WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Rookie Judd Caulfield scored his first NHL goal and added an assist to help the Anaheim Ducks beat Winnipeg 5-1 on Friday night for the Jets' first regulation loss of the season.
Tim Washe and Mikael Granlund each had a goal and an assist, and Sam Colangelo and Nikita Nesterenko also scored to help the Ducks improve to 3-1-0.
Dostal stopped 15 shots or Anaheim, allowing only Kyle Conner's goal.
After the Jets trimmed it to 3-1 midway through the third period, Granlund sunk Winnipeg’s hopes with a goal with 5:54 remaining.
Conner, who was playing in his 700th NHL game, pulled the Jets to 3-1 when Mark Scheifele sent him in alone on Lukas Dostal for his sixth goal of the season.
Clay Stevenson made 12 saves for Winnipeg. The Jets are 3-1-1.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Cam Talbot became the first NHL goalie to win a game with nine different teams by stopping 20 shots in the Columbus Blue Jackets' 3-2 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night.
In his first season with Columbus, Talbot stopped all three of Chicago's shots in the shootout to surpass the previous record set by Curtis McElhinney, Sean Burke and Ron Tugnutt.
Talbot, in his 13th NHL season, has won games with the New York Rangers, Edmonton, Philadelphia, Calgary, Minnesota, Ottawa, Detroit and the Los Angeles Kings.
NEW YORK (AP) — Chicago Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar was suspended for two games without pay by the NHL on Friday night for an illegal check to the head of New York Islanders forward Bo Horvat on Thursday night.
The hit came with 1:35 left in the Islanders' 4-1 home victory. Nazar was assessed a match penalty.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, Nazar will forfeit $68,041.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kent Johnson scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets over the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Friday night.
Damon Severson had a goal and an assist for Columbus. Mathieu Olivier also scored, and Cole Sillinger added two assists.
Cam Talbot made 20 saves and denied all three Pittsburgh attempts in the shootout.
Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins, who have dropped three straight games since winning their first two this season. Malkin tied it 2-all at 3:19 of the third period.
Johnson beat Sergei Murashov with a snap shot to begin the shootout.
Murashov stopped 43 shots in regulation.
The Blue Jackets outshot the Penguins 45-22 and won 66.7% of the faceoffs. Columbus outhit Pittsburgh 21-9.
The Penguins blocked 20 shots.
Up next
Penguins: Host the Dallas Stars on Saturday.
Blue Jackets: At the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Detroit Red Wings held a clear advantage in shots Friday night against the Seattle Kraken, but unfortunately, they couldn't turn that edge into the stat that matters most - goals.
Seattle made the most of their scoring chances while the Red Wings failed to do the same, with the Kraken scoring three times in a 3:05 span during a disastrous second period en route to a 6-3 victory at Little Caesars Arena and chasing goaltender John Gibson in the process.
With the loss, the Red Wings have now dropped three of their first four games of the 2026-27 season, all on home ice, and are 1-3 and in last place in the Atlantic Division.
They were considerably shorthanded once again, as forwards J.T. Compher, Marco Kasper, and Mason Appleton were all unavailable due to injury; defenseman Simon Edvinsson remains in his native Sweden amidst his contract stalemate.
The Red Wings had a strong start to the contest, taking a 12-3 shots advantage and a 1-0 lead thanks to Viktor Arvidsson; he buried a loose puck that got behind Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer of a Lucas Raymond shot midway through the period.
However, the Kraken responded later in the frame thanks to a backhand shot from Berkly Catton, which beat Gibson glove side.
Early in the second period, a shot from the point by rookie William Wallinder eluded Grubauer for the Swedish defenseman's first NHL goal. However, what followed was the stuff of nightmares for Detroit.
The Kraken scored three goals in just over three minutes, with Frederick Gaudreau finding the net twice and Mackie Samoskevich scoring in between.
After Ben Meyers increased Seattle's lead to 5-2, Gibson was pulled after allowing five goals on 14 shots; Daniil Tarasov, signed during the offseason, made his first appearance since joining the Red Wings.
He would later be victimized on a 5-on-3 Kraken power play, as Vince Dunn ripped a shot past him.
Late in the third, forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygård would bury a loose puck during a goal-mouth scramble for his own first NHL goal.
As time wound down in the third period, frustrated fans who hadn't already left early to beat traffic voiced their displeasure with loud boos.
Grubauer was solid in net for Seattle, stopping 38 of the 41 shots he faced. Gibson, meanwhile, was pulled after allowing five goals on 14 shots, while Tarasov surrendered one goal on 10 shots in relief. Tarasov is slated to start Saturday's contest in Montreal.
The Red Wings will look to bounce back Saturday against the Canadiens at Bell Centre, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Boone Jenner's goal in the second period proved to be the winner as the Washington Capitals beat the Rangers 3-1 on Friday night after New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin had to be helped from the ice after being injured.
Jenner scored on a wrist shot that made it a 2-1 game with 2:22 remaining in the second period. Tom Wilson and Timothy Liljegren also scored for the Capitals. Logan Thompson made 21 saves.
Alexis Lafreniere scored for the Rangers.
Dylan Garand made 11 saves for the Rangers after entering the game for the injured Shesterkin, who had 13 saves.
Shesterkin had to be helped off the ice after an awkward fall into his own net. He came well out of his crease to challenge a shooter and fell as he scrambled back to the net midway through the second period. The 30-year-old Russian caught his skate on the post as he slid back into the crease and collapsed into the net.
Shesterkin lay on the ice for several minutes holding his right knee as he received medical attention. He did not put any weight on his right leg as he was helped off the ice by teammates.
The 2022 Vezina Trophy winner missed a month of last season with a lower-body injury, contributing to the Rangers falling short of the playoffs.
The Chicago Blackhawks lost Frank Nazar for the final couple of minutes in regulation of their loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday night. He was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for an illegal check to the head against forward Bo Horvat.
During the day on Friday, Frank Nazar was offered a phone hearing to determine supplemental discipline. Later on Friday, the verdict was announced. Nazar has been suspended for two games.
Chicago’s Frank Nazar has been suspended for two games for an illegal check to the head against NY Islanders’ Bo Horvat. https://t.co/2NbknT4yX8
The summary of the suspension comes down to the fact that the NHL's Department of Player Safety decided that the main point of contact was the head. Nazar's lack of a fine or suspension in his NHL career played into it being just two games, according to the official video that followed his suspension.
Nazar will now miss Saturday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes, and Tuesday night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's a tough set of games for the Blackhawks to be without Nazar, but it's the reality of the situation.
Now, the Hawks are without Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar. That's a large amount of offense out of their lineup. With Teuvo Teravainen likely out again as well, there is a lot of skill on the sideline.
This suspension may force the Blackhawks into a call-up. Dominic Toninato is already up, so Landon Slaggert may be on the next ride to Chicago from the Rockford IceHogs.
The morning skate on Saturday will be a greater hint at what lines look like without Nazar in the mix. What seems to be decent center depth is being tested early in the season, but they just have to tread water for a little while longer until Connor Bedard comes back.
One of Anton Frondell or Roman Kantserov is likely going to center the top line with Patrick Kane. These were going to be hard matchups anyway, and this verdict by the NHL's department of player safety just made them even harder.
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There was a silver lining to Australia’s shock decision to recall Nic Maddinson and promote him to the top of the order for the first Test against South Africa.
The Buffalo Sabres are off to a 2-2-0 start to the 2026-27 regular-season, and in those four games, the Sabres have the NHL’s ninth-worst offense at an average of only 2.50 goals-for per-game. Offense has proven to be an issue, and if you’re finger-pointing regarding Buffalo’s ability to generate goals, you’ll need a lot of fingers, and even more pointing.
To wit: Sabres winger Josh Doan currently has zero points in four games. Winger Zach Benson has just one point in four games, and center Josh Norris also has just one point in four games. Meanwhile,center Ryan McLeod has one point, defenseman Rasmus Dahlin has two points, as does forward Jack Quinn. So there’s an almost across-the-board issue when it comes to Buffalo’s players generating offense.
Not every one of the aforementioned Sabres has to start challenging for the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s top point-producers. But they do need at least a couple of them to start putting up points and take some of the pressure off of Buffalo’s goaltenders. The Sabres have to get solid production from up-and-down the lineup, and there’s no time like the present to start turning up their offensive game a notch or two.
Star Tage Thompson has two goals and four points, so he’s doing the job. And Owen Power is having a stellar year on offense, with four assists and five points. So they need to keep on alleviating the pressure on the rest of Buffalo’s roster. Coach Lindy Ruff probably doesn’t care where he gets his goals from, but he has to be concerned that the offense isn’t flowing the way it should be capable of.
Last season, the Sabres had the NHL’s fifth-best goals-for average at 3.45 goals-for per-game. Losing former star winger Alex Tuch and star defenseman Bowen Byram has contributed to the drop-off in offense, but not by this much. The young Sabres in Buffalo’s dressing room have to take responsibility for their early struggles generating goals.
Buffalo doesn’t have the luxury of employing an abundance of superstar players, so improvement-by-committee is the only way their offense is going to rebound. The Sabres aren’t always going to be putting up less than three goals every game – Thompson alone is capable of scoring a hat trick – but it has to be concerning that Buffalo has lost some of its mojo in the offensive zone.
If the Sabres’ offense does rebound, Buffalo’s chances to win many more games than they lose will certainly improve. And if not? Well, they'll be highly-unlikely to make it back into the post-season.
And that is going to leave Sabres fans apoplectic.
AMES, IA - OCTOBER 7: LaMelo Ball #1 and Jonathan Kuminga #24 of the Minnesota Timberwolves high five during the game against the Indiana Pacers on October 7, 2026 at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The preseason continues on Sunday in full swing with a preview of the regular season opener. The Timberwolves will look to continue their good vibes from training camp and gain the meaningless “upper hand” against the Miami Heat before the rematch kicks off the 2026-27 regular season.
It seems interesting to schedule a preseason game against two teams that will begin their respective seasons against one another, but it will be something to watch for in this one. While the regular starters and rotation players will most likely only play the first half, if at all, tracking if either team tips their hand will be something to monitor.
Because of the offseason movement for both teams, with the Heat adding Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Timberwolves subtracting Julius Randle and Naz Reid from the mix, this is the exact type of team that Minnesota could struggle with in their attempt to reconfigure their roster to a smaller, more athletic team. The Heat boast possibly the best frontcourt in the NBA and how the Wolves choose to guard Miami from the jump will be something to follow in this matchup.
"I'm excited to put on that jersey." 🔥
Giannis will make his Heat debut vs. the Timberwolves on Wednesday, Oct. 21 on ESPN!
Joan Beringer has a large role carved out for him this season. That combined with his youth and minimal playing time last season has coalesced to be a huge talking point leading up to this season. Beringer has done exactly what you’d expect from him in the first couple of preseason games: showed flashes of huge potential while combining that with very bad stretches that come with the growing pains of acclimating to the NBA.
This goes hand in hand with Miami’s reworked strength in the frontcourt. The 19 year old will be relied upon to matchup in the first half with both of these dominant bigs. How he fares in this one will be a big part of the lead-in to game number one when it counts. Always take preseason outcomes with a massive grain of salt, but tracking Beringer against Giannis and Bam before the season opener is something to be on the lookout for.
Anthony Edwards on Joan Beringer in camp
“Everybody knows his intensity is just like no other. His attention to detail has gotten a lot better, he’s super young, super athletic. We’re trying to keep him from falling on the ground so much because he goes after every shot. Get his… pic.twitter.com/x7vwcpSwp9
These first two preseason games have been a treat for Timberwolves fans who were hoping for a reworked offense with this new look roster. Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball have done their best to continue that hype train heading straight up.
On Wednesday against the Pacers, Ant scored 19 points with four triples while LaMelo scored 14 points and added seven assists to his stat line. Though Ball did have five turnovers, it was still an extremely fun time to watch the two of them play off one another and launch treys from downtown. This was the exciting theoretical fit between them, and watching Ball operate from the top of the floor and setup the rest of his teammates is night and day compared to what Minnesota looked like for the past two seasons.
This will hopefully continue to be a big part of their identity moving forward. With the rim protection that the Miami frontcourt can provide, the Wolves’ outside shooting will be necessary to create good offense for the Timberwolves.
It will be a clash of styles, but with the looming early season regular season matchup, both teams will do their best to not show their hands. Minnesota’s outside shooting should cause Miami problems, and due to them losing a lot of their depth in the Giannis trade, the Wolves end of bench should get the better of Miami in the second half.
Bruce Brown is a solid eight-year NBA veteran who played 82 games for Denver last season but was squeezed this offseason and signed an Exhibit 9, non-guaranteed training camp contract with the Knicks (hoping to make their roster). He vented to New York reporters about the NBA's salary constraints and their impact (quote via Ian Begley of SNY.tv).
"The new CBA is good for certain players, right? Max guys, top free agents and maybe rookie extension guys. But other than that, like the middle guys, it kind of sucks for us. As you see, there's not that many people getting that full mid-level (exception) anymore – or even the tax mid-level (exception). It's tough, but that's just the way it is right now. So each time you're out there, you've just got to play your best and hope for the best."
Friday, the NBA officially pushed back on that narrative.
Recent reports asserted that the second apron is hurting “lower” and “middle” class players. That’s untrue. Since the implementation of the second apron, the number of players on team rosters has remained the same and annual salaries have increased by nearly $1.3 billion…
The NBA's point is that the water level remains the same: There are 450 NBA roster spots and the players will get 50% (roughly) of the NBA's Basketball Related Income. It's not just the middle class getting squeezed, under the old NBA CBA, the Pistons' Jalen Duren would have been a no-question max contract (maybe the 25% max, but a lot). Instead, he and the Pistons got into a protracted contract extension negotiation and took $76 million less than his max (at five years, $200 million).
As happens a lot with Adam Silver's NBA, it is lawyerly correct on the facts but can miss the bigger picture, the spirit of what the Second Apron does.
Where the second apron is hurting the league is fundamental — it's eroding fan trust and loyalty. Detroit fans want to believe in a 22-year-old All-NBA center like Duren, not worry he might bolt because the team has to play hardball to build a contender in the apron era. Knicks fans have gone from celebrating their first title in 53 years to watching New York need to lowball Karl-Anthony Towns because keeping a championship team together and below the second apron is near impossible. Fans in Boston watched the Celtics draft and develop Jaylen Brown, a guy who won a title there, who was committed to the community and invested there, but who the Celtics had to trade in hopes of retooling under the second apron around Jayson Tatum. Oklahoma City had to start losing role players to keep its core together and that's going to get worse in future years. Already people around the league are talking about if/when San Antonio might have to trade De'Aaron Fox to keep its core of Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper together.
If these fans — especially younger ones, where the league already struggles to keep engaged and watching full games — start to question their loyalty, that cuts at the foundation of the league in a way NBA Europe money can't replace.
But yes, the NBA players are still getting the same pool of money that they did before, and that pool is getting bigger.
MONTREAL (AP) — The Nashville Predators acquired defenseman Jayden Struble from the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night for a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL draft.
Struble had seven goals and 28 assists in 174 games for the Canadiens. The 25-year-old former Northeastern University player was a second-round pick in 2019.
An 0-3-2 start to the season is far from what the Philadelphia Flyers expected from themselves after such a promising 2025-26 campaign, but with so few offseason additions, they have only each other to turn to in order to turn the tide.
Despite his best efforts and playing like a savant, Joseph Woll remains winless, and without the newcomer, the Flyers might be 0-5-0 with no points in the bank at all.
"Goals for Woll" may become a trend in the near future, as the Flyers are tied for last in the NHL with just four goals at 5-on-5 through five games.
Overall, the Flyers have scored just six times in total, with only Calgary and New Jersey keeping them company while having played fewer games - four and three, respetively.
Defensively, the Flyers rank 28th in the NHL with 19 goals allowed in five games, though this number is buoyed in large part by the 7-0 onslaught suffered at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the season opener.
But, this is all to say that, outside of Woll and Dan Vladar, every Flyers player can improve.
Three, in particular, need to step their games up multiple notches if the team is to right the ship and insert themselves back into the playoff conversation.
Trevor Zegras
In five games this season, Trevor Zegras has managed to produce just two assists, one of which came on the power play thanks to a heads-up play by Matvei Michkov in the crease against Ottawa on Thursday night, sweeping a loose puck over the goal line while the whistle was being blown.
Already, Zegras has ceded his center-ice duties to Christian Dvorak, and the Flyers now have Matvei Michkov taking faceoffs on the first power play unit barely two weeks into the season.
After signing a four-year, $36.5 million ($9.125 million AAV) extension with the Flyers, expectations for Zegras were raised heading into the season. He and his camp won both ends of the negotiation, pulling in an elevated salary while keeping the contract at a short length.
Now, it's time for Zegras to hold up his end of the bargain. The 25-year-old has hardly looked like the ice-tilting offensive dynamo he was last season, though the Flyers' struggles offensively aren't solely on his shoulders.
Still, Zegras has the talent to be that guy for the Flyers, as he was last year, and while I have little doubt he will eventually turn it around and get going in the right direction, the Flyers don't have time to spare. They've already lost five straight games, including three to Metropolitan Division rivals.
The only way to win hockey games is by scoring more goals than the other team, and the Flyers are depending on Zegras to lead the charge.
Cam York
Analytically, Cam York has been one of the worst defensemen in the NHL this season. (Photo: Kyle Ross, Imagn Images)
For the last several seasons, Cam York has been a staple in the Flyers' top-four on defense, though he has badly struggled to keep pace this season.
The 25-year-old has often looked a step or two behind and has shown little urgency with the puck. Offensively, much is still to be desired, even with an added opportunity quarterbacking the second power play that has now been lost to David Jiricek and Jamie Drysdale.
Among NHL defensemen with at least four games played this season, only Nashville's Roman Josi has a worse share of scoring chances (13-44, 22.81%) than York (20-53, 27.4%) at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick.
Like Zegras, it isn't all on York with four other players sharing the ice at 5-on-5 at any given moment, but both Drysdale and Travis Sanheim have much better looking underlying stats without York on the ice compared to with him.
York has no points in five games this season and will need to improve dramatically to retain his hold on a featured spot in the lineup.
Otherwise, the Flyers may be left to seriously consider alternative options on defense, such as Simon Edvinsson or Alex Nikishin.
Tyson Foerster
In reality, Tyson Foerster has played mostly well, but the end product in his game has been completely absent, and it's been absent for some time.
Foerster, 24, has just two goals, his only two points in his last 15 games played, including the playoffs.
Of course, Foerster dealt with injury woes at the start and end of last season, and upon his second return to the lineup on April 2, Foerster scored three times in his first four games back.
Since his two-goal game against New Jersey on April 7, Foerster has just two goals and three points in 19 games, including the postseason.
The Flyers, like many fans, are enamored with Foerster's potential as a two-way winger given his shooting ability, 6-foot-2 size, and defensive prowess, but the former first-round pick is due to remind the organization and fans of that potential.
That inconsistency and drop-off is a bit worrisome, considering Foerster, like Zegras, signed a big-money extension this offseason, inking a eight-year, $56.8 million ($7.1 million AAV) deal to remain in Philadelphia for the long haul.
The Flyers have invested heavily in each of the three young players on this list, and in a time of great need, with heightened expectations, Zegras, York, and Foerster need to come through for the team and get the Flyers back on track in a hurry.
A logjam formed on the left side of the Montreal Canadiens' blueline, and GM Kent Hughes decided it was time to act. Less than 24 hours after his team dropped two points to the Nashville Predators, Hughes sent Jayden Struble to the Predators in return for a second-round pick at the next draft.
Struble was a healthy scratch for that game as the Habs elected to dress Adam Engstrom for the first time of the season. The young blueliner did well and it allowed to executive to finally answer the Struble or Arber Xhekaj dilemma that has been the talk of the town for three years now, even though it seems like we've been talking about it for longer than whether Ross and Rachel were on break.
During Thursday's game, former Habs prospect William Trudeau, another left-shot defenseman was forced to leave the game and was placed on IR today. He will be re-evaluated on a week-to-week basis. That left a hole in the Predators' defense and Montreal had a surplus, a match made in heaven.
Struble is 25 years old and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the current season. In Nashville, he'll get an opportunity to play everyday rather then have to sit out like he did in Montreal.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens' get a second-round pick for a defenseman they had picked with the 46th selection of the 2019 draft. Given the fact that he hasn't yet established himself as a regular in the NHL, this is a good deal for the Habs and it will allow Engstrom to see more action, at least until Kaiden Guhle's return.
The Canadiens could also call up David Reinbacher, although it is likely they prefer him to see plenty of action in Laval rather than sit on the press gallery in Montreal. For Xhekaj who wanted to stay in Montreal and now plays alongside his baby brother Florian, this is probably good news although bittersweet as Struble was a good friend of his.
A day after facing off against the Montreal Canadiens, the Nashville Predators have now made a trade with them. On Friday evening, the Predators organization announced that they had acquired defenseman Jayden Struble from the Canadiens in exchange for a second round pick that originally belonged to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Struble, a 25-year-old left-handed defenseman, has been a mainstay in the Canadiens' lineup for the last four seasons. Known mainly for his offensive ability during his time in collegiate and junior hockey, he hasn't been able to carry that offensive production into the NHL.
Last season, Struble scored two goals and added 10 assists for 12 points in 59 games for the Canadiens. He also had 58 penalty minutes. During the Canadiens' playoff run, he failed to record a point in 12 games.
The Predators' defensive core has struggled mightily to start the season and with William Trudeau out week-to-week, Struble will give Andrew Brunette another option to work with for the time being.
“Jayden Struble is a 25-year-old physical defender who will add mobility and a hard-to-play against quality that will help our backend,” Predators General Manager Chris MacFarland said in a press release. “We are excited to watch his growth and look forward to him being a player who can grow with us.”
