Tuesday's hockey: 6-8 goalie Cooper Black of Alpena signs with Florida; Caps lose in Buffalo
Alpena's Cooper Black, a 6-8, 240-pound goaltender with Dartmouth College, signed a two-year, entry-level contact with the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
Black, 22, appeared in 30 games with Dartmouth in 2023-24, posting a 13-8-8 record, .910 save percentage, 2.58 goals against average and two shutouts en route to being named a finalist for the Ken Dryden Eastern Conference Athletic Conference (ECAC) goaltender of the year award.
“Cooper is a talented young goaltender whose rare combination of size and athletic ability have allowed him to succeed in the college ranks,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said in a statement. “We are looking forward to his further development within our organization.”
Black, who played for the Little Caesars U15 team and the Alpena High School hockey team, led the Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL) to a Coastal Conference championship in 2021-22 behind a league-leading .924 save percentage, producing a 24-7-1 record, 2.62 goals against average and two shutouts.
The tallest NHL goalie is 6-7 Ivan Fedotov, who made his Philadelphia Flyers' debut on Monday. The other 6-7 goalies in NHL history are: Ben Bishop, Mikko Koskinen and Mads Sogaard. Sebastian Cossa, the first-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in the 2021 NHL draft, is 6-6.
MSU's Nightingale finalist for coaching award
Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale is one of nine finalists for the American Hockey Coaches Association Spencer Penrose National Coach of the Year honors.
The nominees represent any coach who won or shared Coach of the Year honors in his conference this past season, as well as coaches whose teams have advanced to the 2024 NCAA Frozen Four.
Selected by the nation's 64 NCAA Division I head coaches, the winner will be announced on April 10.
The Spencer Penrose Award is named in memory of the Colorado Springs benefactor who built the Broadmoor Hotel Complex, site of the first 10 NCAA championship hockey tournaments. The nine finalists are:
▶ Greg Brown, Boston College, Hockey East COY and NCAA Semifinalist
▶ David Carle, University of Denver, NCAA Semifinalist
▶ Reid Cashman, Dartmouth, ECAC Hockey COY
▶ Kris Mayotte, Colorado College, NCHC COY
▶ Brandon Naurato, University of Michigan, NCAA Semifinalist
▶ Adam Nightingale, Michigan State, Big Ten COY
▶ Jay Pandolfo, Boston University, NCAA Semifinalist
▶ Tom Serratore, Bemidji State, CCHA COY
▶ Wayne Wilson, RIT, Atlantic Hockey CO
Tuesday's NHL games
(At) Buffalo 6, Washington 2: JJ Peterka and the Buffalo Sabres haven’t given up on their slim chances of crashing the NHL playoff party.
At the very least, they’re making it a crowded race following a 6-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.
Peterka scored twice, including the go-ahead goal, and the Sabres not only slowed the Capitals' late-season playoff push but thrust themselves in the mix of a muddled Eastern Conference playoff race. Five points now separate eighth-place Washington and 12th-place Buffalo with two weeks left in the season.
Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch had a goal and two assists each in an outing the Sabres blew open by scoring three times in a 2:30 span in the opening minutes of the third period.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen bounced back after getting beaten by Martin Fehervary’s 40-footer on the first shot he faced, to finish with 23 saves.
The key for Buffalo, was not letting yet another early deficit derail them by improving to 14-27-4 when allowing the first goal.
“Just stay with it. I mean, we had a lot of chances throughout the whole game, and guys were scoring today, so it was an overall good game from us,” Dahlin said. “Of course, they got an early goal, but we battled through that and came back strong.”
Zemgus Girgensons also scored for Buffalo on a night the team celebrated forward Jeff Skinner playing his 1,000th game.
Dylan Strome also scored for the Capitals, who dropped to 0-2-1 in their past three in a skid that immediately followed a 6-1 run.
Charlie Lindgren was yanked after allowing six goals on 31 shots, and dropped to 6-3-1 in his past 10 starts. Darcy Kuemper mopped up with four saves.
The Capitals were caught flat-footed in attempting to play at the Sabres speedy pace by matching chance for chance.
“When we try to take one rush offensively and we get a chance and cheat for a chance, it seems like they get three or four on us coming back the other way,” Strome said. “That hasn’t worked for us all year.”
Despite the loss, the Capitals maintain a slim hold on eighth place in being tied with Detroit at 82 points, but holding the tie-breaking edge over the Red Wings. The concern is how the rest of the field gained on Washington, with the New York Islanders now one point back and Pittsburgh trailing by three.
That sets up a major showdown at Washington on Thursday, when the Capitals host the Penguins.
“We just need to reset. Tomorrow is a new day. Focus on Pittsburgh,” Fehervary said.
Pittsburgh 6, (at) New Jersey 3: Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby each scored twice in Pittsburgh’s five-goal third period and the Penguins kept their playoff hopes alive, rallying for a win over New Jersey.
The Devils led 3-1 after two periods on goals by Timo Meier, Curtis Lazar and Jesper Bratt. Crosby and Malkin scored 67 seconds apart early in the third to tie the score.
Rickard Rakell then put Pittsburgh ahead with 3:44 to play with his 13th goal before Malkin scored again 21 seconds later. Crosby made it 6-3 with his team-leading 39th goal at 17:07, an unassisted empty netter.
Erik Karlsson opened the scoring for Pittsburgh at 7:54 of the first before Meier knotted the contest on the power play with 16.6 seconds left in the first, rifling his 25th goal past Alex Nedeljkovic, who had 23 saves.
(At) N.Y. Islanders 2, Chicago 1: Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom scored in the third period to help the New York Islanders top the Chicago.
Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves for New York, which pulled within one point of Washington for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Jason Dickinson scored for last-place Chicago, which had won three of four. Connor Bedard had an assist, and Petr Mrazek made 27 stops.
(At) Montreal 5, Florida 3: Nick Suzuki scored the tying and go-ahead goals in the second period and Sam Montembeault made 37 saves in leading Montreal to a victory over Florida.
Cole Caufield, Jake Evans and Joel Armia also scored while Alex Newhook had two assists for Montreal, which won its fourth in five games.
Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell tallied for Florida, which lost to Montreal for the first time in four meetings (3-1-0) this season. Anthony Stolarz made 34 saves.
(At) Minnesota 3, Ottawa 2: Vinni Lettieri scored the winning goal with just under seven minutes to play and Minnesota beat Ottawa to earn a crucial two points and keep their faint playoff hopes alive.
Mason Shaw scored for the first time in more than a year, Matt Boldy also had a goal, r the Wild and Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves for the Wild, who are eight points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second Western Conference wild-card spot with eight games to play.
Drake Batherson and Jakob Chychrun each had a goal and an assist and Joonas Korpisalo made 17 saves, but the Senators five-game winning streak came to an end.
Boston 3, (at) Nashville 0: Linus Ullmark made 32 saves and had an assist on Charlie Coyle’s short-handed, game-winning goal in the third period that lead Boston to a victory over Nashville.
David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha each recorded a goal and and assist in the big final period as the Bruins won for the third time in four game and extended their lead in the Atlantic Division to four points over Florida, which lost at Montreal.
Juuse Saros made 30 saves for Nashville, which as lost three straight. The skid follows a franchise-record 18-game point streak (16-0-2).
Anaheim 5, (at) Calgary 3: Alex Killorn scored twice, Troy Terry had a goal and two assists and Anaheim snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over Calgary.
Mason McTavish and Cam Fowler rounded out the scoring for Anaheim while rookie defenseman Olen Zellweger had three assists for his first career multi-point game.
Lukas Dostal made 21 stops as the Ducks won for just the second time in their last 14 games (2-11-1).
Andrei Kuzmenko had two goals and Yegor Sharangovich also scored for the Flames, who have lost six of their last seven games. Jacob Markstrom had 24 saves.
(At) Vegas 6, Vancouver 3: Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and two assists and Vegas beat Vancouver.
The defending Stanley Cup champions have won three straight and six of seven since a 6-10-1 slide that dropped them into the second slot in the wild-card race.
The victory inched Vegas (92 points) closer to second-place Edmonton (95) in the Pacific Division. The Canucks sit atop the division.
Anthony Mantha, Jack Eichel, Noah Hanifin, William Karlsson and Brett Howden also scored for Vegas, while Logan Thompson stopped 27 shots to win his sixth straight start in his 99th career game.
Playoff tracker
Atlantic
▶ Bruins (103)
▶ Panthers (99)
▶ Maple Leafs (95)
Metropolitan
▶ Rangers (104)
▶ Hurricanes (101)
▶ Flyers (83)
Wild card
▶ Lightning (89)
▶ Capitals (82)
(Top two wild-card teams make the playoffs)
▶ Red Wings (82)
▶ Islanders (81)
▶ Penguins (79)
▶ Sabres (77)
▶ Devils (76)
If playoffs started Wednesday
Eastern Conference playoff matchups
▶ (1M) Rangers vs. Capitals (WC2)
▶ (A2) Panthers vs. Maple Leafs (A3)
▶ (1A) Bruins vs. Lightning (WC1)
▶ (2M) Hurricanes vs. (3M) Flyers
Remaining games in wild-card race
Capitals (82 points)
▶ Home (4): Penguins, Senators, Lightning, Bruins
▶ Away (4): Hurricanes, Wings, Sabres, Flyers
Flyers (83 points)
▶ Home (2): Devils, Capitals
▶ Away (4): Sabres, Blue Jackets, Canadiens, Rangers
Red Wings (82)
▶ Home (4): Rangers, Sabres, Capitals, Canadiens
▶ Away (3): Penguins, Leafs, Canadiens
Islanders (81)
▶ Home (4): Predators, Rangers, Canadiens, Penguins
▶ Away (3): Blue Jackets, Rangers, Devils
Guentzel, Kuznetsov perfect fit for Canes
When the Carolina Hurricanes considered at the trade deadline how they could best position themselves to contend for the Stanley Cup, they looked for players who could score that one more goal they'd need when it matters most.
General manager Don Waddell sought and received permission from Washington to talk to Evgeny Kuznetsov, the talented but inconsistent center who had been waived and sent to the minors, and he and his staff did all the homework they could on pending Pittsburgh free agent winger Jake Guentzel. In the final 20 hours before the deadline, he acquired both in deals with division rivals.
The Hurricanes are 10-2-1 since, with Guentzel and Kuznetsov fitting in perfectly so far on a strong team that skates up tempo and can score but also wins because of sound structure. Of course, the real test is still upcoming when the first round starts April 20, with a long playoff run in Carolina's mind.
"We’re ramping up hopefully at the right time," Waddell said by phone Monday. “Sometimes you make moves that don’t work out, and we’ll see how it all works out when playoffs come. But we knew we were bringing in two really good team guys into the locker room.”
And guys who answer the Hurricanes' central question of how they get over the hump after a series of disappointing postseason exits. Last year it was a sweep by Florida in the Eastern Conference final with each game decided by one goal, 2022 a second-round loss to the New York Rangers and 2021 a second-round loss to Tampa Bay cruising to back-to-back championships.
They won just five of 13 on the road during that stretch, a trend they hope to reverse by bringing in players with tried and true success who are accustomed to this style of hockey all over North America. Guentzel is a point-a-game producer with 34 goals and 24 assists in 58 playoff games with the Penguins, and Kuznetsov was the Capitals' leading scorer on their 2018 Cup run.
Season-ending injuries last year to Max Pacioretty (Michigan) in January and Andrei Svechnikov in March hampered Carolina's 2023 title pursuit, but scoring shouldn't be a problem this time around after adding Guentzel and Kuznetsov to a mix that already includes Sebastian Aho (33 goals), Seth Jarvis (29), Martin Necas (23) and Teuvo Teravainen (21).
“We know we were getting two great players,” said coach Rod Brind'Amour (Michigan State). “It’s all about how the fit is. You’ve got to fit them in right and get them up to speed as quickly as possible for them to be the best they can be.”
Guentzel has slid in on a line alongside Aho and Jarvis and has two goals and 14 assists in his first 11 games back from an oblique injury.
“He works his tail off, skates well, plays fast, scores goals, makes plays,” Aho said. "He has unbelievable vision and just a great player to play with and lucky to have him here.”
Guentzel, who has characteristically been more of a shooter than a passer, called his assist fest "just how it’s playing out. You just try to be a well-rounded player.”
The Hurricanes would love for Kuznetsov, pass-first to a fault sometimes, to shoot the puck more. But they'll gladly take his playmaking ability at half his salary – $3.9 million, with Washington paying the rest to get him a change of scenery.
“He’s a very smart of offensive player,” Brind'Amour said. "You watch him a couple times with the puck, and you know his vision is very, very high end. There’s no doubt about that, and that’s one of the reasons why we’re excited to have him.”
Michigan-area hockey this week
Monday
▶ Red Wings 4, Tampa Bay 2
Wednesday
▶ Chicago at Grand Rapids, 7 p.m. (AHL/96.1)
Friday
▶ N.Y. Rangers at Red Wings, 7 p.m. (BSD Extra/97.1)
▶ Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7 p.m. (AHL/106.9/1300)
▶ NTDP U18's at Muskegon, 7 p.m.
▶ NTDP U17's at Madison, 8 p.m.
Saturday
▶ Muskegon at NTDP U18's, 7 p.m.
▶ NTDP U17's at Madison, 8 p.m.
Sunday
▶ Buffalo at Red Wings, 1 p.m. (TST/97.1)
▶ Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7 p.m. (AHL/106.9/1300)