NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 23, 2024

by | Oct 23, 2024 | News, NHL | 33 comments

Recapping Tuesday’s 16-game “Frozen Frenzy” sees the Jets remain undefeated, the Panthers sign Paul Maurice to an extension, the Blues re-sign Jake Neighbours, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

NHL.COM: The Winnipeg Jets are this season’s only undefeated team, holding off the St. Louis Blues 3-2. Kyle Connor scored the winning goal and Cole Perfetti had three assists as the Jets extended their season-opening win streak to 6-0-0. Blues winger Brandon Saad scored both of his club’s goals.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Blues announced before the game that forward Jake Neighbours signed a two-year contract worth an average annual value of $3.75 million. It’s an affordable bridge deal for the Blues but it could lead to a more lucrative contract for the 22-year-old Neighbours, who tallied 27 goals and 38 points last season.

The Blues also announced before this game that they placed defenseman Nick Leddy (lower body) on injured reserve. It’s believed he suffered the injury blocking a shot last Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild.

Minnesota Wild forwards Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello each had a goal and an assist to beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 to extend their points streak to six games (4-0-2). Jake Middleton picked up three assists for the Wild. Sam Bennett replied for the Panthers, who pulled goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky after he gave up five goals on 11 shots.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Panthers announced yesterday that head coach Paul Maurice had signed a contract extension. Details were not released. He’s in the final season of a three-year deal worth just under $4 million annually. Maurice guided the Panthers to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals in 2023 and 2024, winning the Cup last season.

Speaking of the Panthers, forward Sam Reinhart was the NHL’s first star for the week ending Oct. 20. New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin and Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson were the second and third stars.

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel (NHL Images).

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel had a natural hat trick and collected an assist in an 8-5 victory over the New Jersey Devils. Victor Hedman scored two goals, Anthony Cirelli collected four assists and J.J. Moser had a goal and two assists for the Lightning. Timo Meier tallied twice and Jack Hughes had a goal and two assists for the Devils.

Vegas Golden Knights forward Tomas Hertl scored two goals and collected two assists to lead his club over the Los Angeles Kings 6-1. Mark Stone had a goal and two assists and Alex Pietrangelo had three helpers for Vegas. Warren Foegele scored the Kings’ only goal.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore missed this game due to an illness.

The Buffalo Sabres upset the Dallas Stars 4-2. Owen Power collected three assists, including setting up Tage Thompson’s game-winning goal. Thompson and Alex Tuch each finished with a goal and an assist for the Sabres. Thomas Harley and Tyler Seguin scored for the Stars.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sabres coach Lindy Ruff gave forward Zach Benson the night off to rest. He’s been playing through a lower-body injury suffered earlier this month in Prague.

A four-goal first period powered the New York Rangers to a 7-2 drubbing of the Montreal Canadiens. Filip Chytil scored two goals and picked up an assist and Kaapo Kakko had a goal and two assists for the Rangers. Nick Suzuki scored both Canadiens goals.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Rangers captain Jacob Trouba injured Canadiens defenseman Justin Barron with a high hit in the third period. Barron left the game and didn’t return. There was no penalty on the play. The Canadiens also played without winger Juraj Slafkovsky, who is out for at least a week with an upper-body injury.

Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren made his season debut after suffering an injured jaw during the preseason.

The Columbus Blue Jackets stunned the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2. Mathieu Olivier tallied two goals, Justin Danforth had a goal and two assists, and goalie Daniil Tarasov stopped 26 shots for the Blue Jackets. Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson scored for the Leafs.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Leafs winger Max Pacioretty left this game after the second period with a lower-body injury and didn’t return. Earlier in the day, the NHL department of player safety fined Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson $5,000.00 for interference on Lightning winger Jake Guentzel on Monday.

Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson underwent shoulder surgery and is sidelined indefinitely.

Vancouver Canucks center J.T. Miller had a goal and two assists to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3. Danton Heinen scored twice for the Canucks. Ryan Donato, Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi scored for the Blackhawks.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hall’s goal was his 700th career NHL point.

Washington Capitals forwards Nic Dowd and Andrew Mangiapane each scored shorthanded goals in the first period to lead their team to a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Capitals have won four straight games. Travis Sanheim scored for the Flyers.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler made his season debut after being activated off injured reserve. He’d been sidelined by a knee injury during a preseason game against the Boston Bruins.

The Detroit Red Wings got a 29-save shutout from Alex Lyon to blank the New York Islanders 1-0. Patrick Kane scored the only goal as the Wings were limited to 11 shots by the Islanders.

Colorado Avalanche forward Joel Kiviranta scored twice, Nathan MacKinnon netted the game-winner, and Cale Makar collected two assists as they held on for a 3-2 win over the Seattle Kraken. Makar and MacKinnon extended their point streaks to seven games. Jared McCann and Ryker Evans scored for the Kraken.

Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros turned aside 33 shots to shut out the Boston Bruins 4-0, snapping their season-opening losing skid at five games. Ryan O’Reilly, Luke Evangelista and Roman Josi each had two points. Jeremy Swayman made 38 saves for the Bruins.

An overtime goal by Sebastian Aho lifted the Carolina Hurricanes over the Edmonton Oilers 3-2. Martin Necas had a goal and two assists as the Hurricanes overcame a 2-0 deficit. Connor McDavid scored both goals for the Oilers, who got a 30-save performance from Stuart Skinner.

The Ottawa Senators blanked the Utah Hockey Club 4-0. Anton Forsberg kicked out 31 shots for the shutout while Drake Batherson, Claude Giroux, Ridly Greig and Brady Tkachuk scored in the first period.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark missed his fourth straight game with a muscle strain, forcing the club to call up Leevi Merilainen. Forward David Perron is away from the team for personal reasons.

Calgary Flames forward Justin Kirkland scored the deciding goal in a shootout to nip the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3. Rasmus Andersson and Blake Coleman collected two points, Dustin Wolf stopped 35 shots and Nazem Kadri scored the tying goal in the dying seconds of the third period as the Flames extended their points streak to six games (5-0-1). Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell and Noel Aciari scored for the Penguins.

The Anaheim Ducks got their first power-play goals of the season from Troy Terry and Leo Carlsson in a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. Mikael Granlund scored for the Sharks, the only winless team with a record of 0-5-2.







33 Comments

  1. The NHL looks like it is close to becoming a league of parity! Surprise teams like Winnepeg,Calgary,Minnesota ,not to leave out the Rangers remain undefeated!Other teams with veteran lineups such as Edmonton,Boston,Nashville are struggling to find themselves!Most teams have only played 6-8 games so it will be interesting to see if this trend continues!

    • Winnipeg is not a “surprise” team. They finished near the top of the league last year.

    • The Rangers aren’t undefeated. They have an overtime loss.

      • Same with Calgary and Minnesota – undefeated in regulation time, but defeated nevertheless.

    • Sr, Winnipeg is far from a surprise team. The have one of the deepest forward groups in the Nhl and they have the Vezina winning goaltender in nets.

      Teams like Edmonton, Boston and Nashville have a lot of new faces and their still trying to build chemistry, I think all 3 will be fine.

  2. Oilers lost 5 depth players and team not coming together yet…Broberg, Ceci, Holloway, Foegele, Mcleod

    • Both our PP and PK suck. McDavid appears to be our only goal scorer. Zack Hyman has Connor Brown”s disease.
      We lost a lot of our younger better players only to see them replaced with veterans.

    • Boston having new faces having the same issues!Losing Debrusk,Heinen,Ullmark,Forbort,Grezlyk,Boyquist! Bringing in Zadorov,Lindholm!,Jones,Tuffte,Kastellic,Korpisalo,Koepke!

      • Sr

        Yes a lot of new faces to get on same page. I would like to see Frederick Coyle geekie back together as 3rd line. Let zacha potrias and whom ever earns the rw spot be it Jones doubt it. Johnson or Brazeau And let them stick for 10 games before blowing it up

      • Sr
        I agree a lot of new guys to get up to speed with systems etc. I think Monty should put Coyle Frederick and Geekie back together and put Zacha and Potrais and either Johnston or Brazeau on rw. Then give them 6 to 10 games to gel

      • That sort of large personnel turnover was one of the things that worried me about the Senators this season, and while it did manifest itself in the loss to Montreal and, to a lesser degree, the loss to NJ, so far they appear to be meshing well.

        Gone from last season are: Brannstrom, Chychrun, Tarasenko, Joseph, Kelly, Kubalik, Kastelic, Katchouk and Korpisalo

        Learning to mesh with the core are: Jensen, Gregor, Gaudette, Perron, Cousins, Amadio and Ullmark

  3. A couple of weird games last night. Ottawa didn’t have a shot for 8 minutes into the game and just 1 at the 10 minute mark – then scored 4 straight. And that was it for scoring as both teams couldn’t find the twine in the 2nd and 3rd.

    Detroit is held to 11 shots for the entire game – but wins it 1 – 0.

    • Yeah, the Detroit game was easily among the most boring games in memory. “Low event” hockey, as they say? Lyon made several spectacular saves, but the Isles didn’t generate many grade-A chances and Detroit generated… just that one. Also a pretty lifeless crowd.

      • I agree – I would have been disappointed if I bought a ticket to watch that. It was some of the ugliest hockey I have seen in my 60+ years of viewing.

  4. One team stat I like to keep an eye on is overall goal differentials, and although we’re just upwards of 8gp into the season (a few as low as 5), the respective leaders in both overall minus and overall plus contain a few eyebrow raisers. And for comparative purposes, I show their same stats at this exact date last season:

    The Minus Leaders
    SJ 13gf – 29ga -16 – last season 7gf – 20ga -13
    Edm 14gf – 27ga -13 – last season 13gf – 20ga -7
    Pha 14gf 25ga -11 – last season 16gf 13ga +3
    Mtl 18gf 28ga -10 – last season 16gf 16ga E
    Nash 14gh 23ga -9 – last season 18gf 16ga +2
    Pitt 27gf 35ga -8 – last season 16gf 16ga E
    Col 24gf 31ga -7 – last season 21gf 8ga +13
    Chi 18gf 24ga -6 – last season 14gf 18ga -4
    Fla 24gf 29ga -5 – last season 14gf 17ga -3

    The Plus Leaders
    NYR 31gf 12ga +19 – last season 15gf 12ga +3
    Wpg 27gf 10ga +17 – last season 16gf 21ga -5
    Cgy 24gf 15ga +9 – last season 16gf 23ga -7
    Vegas 29gf 21ga +8 – last season 25gf 11ga +14
    Minn 20gf 12ga +8 – last season 18gf 21ga -3
    Dal 20gf 13ga +7 – last season 12gf 10ga +2
    Tam 26gf 20ga +6 – last season 20gf 24ga -4
    Wash 20gf 15ga +5 – last season 6gf 15ga -9
    NJ 32gf 28ga +4 – last season 15gf 15ga E
    Clb 24gf 20ga +_4 – last season 15gf 16ga -1
    Sea 24gf 20ga +4 – last season 11gf 21ga -10

    • Good stuff. Definitely a few interesting swing teams, as compared against last year.

      • As for the rest:

        Ott 22gf 19ga +3 – last season 21gf 15ga +6
        Tor 22gf 19ga +3 – last season 19gf 19ga E
        Car 15gf 13ga +2 – last season 28gf 30ga -2
        Van 20gf 18ga +2 – last season 20gf 13ga +7
        NYI 14gf 15ga -1 – last season 9gf 10ga – 1
        St.L 19gf 20ga -1 – last season 9gf 11ga -2
        Ana 15gf 16ga -1 – last season 11gf 15ga -4
        Det 15gf 17ga -2 – last season 30gf 15ga +15
        Utah – 22gf 24ga -2 – last season 13gf 9ga +4
        L.A. 22gf 25ga -3 – last season 21gf 19ga +2
        Bos 21gf 24ga -3 – last season 16gf 7ga +9
        Buff 25gf 28ga -3 – last season 13gf 18ga -5

  5. Zadorov has a penalty in 7 straight games. I google but couldn’t find it; What is the streak for most consecutive games with a penalty by one player.

    Have to think back in the goon days, should be a long streak.

      • George, there is lot of interesting tidbits there.

      • I found their contact e-mail and posed that question. Will let you know what they say if, in fact, they respond.

    • Zadorov getting penalized regularly is to be expected and it isn;t about being a goon.

      He’s big, strong, hits hard which is good but he’s a pylon. No mobility, not a lot of hockey IQ to make up for it.

      He gets caught out of position a lot and it isn’t a discipline issue, he’s 3rd pairing D being paid to play higher and that exposes him.

  6. Let me begin by saying Columbus did not embarrass Toronto last night. That honor goes to Domi Marner and Matthews. The Athletic did the report card on the Leafs performance and gave Domi an F (well deserved) and gave Marner and Matthews a D- because they were barely noticed on the ice. Maybe so, but we could sure smell them. In a pregame interview Domi was snotty with the reporters because one of them asked about taking Columbus lightly. Domi snapped that they knew what they had to do. How quickly he forgot once the game started. Marner`s post game interview he`s usually a me , me guy. But last night he was kind enough to pass the blame on everybody. He used the word we more times last night, than he has in the past year. The worst performance of the night gets a Z- as low as a grade can go, goes to Berube. All his yapping about hustle and accountability went out the door about the 30 second mark, along with a lot of his credibility. He may of sat Domi for his no show performance, but again Marner and Matthews no show was allowed to stink out the joint all night. Under Keefe Toronto`s problem was playing down to the opponents level, nothing`s changed there, but the excuses remain the same.

    • I would`ve liked to express my true thoughts on Toronto`s performance from last night, but I`m not allowed to use that kind of language and somehow asterisk`s just wouldn`t do it justice

      • LOL, Yogi … I hear ya re restraint!

        But hey, you’ve been watching hockey for a long time too, and despite the varying reasons proffered by so-called “team psychologists” over the years, it still baffles when the entire roster of a top team plays down to the level of an opponent.

        One thing for sure, and in keeping with a “prediction” I posted before the season opened, there will be far fewer “automatic 2 points” this season, at least in in the East anyway.

        When it concludes I still believe we’ll see fewer points between the last WC team and those on the bottom rungs than we have seen in many years.

      • You can blame Berube for last night’s Jackets win. He bought into the narrative that the Jackets are a last place team (said only because they finished last in the East last year and ignoring the wholesale changes behind the bench and in the front office) and sent a rookie goalie out to face them. Then, when even a blind chimpanzee could see the kid was overwhelmed, did nothing. And Domi might want to get a short term injury before the rematch. The Jackets won’t forget his repeated cheap shots on Fantilli, especially punching him in the back of the head. And Reaves trying to fight Jiricek because Jiricek laid a great, legal hit was stupid. Reaves sure looked surprised when Olivier hauled him down from behind, obviously making it clear that Reaves wasn’t going to thump on Jiricek “to teach him a lesson”. Though, I think Jiricek would have explained a few things to Reaves. He towers over Reaves and was grinning as Reaves went down.

      • That`s easy George, they read their own press clippings and think they`re a lot better than they really are and all they have to do is show up. I saw that in the kids when I was coaching at times. That`s why we used to hammer into the kids that there`s no “I” in team and hard work will beat talent everytime.. When I played our coach used to tell us that 18 Ron Ellis`s would beat 18 Guy Lafleur`s any day of the week

      • No idea where you got that from Paul, Berube doesn`t take anybody for granted if you listen to him. Toronto played 3 games in 4 nights, no choice on Hildeby playing last night and he earned another start. Hildeby overwhelmed no, guys like Domi and Marner hung him out to dry. Yes it wasn`t Hildeby`s best effort, but the stink that was in front of him was what overwhelmed him. Columbus played a solid game and deserved the win 100%. But, if Toronto comes to play it`s not a contest and that`s on Berube and the fact Marner again escaped accountability and that`s why I gave Berube Z- rating. Berube failed to to live up to what he`s been preaching, everybody`s accountable. If Stolarz had played, Toronto still would`ve lost, so don`t pin it on a rookie goalie for not saving the game. Hildeby doesn`t deserve to get that hung on him

      • Paul being a couple of inches taller doesn`t make a player tougher, so please don`t try to make Jiricek into a tough guy because of that. Are you familiar with Stan Johnathan, John Wensink, Ty Domi, or Wendal Clark. All 4 would happy if they were 5’11, all 4 would clean Jiricek`s clock. I`d be rich if I had a dollar for every time I saw a plyer punch another player after the whistle or tap in the back of the head. Columbus got 2 points, they earned it. Don`t try to make it sound like Columbus is some rising powerhouse

  7. i was impressed by the Caps last night before i watched the Avalanche and Kraken. i assumed philly would be hot from their home opener loss against vancouver but it seemed like washington played a very good hockey game . they beat the flyers all night to the pucks to be had/ or were up for grabs? avalanche improving and good to see because the first few minutes were a little dicy as they continue to have porr defensive coverage but as the game went on, they wrestled it away from seattle. annunen was solid in net!!

  8. Trouba’s “monster hit” on Barron was a clear headshot and officials and DOPS just look away.

    Commentators said Trouba had his arm down, elbow tucked and ignored the shoulder and the point of contact.

    Victim blaming instead, Barron’s head was too low, he watched his pass instead of setting himself for the hit, You have to know who’s on the ice and expect a hit from Trouba.

    It didn’t impact the game as it was over in first period and the hit was half way through the third period.

  9. Panarin 2nd star? 6G-4A
    Reinhart. 4G-5A

    Also. Baron got hurt skating with his head down. Clean hit. To say “Trouba injured” him is kind of a biased view. Baron bailed at last second. Was already going back when contact was made. Appeared to hit back of his head on ice. But I get it. It’s Trouba.

  10. ” But I get it. It’s Trouba.” sounds trite because NYR fans are inured to repeated behavior and accept it as normal.

    It isn’t about the position of Barron’s head, it’s about Trouba’s shoulder and point of contact.
    This type of hit used to be celebrated, I get that and in prior times I’d have no problems with it, BUT it is exactly the type of hit the league supposedly is trying to eliminate, head shots.