NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – February 19, 2024

by | Feb 19, 2024

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – February 19, 2024

The Rangers defeat the Islanders in their Stadium Series, the Penguins retire Jaromir Jagr’s number, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

GAME RECAPS

NHL.COM: Artemi Panarin scored in overtime to cap a three-goal rally by the New York Rangers in a 6-5 victory over the New York Islanders in front of 79, 690 fans at MetLife Stadium. Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad scored power-play goals within the final five minutes of the third period, setting the stage for Panarin’s game-winner. Both goals came with Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin pulled for an extra attacker.

The Rangers (36-16-3) have won seven straight and hold first place in the Metropolitan Division with 75 points, one back of the Eastern Conference-leading Florida Panthers. Noah Dobson had three assists and Brock Nelson a goal and an assist for the 22-18-14 Islanders, who sit four points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth with 58 points.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: This was one of the most exciting outdoor NHL games I’ve ever seen. The Rangers and Isles added another page to their longstanding rivalry with this one. The Islanders seemed to have this one under control up 5-3 late in the third until the Rangers pulled their goalie and took advantage of two late power-play opportunities.

Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren is being evaluated for an upper-body injury that forced him from the game in the third period.

The NHL also announced the Islanders will host the 2026 NHL All-Star Game, which will be held before the league takes a two-week break for the 2026 Winter Olympics. There will be no All-Star Game next season as the league will be staging a Four Nations Tournament.

Jaromir Jagr’s No. 68 is retired by the Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL.com).

The Pittsburgh Penguins honored future Hall-of-Famer Jaromir Jagr by retiring his iconic No. 68 in a pregame ceremony before dropping a 2-1 decision to the Los Angeles Kings. Adrian Kempe scored twice in the third period for the 27-16-10 Kings, who have won three in a row and hold the first Western Conference wild-card berth with 64 points. Sidney Crosby netted his 31st of the season for the 24-21-7 Penguins.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: This loss was another blow to the Penguins’ fading playoff hopes but it was overshadowed on this night by the long-overdue retirement of Jagr’s number. He’s the third player in franchise history to be so honored, joining Mario Lemieux (No. 66) and Michel Briere (21). Jagr suited up and joined the Penguins in their pregame skate and afterward saluted the crowd. Someday, Crosby will be the next Penguin to have his number retired.

Speaking of the Penguins, they activated winger Jansen Harkins (concussion) off injured reserve and sent Vinnie Hinostroza and Jonathan Gruden to their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist to extend his season-opening home points streak to 26 games to nip the Arizona Coyotes 4-3, handing the latter their ninth straight loss. Bowen Byram and Jack Johnson each had two points as the Avalanche (34-18-4) sit in second place in the Central Division with 72 points. Matias Maccelli and Matt Dumba each had two points for the 23-27-4 Coyotes.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: MacKinnon (91 points) became the second player to reach 90 points this season. He sits three behind league leader Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Meanwhile, the Coyotes’ recent swoon in the standings raised some speculation over whether head coach Andre Tourigny would be replaced. Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong insists that Tourigny’s job is safe.

HEADLINES

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH: The NHL officially confirmed the 2025 Stadium Series between the Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings at Ohio Stadium on March 1, 2025.

NHL.COM: St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington was fined $5,000.00 by the department of player safety for high-sticking Nashville Predators forward Luke Evangelista on Saturday.

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: The Stars placed winger Evgenii Dadonov on long-term injury reserve and called up forward Matej Blumel.

NBC SPORTS CHICAGO: The Blackhawks have demoted struggling young forward Lukas Reichel to their AHL affiliate in Rockford. Reichel, 21, had just 10 points in 50 games this season before his demotion.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Reichel is considered a promising part of the rebuilding Blackhawks’ future. They had hoped for a possible breakout performance this season after he netted 15 points in 23 games in 2022-23.

DAILY FACEOFF: Boston Bruins forward Oskar Steen and Detroit Red Wings forward Matt Luff were placed on waivers Sunday.

TSN: The Calgary Flames forwarded a message from Hall-of-Famer Lanny McDonald that he was out of hospital following a cardiac event earlier this month. He stated in an Instagram post that he was ending his “two-week visit with new and improved pipes, some fancy hardware and a figuratively full heart.”

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Best wishes to McDonald in his ongoing recovery. He’s one of the game’s good guys.










NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – February 6, 2024

by | Feb 6, 2024

NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – February 6, 2024

Recaps of Monday’s games, the three stars of the week are revealed, Hall-of-Famer Lanny McDonald is in hospital following a cardiac event, and David Pastrnak weighs in on the NHL’s 4 Nations Faceoff tournament. Get the details and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

GAME RECAPS

NHL.COM: An overtime goal by Alexis Lafreniere lifted the New York Rangers to a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche. Artemi Panarin scored the tying goal for the Rangers (31-16-3) as they hold first place in the Metropolitan Division with 65 points. Nathan MacKinnon scored for the 32-14-4 Avalanche as he moved into a tie with Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov for first place in the scoring race with 85 points. The Avs extended their points streak to 14 games, holding first place in the Central Division with 68 points.

New York Rangers winger Alexis Lafreniere (NHL Images).

The New York Islanders nipped the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on a late goal by former Leaf Pierre Engvall. Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves for the 21-17-12 Islanders (54 points) as they snapped a three-game winless skid (0-2-1) to sit four points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth. John Tavares had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs (25-15-8) as they hold the first Eastern wild-card spot with 58 points.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Defensemen Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock returned to action for the Islanders after missing several games due to injury. Meanwhile, Leafs forward David Kampf is out for a week with an undisclosed injury.

HEADLINES

NHL.COM: Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid and Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat were the NHL’s three stars for the week ending Feb. 4.

SPORTSNET: Hall-of-Famer Lanny McDonald is in a Calgary hospital after suffering a cardiac event Sunday after returning from the 2024 NHL All-Star weekend in Toronto. He said he owes his life to two quick-thinking nurses who were catching their flights at the Calgary airport but stopped to attend to him. In the stress of the moment, his wife didn’t get their names.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Here’s hoping McDonald has a quick recovery and learns the names of those nurses so he can thank them properly.

THE SCORE: Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak is no fan of next year’s 4 Nations Faceoff tournament. Scheduled for Feb. 2025, the nine-day tournament features only Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden.

Pastrnak, who’s from Czechia, isn’t pleased that his country was excluded from the tournament. “It’s a huge disappointment…Definitely not happy about it,” he told Boston.com’s Conor Ryan. He said he understood that it was a quick turnaround and the league probably didn’t have enough time to expand the tournament.

Nevertheless, Pastrnak said he’s not going to watch that tournament, putting his focus on representing Czechia at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: I don’t blame Pastrnak for feeling slighted. It’s a slap in the face to NHL players from smaller hockey-playing nations like Czechia, Germany, Slovakia and others. The league could’ve addressed this by having a Team Europe comprised of NHL players from those countries as they did during the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

THE HOCKEY NEWS: Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov has entered the NHL-NHLPA player assistance program and will be away from the team indefinitely. The 31-year-old’s production has declined over the past two seasons and he’s struggled with consistency.

TSN: London, Ontario police yesterday confirmed charges against five former players of Canada’s 2018 World Junior team.

Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Carter Hart, Calgary Flames winger Dillon Dube, New Jersey Devils forward Michael McLeod and defenseman Cal Foote and unsigned Ottawa Senators winger Alex Formenton were each charged with one count of sexual assault stemming from an alleged incident following a Hockey Canada event in London in June 2018. McLeod also faced an additional charge of sexual assault for “being a party to the offense.”

The case is set to return to court on April 30.

THE ATHLETIC: NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed the Flyers, Flames and Devils will receive salary-cap relief for those players during their indefinite leaves of absence to deal with these legal proceedings.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: This could be within the realm of the collective bargaining agreement and not something arbitrarily decided by the league.

OTTAWA SUN: Former Senators head coach D.J. Smith will join the Los Angeles Kings as an assistant coach to interim bench boss Jim Hiller for the remainder of the season. Smith was fired on Dec. 18 after over four seasons with the Senators.

DAILY FACEOFF: The Tampa Bay Lightning are getting several injured players back. Forwards Tanner Jeannot and Austin Watson and defensemen Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak and Haydn Fleury participated in practice on Monday.

TORONTO SUN: Matthew Spezza, the younger brother of former NHL star Jason Spezza, died over the weekend from an accidental overdose. Now an assistant general manager with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jason issued a statement yesterday confirming the news and asking for his family’s privacy to be respected during this difficult time.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: My sincere condolences to the Spezza family.