NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 28, 2017

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby celebrates one of his two goals against the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.

Game recaps, Messier Leadership Award finalists revealed & more in your NHL morning coffee headlines. 

NHL.COM: Sidney Crosby scored twice and Nick Bonino netted the game winner as the Pittsburgh Penguins edged the Washington Capitals 3-2 in Game 1 of the second-round series. Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves for the win. Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for the Capitals. 

Erik Karlsson’s late third-goal gave the Ottawa Senators a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers in the first game of their second-round series. The goaltending was superb as the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist made 41 saves and the Senators’ Craig Anderson kicked out 34. The game wasn’t a sellout, as there was almost 2,500 empty seats at the Canadian Tire Centre. 

Columbus Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno, Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano and Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf are this year’s finalists for the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award. 

ESPN.COM: Nashville Predators forward Kevin Fiala suffered a broken left femur in Game 1 of his club’s second-round series against the St. Louis Blues. 

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER: Anaheim Ducks defensemen Kevin Bieksa (lower-body injury) and Sami Vatanen (upper-body injury) remain questionable for Game 2 of their club’s series against the Edmonton Oilers. 

DALLAS MORNING NEWS: The Stars re-signed center Mattias Janmark to a one-year, $700K contract. Janmark, 24, missed the entire season recovering from a rare bone condition called osteochondritis dissecans.

ARIZONA SPORTS: The Arizona Coyotes have fired assistant coach Newell Brown and Tucson Roadrunners GM Doug Soetaert. “The contracts for pro scouts David MacLean and Jim Roque would not be renewed.”

TSN.CA: The NHL lost its bid to force CTE researchers to hand over medical data related to their research which included six former NHL players.

DETROIT FREE PRESS: Former Detroit Red Wings team doctor John Finley passed away at age 88. He was the Wings doctor from 1957 to 2002. 

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Condolences to Finley’s family, friends and the Wings organization.