Morning Flurries: Happy Thanksgiving!

The Avs

The Colorado Avalanche easily beat the LA Kings 7-3, and improved to 11-6-4 on the season. [Mile High Hockey]

The lead wouldn’t last long, as goaltender Semyon Varlamov gave the Kings an early holiday gift just four minutes later. An easy goal, scored when he failed to cover the puck, tied things up at 15:26 of the first — but the Avalanche would grab the lead back just 50 seconds later, when the first power play unit remembered how to pass from down low and created a quick strike tic-tack-toe play to Nathan MacKinnon for his 14th tally of the season.

Alex Kerfoot has played in 100 NHL games now, meaning the New Jersey Devils should now consider their 2012 fifth-round pick to be a success. Quotes and notes from the Avs Kings game. [NHL dot com]

Alexander Kerfoot had three assists in the victory, which was his 100th career NHL game. It is the second three-point outing of his career, last accomplished on Oct. 19, 2017 versus the St. Louis Blues.

Kerfoot has tallied 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in the month of November and has 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in 21 games this season.

This also happened:

In the game against the New York Rangers, Mikko Rantanen was called for diving, and later fined $2,000 for it. [Mile High Hockey]

“Rantanen was issued a Warning following an incident flagged by NHL Hockey Operations during NHL Game No. 79 at New York Rangers on Oct. 16. His second Citation, which triggered the $2,000 fine, was issued for an incident at 19:11 of the second period during NHL Game No. 275 against the Boston Bruins on Nov. 14. Rantanen (embellishment) and Boston forward Patrice Bergeron (hooking) received offsetting minor penalties on the play.”

Should Joe Sakic call Peter Chiarelli of the Edmonton Oilers? Yes. All the time. And especially about Nikita Zadorov. [Mile High Hockey]

You’d think GM Peter Chiarelli would be on thin ice, but this is Edmonton we’re talking about. It’s the Oilers. He’s not going anywhere right now. Not only is the ownership group is still letting him make deals - he traded Ryan Strome to the Rangers for Ryan Spooner late last week - but now they’ve let him fire his head coach.

Someone who Joe Sakic shouldn’t talk on the phone about is Sam Girard, who is amazing.

The Game

From last night, we learned that the New York Rangers are great at home, and that the Buffalo Sabres are...great!? Is this right? [Sportsnet]

The New York Rangers have five rookies on their roster this season and they continue to see progress during their rebuild. Over their past 10 games, New York is 8-1-1 and now sit second in the Metropolitan Division after losing four of their first five games to start the season.

Why are so many NHL coaches being fired? Well... [ESPN]

As for coaches? The longest-tenured coach right now is Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper ... who was hired in 2013. “If you get four, five years with a good team, you feel like you’re a fortunate one,” Ken Hitchcock told me last year. “The only way it changes is if you give us 100-year deals.”

A Pittsburgh Penguins fan asked hockey fans to help her get a kidney she desperately needed, and they did. Here’s some tear-jerking, family-loving, all-around goodness for your Thanksgiving Thursday. [People]

Kelly Sowatsky was diagnosed with an infection that turned into septicemia back in 2015, leaving her kidney at only seven percent function, reported NHL.com. She was placed on a donor list, but after years passed, she took matters into her own hands.

Sowatsky came armed with a homemade sign, holding it up during the game, according to NHL.com. “Calling all hockey fans! I need a kidney! Gratefully yours, Kelly,” the sign told fellow hockey fans, also providing a phone number.

Highlight of the Night: Stuffing.