NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 17, 2024

by | Oct 17, 2024 | News, NHL | 28 comments

A milestone game for Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Auston Matthews tallies his first of the season, the Avalanche are off to their worst start in years, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

GAME RECAPS

NHL.COM: Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby netted his 1,600th career point and teammate Evgeni Malkin reached the 500-goal plateau in a 6-5 overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Crosby scored the winning goal and collected two assists, including setting up Malkin’s milestone goal. Malkin also picked up three assists to lead all NHL scorers with 11 points. JJ Peterka scored twice in his first game with the Sabres since suffering a concussion against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 5.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (NHL Images).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Crosby is the 10th player to reach 1,600 points and the fifth-fastest to do so (1,277 games), sitting behind Wayne Gretzky (667 games), Mario Lemieux (812 games), Marcel Dionne (1,164 games) and Jaromir Jagr (1,274 games).

Malkin is the third player in Penguins history to reach 500 goals, joining Lemieux and Crosby. He’s the eighth European player to do so, following Alex Ovechkin, Jagr, Teemu Selanne, Jari Kurri, Mats Sundin, Marian Hossa and Peter Bondra.

Before this game, the Penguins demoted forward Rutger McGroarty to their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews scored his first goal of the season and his first as team captain to lead his team over the Los Angeles Kings 6-2. Matthews also picked up two assists, Bobby McMann tallied twice and Mitch Marner had three helpers. Alex Turcotte and Kevin Fiala replied for the Kings.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Leafs have won three straight after dropping their season opener while the Kings have lost three straight since winning their first game of the season.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Kings designated defenseman Joel Edmundson non-roster player status as he left the team to return home for family reasons.

The Colorado Avalanche dropped their fourth-straight game in a 5-3 loss to the Boston Bruins. Hampus Lindholm had a goal and an assist and David Pastrnak also scored for the Bruins. Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar each had a goal and two assists for the Avalanche.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was 1998-99 when the Avalanche last started a season 0-4-0. That club rallied to finish second overall in the Western Conference with 98 points. Given their sloppy defense and porous goaltending, it remains to be seen if this version can rally back.

An overtime goal by Leo Carlsson lifted the Anaheim Ducks over the Utah Hockey Club 5-4. Pavel Mintyukov scored two goals and Mason McTavish picked up two assists for the Ducks. Jack McBain and Michael Kesselring each had a goal and an assist for Utah.

HEADLINES

TAMPA BAY TIMES: Jake Guentzel is settling in quickly with the Lightning after signing with them during the summer. He’s playing on the top line with center Brayden Point and right wing Nikita Kucherov and has three assists in his first two games.

Point and Lightning coach Jon Cooper praised Guentzel’s skill and hockey IQ. Cooper also noted how calm the 30-year-old winger is in his game.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Guentzel is used to playing with elite talent after spending several years skating alongside Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. He also showed how well he could adjust to a new team following his trade last March from the Penguins to the Carolina Hurricanes.

TSN: Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark missed his last game with a strain but is expected to play in Thursday’s game against the New Jersey Devils.

Defenseman Thomas Chabot is ok after leaving practice on Wednesday following a collision with teammate Jacob Bernard-Docker and won’t miss any playing time. Meanwhile, blueliner Artem Zub will miss at least a week with a concussion.

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH: Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson (upper body) was placed on injured reserve. Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (upper body) is expected to be sidelined short term.

STLTODAY.COM: Blues defenseman Nick Leddy could miss Thursday’s game against the New York Islanders with a lower-body injury.

THE PROVINCE: The Vancouver Canucks will recall defenseman Erik Brannstrom and have sent center Aatu Raty to their AHL affiliate in Abbotsford.

SAN JOSE HOCKEY NOW: Sharks forward William Eklund is questionable for Thursday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks as he deals with a nagging upper-body injury.

MSN.COM: On Wednesday, Carolina Hurricanes forward Brendan Lemieux and Blue Jackets forward Dylan Gambrell were placed on waivers.







28 Comments

  1. What is going on in Buffalo! Their captain is fighting guys in practice and they seem all out of sorts! Ruff isn’t going anywhere so it looks like a potential blockbuster might be coming! Why does Kevyn Adams still have a job!

  2. I watched the Sabres/Pens last night, and both teams played such poor defense that it is difficult to get excited about their respective playoff chances.

    Pittsburgh’s aging star defenseman, Letang and Karlsson were both brutal defensively (as expected). And Buffalo, with much heralded high picks on their D, confirmed that young defenseman make young defenseman mistakes. Power, Samuelson, and Byram all need another year or 2 of seasoning before they can be counted on.

    Oh, and yesterday should pretty much end any hope Pittsburgh fans might have had of trading Jarry….it’s just not going to happen.

    • NHL team is allowed maximum three retained salaries at one time. This season Penguins retained three players salaries. Unable to retain any of Jarry’s salary agree will be difficult to trade him this season. Following off season two of the retained salaries off the books. Next off season Penguins maybe could trade Jarry by retaining portion of his contact. Didn’t like Jarry signing and even stated here Penguins worst contract is Jarry’s contract.

      • Who are the three retained salaries?

      • Is Jack Johnson’s buyout considered as retained salary? Or are buyouts separate?
        PuckPedia has Jeff Petry and Reilly Smith as retained and Jack Johnson as a buyout.

      • They only have the two “retained” salary trades – Petry and Smith.

        Yes, Jarry is off to a horrible start (3gp 5.47gaa 0.833 save%), but you’d be hard-pressed to find one team without someone in the same boat to varying degrees.

        This is the same guy – still just 29 y/o – who, last season, played in 51 games with 6 SO, a 2.91gaa and 0.903 save %. He didn’t forget how to play goal over the summer.

        Last night he gave up 3 goals on 5 shots before getting yanked, but the D and Fs in front of him weren’t exactly on top of their games either, especially Letang and Karlsson.

        His overall body of work will be taken into account by any team needing a goalie, with the only walls being his M-NTC and that $5,375,000 per cap hit which has 4 more seasons to run (including this one)..

        If a retention of $1,375,000 can be accommodated and he’s willing to waive to go to any team expressing interest, he could be traded.

        But those are big IFS to overcome.

      • True that George, plenty of bad save %’s out there right now. PIT has a team SV% of .873, league average is .889.

        They are 3 and 2, beat the teams they should beat, lost to the ones we would have likely predicted they would lose to. Kinda exactly the team folks though they were.

        They have a bunch of aging skilled guys, and folks get surprised when those guys don’t defend well in their own end. It’s not what Letang and Karlsson do, or have ever done. They are expected drive the play, by getting the puck out with control and help generate scoring chances by playing in the other teams end more than their own.

        Only question is how effective can these guys be in the mid/late 30’s. Enough to get them in the playoffs? It’ll be close, I would bet on no.

        Jarry is struggling, but so are lots of tenders early in the year, guessing because teams are still playing looser than they will be, and tenders are facing more grade A chances.

        It’s goaltending, Jarry could struggle all year, or he could figure it out and be outstanding in the 2nd half of the season, who the hell knows. I don’t see any solutions out there that are any more predictable than he is. Even if they could trade him, which they can’t.

        Work with him to turn it around, its their best and only feasible option.

        One team that is playing defensively responsible out of the gate and has a higher save %, are those top heavy Maple Leafs. Berube has them bought in to his way of playing. I’m thinking they were ready to listen to him, so they could stop listening to their critics.

      • Yes, the Leafs so far look like a team with a profound change in their 2-way game and Stolarz is helping the faithful not agonize over Woll’s situation.Among the teams that have played 3 games or more they are in lofty company when it comes to ga average (in no particular order)

        Dallas – 4gp 5ga 1.25gaa
        Winnipeg – 3gp 2 ga 0.67gaa
        Toronto – 4gp 7ga 1.75gaa
        NYR – 5gp 7ga 1.40gaa

        Kind of ridiculous, through, that some teams have played 5 or 6 games so far (NJ, Florida, Boston, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Utah) while others have played just 2 (Tampa, Washington, Carolina)

      • Jeff Petty, Reilly Smith and Jack Johnson

      • Jj was bought out

      • Jack Johnson has nothing to do with “cap retained” in a deal – his was a straightforward buyout. Unless the rule combines retention with buyout, they have just the two.

      • Yes George, the Leafs look good so far. If they keep playing that way, even through the inevitable tough stretches, they should be able to duplicate in the playoffs, where you have to play that way to win.

        One team that needs to start to play that same type of hockey, is my Bruins. Like the Pens, they too have a crappy save %, and they have earned it as a team.

        They are getting out chanced on a regular basis, and not by a little. Grade A chances especially. The only reason they have a winning record, is they are finishing at high rate. Their shooting % does not seem sustainable. Kastelic, Koepke and Beecher are all useful players and playing well, but I will go on a limb and suggest they won’t finish at a point/game.

        Way too early to panic, and they should be able to get it under control, but if they don’t they will be lucky to make the playoffs. Goals against, and chances against need to go way down.

        The heavy early schedule is usually a good thing, as it can mean fewer games at the end of the year when you want to be more rested going into the playoffs, even keeping players out of the lineup to get healthy.

      • Ray, while there’s obviously room for Boston to tighten up their defensive game, they’re roughly middle of the pack so far – not gr eat but not horrible either.

        The worst of the lot so far are

        Colorado – 4gp 25ga 6.25 gaa
        Edmonton – 4gp 18ga – 4.50 gaa
        L.A. – 4gp 17ga – 4.25gaa
        Pittsburgh – 5gp 21ga – 4.2 gaa

        The Bruins, after 5gp, have allowed 18 goals giving them a 3.60 gaa … they should – and very likely will – soon start to lower that, while another team with the exact same goals against record – Buffalo – might not.

        I wish I could be as confident about the Senators, who have played 3 games and have allowed 12 goals, for an even 4.00 gaa. That could rise dramatically tonight when they play New Jersey if they don’t tighten up defensively in front of Forsberg (I doubt we see Ullmark).

      • Ray Toronto hasn`t been bad, but you can`t hardly say they`ve looked good yet. They`ve yet to put together a complete game, last night the quit playing half way through the game. Berube had to call a time out they were so bad. They`ve shown flashes of what could be coming, but they haven`t played a solid 60 minute game yet. Their goaltending has bailed them out almost every game so far and they haven`t played played any contenders yet. As Berube says they`re still a work in progress

      • Fair enough Yogi, they haven’t been dominating. What I should have probably said is they are limiting grade A chances against. Guarding the fort so to speak. Low risk, strong where it matters and where goals are scored, in their own end. And they are getting to the front of the net in the O-zone way more than they let other teams.

        You win games that way. And ya, solid tending.

  3. Lyle there’s a strong belief that Forsberg will get the start tonight. Zub’s concussion might just be a career ender.

    Sens will be on the hunt for a right shot D and might be regretting sending the rookie back to junior. If Buffalo is indeed a cluster I wonder what it would take to pry Cliffton out of there. Steady, serviceable no-nonsense right shot.

    • Bring in Justin Schultz on a 2 year deal … next year Hamonic is a UFA.

    • Zub`s in that bad of a condition, only heard at least a week. Does Zub have a history of concussions. Ottawa made the right call with regards to Yakemchuk, rushing the kid isn`t the right call

      • Reluctantly agree there Yogi – although I believe they could call him up short-term on an “emergency basis” just to get them through the next couple of weeks IF the conditions are as described here:

        “If a team has less than 20 players and less than $875K (minimum salary of $775K + $100K) cap space to call up a player, they must play 1 game with less than 20 players, and then they can call up a player with a Cap Hit of $875K or less and are permitted to exceed the cap for that player until an injured player returns.”

        Right now their cap space is just $134,742 so, without anyone on LTIR, they’d have to go with one less skater. Calling up Yakemchuk on that basis would be the same as giving him 10 games.

        I’m not sure where Dark G heard that re Zub … I can’t find anything other than “maybe a week.” He did suffer a concussion in November last year and missed some time and you just never know how that’s going to play out. For his sake, let’s hope not. On that hit by Jeannot I did see that he banged the back of his head on the ice when he went down, so I’m not surprised they’re applying caution.

      • Although, on further reflection, Yakemchuk has an ELC deal of $975,0000 and the rule stipulates “they can call up a player with a Cap Hit of $875K or less …” so, I guess that’s out. Ahh well. Like I say, hire Justin Schultz.

    • Re Sen’s RD….

      RD, Kevin Shatenkirk & J Shultz are still Avalable..
      or
      they still have RD #7 Travis Hamonic to use…..
      or they can pull rom the farm,
      Maxence Guenette or give Matinpalo a go,
      if Zub is only out for a week or 2….❓

      I dont think they should bring back Carter from the Calgary Hitmen… he would be the best of the lot

      The Oilers have 3 RD men they could move one of them…..
      big Josh Brown $1.M
      Troy Stecher, $775,
      Travis Dermott, $775,
      or wave oneof them as RD look like they are in demand

  4. I would rather Ullmark not push it this early in the season. If he needs to rest another game to ensure no increased damage, this is the time to do it.

    • I agree. The team knows that, if a jittery Forsberg has to start THEY in turn, have to double their checking efforts to give him maximum protection from quality chances. Nor can they collapse like a cheap suit should he allow a soft goal. In fact, at that point play harder. That’s what they’re getting paid to do.

      It works both ways – if Forsberg gets the sense that the team in front of him is working their butts off that can only help him settle down and concentrate.

      I can’t remember which coach it was many years ago – maybe Scotty Bowman – who, with a struggling goalie, put him in a room with video of him performing at his best and let him watch for a couple of hours. And it worked in getting his “game” back.

      Do it with Forsberg and might work with Jarry too. Nothing to lose.

      • yep, and it’s this early season time when it’s best to experiment like this.

        Watching Mads play really made me wish Staios had kept Mando…

      • Yeah, and I believe they could have claimed him back after the deal when he was placed on waivers. All they have now in goalie depth are Ullmark, Forsberg, Sogaard and Leevi Merilainen

  5. Holly Molly Elvis is already hurt. Just when he was off to such a good start. Of goalies that have played 2 or more games he ranks 32 out of 39. Why does this not surprise me anymore. His upper body injury is between his ears.

  6. Ottawa and Pittsburgh, two totally different teams,fighting for the same thing,making the playoffs! Fragile teams keeping their fingers crossed that the wrong players Don t get injured!Don t feel that either team will make post season!

    • 4 games in? Singled out those two teams to mention? comes off as trolling hard.