NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 29, 2026
A record-tying hat trick performance by Flyers winger Travis Konecny, Ondrej Palat has a multipoint effort in his first game with the Islanders, Rangers star Artemi Panarin will be held for roster management purposes, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: Philadelphia Flyers winger Travis Konecny tallied a record-tying hat trick in a 5-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Sean Monahan snapped a 3-3 tie while Charlie Coyle and Mathieu Olivier each had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, who picked up their third straight win and improved to 25-20-7. Flyers goalie Dan Vladar stopped 26 shots as the Flyers (24-19-9) dropped their second straight contest.
Philadelphia Flyers winger Travis Konecny (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Konecny’s hat trick is the 29th since January 1, tying the league record set in December 1985 for the most in a calendar month. Meanwhile, Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen left this game in the first period with a lower-body injury.
Ondrej Palat had a goal and an assist in his first game with the New York Islanders in a 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers. Simon Holmstrom had a goal and two assists, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also had a goal and an assist for the Islanders (29-19-5), who acquired Palat from the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 27. Mika Zibanejad and Taylor Raddysh replied for the fading Rangers (22-26-6), who have three wins in their last 15 games (3-10-2).
The Ottawa Senators upset the Colorado Avalanche 5-2. Tim Stutzle had a goal and an assist while James Reimer turned aside 16 shots for the Senators, who have won two straight games and improved to 25-21-7. Valeri Nichushkin and Parker Kelly replied for the Avalanche (35-7-9), who hold first place in the overall standings with 79 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Senators did a fine job neutralizing high-scoring Avalanche stars Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Martin Necas. Meanwhile, the Avs are slumping a bit after dominating the league for most of this season, sporting a record of 2-3-2 in their last seven contests.
HEADLINES
TSN: Artemi Panarin has played his final game with the New York Rangers. The club held the 34-year-old winger out of Wednesday’s game against the New York Islanders for “roster management purposes”. He is not expected to play again before the upcoming Olympic break (Feb. 4-22).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: That means Panarin has given the Rangers a list of acceptable trade destinations and could be moved soon. He has a full no-movement, giving him full control over where he goes. TSN’s Chris Johnston reports the playmaking winger seeks a contract extension before signing off on a deal.
I’ll have more on this in today’s Rumors update.
DETROIT HOCKEY NOW: The Red Wings signed defenseman Ben Chiarot to a three-year contract worth an average annual value of $3.85 million. That represents a $1 million pay cut for the 34-year-old blueliner.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Chiarot was willing to take the reduction in pay to stay in Motown. After nine long years of rebuilding, the Wings have finally broken through as a playoff contender, jockeying for first place in the Eastern Conference. Chiarot served as a mentor to Moritz Seider and is now in the same role with rookie Axel Sandin-Pellikka.
CALGARY SUN: Flames winger Blake Coleman has been sidelined with an upper-body injury since Jan. 8. He’s not expected to return to the lineup until after the upcoming Olympic break next month.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: St. Louis Blues forwards Jordan Kyrou (upper body) and Jake Neighbours (lower body) are listed as day-to-day.
PUCKPEDIA: The Toronto Maple Leafs have moved sidelined forward Dakota Joshua and defenseman Chris Tanev to long-term injury reserve.
TSN: Washington Capitals forward Brandon Duhaime was fined $2,500 by the league for unsportsmanlike conduct during Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Kraken.
MONTREAL HOCKEY NOW: The Canadiens fired goaltending coach Eric Raymond, promoting Marco Marciano from their AHL affiliate in Laval into that role.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canadiens goalie tandem of Sam Montembeault and Jakub Dobes struggled at times this season, especially Montembeault. However, his performance improved for several games following a conditioning stint in Laval with Marciano, who also tutored Dobes during his tenure with Laval last season. Marciano has also done good work with promising Habs goalie prospect Jacob Fowler.
Watching that Ottawa-Colorado game last night I couldn’t help but get the impression that the Avalanche were looking ahead just a bit to tonight’s higher-profile game in Montreal, figuring perhaps that this was going to be a given 2 points by choosing to start back-up Blackwood in nets and saving Wedgewood for tonight.
But as the game wore on, and the Senators seemed determined to keep up their relentless fore-checking for once throughout the game, you could see the frustration building on the Avs’ bench. Even so, I fully expected them to charge back in the 3rd and take command of the game. But while they did pick up the pace, the Senators checking kept their scoring chances to a minimum, and when it was over, their shots on Reimer totalled 18. For a team that leads the league in average shots on goal per game with 34.4, and goals scored per game of 4.4, that’s uncharacteristic.
For Ottawa, in that one game at least it looked like it has finally sunk in that, in order to climb out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves and get back into a playoff spot, they are going to have to play like that every game. Against all opposition, including their next game which is at home Saturday against the low-scoring Devils. – one of 3 teams they passed in the Conference standings with that win last night (the others were Toronto and Washington, 2 of 4 Eastern teams really struggling of late – over their past 10 the Leafs are 3-5-2; Capitals 3-6-1; Flyers 2-7-1; Rangers 2-8-0.
To catch and pass Columbus (7-3-0), Florida (6-4-0) and NYI (5-4-1), however, there can be no relapse by Ottawa in total game effort from here to the end.
Revisiting the Shane Pinto discussion yesterday, his value – in addition to having career 82-game averages of 21 goals 22 assists playing mostly 3rd/4th line minutes – also lies in his fierce two-way game. In his total time on the ice last night of 16:51, he caused several turnovers and, lined up against the MacKinnon line, held the Avs star C to 0 points and all of 1 shot on goal. Not many have done that so far this season.
On many other teams he’d be at least a 2nd line C. Which is why – if they ever did think of dealing him – the return would HAVE to be a top young winger with term and/or a 1st round pick.
The Sens late season charge is starting George!!
Last night was the blueprint. Holding the Avs down like that is exactly how they need to play. They deserved the win, and they can start stacking them if they keep it up. Question is have they left themselves enough runway.
It’s what the Oil have done down the stretch each of the last 2 seasons, still waiting in Edmonton for that to happen this year. Maybe they think they can flip the switch for the playoffs. Maybe they’re right? I don’t think it usually works that way.
My B’s have tightened it up defensively for the most part of late. Stacking wins again. Should I start believing?
It’s go time, cream should start rising, it has with Utah in the West too.
There will be players injured in the Olympics, and obviously they will be good & important players. That will have an impact on a couple teams.
Pinto’s is worth a bunch. He ain’t moving unless the Sens get it.
George , solid effort from Ottawa. One key point from last night is zero power plays for the Avs.
Ottawa needs to insert Matinpalo back in the line up and sit Jensen, especially against quicker teams. I give the man credit for grinding through his injury rehab but he is not the same player who started the season in Ottawa last year.
Habs’ only way to improve their goaltending is through a trade.
There are really no better options available in the trade market. And if there were the cost would be prohibitive. The Habs will have to ride it out with what they have. Hopefully the new goalie coach will be able to help straighten out Monty’s game and his confidence . I’m confident Fowler will become a true #1 goalie but he’s better off getting lots of playing time in the AHL at this time.
Howard, of the 8 teams in the East currently holding down a playoff position, the only two I can see as potentially catchable from here to the end are Montreal (due solely to inconsistent goaltending) and the NYI (due to being the 3rd lowest goal-scoring team in the East with 155 – only the NYR (145) and the Devils (141) have scored fewer. On the other hand, the Islanders are the 2nd hardest to score against in the East, having yielded just 148, with only Tampa giving up less (130). But they’ll likely have to win a lot of 2-1, 3-2-type games.
As to which teams could possibly catch them, I would have to say Florida, currently 4 points back of 8th-place NYI and 6 back of 5th-place Montreal, and with a game in hand on each, is a prime candidate. The other – and hugely contingent upon solving their own goaltending inconsistencies – could be Ottawa, currently one of the top goal-scoring teams in the East with 179, tied with Tampa and Buffalo, and just 1 back of each of Carolina, Montreal and Boston.