The Los Angeles Kings (19-15-10) once proved that they can go toe-to-toe with any team in the league, including the Edmonton Oilers (22-16-7), grinding out a dramatic 4-3 shootout win in Rogers Place after a back-and-forth battle that featured momentum swings and late-game controversy.
In a matchup that felt like a playoff game, the Kings were resilient on both ends of the floor. Missing their key players tonight, they stopped Conor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl from threatening to take over the game in the final moments of regulation.
Edmonton opened the scoring midway through the second period after an ill-timed Kings turnover left Leon Draisaitl alone in the slot, burying his 22nd goal of the season, reminding everyone why he continues to be one of the elite players in the league.
Following the high-sticking penalty called on Darnell Nurse, Corey Perry, returning to Edmonton for the first time since leaving the Oilers, jammed home a rebound on the power play to tie the game 1-1.
The first period looked evenly matched, both teams trading shots and goals, but the question was: could the Kings keep this pace up, or would they fold the same way they always do against their heated rival?
Kings Depth Answers
Draisaitl struck again early in the second period, winning a face-off and sprinting into open space before scoring his second goal of the night to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead.
Once again though the Kings had an answer for the Oilers.
Midway in the period, Andre Lee, the new King, who was recalled from Ontario, capped off a strong transition play, scoring his first goal of the season to tie the lead again, 2-2.
Despite Edmonton putting more pressure on the ice in the late stages of the period, the Kings escaped out of the intermission with an even game, setting the stage high for a final period in regulation.
Laferriere Gives Kings the Lead
The Kings finally grabbed their first lead of the night early in the third when Alex Laferriere diverted a Brandt Clarke shot to give Los Angeles its first lead.
With Andrei Kuzmenko already in the box after serving a high-sticking penalty, Adrian Kempe was whistled for slashing, giving Edmonton a brief 5-on-3. A few seconds later, McDavid snapped a wrist shot to score his first goal of the game, tying the game 3-3 and reigniting the building.
Forbserg Slams the Door in OT and Shootout
Overtime belonged to Anton Forsberg, who turned aside multiple high chances of the Oilers scoring, especially from McDavid and Draisatil who had a lot of open shots to win the game, but Forsberg countered them.
In the shootout, Adrian Kempe delivered the decisive goal to win the game, while Forsberg denied all of Edmonton's shots to seal the game.
A couple of things to note: Los Angeles was good on the power play tonight, finishing 1/2, and it was the first power-play goal in over a week, a game they also won against Minnesota last Saturday.
Los Angeles also outshot the Oilers 30-24, but struggled with turnovers, giving the puck away 19 times, which is why the game came down to the wire, despite the Kings getting more shots up. But it was still a great quality win for a shorthanded Los Angeles team, coming off a terrible loss to the Winnipeg Jets last night, with no rest, against a fully rested Oilers team and one of the best offenses in the NHL.
Up next, Los Angeles will begin their three-game home stand against the Dallas Stars on Monday, Jan. 12 at 10:00 p.m. ET, a team that will look to get revenge on after losing on their home ice last month.
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Blackhawks rookie goaltender Drew Commesso recorded a shutout in his first NHL victory.
Commesso stopped every shot he faced to become the fourth goaltender in Blackhawks franchise history to post a shutout in his first career win, joining Corey Crawford, Craig Anderson, and Paul Goodman.
It was a 36-save shutout.
The Predators generated offensive-zone time and had some pressure throughout the night but were unable to convert against a goaltender who grew more confident as the game progressed.
Nashville created chances at five-on-five and around the net, but failed to find a breakthrough as Chicago played from ahead. According to MoneyPuck.com, the Predators had 4.38 expected goals.
“We came out in our first eight minutes or so, and I liked our game…and then we got really sloppy with the puck,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said postgame. “Our execution was fairly poor by our standards, and it didn't allow us to get to our game. We pushed a little bit at the end, but I think the whole game, I'm not sure if we thought it'd be a little bit easier than it was. Then we got frustrated with it and seemed to compound, which we haven't done that often. Regardless, we weren't sharp. They were the better team for most of the game.”
The Predators will finish the weekend back-to-back with the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Well, it appears that the Pittsburgh Penguins will not go undefeated in the calendar year of 2026.
Despite a late push on Saturday afternoon, the Penguins lost to the Calgary Flames, 2-1, to earn their first loss since Dec. 23 and snap their six-game win streak. Egor Chinakhov scored his second goal in a Penguins' uniform, while Arturs Silovs made some key saves for the Penguins, stopping 23 of 25 Calgary shots on goal.
Just like the Penguins have been doing with frequency lately, the Flames got off to a quick start in this one. Just two and a half minutes into the game, the Penguins were pressuring in the offensive zone, and defenseman Ryan Shea tried to send a cross-ice pass to his partner, Jack St. Ivany, at the offensive blue line. Unfortunately, Calgary forward Connor Zary disrupted the pass and took off for a breakaway opportunity, beating Silovs five-hole and putting the Flames up, 1-0.
The Flames got the better of the Penguins for the entirety of the first period, and they carried the 1-0 lead into the second. Nearing the halfway point of the middle frame, the Penguins were finally starting to gain some momentum, and Ben Kindel made a play to get the puck to Chinakhov in the neutral zone. Chinakhov and Evgeni Malkin entered the zone on a two-on-one, and a give-and-go between the two resulted in a one-time bomb from Chinkahov in the right circle to tie the game at 1-1.
The Penguins carried much of the play for the remainder of the second period, but unfortunately, the Flames scored early in the second. Matt Coronato shot the puck through a bit of a screen after a nice move, and he put the Flames back on top.
With around eight minutes remaining in regulation, the Penguins appeared to tie the game when Tommy Novak executed a perfect wraparound and buried the puck past Calgary goaltender Devin Cooley. However, goaltender interference was called on Sidney Crosby for impeding Cooley's ability to make the save, and the Penguins did not challenge the play.
Here are some thoughts and takeaways from this one:
- Dan Muse said following the game that they did not challenge the goaltender interference call on Novak's goal because he did not think there was a high chance of the call getting overturned. I agree with him.
However, Crosby certainly didn't agree with the call.
In fact, the Penguins' captain was a little bit more blunt than usual when discussing the play after the game.
"I think it looks bad, but being in the play, I thought I did my best to avoid the goalie, and I got pushed into him," Crosby said. "I mean, the explanation had something to do with being in the crease, but you're allowed in the crease as long as you don't impede the goalie. And I was trying to get through there and got pushed back into him.
"He did a good job selling it. I grazed him, and he went down pretty easy. I mean, what are you going to do? That's a hard one to challenge, and it doesn't look great. But just being part of the play, I know I was going to get around him if I didn't get pushed."
Sid on goalie interference ruling: “He sold it well.”
It's not often that I don't necessarily see eye-to-eye with Sid on anything. However, I'm not so sure that wouldn't have been called back even if the call was a goal on the ice. Even if Crosby was shoved - and if Cooley embellished a bit - it kind of looked like, accidentally or not, that Crosby leaned into the contact just a bit.
In any case, I do think Muse made the right call in not challenging that. The Penguins had all the momentum, and it wasn't worth risking a potential penalty kill late in the game.
- For the second consecutive game, the Penguins had a less-than-inspiring start in the first period. They were sloppy, they were disjointed, they were slow, they were outshot 9-6, and they surrendered the first goal of the game for the first time since Dec. 23, which is the last time they had lost a hockey game.
Of course, there is a lot else going right for the Penguins, but when they play the league's better teams, they're not going to get away with slow starts. They didn't on Saturday against one of the league's bottom teams.
The Penguins have a pretty manageable schedule for the rest of January in terms of their competition. Only four teams of the 10 they play are currently in a playoff spot. So, they need all the points they can get, and they can't afford to take the first period off in any of these games.
- Penguins didn't start much better in second period (or the third period, for that matter). But a play late in the Penguins' penalty kill on Kevin Hayes's hooking minor seemed to give them some semblance of life.
Rickard Rakell - who has looked the part on the PK - generated a shorthanded chance down low that Blake Lizotte nearly finished at the net-front. The Penguins killed off the rest of the penalty with ease, then about 20 seconds after the penalty expired, Kindel made that hard-working play to get the puck to Chinakhov initially and set the goal sequence in motion.
Rakell's and Lizotte's play was a small play, but it gave the Penguins the life they needed - at least, temporarily - to tie the game in a contest in which they were largely lifeless and sloppy.
- I've seen some pretty funny things happen this season across the hockey world (with the Joel Hofer "hiding" incident topping the list).
But, man, was that Malkin roughing penalty after Chinakhov's goal something.
The Russian connection executes a perfect give-and-go, Zary pulls up right between Malkin and Chinakhov along the boards, and Malkin just decks him for next to no reason on the way to celebrate the goal with Chinakhov, resulting in a roughing penalty for Malkin.
I mean, aside from Malkin's signature slap shot breakaway goal - and that entire sequence - against the Philadelphia Flyers way back when, can you think of a more perfect Malkin sequence of events?
- I haven't been impressed with the Justin Brazeau, Anthony Mantha, and whoever line in the last couple of games. Not having Tommy Novak or Evgeni Malkin centering those guys showed on Saturday. Hayes's lack of footspeed definitely showed, and it was hard for them to generate much.
If Rust is going to be out, I'm not really sure what to do with that line. Novak is definitely a top candidate to bump up with Crosby, and the second line really had something going on Saturday.
What I would do is consider breaking up Brazeau and Mantha until Rust returns, bump Brazeau up with Crosby, and put Novak back as the third-line center. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing Chinakhov get some reps with Crosby, either, since his skillset would probably complement Crosby well. And you could have Malkin, Kindel, and Brazeau on a line.
- Speaking of Kindel, I thought he played an outstanding game on Saturday.
Yes, there are still a few hiccups, as there are with any young player. But he just does so many little things right, and that was on full display against the Flames. He made the play happen in the neutral zone to set the scene for Chinakhov's goal. On a second-period power play, he made two or three plays where he won a puck battle or forced a turnover to keep the play alive down low. He made a few nice passes as well.
This kid is just so impressive, and - as mentioned previously - he's only going to get more productive playing with Malkin and Chinakhov.
- It's actually pretty crazy how Silovs tends to get better the later it is in a game.
He could have made a breakaway save on Zary, but that one was basically 50-50. He could have made a save on Coronato, but there was a partial screen, and the Penguins' defense gave him way too much space there. But he kept this team in the game late once again, and he made some saves in the first period, too, to do the same thing.
Silovs tends to be at his best when the stakes are raised. I thought he played pretty well Saturday, even if his team didn't get the result.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Simon Holmstrom scored his second goal of the game 1:34 into overtime and the New York Islanders beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Saturday night.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Casey Cizikas also scored for the Islanders, who improved to 3-0-1 in their last four games. Ilya Sorokin made 32 saves, including 17 in a scoreless third period.
Matt Boldy, Kirill Kaprizov and Ben Jones scored for Minnesota in its third loss in four games (1-1-2). Quinn Hughes assisted on all three Wild goals and Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots.
In the extra period, Holmstrom circled into the slot and fired a backhander that beat Gustavsson to give the Islanders the win.
Minnesota took a one-goal lead three times in the first two periods, including Jones’ first NHL goal to open the scoring early in the first. But the Islanders answered each time to even the score.
Cizikas scored a short-handed goal to tie it 3-3 late in the second period, completing a 2-on-1 rush with Holmstrom by slipping the puck between Gustavsson’s pads.
The Wild were playing their first home game since Dec. 23. They went 4-1-2 on a seven-game road swing that coincided with the Twin Cities hosting the World Juniors Championships.
On Saturday night, the Chicago Blackhawks paid a visit to the Nashville Predators. This comes one night after suffering a 5-1 loss at home to the Washington Capitals. The “stomach bug” caused all sorts of problems for them.
The bug impacted their lineup on Saturday, too, as Louis Crevier, Colton Dach, Sam Lafferty, Arvid Soderblom, and Spencer Knight were all still missing. Ilya Mikheyev was able to return from his illness.
The Blackhawks called up Stanislav Berezhnoy to be the backup goaltender, and they gave the start to Drew Commesso. Commesso started in the loss to Washington, but Jeff Blashill went right back to him on no rest.
That decision worked out for the team, as Commesso earned his first career NHL win. In the process, he also earned his first career NHL shutout with a score of 3-0. Commesso is the first Blackhawks goaltender since Corey Crawford to earn his first win in the form of a shutout.
This wasn’t a game that the Blackhawks played incredible shutdown defense to help Commesso to a shutout, either. The Predators took 36 shots on goal, and he saved them all.
Tyler Bertuzzi, Nick Lardis, and Ryan Greene scored the goals for Chicago. Connor Bedard, who was only playing in his second game back from injury, was excellent again. He had two primary assists in the win.
The Blackhawks are now winners of five games out of six. They are also 6-2-1 since the holiday break ended. This level of success has them back in the Western Conference playoff race once again, which felt impossible a month ago.
The Blackhawks are back in action on Monday night when they take on the Edmonton Oilers at the United Center. This will be Connor McDavid’s first visit to Chicago this season. This kicks off four straight at home for Chicago.
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The final score tells the truth without offering much nuance. The details, as always, matter more.
The Philadelphia Flyers' 7–2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning was their second defeat in as many meetings this season against a team operating at a very specific, very unforgiving level right now. The Flyers will get one more chance to adjust when the season series concludes Monday, but Saturday’s game made clear how quickly the game slip away when structure slips against a team that thrives on pace, precision, and punishment.
1. This Was Not Purely a Goaltending Loss, Even If the Goaltender Wore It.
Sam Ersson had a difficult night. The goals came in waves, the building grew restless, and the optics were unkind. But inside the Flyers’ room, there was little appetite for assigning blame to the goaltender alone.
Tampa Bay scored by stretching the ice east-west, attacking seams before coverage could reset, and forcing Ersson into repeated lateral reads with traffic collapsing the crease. Those are high-danger looks even when executed imperfectly; Tampa executed them cleanly.
Ersson’s teammates recognized it immediately. Players went to him during the game to offer encouragement. Postgame, the decision not to make him available was organizational.
Sam Ersson was requested for postgame, but didn’t end up talking to the media. Flyers PR said it was a team decision to not make him available.
“We’ve gotta be better in front of him,” Owen Tippett said postgame. “Those are tough games to play… I don’t know if the sarcastic cheers are really appreciated, but we’ve gotta do a better job in front of him.”
Garnet Hathaway echoed that sentiment, revealing that his message to Ersson was to “keep his head up. I don’t think we played as defensively sound as we needed to. We’re a very offensive-minded team, and that’s not on him. He’s played great all year. So forget it; put it in the past.”
Owen Tippett and Sean Couturier said the Flyers have to be better in front of Sam Ersson. Tippett said the sarcastic cheers weren’t appreciated. Several Flyers players went to Ersson during the game to give some encouragement.
Rick Tocchet, meanwhile, struck a balance between accountability and protection.
“He’s struggling a little bit; you can tell a little bit,” Tocchet said. “You’re gonna have tough nights. If you have an NHL career, sometimes you’re gonna be in the mud, and you’ve gotta get yourself out of it. You’ve gotta work harder, you’ve gotta analyze things—not just [Ersson], anybody.”
Then, pointedly: “We’ve gotta work with him; we’ve gotta help him out, too—whatever we have to do to help him, mental or physical.”
This was a team loss. Ersson absorbed it because goaltenders always do, but the breakdowns began well before the puck reached him.
2. Tampa’s East-West Game Exposed Every Half-Second of Hesitation.
There are teams that beat you by volume. Tampa Bay beats you by speed of decision.
The Lightning punished the Flyers with an unrelenting east-west attack that forced defensive switches, pulled coverage out of shape, and turned small delays into open ice. Once Tampa established rhythm, Philadelphia struggled to disrupt passing lanes early enough to prevent those sequences from forming.
That's not to say the Flyers were completely silent. They had moments—stretches where they generated chances, forced Andrei Vasilevskiy into difficult saves, and even tilted the ice briefly. But against a team this sharp, those windows close quickly.
Rick Tocchet’s assessment was that he "didn’t mind half the game. You’re gonna have those kinds of games, but we do need some better efforts. A couple of our guys that we count on to score turned the pucks over a little too much. You can’t play that way.”
3. The Flyers Generated Chances—They Just Didn’t Finish Them.
One of the more frustrating aspects of the loss was that it wasn’t devoid of offensive opportunity. The Flyers scored twice—Garnet Hathaway’s first goal of the season and Owen Tippett’s power-play marker, his 14th—but they left several other chances on the table.
Christian Dvorak extended his point streak to three games with an assist, while Noah Juulsen and Rodrigo Abols also contributed helpers. The offense existed, and noticeably so, but the execution did not.
Some of that credit belongs to Vasilevskiy, who was calm, square, and efficient. Some of it belongs to Tampa’s ability to recover defensively after initial breakdowns. And some of it falls on Philadelphia’s inability to capitalize when the game was still within reach.
4. This Game Was a "Learning Lesson."
The Flyers will play Tampa Bay again on Jan. 12, and both players and coach highlighted the importance of having short memories and taking this game as a learning opportunity so they can be better against the Lightning next time around.
“Everybody’s tired of hearing it, but it’s a learning lesson,” Tocchet said. “You learn, you apply it, and be better, which our team has done.”
What matters now is not how they felt leaving the ice, but what they retain from it—about puck management, defensive spacing, and how quickly games can get away from you when structure slips.
The Flyers didn’t lose because they stopped trying. They lost because Tampa never took their foot off the gas. That distinction is uncomfortable, but can be ultimately useful with such a quick turnaround.
Broberg was slow to get up but wound up skating off and slowly walking down to the team's locker room; he played 55 seconds and had an assist on a goal by Robert Thomas 53 seconds into the game that gave the Blues a 1-0 lead.
Broberg, who has two goals and 12 assists in 46 games this season, has averaged a career-high 23:18 time on ice per game. He was selected to Sweden's Winter Olympic hockey team last week.
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The Detroit Red Wings made sure that their second meeting of the season against the Montreal Canadiens had a far happier ending than the first.
The Red Wings put together one of the most complete road efforts of their centennial campaign, defeating the Canadiens by a 4-0 final score at Bell Centre in what was a complete reversal of Montreal's 5-1 win in Detroit on Oct. 9.
Goaltender John Gibson, who has been nothing short of clutch for the Red Wings since the start of December, picked up his third shutout of the season and 27th of his NHL career.
With the victory, the Red Wings have taken sole possession of the top spot in the tightly-packed Atlantic Division.
After a scoreless first period, the Red Wings opened the scoring when Lucas Raymond buried his third goal in as many games. He capitalized on a fortunate bounce as the puck deflected off the stanchion and popped out in front of the vacated Montreal net while goaltender Jacob Fowler had gone behind the goal to play the puck.
The lead was then increased to 2-0 after a power-play goal by Dylan Larkin just seconds after the face-off in Montreal's zone.
Alex DeBrincat put the game out of reach in the third period with his 23rd goal of the campaign, while Andrew Copp put the finishing touches on the scoring with an empty-net tally late in regulation.
Several of Gibson's 27 saves were on high-danger chances for the Canadiens, who were often left frustrated after he turned aside everything they threw at him.
The Red Wings will return home to host the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night, before which the franchise will officially retire Sergei Fedorov's iconic No. 91 and raise a banner to the rafters at Little Caesars Arena.
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With a 5–0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight, the Vancouver Canucks’ losing streak has officially hit six games. Despite Vancouver outshooting Toronto, the Canucks were unable to defend efficiently against the Maple Leafs’ onslaught of offence. Thatcher Demko started the game for the Canucks but was replaced by Kevin Lankinen after the first period, with the latter ultimately making 17 saves on 18 shots against.
The Canucks were given a plethora of opportunities to score during the first period, as the Maple Leafs took four different penalties including two too-man-men calls. However, things went catastrophically for the Canucks, as their power play went 0-for-4 during the first period despite putting up their best chances while playing at 4-on-3. Their fifth and sixth power plays, awarded during the second and third period respectively, nearly deepened their deficit after surrendering multiple shorthanded chances to the Maple Leafs. To make matters worse, Toronto scored twice while on the power play.
One of Vancouver’s biggest struggles tonight was their defensive coverage. Turnovers resulted in two of the Maple Leafs’ three first-period goals, while lapses in coverage while shorthanded gave Toronto the opening goal. All five Canucks players skating on one side of the ice gave Max Domi the opportunity to tear down the ice and score Toronto’s second less than 10 minutes later. Toronto’s final goal of the first period came after a turnover in Vancouver’s own zone gave William Nylander and Steven Lorentz a chance off the rush. While not entirely his fault, the three goals-against resulted in Lankinen coming into the game for Demko by the start of the second period.
Tonight was also not a good night for Vancouver’s performance in the faceoff dot, as collectively, the Canucks averaged a faceoff winning percentage of only 30.4%. No natural Canucks centre finished with a faceoff winning percentage above 40%, with Aatu Räty and David Kämpf being the only two to hit higher than 30%.
While this game was primarily negative, there were a couple of individual performances that stood out. Nils Höglander, who has performed well throughout his past few games despite not yet registering his first point of the season, played with some jump tonight. The forward made sure to get the puck to the net when he could, skating well and getting into the zone early.
As well as Höglander, Drew O’Connor had himself yet another noticeable game for the Canucks, putting up two quality chances during the first-half of the first period. The forward also made his presence known by getting into a tussle with some of the Maple Leafs after heading to the net to try and grab any errant pucks for a tip-in. The forward also took a tough tumble along the boards during the second period, resulting in him heading to the dressing room, though he returned to the ice a little while later.
With tonight’s loss and the Winnipeg Jets’ win yesterday, Vancouver officially ranks last in the NHL’s standings. Their losing streak increases to six-straight games, with the team still looking for their first win of 2026.
Jan 10, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Vancouver Canucks left wing Liam Ohgren (92) battles for the puck with Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Brandon Carlo (25) during the second period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Stats and Facts:
Canucks allow three goals in the first period for the first time in 2025–26
Marcus Pettersson registers his second fight of the season and second as a Canuck
After going 0-for-6 on the man-advantage, Vancouver’s power play goal streak ends at four games
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
8:03 - TOR: Matias Maccelli (7) from William Nylander and Auston Matthews (PPG)
16:31 - TOR: Max Domi (5) from Troy Stecher
19:40 - TOR: William Nylander (15) from Steven Lorentz and Brandon Carlo
2nd Period:
13:07 - TOR: John Tavares (16) from William Nylander
3rd Period:
19:46 - TOR: Nick Robertson (10) (PPG)
Up Next:
The Canucks continue their east-coast swing with a back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday, taking on the Montréal Canadiens on January 12. Like Vancouver, Montréal was also shut-out tonight, dropping their game against the Detroit Red Wings by a score of 4–0. Puck drop for Monday’s game is scheduled for 4:30 pm PT.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
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Battered, bruised and struggling, the Florida Panthers arrived in Canada’s capital city on Saturday badly needing a victory.
Thanks to a strong outing by Florida’s special teams units, the Panthers were able to take down the Ottawa Senators 3-2 and pick up a crucial two points.
An early power play for the home team would prove beneficial.
Fabian Zetterlund scored a sharp angle goal that Sergei Bobrovsky would want to have back just one second after the penalty to Evan Rodrigues ended, giving Ottawa a 1-0 lead at the 4:03 mark of the opening period.
Later in the period, Florida was able to take advantage after receiving a power play of their own.
With Artum Zub in the penalty box for high-sticking Anton Lundell, Evan Rodrigues corralled the puck in the slot, waited for a lane to open and wired a shot past Leevi Merilainen to knot the score at one with 8:26 left in the first.
Florida’s power play wasn’t done there.
Later in the period, with Thomas Chabot in the box for roughing Mackie Samoskevich, Gus Forsling slid a cross-zone pass to Carter Verhaeghe, and his long wrist shot went off the far post and into the net, sending the Panthers into the second intermission with a 2-1 lead.
Forsling wasn’t done with just a primary assist, though.
Under four minutes into the third period, Forsling took a pass from his defensive partner Aaron Ekblad just inside the blue line, took a few strides toward the net and blasted a slapshot over the glove of Merilainen to give Florida a 3-1 lead 3:28 into the final frame.
It proved to be an important goal, as Claude Giroux scored with 1:42 on the clock and Merilainen on the bench, but that’s as close as the Senators would get.
Florida finished the game with goals on two of their four power plays while going a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
Photo caption: Jan 10, 2026; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) makes a save on a shot from Ottawa Senators right wing Michael Amadio (22) in the first period at the Canadian Tire Centre. (Marc DesRosiers-IMAGN Images)
The Edmonton Oilers have announced that they have assigned defenseman Riley Stillman to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors.
Stillman was called up to the Oilers' roster last month after starting the season with the Condors. In four games with the Oilers so far this campaign, the left-shot defenseman has recorded zero points, four blocks, seven hits, and a plus-1 rating.
Now, after being sent back down to the Condors' roster, Stillman will once again be an important part of the AHL club's blueline. In 22 games with the Condors so far this season, Stillman has posted two goals, five assists, seven points, and 41 penalty minutes.
In 167 career NHL games over seven seasons split between the Florida Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, and Oilers, Stillman has recorded four goals, 22 assists, 26 points, 111 penalty minutes, 202 blocks, and 333 hits.
The Chicago Blackhawks have announced that they have called up goaltender Stanislav Berezhnoy from their American Hockey League (AHL) affliate, the Rockford IceHogs.
With goaltenders Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom both sidelined with the flu, the Blackhawks needed another goalie on their roster. As a result of this, Berezhnoy has now landed his first call-up to the NHL.
Berezhnoy is currently in his first professional season in North America after signing with the Blackhawks this past off-season. In nine games this season with the IceHogs, he has recorded a 4-4-1 record, a 3.23 goals-against average, and a .889 save percentage.
In 13 games with SKA Neva of the VHL this past season, he had a 6-3-1 record, a .931 save percentage, and a 2.49 goals-against average. He also played one game for SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL in 2024-25.
Former Montreal Canadiens forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard is getting another opportunity in the NHL.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that they have recalled Harvey-Pinard from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Harvey-Pinard became an unrestricted free agent (UFA) this past off-season after the Canadiens elected not to tender him a qualifying offer. From there, he signed a one-year contract with the Penguins for the 2025-26 season.
Since signing with Pittsburgh, Harvey-Pinard has only played in the AHL for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Yet, after landing this call-up from Pittsburgh, that now has the potential to change for the former Canadiens forward.
In 32 games this season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Harvey-Pinard has posted seven goals, six assists, 13 points, 27 penalty minutes, and a plus-8 rating.
Harvey-Pinard was selected by the Canadiens with the 201st overall pick of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. In 84 games over four seasons with the Habs, he recorded 17 goals, 14 assists, 31 points, 106 blocks, 117 hits, and a plus-3 rating.
Harvey-Pinard's best season with Montreal was in 2022-23 when he set career highs with 14 goals and 20 points in 34 games.
The Colorado Avalanche, coming off a monumental 8-2 win over the Ottawa Senators, are now facing off against the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second time this season. It was another complete domination of a game from the Avalanche, all while Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Martin Necas were held without a point. The depth of this team showed up big time, all while Trent Miner helped secure the 4-0 shutout win.
Period 1:
Kirill Marchenko is called for high-sticking just over 10 minutes into the period, but the Blue Jackets kill it off. Brent Burns opens the scoring and his 7th of the season as he finds the loose puck off a rebound chance and buries it to open the scoring, 1-0. Gavin Brindley with a nice burst to create the scoring chance, and Ross Colton will pick up his 4th assist in 4 periods.
Parker Kelly finds Victor Olofsson after battling in the corner for the puck, who then buries it with a nifty backhand shot, making it 2-0. This finally breaks a long 12-game pointless drought for Olofsson.
Period 2:
Just over 10 minutes into the second period, Parker Kelly, once again with great vision, sends a cross-ice pass to Ilya Solovyov coming into the offensive zone, who steps up and rifles a wrist shot, making it 3-0. This goal is Solovyov’s first career NHL goal and his third point in three games.
MacKinnon and Olofsson are called for hooking, but the Avalanche kill off both penalties with their league-best penalty kill.
Period 3:
Adam Fantilli is called for a delay of game as he sends the puck over the glass, but the Avalanche can’t capitalize on the power play. It’s Burns again who doubles up in the game with a shot from the blue line that deflects off Brendan Gaunce and in to make it 4-0.
With this two-goal game, he joins Tim Horton, Zdeno Chara, and Nicklas Lidstrom as the fourth defenseman over 40 years old to record a multi-goal game. The Avalanche hold on to win 4-0, earning Trent Miner his first career NHL win and shutout.
The Avalanche are back in action on Mon, Jan. 12, against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Calgary Flames found their footing again on Saturday in Pittsburgh, edging the Penguins 2–1 to put an end to their recent losing streak.
Devin Cooley got the nod between the pipes for Calgary and delivered a steady performance as the Flames leaned on timely scoring and disciplined defending to secure the win.
Calgary struck first in the opening period thanks to Connor Zary, who continues to heat up offensively. Zary jumped on an early breakaway and calmly beat Arturs Šilovs to open the scoring, marking his eighth goal of the season. The Flames carried a 1–0 lead into the first intermission.
Pittsburgh pushed back in the second. Sidney Crosby intercepted a puck in the neutral zone and quickly transitioned the Penguins into a 2-on-1 rush. Evgeni Malkin fed Egor Chinakhov, who wired a one-timer past Cooley to knot the game at one. The teams remained deadlocked after 40 minutes with shots even at 15 apiece.
The decisive moment came early in the third. Just 42 seconds in, Matt Coronato walked the puck into the offensive zone, froze the defender with a fake, cut into the slot, and snapped a quick release past Šilovs to restore Calgary’s lead. Mikael Backlund and Rasmus Andersson earned the assists on what would stand as the game-winning goal.
The Penguins thought they had tied the game midway through the period, but a successful goalie interference challenge wiped the goal off the board, preserving Calgary’s one-goal advantage the rest of the way.
Three Takeaways
1. Zary finding his rhythm
Connor Zary is starting to look like himself again. With four goals and one assist over his last seven games, he is making sharper reads, attacking the net with purpose, and skating with noticeable confidence — a positive trend for Calgary’s offence.
Both Flames goals came quickly — one early in the first period and the game-winner less than a minute into the third. Those quick strikes set the tone and proved crucial for a team looking to halt a skid. Strong starts were exactly what Calgary needed, and they delivered when it mattered
