ST. LOUIS – Justin Barron’s hockey world had just taken a twist that the 24-year-old wasn’t expecting.

He was fully committed and in the moment with the Nashville Predators, right in the thick of training camp.

Then, things changed, and the defenseman was put on waivers on Sept. 26.

The next 24 hours would be filled with uncertainty: would be be claimed by another NHL team; is he heading to Milwaukee of the American Hockey League, or do the Predators keep him?

The St. Louis Blues jumped in. They had a rash of injuries and needing help on their blue line.

“I just wanted to come in and obviously a little bit of a clean slate,” Barron said after becoming the latest Blues D-man to put up four points, which is a career-high on a goal and three assists Thursday in a 6-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. “Obviously there's been some injuries here and just try to come into the lineup and prove myself.”

Barron, who carries a $1.575 million cap hit in the final year of his contract before becoming a restricted free agent, had plenty of time to think about things on his drive to St. Louis from Nashville, up I-24 West, then I-57 North to I-64 West.

“Obviously it’s a whirlwind, your head’s spinning a little bit,” Barron said. “Talked to my parents, talked to my brother (Morgan, a center for the Winnipeg Jets). A bunch of the guys reached out here. I talked to a couple of them on the way up that I already knew. It was obviously a whirlwind, but like I said, I tried to come in with an open mind and it was a fresh start, a little bit of a fresh opportunity for me. Just trying to make the most of it.”

Make the most of it he has most certainly done, and in doing so, it’s pushed 2023 first-round pick Theo Lindstein out of the lineup, so much so, that the Blues assigned the 21-year-old to Springfield of the American Hockey League after the game Thursday.

Blues winger Dylan Holloway was one of those players Barron spoke to.

“I actually played with JB growing up a little bit,” Holloway said. “... He was such a stud back then, he's a stud now. It was a great pickup for us. He played so good tonight. I was really happy to see him have a big night like that.”

But Barron didn’t play right away, needing to get acclimated to the Blues’ system, which seems to fit quite nicely for the first-round pick (No. 25) in the 2020 NHL Draft.

But once he jumped into the lineup in the fourth game, the home opener against the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 8, Barron hasn’t come out of the lineup.

“I feel good,” said Barron, who has a goal and four assists in seven games. “I've feel like I’m just trying to build my game since I got here. The guys on the team have helped me a lot, just get comfortable. I feel like I'm a part of this team. It was a good, full effort for our team tonight to play a full 60 minutes here at home.”

Barron was impactful in the game even before he scored a first-period goal with a quality scoring chance or two, with the puck on his stick quite a bit. But he jumped into the hole after recent call-ups Aleksanteri Kaskimaki and Otto Stenberg forechecked the puck back before Kaskimaki hit Barron coming down the slot. He beat Adin Hill by whipping in a shot from the right circle off the far post and in to give the Blues a 2-0 lead at 13:49 of the first period:

St. Louis goal!

Scored by Justin Barron with 06:11 left in the 1st. Assisted by Aleksanteri Kaskimaki and Otto Stenberg.

STL: 2 | VGK: 0#VGKvsSTL#StlBlues#VegasBornpic.twitter.com/OFZ3bFULIA

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 23, 2026

“I'm not even sure if this was his best game,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “He got points and the puck went in, but every game he seems to have four or five attempts from the blue line. He's just done a really good job in all three zones. He hasn't over-complicated the game, makes the simple play, understands how we want to play. So credit to him because he's really taken advantage of his opportunity.”

St. Louis goal!

Scored by Dylan Holloway with 09:31 left in the 3rd. Assisted by Robert Thomas and Justin Barron.

STL: 5 | VGK: 2#VGKvsSTL#StlBlues#VegasBornpic.twitter.com/tNQZjHch9C

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 23, 2026

Thursday was a season-high for Barron in Minutes at 20:23, all at even strength; he’s averaging 16:28 on the season and is a plus-7 after being a plus-4 on Thursday. He’s been skating the past couple games on the top pairing with Philip Broberg on his natural right side after getting into the lineup with Colton Parayko playing his offside on the left.

None of it matters; he’s playing well these days, right or left.

“Obviously it showed up for me on the scoresheet (Thursday), but it really felt like everyone on the team played really well tonight,” Barron said. ‘It felt like one of the first games since I’ve gotten here that we played a full 60 minutes. I think a ton of guys played really well tonight.

“I think sometimes you can get lucky with some opportunities, someone believing in you. I think at a certain point, it’s up to you to try and make the most of it and really grab that opportunity. That’s what I’m trying to do here.”

The Blues play a more aggressive style with their defensemen allowing them to jump in and pinch in the offensive zone, and as an offensive defenseman, Barron is quite adept to that, which allows him to have the success he’s having.

When Barron is on the ice, the Blues have scored seven goals for and two against at 5-on-5, according to naturalstattrick.com.

“I think it’s just trying to play free,” Barron said. “One thing I really like about the team here is kind of the style they play with how aggressive the D are in the offensive zone. The D are always involved in the rush, and I think that fits my game pretty well with my skating. I think that part also made the transition a bit easier for me.”

Montgomery said, “Yeah, I mean, outside of your Crosbys, your Brett Hulls, you know, most people it takes the right fit. The right city sometimes, the right culture, the right teammates, the right linemates. For him, I don't know exactly what it is, but certainly he's really comfortable. He seems comfortable since the first practice.”

Who knows how long this will last, or what will happen when the Blues get Logan Mailloux (hand injury) and/or Tyler Tucker (knee injury) back. Can Barron’s hot run continue? It will certainly make for some interesting roster decisions. But in the meantime, the Blues plan on riding what Barron can give them and cross that bridge when it’s necessary.

And Barron will still live day by day and hope for the best.

“I’m still in the hotel. It’s been good,” Barron said. “There’s a couple other guys in there with me, which is nice. We’ve done a little car-pooling and stuff. Been going to dinners with some of the guys, it’s been great.”

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Thanks to a strong first period, the Detroit Red Wings cruised to a road victory over the struggling Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. 

A pair of first-period goals from Lucas Raymond, along with the second career tally from William Wallinder, helped carry Detroit to what was eventually a 5-2 triumph over the Canucks, their first road win of the campaign. 

LATE NIGHT DUB‼️‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/KVhw5q9A6z

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 23, 2026

The Red Wings also got goals from Michael Rasmussen and Emmitt Finnie, while Elias Pettersson and Jonathan Lekkerimaki scored for the Canucks. 

One note of worry for the Red Wings was that goaltender John Gibson, who stopped four of the five shots he faced through 40 minutes, did not play the third period because of an upper-body injury; he was replaced by Michal Postava, who had been called up from the Grand Rapids Griffins after backup Daniil Tarasov was injured during practice. 

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The Red Wings took a 2-0 lead on goals from Raymond and Wallinder, only to have Pettersson strike on the power play, getting the Canucks back to within one. However, Raymond soon found the back of the net once more in the frame, giving him three goals in two games.

Raymond had gone without a goal in his first eight games before scoring as part of Detroit's 4-3 SO loss to the Seattle Kraken earlier in the week. 

Rasmussen tipped home a shot from Anton Johansson in the second period for his first goal since January 5 of last season; J.T. Compher, playing in his first game since Oct. 4, picked up the secondary assist. 

Goaltender Michal Postava To Be Called Up To Red Wings According to Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Dan Watson, goaltender Michal Postava is set to be called up to the Red Wings.

Finnie then scored four minutes into the third, while Lekkerimaki tallied late for Vancouver.

Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves; Postava stopped seven of eight shots in relief of Gibson. 

The Red Wings will continue their road swing Saturday evening against the Calgary Flames. It will be their final visit to the Scotiabank Saddledome, which is set to close after this season and be replaced by Scotia Place, which is currently under construction.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Lucas Raymond scored twice and added an assist to help the Detroit Red Wings beat Vancouver 5-2 on Thursday night, sending the Canucks to their ninth straight loss.

William Wallinder, Michael Rasmussen and Emmitt Finnie also scored for the Red Wings (4-3-3), and Victor Arvidsson and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard each had a pair of assists.

John Gibson stopped four of the five shots he faced in the Detroit net before leaving the game with an upper-body injury. He was replaced by Michal Postava to start the third period and the Czech netminder logged seven stops in his NHL debut.

The Canucks (2-9-1) got a goal and an assist from Jonathan Lekkerimaki, and Elias Pettersson scored his fourth of the season on a first-period power play.

Vancouver goalie Kevin Lankinen struggled early, giving up three goals in the first nine minutes of the game. He finished with 26 saves.

Up next

Red Wings: At Calgary on Saturday night.

Canucks: Host former captain Quinn Hughes and Minnesota on Sunday.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Things aren’t exactly golden right now for the Vegas Golden Knights. For the first time this season, they’ve dropped two in a row; to make matters worse, tonight’s loss to the St. Louis Blues was their second consecutive 6-2 loss.

“I don’t think our guys are going to be happy with this,” said Golden Knights head coach Ryan Craig following the loss. “We’re not pleased with this. I expect a response. We’re gonna get a lot of teams’ best games on each and every night because of what these guys have accomplished here last season. So we have to be ready for that push, because when we push, we’re a good team.”

Most of these wounds are self-inflicted. As a collective five-man unit, the Golden Knights have turned the puck over far too often, and their opponents have made them pay.

“We didn’t help ourselves as much as we could have,” said Golden Knights head coach Ryan Craig following the loss. “That’s two games in a row where we’ve put ourselves in some tough situations.”

​​“I don’t want to say it’s concerning, because obviously we know we have it in this room, but you don’t want to give up that many goals in back-to-back games,” Jack Eichel added. 

1. Holtz Your Horses

Prior to puck drop, the Golden Knights announced that Mitch Marner would be inactive because of a family matter. Alex Holtz drew in, and made his season debut in Marner’s spot on the second line with Brett Howden and William Karlsson. 

Holtz was a rare bright spot on a night where very few Golden Knights played well. He was strong on pucks and backchecked well, and the only Blues goal he was on the ice for was the third, which came off the faceoff. Holtz played 14:04, recorded five shots on net and nine total shot attempts, and threw a hit.

Holtz recorded his first point of the season on the Golden Knights’ first goal of the game. He got in on the forecheck and picked off Brandon Carlo’s clearing attempt, then fought to get the puck back after William Karlsson couldn’t handle his centering pass. Holtz fed Noah Hanifin at the point for a blast; Howden batted it down and put it past Joel Hofer.

“I thought Holtzy had some jump,” said head coach Ryan Craig following the loss. “He attacked the interior of the ice. He went right in there with Karly and Howie and did a good job. He was one of our better players tonight.”

2. In a Rut

Through their first 10 games of the season, the Golden Knights were a well-oiled machine. Their offense was humming, and they kept the puck out of their net. That hasn’t been the case in their last two games.

The Golden Knights outscored their opponents 42-24 in their first ten games of the season; in their last two games, they’ve been outscored 12-4.

​​“We understand what it looks like when it looks good, right? When we’re playing as a five-man unit, we’re breaking pucks out, we’re getting up, we’re forechecking, and we’re checking. In the last two [games], it hasn’t been like us,” said Jack Eichel following the 6-2 loss to the Blues. “It’s a good opportunity for us all to look in the mirror. We have to be better as a group, all five guys on the ice at a time.”

“I feel like it’s just sloppy play right now on our own part. I mean, I think we’re just giving teams a lot of chances,” said Eichel. “[The Blues] are good off the rush. They make a lot of plays. Their D are up in the rush, so if you turn pucks over going north, they’re countering pretty quickly, and they did that to us tonight. So, not our best by any means.”

3. Penalty Kill Woes

Last year, for the first time in a long time, the Golden Knights had a top-ten penalty kill. They finished the regular season killing 81.4% of penalties, tied for sixth-best in the league. Their success continued in the postseason, where their penalty kill fired at an 82.1% success rate.

The Golden Knights’ penalty kill has come back to earth. They’ve allowed nine power play goals and have the 29th-ranked penalty kill in the league.

The Golden Knights have allowed a power play goal in four straight games, and the Blues scored on both of their opportunities tonight.

“Our kill’s got to be way better,” said Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb following the 6-2 loss. “They get one [early]; if we kill that, maybe we get some momentum in the game. And they score another one in the third. That needs to sharpen up, and we’ll look at it a little bit better, but that’s definitely got to improve.”

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid forced overtime with a late goal for his fifth point of the night, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had the lone shootout score and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-5 on Thursday night.

McDavid had two goals and three assists to give him a whooping 31 points in the first 10 games of the season. He joined Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky as the only NHL players to reach the 30-point mark in 10 games or fewer.

Leon Draisaitl also had two goals and three assists, and Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist.

Edmonton tied it with 1:28 and goalie Devon Levi off for an extra attacker. McDavid sent a shot on net that deflected off Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s skate for his eighth goal.

The Oilers (8-1-1) have won three straight and seven of their last eight. Levi made 22 saves.

Jackson Blake, Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, Logan Stankhoven and Juuso Valimaki scored for the the Hurricanes (8-2-2). The defending Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes have lost two of their last three.

Brandon Bussi made 16 saves for Carolina.

Nugent-Hopkins made his season debut, returning after sustaining a lower-body injury during training camp. The 33-year-old became the franchise leader for seasons played with the Oilers at 16.

Jarvis scored in his first game of the season, making his debut following offseason shoulder surgery.

Up next

Hurricanes: At St. Louis on Saturday night.

Oilers: Host Toronto on Saturday night.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

After Wednesday night's wild and emotional 5-1 victory over Brady Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers, the Ottawa Senators were probably due for a letdown.

And playing again less than 24 hours later certainly didn't help.

The Senators fell 6-2 to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre, although the game was considerably closer than the final score suggests.

After falling behind 4-1 in the second period, the Senators took complete control of the game, but couldn't capitalize on a steady stream of scoring opportunities.

Tim Stützle and Jordan Spence scored for the Senators, who outshot the Sharks 43-28, including a 17-6 advantage in the third period. Travis Green said after the game that the Sens probably created more chances on Thursday night than they have in any game all year.

Jacob Trouba and Colin Graf each had a goal and an assist for San Jose.

The Senators opened the scoring on Stützle's seventh goal of the season, but Nolan Allan replied five minutes later by roofing a snapshot to tie the game at one.

Things unravelled badly for the Senators in the second period.

Team defence has been one of the club's strengths this season, but it completely deserted them during a disastrous four-minute stretch that saw the Sharks score three unanswered goals.

Tyler Toffoli started the damage at 9:13, when his power play wrist shot from the point deflected off the shaft of Artem Zub's stick and past Samuel Ersson to give San Jose a 2-1 lead.

Then things got ugly with the Senators power play unit getting a little too casual on D.

Graf scored his second of the season, shorthanded, on what should have been a routine two-on-two situation.

But a spectacular miscommunication between Stephen Halliday and Jake Sanderson left Graf completely uncovered as he headed for the far post. He accepted a perfect pass and easily converted to make it 3-1.

The defensive breakdown on Trouba's goal was even worse.

With the Sharks coming off a penalty kill, Graf controlled the puck deep in the Senators' corner. Halliday, Sanderson, and Drake Batherson all decided to converge on him, somehow leaving Trouba completely alone in front of the net.

Graf simply slid the puck to Trouba, who tapped it past Ersson for a 4-1 lead.

The video of that goal might someday find its way into a Hockey Canada coaching clinic as an example of what not to do defensively.

Ersson was making the start in place of Linus Ullmark, and he's going to need to get comfortable in the role quickly. Ullmark is expected to miss at least two weeks with the lower-body injury he suffered against Florida on Wednesday.

To their credit, the Senators didn't fold after falling behind by three. In fact, they dominated much of the remaining game.

Spence cut the deficit to 4-2 with a beautiful wrist shot, and the Senators continued to generate quality chances, particularly during a one-sided third period.

Nobody had worse luck than Batherson.

With a wide-open net staring him in the face, Batherson appeared certain to score. But Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov desperately threw out his glove on a wing and a prayer.

Of all the places Batherson could have shot the puck, he somehow managed to find the geometric centre of Askarov's trapper.

It was that kind of night.

With a late Sharks penalty in the third, the Senators pulled Ersson for a six-on-four advantage.

But the comeback wasn't to be.

Former Senator Zack Ostapchuk scored into the empty net to put the game away, and Ivar Stenberg added another empty-net goal to complete the scoring.

The loss continued a troubling early-season trend for the Senators in back-to-back situations.

They're now 0-3-0 in the second game of back-to-backs this season, matching their total number of losses in those situations from all of last season, when they posted an impressive 9-3-0 record.

The Senators will have Friday to regroup before hosting the New York Rangers on Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre. After an emotional high on Wednesday and a frustrating low on Thursday, a day off probably couldn't come at a better time.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh’s Arturs Silovs stopped 25 shots to spoil the history-making debut of Florida counterpart Cooper Black as the Penguins beat the Panthers 4-0 on Thursday.

Black, who at 6-foot-9 became the tallest goalie ever to appear in an NHL regular season game, made 18 saves but it wasn’t enough to stop the Panthers from dropping their second game in as many nights.

Nick Robertson scored twice for Pittsburgh. Hendrix Lapierre and Evgeni Malkin both finished with a goal and an assist as the Penguins shook off a miserable Western Conference road trip in which they were badly outplayed in losses to Chicago, Colorado, Vegas and Utah.

The trip ended with 19-year-old forward Ben Kindel collapsing on Tuesday during the flight back to Pittsburgh. Kindel spent the night in a Salt Lake City hospital for observation and returned to the Penguins’ facility on Thursday. The team placed him on injured reserve but is hopeful may be able to return to practice as early as next week.

Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse shuffled his lines in hopes of a spark, and the Penguins responded by solving the towering Black, a 25-year-old from Michigan, three times.

Black, called up from Florida’s AHL affiliate in Charlotte recently after Jacob Markstrom sustained a shoulder injury, was sharp early as the Panthers struggled to find their legs a night after an emotionally charged loss in Ottawa.

DEVILS 4, DUCKS 1

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Arseny Gritsyuk and Nico Hischier scored first-period goals, Nico Daws made 16 saves and New Jersey beat Anaheim.

Anthony Mantha restored the two-goal lead with 6:33 left in the third, and Jack Hughes added an empty-netter with 6.1 seconds remaining. New Jersey won its second straight to improve to 6-4-0, while Anaheim dropped its fifth in a row to fall to 4-6-0.

Gritsyuk and Hischier each scored their fifth goal of the season, with Jesper Bratt assisting on both scores. Hughes assisted on Gritsyuk’s goal.

Tim Washe scored for Anaheim on a tip at 8:20 of the third period. Ville Husso made 25 saves for the Ducks.

Gritsyuk opened the scoring at 4:38 of the first, connecting from close range off Bratt’s centering pass. Hischier scored off a rebound on a power play with 41 seconds left in the period.

BRUINS 6, PREDATORS 0

BOSTON (AP) — Michael DiPietro made 28 saves for his first career shutout, David Pastrnak had two goals and two assists, and Boston cruised to a victory over Nashville.

Charlie McAvoy had a career-high four assists for Boston, and Casey Mittelstadt, Elias Lindholm, JJ Peterka and Mark Kastelic also scored.

Pastrnak leads the Bruins in goals (six) and assists (10). Boston improved to 6-0-1 in its last seven games, with the only loss coming Tuesday in overtime at Dallas to conclude a four-game trip.

Justus Annunen stopped 25 shots in first start for Nashville since last season. The Predators have lost four of five.

The Bruins went ahead 3:49 into the game when Pastrnak sent a cross-ice pass to Mittelstadt, who fired it past Annunen’s right shoulder.

Lindholm made it 2-0 on the power play later in the first. Pastrnak scored midway through the second when he deflected McAvoy’s shot past Annunen, and the Bruins captain assisted on Peterka’s goal late in the period.

Pastrnak capped the scoring with 5 minutes remaining and became the eighth player in Bruins history with 20 career four-point games.

SHARKS 6, SENATORS 2

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Colin Graf had a goal and an assist, Yaroslav Askarov stopped 39 shots and San Jose beat Ottawa for its first regulation victory of the season.

Nolan Allan, Tyler Toffoli, Jacob Trouba, Zack Ostapchuk and Ivar Stenberg also scored for the Sharks (6-4-1).

Tim Stutzle and Jordan Spence scored for Ottawa (7-4-0). Samuel Ersson made 23 saves.

Ottawa placed goalie Linus Ullmark on injured reserve Thursday after he suffered a lower-body injury a night earlier.

Spence scored at 6:24 of the third period to make it a two-goal game.

The Senators pulled Ersson while on the power play with under four minutes remaining, but Ostapchuk took advantage of a giveaway and scored an empty-net goal.

Stenberg added a second empty-netter to round out the scoring.

MAPLE LEAFS 5, RANGERS 4

TORONTO (AP) — Troy Stecher scored with 26.3 seconds left in regulation and Toronto outlasted the New York Rangers for its third straight victory.

Brandon Duhaime had a goal and two assists, and Teddy Blueger, Kirill Marchenko and Easton Cowan also scored for Toronto (6-4-2).

Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves. Zack MacEwen added two assists. Blueger also had an assist for a two-point night.

Mika Zibanejad, with a goal and an assist, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Tye Kartye and Alexis Lafreniere replied for New York (7-4-1), which got 31 stops from Dylan Garand. Adam Fox had four assists.

Stecher’s winner came on a delayed penalty after he took a pass from Morgan Rielly and ripped a high shot.

Bobrovsky tied former Rangers star Henrik Lundqvist for the most wins by a non-North American goalie with 459.

KINGS 3, ISLANDERS 2, OT

NEW YORK (AP) — Artemi Panarin had two goals, Brandt Clarke scored in overtime and Los Angeles won a second consecutive game, beating the New York Islanders.

The Kings have back-to-back victories after losing their first six games. They were the final NHL team without a win before defeating Washington on Tuesday night.

LA was outplayed for much of the Islanders game and outshot 43-26. Panarin beat rusty backup Semyon Varlamov glove side twice, and Darcy Kuemper kept making stops even as his rebound control was lacking, finishing with 41 saves.

Kuemper cracked for the first time with just under six minutes left in the second period when rookie Victor Eklund’s shot squeezed through on a power play. Islanders face of the franchise Matthew Schaefer wired a wrist shot by Kuemper 7:06 into the third.

Clarke scored the winner with 2:18 left in 3-on-3 OT after he and his teammates possessed the puck for several shifts in a row.

BLUES 6, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Justin Barron had a goal and three assists, Dylan Holloway had two goals and an assist and St. Louis beat Vegas.

Jimmy Snuggerud had a goal and an assist and Pavel Buchnevich and Mason McTavish also scored for the Blues, who improved to 3-0-1 at Enterprise Center this season. Joel Hofer made 27 saves.

Brett Howden and Jack Eichel scored and Aidan Hill made 25 saves for the Golden Knights, who dropped their second straight game.

Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner didn’t play because of what the club called “a family matter.” His wife, Stephanie, was due to give birth to their second child, someone with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the specific reason wasn’t announced.

Marner has a seven-game point streak and has recorded 12 points in 11 games for the season. Alexander Holtz replaced him in the lineup.

STARS 3, JETS 2, OT

DALLAS (AP) — Roope Hintz scored on a breakaway 3:47 into overtime after his game-tying goal with 2 minutes left in regulation and Dallas beat Winnipeg.

Wyatt Johnston scored his first goal of the season for Dallas, after 45 last season, and had an assist. Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen each had two assists.

Rantanen, who two nights earlier had a hat trick for every Stars goal in a 3-2 overtime win against Boston, passed to Hintz from behind the net for the late regulation goal.

Hintz had been denied a tying goal at the end of the second period after he got his stick on a puck from the side of the net behind Stuart Skinner, who made an incredible save reaching back with his glove to smother the rolling puck before it could cross the line.

Skinner finished with 35 saves.

Gabriel Vilardi and Kyle Connor scored goals less than 2 minutes apart in the second period for the Jets, who have lost four one-goal games in a row.

FLAMES 2, WILD 1

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Devin Cooley made 36 saves and Calgary scored two power-play goals in the first period in a victory over Minnesota.

Aydar Suniev scored with 9:11 left in the first and Joel Farabee struck just over three minutes later to help the Flames (3-6-0) win their second straight on home ice.

Michael McCarron scored for the Wild (6-3-2). Jesper Wallstedt made 20 saves.

Suniev’s goal, his third of the season, was his first career power-play goal. Farabee beat Wallstedt on a rebound for his first goal of the campaign.

The Flames were without captain Mikael Backlund, who’s listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Former Wild center Ben Jones made his season debut for Calgary.

OILERS 6, HURRICANES 5, SO

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid forced overtime with a late goal for his fifth point of the night, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had the lone shootout score and Edmonton beat Carolina.

McDavid had two goals and three assists to give him a whooping 31 points in the first 10 games of the season. He joined Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky as the only NHL players to reach the 30-point mark in 10 games or fewer.

Leon Draisaitl also had two goals and three assists, and Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist.

Edmonton tied it with 1:28 and goalie Devon Levi off for an extra attacker. McDavid sent a shot on net that deflected off Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s skate for his eighth goal.

The Oilers (8-1-1) have won three straight and seven of their last eight. Levi made 22 saves.

Jackson Blake, Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, Logan Stankhoven and Juuso Valimaki scored for the the Hurricanes (8-2-2). The defending Stanley Cup champion Hurricanes have lost two of their last three.

Brandon Bussi made 16 saves for Carolina.

RED WINGS 5, CANUCKS 2

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Lucas Raymond scored twice and added an assist to help Detroit give Vancouver its ninth straight loss.

William Wallinder, Michael Rasmussen and Emmitt Finnie also scored for the Red Wings (4-3-3), and Victor Arvidsson and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard each had a pair of assists.

John Gibson stopped four of the five shots he faced in the Detroit net before leaving the game with an upper-body injury. He was replaced by Michal Postava to start the third period and the Czech netminder logged seven stops in his NHL debut.

The Canucks (2-9-1) got a goal and an assist from Jonathan Lekkerimaki, and Elias Pettersson scored his fourth of the season on a first-period power play.

Vancouver goalie Kevin Lankinen struggled early, giving up three goals in the first nine minutes of the game. He finished with 26 saves.

KRAKEN 5, MAMMOTH 3

SEATTLE (AP) — Mackie Samoskevich scored with 5:25 left, and Seattle, despite blowing a multiple-goal third-period lead for the second game in a row, beat Utah.

The Kraken (7-3-1) carried a 3-1 lead into the third against Utah (7-4-0). On Tuesday. Seattle was up 3-0 heading into the final 20 minutes against Detroit before winning in a shootout, 4-3.

Jordan Eberle and Brandon Montour each had a goal and an assist. Matty Beniers and Frederick Gaudreau also scored, Gaudreau’s going into an empty net with 1:00 left in the game for his team-leading sixth of the season.

Logan Cooley had two goals for the Mammoth, and Vincent Trocheck scored once.

Philipp Grubauer made 33 saves for Seattle.

With the scored tied at 3-3 after each team had a goal taken down in the third on successful offside challenges, Bobby McMann stole the puck near center ice and skated down the left side His shot was deflected wide but the rebound bounced in front of the net. McMann finally got a stick to it, tapping it over to Samoskevich, who pushed it in for his fifth of the year.

The Vegas Golden Knights have gone from dictating games to chasing them, and the defensive breakdowns that surfaced earlier this week followed them on the road Thursday night.

Dylan Holloway scored twice, and the St. Louis Blues defeated Vegas 6-2 at Enterprise Center, handing the Golden Knights consecutive identical-score losses after Tuesday's defeat to Tampa Bay.

Vegas (8-4-0) has surrendered 12 goals in two games, with turnovers, defensive-zone coverage and an inability to sustain momentum emerging as recurring problems.

“I think it's a good opportunity for us all to look in the mirror and know we have to be better as a group,” Jack Eichel said. “I don't want to say concerning, because obviously we know we have it in this room, but you don't want to give up that many goals in back-to-back games.”

Brett Howden and Eichel scored for Vegas, which twice pulled within one goal but couldn't build on either opportunity.

Pavel Buchnevich and Jake Barron gave St. Louis a 2-0 first-period lead before Howden scored at 5:38 of the second. Mason McTavish answered less than three minutes later.

Eichel brought Vegas within 3-2 early in the third, but Jimmy Snuggerud restored the Blues' two-goal advantage before Holloway scored twice to put the game away.

Coach Ryan Craig said his team has drifted from the connected, aggressive defensive structure that helped produce its strong start.

“When you have a chance to close, we want you to go,” Craig said. “The four other guys are reading off you. ... Through the first ten games we had done a real good job and know what that feels like. We've gotten away from it a little bit here now.”

Defenseman Brayden McNabb pointed to the team's slow start and ineffective penalty killing.

“They got to their game right away and we didn't,” McNabb said. “It's humbling the last couple games, so we got to get better.”

Craig said he expects a response rather than allowing two difficult performances to become a larger trend.

“We're not pleased with this. Expect a response,” Craig said. “When we push, we're a good team.”

KEY MOMENT

The Golden Knights twice trimmed a two-goal deficit to one, but St. Louis answered each time. Jack Eichel's goal at 4:08 of the third period made it 3-2, only for Jimmy Snuggerud to restore the Blues' two-goal cushion at 8:21. Dylan Holloway scored just 2:08 later, stretching the lead to 5-2 and effectively ending Vegas' comeback hopes. St. Louis scored three times in the final period, including Holloway's second goal at 16:05.

“We made it 2-1. They made it 3-1. Made it 3-2. They made it 4-2,” coach Ryan Craig said. “Give them credit. They pushed back and responded well when we were able to chip away there.”

KEY STAT

The Golden Knights have surrendered 12 goals in consecutive 6-2 losses after allowing just 24 through their first 10 games. St. Louis scored twice on the power play, while Vegas was outshot 31-29 despite delivering 36 hits to the Blues' 13. The defensive issues have been particularly glaring considering Vegas allowed only six combined goals during its three-game winning streak immediately preceding the losses.

“You don't want to give up six back-to-back games, so that's something we're going to have to look at,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “It's humbling the last couple games, so we got to get better.”

WHAT A KNIGHT

Alexander Holtz provided one of the few encouraging developments in his season debut, recording an assist on Brett Howden's goal at 5:38 of the second period. Holtz helped generate offense by attacking the middle of the ice and showing the willingness to battle in traffic that Craig felt was missing from portions of Vegas' overall performance. The Golden Knights struggled to establish a consistent net-front presence against Blues goaltender Joel Hofer, who finished with 27 saves, but Holtz's energy stood out.

“I thought Holtzy had some jump,” Craig said. “Attacked the interior of the ice, went right in there with Carly and Howie and did a good job. One of our better players tonight.”

UP NEXT

The Golden Knights continue their road trip Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, with puck drop scheduled for 4 p.m. PT. Vegas will look to avoid its first three-game losing streak of the season after opening 8-2-0. The immediate priorities are improving defensive-zone coverage, eliminating turnovers that fuel opposing rushes and restoring the aggressive five-man structure that characterized the team's early success.

“We're not pleased with this. Expect a response,” Craig said. “We're gonna get a lot of teams' best games on each and every night because of what these guys have accomplished here last season. So we have to be ready for that push.”

PHOTO CAPTION

Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill (33) makes a save against St. Louis Blues defenseman Philip Broberg (6) during the second period at Enterprise Center.

After starting the season 0-4-2, the Los Angeles Kings (2-4-2) have now won two impressive back-to-back road games, defeating the Washington Capitals on Tuesday and, today, winning a thrilling overtime match against the New York Islanders. 

The fear was that the way Los Angeles had been playing to start the season, this five-game road trip starting on Tuesday would potentially end their season because of how horrid they've looked, and traveling on the road against quality teams would drop them to potentially 0-10. 

Forward Artemi Panarin showcased his presence and reminded everyone why he's still an impactful player in the league, finishing with two goals and two points, putting the Kings' offensive engine under his belt. 

After nearly blowing a two-goal lead, the visiting team took care of business in the extra period, with Brandt Clarke scoring the game-winner to give the Kings a 3-2 win at UBS Arena. 

"These are vital points. We don’t want to drop these; we want to capitalize on our chances, Clark said after getting a 3v3 win. "The coaches emphasized capitalizing and crisscrossing, as Juice and I did there. We’ve been working on it. I was happy to capitalize.”

CLARKIEEEEEEEE pic.twitter.com/7imMrNgGdx

— LA Kings (@LAKings) October 23, 2026

New York outshot and outscored LA on the power play throughout the game, which isn't a surprise given how poor the Kings' shot selection and power play have been to start the season.

Still, the Kings prevailed, with Clarke's clutch overtime goal and goaltender Darcy Kuemper having a great night, finishing with 41 saves on 43 shots, including several big saves in the final period and overtime. 

What the Kings have got in these back-to-back victories is an offense that's looking increasingly comfortable, especially the Panarin-Adrian Kempe-Quinton Byfield line, despite missing tonight's game with injury, and a defense that's looking more organized. 

LA jumped to a 2-0 first-period lead on back-to-back goals from Panarin, putting pressure on New York at home to crawl back. We headed into the second and third periods, where the Islanders each scored one goal to tie the score 2-2. 

It looked like the Kings would blow another lead, as they've been accustomed to in seasons past, especially in overtime, but this time they stayed calm and let Kempe drop the pass to Clarke, who finished the play to end the game. 

‼️ KINGS DUB ‼️@twiliopic.twitter.com/eAoJhmeACM

— LA Kings (@LAKings) October 23, 2026

Los Angeles will continue its five-game road trip against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday at 12:30 PM. 

The Rangers have signed veteran forward Luke Glendening to a one-year contract, president and general manager Chris Drury announced on Thursday.

Glendening, 37, appeared in 70 games last season, splitting time with the Devils (52) and Philadelphia Flyers (18). He tallied nine points (two goals, seven assists) while averaging 10:32 of time on the ice and finished a minus-7.

In 10 games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs with Philadelphia last year, he recorded one goal and was a plus-3, while averaging 13:56 time on the ice.

The 13-year NHL veteran has stops along the way with the Detroit Red Wings, Dallas Stars, and Tampa Bay Lightning before last season's two-city campaign. In his 934 career games, he has 175 career points (85 goals, 90 assists) while averaging 13:23 of ice time. He has seven goals and four assists over 60 postseason games.

His speciality is the face-off with a 55.6 career win percentage, including 57.2 percent with the Flyers last season. Since the 2020-21 season, Glendening's 57.5 face-off win percentage is good enough for ninth in the league among skaters with a minimum of 1,000 face-offs. 

Later on Thursday, the Blueshirts fell 5-4 to the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

It was a really impressive effort from the New York Islanders tonight after going down 2-0 in the first period. Semyon Varlamov wasn’t at his sharpest tonight; both shots that Artemi Panarin got past him weren’t great. But the Isles responded well, especially in the second period, which they controlled offensively in a way we haven’t seen yet this season. It just took a long time to get anything past Darcy Kuemper. Victor Eklund broke Kuemper’s shutout with a power play goal, and then Matthew Schaefer picked up his first of the season to tie the game. That goal also tied him with Bobby Orr for second-most goals by a teenage defenseman, so no big deal there or anything.

Eklund had a really strong game overall, and he’s looking more and more like he fits in the NHL with each game he plays. It’s also extremely funny to see him looking like a little kid out there and taking down big guys like Konstas Helenius. I hope he really starts stringing these good performances together, it’d be awesome to have another young talent take big steps forward.

Unfortunately, the Isles came up short in overtime. They definitely miss Mat Barzal in 3 on 3 situations. There’s no one on the team that can replace his skillset in general, but it’s especially noticeable in OT. They still picked up a point, and they’ve got points in their last five games, and have still looked solid despite all the injuries up front.

[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]

First Period

The Isles went to an early power play after Scott Laughton was called for holding, but they couldn’t convert. Just a minute later, Artemi Panarin opened the scoring from a tough angle on a shot Semyon Varlamov probably wants back. Emil Heineman’s backhand shot was stopped by Darcy Kuemper right after.

Victor Eklund won the puck along the boards from Konstas Helenius and set up a great chance, with Matt Kessel’s shot getting behind Kuemper. Mikey Anderson had to dive behind him to stop that shot from crossing the line.

Unfortunately, right after that great shift, Panarin picked up his second of the night on another shot Varlamov probably should’ve had, putting the Isles in a 2-0 hole towards the end of the first.

Bo Horvat went to the box for hooking, but then Drew Doughty took a shot at Matthew Schaefer, which led to Logan Stanley fighting Konstas Helenius. Approximately 45 seconds later, Mats Zuccarello was called for slashing, canceling out the Kings’ power play.

Just 40 seconds after that, Tony DeAngelo took a tripping penalty.

Near the end of the period, Varlamov saved shots from Panarin and Doughty to keep just the two goal deficit heading into the second.

Second Period

The Islanders dominated the whole period, outshooting the Kings 17-9, but couldn’t get anything past Kuemper for most of the period.

Heineman and Eklund got a 2 on 1, but the pass option was taken away by Brian Dumoulin and Heineman ran out of time to do anything interesting with the puck. Brayden Schenn tipped a shot off the post, and Simon Holmstrom had a chance in the slot but Kuemper got the save.

Schaefer took down Adrian Kempe on a breakaway and Kempe was rewarded a penalty shot, which Varlamov crucially saved.

Heineman was tripped by Dumoulin a couple minutes after that, and on that power play, Victor Eklund took a shot that trickled past Kuemper to make it 2-1.

Jared Wright got tangled up with Schaefer, and they both went to the box late, for holding and hooking respectively.

Third Period

The Isles didn’t quite keep up the pace from the second period into the third. Varlamov needed to be sharp, making a few critical saves when needed.

Then, 7 minutes into the period, Schenn passed the puck off to Stanley, who found Schaefer with space, and Schaefer scored his first goal of the season to tie the game.

Despite putting up 42(!!) shots on Kuemper in regulation, the Isles couldn’t find the go ahead goal, and so we went off to overtime for the first time this season at UBS Arena.

OT

Bo Horvat’s shot was saved by Kuemper, but once the Kings got possession, they never really gave it up. Adrian Kempe had a great chance saved by Varlamov, but Brandt Clarke put the winner home for LA in a game the Islanders really should have picked up two points from.

Up Next

Next, the Islanders head out to Dallas to take on the Stars on Sunday, October 25, kicking off a three game road trip around the Central Division.

NEW YORK (AP) — Artemi Panarin had two goals, Brandt Clarke scored in overtime and the Los Angeles Kings won a second consecutive game, 3-2 at the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

The Kings have back-to-back victories after losing their first six games. They were the final NHL team without a win before defeating Washington on Tuesday night.

LA was outplayed for much of the Islanders game and outshot 43-26. Panarin beat rusty backup Semyon Varlamov glove side twice, and Darcy Kuemper kept making stops even as his rebound control was lacking, finishing with 41 saves.

Kuemper cracked for the first time with just under six minutes left in the second period when rookie Victor Eklund’s shot squeezed through on a power play. Islanders face of the franchise Matthew Schaefer wired a wrist shot by Kuemper 7:06 into the third.

Clarke scored the winner with 2:18 left in 3-on-3 OT after he and his teammates possessed the puck for several shifts in a row.

Varlamov, the 38-year-old making his first home start since Nov. 25, 2024, following double partial knee replacements, denied Adrian Kempe on a penalty shot and made some big-time saves after giving up the soft goals to Panarin on the Kings’ first five shots.

Panarin has four points in two games after four combined over the first six.

LA forward Quinton Byfield was out after getting hurt against the Capitals. Byfield did not take part in the morning skate and is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Up next

Kings: Visit the New Jersey Devils on Saturday in the third of five games on their road trip.

Islanders: Open a three-game Western Conference trip Sunday at the Dallas Stars.

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Colin Graf had a goal and an assist, Yaroslav Askarov stopped 39 shots and the San Jose Sharks beat the Ottawa Senators 6-2 on Thursday night for their first regulation victory of the season.

Nolan Allan, Tyler Toffoli, Jacob Trouba, Zack Ostapchuk and Ivar Stenberg also scored for the Sharks (6-4-1).

Tim Stutzle and Jordan Spence scored for Ottawa (7-4-0). Samuel Ersson made 23 saves.

Ottawa placed goalie Linus Ullmark on injured reserve Thursday after he suffered a lower-body injury a night earlier.

Spence scored at 6:24 of the third period to make it a two-goal game.

The Senators pulled Ersson while on the power play with under four minutes remaining, but Ostapchuk took advantage of a giveaway and scored an empty-net goal.

Stenberg added a second empty-netter to round out the scoring.

Up next

Sharks: At Boston on Saturday night.

Senators: Host the New York Rangers on Saturday night.

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh's Arturs Silovs stopped 25 shots to spoil the history-making debut of Florida counterpart Cooper Black as the Penguins beat the Panthers 4-0 on Thursday.

Black, who at 6-foot-9 became the tallest goalie ever to appear in an NHL regular season game, made 18 saves but it wasn't enough to stop the Panthers from dropping their second game in as many nights.

Nick Robertson scored twice for Pittsburgh. Hendrix Lapierre and Evgeni Malkin both finished with a goal and an assist as the Penguins shook off a miserable Western Conference road trip in which they were badly outplayed in losses to Chicago, Colorado, Vegas and Utah.

The trip ended with 19-year-old forward Ben Kindel collapsing on Tuesday during the flight back to Pittsburgh. Kindel spent the night in a Salt Lake City hospital for observation and returned to the Penguins’ facility on Thursday. The team placed him on injured reserve but is hopeful may be able to return to practice as early as next week.

Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse shuffled his lines in hopes of a spark, and the Penguins responded by solving the towering Black, a 25-year-old from Michigan, three times.

Black, called up from Florida's AHL affiliate in Charlotte recently after Jacob Markstrom sustained a shoulder injury, was sharp early as the Panthers struggled to find their legs a night after an emotionally charged loss in Ottawa.

Lapierre doubled Pittsburgh's lead at the game's halfway point after taking a pretty feed on the rush from Ville Koivunen and Malkin's third goal in four games was more than enough for Silovs, who was only sporadically challenged while picking up his second shutout of the season and fourth of his career.

Up next

Panthers: Continue their four-game road trip on Sunday in Chicago.

Penguins: Host Nashville on Saturday.

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BOSTON (AP) — Michael DiPietro made 28 saves for his first career shutout, David Pastrnak had two goals and two assists, and the Boston Bruins cruised to a 6-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.

Charlie McAvoy had a career-high four assists for Boston, and Casey Mittelstadt, Elias Lindholm, JJ Peterka and Mark Kastelic also scored.

Pastrnak leads the Bruins in goals (six) and assists (10). Boston improved to 6-0-1 in its last seven games, with the only loss coming Tuesday in overtime at Dallas to conclude a four-game trip.

Justus Annunen stopped 25 shots in first start for Nashville since last season. The Predators have lost four of five.

The Bruins went ahead 3:49 into the game when Pastrnak sent a cross-ice pass to Mittelstadt, who fired it past Annunen's right shoulder.

Lindholm made it 2-0 on the power play later in the first. Pastrnak scored midway through the second when he deflected McAvoy's shot past Annunen, and the Bruins captain assisted on Peterka's goal late in the period.

Pastrnak capped the scoring with 5 minutes remaining and became the eighth player in Bruins history with 20 career four-point games.

The Bruins scored six goals for the third time, tied with the Golden Knights, Kraken, Avalanche and Hurricanes for the most in 2026-27.

McAvoy became the fourth defenseman in Bruins history with 10 career games of three assists or more, joining Ray Bourque, Bobby Orr and Brad Park.

Up next

Predators: At Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Bruins: Host San Jose on Saturday.

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