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Morning Skate - Tuesday, October 18

Morning Skate - Tuesday, October 18

Morning Skate - Searching for 600 & Frustrated Fans Fulminate

October 18, 2022

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Yesterday's NHL Scores

Last Night's News 📰

BERTUZZI OUT: On Monday, the Detroit Red Wings announced that the 27-year-old winger is out for 4-6 weeks with an upper-body injury. Tyler Bertuzzi left Saturday's game against the New Jersey Devils in the second period after blocking a shot by defenseman Ryan Graves. He has one assist and four shots on goal in two games for Detroit.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST: Rasmus Ristolainen missed the Flyers' first two games of the season, but there was hope he would soon play as he planned to travel with the team on their upcoming road trip. Philadelphia dashed those hopes when the club announced the defenseman is now on injured reserve because of a lower-body injury. Another tough blow for a depleted Flyers roster.

ADDING INJURY TO INSULT: If losing 4-2 to the Arizona Coyotes on home ice wasn't bad enough, the Toronto Maple Leafs also might have seen Jake Muzzin join the club's growing injury list on Monday night. Muzzin left the game with a reported neck injury in the second period and did not return after colliding with Arizona's Clayton Keller.

SCHMALTZ SIDELINED: Coyotes center Nick Schmaltz will miss 6-8 weeks with an upper-body injury, the team announced on Monday. Schmaltz left Arizona's season-opener in the first period, a 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY: For the first time in the history of the NHL, a team has opened the season with three straight losses after giving up a lead of two goals or more. Once again, the Vancouver Canucks surrendered a two-goal lead, as the Washington Capitals scored four in the third period to take the game, 6-4.

IMITATION IS THE BEST FORM OF FLATTERY: Spooky season is here, as the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) used its media day on Monday to get into the spirit—pun intended. Multiple players did their best Brandon Tanev impersonation by "seeing ghosts" while snapping their photos.

Tuesday Trivia

How Well Do You Know Matt Murray?

Matt Murray, Toronto Maple Leafs (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

1) Matt Murray holds the American Hockey League record for the longest shutout streak during the 2014-15 season. How many consecutive shutouts did he earn during that streak?

Five
Three
Four
Six

2) How many goalies were selected before the Pittsburgh Penguins took Murray at 83rd in the 2012 NHL Draft?

Seven
Eight
Nine
Five

3) Murray earned his first NHL win on Dec. 21, 2015, against which team?

Carolina Hurricanes
Minnesota Wild
Toronto Maple Leafs
Columbus Blue Jackets

Answers can be found at the bottom of the email.

Who's Next to 600?

Amidst the Vancouver Canucks' early season struggles, head coach Bruce Boudreau continues to wait on win No. 600 of his NHL coaching career. Whenever he gets there, it will mark a significant achievement, one that only 21 other coaches (five of whom are active) have ever realized.

Sure, Boudreau may still be less than halfway toward the incredible 1,244 wins earned by the legendary Scotty Bowman, but getting to this point is no easy feat. Apart from the five current coaches ahead of him, only five others have earned even half of those 600 triumphs. As Boudreau and company continue to work their way up the record books, here are other candidates who are poised to one day join the 600-club:

Todd McLellan - 530 Wins

Todd McLellan, Los Angeles Kings (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Currently, in his 15th year behind the bench as an NHL head coach, Todd McLellan is in year four of leading a young, talented Los Angeles Kings team coming off a 44-win season. Should the Kings continue their upward momentum, McLellan will reach the plateau sometime in the middle of next season.

Peter DeBoer - 516 Wins

Peter DeBoer, then head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Unlike many coaches who fell by the wayside this past offseason, Peter DeBoer found his footing again fairly quickly, being named coach of the Dallas Stars. With a 3-0 record and a spot atop the Central Division, that seems to be working fine for DeBoer. Strangely, the 54-year-old is behind the bench of his third team in four seasons, even as success seems to follow him wherever he goes.

Jon Cooper - 435 Wins

Head coach Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning (Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

At 435 wins, Jon Cooper still has a ways to go to catch some of his contemporaries and join the 600-club but does anyone doubt the Tampa Bay Lightning head coach's ability to get there? Considering the high win totals of his Lightning, Cooper could get there late in the 2024-25 season or early the following season. And if Tampa Bay should ever part with the coach who led them to back-to-back Stanley Cups, don't fret: Cooper wouldn't remain jobless for long!

Hockey Roundtable: The Frustrated Fan

The 2022-23 season hasn't exactly started the way some fans have hoped for. There are six teams who are winless: the Ottawa Senators, New Jersey Devils, Columbus Blue Jackets, Vancouver Canucks, Minnesota Wild, and San Jose Sharks.

In our first Twitter roundtable, we opened the floor to fans of the Devils, Blue Jackets, and Sharks:

New Jersey Devils

"I am troubled by the Devils' start. The goaltending, defensive structure/positioning, and physicality have all been poor. Neither Mackenzie Blackwood nor Vitek Vaněček has played well. Players are confused with reads, as evidenced by Nico Hischier's comments about the system, and the Flyers made the Devils look soft as New Jersey got outmuscled and pushed around. Head Coach Lindy Ruff's constant shuffling of the lines, including putting [Yegor] Sharangovich and [Alexander] Holtz on the 4th line with [Michael] McLeod, is not allowing the team to build chemistry, which is really disturbing. The Devils have looked lost on the ice at times—despite our improved talent this season."Michael | @NJerseyans

San Jose Sharks

Speaking of being lost, may we present the Sharks. According to Jeff, San Jose lacks direction as there is still a question of when the rebuild will "officially" begin.

"My problem with the Sharks is that there is no plan to build toward the future. While the Brent Burns trade yielded some talent and future potential, the long-term signing of Tomáš Hertl seems to be more of appeasement for season ticket holders. Marc-Édouard Vlasic and Logan Couture are in decline, and Erik Karlsson can't remain healthy. The best approach is to tank and accumulate prospects while these bad contracts age off the books. Mike Grier has his work cut out with the mess that Doug Wilson left behind, trying to hold on past their Stanley Cup window."Jeff | @CoachJeff13

Columbus Blue Jackets

There may not be high expectations in the Bay Area the panic button is being hit in Columbus, as the Blue Jackets are now 0-3-0—with

Johnny Gaudreau

"[Columbus] promised a team that had corrected its defensive woes from the previous year. Through three games, we’ve seen a club that has taken a step back on defense, a step back on offense, and is 0-for-8 on the power play. We can not squander the opportunity Johnny Hockey coming to Columbus has provided for us."Justin | @jneedham24