NHL Daily: Top 10 moments of 2016 for the Colorado Avalanche, Jaromir Jagr takes sole possession of second spot on the all-time points list, Boston Bruins need a goaltender for the Holidays, and more! (Morning Coffee Headlines)
Grab your morning cup of coffee and join us here at Puck Prose for a compilation of NHL daily links that will help keep you updated with everything going on in the hockey world.
It was a jam-packed schedule on Friday night. That’s because the NHL will be off for a three-day layoff between December 24th and December 26th. With their 2-1 win over Montreal, the Columbus Blue Jackets enter the break as the top team in the league with a record of 23-5-4 (50 points).
Minnesota came out on top in a high scoring 7-4 final against the NY Rangers, Washington shut out the Lightning 4-0 at home, Carolina edged the Bruins 3-2 in overtime, Colorado got a surprise 2-1 win over Chicago, Dallas beat the Kings 3-2 in extra time, and the Maple Leafs grabbed two points in the Desert with a 4-1 win in Auston Matthews homecoming versus the Coyotes.
Here is your highlight of the night:
NHL Daily: Morning Coffee Headlines
Jagr Surpasses Messier for 2nd on All-Time Points List
44-year-old Florida Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr recorded an assist on Friday night, and with that takes sole possession of second place on the all-time points list. The future Hall-of-Famer continues to chase down milestones in his quest to play until 50. [CBC]
Union and Blue
Avs Top 10 Moments of 2016
Ross Sellers over at Mile High Sticking takes a look back at the year that was. He put together a nice countdown featuring the top 10 moments of the 2016 calendar year for the Colorado Avalanche. [Mile High Sticking]
10 Things Every NHL Fan Wants for the Holidays
Allan Mitchell over at Bleacher Report compiled a list of 10 things that every fan wants for the Holidays. The countdown includes things like, “more records for Jaromir Jagr”, “more National exposure for young impact players”, and “Edmonton Oilers to make the playoffs and miss the lottery”. [Bleacher Report]
Something Special Brewing in Minnesota
Danny Lambert over at Gone Puck Wild wrote a piece following the Canadiens game on Thursday, prior to Friday’s match-up on Broadway. He discussed what has stood out in particular to him as Minnesota continues to take the league by storm. They got a big win at the Bell Centre versus Carey Price, followed by another win against the Rangers. [Gone Puck Wild]
Strome, “DeBrincat” Cut a Strange Decision
Fellow Erie Otters teammate and rival Canadian Dylan Strome called Team USA’s decision to cut Alex DeBrincat “strange”. He’s not wrong considering that Alex fits that new trend of small, elusive forwards. Not just that, DeBrincat knows how to find the back of the net with frequency. [The Score]
Bruins Need a New Goalie
No, don’t worry, we’re not talking about Tuukka Rask. Andrew Thompson over at Causeway Crowd is referring to the man behind him. Backup Anton Khudobin put up another mediocre performance on Friday leading to a 3-2 loss in OT. Andrew thinks the B’s could use a new goalie for Christmas. [Causeway Crowd]
NHL Daily Morning Rant
I’d like to address the Bruins backup story. Truth be told, I was scratching my head when Boston signed Khudobin shortly after free agency opened. The price tag of $1.2 million stood out above all else, but the signing didn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Sure, he was in a very uncomfortable situation in 2015-16 with Frederik Andersen and John Gibson, but even when the team was faced with injuries and he got a shot, he wasn’t overly impressive. He had three wins, three losses in nine appearances with a 2.69GAA and .909 save percentage behind a decent Ducks squad. Anton wound up spending the majority of the year down in AHL San Diego. He looked solid going 19-8-3 with a 2.46GAA and .921 save percentage, but how much weight can you put into that?
Next: Vegas Golden Knights Mock Expansion Draft Roundtable
Long story short, Mr. Thompson is correct, Boston needs a new backup. Those 15-20 games that Rask needs relief for are critical when you’re talking about a team expected to be fighting into those final days for a playoff spot. Those extra few points could be the difference between a third-place Atlantic Division finish, or just narrowly missing out because the Metropolitan is dominating the two Wild-Card spots.
5 options that Boston could consider: Linus Ullmark (BUF), Anton Forsberg (CLB), Reto Berra (FLA), Jean-Francois Berube (NYI), Ondrej Pavelec (WPG)
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