NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 19, 2024
The Oilers’ win streak continues, Auston Matthews, David Pastrnak and T.J. Oshie enjoy hat-trick performances and Kings coach Todd McLellan gets a vote of confidence from management. Details on these and other stories in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: The Edmonton Oilers tied the 1967-68 Montreal Canadiens for the longest win streak by a Canadian team (12 games) with a 4-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken. Warren Foegele scored two goals while Leon Draisaitl had a goal and three assists for the 25-15-1 Oilers, who overcame a 2-0 deficit to vault over the Los Angeles Kings into third place in the Pacific Division with 51 points. Eeli Tolvanen and Jared McCann scored for the 19-17-9 Kraken (47 points), who dropped their third straight game and sit three points behind the Kings for the final Western Conference wild-card berth.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Oilers have staged a remarkable surge up the standings in the past month. When they suffered their last loss (3-1 to the New York Islanders on Dec. 19), the Oilers had the fourth-worst record in the Western Conference (13-15-1, 27 points), sitting seven points out of a wild-card spot and only six points ahead of the bottom-feeding San Jose Sharks.
Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (NHL Images).
Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews tallied a hat trick and collected an assist as his club overcame a 2-0 deficit to hold off the Calgary Flames 4-3. William Nylander picked up two assists for the 22-13-8 Leafs, who regained third place in the Atlantic Division with 52 points. Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists for the 21-19-35 Flames (47 points), who sit three points out of the final Western wild-card spot.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: With 37 goals, Matthews expanded his league in the goal-scoring lead by four over Florida’s Sam Reinhart. Meanwhile, Flames center Martin Pospisil left this game in the first period with an upper-body injury.
The Boston Bruins defeated the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on a hat trick by winger David Pastrnak, who sits third in the goal-scoring race with 29. Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves for the Bruins (27-8-9), who sit second in the overall standings with 63 points. Nathan MacKinnon scored to extend his points streak to 10 games as the Avalanche (29-14-3) sit second in the Central Division with 61 points.
A hat trick by T.J. Oshie powered the Washington Capitals over the St. Louis Blues by a score of 5-2. Max Pacioretty, John Carlsson and Dylan Strome each had two points for the 22-15-6 Capitals (50 points), who sit one point out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth. Nathan Walker scored both goals for the 21-20-2 Blues.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin collected an assist after returning from a three-game absence dealing with a nagging lower-body injury.
The Nashville Predators got a 33-save performance by Juuse Saros in a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings, who have dropped 10 of their last 11 games. Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and an assist for the Predators (25-19-1) as they hold the first Western wild-card spot with 51 points. Drew Doughty replied for the 21-13-8 Kings, who hold the final wild card spot with 50 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Earlier in the day, Kings general manager Rob Blake gave head coach Todd McLellan a vote of confidence. He expects the solution to his club’s struggles will come internally from his players. However, Blake’s faith in McLellan will be put to the test if the Kings fail to improve over the next few weeks, especially if the club slips out of a playoff berth.
Elias Pettersson and Dakota Joshua scored as the Vancouver Canucks nipped the Arizona Coyotes 2-1, becoming the first team this season to reach the 30-win mark (30-11-4). Thatcher Demko turned aside 20 shots for the Canucks as they sit atop the overall standings with 64 points. Travis Dermott scored for the 21-19-3 Coyotes.
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman had a goal and three assists as his club tamed the Minnesota Wild 7-3. Nikita Kucherov collected three assists to become the first player this season to reach 75 points while Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli each had three points for the 23-17-5 Lightning, who hold the final Eastern wild-card berth with 51 points. Marco Rossi had a goal and an assist for the 18-21-5 Wild, who announced before the game that team captain Jared Spurgeon will miss the remainder of the season with hip and back injuries.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Spurgeon undergoes hip surgery on Feb. 6 followed by back surgery four weeks later. Speaking of the Lightning, scout and former player Tony Hrkac saved a man from choking on a pretzel during a game between the Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena. He applied the Heimlich maneuver and saved the man’s life.
The Philadelphia Flyers downed the Dallas Stars 5-1 for their fifth straight victory. Owen Tippett tallied twice while Morgan Frost had two assists for the 25-14-6 Flyers (56 points) as they sit two points behind the first-place New York Rangers in the Metropolitan Division. Tyler Seguin netted the only goal for the Stars (26-13-5) as they sit third in the Central Division with 57 points.
Speaking of the Rangers, they dropped a 5-1 decision to the Vegas Golden Knights. Ivan Barbashev scored two goals, Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and an assist while Logan Thompson stopped 29 shots for the 26-14-5 Golden Knights, who sit second in the Pacific Division with 57 points. Mika Zibanejad scored for the 28-14-2 Rangers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Golden Knights winger Michael Amadio missed this game with an upper-body injury.
The Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-2. Tim Stutzle led the way for the 16-24-0 Senators with a goal and two assists. Cole Caufield netted his 15th goal of the season for the Canadiens as they slipped to 19-19-7 on the season.
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 20 saves for his second straight shutout in a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Rasmus Dahlin scored his 13th goal of the season for the 20-21-4 Sabres. Arvid Soderblom stopped 28 shots for the 13-30-2 Blackhawks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Sabres played without forward Dylan Cozens as he’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Hrkac sounds like the noise that dude made when the pretzel came flying out his mouth.
I laughed at this.
I’m not proud.
Too funny Chisms
OMG, hilarious đ.
Pasta đ is having a career year playing on different lines almost every night as a Bruin fan I feel very lucky to have him on our side the guy never stops smiling and just loves the game.
Obe
Yes it is hard to believe some squawked at his contract. Which will be a super steal in 2 more seasons
You’ve heard of the Gordie Howe hat trick….. Well last night you had a David Pastrnak hat trick. even strength, Power play and a empty netter,
Jake Debrusk is playing much better as of late and Charlie McAvoy is playing his best hockey of the season.
Mario did it better.
Bruins ⌠one thing they are very good at is having VG goalie play thru the years ..
Joe
They also always seem to add a stud on d when the older stud is winding down
Bruins are top 3 team in total pts come trade deadline.. what do they do go for it and make trades or stand pat and aim for the 24-25 season with cap $$$ in hand
Joe, not sure what and or if the Bruins can do much.
For a team that started the season without 3 of their 4 centerman from last season, they are definitely in a better position then most have thought.
With that said we did see a glimpse in the playoff with Coyle and Zacha both who played very well in the playoffs and carried it over to the regular season.
Personally like to see a McQuaid, Miller type of dman and a physical forward who can skate and is responsible. But no draft capital this year and don’t want to give away the top prospects.
If you can find a playoff team who needs a dman and has a spare forward to spare. Maybe a ufa for a ufa
I never imagined they would be where they are in the standings this far into the season. The B’s organization deserves a ton of credit.
Here are the guys they have lost over the last few years.
Lose your captain and Norris winning D man, Chara, keep winning.
Lose your Vezina winning tender, Rask, keep winning.
Fire a very successful head coach, Cassidy, keep winning.
Lose your top 2 C’s, Bergy and Krecji, 2nd line winger, Hall, in the same off season, keep winning.
Forbort is skating again & Carlo was back at practice. So D core get some reinforcements.
Plug a guy like Wotherspoon and a raw rookie like Lohrei into the lineup, play them both decent minutes, and they keep winning.
Culture is huge.
McLellan could become the casualty of the mistakes made by his GM for the second straight time. Blake trading away depth for a second-line centre and not getting a goalie isn’t the fault of the coach.
Not sure tending is their problem KevJam, they give up the 3rd fewest goals in the league. I’m sure they will get a depth guy, but methinks the price is too high right now. Talbot has been good, he is just too old to carry the load for too long.
I would bet $$ the Kings will get it turned around, too good not too. They dominate chances of all kinds, teams like that almost always turn it around.
In the Kings last 11 games they have a record of 1-6-4 and a GA/G of 3.09 which would put them at 15th in the NHL through the whole season. In 9 of those 11 games, the Kings have allowed 3 or more goals 9 times. I don’t know if the Kings can rely on Talbot to maintain that save percentage all season.
Canucks set a team record for fastest to 30 wins. I know out East the West is harder to track. Where is the luv? lol
*eyeroll*
Who are the canucks?
Can someone explain why flames goal was called back for hand pass when clearly he didnât pass the puck or knock it down. Either count the goal or change the rules name from hand pass definitely wasnât a pass. If puck hits him in head do they call it a head pass. NHL is embarrassing should have been a good goal Leafâs were given the game in my opinion.
No surprise from leafs hater like you Obe of a rule we all know about. The rule simply states if an attacking player plays the puck with his hand, ie his hand makes contact with the puck and then a teammate takes possession, itâs ruled a hand pass. Intent or not itâs a dead play unless the opposing defender touches it first.
Maybe you shouldnât care about the Leafs enough to make a comment which shows your lack of knowledge about the game.
Funny how you didnât mention the reviewed kicked in goal, which was deemed not a goal but eventually the correct call was madeâŚbecause of the rule, see like above call, the defender touched it before it crossed the line therefore the kick was nullified.
Both are excellent examples where video review was used to confirm goals. Even without the two overturned calls, the score would have been the same. Was it worth it? I think so. It was entertaining in the end.
Ron, you missed the point. it’s a deflection of the glove, not a hand pass.
The rule needs a change ie puck in off the skate was it intentional, a direct kicking motion.
Don’t blame the leaf for using the rule, but it needs a tweak.
In the Boston game a thought a bruins goal was going to be called back because the player was in the zone before the puck but it was deemed he had possession. The call could’ve went the other way easily enough.
The league is trying to generate more goals and that’s a goal (Calgary) by the letter of the rule the right call made. The question is for me should the rule change.
Agree they should change the rule, as that had no bearing on the play, same as some of the goofy offsides that get used to overturn goals. Like the one that cost Seattle the tying goal last night. Yamo was stepping back onto the bench and wasn’t involved in the play, it is simply where the gate is.
Anyway, here is the language of the rule, judge for yourself.
Hand Pass – A player shall be permitted to stop or âbatâ a puck in the air with his open hand, or push it along the ice with his hand, and the play shall not be stopped unless, in the opinion of the on-ice officials, he has directed the puck to a teammate, or has allowed his team to gain an advantage, and subsequently possession and control of the puck is obtained by a player of the offending team, either directly or deflected off any player or official.
I couldn’t give a crap who won last night’s game, don’t really care for either team.
@Ray and Caper You`re both wrong Coleman reached out with his hand intentionally and redirected the puck to Oesterle. It didn`t just accidently hit his hand like you 2 make it out to be. Ray you say it had no bearing on the game, try watching the game before making totally wrong comments. If Coleman hadn`t reached out and deflected the puck, the puck would`ve left the zone and 100% for sure no goal. Should the rule be changed, absolutely not and before you whine I`m a leafs fan. The same thing happened to the Leafs earlier this season. Reilly was at the blue line and the puck was shot around the boards and to stop it from leaving the zone, Reilly pressed up against the boards. The puck hit his glove but before Reilly could play the puck he got hit. Marner picked up the puck and scored. Did Reilly intentionally knock down the puck with his hand, kinda. Did Reilly intend the puck go to Marner, didn`t look like it. But, it hit his glove and the puck went to Marner, no goal. It was the right call and yes it cost Toronto the game. Should the rule be changed, definitely not. Did the Leaf fans cry for a rule change, no. Sometimes the rules work in your favour, sometimes they don`t.
Yogi, difference of opinion are ok.
Has nothing to do with which team it is.
I think the rule need to change and you don’t.
I think that type of goal in the future should count and you don’t.
All good.
Ya we disagree Yogi, but only sort of.
And no I didn’t watch that game, like I said, don’t care for either team. But I did watch the replay a few times after Obe’s post, which is what we are discussing.
I don’t even think they made the wrong call according to the rule, or at least part of the language.
He didn’t intend or make a play to get the puck to a team mate, he reacted.
I dunno, unless you actually “hand pass” it to somebody, seems ticky tacky. Kind of like when they used to disallow a goal when a toe was in the crease.
Like Caper said we disagree. All good. I hope they change it, and I also think they should stop reviewing the off sides as they rarely have a real impact on the scoring play. Last night was brutal for Seattle against the Oilers. And I was happy the Oil won. Still a stupid rule, as it happened on that play. IMO.
The real reason Zary scored was the tender didn’t control the shot and it snuck through him, for an easy tap in coming around the net and Zary stuck with it.
Yeah, I actually was hoping for the Flames last night too. With the Lightening winning last night and if the Leafs had lost they would be out of the playoff spot this morning. lol
Donât worry Kev, the Leafs wonât be doing much this year or next.
When the Flames and Leafs play each other, I usually hope for the Leafs. It’s just the opportunity to rub it in to Leafs fans at work that their team was no longer in a playoff spot was too much. lol
Chatting with a bunch of Flames fans, they aren’t upset about the ruling of a hand pass, but how the Leafs were allowed to call a time-out to give themselves more time to call for a challenge. Which I can understand. I thought a team only had a certain amount of time after the play to call for a challenge. The reviews slow the game down enough, but now being able to call a time-out to give your team more time to call a challenge slows the game down that much more.
I agree Ron – Torontos window opens when JT’s contract expires.