DENVER — Alex Barré-Boulet didn’t just answer the call — he made it count.

The 28-year-old forward, the Colorado Eagles’ leading point producer and a key contributor for the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, was summoned on short notice to replace Valeri Nichushkin, who was ruled out of Monday afternoon’s game against the Washington Capitals. Nichushkin was scratched after sustaining minor injuries in a multi-car accident while en route to the arena, forcing the Avalanche into a last-minute lineup adjustment.

Barré-Boulet Serves as Late Call-Up for Nichushkin

Barré-Boulet, who has recorded 12 goals and 25 assists for a team-leading 37 points in 36 games with the Eagles, received the call roughly two hours before puck drop. Unlike in boxing, where late replacements can decline a fight, hockey doesn’t afford that luxury. When the call comes, you go.

Makar Magic 🪄 pic.twitter.com/fFgq2lMvXC

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) January 19, 2026

And Barré-Boulet made the most of his opportunity.

He recorded an assist in Colorado’s 5–2 victory, earning his first NHL point in more than two years. Just under six minutes into the opening period, Barré-Boulet left a pass for Parker Kelly at the top of the zone. Kelly carried the puck in, slammed on the brakes, and fed Cale Makar for a point shot that Kelly deflected past Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren to give Colorado a 1–0 lead.

The goal marked Kelly’s ninth of the season — a career high for the 26-year-old — but it carried added significance for Barré-Boulet. It was his first NHL point since December 21, 2023, when he scored for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 5–4 win over the Vegas Golden Knights.

Perhaps even more notable, Barré-Boulet hadn’t dressed for an NHL game in well over a year.

Barré-Boulet Makes an Impact

Making an impact on such short notice did not go unnoticed by head coach Jared Bednar.

“I liked him. That line did some good things for us. They drew a few icings, had a good forecheck, drew a penalty,” he stated. “They were able to sustain some o-zone time in the second period. We were able to jump out our top guys and get a favorable matchup a couple times.

“Short notice for sure and he came in and did a nice job. (Washington) shortened their bench a little bit, so did we. So they didn’t see a lot of ice time in the second half of the game.”

Prior to Monday night, Barré-Boulet had not appeared in an NHL game in more than 15 months. His last outing came on October 10, 2024, when he suited up for the Montreal Canadiens against the Boston Bruins in the final game of a brief two-game stint. He recorded no points and picked up two penalty minutes during that stretch.

Since then, Barré-Boulet has spent the bulk of his time with Montreal’s AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, where he enjoyed a strong 2024–25 campaign. In 64 regular-season games, he posted 22 goals and 41 assists for 63 points, then added three goals and 11 points in 13 playoff appearances.

Barré-Boulet was reassigned to the Eagles following the game, but he returned to the AHL having reinforced what the Avalanche saw during the preseason. His two-way play is no fluke. He has shown he is more than just a scorer — he is committed to rounding out every aspect of his game, a standard he has set throughout his professional career.

That approach will likely be rewarded with another call-up down the line when the Avalanche need him again.

TORONTO (AP) — Marcus Foligno had his first NHL hat trick to double his season goals total, Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice and the Minnesota Wild beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Monday night.

The 34-year-old Foligno in the second period at even strength and on a power play, then into an empty net in the third.

Ryan Hartman added a goal and an assist, and Kirill Kaprizov and defensemen Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber each had two assists. Hughes has two goals and 18 assists in 18 games with the Wild since being acquired from Vancouver on Dec. 12.

Filip Gustavsson stopped 27 shots. The Wild have won two straight to open a three-game trip after being swept on a three-game homestand. They beat Buffalo 5-4 in overtime Saturday.

Auston Matthews scored his 25th goal of the season and had an assist for Toronto. John Tavares and Nicholas Robertson also scored. Joseph Woll allowed five goals on 29 shots in two period. Dennis Hildeby stopped nine shots in the third.

The Maple Leafs had won seven in a row a home.

Foligno gave Minnesota a 3-1 lead at 6:53 of the second, Tarasenko followed with his second of the game at 8:24 and Foligno made it 5-1 on a power play with 46 seconds left in the period.

Up next

Wild: At Montreal on Tuesday night.

Maple Leafs: Host Detroit on Wednesday night.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Goalie fights are rare in the NHL nowadays because linesmen try to keep combative netminders apart.

But there was one Monday night because Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky charged down the ice and went after the San Jose Sharks' Alex Nedeljkovic before anyone could react.

The scrap happened during the third period after Florida's Evan Rodrigues hit Vincent Desharnais, who had tripped the Panthers' Mackie Samoskevich. Nedeljkovic left the crease to join the scrum, which drew the ire of Bobrovsky.

Bobrovsky had the gloves off and Nedeljkovic dropped his, and both masks came off. Nedeljkovic eventually took Bobrovsky down.

WE GOT A GOALIE FIGHT 🚨‼️

BOBROVSKY AND NEDELJKOVIC 🤯 pic.twitter.com/8rKnPxCl3N

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 20, 2026

Each goalie got five minutes for fighting and two minutes for leaving the crease.

This was the NHL's first goalie fight since Mike Smith and Cam Talbot in February 2020.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Goalie fight! Sergei Bobrovsky, Alex Nedeljkovic drop gloves

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Brandon Bussi made 17 saves for his 18th win of the season, Seth Jarvis scored the go-ahead goal on a power play early in the third period and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on Monday.

Andrei Svechnikov had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, who have won three straight and secured at least one point for the eighth time in their past nine games. Sebastian Aho assisted on both of Carolina’s goals, giving him nine in five games.

Bussi improved to 18-3-1 and now has the most victories for a goaltender in his first 22 NHL starts. Six of his saves came on U.S. Olympian Tage Thompson, including a highlight-reel glove stop and another with two seconds remaining.

Rasmus Dahlin scored for the Sabres, who have lost back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 5 and 8. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 26 of 28 shots as Buffalo began a five-game road trip.

The Hurricanes have a 13-game home winning streak against the Sabres, the league’s longest active streak of its kind.

AVALANCHE 5, CAPITALS 2

DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist to reach 1,100 career points and Colorado beat Washington.

Parker Kelly, Victor Olofsson and Artturi Lehkonen also scored to help Colorado bounce back from a 7-3 loss to Nashville on Friday night — the Avalanche’s first home regulation loss of the season.

MacKinnon joined Hall of Famer Joe Sakic as the only players in franchise history to reach 1,100 points. Scott Wedgewood made 22 saves, including several big ones in the third before Colorado scored two late goals.

Jakob Chychrun and Ethen Frank scored for the Capitals in the opener of a six-game trip. Alex Ovechkin added an assist to give him 1,665 points. He’s four away from tying Wayne Gretzky for the fifth-most in NHL history by a player with one franchise (Gretzky had 1,669 with Edmonton in the NHL, and another 104 with the Oilers in the WHA).

PENGUINS 6, KRAKEN 3

SEATTLE (AP) — Brett Kulak broke a second-period tie with his first goal of the season, and Pittsburgh beat Seattle.

Kulak, acquired from Edmonton in December as part of the trade for goalie Tristan Jarry, scored for the first time since last year’s Western Conference final. The defenseman ripped a one-timer to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead with 5:15 left in the second.

Several other unlikely offensive contributors chipped in for the Penguins (23-14-11). Fellow defenseman Parker Witherspoon got the scoring started with a wrister from the point that slid past Seattle goalie Joey Daccord for his third of the season.

Pittsburgh center Connor Dewar scored short-handed in the first period and added an empty-net goal with 29.6 seconds remaining. Dewar’s first goal marked the third straight game the Kraken (21-18-9) have yielded a short-handed goal.

SHARKS 4, PANTHERS 1

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Will Smith scored in his second consecutive game after missing a month because of injury, and San Jose spoiled Matthew Tkachuk’s season debut by beating the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers in a game highlighted by a rare goalie fight.

Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky beelined out of his crease and all the way down the ice to take on San Jose’s Alex Nedeljkovic, who had inserted himself into a scrum in the corner with 14 minutes left. Fans chanted, “Bobby! Bobby!” and cheered the netminder nicknamed “Bob” who has backstopped the team to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.

The second meeting between the teams this season, and first since Nov. 8, got increasingly chippy with pushing and shoving after whistles and more than a few punches thrown.

Between the whistles, the Sharks also got goals from defensemen Vincent Desharnais and Mario Ferraro and 36 saves from Nedeljkovic. Barclay Goodrow sealed it with an empty-netter, and San Jose won hours after general manager Mike Grier signaled his team is going for it this season following a lengthy rebuild by acquiring winger Kiefer Sherwood in a trade with Vancouver.

Tkachuk skated just under 21 minutes and had three shots on goal in his first game since helping Florida repeat and hoisting the Cup in June. The 28-year-old winger, who was picked to play for the U.S. at the Olympics next month in Milan, underwent surgery last summer to deal with a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle.

Eetu Luostarinen scored the Panthers’ goal. Bobrovsky allowed three on 27 shots, giving up several juicy rebounds that San Jose capitalized on.

DENVER — Valeri Nichushkin was a late scratch Monday night against the Washington Capitals, as the Colorado Avalanche announced just before puck drop that the forward had suffered an upper-body injury.

Following the game, head coach Jared Bednar revealed that the 30-year-old was involved in a multi-car accident on his way to the arena.

To fill the void in the lineup, the Avalanche recalled Alex Barre-Boulet, who received the call roughly two hours before puck drop.

Barre-Boulet, an unoriginally undrafted forward who hails from Montreal, made the drive from Loveland and arrived in time to make his Avalanche debut, recording a point in Colorado’s 5-2 win. It marked his first NHL point since December 21, 2023, when he scored a goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Meanwhile, Nichushkin is scheduled to be re-evaluated on Tuesday.

“It was a fender bender, but serious enough to keep him out of the lineup today,” Bednar said. “The roads were icy when the guys were coming in this morning and slick, and there was a multiple vehicle accident.”

The absence marks Nichushkin’s second injury-related setback this season. He previously missed eight games with a lower-body injury after blocking a shot in a November 11 game against the Anaheim Ducks, a 4-1 Avalanche win. Through 38 games this season, Nichushkin has recorded 11 goals and 27 points.

The San Jose Sharks picked up a big 4-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Monday. With this, the Sharks have improved to a 25-20-3 record and are now third in the Pacific Division standings.

The Sharks' victory against the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champions also featured a goalie fight.

Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic and Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky dropped the gloves, much to the excitement of the fans in attendance. 

With 14 minutes left in the third period, the Sharks and Panthers players got into a scrum after the whistle behind San Jose's net. This led to Bobrovsky charging down the ice and going after Nedeljkovic. From there, the two goaltenders had their fight. 

Goalie fights don't happen too often, but when they do, they are always a treat for fans. Nedeljkovic ended up having the upperhand in the scrap, too, as he landed the takedown on Bobrovsky. 

Alex Nedeljkovic vs Sergei Bobrovsky

First goalie fight since Mike Smith vs Cam Talbot (Battle of Alberta) on Feb 1, 2020 pic.twitter.com/1EgMnUwNyr

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) January 20, 2026

Besides having a good fight, Nedeljkovic also had a strong game between the pipes for the Sharks. He stopped 35 out of 36 Panthers shots he faced, which equates to a .972 save percentage. With this, there is no question that he had a great performance for the Sharks in this one. 

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby hit another career milestone against the Seattle Kraken on Monday night.

He skated in his 1,400th NHL game, becoming the 45th player in NHL history to accomplish that feat. 

1,400 GAMES FOR SID 🔥

He becomes the 45th player in NHL history to reach the milestone. pic.twitter.com/we7jqov0cK

— BarDown (@BarDown) January 19, 2026

Crosby had a strong performance in this game, recording two assists and now has 1,742 career points. He also compiled his 512th multi-point game, good for fifth-most in NHL history.

He's one away from tying Mark Messier and Marcel Dionne for the third-most multi-point games in NHL history.

Sidney Crosby has recorded 1,742 points through 1,400 games, which is the third most through the milestone contest in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky (2,772) and Marcel Dionne (1,771).#NHLStats: https://t.co/NALxdZXR1Jpic.twitter.com/IBU2W7QHPn

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) January 20, 2026

This win catapulted the Penguins to second place in the Metro, at least for the time being. The New York Islanders will have the chance to retake that spot if they get at least a point against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night. 

The Penguins will be back in action on Wednesday against the Calgary Flames. 

---

Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more! 

The Florida Panthers played their first home game in weeks on Monday night but ultimately couldn’t come up with a win.

Florida started out strong, but the game quickly got away from them as the San Jose Sharks skated to a 4-1 win at Amerant Bank Arena.

Both teams skated to a scoreless first period, one that saw Florida lead 10-8 in shots but get clobbered 22-13 in attempts.

San Jose ride that momentum into an early goal in the second period.

After some early extended zone time, Sharks defenseman Timothy Liljegren fired a long shot on net that was stopped by Sergei Bobrovsky, but super sophomore Will Smith was right there to gobble up the rebound and deposit it behind Bob just 50 seconds into the middle frame.

They weren’t done there.

Another rebound goal, this one off the stick of Vincent Desharnais, quickly made it a 2-0 game at the 2:41 mark.

Less than four minutes after that, another rush play and another rebound ended up in the back of Florida’s net, this one scored by another Sharks defenseman, Mario Ferraro.

It took until the opening minute of the third period before the Panthers could finally get one on the board.

Florida cycled the puck through the offensive zone, eventually leading to Eetu Luostarinen taking a long shot from just inside the blue line that beat Alex Nedeljkovic on the blocker side just 42 seconds into the final frame.

A crazy sequence occurred a few mintues later.

It started with Vincent Desharnais tripping Mackie Samoskevich and Evan Rodrigues cross checking Desharnais in the corner to the right of Nedeljkovic.

A scuffle ensued and for whatever reason, Nedeljkovic jumped out of his net and joined the fray, throwing punches at Panthers players involved in the scrum.

Bobrovsky saw that and made a beeline 200 feet down the ice for Nedeljkovic, not hesitating to toss off his gloves and start throwing punches at the Sharks netminder.

WE HAVE A GOALIE FIGHT!!! 🤯

ALEX NEDELJKOVIC VS. SERGEI BOBROVSKY 🥊 pic.twitter.com/YvUvT4VOoW

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 20, 2026

Thanks to the original trip by Desharnais, Florida ended up with a power play out of all that, and the fans went crazy for Bobrovsky.

That would end up being the high point of the night.

A Sharks empty-net goal by Barclay Goodrow ended Florida’s comeback attempt with 2:40 to go.

On to Winnipeg.

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Photo caption: Dec 7, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini (71) moves the puck against Florida Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling (42) during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

Lenni Hämeenaho is set to make his NHL debut tonight as the New Jersey Devils face the Calgary Flames in a regular-season matchup.

The 21-year-old was drafted 58th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft by the Devils.After being drafted by the Devils, Hämeenaho was called up to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday—marking his first NHL recall.

New Jersey Devils Recalled Lenni HämeenahoThe <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-jersey-devils/">New Jersey Devils</a> announced they had recalled forward Lenni Hämeenaho on Saturday ahead of their matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Ahead of stepping onto NHL ice for the first time, he spoke with NJD.tv about the upcoming debut.

“I feel great. It’s a dream to play the first NHL game,” Hämeenaho said. “I’m just trying to play my own game and bring my own strengths, play hard, and skate.”

Prior to his call-up, Hämeenaho had been playing with the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League (AHL). In his time with the Comets this season, he has recorded 21 points in 33 games.

Ahead of his debut, he told NJD.tv that his family would be tuning in from Finland, despite the time difference.

“It’s a late game, but I’m sure they’ll be up,” Hameenaho said. “It’s a big thing for me to tell them that it’ll be my first game. They were obviously happy and excited, and a little upset they couldn’t get here. But I’m sure they’ll enjoy and cheer me on back home.”​

The puck will drop at 9 PM as the Devils take on the Calgary Flames for the first time this season, with Hämeenaho making his rookie debut. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's New Jersey Devils site for THN's latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

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After losing 7-3 against the Nashville Predators on Friday and it has been over a week since their last win, the Colorado Avalanche got back to their winning ways today in a matinee matchup against the Washington Capitals, in which they won 5-2.

First Period

Colorado would get on the board first quickly off a goal from Parker Kelly, who tipped home a wrist shot from Cale Makar, who worked his magic and was able to shed a Washington player at the blue line, and let the puck fly towards the net.

The Capitals would tie it up at 1-1 after that, as Jakob Chychrun was able to beat Scott Wedgewood clean with a wrist shot from the top of the zone on the power play.

Second Period

Nathan MacKinnon would score on the power play for Colorado next, to give Colorado the lead back, and make it 2-1 in their favor. MacKinnon just took the puck into the zone against three Washington players on this play, and managed to shoot it through the defender and beat Charlie Lindgren. It was a classic rush play that led to the goal.

Victor Olofsson then would give the Avs a comfortable 3-1 lead following the MacKinnon goal, as he was able to clean up the rebound from a Josh Manson wrist shot.

Ethan Frank would respond for the Capitals shortly after the Olofsson goal, making it 3-2 heading into the third period.

Third Period

Initially, during this period, it appeared that Cale Makar had extended Colorado’s lead to 4-2, but that goal was ultimately overturned for goaltender interference, and the score remained 3-2. After that, Colorado kept pushing and was rewarded with a fourth goal that actually counted, as MacKinnon was able to find Artturi Lehkonen on a 2-on-1 rush, and Lehkonen buried it.

For good measure, MacKinnon would score with 3:30 left to play in regulation, as he stole the puck from a Capitals player from behind their own net and put it past Lindgren for his second goal of the night, for your final score of 5-2 in favor of Colorado.

Takeaways

After the Nashville game, it’s really nice to see this team bounce back in the way that they did against Washington here today. Colorado did well to control this game for the most part, and this game never really felt in question. Even after the Makar goal was overturned for goaltender interference, which was, in my opinion, a ticky-tacky call at best, the Avs just seemed to say, “we’re not doing this”, and kept their foot on the gas, adding two more goals in the process for good measure before time expired in regulation. Even when they’re missing key players, when this team remembers to actually do the little things night in and night out, they’re incredibly scary, which is exactly what makes me incredibly excited to watch this team come playoff time.

Speaking of missing key players, the lineup is getting thinner and thinner with two recalls needed prior to this game. Ivan Ivan returned after a weekend in Loveland and Alex Barré-Boulet made his Avalanche debut in a last second call up because Val Nichushkin sustained minor injuries in a car accident. The latter even managed a secondary assist on the first goal despite playing less than four minutes in the game.

Upcoming

Colorado takes on the Anaheim Ducks next on Wednesday, January 21. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. MT.

Pregame

Pittsburgh gets Ryan Graves into the lineup and gives Jack St. Ivany a night off. Stuart Skinner gets the start in goal.

Hockey 🔜! pic.twitter.com/3hDsUUwtul

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 19, 2026

First period

It’s not the smoothest start for the Penguins, though you wouldn’t know if from the scoreboard. Skinner has to stop Eeli Tolvanen on a clean breakaway early. Pittsburgh gets the game’s first power play but don’t do much with it. Soon after it expires they score anyways. Blake Lizotte sends a pass back to Parker Wotherspoon and it glides on into the net in no small part to the large frame of Anthony Mantha taking goalie Joey Daccord’s vision away. 1-0 Pens out of nowhere. Who needs a power play when you have Lizotte and Wotherspoon?

SPOONS SERVING TOP SHELF 🥄🚨 pic.twitter.com/pawUaZ9pRL

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 19, 2026

The Kraken are awarded a power play, yet it’s the Pens who score. Connor Dewar knocks the puck away from an opponent and has a step right by them for a breakaway. Dewar makes it count by blowing a shot by the glove of Daccord. 2-0.

Connor Dewar, picking pockets on the PK 😤 pic.twitter.com/1Y5UnolDWR

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 19, 2026

Seattle is the next on the board, Skinner and Brett Kulak can’t smoothly handover a transition play, the next thing they new Ben Meyers had the puck going to the net and lifted a beauty of a shot to the top corner.

these kids are all right, aren't they?! 😁 pic.twitter.com/zFAfsY2Swa

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) January 19, 2026

That’s the end of the first. The Pens are up, though they didn’t have a great start. Pittsburgh only managed three shots at 5v5, seven total in the period. They made the most of some chances as they popped up but there was a lot of downtime in between. The Kraken didn’t do much better posting five 5v5 shots of their own and six total in the first 20 minutes.

Second period

Lizotte gets sent off for a minor penalty, the Pens kill it off.

The period becomes heavy on the wall battles, Seattle wins one of those battles when Justin Brazeau can’t clear the defensive zone on his backhand along the boards. A couple of passes later it’s a tie game when Ryan Winterton makes a short pass for Ryan Lindgren to chip in. 2-2 game.

you know what they say, kids… always clean up after your rebounds! 🤗 pic.twitter.com/gzE1EEubMB

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) January 19, 2026

Pittsburgh finds an answer, Sidney Crosby wins an offensive zone faceoff back to Brett Kulak. Kulak pulls the puck towards the middle of the ice as he drifts backwards and tosses a long-range shot on goal. There’s enough traffic again to foil Daccord. 3-2, Pens back in front with five minutes to go.

KULAK'S FIRST AS A 🐧! pic.twitter.com/adEQ4djLcT

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 19, 2026

Ben Kindel gets needlessly driven into the ice late in the period by Lindgren, Pittsburgh gets their second power play of the game, but again are held off the board by Seattle’s 32nd ranked penalty kill.

Both teams scored in the second period, the Pens were able to handle the shot count by a tidy 15-8 margin in the middle frame. That’s more of what was expected coming into this game for Pittsburgh to take advantage in that department.

Third period

The Pens start out strong, Evgeni Malkin and Egor Chinakhov nearly team up for a goal but are denied on a nice save by Daccord. Daccord’s got nothin’ for Brazeau top-shelf shot off a drop pass from Anthony Mantha that hinders the goalie’s vision yet again. 4-2 Pittsburgh, still 17:39 to go.

Justin Brazeau makes it 4-2. Joey's had a hard time with shots through screens today. This time, it goes through Oleksiak's legs. pic.twitter.com/jm19hxbnBK

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 20, 2026

The pressure continues, Kulak hammers a shot on net with a ton of traffic in front, Daccord fights it off but leaves a rebound that Noel Acciari knocks off the post.

Kulak takes his second minor penalty of the game, Seattle makes them pay. Holy cow does Tolvanen hammer a slapshot. Lotta power on that one. 4-3 game, the Kraken still have 12:13 to work with.

Eeli Tolvanen puts it right to the top shelf 🚨 pic.twitter.com/h4274FJs2p

— NHL (@NHL) January 20, 2026

Brandon Montour gets a penalty called on him and the Pens have a chance for a potential dagger but they can’t score on the power play. Instead the dagger comes a little later from Rickard Rakell. Crosby wins the puck back off the wall and quickly passes it back to Rakell who jams one in front the front of the net. 5-3 game.

67 FINDS THE BACK OF THE NET 🚨

And that makes it a multipoint night for Sid in game no. 1400 🫡 pic.twitter.com/Ly6gFCkFin

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) January 20, 2026

Seattle pulls the goalie but there’s no late-game dramatics to be found today. Dewar shoots from way back to extend the score to a 6-3 final.

Some thoughts

• The early start wasn’t the best, perhaps for understandable reasons considering the long plane flight yesterday combined with an odd 2pm local start. Body clocks must have been going haywire, tough to get the legs freed up- which shown through in the Pens’ game in the early going. They got better and grew stronger in their play as the game went along.
• Have to give Seattle some credit though, they clogged things up as much as possible and made Pittsburgh play a hard game along the boards. We all know Crosby doesn’t mind getting in the trenches and muckin’ it up but that makes for a long night at the office when the puck is along the wall so often and a player has to fight for and earn every inch out there.
• To that end of making the game tough, the Pens had their share of moments too. Daccord’s eyes were taken away with bodies in front of him, that strategy brought success for the visitors to score on a couple of innocent enough long-distance shots, had the goalie been able to see them.
• Dewar’s shorthanded goal was only Pittsburgh’s second of the whole season, now 48 games into the season. That’s a bit of a surprise with how generally good the PK has been and even how productive many of the typical PKers have been at even strength.
• It was also only the second game of the season for the Pens that two defenseman scored in the same game (the other being 10/25 vs CBJ).
• You can tell how dissatisfied the coaches were with St. Ivany by opting to dress four left-handed defensemen instead, a rarity for them to select these days. The move also got Graves into his first NHL game in over a month. Shame there for St. Ivany, how long will he stay in the doghouse?
• While one right-handed defenseman in St. Ivany is stock down in recent days and games, Connor Clifton would have to be the opposite for stock up. These last five games were the first time this season Clifton has gotten picked to play five in a row, he’s been making the most of the opportunity with his physical play (as to be expected), the more surprising inputs have been his skating and puck moving being noticeable these days. And if you haven’t seen the #content Clifton produced from the team’s jet, spend the next 3:17 of your day on it. A star is born?
• The Pittsburgh PK gave up their first goal in 21 tries against them in the third, took one heck of a blast from Tolvanen to break the streak. Considering the Pens’ PK scored a goal for themselves they found an unconventional way to keep it even.
• The power play was hardly as good, though. Aside from picking on a weak Flyer PK last week that group hasn’t been performing that well lately, perhaps the one area where Erik Karlsson’s injury absence has been felt the most.
• Casual two point night for Crosby in his 1,400th career NHL game. Such a satisfying career to watch unfold, especially since becoming the 45th player in league history to hit this many games looked more a longshot at times. Instead, only Wayne Gretzky had more points through 1,400 games. Maybe Connor McDavid has something to say about that one day, for now that speaks to how great Crosby has been.

The Pens will now head north of the border for a bit, next game is in Calgary on Wednesday to try and repay the Flames for winning in Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago.

The Buffalo Sabres lost out on a potential fit when the Vancouver Canucks traded rugged winger Kiefer Sherwood to the San Jose Sharks on Monday. But as we covered in this story, the Canucks still have other players Buffalo GM Jarmo Kekalainen should be interested in. And the biggest takeaway is that the price the Sharks paid to land Sherwood is a price the Sabres should be more than willing to part ways with to add NHL-ready talent right now.

The price San Jose GM Mike Grier paid for Sherwood was steep: two second-round draft picks, and prospect defenseman Cole Clayton. But the reason why Grier was comfortable surrendering three assets for a player who will be a UFA this summer is because the Sharks are moving from a long-term rebuild into a team ready to challenge for a Stanley Cup playoff spot. And you can say the same thing about where Kekalainen is with the Sabres.

Indeed, you can make the case that for many years now, the Sabres have been where San Jose is right now. But that’s a column for another day. The point of this column is that, if Grier was justified paying a big price to land a player of note, then Kekalainen should be ready, willing and able to do the same thing to improve the Sabres.

As it stands, Buffalo currently has two of its three second-round draft picks in the next three drafts – its second-rounder in 2027, and its second-rounder in 2028. The Sabres also have a prospect pool deep enough where they can deal one or two young players and still have a solid group of youngsters to build around.

Obviously, the trick is to figure out what youngsters to hold on to at all costs, but you have to give something to get something, and that’s why a decent prospect should be expendable for Kekalainen.

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Standing pat can’t be an option for the Sabres. There’s enough talent on the trade block for Kekalainen to at least come away with one experienced hand – and, like Sherwood, someone who could be kept beyond this season, should the stars align and make the player a fine fit for the long haul.

At some point, you have to be more willing to package prospects and draft picks in return for younger players with upside. And that’s where Buffalo is right now.

If San Jose can afford to sacrifice some of their promise in return for players who can make a positive impact right away, surely the Sabres can do the same. And if he doesn’t do that, Kekalainen is going to be rightfully criticized. 

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For a long time, the Sabres were the team who dealt away players like Sherwood in exchange for picks and prospects. But the tables have turned 180 degrees, and it’s now in Buffalo’s best interests to step to the plate and take a massive swing on the trade market.

A former Montreal Canadiens forward is getting another chance in the NHL.

The Colorado Avalanche have called up former Canadiens forward Alex Barre-Boulet from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. 

Barre-Boulet was called up to the Avalanche's roster in response to forward Valeri Nichushkin being sidelined for the Central Division club due to an upper-body injury.

Barre-Boulet immediately made his Avalanche debut following his call-up against the Washington Capitals on Jan. 19. The former Canadiens forward made a solid first impression during his debut for Colorado, too, as he recorded an assist on Parker Kelly's first-period goal for the Avalanche. 

Barre-Boulet certainly earned this call-up from the Avalanche, too, as he has been having a strong season with the Eagles. In 36 games with the AHL squad so far this campaign, the former Canadiens forward has posted 12 goals, 25 assists, 37 points, and a plus-11 rating.

Barre-Boulet spent this past season with the Canadiens organization. In two games with Montreal during the 2024-25 season, he recorded zero points and two penalty minutes. Yet, he primarily played with the Canadiens' AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, this past season. In 64 games with Laval in 2024-25, he posted 22 goals, 41 assists, and 63 points. He also had three goals and 11 points in 13 playoff games for Laval. 

The Philadelphia Flyers have made some roster moves ahead of their contest against the Vegas Golden Knights. 

The Flyers have announced that forward Bobby Brink has been activated off injured reserve. In addition, the Flyers shared that goaltender Dan Vladar has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Jan. 14. 

Brink has not played for the Flyers since getting injured during their Jan. 6 matchup against the Anaheim Ducks, where he was limited to only 26 seconds of ice time. Yet, now that Brink has been activated from injured reserve, he is set to return to action for the Metropolitan Division club. 

Getting Brink back is good news for the Flyers, as he has been a solid part of their roster this season. In 41 games so far this campaign, he has posted 11 goals and 20 points.

Vladar, meanwhile, has been sidelined since leaving the Flyers' Jan. 14 matchup against the Buffalo Sabres early due to injury.

In 28 games this season with Philadelphia, Vladar has a 16-7-4 record, a .905 save percentage, and a 2.46 goals-against average. 

After their worst loss of the season against the Nashville Predators, the Colorado Avalanche face off against the Washington Capitals. There were some questionable calls in this game, but it was the Avalanche who capitalized on their chances late and secured a 5-2 victory.

Period 1:

Ilya Solovyov is called for an early holding call, but the Avalanche are able to kill it off. Cale Makar shakes off Ryan Lenard with a nifty spin move on the blue line and sends a wrist shot towards the net, which Parker Kelly tips in to open the scoring. That is his ninth goal of the season, officially marking a career high in goals.

Included in the goal is Alex Barre-Boulet, who was called up before the game to replace Valeri Nichushkin, and he gets the secondary assist on the goal, his first point as a Colorado Avalanche.

Then one of the most controversial calls of the season happens as Scott Wedgewood is called for tripping when a Capital knocks his stick out of his hands and trips over it behind the net. Jacob Chychrun capitalizes on the power play as he rips home a wrist shot from the blue line and in to tie the game 1-1. Josh Manson is called high-sticking, but the Avalanche kills off that penalty, and the period ends 1-1.

Period 2:

Jacob Chychrun, behind the net, goes to battle for the loose puck infront of his own net but gets called for high-sticking Ross Colton. The call is a double minor, and after review, it stands, sending the Avalanche to a 4-minute power play. Halfway through the power play, Martin Necas helps Nathan MacKinnon explode into the offensive zone with a nifty drop pass, and MacKinnon rips it to make it 2-1. 

Ivan Miroshnichenko was called for hooking, but Samuel Girard was called for holding, leading to 4-on-4 time. Aliaksei Protas called for interference, but the Avalanche can’t capitalize on it. Victor Olofsson roofs a rebound off a Manson point shot to make it 3-1. Brock Nelson with a clean face-off win to help get the puck straight to Manson, which sets up the play. Though, just 17 seconds later, Ethan Frank is wide open infront of the net to finish the pass from Ovechkin, 3-2.

Period 3:

Chychrun sends the puck over the glass and is called for delay of game. Just over 30 seconds in, Anthony Beauvillier is called for hooking, sending the Avalanche to 5-on-3 for the remaining 1:26. Unfortunately, just 23 seconds into the two-man advantage, Neslon is called for hooking, and all of the calls are killed off.

MacKinnon finds Makar cutting to the net, and he rips to make it 4-2, though the Capitals take a timeout and decide to challenge it for goaltender interference. After review, it goes to the Capitals' way, and the goal is overturned back to 3-2. Though the lead is re-gained quickly after MacKinnon steals the puck as a Capital is trying to leave their zone and feeds Artturi Lehkonen to make it 4-2 again. MacKinnon passes Peter Stastny on that goal in 2+ point games and is now 2nd in franchise history. 

MACK TO LEHKY 🚨 pic.twitter.com/ZHAorLbg0N

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) January 19, 2026

Necas steals the puck from Rasmus Sandin behind Charlie Lindgren and finds MacKinnon to make it 5-2. That is also MacKinnon's 1,100th point and the 70th player in NHL history to reach that mark. Lindgren, with less than 20 seconds left, makes a diving stick play that trips Olofsson and is called for it.

The Avalanche are back in action on Wednesday, Jan 21, when they face off against the Anaheim Ducks.

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