NHL Rumor Mill – December 20, 2023
The Rangers hold onto first place in the Eastern Conference, Nikita Kucherov adds to his lead in the scoring race and Quinn Hughes becomes the first defenseman to reach 40 points this season. Details on these and other stories in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The New York Rangers downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2, improving their record to 22-7-1 and holding onto first place in the Eastern Conference with 45 points. Mika Zibanejad scored two goals, Erik Gustafsson collected three assists and Igor Shesterkin stopped 31 shots for the Rangers. Auston Matthews scored twice to take over sole possession of the league goal-scoring lead (25) but his Leafs dropped to 16-7-6 and sit second in the Atlantic Division with 38 points, ending their nine-game points streak.
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov (NHL Images).
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov scored twice in a 6-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues. With 54 points, he holds a six-point lead over Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon for first place in the league scoring race. Steven Stamkos and Nick Paul each had three points for the Lightning (15-13-5) as they hold the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth with 35 points. Justin Faulk scored for the 15-15-1 Blues (31 points) as they sit three points out of the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
The Vancouver Canucks extended their points streak to seven games by downing the Nashville Predators 5-2. Quinn Hughes collected two assists to become the first defenseman to reach 40 points this season (41) as his Canucks improved to 22-9-2 (46 points) and sit one point behind the league-leading Vegas Golden Knights. Predators goaltender Juuse Saros got the hook after giving up five goals on 19 shots as his club sits at 18-14-0, holding the first Western wild-card spot with 36 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canucks made winger Andrei Kuzmenko a healthy scratch. It’s the third time since November that he’s been scratched from the roster, which could stoke the trade rumors that have swirled about him in recent weeks.
Speaking of the Golden Knights, they dropped a 6-3 decision to the Carolina Hurricanes. Michael Bunting had a goal and two assists while Sebastian Aho collected three assists for the Hurricanes (17-12-3), who own the first Eastern wild-card berth with 37 points. William Carrier tallied twice for the 21-7-5 Golden Knights.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hurricanes winger Andrei Svechnikov scored in his first game after missing six contests with an upper-body injury.
Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kirill Marchenko scored a natural hat trick within a span of 8:07 as his club spanked the Buffalo Sabres 9-4. Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and two assists for the 11-17-5 Blue Jackets while Rasmus Dahlin and Dylan Cozens each had a goal and an assist for the 13-17-3 Sabres.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Buffalo winger Jack Quinn was held scoreless in his season debut as he returned from offseason Achilles tendon surgery. Sabres head coach Don Granato is feeling the heat from unhappy Buffalo fans as they were chanting for him to be fired during this contest. Kyle Okposo and Tage Thompson spoke up following the game to defend Granato but those fans calling for his firing could get their wish if this club doesn’t turn things around soon.
The Minnesota Wild upset the Boston Bruins 4-3. Kirill Kaprizov scored twice, including the winning goal in overtime, while Marc-Andre Fleury picked up his 549th career victory with a 40-save performance as the Wild improved to 13-13-4. David Pastrnak netted two goals and Pavel Zacha collected two assists for the Bruins (19-5-6) as they sit one point back of the Eastern Conference-leading Rangers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Fleury needs three more wins to surpass Patrick Roy for second place on the all-time list for wins by NHL goalies. The Wild played without Mats Zuccarello as he’s week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Meanwhile, Zacha and defenseman Charlie McAvoy returned to the Bruins lineup after missing multiple games with upper-body injuries.
An overtime goal by Owen Tippett lifted the Philadelphia Flyers over the New Jersey Devils 3-2 as they extended their points streak to nine games. Ryan Poehling scored two goals for the Flyers (18-10-3) as they hold second place in the Metropolitan Division with 39 points. Michael McLeod and Jesper Bratt replied for the 16-12-2 Devils (34 points) as they sit one point behind the Lightning for the final Eastern wild-card spot.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Former Flyers center Nolan Patrick has retired to work with a hockey coaching and mentorship program founded by former NHL player Jayce Hawryluk. Patrick, 25, was chosen second overall by the Flyers in the 2017 NHL draft but his playing career was derailed by concussions and a migraine disorder. He last played in 2021-22 with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Second-period special teams goals by Anders Lee, Bo Horvat (both on the power play) and Simon Holmstrom (shorthanded) gave the New York Islanders a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. With the win, the 15-8-8 Islanders (38 points) sit one point behind the Flyers in third place in the Metro Divison. The Oilers, meanwhile, have lost three straight and dropped to 13-15-1.
The Chicago Blackhawks upset the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 as Tyler Johnson snapped a 2-2 tie in the third period. Connor Bedard had two assists and Ryan Donato potted a goal and an assist for the 10-20-1 Blackhawks. Valeri Nichushkin scored twice and Nathan MacKinnon collected an assist to extend his points streak to 16 games for the 19-11-2 Avalanche, who remain in second place in the Central Division with 40 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews called out his teammates following this game. “I think we’ve got some guys who think they’re playing well, and I think they’re kidding themselves at this point,” he said, adding, “It’s tough to play in this league when you don’t know where your teammates are gonna be.”
Coach Jacques Martin’s return behind the Ottawa Senators bench didn’t go well as his club blew a three-goal lead to fall 4-3 to the Arizona Coyotes. The Senators ran up a 3-0 lead in the first but collapsed in the third period with Michael Kesselring netting the game-winner for the 16-13-2 Coyotes, who hold the final Western wild-card spot with 34 points. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 34 shots for the Senators, who’ve lost five straight and remain at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a record of 11-16-0.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This wasn’t the homecoming Senators defenseman Jakob Chychrun would’ve liked. It was his first game against his former team in Arizona since his trade to Ottawa last season.
The Los Angeles Kings downed the San Jose Sharks 4-1. Kings captain Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist as his club improved to 18-6-4 and sit third in the Pacific Division with 40 points. Kaapo Kahkonen turned aside 35 shots for the 9-20-3 Sharks as they slipped back into last place in the overall standings with 21 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sharks defensemen Calen Addison and Jan Rutta missed this game. Addison is dealing with a lower-body injury while Rutta has an undisclosed illness.
Feel bad for Nolan Patrick! Hope he finds success and enjoyment in his next career!
MAF stole one for the Wild. Jake Debrusk 3 on 3 OT all players going to the net, why are you taking a slapshot missing high and wide, basically on 3-0 the other way, game over. That was a bonehead decision.
Too bad MAF wasn’t good enough to get the start against the Pens in possibly his last game in Pittsburgh the previous night .
I’m not sure the firing of Smith was the best plan of action as it still looks like a knee jerk reaction. This Ottawa team looks like it needs more than a coach change to turn their fortunes around. Seems like the team’s fans and owners are in agreement about this team being a playoff bound team but the stats and everything else are revealing something different. More than anything, some stability will go a long way but unfortunately for the time being, that’s as hard to come by for the Sens as wins are.
Dude, it’s one game after the firing of the old coach… one day after… maybe one practice… on the road… if they had won the game I wouldn’t have suddenly jumped around planning the Cup parade.
Do I think more adjustments are needed? Yes. But the coaching NEEDED to change. It’s not knee-jerk when it’s been 4.5 seasons of “meh.”
It’s knee jerk in the sense that Jacques Martin is well past his best before date and Alfredsson has zero experience and has been out of the game for years…..but nothing else could really be expected.
A new GM needs to be hired who will choose his coach and the will attempt to right the ship.
There’s a decent core of good young players who could be salvaged after years of failure.
well yeah, this is a stopgap and nothing more. I think they wanted to wait for a new GM before doing anything at all.
Saint but that’s my point, what ever they do now is a stopgap. They had that technically with Smith. A young team like the Sens could really benefit from stability which the whole organization does not have. They have new ownership new GM I guess and now they’re gonna have a new coach soon…a new building and soon to have new players. It’s a lot of change and you can’t grow with change happening all around you. So my point was they should’ve kept Smith and fired him at the end of the season. This team was never a shoe-in for making the playoffs nor will they anytime soon and if they did, they weren’t gonna make too much noise once they got there, not this current team.
I think the people in Ottawa do understand have a good young team, but forget that it’s young and needs time to mature. You, unfortunately can’t rush that and have to endure all the growing pains that come with it.
Re Oilers & NYI Game
last night was a good game from both teams
However thats the best i have seen the NYI play in
A couple of years, they looked like a Very good Contender and build for the playoffs they are going to be hard to beat…
the weak oilers d were not able to hold them off
they the NYI were relentless and just kept going at the oilers all night,
Skinner made some Great Saves last night, but not good enough for an oilers win.
Dont look for the oilers to make any noise in the playoffs they need to much, and its an
its a 1-2 year Fix……
-Top Six Scoring RW
-1st paring RD-man
-3rd line Centre to get the 3rd line going
-Big Tough 4th Line Winger
Also a goalie
Agree with T oews 100%!!! Don’t know who he is specifically referring to but you could start with the so called “leaders” on the club!!!