NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 14, 2025
The Sharks’ five-goal comeback win, Tristan Jarry’s debut with the Oilers, and Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck’s return to action highlight the recaps of Saturday’s action in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The San Jose Sharks rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the third period to upset the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5 on an overtime goal by John Klingberg, who finished the game with two goals. Tyler Toffolli scored twice and assisted on two others while Macklin Celebrini and Alexander Wennberg each had three points as the Sharks improved to 16-14-3. Bryan Rust and Anthony Mantha each had a goal and two assists for the Penguins (14-8-8), who are winless in their last four games (0-1-3).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sharks forwards Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev left this game with upper-body injuries. Earlier in the day, the Sharks provided an update on center Michael Misa, saying he was not injured as originally reported and will report to Canada’s training camp for the upcoming 2026 World Junior Championship.
Penguins defenseman Matt Dumba cleared waivers and was sent to their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Tristan Jarry made 25 saves to win his first game with the Edmonton Oilers as they downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3. Connor McDavid scored two goals and set up another, Leon Draisaitl had three assists, and Vasily Podkolzin tallied twice for the 15-11-6 Oilers. Steven Lorentz had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who sank to 14-12-5.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: In case you missed it, the Oilers acquired Jarry from the Penguins in exchange for Stuart Skinner in a multiplayer trade on Friday.
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (NHL Images).
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 24 shots in his return from knee surgery to defeat the Washington Capitals 5-1. Gabriel Vilardi scored two goals while Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey, Adam Lowry, and Alex Iafallo each had two points for the 15-15-1 Jets, snapping a three-game losing skid. Jakob Chychrun tallied for the Capitals (18-10-4), who have lost two straight games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Jets are a different team with Hellebuyck in the lineup. They were 12-7-0 before his surgery, and 2-8-1 during his absence. Meanwhile, the Capitals took goalie Charlie Lindgren off injured reserve.
The league-leading Colorado Avalanche picked up their 11th straight home win with a 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who improved to 23-2-7 (53 points). Jonathan Marchessault and Tyson Jost replied for the 12-15-4 Predators.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: MacKinnon leads the league this season with 26 goals and 55 points in 32 games.
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb snapped a 2-2 tie as his club nipped the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2. Mitch Marner had three assists as the Golden Knights (16-6-9) extended their points streak to seven games. Charlie Coyle and Yegor Chinakhov scored for the Blue Jackets, who have lost five straight and dropped to 13-13-6.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: With the win, the Golden Knights hold first place in the Pacific Division with 51 points.
The Carolina Hurricanes overcame an early 2-0 deficit for a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Jackson Blake scored the winner in the shootout while Shayne Gostisbehere picked up two assists for the Hurricanes (20-9-2), who collected their third straight win. Trevor Zegras had a goal and an assist for the 16-9-5 Flyers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Hurricanes hold first place in the Metropolitan Division with 42 points.
New York Islanders forward Emil Heineman scored the winning goal in the shootout to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2. Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves while Matthew Schaefer and Calum Ritchie scored for the Islanders (19-11-3), who have won three straight games. Darren Raddysh and J.J. Moser scored for the Lightning (18-11-3) as they overcame a 2-0 deficit to tie the game.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Islanders inducted Pat LaFontaine into their Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony. LaFontaine began his 15-season NHL career with the Islanders in 1983-84, spending eight seasons with them and netting 566 of his 1,013 regular-season points with them. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.
An overtime goal by J.T. Miller gave the New York Rangers a 5-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens. It was the second of two goals for Miller, and teammates Will Cuylle and Noah Laba each had a goal and an assist for the 16-13-1 Rangers, who ended a three-game winless skid. Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson each had two assists for the Canadiens (16-11-4).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, it was announced that former Canadiens forward Bobby Rousseau had passed away at the age of 85. He spent 10 of his 15 NHL seasons with the Canadiens from 1960-61 to 1969-70, winning four Stanley Cups. Rousseau also played for the Rangers and Minnesota North Stars. He had 245 goals and 458 assists for 703 points in 942 regular-season games, and 84 points in 128 playoff games.
My condolences to Rousseau’s family, friends, and former teammates.
The Minnesota Wild squeaked past the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on a goal by Joel Eriksson Ek with 24 seconds left in the third period. Jesper Wallstedt made 34 saves while Tyler Pitlick and Ryan Hartman scored for the 18-9-5 Wild, who picked up their third straight win. Tim Stutzle and Dylan Cozens scored for the Senators (14-13-4) as they overcame a 2-0 deficit.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Quinn Hughes will make his debut with Minnesota on Sunday against the Boston Bruins. The Wild acquired the superstar defenseman from the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.
New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen stopped 30 shots in a 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks, ending a five-game losing streak. Ondrej Palat, Colton White, and Juho Lammikko each had two assists for the 18-13-1 Devils. Troy Terry replied for the 19-12-1 Ducks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Devils defenseman Simon Nemec missed this game with an undisclosed injury and is expected to miss some time, though no details have been provided yet as to how long he’ll be sidelined. He joins a growing list of injured Devils, including Jack Hughes, Brett Pesce, Arseny Gritsyuk, Evgenii Dadonov, Zack MacEwen, and Johnathan Kovacevic.
Detroit Red Wings forward Patrick Kane tallied his 498th career regular-season NHL goal as his club blanked the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0. John Gibson turned in a 26-save shutout while Alex DeBrincat scored twice and had an assist for the 18-12-3 Red Wings. Arvid Soderblom made 20 saves on 23 shots for the 13-13-6 Blackhawks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Blackhawks called up top prospect Nick Lardis for some offensive support. Meanwhile, Blackhawks center Connor Bedard missed this game with an upper-body injury. More information on his status is expected on Monday.
The Florida Panthers got a 15-save shutout from Sergei Bobrovsky to defeat the Dallas Stars 4-0. Brad Marchand had two goals and an assist for the Panthers, who improved to 16-13-2. Jake Oettinger made 19 saves on 22 shots for the 21-7-5 Stars.
Calgary Flames forward Morgan Frost scored in overtime for a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Blake Coleman also scored, and Dustin Wolf turned aside 20 shots for the 13-16-4 Flames, who’ve won four of their last five contests. Adrian Kempe scored, and Darcy Kuemper kicked out 36 shots for the 14-8-9 Kings.
Is there a more important player for their team than Helleybuck in Winnepeg? There record without him is awful. Hope the Hughes trade opens the door for more transactions. What would it take for Boston to get Marchessault out of Nashville?
Jets need a better back-up, get Lyon or maybe bring back Brossoit at half salary. Brossoit played 3 games at Rockford and has a .900 SA I think he faced a lot of shots in those games………..still not enough games to make a clear judgement.
RIP Bobby Rousseau. My first favorite player as a kid in Montreal. I still remember that summer day as a six year old when my father told me he’d been traded. Forever a Hab!
Howard, I was a hard-core Habs fan in those days and the story circulating then (whether totally factual I guess we’ll never know), was that Rousseau was dealt to Minnesota in June 1970 for the return to Montreal of Claude D. LaRose over an issue surrounding a pending contract negotiation.
Player agents were a relatively new feature at the time, and it was no secret GM Sam Pollock did NOT like dealing with 3rd parties, preferring to negotiate face-to-face with the player.
Rousseau, since being on Canada’s Silver-winning 1960 Olympic team before joining the Habs for 16 games in 1960-61 out of Hull-Ottawa, and then winning the Calder as Rookie Of The Year for his 1961-62 21g 24a 45-points in a 70-gp season, had had a stellar career to that stage, scoring 200g 322a 522pts and being on 4 Cup winners (’65, ’66, ’68 and ’69 (prevented from their 2nd 5-straight by the Leafs in ’67), was rightfully looking for a hefty raise.
Pollock was a pragmatic GM … and far from “cheap” … and while he had a reputation as a tough negotiator, he did pay his top stars top dollar for the day. But he wanted to do that face-to-face and had no use for agents. The ensuing tension led to Rousseau demanding a trade and Pollock accommodating him.
I always liked his fast-paced game and saw him a lot with Hull-Ottawa Juniors … a STACKED team that had to play in a Senior League because no Junior league wanted them dominating their seasons.
R.I.P. Bobby.
Every now and then over the years since he left the game the question popped up – “did he have a HofF career?”
The short answer is, “no .. not quite.” But you can’t help but wonder how that might have played out had he remained a Hab for the duration.
In 942 career games he finished with 245g 458a 703pts, and since the games played per season over hos career ranged between 74 and 76, if you average it out to 75 that works out to 75g averages of 20g 37a 57pts per.
643 of those games were with Montreal where he potted 200g 332a 532pts for 75-game averages of 23g 39a 62pts per. The other 299gp were with the North Stars and the NYR where his totals dropped to 45g 136a 181pts for 75-game averages of 11g 34a 45pts.
One can only wonder what his totals would have been had he been a lifetime Hab. In 128 playoff games over his career, he added 27g 57a 84pts.
I remember this great photo of him evading a hip-check by leaping over the d-man like a barrel jumper.
While wasn’t a hall of famer, he was a pretty consistent goal scorer 20 per year when that was the equivalent to a 30 g/yr today.
He was the rookie of the year and interestingly wore #15, the same number Clause Larose whom he was trade for was given.
As a kid, he was my favourite player on the Habs.
When with Hull-Ottawa Juniors as a 20 y/o in !960-61, playing in the Eastern Professional Hockey League, he scored 34g 26a 60pts in a ridiculous 38gp, and before that, with Hull-Ottawa as a 17/18 y /o in 1957-58 in the OHA Senior League he had 26g 26a 52 pts in something like 42gp.
He was electric to watch doing that against seasoned pros.