Recapping Sunday’s action, plus the latest on Senators goalie Linus Ullmark, Blues winger Jordan Kyrou, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

RECAPS OF SUNDAY’S GAMES

NHL.COM: Pittsburgh Penguins forward Justin Brazeau tallied his first career NHL hat trick in a 7-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Bryan Rust scored two goals, and Ryan Shea collected three assists for the Penguins, who improved to 16-12-9. Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno scored in his first game since being sidelined for 19 games with an injured hand, but his club (14-18-6) has dropped seven of its last eight contests.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Blackhawks were struggling before centers Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar were sidelined by injuries, but their absence accelerated their slide in the standings. Speaking of Nazar, he was placed on injured reserve with a facial injury and is expected to be out for another three weeks.

An overtime goal by Simon Edvinsson lifted the Detroit Red Wings to a 3-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Moritz Seider and Mason Appleton also scored, and Cam Talbot stopped 25 shots for the Red Wings (23-14-3), who sit in first place in the Atlantic Division with 49 points. Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson replied for the Leafs (17-15-6), who got a 33-save performance from Dennis Hildeby.

Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov (NHL Images).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Edvinsson earned praise from his teammates when he “rose from the dead” after being injured by a John Tavares shot while killing a penalty in the second period. He and Seider are among the best defense pairings in the league this season.

The Maple Leafs played without winger William Nylander, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury and questionable for Tuesday’s game against the New Jersey Devils.

Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov tallied twice in regulation, and Gage Goncalves scored the shootout winner to nip the Montreal Canadiens 5-4. It was the Lightning’s fourth straight win, improving their record to 22-13-3. The Canadiens (20-12-6) overcame a 4-1 deficit in the third period as Juraj Slafkovsky scored twice.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Tampa Bay forward Brandon Hagel returned to action after missing four games with an upper-body injury. Earlier in the day, the Lightning made a minor trade, shipping forward Boris Katchouk to the Minnesota Wild for forward Michael Milne.

Three unanswered third-period goals by Ivan Provorov, Kirill Marchenko, and Cole Sillinger gave the Columbus Blue Jackets a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders. Marchenko finished the game with two goals while Sean Monahan and Denton Mateychuk each had two assists for the 16-15-6 Blue Jackets. Max Shabonov and Bo Horvat scored for the Islanders (21-14-4).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Things got ugly early in the second period when Blue Jackets winger Mason Marchment clipped Islanders rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer by sticking out his right leg, prompting Isles forward Mathew Barzal to slash Marchment’s right foot with his stick. That earned Barzal a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct, and he could face supplemental discipline by the league’s department of player safety. Marchment received two minutes for tripping Schaefer, who was uninjured on the play.

Before this game, the Blue Jackets placed defenseman Zach Werenski (lower body) on injured reserve and activated forward Mathieu Olivier off the IR list.

The Seattle Kraken defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1. Eeli Tolvanen scored two goals and picked up an assist while Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves for the 16-14-6 Kraken, who extended their win streak to four games. Carl Grundstrom replied for the Flyers (19-11-7).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Kraken activated winger Jared McCann off injured reserve for this game. Defenseman Vince Dunn also returned to action after missing their previous game with an upper-body injury. Both were held scoreless in this contest.

IN OTHER NEWS…

OTTAWA SUN: Senators starting goaltender Linus Ullmark is taking a leave of absence for personal reasons. There is no timetable for his return.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Sun’s Bruce Garrioch observed that this season has been a difficult one for Ullmark, with a 2.95 goals-against average and a save percentage of .881. He noted that Ullmark was pulled from Saturday’s 7-5 loss to the Maple Leafs after giving up four goals on 14 shots.

STLTODAY.COM: Blues winger Jordan Kyrou has been activated off IR after missing nine games with a lower-body injury. They also activated winger Jimmy Snuggerud, who underwent wrist surgery earlier in the month.

SPORTSNET: The NHL’s department of player safety fined Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell $5,000.00 for high-sticking Lightning winger Jake Guentzel, and fined Lightning forward Scott Sabourin $2,081.23 for slashing Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola. Both incidents occurred during Saturday’s game between the two clubs.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s been a tough weekend for Sabourin. In addition to his fine, he was knocked to the ice by a punch from Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj during a fight between the two on Sunday. Sabourin left that game and didn’t return.

TSN: Penguins forward Danton Heinen and Edmonton Oilers forward Noah Philp are among six players placed on waivers on Sunday.

PUCKPEDIA: Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Yegor Zamula has changed agents. He’s in the final season of a two-year contract with a cap hit of $1.7 million, but he could be willing to terminate that deal to sign with another NHL club for less money.

RDS: Former NHL forward Guy Chouinard passed away on Sunday at age 69.

Chouinard spent 10 seasons in the NHL from 1974-75 to 1983-84, beginning with the Atlanta Flames and following them to Calgary in 1980. He spent nine of his 10 seasons with the Flames organization, with his best season being his 50-goal, 107-point performance in the 1978-79 season. In 578 regular-season games, Chouinard had 205 goals and 370 assists for 575 points, along with 37 points in 46 playoff contests.

Following his playing days, Chouinard became a coach in the QMJHL, finishing third all-time in wins among that league’s coaches with 569. He was inducted into the QMJHL Hall of Fame in 2005.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: My condolences to Chouinard’s family, friends, teammates, and his former QMJHL players.