NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 24, 2026
The Avalanche and Hurricanes take commanding 3-0 leads in their respective series, the Sabres take a 2-1 series lead over the Bruins, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF THURSDAY’S PLAYOFF ACTION
NHL.COM: The Colorado Avalanche are on the verge of sweeping their best-of-seven first-round series with the Los Angeles Kings following a 4-2 victory in Game 3. Artturi Lehkonen had two points, including the winning goal on a shorthanded effort for the Avalanche, giving them a commanding 3-0 series lead. Trevor Moore and Adrian Kempe replied for the Kings. Game 4 is Sunday in Los Angeles, starting at 4:30 pm ET.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Kings’ hardworking defensive style has limited high-scoring Avalanche stars Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Martin Necas to just one point each in three games. However, the Avs’ deep roster has been the difference in this series, putting them on the verge of sweeping the Kings.
Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson left this game with an upper-body injury. Kings winger Andrei Kuzmenko returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering a knee injury on Feb. 25. He was held scoreless in this contest.
Carolina Hurricanes winger Jackson Blake’s tie-breaking goal in the second period held up as the game winner to nip the Ottawa Senators 2-1, giving the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead in their first-round series. Logan Stankoven opened the scoring for the third straight game for the Hurricanes, while Frederik Andersen made 21 saves for the win. Drake Batherson scored, and Linus Ullmark stopped 25 shots for the Senators. Game 4 goes Saturday in Ottawa at 3 pm ET.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Senators have done a fine job limiting the Hurricanes to three goals or fewer in each game, but they’ve managed only three goals in total of their own thus far, with Drake Batherson and Dylan Cozens being the goal scorers. Top center Tim Stutzle and team captain Brady Tkachuk have been held pointless. The Senators have yet to tally on the power play in this series.
Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson left this game in the second period following a hit to the head from Hurricanes winger Taylor Hall. He might be unavailable for Game 4, and if he’s in concussion protocol, he could be out for the remainder of the series if the Senators manage to push it to Game 7.
Buffalo Sabres winger Alex Tuch (NHL Images)
Third-period goals by Alex Tuch and Noah Ostlund gave the Buffalo Sabres a 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins, and a 2-1 lead in their first-round series. Bowen Byram had a goal and an assist, and Alex Lyon stopped 24 shots in his series debut for the Sabres. Tanner Jeannot replied for the Bruins. Game 4 is Sunday in Boston at 2 pm ET.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lyon played a solid game for the Sabres, including shutting down Bruins winger Viktor Arvidsson’s penalty-shot attempt. Ostlund made an impact in his NHL playoff debut with two points. He drew into the lineup with Josh Norris listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
HEADLINES
TSN: Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch isn’t concerned about the availability or effectiveness of team captain Connor McDavid as their first-round series against the Anaheim Ducks continues. McDavid was held scoreless in the first two games and briefly left Game 2 with an ankle injury, though he insisted he was fine following the game.
THE ATHLETIC: Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar’s status for Game 4 against the Pittsburgh Penguins is in question. Vladar didn’t participate in practice on Thursday. Head coach Rick Tocchet explained the goalie’s absence was due to a maintenance day, saying he was “a little banged up.” The Flyers hold a 3-0 series lead over the Penguins and can close out the series at home in Game 4 on Saturday.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Stars center Roope Hintz (lower-body injury) resumed skating on Wednesday on his own back in Dallas. He won’t be joining the team for Game 4 of their first-round series against the Minnesota Wild and is “highly doubtful” for Game 5. The Stars hold a 2-1 lead in the series with Game 4 on Saturday at 5:30 pm ET.
TVA SPORTS: Montreal Canadiens forward Josh Anderson and defenseman Mike Matheson missed practice on Thursday. No reason was given for their absence but it’s believed they were each taking a maintenance day.
THE MONTREAL GAZETTE: Speaking of the Canadiens, forward Kirby Dach shut down his Instagram account after some fans attacked him online for a couple of mistakes he made in Game 2 that led to the Tampa Bay Lightning winning that game in overtime.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It’s one thing to be critical of a player’s performance. It’s crossing the line to launch personal attacks against that player on his social media account. Those are the type of “keyboard commandos” who cowardly hide behind their anonymity to hurl insults at players that they’d never dare say to their faces.
THE ATHLETIC: Utah Mammoth forward Logan Cooley has played well thus far in his first-ever NHL playoff series. The 21-year-old has been Utah’s best player through the first two games of their first-round series with the Vegas Golden Knights, scoring the winning goal to give the Mammoth a 3-2 victory in Game 2.
DAILY FACEOFF: St. Louis Blues winger Jordan Kyrou underwent a minor surgical knee procedure. He is expected to be ready for training camp in September.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: That knee injury could explain why Kyrou’s production was down this season. After three straight 30-plus goal seasons and reaching 70 points in three of the last four campaigns, the 27-year-old winger managed 18 goals and 46 points in 72 games.
When it comes to the Senators’ D this year, that hoary old adage “if it weren’t for bad luck they’d have no luck at all” has raised its head 3 times, each involving multiple injuries, and, of course, it had to continue in the playoffs involving their top pairing of Sanderson and Zub.
A few days ago The Turk predicted Carolina in 4 … I think I countered by saying Ottawa “would win more than 1 …” Looks like he’s right and I was way off.
Hey George doesn’t look good for Sens & games aka for the bruins , looks like a sweep for the Avs and the canes. Really thought Ottawa had a chance against Carolina. Avs too strong for La. Bruins have to win Sunday or they could out too. Hoping for a win Sunday.
John, as I mentioned a couple of days back, the Senators defensive system ranked 2nd in a number of key areas, and it shows in that Carolina has scored only 7 times over 3 games, including one double-OT. That’s around 2.0 goals per.
Unfortunately the team they ranked 2nd TO in those categories is Carolina! And they have simply stifled the likes of Stutzle, Tkachuk, Cozens, Pinto.
Ottawa MIGHT win Saturday’s game … but that’ll likely be it, with the Canes taking the series in front of their fans.
L.A.’s lack of scoring can’t compete with that of Colorado’s. I can see the Bruins-Sabres going the full 7 … with a coin-toss scenario in game 7. Edmonton has lost home-ice advantage, so they had BETTER win one in Anaheim.
And don’t forget a probable sweep by the Flyers, who have laid bare what many of us have been cautioning about the Penguins … they are simply too old and too slow in too many key areas to withstand the rigors of playoff hockey.
Re Lyle’s post on “key commandos” (I prefer the term “gutless wonders”), the emergence of that element of society was an inevitable consequence of the Internet’s design, which made certain that anonymity would be a cornerstone of the medium, (unfortunately?) stressing that ease of communication would prevail over security. So, like cockroaches or rats taking advantage of a lack of household precautions, it’s become almost impossible to deter them, thanks to the same technologies that allow for free expression also do very little nothing to guard against what can only be described as “toxic behaviour.”
In my own ongoing efforts to protect myself from the more sinister of that element, I recall reading a while back about something called “The Online Disinhibition Effect” coined by a psychiatrist (or psychologist?) – whose name I can’t recall – which dealt with the absolute lack of restraint some feel when online where they’re not required to make eye contact with those they are attacking. Hence my preference for “gutless wonders.”
Apparently, efforts to improve security is an ongoing process, but the more technologically skilled gutless wonders quickly find ways to adapt to ensure THEIR identities are safe-guarded, using things like “disposable accounts” or what they’re now calling “botnets.”
I guess this is the price for a free and open Internet.
Bruins… very small sample for Hagens but he’s not ready for NHL hockey at this point … his size could be a issue going forward
Bruins .. Lohrei was brutal last night … you would think by now he would’ve cleaned up his play in the D Zone but he hasn’t he’s a turnover machine.. the size is there but there’s no toughness in his game at all