NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 14, 2026
Oilers captain Connor McDavid extends his points streak, the Lightning set a franchise record, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines
NHL.COM: Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid collected two assists to extend his points streak to 20 games, but his club dropped a 4-3 decision to the Nashville Predators on an overtime goal by Roman Josi, who finished the game with two goals. Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots for the 22-20-4 Predators. Zach Hyman tallied twice, and Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two points for the Oilers (23-16-8).
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid (NHL Images)
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry made 23 saves and defenseman Jake Walman logged over 17 minutes as both returned from lengthy absences due to injuries. Meanwhile, Predators winger Jonathan Marchessault missed his 13th straight game with a lower-body injury and was placed on injured reserve.
The Tampa Bay Lightning won a franchise-record 11th straight game by nipping the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 on a shootout goal by Nikita Kucherov. J.J. Moser scored in regulation, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 26 shots for the Lightning (29-13-3), who hold first place in the Eastern Conference with 61 points. Evgeni Malkin replied for the Penguins (21-14-10), who are winless in their last three games (0-2-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Both clubs were missing a key player in this contest. Lightning center Brayden Point is week-to-week with an injured knee. It is not considered season-ending, but his participation in next month’s Winter Olympics for Canada’s men’s hockey team is in question. Meanwhile, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson missed this game with an undisclosed ailment that has landed him on injured reserve. He will be reevaluated in two weeks.
Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman turned aside 24 shots as his club picked up its fourth consecutive win, and the second straight by shutout, as they blanked the Detroit Red Wings 3-0. Pavel Zacha, Fraser Minten, and Mark Kastelic were the goal scorers for the 26-19-2 Bruins. Cam Talbot stopped 38 of 40 shots for the Red Wings (28-16-4) as their four-game win streak ended.
The Columbus Blue Jackets picked up their first win under new head coach Rick Bowness by defeating the Calgary Flames 5-3. Boone Jenner snapped a 3-3 tie while Zach Werenski and Charlie Coyle each had a goal and two assists for the 20-19-7 Blue Jackets. Morgan Frost and Mikael Backlund each had a goal and an assist as the Flames dropped to 19-23-4.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Flames winger Blake Coleman missed this game with an undisclosed injury and was placed on IR. The Flames sent forward Martin Pospisil to their AHL affiliate in Calgary for a conditioning stint as he works his way back into the lineup from an undisclosed injury that has sidelined him from this season. Blue Jackets defensemen Denton Mateychuk (upper-body injury) and Damon Severson (illness) missed this game.
St. Louis Blues goaltender Joel Hofer collected his fourth shutout of the season with a 33-save performance to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0. Nick Bjugstad, Dalibor Dvorsky, and Jimmy Snuggerud scored for the Blues (18-21-8) as they snapped a three-game losing skid. Brandon Bussi turned aside 28 shots for the 28-15-4 Hurricanes, who hold first place in the Metropolitan Division with 60 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Blues announced the signing of defenseman Logan Mailloux to a one-year, $850,000 contract extension. Hurricanes blueliner Jaccob Slavin missed this game due to injury rehab protocol, meaning they want him to avoid playing back-to-back after returning from a lengthy injury on Monday.
The Washington Capitals overcame a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Ethan Frank tallied twice to tie the game in regulation before Connor McMichael won it in overtime for the 24-17-6 Capitals. Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher scored for the Canadiens (26-14-7), who are 4-1-1 in their last six contests.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canadiens scratched Kaiden Guhle from this game. Like Slavin, they wanted him to avoid playing in back-to-back games so soon after returning from a long absence due to an injury.
Winnipeg Jets forwards Adam Lowry and Kyle Connor each had a goal and an assist as their club held off the New York Islanders 5-4. Mark Scheifele collected two assists for the 18-22-5 Jets as they picked up their third straight victory. Emil Heineman had a goal and an assist for the Islanders (25-16-5).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Islanders got a scare when rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer was injured twice during this game, including taking a Luke Schenn slapshot off his right knee in the second period. He’d also been taken off the ice by a concussion spotter in the first period, but was cleared to return. Schaefer missed the post-game interview because he was having his knee evaluated by team doctors.
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ 10-game points streak ended with a 6-1 loss to the Utah Mammoth. Dylan Guenther tallied two goals and an assist, and Jake McBain had a goal and two assists for the Mammoth, who improved to 23-20-4. Calle Jarnkrok replied for the 23-16-7 Maple Leafs.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Maple Leafs winger Nick Robertson missed this game as he’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Anaheim Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal made 24 saves as his club snapped a nine-game winless skid (0-8-1) by downing the Dallas Stars 3-1. Chris Kreider, Beckett Sennecke, and Jacob Trouba scored for the 22-21-3 Ducks. Roope Hintz tallied for the Stars (27-11-9).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Ducks were already short on forwards as Frank Vatrano and Tory Terry were sidelined with upper-body injuries. Center Leo Carlsson (upper-body injury) and winger Cutter Gauthier (illness) also missed this game. Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen was absent due to a personal family matter.
First-period goals scored 15 seconds apart by Artem Zub and Jordan Spence lifted the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks, snapping a four-game losing streak and improving their record to 21-19-5. Elias Pettersson replied for the Canucks (16-25-8), who are 0-6-2 in their last eight games.
Yesterday, Owen, we agreed on inconsistent goaltending as being the primary factor for Ottawa’s spiral down the standings. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that a lack of goal-scoring among the highly-paid Fs – the gang that can’t shoot straight – is equally to blame.
Last night, for example, they were at home to the last-place team in the League who have been playing at a .402 pace and are now 1-7-2 in their past 10 and playing the 2nd of a back-to-back. But despite out-shooting the Canucks 40-20, the best they could do was a nail-biting 2-1 win, with both goals coming from the D.
In their past 10 games played – during which they’ve gone 3-6-1 – they’ve out-shot their opponents 304 – 248 (averages of 30.4 – 24.8) but have been out-scored 39 – 26 (averages of 3.9ga – 2.6gf).
Among the Fs in that 10-game stretch the leading goal-scorer has been Greig with 4, followed by Batherson with 3, Tkachuk, Zetterlund, Giroux, Stutzle, Chabot and Spence with 2 each, and 1 each from Pinto, Cozens, Perron, Cousins and Jensen. That is NOT good enough for the salaries they’re getting.
Now they play their own second of a back-to-back tonight in New York against the Rangers, 2-6-2 in their past 10 and equally struggling to score goals. This should be fascinating to watch! And then they come home to face the high-flying Habs who’ll be playing in front of what will probably sound like a home game to them.
Heard that Ullmark is back with the team and was skating/practicing so should be back pretty soon.
I don’t know what the odds are, but if they were favorable, I would take a flyer bet on the Sens making the playoffs. Worst part is so many teams to climb over, so need to get hot for a stretch.
I would do 3-1.
Fun Oiler game despite taking the loser point. They can get a little too cute and I wish they would just fire more shots at the goal instead of saucer passes through traffic.
But Saros and Jarry both made some huge and timely saves to keep their teams in it.
Start of the year I thought the B’s would be somewhat competitive but not a contender and unlikely to make the playoffs. Worst case finish 9 or 10 in eastern conference. Why do that?
Then they come out of the gates playing well, including a 6 game heater and scoring goals in buckets which is the opposite of how I thought they would have success.
I start to believe that maybe they could make it in, and they dump 6 straight and sink in the standings. Reality happened I thought.
Now they get hot again, and goals against is coming down. They have given up 3 goals in last for games. In 7 of their last eight they have given up 2 or less. If they were going to be successful, this is what I thought it would look like.
I have absolutely no clue what this team will do for the rest of the season.
If I had to bet, they just miss out on the playoffs.