NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 27, 2025
The Senators stave off elimination, the Avalanche and Golden Knights tie their respective series, the Lightning get a much-needed win against the Panthers, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPPING SATURDAY’S NHL PLAYOFF ACTION
NHL.COM: The Ottawa Senators avoided being swept by the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 4 of their best-of-seven first-round series.
Jake Sanderson tallied the winning goal and collected an assist to finish the night with two points. Tim Stutzle and Shane Pinto joined Sanderson in scoring their first-ever playoff goals, and Linus Ullmark stopped 31 shots for the win. John Tavares, Matthew Knies and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored as the Leafs overcame 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to force overtime.
This series returns to Toronto for Game 5 on Tuesday, Apr. 29, at 7 pm ET with the Leafs holding a 3-1 lead.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: An entertaining game filled with drama as the Senators live to play another day. The Leafs remain firmly in control of this series and could wrap it up on Tuesday, but they’re now 1-12 in series-clinching games since 2017.
Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog (NHL Images).
Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog scored his first goal in three years to lead his club over the Dallas Stars 4-0 in Game 4 of their opening-round series, tying it at two games apiece. Game 5 will be in Dallas on Monday, Apr. 28, at 9:30 pm ET.
Landeskog also picked up an assist and Mackenzie Blackwood turned in a 23-save shutout. Logan O’Connor, Nathan MacKinnon and Samuel Girard were the other scorers for the Avalanche. Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger gave up three goals on 34 shots before being replaced late in the second period by Casey DeSmith.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Avalanche outplayed the Stars in this contest, outshooting them 48-23. They also got a big lift from Landeskog’s performance as he continues his remarkable comeback after losing three seasons to knee surgeries.
The Vegas Golden Knights tied their series with the Minnesota Wild at two games apiece following their 4-3 win in Game 4. Ivan Barbeshev scored in overtime and collected an assist and Adin Hill made 29 saves. Tomas Hertl and Nicolas Roy also each had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights. Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson kicked out 42 shots.
This series returns to Las Vegas for Game 5 on Tuesday, Apr. 29, at 9:39 pm ET.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Golden Knights did a good job neutralizing Minnesota forwards Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy. The duo had multi-point performances in the first three games, but Boldy was held scoreless while Kaprizov managed one assist. Wild forward Marcus Johansson missed this game with a lower-body injury.
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Jake Guentzel had a goal and two assists as his club picked up its first victory of this postseason by dropping the Florida Panthers 5-1 in Game 3 of their series. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 33 shots and Nikita Kucherov collected three assists for the Lightning. Matthew Tkachuk scored for the Panthers, who hold a 2-1 lead in this series. Game 4 is Monday, Apr. 28, at 7 pm ET.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Tkachuk could face supplemental discipline after being ejected from this game late in the third period for a late hit on Guentzel. Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov played in this game after leaving Game 2 with an undisclosed injury following a late hit by Lightning forward Brandon Hagel, who received a one-game suspension for his actions.
IN OTHER NEWS…
NHL.COM: Montreal Canadiens winger Josh Anderson and Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson were each fined $5,000.00 for unsportsmanlike conduct in Game 3 of their series on Friday.
Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault is questionable for Game 4 on Sunday against the Capitals. He left Game 3 in the second period favoring his left leg. The Habs had no update on his condition as he was still being evaluated on Saturday. Backup Jakub Dobes could get the call to start Game 4 if Montembeault remains unavailable.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery had no update on the condition of starting goalie Logan Thompson, who left Game 3 in the third period with an injured left leg following a collision with teammate Dylan Strome. Backup Charlie Lindgren is expected to get the start for Game 4.
Carbery said forward Aliaksei Protas could make his series debut in Game 4. He’s been sidelined since Apr. 4 after suffering a skate cut to the foot.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Protas’ return should boost the Capitals’ offense. The 6’6”, 247-pound center finished third among their leading scorers this season with 30 goals and 66 points.
THE WINNIPEG SUN: Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi is a game-time decision for Game 4 on Sunday against the St. Louis Blues. He’s been sidelined since March 23 with an upper-body injury.
SPORTSNET: The Carolina Hurricanes officially registered an entry-level contract for Alexander Nikishin with the league. The 23-year-old defenseman could make his debut in Game 4 of their series with the New Jersey Devils.
CHICAGO HOCKEY NOW: University of Denver head coach David Carle has withdrawn his name from consideration for the Blackhawks’ head-coaching position.
Been wondering about the disappearance of Eichel on the Vegas scoresheet.Is he injured.Been quiet for quite awhile.
Well, at least the Senators won ONE OT game in this series and avoided being swept.
I see, too, where they had recalled a clutch of players before game 4 from their farm system to give the kids a taste of NHL playoff “atmosphere” – including D-men Carter Yakemchuk and Thomas Hamara whose Major Junior teams (Calgary and Hamilton) had been eliminated.
It’s doubtful any will actually see any game action since this series will likely end Tuesday night in Toronto.
George O. A very wise man once told me to never give up. Keep the faith!
Heh .. thanks for the reminder Habsman67 … but you will notice I did say it “will likely end …” – and not “definitely end.”
Hope lingers. 🙂
I watched the third period of the Sens-Leafs game last night. While the Sens won, they didn’t seem to be playing with the desperation needed by a team facing elimination. I don’t see the series going past Game 5 in Toronto.
Howard, when Perron scored just before the half-way point of the 3rd to give Ottawa a 3-2 lead, their was no need for “desperation hockey” – instead they concentrated on the close checking aspect of the game ready to pounce on any opportunity presented by a team pressing for the equalizer. and it almost worked only to have Stolarz stymie them at least twice on good chances … and then Ekman-Larsson scored to tie it with just over 5 minutes left.
In the OT, Ulmark came up big when they had to kill off a penalty just before Sanderson stopped the puck smack on the blue line and drifted a knuckleball that eluded a screened Stolarz.
Hey, they did what they had to do to keep the series alive and, yes, while it will very likely end Tuesday, the Leafs will at least know they’ve been in a series.
LOL. This was an “incident” that would fit right into the pages of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”
https://ottawasun.com/sports/a-fine-to-the-senators-and-nick-cousins-sparks-a-battle-of-ontario-off-the-ice
Agreed. But to Bettman it’s obviously of more importance than multiple cross checks to the face.
To both you and George, no kidding.
We’ll see what happens with Tkachuk in Florida, if anything.
Did Guentzel skate after the late hit?
Re: “The Leafs remain firmly in control of this series and could wrap it up on Tuesday, but they’re now 1-12 in series-clinching games since 2017.”
Absolutely true in that they are up 3-1 in series and were up 3-0 (and we know the odds against that) and in control of series… now….
However, since 3 games went to OT, it should not go unnoticed that Sens were just two shots away from being UP 3-1 in the series.
I’m in no way saying Sens should and/or deserve to win the series; only pointing out that anything can happen in OT; and two shots have gone in for Leafs, one for Sens; so this series could literally be anything from (1) over already; (2) Tied 2-2; (3) As is, Leafs up 3-1; or (4) Sens up 3-1.
If Leafs let this slide to game 7; then they don’t deserve to win.
Full disclosure, as many of you might already know, I’m a Leaf hater
But it is a reality, Sens could literally be up 3-1 in the series right now.
Could be … but they’re not. And let’s keep in mind that, over 82 games and 164 possible points, with all sorts of contributing factors, the Senators finished just 11 pts below Toronto, with 23 less goals scored (268 to 243) and almost identical in goals against (231 for Toronto – 234 for Ottawa). So, this isn’t a David Vs. Goliath scenario.
Two fairly comparable teams with Toronto getting the goals that counted and stopping the chances that could have altered the series in 3 of the 4 games so far.
And why do you “hate” the Leafs as a team? If Pittsburgh could land a Marner or a Nylander or a Matthews or a Knies (among several others) you’d be ecstatic.
Re “If Pittsburgh could land a Marner or a Nylander or a Matthews or a Knies (among several others) you’d be ecstatic.”
Course, they’d be s Penguin then
I don’t hate individual Leafs players; just Leafs (as a whole)
There’s 32 teams in the League
Leafs Nation believes there is just one team in the League; and EVERYBODY not only wants to play there; they are DEFINITELY coming there
I’ve visited Toronto. Beautiful city.
The arena is great.
It’s not the city
Not the people of Toronto
It’s Leafs and Leafs’ Nation
“Full disclosure, as many of you might already know, I’m a Leaf hater“ and because of that, you’ll fail to ever have anything of substance to say about them.
Here, if you’re a hockey fan and dislike the Leafs or even indifferent towards them, one could easily point out that game 4 (even though no one would of thought the Sens would get swept) it was another series ending game the Leafs failed to show up! On top of that a four minute PP was a gift and they failed to convert. Not having Tavares, the Leafs best player, played into that lost opportunity.
To me this was the most disappointing game so far for the Leafs. Comparing game 4 to the previous three there was no fight in this game. Sure they held the Sens to 4 shots in the final two frames but the urgency and will to win those puck battles plus a tired looking goalie was a recipe for this loss.
Three more kicks to the can left.
@8787 You left something out of that statement. It should`ve been “I`m a Leaf hater and village idiot” Your reasons for making the statement are only known to yourself and probably no one else cares what they are. Just to give you a ray of hope for your Penguins, Dubas was the mastermind for almost all of that record. So now you have a GM that owns that record, worst drafting record during that period and has lost pretty much every trade he`s made. Yep, your future is bright being a Penguin`s fan. Sometimes you`re better off not saying anything and let the world think your a fool, than opening your mouth and removing all doubt about it. Before you say Dubas drafted Knies, Dubas was going to trade the pick and Wes Clark actually used the pick to draft Knies before Dubas could trade it. Knies the only blemish on Clark`s and Dubas`s draft record. Yep bright future
I should have added (to my response to George above);
i also hate Leafs because they dumped Dubas; and we ended up getting him.
Big kick in the Cajones
4 games today with the jets and Blues leading off at 1:00 pm EDT, followed by Carolina-New Jersey at 3:30 EDT, Washington-Montreal at 6:30 and L.A.-Edmonton at 9:30 EDT. Be interesting to see which of the teams maintain the average goals allowed established so far. These teams lead the way in that category, ranging from 3.0 and up per game:
Edmonton 3gp 5.3
L.A. 3gp 4.6
Vegas 4gp 4.0
Ottawa 4gp 3.7
Winnipeg 3gp 3.6
Dallas 4gp 3.3
Montreal 3gp 3.0
Washington 3gp 3.0
Tampa 3gp 3.0
New Jersey 3gp 3.0
St. Louis 3gp 3.0
Minnesota 4gp 3.0
As for the stingiest
Carolina 3gp 1.7
Colorado 4gp 1.8
Florida 3gp 2.3
Toronto 4gp 2.5
And the way things are going this afternoon (5-1 St. Louis over the Jets with about 14 minutes left), the reining Vezina winner is about to repeat last year’s debacle against Dallas. In their last game Hellebuck gave up 6 goals on 25 shots before giving way to Comrie – a save % of .760.
Today, he was pulled again after giving up 5 on 18 shots for a .722 save %.
The whispers heard in the past out of some Manitoba media that he “was not a playoff goalie” (in the old days they used the term “choker”) are about to emerge again if the Jets don’t find some way to turn this around.
reigning ….
And just to clarify, I never liked the term “choker” … but I do recall when it’s use was widespread throughout pro sports. It has since been discarded by most media outlets … although you do still see it in various areas of social media
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=why+did+the+term+%22choker%22+disappear+from+major+sports%3F
https://www.si.com/onsi/breakaway/news-feed-page/winnipeg-jets-connor-hellebuyck-playoff-demons-back