NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 1, 2025
The Blues defeat the Blackhawks in the Winter Classic, both clubs reveal their quarter-century teams, the Rangers get bad news about Igor Shesterkin and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF TUESDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: St. Louis Blues defenseman Cam Fowler scored two goals in his 1,000th NHL regular-season game, leading his club to a 6-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2025 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field before a sellout crowd of 40, 933 fans.
St. Louis Blues defenseman Cam Fowler celebrates a goal at the 2025 NHL Winter Classic (NHL.com).
Justin Faulk had a goal and two assists for the Blues (40 points), moving within three points of the final Western Conference wild-card spot. Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi replied for the Blackhawks as their losing skid stretched to five games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hall was among several Blackhawks who apologized to their fans for their poor performance in this game.
No offense to Chicago or the Blackhawks but I hope we don’t see them in any more Winter Classics for a while, or at least until they’re a competitive team again. This was their seventh appearance and the worst thus far.
The Winter Classic has become an afterthought. The league must consider new locations, teams, or formats to reinvigorate their annual New Year’s Eve outdoor game. They should also consider scaling back some of its annual Stadium Series games to focus more on the Winter Classic.
Edmonton Oilers superstars Connor McDavid collected two assists and Leon Draisaitl scored in a 4-1 victory over the Utah Hockey Club. McDavid and Draisaitl extended their points streaks to 12 games while McDavid moved past Mark Messier into third place on the Oilers’ all-time points list with 1,036. Jaxson Stauber stopped 34 shots for Utah.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Utah sent goaltender Connor Ingram to their AHL affiliate in Tucson on a conditioning stint. He’s working his way back from a lower-body injury that has sidelined him for 18 games.
The Washington Capitals remained in first place in the Eastern Conference by defeating the Boston Bruins 3-1. Aliaksei Protas scored two goals and Tom Wilson had two assists for the Capitals (52 points), who sit one point up on the New Jersey Devils. Justin Brazeau scored for the Bruins.
Speaking of the Devils, they dropped a 3-2 decision to the Anaheim Ducks. Ryan Strome tallied the tie-breaker with 3:24 remaining in the third period, finishing the night with two points. Lukas Dostal made 32 saves for the Ducks. Jonas Siegenthaler and Timo Meier were the Devils’ goal scorers as they’ve lost two in a row.
The Montreal Canadiens picked up their third straight victory by upsetting the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2, snapping the latter’s seven-game win streak. Vegas took a 2-0 lead on goals by Zach Whitecloud and Noah Hanifin but the Canadiens stormed back with unanswered goals from Cole Caufield, Emil Heineman and Kirby Dach.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Golden Knights sit second in the Western Conference standings with 53 points. Meanwhile, the Canadiens have won six of their last seven and sit three points out of the final Eastern wild-card spot.
Colorado Avalanche center Casey Mittelstadt scored the winning goal in a 5-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. It was Mittelstadt’s first goal in 19 games. Jonathan Drouin picked up two assists in his return from injury as the Avalanche collected their fifth straight win. Rasmus Kupari and Gabriel Vilardi scored and Eric Comrie stopped 33 shots for the league-leading Jets (55 points) as their win streak ended at four games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin left this game in the second period with a lower-body injury.
The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the New York Islanders 3-1. Steven Lorentz ended a 23-game scoreless drought with the game-winner while Joseph Woll made 30 saves to give the Leafs the win. Jean-Gabriel Pageau replied for the Islanders, who are 2-5-0 in their last seven contests. Isles forward Simon Holmstrom missed this game with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Islanders head coach Patrick Roy surprised everyone by pulling goalie Ilya Sorokin with 42.3 seconds while the faceoff was in his own zone. The Isles failed to clear the zone and John Tavares scored an empty-netter to seal the win for Toronto. Leafs captain Auston Matthews missed his fifth straight game as he deals with a nagging upper-body injury.
Minnesota Wild center Marco Rossi tallied twice and collected an assist while goalie Filip Gustavsson kicked out 43 shots in a 5-3 victory over the Nashville Predators. Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury. Colton Sissons, Jonathan Marchessault and Ryan O’Reilly scored for the Predators.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Predator forward Zachary L’Heureux received a match penalty for slew-footing Wild captain Jared Spurgeon during the second period. Spurgeon crashed heavily into the end boards and left the game with a lower-body injury.
The Dallas Stars doubled up the Buffalo Sabres 4-2. Jason Robertson led the way with a goal and two assists as the Stars are 6-3-1 in their last 10 and sit in the first Western Conference wild-card spot with 45 points. Jason Zucker and Beck Malenstyn replied for the Sabres as their three-game win streak ended.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Stars defenseman Matt Dumba returned to action after missing eight games with an upper-body injury. They loaned blueliner Lian Bichsel back to their AHL affiliate.
Calgary Flames center Nazem Kadri snapped a 1-1 tie and Jonathan Huberdeau netted the insurance goal to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1. Brock Boeser tallied his 14th goal for the Canucks, who are winless in five of their last six games (1-2-3). The win vaults the Flames (43 points) over the Canucks into the final Western wild-card berth.
Shootout goals by Kent Johnson and Adam Fantelli lifted the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-3 upset of the Carolina Hurricanes. Kirill Marchenko scored two goals, Sean Monahan had three assists and Elvis Merzlikins made 33 saves for the Blue Jackets as they’ve won three of their last four games. Sebastian Aho collected two assists for the Hurricanes, who are 1-2-1 in their last four contests.
Third-period goals by J.T. Compher and Dylan Larkin gave the Detroit Red Wings a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was their second straight victory under new head coach Todd McLellan, who collected his 600th NHL win. Drew O’Connor netted two goals for the Penguins (39 points), who remain one point behind the Ottawa Senators for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Penguins activated defenseman Marcus Pettersson (lower body) off injured reserve for this game and placed blueliner Kris Letang (lower body) on IR.
The Philadelphia Flyers blanked the San Jose Sharks 4-0, handing the latter their eighth straight loss. Samuel Ersson and Aleksei Kolosov combined for the shutout when Ersson left the game after the second period with an undisclosed injury. The goal scorers were Nick Seeler, Ryan Poehling, Travis Konecny and Egor Zamula. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 30 shots for the Sharks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The win puts the Flyers two points behind the Senators for that wild-card spot in the East. The Sharks placed forward William Eklund (upper body) on injured reserve.
IN OTHER NEWS…
NHL.COM: The Blackhawks and Blues revealed their quarter-century teams on Wednesday.
Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith were among the Blackhawks’ First Team selections while Hall-of-Famer Marian Hossa made their Second Team. Hall-of-Fame defenseman Chris Pronger and former Blues Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Pietrangelo highlight those who made the Blues’ First Team with Hall-of-Fame defenseman Al MacInnis among those on their Second Team.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Follow the links provided for the full lists. Many were no-brainers but there were a few interesting selections as well.
NEW YORK POST: The Rangers placed goaltender Igor Shesterkin on IR with an upper-body injury. The move ensures they’ll be without their starting goaltender for the next three games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This could be the death blow to the free-falling Rangers’ fading playoff hopes if Shesterkin is sidelined for a lengthy period.
The Habs and Senators are two of the three hottest teams over their past 10 games, joining Tampa Bay with 7 – 3 – 0 records and 14 of a possible 20 points – or a .700 pace. In terms of their records against CURRENT playoff and non-playoff teams over those 10 games:
Montreal is 3- with 14gf 8ga vs playoff teams and 4-2 with 24gf 16ga vs non-playoff teams.
Ottawa is 4-2 with 17gf 14ga vs playoff teams and 3-1 with 13gf-7ga vs non-playoff teams
Tampa is 3-2 with 19gf 11ga vs playoff teams and 4-1 with 21gf 12ga vs non-play off teams
The 10-game records for the other 13 Eastern teams are:
New Jersey 6-3-1 13 pts – .650
Tor, Fla & Wash each 6-4-0 12 pts – .600
Bost, Car & Pitt each 5-4-1 11 pts – .550
Columbus 4-3-3 11 pts – .550
Philadelphia & Detroit each 5-5-0 10 pts – .500
NYI 4-6-0 8 pts – .400
Buffalo 3-7-0 6 pts – .300
NYR 2-8-0 4 pts – .200
Correction: “Montreal is 3-1 with ….”
George O, so based on your statistical analysis who do you think will be the 8 playoff teams in the Eastern Conference!Which teams do you consider as disappointments!
Sr, I think 5 playoff teams from last season are “safe” in terms of making it again this season – barring unforeseen devastating injuries of course:
Toronto, Florida, Washington, Carolina and Tampa.
As for disappointments, the Rangers and Islanders, who finished 1st and 3rd in the Metropolitan last season, lead the way. I can’t see either salvaging this season, with the Islanders needing to climb over 5 teams and the Rangers 7, just to get to the last WC slot.
New Jersey, a non-playoff team last season, is clearly getting in, unless the wheels fall off suddenly. Don’t see that happening as they sit 1 game below the half-way mark of 41 with a 24-13-3 51pts record and a plus/minus aggregate of +31. They’re no flukes.
That would seem to leave one opening – currently held by Ottawa, but with 4 teams breathing down their necks (Pittsburgh, Columbus, Philadelphia and Montreal), all capable of upping their games even more over the 2nd half.
Hell, Buffalo – now last – is just 8 pts out of a WC spot, which tends to support my theory that, at the end, there will be fewer points between the last WC spot and last place (in the East) than we’ve seen in years.
Now the question of the Bruins. I suppose they can be considered a disappointment when you look at their offensive production – or lack thereof.
Of all the current playoff teams, their total of 102 goals (in 39 gp) is the lowest, with the next lowest being Ottawa with 110 (in 36gp).
Last season they potted 267 goals – an average of 3.3 per game. So far this season their average is 2.6 per game. That puts a LOT of pressure on the goaltending and D. Right at the moment, close to the half-way mark, in the Eastern Conference their 44 pts puts them closer to dropping out (5 pts ahead of Pittsburgh, with both having played 39 games) than to the top team (8 points behind Washington which has 2 games in hand).
I’m NOT predicting they will fall out … but I am suggesting they need an offensive infusion or it could become dicey.
George, would you consider a team losing their number one center and goalie not devastating to a team’s chances of winning games? 😜
I don’t think anyone ever saw what is happening in NYR land would be what most thought about Boston the past couple of seasons.
Everything looks pretty tight as even the teams lower in the standings are too far from getting in. Tighter standings in the eastern conferences are, to me, a sign of a strong conference where many teams are good enough to win any given night against any opponent.
Heh Ron – on most teams that would be a problem but (assuming you are talking about the Leafs) they have sufficient offense to withstand Matthews’ absence (in fact their pp looks better without him – go figure), and although the Stolarz situation isn’t ideal, Woll has been steady enough. Barring a deal, it looks like the back-up will consist of Hildeby and Murray with who starts depending upon the opposition.
Their next 10 games will certainly clarify their situation: @ NYI tomorrow; a back-to-back at home Jan 4/5 vs Boston and Philadelphia; then @ Philadelphia Jan 7 and Carolina Jan 9, then home for 3 straight – Vancouver Jan 11, Dallas Jan 14 and New Jersey Jan 16 before going to Montreal Jan 18 and Tampa Jan 18.
correction at the end above ” before going to Montreal Jan 18 and then home to Tampa Jan 20.”
Like Toe Blake once observed “predictions are for Gypsies” so I never go into predictions of any sort.
I will lay out established trends, coupled with turnarounds (either good or bad) over extended periods (e..g., ten game stretches) and who, mainly, they were established against, in determining how I think a team will finish, and where Ottawa is concerned I’ll wait until this 9-game road trip is concluded (still with a back-to-backs Thursday and Friday in Dallas and St. Louis, followed by a game in Detroit before finally returning home to face Buffalo – a young team that is showing signs of shaking off that horrible losing skid.
The Habs run is impressive in that the 3 straight wins were on the road against Florida, Tampa and Vegas.
Realistically it isn’t a sustainable record, more of a building block to be back in the mix next year.
Sens will be a playoff team this year and as well as they are playing, once Pinto gets back on track they will be even better.
playoff teams in the East this year. Leafs, Panthers, Lightning, Senators, Capitals, Devils, Hurricanes, Penguins
Habfan30,so you are advocating that Pittsburgh has a fountain of youth with their group! I ll take 5 teams from the Atlantic and your 3 from the Metropolitan,excluding Pittsburgh!
Correction needed. Caufield’s goal was in the second period. Heineman and Dach scored in the third.
Strong character win for the Habs in Vegas. In November, they lose this game 6-0.
I’m not concerned about a fountain of youth, the old guard know how and when to turn it up, Crosby shouldn’t be counted out in my opinion.
Dubas, despite the complainers has a history of tweaking while up against the cap.
Boston on the other hand is a shadow of what it was, the summer moves were bad when made and seeming worse.
Nobody to call up and Sweeney isn’t a guy who improves the team.
Boston has no pipeline, no trade bait to work with. Frederic? Lindholm? Zadorov?
habfan30, I wouldn’t count the Habs out of mounting a strong 2nd half surge to claw their way into a playoff spot.
Waiving the inconsistent Primeau and elevating the big kid Dobes (6′ 5″ 215 lbs), who has put up pretty impressive AHL numbers, solidifies their goalkeeping, and with $7,547,500 in cap space I can see them getting into the trade action to solidify bottom 6 F offense and/or 5 – 6 D.
I watched those 3 games against Florida, Tampa and yesterday in Vegas – no easy stretch for ANY team – and was very impressed by the overall cohesiveness.
Would love to see both Ottawa and Montreal get into the mix. My old-time – and long, long time – favourite – and my home town team.
To be fair George, Dobes had one good game and yes he was poised and made it look easy but AHL stats rarely define NHL performance.
Habs aren’t ready yet, still waiting for young RHD to come up.
Then again they just might move LD Matheson for a RD like Rasmus Andersson and they could make a run this year
I see in terms of RH vs LH D how this might fill a need for both teams but not sure I see that Andersson makes that much more impact than Matheson does now. Why do you think it will?
I do agree that this hot streak is promising, but not sustainable and that the playoffs are unlikely for the Habs. They are surely “the sum of the whole” and when players like Armia and Dvorak go the younger players who fill their spots will need time to learn the game.
We’re a few years out yet.
LJ,
Matheson is playing out of position filling a spot on RD and he’s getting burned every game, he is much better on his natural side.
Savard, Carrier and Andersson would solidify the Right side and the Left is ready as is.
Armia and Dvorak are UFA year end so can be re-signed, traded or let go and be replaced while the “young guys learn the game”
The core young guys are there at every position, being on the cusp of breaking through the team needs the right vets to mix in.
Ok. I get it.
Thanks.
What’s wrong with that? Far better than making them out of some sense of “my team can do no wrong” approach.
I don’t see a single quote from the Blackhawks’ players or organization saying that they’re sorry or that they apologize. Saying I feel bad for fans, that’s not an apology. If anything the league, Bettman down, should apologize for scheduling a lottery team in an alleged marquee event.
Speaking of terrible management by the NHL, how is it you still can’t buy 4 Nations jerseys? They could have made a killing over Christmas but they can’t tell up from down.
Heh. That last is the NHL in a nutshell Brock!
Happy New Year Everybody
Just to be clear, what I say is “in determining how I think a team will finish …”
I stress THINK which is a far cry from “how I predict a team will finish.”