NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 22, 2022
Roman Josi becomes the Predators’ all-time leading scorer, Golden Knights captain Mark Stone makes franchise history, Oilers captain Connor McDavid extends his points streak, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi became his club’s all-time leading scorer in a 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Josi scored the game-winning goal and collected an assist to reach 567 career points, surpassing David Legwand’s 566 points. Juuse Saros made 37 saves for the win as the Predators improved to 14-13-4. Connor Murphy had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks (7-20-4), who remain last overall in the standings.
Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi.
Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone made franchise history in his club’s 5-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes. Stone became the first Golden Knights player to score a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal in the same game as he finished the night with three points. Vegas (23-11-1) sits in first place in the Western Conference and second in the overall standings with 47 points.
The New Jersey Devils snapped a five-game losing skid with three unanswered third-period goals to double up the Florida Panthers 4-2. Jesper Bratt scored twice and Mackenzie Blackwood made 34 saves in his first start since Nov. 3. The Devils (22-9-2) sit in third place in the Eastern Conference with 46 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Earlier in the day, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said winger Patric Hornqvist could remain sidelined long-term as he continues to recover from a concussion suffered on Dec. 3 against the Seattle Kraken.
Three unanswered third-period goals by Warren Foegele, Connor McDavid and Mattias Janmark lifted the Edmonton Oilers over the Dallas Stars 6-3. Janmark scored twice, McDavid extended his points streak to 14 games and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a three-point performance for the Oilers (18-14-2). Mason Marchment had two assists for the 19-9-6 Stars, who hold a one-point lead with points over the Winnipeg Jets for first place in the Central Division.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Stars were without winger Denis Gurianov, who’s on an indefinite leave of absence for family reasons.
The Detroit Red Wings scored four goals in the third period in a 7-4 romp over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Michael Rasmussen scored twice and added two assists while Dylan Larkin tallied twice as the Red Wings (14-11-7) snapped a six-game winless skid. Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist for the Lightning (20-11-1) as they sit in third place in the Atlantic Division with 41 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Earlier in the day, the NHL department of player safety fined Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev $5,000.00 for slashing Toronto Maple Leafs winger Michael Bunting during Tuesday’s game between the two clubs.
An overtime goal by Mikko Rantanen lifted the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Artturi Lehkonen scored the tying goal for the Avs (18-11-2) as they hold the first wild-card berth in the Western Conference with 38 points. Jake Allen made 34 saves for the 15-15-3 Canadiens.
Minnesota Wild forward Matt Boldy had a goal and two assists in a 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. The Wild (19-11-2) sit in third place in the Central Division with 40 points, three behind the second-place Winnipeg Jets. Lukas Dostal stopped 38 shots for the 9-22-3 Ducks.
IN OTHER NEWS…
OTTAWA SUN: The Senators signed Artum Zub to a four-year contract extension. The 27-year-old defenseman will earn an average annual value of $4.6 million starting in 2023-24.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Zub is completing a two-year deal with a $2.5 million AAV. He’s become an invaluable part of the Senators’ defense corps. Injuries have limited him to 14 games so far this season but he netted 22 points in 81 games in 2021-22.
The Senators’ blueline is better with a healthy Zub in the lineup. One could quibble over the AAV on his new contract but it’s not extravagant and the term of the contract is reasonable.
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH: Blue Jackets forward Yegor Chinakhov is sidelined by a high ankle sprain. The club announced he will miss approximately six weeks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Chinakhov is the 11th Blue Jackets regular currently sidelined by injuries. Among the notables are Zach Werenski, Jakub Voracek, Boone Jenner and Elvis Merzlikins.
NYI HOCKEY NOW: The Islanders placed forward Cal Clutterbuck on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 16.
NHL.COM: The Tampa Bay Lightning-Buffalo Sabres game scheduled for Dec. 23 has been postponed due to inclement weather expected for Buffalo on that day. It has been rescheduled to March 4, 2023.
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: The Flyers game with the Sabres scheduled for March 4 has been rescheduled to Jan. 9, 2023.
George…. Christmas came early… Zub re-upped
I wonder if that (Bolts/Sabres) will be the only postponement??
Cats…. Bobo…. 7-10-1; pulled at least twice this year; 895 save %…. 3 more years (after this) of a $10 M Cap …. Still owed $22.5 M after this year….
Cats….No 1st or 3rd in ‘23, no 1st or 2nd in ‘24…..
Currently outside (of playoffs) with a hill to climb…. Ouch
Buyout… only has $3.3 M (for 3 years) Cap savings, followed by 3 years of $1.7 M dead Cap
Uh Ohh!!!
Full NMC until 1/7/24
Uh Ohh!!
Prez trophy to nightmare in 6 months
Ya Pengy, Panthers are off so far this year.
Scoring is down for them, but still scoring enough to win more than they lose, but are bleeding goals.
Need to do what EDM did and their higher paid guy the backup until he starts to play better and win the job back.
Speaking of EDM, best game they have played in a while last night after a stretch of blowing winnable games. Dallas is a tough rink to win in, especially for the Oil. Hopefully they can get more consistent efforts like that, and manage the puck better which has been killing them of late. That or bring their Dad’s to every game.
Agree Ray
Great to see the “never give up attitude”; Janmark doubled his year’s total with one game; Skinner way better than Campbell…. Was a good game
Oh, and some unknown (I think he has jersey # 97); scored
If somehow they could flip Campbell for a reasonable back-up (to Skinner); and with freed up space… D improvement…. Oil scary
The West (as at now) is up for grabs
What’s thr cost to flip Campbell @ 50% for Vejmelka?
Pengy, IMO they’ll keep Campbell before they pay half his salary to go away.
Tending is so unpredictable these days, they would simply be trading for another throw at the dart board.
Just as good a chance Campbell turns it around as there is Vejmelka will keep playing the way he is today.
The list of goalies who were good last year and not this year is pretty long, plus there is a decent list of the goalies who struggled last year but are playing well this year.
Voodoo.
Skinner is playing well. Campbell gets to work on his game in practice to find it as he has played well in the past. Good a plan as any. No point giving up assets and eating $$.
🍁
George Must still be out Celebrating the Zub Signing.
😂
Is a defenseman the leading scorer for any other clubs? Anyone know?
Erik Karlsson is leading his team in points. JoMo was leading the Jets but KFC tied him recently. Jodi is tied for Preds lead in points.
I meant leading scorer in history like josi. But I appreciate the info!
After I posted this I realized you probably meant all time franchise history, whoops
I know about this one guy. He was pretty good for a bit. Pretty sure he stuck around long enough to have that kind of record.
Bourque was one wasn’t he. My thought was that Nashville, as was pretty recently pointed out, has had little success at developing offensive all stars. Does Boston and bourque mean the same thing for them? He’s an all time great (him hoisting the cup with tears running down his face is my favorite non pens hockey memory) but he wasn’t even a point per game guy. That kinda does imply Boston hasn’t developed much superstar offensive weapons over the years.
True enough, Chrisms. They’ve drafted a couple of can’t miss guys in the last 20 year’s, (Jumbo, Seguin), and got lucky in early rounds (Partice, Marchand) but before that, Boston had a pretty substandard draft record. Most impact players were brought in via trade.
Almost think I would have thought of that Chrisms, and well done SOP.
Bourque, was so good I named a dog after him.
They’ve had some high scoring forwards, but as far as the drafting, developing, and then leading them in all time scoring, Bergy is the closest at #4, and can’t see him catching him.
Had some good scoring forwards though – Espo, Bucyk, Nifty.
But D has always been their thing, so kind of makes sense.
100% the West is up for Grabs, 6 teams in the west fighting for 3 playoff spots….😳
Last night game with the Oilers and Dallas was very even❗️ 2-2 then 3-3… it could have went ether way
i was thinking… it was a little strange last night, could have left the Oilers 0-4 quite easy as said they do Blow games in the 3rd
Nuge saved the day Again👌
Leon pass to Warren Foegele’s goal was a beauty, never see him score like that before…
McDavid scored on the rush on his only shot on goal strange….❓ to make it 5-3 with 4min left…
(97 Can Score on Demand)
Oilers Really need to address the Big Hole’s they have on d,
If they dont….. they will pull a Maple Leaf…. Out in the First Round😱😂
The Oilers need to add 3 players
A 2nd paring LD man,
A Big Tough 6-7th d/man
Not Ryan Murray that guy is done…
A Top 6 RW & not Jesse Pulijarvi .. he is
a 3rd liner that will be gone in a trade 100%
Guys,
Jack Cambell will Not be moved this year..
No point in writing about this, Soup & Stu get along great they are a good team, Jack Cambell will turn it around in the New year,
if and only if he was going to get traded think Next year…
Ottawa 14th spot and Buffalo 11th spot …
they both need a starter and looks like both will not make the playoffs right now🤔