NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 15, 2024
Nathan MacKinnon is the first to reach 50 points this season, Leon Draisaitl extends his multi-point streak, David Pastrnak reaches a scoring milestone, and more from a busy Saturday night of action in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon became the first player to reach 50 points this season in a 5-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. MacKinnon scored two goals and collected an assist, Artturi Lehkonen tallied twice and Mackenzie Blackwood made 37 saves in his debut with the Avalanche. Steven Stamkos and Luke Evangelista replied for the Predators, who’ve dropped nine of their last 10 games.
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (NHL Images).
The Edmonton Oilers picked up their fifth straight win by defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 6-3. Leon Draisaitl netted his league-leading 22nd goal and added two assists to extend his multipoint streak to five games and Stuart Skinner made 38 saves for the win. Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin had two assists.
Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak had a goal and three assists in a 5-1 drubbing of the Vancouver Canucks. Pavel Zacha had a goal and an assist for the Bruins. Max Sasson tallied for the Canucks, who’ve lost three of their last four contests.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Pastrnak reached the 400-assist milestone in this game. Earlier in the day, the Bruins claimed forward Oliver Wahlstrom off waivers from the New York Islanders.
Los Angeles Kings forwards Adrian Kempe, Quinton Byfield, Warren Foegele and Alex Turcotte each had a goal and an assist as they downed the New York Rangers 5-1. Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin got the hook in the second period after giving up five goals on 21 shots as the Kings picked up their seventh win in their last eight games. Filip Chytil scored for the Rangers, who’ve dropped nine of their last 12 games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Former Rangers coach Mike Keenan told RG.Org that he believes the Rangers are built for success with the right goalie in Shesterkin to lead them to the Stanley Cup. Their performance in recent weeks suggests otherwise, so I’ll have more about the Rangers in today’s Sunday Rumor Roundup.
Four goals in the third period powered the New Jersey Devils to a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Dawson Mercer and Timo Meier each had a goal and an assist for the Devils. Jason Dickinson had the Blackhawks’ only goal.
Minnesota Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov scored twice to reach the 20-goal plateau as his club rolled to a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Mats Zuccarello and Jonas Brodin each collected an assist as they returned to the lineup. Travis Sanheim scored for the Flyers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Wild called up goalie Jesper Wallstedt on an emergency basis and placed forward Jakub Lauko on injured reserve.
An overtime goal by Brady Tkachuk lifted the Ottawa Senators over the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2. Thomas Chabot had a goal and an assist and Linus Ullmark got the win with a 25-save effort as a surprise starter after Anton Forsberg was injured in the warmup. Blake Lizotte and Kris Letang scored for the Penguins, who lost defenseman Marcus Pettersson in the first period to a lower-body injury. There was no postgame update about his condition.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The win vaulted the Senators over the Flyers into the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot. They’ve won seven of their last 10 games.
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jeff Petry tallied twice as his club doubled up the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2. Wings netminder Ville Husso stopped 23 shots for his first win of the season. Leafs winger Mitch Marner had two assists for the Leafs, who welcomed back winger Bobby McMann from his seven-game absence as he recovered from a lower-body injury.
Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson scored two goals in a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres, handing the latter their ninth straight loss (0-6-3). Dylan Strome snapped a 2-2 tie and John Carlson collected three assists for the Capitals, who sit in first place in the Eastern Conference standings with 43 points.
The Anaheim Ducks got two goals and an assist from Alex Killorn (including the winning goal in overtime) to nip the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3. John Gibson kicked out 39 shots and Jackson LaCombe had a goal and an assist for the Ducks. Kirill Marchenko, Cole Sillinger and James van Riemsdyk replied for the Blue Jackets, who’ve lost six of their last seven games (1-4-2).
An overtime goal by Matt Duchene lifted the Dallas Stars over the St. Louis Blues by a score of 2-1. Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist for the Stars while Jordan Kyrou scored for the Blues, who’ve lost three of their last four.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Cam Fowler wasted no time joining the Blues. Traded earlier in the day from the Ducks, the defenseman hopped a plane to Dallas and was in the lineup for this contest, averaging over 17 minutes of ice time. You can read my take on his trade by following this link.
Winnipeg Jets forwards Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi each had a goal and an assist in a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck stopped 26 shots for the victory as his club regained first place in the overall standings with 45 points. Canadiens rookie Lane Hutson scored his first NHL goal as his club lost for the third time in their last four outings.
Calgary Flames rookie goalie Dustin Wolf made 32 saves for his second shutout of the season to blank the Florida Panther 3-0. Mikael Backlund had a goal and an assist while Nazem Kadri and Blake Coleman also scored as the Flames picked up their third win in their last 10 games. Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov missed this game due to illness.
A power-play goal by Clayton Keller with 44 seconds remaining in the third period lifted his team to a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks. Keller, Nick Schmaltz, and Mikhail Sergachev each finished with two points for Utah HC (33 points), putting them within two points of the final Western Conference wild-card berth. Fabian Zetterlund had a goal and an assist and Vitek Vanecek stopped 36 shots for the Sharks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Sharks activated Will Smith off injured reserve for this game and placed forward Klim Kostin on IR.
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel scored twice to down the Seattle Kraken 5-1. Jake Guentzel had a goal and an assist to extend his points streak to six games while Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov each collected two points. Brandon Montour scored for the Kraken.
Well, at least the Senators are embarking upon their marathon 9-game road trip on a positive note with one of the 5 back-to-backs they will play through to Jan 12 both in the win column.
Thanks largely to Ullmark who was pressed into service in both games due to a mysterious injury suffered by Forsberg somewhere between getting dressed and the end of the warm-up. That one save he made on Crosby – who’s probably scored on 99 of a hundred similar chances from 4 feet out – was phenomenal.
He’ll now likely start in Seattle on Tuesday, and if Forsberg is out any length of time they’ll have to their relief faith in Levi Merilainen – who hasn’t been playing bad in Belleville at least.
You have to think he – or Forsberg if he’s out only short-term – will be starting 1 or 2 of the upcoming back-to-backs – Dec 21/22 vs Canuck and Oilers – Dec 28/29 vs Jets and Wild – Jan 2/3 vs Stars and Blues, and on Jan 11/12 in Pittsburgh and at home to Dallas.
Otherwise, they need to ride Ullmark as much as possible – and hope to Hell HE doesn’t get injured!
George O,it looks like crunch time for the Sens on this upcoming road trip!Their schedule is ridiculous,did they ask the NHL for some kind of adjustment on their schedule?How about Korpisalo and Lohrei for Batherson? Then you can trade Chabot?
Heh. Talk about a couple of canoes for a battleship! Lohrei, despite his size, is much like Power in Buffalo – Charmin soft. And Chabot – resurrected thanks to the steadying influence of Jensen – isn’t going anywhere.
As for their schedule, as I posted recently, that’s the price a team pays when their home arena is taken up for several weeks by a major international tournament.
It’s a tough stretch but while it could ultimately screw up their chances of making the playoffs, it could also be the making of them if they can come out of it no worse than .500. And they do have the overall talent to do just that.
Boston isn’t going to get any sort of help of that magnitude from Ottawa.
I don’t know George, a long extended away from home and all the noise plus being with your friends as a group will ultimately be beneficial to a still young team trying to gel.
The only hard thing is the disadvantage of line matching but from what I gathered here, the coach hasn’t been good enough at home to make that an advantage. I think like Sr alluded to, this upcoming schedule we will see what this team is made of.
I saw the Anaheim Columbus highlights and McTavish scores a clear goal gets knocked into the goalie after the puck is in the net and the referee calls goalie interference and disallows the goal. Columbus then scores on the ensuing pp. Horrendous call NHL refs are quickly becoming as bad as MLB umpires.
The goal was allowed. Puzzling call yes but the goal was allowed
Sen’s & Oilers
Sen’s look like they are starting to roll….3 & 0 in the last 3 convincing Win’s and 7-2-1 in the last 10✅
games climing into a playoff spot in the East….
if they are close or in 7th/8th
I see them going after a RD-man for the 2nd 3rd pairing to improve themself & deptth in that area….
Oilers….
An other Big Win for the Oilers last night….
A 6-3 over Vegas and 2 night earlyer 7-1 over the 2nd place Wild…❗️👌 Young stu Skinner is starting to Roll…..
Still lots of chatter Especaly on the Sports Raido about A 2nd paring RD man in Edmonton…
Sounds like its going to be last January/Febuaray time the pull the triger on a Trade…❓
Could even be a 3 way deal…..
its going to be one of the 3rd line players that totals $10.M on the 3rd line to free up cap space
even if the have A NTC they will figure out how to move them…… 🤔
After a three-game win streak, the Sabres’ winless streak hits nine games (0-6-3). That is disgusting, dishonorable, and disrespectful. They will need to find their game quickly against the Maple Leafs.
Some Sabres need additional in-game or complete game benchings for not winning.
Knight, at least you’ve been spared the sort of crap we’ve been hearing in Ottawa as to how Tkachuk. 7 years in, may be getting fed up with missing the playoffs and will soon seek a trade … with nothing to go on but their assumptions!
Why they haven’t zeroed in on Dahlin – also 7 years – and in Detroit – Larkin (8 years), is anyone’s guess.
Dahlin has much to learn as the captain for his team. He is setting a bad example when he is not playing better defense, not scoring goals, not throwing his teammates under the bus when they are underachieving, and not winning games.
Head Coach Lindy Ruff does not have a problem addressing problem players. He has benched Max Afinogenov and Drew Stafford for underachieving before, and increased the intensities of practice. He can and should do the same for present Sabres.