NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – November 29, 2025
The Wild ended the Avalanche’s long win streak, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby reached another scoring milestone, the Canadiens re-signed Mike Matheson, the Flames re-signed general manager Craig Conroy, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The Minnesota Wild extended their win streak to seven games with a 3-2 shootout victory over the Colorado Avalanche, ending the latter’s win streak at 10 games. Jesper Wallstedt kicked out 39 shots, Kirill Kaprizov tallied twice (including his 200th career goal), and Matt Boldy scored the winning goal for the 14-7-4 Wild. Nathan MacKinnon scored his league-leading 19th goal for the Avalanche (17-1-6), who picked up a point and sit atop the overall standings with 40 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Earlier in the day, the Wild placed forward Marcus Foligno on injured reserve.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (NHL Images).
Sidney Crosby scored two goals and Kris Letang tallied in overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3. With the win, the Penguins improved to 12-6-5. Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist for the 11-9-5 Blue Jackets, who are winless in their last four games (0-2-2).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Crosby scored his 640th career regular-season NHL goal, moving past Dave Andreychuk into 15th on the overall goal list. He also moved past Jarome Iginla into 20th place for the most multi-goal games with 109.
New York Rangers winger Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists in a 6-2 victory over the Boston Bruins. Mika Zibanejad scored two goals, and Adam Fox picked up three assists for the Rangers (13-11-2), who picked up their third straight win. Casey Mittelstadt and Morgan Geekie replied for the 14-12-0 Bruins.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Bruins forwards David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha missed this game due to injuries and are listed as day-to-day. Forward Matej Blumel was placed on long-term injury reserve.
The Montreal Canadiens got a 30-save performance from Sam Montembeault to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-1. Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Zach Bolduc each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (13-7-3), who picked up their third straight win. Mark Stone scored for the slumping Golden Knights (10-6-8), who are winless in their last four contests (0-2-2).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Canadiens signed defenseman Mike Matheson to a five-year contract extension with an average annual value of $6 million. The 31-year-old Montreal native has been a reliable veteran presence on the Canadiens’ blueline. His cap hit is a bit pricey, but he likely would have received over $7 million annually on a longer term in next summer’s free-agent market. It’s a good move by the Habs, ensuring their top-four defensemen are all under long-term contracts.
Calgary Flames goalie Devin Cooley stopped 37 shots as his club overcame an early 2-0 deficit for a 5-3 upset of the Florida Panthers. Nazem Kadri had a goal and two assists for the 9-14-3 Flames, who’ve won four of their last five contests. Evan Rodrigues and Sam Bennett scored for the Panthers, who’ve dropped three of their last four and dropped to 12-11-1.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Earlier in the day, the Flames announced the signing of general manager Craig Conroy and fellow front-office executives Don Maloney, Dave Nonis, and Brad Pascall to two-year contract extensions. It’s a vote of confidence from Flames’ ownership despite the club’s low placement in the standings thus far.
New Jersey Devils netminder Jake Allen turned in a 42-save shutout to blank the Buffalo Sabres 5-0. Arseny Gritsyuk had two goals for the Devils (16-7-1) as they picked up their third straight victory. Alex Lyon allowed five goals on 18 shots for the Sabres, who slipped to 9-11-4.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: With the win, the Devils hold first place in the Eastern Conference with 33 points.
The Tampa Bay Lightning downed the Detroit Red Wings by a score of 6-3. Yanni Gourde tallied twice, and Nikita Kucherov collected two assists to extend his points streak to eight games for the 15-7-2 Lightning, who picked up their sixth straight win. J.T. Compher and Michael Rasmussen each had a goal and an assist for the 13-11-1 Red Wings, who’ve lost four of their last five games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Lightning sit atop the Atlantic Division with 32 points, three ahead of the second-place Canadiens.
Dallas Stars forward Wyatt Johnston snapped a 3-3 tie to give his club a 4-3 win over the Utah Mammoth. Mikko Rantanen and Miro Heiskanen each had two assists as the 16-5-4 Stars collected their third straight win. Logan Cooley, Kevin Rooney, and Jack McBain scored for the Mammoth (12-10-3).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Mammoth winger Clayton Keller played in the game despite the sudden death of his father the previous day. As a tribute, he was named the game’s first star. My sincere condolences to Keller and his family.
The Philadelphia Flyers blew a 3-0 lead to the New York Islanders but picked up a 4-3 win on a shootout goal by Travis Konecny. Tyson Foerster, Sean Couturier, and Trevor Zegras scored in regulation for the 13-7-3 Flyers, who’ve won four of their last five games. Rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer had a goal and an assist for the Islanders (13-9-3), who’ve dropped three of their last four games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Islanders winger Kyle Palmieri left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury. While on his way to the bench, he stole the puck from Flyers defenseman Emil Andrae and passed to Anders Lee, who set up Emil Heineman for the Isles’ first goal.
Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson scored the tying goal and had two assists as his club nipped the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 on a shootout goal by Mason McTavish. The win gave the Ducks (15-8-1) a two-point lead over the Kings for first place in the Pacific Division with 31 points. Defensemen Brandt Clarke and Brian Dumoulin each had two assists for the Kings (11-6-7), who have one win in their last five games (1-3-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Ducks announced that goaltender Lukas Dostal would be sidelined for two to three weeks with an upper-body injury. Meanwhile, Kings winger Warren Foegele missed this contest with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.
Washington Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun scored to extend his goal streak to five games as his club overcame a 2-0 deficit to double up the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2. Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson each had a goal and an assist for the Capitals (14-9-3) as they’ve won six of their last seven contests. Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies scored for the struggling Maple Leafs (10-11-3), who are 2-6-2 in their last 10 games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Maple Leafs winger William Nylander missed this game due to an illness, and forward Max Domi was a healthy scratch.
A hat trick by Seth Jarvis powered the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Andrei Svechnikov and Shayne Gostisbehere each had two assists for the 15-7-2 Hurricanes. Mark Scheifele replied for the slumping Jets (12-11-0) as they lost their fourth straight game.
The St. Louis Blues squeaked past the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on a goal by Matthew Kessel. Jordan Binnington stopped 25 shots for the 8-10-7 Blues. Brady Tkachuk collected an assist in his return to action with the 12-8-4 Senators.
San Jose Sharks goalie Yaroslav Askarov stopped 32 shots, and Macklin Celebrini picked up two assists to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2. Adam Gaudette netted the winning goal for the 12-10-3 Sharks. Forwards Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson replied for the Canucks (10-13-2), who have lost four of their last five games.
The Nashville Predators held off the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3. Ryan O’Reilly, Steven Stamkos, and Luke Evangelista each had a goal and an assist for the 8-12-4 Predators. Ryan Donato, Ryan Greene, and Teuvo Teravainen replied for the Blackhawks, who’ve lost four straight and dropped to 10-9-5.
With all but 2 teams in action the day after U.S. Thanksgiving, the results show just how much more volatile it is in the tightly-packed East when looking at the effects on the standings.
Eastern Conference
Among the winners, Pittsburgh went from 8th to 5th; NYR went from 13th to 10th; Philadelphia went from 10th to 7th; Montreal went from 9th to 6th; Washington went from 5th to 4th;
N.J. Tampa and Carolina remain in 1st , 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Among the losers, Ottawa dropped from 4th to 9th; NYI dropped from 6th to 8th; Boston dropped from 7th to 11th; Detroit fropped 1 position to 12th; Columbus dropped 1 position from 12th to 13th; Florida, Toronto and Buffalo remain in 14th, 15th and 16th.
Western Conference
Among the winners, San Jose rose 1 position to 9th, St. Louis rose 1 position to 13th, Dallas, Minnesota, Anaheim remained in 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively, while Calgary and Nashville remain 15th and 16th.
Among the losers, L.A.’s 1 point moved them from 7th to 5th, Colorado, Utah and Winnipeg remained in 1st, 8th and 12th respectively, Vegas dropped from 5th to 9th, Vancover dropped 1 position to 14th and Chicago 1 position to 10th.
GeorgeO, get used to it,since the eastern conferences 16 teams,the top team, NJ has 33 pts.,the last place team Buffalo has 22 pts.
We are closer to complete parity in the East than has been the case in many years. It’s going to be a roller-coaster from here to the end, with key injuries – or the lack thereof – being the ultimate difference.
In goals differentials (showing GP)
The Top 10 Plus Teams
Colorado 24gp +43
Dallas 25gp +17
Tampa 24gp +16
Washington 25gp +16
Carolina 24gp +15
Anaheim 24gp +11
Pittsburgh 23gp +9
New Jersey 24gp +8
Minnesota 25gp +6
Chicago 24gp +5
The Top 10 Minus Teams
Nashville 24gp -25
St. Louis 25gp -24
Edmonton 25gp -18
Calgary 26gp -16
Vancouver 25gp – 15
Buffalo 24gp -11
Detroit 25gp -11
Columbus 25gp -9
Toronto 24gp -9
San Jose 25gp -9
10 Hottest Teams Over Past 10GP
Colorado 9-0-1
Minnesota 9-0-1
Dallas 8-1-1
Tampa 8-2-0
Washington 7-2-1
Philadelphia 6-2-2
New Jersey 6-3-1
NYI 6-3-1
Ottawa 6-3-1
Los Angeles 5-2-3
San Jose 6-4-0
10 Coldest Teams Over Past 10GP
Toronto 2-6-2
Winnipeg 3-7-0
Nashville 3-6-1
Vancouver 3-5-2
Buffalo 4-6-0
Edmonton 4-5-1
Detroit 4-5-1
Utah 3-4-3
Vegas 3-3-4
Chicago 4-4-2
I don’t find the AAV on Matheson’s deal to be pricey. As Lyle says, he’d have gotten more hitting the open market. The term is a year or so longer than I’d have liked but no question more than one team would have offered five years on July 1. All in all a good deal for the Habs.
So now players are leaving money on the table to sign with the Habs. It’s because they have faith in Gorton and Hughes efforts to build a winner. There was no such faith with Bergevin. I remember Bergy talking about how hard it was to get players to sign in Montreal. Guess what Marc. It wasn’t the weather the taxes or the pressure, it was you.
Not sure I’d call a two year extension to Conroy a vote of confidence.
The rule of thumb is that a rebuild takes at least 5 years. The Flames need a rebuild. That puts Conroy part way through the rebuild. Why short sheet him if the Flames believe in him?
He’s just finishing a 3 year deal & when he took over we pretty well had to trade most of our core that Treliving for some insane reason had all their contracts come up in the same year. 2 more years takes him to 5 & close to the opening of the new building. Knowing Edwards, he will want to see progress on the rebuild. Conroys last 2 drafts have been raved about being one of the best & in these 2 + years Conroy has brought a horribly ranked prospect pipeline to now a top 10 in the league. Nice pieces are coming & we have 2 1st rounders in 2026 & I would imagine we will be getting a 3rd one with the Andersson trade. We will also have lots of cap space for Conroy to add a few key UFA’s going into the new building, he’s probably going to have to to get another extension.