NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 31, 2022

by | Oct 31, 2022 | News, NHL | 17 comments

Marc-Andre Fleury sets a league record, Artemi Panarin and Jesper Bratt maintain their hot starts to the season while Jack Eichel and Trevor Zegras are overtime heroes. Get the details in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

GAME RECAPS

NHL.COM: Marc-Andre Fleury picked up his league-record 62nd shootout victory to backstop the Minnesota Wild (4-4-1) over the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3. Fleury made 23 saves in regulation and overtime, Matt Boldy scored twice in regulation while Kirill Kaprizov and Frederick Gaudreau tallied in the shootout. Alex Stalock made 32 saves for the Blackhawks (4-3-1).

Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (NHL Images).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Blackhawks announced that defenseman Seth Jones is expected to be sidelined for three-to-four weeks with an injured right thumb. It’s a big blow to their defense corps as Jones averaged a team-leading 25:14 of ice time per game.

The New Jersey Devils lifted their record to 6-3-0 with a 7-1 drubbing of the Columbus Blue Jackets, dropping the latter’s record to 3-7-0. Jesper Bratt extended his season-opening points streak to nine games with a goal and an assist while Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes also had two points each. Elvis Merzlikins made 46 saves for the Jackets.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Jackets have a league-worst goals-against per game of 4.40 but their netminders aren’t getting much help from their defense. They’ve given up the eighth-most shots-against per game (34.5) thus far. They’re also not getting much goal support as their 2.60 goals-per-game sits 28th

New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists while Mika Zibanejad’s third-period goal snapped a 2-2 tie to nip the Arizona Coyotes 3-2. It’s Panarin’s third multi-point game thus far, sitting one behind Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid. Coyotes rookie Dylan Guenther collected two assists while goalie Connor Ingram made 36 saves. The Rangers improve to 5-3-2 while the Coyotes fall to 2-5-1.

An overtime goal by Trevor Zegras lifted the Anaheim Ducks to a 4-3 upset of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was Zegras’ second goal of the game while John Gibson kicked out 33 shots as the Ducks got their second win of the season (2-6-1). Leafs center Auston Matthews tallied his third goal of the season as his club’s record fell to 4-4-2.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Four of the Leafs losses this season have come against rebuilding teams (Ducks, Canadiens, Coyotes) or struggling ones (Sharks). They’re winless in their last four (0-2-2).

Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel tallied in overtime to down the Winnipeg Jets 2-1. Mark Stone scored the tying goal for the Golden Knights (8-2-0) after Adam Lowry opened the scoring for the Jets as they drop to 5-3-1.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Jets got a point out of this thanks to a 46-save performance from Connor Hellebuyck.

IN OTHER NEWS…

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Derian Hatcher and Bob Gainey were formally inducted Sunday into the Dallas Stars Hall of Fame. Hatcher was the Stars captain for nine seasons, including their 1999 Stanley Cup championship. Gainey spent 12 seasons as the Stars coach and general manager, building their Stanley Cup roster by acquiring Ed Belfour, Joe Nieuwendyk, Brett Hull and Sergei Zubov.

TSN: Speaking of the Stars, forward Ty Dellandrea was fined $2,333.33 by the NHL department of player safety for interference on New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin on Saturday.

GOPHNX.COM: Craig Morgan reports sources said the Tempe City Council will likely refer the Arizona Coyotes’ proposed arena and entertainment district to a referendum, leaving the decision up to Tempe voters. The referendum would be held sometime in 2023.







17 Comments

  1. “Tempe City Council will likely refer the Arizona Coyotes’ proposed arena and entertainment district to a referendum, leaving the decision up to Tempe voters. The referendum would be held sometime in 2023 …”

    And the beat goes on ….

    • Toronto is struggling , “why?”
      Marner perhaps ???
      This player is a bad egg and a disturbance to the entire team with his antics .
      Too many times this season this season we have witnessed a very bad attitude ..
      2 give away last night and Keefe benched him for “1” shift ???
      The kid goes in a hissy fit , witnessed live !!!!
      Trade him to Arizona , good place for him , Chychrun and a winger , whatever needs to go the other way along with Marner
      I just don’t think Dubas has the hockey IQ to pull it off !!!
      This player has to go !
      It’s really unfortunate Torts signed in Philadelphia . He would clean up this disaster in a heartbeat
      Keefe has lost the confidence of his team , unfortunate …

      I am not being negative here , but stating fact !!

      • Ken I didn’t see the game but seen lots of comments about Marner 2 give aways and some calling for his benching.

        I have my doubts about Keefe after his retracement of his comment.

        Wouldn’t be concern over Matthews as he is a slow starter.

      • Ken – there is something definitely not clicking right now where the Leafs are concerned but I’m not sure I’d put it all on Marner. He is frustrated – I imagine like a lot of them.

        You don’t go into the building of a struggling team, insert a rookie goalie, and then let them fire 39 shots at him.

        Rielly -2; Matthews -2; Marner -2; Bunting -2

      • Dont think its the Coach…..

        the Maple Leafs are a Mediocre Team after the big 4 and the $40.M Cap Hit…
        one ned to get traded…..⁉️
        in the $10-12 $M range

        there other problem is goaltending…
        the have 2 backs up Mr Injury and the Caps guy who could not get it done in washington in front the the leafs poor D thats not a recipe for any Success…

      • Maybe one last coaching change for the Leafs before they start dumping underachievers. Trotz is available…

      • One glaring stat stands out to me that puts the Leafs issue on the coach. Holl has the third most time on ice per game amongst their d-men. Why does this guy have about 3 minutes more per game than Giordano? Holl would be hard-pressed to make the majority of NHL teams top 7 d-men.

  2. It’s past time to let the Coyotes move to either Houston or KC. When they announced that they would play in a university’s small facility that should have proven to Bettman that the Phoenix area won’t support a hockey team.

    • 5,000 seats – which they couldn’t sell out – in their home opener

      • The nhl wins big with this voter referendum. If the people vote it down, the league can walk away fairly clean saying they stuck it out as long as possible. All the kids crying cause they lost their team isn’t their fault. It’s the cities.

      • Well if I was Tempe I would be very wary of putting large amounts of taxpayer $ into paying for a new arena.
        Might want to call the folks of Glendale on how doing business with that ownership group went.

        Tried to negotiate using threats of leaving, all the while not paying their tax bill. They had to threaten to lock them out to get paid. And then told them to take a hike permanently. Good for them.

        If I was Tempe I would tell them to sell the team to different ownership or take your team and piss off.

    • San Diego!

    • The Coyotes SOAP OPERA 5***** this BS just keep going and going…..🙈

      November 29th was the date we would find out if the New Arena was going to be Approved its a basic Yes or No….. 🤔

      Now they say they want public approval for it
      and that would come sometime in 2023…..😳❗️
      Alll this Research & Development should have been done first

      Are you BEpping Kidding what wrong with these guys…

      Houston prepare for landing of a new Team….👍

  3. 1 more significant thought !

    Toronto has to advance out of the first round ?

    Boston has come on like a locomotive !
    Buffalo is vastly improved and playoff bound ?
    Detroit and and Jersey are going in the right direction …
    New York and Tampa are off to a slow start

    Is Toronto even in contention to make the playoffs
    This is a very serious question !
    A drastic change or 2 is required before it’s too late !

    • But what would that change be Ken? Most teams would find losing 2 top d a challenge, but as has been discussed ad nauseam here for the past several years, the Leafs strategy relies heavily on their top 4 forwards and Reilly and with no cap wiggle room for in season correction. Such a delicate balance coupled with their Always thin d and revolving goalie situation means that it’s difficult for them to manage when adversity shows up.

      The more it changes . . .

  4. Toronto’s top 4 players are second to none in the NHL. But players 5 – 20 are much closer to the bottom in the NHL than the top, mainly due to the amount of money paid to 1 – 4.

  5. One bad game by Marner and Leafs nation is on him bad. Marner isn’t the Leafs problem. The Leafs problem is their defence. Holl, who wouldn’t make the majority of the NHL clubs top 7, is getting 20 minutes of ice time a night.
    Marner is to Matthews as Oates was to Hull. Leafs trade Marner and Matthews season goal totals will drop by 10. Instead of a 50 to 60 goal player, Matthews will be a 40 to 50 goal player.