NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 9, 2023
In a first-ever 16-game day, the Oilers’ Connor McDavid reaches a 150-point season, the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby hits 1,500 points, the Bruins tie the single-season wins record, and much more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid scored twice and collected an assist to surpass 150 points on the season in a 6-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and two assists as the Oilers win their seventh straight game to sit second in the Pacific Division with 105 points. Tomas Hertl replied for the Sharks.
Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: With 152 points, McDavid is the first player to reach the 150-point plateau since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96. He’s also the sixth different player in NHL history to reach that milestone. With 64 goals, McDavid is one shy of matching Washington’s Alex Ovechkin for the most in a season by an active player.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby also had a two-goal, one-assist performance as he reached the 1,500-career point plateau to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 5-1. With a record of 40-30-10, the Penguins remain one point out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth. Pius Suter scored for the Red Wings.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Crosby is the 15th player in league history and the sixth fastest to achieve that milestone.
The Boston Bruins tied the NHL single-season wins record (62) with a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. Former Devil Pavel Zacha tallied twice against his former club for the league-leading Bruins (129 points) while Jesper Bratt scored for the Devils (108 points) as they remain one point behind the Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Taylor Hall returned to the Bruins lineup after missing 20 games with a lower-body injury. They also placed Nick Foligno and Derek Forbert on long-term injury reserve to clear sufficient salary-cap room to activate Hall. The Devils, meanwhile, signed defenseman Luke Hughes (younger brother of star Jack Hughes) to a three-year entry-level contract.
Speaking of the Hurricanes, they dropped a 4-3 decision to the Buffalo Sabres as Tage Thompson broke a 3-3 tie in the third period with his 46th goal of the season. Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and two assists and Casey Mittelstadt tallied twice for the Sabres (39-32-7) to keep their playoff hopes alive with 85 points. Sebastian Aho netted his 35th goal of the season for the Hurricanes.
On the topic of wild-card playoff races, New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin kicked out 27 shots in a 4-0 shutout of the Philadelphia Flyers. Bo Horvat collected two assists and Brock Nelson netted his 34th goal of the season for the 41-30-0 Islanders as they hold the final Eastern wild-card berth with 91 points. Flyers goalie Carter Hart was pulled after giving up three goals on 18 shots.
Third-period goals by Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart lifted the Florida Panthers to a 4-2 victory over the Washington Capitals. It was Tkachuk’s 40th goal of the season plus he collected two assists for the Panthers (42-31-7) as they sit above the Islanders with 91 points on the basis of wins. Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who played without captain Alex Ovechkin as he’s dealing with an upper-body injury.
The Winnipeg Jets got a big win by blanking the Nashville Predators 2-0. Connor Hellebuyck had a 28-save shutout while Mark Scheifele reached the 40-goal plateau for the first time in his career as the Jets improved to 44-32-3 to hold the final Western Conference wild-card spot with 91 points. Juuse Saros made 36 saves for the Predators (40-31-8) as they sit three points behind the Jets.
A shootout goal by Andrei Kuzmenko gave the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames, putting the latter’s playoff hopes in jeopardy. The Flames (37-27-16) overcame a 2-0 deficit on third-period goals by Elias Lindholm and Nazem Kadri but sit one point back of the Jets, who hold a game in hand. Elias Pettersson scored his 38th goal of the season for the Canucks.
Seattle Kraken forward Daniel Sprong had a goal and two assists and defenseman Jamie Oleksiak collected three assists to thump the Chicago Blackhawks 7-3. The Kraken (98 points) picked up their fourth straight win to widen their lead over the Jets for the first Western wild-card spot by seven points. Seth Jones scored twice for the Blackhawks
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kraken goalie Martin Jones left the game after two periods with an undisclosed injury. Meanwhile, Blackhawks forward Taylor Raddysh is done for the season with a groin injury.
Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner collected three points to reach a career-best 98 in a 7-1 drubbing of the Montreal Canadiens. Auston Matthews had a goal and three assists, John Tavares tallied twice and Ryan O’Reilly had three assists for the Leafs as they sit in second place in the Atlantic Division with 105 points. Johnathan Kovacevic replied for the Canadiens.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Leafs forward Calle Jarnkrok missed this game with an injury and is listed as day-to-day. With the playoffs approaching and having already clinched home-ice advantage for the first round, the Leafs rested defensemen Morgan Rielly and TJ Brodie.
New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin had a 20-save shutout to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0. Mika Zibanejad collected two assists for the Rangers (106 points) as they sit two points back of the second-place Devils in the Metro Division.
The Dallas Stars nipped the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 on a shootout goal by Roope Hintz but Vegas still clinched home-ice advantage for the upcoming playoffs. Brett Howden scored for the Golden Knights as they remain atop the Western Conference with 107 points. Joel Kiviranta replied for the Stars as they sit second in the Central Division with 102 points. Vegas center Jack Eichel missed this game with an undisclosed injury and is listed as day-to-day.
Colorado Avalanche forward Denis Malgin scored twice in a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 38 shots for the Avalanche (102 points) as they remain in first place in the Central with a game in hand and four more wins (48 to 44) over the Sars. Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe each had three points for the Kings, who sit third in the Pacific Division with 100 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram missed this game with an illness. Meanwhile, sidelined Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog reportedly won’t be returning to the lineup for the remainder of their regular-season games. He’s been sidelined by a knee injury for the entire season but has recently resumed skating. Landeskog might return at some point in the playoffs depending on how far the Avalanche advance.
The Minnesota Wild tamed the St. Louis Blues 5-3. Sam Steel and Ryan Hartman each had a goal and an assist while trade-deadline acquisition Gustav Nyquist collected two assists in his debut with the Wild, who sit third in the Central with 100 points. Justin Faulk collected two assists for the Blues.
The Ottawa Senators upset the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 7-4. Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson each had two assists and Alex DeBrincat had a goal and an assist for the Senators. Steven Stamkos collected three assists while Brayden Point tallied his 49th goal of the season for the Lightning, who’ve dropped three straight but still sit third in the Atlantic Division with 96 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Senators announced that Jakob Chychrun, Travis Hamonic and Austin Watson are sidelined for the remainder of the season. The Lightning played without sidelined forward Tanner Jeannot and defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.
An overtime goal by Barrett Hayton gave the Arizona Coyotes a 5-4 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Anaheim defenseman Cam Fowler set an NHL record for the most ice time in a regular-season game with 38:55.
A couple of things about that Ottawa-Tampa game … the Senators couldn’t have announced before the game that Talbot was among several who won’t play in the final two games since he was in nets and gave up 4 goals on just 24 shots.
Also, 6′ 3″ 225 lb rookie call-up Egor Sokolov scored his first NHL goal in his 3rd career game. Worth mentioning because this big kid, who played his Major Junior career in the Q with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, is going to be a fixture on the roster.
A bit of trivia in his case – he hails from Yekaterinburg, Russia – the place where Tsar Nicholas and his entire family were brutally shot and bayoneted to death by Bolshevik revolutionaries on orders of the Ural Regional Soviet in mid-July 1918.
Seems like this City is all about death. It formally was the location of the “Tower of Death”, an extremely tall TV tower, built to SOVIET ERA construction style. After abandonment, it became an attraction for base jumpers, and suicides. It was imploded to make way for, wat for it, an ICE RINK!!! It’ll probably be HAUNTED!!!
Missed the end of the NCAA final but glad to see Quinnipiac pull it off
Congrats Sid
Congrats McD
Congrats Bruins
Re McD…. If he can get 4 more points (he’s at 151) in last 2 games…. Then only two players (2nd and 3rd GOAT) will have had more points in a season than him (and as they said on yesterday’s broadcast…. Note …. Those two were getting their records when the average NHL goaltender was 5’ 10 1/2” , 175 (today’s goalies are 6’3” and 210) with minuscule (compared to day) equipment coverage; AND D were much slower and smaller and had trouble turning around in flight, AND defensive systems were just in the genesis of the dream stages
Re Sid…. 1,500 …. 15th overall…. Imagine what he’d have been at without Steckel and shortened seasons….he’d be in 8th or 9th right now; and by the end of next year, would have only been behind Gretsky, Jagr, Messier and Howe
Bruins….
1 win in last 3 ((@Flyers, v Caps, @ Habs)…. They will have most wins
500 hockey gets them tying most points (although Habs did it in 80 games)
Only record they can’t quite get to is winning percentage (825 by
‘76/‘77 Habs)
Congrats Bruins
Bruins fans…. Know you don’t want to “count your chickens”…. But who do you think you’ll be playing from the West??
Asking politely here that Isles and Cats sit Sorokin and Lyins for last two games
Pengy, regular season wins are nice, and having the most wins in a season is something the players and management can be proud of, but it the end, it means nothing if you don’t win the cup.
Credit to the players saying all the right things and Credit to management to make sure the old guys get rest and rotating the defense to keep everyone sharp.
Pitts, Isle, or Fld (yes I’m counting Buffalo out)
None of the three will be easy outs. My preference is Pitts, as I don’t think they have the depth or goaltending.
Follow by Florida simply because of goaltending but it will be physical.
Islanders can be physical and have great goaltending. I don’t want them.
There is no easy road and a lot of solid hockey teams to get by.
Hi Caper… this Pens fan has no illusions ….. IF they make it (huge if)…. Swept byBruins or Kane’s more likely than winning a game or two
Play like they did v Wild….. maybe Pens can push it to 5 or 6
Lions doing well…. Can’t see him stifling Bruins…. I think they get a win v Bruins, could go 6 high scoring games v Canes
Isles…. Sorokin is scary….. could get 6 games in v Canes, maybe 7; Bruins in 6 over Isles
Who do you think comes out of the West?
Happy Easter Pengy! And thanks so much for your best wishes to all of us who celebrate Passover. Sorry I didn’t respond earlier but I’ve been offline the past few days due to the holiday.
And yes, you did get it right!
YW Howard
Thanks for confirming…. To be fair…. Had to google it 😀
Well, Google is quite the scholar! For all faiths!
Pengy….agreed Sid would even be higher if not for the concussions earlier.
Playoffs still possible….Islanders will win there last two against Washington/Canadiens.
We need a regulation loss and our hope is tomorrow Toronto @ Florida or maybe a tad more likely Hurricanes who have first place to play for…they need that game Jersey one point back…fingers crossed.
Look if we sweak in Nick Bonino is back, Marcus Peterson is back and Dimtri Kulikov is back and that is a better line up…
All games vs Boson were all 1 goal games…without a full team..we could make them sweat some.
And I think with Kulikov, Bonino, and Petersson bac for the playoffs we could push Carolina and New Jersey
We absolutely need to stay away from J. T. Miller this off season
$ 21 million in cap space plus the cap goes up $1 million we can retool the 3rd 4th lines and add a good 3rd line center and a defenseman.
Before anyone gets excited about the Bruins win, last night, don’t forget what happened to the last team to reach 62 wins.
Yes…neither of the 2 prior teams that won 62 won the cup that year.
Yes bolts lost then win 2 straight cups if same thing happens to bruins I would be happy with that 😎
Only thing stopping Bruins this year is injuries IMHO
Paul and MB4
Bruins in SCF…. agree withMB4…. Only true roadblock is injuries
Outside chance they are bested in the SCF…Avs with Landeskog back ???
Oil, right now, on a roll …. 25 of last possible 26 points…. Ekholm has made a tremendous difference
I’m expecting 1-2-3 in our annual draft to be Pasta, McD, Leon
A few things could stymie the B’s IMO.
Injuries, hot tender, bad bounces etc.
A couple deflections, posts and Shesterkin could be the difference against a team like the Rangers who are a very good hockey team.
Or you get to the final and you have to deal with McDavid, Draisaitl and a committed Oilers and it could go either way.
Pengy, Oil out of the west, and whoever has 1st pick in your draft should take McDavid or they’re on glue.
That’s what everyone said about Tampa before the Jackets swept them in the first round.
Hi Ray
Out pool is 2 points a goal; 1 point an assist… 1st pick may go to Pasta…, Bruins higher probability of getting to SCF…. So you weigh Mcd at (1) definitely should get 2 rounds; (2) fair chance at 3; (3) 30% -40% chance they beat AVs
Vs 90% -95% chance Bruins (Pasta) gets 4 rounds
With much higher probability of getting at least 1 mote round; and maybe 2 more rounds… someone might pick Pasta first
Seeing as our pool is up down….. if you get 1st pick; your 2nd pick is between 36th (if we only have 18) and 44th (if we get to 22 guys…. Like last year)…. then it doesn’t matter who they pick first…. They aren’t winning the pool…. Picking top 4 in our pool is a death sentence…. Only once in slmost 4 decades has someone picked in top 4 and finished in the top 3 of the pool
Picking somewhere 7th- 12th is gold!!!
Ray, Edmonton best not catch Vegas and play Winnipeg in the first round, on that bases alone i don’t take McDavid 1st overall I take Brad Marchand. If Edmonton plays LA in round 1 then i’ll take McDavid. Yes i think Winnipeg with Hellebuyck can take down McDavid and the Oilers.
In 7 games against Winnipeg 14 to 16 points for McDavid.
Colorado healthy is still a scary team and they have two players to keep pace with McDavid.
I’m picking a Boston vs Colorado finals.
Boston in 6 for the cup.
Pengy, if you have 18-22 guys in your pool, have 2 pools. It’s too many IMO. I also don’t think BOS is a 90-95% chance to get to SCF final. I would say 40% to 50%. At best. Just the way it is historically.
Caper, I would normally agree on COL but they’re banged up.
Gonna be good boys!
Wiseman’s comments after last night shellacking was in poor taste. Here’s a guy who doesn’t get it. Saying the Leafs will get theirs after allowing a student goalie get in an NHL game and live out a dream.
I know the tank is in full gear as it should be for them but to say that is just a bad look anyway you look at it. He should stick to talking to Uber drivers.
LOL perfectly auto-corrected name. Wideman not at all a wiseman.
Yeah, didn’t get that either. The full article quote is
““They’ll get what they deserve in a few weeks,” defenceman Chris Wideman predicted of the Leafs losing their first-round series with Tampa Bay.
Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said it “was not his decision” to put Alexander in.
“Word came down to me about 30 seconds before the whistle (prior to the switch),” he said, likely meaning it was relayed from general manager Kyle Dubas.”
Stupid comment by Wideman … and I’m sure Tampa Bay doesn’t give a rat’s patootie if the Habs felt embarrassed and not even a morsel of motivation to “avenge” that will enter the picture once the playoffs start.
The article comment that gave me a laugh was “Matt Murray’s mysterious absence ….” No mystery there folks.
LOL me too! Sooo mysterious. I do feel bad for the guy though. Hoping he will find his game and shake off whatever ails him. My guess is he’s gone this off-season with a trade similar to that was made to move off of Mrazek.
Ron, I would’ve to agree with you on that.
The game was over. it wasn’t an intended insult to Montreal.
Given some kid a dream of a lifetime.
I was expecting to hear from those Wings fans who were “banking” on them eliminating the Pens from playoff contention.
Well, I for one, was hoping for another W against the Pens, since I attended the game. My take was that, although it seemed that Pittsburggh got a few breaks with bounces/calls/non calls, Detroit simply made too many mistakes that wound up in our net….Walman….the only thing you CAN’T do with a few seconds left in the period is to bring the puck out in front of the net and then turn it over….ice it…..eat it….anything else. Pittsburgh deserved to win the game.
Having said that, I am optimistic about the Wings next year and beyond, and would not want to trade our team and prospects for the Pens.