NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 13, 2022

by | Apr 13, 2022 | News, NHL | 30 comments

Chris Kreider reaches 50 goals, Johnny Gaudreau hits 100 points, the Western Conference wild-card race intensifies and much more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.

GAME RECAPS

NHL.COM: New York Rangers winger Chris Kreider tallied his 50th goal of the season in a 4-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Sebastian Aho had a goal and two assists and Frederik Andersen made 28 saves for the Hurricanes, who sit four points ahead of the second-place Rangers atop the Metropolitan Division with 104 points.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kreider is the third NHL player to reach the 50-goal plateau this season and the fourth player in Rangers history to do so, joining Jaromir Jagr, Adam Graves and Vic Hadfield. He needs just five more goals to break Jagr’s franchise record of 54.

Calgary Flames winger Johnny Gaudreau (NHL Images).

Johnny Gaudreau collected two assists to reach the 100-point mark as the Calgary Flames defeated the Seattle Kraken 5-3. Matthew Tkachuk tallied a hat trick for the Flames, who sit in first place in the Pacific Division with 99 points. Kraken center Matty Beniers picked up an assist for his first point in his first NHL game.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s the first time Gaudreau’s reached 100 points in his career. He’s the first Flame to do so since Theo Fleury in 1992-93.

The Dallas Stars blanked the Tampa Bay Lightning 1-0 with Scott Wedgewood making 24 saves for his fifth career shutout. Roope Hintz broke a scoreless tie in the third period to give the Stars (88 points) a three-point cushion over the Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild-card berth in the Western Conference.

Speaking of the Golden Knights, they dropped a 5-4 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on an overtime goal by Quinn Hughes. Elias Pettersson had a goal and two assists while Thatcher Demko made 41 stops for the win. Shea Theodore tallied twice for Vegas while Golden Knights captain Mark Stone was held pointless after being out of the lineup since Feb. 8 with a back injury. The Canucks (82 points) moved to within six points of the Stars and within three of the Golden Knights.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Golden Knights moved William Carrier, Nolan Patrick and Laurent Brossoit to long-term injured reserve yesterday to clear sufficient cap space for Stone’s return.

An overtime goal by Ryan Johansen gave the Nashville Predators a 1-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Juuse Saros kicked out 25 shots for his fourth shutout of the season as the Predators (89 points) sit one point ahead of the Stars in the first Western wild-card spot. The Sharks have dropped seven straight games.

The Los Angeles Kings snapped a three-game losing skid to down the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2. Blake Lizotte scored twice and Phillip Danault had a goal and an assist for Los Angeles (88 points) to open a three-point lead over the Golden Knights for third place in the Pacific Division. Kings winger Dustin Brown collected two assists in his first game since being sidelined in March 12 by an upper-body injury.

Minnesota Wild forwards Kevin Fiala and Ryan Hartman each scored twice in a 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Cam Talbot stopped 27 shots for the Wild, who sit in second place in the Central Division with 96 points. Leon Draisaitl tallied his 51st goal of the season for the Oilers, who sit two points up on the Kings with 90 points in the Pacific Division.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice as the St. Louis Blues doubled up the Boston Bruins 4-2. Ville Husso made 39 saves while Torey Krug collected two points in his first games since March 22. The Blues are tied with the Wild but sit in third place in the Central Division as the Wild holds a game in hand. The Bruins remain in the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot with 95 points, one back of the third-place Lightning in the Atlantic Division.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo left the game in the first period with an undisclosed injury.

Alex Ovechkin tallied his 46th goal of the season as the Washington Capitals crushed the Philadelphia Flyers 9-2. Lars Eller tallied two goals and Justin Schultz collected three assists as the Capitals sit three points behind the Bruins in the second wild-card berth. Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov missed the game with a lower-body injury while Flyers winger Cam Atkinson left the game after suffering a lower-body injury following a first-period collision with Capitals winger Tom Wilson.

The Florida Panthers picked up their eighth straight win as an overtime goal by Jonathan Huberdeau gave them a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Anthony Duclair scored twice for the Panthers, who sit in first place in the Eastern Conference with 110 points. They’re tied with the Colorado Avalanche but the latter holds first overall with a game in hand.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Ducks confirmed they’ve picked up the option year in head coach Dallas Eakins’ contract.

New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin made 43 saves and Kyle Palmieri scored in the shootout to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4. Zach Parise and Josh Bailey each tallied twice for the Islanders. Jake Guentzel scored two goals and added an assist for the illness-ravaged Penguins, who activated Brock McGinn into the lineup after missing 15 games with an upper-body injury. The Penguins hold third place in the Metropolitan Division with 95 points but have just one victory in their last six contests.

The Buffalo Sabres got 24 saves from Craig Anderson to upset the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2. Victor Olofsson, Rasmus Dahlin, Alex Tuch and Rasmus Asplund each had two-point performance. 2021 first-overall pick Owen Power looked sharp in his NHL debut, seeing over 19 minutes of ice time and finishing with a plus-minus of plus-two.

Ottawa Senators forward Tim Stutzle scored twice and added an assist in a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Auston Watson collected two points for the Senators while Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi netted his 27th goal of the season.

The New Jersey Devils defeated the Arizona Coyotes 6-2. Yegor Sharangovich scored two goals and set up another while Nico Hischier collected three assists.

IN OTHER NEWS…

TSN: NHL team player representatives are voting on whether to publicly disclose the results of an investigation into NHL Players Association executive director Donald Fehr’s response to concerns raised by two player agents about former Chicago Blackhawks’ Kyle Beach’s alleged sexual assault.

It will take 18 reps to vote in favor of a public release to make it happen. One source told TSN’s Rick Westhead some of those reps have already voted to make the report public.

CBS SPORTS/TSN: The Montreal Canadiens placed winger Jonathan Drouin on long-term injury reserve after undergoing season-ending surgery. The move will free up salary-cap space for a possible return to action of goaltender Carey Price. The Canadiens also announced injuries have sidelined goalie Jake Allen and defenseman Justin Barron for the remainder of the season.

NHL.COM: Wednesday’s game between the Seattle Kraken and Winnipeg Jets has been postponed to May 1 due to a major winter storm in Winnipeg.







30 Comments

  1. Yeee god if this team really this bad without Pasta and Lindholm?!? I’m thinking first round sweep for the b’s. They are awful. Sweeney didn’t address one of the issues Size and grit Forbort might be a challenge in game of shuffle board aboard the the seven seas explorer but, he’s about as mean as a kitten in a basket full of cotton baton on the ice. Josh would be better served by riding the pine. Bring in Ahcan he is every bit as talented as Matt a bit bigger and stronger. other than that since Mason’s doing another tour of duty with Ohio they are sunk.

    • Wow. Jack is pretty much identical in size to Griz. And not in same category as a player at least not yet Mason is a top prospect. But no where near nhl ready. Did you watch the game. Power play cost it nothing else.

      • I think I can see where RWM is coming from I don’t think Ahcan is the player Matt is but there are similarities both quick, both good offensively, although Jack is stronger defensively. Honestly he plays like a bigger player. He is Providences best d easily. I know both Josh Brown and Forbort are quite a bit larger but they are not very good I wish Sweeney along with Lindholm had picked another larger better player than Derek and Brown.

      • Ahcan is a better defensive player than Grzelcyk?
        Not sure if that was a typo or not Mr. Gumball, but we should probably wait more than 5 games of sheltered minutes before we make that claim.

        I will go out on a limb and say if Jack Ahcan is playing in our top 4, like Grzelcyk does today, in the playoffs, Bruins are done as per MrB4’s point below. That means a bunch of our top D is out because of injury.

        The injuries we have now are making me nervous, here’s hoping these guys get healthy.

      • Ray that is not that I what I said. I did not say Ahcan was better I said they were some similarities . Matt is clearly the better player but who knows how long he’ll be out maybe Ahcan can help.

    • Mr gumball

      Achan is in providence for a reason he is an up a coming prospect griz is a second pair d man on bruins. Jack is not even #7. They are both small puck movers. Not at same skill level

      • Mrbruin4 read the complete post

  2. Carolina looks real nice at 10-1 to win the 21-22 SC … I’m buying

    • Joe that is decent payout as they are a complete team

      • Not just because of last night and they need better goalie play but the Blues at 25-1 do play playoff style hockey

  3. Not good for bruins lost Carlo. So that is 3 of top 4 d men injured and top scorer too
    Swayman. Still has not regained his mojo yet with another sub 900 sv% game
    Bruins should just get healthy. Forget where they end up in the standings

    • B’s always quiet with injuries to their players not giving out to much in information…. Just hope the Carlo injury isn’t the head again …. During playoffs teams always target Carlo and Griz just like they did with Krug when he was here …

  4. Bruins are going to have big problems in the playoffs this year, the heavy hard checking teams are going to give them fits

    • If they are not healthy they will be done. If full health I put them up against anyone in 7 gm series

    • Hi Joe,
      I think your 100% right❗️

      The Bruins Really have Big Trouble
      moving the Puck out of the Zone…..
      They needed to get an Offencive d/man to help them get the puck out of there end and a winger with Good size to help them out…
      But there Goaltending is good and will be great with young Jerramy Swagman

  5. Caper and IP and anybody in the Wiinepeg and upper mid-west Us… hope the snow and storm is much less than is being projected

    Mid-April huh? ….. NOT

    • What’s with Toronto vs Buffalo

      0-4 this test against the Sabres

      Anderson is 40 years old and stones them every time they meet ..
      He would of actually been a decent , affordable pickup at the trade deadline ?

      I think Buffalo is well managed now, maybe turning the corner

      Rasmussen Dahlin is the real deal !

      Minnesota Wild is not a team I would want to be facing come playoff time
      They are really dialed in !

      • Hi Ken

        Leafs repeatedly go in to a Sabres game just “taking them for granted”

        The coach must get this collective mindset gone

        Dahlin … yes real deal

        … but Power…. Something else…. Poise and confidence abounds… gets 20 mins in his debut…. +2…. at 19….. add to his natural abilities , his 6’6” , 215 frame (@19… so he’ll play at 230 in his prime years) just adds to it…. He is shaping up for a Hedman type of career

      • “ He is shaping up for a Hedman type of career”

        Can we see him play 2 games before you hand the guy the Norris?

        Side note:

        Matty Beniers had a primary assist in his NHL debut, so did Wayne Gretzky.

        Beniers is shaping up to have a Gretzky type of career.

        They both have 2 eyeballs a mouth and a nose, see the connection?

    • Pengy it was suppose to start last night around 7pm. i was hopeful at 3;30am no snow.

      My hope is now gone, calling for 24 hour plus of snow. Some predictions were between 50 and 80cm and winds up to 90km per hour.

      Because we love the beauty of a while blanket, the temperatures will drop below freezing for the next 5 to 6 days so we can enjoy the beauty of what nature has gifted us.

      • Atta boy Caper, upside to everything.
        Not sure if you got a dog that is big enough to enjoy that much snow, but they sure do. That always cheers me up after I dig out of the pile.

        Hopefully overhead power doesn’t get knocked out in rural and older area’s. I think you’re outside the city?

      • Sorry to hear that Caper

        That’s nature kicking you (and Ur South Man community; and upper mid-west [IP et al]) in the nether regions

        We had “flakes” the other day… but Sunny and 16 yesterday…,what a miserable , inconsistent, and confusing Winter

        Fingers crossed it is truly over soon

  6. Leafs went in underestimating Sabres… it showed… and showed huge

    Power looked absolutely great…. 20 mins…. All strong and poised…. +2….19 years old…. Great debut… looking forward to the summer when he plays again for Canada in WJs

    Caught the last period (and OT) of ‘Nucks v Knights…. Not sure how the early part of game went… but Knights seemed to dominate the third…. OT opening face-off win by ‘Nucks and then seemed all ‘Nucks in OT

    Pens…down Gino, then Rusty, then E-Rod and coming back from 3-1; and 4-3 to send to OT, then lose in SO…. Good to get a point…. But still sliding… a flip of positions with Caps (2 games in hand only 3 points back) is certainly possible

    If Rusty and E-Rod out for next game… perhaps they try Poulin out for a game… doing well in WBS last month

    Again Sully maniacally sits the superior Pettersson in lieu of CR (even after previous game when Pettersson bailed out several CR gross errors)…. Something must be up… Sully can’t be that stubborn or blind… it’s either CR has blackmail on Sully or Pettersson is seriously in Sully’s personal bad books (inappropriate pass at Kate Sullivan??)

    • Or…

      And stick with me pengy…

      It’s possible…. Just a tiny bit possible… that chad has played fine and you might have an unhealthy obsession with him that colors your judgement?

      I mean… just a wild thought.

      • Good Wild thought 😀

        I challenge you to come up with any 3 straight games this year where CR was at least been “fair” in play….

        I’ve watched every game

        Even in games where he has scored or got a point… he still has big breakdowns and mental gaps/gaffs

        Point in fact… he got an assist last night… but shift before AND shift after that… he was caught covering no one… and were it not for Friedman and DeSmith… that could have caused 2 more GAs. He did the same earlier in the game and later as well.

        There is no doubt I’m jaded when it comes to my viewpoints on him… but I back that with his play for the games this year, as well as previous 2.

        He did very well after being in the pressbox for very long stretches last year… he comes out positionally much better….. very likely learned from the vantage point he had while not playing

        He started out OK this year… then the positional faults and panicked dumps started escalating

        All joking aside…I really think CR (and more importantly the Pens overall) will gain tremendously from CR being a healthy scratch for 6 or 7 games in a row

        With all the offence being off (Gino, and now maybe both Rusty and E-Rod)….D must be much better…. So it is imperative to put out the best D they have

        How can anybody show that CR is better than any of :

        Tanger, Matheson, Dumo. Marino, Pettersson, or Freidman…

        He’s not… so that makes him at best Pens 7th D…. Yet Sully has had the far superior Pettersson, and better, faster, stronger, smarter (poisitionally), and more productive Freidman, as healthy scratches…. But NOT CR

        Dumo has also had some struggles of late, Sully has moved him down the depth chart

        Pens have nothing to lose and a load to gain by trying, for say 3 or 4 games…

        Tanger/Matheson

        Marino/Pettersson

        Freidman/PO-J

        Bring back Dumo after 3 or 4 games …. Where he benefits from the vantage point; start him first game back with Freidman (P-O J back down to WBS) and if he improves, after a couple of games back, put him with Marino, pair up Freidman=Pettersson

        Experiment with CR (sheltered) coming back after 6 or 7 games…. Low minutes, bottom pairing, never ever on PK

        Sully has been all over the map with experimenting with forwards… why not try with the D… it literally can only help the team…. They are falling backwards on route to possibly finishing behind Caps

  7. I can see Hutton being called up for the Leafs just to get some games in but that still is not going to fix the fact the Leafs need to put out more effort and not fall off the face of the world with a drab effortless playing style.

    Yup every team plays the Leafs like it was a stanley cup final so the Leafs better get into the game and not take it for granted.

    Credit to Buffalo winning some games lately and Anderson made some real key saves to keep his team ahead of the curve.

  8. I don’t believe the Leafs took Buffalo for granted. According to the Maple Leafs’ Sports Network (TSN) the Leafs were determined to end the Buffalo jinx. It didn’t happen largely because of their (Leafs) weak goaltending. Watch out for Buffalo next season – they are on the rise. Nice goal by Jeff Skinner.

    • Ya the Sabres seem to be playing better of late Laurie, next year might be a little early to push for playoffs, but let’s see what they do in off season.

      Cozens seems like a player if he keeps progressing, 200′ guy with some offence if he does. If Tage Thompson can sustain or stay close to his current scoring, wow, they may have found something. Seemed like a bit of a throw in as part of the O’Reilly deal but has got it going.

      Some nice pieces if they develop, problem is they often don’t in Buffalo. Hope they do for Sabres fans.

      Hard to imagine Power not becoming a good player with his skill set and physical attributes, question is how good. Likely gonna take a while with a big D man like him though. Almost always does.

    • Hi Laurie

      Sorry if I conveyed that I was believing that Sabres were an easy night or not an up and coming good team

      What I meant was… Leafs went in over-confident and not respecting their opponent… that’s what I meant by “taking for granted”

      Yes goaltending was shaky…. But Leafs overall did not play up to their capabilities

      They are not catching Cats… goal has to be to stay in 2nd (home ice)….

      They are4 and 5 points up on Bolts/ Bruins, and have 40 RWs (first tie-breaker) vs 33 and 35…. But Leaf’s should not take the pedal off the gas

      Leafs balance of season seems to favour them finishing 2nd…. But they have games v each of Cats, Bolts, Bruins still to come…. Lose all 3 in reg…. Whole new outlook on where they could possibly finish

      Finishing in a WC spot is still (however unlikely) a possibility

      Foot ON the gas

  9. Re; Johnny Gaudreau🍁

    I think his next Contract will be around the
    $9.Million to $10.Million dollar range for a contract as he is the flames most consistant scorer.

    Gaudreau is in the Top scorining this year @ # 5 this year in points and a top 10 Point getter over the past 5+ years…🤔..❓
    When you look at other wingers like Mitch Mariner Making $10.9 mill JG is better, $9-to -$10 mill is a good deal for both sides….👍