NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – February 13, 2023
The Golden Knights match a franchise record in a win over the Ducks, the Canadiens upset the Oilers, plus injury updates on Filip Forsberg, Logan Thompson and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: The Vegas Golden Knights matched a franchise record for most goals in a single period in a 7-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Vegas scored five times in the third period with Jack Eichel, Phil Kessel and Shea Theodore among five Golden Knights to finish with a goal and an assist. With the win, Vegas improved to 32-18-4 to sit atop the Pacific Division with 68 points. The Ducks sank to 17-31-6 on the season. They also played without John Klingberg, who missed this game due to illness.
Seattle Kraken winger Jaden Schwartz tallied twice as his club held off the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 to snap a three-game losing streak. With a record of 30-18-5, the Kraken remain three points behind the Golden Knights in second place in the Pacific Division. Rasmus Ristolainen collected two assists for the 22-23-10 Flyers (54 points) as they remain seven points out of the final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jordan Harris (NHL Images)
The Montreal Canadiens upset the Edmonton Oilers 6-2, ending a 15-game points streak by Oilers captain Connor McDavid. Jordan Harris scored twice to become the first Canadiens rookie defenseman to have a multi-goal game since P.K. Subban in March 2011. Jake Allen stopped 32 shots for the 22-27-4 Canadiens. Leon Draisaitl and Evander Kane replied for the Oilers (30-19-5) as they remain in third place in the Pacific Division with 65 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was a costly win for the Canadiens as rugged rookie blueliner Arber Xhekaj left the game with an apparent shoulder injury following a fight with Oilers defenseman Vincent Desharnais. An update on his condition could be made on Monday.
San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson collected three points in a 4-1 upset of the Washington Capitals. The Sharks (17-26-11) lost goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen in the second period following incidental contact with Washington center Evgeny Kuznetsov. Aaron Dell finished the game for the Sharks. Kuznetsov scored for the Capitals (28-21-6) as they remain in the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot with 62 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: No word as to the severity of Kahkonen’s injury. The Sharks were playing without goalie James Reimer (illness) but he could return to action on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
HEADLINES
THE TENNESSEAN: Nashville Predators winger Filip Forsberg is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury suffered during Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Forsberg is fortunate that it’s only day-to-day. He was left woozy after hitting his head on the ice following a check by Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and had to be helped from the ice.
VEGAS HOCKEY NOW: On Saturday, the Golden Knights announced that goaltender Logan Thompson is week-to-week with a lower-body injury suffered during Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Wild. They recalled Laurent Brossoit from their AHL affiliate.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: A lengthy absence by Thompson could have implications for the Golden Knights’ playoff hopes. They’re in a tight race right now in the Pacific Division. Adin Hill got the win for them on Sunday and will be relied on to carry the bulk of the load in Thompson’s absence.
DAILY FACEOFF: Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg is out indefinitely with left and right knee MCL injuries. Meanwhile, Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson will be sidelined for at least two weeks with an upper-body injury.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This could be the final nail in the coffin for the Senators’ slim playoff hopes.
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich is one step closer to making his season debut. Sidelined by a preseason shoulder injury, he’s been sent to the Blues’ AHL affiliate in Springfield on a conditioning assignment.
Has anyone heard who Toronto had to give up in the Chychrun trade …
When you hear, let us all know. The only thing I could see was the Tweet that said “as per Nick Kypreos Chychrun has been traded to the L.A. Kings.”
This guy gets in the news when he’s sleeping for Krissakes!
https://twitter.com/HockeyPatrol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1624880157101281280%7Ctwgr%5Ea2a78de555b6bd3d0d44c6ab5aae38a41d7b09b7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hockeypatrol.com%2FTurnaround-on-the-Jakob-Chychrun-trade-208400
Here’s a more recent link
https://www.sportskeeda.com/ice-hockey/news-jakob-chychrun-trade-deal-hold-initially-dealt
As per Chychrun
I don’t think it’s an over pay
Term
Low cap hit
Young player
Great upside
Leafs could of really used him
PP , has an edge , great player
Injuries from the past ?
GeorgeO their all trying to be the first; Frank Seravalli tweeted Saturday night “where there is smoke LA.”
There is no more insiders, they tweet after the trade breaks or just before, most trades they had zero reports on.
If Chychrun does get traded to LA, they will try to claim they broke it first.
George
Most likely Kyocera has taken a few too many in the noggin
Wtf. Spell check.
Kyper. Not Kyocera. Jeez
Some speculation that Forsberg may never play again. The Sens Forsberg.
I watched Erik Karlsson live, for many years. I’ve said it repeatedly. He’s the closest thing to Orr….since Orr. The sad part is most NHL fans have barely seen the guy. Nobody watches Sens hockey but Sens fans, and really not many people watch the Sharks either. He’s played his whole career in relative obscurity. He should probably have 4 Norris trophy’s not 2. No doubt some eastern conference writer will come up with a reason not to give him this year’s too.
Karlsson is having a fantastic season, and should receive every first place vote for the Norris, and maybe the MVP should he continue anywhere his current pace. Let’s hope the NHL doesn’t mess him over again like they did to Roman Josi last year.
Isn’t there an unwritten rule about a player’s team needs to be a playoff team to win awards?
Has the Norris ever gone to a player on a non-playoff team?
Very odd to hear of a hockey player injuring both knees at the same time. In recovery you typically rely on the uninjured knee for support and balance until you can weight bear on the injured leg, sounds like he is in for a long recovery road ahead.
I have watched the guy, he doesn’t play defence. Right now the guy is 180th amongst d-men in percentage of defensive zone starts (8.2%), those are probably mostly after icings. Yet he is 9th in percentage of offensive zone starts (18.6%). The stats are from Money Puck.
Not sure that stat means he can’t play defense KevJam. Does it help his points, Corsi and plus minus. Absolutely.
I would try and start him in the Ozone as much as possible too, because he is really good at generating offence. Same reason a guy like Makar gets more in the O zone. Add in SJ is playing from behind most of the time.
Karlsson obviously isn’t a shut down guy, but what he has always been really good at is skating and passing it out of his own zone with control.
COL won with 3 puck movers/possession drivers playing key roles throughout the playoffs. Makar, Toews, and Byram. And that was with Girard out, who is another one.
GM’s noticed I think.
Need both type of D-men and play to their strengths.
He’s a great player, not sure he is the best guy to pursue for the Oil due to cost of assets, and the cap issue.
Other teams’ top d-men don’t have that size of a gap between offensive zone and defensive zone starts. That is a sizeable gap. This shows me that the coaches of the Sharks don’t trust Karlsson enough to play in their own zone. It’s not like the Sharks have a great defence or a big dependable d-man. I personally don’t put a lot of stock in the +/- stat column, but Karlsson with 73 points is a -1. Karlsson has also been on the ice for the most short-handed goals against, 7 .
I agree, he is a great offensive d-man, but isn’t the Norris trophy suppose to go to the best ALL AROUND defenseman? That is actually in the description of the Norris.
KevJam, you made me check the Norris language and your right, It does actually say that that:
“defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position”. Doesn’t seem to work that way when the awards get handed out though does it?
With +/-, however flawed it is, and it is, it is useful. Kinda the same as possession stats, it depends how the player compares with his team mates. And he is way better than almost all of them in both areas.
And he does 70 +% of his shifts in the neutral zone according to your #’s, and he plays more than 25 minutes a night so is playing with a bunch of them.
-1 on a team that collectively -188, is pretty darn good IMO.
Still don’t think he is a good fit for the Oil due to what he would cost in assets and cap space they don’t have.
Martin St. Louis, pushing a team with a minimal roster to fan-pleasing play, and getting the most out of his players, seems to have cemented his position in Montreal. Not all HOF players have what it takes to be quality coaches, but it sure looks like Montreal has found that home town guy they can go with fir a long while.
Meanwhile Kent Hughes is saying “what the F@#K!”
Richard,
For a guy who never played for the Habs, St. Louis appears to be imbued with the culture and the ability to instil it in the young guns ,
It’s bizarre to see a losing team have so much support in a city that demands winning but they are playing the “right way” and the foundation is being laid.
The Habs won’t be missing the playoffs for six consecutive years with HuGo and St. Louis running things.
Yeah, the combined “second coming.” We’ll see.
💩 weekend…. Leafs and Pens each only got 2 of 4 points.
Leafs took Jackets for granted, Pens were mesmerized by the statue of Brown (was it him? [artist needs to refund all of his fees)
Leafs…. Wake up…. No easy games!!!! Pedal to the metal always.
Re Pens loss ….Yes DeSmith let in two softies that set Pens back…. but Pens did nothing after that …, almost starstruck watching Kempe pot 4 straight. Copley (shutout) certainly played very well; but Pens really didn’t press to challenge him
Re Chychrun trade…. Not done yet…. Just keeps percolating
The above 3 situations have me thinking about some of Yogi Bera’s “Yogisms”….
“We made too many wrong mistakes.”
“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.”
“Ninety percent of the game is half mental.”
“You can observe a lot by just watching.”
“When you come to a fork in the road…. take it.”
“It ain’t over till it’s over.”
Finally…. Re StuporBowl…. Great opportunity for it ; but I didn’t see any StuporBowl commercials (specifically directed at local Arizonans), starring Gary B; letting the locals know that there is another “new” sport in town called “hockey”; played on ice…
“Come and watch your local nigh last place team play in front of you and 4,599 of your closest friends. Hard to catch on TV …, so come and join us at “The Barn” “