The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (1-0-0) @ New York Islanders (0-1-0)

The Time: 7:30 pm ET

The Broadcast: MSG, MSGSN, Devils Hockey Radio

Last Devils Game

It was the season opener, and it was a good one! On Thursday, New Jersey opened their 2026-27 campaign with a home date against the Philadelphia Flyers. It took overtime, but the Devils skated away with a 3-2 victory in front of a raucous home crowd. Jake Allen got the win, while Dougie Hamilton and Luke Hughes scored in regulation and Jack Hughes scored the winner in the extra frame.

Last Islanders Game

New York is also coming off their season opener, but unlike New Jersey, they lost their first game. Back on Wednesday, the Isles traveled north to Toronto to battle the Maple Leafs, losing 2-1. Ilya Sorokin was solid in the loss, stopping 24 of 26 shots, while Emil Heineman scored the lone goal for the Islanders.

All Is Well In Devil Land For Now

The final score was not indicative of how much New Jersey dominated Thursday’s game. Pick a stat, any stat, and it will reflect near-total control for the home team. The Devils outshot the Flyers 44-25. According to Natural Stat Trick, New Jersey controlled 69.98% of the Expected Goals at 5-on-5. Another metric, Moneypuck’s fabled Deserve To Win O’Meter, tabbed the Devils at 83% deserving to win. It was a complete beatdown.

The only stats the Devils did not dominate were the power play and goaltending. The powerplay went a disappointing 0/4, though I would argue they looked reasonably good on the man advantage. It didn’t help that Jesper Bratt was absolutely robbed by Joseph Woll on a third period PP. And speaking of Woll, he was most of the reason why this wasn’t a blowout. The Flyers were playing the second half of a back-to-back after getting trounced 7-0 by the Pittsburgh Penguins in their season opener the night before, and it showed. Woll was the only one who could hold his head up high, stopping 41 of 44 shots, and saving 1.05 Goals Above Expected according to NST. It’s not like Jake Allen played poorly, as he saved 23 of 25 himself, but he was clearly outplayed by his counterpart on Thursday.

Thankfully in the end, it didn’t matter. New Jersey’s process was incredible against the Flyers, and it lifted the team to a win. It’s only one game out of 84, and a lot can and will change as the year progresses. But for now, the Devils are back and riding some good vibes into game number two.

Already Bucking The Trend

One of the biggest issues of last season was how dreadful New Jersey played against their own division. In 2025-26, the Devils went an embarrassing 7-17-2 against the Metropolitan Division. All those points they not only left on the table, but gifted to their division rivals, added up and cost them dearly. In fact, the Flyers were one of the biggest Metro thorns in the Devils’ side, sweeping the season series over three total games.

So it was refreshing to see them actually collect two points in a Metropolitan tilt right off the bat. It’s frustrating that they allowed Philadelphia to pick up a point of their own, and if the Devils really want to clean up their Metro issues, they need to start banking not just wins, but regulation wins. Nevertheless, Thursday was a good start.

And now they have a chance to flip the script on yet another Metro team that swept them last season. The Islanders won all four matchups against the Devils in 2025-26. I would argue that this season series also featured the absolute rock bottom of the entire campaign: the 9-0 loss in January on Long Island. If the Devils can exorcise two Metropolitan Division demons from last year right away, that would go a long way toward regaining some trust with a fanbase that has been burned by disappointment so many times since 2022-23.

By The Numbers

The Devils entered this season with some familiarity amongst the forward combinations, but also with a lot of new faces and new roles. How did each of their lines fare against the Flyers? Let’s take a look at some numbers courtesy of Natural Stat Trick. All numbers reflect 5-on-5 play:

It was a pretty excellent night all around. The fourth line struggled, but that’s understandable considering it’s the fourth line, and it was missing a key piece in Connor Brown. Noesen is a legit NHL player so it’s not like the Devils went from Brown to an ECHLer, but it was still tough to lose Brown before the opener.

But otherwise the top nine rolled. The Hischier and Rodrigues lines controlled play well, while the Hughes line absolutely blasted the Flyers. Again, we’re working with a microscopic sample size here, but through one game, the lines look good.

On An Island

In a Metropolitan Division that got a lot better over the summer, the Islanders were a bit of an outlier. They brought in a few pieces like Matias Maccelli and Logan Stanley, but by and large they stood pat from a roster standpoint. Perhaps the biggest change came in the dying days of the 2025-26 season, when they brought in old friend Pete DeBoer for the final four games of their season. He enters his first full slate as Isles head coach, and while he’s had some issues in the playoffs at some of his past stops, I think DeBoer is an excellent coach who will squeeze some extra points out of this Islanders squad.

New York finished sixth in the Metro in 2025-26 with 91 points. It wasn’t an awful year, but it wasn’t a good one, and it was largely kept respectable thanks to Ilya Sorokin’s heroics. This is a roster that has some talent, but is still a bit thin. Bo Horvat and Mat Barzal are nice players, but not franchise-altering players.

They do have one franchise-altering player though, who we’ll discuss in a moment.

I came into this season thinking the Islanders will be the worst team in the Metro, and I still think that’s going to be the case now. The Devils, Rangers, and Capitals all significantly improved in my opinion. Meanwhile the Hurricanes, Blue Jackets, Penguins, and Flyers probably didn’t improve. But the difference between those teams and the Isles is that the Hurricanes won the Cup and didn’t need to improve, the Blue Jackets finished ahead of the Islanders in 2025-26 (granted by one point), and the Penguins and Flyers were playoff teams last year. I don’t think any of those four teams got significantly worse either. The Islanders were mediocre a season ago, and now that their aging team is a year older, I expect a bit of a step back.

However, I also believe this is still a respectable team. They’re certainly capable of beating anyone on any given night and not having it be that much of a surprise. New Jersey is almost certainly more talented than New York, but they still need to take the Islanders seriously if they want to win a game against them for the first time since November of 2024.

Somebody Stop Him

And now we turn our attention to the Islanders’ franchise-altering player.

Matthew Schaefer was the first overall pick in the 2025 draft for a reason. As numero uno, he entered his rookie season with high expectations, and despite that, he still managed to blow those expectations away. As an 18-year-old, Schaefer recorded an absurd 23 goals. He added 36 assists for a total of 59 points, which is a strong number for a defenseman of any age, let alone a teenager. According to Natural Stat Trick, Schaefer put up solid play-driving numbers as well, hovering around the breakeven mark in all the major categories.

Again, we’re talking about an 18-year-old here. The fact that he did all that as a teenage rookie is breathtaking.

It didn’t take long for Schaefer to earn the trust of former Isles coach Patrick Roy either. Roy fed Schaefer some huge minutes last season, giving him 24:41 of ice time per game on average. Would that change with DeBoer now in charge? Well it did change…but not in the way you’d think. Obviously it’s only one game and the card is subject to change, but in the season opener against the Maple Leafs, Schaefer played a ludicrous 27:45.

27:45! And as a reminder, he’s still a teenager!

Schaefer didn’t register a point against Toronto, but he controlled play very well. NST had him at a 60.87 xG%, while out-attempting the Leafs by a whopping 27-8 margin at 5-on-5. Schaefer also registered three shots on goal himself, so despite the loss it was an overall sparkling season opener for the Isles’ phenom. In a post-Leo Carlsson offer sheet world, I shudder to think of how much money Schaefer is going to command as an RFA in a couple seasons.

So the moral of the story is this: get used to seeing a LOT of Schaefer this evening, and get ready to see him do some special things on the ice. The kid is a marvel, and Sheldon Keefe needs to make him the top priority in the game plan.

Your Take

What are you expecting this evening? Who on the Devils do you think will have a big game tonight? Who are you most concerned with? Which Islander will you be keeping an eye on the most? As always, thanks for reading!

Kirill Marchenko's tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs is still less than a week old, since being traded to the team on Monday from the Columbus Blue Jackets. He's been getting accustomed to the team as best he can, jumping into action with a back-to-back and no practice time with his new team.

On Friday, the 26-year-old was able to have his first practice with the Maple Leafs. He continued to be positioned on the left wing of Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic on Toronto's top line.

For the majority of his time in Columbus and his NHL career, Marchenko was a right winger. Based on where he's been slotted since joining the Maple Leafs, there have been some questions about his comfort level.

But according to the player, there are no issues with where he's playing on the top line. In fact, playing the off-side on the left wing might even be his preference.

"I am from Russia, guys. In Russia, I grew up for left winger until 22," Marchenko said after practice. "And it's kind of my side, actually, for full life. Only on NHL I start to play right."

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It's true, many star Russian wingers do play on their off-side. Nikita Kucherov, Artemi Panarin, and Alexander Ovechkin are just a few examples of top Russians who play on the opposite wing of their handedness.

When Marchenko explains that he's played the left wing until coming into the NHL, that would be referencing his time with St. Petersburg in the KHL, playing three full seasons there from 2019-20 to 2021-22.

"It's kind of a little different sometimes, but the game right now is so fast, and it's a lot of changes. Sometimes I'm in the middle, sometimes I'm on the right. It doesn't matter for me, and I'm just happy to play," he added.

Report: Maple Leafs' Desire To Deal Easton Cowan Decreasing Given Great Training Camp, Hot Start To 2026-27Easton Cowan's training camp and his hot start to the 2026-27 season are eliminating any reason for the Toronto Maple Leafs to trade the 21-year-old, according to a report.

While playing the left wing full-time in the NHL may be a new look for Marchenko - but not so much in his hockey career - playing the bumper position on the power play definitely is, and he admitted to that.

Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller has slotted Marchenko in the bumper position of Toronto's top power-play unit, which also includes Darren Raddysh at the point, William Nylander and Auston Matthews on the flanks, and John Tavares as the net-front presence.

#Leafs PP Unit 1

Tavares
Nylander, Marchenko, Matthews
Raddysh

Unit 2

Cowan
Roslovic, Paul, McKenna
Rielly

— Andre Leal (@leal_andre19) October 2, 2026

"Yeah, again, it's a new experience for me because usually I play on the wing," Marchenko said. "But again, we have a lot of rotation right now. Try to build chemistry and power play again too because we had a lot of skill there. A lot of skill guys and they helped me and we find the ways how we can score. If we score the goals, I don't care where I need to play."

Marchenko is gearing up for his third game for the Maple Leafs on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators. He posted an assist in his debut on Tuesday, but is looking for his first goal with the team.

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At long last, the Montreal Canadiens will play the second game of their season on Saturday night as they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins. Like the Habs, the Pens have played only one game so far, and it was on the road, so this will be another home opener. Chances are it will be a bit louder than the lukewarm reception Scotiabank Arena gave the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.

Last year, Montreal and Pittsburgh met in three games, all in December. The Habs won two of the duels, and their only loss came in the shootout in the final faceoff on December 21. Over the season, the Canadiens outscored the Penguins 11-5 and will no doubt be looking to improve on that. However, Pittsburgh has won seven of the last 10 games between the two teams, but that goes back to March 2023; the Habs have come a long way since then.

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The Pens brought in some new players this offseason, including Nicholas Robertson, Andrei Kuzmenko, Hendrix Lapierre, Declan Carlile, Trevor Van Riemsdyk, and Kaeden Korczak. Just like Martin St-Louis’ men, Sidney Crosby and co. won their first game of the season, but they did it in dominating fashion, beating their Pennsylvania rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, 7-0.

The starting netminders have yet to be confirmed, but it would be a shock if Jakub Dobes wasn’t back between the posts after his first-game performance. Dobes has only faced the hosts once; he was on duty in last season’s 4-3 shootout loss and therefore has a 2.77 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage. Meanwhile, Samuel Montembeault has a 2-3-1 record in seven games against the Pens with a 3.72 GAA and an .880 SV.

On the other side, Artus Silovs was in net for the Pens’ shutout win earlier this week. He’s only faced the Habs once so far and has won the game. He has a 2.77 GAA and a .880 SV against them. Meanwhile, Sergei Murashov, who only has five NHL games to his name, has never taken on the Sainte-Flanelle.

Up front, the Canadiens have yet to confirm if Oliver Kapanen will be back in the lineup. However, logic dictates that Florian Xhekaj should still be in the press gallery, since the Penguins do not play an especially physical style. Chris Kreider is the Canadiens’ highest scorer against Dan Muse’s men; he has put up 38 points against them in 47 games. Captain Nick Suzuki is a distant second with 13 points in 18 duels, while alternate captain Josh Anderson has 12 points in 29 tilts.

Unsurprisingly, Crosby is the Pens’ most productive player against the Habs with 72 points in 55 games, followed by Evgeny Malkin, who’s on 64 points in 52 games. Erik Karlsson comes in third with 44 points in 55 games, just ahead of Kris Letang, who has 41 points in 50 games.

The game is scheduled for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on Sportsnet in English and on TVA Sports in French. Trevor Hanson and Liam Maaskant will officiate the game, while David Brisebois and Jesse Marquis will serve as linesmen.  Which team will remain unbeaten this season? Can the Canadiens go home with a 2-0 record and have a winning streak when they play their home opener on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes? Time will tell.

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.

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It’s a tough blow for Seamus Casey. This was supposed to be the season when he took a big step in his development and became a prospect to watch in the New Jersey Devils' prospect pool. Just when he thought he was ready to be a staple on an NHL team, something every player dreams of, the rug was pulled out from underneath him. 

Instead, a knee injury will leave him out of the lineup for over two months. That essentially takes half a season away from the 22-year-old defenseman who was hoping to have a breakthrough with the Devils. The injury hurt the player the most and has a ripple effect on the team as well. 

Casey’s Development Takes Another Hit 

The path to the NHL has been a rocky one for Casey, one he’s still navigating. Like many defensemen, he needed games at the American Hockey League level before he made the jump to the NHL. 

The past few seasons with the Utica Comets showed his growth. While he’s a smaller defenseman and not the ideal third-pair option, he was shaping up to be someone the Devils could call up when needed.

The Devils' Plan On Offense Gives Confidence They’ll Beat Any Goaltender“To control play the way that we did, have a good process, that's a lot to build on, and we'll just keep pushing forward,” Sheldon Keefe

Now, Casey’s timeline to the NHL takes a hit. He’s not skating and not getting the game action needed to take that next step. It puts his future with the Devils in question, especially since he’s a restricted free agent at the end of the season. 

Devils Lose A Key Depth Defenseman

The Devils are already starting to spread thin on their blue line. Johnathan Kovacevic is still out with a knee injury, and Declan Chisholm, who entered the season as the extra defenseman, is playing on the third pair with Brenden Dillon. 

Another injury will force the Devils to turn to their prospect pool. Casey is the most NHL-ready defenseman on the AHL team, someone they’ve called up in the past and would call up again. Now, the Devils must search for another option, possibly another prospect like Ethan Edwards or Mikael Diotte.

Silaev Loses A Valuable Defense Pair

The expectation was for Casey to be the top-pair defenseman for the Comets and the go-to call-up for the Devils. However, in Utica, he’d also be the defenseman who takes Anton Silaev’s game to the next level. 

Silaev is the shutdown defenseman the Devils are developing. He’s learning the pro game but has all the skills to become a physical, bruising blue liner who can block shots and clean up pucks in the net front in a few years. However, to learn the position, he needs a veteran on his pair and someone who has contrasting skills. 

Dougie Hamilton Has Become The Latest New Jersey Devils’ Lightning RodLove him or hate him, he’s pivotal to the Devils' success as the veteran defenseman with a scoring touch.

Casey isn’t a veteran, but he’s been in the AHL long enough to know the league and understand the style of play. More importantly, he’s the scoring defenseman who can play with an aggressive mindset while Silaev focuses on his defensive game. 

Instead, Silaev needs a defenseman to play alongside. In the AHL, it gets tempting to play with an offensive mindset, and young defensemen need someone to keep them in check. Likewise, a stay-at-home option needs a pair who has a scoring element to them. It will be a tough adjustment for the Devils prospect, especially for the first few months of the season without Casey.

Casey’s Injury Leaves Comets Without Key Player

One of the motives this offseason for Sunny Mehta, Braden Birch, and the new front office was to build a winning culture at the AHL level. A great season from the Comets would help the prospects take steps forward. 

Devils Needed Their Defense To Give Them Life & Their Scoring Will All SeasonWith the offense struggling, the Devils got a spark from their blue line in a 3-2 overtime win against the Philadelphia Flyers. They’ll need that offense all season from them all season.

It’s why Riley Tufte, Ben Steeves, and David Rittich were among the handful of players acquired this summer to help the Comets. The veterans will lead the team on and off the ice and bring that winning culture to the AHL team. 

If Casey wasn’t on the Devils, he was expected to be a big part of the Comets' success, helping them turn things around. Now, the AHL will start the season without one of their best players. With the Comets starting their season this weekend, the question is how they’ll look early on and whether a season of optimism can go off the rails quickly. 

Washington Capitals (1-0, in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (0-1, in the Atlantic Division)

Tampa, Florida; Saturday, 7 p.m. EDT

LINE: Lightning -164, Capitals +134; over/under is 6

BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Capitals visit the Tampa Bay Lightning after Alex Tuch scored two goals in the Capitals' 5-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Tampa Bay had a 50-26-6 record overall and a 27-16-2 record at home last season. The Lightning committed 424 total penalties last season, averaging 5.2 per game and serving 14.6 penalty minutes per game.

Washington had a 43-30-9 record overall and an 18-19-4 record on the road last season. The Capitals committed 3.9 penalties per game and served 9.4 penalty minutes per game last season.

INJURIES: Lightning: None listed.

Capitals: None listed.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

It begins where it ended. The Anaheim Ducks opened their 2026-27 season on the road with a Pacific Division matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights, the team that defeated them in six games in the second round of the 2026 NHL Playoffs. 

The Ducks saw their elongated rebuild come to an end in 2025-26, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2018 and winning a series for the first time since 2017. On Friday evening, the puck dropped on their brand-new season, where they look to improve upon those results despite a tumultuous offseason. 

Game #1: Ducks vs. Golden Knights Gameday Preview (10/02/26)

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The Ducks entered 0-0-0, but the Knights entered this game having won their season-opener in a 5-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.

The Ducks deployed a lineup full of new faces that featured two NHL debuts (Noah Warren and Judd Caulfield) and three other Ducks debuts (Travis Mitchell, AJ Greer, and Jeff Malott) Here’s how the Ducks lined up to start this game:

Greer-Carlsson-Gauthier

Sennecke-Granlund-Killorn

Nesterenko-Poehling-Vatrano

Malott-Washe-Caulfield

LaCombe-Luneau

Mintyukov-Mitchell

Hinds-Warren

Lukas Dostal got the start in the Ducks crease and saved 27 of 30 shots. He was opposed by Carter Hart, who stopped 16 of 20.

Game Notes

The first period of this game saw the Ducks hemmed in their zone quite a bit, but displayed decent coverage habits. They scored one in the dying seconds of the first and added three more in the first eight minutes of the second to take a 4-0 lead into the third. Vegas furiously attempted to mount a comeback, but came up just short.

The Ducks showed some surprisingly encouraging aspects of their game and revealed some unpleasant others in the process. If this is any indication of things to come this season, the Ducks will be one of the NHL’s most entertaining teams yet again. 

“I think it’s a big win for us,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said after the game. “We had a strong start, pretty even, then all of a sudden, we started scoring some goals there. I thought that our pace was excellent. I thought we did a lot of good things pressuring up through all zones there to create some odd-man situations.

“Our speed was effective. Then, they got a little momentum, and then the challenge was against us. All of a sudden, the momentum changes and we’re hanging on at the end, but Dosty was really good tonight. He was excellent.”

Cycle: The Ducks established themselves as the league’s most dangerous team off the rush a year ago, but their cycle game left much to be desired. In this game, they were generating extended sequences low in the Vegas zone with clever puck movements that found their way to the point, where they consistently deployed a high third forward who could then attack downhill. 

Oftentimes, that third forward high was Leo Carlsson, who is the player on the Ducks roster who could most benefit from developing a cycle presence. He succeeded in that area in this game, as he was calculating with pucks on his stick, made quick decisions along the wall, and showcased some escapability from the small areas to the soft areas of the o-zone.  

Defensive Zone Coverage: The Ducks were an adventure in their end of the ice in this game. They are far less experienced than Vegas and the Knights’ veteran savvy forced a high number of mistakes from Anaheim in their end.

Retrievals, outlets, and exits kept the Ducks in their zone longer than they should have been, but for the most part, their coverage against the talented, effective Vegas cycle was a pleasant surprise. They were cohesive in their movements to retreat to soft ice and get sticks in lanes. They were stingy around their crease and didn’t lose many even-numbered battles in that area. 

Coverage showed a few holes as the game wore on, but Dostal made all the saves he was required to and gave the team a chance to win. The Ducks were most impactful high in the defensive zone, where their speedy, long forwards forced turnovers from Knights’ defenders and sprung odd-man rushes the other way.

AJ Greer: Greer, though far less skillful than his superstar linemates, filled in the gaps in their games, provided a forechecking identity, and did the dirty work on a shift-by-shift basis so they didn’t have to. By muscling his way to the front of the net and winning battles in that area of the ice, Gauthier and Carlsson were afforded much more time and space to operate in the offensive zone. 

He was one of the long, speedy forwards who caused chaos at the defensive blueline and his trap work in the neutral zone aided in the blueline denials that the Ducks benefitted from in this game. 

The Ducks will be back at it on Sunday, when they’ll host the Florida Panthers for their home-opener. 

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Going in, the St. Louis Blues knew what they were up against with a season-opening back-to-back against two of the Central Division heavyweights, the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche.

Blues coach Jim Montgomery called this an "opportunity." An opportunity to make a mark against two Stanley Cup favorites out of the Western Conference.

"Opportunity to go into Dallas, show them what we have, how hard we’re going to play against and then fly to Colorado and show the Avalanche," Montgomery said earlier in the week. "It’s an opportunity to make your mark right away.”

Put a check mark next to Friday's season-opener with an emphatic 4-0 win over the Stars at American Airlines Center in Dallas, their first win in this building since Dec. 14, 2021; they had lost seven in a row in Dallas (0-4-3).

The Blues are now 9-0-2 in their past 11 road openers, which ties an NHL record for longest such streak to open a season since the Montreal Canadiens (1963-64 to 1973-74) went 6-0-5.

Many were likely expecting the Blues (1-0-0) go come out of Dallas and Colorado potentially losing two games, but now going in against the Avalanche on Saturday, where Jordan Binnington is expected to get the nod in goal, they have the chance to take four of a possible four points to begin this trip, which concludes Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks.

As for the game itself, here are the talking points:

* Joel Hofer -- The Blues tendy got the opening night assignment for the first time in his NHL career and picked up where he left off when he went 12-2-2 down the stretch last season.

Hofer didn't have to make any of those acrobatic, stand-on-his head saves, and that's a testament to the way the Blues defended, but he was composed and didn't give up any juicy rebounds to pick up his ninth NHL shutout.

Oh, and Hofer, who will get his chance at a goalie goal some day, picked up an assist on Pius Suter's empty-net goal at 17:52 of the third period:

Empty net goal for St. Louis!

Scored by Pius Suter with 02:08 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Connor McMichael and Joel Hofer.

Dallas: 0
St. Louis: 4#STLvsDAL#TexasHockey#stlbluespic.twitter.com/cMf3IjabsM

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 3, 2026

Hofer is the second Blues goalie to pick up a shutout on opening night and first since Jaroslav Halak on Jan. 19, 2013:

Joel Hofer turned away all 25 shots faced to help the @StLouisBlues open their 2026-27 campaign with a win on the road.#NHLStats: https://t.co/oQktvXS1W3pic.twitter.com/RBqLH6qomp

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) October 3, 2026

* Adam Jiricek -- It was an impressive debut for the first-round pick (No. 16) in the 2024 NHL Draft.

He finished the game playing 16:35 and was a plus-1 and had his first NHL goal taken away in the third period when the Stars successfully challenged an offside play, to which Pavel Buchnevich was the guilty culprit.

But this kid looked like he belongs in the league. I know it's only one game, but I've got to say, I can't see this kid going back to the American Hockey League.

Jiricek looked so calm, so composed. I mentioned during the game one of his first puck touches, he gets the puck and moves into the right circle after a cross-ice feed and with my hesitation, whips a shot towards the net. Most young, first-year, first-NHL game players likely defer in that situation. That's confidence with the puck.

And playing alongside Philip Broberg, when in the defensive zone, his positioning and ability to make plays and move pucks out of danger was very encouraging.

There was so much to like from the 20-year-old in his first NHL game; you have to imagine things will continue to get better. It'll be interesting to see how he reacts playing against Nathan MacKinnon and company Saturday, but it's evident Blues fans are very encouraged. I know I was.

* Mason McTavish -- The Blues acquired the 23-year-old and sacrificed two first-round picks for a reason, and McTavish made good on his proclamation of liking to play in and around the net.

His first goal as a Blue, just 1:34 into the game, stands as the game-winner and it came by being around the net:

St. Louis goal!

Scored by Mason McTavish with 18:26 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Colton Parayko and Jimmy Snuggerud.

Dallas: 0
St. Louis: 1#STLvsDAL#TexasHockey#stlbluespic.twitter.com/ufA0vKTi5f

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 3, 2026

It was a really smart rush play by Colton Parayko, who got the puck to the net, followed his shot and was able to slide the puck to McTavish for the finish.

McTavish played 14:36 and had six shot attempts (three on goal) with two hits but was only 5-for-15 (33 percent) on face-offs, so you want some better numbers there, but getting that early goal was a good way to start his Blues career.

* Penalty kill perfect -- Dallas was one of the top power plays in the NHL last season but the Blues, who have made it a point to make marked improvements on their special teams (power play wasn't good at 0-for-4), but their PK limited Dallas to four shots on goal in 8:40 of power play time and did a very good job of taking away the middle of the ice.

Wyatt Johnston scored 27 power-play goals last season for Dallas and the Stars like to implement that play where they use his quick-shot ability in the bumper, but the Blues made a point to take that away.

* Alexey Toropchenko -- This was probably the biggest downer of the night, with the Blues' fourth-line checker leaving in the first period with what appeared to be a right shoulder injury.

Toropchenko was going behind his net to make a play and took a bit of a shove from Lian Bichsel and was sandwiched with Tyler Seguin, immediately went down on the ice and needed help off.

Alexey Toropchenko got crunched between two Stars and had to be helped off the ice.

(via @tntsports) pic.twitter.com/jset1ypxzQ

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 3, 2026

It's obvious that Toropchenko, who did not return to the game, will miss some time. How much will be determined in the next day or so, so it will give one of Dillon Dube or Zach Dean to get into the lineup against the Avalanche.

And here's what you notice why the Blues signed Ross Johnston, who went to Bichsel looking to have him answer the bell for shaving Toropchenko in the first place.

* Brandon Carlo -- It was also a debut for another new Blues player, and things were going well for Carlo, who finished with 15:27 of ice time, but he was assessed a five-minute major for kneeing Roope Hintz and a game-misconduct just 2:49 into the third period.

As you can see after the puck is flipped towards the left side boards, Carlo was focused on a shoulder check on Hintz, who made a nice move to the inside to slip by Carlo, but the Blues defenseman's right knee caught Hintz's left knee:

#stlblues defender Brandon Carlo is issued a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for kneeing #TexasHockey forward Roope Hintz. pic.twitter.com/b77Aa5SZtn

— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) October 3, 2026

My two cents: there was no intent to injure. Hintz just made a quick pivot to the inside and unfortunately, their knees collided. Hintz wasn't seriously injured after initially being down on the play, so I can't imagine the league will further punish Carlo for what just turned into an unfortunate play.

I can understand why the call on the ice was upheld, but there was a part of me that wondered if they were going to reduce the infraction to a minor, especially since Hintz was back so quickly.

Otherwise, I thought Carlo and Cam Fowler played a solid defensive game.

* Solid, aggressive first period, passive in second bailed out by Dvorsky goal -- The Blues came out with an attack mindset in the first period and carried much of the play and could have conceivably led by more than just the one-goal edge.

They were quicker to pucks, forced the Stars into some puck mistakes with turnovers and were attacking the net aggressively.

The second period, Dallas adjusted and were the better side, but when Dalibor Dvorsky scored this timely goal at 13:05 of the period that made it 2-0, it seemed to suck some life out of Dallas' momentum:

St. Louis goal!

Scored by Dalibor Dvorsky with 06:55 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Philip Broberg and Pius Suter.

Dallas: 0
St. Louis: 2#STLvsDAL#TexasHockey#stlbluespic.twitter.com/4amDPK3CtX

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 3, 2026

What you like about the goal, though, was Jiricek starting it by rimming the puck in, Suter on his horse to poke the exchange away from Jake Oettinger and Nils Lundkvist. In the process, Oettinger and Hintz got their skates caught together, Oettinger went down, and Broberg made an unselfish play to feed Dvorsky, who had a yawning cage to finish.

And when Jimmy Snuggerud made it 3-0 just 15 seconds before Suter's goal, it put a stamp on what was a solid road win:

Empty net goal for St. Louis!

Scored by Jimmy Snuggerud with 02:23 remaining in the 3rd period.

Dallas: 0
St. Louis: 3#STLvsDAL#TexasHockey#stlbluespic.twitter.com/5nTksfj7A4

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 3, 2026

Now it's on to Colorado.

"All of us were super excited to get back at it, and you could tell that tonight."

Joel Hofer, Mason McTavish, Adam Jiricek and Jim Montgomery speak to the media after Friday's season-opening shutout win in Dallas. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/D1ZDjBwJAF

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) October 3, 2026

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