NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 3, 2024
The Panthers sweep the Stars in the 2024 Global Series, more multipoint performances for Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar keep their point streaks alive, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Third-period goals by A.J. Greer and Sam Reinhart lifted the Florida Panthers over the Dallas Stars 4-2 to sweep their two-game NHL 2024 Global Series in Tampere, Finland. Reinhart finished with two points and Spencer Knight made 23 saves as the Panthers picked up their fifth straight win. Evgenii Dadonov and Matt Duchene replied for the Stars.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Stars forward Tyler Seguin missed this game with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (NHL Images).
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin had his third straight multipoint game with a goal and two assists in a 7-2 thrashing of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Dylan Strome also had a goal and two assists while Connor McMichael tallied twice for the Capitals, who moved into first place in the Metropolitan Division with 16 points (8-2-0). Damon Severson and Kevin Labanc scored for the Blue Jackets.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ovechkin now has 859 career regular-season goals and needs 36 to break Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894. The Capitals announced before this game that defenseman Jakob Chychrun (upper body) was placed on injured reserve.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby scored two goals for the second straight game to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1. Alex Nedeljkovic got the win with 25 saves. Christian Dvorak scored the only goal for the Canadiens, who have lost three straight games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Crosby needs three more goals to reach the 600-goal plateau. Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky left the game late in the third period after being elbowed in the head by Penguins forward Noel Acciari. There was no immediate update regarding Slafkovsky’s injury.
The Canadiens’ charter flight home was grounded when a tanker truck collided with the wing of the aircraft as it sat on the tarmac. The accident took place during the game and no injuries were reported.
The Nashville Predators got a goal and an assist each from Steven Stamkos, Roman Josi and Gustav Nyquist as they downed the Colorado Avalanche 5-2. Avalanche stars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar also each had a goal and an assist, extending their season-opening point streaks to 12 games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Avalanche have lost three straight despite the efforts of MacKinnon and Makar. Goaltending remains their Achilles’ heel, giving up a league-leading 4.25 goals-against per game.
St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko scored two goals and collected an assist in a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jordan Binnington kicked out 35 shots for the Blues. Mitch Marner and Steven Lorentz scored for the Leafs.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This game was the first for Leafs coach Craig Berube against his former club in St. Louis. The Blues honored him with a video tribute while the fans gave him a standing ovation. Blues defenseman Philip Broberg left the game in the second period after injuring his right leg following a collision with Marner. There was no postgame update regarding his condition.
Boston Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo made 20 saves to shut out the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0. Matthew Poitras, Justin Brazeau and Brad Marchand scored for the Bruins. Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson left this game in the first period with a lower-body injury and didn’t return. The club didn’t provide a postgame update.
The Ottawa Senators got a 22-save shutout performance from Anton Forsberg in a 3-0 win over the Seattle Kraken. Adam Gaudette, Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle tallied for the Senators. Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer turned aside 20 shots.
Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin scored both of his club’s goals in a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres, snapping a three-game losing skid. Red Wings netminder Cam Talbot stopped 31 shots. Alex Tuch scored for the Sabres as they’ve dropped three straight.
A shootout goal by Ryan Donato lifted the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-3 upset of the Los Angeles Kings. Blackhawks forward Tyler Bertuzzi scored the tying goal that sent the game into overtime and the shootout rounds while Hawks goalie Petr Mrazek made 37 saves in regulation and OT. Alex Laferriere scored twice for the Kings.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Laferriere is on track for a breakout sophomore campaign. After netting 12 goals and 23 points in 81 games last season, he has eight goals and 11 points in 12 games thus far.
The Vegas Golden Knights nipped the Utah Hockey Club 4-3 on an overtime goal by Brett Howden. Noah Hanifin had a goal and two assists for the Golden Knights. Utah’s Logan Cooley had a goal and an assist.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Golden Knights called up Akira Schmid to back up starter Adin Hill for this game.
Vancouver Canucks forward Pius Suter scored twice, including the game-winner with 26 seconds left in the third period, to give his team a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks, ending the latter’s three-game win streak. Jake DeBrusk scored his first of the season for the Canucks. Nico Sturm and Mikael Granlund replied for the Sharks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canucks placed forward Nils Aman on waivers Saturday.
IN OTHER NEWS…
SPORTSNET: The Islanders got bad news on Saturday as they learned forward Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech will be sidelined for four to six weeks with upper-body injuries. Barzal was placed on long-term injury reserve while Pelech was placed on IR.
The Islanders also announced defensemen Mike Reilly and Alexander Romanov are day-to-day with upper-body injuries. They called up blueliners Grant Hutton and Samuel Bolduc from their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport.
NEW YORK POST: Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey will make his season debut after recovering from a suspected shoulder injury suffered during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final on May 24. The Rangers have returned forward Matt Rempe to their AHL affiliate in Hartford.
Leafs now record the worse power play in the league
1/31
0-4 last night
10 games in , 20 games in , 82 games in … this team led by …
Matthews, Marner , Nylander are not examples , leading you to glory ..,
Something has to give , this formula is not working
Why not start with axing Mark Savard …
If it’s not now ,, inevitable , major changes in the off season
Ken, with players like Matthews, Nylander, Marner, Rielly, Tavares it’s really inconceivable as to how they can be sitting dead last when it comes to pp % success. Something fundamental has to be at work here, since the other significant aspect of their specialty teams – the pk – is ranked near the top at # 8 with an 83.3% effective rate (Edmonton is dead last here at 62.5%, while their pp isn’t much better at 13.3% for 27th spot), and it’s not as if the Leafs (or the Oilers for that matter) don’t have the pure shooters to be effective.
Where the leafs are concerned, adding to the dilemma is Berube’s refusal to at least try Robertson on the pp – never mind even on a regular shift.
I understand the concept of “you have to earn your ice time” — but if you’re not getting sufficient ice time to prove you ARE earning it, it becomes a classic Chinese puzzle. Sort of a “you can’t there from here” routine.
https://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/here_we_go_again_nick_robertson_and_the_maple_leafs/s1_16454_41166165
Quick links for anyone interested as to where their team of choice sits
Power Play % Leaders
https://www.espn.com/nhl/stats/team/_/table/offensive/sort/powerPlayPct/dir/desc
Power Play Goals Leaders
https://www.espn.com/nhl/stats/team/_/table/offensive/sort/powerPlayGoals/dir/desc
Penalty Kill % Leaders
https://www.espn.com/nhl/stats/team/_/table/defensive/sort/penaltyKillPct/dir/desc
Penalty Minutes Leaders
https://www.espn.com/nhl/stats/team/_/table/penalties/sort/penaltyMinutes/dir/desc
Hate to say it, but with all that talent they are bound to break out of their PP drought sooner rather than later……..probably against the Red Wings in a few days. 🤔
The problem with the Leafs power play is that it’s looked the same since Babcock’s second season there.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/maple-leafs-ugly-power-play-sinks-to-new-low-in-loss-to-blues/
Thanks for the links. Little reading to do after/during this game. 0-1 tonight to start.
Washington is another surprise team in the league this year! Have exceeded expectations this year! Wonder what effect Chycrun s injury will have!Ovi off to a good start!
Not sure George -Really frustrating , far from exciting to watch ..
Nylander standing there being interviewed with no shirt on , complaining about ice time ..
The team looks scrambled , disoriented out there … they are not finishing , perimeter hockey , easy to defend against ..
The core has to change , maybe Berube is not the guy, Mark Savard definitely is not !
Look at a team like Columbus, as per Shoreorrparks comment from last week
This team is on a mission !!!
Are they loaded with star players ???
Are they well lead by Sean Monahan
No me, me ‘s on that team ..
They show up to play as a whole , give their best , but sometimes not good enough because on paper – they are a very ordinary hockey team !
Matthews for sure is not his dominant self
He looked much better playing alongside Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi last year
Marner is on a contract year and has 2 goals to show for it , people though will rave about his assists total
Ken, I really don’t see the problems with their pp continuing … over 82 games every team will experience power outages over a stretch – even the top teams like Winnipeg and their 45.2% rating which also means they have failed 54.8% of the time.
Toronto is just experiencing their funk now, for some reason. They have too many snipers for that to continue.
I also doubt they’re even considering a coaching change – at least not at the top. We’re only 11 or so games into the season.
Toronto`s starting to look like a team with off ice issues. Not sure who`s idea it was to strip Tavares of the “C” and give it to Matthews, but it`s looking to be a bad call. Next is Marner`s contract situation, for a guy who trained with Sid and supposedly had something to prove, has proved he`s not worth what he gets now, never mind a raise. Even Matthews has commented on his lack of detail to the game aka effort. Clearly Marner`s not buying into Berube`s system and despite Berube`s claim of everybody`s going to be held accountable, they`re not.A bit of interference from above, probably. A past rumour had Dubas wanting to trade Marner and Shanahan nixed it. Clearly Marner is Shanahan`s pet and he should`ve been dealt with during the summer. Trevliing promised change and Berube promised accountability, neither promise is being kept. The reason??? In Toronto they`ve changed players and personnel, except for Shanahan and the core, but the problems persist. Shanahan seems to be the biggest problem, blocking any major change or accountability. Both Marner and Shanahan are looking for new contracts and I don`t believe either deserves one and they should`ve been dealt with last summer. Now we`re starting to see the results and it`s ugly
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Av’s don’t take a poke at trading for MacKenzie Blackwood at goal. Even though the Sharks have been less than good, Blackwood has played pretty well. Not sure if the Sharks would let him go, now that they’re showing some improvement, but it wouldn’t hurt for the Av’s to inquire. That would make some room for Askarov to come in as a back-up.
I believe 859 plus 35 would tie the record, not break the record. Either way, it’s inevitable now even if it takes 2-3 more seasons and 30 empty netters.
Well, so far this afternoon he has 1, bringing him to 860 career goals, and needing 34 more to tie Gretzky … or 35 to take the lead.
I bet he comes close this season – barring injuries.