NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 10, 2023
The Islanders end the Kings’ record-breaking road win streak, Patrick Kane’s first Red Wings goal was overshadowed by an injury to Dylan Larkin, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The Los Angeles Kings’ record-setting 11-game season-opening win streak is over. Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s overtime tally completed a three-goal comeback as the New York Islanders picked up a 3-2 victory. Anders Lee scored twice in the third period for the Islanders as they improved their record to 12-7-7. Adrian Kempe and Vladislav Gavrikov were the goal-scorers for the 16-4-4 Kings.
Patrick Kane’s first goal with the Detroit Red Wings was overshadowed by an injury to captain Dylan Larkin as they dropped a 5-1 decision to the Ottawa Senators. During the first period, Larkin was knocked to the ice after being punched in the back of the head by Senators forward Mathieu Joseph during a scramble in front of the Senators net, laying face down for several minutes. He was helped from the game and didn’t return. The win improved the Senators’ record to 11-11-0 while the Red Wings slipped to 14-8-4 as they hold the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot with 32 points.
Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: There was no update on Larkin’s condition following the game. He’s had a neck injury before so here’s hoping this isn’t anything serious. Joseph and teammate Parker Kelly were assessed roughing minors while Wings forward David Perron received a match penalty in the ensuing scrum for attempting to injure Senators defenseman Artem Zub with a cross-check.
The Vegas Golden Knights cruised to a 6-1 drubbing of the Dallas Stars. Mark Stone, Zach Whitecloud, Paul Cotter and Nicolas Roy each had a goal and an assist as the Golden Knights (18-5-5) hold sole possession of first place in the overall standings with 41 points. Evgenii Dadonov scored the only goal for the 15-8-3 Stars.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Stars center Roope Hintz missed this game due to illness.
Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak scored two goals and set up another in a 5-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes. Linus Ullmark stopped 31 shots as the Bruins (18-5-3) regained first overall in the Eastern Conference with 39 points. Michael Carcone netted his team-leading 13th goal of the season for the Coyotes (13-11-2) as they remain in the first Western Conference wild-card berth with 28 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Bruins center Pavel Zacha left this game with an upper-body injury suffered during the first period and didn’t return.
The New Jersey Devils doubled up the Calgary Flames by a score of 4-2. Nico Hischier tallied twice while Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist as the Devils improved to 14-10-1 after three straight wins. Yegor Sherangovich and Nazem Kadri replied for the Flames as they fell to 11-13-3.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Flames recalled forward Matt Coronato and placed goaltender Jacob Markstrom on injured reserve.
A shootout goal by Juraj Slafkovsky lifted the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Cayden Primeau kicked out a career-high 46 shots while Jayden Struble scored his first-ever NHL goal for the 12-12-3 Canadiens. Jeff Skinner and Kyle Okposo scored for the 11-14-3 Sabres as they overcame a 2-0 deficit to force the extra frame.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Canadiens winger Tanner Pearson left this game after taking a shot off his left hand. It’s the same hand that underwent three surgeries during last season to repair. No update yet as to his status.
Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews scored two goals and Ilya Samsonov turned in an 18-save shutout to beat the Nashville Predators 4-0. William Nylander collected two assists for the 14-6-4 Maple Leafs. Kevin Lankinen turned aside 31 shots for the Predators (14-13-0) as they cling to the final Western Conference playoff berth with 28 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Leafs announced that starting goalie Joseph Woll is considered week-to-week with a high-ankle sprain.
The Washington Capitals blanked the New York Rangers 4-0 with Charlie Lindgren getting the shutout by stopping 31 shots. Sonny Milano, Anthony Mantha, Tom Wilson and Nicolas Aube-Kubel were the goal scorers for the 13-8-3 Capitals. Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves for the Rangers (18-6-1), who hold first place in the Metropolitan Division with 37 points.
Chicago Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek turned aside 38 shots in a 3-1 upset of the St. Louis Blues. Nikita Zaitsev had two assists for the Blackhawks (9-16-1) as they won consecutive games for the first time this season. Oskar Sundqvist scored for the Blues (13-13-7) as they sit just outside the Western wild-card picture with 27 points.
The Philadelphia Flyers got two goals from Travis Konecny to upset the Colorado Avalanche 5-2. Bobby Brink collected two assists while Travis Sanheim and Owen Tippett each had a goal and an assist as the Flyers (15-10-2) picked up their fourth straight win. Nathan MacKinnon and Josh Manson scored for the Avalanche (16-9-2) as they remain in first place in the Central Division with a one-point lead over the Stars.
An overtime goal by Nikita Kucherov lifted the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken, handing the latter their seventh straight loss. Kucherov finished the night with two goals and an assist for the 13-11-5 Lightning as they hold the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth with 31 points. Jordan Eberle picked up two assists for the Kraken as they dropped to 8-13-7.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer left this game with a lower-body injury while teammate Justin Schultz suffered an upper-body injury. Meanwhile, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos missed this game due to an illness.
Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson scored the winning goal and picked up two assists to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3. Sam Lafferty and Ilya Mikheyev each had a goal and an assist as the Canucks improved to 18-9-1. The Hurricanes fell to 14-12-1, dropping all four games on their Western Canada road trip, prompting a players-only meeting in the dressing room following this contest.
IN OTHER NEWS…
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH: Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner has been sidelined for six weeks with a broken jaw after being struck in the face by a puck during Friday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.
THE SCORE: Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin is expected to miss significant time after being hit from behind by the Edmonton Oilers’ Evander Kane during Friday’s game between the two clubs. He’s listed as week-to-week. After reviewing the incident, the NHL department of player safety issued a warning to Kane.
CBS SPORTS: San Jose Sharks defenseman Matt Benning is deemed week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
First off, it’s Jonas Brodin, and secondly, can’t believe Kane wasn’t given a penalty on the play. The same night in the Buffalo game there was a very similar hit resulting in 5 min major and game penalty
The Habs won the game and Primeau was statistically fine but he let in two poor goals.
The young D that played over their heads last year and showed promise is almost collectively lost.
Kaiden Guhle, touted as the next one had a forward sweep right around him and take it to the net for a goal.
Justin Barron turned the puck over with unforced errors.
Gustav Lindstrom had a good start but its visible why he couldn’t crack the lineup in Detroit.
Kovacevic was a revelation last year but is trying to do too much this year and same with Matheson.
The only D playing almost error free hockey is the rookie, Jayden Struble.
This crew has show plenty of moxie but they are lacking toughness, perhaps they are playing too many minutes ( 3 starters are injured) , perhaps they have shrunk a bit without Arber Xhekaj in the lineup.
The one thing they are still doing is contributing offense. going from almost bottom of the league to the top.
The other possibility is the coaching staff accenting scoring from the D this year and the kids losing some balance.
Yeah, it was a sloppy game by the Habs, HF30. But Primeau looked like a completely different goalie from the one who let in 5 soft goals the previous game. The kid made 46 saves last night, you are going to call him out over 2 goals in front of a porous D?
I get (and share) your frustration but the Habs entered the season with no expectation of making the playoffs and now have, what, 6, 7, regulars out of the starting line up. That includes Savard, a steady eddie on D. So, speaking to myself as much as you, tolerance if not ambivalence is needed to get through this season. And probably next.
And, if you had seen Wifi’s first game in the AHL, he played like a pacifist. He’s down in Laval because he too has lost defensive sharpness.
“Issued a warning”? Lol
Wings game:
Perron gets 2 game suspension. No other reviews from this game considered for supplementary discipline. Joseph gets away with his punch to the neck from behind.
It’s amazing how everyone sees things differently out of emotion. The panel looked at what was a mass scrum in front of the Detroit net with everyone pushing and shoving with their sticks and Karkin – with a history of neck injuries – got the worst of it. But the officials saw only basic roughing on the part of the Joseph and Kelly whereas Perron made an after-the-fact beeline straight to Zub’s face. THAT was a deliberate intent to injure.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/what-went-down-in-penalty-filled-scene-between-senators-and-red-wings/
That’s the way I saw it, George. I thought Joseph’s head shot deserved both a penalty and a denunciation of some form but at the same time there was a lot of commotion going on and I didn’t think it was intent to injure.
I have to wonder about Larkin’s future in hockey. There is so much contact in hockey, intentional or unintentional and were I Larkin I would be asking if it were wise to continue playing.
On another note, I hope there is supplemental discipline for Robinson’s hit on Barron. Despite Colby Armstrong’s seeming to blame Barron for having his back to the play, he held that position well before Robinson arrived. Don’t care which teams/players are involved, hits like that can result in serious injury.
Perron is being offered a hearing by the NHL so he may be sitting down for a while.
Wow ! I guess that’s typical. A few years back, when Benn put Larkin in a neck brace with a cross check to the back of the head, and didn’t even get 2 minutes, the criteria must have been, “well, his neck wasn’t broken, so it’s OK”. And apparently, yesterday, the criteria was, “well, he regained consciousness, so it couldn’t have been too bad”.
Pure BS.
I was the same George. Being a little biased as I live in Ottawa I didn’t think it was a terrible play. He got pinballed between two players. Update on Larkin is that his “concussion” head tests came back negative. But he is in the same eggshell state that Crosby was a while back.
So you believe that both Ottawa players made contact with Larkins head accidentally ? Joseph had to bring both his hands and stick up to get them where he made contact with Larkin, and Kelly need to bend down to do so. Yep…pure hockey plays…incidental contact…..right.
habfan30
Yes some good coments there,
100% the Habs missed Arber Xhekaj in the lineup last night..
Buffalo were taking advantage of the young Habs they are Not real a tough team… but habs have a Very young d core last night 29 yr old Mike Matherson was the oldest d/man on the habs at 29….❗️ the rest were 21,22,22,25….
and some smaller forwards, last nigh there bigest guy was Josh Anderson who did not do much….
When Carolina’s players and coaches keep talking about certain players that haven’t bought in, I keep thinking of Necas and Bunting. Both may be a better fit on another team.
Carolina needs a new goalie. They have a cap hit of 6.9 mill for their goalie by committee plan and they don’t have a current or future #1 goalie in the mix.
Dundon proclaimed that Carolina was Aho’s team when he signed the new contract. Aho needs to start leading his team by example.