NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – March 2, 2022
Recaps of Tuesday’s action, stars and rookie of the month for February, Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson’s plans, the latest on Filip Forsberg and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: The league-leading Colorado Avalanche became the first club to reach 40 wins this season by downing the New York Islanders 5-3. Devon Toews had a goal and two assists as the Avalanche hold a five-point lead over the second-place Carolina Hurricanes in the overall standings with 84 points. Avs defenseman Jack Johnson also reached a notable milestone by playing his 1,000th NHL game.
Speaking of the Hurricanes, they dropped a 4-3 decision to the Detroit Red Wings on an overtime goal by Lucas Raymond. Wings goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 27 saves for the win over his former team. The Hurricanes (79 points) hold a three-point lead over the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Lightning, meanwhile, overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Ottawa Senators 5-2. Brayden Point had a goal and three assists while Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves for the win. The Lightning (76 points) hold a one-point lead over the Florida Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division.
Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom kicked out 32 shots to backstop his club to 5-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild. Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, Tyler Toffoli, Andrew Mangiapane and Mikael Backlund each had two-point performances. The Flames have won 12 of their last 13 games and hold a five-point lead over the second-place Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division with 70 points. The Wild remain in third place in the Central Division with 65 points.
The Vegas Golden Knights got two goals by Reilly Smith to beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1. Robin Lehner made 16 saves in his first game since being sidelined for a month with an upper-body injury. It was Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer’s 500th career NHL victory. Sharks goaltender James Reimer left the game with a lower-body injury. With 64 points, the Golden Knights are third in the Pacific Division. The Sharks, however, are nine points out of the final wild-card berth in the Western Conference with 54 points.
Edmonton Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen picked up his first shutout since 2019 with a 39-save performance in a 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl scored his 37th goal of the season to tie Toronto’s Auston Matthews for the league lead. With 63 points, the Oilers hold a two-point lead over the Dallas Stars for the final Western wild-card spot.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Oilers defenseman Duncan Keith returned to action after suffering a concussion on Feb.9. However, the club also revealed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is week-to-week with an upper-body injury suffered last week.
Trevor Zegras scored with 22 seconds remaining in the third period to lift the Anaheim Ducks over the Boston Bruins 4-3, snapping the latter’s five-game win streak. Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf had three assists as the Ducks (61 points) remain two points behind the Oilers. The Bruins still hold a three-point lead over the Washington Capitals for the first wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.
The Winnipeg Jets kept their playoff hopes alive with an 8-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens, ending the latter’s five-game win streak. Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois each had three points for the Jets. Canadiens winger Josh Anderson tallied a hat trick. With 57 points, the Jets are six behind the Oilers.
Patrik Laine had a goal and an assist as the Columbus Blue Jackets nipped the New Jersey Devils 4-3. Elvis Merzlikins made 30 saves for the win. Devils center Jack Hughes scored to extend his points streak to eight games.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner, Calgary Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom, and Columbus Blue Jackets winger Patrik Laine were the NHL’s three stars for February 2022. Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman was named the rookie of the month for February 2022.
NBC SPORTS CHICAGO: New Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said he’s looking more at a rebuild than a retool of his roster. “There are some things that we really need to fix that are going to take time,” he said, adding he’s not going to put a timeline on how long it’ll take to complete the rebuild.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: That’s going to provide fodder for speculation over his trade deadline plans and where certain veterans such as Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews fit into the club’s long-term plans. I’ll have more in today’s Rumor Mill.
NHL.COM: Nashville Predators GM David Poile maintains his intent is to re-sign Filip Forsberg before the March 21 trade deadline. He added he’s not trying to trade the pending free-agent winger. Poile also indicated a deal isn’t done yet but they’re working on it.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Forsberg became fodder for trade speculation following a report last week claiming Poile was shopping the winger. He quickly denied it but there’s conjecture he’s conducting “due diligence” in case he decides a contract extension won’t be reached by the trade deadline.
TSN: CCM Hockey announced it will stop using Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin and other Russian NHL stars in any of its global marketing. The move comes in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Watched the highlights this morning…
some fantastic saves by Koskinen
under no circumstances should Knights trade Smith (if they have to clear space)….Two goals… and those precision passing plays with fantastic chemistry with Marsh and Wild Bill… losing Smith would not only lose his production but would crimp Marsh’s
BTW … love the “Canadian Tuxedos” (Bolts)
Pengy you forgot to congratulate Jack Johnson on 1000 games played.
1,000 games…. At least 850 of those were nightmare games
At least this year he is playing at a level just below his Cap hit…. LOL
P,
I fully expected an emotional “Tribute to J.J.” from you after his “milestone” achievement last night!?!
IP
I think Pittsburgh should trade Zucker for JJ so they can put him in the rafters when he retires in 2032, where he rightfully belongs!
I mean, Pittsburgh is paying him until 2026 already. Might as well give him a 6 year extension beyond that date.
No real Juicy Rumours in Leafland ; however , lots of noise in Beantown from various sources …
I assume the Bruins will be active ..
That division they are in can flip flop in order fairly quick , top 4 teams all within reach of each other ..
Looks like Debrusk wants to be traded , not so much , the Bruins were shopping him at 1 point ???
Perhaps , Boston feels now is the time , Marchand and Bergeron aren’t getting any hunger
Debrusk alone won’t bring back what they need other pieces will have to leave …..BTW…the 5 million dollar per man isn’t worth the $$$$$
Ullmark isn’t even a good backup doesn’t matter who the bruins play, with Linus in goal you’re already down by 2 goals before the game even begins. Get rid of this guy take whatever’s down Providence use them as backup or go all out and nab MAF. Ullmark should only be used if it’s back to back games. As was the case lastnight.
Hi Rick
Swayman the new kid on the block and indeed the real deal !
Bruins definitely don’t need Fleury as back up , and think of the expense , what U would have to give up ..
The structure is there , which is “key”
Boston just needs to tweak the lineup , IMO
They will land someone significant !
Boston has always been a plan B for me , as per the Bobby Orr days … I was very young, uncle had season tickets at maple leaf gardens ,
Him and I even travelled to see the Bruins on occasion ..
Fabulous Hockey !!
I agree with the Swayman part, Ullmark is garbage
Ullmark wasn’t good.
The rest of the Bruins weren’t either.
Chances from the slot were dominated by the Ducks.
Ullmark could have saved more of them, he didn’t, they lost.
Cassidy and his team mates won’t pin this loss on Ullmark because they know better. Team effort on this one.
Hunger is younger , typo … grrrr
Koskinen frustrates the heck out of me! He can be so good, and then just drop off the next game. In the same game, he can make spectacular save after spectacular save and then let in a couple of complete stinkers. I really like the guy, but half of the grey hairs on my head are because of him. lol
Miko seems pretty happy with the new commitment to D play by the forward group.
In his interview he praised the team for being able to see the puck and keeping the slot chances to a minimum. Which they did.
He also played great.
Again.
Seems like he gets hot for a month or so, struggles for a month or so and back to hot again this year.
Oct/Nov – 11-2
Dec/Jan – 4-6-2
Feb/March – 4-0
He also has a big difference on the road compared to at home.
Road – 12 wins 2 losses and a .919 save percentage.
Home – 7 wins 6 losses and a .887 save percentage.
Under Woodcroft, he hasn’t started a game at home yet, but in the one game he replaced Smith in against the Wild he had a .800 save percentage. That game wasn’t his fault at all though.
Jason Gregor had an article on OilersNation.com and in it, he mentioned that since Woodcroft took over the Oilers are first in the NHL allowing the fewest 5on5 goals against. So that should help out the goalies as well. Not to mention the goalies have 2 shutouts under Woodcroft.
I could be wrong but I don’t think there’s another backup goalie in the NHL that makes 5 million per, if the Bruins get to trade him will they have to eat some of that contract ? I’m thinking yes
He won’t get traded till Swayman needs his new deal after next year
I’d like to see Ullmark gone asap. Anyone down in Providence can be just as effective for 1/8th the cost. They certainly can’t be any worse.
Rick, you would probably bi7ch about whoever came up so…what’s the point.
Enjoy the ride…life’s too short
Bruins in bottom 3rd of league in cap for goalies. Doing something correct. Ullmark NMC changes when Swayman ids due for new contract. Good cap mgt