NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 20, 2023
The Hurricanes take a 2-0 series lead over the Islanders while the Oilers, Panthers and Stars tie their first-round series at a game apiece. Details and much more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: An overtime goal by Jesper Fast gave the Carolina Hurricanes a 4-3 victory over the New York Islanders in Game 2 of their first-round series. Brent Burns collected two assists for the Hurricanes while Jaccob Slavin’s game-tying goal in the third period set the stage for Fast’s game-winner. Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri each had a goal and an assist for the Islanders. The Hurricanes lead the best-of-seven series 2-0
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Isles defenseman Scott Mayfield was high-sticked by Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook prior to Fast’s goal. The incident occurred in front of two on-ice officials but there was no call on the play.
It was a costly win for the Hurricanes as Teuvo Teravainen suffered a broken hand in the third period from an unpenalized slash by Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau. He will undergo surgery and is sidelined for at least the remainder of this series.
Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz (NHL Images)
A hat trick by Roope Hintz led the Dallas Stars to a 7-3 romp over the Minnesota Wild to even their opening-round series at a game apiece. Hintz became the first player in eight years to score at even strength, shorthanded and with the man advantage during a playoff game. Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen collected four assists in this contest. Gustav Nyquist collected two assists for the Wild.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Eyebrows were raised when Marc-Andre Fleury started this game for Minnesota instead of Filip Gustavsson, who made 51 saves in their 3-2 double-overtime win in Game 1. Wild coach Dean Evason defended the decision by pointing out that his club has rotated both goalies throughout this season. Fleury called his performance in this one “embarrassing” but Evason put the blame on his club for giving up too many odd-man rushes.
Stars winger Joe Pavelski missed this game as he’s in concussion protocol recovering from a high hit by Wild defenseman Matt Dumba in Game 1. Head coach Peter DeBoer said Pavelski is getting better with each day but offered no timeline for the winger’s return.
The Florida Panthers evened their series with the Boston Bruins at a game apiece with a 6-3 win in Game 2. Brandon Montour scored two goals while Alex Lyon stopped 34 shots for the Panthers. Brad Marchand, Tyler Bertuzzi and Taylor Hall replied for the Bruins.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: A convincing win by the Panthers as they took advantage of Boston’s unusually sloppy defense. The Bruins were the top defensive team during the regular season but looked nothing like it during this contest.
Third-period goals by Klim Kostin and Evander Kane lifted the Edmonton Oilers past the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 to tie their series at one game apiece. Derek Ryan and Leon Draisaitl stake the Oilers to an early lead but the Kings rallied in the second period on goals by Phillip Danault and Gabriel Vilardi. Draisaitl finished with a goal and two assists.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Oilers center Mattias Janmark missed this game amid reports he may be done for the series at least with an injured right foot.
POSTSEASON HEADLINES
NHL.COM: The department of player safety suspended Toronto Maple Leafs winger Michael Bunting for three games for an illegal hit to the head and interference on Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak during Game 1 of their first-round series on Tuesday.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Leafs fans are drawing comparisons to former Leaf Nazem Kadri as he received suspensions during back-to-back playoff series against the Boston Bruins several years ago. The Leafs must adjust to the pesky winger’s absence as they try to shake off a poor outing in Game 1 against the Lightning.
TAMPA BAY TIMES: Lightning forward Tanner Jeannot (leg injury) could be in the lineup for Game 2 of their first-round series with the Maple Leafs. Cernak (upper-body injury) and Mike Eyssimont (upper-body) will be sidelined from tonight’s contest while defenseman Victor Hedman (undisclosed injury) is a game-day decision.
THE DENVER POST: Colorado Avalanche defenseman Jack Johnson and forwards Andrew Cogliano and Darren Helm are listed as day-to-day.
IN OTHER NEWS…
DAILY FACEOFF: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman once again denied the link made by medical doctors between hits to the head occurring in hockey and the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) during an interview with National Public Radio (NPR) on Wednesday.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Admitting the link means the NHL would face paying out expensive claims from former players and their families as the National Football League has done following their acknowledgment of the link in 2016.
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH: Forward Alexandre Texier will be returning to the Blue Jackets next season after missing all of this season for personal reasons as per a recommendation from the NHL/NHLPA Substance Abuse and Behavioral Health Program.
THE PROVINCE: There could be two Elias Petterssons in the Vancouver Canucks lineup next season. The club signed defenseman Elias Pettersson to a three-year entry-level contract. He is not related to the Canucks star center.
THE MERCURY NEWS: Former San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson’s health has improved to the point where he might return to the NHL in some capacity. He stepped down as Sharks GM last April due to his recovery from an undisclosed illness.
Re “ Gary Bettman once again denied the link made by medical doctors between hits to the head…”
Yes admitting might mean claims paid out
Denial…. Moron
Gary is thr King of deflecting directed questions…. He should have done this here
Re Bruins/Cats….. Cats came to play…. Bruins did not play well defensively….. Bruins still winning the series…. But this wakes them up that it win’t be a pushover
Oil/Kings…. Game Scores and series record NOT indicative of play…. Lengthy bouts of dominance by Oil… Leon put on a show
Bunting …. 3 games…. I’m OK with this. This is the kind of suspensions that Parros should have been handing out all year (last year, etc etc). Parros seemed more concerned this year with handing out “diving” fines
I will say it again…. Parros is brutal at his job…. Turns a blind eye over and over and over again…. Then when pressured comes…. He councils with his Magic 8 Ball for decisions
Hoping Leafs show up tonight
And the excuse making has started in Toronto.
poetic would be a Leafs fan at the game tonite in a Freddy jersey
It’s the kettle calling the pot black.
Try not to prove that you suffer from cranial-anal insertion syndrome with your posts.
What I annually find … I don’t know … amusing? curious? … is when a consensus-favoured team loses a game in the 7-game process when NO ONE has predicted a 4-game sweep, and the comments reflect shock, dismay, worry, warnings … whatever
It’s an annual ritual in these parts too George.
I listen to TSN 1260 pretty often and the callers and texters are pretty amusing.
We have moved from Tuesday where the Oilers suck, what’s wrong with McDavid, still can’t win in the playoffs (even though they went to WCF last year), of course the cookie cutter Nurse is overpaid and sucks.
Wake up Thursday and it’s Oilers in 5.
lol , good one
Yep, and if Rick W. were still among us, after Boston’s loss last night he’d be at the head of the pack calling for the sacking of Sweeney immediately.
Something else I’ve noticed is that when one’s favourite team experiences a loss in the playoffs, chances are one or more of that team’s devoted followers go into a temporary funk and are conspicuous by their absence from this forum … until they win again.
I’d honestly like to know what Rick thought of the deadline acquisitions.
I miss his whimsical takes on everything Bruin.
Does anyone else notice that when PK Subban is talking at pre-game and intermission, that Messier and Chelios just look at him like he’s an idiot. It’s like their faces are saying, “Shut up kid, and put on a shirt”…That and, “How many cups have you won? Just shut up!”
Hey Stars Fan,
Yes your 100% Right, PK Subban is a Motor Mouth…🙈
Im not sure witch one, Mess, or Chelios is going to shut that idiot down….❗️😂
Couldn’t agree more. This dude thinks he’s all that and he’s not…by a long long way! Who decided to put him on this panel anyway? There are much better choices and voices with way more respect that SHOULD BE!
🍁Re; Last Night Oilers & Kings Game
The 2nd best player in the World
(over shadowed bye 97)..
Played an other Great Game that what we want to see from him….Draisaitl, A goal and two assists.
Klim Kostin had an other Good game using his size and weight, nice goal…
Again, Kostin was one of the Best Oilers forwards in Both Games so far…..👌
Evander Kane, is slowly getting back to normall and had a nice goal last night..
Derek Ryan had a nice goal early on
Cody Ceci still looked Shakey after a poor performance in Game one, game 2 was a little better but he need to keep it Very Very Simple🤔
Young Stu Skinner played well in his 2nd NHL playoff game last night,
After a few more games he will lock it down… 👌
Stu looks like he is starting to thrive on it and enjoy every game…
The D need to keep it Simple in Front of him and the Oilers need to Stop all these Silly Penalty’s
they are taking in Game 1 X6… and last night was just as Bad….X4…⁉️ Especially Kanes penalty puck high stick….🙈 and Leons penalty like he said the night before we have to Stop taking Silly Penaltys..
ok Stop it…., thats the only reason the kings won 1 game….
I don’t bet on single games but if I did I would have dropped some coin down on an Oilers win last night. I would do the same on a Colorado victory tonight as well. MacKinnon is going to be amped up.
L.A. did what every visiting team strives to do when opening the playoffs on the road – take at least 1 game to get the home-ice advantage from that point on in the series.
Man did Sam Bennett come to play, we was a force the whole game.
Sometimes you just have to give the competition credit. Florida played a fast forecheck game.
Florida was the team I didn’t want Boston to play, because their not a #8 seed team.
With that said Boston must play more discipline and as a team. The turnovers by the defense. Lindholm and McAvoy had a tough night and I Orlov wasn’t any better.
Not concern but give Florida credit they played a real good game lead by Sam Bennett who was in beast mode all night.
I’m concerned Caper and have been for a month.
B’s could easily be down 2 zip heading to Florida. Ullmark won them game 1 IMO. They don’t have the same level of energy, urgency, desperation, or what ever hockey term you want to use.
Hopefully Bergeron get’s back in the line up, I know he has the Flu but also the mysterious upper body injury that could be anything from a concussion, to a broken finger. Here’s hoping.
They almost seem nervous, not crisp with the puck and passes/timing are off, especially on the PP. The only effective PP they had was the last one where they scored, they weren’t even close on the other 3.
My brain tells me they will be OK, even knowing they have been out chanced, (especially the high end chances) because they have been so good this year. But my gut doesn’t and my eyes tell me they’re feeling some pressure, or something else is off.
Go brain go.
Go B’s Go.
Ray, we see the same thing.
Now the shocker… But Grzelcyk in the lineup.
Frederick isn’t getting ice time and he needs to be more of a physical difference. and that 4th line needs to be more aggressive.
If Bergeron is back, that will help slot the lines.
Maybe put Greer or Lauko in the lineup, need the energy they both bring.
What is it with your Oilers… they come out and look like it’s going to be a blow out. Take the 2-0 lead and then just sit?
Oilers only got 1 pp last night and scored. Wonder if they plays in the minds of the officials, knowing how potent that pp is they subconsciously make sure it’s a deserved penalty.
Then again Carolina 6pp to the Islander 0 don’t see that ever.
Been a good OIL/LA series so far Caper.
Agree if Bergeron comes back it does slot the lines better. I think Bertuzzi on the 3rd gives them 3 potent lines that FLA will struggle to match up against.
Oilers are playing well, but so are the Kings.
Korpisalo has made some great saves, then let’s in a bit of a stinker from Kostin out of the blue.
Oilers getting a bit of the short end on the calls, or the Kings are just better at getting away with it. But the penalties the Oil are taking are penalties.
On one hand Danault’s line has kept McDavids line off the score sheet, on the other McDavid’s line has been totally dominant when it comes to chances, shots, zone time etc. Like 75% – 80 % share.
LA clogs it up, waits for chances, and so far has capitalized on them. Tending issue for Edmonton? I don’t think so, LA is scoring around what you would expect, so Skinner gets a passing grade. Korpisalo has kept more out than expected, and some are just hitting him.
Woodcroft didn’t move McDavid away from Danault and Doughty, and is facing some heat for it. But it frees up Draisaitl to go against Kopitar, who he is owning so far.
Interesting games inside the game.
If I had to bet, I think the Oil, and especially McDavid will have the odds level out and the puck will start going in for them.
Or Korpisalo stands on his head and the Kings hang in and maybe take this series.
It’s why we watch!
Not making that call against Carolina in OT last night, makes me think, the refs are quite biased against certain teams, or maybe it is directive from the league….
Power plays were 6 to 0 in favor of Carolina which if you’ve seen the Islanders Power Play is not the worst thing but certainly one sided
Bettman is an embarrassment to the game of hockey.
Brettzky I don’t think either is the case. It’s as simple as some refs just suck and some are worse…plus it seems some have pleasure pointing out that you’re making excuses even though there’s a case to be made even though we had to hear about every excuse as to why their team sucked this year.
I wonder if the same crack down that happened in European soccer and their refs will happen here. A shake up is needed or something. The availability of the many angles we now have as well as the quality goes a long way in showing how bad some refs are…. I just chalk it up to the human element and it is what it is unfortunately as in your case.
You mean the guy that took a 24-team professional league that ranked somewhere below bowling when it came to popularity in the U.S., and the highest salaries were those of Lemieux $3.6 mil), Lindros ($3.5 mil) and Gretzky ($3 mil), to a 32-team structure where such salaries are confined to 3rd and 4th line players and dwarfed by the top earners, and hockey itself has reached high levels of popularity … and participation … in the U.S. from pre-teen leagues right through to major junior and college? That Bettman?
Look, the guy doesn’t do his job to become Mr. Popularity among the various fan bases – his function is to keep the owners happy and the league solvent and popular in all quarters of North America. I’d say he’s done exceptionally well in a job where he’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.
George, I think the Bettman comment might be related to his denial of the link between hits to the head in hockey and CTE as reported by Lyle today.
That is embarrassing in the extreme. He knows he’s not telling the truth.