NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 10, 2025
Sidney Crosby moves up the all-time points leader list as the Penguins reveal their Quarter-Century Team, Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski extends his home points streak, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPPING THURSDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby scored a goal and picked up two assists to move into ninth on the NHL all-time points list, leading his club over the Edmonton Oilers 5-3. Bryan Rust also had a goal and two assists and Alex Nedeljkovic kicked out 40 shots as the Penguins snapped a four-game winless skid (0-3-1). Leon Draisaitl tallied twice and Connor McDavid collected three assists as the Oilers’ win streak ended at four games.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Crosby has 1,643 career regular-season points, surpassing Hall-of-Famer Joe Sakic (1,641). He’s 80 points behind Penguins legend Mario Lemieux (1,723).
Crosby is also part of the Penguins’ First Team as they revealed their Quarter-Century Team, joining forwards Evgeni Malkin and Jake Guentzel, defensemen Kris Letang and Sergei Gonchar, and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
Lemieux was on the Second Team with forwards Phil Kessel and Chris Kunitz, defensemen Brooks Orpik and Brian Dumoulin, and goaltender Matt Murray.
Some might be surprised to see Lemieux on the Second Team. That’s because his greatest seasons were between 1984-85 and 1996-97 before he retired for the first time. He’d be on the First Team of the Penguins’ All-Time Greatest Team.
Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski extended his home points streak to 16 games with a goal and an assist in a 6-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken. Rookies Denton Mateychuk and Luca Del Bel Belluz also had a goal and an assist each as the Blue Jackets hold the final Eastern wild-card berth with 44 points. Eeli Tolvanen scored both Kraken goals as they’re winless in four games (0-3-1).
A hat trick by captain Jordan Staal carried the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs, snapping the latter’s five-game win streak. Jordan Martinook collected three assists and Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 30 shots for the Hurricanes. Nick Robertson, William Nylander and Auston Matthews scored for the Leafs.
The Dallas Stars picked up their sixth straight win with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Jason Robertson had two assists and Casey DeSmith made 27 saves as the Stars sit third in the Central Division with 53 points. Morgan Frost scored for the Flyers as they’re 0-3-1 in their last four contests.
A 30-save shutout from Ilya Sorokin allowed the New York Islanders to upset the league-leading Vegas Golden Knights 4-0. Brock Nelson scored and added an assist while Isles captain Anders Lee scored in his 800th NHL game. The loss snapped the Golden Knights’ three-game win streak, leaving them one point ahead of the Winnipeg Jets with 59 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sorokin became the third goaltender in Islanders history to reach the 20-shutout plateau, joining Glenn Resch (25) and Billy Smith (22). It shouldn’t take long before he surpasses those two.
Colorado Avalanche stars Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and an assist in a 6-1 drubbing of the Minnesota Wild. Logan O’Connor also had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche. Zach Bogosian tallied the Wild’s only goal as their four-game win streak ended.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Wild were without several key players as Kirill Kaprizov, Jared Spurgeon, Brock Faber and Jonas Brodin are sidelined by injuries.
An overtime goal by Sam Carrick (the first of his NHL career) lifted the New York Rangers over the New Jersey Devils 3-2. Igor Shesterkin made 21 saves as he returned from a four-game absence due to injury while Adam Fox had a goal and an assist for the Rangers. Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt scored for the Devils, who’ve dropped five of their last six.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Rangers also got some positive news about Filip Chytil. The upper-body injury he suffered on Tuesday against the Stars might not be as serious as originally feared. Chytil skipped practice on Wednesday but participated in the club’s optional skate on Thursday.
The Tampa Bay Lightning downed the Boston Bruins 4-1, handing the latter their sixth straight defeat. Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 11 of his 27 saves in the third period. Empty-net goals by Brandon Hagel and Brayden Point clinched the victory for the Lightning. Mason Lohrei scored for the Bruins.
Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 35 saves in a 4-0 blanking of the Ottawa Senators. Jack Quinn scored two goals and Ryan McLeod had a goal and two assists for the Sabres. The Senators have dropped six of their last seven games (1-5-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Senators fans booed their team off the ice following this contest. Before their current slump, they held the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth with a record of 18-13-2 (38 points). They’re currently three points out of that spot with a record of 19-18-3.
The Senators also lost winger Noah Gregor, who left the game with a lower-body injury.
Four straight first-period goals powered the St. Louis Blues to a 6-2 romp over the Anaheim Ducks, ending a two-game losing skid. Robert Thomas scored twice while Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich each had a goal and an assist for the Blues. Ducks goalie John Gibson replaced Lukas Dostal early in the second period after the latter gave up six goals on 22 shots.
IN OTHER NEWS…
TSN: Montreal Canadiens winger Patrik Laine remains sidelined with flu-like symptoms. His last game was on Dec. 31.
DETROIT FREE PRESS: Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Nashville Predators forward Luke Evangelista will be sidelined for four weeks with a lower-body injury.
DAILY FACEOFF: Utah Hockey Club recalled goaltender Connor Ingram from his two-week conditioning stint with their AHL affiliate in Tucson.
ESPN.COM: As Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin chases Wayne Gretzky’s goal record, Greg Wyshynski profiled Mike Knuble, the only NHL player to be a teammate of both men.
Shocked and Awed
Never would have envisioned Pens out to a 5-1 lead and hold off for a 5-3 win over Oilers
How did it happen?
Crosby/Rackel/Rust line firing on all cylinders ; AGAIN. They almost added a couple on top of their haul
Crosby fantastic ; 3 points (almost 5 or 6). Passed Sacik into 9th overall; could catch Mario (8th) by Christmas; and Yzerman -7th (and maybe Dionne -6th by end of 25-26)
Pettersson fantastic; especially on the late PK
Hayes/O’Connor/Puljaarvi shone. O’Connors best game all year
Nedjelkovic had his best game in a couple of years. Some 10 bellers in the closing minutes.
But another good reason for the result: finally Sully made some prudent ice time decisions. After Pens up 5-1; then giving up the 5-2 goal and Grzylcyk struggling defensively AGAIN! , Sully cut back his TOI considerably. He dropped Grzylcyk’s ice time by 4 minutes (from the Jackets’ game)
Big game Saturday vs Sens . A Pens Victory , coupled with a Panthers AND Jackets victory and the 2 Eastern WC spots are held by Metro teams …. WTF????😳
Oilers came out flat and blew D-zone coverage multiple times. Hey lets let them fire passes from behind the net to open guys in the slot! Tough plays for a tender.
Full credit to the Pens for taking full advantage and putting up a 4 spot in the 1st.
Too bad the B’s didn’t get that game from the Oil, although they probably don’t capitalize like the Pens did and lose anyway.
Teams have 3 game losing streaks, I dare say every team will have one this year. When you get up to 5 and 6, it starts to get ugly. If this goes on much longer it will get really ugly in Boston.
Maybe that’s a good thing? I dunno. I never for a minute thought they were a cup contender, but a playoff contender. Their record suggests they still are, but their play over last few suggest they are not.
The next 2 weeks will go a long way in determining if they will be sellers or not. Need to get out of the death spiral as once it starts and gets long like this, hard to get it back on track and get back into the race.
We’ll see, and I hear ya George, not fun watching the B’s right now either. At least the Sens have legit injury problems that are tough to overcome.
Every team gets injuries, Ray, and while losing Ullmark is clearly the most critical in their case, even had he been in net it’s tough to win when you don’t score a goal because your top players are in prolonged scoring slumps.
Frankly, I’m a bit surprised the Senators have not popped up in any of the talking heads’ trade suggestions. Right now, for the right return (which, hopefully, would include a 1st rounder to cover for that one they have to relinquish either this summer or next), I wouldn’t put ONE of them in the untouchable category, especially those headed for UFA status – Giroux $6.5 mil – Cousins $800,000 – Gaudette $775,000 – Forsberg $2,250,000 – RD Hamonic (when he gets back from IR) $1.1 mil
Ya George they do, but OTT has had it happen to key guys, and quite a few of them. B’s lost Lindholm for a long stretch, still gone. He’s there #2 D, but he’s also just one guy.
B’s have been relatively healthy.
Sens are still young in key areas too, the ups and downs are more frequent with young teams IMO. B’s don’t have that reason either.
Likely biased as I have always been a nervous Bruin fan, but I have more faith in the Sens getting going again than the B’s.
But hey, I’ve been wrong about the B’s before, like last year before the season started.
@ 8787 As I have preached to you over and over again the Penguins can and if (Dubas makes a good move or two) the Penguins can be a playoff of team. Great win over Edmonton !
Jarry needs to not play much period the rest of the year and he cost us a valuable point vs Columbus.
For all those doubters out there that Sidney Crosby won’t be one of the 5 best players all time when he finished are just stupid or jealous.
He will pass 1.800 points and 700 goals with three Stanley Cups gold medals many individual awards,
Sidney has missed 200 games due to that concussion and injuries time. Being that he has been a point a player his whole career he would have 1.842 points right now instead of 1,642.
Sid plays a 200 foot game, he wins faceoffs, scores goals, one of the best passers in the game ever, he just passed Mario in assists and is 88 points from passing him in points. Next year he will pass, Lemieux and Yzerman.
If Sid continues at this pace and stay he stays healthy after the next seasons he will pass Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Marcel Dionne and Ron Francis and be 5th all time in points..
He would be there already if not for that cheap shot hat caused him to miss over a year and 1/2.
look Mario maybe the best pure offensive player and talent the world has ever seen…says even Wayne Lemieux 1,723 in only 915 games.. He missed like 5 years due to back issues, cancer, retiring early for 3 years 1997-2000. Imagine if Lemieux played those three seasons at say 90 points he would be anywhere from 1.993 to 2,010 points.. wow
The things about Gretzky, Lemieux, Dionne, and now guys like Mc David Matthews and McKinnon they don’t really play much defense well almost none.
That’s what makes guys like Crosby Yzerman Messier so good all around players.
Anyway go pens !!!!
Agree with every word about Crosby, BnG.
But McDavid plays defense, maybe not at Crosby’s level, but better than the average C by quite a bit.
Yzerman did late in his career, but the best defensive C on that team was Federov. One of the best 2 way C’s of all time. Bergeron good defensively, maybe even better as he was such an elite skater.
Can’t speak to Matthews and Mac, don’t watch them enough, although folks were praising his defensive play last year, guessing that has continued.
You have good points BnG
But not re Jarry and McDavid.
McDavid is an excellent 200’ player.
If it wasn’t for Jarry, Pens’ don’t even get a point in the jackets’ game.
He was hung out to dry; again!
Jarry has been, is, and will be, a better goalie than Nedjelkovic,
Ned had a fantastic game last night. Best in 3 or 4 years. But his weak games and awful games outweigh his good games and the very rare (like last night) great game.
But overall, Jarry is the Best Pens’ goalie on staff , then Blomquist
People are ragging on him re shootouts, It should have been regulation wins by Pens; but overall rampant D Blunders left Jarry high and dry and OT then shootout prevailed
We repeatedly get let down by poor defensive play; and the worst is Grzylcyk.
Sully literally only sees his offensive numbers; and ignores his huge D mistakes. HUGE D mistakes.
Sully has been ignoring them all year….. until yesterday
Gryzylcyk was struggling defensively; AGAIN. Pens were up 5-1 and Grzylcyk repeatedly left his man open and/or turned puck over, etc etc; it was looking for sure like a definite Oil come back.
Then they scored the 5-2 goal and guess who was on the ice!
Finally Sully said enough is enough and cut Gryzylck’s minutes waaay back; giving them almost entirely to Petersson ; who was fantastic.
I’m hoping Sullivan continues this; see how well that little change works
We absolutely need another NHL rightie D-Man
This line up when healthy; gets Pens into playoffs
Crosby/Rackell/Rust
Malkin/Bunting/Tomasino
Glass/Beuvillier/Pulljarvi
Lizotte/Katchouk/Poulin
13th/14th Fwds: 2 of Bemstrom/Koivenen/Pomeronov
Letang /Pickering
Karllsson / Pettersson
*RD / P-O J
7th/8th: Graves and Hollowell
Jarry & Blomquist
* only outside (from Pens organization) player they need. More would be better; but literally only need 1 outside player as ling as current poor pens playrrs are sat/sent down. Almost (not all but almost) any NHL RD would do
If Sully continues with guys like Nieto etc; and gives back ice time to Gryzylcyk; while simultaneously Dubas fails to get an RD and ends up trading our best D-man (Pettersson); then playoffs will be. alas, but a dream
last night Oilers & Pen’s game
Stu Skinner looked like he was sleeping last night
he played terrible in the first 3–0 after the 1st 9.5 minutes of the 1st period….🙈
thats why they lost the game they should have pulled him after the 3rd goal….
Up until Buffalo made it 2-0 in Ottawa at the 13.17 mark of the 1st, I had been dividing my TV time between that game and the Notre-Dame-Penn State Orange Bowl game. After that goal I never went back to the hockey game. The Senators have now played Buffalo twice – at home – and have lost both by a combined 9-1. They are now 4-15-2 after giving up the first goal in a game. Josj Norris has now gone 13 games without a goal. For Pinto it’s now 7 games, Stutzle has scored 2 in 16 games and Batherson is up to 10 scoreless games and Gaudette 13. Chabot was a minus 4. All that at a cap cost of $33,800,000.
Boo them off the ice??? Hell, I’d have STONED them off the ice.
After the upcoming Pittsburgh (away)/Dallas (home) back-to-back they’ll be closer to last place than any WC hope.
But at least I got to see a thrilling 27-24 win by the Irish in the Orange Bowl. Now it’s the national championship game against the winner of today’s game between # 6 Ohio State and # 3 Texas Longhorns.
Horns down baby!!
Most “experts” among the pundits are calling for Ohio State to go all the way, and while I would love to see Texas stymie them, they need to overcome their season-long penchant for in-game stretches of offensive sputtering and blowing leads (hello Arizona State and the Peach Bowl).
@ Ray Bark.. Yes you are right Connor Mc David has played better defense than most offensive superstar….true
Also good call on Federov he was a two way monster for sure..as was Yzerman later in his career too.
I just have no idea what is up with the Sens… two coaches getting the same type of effort out of them.
Sometimes I wonder if some big trades need to happen… or at least one to scare the heck out of the others…
But at this performance lever, who the hell is going to want these guys?
I feel like there is a greater chance now that Greig has earned himself 4×3.5 million extension.
theSaint, as I said a few times over the past couple of months, it has become clear that the ongoing problem doesn’t have its roots in the coaching or the bottom-halves of the F and D rosters, but in inconsistent goalkeeping and the so-called core.
I agree – make a “stunning” deal and if that doesn’t work, clean house.
I hope to Hell Laine hasn’t somehow picked up HMPV – https://metro.co.uk/2025/01/10/hmpv-uk-worried-experts-weigh-22333369/
Holy crap! I didn’t get to see any of the Leafs-Carolina game last night since it was blacked out in our area with Ottawa playing at home (although that didn’t help the attendance as there were just over 16,000 in the building with 2,500 empty seats!)
So when I checked out the box score in that 6-3 loss I was somewhat taken aback by the +/- nights by Marner (0 1 -6), Matthews (1-0 -6), Knies (0 1 -5) and Rielly (0 0 -3).
I know +/1 isn’t viewed as the be-all and end-all when it comes to stats, but that was worth some eyebrow-raising. Was Woll somehow having trouble only when those guys were out there?
It took me a few seconds to figure out the name I know Glenn Resch by…
I have to chuckle with the Athletic`s article by Kevin Papetti, where he does the report card on the players performance in the Carolina game. The marks he gives the players is based on his opinion and he`s entitled to that opinion. What`s funny is the marks that he gives to the Matthews line who except Knies were on the ice for all 6 of Carolina`s goals. Marner -6, Matthews -6 and Knies -5. The marks he gave were Marner C-, Knies D and Matthews F. I`m amazed how Matthews is graded an F for his performance, while Marner only gets a C-. A person could cut Matthews a little slack because he`s clearly battling an injury which affects his performance, whereas Knies and Marner have no excuses. The reluctance to criticize Marner, Knies does get criticized, is astounding to say the least. Some fans from the Church of Marner/Matthews will go as far to say you`re not a Leafs fan if you say bad things about them. Matthews clearly is battling injures right now, the only thing Marner`s battling is laziness. That wasn`t the first game that the top line under performed, but it was the worst performance and there`s absolutely no accountability for their play. Marner still got almost 20 minutes of ice time. If Tavares or the bottom 2 lines put in a performance like that there`d be lynch mobs forming. The Church of Marner would be demanding their heads on silver palettes, how dare they play that bad. Oh well, I guess I`ll never be a member of their church. Hahahahahahahaha
Thanks for the viewpoint, Yogi. I posted in the other thread that the Leafs game was blocked out in the Ottawa area, and that I only saw the boxscore today and was a bit taken aback by the glaring +/- stats and was hoping someone who saw the game could shed some light.
Aside from the Matthews line George and a couple of softies let in by Woll, the rest of the team didn`t stink the joint out. Carolina`s got a good team and they can make anybody look bad on any given night. But the one thing they can`t do is make players look lazy, that`s self inflicted. The last leaf forward to post a minus 6 was Mike Bullard in 91-92 and he got roasted for that performance and he was never known to be defensive minded. Nylander and Tavares have been benched for a lot less, but when it comes to Marner there`s absolutely no accountability. Last year Keefe tried, Marner threw a hissy fit in the hallway and the next day Keefe had to apologize. As a team they played worse against Philly. Woll just wasn`t good enough to steal another one. I just wish I could be that bad at work and still be able to demand a raise
Any idea on when Stolarz might be back?
There`s nothing on his return, Woll made it sound like his return isn`t imminent. Says he`s really enjoying the increased workload
Actually, I posted in THIS thread – above. Sheesh, it’s hard to figure out which one you’re in at times – lol