NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 1, 2024

by | Dec 1, 2024

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – December 1, 2024

The Capitals and Wild each get 10 wins in November, Lightning captain Victor Hedman reaches a franchise milestone, the Blue Jackets trade David Jiricek to the Wild, the Avalanche and Predators swap backup goalies, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

GAME RECAPS

NHL.COM: Third-period goals within 10 seconds by Taylor Raddysh and Pierre-Luc Dubois enabled the Washington Capitals to hold off the New Jersey Devils 6-5. John Carlsson collected three assists as the Capitals (17-6-1, 35 points) vaulted over the Devils (19-9-2, 34 points) into first place in the Eastern Conference. Devils center Jack Hughes also had three assists.

Minnesota Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov (NHL Images).

An overtime goal by Jared Spurgeon lifted the Minnesota Wild to a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. Spurgeon and Kirill Kaprizov each had a goal and an assist as the Wild (16-4-4, 36 points) moved into a tie with the Winnipeg Jets (18-6-0, 36 points) atop the overall standings. Fedor Svechkov and Ryan O’Reilly scored for the Predators, who dropped their fourth straight game.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Capitals and Wild were the only teams to win 10 games in November. The Jets still hold first overall based on wins. Kaprizov scored his 61st career power-play goal, surpassing Mikko Koivu for the second-most PPGs in franchise history. Zach Parise holds the record with 69.

The Toronto Maple Leafs got two assists from Auston Matthews and a goal and an assist from Matthew Knies to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3. Lightning captain Victor Hedman collected two assists to pass Martin St. Louis for the most assists (590) in franchise history.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Matthews missed nine games with an undisclosed injury while Knies missed two games with an upper-body injury. Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe left this game in the second period with an upper-body injury. Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov missed this game with an undisclosed injury and is listed as day-to-day.

New York Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko scored with 24 seconds remaining in regulation to nip the Montreal Canadiens 4-3. Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist and Adam Fox collected two assists as the Rangers snapped a five-game losing skid. Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Missed calls on both teams sparked criticism of the officiating in this game. Meanwhile, the Canadiens placed forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard on waivers.

The Florida Panthers crushed the Carolina Hurricanes 6-0 to sweep their home-and-home series. Spencer Knight turned in a 20-save shutout, Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist, Matthew Tkachuk collected two assists and Sam Bennett scored for the third straight game.

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and forward Michael Bunting each had a goal and two assists in a 6-2 victory over the Calgary Flames. Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves as the Penguins picked up their third straight win. Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri each had a goal and an assist for the Flames, who are winless in their last four games (0-3-1).

An overtime goal by rookie winger Matvei Michkov lifted the Philadelphia Flyers over the St. Louis Blues 3-2. Michkov also had an assist while Aleksei Kolosov made 25 saves for the Flyers, who’ve won three straight to hold the final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference. Dylan Holloway and Jake Neighbours each scored for the Blues.

The Los Angeles Kings picked up their third straight win by dropping the Ottawa Senators 5-2. Anze Kopitar, Trevor Moore and Kevin Fiala each had a goal and an assist for the Kings. Senators center Tim Stutzle scored to extend his points streak to six games.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kings center Trevor Lewis left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury.

New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season in a 3-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres, ending a three-game winless skid (0-2-1). Simon Holmstrom tallied twice and Anders Lee netted his 10th goal of the season.

The Edmonton Oilers beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist, Stuart Skinner stopped 27 shots and Kasperi Kapanen scored his first goal with the Oilers, who picked up their third straight win. Nikolai Kovalenko replied for the Avalanche.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Avalanche acquired goalie Scott Wedgewood from the Nashville Predators in exchange for netminder Justus Annunen and a sixth-round pick in 2025. Wedgewood backed up Avs starter Alexandar Georgiev in this game.

The Avs hope the experienced Wedgewood will bring more stability to their goaltending, but he struggled with the Predators after signing a two-year contract with them during the summer.

Four first-period goals powered the Utah Hockey Club to a 6-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. Jaxon Stauber made 29 saves for his first NHL shutout and Nick Schmaltz scored two goals for Utah, ending the Golden Knights’ five-game points streak.

The San Jose Sharks doubled up the Seattle Kraken 4-2 to sweep their home-and-home series. Mackenzie Blackwood kicked out 36 shots and Will Smith scored for the third straight game as the Sharks held off a late rally by the Kraken, who got goals from Jaden Schwartz and Jared McCann.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn returned to action after missing 19 games with a mid-body injury.

IN OTHER NEWS…

THE ATHLETIC: The Columbus Blue Jackets traded defenseman David Jiricek and a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Minnesota Wild for blueliner Daemon Hunt, a 2025 first-round pick (top-five protected), a 2027 second-round pick, and a 2026 third-round pick and fourth-round pick.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Blue Jackets were concerned about Jiricek’s skating, which is the key reason they were willing to part with the 21-year-old defenseman, the sixth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. However, the Wild consider Jiricek worth the investment, hoping the big defenseman with the booming shot reaches his potential as a top-four NHL blueliner.

PITTSBURGH HOCKEY NOW: The NHL department of player safety fined Penguins center Evgeni Malkin $5,000.00 for slashing and Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov $5,000.00 for unsportsmanlike conduct during an incident between the two players in Friday’s game between their two clubs.

SPORTSNET: Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury suffered during Friday’s game against the Golden Knights. However, he hasn’t been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Stars.










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – March 28, 2024

by | Mar 28, 2024

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – March 28, 2024

Recaps of Wednesday’s games, Martin Brodeur believes today’s goaltenders are babied, the players could have half of their escrow returned to them for this season, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

GAME RECAPS

NHL.COM: The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Boston Bruins 3-1. Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point each scored their 42nd goal of the season for the 40-25-7 Lightning (87 points). They hold the first Eastern Conference wildcard berth and sit two points behind the third-place Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division. Danton Heinen replied for the 42-17-15 Bruins (99 points) as they slipped into third in the overall standings, one point behind the league-leading New York Rangers.

Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov (NHL Images).

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kucherov regained sole possession of the points lead with 124, one up on Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon. The Lightning improved to 8-1-1 in March.

A five-goal first period gave the Ottawa Senators a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Shane Pinto had a goal and three assists while Joonas Korpisalo made 34 saves for the Senators (31-36-4). JJ Peterka tallied his 25th goal of the season for the Sabres as they slipped to 34-34-5.

HEADLINES

THE ATHLETIC: In an interview with Pierre LeBrun, Martin Brodeur lamented how NHL clubs handle their goaltenders.

“I think we baby our goalies,” said Brodeur. “I see it. I’m part of it. It’s like, my goalie coach will say, ‘He’s played five games in the past eight days.’ I’m like, ‘So?’”

The Hall-of-Fame goalie is now the executive vice president of hockey operations for the New Jersey Devils. He played 70 or more games 12 times during his 22-year NHL career.

Brodeur acknowledged the game has changed and so has the position. He noted how volatile it has become in recent years where a netminder can be the top goalie one year and struggle the next. He blames the 1A and 1B system that result in split workloads.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: We discussed this Wednesday night on the Face Off Hockey Show. The decline in quality goalies in recent years could be another reason as there are fewer standout starters compared to Brodeur’s era. The increase in the game’s speed and the skaters’ improved scoring skills are other potential factors.

DAILY FACEOFF: With this season’s NHL revenue projected to reach $6.2 billion, the players can expect to receive half of the escrow withheld from the contracts returned to them after final accounting and auditing.

The salary cap for next season is projected to rise to $87.5 million. With revenue projections higher than expected and the players’ $1.1 billion in debt from pandemic-related losses repaid to the owners, there is a window to negotiate a higher cap for next season provided both sides are willing to agree to this. If not, the cap will continue to rise by five percent with escrow remaining at six percent annually as agreed under the 2020 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that extended the CBA to Sept. 15, 2026.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The cap could reach $92 million for 2025-26, the final year of the CBA. The players could receive another escrow refund next season if revenue growth remains robust.

THE PROVINCE: The Canucks placed goaltender Thatcher Demko on long-term injury reserve. However, he remains on track to return from a lower-body injury sometime around April 6.

Meanwhile, Canucks center Elias Lindholm missed practice yesterday after being scratched from Monday’s 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. Head coach Rick Tocchet said he wasn’t concerned, claiming it was “something a little nagging, that’s getting better every day.” Still, there’s no timeline for Lindholm’s return.

STLTODAY.COM: Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist will miss the remainder of the season after tearing the ACL in his right knee during Monday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights. He will undergo surgery and be reevaluated in six months.

NYI HOCKEY NOW: Speaking of season-ending injuries, Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield recently underwent successful surgery to treat a lower-body injury. He’s expected to make a full recovery.

CBS SPORTS: Anaheim Ducks winger Brock McGinn underwent disc surgery on his back and will be sidelined for four months. He’s expected to be recovered by late July but it remains to be seen if he’ll be ready for training camp in September.

THE HOCKEY NEWS: Washington Capitals defenseman Ethan Bear entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. He will be out indefinitely, returning to on-ice competition once cleared by the program administrators.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Best wishes to Bear. Here’s hoping he receives the treatment he needs that enables him to continue his career and lead a more fulfilling life.

COLORADO HOCKEY NOW: Earlier this week, the Avalanche signed goaltender Justus Annunen to a two-year, one-way contract extension with an average annual value of $833K.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: An arena deal that would’ve moved the Washington Capitals and the NBA’s Washington Wizards to Virginia has fallen through. The clubs’ ownership reached an agreement on a publicly-funded arena deal with the city that will keep them in Washington until 2050.