NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 28, 2024
The Oilers’ win streak reaches 16, Auston Matthews reaches 40 goals and Nikita Kucherov regains the lead in the scoring race. Get the details on these and other stories in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The Edmonton Oilers extended their win streak to 16 games with a 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists while Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists for the 29-15-1 Oilers, who sit third in the Pacific Division with 59 points. Colton Sissons replied for the Predators (26-22-1) as they cling to the final Western Conference wild-card spot with 53 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Oilers are now one win away from tying the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins for the longest win streak (17 games) in league history. Corey Perry made his debut with the Oilers, logging 12:44 in ice time with two hits and two shots.
Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews netted his league-leading 40th goal as his club doubled up the Winnipeg Jets 4-2. Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly each collected two assists while Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves for the Leafs (25-14-8) as they hold the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot with 58 points. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 26 shots for the 30-12-5 Jets as they slipped to third place in the Central Division with 65 points.
Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Matthews set a franchise record as the fastest player to reach 40 goals (46 games) and extended his team record for most 40-goal seasons with five. He also became the eighth player in Leafs history to reach 600 points and the fastest to reach that plateau. Meanwhile, the club announced that Calle Jarnkrok is sidelined week-to-week with a broken knuckle.
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov collected two assists to regain the lead in the NHL scoring race with 85 points in a 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils. Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel each scored twice as the 27-18-5 Lightning sit one point ahead of the Leafs in third place in the Atlantic Division. Ondrej Palat and Nico Hischier each had two points for the 24-20-3 Devils.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hischier wasn’t pleased with his club’s performance. “I’m embarrassed, to be honest,” he said in a postgame interview. With the Devils sitting six points out of a wild-card berth, he called on his teammates to play “pissed off.” They’ve won just three of their last 10 games.
The Vancouver Canucks overcame a three-goal deficit to nip the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 on an overtime goal by Elias Pettersson, who finished the game with two goals and an assist. Brock Boeser tallied a hat trick while Quinn Hughes and J.T. Miller each collected three assists for the Canucks (33-11-5) as they hold first place in the overall standings with 71 points. Alexandre Texier had a goal and an assist for the 15-23-10 Blue Jackets.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Blue Jackets announced winger Patrik Laine returned to Columbus after suffering a setback in his recovery from a fractured clavicle. They also placed defenseman Adam Boqvist (upper body) on injured reserve and recalled blueliner Nick Blankenburg from their AHL affiliate in Cleveland.
A four-goal first period powered the Boston Bruins over the Philadelphia Flyers 6-2. David Pastrnak tallied twice and collected an assist while James van Riemsdyk had a goal and two assists for the 31-9-9 Bruins, who sit second in the overall standings with 71 points. Tyson Foerster scored both goals for the slumping Flyers (25-19-6), who’ve lost five straight games but remain in third place in the Metropolitan Division with 56 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Flyers honored Mark Recchi with induction into their Hall of Fame. Recchi spent 10 seasons with the Flyers, tallying 627 points in 602 games. He also played three seasons with the Bruins, helping them win the Stanley Cup in 2011 during his final season.
Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart scored to extend his points streak to 13 games as his club nipped the New York Islanders 3-2 on an overtime goal by Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and an assist for the 31-14-4 Panthers as they sit in fourth place in the overall standings with 66 points. Semyon Varlamov turned aside 24 shots for the Islanders (20-17-12), who sit five points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth with 52 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: After beating the Dallas Stars 3-2 in Patrick Roy’s first game as their head coach, the Isles are winless in their last three contests (0-2-1). Before this game, Roy indicated that defenseman Adam Pelech is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He was sidelined by an illegal hit to the head on Thursday by Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher, who received a five-game suspension as a result.
The Dallas Stars moved ahead of the Winnipeg Jets into second place in the Central Division with 66 points by dropping the Washington Capitals 5-4. Thomas Harley scored in overtime after his club blew a 4-2 lead and finished the game with two goals for the 30-13-6 Stars. Alex Ovechkin and Anthony Mantha each had a goal and an assist for the 22-18-7 Capitals.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Capitals winger Max Pacioretty left this game in the third period with a lower-body injury unrelated to his surgically repaired Achilles tendon. No word following the game regarding his condition.
Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin sniped two goals in a 5-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider each had two assists while Alex Lyon stopped 28 shots for the Red Wings (26-18-5) as they hold the final Eastern wild-card berth with 57 points. Alec Martinez had two assists for the 29-15-6 Golden Knights (64 points) as they remain in second place in the Pacific Division.
A five-goal second period rallied the New York Rangers over the Ottawa Senators 7-2. Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists while Jonathan Quick made 29 saves for the Rangers (30-16-3) as they remain in first place in the Metropolitan Division with 63 points. Brady Tkachuk and Jakob Chychrun scored for the 18-25-2 Senators.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Rangers captain Jacob Trouba missed this game as he’s serving a two-game suspension for elbowing Golden Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev on Friday.
The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Arizona Coyotes 3-1 as Dmitry Orlov broke a 1-1 tie with 36 seconds remaining in regulation time. Seth Jarvis collected two assists for the 28-15-5 Hurricanes, who sit two points back of the Rangers in second place in the Metro Division. Logan Cooley tallied for the slumping Coyotes (23-22-3) as they dropped their third straight game and sit four points out of the final Western wild-card spot with 49 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott missed this game with a lower-body injury.
Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom kicked out 32 shots for a 1-0 shutout of the Chicago Blackhawks. Elias Lindholm scored the only goal as the 22-22-5 Flames (49 points) snapped a four-game losing skid and sit four points out of the final Western wild-card berth. Petr Mrazek made 30 saves for the 14-34-2 Blackhawks, who remain at the bottom of the overall standings with 30 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Flames announced that forward A.J. Greer is out for eight weeks with a fractured foot.
An overtime goal by Marcus Pettersson gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Penguins forward Lars Eller scored in his 1,000th career game as his club improved to 22-17-7 (51 points). Jake Allen made 30 saves for the 20-21-8 Canadiens.
Anaheim Ducks winger Troy Terry scored two goals as his club tamed the Minnesota Wild 3-2. Lukas Dostal stopped 35 shots for the 17-30-2 Ducks. Mats Zuccarello collected two assists for the 21-23-5 Wild.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Wild forward Marcus Foligno missed this game due to illness.
The Buffalo Sabres tallied five unanswered goals in a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks. JJ Peterka scored twice while Dylan Cozens had a goal and two assists for the Sabres (22-23-4). William Eklund picked up two assists for the 13-32-4 Sharks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was a costly win for the Sabres as forward Jack Quinn left the game with an injured left leg following a hit by Sharks forward Tomas Hertl. Head coach Don Granato indicated Quinn’s injury should be considered more than day-to-day for recovery.
Slafkovsky netted a PPG last night. Chose to try to pass to Caufield rather than take the shot himself and it deflected in off a Pen D-man. The Hockey Gods’ way of telling him to shoot more often.
I mentioned at the 18-6 mark that I believe the oilers will climb all the way back and end up taking the division. The Canucks aren’t making that easy but believe it still to be true. The numbers under knoblauch are unbelievable and now not just a small new coach bump.
26-6-0
+50
Goals per game 2nd
Goals against per game 2nd
#5 PP
#1 PK
14 straight allowing 2 goals or less.
Skinner was .886 when knoblauch took over and is now .910. Pickard has been rock solid in relief.
Loved Perry’s quote last night too. Asked was it your plan
To end up on your Butt in the crease on your first shift ?
“Well yeah , have to make a statement somehow, going forward here you will know where to find me.”
Still lots of season left and the deadline will be key, but This is the best brand/style I’ve seen the oil play in the Mcdavid era for a prolonged stretch.
Go oil go!
That have to be the oddest penalty I’ve ever seen in the NHL.
Winnipeg on the pk, Samberg slight tap on Traverse stick, no call, JT bend down on his stick and snaps it, shows the ref and then the ref call a penalty. 5 on 3 Matthew’s score game over.
My point is if the ref didn’t think it was a slashing penalty, then he shouldn’t change his mind after the player snaps it.
The force was not there and it was a simple hockey play.
I wasn’t watching this one after the first period – had to switch to the wings – but these sorts of calls totally piss me off.
That game Bruins vs Flyers was a real snoozer. It was basically the Pasternak show where he outworked all the Flyers. You have to account for that guy all the time. Just like Mikko Rantanen. If you fall asleep on those guys, you are going to pay! Mikko, my big criticism is he’s too lackadaisical with moving the puck but he gets pucks back when he loses it, will knock you down and get knocked down to make a play. His shot is every bit as lethal as Pasternak. Watching that game yesterday, those two appear to have a lot in common
Ottawa vs Rangers game was pretty exciting but the Senators are just so bad defensively and in goal. I guess I expected much more from them this year but was wrong. They have such good jump in their game
Just some observations from out West. I don’t know if you ever get Avalanche feedback on here except for Lyle does a good job talking about them. I would be interested to hear what others say about Avalanche. Do you guys actually watch them or do you just say what you think you know from stats?
Just some observations at the all star break . Uggggghhh
Mild rant.
Sportnet is brutal! Winnipeg is a city in the province of Manitoba.
The bias blow hard announcing.
By far the worst is Homer Simpson!
Man this guy, Toronto this Toronto that.
It’s a national game between two Canadian teams, try being a little less bias.
Caper,
Fans outside of Toronto share in your rant, Simpson even mentions TML when they aren’t playing.
At least the intermission and post-game crew mentioned that brutal call.
At risk of sounding like a hypocrite (because I don’t agree with parts of the new culture)
Can’t we cancel Craig Simpson?
We’ve canceled better for less.
He makes Handsome Jack Edwards look like a Bruin hater by comparison.
Equipment failure shouldn’t result in a penalty. The Jets got jobbed last night. Funny how everything went south after the Nylander goalie interference call.
You’re making your own bed if you skate into the blue paint. Turn your skates at least.
You need to watch more Jack Edwards clips. Wasn’t anybody calling anyone Sirhan Sirhan last night. Or laughing maniacally at a hit from behind. Temper the exaggeration.
As a Leafs fan I will admit that Tavares broken stick was weak sauce.
Would have been a hoot had they given Tavares 2 mon. for playing with a broken stick.
Read it again, Kinger.
Edwards is a Bruins commentator. Hes literally paid to cater to Bruins viewers. Simpson is supposed to be a national non biased commentator.
My point stands.
I take your point fair enough. I still think you’re exaggerating a bit on Simpson. Agree to disagree.
I hear you Anti-Leafs fans. But the leafs play your lovely favourites no more than 4-5 times or only 2 times per season if your love is in the western conference. If you hate them that much, turn the sound off or just don’t watch the games. I never watch the Boston boys as I get sick of hearing jack say “self pass” or go caveman crazy when there’s a fight. The other thing you could do is go into therapy and work on that life isn’t fair stuff or better yet develop some empathy so you can get to a place where you realize that bruins fans and oilers fans and Winnipeg fans et al are all the same, except that there are millions more leaf fans than any other.
The comments were about Simpson.