NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – March 25, 2025
The Blue Jackets, Red Wings and Canucks collect crucial points in the wild-card races, the three stars of the week are revealed, a roundup of injury updates, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF MONDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: The Columbus Blue Jackets overcame 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to defeat the New York Islanders 4-3 on a shootout goal by Adam Fantilli. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 30 shots, Fantilli, Boone Jenner and Kirill Marchenko scored in regulation and Sean Monahan had two assists in his first game since being sidelined with a wrist injury on Jan. 7. Pierre Engvall, Kyle Palmieri, and Anders Lee scored for the Islanders.
Columbus Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli (NHL Images).
The win snapped a six-game losing skid for the Blue Jackets (73 points), leaving them two points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth. The Islanders are one point behind the Canadiens with 74 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Palmieri scored what would’ve been the game-winner with 9 seconds left in regulation. However, the goal was overturned on a controversial goaltender interference call that left the Isles fuming following the game.
Shootout goals by Jake DeBrusk and Jonathan Lekkerimaki gave the Vancouver Canucks a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils. Conor Garland scored with 36 seconds remaining in the third period to tie the game, Pius Suter had a goal and an assist, and Thatcher Demko made 22 saves after missing a month with a lower-body injury.
Timo Meier scored twice for the Devils, who’ve dropped four of their last five (1-3-1) and sit third in the Metropolitan Division with 81 points. The Canucks have 78 points, putting them three behind the St. Louis Blues for the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canucks played without forwards Elias Pettersson and Nils Hoglander, who returned to Vancouver for evaluation after being injured in Saturday’s loss to the New York Rangers. They will miss the remainder of the Canucks’ six-game road trip.
The Detroit Red Wings managed only 14 shots against the Utah Hockey Club but scored five unanswered goals for a 5-1 victory. Alex DeBrincat had a goal and an assist while Alex Lyon got the win in relief of Petr Mrazek, who left following a collision with Utah forward Dylan Guenther 90 seconds into the game. Guenther scored for Utah (75 points), who are six points behind the Blues in the Western wild-card race. The Red Wings (72 points) are three points behind the Canadiens in the Eastern race.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Red Wings defenseman Jeff Petry logged almost 17 minutes of ice time in his return to action after missing 31 games with an undisclosed injury.
Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger made 32 saves to shut out the Minnesota Wild 3-0. Wyatt Johnston, Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment were the goal scorers as the Stars sit second in the Central Division with 94 points. Filip Gustavsson stopped 26 shots for the Wild, who hold the first Western wild-card berth with 85 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Stars forward Mikko Rantanen briefly left this game after being struck in the face by the puck. He returned sporting protective face gear and finished the game. Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin missed this game with a lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day.
The Wild should keep an eye on the Blues, who sit four points behind them in the second wild-card spot after winning six straight games.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson, Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel, and St. Louis Blues winger Dylan Holloway are the league’s three stars for the week ending March 23.
Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will remain sidelined for the rest of this week. McDavid suffered a lower-body injury on March 20 while Draisaitl sustained an undisclosed injury on March 18.
WINNIPEG SUN: Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi is listed as week-to-week after suffering an upper-body injury on Sunday against the Buffalo Sabres.
VEGAS HOCKEY NOW: Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl will be sidelined for at least a week as he undergoes evaluation of his injured right wrist. He suffered the injury during Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Meanwhile, defenseman Shea Theodore is traveling with the team and could return to action later this week. Theodore was injured during last month’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Washington Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun is questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. He suffered a cut in the “wrist/hand area” during Saturday’s game against the Florida Panthers that required stitches. Chychrun finished the game but didn’t participate in Monday’s practice.
DAILY FACEOFF: Colorado Avalanche defensemen Samuel Girard (undisclosed) and Erik Johnston (lower body) are listed as day-to-day.
Seattle Kraken center Chandler Stephenson is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. So is San Jose Sharks rearguard Vincent Desharnais.
THE MONTREAL GAZETTE: Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle has joined his teammates on their four-game road trip. He missed the last 19 games with a lacerated quadriceps muscle but has been skating on his own for more than two weeks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: No timeline yet for Guhle’s return but the fact he’s traveling with the team suggests he could play at some point later this week.
NHL.COM: St. Louis Blues forward Zack Bolduc was fined over $2,200.00 by the department of player safety for cross-checking Nashville Predators defenseman Nick Blankenburg on Sunday.
THE TENNESSEAN: The Predators have extended their partnership with the American Hockey League’s Milwaukee Admirals through 2028-29.
The Isles were robbed last night. That goal should have stood. The NHLs schizophrenic experiment with goalie interference strikes again.
I’m on the fence Howard, and IMO could have gone either way.
His skate wasn’t in the crease, but from the overhead, Palmieri’s back end clearly makes contact with the tender, in the crease.
0.6 seconds later he deflects the puck past him. Need to watch it in real time, not super slow mo.
Waved it off on the ice, so the replay basically needed to prove that call was wrong, IMO it did not. So call on the ice stood.
If they would have counted it CLB would be up in arms.
I can just see a similar goal being the deciding one in OT in the 7th game of the C up final. Hoo boy.
The goalie made contact.pushing his upper back and the guy bent forward. The only thing impeding the goalie was a screen. Isles were robbed.
Both players were moving IMO HF30. His ass end was in the crease as was the tender. Not sure it matters who initiated the contact, I would say both did, but the blue is the goalies area.
If the player is there, and the tender can’t get there, is that interference? I would say yes. I dunno, but in the end call on the ice was going to stand as there wasn’t enough to overturn.
As a Jackets fan I find it kind of refreshing that a review went our way for the first time in history. That being said, yikes, run to the bus and get the hell out of there.
For what it’s worth, the ref was like 5 feet away and waived it off in a millasecond so he must have seen something, but….wow.
Hey George did you hear that Chychrun apparently re-signed with Washington for 8 years at 9M per?
So damn happy Ottawa did not do that. Wow.
I did not hear that. Hoo boy, there’s an albatross contract in the making.
exactly my thought… now Chabot and Sandy look like absolute steals.
Here is an article explaining the considerations that go into an injured player’s return to playing. It’s in the context of whether Guhle comes back, but there is also an interesting comparison with Landeskog:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/canadiens-guhle-progressing-but-wont-be-rushed-back-to-game-action/
Interesting article LJ. In the end, it;’s always better to err on the side of caution.
They have 13 games left – if they emerge from this road trip still solidly in the playoff picture, there’s still plenty of games left to ease Guhle back into action so he’s fully ready for the playoffs.
It makes sense to me, George. Any time I favour a knee or a foot it always aggravates some other part and no walk of mine is as punishing as a hockey game.
And while Guhle may be our best defensive D when healthy I am loath to affect team chemistry, particularly when he would under the best circumstances have to be eased back in.