NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 22, 2026
The Avalanche take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series, the Lightning, Bruins, and Mammoth tie their respective series, and much more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPPING TUESDAY’S PLAYOFF GAMES
NHL.COM: An overtime goal by Nicolas Roy lifted the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, and a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven first-round series. Gabriel Landeskog scored the tying goal while Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves, including one on a penalty shot by Los Angeles center Quinton Byfield. Artemi Panarin opened the scoring for the Kings, who got a 34-save effort from goaltender Anton Forsberg.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The game was delayed following Wedgewood’s save on Byfield to replace a pane of glass behind the Kings’ bench that shattered from the force of excited Avalanche fans pounding on it.
This series shifts to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4, with Game 3 on Thursday at 10 pm ET. If those games are anything like the first two, we can expect them to be physical, close-checking, low-scoring affairs. The Kings must find a way to generate more offense without sacrificing their defensive play in Game 3, or they’ll be facing elimination this weekend.
The Tampa Bay Lightning overcame a 2-1 deficit to nip the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on an overtime goal by JJ Moser, tying their first-round series at a game apiece. Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov also scored for the Lightning, while Lane Hutson and Josh Anderson tallied for the Canadiens.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The first half of this game was a greasy physical affair with numerous scrums, including a fight that saw Hagel drop Canadiens winger Juraj Slafkovsky. Once the shenanigans were over, the game settled into a close-checking contest in which the Lightning’s experience made the difference, with Kucherov’s tying goal the result of a blueline turnover by Slafkovsky. The Canadiens were tentative in overtime, failing to generate a shot while the Lightning peppered Habs goalie Jakub Dobes with nine shots.
Speaking of the Lightning, they announced that team captain Victor Hedman is doubtful to play in this series, which moves to Montreal for Games 3 and 4. The third game will be on Friday at 7 pm ET.
Boston Bruins winger Viktor Arvidsson tallied twice as his club doubled up the Buffalo Sabres 4-2, tying their series at one game apiece. Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves while David Pastrnak collected two assists for the Bruins. Bowen Byram and Peyton Krebs replied for the Sabres. This series shifts to Boston for the next two games, with Game 3 on Thursday at 7 pm ET.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Sabres fell too far behind to stage another rally as they did in the first game. It was a disastrous outing for Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, giving up four goals on 19 shots, including a backhander from center ice by Bruins winger Morgan Geekie that bounced past him. Alex Lyon replaced Luukkonen after Arvidsson made it 4-0, and Sabres coach Lindy Ruff hinted that Lyon might get the start in Game 3.
Utah Mammoth center Logan Cooley (NHL Images).
The Utah Mammoth got their first playoff win since relocating from Arizona by defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2, squaring their first-round series at a game apiece. Logan Cooley snapped a 2-2 tie while Dylan Guenther had a goal and an assist for the Mammoth. Mark Stone and Ivan Barbshev scored for the Golden Knights. This series moves to Utah for Games 3 and 4, with Game 3 on Friday at 9:30 pm ET.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The speedy Mammoth out-played and out-shot the Golden Knights as this game went along. Led by young stars such as Cooley and Guenther, they’re proving to be a handful for the veteran-laden Golden Knights.
HEADLINES
DAILY FACEOFF: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the league has no plans to change its regular-season points system.
The issue arose as the Los Angeles Kings made the playoffs despite tying for the second-fewest regulation wins this season, playing in a record 33 overtime games. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Flyers clinched third place in the Metropolitan Division despite winning 10 fewer regulation games than the Washington Capitals, while the New York Islanders won 43 games but missed the playoffs with five overtime/shootout points.
Bettman also said that future league expansion fees could exceed $1 billion. He based it on the growth of league revenue and other factors. Atlanta and Houston have been rumored as potential destinations for future expansion franchises.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan said sidelined center Roope Hintz didn’t travel with the team to Minnesota for the next two games of their first-round series. A lower-body injury has sidelined Hintz since March 6.
Gulutzan was unfazed over comments by Minnesota forward Marcus Foligno that the Stars “couldn’t hang” with the Wild in even-strength situations. Two of the goals the Stars scored in their 4-2 victory over the Wild in Game 2 came on the power play.
SPORTSNET: Speaking of the Wild, winger Mats Zuccarello is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Edmonton Oilers forward Adam Henrique will miss Game 2 of their series with the Anaheim Ducks after suffering a lower-body injury in the first game.
Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Emil Andrae will miss Game 3 of his club’s series with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
THE ATHLETIC: The Vancouver Canucks have requested permission to speak with former Buffalo Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams about their vacant GM position.
NEW JERSEY HOCKEY NOW: New Devils GM Sunny Mehta said everything is under evaluation from the coaching staff to new contracts for Nico Hischier and Simon Nemec. He also indicated that the Devils will be spending to the salary cap.
Mehta spent three seasons as an assistant general manager with the Florida Panthers before taking over as Devils GM last week.
TSN: Former NHL superstar Ilya Kovalchuk was named president of KHL club Shanghai Dragons.
Bostons win over Buffalo highlighted the one chance that Boston has in this series. Bostons goaltending in Swayman is far superior than Buffalo s.
Sr.
The Bruin PK has been excellent. The kid line is holding their own bruins were the better team
Agree, game went as good as we could have hoped. Sabers had more zone time, but the B’s generated more quality chances until they got ahead by 4, which seems to happen to teams all the time. Finally got one on a breakaway.
That 2nd goal from center ice was the big break they needed IMO. It rattled the Sabers, and in a flash it was 4 zip.
Swayman pushing for the timeout after BUF 2nd goal was a good move as it seemed like it might get away from them again.
I would add that the B’s dragged Buffalo into the alley, where they want them. Buf has some big boys who are physical but pulling them into the greasy stuff is a win for the B’s, much more experience in the dark arts of scrums and full on scraps. Zadorov catching Greenway with a clean left while he was bulling his way onto one in the 3rd was as classic as it was subtle. The guy is a beast, and totally comfortable in that situation. Zero fear, calm, cool and effective, for good reason.
Kastelic hung in against the 6′ 7″ Stanley when challenged.
Great effort, good plan, entertaining game to watch.
>>>The game was delayed following Wedgewood’s save on Byfield to replace a pane of glass behind the Kings’ bench that shattered from the force of excited Avalanche fans pounding on it.
I will file this under “What is Wrong with People?”
A certain – often very visible – segment of society unfortunately function daily with S-F-B.
George0, I remember when if you pounded on the glass you got ejected from the game. Now it’s rampant everywhere like monkeys at the zoo.
LOL. Took me about 10 seconds to realize what SFB meant.!
And if any ever suffered an injury from the flying shards they’d, of course, promptly sue the arena and the home team … not even duct tape can fix stupidity ….
Despite a loss the Canadians heard great news that Victor Hedman may be out for the series!
mmmmnnnng …. while I want my team of choice to go as far as they can, of course, I draw the line at glee over a player’s injury … or even wishing for one.
Wow brilliant effort, If the bruins win Thursday it’ll be the Sabres with their backs against the wall. If Boston wins this series it’ll be because of Swayman. After the first and second I kept switching over to Tampa/Montreal some real donnybrooks in that one I didn’t know Hagel could fight like that. What a punch.
Hagel is the real deal can play on my team any day.
Hagel 6’2” 190 plays like he’s 220 … seen him in a few fights this season and he always handled himself well .. Bruins would enjoy him
Hagel can go for a middle weight. He gives up 15 or so pounds to M Tkachuk and has scrapped him a couple times. 4 Nations bout was a draw, but he absolutely tuned him in the battle of Florida last part of the season.
Tkachuk tried to sneak away after starting sh*t, which is his M.O., Hagel followed him and that was that. Wasn’t close.
It’s why TB gave up so much to get him in that trade, and then paid him more than most folks thought based on his offence alone.
Great player, perfect for the B’s.
I’ll jump all over him too. Really good, underrated player that can play and excel in any situation. Hagel is exactly what every team needs at least one of. What a beauty!
The Panthers SC wins taught Tampa to play the same style and it’s sickening to be honest.
Overload the refs, complain and scream over every call and the whistle doesn’t come out as often as it should. Stat-wise they are a highly penalized team but the stats don’t account for what they get away with.
Constant mugging, slashing, hooking, interference, you just can’t call them all. It’s no wonder they complain on every call, they slash 2-3 times and get away with it, the 4th is called.
I don’t mind physicality but when one team is initiating almost all of the scrums after whistles , officials have to set the tone and penalize the instigating player not those who join in.
Hard hits, fighting are part of playoff hockey and all teams need to be ready for that through some beef and/or pack mentality but the Panthers brought us rat and hyena pack on steroids.
I believe that is called playoff hockey Extra slashing extra cross checks extra face washes. More chirping. Wouldn’t want in any other way Too many regular season games decided by soft calls Let the players earn the win don’t tip the scales. I bet both team ms would ask for the same
That stuff always happens early in series. As the series goes along and more is at stake teams concentrate more on playing hockey. HF 30,mentioned once before in this column that the Habs could use more sandpaper in their lineup. Other than Andersen and Xheka not much else in the lineup.Tell Slafkovsky to stay out of fights.
Yes it is expected especially in round 1 and double because young teams are purposely put through the wringer by the more experienced teams…part of hockey and earning your respect.
I think the Habs are doing well with all considering and have a great future. This series might even swing to their favour. Go Habs.
Teams do it because it works and because HF30 is right. The refs won’t or can’t call everything. It was a strategy first employed to great success by Fred Shero during the Broad Street Bullies era. They did it to Boston when I was just a little kid, and I still remember parts of that vividly.
The only difference then was the all out brawls vs “scrums”.
Data suggest there are the same amount of penalties called on average during the playoffs, but I would agree way more don’t get called than the regular season. That seems self evident.
Until the NHL decides they don’t want it this way, it will be this way. Which means they want it this way, which is probably because most fans want it this way.
Agree that things calm down as the series goes on.
Obviously being gifted more undeserved power plays is OK with you. I seen numerous trips on Bolts player that were uncalled, especially in the 3rd. This game got away from the refs.
Habfan30 you can say all the same things about Josh Anderson.
Ray Bark, spot on regarding Shero and the Flyers. I was a Blues season ticket holder in those days and they had intimidation of the refs down to science complaining about every call even the obvious ones. The worse offender was the original rat Bobby Clarke. He would go as far as to accidentally on purpose bump officials so they got the message.
I lost my voice on more than one occasion yelling at the team bus after games. Still remember the frustration they caused. Ironically they adapted that style because of the Blues who the first couple of years after expansion would routinely go in and beat up on the Flyers using the Plagers and Noel Picard. Ed Snider swore that wouldn’t happen anymore hence the birth of the Broad Street Bullies.
I watched most of the game, and both teams looked to be giving it to the other. Remember that Tampa was at home, so were trying to get the crowd into it. Anderson got away with a bunch of liberties uncalled, and that was probably a big reason Sabourin did what he did.
I felt the Habs looked gassed in the third and OT. Tampa really took over 5 v 5 there. Both goalies were playing great. It’s been a fun series to watch. I’d still like to see Habs vs Sens in the Eastern final, but it’s a long shot, more so for the Sens than the habs.
Bruins … Viktor Arvidsson is UFA this offseason with a $4 million cap hit now probably going to be looking for more $$ .. say $5-$6 million per and at 33 years old should the Bruins try to resign him .. right now the Bruins have around $8 million including Viktor Arvidsson $$$$ coming off the books not counting what they do with Korpisalo if they can move him that would give them $11 million in cap …
Joe. Were you get 8 million? The cap is going up to 104 million or there about. That gives bruins gives them around 18 million with 6 d signed 2 goalies. Korpi probably gone which adds 3 mil 13 forwards signed so 1 maybe 2 traded out if the sign elsewhere. So lots of $$ to sign who they want. Arvi is a fit but wouldn’t want to pay over 6 or a long term commitment
$8 million was $ leaving this offseason not counting the cap increase that goes with every team ..yes B’s will have cash in hand now they just need difference makers that want to play in Boston …
We need to address the RD spot as well.
Peeke has been just OK and is a UFA and Jokiharju is… less so.
Murphy if the Oilers don’t sign him to an extension, but I’m guessing they find a way to do that. Pairing him with Nurse has worked out really well.
Maybe Carlson would sign an affordable 1 year deal? But guessing he stays put as well as Trouba.
Slim pickings in the UFA market after a few guys, and plenty of teams with cap space to spend out there. RD will be in demand, again.
Bettman and the league are foolish not to review the standings points system. Making regulation wins 3 pts would really throw everything out of whack.
but changing the loser points are possible. losing in SO/OT should only grant .5, a win in OT should be 2pt and SO win 1 point only. SO are strictly for the fan for a 1-on-1 game and not true sport. making the SO win only 1 full point will make teams want to win in OT, especially if they are fighting for a playoff spot
it’s not that hard to implement fractions/decimals in the standings, even for the antiquated NHL.
Seasons points , standing are fine…it’s the playoff matchups that need fixing. Sure the season results are “fixed” where some games are worth 3 points and others only 2…but this is the only way the league can seem like there is parity.
I’m just spitballing here but I wouldn’t mind keeping the status quo for the regular season but for the playoffs I wouldn’t mind seeing all the winners of the divisions ranked top to bottom and use a draw like in the draft to determine the match ups. That could be a welcome addition for the fans.
Currently the best matchups seem are in round 1. But a seeding like you mention may not have the best rivals playing each other.
Bruins need to play some more of their prospects they are ready keep the money and see how things are going at trade deadline day. Victor has been good in Boston and deserves a raise just let another team pay it.
Obe
I agree. Let them play or pkg up in a trade for someone who is going to play
I know it’s playoff hockey, I wasn’t born yesterday so I’m aware of refs letting things go, of intimidation.
I’m aware of missed and bad calls, that’s all part of experience and human error.
I’m aware of running the D, finishing checks, the I didn’t mean it picks etc etc and I’m not complaining about that, teams have to mark their territory.
My complaint is when a team is obviously gameplanning to overwhelm the officials who can’t make the calls without killing the game.
When scrums are used deliberately because refs will almost always “even it up” .
I’m not getting into individual calls or specific players being out of line, this is Cooper buying Maurice’s strategy of do 10 things to get away with 8.
I’m not concerned about how the Habs react, they certainly aren’t intimidated, Arber hasn’t flexed, Anderson shrugged them off and the Tampa players were chirping and goading. Pretty clear which team is losing it’s cool.
HF30. I saw it exactly as you stated and couldn’t agree more. I love the physicality of playoff hockey but the nonsense scrums after every whistle I can do without. The game was too close to let Arber and Anderson do their thing. If we had to lose, I would have preferred to lose handily so that the fights can happen and then move on. We had our chances. Could not convert on late powerplay. Lousy overtime effort with the kicker being Dach carelessly icing the puck to set up the winning goal. I have always been a big supporter of Dach, but after that play, I’ve had enough. I hope he sits the rest of the playoffs.
Well, bigger ice surface would bring more of the skill back to the game. Refs issuing 10 min misconducts to constant scrum participants would limit such nonsense. Just pick 1 player from each team on scrums that delay the game. And do it again on the next lengthily one. They will get the message. Play hockey!