NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 22, 2024
A 13-goal game between the Blue Jackets and Lightning, Marc-Andre Fleury reaches another career milestone, updates on Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF THURSDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: The Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning combined for 13 goals with the Blue Jackets winning in overtime 7-6.
Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski (NHL Images).
Defenseman Zach Werenski had a five-point night with two goals (including the game-winner) and three assists, Sean Monahan had a goal and three assists and Kent Johnson tallied twice for the Jackets. Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov collected three assists to surpass the 900-point plateau.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Blue Jackets have won three of their last four games, snapping Tampa Bay’s three-game win streak. Lightning forward Nick Paul missed this game with an undisclosed injury.
Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves in his 1,000th NHL start in a 5-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Frederic Gaudreau tallied twice and collected an assist for the Wild (13-3-3), holding second overall in the Western Conference with 29 points. Corey Perry had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who’ve dropped three of their last four (1-2-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Fleury also passed Patrick Roy for the third-most games played by a goaltender (1,030) in NHL history. He also shrugged off an embarrassing start when he whiffed on a clearing attempt that became the opening goal just 27 seconds into the game.
Oilers forwards Zach Hyman and Viktor Arvidsson missed this game due to undisclosed injuries. Hyman will miss four to seven days while Arvidsson was placed on injured reserve. Defenseman Darnell Nurse also missed this game due to a concussion.
Colorado Avalanche forward Miles Wood broke a 1-1 tie early in the third period as his club held on for a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Washington forward Pierre-Luc Dubois opened the scoring but Mikko Rantanen tied it for Colorado in the second period. Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev stopped 28 shots for the win in his first game since Nov. 13 after being sidelined by an injury.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Capitals announced before this game that captain Alex Ovechkin suffered a fractured fibula and would be out for four to six weeks. That could jeopardize his attempt to break Wayne Gretzky’s goalscoring record (894) this season. Ovechkin needs 27 goals to reach 895.
The New Jersey Devils doubled up the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2. Jesper Bratt scored two goals and picked up an assist while Jack Hughes had three helpers for the Devils. Jack Roslovic and Andrei Svechnikov replied for the Hurricanes. The Devils and Hurricanes each have 28 points but the Hurricanes hold first overall in the Eastern Conference with three games in hand.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Hurricanes announced goaltender Frederik Andersen will undergo knee surgery sidelining him for eight to 12 weeks. Andersen’s last game was an Oct. 26 win over the Seattle Kraken.
St. Louis Blues netminder Jordan Binnington made 22 saves in a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Jake Neighbours netted the winning goal in a shootout. Alexander Wennberg scored both goals for the Sharks while rookie Yaroslav Askarov made 29 saves in his debut with the Sharks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was a milestone victory for Binnington, tying him with Mike Liut for the Blues’ record of 151 wins.
The Boston Bruins got their first win under new head coach Joe Sacco as they nipped the Utah Hockey Club 1-0. Elias Lindholm scored the only goal while Joonas Korpisalo turned in a 21-save shutout. Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka stopped 30 shots.
A third-period goal by Connor Zary lifted the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers. MacKenzie Weegar had three assists while Yegor Sherangovich and Matt Coronato each had a goal and an assist for the Flames. Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin kicked out 46 shots.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Flames winger Jonathan Huberdeau reached a personal milestone with his 500th career NHL assist.
The Chicago Blackhawks upset the Florida Panthers 3-1. Blackhawks goaltender Petr Mrazek turned aside 32 shots while Nick Foligno had a goal and an assist. Panthers forward Sam Reinhart netted his 15th goal of the season, tying Ovechkin and Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl for the league lead.
Vegas Golden Knights netminder Ilya Samsonov made 38 saves backstopping his club to a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators, handing the latter their fourth straight defeat (0-3-1). Ivan Barbashev had two assists for the Golden Knights while Linus Ullmark stopped 29 shots for the Senators.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo missed this game with an upper-body injury. He’s listed as day-to-day.
The Senators are once again on the brink of falling into a hole in the standings too deep to climb out of. With 17 points, they’re second-last in the Eastern Conference. The good news is they’re only four points out of a wild-card berth but they must string some wins together soon or risk another lost season.
Third-period goals by Jonatan Berggren and Lucas Raymond lifted the Detroit Red Wings over the New York Islanders 2-1. Alex Lyon made 22 stops for the Red Wings while Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Red Wings announced that Hall-of-Famer Pavel Datsyuk had signed a one-day contract to retire officially as a Wing. He spent his entire 14-season NHL career with Detroit.
IN OTHER NEWS…
SPORTSNET: The NHL department of player safety released a video clarifying its rule regarding illegal hits to the head after three controversial checks resulted in two suspensions.
Those hits included Los Angeles’ Tanner Jeannot’s hit on Vancouver’s Brock Boeser (three-game suspension), Toronto’s Ryan Reaves on Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse (five-game suspension) and Vegas’s Zach Whitecloud’s hit on Toronto’s Matthew Knies (no suspension).
TORONTO SUN: The Maple Leafs are cautiously optimistic that Knies won’t miss much time after leaving Wednesday’s game against the Golden Knights following that big hit by Whitecloud.
THE PROVINCE: The Vancouver Canucks returned forward Jonathan Lekkerimaki to their AHL affiliate in Abbotsford. It suggests Brock Boeser may be close to returning to action. Boeser’s been sidelined since that hit by Jeannot on Nov. 7.
Who would have thought that Korpisalo is outplaying Ullmark and Swayman!
I’m not all that surprised! I don’t know about who is outplaying who but I always felt that korpisalo was a decent goaltender; he was on some pretty bad defensive teams; especially Columbus. Ottawa not much better. I watched him a lot on Columbus and recognized he is pretty athletic and agile. Just goes to show you, that giving up a lot of goals is not always on the goaltenders? How the team plays out in front of you is significant and it has a ripple effect on how the night is going to go. How he pans out is another matter but the talent is definitely there!
Korpi is a pretty good goalie. Give him a halfway decent defense and he’s the equal of most goalies in the league. The Jackets should have kept him and sent Merzlikins away.
The rule regarding illegal hits to the head…
What needs to be added to the rule is: If a hit is deemed illegal. Then, the offending player will be suspended without pay for at least as long as the player that he concussed is out plus one game. That will put an end to this garbage.
Again, the Oilers must urgently upgrade their goaltending before the season is flushed down the drain. When your #1 goalie is at (or near) the bottom of the league in GA/G & SV%, then you’ve obviously got an issue to deal with.
The team is up against the cap with little in terms of viable trade bait but a veteran like Scott Wedgewood is not all that costly on the cap and could find a new long term home in Edmonton.
Over the years mind you, Edmonton also seems to be where decent goaltenders come to die only to subsequently find new life elsewhere but that’s a story for another day!
Hey Tess,
Oilers Stu Skinner is 5-2-1 in his last 8 starts,✔️
Oilers d is Just Crapp thats the Big problem….⁉️
they have a 7,8,9th d men trying to play 3rd paring d positions….
Williew,
He may not have an elite defense in front of him but letting in wrist shots – more than once – from the point through the 5 hole is a little lame. It seems to me like he goes down quickly and a lot, and when he plays the puck out of his net, it’s a gamble.
Stricker is a hometown boy who came up through the system. I get that and it’s nothing personal but in my objective opinion (for what it’s worth), going deep last year was a one off. The team’s two goalies earn less than $4Mil. combined where a true Number 1 will make double that easily.
Putting all your money up front is one thing but then going on the cheap on the back end will end up costing you big time.
Tess,
you have some good points there, spending $$ up front
97&27 are 2 of the best centres in the league both top 5,
anyway you look at it Nurse has not played well until his last 2-3 games….we all thought thank good the $9.M man is turrning it round at last…❓
Until
he got that head shot from that Goon Ryan Reeves
Oilers need a good RD man for there 2nd pairing to help Nurse out, like connor Murphy from the Hawks
Oilers d
Bouchard & Elkhom are good 1st pair
Kulak & young Ty Emberson are a good 3rd pair
We just need to fix the 2nd pairing with a good RD man sooner than laster
maybe its time to move out a forward like,
Adam Henrique C $3.M
or
Jeff Skinner C $3.M but he has a NTC
and
one or two of the d/men Trade or Wave like A
Troy Stecher $750,000 or Brown @ $1.M or A
Travis Dermott @775,000…❓
Oilers have $3.5 M in cap space today if they can get it up to $5+M they could get a RD d/man with term,