NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 6, 2023
The Hurricanes take a 2-0 series lead over the Devils while the Jack Adams Award finalists are announced. Details and much more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The Carolina Hurricanes thumped the New Jersey Devils 6-1 to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven second-round series. Jesperi Kotkaniemi tallied twice as the Hurricanes took a 4-0 lead in the first period while Frederik Andersen picked up the win with a 28-save performance. The series shifts to New Jersey for Game 3 on Sunday.
Carolina Hurricanes center Jesperi Kotkaniemi (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Hurricanes are dominating this series, outscoring New Jersey 11-2 in the first two games and outperforming them in every aspect. Following Game 2, Devils captain Nico Hischier said he and his teammates should be “pissed off” over how poorly they’ve played. That sentiment won’t mean much if they don’t find a way to get back into this series.
Devils winger Timo Meier returned to action in this contest after missing Game 1 due to an upper-body injury suffered during Game 7 of his club’s first-round series with the New Jersey Devils.
Dave Hakstol of the Seattle Kraken, Jim Montgomery of the Boston Bruins, and Lindy Ruff of the Devils are the finalists for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year in 2022-23.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: Panthers forward Sam Bennett was fined $5,000.00 by the NHL player safety department for a cross-check to the neck of Toronto Maple Leafs winger Michael Bunting on Thursday.
TORONTO SUN: Bennett went unpunished for a hit that concussed Leafs rookie forward Matthew Knies in the same game. Knies will miss Games 3 and 4 and could be sidelined for the remainder of the series if it goes beyond Game 4. The Panthers lead two games to none.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Bennett gets a fine for a dangerous hit to an opponent’s neck and nothing for injuring another by slamming him to the ice. And the league wonders why fans and pundits have so much disdain for its so-called “player safety” department.
SPORTSNET: Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl left practice early yesterday after being nicked by a puck. Head coach Jay Woodcroft said it was “a little bit of playoff makeup, I think he probably had one or two sutures. He’ll be just fine.”
TAMPA BAY TIMES: The Lightning signed forward Mikey Eyssimont to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $800K.
YARDBARKER: Dallas Stars prospect Lian Bichsel underwent surgery to repair a broken ankle. His recovery time is six-to-eight weeks. He was training in preparation to play for Switzerland in the upcoming IIHF World Championship.
OTTAWA SUN: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman believes it would be a plus for the Senators to have a Hollywood celebrity as part of its potential new ownership group. However, he believes the bids must stand on their own merit. Actor Ryan Reynolds and rapper Snoop Dogg are part of two competing groups bidding for ownership of the Senators. The deadline for binding bids is May 15.
Should wait to name coach of the year until playoffs are over!That s where you see the coaches who earn their money!
Or at least a separate award like the Conn Smythe for MVP.
The officiating in this year’s playoffs has been abysmal. I understand it’s impossible to catch everything, but they have to do better, imo. Maybe. Fifth official??
Bunting is getting the Brendan Gallagher treatment from the officials, calling everything he does and nothing done to him.
On the other hand Bennett and Tkachuk are getting a free ride.
It’s hard to “correct” officiating when there is little rhyme or reason to what is called and ignored.
The fine on Bunting is consistent from what I’ve been watching.
I have a harder time with the play on Knies.
Knies couldn’t defend himself or brace for the impact to the ice.
I’ve watched it a few times and I don’t understand why that isn’t suspendable.
The kid was having a good playoff run and for a cheap play like that to take him out, is unfortunate.
If Montgomery wins the Jack Adams, I would think it be with hesitant as he along with most players choked when it matter most.
Another on ice official isn’t the answer, especially when we already have one, replays. If the play stops due to an apparent injury, like they did when the Florida player was struck in the face shield with the puck to see if it was a stick or not, they can do that for incidents where no one saw what happened to an injured player behind the play.
We have the eyes in the sky, they should just use them if they feel they need a better look or missed anything. The only risk is killing the momentum of the game but if we are already in a stoppage, why not? Or maybe you’re right, one more official but one who watches plays and maybe calls down when something is missed?
It’s a tough one. No one wants play to stop and at the same time, no one like uncalled infractions. We just need to figure out which of the two we think are more important since player safety isn’t really working.
An NFL official once said, years back, if, following a kickoff, and the ensuing line of scrimmage was around mid field, we could play the entire quarter without having moved 10 yards if every infraction observed was called on both sides.
It was only half-jokingly he admitted.
Same with the NHL. Strict application of the technicality of every rule and there’d be a steady parade to the penalty box.
Bitching about the officiating has been prevalent for as long as I’ve been watching hockey – and that dates back over 7 decades.
So, if it hasn’t change in that time frame it won’t change ever, even if you put 8 officials in charge.
Got to give some love to Carolina.
Totally dominating NJ, I thought with their key injuries, the series be flipped.
Doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup Rod gets the hustle out of them.
I agree RBA gets all the juice out of what his team can do.