NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 1, 2023
The Penguins’ Tristan Jarry scored the first “goalie goal” of the season, the Flames trade Nikita Zadorov to the Canucks, the latest on Corey Perry and much more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Tristan Jarry scored the first “goalie goal” of the season with an empty-netter to seal his club’s 4-2 comeback win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jarry also finished the night with 39 saves while Jeff Carter broke a 2-2 tie in the third period as the Penguins improved to 11-10-1 on the season. Nikita Kucherov collected two assists as he remains atop the NHL scoring race with 39 points for the 10-9-5 Lightning.
Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Jarry is the first goaltender in Penguins history to score a goal.
Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel commemorated his 500th career game with a goal and two assists as his club defeated the Vancouver Canucks by a score of 4-1. The Golden Knights (15-5-4) snapped a three-game losing skid to reclaim first place in the overall standings with 34 points. Thatcher Demko stopped 40 shots and Andrei Kuzmenko scored for the 15-8-1 Canucks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill left the game following the second period for precautionary reasons due to a lower-body injury. Logan Thompson replaced him for the third period.
Before the game, the Canucks acquired defenseman Nikita Zadorov from the Calgary Flames in exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2024 and a third-round pick in 2026.
The Canucks were rumored to be interested in Zadorov for some time. The big rearguard brings size and physical defensive skill to their blueline corps. He’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent next July unless he and the Canucks agree to an extension before then. For now, he’s a welcome addition to their defense for the remainder of this season.
It was surprising that Flames general manager Craig Conroy was willing to ship Zadorov to a division rival, especially one that they’ll be facing as soon as Saturday. Nevertheless, he believes it’s a fair deal for both clubs.
Zadorov punched his ticket out of Calgary with a public trade request through his agent on Nov. 10. The Canucks were willing to take on his full $3.75 million cap hit, enabling the Flames to avoid any salary retention in the deal. While they didn’t get a useful roster player, top prospect or high draft pick in return, they added two picks to their draft stockpile.
Trading away Zadorov will likely ramp up trade rumors regarding the Flames’ notable pending UFAs such as Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev. Those three haven’t requested trades (not publicly, at least). With the Flames rising in the standings, Conroy can wait until the March 8 trade deadline to decide if he’ll move any of them.
Speaking of the Flames, an overtime goal by Nazem Kadri gave them a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars. Jonathan Huberdeau collected two assists while MacKenzie Weegar scored the tying goal late in the third period for the 10-10-3 Flames (22 points), who sit one point out of the final Western Conference wild-card berth. Mason Marchment scored twice for the 13-5-3 Stars.
Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman had a 26-save shutout in a 3-0 blanking of the San Jose Sharks. Pavel Zacha had a goal and an assist while David Pastrnak picked up two assists as the Bruins (15-4-3) snapped a three-game losing skid to sit one point back of the Golden Knights in the overall standings with 33 points. Mackenzie Blackwood turned aside 34 shots for the Sharks (5-16-2) as they remain winless (0-10-0) on the road this season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sharks center Tomas Hertl returned to the lineup after undergoing kidney stone surgery on Monday. “It was a pretty s***ty situation. It was pretty painful,” said Hertl, who said he felt good for Thursday’s game. Having passed a kidney stone myself years ago, I know exactly what he means.
The Toronto Maple Leafs nipped the Seattle Kraken 4-3. Mitch Marner tallied a hat trick in regulation and netted the game-winner in the shootout as the Leafs rose to 12-6-3. Jared McCann scored twice for the 8-10-6 Kraken.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Leafs announced defenseman Mark Giordano is listed as week-to-week with a broken finger. Meanwhile, the Kraken revealed that winger Jaden Schwartz (lower body) was placed on injured reserve.
Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson picked up a hat trick as his club held off the Anaheim Ducks 5-4. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin had two assists and now sits with 1,499 career points as his club improved their record to 12-6-2. Brett Leason and rookie Tristan Luneau each had a goal and an assist for the Ducks (9-14-0) as they’ve dropped eight straight games.
The Minnesota Wild thumped the Nashville Predators 6-1 with Connor Dewar tallying his first career NHL hat trick. The win was John Hynes’ second behind the bench for the Wild (7-10-4) in as many games. Juuso Parssinen replied for the Predators (11-11-0) as their six-game win streak ended.
New Jersey Devils rookie defenseman Luke Hughes’ overtime goal gave his club a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Akira Schmid kicked out 44 shots while Luke’s brother Jack had a goal and two assists as the Devils (11-9-1) have won three straight games. Travis Konecny collected two assists for the 11-10-2 Flyers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Flyers center Garnet Hathaway received a match penalty for boarding Luke Hughes in the first period. Hughes went to the dressing room but would return and play over 21 minutes in this contest. Meanwhile, Devils defenseman Brendan Smith faces a hearing with the league’s department of player safety for slashing Konecny across the chest late in the third period.
The New York Islanders downed the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on an overtime goal by Mathew Barzal, who also collected three assists on the night. Noah Dobson set up three goals while Semyon Varlamov stopped 39 shots as the Islanders improved to 9-7-6. Jordan Staal had a goal and an assist while Sebastian Aho sent the game into overtime for the Hurricanes (13-8-1)with just three seconds remaining in regulation time.
Detroit Red Wings forwards J.T. Compher and Robby Fabbri each scored two goals to lead their club over the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1. Alex Lyon made 34 saves for the 12-7-3 Red Wings. Lukas Reichel replied for the Blackhawks (7-14-0) with an assist from Connor Bedard.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, former Blackhawks winger Corey Perry released a statement for the first time since his contract was terminated by the club. He apologized to the entire organization and his family and friends, expressing shame and embarrassment for his actions that led to his dismissal.
Perry also vehemently denied the sickening and baseless rumors on social media that arose during the investigation into his conduct and apologized directly to those who may have been affected by them. He indicated that he is working with experts in the mental health and substance abuse field to discuss his struggles with alcohol, vowing he’ll take whatever steps are necessary to ensure this never happens again.
A four-goal third period saw the Florida Panthers romp to a 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Aleksander Barkov and Evan Rodrigues each had a goal and an assist for the 14-7-2 Panthers. Johnathan Kovacevic scored for the 10-11-2 Canadiens.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Canadiens forward Alex Newhook will be re-evaluated on Friday after injuring his left leg during an awkward fall into the net early in the third period.
The St. Louis Blues blew a 3-0 lead but went on to beat the Buffalo Sabres 6-4. Jordan Binnington made 42 saves while Brayden Schenn and Jake Neighbours each tallied twice for the 12-9-1 Blues. Rasmus Dahlin, Zach Benson and Peyton Krebs each had a goal and an assist for the 10-11-2 Sabres.
Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl snapped a 1-1 tie as his club went on to a 3-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets. Ryan McLeod had a goal and an assist as the Oilers (9-12-1) picked up their fourth straight win. Connor Hellebuyck made 36 saves while Cole Perfetti scored for the 12-8-2 Jets, who’ve now lost three straight games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey underwent and clear concussion protocol following a second-period hit by Oilers forward Mattias Janmark. Morrissey and Jets coach Rick Bowness felt it was blatant interference and a pick by Janmark.
An overtime goal by Nick Bjugstad gave the Arizona Coyotes a 4-3 upset of the Colorado Avalanche. Connor Ingram made 28 saves for the win as the Coyotes (11-9-2) held the final Western Conference wild-card spot with 24 points. Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar each had two points for the Avalanche (15-6-1), who hold first place in the Central Division with 31 points.
Watched the Habs vs Florida game , I have to say Josh Anderson worked his butt off. Good on the forecheck and played the body all game. He finished the game off with a nice tilt as well.
So Corey Perry could have submitted to the player assistance program and not have been his contract terminated?
Considering the sexual assault and cover up fiasco for the Blackhawks, I think they’d have found a way to terminate his contract eventually.
That was a great goal by Jarry. He shot that puck with authority. Modest kid too. Wouldn’t even fly by the bench.
Ottawa is the only team with less than 20 games played. The Senators have only played 17 games.
Tampa has played 24 games; how can a season be 24 games in an one team has played 7 less then others and a minimum of 3 than anyone else in the league.
The senators are going to have a lot of games in a short period of time.
You would think the NHL could do a better job of scheduling.
It’s an absolutely horrible schedule. Especially with the Sweden travel in there too.
but coming back and playing a game and then getting 5 days off again? It’s like the NHL is TRYING to make sure they wallow and flounder. (no I am not a conspiracy theorist…I don’t ACTUALLY think there is rigging)
Apparently they will soon be on a schedule where they play every other night… if they hit their stride it could be incredible, if still lukewarm… it could be disastrous and DJ might be out.
With you guys on that.
If your are going to have a bunch of games on a short period of time, you sure as heck don’t want it over the last 6-8 weeks of the regular season. The last thing you want is being tired heading into the playoffs without practice time.
Not sure when the Sens make it up, but seems like something that could be avoided.
Carolina has only scored 14 power play goals when playing 5 vs 4. That’s pretty bad by itself but when you add the 6 short handed goals that they have given up you realize just how bad Carolinas power play has been.
And that’s the ONE thing that DeAngelo supposedly does well. No wonder why he’s on the trade block.
The rumors were not ok and immature and problematic. But sickening? Two adults having consensual sex doesn’t quite rise to the level of sickening in my book. If I was his mom and I heard people describing the rumors as sickening I’d be kinda like “now hold on a minute there…”
The sickening part, Chrisms, is that two people were besmirched by a baseless rumor. One of them being the mother of a player who had nothing to do with the situation, who wound up getting their name dragged through the mud on social media for something they did not do.
So not the content of the rumors being sickening… but the context. Got it.
The content isn’t simply immature. Suggesting someone’s mother would sleep with her son’s team mate is brutal. And suggesting Perry would participate in that is just as bad.
These are real people, and there are other real people that will continue to believe it. We know that to be true these days.
I guess I looked at it as implying a youngish woman… I’m gonna guess in her 40’s sleeping with a sports star in his thirties is sickening is a bit harsh. It can imply she isn’t worth considering as a sexually attractive human being just because she is a mom.
You might be over thinking this just a bit Chrisms.