NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 18, 2023
Nathan MacKinnon extends his point streaks, Jack Eichel establishes a Golden Knights record, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and collected two assists in a 6-2 win over the San Jose Sharks. MacKinnon extended his season-opening home points streak to 16 games and his overall points streak to 15 games as the Avalanche (19-10-2) reclaimed first place in the Central Division with 40 points. Tomas Hertl scored both goals for the 9-19-3 Sharks while Anthony Duclair was a healthy scratch from this contest.
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (NHL Images)
SPECTOR’S NOTE: MacKinnon is having an MVP-worthy season thus far. With 47 points, he’s now five behind Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov, who leads all scorers with 52 points.
Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist to lead his club over the Ottawa Senators 6-3. Mark Stone collected three assists for the Golden Knights (21-6-5), who sit atop the overall standings with 47 points. Josh Norris had a goal and an assist for the 11-15-0 Senators, who’ve dropped four straight and remain at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with 22 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Eichel extended his points streak to a franchise-record 10 games. Meanwhile, Vegas goaltender Adin Hill left this game in the first period with an undisclosed injury. It was his first game since being sidelined for the last seven with a lower-body injury.
A hat trick by Adam Henrique powered the Anaheim Ducks to a 5-1 upset of the New Jersey Devils. Alex Killorn had a goal and two assists for the 11-19-1 Ducks as they snapped a five-game losing skid. Michael McLeod replied for the 16-12-1 Devils (33 points), who sit one point out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth.
The Vancouver Canucks netted three goals in the second period to hold off the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3. J.T. Miller picked up two assists as he leads his teammates with 45 points to sit third in the league scoring race. The Canucks (21-9-2) sit second in the Western Conference with 44 points. Nick Foligno tallied twice for the Blackhawks (9-20-1), who sit at the bottom of the overall standings with 19 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Canucks winger Brock Boeser netted his 23rd goal of the season to move into a tie with Toronto’s Auston Matthews for the league lead in goals. Meanwhile, the ranks of injured Blackhawks is growing as winger Joey Anderson left this game with an upper-body injury. He joins Seth Jones (left shoulder), Alex Vlasic (upper body), Andreas Athanasiou (groin), Colin Blackwell (lower body), Jarred Tinordi (concussion) and Taylor Hall (season-ending ACL injury) on the sidelines.
A shootout goal by Evgeny Kuznetsov gave the Washington Capitals a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves for the Capitals (15-9-4), who hold the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth with 34 points and two games in hand over the Detroit Red Wings, who also have 34 points. Sebastian Aho scored for the 16-12-3 Hurricanes, who’ve dropped six of their last eight games and cling to the first Eastern wild-card spot with 35 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Capitals winger TJ Oshie was a late scratch from this game with a lower-body injury. Meanwhile, Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta cleared waivers and was assigned to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. The Canes got some good news as goalie Frederik Andersen was cleared to resume skating after being sidelined for six weeks with a blood clot issue.
IN GOALIE NEWS…
CALGARY SUN: Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom was activated off injured reserve after missing seven games with a fractured finger. Goalie Dustin Wolf has been assigned to their AHL affiliate.
LA KINGS INSIDER: The Kings placed goaltender Pheonix Copley on long-term injury reserve with an undisclosed injury. They called up David Rittich from their AHL affiliate over the weekend. Copley suffered the injury during practice on Friday.
CBS SPORTS: Detroit Red Wings goalie Alex Lyon suffered a lower-body injury during Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. No updates were released regarding his condition.
NEW JERSEY HOCKEY NOW: The Devils recalled netminder Nico Daws from their AHL affiliate as Vitek Vanecek is not feeling “physically well”, though it is not related to any illness.
It feels like new ownership and management in Ottawa have zero sense of urgency to salvage this season. Are they aware that the fan base is just giving up?
Re; The Sen’s
I think the Sen’s have a Lot on there plate…Taking over a New Team that was left in a Big Mess ……❗️
-The GM getting Fired or Resigning due to A Trade Screw up the NHL should have dealt with at that time and NOT 2 years later.
-A Coach who has lost the team,
-Goaltening thats been a complete Flop,
-The often injured Chabot who is out again
-The inconsistent d has not plated well
-Then Shane Pinto not getting resigned due to paying $5.M for Vladimir Tarasenko and them haveing No Cap Space thats just Bad Cap Managment,
Steve Staios acting GM,
will have to hire a GM & is more than likly looking right now for a New Coach between now and the Draft.
Staios is likly revamping All the Front office also and will have to do Some of the Coaching staff
Ottawa will not make the playoffs this year🔥,
Riding a 4 game lossing streak, up next is AZ & the Avs!
The Sen;s sitting at the bottom of the Easter Conference with 22 point and 12 points out on a playoff birth.
At the Draft They will pick in top 5 maybe that what they need
Im Sure they will trade 3-4 players at the deadline for picks ?
1/ Vladimir Tarasenko
2/ Dominik Kubalik
3/ Zack MacEwen
&
❓4/ Erik Brännström…LD/RD They need to
up-grade this position as A #4-5 d/man he is not good enough….. They need Big & Tough…
Anyone else surprised that Washington holds the second wildspot and Ovie only has 5 goals in 28 games.
That puts Ovie on pace for 15 goals this season. Keep waiting for him to bust out but hasn’t happen to date.
A little, and a little, Caper. Washington has been in decline for several years now, and it is only the weakness of the Eastern Conference that has the Caps anywhere near contention.
The Great 8 has been exceptionally consistent into his 30’s, but at 38 and with neither Backstrom nor Kusnetsov able to feed him it isn’t surprising that things have caught up to him this season.
Caper. Count me in the surprise group. O I is not hurt either so odd the slump is going so long for him. But Caps keep winning anyway
I was surprised until I watched them play Carolina last night. They played a much more structured defensive game then they have in recent years. They seem well coached and played the perfect game for an older team that played the night before. The Capitals played the overtime possessing the puck, not taking any chances, and happy to get to the shoot out. It seemed to surprise Carolina and they didn’t have a counter to the OT strategy.