NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 15, 2022
Recaps of Monday’s games, the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2022 is inducted, the three stars of the week are revealed, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: The St. Louis Blues held off the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on a third-period power-play goal by Jordan Kyrou. Jordan Binnington stopped 45 shots while Robert Thomas had a goal and an assist for the Blues (6-8-0), who’ve now won three straight games. The Avalanche (8-5-1) got a 36-save effort from Alexandar Georgiev while Mikko Rantanen tallied a goal and collected an assist.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Avalanche announced that Kurtis MacDermid would be sidelined for four-to-six weeks with a lower-body injury. They also placed sidelined forward Shane Bowers (upper body) on injured reserve.
Calgary Flames winger Jonathan Huberdeau (NHL Images).
Calgary Flames winger Jonathan Huberdeau tallied his 200th career NHL goal as his club held on to nip the Los Angeles Kings 6-5 and improve their record to 7-6-2. Tyler Toffoli and Elias Lindholm each had a goal and two assists for the Flames while Arthur Kaliyev scored twice for the 10-7-1 Kings.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Huberdeau was returning to action after missing the last three games with an injured foot. Coming off a career-best 115-point performance with the Florida Panthers in 2021-22, he’s having a slow start with his new club this season with seven points in 12 games.
Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov made 27 saves for his first career NHL shutout in a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook each had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes as they improved their record to 10-5-1 while the Blackhawks dropped to 6-6-3.
The New York Islanders got a 36-save performance from Semyon Varlamov to double up the Ottawa Senators 4-2. Mathew Barzal collected two assists for the 11-6-0 Islanders. Claude Giroux and Tim Stutzle each had two points for the Senators as they fall to 5-9-1. Giroux extended his points streak to nine games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Barzal is tied with Brock Nelson as the Islanders’ leading scorer this season with 18 points. He has yet to score a goal.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: The Hockey Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022 was officially inducted on Monday night. The six members included former Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, former NHL goaltender Roberto Luongo and former Vancouver Canucks forwards Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Finnish women’s hockey star Riikka Sallinen and pioneering Black hockey star Herb Carnegie were also inducted.
PHILLY HOCKEY NOW: Bill Clement and Al Morganti were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame for media excellence.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Congratulations to the Class of 2022 for their well-deserved honors.
NHL.COM: Colorado Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen, Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark and New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox were the NHL three stars for the week ending Nov. 13, 2022.
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH: Blue Jackets winger Patrik Laine will be sidelined for three-to-four weeks with a sprained ankle. He’s the latest member of the injury-ravaged club to be sidelined, joining Zach Werenski, Jakub Voracek, Nick Blankenburg, Justin Danforth and Adam Boqvist.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Jackets are also sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with nine points in 14 games. This rash of injuries will only make it more difficult for this club to climb out of that increasingly deep hole.
TSN: The Toronto Maple Leafs announced defenseman Jake Muzzin is sidelined indefinitely with a cervical spine injury and will be re-evaluated in February. Fellow blueliner T.J. Brodie is expected to miss two weeks with an oblique injury.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The absence of Muzzin and Brodie has some pundits suggesting general manager Kyle Dubas should make a trade to bolster their injury-ravaged blueline. I’ll have more about this in today’s NHL rumor mill.
DAILY FACEOFF: Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun and center Nick Schmaltz are set to return to the lineup next week. Chychrun has been sidelined by off-season wrist surgery while Schmaltz has been sidelined by a rib injury since the Coyotes’ season opener.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Chychrun’s been a fixture in the trade rumor mill for months. Expect the speculation to ramp up once he resumes playing.
NHL.COM: Seattle Kraken defenseman Carson Soucy was fined $5,000.00 by the department of player safety for roughing Winnipeg Jets center Pierre-Luc Dubois on Sunday.
SAN JOSE HOCKEY NOW/CBS SPORTS: Sharks defenseman Radim Simek has been placed on IR with an upper-body injury while blueliner Nikolai Knyzhov (Achilles) has been placed on long-term injury reserve.
WGR 550: Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Quinn will be sidelined this week with an undisclosed injury.
Injuries starting to take their toll especially on Columbus.That organization is snake bit.
True and yet, this injury bug could be a blessing in disguise. The Jackets have been building up their prospect pool, especially with blueliners. With so many of the top talent out, they are able to get a look at some of the top prospects and gauge how ready for the NHL they are.
It has become painfully obvious that the Senators have no clue as to how to change their approach depending upon the opposition. The Islanders play a smothering defense style and if you don’t adapt your game you’ll be left totally frustrated.
THAT was the Senators last night and you could see the looks on many fans as they left the half-empty building “here we go again.”
Smith is the 13th different head coach in the team’s history (modern era) and, I suspect, if and when he’s cut loose, he will be the 7th among that group never to get another head-coaching stint – in the NHL. Like Dave Allison, John Paddock, Craig Hartsburg, Cory Clouston, Paul McLean, Dave Cameron, Guy Boucher (he had been head coach before the Senators, with Tampa Bay)
Whenever the change occurs, Dorion has better get it right this time.
Any suggestions, George? Their AHL coach?
Tippett! LOL
BCLeafFan – my first choice would be Trotz … but he’s in a self-proclaimed hiatus for now and besides, I doubt the Senators would pay what he’d command. When it comes to coaches, as I pointed out above, they have been consistently looking at candidates who have yet to be given an NHL head job. Why? Possibly because they want a coach at the beginning end of the pay scale.
Claude Julien is available and he’s probably forgotten more about how to install different systems to meet certain needs than Smith will ever learn.
Hell, I’d rather have Babcock than Smith.
On a serious note, maybe wait till Boudreau is fired from the Canucks. I don’t like the way he is being treated in Vancouver.
GeorgeO i have to say i was expecting Ottawa to be somewhat in a playoff race. Disappointing to see they made be in the Connor Bedard race instead.
Is it coaching or something else
It’s 100% coaching. No systems. Missuse of players. Over use of one player until he gets mentally sloppy and gets injured. Coach is a buffoon. Gives up last change at home ALL THE EFFING TIME. Let me see…..defensive zone draw…..at home….I see the Marchand, Pasta, Bergerone line coming out….go get em 4th Line!!! This is not an exageration. This happens. It happened so much last season there were betting websites offering “parlays” on it.
It’s lack of depth on the depth for the Sens, but a decent coach with an actual system and, as George pointed out, the ability to adjust the system depending on the opponent, could make up for that. I blame the coaching more than anything. I feel like the players look lost out there.
Have to agree Dark G and TheSaint. And the frustrating part is, 6 of their losses have been by 1 goal (they lead the league in empty netters allowed with 6!) signifying a lack of change in tactics/approach – when it comes to Smith’s “system” it’s a classic example of trying to pound that square peg into the round hole, instead of having some adjustments to fit the situation.
One key factor in a coach firing is usually when the players quit playing for their coach. This seems not to be the case this time, the players are trying but, as pointed out, there seems to be no proper system in their play. Lots of dump it in all the time, disconnect between defence and forwards on the break out etc.etc.
I noticed Alfredsson mentioning in his HOF acceptance speech how much he appreciated the “system” Jacques Martin brought in after Dave Allison was fired. I wonder if he was referencing the current situation with the Sens in a sort of oblique way.
The “message” was there Hossaheat … I noticed that as well. And he’s right. Martin made an instant difference by simply adjusting the “system.” Smith seems determined to make his work come Hell or high water. If they have F who don’t like to back-check – get rid of them. It’s a 2-way game.
Cheering (hoping for) as I did last werkend; for a high scoring OT game (Leafs v Pens) with the OT V to Pens (I always wish for W to go to lower seed when its Leafs V Pens)
Tight Atl Div…. 2nd through 6th separated by 2 points….Leafs (2nd) having played 1 extra G over Bolts. Cats, Wings, Habs…. still possible for all 5 to be tied in points at US Thanksgiving!
Avalanche too fancy last night! trying to be cute instead of just shooting at the net with a 5-3 to end the game, let Binnington and the Blues off the hook, IMO. He was good but not that good! GO AVS!!!!!!!!!