NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 4, 2022

by | Dec 4, 2022 | News, NHL | 31 comments

Mitch Marner sets a Leafs record, the Devils set a franchise road record, the Bruins continue their winning ways, and much more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

NHL.COM: Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner scored twice to set a franchise record for the longest points streak (19) but his club fell 4-3 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Alex Killorn scored the game-winner while Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves for the Lightning (15-8-1). William Nylander also scored for the 15-5-6 Maple Leafs.

Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner (NHL Images).

The New Jersey Devils held off the Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 3-2 to set a franchise record with their 11th straight road victory. Jack Hughes scored what proved to be the winning goal while Akira Schmid kicked out 31 shots for the 20-4-1 Devils as they sit atop the overall standings with 41 points. Travis Konecny and Lukas Sedlak tallied for the Flyers as their record falls to 8-12-5.

Boston Bruins forwards David Pastrnak and Trent Frederic each scored two goals in a 5-1 rout of the Colorado Avalanche. The Bruins (20-3-0) extended their home-record win streak to 14 games and sit one point behind the Devils in the overall standings. Andrew Cogliano scored the only goal for the Avalanche (13-8-1), who lost winger Artturi Lehkonen in the first period to an upper-body injury after being slammed to the ice by Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Avalanche placed defenseman Josh Manson (lower body) on injured reserve.

The Vegas Golden Knights improved to 18-7-1 by dropping the Detroit Red Wing 4-1. Phil Kessel led the way for the Golden Knights with a goal and an assist while Adin Hill stopped 24 shots. Vegas sits atop the Western Conference with 37 points. Oskar Sundqvist replied for the 11-7-5 Red Wings, who’ve dropped three straight games.

Edmonton Oilers forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each collected four points in a 5-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Nick Suzuki tallied his 13th goal of the season for the Canadiens as they fall to 12-11-1 while the Oilers improved to 14-11-0. Draisaitl became the second player to reach 20 goals this season. Canadiens defenseman Joel Edmundson was ejected in the second period for cross-checking Oilers winger Zach Hyman in the head.

Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane collected three points to become the second player in franchise history to reach 1,200 career points in a 5-2 win over the New York Rangers. Max Domi also had three points for the Blackhawks as they improved to 7-12-4 and end an eight-game winless skid. Artemi Panarin and Mike Zibanejad each had two points for the 11-10-5 Rangers.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Blackhawks goaltender Petr Mrazek left this game in the second period with a groin injury. No word as to the severity or how long he might be sidelined. The Rangers, meanwhile, played without Filip Chytil as he’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

A hat trick by Kasperi Kapanen powered the Pittsburgh Penguins over the St. Louis Blues 6-2. Bryan Rust had a four-point game while Evgeni Malkin and Jason Zucker collected three points each as the Penguins improved to 13-8-4. Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington got the hook in the second period after giving up four goals on 17 shots and received a 10-minute misconduct for inciting after he yelled some choice words at the Penguins bench. The Blues fell to 11-13-0.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: This isn’t the first time Binnington’s lost his temper this season. Blues coach Craig Berube seems to be losing patience with his goaltender’s antics. “It’s got to stop,” he said in a post-game interview. “It doesn’t help anything. Just play goal. Just stop the puck.”

The Minnesota Wild got shootout goals by Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy to beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-4. Kaprizov also scored the game-tying goal to extend his points streak to 11 games as the Wild improved to 12-9-2. John Gibson made 46 saves while Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry and Mason McTavish each had two points for the 6-16-3 Ducks as they sit last in the overall standings with 15 points.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Ducks announced that center Isac Lundestrom will be sidelined for six weeks with a broken finger.

Ottawa Senators winger Claude Giroux scored twice and collected an assist in a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Anton Forsberg stopped 32 shots for the Senators (10-13-1) as they’ve won four of their last five games. Tomas Hertl scored both goals for the 8-15-4 Sharks.

The Calgary Flames (11-10-3) defeated the Washington Capitals (10-12-4) by a score of 5-2. Adam Ruzicka had a goal and two assists, Michael Backlund collected three assists and Andrew Mangiapane tallied twice for the Flames. Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper and defenseman Michael Fehervary both left the game with upper-body injuries in the second period.

Florida Panthers winger Carter Verhaeghe scored twice and Sam Bennett had three assists in a 5-1 win over the Seattle Kraken, snapping the latter’s seven-game win streak. Spencer Knight made 35 saves as the Panthers improved to 12-9-4 while the Kraken (15-6-3) sits in second place in the Western Conference with 33 points.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas and winger Patric Hornqvist left this game with injuries. Earlier in the day, the Panthers revealed that Anton Lundell would miss this contest with an undisclosed injury suffered during Thursday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks.

The Carolina Hurricanes (14-6-5) picked up their fourth straight win by doubling up the Los Angeles Kings 4-2. Martin Necas and Brent Burns each had two points while Pyotr Kochetkov made 31 saves for the Hurricanes. Arthur Kaliyev and Samuel Fagemo replied for the 13-10-4 Kings.

An overtime goal by Bo Horvat lifted the Vancouver Canucks over the Arizona Coyotes 3-2. It was Horvat’s second goal of the game and his 19th on the season. Brock Boeser also scored for the Canucks (10-12-3). Christian Fischer and Jakob Chychrun replied for the 7-11-4 Coyotes.







31 Comments

  1. Watched behind the B than the Bruins Avalanche game wow what a team what a franchise and what a game for a Bruin fan. Was nice to see Chara Miller and Bourque playing in the alumni game Bruins do so much for charity all class wow. Miller losing that bet to Marchand and having to read how Brad was the better man was priceless. Keep her rolling boys a pleasure to watch.

    • Mcavoy is really starting to assert himself.Getting a solid partner and no. 2 defensemen in Lindholm has elevated both of their play.Look forward to the Vegas game for 2 obvious reasons Cassidy and to see 73-27 against Pietrangelo and Theodore.2 of the top D pairs in the NHL.

    • It’s hard not to laugh at the “all class” comment, when the stink of the Mitchell Miller signing is still wafting in the air.

      • So you don’t believe a kid should get a second chance? Should they ban every bully and throw them in jail for rest of life? Must be nice to never have done stupid things. Sounds a bit hypocritical

    • Obe, continuing comparisons with records on this date a year ago, the Bruins had played 21 games with a record of 12 8 1 25 pts, scoring 61 and giving up 56 for an overall +5. Not bad at the time.

      This year they have played 23, going 20 3 0 40pts while scoring 93 and giving up just 49 for an overall +44! Holy crap! Hard to find criticisms.

  2. Pengy … still want to dump Kapanen 🙂

    Watched much of that Leafs-Lightning game and I felt the Leafs held the edge in play for the most part and, in fact, got jobbed on that disallowed goal by Tavares. He was nailed from behind and was going down when his skate directed that puck into the net.

    As for the OT – a 1-6 record suggests you start a different 3 next time – the big scorers may indeed seem to be the logical choice – but picking up their checks is not their forté. It’s also clear that Murray’s glove hand remains his weak spot.

    Re the Senators – it’s also becoming clear that Dorion’s smartest move in the off-season was getting Giroux. And lo and behold, Nikita Zaitsev played a solid 19:34 with a +1 for the night. Maybe he learned something during his brief stint in Belleville.

    Only saw snippets of the Bruins-Avalanche game, but boy are the Bruins showing that their early start to the season without Marchand and MacAvoy was no mirage. That is a solid team up and down the line-up.

    And when do we stop thinking that the Devils will “come back down to earth?” That, too, is a very good solid line-up with no visible weak spots.

    • Just to compare, on this date last year the Devils had played 22 games and sat with a 9 9 4 22 pts record – a .500 pace – scoring 65 while giving up 76 for an overall -11

      Today, after 25 games, they have a 20 4 1 41 pts record – an .820 pace – scoring 93 and giving up 57 for an overall +36

    • Yes, Zaitsev played a strong game and even had a shot on goal. For some reason, he seems to have gained a lot of confidence during his time in Belleville. He is also clearly liked in the dressing room as the players awarded him player of the game (I guess mostly for sentimental reasons) to great cheers. If he can keep this up he’ll increase his value either as a 3rd pair defenceman or for a trade.
      The team seems to have turned a corner – a lot more confident and energetic. They played a strong game against the Sharks and were without one of their best defencemen in Zub. Also, Forsberg played well with many excellent saves. Both he and Talbot are looking good right now.

      • Hossaheat, this morning I’ve compared the performances of a few teams a year apart – where the Senators are concerned, on December 4, 2021 they had played22 games and had a 6 15 1 13 pts record, scoring 57 while giving up 86 for an overall -39.

        Today, after 24 gp, they have a 10 13 1 21 pts record, scoring 75 and giving up 78 for an overall -3.

        They currently sit 25th overall while last year at this time they were dead last.

        So, there has been improvement, and it’s even somewhat more encouraging when you consider that some 8 of their 13 losses so far have been by 1 goal (not counting empty netters).

        Having said that, I still think that record could have been even considerably better with a different coach who had a system designed to take advantage of the abilities of the roster at hand.

        We’ll see Tuesday against the Kings if this recent trend continues indicating that, maybe, the players are settling into whatever system he insists is the right one.

    • Hi George

      I have no doubt that this Kappy onslaught (last couple of games) will recede…. Sell high? LOL

      Kappy/CR or O’Connor/CR for Schenn?

      Yes for good stretches Leafs had the play; but Bolts pressed and delivered when it counted. Better scoring chances IMHO. Yes Murray definitely should have had that OT goal…. But he had some 10 bellers earlier

      Re Leafs… “, got jobbed on that disallowed goal “…. I’d be a complete liar if I thought it should be allowed. Definitely distinct kicking motion; proper review and result

      Congrats to MM….. he’s on fire

      • To me it looked like Tavares was simply trying to dig his left skate in to prevent falling to the ice in that mess in front of the goalie when he got nailed from behind. There’s no way he could have had a clear view of the puck with all the bodies crammed around him – what looked like a kicking motion was just trying to stay erect.

      • Sorry to disagree here George

        I’ve actually never seen a more distinct kicking motion… to me clear as day…. Leafs, once they saw the replay didn’t at all seem perplexed by the end result

        If this had been allowed as a goal…. With “upstairs in Toronto”…. there would have been an S storm akin to Katrina …. By 31 teams

        I’ve seen goals disallowed when it appears to just bank off a skate…. JT put full kicking motion into this. No goal was the right call

        Would have loved it to go our way… fair chance of two reg points , vs the extra point gained (in standings) by Bolts…. But the call was proper

      • Hey George that’s a tough call… on one angle it looks like he’s directing the puck in with a kicking motion as he’s falling but from another angle it looks like that’s how his legs are moving as he’s uncontrollably being taken of his feet. There’s nothing definitive about it but rather it seems like it’s a more likely than not situation or call.

        As for the teams play, who would have thought losing your top three defenders and both goalies, who let’s face it, no one thought was a good move, that they would be this good. Last night’s game, for those who watched, was another gutsy game by the Leafs and played the Bolts hard by playing a solid 200 ft team game…funny how people thought Keefe lost the room!

  3. The Rangers are out of sync and their ‘captain’ is making it all worse. Stupid penalties, soft coverage and giveways. Back to back games where they let in 4 unanswered goals

    • ds, a year ago today the Rangers sat with a record of 23gp and had gone 16 4 3 for 35 pts – a .717 pace scoring 68g and giving up 57 for a +11

      Today the have played 26 with an 11 10 5 27pts effort – a .519 pace – scoring 76 but also giving up 76 for a +/- of E

    • I said last year during their playoff run that this team would probably take a significant step backwards.

      It raised a lot of peoples eyebrows, even after I gave multiple reasons why I thought they’d take a step backwards.

      I’m not shocked at all at where they’re sitting.

      Thinking they could repeat what they did last year was a long shot. Kreider 50+ goals, Shesterkin with a historical year, most goals coming from 3-4 players. Hoping to win 28-30 games (come from behind) in the 3rd period , losing some key UFA’s (most of which everyone knew would go, but all even shocked me) . And so on.

      Last year was an anomaly. Until some of these kids can take the next step, this team is going nowhere.

      • Igor and Kreider had career years but Laf with 19 even goals with limited powerplay time + Chytil’s playoff scoring and Kakko showing some dominance protecting and cycling the puck looked like a good forecast to come. Panarin putting up points while looking disinterested

  4. The fight between Foligno and Englund had a scary moment for me.

    When Foligno took the helmet less Englund to the ice, i intially thought Englund hit his head off the ice and I was nervous for him.

    He didn’t hit his head (thank goodness) I don’t want fighting banned as it is away to relieve aggression.

    Once a helmet is off, ref or linseman need to step in and stop the fight. Just not worth the risk.

    Maybe my stance is softening over time on fighting. Before I would say should’ve to take your helmet off and now leave it on.

    Maybe an extra 2 minutes for ripping the opponent helmet off, would but a stop to it.

  5. @George

    YES , Matt Murray’s glove hand is a concern
    Leafs outplayed Tampa , deserved more ..
    Good for Mitch Marner , it will be interesting how long his streak stays intact .
    Who holds the over all point per game streak ?
    Maybe he can break that as well !

    Bruins keep rolling along , as does Jersey

    • Ken, interestingly, exactly a year ago the Leafs had played 25 games and sat with a 17 6 2 36 pts record – scoring 77 while giving up 56 for an overall +21 – mainly with Campbell in goal

      Today they sit with a very similar 15 5 6 36pts record after 26gp, scoring 79 while giving up 66 for an overall +13, with the minor differences more than likely attributable to the devastating D injuries. All in all, they’ve been more than holding their own in picking up points while their injured D recover.

    • Hi Ken

      Re “Who holds the over all point per game streak ?”

      MM right now tied for 31st all time

      Would be great but I certainly have doubts he’ll get up to the Mario (46) and Wayne (51) levels

      • I think Mitch is tied for 40th but it doesn’t matter because what Gretzky has done might never be broken. What Mitch has done is special in its own right holding a team record for a team that’s over 100 yrs old…thus having so many great players before him. it’s not earth moving unless you want it to be. His two goals last night, a shorty and a PP marker was pretty cool though…

        What’s Binnington‘s deal? Crazy or just needs to grow up? He’s got the talent but seems like he’s the anti-Jack Campbell with his antics. To have a coach call you out means it’s a big problem, the kind that makes them move from you.

  6. We oft think of boring as “same old same old”

    Well…. McD (and Leon) 4 pts; Bruins keep winning; another game with a point for MM……

    NOT boring

  7. Blues need to get rid of Binnington. He’s a nut case. Too easy for teams to get in his head.
    On second thought, as a Stars fan and in the same division. Hope the Blues keep him. Good luck with him St. Louis.

    • He certainly ranks right up there with Ron Hextall when it comes to having a short fuse.

      • Reminds me of Emery……just not as scary when he blows his top. He looks silly to me, unlike Ray, who was a legit, hard man.

      • “Do I look nervous” (Jordan Binnington 2019)…. No you look like an idiot and a sore loser. .
        Go play soccer if you want to act like that.

    • Would have loved Benington’s antics 30 years ago!
      Very much like Billy Smith! I am sure George can name a few others.

      • Hex and Smith were the best (or worst, depending on your point of view) agitating goalies ever. Roy and Cheevers might have been next in line.

      • From my recollection, Smith never openly blew his cork like Bennington and Hextal do and did frequently. But he was nasty and if you tried to encroach on his area you had better have good ankle protection.