Milestone games for the Ducks’ John Gibson and the Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho, the Ducks re-sign Frank Vatrano, Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark sidelined again, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPPING SUNDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson kicked out 36 shots for his 200th NHL regular-season win in a 4-1 upset of the Tampa Bay Lightning, handing the latter their fourth straight loss. Frank Vatrano tallied twice and set up another and Troy Terry scored a goal and an assist as the Ducks picked up their fourth win in their last five contests. Jake Guentzel replied for the Lightning.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Ducks signed Vatrano before the game to a three-year contract extension with an average annual value of $4,571,189.
Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson (NHL Images).
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports the 30-year-old forward will receive a base salary of $3 million annually with $9 million of his salary deferred until 2035, when he’ll receive $900k annually for 10 years, lowering the AAV from $6 million. Vatrano intends to reside outside California and its tax system by that point of his retirement.
Speaking of Gibson, he was part of the Ducks’ Quarter-Century Team, joining defensemen Chris Pronger and Francois Beauchemin and forwards Paul Kariya, Bobby Ryan, and Jakob Silfverberg on the Second Team. Forwards Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne, defensemen Scott Niedermayer and Cam Fowle,r and goalie Jean-Sebastian Giguere comprised the First Team.
Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho’s overtime goal lifted his club over the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3, giving him his 600th NHL regular-season point. Aho also collected two assists while teammate Seth Jarvis scored twice and had an assist. Erik Karlsson scored a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who hold the final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference with 41 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Penguins activated defenseman Kris Letang off injured reserve for this game and placed winger Philip Tomasino (lower-body injury) on IR.
The Toronto Maple Leafs nipped the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on an overtime goal by Morgan Rielly. Matthews Knies and Oliver Ekman-Larsson also scored and Auston Matthews picked up two assists as the Leafs got their fifth win in their last six outings. Tyson Foerster and Scott Laughton scored for the Flyers, who’ve dropped seven of their last 10 contests (3-6-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Toronto (54 points) sits one point behind the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals. Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe left the game in the first period after striking his head on the ice during a fight with Flyers winger Garnet Hathaway. An update on his condition is expected on Monday.
New York Islanders center Bo Horvat scored in overtime in a 5-4 upset of the Boston Bruins. The Isles took a 4-2 lead with Anders Lee scoring two goals but the Bruins rallied as David Pastrnak tallied twice in the third period to force the extra period. The Isles snapped a three-game losing skid while the Bruins are winless in their last four (0-3-1).
The New York Rangers picked up their second win in their last seven games by downing the Chicago Blackhawks 6-2. Filip Chytil scored two goals, Mika Zibanejad picked up his 400th regular-season point, and Louis Domingue stopped 25 shots in his first start since Nov. 2023. Tyler Bertuzzi and Wyatt Kaiser scored for the Blackhawks, who’ve lost six of their last seven.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Rangers winger Chris Kreider missed this game with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. Some folks wondered if he was being sat out as a prelude to a trade but he’s reportedly battled a back injury since November.
HEADLINES
DAILY FACEOFF: Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury suffered on Dec. 22 against the Edmonton Oilers. Defenseman Travis Hamonic will be sidelined for two to four weeks with a lower-body injury.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Senators were on a six-game winning streak when Ullmark was sidelined. They’ve lost four of their last five and slipped out of the final Eastern wild-card spot.
THE SEATTLE TIMES: The Kraken placed goaltender Joey Daccord (upper body) and center Yanni Gourde (lower body) on injured reserve.
SPORTSNET: Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett was fined $5,000.00 by the NHL department of player safety on Saturday for roughing Penguins forward Drew O’Connor during Friday’s game between the two clubs.
TSN: The Los Angeles Kings placed forward Arthur Kaliyev on waivers while the Utah Hockey Club claimed defenseman Nick DeSimone off waivers from the New Jersey Devils.
IIHF.COM: An overtime goal by Nashville Predators prospect Teddy Stiga gave Team USA a 4-3 victory over Finland in the Gold Medal Game at the 2025 World Junior Championship. It’s the first time the United States has won back-to-back WJC gold medals.
Team USA captain (and Washington Capitals prospect) Ryan Leonard was named tournament MVP and was named to the tournament All-Star Team.
Czechia nipped Sweden 3-2 in the Bronze Medal Game in a record-setting 14-round shootout. Seattle Kraken prospect Eduard Sale scored the game-winner.