NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – February 14, 2022

by | Feb 14, 2022 | News, NHL | 12 comments

The Avalanche point streak reaches 19 games, Jeff Skinner scores four goals against the Canadiens and Sidney Crosby reaches a multi-point milestone. Details in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

NHL.COM: The Colorado Avalanche’s points streak reached 19 games (17-0-2) after blanking the Dallas Stars 4-0. Darcy Kuemper turned in a 23-save shutout, Gabriel Landeskog scored twice and Nathan MacKinnon picked up an assist in his return to action after being sidelined since late January by a concussion and broken nose. With 72 points, the Avalanche opened a three-point lead over the Florida Panthers for first place in the overall standings. The Stars (52 points) remain three points out of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Buffalo Sabres forward Jeff Skinner (NHL Images).

Buffalo Sabres winger Jeff Skinner scored four goals and collected an assist to beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-3. Teammate Alex Tuch picked up three assists. The Habs have lost 10 in a row. Canadiens defenseman Ben Chiarot missed this game and was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and is expected to miss one week.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: A one-week absence isn’t likely to dampen interest in Chiarot in the trade market or hurt his value. It could perhaps hasten the Canadiens’ efforts to find a suitable trade partner for the pending free-agent defenseman.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby had two assists as his club doubled up the New Jersey Devils 4-2. It was Crosby’s 409th career multi-point game, moving him into 11th on the all-time list. Bryan Rust, Brian Boyle and Mike Matheson each had a goal and an assist. With the win, the Penguins move into first place in the Metropolitan Division with 68 points.

Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg kicked out 33 shots to upset the Washington Capitals 4-1. Brady Tkachuk and Connor Brown each had a goal and an assist for the Senators. The Capitals have lost five straight home games and hold the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot with 61 points.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Capitals have struggled of late with goaltending being one of the issues behind their slump. That’s sparked speculation over whether they’ll pursue an upgrade like Chicago’s Marc-Andre Fleury before the March 21 trade deadline.

Senators forward Austin Watson missed this game and will miss his club’s next contest after receiving a two-game suspension for a hit to the head of Boston Bruins defenseman Jack Achan on Saturday.







12 Comments

  1. Can’t resist

    Hey pengy. Chad playing most games in a season this year for his career!

    Mike Sullivan

    “It’s very significant that he’s played the amount of games that he’s played for us,” Mike Sullivan said. “And he’s played extremely well. That’s the reason that he’s been in the lineup every night. When we look at our defense corps as a group of six, seven or eight back there right now, he’s one of those stabilizing players. You know exactly what you’re going to get from him. He plays within himself. He defends hard. He has good mobility, he plays with a lot of courage. But he’s a stabilizing force back there for our defense corps. And he’s played extremely well.”

    • Mike Sullivan – what a coaching job he’s done.

    • This one is easy, if Mark Friedman were any good he’d be playing .. Chad has been solid all year as a 3rd pairing d-man. Built for the regular season though.

    • Hi Chrisms

      Meetings all day… late to the game

      Yes I read that Rorabaugh article as well and got very afraid from the quote you listed …..

      The statement “And he’s played extremely well. That’s the reason that he’s been in the lineup every night.” is highly similar to the one he (Sully) made re JJ coming up to TDL in ‘19 …..after JJ had been solely responsible for 4 or 5 goals in a week. Sully kept him in the line-up and even after JJ’s horrific game 2 (Isles) , Sully kept him in there…. We all know the result

      CR also responsible for 4 goals in last 6 or 7 games including Hughe’s yesterday; and Sprong’s (which sent it to OT… where Pens lost) ; and were it not for Jarry making spectacular saves, Marchand and Hall could have added two (maybe 3) more Bruins goals due to CR being out of place

      I’ve strong confidence that he is liked and respected as a person by his teammates. If not, I’m sure it would have leaked out.

      Sully just refuses to sit CR for the superior (and younger and faster) Friedman ; or Riikola (I’m convinced that Riikola must have made an inappropriate comment to Sully or made a pass at Mrs. Sully, as Sully just refuses to play him)

      CR is by far the lowest PPG for any Pen who has played at least 5 games

      From the same article Sullivan is quoted “For a lot of the time here, he’s been our number seven defenseman. He’s been in and out of the lineup. He’s had a unique ability to be on the sidelines for extended periods of time and then get tapped on the shoulder to go in the lineup. He can go into the lineup having not played for a month and be really effective. “

      The “7th” is an exaggeration ….. 9th , maybe 8th

      Re : sitting him for a month (or longer) then having him come in ….. “extended periods…. go in the lineup…. and be really effective.”….. this is very valid…. CR sits in press box and gets to see the big picture and positional play…. and that is very good, because he takes that all in and plays pretty good positionally when he returns after watching for a month (or longer)

      His trouble is once he has been in the line up for extended periods of time he loses that perspective (whole ice view from press box) and digresses in his positional play. This digression has now gone on for a couple of months. Every few games he has an OK game and also benefits from Matheson often covering up for his (CR’s) positional faux pas. However, his mistakes are piling up and now often leading to costly goals and/or only being saved by one of Jarry’s (and recently DeSmith’s) 10 bellers

      CR in the line up for playoffs is far too much of a risk for Pens hopes of success

      I believe that Sully should at the very least have CR now in the press box for 5-7 games for (1) perspective and learning ; but also more importantly (2) to give Friedman and/or Riikola some playing time. If a DMman goes down for an extended period…. Either of them would then be coming in as replacements “cold”

      I still believe that HexBurkie should make a low cost move to improve 3RD to get ready for playoffs.

      Psyk would be low cost and is valuable in that he plays both RW & RD equally well

      I’d love to have Schenn in to pair with Matheson for the playoffs. Has one more year (so Burke can acquire still using his stated philosophy of only giving up assets to help team now and in future) and is only at $850K; only 6 months older than CR; but tremendously a better player; is 3” taller and 30 lbs heavier; and much much stronger

      There are other options out there. Just because he is a nice person, HexBurkie should not be risking Pens potential playoffs (and whatever run they may be able to go on)

  2. MAF to the Caps again??? I thought he nixed a trade to them already. Some clarification is requested here.

    • Johnny: The rumor is he nixed a trade to the Capitals though there’s no confirmation of this other than a report they tried to acquire him but it seems unlikely to happen. I was merely pointing out the Capitals struggles sparked the speculation in the first place.

      • Thanks Lyle for clearing this up. I wonder if you see a goalie going back to the Hawks if this trade comes about.

      • Pickings are really slim. Hawks might have to wait for the offseason to find a suitable replacement if they trade Fleury before March 21

  3. I agree with what Lyle is inferring. Trade Chiarot before he suffers a serious injury.

  4. Funny i commented on Chairot yesterday the risk and reward of hanging onto an asset until closer to the deadline.

    One week injury won’t deter; however a follow up injury closer to the deadline can have a significant effect on the return value.

    • Ya Caper for the team trading guys for sure. I think injuries are also a reason the teams looking to acquire like to wait, not so much the player they are trading for, but their own teams. Hate to use your trade capital for a forward for scoring depth and lose a top 4 D-man after making the deal.

      To quote Lou, if you have the time, take it.

      • Ray that’s a great quote