New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin has rightfully been ranked among the best players in the NHL. 

The Hockey News' Adam Proteau ranked Shesterkin as the 51st player in the NHL in his top 80 NHL player rankings list for The Hockey News' main site. 

"As a Vezina Trophy winner, the 30-year-old Shesterkin doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone – although he might have something to prove in the playoffs. But if you examine Shesterkin’s career numbers, you’ll see his consistency is outstanding," Proteau wrote.

Seeing Shesterkin be ranked among the best players in the NHL is not difficult to understand in the slightest. He is easily one of the NHL's best goaltenders, after all. 

Shesterkin has had a strong start to the 2026-27 season, as he has a .935 save percentage and a 1.51 goals-against average in two games. With this, the 30-year-old is certainly playing well right now. 

It will now be interesting to see how Shesterkin performs as the 2026-27 season rolls on. If the Rangers hope to get back into the playoffs this season, they are going to need Shesterkin to be on his A-game. He is their biggest X-factor. 

The 2026–27 season only started last week, and already, the Vancouver Canucks are taking part in the second-half of their first back-to-back. After winning 4–1 against the Calgary Flames on Saturday night, Vancouver is back with a matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights tonight. Vegas suffered a 4–3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. 

Saturday saw Vancouver put together a solid team effort. Not only did they find the back of the net four different times (three times at even-strength), they also stepped-up to defend one-another, from Luke Schenn dropping the gloves to Brendan Gallagher mucking it up with Jacob Middleton. While all of Vancouver’s games have had a lighter air about them so far to start 2026–27, Saturday’s game seemed to show best how tight the team has gotten. 

While the vibes have sure been high, Vancouver will face their toughest test of the early season when they face Vegas tonight. Having made it to Game 6 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final, Vegas is a strong team both offensively and defensively. Adding to this is the fact that Vancouver is coming off a back-to-back, while Vegas has had the extra day of rest. For a team like Vancouver, still on track to re-build despite their strong start to the season, tonight’s game will be about sticking to their game-plan regardless of what happens on the scoreboard.  

Players To Watch: 

Elias Pettersson  

The Elias Pettersson that has taken to the ice for the 2026–27 season has looked very different from the player seen the past couple of seasons. Pettersson has played with an added bite to his game through the first three games, currently standing as the NHL’s hits leader with 16. He’s also recorded two goals and three assists in this span, which is tied for his team’s lead in total points. Scoresheet aside, the level of engagement Pettersson has shown to start the year has been nothing but positive. 

Jack Eichel

On top of leading his team with five points through Vegas’ first two games of the 2026–27 season, Eichel also recently hit the 700-point mark through his NHL career. As the Golden Knights’ top-line centre, it’ll be interesting to see who Vancouver matches up against Eichel, as the forward is strong on the puck both offensively and defensively. 

Vancouver Canucks (2–1–0): 

Points: 

Paul Cotter: 3–2–5

Elias Pettersson: 2–3–5

Marco Rossi: 3–1–4

Liam Öhgren: 1–3–4

Filip Hronek: 0–4–4

Goaltenders: 

Kevin Lankinen: 1–1–0

Leevi Meriläinen: 1–0–0

Vegas Golden Knights (1–1–0): 

Points: 

Jack Eichel: 1–4–5

Shea Theodore: 1–2–3

Brayden McNabb: 0–3–3

Victor Olofsson: 1–1–2

Ivan Barbashev: 0–2–2

Goaltenders: 

Carter Hart: 1–1–0 

Adin Hill: 0–0–0

Game Information: 

Start time: 6:00 pm PT 

Venue: Rogers Arena

Television: Sportsnet

Radio: KiSS West Coast 

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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The Chicago Blackhawks' loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night was a sad ending to what is now an 0-3-0 road trip to begin the season. Before they even hit the United Center ice for the first time, they are in a hole that will be incredibly hard to dig out of. 

Is it time to panic? Absolutely not. It also sounds like the team as a whole is not even close to panicking yet, either, but they do acknowledge that things have to get cleaned up sooner rather than later. You can't make the playoffs in October, but you can certainly miss them. 

"I don't think we're worried about the record," head coach Jeff Blashill said. "It's all about process. I've talked about that from the start with our group. That process is way better. Let's build on the process. You can't take one step forward and two steps back. That's not always going to show in wins and losses. Over the long period of time, if the process is good, the wins will follow."

One part of that process must be doing a better job of protecting the goaltenders. The Blackhawks have hung out their guy in the crease to dry in all three games so far. 

In game one, Spencer Knight faced 36 shots. In game two, Arvid Soderblom faced 32. In game three, back to Knight, he faced 32 as well. In the first game, the Blackhawks had 26 of their own shots, but a lowly 15 in each of the next two. That's not even close to an even distribution. There has been significantly more pressure on their goaltenders than on the opponent's. 

With that kind of workload, it is impossible for any goalie to win consistently in today's NHL. Both Blackhawks netminders, especially Knight, can steal a game here and there, but it can't be expected every game. 

Let's use the Buffalo game as an example. The Blackhawks went up 2-0 early, but they allowed the Sabres to dominate possession, offensive zone time, and shots on goal in the process of gaining that lead. It was only a matter of time before the Sabres evened things up. Spencer Knight was only able to do so much before they finally got one past him.

Shot suppression and backchecking are the hardest things for a young team to master, but they have to step up and be better in that regard as early as their next game. If there isn't an improvement, they will continue to lose in the fashion that they have. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay up to date on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

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Playing their second game in 24 hours, the Bruins got off to a flying start when Tanner Jeannot scored less than two minutes into the game.

Unfortunately, that was about as good as things would get for the visitors.

Minnesota would score twice in each of the final two periods to pull away from the B’s, skating to a 4-1 win.

Michael DiPietro took the loss in his first NHL start in more than four years, making 26 saves.

Jeannot’s goal came after a hard-working shift from his line, as he collected a Connor Clifton point shot and beat Jesper Wallstedt to make it 1-0 Bruins.

Kirill Kaprizov got the Wild on the board with a power play goal six minutes into the second period, as the Bruins made a somewhat poor choice and left him all alone at the top of the crease. 1-1 game.

Quinn Hughes danced to the high slot and beat DiPietro with a wrist shot six minutes after that, making it 2-1 Wild.

The Wild got a fortuitous bounce to start the third, with Jared Spurgeon’s shot deflecting off of Nikita Zadorov and past DiPietro to make it 3-1 Wild.

The Bruins didn’t exactly roll over, landing 13 shots on goal in the third period, but ultimately, they couldn’t cash in.

Kaprizov would add an empty-netter to seal the deal.

Bruins lose, 4-1.

Game notes

• You could be forgiven for considering this a scheduled loss, given the strength of the opponent, the back-to-back games, and the fact that we’re less than a week into the season. However, the Bruins played a decent enough game overall and were very much “in it.” It would very much be a stretch to say they deserved more from this game, but a few moments shifted the momentum in Minnesota’s favor.
• One of those moments was the deflection on the Spurgeon goal, which is one of those “what are you gonna do?” goals that happens several times a season. The more back-breaking moment was the Hughes goal, as that came with the Bruins just one second away from killing nearly two full minutes of a Minnesota 5-on-3 power play. If you make that kill, it’s a 1-1 game and momentum is on your side; instead, the Wild took the lead and never really looked back.
• Speaking of special teams, the Bruins were let down by their power play in this game, going 0-for-3 on the man advantage. That included nearly four consecutive minutes of power play time midway through the third period, when Minnesota took a minor, killed it off, then took another minor about 30 seconds later. The Wild, meanwhile, scored two of their three non-ENGs on the power play.
• On the season, the B’s are 0-for-6 on the man advantage. Not exactly time to panic quite yet, but not ideal either.
• David Pastrnak remains without a goal on the season, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying on Saturday night: the Bruins captain landed five shots on goal and played 21:02, second-most on the B’s behind Hampus Lindholm.

The Bruins will return home to host the Ottawa Senators on Monday night at 7:30 PM.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

After spending nearly three months on the free agent market, former Buffalo Sabres defenseman Logan Stanley signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the New York Islanders in late September. 

Now, Stanley is already making an impact with the Islanders. This is because the former Sabres blueliner put together a solid game for New York against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. 

Stanley recorded two assists in the Islanders' 6-0 win over the New Jersey Devils. With this, the former Sabres blueliner chipped in some solid offense for his new club. 

Stanley will now be looking to continue this kind of play for the Islanders as the season rolls on. The former Sabres defenseman showed last season that he has the potential to provide some offense from the point in addition to his toughness, so it will be intriguing to see if he can again for New York this season.

Stanley was acquired by the Sabres from the Winnipeg Jets ahead of the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline. In 17 games with the Sabres following the move, he posted five assists, 14 hits, 29 penalty minutes, and a plus-5 rating. This was after he had nine goals, 21 points, 96 hits, and 99 penalty minutes in 59 games for the Jets before the trade in 2025-26.

The Montreal Canadiens were back in action on Saturday night, taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pennsylvania. Martin St-Louis’ men started better than they did in Toronto on Tuesday, with Cole Caufield quickly putting them ahead, but momentum shifted after the hosts scored their first power-play goal.

The 6-5 scoreline may make it seem like a tough night at the office for Jakub Dobes, but while there’s one goal he most likely would like to have back, a comedy of errors unfolded in front of him for much of the game.

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Matheson Will Want To Forget That One

While Mike Matheson is often the defenseman the coach trusts the most, he seemed to labor throughout the game. The momentum flipped when he was sent off for interfering with Sidney Crosby in the first frame. One could argue the Penguins captain should have gotten a penalty for roughing, given how he reacted, but most of the Canadiens’ woes were self-inflicted.

Former teammates Sidney Crosby and Mike Matheson get into it 😯 pic.twitter.com/CUkU7o7918

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 3, 2026

Then, the veteran didn’t close down Declan Carlile on the Pens’ second goal and was dispossessed twice on the fourth. He was also on the ice for the Pens’ last two goals, but he wasn’t responsible for either. The Pointe-Claire native had a very rough night. 

There’s Something About The Second

Both teams were tied at 1-1 after 20 minutes, but once again, the Canadiens went for a nap in the second frame, leaving Dobes to fend for himself. The Pens put 15 shots on net in the period, while the Canadiens could muster only seven. Granted, Dobes could have had better rebound control, but with the panic around the net, it can’t have been easy to keep a cool head.

St-Louis often says that his players’ intentions were good, but that wasn’t the case tonight. The Habs made so many lazy plays and bad reads that they asked for trouble. They didn't keep it simple or play it safe in any of the three zones, but the neutral-zone turnovers really were their undoing. The coach summed it up best when he said:

We shot ourselves in the foot throughout the second. […] I’m pleased with the fight back in the third; we managed to get a point out of the game, but I don’t think we deserved two.

- St-Louis on his team's performance

We’ve heard time and again that the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Habs in the Eastern Conference Final because Rod Brind’Amour’s side plays a detailed game, but playing 60 minutes isn't a detail; it’s a minimum requirement. 

First Line On A Desperate Mission

If the first line didn’t have a good game Tuesday night, the Nick Suzuki and Caufield duo seemed everywhere tonight. Caufield scored the first goal of the game, Suzuki scored the goal that gave the Canadiens a bit of hope in the dying minutes of the second, and Caufield scored Montreal’s first goal in the third frame. Montreal scored its last two lamplighters with six players on the ice, but Suzuki got the primary assist on both.

Caufield finished with a plus-3 rating while Suzuki was plus-4, and the captain was also named the second star of the game with a goal and three assists, but he clearly wasn’t pleased in his post-game presser. The points that really matter are the two that were on the line Saturday night, and Montreal lost one.

FOUR UNANSWERED FROM THE HABS 🚨

IVAN DEMIDOV TIES IT IN THE FINAL MINUTE! pic.twitter.com/ipDGUdYxpo

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 4, 2026

Since 2024-2025, the Canadiens have the most comeback wins in the league with 48, which is quite impressive. However, the truth is: they need comeback wins because they consistently dig themselves into huge holes.

Quick Shots

Chris Kreider scored his first goal as a Hab tonight, with a one-timer from his office in traffic. He finished the game with two points and had a good night overall.

Alexandre Carrier left the game after a bad fall in the first frame; his back was slammed awkwardly into the boards, and while he kept going for a bit, he had to call it a night.

The Canadiens have a day off on Sunday, but chances are the coaches will be very busy, not only watching what happened during the game but also trying to finally find a way to get a full 60-minute effort out of this team.

---

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If anything has become clear from the team's first three games of the season, it's that the Philadelphia Flyers are nowhere near ready to begin their ascent to the status of perennial playoff team.

In three consecutive games - all losses - the Flyers have been handily outplayed and out-shot by divisional opponents, and they generally look like a team that met each other for the first time right before puck drop.

It hasn't been all doom and gloom, of course, as Joseph Woll has been a real bright spot for the Flyers, and Matvei Michkov looked more like his usual self on Saturday night against Carolina after being reunited with Travis Konecny.

The talent remains in place, but the Flyers have objectively regressed and look completely overmatched. That falls on the coaching staff, but it's up to the players, too, to get ready and stay ready. By now, that should be a given for anyone who isn't a rookie.

"Other teams are going through the same thing," Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said of the shortened training camp and lack of practice time after Saturday's 3-2 overtime loss to Carolina.

"Developing your game doesn't start, like September, and ends in June. It's through the summer. Hopefully, we had some guys working on their game, because the execution is really bad. It really is."

The Flyers are a young team with playoff aspirations, but all the good will they built last year with a fanbase that has been more than patient could quickly evaporate entirely if this skid continues.

The slumping roster would benefit from an infusion of talent that never came in the offseason, and perhaps more importantly, a kick in the pants to get the season going in the right direction after dropping cheap points to division rivals early on.

Flyers' opportunity for Simon Edvinsson trade

On Saturday, while the Flyers were playing the Hurricanes, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported that RFA Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson now prefers a trade away from the team with his contract situation lingering into the start of the 2026-27 campaign.

"The team and the agents are not talking, but there is word today around the league that unsigned Detroit defenseman Simon Edvinsson prefers a trade from the Red Wings. He went to camp with no contract. On the eve of the season, he went back to Sweden, where's skating now," Friedman said on Sportsnet's "Saturday Headlines" segment.

"Now, I understand the Red Wings have made it clear to other teams that their priority is still to sign him. That is their No. 1 goal, but apparently his frustration at the entire situation has led him to indicate he would prefer a trade."

With all their struggles, this should be music to the Flyers' ears.

Before and during the offseason, the Flyers made clear their desire to make an upgrade on defense, though nothing ultimately came to fruition.

The Leo Carlsson offer sheet saga came and went to no avail, and that was it for the Flyers' offseason.

Now, though, the Flyers have an opportunity to take advantage of the Red Wings' plight, upgrade their defense, and take the big swing all in one go, proving to concerned Flyers fans that they won't stand idle amid a dreary start.

Edvinsson, 23, is a 6-foot-6 former No. 6 overall pick who has scored 16 goals and 56 points over the last two seasons, emerging as a top-pair complement to Moritz Seider on the Red Wings.

The hulking Swede can do a bit of everything in the vein of someone like Travis Sanheim, and his combination of size, youth, and ability makes him everything the Flyers would want in an addition to their defense.

Throughout their first three games, the Flyers have been bleeding scoring chances, and the injury to Rasmus Ristolainen may motivate the front office to bolster their defense before things get even uglier on the backend.

Players like Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, Cam York, and Jamie Drysdale are all without trade protection, and the Flyers have plenty of draft picks and prospects they can use in a deal, too, even though the Red Wings have reportedly been looking for assets that can benefit them now.

The Flyers have a myriad of options available to them, in any case, and this is the perfect opportunity to shake the complacency label and take action while sending a strong message to the rest of the group.

The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered their second loss of the regular season, a 3-2 defeat to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena.

Toronto had a solid performance, especially offensively in the second period, putting up 14 shots to Ottawa's four in that middle frame. There were also some moments on the power play during the game where the Maple Leafs looked very threatening and converted on one of the four opportunities they had in the outing.

The power-play marker, scored in the second period, was by Kirill Marchenko, netting his first goal since being traded to the Maple Leafs.

In addition to his goal, the Russian also took two minor penalties. One was a slashing minor in the first period, and the other was a high-sticking penalty on Senators center Tim Stutzle in the third.

The second penalty was deemed slightly controversial, given Stutzle's reputation for embellishment in the NHL. Leafs captain Auston Matthews made a diving motion with his hand after the penalty was called, giving his opinion on a decision that tilted momentum in Ottawa's favor.

Auston Matthews hit the dive emote after Tim Stützle was flopping like a fish 💀

100% justified reaction

🎥: @Sportsnet#leafspic.twitter.com/E6if2q8WCW

— Leafslatest (@Leafslatest) October 4, 2026

"I don't know, I mean, the refs obviously see what they see, and it's a quick game, and you have to respect that," Matthews said of the call after the game. "But I think we could definitely do a better job just with our sticks there. And it's like a high-sticking penalty, tripping penalty, just being better with our sticks."

Marchenko began his post-game media availability by apologizing for taking that penalty. Ottawa didn't officially score a power-play goal from that penalty, but they did score as the penalty expired, with Toronto essentially still having four players on the ice.

"My penalty, I apoligize for that," he said.

In terms of the decision, the left winger doesn't totally agree with the call. And while he doesn't agree with the ruling that was enforced on the ice, he says it's not an excuse and takes responsibility for his undisciplined actions.

"Actually, I don't see anything," Marchenko said of the high-sticking penalty on Stutzle. "Battle on the puck. I think it's just put his stick and my stick touch his face and he's kind of like dive, not dive. I don't want to say anything about it, but yeah, it's penalty. Penalty is penalty and it's on me. I can play better next time on this moment, but yeah, what I can do, just try to win the pucks."

'Doesn't Matter For Me': Maple Leafs Kirill Marchenko Has No Problem On Off-Wing And Power-Play Bumper PositionsKirill Marchenko has been pencilled in as the left winger on the top line for the Toronto Maple Leafs, even though he's been a right winger thus far in his NHL career for the most part. However, he has stressed that it doesn't matter to him where he plays, and this is why.

Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller said he wasn't pleased, not by the decisions of the officials, but by the number of penalties his team took. He noted specifically that the two late in the game, one by Marchenko and the other by Jack Roslovic, really hurt the team.

"Some careless penalties," the bench boss noted. "I thought the two penalties in the third period really hurt us. Just took our momentum away a little bit, gave them some life, and they pushed hard."

Particularly on the Marchenko penalty, "I haven't looked at it that closely," Hiller said. "But it's a stick battle. A stick comes up. It's, you know, it's a penalty. That's just the way it works. Got to keep your stick down."

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The Chicago Blackhawks had another tough performance on Saturday night. This time, it was a 4-3 loss at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres, ending an 0-3-0 road trip. It was a slight improvement in terms of competitiveness, but the overall lousy play continued. 

There were a couple of bright spots in the game, however. Two players can claim they played well. One of them, Alex Vlasic, didn’t have Bowen Byram on his pair due to the fact that Byram had to leave to attend a family matter. They may have been separated anyway due to their play over the first two games, but Vlasic bounced back in a big way.

In addition to playing much better in his own end, especially compared to his fellow Blackhawks blue-liners, he collected two assists. One was a brilliant centering pass to Ryan Donato, proving Vlasic can make a play when the opportunity arises. 

"Sometimes things go your way," Vlasic said about his personal success in the loss. "I don't think it really matters. I'm not focused on that. I'm trying to help us win. Any way I can do that is something I'm striving for." 

Although he is not going to be happy about his game because of the result, it's a game for him to build on as an individual. 

Anton Frondell is the other player who had a great game on an individual basis. He, like Vlasic, had two assists, but they were both grade-A primaries. The first was a magnificent pass to complete the tic-tac-toe goal scored by Tyler Bertuzzi. The second was a wonderful pass back to Oliver Moore on what was a go-ahead goal at the time. 

Vlasic is a very important two-way defender that the Blackhawks have a lot of faith in. They have also committed to him financially and with term. However, Frondell was a third overall pick who has the tools to be one of the franchise's marquee players. He looked like it in this game. 

NHL Game Score Impact Card for Chicago Blackhawks on 2026-10-03: pic.twitter.com/y5EntEYOhB

— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) October 4, 2026

"It's hard to say after a loss," Frondell said about his personal game. He went on to credit the fact that he and Teravainen were able to make some nice plays, but it wasn't good enough in his mind. 

You're not going to get much from hockey players when they lose, even if they had excellent games on a personal level, which Frondell did. 

"It's boring to lose games," Frondell said. "That's not what we want to do. But I think today showed that we can play better as a team."

The Blackhawks need more of this from Frondell. They selected him where they did because they believed he was an elite prospect. Now, they need him to be an elite player, but it is going to take time. There are going to be more sensational games like this; some of them may even come in wins, and there are going to be more growing pains.

At the end of the day, it's about learning to rack up multiple good games in a row until it becomes part of who you are as a player. For Frondell, he's on the right track entering his first full season. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

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Just two games into the San Jose Sharks' new season, the long familiar "Beat LA" chants were being belted out at the SAP Center as they hosted the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night. 

The extracurricular activities didn't take long to begin, as Macklin Celebrini went after Adrian Kempe after the first whistle when the Kings forward ran into the net, narrowly missing a collision with Sharks netminder Yaroslav Askarov. The Sharks got the first power play when the Kings' captain, Drew Doughty sat for cross-checking. The Sharks' power play started off strong, but were unable to convert before the veteran defenseman exited the penalty box. 

The Sharks had a couple of scares around the middle of the period, as Igor Chernyshov got some attention from training staff after a hard pass from Darnell Nurse caught him in the skate, leading to some clear pain. Doughty then collided with Askarov after being hooked by Nolan Allan, leading to a Sharks penalty kill. The Kings took advantage of the extra man and Kempe scored the opening goal. 

The Sharks were unable to find an equalizer before the first period expired, but they did get a power play to start the second period as Alex Laferriere was called for roughing at the very end of the first frame. 

Just like the Kings did in the first period, the Sharks took advantage of the power play and rookie Ivar Stenberg picked up his first career point. Stenberg found Toffoli on a cross-crease pass that he easily slipped past Anton Forsberg to tie the game at 1-1.

Sharks Highlight Reel: Stenberg Gets First Point in Spectacular FashionThe San Jose Sharks entered the second period of Saturday night's game against the Los Angeles Kings trailing 1-0 after Adrian Kempe scored his first of the season to put their arch enemies ahead. 

The Sharks then took the lead just eight seconds before the official halfway point of the game, as Kiefer Sherwood ripped a shot from the slot past Forsberg for his first goal of the season moments after intercepting a pass. Nolan Allan scored his first goal as a Shark on the rush at 12:32 in the second period, doubling the team in teal's lead and giving the fans their beloved tacos from Taco Bell. 

With just over a minute remaining in the second period, the Kings started cycling the puck as there was a delayed penalty on Celebrini for slashing. It led to quite a few chances for the Kings before the Sharks were able to touch the puck, including a shot that hit the inside of the post. Ultimately, the Sharks were able to survive the unofficial penalty kill and Celebrini went into the penalty box with just over 30 seconds remaining in the period to start the official power play for Los Angeles. With 1.3 seconds remaining in the frame, Quinton Byfield sniped his first goal of the season to bring the Kings within a single goal heading into the final 20 minutes of play.

The Sharks doubled their lead when Igor Chernyshov scored his first goal of the season off of a nice breakout pass by Tyler Toffoli, making it a 4-2 game. While there's quite a bit of criticism of Toffoli's speed on social media, this play showed exactly why Ryan Warsofsky likes to keep him with the speedy youngsters. He placed a pass perfectly allowing Chernyshov to beat the defense.

Collin Graf skated to the penalty box at 7:42 in the third period after he tripped up the veteran Corey Perry, who seemed to go down a little easily. The Sharks' penalty kill was successful this time around and prevented a power play goal for the first time in the game. Prior to this, the Kings were two-for-two on the power play. 

At 10:21 in the third period, Erik Haula scored his first of the season to bring the Kings within a goal once again. Then, Artemi Panarin scored his second goal of the campaign to tie things up with five minutes remaining. For the second time in two games, the Sharks weren't able to maintain a lead to close out a game in regulation.

For the second time in two games, the Sharks blew a third period lead and the game went to overtime. Once again, they had a young player serve as an overtime hero though, as this time it was Igor Chernyshov with his second goal of the night who secured a victory for the Sharks and improved their record to 2-0-0.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Leevi Merilainen made 23 saves in his first start for Vancouver and the Canucks had a four-goal third period in a 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.

Liam Ohgren celebrated his 100th NHL game by scoring a goal and assisting on defenseman Elias Pettersson’s winner.

Drew O’Connor and Aatu Raty also scored, and defenseman Tom Willander and center Linus Karlsson each had two assists.

Matt Coronato had a power-play goal for Calgary, and Devin Cooley made 22 saves. The Flames are 0-2.

Pettersson made it 2-1 at 9:04 of the third period. He took a pass from Ohgren and lifted a backhander past Cooley’s glove.

Up next

Flames: At Seattle on Sunday night.

Canucks: Host Vegas on Sunday night.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Jiri Kulich scored with 6:40 left and the Sabres overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in Buffalo’s home-opener on Saturday night.

For Kulich, the goal was his first in nearly a calendar year, and after the 22-year-old missed the final 70 games of last season due to blood clot issues. Rasmus Dahlin tied the game 6:10 into the third period, and Jack Quinn and Tage Thompson also scored for Buffalo. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 12 saves.

Oliver Moore, Ryan Donato and Tyler Bertuzzi scored for the Blackhawks, who dropped to 0-3 following road losses at Vegas and Utah. Spencer Knight stopped 24 shots. Chicago squandered a 2-0 first-period lead and a 3-2 lead entering the third.

Kulich’s goal came after he missed the net on a chance from in close. Thompson recovered the puck behind the net and fed Owen Power in the right circle. Power then set up Kulich to the left of the net, from where he beat Knight.

The Sabres have won seven straight over Chicago and are 10-0-1 since a 4-1 loss on Nov. 17, 2019.

SENATORS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 2

TORONTO (AP) — Stephen Halliday broke a tie at 9:46 of the third period, Linus Ullmark made 27 saves and Ottawa opened the season with a victory over Toronto.

Thomas Chabot had a goal and an assist in his first game as captain, and Michael Amadio provided the rest of the offense for Ottawa. Claude Giroux added two assists.

Auston Matthews and Kirill Marchenko scored for Toronto, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots. The Maple Leafs are 1-2.

LIGHTNING 3, CAPITALS 1

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves, Charle-Edouard D’Astous and Conor Geekie scored in the first period and Tampa Bay won their home opener with a victory over Washington.

Brandon Hagel had two assists for the Lightning, and Jake Guentzel scored into an empty net and had an assist. Tampa Bay opened play Thursday night in New York with a 5-1 loss to the Rangers.

Charlie Lindgren finished with 27 saves for Washington. Justin Sourdif scored for the Capitals.

HURRICANES 3, FLYERS 2, OT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Sebastian Aho scored a pair of goals and assisted on Shayne Gostisbehere’s overtime winner as Carolina beat Philadelphia.

Gostisbehere, a former Flyer, scored on the power play, firing a slap shot past Philadelphia goalie Joseph Woll 2:51 into the extra period.

Aho scored 10 seconds into the game on a pass from behind the net by William Carrier. He tied the score 2-2 in the third period with a power-play goal on a one-timer from Nikolai Ehlers. Pyotr Kochetkov had 16 saves.

The win was the Hurricanes’ first of the season after the Stanley Cup champions opened with a pair of losses, but it also matched an NHL record. It was the ninth consecutive season the Hurricanes have won their road opener, tying a mark set by the Flyers from 1980 through 1988. Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour became the first coach to win nine consecutive road openers.

Philadelphia dropped its third straight game to start the season for the first time since the 2014-15 season.

PENGUINS 6, CANADIENS 5, OT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Tommy Novak scored his second goal of the game in overtime to give Pittsburgh a victory over Montreal.

Novak converted a 2-on-1 from Evgeni Malkin at 1:33 of overtime, as Pittsburgh recovered after allowing a four-goal lead in the second period slip away.

Malkin scored a power-play goal and had two assists. He recorded his 1,411th point, passing Dale Hawerchuk for 22nd place in NHL history.

Ben Kindel was activated from injured reserve and scored a power-play goal, while Sam Girard and Declan Carlile also scored for Pittsburgh.

Sidney Crosby had an assist, the 1,109th of his career, which tied Hall of Fame forward Joe Thornton for seventh-most in NHL history.

Arturs Silovs stopped 20 shots.

MAMMOTH 4, BLUE JACKETS 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Nick Schmaltz had two goals and Utah scored three times on the power play to beat Columbus for its second straight victory to open the season.

Mikhail Sergachev and Dylan Guenther each scored power-play goals. Sergachev added an assist and Guenther and Logan Cooley each had two assists. Sebastian Cossa stopped 15 shots in his Utah debut.

Clayton Keller had two assists to reach 600 NHL career points. He has two goals and 15 assists for 17 points in 17 career games against the Blue Jackets and four assists this season.

Kent Johnson scored for Columbus, and Jet Greaves stopped 21 shots. Matthew Knies had an assist, giving him four points in his first two games with the Blue Jackets.

OLERS 3, KRAKEN 1

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist to give him nine points through three games as Edmonton beat SeattlE.

Owen Michaels and Leon Draisaitl also scored for the Oilers (2-0-1). Devon Levi made 19 stops to earn the win in the Oilers’ net.

Bobby McMann had the lone goal for the Kraken (1-1-0). Philipp Grubauer recorded 22 saves for Seattle.

After McMann made it a 1-1 game 9:06 into the second period, it was Draisaitl who eventually broke the deadlock.

Draisaitl scored with 2:27 left in regulation, with McDavid adding an empty-netter with 1:05 remaining.

Edmonton has gone 15-4-1 against the Kraken, including winning eight of nine meetings at home.

ISLANDERS 6, DEVILS 0

NEW YORK (AP) — Ilya Sorokin made 36 saves for his 30th career shutout in a win over New Jersey.

Simon Holmstrom, Brayden Schenn, Bo Horvat, Viktor Eklund, Ondrej Palat and Casey Cizikas scored for the Islanders, who won their home opener after losing in Toronto against the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. Matthew Schaefer, named the youngest assistant captain in Islanders history on Tuesday, had two assists.

Nico Daws made 26 saves for New Jersey, which lost for the first time this season after beating the Philadelphia Flyers in its opener.

PREDATORS 2, STARS 1

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Steven Stamkos and Nils Hoglander scored power-play goals in the first period, Juuse Saros made 29 saves and the Nashville Predators beat the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Saturday night.

The Predators are 1-1 on the season.

One night after a season-opening shutout loss at home to St. Louis, the Stars wasted no time finding the back of the net Saturday.

Heiskanen scored 47 seconds after the opening faceoff with a wrist shot from the right circle.

Stamkos made it 1-1 at 4:46 of the first. It was career goal 625 for Stamkos, tying him with Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic for 17th on the NHL’s career goals list.

WILD 4, BRUINS 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov scored twice, Jesper Wallstedt made 26 saves, and Minnesota beat Boston.

Quinn Hughes had a goal and assist, and Jared Spurgeon also scored.

With the win, Minnesota improved to 18-4-4 in home openers and its .769 points percentage in those games is second-best in the NHL to Vegas, which is at .850 while going 8-1-1.

Tanner Jeannot scored for Boston, which won 4-3 in overtime at Winnipeg Friday, and allowed just three goals in winning its first two games.

Michael DiPietro made 26 saves for the Bruins in his third career start and first since Jan. 23, 2022, with Vancouver. The 2025-26 American Hockey League MVP with Providence, he led the league with 34 wins, a 1.91 goals-against average and .930 save percentage.

AVALANCHE 6, BLUES 1

DENVER (AP) — Nicolas Roy and Martin Necas scored 23 seconds apart in a four-goal second period, and Colorado beat St. Louis.

Necas, who finished with two goals and an assist, is off to a fast start with two goals and two assists after notching the first 100-point season of his career in 2025-26.

Nathan MacKinnon continued his hot start with three assists and has five points in the first two games, both blowouts by Colorado. MacKinnon, last year’s Rocket Richard winner with 53 goals, scored two goals in the 8-4 win over Los Angeles on Wednesday night.

Necas and Cale Makar, who signed an eight-year, $163.2 million extension that kicks in next season, scored in the first period and the Avs blew it open in the second.

Josh Manson scored at 5:38, Artturi Lehkonen stole St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington’s clearing pass and knocked it into the empty net six minutes later, and then Roy and Necas put it away with goals in the final 1:58.

CANUCKS 4, FLAMES 1

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Leevi Merilainen made 23 saves in his first start for Vancouver and the Canucks had a four-goal third period in a victory over Calgary.

Liam Ohgren celebrated his 100th NHL game by scoring a goal and assisting on defenseman Elias Pettersson’s winner.

Drew O’Connor and Aatu Raty also scored, and defenseman Tom Willander and center Linus Karlsson each had two assists.

Matt Coronato had a power-play goal for Calgary, and Devin Cooley made 22 saves. The Flames are 0-2.

SHARKS 5, KINGS 4, OT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Igor Chernyshov scored his second goal of the game with 1:42 remaining in overtime and San Jose beat Los Angeles for their second straight win to open the season.

The Kings rallied from two goals down in the third to tie the game and controlled play for most of the overtime. But San Jose came out on top when Chernyshov beat Anton Forsberg on a one-timer off a pass from Macklin Celebrini, who has five assists in two games.

After not getting a win in the first five games the past four seasons, the Sharks have back-to-back overtime wins to begin this season after beating Florida 4-3 in the opener Thursday night.

Tyler Toffoli, Kiefer Sherwood and Nolan Allan also scored for San Jose. Yaroslav Askarov made 31 saves.

____

One would like to think that wasn’t a predictable result coming into a second of a back-to-back when the mighty Colorado Avalanche is waiting for you, but unfortunately for the St. Louis Blues, it was worse than one could imagine.

The Avalanche quickly and efficiently doused the Blues’ hopes of what looked like a mountainous task of trying to win two games in 24 hours against the Dallas Stars, which they did, and then the Avalanche by burying St. Louis, 6-1, at Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday night.

Yeah, it was that kind of a game.

After a very impressive 4-0 win in Dallas on Friday, the Blues (1-1-0) couldn’t afford to fuel the feeding frenzy that the Avalanche (2-0-0) can bring on a nightly basis, and they did just that.

As for the game, well … where to begin?

* Needed a strong start – The Avalanche, fresh off also pasting the Los Angeles Kings, 8-4, have been sitting around for two days at home waiting for the Blues, who got into Denver late off their win Friday. They were fresh, they were amped up, they were ready.

Jim Montgomery knew what was coming, so he moved some parts around, including putting his top defensive players (Philip Broberg and Colton Parayko together) and wanted to have his top line (Robert Thomas, Dylan Holloway and Jimmy Snuggerud) against Colorado’s top line featuring Nathan MacKinnon and top defensive pair, including Cale Makar, who will next season be the NHL’s highest paid player at $20.4 million average annual value.

Quite the opposite happened.

Makar and Martin Necas scored goals in the opening 20 minutes, and both came against the Blues’ D-pair and top line. And let’s face it, if not for Jordan Binnington in that first period in which the Blues were outshot 15-4, it could have been 4-, or 5-0.

Colorado goal!

Scored by Cale Makar with 15:51 left in the 1st. Assisted by Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon.

COL: 1 | STL: 0#STLvsCOL#GoAvsGo#StlBluespic.twitter.com/lsyvyyUbJw

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 4, 2026

Colorado goal!

Scored by Martin Necas with 06:48 left in the 1st. Assisted by Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen.

COL: 2 | STL: 0#STLvsCOL#GoAvsGo#StlBluespic.twitter.com/R7QPgfGCAI

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 4, 2026

* It really unraveled in the second – The Blues probably would have felt better about themselves entering the second had Robert Thomas, whose turnover led to the Avs’ second goal by Necas, converted late in the first but instead hit the post. Regardless, they did have some decent legs and rushes to begin the period.

But when Josh Manson’s one-timer from near the blue line deflected past Binnington off Jonatan Berggren’s stick at 5:38, it led to more mistakes in which the talented Avs will make you pay for.

And things didn’t get better for Binnington, who allowed six goals on 36 shots on the night when Artturi Lehkonen intercepted a mid-air clearance and made it 4-0 at 11:40, then Nicolas Roy and Necas scored twice late in the second period 23 seconds apart and it was all over but the shouting at 6-0.

Roy’s goal came off a failed clearing attempt and Necas converted when a rimmed puck eluded Binnington behind the net.

The Avs scored four times on just seven shots that period.

* Dvorsky two in two – Sure, the game was well out of reach (6-0), but the Blues needed to play the third period like it was 0-0, show some fight and spunk.

Dvorsky’s goal at 2:34 of the third came off a hustle forecheck by himself and Berggren to help create the turnover back to the left point, where Theo Lindstein throws it towards the net. Yes, there was a bit of a break when the puck was mishandled by Manson right to Dvorsky, but he made no mistake in whipping his backhand past Mackenzie Blackwood:

St. Louis goal!

Scored by Dalibor Dvorsky with 17:26 left in the 3rd. Assisted by Theo Lindstein.

COL: 6 | STL: 1#STLvsCOL#GoAvsGo#StlBluespic.twitter.com/d8EylkgGNU

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 4, 2026

* Penalty kill continues to shine to start – The Avs pumped four man-advantage goals past the Kings in their opener and we all know the Stars were one of the top power-play units in the NHL last season.

After going 4-for-4 on the PK Friday, the Blues followed it up with another 4-for-4 effort to begin the season 8-for-8 on a unit that was 25th (76.7 percent) in the league last season.

As for the power play, well, there will be better days. There better be if this team is to make the necessary jump in the standings; that side again didn’t generate much, going 0-for-2 after going 0-for-4 Friday, and in the two opportunities Saturday, it was problematic getting set up in the zone again and losing the offensive zone draw.

"We made a lot of mistakes today, but we've got to learn from it and just keep going."

Hear from Robert Thomas, Colton Parayko and Jim Montgomery following a loss to Colorado. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/dCXwF90FnI

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) October 4, 2026

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The San Jose Sharks entered the second period of Saturday night's game against the Los Angeles Kings trailing 1-0 after Adrian Kempe scored his first of the season to put their arch enemies ahead. 

The Sharks started the second frame on the power play as Alex Laferriere sat in the penalty box for roughing due to a scrum after the horn sounded to end the first period. Just 12 seconds before the penalty was set to expire, Macklin Celebrini passed the puck to Stenberg who was skating into the faceoff circle. Stenberg then rocketed a cross-crease pass from the faceoff dot to Tyler Toffoli who easily tapped the puck past a hopeless Anton Forsberg.

Tic-Tac-Tie game! 👏#TurnItAllTealpic.twitter.com/7GwBHv5NPn

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) October 4, 2026

Stenberg, the Sharks' second overall selection in this summer's NHL Draft, is the second player to hit an important milestone this season. In the opener against the Florida Panthers, 21-year-old defenseman Luca Cagnoni scored the overtime winner which was his first career goal at the NHL level. Stenberg's hunt for his first NHL goal continues for the time being, but at the time of writing, there's still half a hockey game to go. If he finds the back of the net against the Kings, this story will be updated.

NEW YORK (AP) — Ilya Sorokin made 36 saves for his 30th career shutout in a 6-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

Simon Holmstrom, Brayden Schenn, Bo Horvat, Viktor Eklund, Ondrej Palat and Casey Cizikas scored for the Islanders, who won their home opener after losing in Toronto against the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. Matthew Schaefer, named the youngest assistant captain in Islanders history on Tuesday, had two assists.

Nico Daws made 26 saves for New Jersey, which lost for the first time this season after beating the Philadelphia Flyers in its opener.

Holmstrom and Schenn scored 1:28 apart to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead five minutes into the second period. Jean-Gabriel Pageau slid the puck past Jonas Siegenthaler’s outstretched stick to set up Holmstrom.

Schaefer set up Horvat on the power play to cap the Islanders’ three-goal second period. Horvat was named the 16th captain in franchise history on Sept. 14.

Eklund, selected by the Islanders with the No. 16 pick in the 2025 NHL draft, set up Schenn’s goal in the second period before scoring his first NHL goal midway through the third. Cal Ritchie assisted on Eklund’s goal.

Palat scored 42 seconds later, finishing a pass from Cizikas to make it 5-0.

Cizikas added a short-handed goal to make it 6-0.

Up next

Devils: Host the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday.

Islanders: Visit the New York Rangers on Tuesday.