NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 3, 2023
Recaps of Saturday’s action, the Predators allow Tyson Barrie to speak with other clubs, Nikita Zadorov faces the Flames days after they trade him to the Canucks, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck had a goal and two assists as his club overcame a 3-1 deficit for a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators. Igor Shesterkin kicked out 38 shots while Adam Fox picked up three assists as the Rangers (17-4-1) sit atop the Eastern Conference with 35 points. Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and an assist for the Predators as they dropped to 11-12-0.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Predators defenseman Tyson Barrie was a healthy scratch from this game. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported the 32-year-old defenseman has been granted permission to speak with other teams. The Athletic’s Joe Rexrode indicated that Barrie had become somewhat expendable in part because young Spencer Stastney has garnered more playing time of late on the Predators’ blueline. I’ll have more about Barrie in the Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup.
The Vancouver Canucks nipped the Calgary Flames 4-3 with former Flame Nikita Zadorov burning his former club by assisting on Elias Pettersson’s winning goal. Pettersson, Ilya Mikheyev and Sam Lafferty each had a goal and an assist for the 16-8-1 Canucks. Elias Lindholm scored twice as the Flames dropped to 10-11-3.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Zadorov was paired with Tyler Myers on the Canucks’ blueline. Before this game, the Flames signed free-agent defenseman Mark Pysyk to a one-year, two-way contract.
Vegas Golden Knights winger Jonathan Marchessault scored twice in a 4-1 victory over the Washington Capitals. Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists as the Golden Knights (16-5-4) held first place in the overall standings with 36 points. Tom Wilson replied for the 12-7-2 Capitals.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill missed this game as he’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak (NHL Images).
Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand’s overtime goal lifted his club over the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3. David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists while Linus Ullmark stopped 37 shots as the Bruins (16-4-3) sit second in the Eastern Conference with 35 points. Auston Matthews had two goals for the 12-6-4 Leafs as they overcame an early 2-0 deficit.
The Anaheim Ducks snapped an eight-game losing skid by upsetting the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 in a shootout with rookie Leo Carlsson scoring the game-winner. Carlsson and Alex Killorn each had a goal and an assist in regulation time while John Gibson made 34 saves for the 10-14-0 Ducks. Bowen Byram scored twice for the Avalanche (15-6-2), who sit in first place in the Central Division with 32 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar left the game just before the end of regulation and didn’t take part in the overtime or the shootout. Following the game, Avs head coach Jared Bednar said Makar was “dealing with something” but offered little other information. Makar logged 25:03 of ice time before leaving this contest.
Dallas Stars forward Joe Pavelski had a goal and two assists, Jason Robertson scored twice and Jake Oettinger stopped 32 shots in an 8-1 drubbing of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Pavelski extended his points streak to nine games while the Stars improved their record to 14-5-3. Andrei Vasilevskiy got the hook following the second period after giving up six goals on 25 shots as the Lightning dropped to 10-10-5 on the season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov picked up an assist to become the first player to reach the 40-point plateau this season.
The Winnipeg Jets downed the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1. Morgan Barron snapped a 1-1 tie while Mark Scheifele and Cole Perfetti also scored for the 13-8-2 Jets. Blackhawks center Connor Bedard netted his 11th goal to set a franchise record for rookies with an eight-game points streak. The Blackhawks’ record slipped to 7-15-0.
New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin made 42 saves to hold off the Florida Panthers by a score of 4-3. Sorokin made 17 stops in the third period, Julien Gauthier scored what proved to be the game-winner while Bo Horvat and Brock Nelson each collected two assists as the Islanders improved their record to 10-7-6. Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist for the 14-8-2 Panthers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Isles center Mathew Barzal missed this game with an illness and is listed as day-to-day.
Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho netted two goals in a 6-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Tuevo Teravainen had a goal and an assist while Brent Burns, Jaccob Slavin, Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas each had two assists for the Hurricanes (14-8-1). Casey Mittelstadt and Tyson Jost replied for the slumping Sabres as their record fell to 10-12-2.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sabres winger Jordan Greenway left this game following the first period with an upper-body injury. There was no postgame update regarding his status.
An overtime goal by Jake Walman gave the Detroit Red Wings a 5-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens after the latter overcame 3-0 and 4-2 deficits to force the extra frame. Walman, Alex DeBrincat and Daniel Sprong each had a goal and an assist as the Red Wings rose to 13-7-3 on the season. Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist for the 10-11-3 Canadiens.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Canadiens announced forward Alex Newhook will be sidelined for 10-12 weeks with a high-ankle sprain.
Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg turned in a 39-save shutout as his club ended a three-game losing skid by beating the Seattle Kraken 2-0. Mathieu Joseph and Drake Batherson were the goal scorers for the Senators, who sit in last place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 9-10-0. Joey Daccord turned aside 26 shots for the 8-11-6 Kraken.
A shootout goal by Sean Couturier gave the Philadelphia Flyers a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Samuel Ersson made 26 saves while Tyson Foerster had a goal and an assist for the Flyers (12-10-2). Jake Guentzel tallied two goals for the 11-10-2 Penguins.
Arizona Coyotes forward Alex Kerfoot had a goal and two assists as his club defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-1. Connor Ingram stopped 31 shots while Lawson Crouse collected two assists as the Coyotes (12-9-2) hold the first Western Conference wild-card spot with 26 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ingram’s solid goaltending is a key reason why the Coyotes are in this position right now. He’s among the league leaders with 10 wins, a .926 save percentage and a 2.40 goals-against average. Earlier in the day, the Coyotes announced forward Travis Boyd will be sidelined for weeks with an upper-body injury.
It was nice to see the Bruins beat the Leafs last night but honestly neither team looked like a ‘real’ Stanley Cup contender.
Boston 100% need a #1 Centre….
If they dont trade for one before the deadline
They may go after both UfA ‘s from
Calgary d/man Hanifin and #1 centre Elias Lindholm
as im sure the ask is going to be very high for both from Calgary before the trade deadline
Paul
Any of the 16 that make the dance are a contender. Health is usually the key factor to hoist the cup. So much parity in the league now IMHO
Nice touch for the Habs last night to honor the Grey Cup champion Als. Good comeback to pick up a point from a 3-0 deficit, but these slow starts remain a problem.
At least it was a much better game than a previous December 2 Saturday night game with Detroit. As most of you may have heard, yesterday was the 28th anniversary of the game that Patrick Roy was pulled from the net during the second period against the Wings and famously told Ron Corey that it was his last game with the Habs. Pretty bad trade then followed.
My wife and I celebrated our 27th anniversary yesterday. After the Roy debacle, I figured I had to do something to make December 2 memorable for another reason.
Happy anniversary, Howard! Here’s to 27 more!
Let’s hope your darling bride doesn’t read Spectors and finds out her anniversary is based on wanting to forget a hockey trade.
You’ll be joining Perry on unconditional waivers, and the buy out will bite – LOL!
Thanks everybody!
Lucky for me, my wife couldn’t pick Patrick Roy out of a police lineup. Not a sports fan. And I certainly would have married her even if Roy hadn’t been traded
Anyone catch the young lady singing the anthem in Calgary last night?
Best rendition I’ve ever heard. She should do every game.
Nice win by Boston; however the Bruins defense mainly McAvoy and Lindholm were terrible.
Not sure what Lindholm thought he was doing on the tying goal.
Ryan Reaves penalty if anything charging. He slowed up and more of a side hit.
Reaves got 2 shifts after the first period. Why have the player on the bench?
Is he that much of a liability that you won’t play him.
Ot was very entertaining big difference in the end Traverse gave up on the play where Marchand did not.
Most Leafs fans agree about Reaves.
Bobby McCann should be on the 4th line.
Yep, Caper, he played all of 5:57.
He’s just one more of many similar acquisitions by teams over the years simply to say “if you try and get tough with our stars we’ll send him out to kick the crap out of somebody on YOUR team. So there!”
And – it – never – works. All it does – as you say – is take up both cap space and a roster spot.
Nylander and Tavares quit on play in OT Marchand who tangled with Nylander never quits and ended up scoring winning goal. If either Johnny or Nylander back check the game goes into a shootout. Poitras impresses me more and more every game thinks the game very well.