NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – February 16, 2022
Milestone performances for Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin and much more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby tallied his 500th career NHL goal while teammate Kris Letang scored in overtime in a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Crosby joins Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin as the second active player to reach the 500-goal plateau and the second in Penguins history. Crosby and Letang finished the night with a goal and an assist as the Penguins move into second place in the Eastern Conference with 70 points.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The next active player in reach of 500 goals is Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos with 462.
Speaking of Ovechkin, he scored twice in a 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators to reach the 30-goal mark for the 16th time in his career, sitting second to Hall-of-Famer Mike Gartner (17 seasons). Capitals coach Peter Laviolette picked up his 700th career win as the Capitals (63 points) opened a five-point lead over the Boston Bruins for the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. With 60 points, the Predators dropped to the first Western Conference wild-card berth.
Meanwhile, the Bruins dropped a 2-1 decision to the New York Rangers as K’Andre Miller netted the winner in the ninth round of the shootout. Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves in regulation and overtime as his club sits third in the Metropolitan Division with 66 points.
The Tampa Bay Lightning scored five straight goals to overcome a 3-1 deficit and down the New Jersey Devils 6-3. Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Pat Maroon and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare each had a goal and an assist for the Lightning, who take over first place in the Eastern Conference with 70 points due to a game in hand over the Penguins. Devils rookie Dawson Mercer had a goal and two assists.
Joe Pavelski scored twice and set up two others to lead the Dallas Stars over the Colorado Avalanche 4-1, snapping the latter’s 19-game points streak. Teammate Tyler Seguin had a goal and two assists as the Stars (54 points) moved within one point of the final Western Conference wild-card spot. The Avalanche, meanwhile, remains atop the overall standings with 72 points.
Speaking of that wild-card berth, the Los Angeles Kings dropped into that spot after falling 5-2 to the Edmonton Oilers. Connor McDavid and Evander Kane each had a goal and an assist while teammate Kailer Yamamoto netted the winning goal by snapping a 2-2 tie. Both teams have 55 points but the Oilers moved into third place in the Pacific Division with a game in hand. The Oilers have won three straight under new head coach Jay Woodcroft.
Tyler Toffoli scored in his first game with the Calgary Flames in a 6-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Flames acquired Toffoli on Monday. Elias Lindholm had a goal and an assist as Calgary has won seven straight to take over first place in the Pacific Division with 60 points.
St. Louis Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice and collected an assist to beat the Ottawa Senators 5-2. Robert Thomas had a goal and two assists while Pavel Buchnevich picked up three assists. The Blues hold third place in the Central Division with 61 points.
The Buffalo Sabres got two goals by Victor Olofsson in a 6-3 win over the New York Islanders. Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs each had two points for the Sabres. Kyle Palmieri scored twice for the Islanders.
IN OTHER NEWS…
NBC SPORTS PHILADELPHIA: Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.
THE SCORE: Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot missed Tuesday’s game against the Blues as he remains sore from a hit by Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson on Sunday.
TSN: The Nashville Predators signed defenseman Mark Borowiecki to a one-year, $900K contract extension.
THE PROVINCE: The Vancouver Canucks will return to full capacity at Rogers Arena on Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks as provincial indoor restrictions are eased this week.
Wanted GM for one of the nhl’s original franchises The Boston Bruins. Must be willing to do occasional trades that can actually help the team and build for the future.
His contract is running out!End of the year!
K’Andre Miller should be moved to RW. He would make a much better forward than he ever will defensemen.
Whatever Rick, when you get a point on the road against a very good team while missing 2 of your best players, take it.
Another positive – Swayman has come back into the lineup hot.
Yeah okay Ray you take it and bury it the fabric of your lapels, while you at it ask Donny for a job he likes yes men.
No
Haha.
**** Open Discussion****
During the Boston and Rangers game last night the concussion spotter had Shesterkin pulled from the game with 40 seconds remaining.
Most including me didn’t think Shesterkin should have been pulled at all. Simply because so much time and two spectacular saves were made after the collision and before the spotter pulled him.
Obviously the spotter seen something that gave him pause, they show a short clip of Igor blinking his eyes several times and indicating they think that was the reason.
The decision was made and Shesterkin was upset about being pulled. Can’t blame him.
Only 40 seconds remained in the OT and it goes to a shootout and Shesterkin is back in the net to for the Shootout.
15 minutes is the protocol for a concussion protocol; 15 minutes didn’t lapse before the shootout. The refs went to the box for discussion , don’t know what they were discussing but in the end Shesterkin was allowed to stay.
Why was he pulled so late? Why was he allowed back in 15 minutes is the rule?
Could you imaging such a play in OT of game 7 off a playoff round.
The whole scene seem wrong; however i’m not in the medical field and the spotter job is the well being of the player, but the delay is bothersome and then not following the protocol.
As i stated i didn’t think he should have been pulled in the first place.
I thought it was weird too Caper. The spotter system is well intentioned but flawed, to your point.
If you get whacked in the head and concussed, everything seems really bright as maybe your pupils dilate. Not sure why exactly, but it’s real.
So likely why the blinking raised a flag, if that is what it was that caused the spotter to call down.
Or he just had sweat in his eyes.
He sure seemed fine in the shootout, maybe we will hear more.
“Simply because so much time and two spectacular saves were made after the collision and before the spotter pulled him.”
This reminds me of a Green Bay football game a long time ago. A concussed Brett Favre came running off the bench on fourth-down, to the shock of his coach at the time, and threw a touchdown pass.
IMO the spotters number one concern is the health of the players, no matter how much time is on the clock.
I didn’t watch the game, but I did watch the highlights. Shesterkin went down like he was hurt.
If he wasn’t hurt then he shouldn’t have gone down. The spotters don’t pull a player unless they show signs of a concussion after taking a shot to the head. When it comes to concussions the players are their own worst enemies sometimes.
Kevjam / Ray, the second part is Shesterkin didn’t sit out 15 minutes before the shootout.
What changed? why was he allowed back early?
The book will be out if it isn’t already on Sway and the shootout…. Get in close make a fake and you’ll score