh that he had eelsewhere.

      Pengy wants to run him out of town and at times it looks like he is our best trade assets but his price tag is high.

      For me our best three trade options Kapanen who while young is inconsistent and in Sullivan’s doghouse a lot.

      Zucker is another trade option i think he can provide somebody depth scoring say a Anaheim or Detroit who has cap room.

      Marcus Petersson..young consistent too soft for me but has value

      • Do the Pens need to make a trade?

      • Hi Francis

        If Domingue continues as he did in his one game; and if Zucker can play like he did in periods 2 and 3 (that I’m not convinced of) of last night’s game; then the only mandatory move is the improvement at 3RD

        a cheap depth UFA forward; or sign E Staal— can only help

      • If completely healthy? Maybe for another goalie. A vet bottom pair d man for depth. I’d like to see them try to get something for kap. Maybe another struggling young player for the whole change of scenery thing.

      • i can tell you from watching Avalanche vs Wild battles over the years that Jason Zucker was a complete thorn in the side for the Avalanche. Always around the net and getting important goals to beat Colorado. Same thing can be said for Charlie Coyle. Two pretty good hockey players! …..GO AVS!!!!!!!!

  2. Zach Senyshyn might get dealt to the Blues today. It’s a great day for a trade. I wonder if Debrusk goes along with him.

    • Rumor or what you’ want to happen ?

      • Rumor

  3. $725,000+ off the books for Kulhman. Something is brewing for the Bruins.

    • Yeah, I hear they are on the verge of acquiring Connor McDavid …

    • Can you see calling yourself ShoreOrrParkGiroux? I think he’d love the Bruins enough to waive his NMC. Perhaps, he represents the Bruins’ best chance for a Cup any time soon. Time to gamble big?

      • I’d take him, Francis. He’s a terrific player, still.

  4. Good riddance to Karson I’ll tell ya SOP was so distressed when he found out about this , he immediately went out and tried to drown his sorrows with a Dairy Queen double large Moolatte. Get to work Sweeney need a 2nd line centre and left shot d get to work smuck!!

    • Mornin, Rick!

      • Debrusk Moore and your 1st?

  5. First of all…. Belated Happy MLK Jr day to all Americans on here

    Secondly…..Congrats Timo👍👍👍👍👍

    Re Avs game… I didn’t actually see the goal over the line… but ref told Edison that he DID in fact see it cross the line…. Did anybody here see any clip on line that showed that? It was very likely in and a great effort by Mac K… I just didn’t see it cross the line

    Now re Pens……

    Great to see a comeback win by Pens,

    That said…. Complete crap show first period…. Discombobulated , lacklustre, non caring, not awake

    All played very very poorly

    Notes to file for Sullivan….

    1. Thou shalt sit Ruhweedel in the press box….. and for a very very long time

    2. If you can’t read rule 1 or refuse to see that you have both Friedman and Riikola as far far far better options….. don’t play Ruhweedel on any special teams; he’s costly enough at 5 on 5

    3. When you have a full bench and your on the PK with a forward in the box (so all 6 D available)…. Don’t put 2 righties out together

    4. I am begging you to read number 1…. Over and over and over again

    Notes to HexBurkie

    1. Through 10…… move Ruhweedel out or at very least to Taxi squad

    Fantastic that they won

    Fantastic 2nd and 3rd periods

    Fantastic that they flipped Caps into WC spot, and moved up to 3rd in Metro

    They just can’t ever play like period 1 again…. Ever

    Many thanks to all who spoke up and said the right things during first intermission

    Great game Matheson (only Pen who came to play 60 minutes, and he did so, very well)

    • Dang auto correct… Evason not Edison

    • You know. I don’t stay up late to watch the west coast games. Didn’t see chad play. But his overall underlying numbers including the smart stats have him at about the level of a solid bottom pair d man.

      • Hi Chrisms

        I rely much more on the “watching” vs underlying stats and smart stats

        He was doing OK this year pre Christmas; last 4-5 games completely awful…. back to his old ways

        Matheson is repeatedly covering two D spots

        I keep saying that he needs to go to the press box.

        This is NOT tongue ‘n cheek.

        I really believe he would benefit with the eye in the sky viewpoint.

        He is just NOT playing positionally well at all.

        If it weren’t for Matheson last night…. there could very easily have been another 6 or 7 high danger shots against.

        Ruhweedel has just lost his positional wherewithal

        Sully definitely needs to try Freidman and/or Riikola for a week or two.

        Zucker got two goals (well, 1— he was facing the other way and Kappy’s rocket shot roofy, just nicked [did not change direction] Zucker’s stick, so Zucker got credited with Kappy’s goal.) so those numbers look great on him

        All Pens but Matheson played completely like crap in the first period.

        Jarry should have had one of the shots; no chance on the other two; but was giving big rebounds and flubbed a play of the puck

        All came out to play in 2nd and 3rd…. so somebody said something in the 1st intermission.

        Regardless; come playoffs, Pens can just not go forward with Ruhweedel as regular 3RD

        I’ve been very hard on Zucker all year and setting aside last two periods of last night—- no ifs ands or buts, he needed to go

        If he has in fact turned a corner and can play like he did in periods 2 and 3 last night— then he has value to the team

        If he resorts back to how he was playing up until Christmas—- then he would truly benefit a change of scenery

        He has talent; but is (was up until Christmas) not clicking on the team.

        I really like what Domingue brought … but that is 1 game—- if he continues at that rate— excellent combo of Jarry/Domingue

        I’d still take the gamble on E Kane if investigation proves nothing…. low risk, high reward

        $1.5 M cap—- $1.08 M can be buried— real risk is but $0.42 M in Cap…. cash risk —- nothing to the new owners.

        would love:

        Sid/Guentz/Rusty
        Gino/Carter/Kane
        E Rod/ Heinen/ ? (could be Zucker if he has turned a corner)

        Blueger/McG/ ZAR (maybe try Zoho in for ZAR)

        Tanger/Dumo
        Marino/Pettersson
        Freidman or Riikola or UFA (Miller?)/ Matheson

        Jarry/Domingue (if he keeps track record up— one game is too little to go on) or UFA goalie

      • Chrisms….Rudwhedel is an unsung hero for sure but lately he has reverted to sloppy play including poor coverage in front of the net and turnovers.

        He will get exposed when everything gets turned up a notch in the playoffs..

    • Pengy..
      –Rudwhedel was awful agreed. I think a good pick up, low cost, high reward would be LHD Robert Hagg of the Buffalo Sabres,

      He is a UFA, he is only 26, he is 6′ 2″ 205 LBS a former Flyer and Hextall likes him. He can replace Rudwhedel and yes you can have two left handed d-men playing together, Hagg is big, physical and a good net front presence.

      This myth that it has to be a righty/lefty combo is nuts if you are good enough you can play either side.

      He would be a nice fit on the third pair with Matheson.

      • HI BNG

        With you re Hagg and his ability and value— he would cost I think and not sure if the two teams trade

        That said— Re lefty/righty

        Agree if you are good enough to play both sides equally well— then whether they are L or R shooting should not matter.

        That said— there are some extremely talented Dmen that really only play one side.

        Ability to shift back and forth is limited to a minority (small minority) of Dmen; and for the most part; it turns out being a Right shooting Dman that can (and has ) play/played on the LHS

        There are even fewer Lefties that can switch to RHD

        If you saw the complete fiasco last night with two righties (Marino and Ruhweedel) playing on the PK — both didn’t know where to play— both moved (at the same time I might add) to the left and to the right; leaving someone uncovered in front of the net; and it cost the goal.

        Miller (Sabres) is a Rightie; would be a good add. Playing pretty fair on an abysmal Sabres team. He’s UFA

        However Cap is $3.9 M— Sabres would need to retain 50%… then at just over $1.9 M on Cap; replacing Ruhweedel’s basically $0.8 M…. the upgrade of Cap cost of $1.1 M (if they can work the Cap) is well worth it

        Comes down to HexBurkie actually having a convo with Sully to make him aware that the Pens chance of success in playoffs with Ruhweedel as reg 3RD is limited. An upgrade is necessary. As at now, Sully won’t even try Riikola or Freidman where the recent play of Ruhweedel would dictate this as mandatory.

        Chairot is one of those rare left shooting players that can play RD and LD equally well— Pens just won’t be able to outbid other teams

        Manson would be great…. but unless Ducks fall out of contention in a big way… he won’t be available.

  6. Deja vu all over again

    Yesterday I couldn’t see my posts for a couple of ours …. Now twins pop out…LOL

    • Yeah, once was bad enough …

    • I’m still having the delay issue. Posting this at 11:59 am east coast time.

      • Was able to see at 25 after noon. This post at 12:26.

      • 1:08. No posts.

        I’m not trying to be a butthead. But I’m truly confused as to what happening

      • I’m not sure why that’s happening, Chrisms. I notice they’re slow appearing when viewing on Safari on my IPhone but loading fine on all my browsers on my laptop. We cleared our cache yesterday so I’m not sure what else can be done. Have you tried checking it on other browsers?

      • I have essentially morphed into only using my iPhone and I do use safari. Is there an option to use another browser on iPhone? I don’t remember an upgrade happening since I noticed those issue (end of last week). I’ll cross my fingers it gets figured out or I’ll get used to seeing posts come out every few hours in big dumps.

      • Chrisms, it is the same for me on my iphone or my laptop. Chrome or Microsoft Edge.

      • And this one posted immediately?
        All good now!

  7. I was watching the 2010 men’s gold medal game yesterday on YouTube. Pronger is such a douche !

  8. Read alot of comments suggesting Marchand got snubbed due to pass transgressions. That’s hogwash; anybody watching knows Marchand has played in 2 all star games during them times and has toned down his antics the last few seasons.

    Marchand was snubbed not for his actions but because of his words.

    https://twitter.com/Bmarch63/status/1475886886799515657/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1475886886799515657%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbssports.com%2Fnhl%2Fnews%2Fbruins-stars-brad-marchand-taylor-hall-question-leagues-decision-to-pull-out-of-olympics%2F

    • You really believe that? No one in the nhl offices could care what he said about the olympics. I mean… dudes not even an all star.

    • Hi Caper

      certainly one explanation

      regardless— he was snubbed; and definitely deserved to be there

      I truly believe that

      1. there should be no ASG this year
      2. all ASG from now on need to have the best players invited—- not one selected gauranteed from each team

      • By “forcing” a selection from each team…. the best players are not guaranteed to play… here are just a few that absolutely should have been at ASG, but were not invited due to the current set up:

        Ekblad—- are you kidding me… a hair under PPG and second in entire league in +/-

        Jossi— just a measly PPG + ??????

        No Marchand— almost 1.5 PPG; 82 G pace for 50+ goals???????

        Shesterkin— 940,1.99

        and the list goes on and on

        But Dahlin got in …. 2nd worst on team in +/-

        Clayton Keller got in — WTF???

        Suzuki got in — not highest point getter on team; and second worst in +/- on team

        Eberle got in… not even top player on team — McCann has more PPG and GPG ; AND Eberle is worst on team in +/-

        Demko got in … goalies with 20 or more starts… 18th (Save percentage) and 15th (GAA) in the league

        Again—- there should absolutely be no ASG this year— if the Olympics are canceled and there are so many reg season games postponed and needed to be made up due to Omicron— there there absolutely should not be an ASG

        Next year— please got back to the old way for ASG— lets have a lookie lookie at the best in the league

  9. Marchand is not an all star lol really I believe he is MVP Boston without him are a cooked goose the guy is a stud. Brad said he is ok not being picked he is happy for Bergeron his best buddy. Makar gets my 2nd place vote for MVP he is absolutely the best D man on the planet.

    • Ya Obe, don’t think the NHL cares what Marchand said on Twitter, nor what the twitterverse thought about it.
      And agree that Marchand doesn’t really care too much about the All Star game, hell, plenty of guys try to get out of playing when they do get invited.

      Marchy can go spend time with the fam or do a quick golf trip somewhere, whatever.

      Marchand is one of the top 3 LW’s in the NHL, if not the best.

    • I would be absolutely delighted to have Marchand join the Senators. All this crap about his antics coming from those who would be doing cartwheels if he ever wound up on their team of choice is the biggest ongoing joke in these pages.

      • I am one of the ones sincere that I don’t want him anywhere near the pens. That being said I have seen 5 championships in my life so far and I can “afford” to have standards. I can see the Torontos of the world etc shrugging the crap off.

        And btw I recognize the pens arnt innocent. As a child I cheered for ulf. It wasn’t until coooke I looked in the mirror. I am still very proud of how the pens ultimately handled that situation. No other team to my knowledge has had the balls to do what they did.

      • Says the guy who cheered for Matt Cook. Ok then Chrism.

        Right nor Chris we would be the best player on Pitts.

      • Had a couple too much caper? Cause that was jibberish.

      • Saint Chrism the revisionist.

        What he liked back then doesn’t like today.