Pregame

Egor Chinakhov apparently got injured in Thursday’s practice and doesn’t take warmups. His loss is Ville Koivunen’s gain to slot back into the lineup in a nice spot. Elmer Soderblom gets back in the mix too and Arturs Silovs starts for the Penguins.

The Colorado Avalanche are hosting the Pens with this lineup.

First period

The Pens start the game strong, controlling the shots early and looking very good. They turn that into a goal, Koivunen makes a cheeky little pass to Evgeni Malkin and then the old boy shows off his tricks, cutting into the middle of the ice and throwing a shot that beats Mackenzie Blackwood. 1-0 Pens.

Just 29 seconds later, Pittsburgh strikes again on the rush. Sidney Crosby has the puck on what looks to be a developing 2-on-1. Josh Manson stumbles in his transition to essentially make it a 2-on-0. You already know what happens next, Crosby puts a lot of mustard on a pass that Bryan Rust only needs to lift over the pad of the goalie moving laterally. 2-0.

The Avalanche respond, Nathan MacKinnon drives down the ice and matches his buddy Crosby with a great cross-ice pass for Arturri Lehkonen to score on. 2-1.

The Penguins get a power play, let’s just not talk about it.

Shots are 14-5 Pens, one of their best periods since the season opener.

Second period

Colorado scores early in the period. MacKinnon shoots hard, the puck hits Silovs and goes skyward. When it comes down, Lehkonen gloves it down from in close and smacks a backhand along the ice before any Penguin can quite catch up. 2-2 game.

Erik Karlsson hooks the Nate Dogg and it’s a penalty shot for MacKinnon as a result. Silovs stares him down and makes the save to keep the game tied.

That nice play aside, Colorado stays on the gas. Silovs finally crumbles a little giving up a big rebound on a shot. The puck goes to Brock Nelson and he makes a pass over to the backdoor for Gabriel Landeskog to guide it home. 3-2 Colorado takes their first lead of the night.

The Pens get another power play, it goes so well Ben Kindel slashes Nelson (after he shoots on the rush, even) and takes a penalty himself. Colorado’s short power play ends just as MacKinnon nabs his third point of the night when he centers a puck for TJ Hughes in front of the net. 4-2.

That period was a dose of reality for the Pens. Colorado woke up.

Third period

Quiet first-half of the third, Pittsburgh gets a third power play of the night.

Tommy Novak takes a penalty later on, the Pens almost hold until MacKinnon blasts one from the left side for his fourth point of the night. 5-2.

Pittsburgh pulls the goalie, because hey why not? Kris Letang takes a penalty late. Pittsburgh kills it off but the clock expires soon after to leave Colorado with a comforable win.

Some thoughts

• Rough last 40 minutes but it does the heart good to see Malkin cut to the middle with authority and score. He did that when he was 20 years old, and when he was 30 and now when he did it at 40. Naturally, age effects mean it’s become a rarity to see such flashes of brilliance these days, but hey – there’s not many skilled and bold enough to pull that move off at any age. Always awesome to witness a great player remind why he was, and still can be, in fact be great.
• Another feel good moment was Crosby on the Rust goal. You see Sid coming down the left side, a right-handed player in Rust bearing down on the right. It instantly screamed pass and goal, even before it happened. Then, of course, it happened just like you knew it would from 21 seasons of watching Crosby do exactly that. Happening the shift after the Malkin goal made it all the more special.
• Not just from the goal but tonight was definitely the first full game of the season where Sidney Crosby looked like *Sidney Crosby*, if you know what I mean. The passes were on point, the jump was there, he held onto pucks in the o-zone, he was going low-to-high. Maybe it just took a little while to get going (as the two goals from last game would suggest getting it into gear), maybe it was the energy boost of turning it up to show out and keep up with his buddy Nate. Either way, my goodness what a night from the captain. Could have easily had three or four assists with the chances he created for teammates.
• You think Koivunen was ready to make the most of his chance? Can’t underestimate the hunger, he knew he was on track to be a healthy scratch tonight, only playing because Chinakhov ended up injured, leaving Koivunen to take a spot on a prime line. That type of golden opportunity only comes around once every so often. Koivunen responded with perhaps his best game of the season. He did what he does best, making a skilled, subtle yet crucial play for Malkin’s goal. He then hit the post driving to the net in the first period and very nearly scored. Drew a penalty in the third. If he wasn’t hungry to make the most of this somewhat impromptu chance that would be a problem, good on him for stepping up when opportunity knocked.
• Pretty surprised to see MacKinnon get awarded a penalty shot in the second period, judging from his reaction Dan Muse was too. MacKinnon didn’t get the puck until he was at the top of the circles, it wasn’t much of a ‘breakaway’ opportunity, especially as fast as he moves.
• Immediately after Colorado took a 3-2 lead, Crosby made a beautiful pass to send Rickard Rakell in alone on the breakaway. Rakell made a move to the backhand but couldn’t finish. Setting aside Rakell has no goals on the season which adds to bigger frustrations, that’s the type of play a team simply has to score on to go punch-for-punch with an elite team like the Avs. They started hitting the Pens, you just have to hit back and keep up. That proved to be the problem of the night.
• Another big problem: the Pens’ power play is down to 0-for-19 in the last six games. Whether it’s a change in personnel, mindset, design, tactics, you name it and something has to change. A lot of things even because it’s downright bad right now.
• Speaking of that, and not to pile on Rakell- but why in the world is he still on the first power play group and Rust is not? Not to say that would solve all of that group’s issues (they have many more!) but it seems like a very easy first step.
• Tonight was Colorado’s third game in four days. It showed early on, they looked slow in the first period, sleepy and not terribly engaged. When they went down 2-0, it was like they realized they needed to wake up and play. Boy, did they ever to score five unanswered goals at that point and leave the Pens in the dust. Led, as always, by MacKinnon and his goal and three primary assists to fuel the majority of it. Turned out the Pens had no answers and couldn’t keep up. That’s a tough pill to swallow in some regards but just where both teams are on the food chain in 2026.

In a lot of ways, I don’t think the Penguins played that poorly tonight, especially compared to some of their other losses this season where they barely looked competent. That wasn’t the case today. Now, it’s certainly true that Pittsburgh was the second best team on the ice and the end result was justified but that says more about Colorado being really good. The result is the result, so no one is or should going to take a lot of solace from that, but sometimes you run into a better foe. Quick turnaround to a pretty formidable opponent on deck with the Vegas Golden Knights tomorrow.

Although the exact design and appearance is still unknown, the Philadelphia Flyers have finally revealed when they will debut their Hometown Remix jerseys this season, along with the rest of the games the team will wear them for.

In just under two weeks, on Nov. 3, the Flyers will debut their new Hometown Remix alternate jersey at home against the Minnesota Wild at 7 p.m.

Overall, the Flyers will play wearing their new threads 13 times this season, 11 of which will be at home at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Here's the Flyers' full Hometown Remix schedule, complete with the 11 home games and four matchups with Metropolitan Division rivals.

Flyers vs. Wild, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.

Flyers vs. Canucks, Nov. 27 at 3 p.m.

Flyers @ Maple Leafs, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m.

Flyers vs. Islanders, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Flyers vs. Panthers, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m.

Flyers vs. Red Wings, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m.

Flyers vs. Blackhawks, Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

Flyers vs. Devils, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m.

Flyers vs. Rangers, Feb. 20 at 12:30 p.m.

Flyers @ Islanders, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.

Flyers vs. Blues, March 7 at 3:30 p.m.

Flyers vs. Bruins, March 18 at 7 p.m.

Flyers @ Islanders, March 20 at 3 p.m.

All times listed above are in EST.

A healthy helping of afternoon games, for those who are into that, and a stretch of games primarily against Eastern Conference opponents.

The current state of the Flyers, with their 0-6-3 start, certainly casts a dim light on the anticipated reveal of the jerseys, and maybe the jerseys are the most exciting thing to talk about by the time they make their debut on Nov. 3.

That shouldn't be the case, but until the Flyers prove otherwise, it's in the realm of possibility.

In any event, the Flyers may have already (intentionally? accidentally?) leaked the design of their Hometown Remix jersey back in June ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft, debuting an orange and black liberty bell design on the floor that has apparently never been seen before.

Not much more is known about the Hometown Remix jerseys nearly three weeks into the start of the season, though the NHL has mentioned in the past that a "broad apparel and headwear collection" will also be available for each of the 32 NHL teams.

If nothing else, the wait is almost over at this point, and soon enough we'll see and know more about the NHL's upcoming Hometown Remix collection release.

DENVER — T.J. Hughes scored his first career NHL goal as the Colorado Avalanche erupted for three goals in the second period, transforming an early 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins heading into the third.

After a sluggish opening frame exposed Colorado’s defensive issues, the Avalanche responded with a dominant middle period, fueled by Artturi Lehkonen’s two-goal performance, Gabriel Landeskog’s timely finish, and Hughes’ milestone moment.

T.J. Hughes pots his FIRST NHL Goal 🚨 pic.twitter.com/7EXavHSZke

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) October 17, 2026

First Period

The Colorado Avalanche had a chance to set the tone early, but a pair of defensive breakdowns in just 29 seconds quickly put them in a hole. Artturi Lehkonen helped stop the bleeding with a timely response, but Colorado struggled to generate offense, surrendered too many chances, and finished the opening period trailing the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1.

The Avalanche faced an early test when Penguins forward Nick Robertson lifted a backhand from the low slot, only for Mackenzie Blackwood to shut the door with a glove save.

Colorado also caught a break around the 5:30 mark. T.J. Hughes appeared to deliver a slash to Pittsburgh center Ben Kindel’s leg right in front of an official, but the infraction went uncalled.

Blackwood continued to keep Colorado within reach roughly two and a half minutes later. Evgeni Malkin, who scored twice against the Avalanche in his lone meeting with Colorado last season, wrapped the puck around the net and tried to beat the goaltender, but Blackwood flashed the leather again to make the save.

Despite the solid work from their goaltender, the Avalanche soon found themselves in trouble.

Malkin opened the scoring by putting on the brakes and catching Fedor Svechkov off guard, creating a shooting lane as Sam Malinski battled for position in front of the net. With Malinski screening Blackwood, the Colorado netminder couldn’t pick up the shot in time, and Malkin buried it to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead.

The Penguins struck again just 29 seconds later, capitalizing on a costly defensive breakdown. Josh Manson had ventured too far up in the defensive zone and then lost his balance while trying to recover. That gave Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust the space they needed to race past him on a two-on-one rush. Crosby fed Rust, who finished with a tap-in to make it 2-0.

Colorado answered just over two minutes later. Nathan MacKinnon found Lehkonen at the back door, where the winger redirected the puck past Arturs Silovs for his fifth goal of the young campaign. The goal cut the deficit to 2-1 and gave the Avalanche some much-needed life.

With 5:49 remaining in the period, Tommy Novak was sent to the penalty box for high-sticking Devon Toews, handing Colorado and new assistant coach Brett McLean an opportunity to showcase the power play.

The first impression wasn’t pretty.

Colorado struggled to establish possession and gave up several dangerous shorthanded chances, fortunate to escape the man advantage without conceding another goal. Once Novak returned to the ice, Gavin Brindley was whistled for interference, forcing the Avalanche back into penalty-killing mode.

Colorado successfully killed off the penalty, but there was little else to celebrate in an otherwise underwhelming opening frame.

The Avalanche headed into the first intermission trailing 2-1 after being outshot 14-5. Lehkonen’s goal provided a much-needed spark, but Colorado needed a sharper defensive effort, better puck management, and a more effective power play to turn the tide.

Second Period

Colorado responded with authority in the second period, completely changing the game’s momentum.

Lehkonen made it two goals on the night just 25 seconds into the period, swatting a rebound past Silovs while Penguins captain Sidney Crosby tried to muscle him into the net. The quick strike tied the game at 2-2 and gave the Avalanche an immediate jolt.

Colorado needed just one more scoring sequence to take the lead. Kadri’s initial shot was denied by Silovs, but the rebound trickled toward the back door, where Landeskog was waiting to clean up and put the Avalanche ahead 3-2 with his third goal of the campaign.

With just under eight minutes remaining in the frame, Landeskog was sent to the penalty box for interference after knocking Spencer Stastney down following an offensive-zone faceoff.

Pittsburgh’s power-play opportunity didn’t last long, as Kindel was whistled for slashing. The penalties offset, forcing both teams to play four-on-four.

Colorado capitalized with 5:03 remaining. MacKinnon fed Hughes for a tap-in from the low slot, giving the defenseman his first career NHL goal and extending the Avalanche’s lead to 4-2. It was a memorable milestone for Hughes and the culmination of a dominant period for Colorado.

After being outshot 14-5 in the opening frame, the Avalanche flipped the script in the second, outshooting Pittsburgh 17-10. Three goals, a momentum-shifting start, and Hughes’ first NHL tally gave Colorado a two-goal cushion heading into the third period.

DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche look to get back on track at Ball Arena after falling to the Dallas Stars 3-2 in a shootout, while the Pittsburgh Penguins enter the matchup coming off a 5-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Colorado has several favorable individual matchups to lean on, including Nathan MacKinnon’s consistent production against Pittsburgh and Brock Nelson’s strong career numbers against the Penguins. Mackenzie Blackwood is expected to get the start in goal for the Avalanche.

This game will also mark the debut behind the bench for new Avalanche assistant coach Brett McLean, who takes over for Dave Hakstol, who accepted a new position to take over as head coach of the Arizona State Dun Devils on Thursday.

Players To Watch

MacKinnon has recorded 19 points in his last 10 games against Pittsburgh, totaling seven goals and 11 assists. He has also been productive league-wide this season, ranking among the NHL’s top scorers with 12 points, including five goals and seven assists. Martin Necas is another player with a history of success against the Penguins, having scored twice in Colorado’s 6-2 win over Pittsburgh on March 24.

Nelson enters the contest after scoring against Dallas on Wednesday. He has amassed 41 career points against Pittsburgh, with 21 goals and 20 assists, and has nine points in 11 career playoff games against the Penguins, including six goals and three assists.

Colorado will need its offense to deliver after Wednesday’s narrow defeat. The Avalanche had two goals disallowed before Gabriel Landeskog finally opened the scoring at 4:55 of the second period, redirecting a pass from Nazem Kadri for his second goal of the season. Dallas responded through Miro Heiskanen at 15:03, sending the teams into the third period tied 1-1.

The Stars moved ahead early in the final frame when Arttu Hyry scored shorthanded on a breakaway just 1:20 into the period following a costly turnover from Cale Makar, whose wife, Tracy, had given birth to two twin boys earlier in the day.

Nelson tied the game at 8:21 with a finish from the left doorstep, but neither team found another goal in regulation or overtime. In the shootout, Jason Robertson scored for Dallas in the first round, Kadri answered for Colorado in the second, and Roope Hintz delivered the coup de grace in the finale Scott Wedgewood, in his second start of the season, finished with 20 saves on 22 shots for the Avalanche.

The goaltending matchup could play a significant role in determining the outcome. Blackwood has a 2-6-1 career record against Pittsburgh across 10 games, with a 3.81 goals-against average and an .885 save percentage. In his most recent appearance against the Penguins, he allowed four goals on 15 shots.

Pittsburgh’s Arturs Silovs has faced Colorado only twice in his career, posting a 1-1-0 record, a 3.50 goals-against average and an .875 save percentage. He stopped 25 of 27 shots in his win over the Avalanche, although the limited sample size makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions from his previous performances.

The Penguins have received much of their offensive production from Erik Karlsson, who leads the team with seven points, all assists. Robertson leads Pittsburgh with four goals and four total points, while Samuel Girard has six points, including five assists.

Pittsburgh enters this matchup following a disappointing performance against the Blackhawks. They got off to a rough start after allowing a goal just 28 seconds into the game to Teuvo Teravainen. Sidney Crosby added two goals, but it wasn't enough. Pittsburgh rallied from down 3-1 to tie up the game, but Chicago surged late to put the Penguins away with a final score of 5-3. 

Colorado holds a strong historical advantage in the regular-season series, with a 26-12-3-6 record across 47 meetings with Pittsburgh. With both teams coming off losses, the Avalanche will look to use home ice to their advantage and end this homestand on a positive note before they head to Philadelphia to face the Flyers on Monday. 

The disappointment was palpable in the Rangers locker room Thursday in the aftermath of a 7-1 Battle of the Hudson loss that went from promising to bad to worse to downright embarrassing rather quickly. 

“Not proud of that performance,” J.T. Miller said. 

It was one of those games that gets away and all of a sudden, “You’re chasing,” Adam Fox said. 

But there was also a sense that it was a one-off, that the habits the Blueshirts had built over the past month since training camp began — and over the first eight games of the season — could flush everything that went wrong. 

For the worst start of Dylan Garand’s young career to be an anomaly. For the defensive identity of checking and forechecking and closing in the third period to materialize again Saturday night in Columbus. For an offense that had scored at least four goals in five of six wins to start generating chances again consistently. 

That turns Saturday night’s match against the Blue Jackets into an early-season litmus test, a gauge of whether they can move on from a crushing loss — like they did after their first two defeats of the young season — or whether this might start to spiral. The loss in New Jersey dropped them to 1-3 away from the Garden, and three of their next four games will be on the road. 

“[Thursday] shows what happens when we don’t do it,” Mika Zibanejad said Thursday, “and I feel like we’ve been building that game — and that’s why I think it’s easier to spot the difference and what happens when we don’t play our game and the little details that we have to do within our game.” 

At the center of their attempt to erase what happened will be Garand — the starter for the foreseeable future with Joonas Korpisalo on long-term injured reserve and Igor Shesterkin out for the season. 

He entered play Thursday with a .951 save percentage and a 1.15 goals against average that generated plenty of praise, but those numbers dropped to .915 and ballooned to 2.05, respectively, after he allowed four goals on 13 shots and got pulled. 

In each of his previous two starts since Shesterkin’s right skate jammed into the post and changed the outlook of the Rangers season, Garand, slightly undersized at 6-foot-1, had impressed with his ability to control pucks and play a consistent game. 

That’s the formula without Shesterkin. That’s the blueprint. The Rangers can’t force Garand to do too much, instead putting him in a position to produce the necessary saves like they did for most of the opening frame against the Devils until Miller’s brutal turnover led to the first tally. 

Thursday was Garand’s first clunker. It marked the only time in eight NHL appearances when he’d allowed more than two goals. It served as the most goals the Rangers had surrendered in a game since allowing six against the Blue Jackets on March 19. 

“I know we’re better than this, to a man,” Miller said. 

The Rangers are one of 11 teams that haven’t lost consecutive games through the opening two weeks of the season. They collapsed in the third against the Bruins in the opener but responded with a statement against the Lightning two nights later.

They lost last Friday to the Capitals on the night Shesterkin’s season ended, but they avoided an emotional hangover two nights later with a commanding win over the Canucks. 

“Ever since [the opener], we’ve played really good Ranger hockey, coming up with some identity for ourselves as a group,” Miller said. 

Their worst loss yet will test that resolve. It’ll test the emergence of Garand and whether he can thrive in the crease two nights after his low point. 

It’ll test whether Alexis Lafrenière can rebound from a minus-4 night and keep demonstrating that his 11-points-in-nine-games clip is sustainable. 

It’ll test whether a deflection goal from Pavel Dorofeyev on the power play Thursday — just his second so far — can start to shift his slow start to the season. 

It’ll test whether the Blueshirts, holistically, can move on from the rivalry disaster and their early road woes to showcase another reminder that these aren’t the same Rangers from last year. Another reminder of 2025-26, especially with Shesterkin out, is something they can’t afford. 

“We’ve learned a lot about ourselves over the last couple weeks and the last month,” Miller said, “and I think that we have a high-character group in here — so all we can do is learn from [Thursday] and move forward and be ready for the next game and come out firing.”