Recapping Friday’s eight games and the notable news of the past four days in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
GAME RECAPS
NHL.COM: Colorado Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen tallied his first career hat trick in a 4-1 victory over the Utah Hockey Club. Nathan MacKinnon collected three assists to become the first player this season to reach 60 points while Mikko Rantanen netted his 20th goal as the Avalanche picked up their fourth straight win. Nick Schmaltz replied for Utah as they’re winless in three straight (0-2-1).
Colorado Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Avalanche also announced on Friday that they signed Mackenzie Blackwood to a five-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $5.25 million. That’s a big raise over his current $2.35 million AAV. The 28-year-old goaltender was due to become an unrestricted free agent in July.
The Avalanche acquired Blackwood from the San Jose Sharks on Dec. 9. He’s won three of his four appearances for Colorado with a .931 save percentage. Nevertheless, this is a significant commitment by Avs management based on a short sample size of his work, raising skepticism among some observers.
In other Avs news, defenseman Cale Makar was the NHL’s first star for the week ending Dec. 22. Toronto Maple Leafs winger William Nylander was the second star and Montreal Canadiens winger Patrik Laine was the third star.
Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner scored a natural hat trick as his club clipped the Detroit Red Wings 5-2. John Tavares had two assists as the Leafs snapped a two-game losing skid. Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson scored for the Red Wings, losing their fourth straight and the first under new head coach Todd McLellan.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: McLellan replaced Derek Lalonde, who was fired as Wings head coach on Dec. 26. Assistant coach Bob Boughner was also relieved of his duties. McLellan has considerable NHL head-coaching experience but he’ll need some time to get the struggling Wings on a winning track.
Meanwhile, Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews missed this game. He remains hampered by a nagging upper-body injury that sidelined him for nine games in November. Matthews isn’t expected to be in the lineup for Saturday’s game against Washington.
The Buffalo Sabres got their second straight win by defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-2. Alex Tuch led the way with a hat trick while Jack Quinn and Dylan Cozens each had a goal and an assist. Tyler Bertuzzi and Seth Jones scored for the Blackhawks, who pulled goaltender Petr Mrazek following the first period after giving up four goals on 11 shots.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Sabres ended a 13-game winless skid on Dec. 23 by crushing the New York Islanders 7-1. Chicago has lost three in a row.
Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski collected four assists in a 6-2 upset of the Boston Bruins. Dmitri Voronkov scored two goals and had an assist while Sean Monahan tallied twice for the Blue Jackets, who are 3-0-1 in their last four. Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle were the Bruins’ goal scorers as their five-game points streak (4-0-1) ended.
A four-goal third period powered the Vegas Golden Knights over the San Jose Sharks 6-3. Alex Pietrangelo had three assists while Jack Eichel and Mark Stone were among four players with a goal and an assist each for the Golden Knights, who’ve won nine of their last 10 to take over first place in the overall standings with 51 points. Will Smith and Fabian Zetterlund each had two points for the Sharks, who are winless in their last six (0-5-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This game marked Tomas Hertl’s return to San Jose for the first time since the Sharks shipped him to the Golden Knights at last season’s trade deadline. He was held off the score sheet but received a video tribute from the Sharks before the game. Injuries kept Sharks forward William Eklund and defenseman Jake Walman out of the lineup for this contest.
New Jersey Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom stopped 29 shots in a 4-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Luke Hughes had a goal and an assist as the Devils won for the sixth time in their last seven contests, sitting atop the Eastern Conference with 51 points. Eric Robinson and Brent Burns replied for the Hurricanes as they’ve dropped four of their last five.
The Minnesota Wild overcame a 2-0 deficit to nip the Dallas Stars 3-2 on an overtime wraparound goal by Brock Faber. Jonas Brodin and Marcus Foligno also scored for the Wild while Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves for the win. Evgenii Dadonov and Wyatt Johnston scored for the Stars as they’ve lost three of their last four (1-2-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov missed this game with a lower-body injury. Stars forward Mason Marchment was taken to a Dallas hospital after being struck in the face by a shot in the first period. There was no update regarding his condition.
St. Louis Blues defenseman Cam Fowler had a goal and two assists in a 7-4 victory over the Nashville Predators. Robert Thomas tallied twice while Jordan Kyrou and Dylan Holloway each had two points for the Blues. Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault each had a goal and an assist for the Predators, who pulled goalie Juuse Saros after he gave up five goals on 15 shots.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: On Dec. 23, the Predators placed forward Cole Smith (lower body) on injured reserve. He’s expected to miss four-to-six weeks.
HEADLINES OF THE PAST WEEK
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This is a brief look at some notable news during my holiday break (Dec. 24-27).
The NHL’s holiday roster freeze ended at 12:01 am on Dec. 28.
NHL.COM: Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby collected his 1,030 career NHL assist in a 7-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 23. He’s tied with Mario Lemieux for the most assists in franchise history.
SPORTSNET: Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin) skated on his regular line with Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas for a portion of Friday’s practice. Sidelined by a fractured fibula since Nov. 18, he could return to the lineup against Toronto on Saturday.
THE PROVINCE: Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes and center Elias Pettersson missed practice on Friday due to injuries. They could miss Saturday’s game against the Seattle Kraken.
OTTAWA CITIZEN: Senators starting goaltender Linus Ullmark could miss the next five games after experiencing tightness in his back in a Dec. 22 game against the Edmonton Oilers.
THE ATHLETIC: The New York Rangers raised eyebrows by scratching winger Chris Kreider from their Dec. 23 games against the Devils.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: That led to speculation that Kreider could be traded once the NHL’s holiday roster freeze ended. So far, there’s no indication a deal is afoot.
SPORTSNET: Jets defenseman Haydn Fleury is week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Tampa Bay Lightning forward Conor Geekie is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
THE MONTREAL GAZETTE: The Canadiens called up goaltender Jakub Dobes and intend to place Cayden Primeau on waivers Saturday.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Primeau was expected to share the goaltending duties this season with starter Sam Montembeault. However, his shaky performance led to Montembeault starting the last 10 games. The Canadiens carried three goalies last season because they were concerned a rival club would pluck Primeau off waivers. This move indicates they’ve lost confidence in him as a backup.