NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 17, 2022
Recaps of Wednesday’s games plus the latest on Marc-Andre Fleury, Patrick Laine and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: A hat trick by Trevor Moore powered the Los Angeles Kings to a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Viktor Arvidsson collected three assists as the Kings improved to 11-7-1 (23 points), sitting just three points behind the first-place Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference standings. Zach Hyman replied for the Oilers as they drop to 9-8-0.
Los Angeles Kings forward Trevor Moore (NHL Images).
The St. Louis Blues picked up their fourth straight win by dropping the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2. Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and an assist while Jordan Binnington made 25 saves for the 7-8-0 Blues while Andreas Athanasiou scored both goals for the 6-7-3 Blackhawks.
Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg kicked out 29 shots in a 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres (7-10-0), handing the latter their seventh straight loss. Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson each had two points for the Senators as they improved to 6-9-1. Sabres goalie Eric Comrie left this game in the second period following a collision with Senators forward Mathieu Joseph.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s looking like the same old story for the Sabres. They get off to a promising start to the season and then collapse as the schedule rolls along. This will turn into another lost season unless they reverse this skid soon.
HEADLINES
TWINCITIES.COM: Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has been sidelined by an upper-body injury. For now, there’s no timeline as to when he’ll return to action.
ESPN.COM: The Columbus Blue Jackets moved winger Patrik Laine (ankle sprain) to injured reserve.
DAILY FACEOFF: The Carolina Hurricanes will be without winger Teuvo Teravainen, goaltender Frederik Andersen and winger Ondrej Kase for a while. All three are currently sidelined and on injured reserve. Head coach Rod Brind’Amour said they’re not close to returning to action.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Hurricanes will feel the absence of Teravainen and Andersen. Both are among their core players.
WINNIPEG SUN: Jets winger Mason Appleton will be out for eight-to-12 weeks with a wrist injury.
NHL.COM: The Boston Bruins have activated goaltender Jeremy Swayman off IR and assigned Keith Kinkaid to their AHL affiliate in Providence.
DAILY FACEOFF: Matt Larkin examines the reasons behind the growing number of goaltenders getting injured and what can be done to address the issue.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Larkin looks at several good reasons behind the goalie injuries. I believe the main culprit is the butterfly style used by all netminders nowadays. It places tremendous wear and tear on a goaltender’s knees, hips, and groin which can eventually lead to nagging injuries that can shorten a career.
THE ATHLETIC: Fluto Shinzawa looks at the decline of the stand-alone slap shot as the NHL’s signature scoring weapon.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Shinzawa isn’t referring to the one-timer, which he points out remains an effective scoring weapon. He’s talking mainly about a player receiving a pass, then winding up and firing the puck.
I think the main reason is the increased pace of the game and the rise in shot blocking have made the stand-alone slapper a less effective tool. It will never fully go away but it’s not as reliable for scoring as it once was.
OTTAWA SUN: Sources report Michael Andlauer, the owner of the Ontario Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs, is teaming up with Rocco Tullio (owners of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals) in an attempt to purchase the Senators.
Buffalo is having a strange season so far. About a week and a half ago there was chatter in here about them perhaps challenging for a playoff spot and, based on their results to that point it was hard not to agree with that view.
Sitting 7 – 3 with 43gf and 28ga their record included a sweep of the Canadian west in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver as well as 6-3 and 8-3 hammerings of Pittsburgh and Detroit, averaging 4.3 goals per game for and 2.8 goals against.
Since then they have gone 0-7 with 17gf and 33ga, seeing their offensive average drop to 2.4 goals for and their defense balloon to 4.7 goals against per game.
They can’t point to devastating injuries as the cause, remaining relatively injury-free compared to some, with only Okposo missing some recent games.
I wonder how long it’ll be before fingers start pointing at Granato?
Hasn’t Buffalo been here before? If I’m not mistaken, they’ve had 2-3 great starts and floundered quickly.
They have, CaptainObvious … just that, early this season they had top pick big Owen Power in the line-up, Dahlin having a banner year, Skinner seemingly getting back to his Carolina days, and guys like Tuch, Olofsson and Mittelstadt regularly putting up points. I don’t know … a new “buzz”?? – it just seemed “different” this time around.
You can’t count on Eric Comrie to keep up the type of start he had this season. Can a 40+ Anderson stay healthy enough and still good enough to keep this strong start going for the rest of the season?
That being said, maybe Buffalo would be a great place for Demko IF the Canucks decide to trade him. And that should be a BIG IF. lol
We have seen this before from Buffalo. They have great starts, only to fall off a cliff after Christmas and miss the playoffs. More than once.
George,
I said it before, I’ll say it again. Buffalo will go as far as their goaltending will take them. Adams’ rebuild has done well. They’ve got a good mix for both the forwards and blueliners. But most goalies Anderson’s age are either retired or playing in beer leagues. Comrie is not, yet, a starting NHL goalie. Maybe in a year or two, but not yet.
Shot blocking is effective against the slap shot especially if (and today is better than the past) padding is effective. Few people have a slap shot that can really hurt, even with pads. Shea Weber had such a shot, few others.
Plus, unlike a good wrist “flicker”, everyone in the building – including the goalie – knows exactly when the slapper is coming and has time to adjust. In its heyday – started by Geoffrion – it was a novelty that few goalies of the day had ever faced and so, for a while, it worked well – especially as players put curves in their blades that had sticks resembling lacrosse sticks without the netting. The puck used to act like a bloody knuckleball as that was perfected – before saner heads prevailed.
Watched the Sens & Sabres Game last night👌
&
Oilers kings game
it was a really good game Sens & Sabres, both teams are Young and Fast
-Both Teams Need a Starting Goaltender✔️ So
watch what happens in Vancouver if the go for the full rebuild and demko want out…..🤔
-Both Teams Need a Top 4 Mature d/man, to work with there young d cores… and will have lots of Cap room Now and Next year….
Buffalo
should look at Erik Karlson as the RD position need help there….❓
Ottawa
have There top 2 d/men out.. LD man Chabot & RD man Artem Zub, Zub skated yesterday in full contact gear…..👍
im sure they want to get him resigned soon if the can get a deal done if not they will trade him as A last resort.
Both Holden and Hamornic are UFA and if they can swap out Nikita Zaitsev they also need to add a top 4 d/man to go with there young d core
Both teams may not make the playoffs this year… but a couple of trade’s and they will be there in 2023/4 100%……. and the Toronto Maple Leafs better watch out….⁉️
The slap shot isn’t less effective, just needs more mature developed players who are able to use a stick with less flex.
The slap shot from the point has been replaced by collecting the garbage and slap passes as crowding the crease is the vogue and its more important to get the puck through the crowd…..to and then past the goalie
Sabres gambled on their goaltending which, ironically, may win them the lottery.