NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 19, 2022
The Rangers and Hurricanes extend their streaks with victories, the Sharks’ Erik Karlsson and the Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov reach points milestones, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NOTE: The NHL’s annual holiday roster freeze goes into effect at 11:59 PM ET on Dec. 19 and runs through 12:01 AM ET on Dec. 28.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: The New York Rangers extended their win streak to seven games by thumping the Chicago Blackhawks 7-1. Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists, Adam Fox collected three assists and Igor Shesterkin stopped 29 shots for the Rangers (18-10-5), who moved past the Pittsburgh Penguins (40 points) into third place in the Metropolitan Division with 41 points. The Blackhawks (7-19-4) remain in last place in the overall standings with 18 points.
New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was a bittersweet game for long-time Blackhawks stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews as this was their 1,000th game as teammates. Meanwhile, Rangers forward Filip Chytil left the game with an upper-body injury in the second period following a late, high hit by Blackhawks forward Sam Lafferty. He’s listed as day-to-day.
A third-period goal by Jordan Staal snapped a 2-2 tie as the Carolina Hurricanes nipped the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 to extend their points streak to 11 games. Staal and Derek Stepan each had two points while Pyotr Kochetkov made 23 saves as the Hurricanes (19-6-6) moved past the Toronto Maple Leafs into third overall in the Eastern Conference with 44 points. Rickard Rakell and Brock McGinn replied for the Penguins (18-9-4) as they suffer their first loss in eight games.
Two third-period goals by Elias Lindholm 19 seconds apart powered the Calgary Flames to a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks to snap a five-game losing skid. Milan Lucic scored his first of the season for the Flames (14-12-6) while Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson collected an assist for his 700th career point as his club fell to 10-17-6.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Sharks activated Matt Nieto off injured reserve for this game and placed forward Luke Kunin(lower body) on IR.
Minnesota Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov reached his 200th career point with a goal and two assists to double up the Ottawa Senators 4-2. Mats Zuccarello had two points to extend his points streak to 10 games as the Wild (18-11-2) picked up their fifth straight win to move into fifth place in the Western Conference with 38 points. Claude Giroux and Mark Kastelic replied for the 14-15-2 Senators.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Earlier in the day, the NHL department of player safety fined Senators forward Auston Watson was fined $4,054.05 for interference against Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin on Saturday.
The Seattle Kraken scored two unanswered third-period goals in a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets. Jordan Eberle, Ryan Donato and Jared McCann scored for the Kraken (17-10-3), who had lost five of their last six contests and sit sixth overall in the Western Conference with 37 points. Mark Scheifele and Pierre-Luc Dubois replied for the Jets (20-10-1), who remain third overall in the conference with 41 points.
HEADLINES
NBC SPORTS WASHINGTON: Capitals winger T.J. Oshie is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury suffered during Saturday’s game against the Maple Leafs.
NBC SPORTS BOSTON: The Bruins placed winger Craig Smith on waivers. If he’s claimed by noon ET on Monday, it would clear his $3.1 million cap hit from the Bruins’ books.
THE SEATTLE TIMES: Kraken center Shane Wright has been named captain of Team Canada for the upcoming World Junior Championship. The Kraken loaned the 18-year-old Wright as part of their plan to get him more meaningful playing time before deciding on whether they’ll keep him on their roster or return him to his junior team for the remainder of the season.
CBS SPORTS: The Columbus Blue Jackets loaned defenseman David Jiricek to Czechia’s World Junior team.
DAILY FACEOFF: The Edmonton Oilers signed free-agent defenseman Jason Demers to a one-year, two-way contract. They have placed him on waivers for the purpose of loaning him to their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
I couldn’t help but think of Pengy when I saw Jordan Staal outmaneuver Ruhwedel for positioning on the Hurricanes winning goal.
The Horror
Now you see what I’m talking about!!!!
Took a stupid penalty; can’t move anybody out; consistently followed pO-J to PO-J’s side (who was already engaged with puck carrier) leaving his (CR’s) man open; errant passes; unforced icings ; the list goes on and on and on
Were it not bail-outs by DeSmith; P-O J ; Sid…. CR could have cost Pens at least 4 MORE goals last night
The Horror
Rangers in town tomorrow…. Sully MUST play Friedman over Ruhweedel…. MUST
To be perfectly fair, Pengy. Jordan Staal is a Moose of a man. Not exactly the easiest fellow to battle against I front of the net. Not many can handle him down low…….but I see what you mean.
Pengy, Jack Johnson is available!
Hi SOP
No denying that…. But irrelevant in the whole scheme of things…. Ruhwedel almost single handedly caused 3 other goals last night (DeSmith; P-O J; Sid bailed him out)
Freidman is leaps snd bounds better
George
Bite your tongue
Check this out. It seems I have a stalker using my handle on other sites But his writing style looks very familiar. Don’t you think???
Mr Bruin4
21h ago
I’m still a little Leery of Swayman he has still not returned to form. The bruins the last few games need to be a bit a whole lot better in their own end, their passes aren’t as crisp and their shots are little askewd. Well, cooking up some Belgium waffles with a monster Cup some pumpkin spice Latte just a little lemon twist makes this an absolute delight. Ta duh.. if anyone on this site needs a few tips on how to accumulate and properly assemble hockey knowledge I’ll be glad to assist you.
Aww now, that’s just wrong … and cheap. Why do some think doing something like that is kosher?
I only had that done to me once (that I know of) and that was about 3 years ago.
Wrong and cheap sure, but really kinda pathetic when you think about it.
Yeah, that’s a much more appropriate adjective
Not right RW!!!
I’m hoping no one uses my moniker on other sites; but I wouldn’t know.
How much is he charging you to rent that space in his head. I wonder what kind of dreams he has about you?
Chrisms
I do not wish to know his dreams. Arghh
Definitely weird
MrBruin4 there is other sites? You cheater! JK
There is. But this is my fave as the independent content daily is superior to the others by a large amount. Most posters actually have hockey knowledge except ……..1 that comes to mind
Swayman is still a very young goaltender and showing Flashes of how good he will become
There is no rush in Boston they have a good #1 Goaltender and Swayman is learning his role..
Boston is set in goal for the next 10-12 years.
But
Centre is what they need to look at when the 2 old guys retire next season #37 & #46…⁉️
They dont really have anyone to fill the 1 & 2 Centre positions….🤔
Agreed Willie. Ullmark has been stellar and I don’t have any concerns about Swayman’s abilities.
On the wing, Marchand has a few years left and I’m confident Pastrnak will be re-upped. Lyesell will be in the mix soon, and Debrusk has returned to form.
On defense, McAvoy and Lindhold are locked in as the top pair for years to come. Carlo, Grz, Clifton, Zboril are all fairly young and Lohrie isn’t far away.
I think Boston has the core to continue competing without a true rebuild if they can find someone to take over the 1C and 2C positions when Bergeron and Krejci do retire (though I personally think they’ll both be back next year). The cap should go up considerably the following year, which will help.
For UFA’s coming up this off-season, Horvat would of course be a great fit. O’Reilly would be a decent stop-gap for a couple of seasons. Larkin would be amazing but I don’t see Detroit letting him walk.
The following offseason Matthews will be available, as could be Scheifele and Aho.
Will definitely be interesting to see what happens. I don’t buy the argument that Boston needs to tear it all down if Bergeron and Krejci retire though. They still have a solid young core in place.
Auto-“correct” does some stupid stuff with hockey player’s names….
Rangers on Fire…. 7 in a row; 8-1-1….dang, just in time to come to Pitt tomorrow
Had Pens won in Reg last night (and they were ahead until 8 mins into the 3rd!!!) ; they’d be 2nd in Div (only 2 points behind Devils) ; 6th in League; and on an 8 game winning streak.
Instead…. Loss in Reg; now in WC spot with Isles 3 points behind; Caps 4 points behind; and 10th in league; AND mathematical possibility to drop out of playoff spot; and be in 15th spot overall by Saturday morning
Metro is tight
With Rangers in town tomorrow; Sully absolutely must play Friedman; CR to press box (🤞🙏🤞🙏🤞🙏🤞🙏). Rangers just potted 7!!!
DoubleMinor,
Yes i think your right, if Boston could get Bo Horvat as a UFA they would be set at 1st line Centre for lots of years and not have to give up a package
i think Bo Hovrat will pick his team as a UFA in July where he wants to go to and play for the cup….❓👍
-Larkin will re-sign in Detroit 100%
-Mark Scheifele i dont think will stay in Winnipeg, to much crap going on with that franchine, think the GM need to go there….❓
i think Boston is a team that can keep going for years with no re-build and a ufa top up with players coming in and there young guys coming up
2024,
I dont think Austin Mathews will sill be in Toronto, The Leafs just cant pour all that money into Offence with No Defence…😳
a-la-6th year in a row with first round Exit… what has to give with these guys…. 8yr in a Row…🙈🤣
Willy McD sure looks like he’s fed up…can’t help but think he wants out and love to join his team if Austin leaves, ya know?
Terrible officiating on the Watson/Larkin play. Watson gives Larkin a shot to the head on a face-off play, and Larkin retaliated with a crosscheck to Watson. Larkin gets a penalty, Watson does not but is fined. Larkin is abused regularly, and thr officials simply will not penalize anyone for doing so ( rembering Benn’s crosscheck to the back of Larkin’s neck that earned 3 months in a necklace for Larkin, but no penalty for Benn). Apparently, Detroit needs to find it’s own goon winger for Larkin’s line.
Hi Ron,
I think McDavid is Sick of the Very Poor Officiating
at oilers games…
If you cant stop #97,
Hold him
or Pull him down
or Trip him …⁉️ …. you got a 80%-20% chance of getting away with it.
It looks like BOTH Refs look like they got short sighted Elton Johns on…..🤓 its just Ridiculous,
I have been to 3 oilers games in the past month and have Never seen as many missed calls
I just dont know what the NHL is thinks with all these missed penalties …❓
Maybe he need’s to do the Oscar Performance Soccer Dive just like a Soccer player…😱😂
I could see Austin Mathers coming to Edmonton just to Win a Cup…!!
Demers signing…. Low risk; hood depth move by Oil
Katz is loaded…. just over 60% of (balance of season) $375 K in the AHL ; is chump change for the possibility of bringing him (rightie with 700 games/12 years experience) up if/when injuries require
Chaison (per cap friendly) still available…. 13 goals last year (but 82 game pace of 16)…. 6’5”, 210
Some team should sign him to a deal similar to Demers
Low risk for depth move
Pengy
Not a bad move for any playoff team
Hi Pengy,
Jason Demers RD, has been playing down in The Oilers farm team Bakersfield this year.
yesterday the oilers lost 2 d/men thats why they signed Demers, they also have LD, Markus Niemeläinen as a back ups
Murray has been poor…the 7th d/man broke a nail….🩰 yesterday!
Philip Broberg has a high ankle Strain out 2-3 weeks,
he has played ok for a rookie, but need’s time in the AHL this year to round out his game, he will be very good but only 20yr old and still learning….
the oilers need to give him time
Hi Willie
I had to double check the AHL site to be sure. You are right. Sorry for doubting you
How is that possible if Oil just signed him only yesterday?
Or ……was his contract up to yesterday JUST for the AHL; with new one (yeaterday signing) allowing him to jump to NHL if need be?
Mrbruin4, do you think Smith will clear waivers? I know he’s close to 34 and is a UFA next year, and isn’t doing much offensively so far this year, but is that from lack of ice-time?
I mean, last season he had 16g 20a 36 pts in 74gp which was pretty close to his 82-game averages over 806 games played – 20s 21a 41 pts. Someone should grab him if they have the cap space ($3.1 mil) and need C depth.
George
I believe Smith would easily get back on track with new team. But the way the cap is for most teams. I doubt he gets claimed Teams with space want sweetner attached to these transactions now. I would like to see him back on preds as would be a seamless transaction
You were bang on there Mrbruin4 – he just cleared waivers
George
Just saw that. Was hoping but didn’t think he would get claimed
Now i don’t know if this actually happen or not.
You may remember Chicago Andreas Athanasiou called out Jacob Trouba after be level by Trouba during the game and commenting on his $8m per contract and the fact he had 0 goals.
Last night Trouba scored his second goal of the season (back to back game) against Chicago and i read a quote that after he scored the goal he asked Athanasiou if he wanted the puck. If that happen that is good gamesmanship. NHL could use more of it.
Yes still want AA in Boston for a third round pick.
I know everyone has a list of guys they’d like to see filled in, just because….
Trouba’s on my list and so is Jamie Benn – Mr Crosscheck in the back.
Yeah he said it… watched the clip… you can’t hear them actually saying it, but you can certainly read his lips asking AA if he’d like the puck
A lot of talk of Erik Karlsson leading defenseman in NHL scoring with 41pts.
Do you know who sits third in NHL defenseman scoring with a stat line of 5g 31a 36pts in 30gp with a +12
You maybe surprised it’s Josh Morrissey of the Winnipeg Jets. Josh career high is 37pts, looks like the coach change has done wonders for Morrissey play.
The whole team seems recharged. Similar to what happened to the Bruins with their coach change
Ya, good for Bowness. There was some he is a retread talk out there when he was hired, or time to get a young coach and fresh ideas, etc etc.
Just more evidence that experience matters, and like most professions, folks get better at it and continue to learn and improve. Especially on a veteran team that needed a culture change. He is credible and has been there and done that.
Oh yeah, and getting a team to defend and play with structure matters too.
Rooting for the Jets to do well except against a couple others. Would be good for the city.
Saw this on Twitter … if this is even remotely factual the NHL may be looking at more empty arenas and reduced scheduling
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1604748747640119296
It could be George, but skeptical in impacts us in NA. So should still have full rinks.
The issue is the Chinese Gov refusal to import the mRNA vaccines. As is the the CCP’s standard operating procedure, they want either the full access to the technology, or have the manufacture produce in China, which is the same as giving the CCP the technology. The companies said no, and the Chinese developed vaccines are not very effective and old technology. Plus the people don’t trust them as they have a history of poor quality control so the rate of vaccination is very low, especially the older populations.
Not the case here.
Hopefully for those folks they change course and allow the imports.
Sincerely hope you’re right Ray. Nevertheless, the MINIMUM our government should do is to either halt all incoming flights/connections from China or put all arrivals through stringent testing because, if a new variant is involved, and vaccine-resistant, it will spread fast.
Hi George
I buy into a large uptick in China over next couple of months
I don’t buy into ~ 700 Million new Chinese cases in the next 90 days as that post is prognosticating
Affect here…. With Ray on this…. Minimal change in arena attendance in Canada and US
Sounds suspiciously like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beRi6hRDRCk
Ovechkin can catch Howe in goals with his 801 and also Bourque with 7 more shots will tie him for most shots.
Smith cleared, don’t think there was any doubt.
Obviously there was no takers in a deal unless salary or pick/prospect thrown it.
Nhl freeze is tonight this helps save a little capspace over the holiday freeze.
On a positive having Reilly and Smith warming the bench is not necesarrly a bad thing come injury or playoff time.