NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – March 9, 2026
The Sabres take over first place in the Atlantic Division, Anthony Mantha leads the Penguins to a comeback victory, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The Buffalo Sabres defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in a wild 8-7 victory, leapfrogging the latter for first place in the Atlantic Division.
Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson (NHL Images).
Josh Doan snapped a 7-7 tie with his second goal of the game, Jason Zucker and Alex Tuch tallied twice, Tage Thompson had four assists, while Rasmus Dahlin and Bo Byram had three points each for the 39-19-6 Sabres (84 points). The Sabres are red-hot as they’ve won seven straight games.
Nikita Kucherov scored two goals and an assist, J.J. Moser had a goal and two assists, and Darren Raddysh picked up three assists for the Lightning (39-19-4), who sit second in the Atlantic with 82 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This was a fight-filled contest with 102 penalty minutes, capped by Lightning winger Brandon Hagel jumping Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin early in the second period.
The last time the Sabres held first place in their division at this stage of the season or later was Apr. 11, 2010.
Pittsburgh Penguins winger Anthony Mantha scored two game-tying goals, setting the stage for Tommy Novak’s overtime winner in a 5-4 win over the Boston Bruins. Erik Karlsson collected two assists for the Penguins, who improved to 32-17-14 to sit second in the Metropolitan Division with 78 points. Pavel Zacha had a hat trick for the 35-22-6 Bruins, who hold the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth with 76 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Penguins forward Justin Brazeau missed this game with an undisclosed injury. He is listed as day-to-day.
The league-leading Colorado Avalanche nipped the Minnesota Wild by a score of 3-2. Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring and tallied the game-winner in a shootout for the Avalanche (43-10-9, 95 points). Kirill Kaprizov and Nico Sturm replied for the Wild (37-16-11) as they sit third in the Central Division with 85 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Nazem Kadri collected his first point in his return to the Avalanche, setting up MacKinnon’s regulation goal. The Avalanche reacquired the 35-year-old center from the Calgary Flames before Friday’s trade deadline.
Before this game, the Avalanche announced that team captain Gabriel Landeskog is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
An overtime goal by Miro Heiskanen lifted the Dallas Stars to a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Mavrik Bourque had a goal and an assist for the 39-14-10 Stars, who are second in the Western Conference with 88 points. Connor Bedard scored the tying goal to force overtime for the Blackhawks (23-29-11).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Blackhawks forward Oliver Moore left this game in the first period with an undisclosed injury.
The Detroit Red Wings blanked the New Jersey Devils 3-0. John Gibson made 21 saves until forced to leave the game with an injury following the second period. Cam Talbot made 10 saves to preserve the shutout. Moritz Seider had a goal and two assists, and Dominik Shine scored his first NHL goal as the Red Wings improved to 36-21-7, moving into third place in the Atlantic Division with 79 points. Jacob Markstrom turned aside 27 shots for the 32-30-2 Devils as their four-game win streak ended.
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid collected two assists, and goaltender Connor Ingram made 24 saves to double up the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2. Leon Draisaitl scored what proved to be the game-winner for the Oilers (31-25-8), who hold third place in the Pacific Division with 70 points. Mitch Marner has two assists for the 29-21-14 Golden Knights, who are two points ahead of the Oilers in the Pacific standings.
The St. Louis Blues picked up their fourth straight win by downing the Anaheim Ducks 4-0. Joel Hofer made 22 saves for the shutout while Jordan Kyrou, Jonathan Drouin, Jimmy Snuggerud, and Pius Suter scored for the 25-29-9 Blues. Ville Husso stopped 31 shots for the Ducks (35-25-3, 73 points), who hold a one-point lead over the Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division.
IN OTHER NEWS…
TSN: New York Islanders center Bo Horvat was fined $2,500.00 by the NHL’s department of player safety for unsportsmanlike conduct during Saturday’s game against the San Jose Sharks.
Ottawa Senators defenseman Tyler Kleven was fined $4,166.67 for cross-checking Seattle Kraken winger Jared McCann.
“New York Islanders center Bo Horvat was fined $2,500.00 by the NHL’s department of player safety for unsportsmanlike conduct during Saturday’s game against the New York Islanders.”
😣
Fixed.
Dominik Shine scored his first NHL goal !
32 yo Shine finally pots one after spending 9 years with the AHL Griffens. He is captain of the Griffs and leads them in scoring. He finally got 9 games with the Wings last year and has his 5th this year, played last night. The Pinckney, Michigan native also spent 4 years at locally to me Northern Michigan University. He is now “living the dream”. 👍👍👍
Thanks Johnny. Great details to add. Makes it a “feel good” story.
👍😎
Last season, when a lot of comments were still surfacing that described the Sabres as the epitome of futility they had become over 14 fumbling seasons, I took a different view as, whenever I watched their games (especially when they played Ottawa), I could see some positive aspects in their play.
A search of Lyle’s site turned up this post I submitted on February 5, 2025:
” … don’t look now but, since the 41-game half-way mark when they were 15 21 5 and on a .427 pace, they have gone 7 5 0 and .583, just 5 back of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with 2 games in hand on each, and 7 behind Montreal with the same number of games played.
Their 164 goals scored is now better than 6 of the teams in front of them (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Montreal, NYR, NYI and Boston), 12 more than the 1st WC holder Detroit, and 1 better than 3rd place Ottawa.
Their 177 goals against is less than those of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, 1 more than Montreal, 2 more than Boston and 1 more than Columbus.
And all that counting in the early-season 14-game winless streak that dug too deep a hole … but which is now fading in the rear-view mirror. Teams facing them now had better bring their “A” game.”
That goes double now, as they’re showing they can adjust their game to whichever approach the opposition uses and beat you over the head with it.
I wouldn’t want to be the team facing them in Round 1 this season.
George, your back is gonna get sore if you keep patting yourself.
No update on Sanderson.
Not good.
Heh Dark G. I just wanted to illustrate that there WERE positive signs last season for that long-suffering franchise if some naysayers had only chosen to look closer.
Now, not only have they taken over 1st in the Atlantic Division, but they’ve also moved into 2nd place in the Eastern Conference, 2 points b/o Carolina, and 5th in the league. And although still a distant 11 points behind the class of league, Colorado, for 1st overall, they are now just 2 points b/o 2nd place Dallas!
Their 225 goals scored places them 3rd in the league behind Colorado’s 238 and just 2 goals b/o Edmonton’s 227, while their +32 goals differential places them 5th in the league in that category.
At home their 20-8-3 43 pts .694 % pace puts them 4th in the league and their 19-11-3 41pts .621 % pace on the road has them in the top 10 in the league in that category.
All in all, pretty damned impressive.
Yeah, re Sanderson the fact they haven’t yet just assessed it as a “strain” and day-to-day suggests it could involve a tear of some sort … and that ain’t good.
Him being a minutes-eater on the D and likely among the best in the league in moving the puck out of the defensive zone and creating chances at the other end would necessitate a major change in their overall approach … not what you want to be doing at this late stage of a season and fighting for your playoff lives.
Well had to figure when you draft that many players in the first round, many of them early 1st, they will figure it out eventually.
Still more in the pipeline.
Good move sticking with Ruff as there were some calls for his head last year; the past his prime, need some new blood stuff. Took a while for everyone to play his system correctly, but they sure seem to have it working now.
Not many old guys driving that team either, their core is prime age and on the younger side.
Will be interesting how they do their first go around in the playoffs. Usually need to acquire some scar tissue.
That is certainly the norm Ray when a long-suffering team finally gets back into The Dance – but there have been exceptions to one round and out.
In 2019, Carolina snapped a 10-year playoff drought and beat Washington 4 games to 3 in round 1, then knocking off the Islanders 4 straight before losing to Boston 4 straight in the Conference finals.
In 2023, after a 6-year gap, the Panthers knocked of the Bruins 4-3 in the opening round, then ousted the Leafs 4-1 in round 2 and swept Carolina 4-0 in the Conference finals, before losing the Cup finals to Vegas 4-2.
Travis Green just announced that Sanderson is out “week-to-week” with an upper-body injury (obviously his right shoulder). A “week-to-week” prognosis is, I suppose, better than “season-ending surgery” and can sometimes result in a return sooner than expected … depending upon the healing abilities of the individual.
He isn’t with the team in Vancouver and won’t be in the line-up in their return home game Wednesday vs Montreal. Dennis Gilbert has been called up from the AHL, and Matinpalo – returning from an Olympic “ding” – will be in the lineup for tonight’s game in Vancouver.
Yeah, George, I have been thinking the same thing. It’s hard to believe that a team that was road kill has become such a juggernaut with no apparent reason. Sure Adams was fired and that seemed to spark them, but that couldn’t be the explanation.
I hate seeing a team you could count on to always lose turn things around. Takes one more constant away in a shifting universe. Thank goodness for another team close by the Sabres …
LJ, I truly believe the seeds for this eye-popping season began germinating over the 2nd half of last season.
That developed through a combination of accrued experience, and the dawning on them that Ruff’s patient insistence on what it takes over 60 minutes from ALL distinct parts of a team to establish a winning expectation mentality.
As I mention above, at the half-way point last season they were 15-21-5 35 points and a .427% pace … and dead last. Over the final 41 games they went 21-18-2 44 pts and a .537% pace, passing Philadelphia and Boston, 1 point b/o Pittsburgh, 2 b/o the Islanders and 6 and 7 b/o the Rangers and Detroit.
George, I will go back I on what I have said about the Sabres – they needed to get better on the backend.
Credit 2 guys – Samuelsson and Lyon. Sammy finally stayed healthy and Lyon elevated the goaltending until UPL could catch up. Then Ellis was there to spot for both of them when needed. The goals have been there, it’s the back end that needed to get it together.
Getting toughness at the deadline will help too – Parayko was not going to provide that.
Yeah … and a probable (and argumentative) stroke of luck for Buffalo aside, that was likely Parayko’s last legitimate chance at a cup before what’s left of his career comes to a close.
I guess some just put “comfort” and “familiarity” ahead of an ultimate win, but it sure puts a dent in the Blues attempts to refurbish that roster by removing the chance at acquiring high-value assets.
For me – factoring in all the crap that Buffalo has been through, all the high draft picks, coach and gm changes….I’m ready to hang it all on ONE guy.
One guy showed up and suddenly wasn’t putting up with mediocrity from the team.
And it’s Doan. Ever since that kid arrived – and he ARRIVED…..it’s been a new mindset. And I’m not even a fan of his dad’s but this kid just doesn’t quit. So you’re some hot shot top 10 pick and this kid is busting his ass around you? It’s go time. And it’s infectious.
Norris in the lineup as well as Doan, Dark G.
I bring that up because George brought up the Panthers beating the Bruins in 2023, round 1.
But Hey, Cozens has it going now in Ottawa too, so both teams made out pretty good on that deal.
That one is still a bit raw for me I guess.
The seeds were planted last year for a turnover in the league, young teams like Buffalo, Anaheim, Utah ,San Jose, Detroit, Ottawa and Montreal loaded up with talent finding their way.
Some fell short but the signs were there for some solidly built teams that are on the edge of breaking through.
Buffalo, Anaheim and Utah are the ones that are making the jump this year, probably include Detroit in that grouping.
Yeah, Habfan30, as Bob Dylan penned “the time’s they are a-changin’.”
Many among the long-established “old guard” look like they’re in for long stretches in the playoff wilderness: Washington, Toronto, NYR, New Jersey quite possibly Florida and eventually Pittsburgh who staved off the inevitable with a surge this season that doesn’t appear to be sustainable.
Out West that would include Winnipeg and Edmonton and Nashville hanging on by their teeth, and L.A.
Maybe it’s just me but since Olympic Games ended the majority of games I have drawn have been playoff style and full of intensity. Keep it going please