Oilers captain Connor McDavid reaches another scoring milestone, Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer sets a league record, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines
NHL.COM: Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist to reach the 100-point plateau for the ninth time as his Edmonton Oilers ended a four-game losing skid by crushing the Los Angeles Kings 8-1. Leon Draisaitl had a goal and three assists, Zach Hyman had a goal and two assists, and Jake Walman tallied twice for the 29-23-8 Oilers. Warren Foegele replied for the Kings (23-21-14), who are winless in their last five games (0-4-1).
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid (NHL Images)
SPECTOR’S NOTE: McDavid moved past Marcel Dionne into third place for the most 100-point seasons. Wayne Gretzky is the leader with 15, followed by Mario Lemieux with 10. He currently sits atop this season’s scoring race with 100 points, five points ahead of Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov and Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon.
Kings defenseman Drew Doughty suffered a lower-body injury, and winger Joel Armia suffered an upper-body injury in this game. Meanwhile, the Oilers were without forward Mattias Janmark, who is sidelined long-term with a chronic injury that requires rest.
New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer scored twice to set an NHL record for most goals by a rookie defenseman (18) as his club nipped the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on an overtime goal by Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Noah Dobson scored twice, and Cole Caufield netted his 33rd goal of the season as the Canadiens (32-17-9) took 2-0 and 3-2 leads, but the Islanders (33-21-5) battled back with Anders Lee scoring late in the third period to force overtime.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canadiens continue to struggle holding leads. It’s something they must improve as they try to clinch a playoff berth.
The Minnesota Wild collected their sixth straight win by defeating the Colorado Avalanche 5-2. Matt Boldy had two goals and two assists, Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice, and goaltender Filip Gustavsson kicked out 44 shots for the 35-14-10 Wild. Martin Necas tallied both goals for the Avalanche (38-10-9), who sit first overall with 85 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was a gutty effort by Gustavsson, who is battling an illness. He left this game with a minute left in the third period after throwing up in his crease.
A power-play goal by Sebastian Aho gave the Carolina Hurricanes a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Logan Stankoven, Taylor Hall, and Seth Jarvis each had a goal and an assist for the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes (37-15-6), who extended their points streak to 11 games. Jake Guentzel had three assists and Brayden Point collected a goal and an assist for the Eastern Conference-leading Lightning (38-15-4) as their six-game win streak ended.
Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin scored the tying goal and the overtime winner to lift his team over the Ottawa Senators by a score of 2-1. Lucas Raymond picked up two assists, and John Gibson stopped 26 shots for the Red Wings (34-19-6). Brady Tkachuk scored, and Tim Stutzle had an assist to extend his points streak to eight games for the 28-22-8 Senators.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Earlier in the day, the NHL announced it had cleared Ottawa forward Arthur Kaliyev of gambling allegations. He was called up from the Senators’ AHL affiliate for precautionary reasons, as Tim Stutzle was a game-time decision to play against the Red Wings.
Boston Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo made 37 saves to backstop his club to a 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, snapping the latter’s seven-game win streak. Viktor Arvidsson scored two goals for the Bruins (33-20-5) as they extended their points streak to eight games. Adam Fantilli and Mason Marchment each had two points for the 29-21-7 Blue Jackets.
First-period goals by Brad Marchand, Carter Verhaeghe, and Evan Rodrigues powered the Florida Panthers to a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Marchand finished with two goals for the 30-25-3 Panthers. John Tavares replied for the 27-23-9 Maple Leafs, who sit last in the Atlantic Division with 63 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Earlier this week, it was reported that Maple Leafs management would take three or four games to decide on their plans for the March 6 trade deadline. After watching their last two games, it’s obvious they should be sellers by next Friday.
The Pittsburgh Penguins got three unanswered third-period goals by Connor Clifton, Egor Chinakhov, and Blake Lizotte to down the New Jersey Devils 4-1. Evgeni Malkin collected two assists, and Arturs Silovs made 28 saves for the 30-15-12 Penguins. Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who have lost five straight games and dropped to 28-29-2.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Speaking of potential sellers, the Devils could be joining that club as they continue to flounder in the standings.
Philadelphia Flyers winger Matvei Michkov scored twice, including the winner in overtime, to lift his club to a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. Alexis Lafreniere and Sam Carrick replied for the Rangers. The Flyers improved to 26-21-11, while the Rangers (22-29-7) sit last in the Eastern Conference with 51 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Rangers welcomed back goaltender Igor Shesterkin and defenseman Adam Fox. Both players had been sidelined since Jan. 5.
St. Louis Blues winger Dylan Holloway had a hat trick and picked up an assist to beat the Seattle Kraken 5-1. Pius Suter had a goal and two assists for the 21-28-9 Blues, who sit last in the Central Division with 51 points. Kaapo Kakko replied for the 27-22-9 Kraken.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Earlier in the day, Blues forward Mathieu Joseph and Kraken forward Tye Kartye were placed on waivers.
Third-period goals by Matthew Wood, Ryan O’Reilly, and Steven Stamkos gave the Nashville Predators (27-24-7) a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Connor Bedard and Tyler Bertuzzi scored for the 22-27-9 Blackhawks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Predators have 61 points, putting them two points behind the Kraken for the final Western wild-card spot.
The Calgary Flames defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-1. Dustin Wolf turned aside 34 shots, and Nazem Kadri tallied twice for the 24-27-6 Flames. Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks (27-25-4), who are 0-4-1 in their last five games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Sharks remain five points out of the final Western Conference wild-card spot with 58 points.