Recaps of Friday’s games, Stars forward Tyler Seguin is officially sidelined for the season, the latest on Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPPING FRIDAY’S ACTION
NHL.COM: Utah Mammoth captain Clayton Keller had a goal and two assists to lead his club to a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild, snapping the latter’s six-game win streak. Lawson Crouse tallied two goals for the 31-24-4 Mammoth, who hold the first wild-card berth in the Western Conference with 66 points. Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist for the Wild (35-15-10).
Utah Mammoth captain Clayton Keller (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek left this game near the end of the second period after taking a stick to the face from Mammoth forward Nick Schmaltz.
The Buffalo Sabres (34-19-6) moved into second place in the Atlantic Division with 74 points by nipping the Florida Panthers 3-2. Alex Tuch had a goal and an assist, and Alex Lyon made 28 saves. Sam Bennett had a goal and an assist, and Daniil Tarasov stopped 36 shots.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Panthers forward Cole Schwindt missed this game due to a lower-body injury suffered during Thursday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Pierre-Luc Dubois tallied twice, and Jakob Chychrun scored what proved to be the winning goal as the Washington Capitals held off the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 3-2. Braeden Bowman and Tomas Hertl scored for the Golden Knights (28-17-14), who hold first place in the Pacific Division with 70 points. The Capitals (32-17-9, 69 points) picked up their third straight win to move within two points of the Boston Bruins for the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth.
An overtime goal by Chris Kreider lifted the Anaheim Ducks to a 5-4 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Beckett Sennecke collected three assists for the 32-23-3 Ducks, who picked up their fourth straight win. Kyle Connor and Alex Iafallo each had a goal and an assist for the 23-26-9 Jets.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ducks winger Troy Terry missed this game as he’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Meanwhile, Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov left this game with a lower-body injury. The Jets also played with winger Nino Niederreiter, who is week-to-week with an undisclosed injury.
HEADLINES
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: The Stars have ruled out forward Tyler Seguin for the remainder of the season, including the playoffs. Seguin, 34, had surgery for a torn ACL on Dec. 2.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Seguin carries an average annual value of $9.85 million. He will now be placed on season-ending long-term injury reserve (SLTIR).
The Stars have $1.4 million in cap space, but TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports they’re already using $3.8 million of his cap hit with other players injured. Nevertheless, this will still give the Stars salary-cap flexibility heading toward the March 6 trade deadline.
ESPN.COM: Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk isn’t happy that he was part of an AI-doctored TikTok video released by the White House that made it appear he was disparaging Canadians.
In the video, Tkachuk is made to say, “They booed our national anthem, so I had to go out and teach those maple syrup-eating f**ks a lesson.”
“Well, it’s clearly fake, because it’s not my voice, not my lips moving,” Tkachuk said. “I’m not in control of any of those accounts. I know those words would never come out of my mouth. So, I can’t do anything about it.
Asked if he enjoyed the video, Tkachuk said he didn’t because he would never say those things about Canadians. He also denied that he was the person who shouted, “Close the northern border!” during Team USA’s congratulatory call with President Donald Trump.
“I’ve been seeing stuff that people think it’s me. But if you watch the video, it’s not my voice or something I would never say.”
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Tkachuk is a proud American, and he’s obviously overjoyed to have helped the United States win its first gold medal in Olympic Men’s hockey in 46 years. However, he would never make those comments.
Tkachuk has spent the entirety of his eight-season NHL career with the Ottawa Senators, becoming their captain and the face of the franchise. He’s also been active in the local community for years. He signed an eight-year contract with the club in 2021 and denied trade rumors about him that popped up last spring, calling them lies.
TSN: The New York Rangers claimed forward Tye Kartye off waivers from the Seattle Kraken.
DAILY FACEOFF: Vancouver Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki underwent successful shoulder surgery. He will miss the remainder of this season, but is expected to be ready for the start of training camp in September.
SPORTSNET: Ian (Scotty) Morrison, a former NHL referee and top executive with the Hockey Hall of Fame, died on Wednesday at the age of 95.
Morrison joined the NHL as a referee in 1954. By 1965, he was appointed the league’s Referee-in-Chief. In 1981, he became their vice-president of officiating until 1986, when he was appointed to an executive position in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
In 1991, he became the Hall’s chairman and chief executive officer until his retirement in 1998. A year later, he was inducted into the Hall along with superstar Wayne Gretzky and referee Andy Van Hellemond.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: My condolences to Morrison’s family, friends, and colleagues.