NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – February 13, 2024
Recaps of Monday’s games include a milestone game for the Golden Knights’ Alex Pietrangelo, the three stars of the week are revealed, Sharks stars Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl are sidelined, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: The Minnesota Wild upset the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3. Matt Boldy had a goal and two assists while Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice for the 24-23-5 Wild (53 points) as they moved to within five points of the final Western Conference wild-card berth. Alex Pietrangelo collected two assists for the Golden Knights (31-16-6) as they remain in second place in the Pacific Division with 68 points.
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Golden Knights honored Pietrangelo for playing in his 1,000th career NHL regular-season game. He also became the sixth defenseman in league history to collect multiple assists in his 1,000th game, joining Ryan Suter, Sergei Zubov, Kevin Hatcher, Brad Park and Tim Horton.
Speaking of the Golden Knights, goaltender Logan Thompson missed this game due to an illness.
New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin turned in a 30-save shutout performance in a 2-0 win over the Calgary Flames. Will Cuylle and Jimmy Vesey scored for the Rangers (34-16-3) as they hold first place in the Metropolitan Division with 71 points and moved into second place in the Eastern Conference standings. Jacob Markstrom stopped 29 shots for the 25-23-5 Flames (55 points) as they remain three points out of the final Western wild-card spot.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Rangers have won five games in a row. Meanwhile, Flames forward Jakob Pelletier left this game favoring his left shoulder in the first period following a hit from Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba. Pelletier missed October, November and December recovering from surgery on that shoulder. There was no postgame update on his status.
The Philadelphia Flyers picked up their fourth straight victory by downing the Arizona Coyotes 5-3, handing the latter their sixth straight loss. Travis Konecny had a goal and two assists while Scott Laughton had a goal and an assist for the 29-19-6 Flyers, who hold third place in the Metropolitan Division with 64 points. J.J. Moser had two assists for the 23-24-4 Coyotes.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Flyers winger Tyson Foerster and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen missed this game due to injuries.
New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win over the Seattle Kraken. Nico Daws turned aside 27 shots for the Devils (26-21-4) as they moved to within four points of the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth with 56 points. Joey Daccord made 34 saves for the 21-21-10 Kraken.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Devils goalie Vitek Vanecek missed this game due to an illness and a lower-body injury. Kraken defenseman Brian Dumoulin left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom, Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki are the league’s three stars for the week ending Feb. 12, 2024.
SAN JOSE HOCKEY NOW: Sharks captain Logan Couture is listed as week-to-week as he continues to battle Osteitis pubis, which is a significant groin, abdomen and hip issue. Couture, 34, returned to action three weeks ago after being sidelined since the summer by this condition.
The Sharks also announced center Tomas Hertl will be sidelined for several weeks following surgery to clean out loose cartilage in his left knee.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This is a significant setback for the Sharks as they will be without their top two centers at a time when they are showing some improvement. They’re near the bottom of the Western Conference standings but had won four of their last six games (4-1-1).
CHICAGO HOCKEY NOW: Sidelined Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard (fractured jaw) could return to action sometime next week. The 18-year-old center has been sidelined since Jan. 5 and the Blackhawks’ offense has suffered without their leading scorer.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Bedard remains the Blackhawks leading scorer with 33 points in 39 games. Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber’s two assists last night moved him into a tie with Bedard for the rookie scoring lead.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Detroit Red Wings forward Robby Fabbri will miss the start of his club’s four-game road trip as he is away briefly on personal leave.
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: Penguins winger Jansen Harkins has been diagnosed with a concussion and has been placed on injured reserve.
DAILY FACEOFF: The Ottawa Senators placed forward Zack MacEwen on waivers to free up salary cap space to activate goaltender Anton Forsberg off long-term injury reserve. If MacEwen clears, he’ll be sent to their AHL affiliate in Belleville.
Years ago when Danault was still a Hab and there was talk of signing, or trading the guy as he seemed to have high value, I was sorely hoping to trade him for Joel Eriksson Ek who was 23-24 y/o at the time.
He’s a great unassuming player any team would want now.
I never heard of Osteitis pubis until today. Safe to say, you don’t want that if you play hockey for a living.
If rest and rehab for 6 + months didn’t fix it, sounds like surgery. If that will even work.
Love Couture asa player,hope he just retires and starts another career!
I hope both Couture and Hertl get traded at the deadline to a contender. They both deserve a chance to win the cup, especially Couture before he’s forced in to retirement by injuries.
Rock: Couture and Hertl have no-move clauses and haven’t given any indication that they want to move on. With both of them sidelined, I doubt there would be much of a market for them right now.