NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 5, 2024
Recaps of Wednesday’s games, the rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off are revealed, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews scored two third-period goals to lead his club to a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. William Nylander scored what proved to be the winning goal and Mitch Marner collected three assists. Jonathan Marchessault and Mark Jankowski scored for the Predators, who are winless in five straight games (0-2-3).
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Tennessean’s Alex Daugherty indicates the Predators are on pace for their worst season in franchise history. “Winning” the offseason by signing three of the summer’s top unrestricted free agents (Marchessault, Steven Stamkos and Brady Skjei) hasn’t translated into wins on the ice thus far.
The Boston Bruins got two goals each from Brad Marchand and Morgan Geekie to double up the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2. David Pastrnak collected two assists for the Bruins as they extended their win streak to three games. Alex Vlasic and Jason Dickinson replied for the Blackhawks, who’ve dropped four straight.
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore tallied twice in a 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Jack Eichel, Tomas Hertl and Victor Olofsson each collected two assists. Jackson LaCombe scored the Ducks’ only goal.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ducks forward Trevor Zegras left the game early in the second period after injuring his left leg. He had surgery on his left ankle after breaking it in Nashville last year. Zegras will undergo further tests today.
Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler returned to action after missing a month with an upper-body injury. Before the game, they placed blueliner Urho Vaakanainen (upper body) was placed on injured reserve.
The Los Angeles Kings erased a 2-0 deficit to nip the Dallas Stars 3-2. Warren Foegele tallied the winning goal and also collected an assist on Tanner Jeannot’s goal which started the comeback. Joel Edmundson also scored and David Rittich stopped 26 shots for the Kings’ fourth straight victory. Wyatt Johnston and Mason Marchment scored for the Stars as their three-game win streak was ended.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Stars announced Tyler Seguin will undergo surgery on his left hip this week and will be sidelined for four to six months. The 32-year-old forward had 20 points in 19 games this season.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: The rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off were announced on Wednesday. The tournament will be held Feb. 12-20 at the Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston.
Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby and Cale Makar headline the roster for Team Canada.
Team USA features brothers Brady and Matthew Tkachuk and Jack and Quinn Hughes.
William Nylander, Filip Forsberg and Victor Hedman are among the notable stars skating for Team Sweden.
Team Finland will be led by Aleksander Barkov, Mikko Rantanen and Sebastian Aho.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Follow the links above for the full rosters of each club.
Team USA must be considered the favorite to win this tournament. Deep at every position, they will be the dominant club in this series.
Canada has plenty of offensive punch but their goaltending is the weakest among the four teams and their blueline isn’t as deep as the Americans.
The Swedes have solid defensive depth and good goaltending but lack the firepower of the Americans and Canadians.
Finland is strong at the center position and could steal some games if goaltender Juuse Saros rises to the occasion. However, they lack the overall depth of the other three clubs.
As always, predictions are for gypsies and this tournament could have a much different outcome. Nevertheless, I anticipate the Americans will emerge victorious.
TSN: The Minnesota Wild announced defenseman Jonas Brodin (upper-body injury), center Joel Eriksson Ek (lower body) and winger Mats Zuccarello (lower body) are listed as week-to-week. Forward Jakub Lauko (lower body) is day-to-day.
CALGARY SUN: Flames forward Justin Kirkland underwent season-ending knee surgery on Wednesday.
DAILY FACEOFF: Utah Hockey Club prospect Tij Iginla underwent successful hip surgery but will miss the remainder of the WHL season. A center with the Kelowna Rockets, the 18-year-old Iginla was chosen sixth overall by Utah in the 2024 NHL Draft. He has 32 points in 21 games this season.
TSN: Discussions between the NHL and NHL Players’ Association over a new collective bargaining agreement will begin in February 2025. The current CBA expires in September 2026.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The league and the PA have a contentious history in CBA talks. However, there’s a different vibe this time with hockey-related revenues growing and no serious issues derailing negotiations. It’s a positive sign that they’re opening talks so early, setting up the possibility of an agreement on a new CBA before the expiration of the current one.
Wanted to get this in before the 4 nations post! Felt for Conor Bedard after watching last nights game with Boston! Looks like a long climb for the Black Hawks becoming relevant again! When Crosby and Mcdavid were drafted that had help,Draistl in Edmonton and Malkin in Pittsburgh! This kid has a Bertuzzi who looks very disinterested and an over the hill Taylor Hall! That and the fact he is physically challenged leads to an uphill climb! He does remind me of Pat Lafontaine and todays Brayden Point!
Foligno shows up every night to show the kid but ya….this is not that Pittsburgh team. Mario out of retirement….some goalie named Fleury it was a perfect storm in Pittsburgh when Sid arrived.
Agree with lyle…the Americans are the team to beat and I don’t think anyone will beat them. I see them winning four straight and ending this thing pretty quick.
I guess the Tij Iginla news explains why he isn’t on Team Canada. But there sure are some other mystifying omissions. Hockey Canada overthinking as usual. So much for getting my Yakemchuk jersey.
As a Ranger fan, it’s shocking (laughable) that Kreider is on the USA squad. His only remaining skill is tipping pucks on the PP, but no way he is getting PP time on a roster like this. Maybe him and Trocheck are the designated penalty killers?
Troocheck at least is always engaged… kreider is nothing unless the puck is coming at him in front or on a rush……
Over the last 3 seasons only two American players have more goals than Kreider.
Over the last 5 years only Mathews sits above Kreider in goals.
He can play Pp, PK , why doesn’t he belong again?
And who cares how they go in?
If they won a tournament on a tipped pp goal does it not count?
Over the last 2 years he has 23 esgs and 22 pp goals . I’d say he’s just fine on es.
The tournament is being played now not last year. Kreiders game has certainly slipped this season. I would have put Caufield on the team instead of him.
For that matter, Canada should have found a place for Suzuki. Hopefully they’ll be next up if/when someone is hurt.
Pretty much everyone in NY is struggling. That being said he’s still on pace for about 40 goals.
This is not a John Scott moment.
Kreider has not fallen off a cliff by any means.
I watch a bunch of games and he has not been impactful. He has 0 assists, he’s not making plays. At even strength he has 4 points (goals) in 21 games played.
If the puck doesn’t hit his stick and bounce in on the PP, he doesn’t really contribute this year. He’s a big reason the Ranger’s production is down overall.
And on this 4 Nations team, he’s not getting PP time over the Tkachuks, Matthews, Hughes, Miller, Eichel, Guentzel, Connor, etc, so what does he really bring to the table?
Yes CO, he’s on pace for nearly 40 goals and we’re both matching him assist for assist. His overall game has dropped. Caufield would have been a better choice
Foleyd,
I watch every game. Id disagree. The team overall is grossly underperforming. The assist thing is a bit of concern.
But again, he will be fine. The guy is a competitor. He literally said “I’ll scrub the floors if that’s what they want me to do” to be a part of this group.
Howard, as we’re seeing from multiple posts, someone is always going to question why this player wasn’t selected and this player was selected.
Honesty, I’d take Thompson, Robertson , Keller over Caufield and Kreider.
Overall, this by far is the best roster the US has ever iced
Win or lose , I don’t think it will be because of, or in spite of any particular player more than likely on the bottom 6
I keep hearing Canada’s goalies are the weak spot. 2 are Stanley cup winners and 2 have won the world championships. Does either of the three other teams have this in net. Believe in the team as a whole unit.
If you had to stack rank the 4 nations by position, Canada would likely be 4th for goaltending.
I disagree with Lyle about the defense. Team Canada has a solid and deep defense featuring players who can skate, defend and score. Team USA has some defenders who have struggled and aren’t as good skaters.
Agree on the goalies though. Calling Canada’s goaltending subpar would be an understatement. That’ll be the key. If whoever claims the starting spot plays well, Canada will win the tournament. If not, they’d better hope McDavid, Sid and the guys up front can work magic.
Re; Team Canada
I was Really shocked at who they picked as the 3rd goaltender…‼️
in
Sam Montembeault…..GA, 2.99 SV% 0.901 this year has looked Very Very inconsistant
Over the past 4 years his numbers have not been good, 3.40 GA, per game & 8.95 SV%….😩
i thought for sure it would be Adin Hill and or Logan Thompson as the 3rd goaltender for sure,
They both have better numbers and are playing better than Montembeault this season,
was think about our Stu Skinner but he has also not played that well ether, he starts playing better mid November onward…
They probably selected him because he played great at the World championships. 1.42 gaa, .939 save% over 7 games.
Premier, that was against inferior competition. He has been quite inconsistent. He’ll look like Ken Dryden for a few games and then Andre Racicot for a few. Logan Thompson would’ve been a better choice.
perhaps Montembeault may have been selected for good optics. Half the games are being played in Montreal, he is the only Hab and francophone on the team.
He was in the mix of top 5 goalies but the fact that Suzuki was not selected pushed into the top 3 IMO.
Or maybe it’s because he has international experience, having backstopped Canada to gold at the 2023 World Championships…
Not the same calibre of talent at the World’s but you have a good point.
Can’t wait to see what the lines will be going forward. There’s a lot of mixing and matching for all four teams to make this tournament exciting. It would have been nicer to have more than the four nations tho.
Capitals is the only team in the NHL that doesn’t have a player in 4 nations rosters. This is ridiculous. They have second best points percentage.
Looking at the roster I’m struggling to see a player that would bump anyone off the American or Canadian teams. Or that wouldn’t be down the line from other notable players that were “snubbed”.
Studying this roster for the last 15+ minutes, I can’t come up with a single player that is a good candidate and deserved more consideration than the players selected.
Capitals record aside, who would these players be and who are you bumping to get them on a roster?
I am probably in the minority here, but I really struggle to care at all about this 4 nations thingy.
If it were in place of the All Star Weekend crap I would maybe be more behind it.
Oh well. It is what it is.
It is replacing the all stars this year.