NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 3, 2025
Recaps of Thursday’s action and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines
RECAPS OF THURSDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: The Colorado Avalanche overcame a 5-3 deficit to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 6-5 on an overtime goal by Devon Toews, who finished with three points. Nathan MacKinnon collected three assists, including setting up Jonathan Drouin for the tying goal with eight seconds remaining in the third period. Sabres winger Jason Zucker scored a hat trick and added an assist while Tage Thompson had three helpers.
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: MacKinnon leads the league with 64 points and is the first player this season to reach the 50-assist plateau. The Avalanche have won six straight games.
Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood suffered a lower-body injury in the third period following a collision with Sabres forward Zach Benson, who scored to make it 4-2. Avs head coach Jared Bednar was visibly angry with the officials for not whistling the play dead when it was apparent Wedgewood was hurt before Benson scored. Mackenzie Blackwood replaced Wedgewood for the rest of the game.
The Avalanche also played without winger Valeri Nichushkin. He’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Anaheim Ducks winger Troy Terry scored his second goal in overtime as his club upset the Winnipeg Jets 4-3. Terry finished with three points and Radko Gudas had a goal and an assist as the Ducks picked up their third straight victory. Mark Scheifele tallied his 23rd goal of the season while Alex Iafallo had a goal and an assist for the Jets, who remain in first place in the overall standings with 56 points.
The Vegas Golden Knights picked up their seventh win in their last eight games with a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Mark Stone, Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin each collected two points for the Golden Knights as they sit one point behind the Jets in the overall standings. Tyson Foerster and Travis Konecny replied for the Flyers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Golden Knights placed winger Ivan Barbashev on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 17.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 871st regular-season goal but his club fell 4-3 to the Minnesota Wild. Matt Boldy scored the winner in a shootout and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 shots as the Wild have won four of their last five games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ovechkin is 24 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 regular-season goals. His Capitals picked up a point and hold first place in the Eastern Conference with 53 points. Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury suffered by a slew-foot from Nashville Predators forward Zachary L’Heureux, who received a three-game suspension for his actions.
The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Florida Panthers 3-1. Jaccob Slavin snapped a 1-1 tie and Martin Necas added an empty-netter to seal the win. Anton Lundell scored for the Panthers, who got a 37-save performance from goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. They’ve lost three of their last four games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hurricanes forward Tyson Jost missed this game as he was sent back to Raleigh for treatment for an injury suffered during Tuesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz tallied twice in a 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators. Matt Duchene had a goal and an assist while goalie Jake Oettinger faced only 13 shots as the Stars picked up their third straight win. Senators captain Brady Tkachuk had a goal and an assist as his club has dropped three of their last four contests and cling to the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth with 40 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Senators welcomed back defenseman Artem Zub as he returned to action after missing 16 games with a broken foot.
Toronto Maple Leafs winger Bobby McMann scored twice as his club nipped the New York Islanders 2-1. McMann got the tiebreaker with 2:59 remaining in the third period while Joseph Woll stopped 32 shots as the Leafs lead the Atlantic Division with 50 points. Scott Mayfield scored for the Islanders as they’ve lost four of their last five games.
The Vancouver Canucks regained the final Western Conference wild-card spot (44 points) with a 4-3 shootout victory over the Seattle Kraken. J.T. Miller scored the winning goal for the Canucks while Kevin Lankinen replaced Thatcher Demko after the latter left the game with back spasms in the second period. Matty Beniers and Vince Dunn each collected two points, including goals as the Kraken overcame a 3-1 deficit to tie the game in the third period.
Utah Hockey Club forward Lawson Crouse netted two goals in a 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames, who slipped one point behind the Canucks in the Western wild-card race. Blake Coleman had a goal and an assist for the Flames. The win was Utah’s first in five games (0-4-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Utah forward Matias Maccelli missed this game due to illness.
New York Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick kicked out 32 shots for his 399th career NHL win to backstop his club over the Boston Bruins 2-1. Mika Zibanejad and Brett Berard scored for the Rangers as they snapped a four-game losing skid. Elias Lindholm scored for the Bruins, who’ve dropped three of their last four contests.
The San Jose Sharks upset the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1. Yaroslav Askarov turned aside 24 shots for the win while Tyler Toffoli and Mario Ferraro scored for the Sharks as they snapped an eight-game losing streak. Anthony Cirelli replied for the Lightning.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic made his season debut after being sidelined with an upper-back injury since training camp.
Detroit Red Wings forward Jonathan Berggren scored with 36 seconds remaining in the third period in a 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Alex DeBrincat had a goal and two assists while Dylan Larkin and Patrick Kane scored a goal and an assist each for the Wings, who’ve won three straight. James van Riemsdyk and Zach Werenski each collected three points for the Blue Jackets.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Blue Jackets Quarter-Century Team was unveiled yesterday.
Werenski, Seth Jones, Rick Nash, Artemi Panarin, Cam Atkinson and Sergei Bobrovsky were named to the First Team. Johnny Gaudreau, Boone Jenner, Nick Foligno, David Savard, Fedor Tyutin and Steve Mason made up the Second Team.
When you’re playing in the home barn of one of the stingiest defensive teams in the NHL, and a goalie like Oettinger, one way or another you HAVE to produce more than 13 shots total. And that was with having 5 pp chances!! That was just ridiculous. Not that Dallas deluged the kid Merilainen in the Senators’ net – 25 shots is hardly a barrage – but it was more than enough in a 4-2 win.
Meanwhile, at the Junior Worlds in Ottawa, Canada is out again at the hands of Czechia while one of the top offensive D in all of Major Junior wasn’t even invited to the tryout camp (along with a couple of other top-ranked Juniors). Looks good on them. Hockey Canada THINKS they have knowledgeable people running the program but in reality couldn’t pick strawberries. The U.S., on the other hand, gets it right.
There is always alot of arm chair GMing when Canada creates a roster but has there ever been a situation where the arm chair GMs likely would have done a better job? The omissions were immediately baffling to even the most casual jr fan.
Remember when we use to take the best players each year? That use to work well for us more often than not. No idea what their concept or thought process is these days. Imagine being a jr player and exceeding the ranks of your peers and not even getting a camp invite…ouch
Agreed. They went into that tournament without Beckett Sennecke, Michael Misa, Andrew Cristall, Carter Yakemchuk, Zayne Parekh and Michael Hage. I can understand one or two of them not making the cut but all six? No wonder Canada struggled to score! Not one Canadian player made the top-25 scorers in this tournament.
And so glaringly true despite the credentials of the observer.
As of this morning:
Michael Misa LW Saginaw Spirit (defending Memorial Cup winners) 30g 29a 59 pts in 33gp
Zayne Parekh RD Saginaw 12g 29a 41 pts 31gp
Carter Yakemchuk RD Calgary Hitmen 13g 20a 33 pts 29gp
Beckett Sennecke RW Oshawa Generals 24g 28a 52pts 31gp
Michael Hage C – U. of Michigan 10g 8a 18 pts 15gp
I missed listing LW Andrew Cristall of the Kelowna Rockers above – 24g 33a 57pts in 26gp!!
George
I will trade you some of the bruins SOG. For a few goals. As we have lot of shots lol
Mind-boggling stuff from those 2 teams Mrbruin4.
Junior team Canada.
They laked. fire power from the Front & backend
We missed big Carter Yakdemchuck and offensive dynamo Zyane Parekh or RD
Up front
#3 pick RW, Beckett Senneche
#6 pick Tij Iginla, winger/C
#16 pick Sam Honzek
Just to name a few……❗️❗️❓
The coach looks lost most Games 🤔🤔
Iginla is out for the season I think Willie, hip surgery. Lidstrom the 4th overall pick last year as well.
But that’s all the more reason to bring the other high end offensive guys.
The team performed exactly how one would expect, defended well at 5 on 5, couldn’t finish as they had the lowest shooting % in the tourney. Also their PP looked disjointed all tournament.
Too many penalties as well. They came back to tie it, were dominating them, and another stupid penalty with a couple minutes left. They give one up on the PP, see ya next year.
Ray, Cameron has looked lost behind the 67s bench all season! If he’d had any gonads he would have been questioning the invites right from the get-go. But, no, he’s a “company man” and so won’t rock the boat.
Hockey Canada is essentially useless from top to bottom, epitomized by their smarmy behavior and handling of that still smoldering sex scandal in London, Ontario.
Hockey Canada allegedly went with “role” players, whatever that was supposed to mean. The same idiotic thinking used by HC when Rob Zamuner was picked for another bust, the 1998 Men’s Olympic Hockey team. And having Gretsky on the bench during the shootout loss.
If it helps, I was cheering for Boston.
On another topic again, last night San Jose became the 2nd team after NJ to reach the 41-game half-way point.
Tampa, meanwhile, played their 35th – least of all in the league – and won’t play their 41st until January 12. By then, both NJ and SJ will have played 45.
Craig Simpson said it best last night to the Isles fans: “Let it go”. LOL 7 years later and still booing a guy who many if not all stated how bad this signing will be in the final years! I mean I would take a player producing at a point per game pace at 36 as aging poorly any day all day.
That’s why you guys are still booing him, right? He could have been that point per game player for you but since he’s not…boooooo! 🤣🤣🤣
After seeing NYs odds of making the playoffs (2.7% as of today) and their odds of picking #1 overall (7% as of today) I think they should be shooting for the more realistic goal. I say keep it exactly like it’s going.
They’ve already lost the Kakko and Trouba trades. Move up in the draft and deal with trades in the offseason imo.
Seems like a reasonable way to look at it Captain, considering the situation. Gotta say 2.7% is less than I would have guessed.
I agree offseason would seem like the better time to make trades, and the TDL for their pending UFA’s. Smith, LIndgren and even Quick if he plays well should have some value.
Send Dolan an email.
If I were the Sabres GM, I’d release Benson. It’s better to lose without him than … lose with him. Such a trashy play.
Buffalo Saberes Need a NEW GM,
by Mid April.
Tto Start with dont let Adams do any more Trade’s as he is just going to Mess Things Up
even more, 13 re-building years is Enough….
Buffalo UFA’s
That are Trade Bait, for A playoff team,
Buffalo can Also Retain Salary as they have LOTS of Cap space this year….
1–Henri Jokiharju, 26 yr RD, is a UFA $3.65M
2–Jordan Greenway 27yr, LW is also a UFA $3.M
And A 2nd Or 3rd round pick to trade with they
They have lots of Prospets…4XLD & only 1 RD prospects Coming up……..🙈👎
They should package all 3 of the above To get a good Top RD Man….❓
Then
pick up a an other Top 4 RD-man when the UFA period kicks in,
They have way to manny young LD men on the NHL Roster….❗️
UFA Like
RD, Aaron Ekblad, 6.ft4 & 216lb
or
RD, Neal Pionk, 6ft, 29yr old
—Jason Zucker,LW 32 is also a ufa, they should Re-sign him for his leadership and Scoring