NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 29, 2024
The Leafs end the Jets’ win streak, the Sharks long losing skid is over, the Lightning honor former captain Steven Stamkos, and Oilers captain Connor McDavid suffers an injury against the Blue Jackets. Get the details on these and other stories in the NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: The Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Winnipeg Jets 6-4, ending the latter’s season-opening win streak at eight games. John Tavares had a hat trick while William Nylander and Max Pacioretty each picked up three points for the Leafs. Jets winger Kyle Connor had two goals and two assists.

Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Leafs outshot the Jets 36-23, including 19-6 in the first period. Winnipeg made it interesting as Mark Scheifele and Connor scored third-period goals to cut the Leafs lead to 5-4 before Tavares put it out of reach with an empty-net goal.
The Leafs announced defenseman Jake McCabe agreed to a five-year contract extension with an average annual value of $4.51 million. McCabe, 31, was slated to become an unrestricted free agent next July. He’s earning an AAV of $4 million on his current deal.
The cap hit is alright from the Leafs’ point of view. However, the concern is whether McCabe will still be worth that AAV in the latter years of the contract. He’ll be 32 when it goes into effect next season and will soon reach his mid-thirties when a player’s skills usually decline.
The San Jose Sharks snapped a nine-game losing skid with a 5-4 victory over the Utah Hockey Club on an overtime goal by Alexander Wennberg. They overcame a 4-1 deficit with three unanswered third-period goals by Fabian Zetterlund, Mikael Granlund and Tyler Toffoli to force the extra frame. Zetterlund finished with two goals and Granlund with three points. Matias Maccelli tallied twice for Utah.
An overtime goal by Nick Paul lifted the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Nashville Predators 3-2. Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel each had two points and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots for the win. Predators forward Steven Stamkos picked up two assists against his former club.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was an emotional return to Tampa Bay for Stamkos. The Lightning honored his 16 seasons with the club with a three-minute video tribute as he took to the ice acknowledging the crowd, who greeted him with a lengthy standing ovation.
The Columbus Blue Jackets thumped the Edmonton Oilers 6-1. Sean Monahan scored twice and Cole Sillinger had a goal and two assists for the Blue Jackets. Oilers captain Connor McDavid left the game after suffering a lower-body injury during the opening shift.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: McDavid injured his left foot falling awkwardly into the boards as he was tripped while chasing the puck. He skated off and was on the bench for several minutes before leaving. McDavid returned to Edmonton for treatment and will miss the remaining two games of the Oilers’ current road trip.
Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov returned from a lower-body injury with a two-point performance in a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe also had two points in this contest for the Panthers. Jason Zucker and Rasmus Dahlin replied for the Sabres.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Sabres placed forward Zach Benson (lower body) on injured reserve.
The Chicago Blackhawks ended a four-game losing skid by beating the Colorado Avalanche 5-2, snapping the latter’s five-game win streak. Ryan Donato led the way for the Blackhawks with two goals and an assist. Avalanche stars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar each picked up a point to extend their season-opening points streaks to 10 games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Avalanche forward Ross Colton will miss some time recovering from a lower-body injury after blocking a shot in the first period. He played through the second period before leaving this contest.
Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho scored in overtime for a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Martin Necas had a goal and an assist as the Hurricanes took a 3-1 lead before the Canucks battled back to tie it on third-period goals by Quinn Hughes and Pius Suter.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen missed this game dealing with an undisclosed injury. It is unrelated to the blood clots that sidelined him for most of last season.
The Vegas Golden Knights blanked the Calgary Flames 5-0. Keegan Kolesar and Nicolas Roy each had three points and Adin Hill made 16 saves for the shutout. Dan Vladar turned aside 33 shots for the Flames, who’ve dropped three straight games after starting the season 5-0-1.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Flames are mourning the passing of former equipment manager Gus Thorson, who died in Calgary on Saturday at age 65. Thorson was the Flames head equipment manager from 1999 to 2010. My condolences to Thorson’s family, friends and the Flames organization.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone, Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros and Dallas Stars center Matt Duchene are the league’s three stars for the week ending Oct. 27.
TRIBLIVE.COM: Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury is preparing for his final game in front of Pittsburgh Penguins fans. Fleury, 39, intends to retire at the end of this season. He spent the first 13 seasons of his NHL career with the Penguins, helping them win three Stanley Cups. The Wild face the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: Speaking of the Penguins, winger Bryan Rust was still be evaluated on Monday for an injured right leg suffered during Saturday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks.
CBS SPORTS: The Montreal Canadiens placed defenseman Kaiden Guhle (upper body) on injured reserve.
STLTODAY.COM: The Blues will send forward Mathieu Joseph back to St. Louis to receive treatment for a lower-body injury suffered during Saturday’s game against the Canadiens.
NEW YORK POST: The Rangers recalled forward Matt Rempe from their AHL affiliate in Hartford.
The disasterous roster moves by JJ and unlikable Stan have brought us to this. Normally when a superstar goes down, the rest of the team picks up the pace. Not this crew.
Alan, you sound like Ron Jull or Ed Van Impe if they were Leaf fans!
Oil have been frustrating to start the year, again, little early for the disaster talk IMO. Back to back on the road, 3rd game in 4 nights, lose you best guy 1st shift. Sh*t happens during the year, hardly a shocking result considering above.
Oil haven’t been finishing and have been too loose in their structure on too many occasions early in the year. The pucks will start going in, and we know the Oil can tighten up their defensive game.
Hate to lose the best player in the NHL obviously, but this should force the issue on defensive side if McDavid is out for any length of time.
How is that for cup half full?
Ray,absolutely right on, 70-72 games left! Not close to the time of jumping off the ledge!
Last season, after 10gp, the Oilers were 7 – 3 – 0 for 14 pts with 41gf 32ga (averages of 4.1 gfpg and 3.2gapg and a +9 – a points % pace of .700.
From there to the end they went 42 – 24 – 6 for 90 pts with 253gf 205ga (averages of 3.5gfpg and 2.9 gapg) +48 and a points % pace of .597 for an overall record of 49 – 27 – 6 for 104 pts with 294gf 237ga (averages of 3.6 gfpg and 2.9 gapg) +57 – a points % pace of .634.
This season, after 10gp, the Oilers are 4 – 5 – 1 for 9 pts with 22gf and 35ga (averages of 2.2gfpg and 3.5gapg) -13 – a points % pace of .450.
To reach last season’s % pace of .634, they’d need to go at a .660 clip from here to the end – to reach 95 pts – probable cut off for a WC slot – they’d need to play .597.
There’s the math – with precious little room for deviation. And for how long without McDavid?
George, they were 2-9-1 last year to start the season.
Holy crap, you’re right. I googled “NHL standings on November 3, 2023” to get Edmonton’s record 10 games in … and when I double checked just now, what they gave me was the 2022-23 season – so Nov 2022.
Shows the need to double-check everything. Thanks for that Icebear. And so much for AI 🙂
Just for the Hell of it, check this link
https://www.statmuse.com/nhl/ask/nhl-standings-in-november-2023
Yeah no prob, easy enough mistake!
I knew it so well as I felt bad for jay woodcroft, and also couldn’t believe how bad it was lol.
RIP in Gus. I’m so saddened by your passing. But pleased that we reconnected the last few years