Colorado Avalanche (35-6-9, in the Central Division) vs. Ottawa Senators (24-21-7, in the Atlantic Division)
Ottawa, Ontario; Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: The Colorado Avalanche visit the Ottawa Senators after Brock Nelson's hat trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Avalanche's 4-1 win.
Ottawa is 24-21-7 overall and 12-10-4 in home games. The Senators have a 4-10-3 record in games their opponents commit fewer penalties.
Colorado has a 15-4-5 record on the road and a 35-6-9 record overall. The Avalanche have a +80 scoring differential, with 197 total goals scored and 117 given up.
Wednesday's game is the second meeting between these teams this season. The Avalanche won 8-2 in the last matchup. Josh Manson led the Avalanche with two goals.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tim Stutzle has scored 23 goals with 29 assists for the Senators. Jake Sanderson has two goals and nine assists over the past 10 games.
Nathan MacKinnon has 38 goals and 50 assists for the Avalanche. Nelson has scored nine goals and added four assists over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Senators: 4-4-2, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.7 assists, 4.5 penalties and 11.4 penalty minutes while giving up 3.6 goals per game.
Avalanche: 4-4-2, averaging 3.4 goals, 6.2 assists, 2.8 penalties and 6.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.6 goals per game.
INJURIES: Senators: None listed.
Avalanche: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Bruins host the Nashville Predators after Elias Lindholm scored two goals in the Bruins' 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Rangers.
Boston has gone 19-8-1 in home games and 30-20-3 overall. The Bruins have committed 257 total penalties (4.8 per game) to rank first in the league.
Nashville has gone 10-11-2 in road games and 24-23-4 overall. The Predators have a -29 scoring differential, with 145 total goals scored and 174 given up.
The teams meet Tuesday for the first time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: David Pastrnak has scored 21 goals with 45 assists for the Bruins. Charlie McAvoy has three goals and nine assists over the last 10 games.
Steven Stamkos has 25 goals and 12 assists for the Predators. Ryan O'Reilly has seven goals and eight assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bruins: 8-1-1, averaging four goals, 7.2 assists, 3.7 penalties and 10 penalty minutes while giving up 2.3 goals per game.
Predators: 5-5-0, averaging 2.9 goals, 4.7 assists, 3.3 penalties and 6.9 penalty minutes while giving up 3.5 goals per game.
INJURIES: Bruins: None listed.
Predators: None listed.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The New York Rangers’ 4-3 overtime win over the Boston Bruins on Monday night may not mean a whole lot when it comes to the standings and playoff chances, but there’s a lot to be encouraged about, specifically when it comes to the young players.
Entering this matchup, the Rangers had lost three straight games and were without Carson Soucy, who was held out for roster management reasons as a trade between the Rangers and the New York Islanders was on the verge of being completed, which was made official after the game.
With Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury releasing a letter last week outlining the team’s intentions to retool the roster, this win in the grand scheme of things doesn't hold much significance.
The focus now shifts from making the playoffs with a clearly depleting roster to fully developing the young core and giving them opportunities to thrive.
In Monday night’s victory, the young core served as the driving force to securing these two points.
It was Will Cuylle who scored the Rangers’ first goal in the first period to set the tone. Cuylle, Noah Laba, and Brennan Othmann form a prominent third line, built on youth, physicality, and grit.
“Lobs (Laba) is continuing to grow and develop,” Sullivan said. “He brings a speed game. I think when he plays with Will Cuylle, I think they have a pretty good north-south game, a speed game there. They're fairly reliable defensively, so they can play on both sides of the puck. We have no issues playing them against anyone.”
Gabe Perreault set up the Blueshirts’ second goal with a pinpoint pass to J.T. Miller, who capitalized to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.
As of late, Perreault has been playing his best hockey. From seeming to be overwhelmed by the pace of NHL play when he was originally called up, Perreault is now generating offense at a high rate.
The 20-year-old forward’s vision allows him to slow down the game and create for his teammates, while his offensive prowess is providing the Rangers with some much-needed explosiveness on a roster mostly barren of high-end skill.
Perreault has thrived in a top-six role playing on a line alongside Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller, and he’s certainly deserving of a larger role given that he didn’t even touch the ice for the entirety of overtime.
“I think Gabe has done a great job playing with Mika and J.T. You can see his offensive instincts. I think he's getting more comfortable with the game, with each game that he plays and the experience that he gets, but he has the instincts to play with those guys, and I think it's evident,” Sullivan said of Perreault.
“That pass he made to J.T., that's an elite play. There are a lot of guys that don't have the vision or the skillset to execute the play, and it was a really smart play on his part, but just the vision to see it. We're really excited about the progress he's made.”
It was Matthew Roberston, who delivered the overtime-winning goal, going coast to coast and finishing with a nifty move to get the puck past Joonas Korpisalo.
It’s been a long journey for Robertson, who spent four full seasons in the American Hockey League playing for the Hartford Wolf Pack, and quite frankly, it didn’t appear as if he would make the jump to the NHL, at least not with the Rangers.
This season, Robertson not only made the Rangers’ opening-night roster out of training camp, but he has carved out a consistent role for himself, making for a real feel-good story.
The 24-year-old defenseman had his shining moment on Monday night, and admitted that he thinks that this was his only overtime goal that he could remember.
“Honestly, I just blacked out and just smiled,” Roberston emphasized. “I was excited.”
Roberston also took time to reflect on the mountain he had to climb to be able to experience that moment and knows he can’t take anything for granted.
“I remind myself, honestly as much as I can, just how hard it is to get here and just to keep pushing,” Robertson said. “You can go back to where I was easily. You can get sent down at any time.”
At the end of the day, it’s just one game, and the Rangers have a long way to go in the retooling process, as we have yet to see the true implications of Drury’s letter outside of the minor Soucy trade.
However, it’s all about the young talent, and for the Rangers’ sake, hopefully Monday night’s emotional victory is a sign of what is to come in the future.
It feels like just yesterday we were all watching Evan Bouchard get his hat trick and listening to Mattias Ekholm sing his praises. Okay, so it was literally the last game. But it's the same difference.
Now it's Ekholm's turn. The veteran defenseman recorded a hat trick against the Anaheim Ducks, becoming just the fourth defenseman in Edmonton Oilers history to accomplish the feat. And here's the wild part: when Bouchard did it, he was only the third. Fifty-four years of Oilers hockey, and only two defensemen—Paul Coffey and Marc-Andre Bergeron—had managed it. No Oilers defenseman with a hat trick in 20 years. Then all of a sudden, two games, not even a week apart, two D-partners pull off the same statistical miracle.
If this isn't a sign that things are trending in the right direction, I don't know what is.
Connor McDavid certainly thinks so. When asked about Ekholm's performance, he didn't hold back.
"We're not talking greatness, we're talking legendary," McDavid said.
Legendary might be strong, but it's not wrong. Ekholm's been a steady, reliable presence on the Oilers' blue line since arriving from Nashville. He doesn't typically light up the scoresheet—he's more about shutdown defence, smart positioning, and veteran leadership. So when he scores three goals in one game? Yeah, that's legendary.
"Some nights the bounces go your way. I will try to enjoy this one because it will probably be my last," Ekholm said with a laugh. "I couldn't buy a goal for twenty games, then three in one."
That's hockey for you. Sometimes the puck just finds you. But give Ekholm credit—he's been a pillar on the Oilers blue-line for a while.
"Obviously he (Ekholm) has a bomb of a shot, and he knows how to use it," Leon Draisaitl said.
He does. Ekholm's not just getting lucky bounces—he's picking his spots, loading up, and firing. When a defenseman with his experience and shot gets opportunities, good things happen.
But here's what makes this stretch even more significant: it's not just Bouchard and Ekholm. It's the entire Oilers defence. Against the Ducks, Edmonton's blue line combined for five goals, two assists, and a plus-10. Five goals from defensemen in one game. That's absurd. That's the kind of offensive production from the back end that Stanley Cup teams get.
Spencer Stastney chipped in. Darnell Nurse scored. Bouchard's been a force all season. And now Ekholm's joining the party. The Oilers' defence isn't just preventing goals — it's creating them.
Sometimes (most of the time, let's be honest), the Oilers get a reputation for having a lousy defensive structure. And some games, it's warranted. We've watched them lose games because of defensive breakdowns, missed assignments, and untimely turnovers. But we've also seen this — two world-class performances from the top defensive pairing against two decent teams in less than a week.
It's a bit perplexing. But it also shows things are coming together on the back end. The Oilers now have two solid goalies — Tristan Jarry and Connor Ingram (sorry, Calvin Pickard; you will be missed). They've got outstanding performances from their top D-pairing. And they're getting contributions from depth defensemen who are stepping up when needed.
"If we're going to have success down the road, it's going to be from the defensive side out," Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said.
He's absolutely right. The Oilers have always been able to score. McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman—they'll put up goals. But Cups aren't won on offence alone. You need goaltending. You need defensemen who can move the puck, shut down opposing forwards, and contribute offensively when opportunities arise.
Right now, the Oilers are getting all of that. Bouchard and Ekholm are playing on another level. The depth defensemen are contributing. The goaltending's been solid. And the structure—when they commit to it—is there.
Two hat tricks from defensemen in a week. That's not normal. That's not something you can count on happening again. But it's a reflection of how dangerous this team can be when everything works. When the defence is active, when they're shooting, when they're confident—this team becomes nearly impossible to stop.
Ekholm might never score another hat trick in his career. He's probably right about that. But for one night against Anaheim, he was legendary. And the Oilers' defence? It's starting to look like it might actually be good enough to win something.
Keep your eye on the blue line. It might just take the Oilers to that next level.
Before the 2025-26 season started, Evgeni Malkin told the Pittsburgh Penguins coaches and management staff that he wanted to play with Tommy Novak.
Novak was acquired by the Penguins from the Nashville Predators, along with Luke Schenn, for Michael Bunting and a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, before last year's trade deadline. Novak would go on to appear in only two games before suffering a season-ending injury.
Coming into the season, Novak started the year playing a lot of minutes with rookie Ben Kindel on the third line, while Malkin centered Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau. Novak and Malkin had chemistry on their own lines before the Penguins suffered some injuries, including one to Malkin in early December.
Malkin missed a month with a shoulder injury before returning to the lineup on Jan. 8 against the New Jersey Devils. He was originally on a line with Kindel and Egor Chinakhov before head coach Dan Muse swapped out Kindel for Novak ahead of the Jan. 13 game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Novak and Malkin have been on the same line ever since that game, and the Penguins have a 5-0-2 record during that time. The two have also shown outstanding chemistry together, and it was on display again during Sunday's game against the Vancouver Canucks.
In the second period, Chinakhov did a great job winning the puck along the boards before spinning and passing the puck to Novak, who delivered a great cross-ice pass to Malkin in the offensive zone for the game's opening goal. Malkin made no mistake with the puck on that play.
Novak's a great distributor of the puck, and when you combine that with Malkin's ability to finish chances, that's what you get.
During the game against the Calgary Flames on Jan. 21, Malkin and Novak both scored great goals, but it was their play on Chinakhov's goal that really stood out. Malkin took the puck from Ryan Shea and galloped into the offensive zone before passing it off to Novak. Novak then had a small, one-touch feed to Chinakhov, who used his wicked release to make it 2-0 at the time.
Novak has four points in his last three games and two goals and eight points in January, while Malkin has five points in his last three games and five goals and 11 points for the month.
Jan 15, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Egor Chinakhov (59) celebrates his goal with Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) and center Tommy Novak (18) against the Philadelphia Flyers during the second period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Novak and Malkin have played 173 minutes together at 5v5 this season, and have been on the ice for 48.3% of the shot attempts, 47.7% of the expected goals, 49.7% of the scoring chances, and 47.8% of the high-danger chances. While all of those numbers are below 50%, I expect them to improve down the stretch, given how they've been playing. They also have a +8 goal differential at 5v5.
Malkin is slated to hit free agency after the season, and it's been a big story this year, given the season that he's having. Malkin has 13 goals and 40 points in 36 games and is one of the biggest reasons why the Penguins are in second place in the Metropolitan Division.
His representatives are expected to meet with Penguins president and general manager Kyle Dubas during the Olympic break to discuss a possible extension. If I'm the Penguins, this is a no-brainer. I'd sign Malkin to a one-year deal to return for another year. He'd probably take at least a little bit of a discount, and the front office can also attach a full no-move clause to the deal.
He's playing like a player who still has something left in the tank and more than deserves an extension. It would also give the Penguins another opportunity for Malkin and Novak to play together for a second season in a row, since Novak still has a year remaining on his contract after this year. Novak isn't slated to be a free agent until after the 2026-27 season.
Both players have been a blast to watch on the same line this month and are a threat to score each time they're on the ice. Assuming the Penguins make the playoffs, they could be a matchup nightmare for other teams in a seven-game series.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves for his second shutout of the season and 42nd of his career, Darren Raddysh scored on a power play late in the second period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Utah Mammoth 2-0 on Monday night.
Brandon Hagel added a power-play goal in the final minute for the Lightning, who have won 15 of 17 and swept the season series against Utah. Tampa Bay moved atop the Eastern Conference standings with 70 points, one ahead of Carolina and Detroit.
Vasilevskiy, who leads the league in goals-against average, improved to 2-0-0 against the Mammoth, both shutouts. He blanked them last season, the inaugural campaign for the Utah franchise.
Raddysh took a feed from Nikita Kucherov and one-timed it above the shoulder of Karel Vejmelka for a 1-0 lead with 2:22 left in the second.
Vejmelka made 25 saves for Utah, which lost in regulation for only the second time in its past 12 games.
RANGERS 4, BRUINS 3, OT
NEW YORK (AP) — Matthew Robertson scored at 3:53 of overtime as New York beat Boston to snap a three-game losing streak.
Will Cuylle, J.T. Miller and Will Borgen also scored for the Rangers, and Jonathan Quick got his 408th career win — passing Hall of Fame goalie Glenn Hall for 12th place on the NHL list. Quick made 21 saves and assisted on the overtime winner.
The Rangers, last in the Eastern Conference, took two of three against Boston this season. They improved to 6-13-4 at home and won for only the third time in 14 games overall.
Elias Lindholm had two goals and Morgan Geekie also scored for the Bruins. David Pastrnak added three assists to reach 900 career points. He has nine assists in his last five games. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 24 shots.
ISLANDERS 4, FLYERS 0
NEW YORK (AP) — Ilya Sorokin stopped 21 shots for his NHL-best sixth shutout of the season and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored two goals to lead New York to a win over Philadelphia.
Mathew Barzal and Tony DeAngelo also scored for the Islanders. The Islanders scored power-play, short-handed and even-strength goals.
A game after they were shut out for the first time this season, Pageau snapped the scoreless streak with his ninth goal of the season on a short-handed shot past Samuel Ersson.
The Flyers allowed their fifth short-handed goal of the season.
OILERS 7, DUCKS 4
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Mattias Ekholm scored a hat trick and Edmonton rode a dominant second period to a victory over Anaheim.
Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid each added a goal and an assist for the Oilers, Spencer Stastney scored his first in an Edmonton jersey and Darnell Nurse also scored.
Leon Draisaitl contributed four assists and Tristan Jarry stopped 36 of the 40 shots he faced.
Three of Anaheim’s four goals came from Mikael Granlund on the power play, starting with his 10th tally of the season 3:24 into the game.
By and large, things have been going quite well for prospects in the Pittsburgh Penguins' organization this season, as many of them have either overachieved or appear to be ahead of schedule.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case for everyone.
On Monday, Penguins' forward prospect Melvin Fernstrom - acquired as part of the deal that sent Marcus Pettersson to the Vancouver Canucks prior to last year's trade deadline - was called back from his SHL club, Orebro HK, after struggling to begin his season there. Fernstrom, 19, could join the Penguins' organization in some capacity, whether that's with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL or the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins of the AHL.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound right winger produced just three goals and four points in 36 SHL games this season for Orebro, which was in stark contrast to last season - eight goals and 17 points in 48 games - when he earned SHL Rookie of the Year honors. According to the Tribune Review's Seth Rorabaugh, he was loaned to AIK of the HockeyAllsvenskan - Sweden's league a step below the SHL - on Jan. 15, but Fernstrom did not see any playing time there.
The decision was officially announced in a press release by Orebro on Monday, in which they said that Fernstrom was not going to receive adequate playing time in Sweden.
The Penguins signed Fernstrom to a three-year entry-level contract last summer, and he was loaned to Orebro this season. The forward - selected by Vancouver in the third round (93rd overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft - still needs to pass through immigration, per Rorabaugh's report, and a decision on where he will spend the remainder of the 2025-26 season has not yet been made.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Mattias Ekholm scored a hat trick and the Edmonton Oilers rode a dominant second period to a 7-4 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.
Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid each added a goal and an assist for the Oilers, Spencer Stastney scored his first in an Edmonton jersey and Darnell Nurse also scored.
Leon Draisaitl contributed four assists and Tristan Jarry stopped 36 of the 40 shots he faced.
Three of Anaheim’s four goals came from Mikael Granlund on the power play, starting with his 10th tally of the season 3:24 into the game.
His linemate Alex Killorn added an even-strength tally 55 seconds into the middle frame, Beckett Sennecke notched two assists, and Ville Husso made 25 saves in the loss.
The result snapped a seven-game win streak for the Ducks, who downed the Calgary Flames 4-3 in overtime on Sunday.
The Oilers got some fresh faces into the lineup with winger Kasperi Kapanen returning after missing three games with an injury and center Josh Samanski made his NHL debut.
Cutter Gauthier helped out on Granlund’s first goal of the night and extended his point streak to five games with three goals and four assists across the stretch.
The Chicago Blackhawks are showing clear signs of improvement this season. The Blackhawks currently have a 21-23-8 record and are sixth in the Central Division standings. This is after they finished the 2024-25 season with a 25-46-11 record.
While the Blackhawks still have more work to become a playoff team again, they are heading in the right direction. One reason why the Blackhawks have improved this season is that multiple of their youngsters are making a big impact. Louis Crevier is one of them, as he has been enjoying a nice breakout year for the Original Six club.
Crevier has not only cemented himself a spot on the Blackhawks' NHL roster this season but has also played on Chicago's top pairing with Alex Vlasic. When noting that Crevier has shown that he can be a very solid shutdown defenseman, he has certainly earned this opportunity with Chicago.
In 49 games so far this season with the Blackhawks, Crevier has recorded new career highs with four goals, 10 assists, 14 points, and 79 hits. Overall, he has been a nice part of the Blackhawks' roster and is undoubtedly creating more excitement from fans about his future with the team because of it.
It will now be interesting to see how Crevier builds on his breakout season with the Blackhawks, but the 6-foot-8 defenseman has been quite a nice story so far.
William Nylander said he’s sorry, but the NHL is making sure that he’s really sorry.
The league handed Nylander a $5,000 fine for “making an inappropriate gesture” after he flipped the middle finger to a TV camera that had been pointed in his direction during Sunday’s Maple Leafs game against the Avalanche.
The TSN broadcast had its cameras pointed at the press box, where Nylander and other Leafs players not suited up for the game had been seated, when he gave it the middle finger and then started laughing.
Leafs players in the press box realized they were on the tv broadcast and William Nylander flipped the bird? pic.twitter.com/be70R2GuX0
William Nylander gives the middle finger to a broadcast camera during an Avalanche-Maple Leafs game. X @GinoHard_
“Nylander directed an inappropriate gesture at a television camera operator while the camera was directed at Mr. Nylander and his teammates in the press box. The gesture was shown live on-air during the game broadcast,” NHL senior vice president of player safety George Parros said in a statement. “This serves as a reminder the code of conduct governing Players extends throughout the arena at NHL games and in public game situations.”
Nylander did apologize for his actions in a post on social media on Sunday, as well as while speaking with reporters on Monday after the Leafs practiced.
He said he made the gesture out of frustration and that it wasn’t directed towards anybody in particular.
“I just wanted to apologize for my actions yesterday. It was out of frustration, so I’m sorry about that,” Nylander said.
William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates with teammates after a goal during the first period against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on January 15, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. NHLI via Getty Images
Nylander has been dealing with a groin injury and will miss his sixth game on Tuesday night when the Sabres visit the Maple Leafs.
The Leafs have lost four of the five games that he’s been out with the injury.
Leafs coach Craig Berube seemed ready to move on from the middle finger incident.
“He made a mistake. He owned up to it,” Berube said. “Things happen. People make mistakes. Players make mistakes. Coaches make mistakes. It happens. He knows it’s wrong and he owned up to it.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Matthew Robertson scored at 3:53 of overtime as the New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Monday night to snap a three-game losing streak.
Will Cuylle, J.T. Miller and Will Borgen also scored for the Rangers, and Jonathan Quick got his 408th career win — passing Hall of Fame goalie Glenn Hall for 12th place on the NHL list. Quick made 21 saves and assisted on the overtime winner.
The Rangers, last in the Eastern Conference, took two of three against Boston this season. They improved to 6-13-4 at home and won for only the third time in 14 games overall.
Elias Lindholm had two goals and Morgan Geekie also scored for the Bruins. David Pastrnak added three assists to reach 900 career points. He has nine assists in his last five games. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 24 shots.
Cuylle opened the scoring midway through the first period with his 12th of the season. Borgen’s wrist shot tied the game at 3 with 6:17 remaining in the third.
The Rangers celebrated their 1994 championship team before the game as part of the franchise’s centennial celebration.
Up next
Bruins: Host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
Rangers: Visit the New York Islanders on Wednesday.
The Buffalo Sabres have been one of the NHL's biggest surprises this season. After having a cold start to the campaign, the Sabres now have a 29-17-5 record and are third in the Atlantic Division standings.
There are many reasons for the Sabres being in this good of a position right now, and goaltender Alex Lyon is undoubtedly one of them. The 33-year-old goaltender has been fantastic for the Sabres this season and is only getting better as the campaign rolls on.
In 23 games on the season so far with the Sabres, Lyon has recorded a 12-6-3 record, a 2.70 goals-against average, a .911 save percentage, and has tied his career-high in shutouts with two. With this, he has certainly been making a big impact for the Sabres this campaign.
Lyon has also won each of his last nine appearances for the Sabres, which has tied him for the longest winning streak in franchise history with Gerry Desjardins. That is incredibly impressive stuff.
When noting that Lyon has a bargain $1.5 million cap hit until the end of the 2026-27 season, it is absolutely clear that he has been a complete steal for the Sabres.
The Islanders came into Philadelphia on Monday night outmanned and reeling, having lost their past two games by a combined score of 9-1.
For a team that hadn’t lost three straight games in regulation since the first three games of the season, and for a team that would have gone below the playoff cutline with a defeat, this was a game they needed in the worst sort of way.
Down Simon Holmstrom, Cal Ritchie and Ryan Pulock with a combination of illness and injury, the Islanders showed their resilience anyway, defeating the Flyers 4-0 at Wells Fargo Center.
“We approached the game like it was a playoff game,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau told reporters after a two-goal performance. “And I thought we played an extremely solid game. Of course, when your goalie gives zero, it helps a lot.”
This performance had so much of what the Islanders have lacked recently.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau #44 of the New York Islanders celebrates his first period shorthanded goal against the Philadelphia Flyers with Casey Cizikas #53 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on January 26, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NHLI via Getty Images
The Islanders dominated on special teams. They held the puck in the offensive zone and played off the cycle. They cut down on high-danger chances around Ilya Sorokin’s crease, helping him to a 21-save shutout.
That is what they will need to do, again and again, if they are going to stay above the playoff cutline and make some noise in the tournament itself.
Coach Patrick Roy’s constant reshuffling of the lines finally seemed to land on some combinations that did the trick here. Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair had exactly the right response to their third-period benching on Saturday, playing most of the night up ice on a line with Jonathan Drouin. The trio produced a goal when Barzal tipped Isaiah George’s shot from the right point past Sam Ersson to make it a 2-0 game 5:41 into the second.
That was sandwiched between a pair of special teams goals, the first of which came from Pageau shorthanded at 14:29 of the first. Pageau took Casey Cizikas’ expertly spun feed off the wall and went bar-down to open the scoring.
Barzal then got his second point of the night on the power play, assisting Tony DeAngelo off the rush to make it 3-0 at 12:50 of the second. Ironically, that counted for DeAngelo’s first power play goal as an Islander. And, as Roy noted, the play was sprung by an active backchecking effort from Duclair.
Islanders center Mathew Barzal (13) in action against the Philadelphia Flyers in the second period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Flyers didn’t come up with much as far as a potential comeback, and Pageau’s second goal of the night made it a 4-0 game at 13:38 of the third. Maxim Tsyplakov’s feed off the wall to set up Pageau was just his second point and first assist of the year.
The reunited fourth line of Marc Gatcomb, Cizikas and Kyle MacLean did its usual good work, while Emil Heineman and Bo Horvat clicked well on the second line. Max Shabanov got better alongside them as the game went on, as did Tsyplakov with Pageau and Anders Lee. The Islanders will hope that Tsyplakov — filling in for Holmstrom, who was a late scratch with illness — gets a much-needed confidence boost from putting a point on the board.
“That’s one of his best games this year,” Roy told reporters of Tsyplakov. “… Might not be easy at times, but he played really well.”
Sorokin, for once, was not under fire all night. His sixth shutout of the year required just 21 saves for comparatively little stress.
Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin (30) makes a save against the Philadelphia Flyers in the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The injuries are starting to pile up for the Islanders, who pulled the trigger on reinforcements in the form of Carson Soucy. The Islanders officially announced the deal after the game which sent a 2026 third-round pick down 495 and across the East River to the Rangers in exchange for the left-handed defenseman.
If Pulock’s upper-body injury has him miss serious time, though, Soucy won’t be enough. And Ritchie, who was called day to day with a lower-body injury, is suddenly a concern as well.
The way everything was piling up, a loss Monday would have felt like a crisis point in the season.
Turning in an all-around performance and a commanding win over the team directly below them in the standings instead was certainly a good way to take the pressure off.
“I thought we had a really good process,” Tony DeAngelo told reporters. “That’s how you win games: process. It was probably our best 60-minute game from start to finish in a little while here.”
The Montreal Canadiens have one of the most exciting prospect pools in the NHL. Among their notable promising youngsters is defenseman Adam Engstrom, as the 2022 third-round pick has the potential to emerge as a solid NHL defenseman.
Engstrom played his first American Hockey League (AHL) season with the Laval Rocket during this past campaign. In 66 games with the AHL club, he posted five goals, 22 assists, 27 points, and a plus-14 rating. Overall, the left-shot defenseman demonstrated plenty of promise with Laval this past season but has been taking another step forward with his play so far in 2025-26.
In 28 games so far this season with Laval, Engstrom already has seven goals, 15 assists, and 22 points. With numbers like these, there is no question that the young defenseman has provided Laval with some solid offense from the point this campaign.
Engstrom is continuing to make an impact with Laval as the season rolls on, too. Over his last nine games with Laval, he has two goals and six points. This included him recording a goal and an assist in Laval's Jan. 24 contest against the Calgary Wranglers on Jan. 24.
The Canadiens will be hoping that Engstrom can continue to impress as the season rolls on. If he does, he certainly has a chance of getting another look on the NHL roster soon.
There were some lineup swaps tonight with Cal Ritchie (lower body injury) and Simon Holmstrom (illness) out. Max Tsyplakov and Marc Gatcomb drew into the lineup, giving both of them an opportunity to make an impression after a tough game for the Islanders against Buffalo.
The Islanders bounced back tonight in Philadelphia, with JG Pageau scoring twice, including one shorthanded goal, Mat Barzal responding well to his third-period benching with a goal and an assist, and Ilya Sorokin recording his league-leading sixth shutout this season.
Early on in the first, though, Tsyplakov’s impact was just a hooking penalty, which the Islanders killed.
Noah Cates went to the box for holding, and we were treated to two very bad mixed up power play units, which bumped Barzal to the second unit, separated from Bo Horvat and Matthew Schaefer. That power play went poorly, and the Flyers killed it.
Then, the other swap in the lineup, Gatcomb, went to the box as well, but JG Pageau scored short handed, assisted by Casey Cizikas.
In the second period, the Flyers got an early power play after Adam Boqvist was called for high sticking. Before that started, Ilya Sorokin was down in the crease, but seemed to shake it off, after a Matvei Michkov shot hit him in the back of the leg and went in after the whistle blew.
With 30 seconds left on that power play, Scott Mayfield and Owen Tippett were both sent to the box for slashing and crosschecking respectively. The Islanders killed all of that, despite being down two defensemen.
Later, Barzal got a tip on an Isaiah George shot, putting it past Samuel Ersson after some cycling in the Flyers zone.
Cam York was called for tripping, and the Islanders took advantage of a shorthanded turnover at the blue line and Anthony Duclair passed the puck to Barzal who set up Tony DeAngelo to make it 3-0.
At the end of the second, Jonathan Drouin took a puck to the face and went right down the tunnel. Drouin came back for the third with some stitches, but otherwise was fine.
Emil Heineman collided with a ref behind the play and labored to the bench, but it wasn’t anything more serious as he played his normal shifts the rest of the game.
Schaefer drew a high sticking penalty, sending Tippett to the box, but the Isles couldn’t convert on the man advantage.
Tsyplakov then set up Pageau for his second of the night (and Tsyplakov’s first assist of the season!) to make it 4-0 and entirely bury any chance of a comeback from the Flyers.
The Islanders closed out the game and Ilya Sorokin picked up his sixth shutout of the season and extended his franchise record total, while Barzal, Duclair, and Pageau each scored two points (1G/1A, 2A, 2G respectively) and Isaiah George got his first assist of the season in just his second game back up in the NHL.
Up Next
Next, the Islanders have a home-and-home back-to-back with the New York Rangers starting Wednesday at UBS Arena. There’s been a rare trade between these two teams (not yet officially-official at time of posting, but Carson Soucy to the Islanders for a 2026 3rd round pick) so Soucy will likely debut against his old team and become the stable bottom pair defenseman this team has been missing almost all season.
