NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 20, 2024
Recaps of Saturday’s 13 games, injury updates and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines
NHL.COM: Ottawa Senators forward Drake Batherson scored two goals and collected an assist in a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning, handing the latter their first loss of the season. Jake Guentzel scored his first goal of the season with the Lightning while Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist.

Ottawa Senators forward Drake Batherson (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Lightning’s special teams were their undoing in this contest, giving up two powerplay goals and a shorthanded goal. Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark (lower-body strain) is close to returning to action but the club opted to err on the side of caution and kept him out of this game.
The Detroit Red Wings tallied three unanswered third-period goals to defeat the Nashville Predators 5-2. Andrew Copp scored twice and Alex Lyon made 37 saves for the Red Wings, including a highlight-reel stop with the knob of his stick on Steven Stamkos, who scored his first with the Predators in this contest.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Predators are still searching for their first win of the season (0-5-0). Stamkos believes their effort has been sporadic in those games.
Dallas Stars forward Matt Duchene scored two goals in a 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Roope Hintz had a goal and two assists, Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist, and goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 30 shots for the win. Leon Draisaitl replied for the Oilers as their win streak ended at two games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Stars announced before this game that they placed defenseman Matt Dumba (lower body) on injured reserve.
An overtime goal by Gustav Forsling lifted the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. Sam Reinhart had a goal and two assists and Sam Bennett had a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Ilya Samsonov kicked out 45 shots and Tanner Pearson had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights.
The New York Rangers got a 34-save performance by Igor Shesterkin to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1. Chris Kreider scored twice and Mika Zibanejad and Reilly Smith each had two assists as the Rangers picked up their third straight victory. Auston Matthews scored for the Maple Leafs.
Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson scored two goals (including the winner in overtime) and an assist as his club nipped the New Jersey Devils 6-5. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin netted his first of the season and Dylan Strome had a goal and two assists. Devils captain Nico Hischier tallied twice and picked up an assist and Timo Meier had three helpers.
New York Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson scored in the ninth round of the shootout to give his team a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Dobson also had two assists in regulation play. Cole Caufield scored twice, including the game-tying tally, and Juraj Slafkovsky had two assists for the Canadiens, who overcame 2-0 and 3-2 deficits.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Islanders winger Anthony Duclair left this game in the third period after injuring his right leg. There was no postgame update on his status.
The Vancouver Canucks got a 26-save shutout from Kevin Lankinen to blank the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0. Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers picked up an assist in his 1,000th career NHL regular-season game. Nils Hoglander, Brock Boeser and Kiefer Sherwood were the goalscorers. The Flyers have lost four straight games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Flyers captain Sean Couturier played in his 800th career game as a fourth-line left winger as head coach John Tortorella shook up his forward lines.
Minnesota Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist in a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Filip Gustavsson got the win with a 23-save performance. Yegor Chinakhov scored for the Jackets.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Wild forward Ryan Hartman missed this contest with an upper-body injury. Before this game, Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason said the upper-body injury suffered by Kent Johnson on Thursday against Buffalo was not a short-term thing. There is no timeline for Johnson’s return.
The St. Louis Blues defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3. Joel Hofer stopped 37 shots for the win while Mathieu Joseph and Jake Neighbours had a goal and an assist each for the Blues. Andrei Svechnikov had a goal and an assist and Sebastian Aho had two helpers for the Hurricanes.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Blues forward Alexey Toropchenko missed this game and is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Buffalo Sabres forward JJ Peterka scored his fourth goal in three games as his club doubled up the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 35 saves for the Sabres. Craig Smith scored both goals for Chicago.
Utah Hockey Club’s Michael Kesselring scored in overtime to give his team a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins. Utah goaltender Connor Ingram became the first goaltender in NHL history with a season-opening five-game points streak for a team in its inaugural campaign.
An overtime goal by Jordan Eberle lifted the Seattle Kraken over the Calgary Flames 2-1, handing the latter their first loss of the season (4-0-1). Chandler Stephenson also scored for the Kraken as they picked up their third straight victory. Blake Coleman tallied for the Flames.
IN OTHER NEWS…
The Los Angeles Kings announced they’ve placed goaltender Darcy Kuemper (lower body) on injured reserve, removed defenseman Joel Edmundson from non-roster designation, and recalled goalie Pheonix Copley from their AHL affiliate.
COLORADO HOCKEY NOW: Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin has returned to Colorado and is skating on his own. He’s suspended until Nov. 13 as part of Stage 3 of the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program.
Meanwhile, newly acquired Avalanche goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen practiced with his teammates for the first time on Saturday. Kahkonen was claimed off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 11 but had to update his work permit and visa before joining his new team.
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: The Penguins recalled goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic from their AHL affiliate. He will accompany the club during its upcoming four-game road trip through Western Canada.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Penguins will carry three goalies as Nedeljkovic joins Tristan Jarry and Joel Blomqvist.
The goaltending market is going to be extremely interesting soon. Kings, Colorado, Pens among others just can’t get any saves from what they currently have on their rosters. Somebody is gonna get a nice overpay on dealing a solid backup, wonder who will be the first to move? The Oilers have to be the best team in recent memory that just plain forgets how to play hockey in the month of October?? They will right the ship but until then fans in Wpg and Calgary and Vancouver will simply enjoy lol.
So, two unblemished records fell last night, leaving only the undefeated Jets. Anyone think the Penguins will put an end to that today in Winnipeg?
George O ,your Senators surprise you last night?
No, Tampa did.
You forget that the Predators and Sharks are still hanging on to their perfect records!
Lol. I bet both would like to forget!
It would be kind of fitting if the Penguins did end the last unbeaten streak … the other two were also ended by non-playoff teams from last season – Ottawa over Tampa and Seattle over Calgary.
Right now it’s 4-3 Jets
Both losses , Leafs have had this year is because of the opposition stellar goaltending ..
I predicted earlier this week , Shesterkin – Cyborg in net could be a problem..
Leafs need to generate more traffic to the goal area ..
Nylander was totally robbed by Shesterkin , at least 3 times ..
It was like playoff hockey
Meaning Marner was a No Show !
Kris Kreiter hanging outside of the crease, “tip ins” is a well planned attack , resulting in 2 goals for New York ..
This is a huge issue that has to be addressed from any teams prospective , as it is lethal
Matthews should maybe spend some time with Domi , skill level of shooting the puck …
Domi keeps wanting to pass , he should of had a goal last night , especially on a 3 on 1 break out
Watched the Boston – Utah game last night and was very disappointed in their forward group! When your 4th line has been your best line all year something is missing! Hoping the emphasis that Boston put on size in their forward group starts to pay off!
6 games in and as we all predicted Cole Koepke is leading the Boston Bruins in points with 3g 3a 6pts and +10
That game last night was boring. The highlight was the goal by Utah defenseman who tied the score, it was a highlight goal.
Caper I would put Marchand with 88 and 28 and at least get another line going!
I watched the Flyers’ home opener and was surprised that the Canuck’s goalie stole the show with a shutout. He was signed near the end of training camp for a mere $875,000. It’s a small body of work but he’s given up only 4 goals in 3 games and has a 1.28 GAA and a .953 SV%. Where were teams with suspect goaltending, like Colorado and Edmonton, when he was available?
Gored1970, I kept raising that question when no one – other than the Canucks – even extended a p.t.o offer (which the Canucks eventually did), let alone a firm contract.
I kept pointing out that the 6′ 2″ 190 lb 29 y/o Finn had played in 43 games for Nashville over the past 2 seasons with a 2.80gaa and 0.912 save %, and was hoping Ottawa would at least bring him in on a p.t.o. with a view to replacing Forsberg as the back-up.
And Vancouver got him signed for $875,000!!!