Alex Ovechkin extends his goal streak, Connor McDavid returns from injury sooner than expected, and the latest on Cale Makar, Gabriel Landeskog, Dylan Holloway, Thatcher Demko and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored the winning goal and picked up an assist as his club nipped the Nashville Predators 3-2. Ovechkin extended his goals streak to five games and Dylan Strome collected two assists for the Capitals, who sit second in the Metropolitan Division with 18 points. Juuso Parssinen and Steven Stamkos scored for the Predators, who’ve dropped four of their last five games (1-3-1).
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ovechkin needs 34 goals to break Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 goals. He has eight goals in 12 games this season.
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin scored twice in the third period as his club doubled up the Edmonton Oilers 4-2. Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev each finished with three points as their team sits atop the Pacific Division with 19 points in 13 games. Brett Kulak and Zach Hyman replied for the Oilers (6-7-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Oilers captain Connor McDavid returned to action after missing 10 days with an ankle injury. He was originally expected to be sidelined for up to three weeks. He played over 21 minutes but was held scoreless.
The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1. Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat each had a goal and an assist and Cam Talbot stopped 29 shots for the Wings. Nick Foligno scored for the Blackhawks.
HEADLINES
THE DENVER POST: Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said Cale Makar is ok after suffering a lower-body injury on Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken. He traveled with the Avs and could play Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets.
TSN: Bednar also said captain Gabriel Landeskog suffered a setback as he attempts a comeback after knee surgeries sidelined him for the past two seasons. Bednar said it’s part of the on-again, off-again recovery process and remains hopeful Landeskog can return to action this season.
SPORTSNET: St. Louis Blues forward Dylan Holloway suffered no ill effects from taking a puck to the neck in Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He left the game on a stretcher and was taken to a hospital for observation but was released and rejoined his teammates in practice yesterday. Holloway hopes to play against Utah on Thursday.
TSN: Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko participated in some practice drills on Wednesday with some of his teammates. It’s the latest step in his recovery from a nagging knee injury that has sidelined him since Game 1 of the opening round of the 2024 playoffs.
DAILY FACEOFF: Canucks defenseman Derek Forbort is out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
Dallas Stars forward Mason Marchment is out day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
OTTAWA SUN: Center Shane Pinto and defenseman Artem Zub could return to the Senators lineup for Thursday’s contest with the New York Islanders. Zub has missed nine games with a concussion while Pinto was out six games with an undisclosed ailment.
SAN JOSE HOCKEY NOW: Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said defenseman Jake Walman was a healthy scratch from Tuesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets for non-hockey reasons. “Jake did not play because of hockey play,” said Warsofsky. “There was nothing to do with that. It was something in between (us) that we’ll keep in-house.”.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Walman’s absence raised eyebrows given his role on the Sharks. He logs the second-most minutes and is their best offensive defenseman.
MONTREAL HOCKEY NOW: The Canadiens have loaned forward Oliver Kapanen to Timra IK in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).
NEW JERSEY HOCKEY NOW: The Devils announced they’ve relieved Kevin Dineen of his duties as head coach of their AHL affiliate in Utica. Assistant coach Ryan Parent takes over on an interim basis for the rest of the season. The move comes as Utica is off to one of the worst starts (0-9-1) in franchise history.
ESPN.COM: Emily Kaplan recently examined several key issues potentially at stake in the next round of collective bargaining between the NHL and NHL Players’ Association. The current agreement will expire in September 2026.
The players hope for a bigger slice of the growing revenue pie. Many would like to see escrow eliminated. They’d also like to get a cut of future expansion fees. Some players wonder if the league might implement a luxury tax given the willingness of some teams to spend over the salary cap.
Some players would like to see the preseason shortened and expand the regular season to 84 games if it means starting the season earlier. Others would like to see the playoff schedule return to the 1-8 seeding by conference.
TSN: Pierre LeBrun reports the CBA negotiations are expected to start in the New Year. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly will summarize the main points he’s learned from meeting with individual general managers at the upcoming GMs meeting.
The general managers would like to tweak the salary arbitration process and revise the compensation rates for offer sheets. One GM would like to see them revisit term limits on player contracts.
LeBrun doesn’t feel either side wants to have a big war in this round of CBA negotiations. He believes they want this to go smoothly.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kaplan cited one player saying growing league revenue was the priority and doesn’t want to squabble about points. That is the main factor for both sides. Revenue has grown significantly in recent years and neither side wants to do anything that could jeopardize that growth.
There will be some tweaks coming out of the next round of CBA but nothing that will require a work stoppage. There is no rancor between the two sides and no sense of foreboding compared to the lead-up to the three previous lockouts. Some think an agreement could be reached next summer.