NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 27, 2025
Avalanche extends their win streak to 10 games, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scores after a pregame ceremony honoring two career milestones, Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki reaches 400 career regular-season points, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The league-leading Colorado Avalanche (17-1-5, 39 points) extended their win streak to 10 games by blanking the San Jose Sharks 6-0. Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood turned in a 26-save shutout against his former club, Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist, and Cale Makar collected an assist to lead all NHL defensemen with 30 points. San Jose goalie Yaroslav Askarov was pulled early in the second period after giving up four goals on 19 shots. The Sharks slipped to 11-10-3.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: MacKinnon leads all NHL scorers with 18 goals and 39 points.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 908th career regular-season goal in a 4-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Defenseman Jakob Chychrun scored to extend his goal streak to four games as the Capitals (13-9-2) have won five of their last six games. Gabriel Vilardi tallied twice for the Jets, who’ve lost three in a row and dropped to 12-10-0.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Capitals honored Ovechkin for reaching 900 career goals and 1,500 regular-season games in a pregame ceremony.
Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki (NHL Images).
Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki reached the 400-point regular-season milestone with two goals and an assist to nip the Utah Mammoth 4-3. Jakub Dobes stopped 31 shots, Zach Bolduc had a goal and two assists, and Ivan Demidov tallied the winning goal as the Canadiens blew a 2-0 lead but rallied to improve their record to 12-7-3. Barrett Hayton, Kailer Yamamoto, and Michael Carcone replied for the Mammoth (12-9-3), who are 2-2-3 in their last seven games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This game saw the debut of Canadiens defenseman Adam Engstrom. Meanwhile, Mammoth blueliner Sean Durzi returned to the lineup after missing 21 games with an upper-body injury.
An overtime goal by Simon Nemec lifted the New Jersey Devils to a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues. Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists for the 15-7-1 Devils, who moved into first place in the Eastern Conference. Cam Fowler had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who dropped to 7-10-7.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Devils forward Evgenii Dadonov is expected to be out for a period of time after suffering an undisclosed injury during Monday’s game with the Detroit Red Wings.
Two goals in the opening 90 seconds by Brandon Hagel and Charle-Edouard D’Astous powered the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-1 victory over the Calgary Flames. Hagel and Nikita Kucherov each had a goal and an assist, and Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 31 shots as the Lightning (14-7-2) picked up their fifth straight win to sit in first place in the Atlantic Division with 30 points. Joel Farabee scored for the 8-14-3 Flames, whose three-game win streak ended.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Flames are reportedly poised to extend the contract of general manager Craig Conroy.
Boston Bruins forward Alex Steeves scored twice for his first NHL multi-goal game in a 3-1 victory over the New York Islanders. Jeremy Swayman kicked out 44 shots as the Bruins improved to 14-11-0. Mathew Barzal scored for the 13-9-2 Islanders.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Islanders announced that they would not loan rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer to Canada’s World Junior Team. That’s understandable, given Schaefer’s value to the Islanders. Meanwhile, the Isles announced Jean-Gabriel Pageau is expected to return from an upper-body injury before Christmas.
Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry made 29 saves in his return to action to double up the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 4-2. Matt Dumba and Kevin Hayes tallied their first goals of the season for the Penguins (11-6-5), who picked up their third win in their last 10 games. Jason Zucker and Jack Quinn each had a goal and an assist for the Sabres, who slipped to 9-10-4.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Penguins returned goaltender Sergei Murashov to their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Given his solid performance during his call-up, he might not be down on the farm for long.
New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, and Igor Shesterkin stopped 36 shots in a 4-2 upset of the Carolina Hurricanes. The win improved the Rangers to 12-11-2. Sebastian Aho and Shayne Gostisbehere each had two points for the Hurricanes (14-7-2), who’ve dropped three of their last four games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: New York Rangers captain J.T. Miller picked up an assist as he returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with an upper-body injury.
An overtime goal by William Nylander lifted the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1. Easton Cowan scored to tie the game for the Maple Leafs (10-10-3), who got their second win in their last nine games. Zach Werenski scored for the 11-9-3 Blue Jackets, who are winless in their last three (0-1-2).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Auston Matthews and Matthews Knies returned to the Maple Leafs lineup after missing several games with injuries. The Leafs also placed forward Sammy Blais on waivers.
Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson had a goal and two assists as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 on a shootout goal by Shane Pinto. Linus Ullmark made 32 saves for the Senators, who improved to 12-7-4. Brett Howden, Jack Eichel, and Mark Stone scored as the Golden Knights (10-5-8) overcame a 3-1 deficit.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Stone returned to the Golden Knights’ lineup after being sidelined since Oct.18 with an injured wrist. Meanwhile, Senators captain Brady Tkachuk confirmed he will return to action on Friday against the St. Louis Blues. He’s been out with an injured thumb since Oct. 13.
The Vancouver Canucks got a 37-save performance by call-up goalie Nikita Tolopilo in his season debut to beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-4. Max Sasson, Filip Hronek, and Tom Willander each collected two points for the Canucks (10-12-2), who snapped a three-game losing skid. Jackson LaCombe had a goal and two assists for the 14-8-1 Ducks, who remain in first place in the Pacific Division.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ducks starting netminder Lukas Dostal missed this contest with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.
Dallas Stars defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok snapped a 2-2 tie to lift his club over the Seattle Kraken 3-2. Roope Hintz and Esa Lindell also scored for the Stars (15-5-4) as they extended their road points streak to 10 games. Brandon Montour and Vince Dunn tallied for the 11-6-6 Kraken.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Jared McCann collected an assist as he returned to the Kraken lineup after being sidelined since Oct. 18 with a lower-body injury.
The Nashville Predators ended a three-game losing skid with a 6-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and two assists for the 7-12-4 Predators. Alex DeBrincat, James van Riemsdyk, and Ben Chiarot scored for the Red Wings (13-10-1), who’ve dropped three of their last four contests.
Four unanswered goals by Emil Andrae, Matvei Michkov, Tyson Foerster, and Sean Couturier rallied the Philadelphia Flyers from a 2-0 deficit to upset the Florida Panthers 4-2. The win improved the Flyers’ record to 12-7-3. Brad Marchand and Carter Verhaeghe scored for the Panthers (12-10-1).
The Minnesota Wild collected their sixth straight win by downing the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 on an overtime goal by Kirill Kaprizov. Matt Boldy had a goal and two assists, and Filip Gustavsson turned aside 34 shots for the 13-7-4 Wild. Connor Bedard had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks (10-8-5), who are winless in their last five contests (0-3-1).
With 30 of the 32 teams in action last night, here we are at the annual “reality check” day involving the theory that those who hold a playoff spot on the late November U.S. Thanksgiving stand the best chance to still be there once the playoffs roll around. A study of the past 8 seasons by Blaiz Grubic at The Sound Of Hockey shows that this has been right 76.6% of the time in that span. Last season 2 of 8 teams in each Conference holding playoff spots at that date failed to make it (NYR and Boston in the East and Calgary and Vancouver in the West) making way for Ottawa and Montreal (East) and Edmonton and St. Louis (West). That’s 75% in each Conference which is close to the 8-year average.
Now that we’re entering what, in my view, is the key stretch leading up to mid-December when some significant degrees of separation begin to appear, I thought a comparison of the standings on that date, starting with the Eastern Conference, might be interesting to some (showing GP Points GF GA +/-):
Last Season
1. Car 22 33 88 58 +30
2. NJ 25 32 84 65 +19
3. Was 22 31 90 60 +30
4. Tor 22 28 65 57 +8
5. Fla 23 27 80 77 +3
6. NyR 21 25 70 59 +11
7. TB 21 24 80 66 +14
8. Bos 24 24 57 75 -18
9. Buf 22 23 69 66 +3
10.Pha 23 23 67 80 -13
11.Det 22 22 55 66 -11
12.Clb 21 21 73 76 -3
13.Ott 22 21 70 71 -1
14.NyI 23 21 59 70 -11
15. Pitt 24 20 64 97 -33
16. Mtl 22 19 62 83 -21
This Season (as reported at NHL.com)
1. NJ 23 31 72 69 +3
2. TB 23 30 74 61 +13
3. Car 23 30 80 69 +11
4. Ott 23 28 75 74 +1
5. Was 24 28 80 66 +14
6. NyI 24 28 72 69 +3
7. Bos 25 28 78 78 0
8. Pitt 22 27 68 60 +8
9. Mtl 22 27 76 79 -3
10. Pha 22 27 64 61 +3
11. Det 24 27 72 80 -8
12. Clb 24 26 70 78 -8
13. NyR 25 26 65 65 0
14. Fla 23 25 72 72 0
15. Tor 23 23 76 83 -7
16. Buf 23 22 73 79 -6
Here’s the Western Conference comparison
Last Season
1. Wpg 23 36 90 56 +34
2. Min 22 32 71 54 +17
3. Veg 23 31 87 70 +17
4. Cgy 23 28 62 63 – 1
5. LA 23 27 69 65 + 4
6. Dal 21 26 72 56 +16
7. Col 23 26 77 84 – 7
8. Van 21 25 67 67 0
9. Edm 22 24 64 69 – 5
10. Sea 23 23 64 64 0
11. StL 24 23 61 76 -15
12. Ana 21 21 55 62 -7
13. Utah 22 21 60 69 -9
14. S.J. 25 19 66 89 -23
15. Chi 22 18 56 65 -9
16. Nas 23 18 54 73 -19
This Season (as reported in NHL.com)
1. Col 23 39 94 50 +44
2. Dal 24 34 83 67 +16
3. Min 24 30 72 67 +5
4. Ana 23 29 84 74 +10
5. Veg 23 28 71 69 +2
6. Sea 23 28 59 62 -3
7. LA 23 28 62 64 -2
8. Utah 24 27 74 72 +2
9. Chi 23 25 72 66 +6
10. S.J. 24 25 68 78 -10
11. Edm 25 25 77 95 -18
12. Wpg 22 24 70 63 +7
13. Van 24 22 76 90 -14
14. StL 24 21 63 88 -25
15. Cgy 25 19 60 78 -18
16. Nas 23 18 58 84 -26
Where the Canada-based teams are concerned, it’s a good thing the theory isn’t always 100% right or else the only one to make it – based on this year’s standings – would be Ottawa and possibly Montreal! But that is not going to happen, although the questions now become
1) if, say, the % remains around 76% and 2 currently East and West don’t make it at the end, which two? And which two, currently out, replace them?
2) could the % be somewhat lower and, if so, which teams East and West could be involved both in terms of not making it … and putting it together to get back into the top 8?
Gotta wonder if key injuries for both last year and this have some play in those results? Even if you go back three years, or as you stated, being about 76% there seems to be a consistent result regardless of the circumstances. Good post again, George.
Which two indeed George. A factor will surely be whose injured players return sooner, a la Leafs. But that’s as far as I’m going. Haven’t seen a log jam like this in the East at least in a long time.
Thanks Ron … if it generates chat it does what I hoped. LJ, Matthews, Knies, McCabe, Roy and Woll were all back in their line-up last night against Columbus. And it showed in a much more cohesive 2-way game. And Columbus is no push-over.
But I agree with Ron. The East is so tightly packed at the so-called quarter pole that it will definitely come down to injuries and which. among those teams so affected, have the deepest, effective depth.
And LJ, I agree that the East is the tightest it’s been at this stage in many years.
The last time Ottawa won in Vegas was in March 2018 – 6 1/2 years ago! And they owe that win to Ullmark who was at his best, including a “got him talking to himself” stop of Eichel right on his doorstep late in the 3rd.
In short, the Senators were mostly outplayed and were lucky to win it … but every team will have nights like that over 82 games, just as they will have games like Vegas … and lose.
As an illustration as to how tight it is, had Eichel scored and Vegas went on to win in reg time, Ottawa would be sitting 12th this morning with 26 points rather than 4th with 28. Similarly, has Montreal lost to Utah in reg time (and that too was a close game), instead of sitting in 9th in a virtual tie for 8th, they’d be down around # 14.
A team simply can’t afford to take a night off.
George, not sure if you asking us to take a stab and answering your 2 good questions, but I’ll take a guess.
East Out:
BOS – Swayman is playing great again, B’s are scoring more than I expected. Can both continue? They get outchanced most nights, I think Sway keeps them in the hunt but they just miss when the games get more serious/intense.
PIT – Core is playing great, but old, so don’t think keep it up or even stay healthy at that age. Outside of Crosby of course.
IN:FLA – Hate those guys, but they’re too good not to.
RAGS – they’re better than their record. The puck will start going in for them, best tending in NHL.
West:
Out – Seattle.
In – EDM. Always start slow, always finish strong. Too good not to get it going. They’ll wake up. Won’t they?
I think the West stays closer to the same as now, but to keep the historical % the same and if I had to pick another one to miss, I’ll go Utah (still too young), with WPG getting going and making it.
Ray, I was hoping it would generate some opinions and debate.
Out West, Seattle is out unless they find some scoring somewhere – they are currently one of the 3 lowest in goals scored at 59, along with Nashville at 58 and Calgary at 60 and neither of those two will make it. Same with L.A.. at 62gf barely above Calgary. Neither they nor Seattle can win enough 1-0, 2-1 games to qualify.
In their place I do agree Edmonton will find a way to shore up the weakest elements … but not without some significant deals. If they don’t, L.A. or Seattle could wind up nosing them out of the last WC spot. Whichever doesn’t will be bumped by Chicago.
In the East, once they get Barkov and Tkachuk back Florida will start to move up … but they can’t get into too deep a hole in the meantime and, like the Leafs, find themselves with 7 or 8 teams to climb over to get there – including Pittsburgh and Boston whose chances of hanging in are, as you point out, so dependent upon their aging roster staying healthy.
The Rangers lack the consistent scoring needed. Thy and the Flyers are the tow lowest in the East in goals scored. I think the Habs will get in again once their injured filter back.
The Avalanche have played 23 games, therefore a total of 46 points available.
they have 39.
Yowza
Beware Whalercane,the Boston Bruins in 22-23 had 135 points,12 losses and lost in the first round of the playoffs! They played so few meaningful games during the year that they weren t ready for the playoffs.
Thanks, George, I guess Leaf fans can take heart from the moves made last year by Ottawa and Montreal, making the playoffs after standing 13th and 16th respectively on the American Thanksgiving.
One amazing stat to me from the current standings is that the Avalanche have lost one game in regulation so far – one! What a start.
No doubt – to this point – BCLeaf Fan, Colorado is the class of the league – in points – most goals scored – and fewest goals allowed.
I think it’s become obvious that we could soon be seeing deals made out of desperation … either that, or some of the struggling teams (IF they have their 2026 1st Round pick) deciding to play it out with what they have – and in the process giving some of their better prospects valuable NHL experience – and take their chances in the McKenna Sweepstakes.
Should some, on the other hand, think they can get a playoff spot with a judicious trade here and there, a few of them might be in these two groups – the first with the weakest offense in terms of goals scored (never mind “chances”), and the second with the most goals allowed:
58 (Nashville); 59 (Seattle), 60 (Calgary); 62 (L.A.), 63 (St.Louis), 64 (Philadelphia), 65 (NYR), 66 (Chicago), 68 (Pittsburgh & San Jose)
95 (Edmonton), 90 (Vancouver), 88 (St. Louis), 84 (Nashville), 83 (Toronto), 80 (Detroit), 79 (Buffalo & Montreal), 78 (Boston, Calgary & San Jose).
Ya guys, the Avs look great. I was at the 9-1 blowout where they crushed the Oil, in Edmonton.
Not a lot of fun for home fans, or the Oilers, but that Avs team is so in sync with their puck movement, it was kind of crazy to watch. I get that the Oil didn’t play well, and still are not playing well, but the Avs looked like a machine that night.
It didn’t even seem that hard for them? Just another day at the office type of thing. Well coached, buy in from every player, speed and skill.
OTT & MTL had youth on their side, which possibly contributed to them having the energy for successful playoff drives.
TOR is the 5th oldest lineup in the league this year. Moreover, they just don’t look like a cohesive unit. Without an owned first-rounder this year or next it looks like the right time to start tearing it down again for picks and prospects.
Can’t argue that. Pete. So far, however, being among the oldest on average hasn’t hurt Colorado much .. lol.
This article in The Athletic reveals some interesting facts along those lines
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6737066/2025/10/22/nhl-players-age-height-weight-nationality-2025/
Interesting article. While much of it doesn’t show a great disparity in average age, weight, etc., between teams one stat did jump out: what round were draft picks now playing in the NHL:
First: 42.3 percent
Second: 17.1 percent
And just as we go, makes sense, here is a curve ball:
Undrafted: 12.5 percent, meaning you have a better chance of playing in the NHL undradfted than as a third round draft pick, 9.9%.
That IS an interesting one indeed, LJ. Didn’t pick up on that through my first scan. Thanks.
Crapshoot for sure!
Earlier this year I called Ovi a half ice player. He’s clearly lost a step but that hasn’t hindered his ability to score. Doesn’t seem like Father Time has got a hold of him yet. Impressive.