NHL Morning Coffee Headline – March 23, 2022

by | Mar 23, 2022 | News, NHL | 18 comments

Tyler Seguin reaches a career milestone, the Evgenii Dadonov trade remains in limbo, and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

GAME RECAPS

NHL.COM: Tyler Seguin became the first player from the 2010 NHL Draft to reach 300 career goals as his Dallas Stars overcame a 3-2 deficit with three straight third-period goals to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 5-3. Seguin, Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson each finished the game with a goal and an assist as the Stars (73 points) vaulted over the Vegas Golden Knights by one point for the final Western Conference wild-card spot. The Oilers (75 points) sit three points behind the second-place Los Angeles Kings in the Central Division.

Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin (NHL Images).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Oilers captain Connor McDavid collected two assists and sits atop the NHL scoring race with 93 points, holding a five-point lead over teammate Leon Draisaitl, who scored a goal against the Stars.

The Golden Knights, meanwhile, were blanked 4-0 by the Winnipeg Jets. Connor Hellebuyck turned in a 42-save shutout performance while Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler each collected two assists and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the fifth straight game. The Jets have won six of their last eight games to move within three points of the Stars while the Golden Knights have dropped seven of their last ten contests.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Golden Knights have been in free fall for weeks. Injuries to key players such as Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, Alec Martinez and Robin Lehner have contributed to the slide. If they don’t reverse their skid soon, they could miss the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

Los Angeles Kings rookie Quinton Byfield scored two goals and collected an assist to lead his club to a 6-1 thrashing of the Nashville Predators. Adrian Kempe also scored twice while Jonathan Quick made 24 saves for the win. The Predators hold the first Western Conference wild-card spot with 78 points.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: This was also the first multi-point NHL game for the much-touted Byfield, who was the second-overall selection in the 2020 Draft.

The Carolina Hurricanes snapped a four-game losing skid by holding off the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2. Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen kicked out 27 shots while Sebastian Aho scored what proved to be the game-winning goal. The Hurricanes sit in second place in the Eastern Conference with 90 points while the Lightning (84 points) remain one point ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place in the Atlantic Division.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Tempers flared at the end of the game after Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov hit Aho late in the third period. The two clubs face each other again on March 29.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby collected three assists while linemate Jake Guentzel scored twice in a 5-1 romp over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Rickard Rakell was held scoreless in his first game with the Penguins since being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks at the trade deadline. The Penguins (87 points) remain three points behind the Hurricanes.

The New York Rangers dropped two points behind the Penguins by blowing a 2-0 lead to fall 7-4 to the New Jersey Devils. New Jersey center Jack Hughes scored twice to reach 20 goals for the first time in his NHL career. Rangers winger Chris Kreider netted his 42nd goal of the season and move into second place in the league goal-scoring race, four goals back of Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews.

Two unanswered third-period goals by Alexander Barabanov and Logan Couture lifted the San Jose Sharks to a 4-3 upset of the Calgary Flames. Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk each had two points for the Flames, who hold a six-point lead over the Kings for first place in the Pacific Division with 84 points.

St. Louis Blues winger David Perron scored to extend his goal streak to seven games as his club downed the Washington Capitals 5-2. Brayden Schenn had a goal and two assists for the Blues as they move one point ahead of the Minnesota Wild for second place in the Central Division with 79 points. The Capitals hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 80 points, three back of the Boston Bruins.

The Detroit Red Wings rolled to a 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, handing the latter their 13th straight road loss. Jakub Vrana scored twice, Tyler Bertuzzi had three points and Oskar Sundqvist picked up two points in his first game with the Wings since being acquired from the Blues at the trade deadline.

New York Islanders netminder Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 shots to shut out the Ottawa Senators 3-0. Scott Mayfield, Anders Lee and Zach Parise scored in the third period to give the Isles the win.

The Seattle Kraken got two goals from Carson Soucy to double up the Arizona Coyotes 4-2. Daniel Sprong scored in his first game with the Kraken since being acquired from the Capitals at the trade deadline.

IN OTHER NEWS…

SPORTSNET: The Vegas Golden Knights’ efforts to trade Evgenii Dadonov to the Anaheim Ducks remains under investigation by NHL Central Registry. Evidence emerged yesterday indicating Dadonov’s no-trade paperwork was submitted correctly and on time last June while he was a member of the Ottawa Senators. The Ducks were on that list.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Golden Knights claimed they were under the impression Dadonov’s no-trade had expired because they believed it hadn’t been filed on time, something the winger’s camp denied. Sportsnet indicates Vegas will face a salary-cap crunch if the trade is voided as the Dadonov trade was made to clear salary-cap space to activate defenseman Alec Martinez off long-term injury reserve.

THE DENVER POST: Colorado Avalanche defenseman Ryan Murray is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury (a fractured hand or forearm) suffered during Monday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers.

TSN: The Winnipeg Jets signed forward Kristian Reichel to a two-year, two-way contract worth $750K at the NHL level.

The Calgary Flames are suing its insurers alleging $125 million in losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.







18 Comments

  1. What does the league make Vegas do to be under the cap if Dadanov trade is voided?
    Is it just fine or do they remove roster players?

    • We’ll find out in due course, perhaps as early as today. They could be fined or lose a draft pick

      • But I assume there is a way even with penalties they are not allowed to dress a team over the cap…playing shorthanded etc

      • Hi ds

        I posted a lengthy Cap analysis yesterday showing Math if trade voided where Stone can come off LTIR with ANY other player (not named Martinez) that has a Cap of over $2.5 M, being put on LTIR

        If it is Martinez they need to “spring” and no expectation of Stne returning by end of season…. Knights CAN bring up Martinez (after sending down [to Henderson ] some of their lower end players….

        As at this minute …. And with nixing the deal….Cap friendly shows 28 players (including the 4 on IR) counting towards Cap….totaling $75.8M

        Max on “official” roster is 23…. Sending down 6 ELC’s to get to 22 (to add Martinez)….. then @ ~ $ 71.3 M…. So Martinez coming in is doable

      • If they reject the trade, the knights will have to start waiving players…only active players so nobody on ir or ltir. I guess they can be fined money and loose picks… the NHL has to impose a good enough penalty which needs to be a deterrent for future teams but nothing ridiculous because it’s a first time than anything has happened that I’m aware of. That’s my take.

      • The question I have is why did Vegas, AND the league think that Dadanov did not submit his NTC list of teams when he did and has a record of it?
        The only logical conclusion I can come up with is that OTT told them that.

        What is their responsibility in all of this? I know that Vegas has a responsibility for due diligence, but sounds to me like they asked the question and were told something that was not factual. And it sounds like from the reporting that the league was on the call as well and gave the go ahead.

        WTF is that all about?

        Not saying OTT is lying, that seems hard to believe, but seems like this is an easily available electronic record like an email. So some person in OTT organization ignores an email then deletes it? Somebody leaves and nobody checks their email? I am really curious as to what happened.

        Not a lawyer but seems negligent to me.

        If Vegas needs to ice a team at less than full strength and misses the playoffs by a point or 2, we are talking about real $$ not earned.

        This is a big flippin’ problem, and shouldn’t be just on Vegas IMO, at least from what we know today.

      • What happens if Vegas had a legitimate different offer from a team not on Dadonov’s list. Would the league ever accept a re-set for Vegas?

  2. “The Hurricanes sit in second place in the Eastern Conference with 90 points while the Lightning (84 points) remain one point ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place in the Atlantic Division.” Yes, and Boston too. Boston looks upward not downward towards Washington. I do believe the Bs schedule will be tough down the stretch. So your views maybe supported. I am smiling as I know you are not biased.

    • Hi Blackwalnut

      Re “ Bs schedule will be tough down the stretch”… you may be right….

      But this Leafs fan sees Bruins tied with Leafs in points (although Leafs have game in hand); Leafs with potential issues between the pipes… Bruins recent record better than Leafs)…. AND most importantly…. 2 H2H games upcoming….29/3 & 29/4 (last game of the season)… so Bruins finishing ahead of Leafs is not only a possibility …. It could very well come down to the last game of the year

      Imagine them tied in points going into game 82…. Each team pondering whether they wish to travel to Raleigh or TBay for the opening series….. if both have Uber fear of going to TBay and would much rather take their chances in Raleigh (not sure if that’s true….Just spitballin’ for ships ‘n giggles) …. Do they just flip a coin pre game …. Winner agrees to play with no goalie all game???

      • Pengy, when you said “Bruins recent record better than Leafs ..” it got me curious so I checked out their records since Feb 1

        Toronto
        21gp 11 7 3 25pts 83gf 78ga

        that’s a .595 pace averaging 3.9gf per game and 3.7ga

        Boston
        21gp 14 5 2 30pts 63gf 51ga

        that’s a .714 pace averaging 3gf per game and 2.4ga

        At that % the rest of the way Toronto, with 20 games to go, would wind up with 107 pts while Boston, of maintaining that pace, would end up with 110 pts.

        Close to the wire as I see it.

      • Hi George

        I was not joking when I said it could come down to the last game of the season where they play each other.

      • Just for the hallibut I looked at the other 6 east teams bound for the playoffs and matched their records since Feb 1 with those of Boston and Toronto

        The Top 8 Teams in The East Since Feb 1

        GP W L OT/SO PTS GF GA %
        Bos 21 14 5 2 30 63 51 .714
        Pitt 19 12 5 2 26 59 48 .684
        Tor 21 11 7 3 25 83 78 .595
        NY 18 11 6 1 23 53 47 .639
        Car 18 10 6 2 22 51 44 .611
        Fla 16 10 6 0 20 61 46 .625
        TB 17 10 7 0 20 53 49 .588
        Wa 20 9 10 1 19 64 70 .475

        The Leafs, by far and away, have the most potent offense – but they also have given up the most goals by just as wide a margin. Florida’s +15 is the best goal differential in that span. Looks like the Caps are going to back in.

      • I should have said “content to back in” – if their current .475 pace is continued, they’ll wind up with 96 pts.

        The only teams with even a remote chance of catching them are NYI and Columbus.

        The Islanders, with a potential 42 points left and in order to get to 97 pts, would need to up their pace from its current .516 to ,809 the rest of the way.

        Columbus, with a potential 36 points left and in order to get to 97, would need to up their current .523 pace to .833.

        Both would need to hope that Washington continues to flounder.

        The other side of that coin is that the Caps also recognize the unlikelihood of that happening and so could rest up some key players down the stretch while the other 7 battle down to the wire. What they CAN’T is play at a substantially less % pace while doing that.

    • Uhhh…yes! This final quarter will be great for the top 5 in the east because they’ll be seeing a lot of each other and I can’t wait. These games are gonna change the seating in the east and all these teams are really good teams. Hockey.

  3. Knights…. uh oh …..spaghettio

    From reports now… Dando DID get his registered list in in time ; BUT Knights were unaware (as was League) at the time of Dando (from Sens) to Knights call…. and Knights (and Ducks) then believed he was able to be traded to Ducks.

    Dando obviously doesn’t want to go… so you’d think at least that part of the trade is nixed…. Is it possible to restore part of the trade? 2nd for Kessler

    As I mentioned yesterday…. Knights on bubble, struggling, absolutely need theirCaptain back…. Kessler’s LTIR AND Dando move (even with$1.6M of Moore coming over) would easily allow that.

    Tough now…. But as I posted all the math yesterday…. “ absolutely ANY Knight making $2.5 M or more (and there are 10 of them that are not named Stone or Martinez) placed on LTIR…. and Stone can come off LTIR”….. and you’d think the odds are that someone will be LTIR

    What a Cuckoo’s nest

    Last night’s games….

    Blueshirts…. After I’ve repeatedly touted Shesterkin for the last week…. He has a stinker of a night and gets pulled…. He’s just getting the kinks out…. Still a scary goalie that can win a series on his own

    Stars “come from be-hinder” (lots o’goals in 3rd), with Knights loss… Stars above the line, Knights below…. How many bottles of Kaopectate did MacCrimmon go through yesterday and last night

    Pens… looked great; Rakell looked good; Kappy has stepped up; lines were gelling and flying; Sid 3 points…. I’m a happy camper this morn

  4. Vegas now what big mistake thinking new Gm after this mistake and missing the playoffs

  5. Re; The Calgary Flames are suing its insurers alleging $125 million in losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic….?

    is this going to be an NHL think with All Team or is Calgary topping up there Fund for the New Downtown Area…..⁉️

  6. The NHLPA is going to love the Flames opening their books to show loss of revenue as compared to what was claimed during negotiations.