NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 28, 2024
Jordan Binnington sets a Blues record, a hat trick performance for the Blackhawks’ Taylor Hall, Hurricanes forward Martin Necas takes over the league scoring lead, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington set a franchise record with his 152nd win by making 31 saves to shut out the New Jersey Devils 3-0. Robert Thomas opened the scoring just nine seconds in to tie the second-fastest goal in franchise history. Dylan Holloway scored the other two goals. Jacob Markstrom stopped 17 shots for the Devils.
St. Louis Blue goaltender Jordan Binnington (NHL Images)
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich left the game early with an injury to his right leg after getting knocked to the ice by Devils forward Paul Cotter. He’ll be reevaluated on Thursday with an update expected on Friday.
Chicago Blackhawks winger Taylor Hall netted his first hat trick since Dec. 2013 in a 6-2 upset of the Dallas Stars. Connor Bedard snapped a 12-game goalless drought and Tyler Bertuzzi collected two assists. Colin Blackwell and Matt Duchene replied for the Stars.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Stars center Roope Hintz missed this game with an undisclosed injury.
Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas collected two assists to take over the NHL scoring lead with 37 points in a 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers, handing the latter their fourth straight loss. The Hurricanes got unanswered third-period goals from Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jackson Blake for the win. Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin stopped 26 shots while teammate Brett Berard scored his first NHL goal.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Necas sits two points ahead of Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon atop the scoring race. Rangers forwards Filip Chytil and Chris Kreider missed this game due to injuries. Kreider and teammate Jacob Trouba are the subject of trade rumors after reports emerged they were among several Rangers veterans made available by management. He said he’s spoken with general manager Chris Drury and admitted there’s “frustration, angst, tension” in the dressing room. “Let’s go through this s**t now and figure out who we are,” he said.
The Minnesota Wild got a 39-save shutout from Filip Gustavsson to blank the Buffalo Sabres 1-0, ending the latter’s three-game win streak. Kirill Kaprizov scored his 14th goal of the season. Ukko-Pekka Luukonen turned aside 28 shots for the Sabres.
An overtime goal by Lucas Raymond lifted the Detroit Red Wings to a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames. Cam Talbot stopped 24 shots and Alex DeBrincat scored for the Red Wings while Connor Zary replied for the Flames.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Red Wings goalie Alex Lyon missed this game after suffering an undisclosed injury during the morning skate. Teammate Patrick Kane missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury.
The Washington Capitals overcame goalie Charlie Lindgren accidentally scoring into his own net to nip the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4. Lindgren’s own goal in the third period gave the Lightning a 4-3 lead and was credited to Brayden Point, giving him a hat trick. However, Lindgren’s teammates John Carlson and Tom Wilson subsequently scored to give their team the win.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Wilson, Aliaksei Protas and Dylan Strome each had a goal and an assist for the Capitals.
Florida Panthers winger Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and two assists as his club ended a four-game losing skid with a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, snapping the Leafs’ four-game winning streak. Panthers forward Sam Reinhart tallied his league-leading 17th goal while Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett each had a goal and an assist. Leafs winger Mitch Marner scored to extend his points streak to five games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Reinhart wasn’t expected to score at the same pace that netted him a career-high 57 goals last season. He could exceed that mark at his current level of production. Meanwhile, Panthers center Anton Lundell missed this game after taking a puck to the face during Monday’s game against Washington.
The Boston Bruins got two goals from Pavel Zacha and Brad Marchand to defeat the New York Islanders 6-3. Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak each collected three assists for the Bruins. Brock Nelson had two goals and an assist for the Islanders, who are 1-4-1 in their last six games.
Pittsburgh Penguins winger Bryan Rust tallied twice, including the winning goal, as his club held off the Vancouver Canucks 5-4. Rust finished with three points and teammate Erik Karlsson had three assists. Quinn Hughes had a goal and two assists and Elias Pettersson a goal and an assist for the Canucks. The Penguins snapped a three-game winless skid.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Penguins demoted winger Valtteri Puustinen and activated Blake Lizotte off injured reserve.
Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki’s overtime goal gave his club a 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Canadiens winger Juraj Slafkovsky ended a 14-game goalless drought and collected an assist while teammate Cole Caufield scored his 13th goal. Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski extended his points streak to six games with a Gordie Howe hat trick after fighting Canadiens winger Brendan Gallagher.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason was furious over the Suzuki goal, believing the Canadiens captain should’ve received a holding penalty on Kent Johnson seconds before.
Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier scored in overtime as his club overcame a 2-1 deficit for a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. Morgan Frost scored the tying goal with 12 seconds remaining in regulation to set the stage for Couturier’s game-winner. Roman Josi and Ryan O’Reilly scored for the Predators, who’ve won only three games in their last 12 contests.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Predators announced defenseman Jeremy Lauzon is sidelined week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
Colorado Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin scored the tying goal in the second period and the winner in a shootout to beat the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1. Pavel Dorofeyev scored for the Golden Knights.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo returned to action after missing three games with an upper-body injury. Teammate William Karlsson also returned after missing the previous game to attend the birth of his second child. Before the game, the Avalanche announced that winger Jonathan Drouin was out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
The Los Angeles Kings downed the Winnipeg Jets 4-1. Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe each had a goal and an assist while goaltender David Rittich made 13 saves for his 100th NHL win. Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 29 shots and Gabriel Vilardi scored his club’s only goal.
Anaheim Ducks netminder John Gibson kicked out 42 shots in a 5-2 win over the Seattle Kraken. Trevor Zegras, Alex Killorn and Cutter Gauthier each had a goal and an assist for the Ducks. Eeli Tolvanen and Oliver Bjorkstrand replied for the Kraken.
Ottawa Senators forward Adam Gaudette tallied twice and Tim Stutzle collected three assists in a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks despite being limited to 11 shots. Sharks rookie Will Smith had a goal and an assist while teammate Macklin Celebrini scored his sixth point in the last four games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sharks forward Barclay Goodrow left this game with an upper-body injury.
Now I know what highway robbery looks like on ice! Ottawa – to put it bluntly – had absolutely NO business winning that game against San Jose. ELEVEN shots on goal – ONE in the 3rd period (the winning one at that??) I give no credence whatsoever to the over-used “we had a long flight and didn’t have our legs …” crapola. Fifteen other eastern teams – some further away and so even longer flights – have to make the same trip at some point, and we don’t hear that overused mantra from most of them.
Stop with the bloody excuses, do a thorough, proper assessment of the ENTIRE roster – not just the bottom 6 F collection and bottom-pairing D – and look to shake this bunch up by dealing one or two of the so-called “stars” – IF, that is, they can even find willing trade partners. And I’m thinking names like Pinto, Batherson, Norris. As for Green, his alleged “firm but fair” approach to coaching doesn’t seem to be producing any better on-ice results than his predecessor.
The new owner certainly didn’t waste any time firing Dorion, putting his buddy Staios in charge and, not long after, Dorion’s choice for coach (D. J. Smith), replacing him with Green, while changing about 30% of the roster – mostly among the bottom half – and to this point at least the difference on ice is negligible.
Ullmark certainly earned his game-average salary last night! He and Forsberg had better have their bandit masks on again for the next two games in Los Angeles and Anaheim because, if not, they’re going to get their butts waxed.
George, how do you really feel?
LOL. I vented my spleen, shall we say. They are just SO bloody frustrating to watch.
Hockey can be a pretty random game sometimes George. 11 shots against one of the worst teams in the NHL is brutal. But 2 points for that effort is fantastic!
B’s cave in the Nucks and lose because they couldn’t finish. Play so-so in a back to back with travel and pump in 6 goals on way fewer chances. Go figure.
Hate to compare the Sens to Oilers during the decade of darkness, because it hasn’t been a decade, and they haven’t sucked nearly as bad.
But maybe some parallels? Draft a bunch of talented young players, sign them long term because you believe in them and if they play to their talent and expectations, the contracts look good for the 2nd half of them. Almost all teams do it in that situation.
Perhaps its as simple as you give a bunch of guys in their early 20’s millions of dollars, most get a little complacent? Seemed like Hall and Eberle did. McDavid and Draisaitl didn’t. Or maybe the latter 2 are just way better players because they are more driven to succeed. I dunno, but it seems to happen as much as it doesn’t.
I still think OTT hangs in there to the bitter end fighting for a playoff spot. need their veteran D to get healthy. Young D make mistakes, the more you play them the more there is.
George,
did not see the game last night with the sen’s
but im happy they got 2 ugly points after reading your story George….
2 more goals from Adam Gaudette last night…👌
they need to keep him on nthe Top Line with
Stutzle & Tkachuk,
I think they need to ride LU, for 4-5 games to get him going and get some momentum for the team it will also give Ullmark more confidence in the team…❓
As far as a Trade go’s i think they should still look at moving one of these two and or both to fix the d/core and up front….$8.M players C, Josh Norris or LD, Thomas Chabott…
\Happy to see young Rookie d/man Tyler Kleven get his first goal
👍
George O,that s why you traded for Ullmark! He will be fine as long as you Don t over play him!Around 55-58 games!
No doubt about that Sr. But Green – another coach who’s philosophy when setting – and using – the nightly roster seems to be “cover my ass” will likely lean towards over-using him, especially if Forsberg continues to show his inconsistency from last season.
Pens & Canucks last night..
The Canucks are missing TJ Millar for sure,
And there young goaltender Arturs Silovs has not looked anything like he did last season in the playoffs..⁉️
if it was not for Kevin Lankinen in goal they would be down the bottom of the West….
Jarry actully won a game…..,
Canucks looked like they used All there juice to beat boston the night Before….
Is Necas finally playing center? or still a wing?
Great to see him produce at this rate when all summer he was presented as trade-bait!
Necas is still playing wing. Kotkaniemi has been his center for most of the season but Drury has recently replaced him. Last season Carolina tried to go with two balanced power play units. This year they are stacking the first power play unit (Svech, Jarvis, Aho and Necas) playing them most of the power play. Gostisbehere runs the top unit vs Burns. With Gostisbehere the power play has a lot of player and puck movement which are Necas’s strengths. Last year Necas played 2:07 minutes of PP/GP this year he is playing 3:52 minutes of PP/GP. Necas currently has 17 power play points and last year he had 13.
Necas has also improved his 200 foot game and he has taken his passing and playmaking to another level.
Thanks for all the info! 👍👍
Even as a Ranger fan, I’m finding Ranger fans reactions to this 4 game slide hysterical.
I think its more about the way they have been playing all season and not just the 4 games losing streak. Defense has been terrible since the 1st week. Most of the top 6 are not performing at a high enough level. Mika has been a ghost since last season. Igor is playing average at best and nowhere near the $12 million per season contract he thinks he deserves. Their record does not reflect the true results they deserve so far and they better figure out what’s wrong pretty quickly before this spirals further. Been a Ranger fan for almost 40 yrs, this team is one of the softest and heartless I have seen in that time.
Shesterkin is facing 40-50 shots a game. Way too many high scoring area shots.
Zibanejad is exact what Zibanejad has always been. A guy that likes to play the perimeter.
The team as a whole is playing terrible defensively. I wouldn’t put it on the defense.
Fox is still playing very well defensively. Jones and Schneider have been outstanding.
Miller has been regressing for 2 + years, Lindgren is a walking bandaid.
The team lacks any type of possession players outside Fox, Kakko and Panarin.
Anyway, my point was chants for “rebuild “ , “fire everyone” and trade “bad players for better players “are pretty hysterical.
Ny needs to make some adjustments and possibly some moves. Rebuild? Beyond ridiculous.
And yet, CaptainObvious, what’s hard to fathom is when, looking at those stats I post below, you see that last season the Rangers scored, on average, 3.4 goals per game over 82 gp, and so far this season they are averaging 3.3 goals per game – down just .1 goals per game. And on the defensive side of things, last season they gave up 2.8 goals per game over 82 gp … so far this season it’s exactly the same – 2.8.
It gets even weirder when you look at their first 21 gp last season and their current 21-game mark this season.
Last season – a record of 16 4 1 33 pts with 70gf and 52ga for averages of 3.3 goals for per game and 2.5 goals against,
This season – a record of 12 8 1 25 pts with 70gf and 59ga for averages of 3.3 goals for per game and 2.8 goals against per game.
You wouldn’t think the slim margins of differences would account for 4 fewer wins, 4 more losses and 8 points after 21 gp, but how else can it be explained?
And looking at their current 4-game slide, they’ve scored 9 while giving up 18 – game averages of 2.5 gf and 4.5 ga – which on the 4 goals for is down .8 from their seasonal average, while their 4.5 goals against is up 1.7 from their seasonal game average.
They won’t be the first top team to experience a mini-swoon here and there to the end of the season. They’re too good a team for that to continue for any lengthy stretch.
should read “which, on the goals for …”
Since our US friends are eating turkey and watching football, you guys do Thanksgiving right down there. How about a Canadian question.
Who the F is gonna play net for us in the 4 nations cup?
RayBark,you better work something out with the USTeam,their 3-4 goalie may be better than what you can come up with!
Cam Talbot. Check out his record.
Ray Bark, Binnington has a track record of rising to the occasion in big games, I know his reputation as a head case still follows him but he has really calmed down the last couple of years and concentrated on stopping the puck. Also his competivness is as good as anybody.
Ray, here’s the current list – talk about a Hobson’s Choice
https://www.quanthockey.com/nhl/nationality/active-canadian-nhl-goalies-career-stats.html
Should we go with 40-y ear-old Fleury as one of them?
No slam dunks on that list George, I forgot about Talbot Iago, but the way he is playing this year he kind of has to be on it. So there’s one.
Binnington has been meh this year, 2019 was a long time ago. Skinner has been even worse, but seems to be a 2nd half guy and played good for the most part in playoffs last year. But way too risky for my liking with either guy unless they get on a heater. Starting real soon.
But one of them likely gets added, but not sure I would.
Logan Thompson has some playoff time, did well, and is playing really well again this year.
Adon Hill won a cup and played great when they did. Was recent. He has been OK this season, getting plenty of wins.
So – Talbot, Hill and Logan Thompson!
Best defend well and score some goals, which we usually do. We good to go!
At the quarter pole, with teams having played anywhere from 21 to 25 games, here are the average goals scored for each in order from top to bottom, followed by their average (in brackets) for all of last season for comparison purposes to see who’s trending upwards, who’s treading water, and who’s falling off – some interesting trends for sure
Washington 22gp – 4.1 (2.7)
Carolina 22gp – 4.0 (3.4)
Winnipeg 23gp – 3.9 (3.2)
Tampa 21gp – 3.8 (3.6)
Columbus 21gp – 3.5 (2.9)
Florida 23gp – 3.5 – (3.3)
Dallas 21gp – 3.4 (3.6)
Vegas 23gp – 3.4 (3.3)
Colorado 23gp – 3.4 (3.7)
New Jersey 25gp – 3.4 (3.2)
NYR 21gp – 3.3 (3.4)
Vancouver 21gp – 3.2 (3.4)
Minnesota 22gp – 3.2 (3.1)
Ottawa 22gp – 3.2 (3.1)
Buffalo 22gp – 3.0 (3.0)
Toronto 22gp – 3.0 (3.7)
Los Angeles 23gp – 3.0 (3.1)
Edmonton 22gp – 2.9 (3.6)
Philadelphia 23gp – 2.9 (2.9)
Montreal 22gp – 2.8 (2.9)
Seattle 23gp – 2.8 (2.7)
Utah 22gp – 2.7 (3.1)
Calgary 23gp – 2.7 (3.1)
Pittsburgh 24gp – 2.7 (3.1)
Anaheim 21gp – 2.6 (2.5)
Chicago 22gp – 2.6 (2.2)
NYI 23gp – 2.6 (3.0)
San Jose 25gp – 2.6 (2.2)
Detroit 22gp – 2.5 (3.4)
St. Louis 24gp – 2.5 (2.9)
Nashville 23gp – 2.4 (3.3)
Boston 24gp – 2.4 (3.3)
Since I did the goals for comparison, here are the goals against (worst to first) with last season’s 82-game average in brackets -again, some interesting trends (e.g. Washington, Toronto)
Pittsburgh 24gp – 4.0 (3.1)
Montreal 22gp – 3.8 (3.5)
Columbus 21gp – 3.7 (3.7)
Colorado 23gp – 3.7 (3.1)
San Jose 25gp – 3.6 (4.0)
Philadelphia 23gp – 3.5 (3.2)
Florida 23gp – 3.4 (2.4)
Vancouver 21gp – 3.2 (2.7)
Ottawa 22gp – 3.2 (3.4)
St. Louis 24gp – 3.2 (3.1)
Tampa 21gp – 3.1 (3.3)
Utah 22gp – 3.1 (3.3)
Edmonton 22gp – 3.1 (2.9)
Nashville 23gp – 3.1 (3.0)
Boston 24gp – 3.1 (2.7)
Anaheim 21gp – 3.0 (3.6)
Buffalo 22gp – 3.0 (3.0)
Vegas 23gp – 3.0 (3.0)
Chicago 22gp – 3.0 (3.5)
Detroit 22gp – 3.0 (3.3)
NYI 23gp – 3.0 (3.2)
NYR 21go – 2.8 (2.8)
Seattle 23gp – 2.8 (2.9)
Los Angeles 23gp – 2.8 (2.6)
Washington 22gp – 2.7 (3.1)
Vegas 23gp – 2.7 (3.0)
Calgary 23gp – 2.7 (3.3)
Carolina 22gp – 2.6 (2.6)
Toronto 22gp – 2.6 (3.2)
New Jersey 25gp – 2.6 (3.5)
Minnesota 22gp – 2.5 (3.2)
Winnipeg 23gp – 2.4 (2.4)
The above more or less bears out my opening rant when I say, even after all the organizational changes with the Senators, that the on-ice difference in their results is negligible
Last season, over the course of 82 games, they averaged 3.1 goals per game – so far this season it’s 3.2.
On the defensive side, despite the upgrade in goaltending and changes made to the D and bottom 6 Fs (supposedly to tighten up overall defensive play), they’ve gone from 3.4 goals against per game over 82 games last season, to 3.2 so far this season after 22 gp. Again, negligible.
Necas has always gotten a raw deal in Carolina ever since Dundon let his ego do the Kotkaniemi offer sheet.
Forced him to let some players go and undercut some others like Necas who until this year has been paid millions less.
His performance was always there but management kept calling him deficient while asking the moon in trades.
Frankly I think Necas would perform at a higher level and earn more anywhere else.