NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 14, 2024
The Senators upset the Hurricanes, injury updates, the Islanders put two players on waivers, an update on Robin Lehner, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark had a 32-save shutout to upset the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0. Shane Pinto scored twice and Nick Jensen also tallied for the Senators (30 points) as they move to within two points of a wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 19 shots for the Hurricanes, who’ve lost five of their last seven contests.
Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Score’s Josh Wegman observed the Hurricanes haven’t had an even-strength goal in three straight games. Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho has been struggling to score this season with just seven goals in 29 games.
On Friday, Senators center Josh Norris was fined $2,000.00 by the league’s department of player safety for embellishment during a Dec. 5 game against the Detroit Red Wings.
DAILY FACEOFF: The Minnesota Wild placed defenseman Jake Middleton on long-term injury reserve with an upper-body injury. He underwent surgery on Friday.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Wild claimed defenseman Travis Dermott off waivers from the Edmonton Oilers as a short-term replacement for Middleton.
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Speaking of the Oilers, defenseman Evan Bouchard is considered “50-50” to play in Saturday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Bouchard was injured late in Thursday’s game against the Wild when he was knocked into the net by forward Ryan Hartman late in the game.
NEW YORK POST: Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller (upper body) was placed on injured reserve. He’s expected to be sidelined for at least a week and won’t join the team for its upcoming three-game road trip.
DETROIT HOCKEY NOW: Red Wings goaltender Cam Talbot left practice on Friday with a lower-body injury. The Wings recalled netminder Jack Campbell on an emergency basis to back up Ville Husso.
TORONTO SUN: Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The Leafs recalled Dennis Hildeby on an emergency basis.
NYI HOCKEY NOW: The Islanders placed forwards Pierre Engvall and Oliver Wahlstrom on waivers. The moves come with sidelined forwards Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair and defenseman Adam Pelech poised to return to the lineup.
SPORTSNET: Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner publicly opened up about his bankruptcy case. He disputed reports claiming he and his wife were no longer responding to lawyers involved in the case and dropped out of sight after vacating their Las Vegas home.
Lehner called those reports “fake”, claiming communication with his lawyer stopped after he could no longer continue paying him and accusing the lawyer of lying to the court. The netminder said he wasn’t looking for sympathy but had gone through some personal problems he wasn’t ready to divulge. He also blamed the media for sensationalizing his situation.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lehner wouldn’t comment about the future of his playing career. He last played in 2022. His contract, which expires at the end of this season, no longer counts against the Golden Knights’ salary cap.
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: Speaking of the Golden Knights, they signed forward Keegan Kolesar to a three-year contract with an average annual value of $2.5 million.
THE GUARDIAN: Former NHL coach Gerard Gallant was named head coach for Team Canada at the upcoming Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. His assistant coaches will be Dave Hakstol, Mike Kelly and Johan Lundskog.
DAILY FACEOFF: The driver accused of hitting and killing Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew while intoxicated on Aug. 30 was indicted by a grand jury. He faces charges of second-degree reckless vehicular homicide, first-degree aggravated manslaughter, fourth-degree tampering with physical evidence, and second-degree leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
I thought Boston was going through a tough road schedule of 5 games ,then I looked at Ottawa s and saw they had a 3 week away schedule of 9 games! How can the NHL do this ?
Sr, that’s what happens when your home arena is taken up by a major tournament … in this case the World Juniors. Not only are they on the road for 9 games, it includes 3 back-to-backs, giving them 5 in the next month – starting tonight against Pittsburgh after winning in Carolina last night, and including another when they finally return home in early January.
Three surprises (for me at least) last night in that Ottawa win over Carolina.
First was the win itself since Carolina has been a graveyard for the Senators for several seasons.
Second was the fact it was a shut-out win (the first time the Hurricanes have been shut out on home ice this season), what with their high-powered offense led by Necas and Aho.
Third was learning that this, their 4th SO of the season, has them leading the league in that regard – 2 each by Ullmark and Forsberg.
So, what to expect now as they play their final home game tonight before heading out in a 9-game road trip?
One thing they clearly need is the start of more consistency from back-up Forsberg, who will probably be in goal against an improving Penguins tonight. I say that because, when they SO the Leafs in Toronto 3-0 on November 12, Green decided to keep Ullmark in nets for their next game – at home – against the Flyers on Nov 14 – which they lost 5-4 in OT with Ullmark giving up 5 goals on 24 shots.
I doubt Green goes back to Ullmark in this first of 5 upcoming back-to-backs. Forsberg, who has 2 of their 4 SOs, absolutely needs to settle in to some form of consistency. There can be no more repeats of games like that Dec 8 4-2 loss at home against the NYI during which the Senators held the Islanders to just 12 shots in total – 1 in the 3rd period (which turned out to be the winner) – with Forsberg allowing 3 goals (the 4th was an empty-netter).
Happy to see Pinto get the 19-game monkey off his back.
Re the Sen’s
it all starts with team confidence…
they look like they are playing in control during the last 2 games
Sen’s goaltender Linus Ullmark had a other good night with 32-save shutout to upset the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0.
Shane Pinto scored twice, i think with Pinto he need’s top lay with better player on the 2nd line and not 3rd line he has been on…..🤔
Now they are 2.points out of 7th&8th playof spot’s in then eastern confrence…. with a game in-hand over philly…
williew, they’ve been in control going back 5 games to the 2-1 win over Detroit on December 5, including, as I point out above, that Dec 8 loss to the NYI during which they held the Islanders to just 12 shots in total including 1 in the 3rd.