NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 3, 2024
The Islanders, Penguins and Sabres keep their playoff hopes alive, David Pastrnak reaches a Bruins’ scoring milestone, the three stars and rookie of the month for March are announced, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Third-period goals by Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom gave the New York Islanders a 2-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. The goal was Horvat’s 31st of the season for the 33-27-15 Islanders (81 points) as they moved to within one point of Washington Capitals for the final Eastern Conference wildcard berth. Petr Mrazek made 27 saves for the 22-48-5 Blackhawks.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each tallied twice as the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied for five goals in the third period to defeat the New Jersey Devils 6-3. The Penguins improved to 34-30-11 (79 points) and sit three points behind the Capitals. Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt each scored their 25th goal of the season for the Devils as they fell to 36-35-4 and dropped six points back of the Capitals.
Speaking of the Capitals, they dropped a 6-2 decision to the Buffalo Sabres. JJ Peterka scored twice and collected an assist while Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin and Alex Tuch each had a goal and two assists for the Sabres, who moved to 36-35-4 (77 points) and are five points behind Washington. Dylan Strome netted his 26th goal of the season for the 36-28-10 Capitals.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sabres winger Jeff Skinner played his 1,000th NHL game. Teammate Jordan Greenway missed this game with an upper-body injury.
Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak (NHL Images).
Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark turned in a 31-save shutout to blank the Nashville Predators 3-0. David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist for the Bruins (44-17-15), who sit third in the overall standings with 103 points. Juuse Saros turned aside 29 shots for the 43-28-4 Predators, who hold the first Western Conference wildcard spot (90 points) but have lost three straight games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Pastrnak became the first Bruin since Adam Oates in 1992-93 to have at least 35 multi-point games in a season. With 46 goals, he’s also on pace to become the third player in franchise history with multiple 50-goal seasons, joining Phil Esposito (five) and Cam Neely (three).
The Vegas Golden Knights rode a four-goal first period to a 6-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks, extending their points streak to seven games. Jonathan Marchessault tallied his 41st goal of the season and picked up two assists as the Golden Knights improved to 42-25-8. With 92 points, they’re third in the Pacific Division. Quinn Hughes scored two goals for the Canucks (46-21-8), who sit fifth overall with 100 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov was ejected from this game for boarding Vegas forward Brett Howden during the first period.
Speaking of the Golden Knights, trade deadline acquisition Tomas Hertl joined practice on Tuesday as a full participant. The 30-year-old center is recovering from knee surgery. Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy hinted he might return to action for Friday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes.
Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki scored twice to reach the 70-point plateau for the first time in a 5-3 upset of the Florida Panthers. Sam Montembeault kicked out 37 shots for the 29-33-12 Canadiens, who’ve won four of their last five games. Anton Lundell had a goal and an assist for the slumping Panthers (47-24-5), who’ve won two of their last 10 games and sit seventh overall with 99 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad left this game with an undisclosed injury. The Panthers played without forwards Matthew Tkachuk (illness) and Carter Verhaeghe (upper-body injury). Verhaeghe is week-to-week and is expected to be ready for the playoffs.
The Minnesota Wild nipped the Ottawa Senators 3-2. Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves and Vinni Lettieri snapped a 2-2 tie for the 36-29-9 Wild (81 points) as they’re six points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the final Western wildcard. Drake Batherson netted his 27th goal of the season for the 33-37-4 Senators.
Anaheim Ducks winger Alex Killorn scored twice in a 5-3 victory over the Calgary Flames. Troy Terry and Olen Zellweger each had three points for the 25-47-4 Ducks. Andrei Kuzmenko potted two goals for the 34-35-5 Flames.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon and Nashville Predators winger Filip Forsberg are the league’s three stars for March 2024. Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard was named Rookie of the Month for March 2024.
STLTODAY.COM: Blues top prospect Jimmy Snuggerud will return to the University of Minnesota’s Golden Gophers for his junior year. The 19-year-old winger has scored 42 goals in 79 NCAA games. He had 21 goals and 13 assists this season for the Golden Gophers and was named first-team All-Big Ten.
SPORTSNET: The ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers franchise had its membership terminated by the league’s board of governors.
The Growlers were the Toronto Maple Leafs’ ECHL affiliate. Deacon Sports and Entertainment, the majority owners of the Growlers and ECHL club Trois Rivieres Lions, had proposed a sale of both teams but only the Lions were saved.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports Saturday that there had been a lengthy battle behind the scenes over payments to cities and some NHL teams.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Sports media insider Jonah Sigel reports Rogers Communications could sell TV rights to its Monday night games (including playoff games) to Amazon over the final two years of its contract.
Sigel believes Amazon’s interest in getting a foothold in NHL broadcasting suggests it could be part of a broader strategy.
Rogers Communications’ current broadcasting agreement with the NHL has two years to go. The league could prioritize streaming services in its next TV deal.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Some readers wondered what effect the end of Rogers’ TV contract two years from now might have on the NHL’s hockey-related revenue (HRR). It could be a lucrative deal with Amazon or another streaming service. If so, there would be no negative impact on HRR.
Bruins…watching the Bruins/Nashville game last night couldn’t help bet wonder why the Bruins left a very young and good Dman Jeremy Lauzon available to the Kramjen, anyone remember how that went down and who else the Bruins could’ve left unprotected.. Still only 26 years old and plays a lot bigger than his 6’1 205 lbs …350 hits this season
Joe, the expansion rules were you could protect 3 dman
The Bruins opted to protect Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, and Matt Grzelcyk.
I remember when i seen Lauzon name on the unprotected list, i said he’s gone. he does bring a level of physicality that i like
How did Clifton get by without moving or was he protected too
imagine a Crosby v Guetzel 1st round matchup?
I would rather not. 😅
Andrew Peeke is +4 in 9 games with Boston. I don’t know much about this player. I remember reading comments from Columbus fans thanking the bruins for taking him and that Peeke was a potential buyout in the offseason.
Peeke was been very good for Boston and his ice time is starting to grow, last night he had the third most ice time on the bruins d. He has been a solid defensive dman, with good size and mobility. he is physical without being physical. meaning i would like to see a little nasty; but he is strong in his own zone and clears out the front of the net.
Exactly.. was hoping for someone with a little more snarl as well .. a McQuaid type
What does Boston do in the playoffs on D?Looks like 73,27,52,25 are in every night!What do you do with 48,12,6,29?
If the NHL is banking on a big payout from Amazon then they’re clearly not familiar with their business model. There isn’t a margin Amazon won’t squeeze to make bank.
As per the article, the NHL is very familiar with Amazon. Their streaming service has been carrying NHL original documentaries for the past several years.
It’ll be small potatoes regardless. The NHL’s current US deal is for $400M a season, compared to the upcoming NBA deal which will be $7+ Billion a season. Amazon isn’t going to break any bank for Canadian NHL rights.
Each major broadcasting deal signed by the NHL since 2005 has been better than the last, Brock.
Comparing the NHL’s TV deals to the NBA’s (or NFL or MLB) is apples to oranges. Everyone knows the NHL is the smallest player among the four major North American sports leagues. That’s not what this is about.
You’ve claimed the NHL will see a drop in its hockey-related revenue (and thus the salary cap since its tied to HRR) when the Rogers TV deal expires in two years time. That’s unlikely to happen given the possibility they could be getting a deal with Amazon for all or part of the streaming rights for Canadian games.
The report noted that Bell Media is expected to land the Canadian national TV rights for TSN when the Rogers deal is over. Even if it isn’t on the same scale as the Rogers deal, it would be offset by revenue from streaming services such as Amazon.
The NHL would be doing what other sports league have done in recent years by signing deals with streaming services like Amazon. Even if you dismiss how much Amazon would invest in it, the fact they’re interested in doing so and have had a partnership with the NHL for some time now suggests they could be willing to make a major investment. Perhaps not on the “break the bank” scale compared to the bigger sports league, but big enough that it would ensure the steady rise of HRR for the league as a whole.
I’m very interested to see where this lands. My money is on a step back because Rogers lost a lot of money on the current deal. Unfortunately the NHL is run by very small minded people who are extremely stubborn and who have not grown the sport properly. Without much better leadership, the NHL will always be an also ran in terms of the “major” American leagues.