NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 14, 2024
The Stars clinch the Central Division title, the first playoff matchup is decided, the Eastern Conference’s final wildcard remains up for grabs, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: The Dallas Stars clinched the Central Division title by downing the Seattle Kraken 3-1. Miro Heiskanen had a goal and two assists for the Stars (51-21-9), who sit one point behind the league-leading New York Rangers with 111 points. Kailer Yamamoto replied for the Kraken.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, Kraken general manager Ron Francis said defenseman Vince Dunn isn’t expected to return before the end of the season. He’s still recovering from upper-body injuries.
The first matchup of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs has been set as the Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets will face each other in the opening round after the Jets thumped the Avs 7-0. Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves for the shutout, Sean Monahan and Adam Lowry scored two goals and Josh Morrissey collected three points for the 50-24-6 Jets, who sit second in the Central with 106 points. The Avs (49-25-6) sit two points behind the Jets.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard left this game in the first period and was placed in concussion protocol.
Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson scored the winner in a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sonny Milano scored twice as the Capitals improved to 38-31-11 to hold the final Eastern Conference wildcard berth with 87 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen was stretchered from this game in the first period after a hard hit from Lightning forward Michael Eyssimont sent him crashing into the boards. The Capitals released a statement indicating Jensen was conscious, alert and has full use of his extremities. He will be monitored by the Capitals medical staff.
Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin (NHL Images).
An overtime goal by Dylan Larkin lifted the Detroit Red Wings over the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4. Alex DeBrincat tallied twice for the Red Wings (39-32-9) as they sit behind the Capitals with 87 points due to regulation wins. Auston Matthews tallied his 69th goal of the season and Mitch Marner had three points as the Maple Leafs (46-24-10) sit 10th overall with 102 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Leafs forward Bobby McMann left this game in the second period with a lower-body injury. Earlier in the day, the Leafs announced goaltender Matt Murray was assigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on a conditioning stint.
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson turned in a 20-save shutout to blank the New Jersey Devils 1-0. Travis Konecny scored his 400 career point for the 38-32-11 Flyers, who also have 87 points. They sit behind the Capitals and Red Wings, who have a game in hand.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, former Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds signed a one-day contract with the club and formally retired as a Flyer. The club honored Simmonds during a pregame ceremony.
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ playoff hopes suffered a blow with a 6-4 loss to the Boston Bruins. David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle each collected two assists as the Bruins improved to 47-18-15 and sit fourth overall with 109 points. Evgeni Malkin, Michael Bunting and Drew O’Connor each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (37-31-12) as they sit one point behind the Capitals, Red Wings and Flyers.
A shootout goal by Vincent Trocheck gave the New York Rangers a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders. Artemi Panarin scored his 48th goal of the season to tie the game for the Rangers, who set a franchise single-season record with their 54th win as they sit atop the overall standings with 112 points. Brock Nelson tallied twice for the Islanders (37-27-16) as they hold third place in the Metropolitan Division with 90 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson missed this game as he’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Florida Panthers winger Sam Reinhart scored in overtime to beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2. Reinhart has 55 goals this season as the Panthers (51-24-6) sit fifth overall with 108 points. Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen kicked out 39 shots.
The Vancouver Canucks rode a 32-save performance by Casey DeSmith to a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Sam Lafferty, Pius Suter and Dakota Joshua were the goalscorers for the 49-22-9 Canucks, who sit sixth overall with 107 points. Evander Kane scored for the Oilers (48-25-6) as they sit ninth overall with 102 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Oilers captain Connor McDavid missed his third straight game nursing a lower-body injury. He’s expected to be good to go when the playoffs begin next weekend and could return for a game before the end of the regular season.
Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi scored twice and collected two assists to lead his club over the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-4. Tommy Novak scored two goals and picked up an assist for the 47-29-5 Predators, who improved to 99 points and hold a five-point lead over the Vegas Golden Knights for the first Western wildcard.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Predators and Golden Knights clinched playoff berths last week. It’s now a question of where they finish in those wildcard spots.
The Los Angeles Kings downed the Anaheim Ducks 3-1. David Rittich turned aside 28 shots and Matt Roy scored what proved to be the game-winner for the Kings (43-26-11) as they sit third in the Pacific Division with 97 points.
A shootout goal by Drake Batherson gave the Ottawa Senators a 5-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Senators captain Brady Tkachuk scored twice to reach a career-best 37 goals while Canadiens winger Cole Caufield tallied two goals to reach 27 on the season. It’s the ninth straight win for the Senators over the Canadiens.
Minnesota Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov scored twice and set up another in a 6-2 win over the San Jose Sharks. Wild rookie Liam Ohgren picked up his first NHL points with a goal and an assist. The loss ensures the Sharks finished 32nd overall, giving them the best odds of winning the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery.
Great race in the East for the last wildcard spot!Pitt. In need of a rebuild!Game is too fast for an aging lineup!Gm has to be on the hot seat there!
Gm was just hired. Dubas going no where for at least 2more seasons
Very true Mrbruin4 … but if the Penguins are into a death spiral by mid-December that won’t help him avoid the hot seat – certainly in the media.
Sr I agree Pitt needs to rebuild but Kyle far from being on the hot seat. Very bad trade for Karlsson but he was given an old team and tried one last kick at the can.
Far from a fan of Kyle but he will have time to rebuild this mess.
Tough decisions to be made! Do they hang in there with Sullivan? Beware of your owner, John Henry ,Fenway Sports Group, owner of the Boston Red Sox!
I still can’t call the Karlsson trade bad. Maybe misguided. But he dumped a bunch of bad salary for him. He’s played decent. Not as well as expected. The only loss was the 1st. Which will be mid round. Meh. I also think he’s tradable. With a couple mil held he could get that first rounder back. Not great. But not awful.
Yesterday’s long discussion of the fate of the Coyotes was one of THE most interesting threads ever – go figure.
For what it’s worth, here’s one player’s view on the situation – that of Phoenix-born Ottawa Senator Mark Kastelic
https://ottawasun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/ottawa-senators/senators-centre-mark-kastelic-sad-to-see-arizona-coyotes-moving-to-salt-lake-city
Thanks George. Good read.
Glad you pointed out the discussion–it took place after my morning read so I went back just now to see the comments.
All of Lyle’s points seem pretty inarguable to me. The bottom line is that it’s inept ownership and I don’t even see why NHL would be forced to include a five-year exclusivity window to the current owner as has been speculated to be a stipulation of the sale.
A couple of comments suggesting that there’s no fan support because the ballot measure didn’t pass or because the public officials weren’t championing the cause also miss this point. I’m not sure I’m ever in favor of public funding for pro sports facilities, but I’m certainly not in favor of those handouts for franchises that have already amply demonstrated that they are not good partners. How could you possibly expect there to be strong municipal support given the track record of the existing owner?
My main point was, and maybe it got lost, any Canadian or US city with 1M+ people in their metro, could support an NHL franchise if the team was decent and had strong ownership who developed the local market. My point on Phoenix is constant bad ownership can only go so far; the NHL approved these current owners, claiming they were bonafide, when in reality they were just as terrible as all the other ones (maybe worse because they keep claiming to be rich but don’t seem to hang any money). So of course Phoenix could work if there’s great ownership but there is NO ONE to fill that role in that market. They’ve had 25+ years to figure this out, time to give SLC, Kansas City or Houston a kick at the can (or even better Hamilton or QC but we know that won’t happen, especially QC for Ala $1.3B price tag). Hopefully SLC works out great and all the players benefit with higher league revenues overall.
There were a few great lines too, right Lyle?
An awful performance by the Avalanche! Really embarrassing and no excuse. They know what Winnepeg is about and not prepared to put on the work boots. This is what bother’s me about the team. They seemed to be tuning out Bednar. I don’t understand the reasoning. The same against Seattle last year. People who follow the team here like to make excuses: they don’t care about the central division, the team knows how to turn it on when the playoffs begin, don’t care about home ice, etc! I don’t buy that. Georgiev is shaky at times but what happens out in front of him is big cause for concern. Outworked, outmusceled and outplayed mentally. The Avalanche won’t make it out of the 1st round if they continue along with their current
approach. Player’s words are hollow. Actions are what count. They have 2 games left to get with the program or an early exit is likely. GO AVS!!!!!
Ok I’m being Petty! Glad Boston beat Pittsburgh just because Pittsburgh loss to Chicago their last game of the 2022-2023 regular season.
George, your boys came through last night with a win over the Habs, albeit in OT. Still, thanks.
I am concerned that the Sens, like the Habs, will draft a forward and this year’s projections have a slew of D rated before forwards. Any edge the Habs have in the draft is welcome.
Such is the woeful thinking of non-contenders and their fans.
Heh LJ … I was actually pulling for the Habs last night – brought back memories for an instance anyway.
On the subject of consensus draft picks, if Staios has his eyes on a specific UFA D-man and he and his staff are satisfied with going forward with a basic complement of Chabot (might have NO choice there), Zub, Sanderson, Bernard-Docker, Chychrun, Kleven, perhaps Guenette, and whoever they sign as a UFA, then it would not surprise me to see his draft spot dealt for a term, good proven 3rd/4th line winger.
That is a concern for me as a Habs fan. My take is that the Sens are good at D so they will be competition for trading a d, a pick or both for a good scorning forward. Exactly what the Habs should be doing, unless they are in love with one of the forwards in this year’s draft.
And why I want the Sens to finish above the Habs.
Believe me, LJ, there’s (legitimate) concern in Ottawa as well.
With nothing tangible to go on re his ability as a GM at the NHL level, we can only hope Staios is up to the task at hand given that, at some pint over the next 3 drafts, he must relinquish one as a penalty fr the Dadinov fiasco.
Like just about every fan of the team, the hope is that the moves made this summer – including and especially the hiring of a new coach – are sufficient to finally put them back in a playoff picture. So, if he does deal his 1st round pick this year, he’d better hope they don’t fare worse next season and the one after that, because one of those picks will have to be forfeited. Imagine it being a top 5?
Can’t happen some say? Just a couple of seasons back most were seeing Buffalo finally get back in the hunt. Now they have a league record of 13 straight misses … and who knows about next season?
Our teams are enough to drive us to drink, so I loved the line:
“at some pint over the next three drafts …”
LOL – damned “o” key keeps sticking … but if the woes continue in both markets I’m sure “pints” will enter the picture.