NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 26, 2026
A milestone game for Penguins stars Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and Kris Letang, hat-trick performances by the Ducks’ Beckett Sennecke and the Avalanche’s Brock Nelson, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The Pittsburgh Penguins got two goals by rookie Ben Kindel to nip the Vancouver Canucks 3-2. Evgeni Malkin scored for the third straight game as the Penguins (26-14-11) picked up their fourth straight win. Jake DeBrusk and Teddy Blueger replied for the Canucks (17-30-5), who have two wins in their last 17 games (2-13-2).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was a milestone game for Malkin and his teammates Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang. They became the fourth trio in NHL history to play 1,000 games (regular season and playoffs) together. The others are Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty, and Anze Kopitar with the Los Angeles Kings (1,040), Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane (1,004) with the Chicago Blackhawks, and Alex Delvecchio, Gordie Howe, and Marcel Pronovost (1,001) with the Detroit Red Wings.
Malkin appeared to be injured as his teammates celebrated their win on the bench. However, Penguins coach Dan Muse said the 39-year-old center was fine.
It was a special game for Kindel. The native of Coquitlam, BC, had over 180 supporters in attendance at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena cheering him on.
Anaheim Ducks forward Beckett Sennecke (NHL Images).
Anaheim Ducks rookie forward Beckett Sennecke scored in overtime to complete his first career NHL hat trick in a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames. Lukas Dostal stopped 32 shots for the Ducks as they won their seventh straight game and improved to 28-21-3. Jonathan Huberdeau scored for the Flames, who are winless in four straight games (0-2-2) as their record dropped to 21-25-6.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sennecke now leads this season’s rookie class with 18 goals and sits second in points with 41. Montreal Canadiens winger Ivan Demidov leads in that category with 43.
Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson tallied a hat trick to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1. Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves for the 35-6-9 Avalanche, who lead the league with 79 points. Max Domi scored for the slumping Maple Leafs (24-19-9), who are 1-4-2 in their last seven contests.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sidelined Maple Leafs forward William Nylander issued an apology for flipping off a TV camera while he was sitting in a booth with other injured teammates. He claimed it was done in a moment of frustration, and he didn’t mean to upset anyone. The league is looking into the matter.
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar provided an update on sidelined captain Gabriel Landeskog, who’s been sidelined since Jan. 4 with a rib injury. Landeskog hopes to return in time to play for Sweden in the Winter Olympics next month. Bednar said the winger is progressing. “Hopefully, everything works out, but it’s going to be tight.”
Ottawa Senators rookie forward Stephen Halliday scored twice and collected an assist in a 7-1 drubbing of the Vegas Golden Knights. Dylan Cozens tallied two goals, and Brady Tkachuk picked up three assists for the 24-21-7 Senators. Rasmus Andersson scored his first goal for the Golden Knights (25-14-12), who have lost three of their last four games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark returned from his leave of absence for mental health reasons, serving as a backup for Mads Sogaard. The baseless rumors that arose during his absence recently drew a sharp rebuke from NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh, who criticized media figures and online influencers for invading the players’ personal lives.
A four-goal third period powered the Florida Panthers to a 5-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Tobias Bjornfot had two goals, and Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist for the Panthers (28-20-3), who picked up their third straight win. Tyler Bertuzzi replied for the 21-28-3 Blackhawks.
Jordan Eberle netted two points as the Seattle Kraken held off the New Jersey Devils 4-2. Joey Daccord turned aside 27 shots for the 23-19-9 Kraken. Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton each had a goal and an assist for the Devils (27-23-2).
IN OTHER NEWS…
THE ATHLETIC: recently reported the New York Islanders plan to relocate their AHL affiliate from Bridgeport, Conn, to Hamilton, Ontario.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: The Tampa Bay Lightning placed rookie defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous (lower body) on injured reserve.
RG.ORG: Marco D’Amico profiled Montreal Canadiens prospect defenseman Bryce Pickford, who signed an entry-level contract with the Canadiens last month. After being passed over in the 2024 NHL Draft, Pickford’s performance with the Medicine Hat Tigers last season made him a core player during their run to the WHL championship. That put Pickford on the Canadiens’ radar, who chose him in the third round.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Pickford is having a record-setting performance this season, scoring the most goals in one season by a WHL defenseman (33 and counting).
When Pickford gets settled in Montreal they will have no more use for the diminutive Hutson! 😉
JohnnyZ send him back to Boston where he played his college hockey!
Lyle, the NHLPA executive director is Marty Walsh, not Marty Shaw.
Fixed, thanks!
In that Ottawa thumping of Bettman’s darling Golden Knights 7-1 last night, that hit of Hertl on Halliday into a stanchion reminded me of the one Chara delivered against Pacioretty in Montreal a few years back. , Although Halliday had to be assisted off the ice, he apparently seemed fine later in the dressing room after the game ended, unlike Pacioretty who suffered a couple of severe injuries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZqAOEXWwBI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jimZ1tSdPY0
GeorgeO you caught Vegas at a perfect time after playing Boston and Toronto the same week
Yeaaah Sr … but they had the day off the night before and were resting in Ottawa while the Senators were playing a tough Carolina team, starting at 7:00pm, followed the next day by the Vegas game which got under way at 5:00 pm – so 22 hours apart.
And in the early part of the game Vegas had the legs and came close several times and Sogaard – a surprise call-up in nets with Ullmark dressed as the back-up – had to be really sharp.
You’d think, in those circumstances, that this was going to be another thumping of Ottawa at home … but instead their legs got stronger as the game wore on, and when it was over they had 7 goals and 3 loud dingers off the posts and cross-bar. That could have been an even uglier loss for Vegas.
As I posted late yesterday in the Headlines thread, you can file that one under Go Frikken Figure!
I was prepared to give Vegas a pass for that performance because they played on the back to back.
Anyone saying “well so did Ottawa” clearly didn’t notice that Ottawa didn’t show up to their game against Carolina. I love the Sens and I was at lastnight’s game where even Mrs. Dark noted the puck possession time of the Sens as seemingly staggering. However. Casual fans may not realise…but the astute daily ones do….this team is a LONG SHOT to make the playoffs. Which is crazy because they’d be in a wildcard spot in the West.
Ya, long shot for sure Dark G. If Ullmark is back and stays healthy – mentally and physically – I will go out on a limb and say they make it. They’re a good team, and I think they know it.
I think they rally around the guy, and get it going. I think 95 pts has been the average for 2nd WC team? So say 97 or so gets you in majority of the time. 42 points in final 30 games isn’t crazy for this team IMO.
Problem could be that the east, has a lot of teams that are playing pretty good right now, so maybe it takes more than 97?
Ray….but but. Colorado on Wednesday. Ridiculously hard schedule the rest of the way. And who do you start Wednesday? Sure, Soggard looked better last night. But he also got WAXED in Colorado a couple weeks ago. As did Merileinen. So it’s Ullmark…..Soggard or Reimer.
I don’t have an answer for the coach on this one. I’m leaning to NOT start Ullmark.
Ray, the math says no. Given the games left in each schedule, and multiplying those potential points by their current % pace, the East would wind up something like this:
Tampa – 112
Carolina – 109
Detroit -107
Buffalo – 101
Pittsburgh – 101
Montreal – 99
Boston – 98
Florida – 95
NYI – 95
Philadelphia – 94
Toronto – 90
Washington – 88
New Jersey – 88
Columbus – 88
Ottawa – 87
NYR – 76
The Islanders & Flyers would only need to elevate their % pace from their current .578 and .570 to around .598 and .596, and see corresponding minor drops by Montreal, Boston and Florida to push into the playoffs, while for the Leafs (.548) down to Columbus (.539), each would need to finish at around .620 to do so.
For Ottawa, it’s more like a jump from their current .529 to .650 for them to have a chance.
Impossible? No. Likely? No.
Dark G, Vegas wasn’t playing a back-to-back – they had last played on Friday in Toronto, and were in Ottawa resting while the Senators were playing Carolina.
But I agree, their inconsistency – not to mention goalkeeping weaknesses – have definitely put them in the long-shot category. Yes, they are just 4 points out of the 2nd WC slot, but with 30 games left in the schedule and sitting second-last in the Conference, they’d need to pass 7 teams to get there, 3 of whom (Columbus, NYI and Florida) have 1 game in hand on them, and Philadelphia 2.
And just ahead lie Colorado here on Wednesday, NJ here Saturday, in Pittsburgh next Monday and in Carolina the following night in yet another back-to-back.