1- WINNIPEG REVENGE: You knew the Jets were going to come out “flying”. Three nights after being flattened 5-0 by the Florida Panthers in Sunrise in a potential Stanley Cup Final preview, Winnipeg turned the tables on Tuesday night at Canada Life Centre. Mark Scheifele potted three goals and Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves as the Jets won 6-3 to saw off a split in the pair of games featuring division leaders. The game was fast-paced and much closer than the score indicates. Winnipeg’s Morgan Barron scored a pair of empty-net goals to secure the Jets’ NHL-leading 16th victory. With the loss, Florida drops to 12-6-1. The Cats visit Chicago on Thursday before returning home to host Colorado on Saturday.
2 – LIGHTNING STREAKING: If anything, the Tampa Bay Lightning are streaky. After opening November on a four-game winless skid, the Bolts have rebounded with three straight wins and points in four straight overall. On Tuesday night, forward Brayden Point returned from a four game absence to score twice including the OT winner in a 3-2 Lightning victory at Pittsburgh. The Bolts visit Columbus on Thursday before returning to Amalie Arena on Saturday for a date with the Dallas Stars.
3 – FIRST COACH FIRING: Mark it down. November 19/2024 was the first head coaching firing of the NHL season. Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney saw enough after the B’s 5-1 home loss to Columbus on Monday, and fired coach Jim Montgomery the next day after the club stumbled out to an 8-9-3 record. “Monty” was the NHL Coach of the Year in 2023 after leading the club to the NHL’s best-ever regular season record, however they struggled to find postseason success. Assistant coach Joe Sacco takes over on the interim.
4 – WHO’S NEXT?: The seats remain hot in Detroit and Nashville. The Red Wings’ Derek Lalonde is feeling pressure whatwith a 7-9-2 start – 7th place in the Atlantic Division – and after an offseason spending spree. And former Cats coach Andrew Brunette has failed to uplift the Predators, who at 6-10-3 are second-last in the entire NHL. However hockey people are pointing the finger at lavish off-season signings Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault who have a combined 20 points in 38 games, and are minus-24.
5 – THE GREAT EIGHT: It’s a good news/bad news scenario for Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin. Ovie has scored 15 goals in 18 games this season – including five in two games this week – to move within 26 goals of tying Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goals record (894). However Ovechkin left Monday’s game in Utah with a lower body injury and is listed as week-to-week.
6 – MOST IMPRESSIVE NHL RECORDS: Ovechin’s pursuit of The Great One has sparked a fun debate over which NHL record is the most impressive? Many have pointed to the goal watermark, but Gretzky is still first all-time in career points (2857) while Patrick Marleau is the career games-played leader (1779). As a goalie guy, I may be most impressed by Martin Brodeur’s record for career wins by a goaltender (691). Oldtimers say the best record of them all is “Mr. Goalie” Glenn Hall’s record of 502 consecutive games played. He did that without a mask!
7 – MILESTONES: Panthers fans got a front row seat to witness the amazing prowess of Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid during last year’s Stanley Cup Final. Connor McDavid reached his 1,000th point on Thursday vs Nashville, the fourth fastest.. … Sidney Crosby was held goalless against Tampa Bay on Tuesday night and remains at 599 career goals. His next tally will give him 600 career markers, becoming only the second Penguin behind Mario Lemieux to achieve the feat.
8 – POWER RANKING/OUTAGE: For the casual hockey followers, here are our weekly Top 5/Bottom 5 rankings in the NHL to arm you for your water cooler and coffee row discussions! At the top are: 1) Winnipeg, 2) Washington, 3) Carolina, 4) Minnesota, and 5) Florida. At the bottom are: 28) Detroit, 29) Montreal, 30) Nashville, 31) San Jose and 32) Chicago.
9 – ON THE LIMP: Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews was whisked off to see a specialist in Germany on Tuesday after missing the past two weeks with an undisclosed upper body injury. We’re told it’s a doctor Matthews has seen in the past. … Vancouver Canucks center J.T. Miller is taking an indefinite leave from the team for personal reasons, the team announced Tuesday. General manager Patrik Allvin said the team’s focus is making sure Miller knows “the entire organization is here to support him.” Miller posted a career-high 103 points (37 goals, 66 assists) last season.
10 – STAR GAZING: McDavid was named the NHL’s first star of the week on Monday. #97 had eight points (three goals, five assists) over three games last week. Dallas Stars left-winger Mason Marchment was named second star and Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy took the third star.
(Rod Pedersen covers the NHL for the South Florida Tribune. He also hosts the award-winning Cats N Bolts Podcast and the daily Rod Pedersen Show on Game+TV, WQEE Radio & YouTube)
