NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – February 26, 2026
Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov reaches an assists milestone, Artemi Panarin collects his first points with the Kings, Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville gets his 1,000th win, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF WEDNESDAY’S ACTION
NHL.COM: Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists, including his 700th career regular-season assist, as the Tampa Bay Lightning doubled up the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2. Gage Goncalves also had a goal and two assists, and Brayden Point scored twice and picked up an assist for the Lightning (38-14-4), who have won six straight games and hold first place in the Eastern Conference with 80 points. John Tavares and Matthew Knies replied for the 27-22-9 Maple Leafs, who remain six points out of the final Eastern wild-card berth.
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lightning head coach Jon Cooper missed this game due to the death of his father earlier this week. Kucherov also reached the 30-goal plateau for the ninth time in his NHL career and sits second in the scoring race with 94 points. Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews picked up an assist in this game.
Artemi Panarin collected his first points with the Los Angeles Kings, but his new club fell 6-4 to the Vegas Golden Knights. Pavel Dorofeyev scored two goals while Tanner Laczynski collected three assists for the Golden Knights (28-16-14), who hold first place in the Pacific Division with 70 points. Quinton Byfield netted two goals for the 23-20-14 Kings, who have lost three straight games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Golden Knights played without Olympians Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Mark Stone, Noah Hanifin, and Shea Theodore. All five played in Sunday’s gold-medal game. Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said they were left behind to give them a break. It’s expected they’ll rejoin the team for Friday’s game against the Washington Capitals.
Anaheim Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville got his 1,000th regular-season win as his club nipped the Edmonton Oilers 6-5. Leo Carlsson had a goal and two assists, and Cutter Gauthier potted the game-winner with 1:14 remaining in the third period for the Ducks (31-23-3). Matt Savoie had a goal and two assists while Connor McDavid had two assists for the 28-23-8 Oilers, who have lost four straight contests.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Quenneville is only the second coach in NHL history to win 1,000 games. Scotty Bowman is the leader with 1,244. Ducks forward Mikael Granlund missed this game with an upper-body injury.
The league-leading Colorado Avalanche improved to 38-9-9 (85 points) with a 4-2 victory over the Utah Mammoth. Martin Necas and Parker Kelly each had a goal and an assist while Brock Nelson tallied his 30th goal of the season for the Avalanche. Dylan Guenther tallied both goals for the Mammoth (30-24-4).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon missed this game because of maintenance, according to a team spokesman. MacKinnon appeared to be dealing with an injury during the Olympics. Mammoth center Logan Cooley picked up an assist as he returned to action for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury on Dec. 5.
An overtime goal by Cole Perfetti lifted the Winnipeg Jets over the Vancouver Canucks 3-2. Mark Scheifele had two assists, and Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi also scored for the 23-26-8 Jets. Drew O’Connor and Evander Kane scored for the Canucks (18-33-7).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canucks held Tyler Myers out of this game for “roster management purposes”, which means the 36-year-old defenseman could be traded if he agrees to waive his no-movement clause. He’s signed through next season with an average annual value of $3 million.
Dallas Stars forward Wyatt Johnston scored twice, including his 30th goal of the season, in a 4-1 win over the Seattle Kraken. Matt Duchene had a goal and an assist to extend his points streak to seven games for the Stars (35-14-9), who have won seven straight games. Ryker Evans replied for the 27-21-9 Kraken.
The Buffalo Sabres held off the New Jersey Devils by a score of 2-1. Tage Thompson and Peyton Kreb scored for the Sabres, who improved to 33-19-6. Timo Meier scored, and Jack Hughes collected an assist for the 28-28-2 Devils.
Third-period goals by Trevor van Riemsdyk and Aliaksei Protas lifted the Washington Capitals to a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Protas also picked up an assist, and goaltender Logan Thompson made 23 saves for the 30-23-7 Capitals. Noah Cates replied for the 25-21-11 Flyers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Capitals placed forward Sonny Milano on waivers as they activated Connor McMichael off injured reserve.
HEADLINES
PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: Penguins captain Sidney Crosby will be sidelined for at least four weeks with a lower-body injury suffered during the Olympics. He’s been placed on injured reserve.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This will be a significant test for the retooling Penguins, who have exceeded expectations this season to sit second in the Metropolitan Division. They’ll look to long-time star Evgeni Malkin to step up as he’s done in the past whenever Crosby has been injured. This will also be an opportunity for young Penguins such as Ben Kindel, Egor Chinakhov, Avery Hayes, and recently-acquired defenseman Samuel Girard to show what they can do.
NHL.COM: Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov remains upbeat and happy with the pace of his recovery from knee surgery last September. He was expected to miss the entire season, but he’s hoping to return for the playoffs.
Barkov’s recovery period also inspired him to make a donation exceeding $1 million to the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, which named its sports medicine program after him. Since 2019, the Panthers captain has regularly made annual donations totaling $420,000 to the hospital.
SPORTSNET: St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas has taken a leave of absence due to a personal matter. Out of respect for Thomas’ privacy, the club won’t provide any further comment at this time.
ESPN: Olympic gold medalist Hilary Knight said a widely circulated comment from President Donald Trump about the US Women’s Olympic hockey team was a “distasteful joke”, and she is more focused on celebrating the women’s accomplishments at the Milan Games.
During the US men’s post-game dressing room celebration of their gold-medal win over Canada, Trump invited them to Washington for the State of the Union address. “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that,” Trump said, adding with a laugh that he could be impeached if he didn’t include the women’s team.
Several of the players laughed at Trump’s joke, generating criticism when the video went viral. Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils, and Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars subsequently insisted that they and their USA teammates respected the women’s team and had a great relationship with them.
Knight echoed that sentiment, saying she believed there was a genuine level of support and respect from the men’s team. “I think the guys were in a tough spot, so I think it’s a shame that this storyline and narrative has kind of blown up and overshadowing that connection and genuine interest in one another and cheering each other on.”
Boston Bruins goaltender and Team USA backup Jeremy Swayman said, “We should’ve reacted differently” to Trump’s joke. He added that he and his teammates were excited for the women’s team when they won gold. “We have so much respect for the women’s team.”
In a statement through a spokesperson, the women’s team declined the invitation to the State of the Union, citing logistics and scheduling concerns. The statement also said that they were honored to be included and grateful for the acknowledgement.
I think the Men’s/Women’s Team discussion just needs to be put to bed. It is natural to have some type of controversy in the media whenever Trump is involved. The teams have a genuine respect for each other.
Why? The number of clicks the story generates is what’s really important nowadays, right? This site probably hasn’t seen this many posts since forever. Bet we’ll be hearing about this for days.
“The number of clicks the story generates is what’s really important nowadays, right?”
Wrong, Randino. This story is hockey news, whether you like it or not. I don’t like writing about it, but it has to be covered. If I ignore it, then I’m not doing my job.
This is the first time I’ve made mention of it on this site, and it was worthwhile to post it because of Hilary Knight’s comments, which were worth listening to. It was also worthwhile to hear what some of the players on the men’s team had to say.
“This site probably hasn’t seen this many posts since forever.”
Shows what little you know about this site. So far, this story hasn’t even scratched the surface of the total number of single-day comments for even this year, let alone the past year or “since forever”.
“Bet we’ll be hearing about this for days.”
I doubt it.
Try posting something pertinent yourself before mouthing off with “facts” that are blatantly false. The “big lie” approach doesn’t work here.
Tom Simon, late yesterday I commented on the impressive Olympic showing of the Danish team, considering the country’s small population of just 6.03 million, and you pointed out that the equally-impressive Slovaks came from an even smaller population of 5.4 million.
Out of curiosity I checked to see how many Slovaks and Danes are currently members of NHL teams – whether at the top level or in their systems … and it turns out there are 8 Slovaks and 7 Danes. Again, pretty impressive:
Slovaks: F Jurav Slafkovsky Montreal; D Simon Nemec New Jersey; D Erik Cernak Tampa; D Martin Fehervary Washington; F Dalibor Dvorsky St. Louis; Fs Martin Pospisil & Samuel Honzec; Calgary; F Pavol Regenda San Jose;
Danes: F Nikolaj Ehlers & G Frederik Andersen Carolina; F Oliver Bjorkstrand Tampa; F Lars Eller & G Mads Sogaard Ottawa; F Oscar Fisker Molgaard Seattle; F Jonas Rondbjerg Vegas.
I hope I haven’t overlooked anyone.
And there could soon be more of each, as the following are expected to go somewhere in this year’s upcoming entry draft:
Slovaks: C Tomáš Chrenko playing for HK Nitra in the Slovak top league and considered to be a top-32 prospect; F Adam Nemec playing for the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves and highly ranked among European skaters; D Adam Goljer playing for HK Dukla Trencin and recognized for his potential to move up in 2026 rankings; F Tobias Tomík playing for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants and regarded as a notable prospect.
Danes: only G Tomass Biezais Klotins, a 2008-born currently playing in a Danish league.
I don’t believe either nation has any players yet in the PWHL.
Jesus on a shiny moped. Trump’s joke was about how the Democrats try to impeach him for silly crap. Anyone who isn’t blinded by leftist politics can see that. Yes, it was a weak joke and, yes, the timing sucked. But it wasn’t aimed at the women’s hockey team.
Paul Bowles,
A congratulatory call shouldn’t be at the expense of others, it isn’t an opportunity to take a dig for most people.
Stupid joke? It didn’t fall flat in the room.
There’s being a mentch and there’s being a nar
the issue is that Trump’s comments indicated that his indication was to only invite the men’s team to the WH, not the women. But considering the news about the Epstein coverup and his several comments about women in the past, he commented that he should also invite women as well
the men were put in a bad spot, laugh with the President and look bad to the public (and have to sent out messaging re: supporting the women’s team), or not laugh and then get roasted by Trump for not laughing at his comment, not get invited to the WH, and probably risk public scorn by Trump on socials
but these boards should strictly be about hockey so let’s leave the politics to other sites
Actually, anyone not trying to sugarcoat it would see that it was both derision for women’s sports AND a shot at the democrats. Things arnt always so concrete.
Funny, I thought of Trump’s joke more of a dig against the democrats than any criticism of the Golden USA Women’s hockey team.
But anything coming from our President certainly deserves the utmost scrutiny!
Barkov hopes to be back for the playoffs. Has he checked the standings? The Panthers have to make the playoffs first.
Heh. So true, Howard. They can start their move tonight when they get the Leafs on the 2nd of a back-to-back … but a loss, and depending upon some of the other games tonight, they could be buried even deeper.
As an illustration as to how tight things are, especially in the East, as a result of the games played yesterday, Buffalo moves from 6th to 4th, Pittsburgh – who didn’t play – drop to 6th, Washington moves from 12th to 9th, and Columbus – who also didn’t play – drops from 9th to 10th.
Out West Utah drops from 5th to 6th, Seattle drops from 6th to 8th, Anaheim goes from 7th to 5th, Winnipeg moves up one notch from 13th to 12th, while Edmonton – despite their loss – actually move from 8th to 7th due to other results and positioning based upon games played.
Expect more of the same in the standings Friday morning following the results of the 12 games on today/tonight.
Wondering if Florida becomes a seller on March 6.
There’s been rumblings about Bobrovski being up for trade. Guess we’ll find out soon enough.
If they’re hopelessly out of it by trade deadline, Zito isn’t the hesitant ultra-conservative type like, for example, Cheveldayov. He’s much more like Nil in that regard.
Never say never, I suppose. The Panthers are struggling to get back into the playoff race. Even Matthew Tkachuk admitted they were in trouble before the Olympic break. Trading Bobrovsky might not be that far-fetched. We’ll see.
Just a comment on the Leafs/Lightning game that wasn’t mentioned but something that should have been. The Lightning had two goals called back on being offside. It wasn’t blatantly offside but nonetheless offside. My question is, why are the linesman missing these calls? If it’s that close that you need to review it over and over again and delay the game, worth it? It’s like taking out one of the human elements out of the game, right?
A missed call or bad call is part of the randomness of the game IMO and should be avoided but the odd chance it does get missed, we shouldn’t be so quick to have to stop the game to look at a play that you couldn’t see without replay (because it’s so close that’s it’s close enough) where a live view couldn’t catch it? I don’t know what’s best but bad calls are no different than a bad break or bounce….its the randomness of the game that keeps it from being boring and pumps up fans one way or another, good or bad.
They should of given the power to view calls to the refs…like if a linesman had a partially obstructed view or wasn’t in position or a ref didn’t see something but another ref or linesman did are examples where a video review can be made. They should take it out of the team’s hands because they’re just looking for any opportunity to have a goal called back which to me isn’t what this game is about.
I feel video reviews are just sucking the life out of the game.
Totally agree, Ron. And they continue to assess a penalty for “delay of game” after a clearing attempt runs up over the glass – more often than not resulting in a 5 on 3 pp – when it takes all of about 10 seconds to get a new puck and about 30 seconds between the time the play stopped and a face-off. Yet I’ve seen some of these “reviews” drag on … and on … and on. And don’t mention commercial breaks disrupting the game’s “flow.”