NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 2, 2022
The Lightning’s Steve Stamkos reaches a scoring milestone, the Stars’ Jason Robertson extends his points streak, the three stars and the rookie of the month for November are revealed, and much more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos became the first player in franchise history to reach the 1,000-point plateau in a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Stamkos assisted on the second of Nick Paul’s two goals to reach the milestone while Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves as the Lightning improved their record to 14-8-1. Travis Konecny replied for the Flyers as they fall to 8-11-5.
Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Stamkos’ teammates poured off the bench to congratulate their captain on his achievement. The 32-year-old forward shows no signs of slowing down, leading his club with 13 goals and sitting second in points with 28.
Konecny and Tony DeAngelo returned to the Flyers’ lineup after being briefly sidelined by injuries. Earlier in the day, general manager Chuck Fletcher said Ryan Ellis will not play this season. He’s been sidelined since last November by what could be a career-threatening back injury.
Dallas Stars winger Jason Robertson extended his points streak to 17 games by tallying a hat trick as his club blanked the Anaheim Ducks 5-0. Jake Oettinger made 31 saves for the shutout while Miro Heiskanen collected three assists. The Stars (14-6-4) have 32 points and hold a three-point lead over the Winnipeg Jets for first place in the Central Division. The Ducks (6-16-2) sit dead last in the overall standings.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Robertson is the first player to score 20 goals this season.
Colorado Avalanche center scored two goals and set up three others in a 6-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. J.T. Compher scored twice and collected two assists as the Avalanche improved to 13-7-1. Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens each had a goal and two assists for the 10-13-1 Sabres.
The Nashville Predators blew a 2-0 lead but rallied to down the league-leading New Jersey Devils 4-3 in overtime. Ryan Johansen tallied twice, including the game-winner as the Predators improved to 11-9-2. Jack Hughes and Erik Haula each collected two assists for the Devils (19-4-1) as their 39 points put them one up on the Boston Bruins in the overall standings.
Third-period goals by Jake Guentzel and Kasperi Kapanen lifted the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 4-3. Guentzel, Kapanen and Brock McGinn each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (12-8-4). Logan Thompson made 43 saves and Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist for the 17-7-1 Golden Knights as they sit atop the Western Conference with 35 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Penguins captain Sidney Crosby credited sidelined teammate Kris Letang as inspiration for his club’s win. Letang is sidelined indefinitely after suffering a minor stroke on Monday. Letang went for a brief skate on his own yesterday morning but it was more for his mental health than anything else. His condition is not considered career-threatening but there’s no timetable for his return.
The Seattle Kraken improved to 15-5-3 and moved to within two points of the Golden Knights with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Washington Capitals. Matty Beniers scored the winner as the Kraken overcame a 2-0 deficit while Andre Burakovsky and Vince Dunn each picked up two assists. Alex Ovechkin collected two assists as the Capitals fell to 10-11-4.
Carolina Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook tallied a hat trick in a 6-4 win over the St. Louis Blues. Brent Burns picked up two assists for the 13-6-5 Hurricanes while Vladimir Tarasenko and Pavel Buchnevich each had two points for the Blues, who drop to 11-12-0.
Minnesota Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists to lead his club over the Edmonton Oilers 5-3. Kaprizov set a franchise record for consecutive games with assists (nine) while extending his points streak to 10 games while the Wild improve to 11-9-2. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each had a goal and an assist for the 13-11-0 Oilers. McDavid leads all NHL scorers with 43 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Earlier in the day, the Wild recalled defenseman Andrej Sustr to replace Jonas Brodin, who’s out indefinitely with a lower-body injury.
Montreal Canadiens center Sean Monahan collected two assists while Jake Allen kicked out 45 shots in a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames. Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield scored for the Canadiens (12-10-1) while Elias Lindholm replied for the 10-10-3 Flames.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was Monahan’s first game in Calgary against the Flames since he was traded to the Canadiens in the offseason. He received a video tribute from his former club and a standing ovation from Flames fans. Earlier in the day, the Canadiens announced that winger Brendan Gallagher would miss the game with a lower-body injury while winger Mike Hoffman (lower body) was placed on injured reserve.
The Florida Panthers got two goals from Sam Bennett and three points from Matthew Tkachuk to beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 and improve their record to 11-9-4. Dakota Joshua replied for the Canucks (9-12-3), who also lost goaltender Thatcher Demko in the first period with an apparent injury to his right leg. No word as to the severity of Demko’s injury.
Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar scored twice, including the winning goal in the third period, to lead his club over the Arizona Coyotes 5-3. Kevin Fiala had a goal and an assist for the Kings (13-9-4). Rookies Dylan Guenther and Matias Macelli each collected two assists for the Coyotes, who fell to 7-11-3.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kings goaltender Cal Petersen cleared waivers yesterday and was sent to the Kings’ AHL affiliate.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: Stars winger Jason Robertson, Devils goalie Vitek Vanecek and Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner are the NHL’s three stars for November 2022. Golden Knights goalie Logan Thompson is the rookie of the month for November.
DETROIT HOCKEY NOW: The Red Wings placed forward Tyler Bertuzzi on injured reserve with a hand injury.
OTTAWA SUN: The deadline for the Senators to reach an agreement on a new contract with restricted free-agent winger Alex Formenton passed yesterday without a deal. Formenton, 23, is now ineligible to play in the NHL for the remainder of this season but his rights are still held by the Senators.
TSN: Maple Leafs forward Calle Jarnkrok is expected to miss some time after leaving Wednesday’s game against the San Jose Sharks with a groin injury.
NBC SPORTS CHICAGO: The Blackhawks placed defenseman Jarred Tinordi (hip) on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 27 and recalled blueliner Ian Mitchell from their AHL affiliate in Rockford.
Former Buffalo Sabres center Riley Sheahan has signed with EHC Biel in Switzerland. Sheahan and the Sabres mutually agreed to terminate his contract earlier this week after he decline demotion to their AHL affiliate.
Re Formenton – in his article this morning Ken Warren writes “All along, it has been a remarkably silent process for a 23-year-old who was once seen as a valuable part of the young depth group of forwards behind stars Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson, Tim Stutzle and Josh Norris.”
I guess he – and a couple of other writers who made the same sort of comment in recent weeks – are unaware that silence means spit.
Perhaps they don’t want to leap to conclusions until all the facts are in. We’ll likely learn more about those very soon.
Maybe. Certainly not in print. But just to call it a “remarkably silent process” suggests he’s wondering.
At the very least you’d think he and his agent, who HAVE to be aware that more and more out there are thinking the worst, would – IF he was not involved – would come out and say unequivocally that he was not, and follow Batherson’s lead to say he is cooperating fully with the investigation.
What I can’t believe, and it doesn’t take much of a “leap” is this – given his modest production so far in his NHL career, and coming off an ELC of $750,000, that he and the club were so far apart on what they offer and what he wants that he’d be willing to sacrifice an entire season and STILL be property of the team.
It simply does not add up.
seems everyone hopes the complete story never comes above the surface. writers included
George O i guess no one wants to have a Jake Virtanen case.
Congrats to Steven Stamkos, a good Unionville boy where the ice is uphill to centre and downhill to the net, a true professional who has overcome a couple of potential career-ending injuries to lead his team to two Stanley Cups.
Good on ya, mate.
I don’t get to watch the Knights very often but they were in town playing the Pens yesterday. Gotta give it to Eichel for effort. His face looks terrible but he showed up and contributed. He seems to be embracing his role in Vegas. They desperately needed a #1 center. Looks like they got one.
The Avalanche are fortunate they came out of Buffalo with a “W”. Worst defensive effort the last 2 games against Winnepeg and Buffalo? Too easy on goals they give up and they better tighten it up the next 2 games on the road trip or it’s likely they will come out on the short end. I don’t get why others want to see these 9-8 games? Terrible hockey with no defense or good goaltending. GO AVS!!!!!!!!
Toronto has 7 players with 10pts or more
Dallas has 9 players with 10pts or more
Boston and Vegas both have 10 players with 10pts or more.
New Jersey has 11 players with 10pts or more.
Guess who has more….. Seattle Kraken have 12 players with 10pts or more.
Could me more teams, i didn’t check them all.
I was curious about Seattle stats, gave it a look then compare to some teams presently at the top.
The stumbling Senators have 7 with 10 or more and Chabot sitting at 9 pts – not doing them much good as their problem is keeping the puck out of their own net.
Seattle and New Jersey are the surprises of the season – so far anyway, with the Islanders a close 3rd.
Jason Robertson…. Rocket Richard, Art Ross, & Hart….. you heard it here first.
He is in the groove right now.
took him the 7th round of my fantasy draft…….
Those low blocker, wristers were absolutely beautiful. He is something to watch.
I met Stamkos at the hotel I was working at in Ottawa on the night of the draft. I was absolutely blown away by how friendly, kind, and down to earth a young man he was. Before AND after being drafted first overall. He showed that personality in spades during his playing career and I have been cheering him on in all his success. Congrats Steve!
Additionally, I also got to meet Erik Karlsson that night after he was drafted. That guy walked into the hotel just BEAMING… I yelled “GO SENS” and he smiled and lifted his arms up (still wearing the jersey too….)