NEW YORK (AP) — Drew Doughty had a goal and two assists, and Artemi Panarin added a power-play goal and an assist as the Los Angeles Kings beat the New York Rangers 6-3 on Monday night.
The Kings won for the third time in their last four games — all on the road — after going winless over their first six games of the season.
Los Angeles jumped on New York early, chasing goaltender James Reimer after one period. Reimer was pulled in his Rangers debut after allowing three goals on eight shots. Reimer played just one previous game this fall, a 35-save shutout in the American Hockey League on Saturday night, before signing an NHL contract for the rest of the season.
Taylor Ward opened the scoring 1:15 into the game on the Kings’ first shot. Brandt Clarke made it 2-0 at 4:52 of the first, tipping in a rebound off Joel Armia’s slap shot.
J.T. Miller got New York on the board when a Tye Kartye slap shot deflected off his skate and past Darcy Kuemper.
Mikey Anderson and Taylor Ward added second-period goals for the Kings before Adam Fox cut the deficit to 5-2 on the power play with 6:55 to play in the second. Kartye got the Rangers within two at 16:08 of the third period, before Joel Edmundson scored in an empty net for his first goal of the season for Los Angeles.
Kuemper made 23 saves to pick up his third win of the season. After replacing Reimer, Dylan Garand stopped 15 of the 17 shots he faced.
FLAMES 5, MAPLE LEAFS 2
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Matvei Gridin scored twice as surging Calgary made it four straight wins with a victory over Toronto.
Mikael Backlund also scored for Calgary, while Joel Farabee and Martin Pospisil added empty-netters. Farabee, who also had an assist, and Matt Coronato, who had a pair of assists, extended their point streaks to five games.
Easton Cowan and William Nylander scored for the Leafs, whose four-game win streak came to an end. Auston Matthews had an assist on Nylander’s goal for his 800th NHL point. He is the fastest player in Leafs history to reach that milestone and the second-fastest U.S.-born player to reach 800 career points, doing so in 703 games.
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Matvei Gridin scored twice as the surging Calgary Flames made it four straight wins with a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.
Mikael Backlund also scored for Calgary, while Joel Farabee and Martin Pospisil added empty-netters. Farabee, who also had an assist, and Matt Coronato, who had a pair of assists, extended their point streaks to five games.
Easton Cowan and William Nylander scored for the Leafs, whose four-game win streak came to an end. Auston Matthews had an assist on Nylander’s goal for his 800th NHL point. He is the fastest player in Leafs history to reach that milestone and the second-fastest U.S.-born player to reach 800 career points, doing so in 703 games.
Devin Cooley made 26 stops to improve to 4-2-0.
Sergei Bobrovsky had 29 saves for Toronto.
Calgary grabbed control of the game midway through the first period on goals less than two minutes apart by Gridin and Backlund. Backlund returned after missing two games with an upper-body injury.
Gridin’s first goal at 10:05 came from a sharp angle off the left wing when he picked the top corner on Bobrovsky’s short side.
Gridin’s second of the night was scored on the power play 25 seconds into the second period. It was another top corner snipe, this one over Bobrovsky’s other shoulder.
Toronto's Kirill Marchenko (lower body) left the game early in the second period after he went into the boards awkwardly after a hit from Yegor Sharangovich.
Calgary beat Toronto for the first time since Feb. 10, 2022. The Leafs had won the last eight meetings. It was Toronto’s longest active winning streak against any opponent.
Up next
Maple Leafs: Visit the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night.
Flames: Visit the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night.
NEW YORK (AP) — Drew Doughty had a goal and two assists, and Artemi Panarin added a power-play goal and an assist as the Los Angeles Kings beat the New York Rangers 6-3 on Monday night.
The Kings won for the third time in their last four games — all on the road — after going winless over their first six games of the season.
Los Angeles jumped on New York early, chasing goaltender James Reimer after one period. Reimer was pulled in his Rangers debut after allowing three goals on eight shots. Reimer played just one previous game this fall, a 35-save shutout in the American Hockey League on Saturday night, before signing an NHL contract for the rest of the season.
Taylor Ward opened the scoring 1:15 into the game on the Kings’ first shot. Brandt Clarke made it 2-0 at 4:52 of the first, tipping in a rebound off Joel Armia's slap shot.
J.T. Miller got New York on the board when a Tye Kartye slap shot deflected off his skate and past Darcy Kuemper.
Mikey Anderson and Taylor Ward added second-period goals for the Kings before Adam Fox cut the deficit to 5-2 on the power play with 6:55 to play in the second. Kartye got the Rangers within two at 16:08 of the third period, before Joel Edmundson scored in an empty net for his first goal of the season for Los Angeles.
Kuemper made 23 saves to pick up his third win of the season. After replacing Reimer, Dylan Garand stopped 15 of the 17 shots he faced.
A moment of silence was held prior to puck drop for 1970s and ’80s Rangers fan favorite Ron Duguay, who died last week.
NEW YORK (AP) — Drew Doughty had a goal and two assists, and Artemi Panarin added a power-play goal and an assist as the Los Angeles Kings beat the New York Rangers 6-3 on Monday night.
The Kings won for the third time in their last four games — all on the road — after going winless over their first six games of the season.
Los Angeles jumped on New York early, chasing goaltender James Reimer after one period. Reimer was pulled in his Rangers debut after allowing three goals on eight shots. Reimer played just one previous game this fall, a 35-save shutout in the American Hockey League on Saturday night, before signing an NHL contract for the rest of the season.
Taylor Ward opened the scoring 1:15 into the game on the Kings’ first shot. Brandt Clarke made it 2-0 at 4:52 of the first, tipping in a rebound off Joel Armia's slap shot.
J.T. Miller got New York on the board when a Tye Kartye slap shot deflected off his skate and past Darcy Kuemper.
Mikey Anderson and Ward added second-period goals for the Kings before Adam Fox cut the deficit to 5-2 on the power play with 6:55 to play in the second. Kartye got the Rangers within two at 16:08 of the third period, before Joel Edmundson scored in an empty net for his first goal of the season for Los Angeles.
Kuemper made 23 saves to pick up his third win of the season. After replacing Reimer, Dylan Garand stopped 15 of the 17 shots he faced.
A moment of silence was held prior to puck drop for 1970s and ’80s Rangers fan favorite Ron Duguay, who died last week.
Up Next
Kings: At Chicago on Tuesday night.
Rangers: Host Edmonton on Sunday night.
Highlights
J.T. Miller gets the Rangers on the board! https://t.co/ZmQR7YPT29
When Pittsburgh Penguins' defenseman Chase Pietila was around the age of 10 and beginning his road to professional hockey in Michigan, he was choosing his future career path and making friends with some of his very first teammates.
One of those teammates, as it turns out, was another kid aged 10-ish named Rutger McGroarty.
Back then, both played for Honeybaked and overlapped time on the same team in the Detroit area, and they went on to face each other as part of the U.S. National Team Development Program throughout junior hockey.
Now, they're playing in the same organization and sitting in the same locker room suiting up for the same NHL team.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s amazing," Pietila said. "It’s crazy just to see things go full-circle. You know, my first year in AAA, like, when I was really trying to say, like, “Ok, I really like hockey,” he was one of my first teammates. So, being able to play against him when he was at the program and I was in junior, and then never played against him in college, but then to meet here at the pro level, it’s super cool, and he’s an amazing guy.
"He’s a great friend. So, it makes it easy having him here. I always have someone to talk to, someone to ask questions. It’s been great.”
Of course, a lot has happened in the time since Pietila and McGroarty were teammates as kids. McGroarty went on to play for the University of Michigan and subsequently got drafted by the Winnipeg Jets, while Pietila played collegiate hockey at Michigan Tech, was selected 111th overall by the Penguins in 2024, and earned CCHA Defensive Defenseman of the Year honors for his 2024-25 NCAA campaign.
Both also experienced a pretty long Calder Cup Playoff run for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins in 2026. Pietila, 22, learned a lot from that experience.
The 6-foot-2, 202-pound right blueliner has always taken pride in the defensive side of his game, as he's solid and steady in his own zone and isn't afraid to play a physical brand of hockey. But from college, to the ECHL, to the AHL, and now to the NHL, he has come to understand that, in order to stick at the NHL level, versatility is paramount.
So, he has been working to add more offensive dimension to his repertoire.
"I’ll always say that my game starts from the net out, but being able to add offense and kind of be able to add to that part of my game will make me more valuable," Pietila said. "So, just working with all the skills coaches here, they’ve been great. Just trying to add more versatility to my game goes a long way."
And while that versatility is key, perhaps the most important lesson he learned during his first full AHL season last year and throughout the 14 games he played in the Calder Cup Playoffs is that consistency matters.
“I mean, it’s obviously the best league in the world," Pietila said. "[Consistency is] one of the things that I really tried to focus on last year that I struggled with a little bit, just being consistent and doing it day in and day out - practice, games, everything.
"If you want to play with the best, you have to be able to do it every day. So, I think that’s the biggest thing I’m trying to do and work on.”
Pietila is in the second season of the three-year entry-level contract he signed prior to the 2025-26 season, and he was recalled by the Penguins Saturday due to injuries piling up on both the forward front and the defensive unit at the NHL level. It has been a bit of a whirlwind, as has navigating fatherhood for the first time right when he is on the borderline of the NHL.
Luckily, sleep has not yet been an issue with his newborn son, but notwithstanding, there has been a lot of change. Something that has brought comfort, though, is the fact that, when he looks around the Penguins' locker room right now, there are some familiar faces in his old friend McGroarty, Avery Hayes, Sergei Murashov, and Ville Koivunen.
At the NHL level, the Penguins are in a bit of a transitional period with their roster. They have held onto some veterans but understand the need to inject youth.
Pietila knows firsthand how close this group of young players is and that the organization is largely counting on them to make somr degree of impact on the future.
He is the only one of the five to have not played an NHL game yet, but he hopes to be part of the group for a long time.
“I think it just helps with the youth that we have. We’re all similar ages and stuff, so we all like the same things," Pietila said. "Going to battle for one another for so long and just having that long of a playoff run, that just builds bonds you’ll never forget.
"So, being able to watch them succeed and being able to succeed with them is pretty special. It’s really fun, and we’re all enjoying it.”
In recent weeks, the Philadelphia Flyers have finally found their way into the win column, led by their growing youth movement, though not all contributions have been equal.
By and large, forwards Trevor Zegras, Matvei Michkov, and Porter Martone have led the way offensively, while Oliver Bonk and Hunter McDonald have impressed replacing the likes of Rasmus Ristolainen and Cam York.
But, aside from the top dogs, and Cole Knuble, who scored his first two NHL goals in a 3-1 win over Buffalo last week, the Flyers could find themselves interested in getting more out of their middle six.
Although he made the NHL roster out of training camp, Alex Bump was a healthy scratch by the fourth game of the season, earning himself a demotion to the AHL before exploding for seven goals, an assist, and eight points in just five games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Bump, 22, returned to the Flyers in short order amid a rash of injuries, with Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, and Travis Konecny all going out of commission.
Despite his individual skill, which is at times electrifying, and accurate shot, Bump has yet to record a goal or assist for the Flyers in six games this season, regressing quite a bit from his nine points in 17 games in the regular season last year.
Without consistency and end product, it's hard to envision Bump's role at the NHL level in the long-term.
And if Bump has found himself in the background of the Flyers' short- and long-term plans, there is another young winger in the Metropolitan Division worth adding for some competition, so long as the price is right.
Why Ivan Miroshnichenko fits the Flyers
(Photo: Geoff Burke, Imagn Images)
Elsewhere in the division, the Washington Capitals have given 2022 first-round pick Ivan Miroshnichenko and his camp permission to seek a trade in search of a greater NHL opportunity, though the team won't trade him away for pennies or place him on waivers, either.
Given that the Flyers are on the upswing, even with all their youth, they're a logical landing spot for the talented Russian winger, who doesn't quite fit on a Capitals team that has been trying to compete for a Stanley Cup in the twilight years of Alex Ovechkin's legendary career.
As mentioned above, Bump's game at the NHL level has been a slow burn despite a strong start, and maybe his style of play doesn't quite mesh with the higher difficulty compared to the AHL.
Miroshnichenko, who has played just 55 career NHL games and scored only six goals, eight assists, and 14 points, is in a similar boat, though he brings a package of skills and traits to the table that make him more suited to a middle-six role than Bump.
A buccaneering right-shot left winger, Miroshnichenko is at his best going north and south, attacking downhill with his speed and blistering shot while threatening opponents with heavy hits on the other side of the puck.
Despite being a somewhat modest 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Miroshnichenko embraces the physical, more competitive side of the game, and he's got some offensive talent to boot. The 22-year-old has done what he can in a limited role, having played his career-high 21 NHL games way back in 2023-24, when he was a teenager on opening night.
With further development and a bigger opportunity, though, Miroshnichenko can establish himself as a workhorse checking winger with scoring upside, especially as a weak-side trigger man on a power play unit.
Naturally, the Flyers would more than likely have to pay the Capitals a tax for a potential in-division trade, but a pair of early Day 2 draft picks and a similar fringe NHLer could do the trick. Notably, the Flyers have their second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft, as well as two third-round picks and two fourth-round picks.
Even if and when Tippett and Konecny return, Miroshnichenko would give the Flyers an injection of speed, and perhaps more importantly, physicality in addition to his untapped scoring potential.
And even when the Flyers had Tippett and Konecny, their transition and rush games were lacking, and it's an area the Flyers should consider investing in going forward, with or without Bump, Tippett, or Konecny.
Former Avalanche prospect Calum Ritchie is going to miss some time with the New York Islanders.
The 21-year-old was placed on injured reserve Monday with a lower-body injury. He’s expected to be out for four to six weeks. The Islanders announced the injury last week, and the IR move is retroactive to Oct. 17.
Colorado selected Ritchie 27th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft. He appeared in seven games with the Avalanche early in the 2024–25 season, scoring his first NHL goal against the New York Islanders before being reassigned to the OHL’s Oshawa Generals.
A few months later, Ritchie was on his way to New York. On March 6, 2025, Colorado traded him, defenseman Oliver Kylington and two draft picks to the Islanders for Brock Nelson. Forward William Dufour was also part of the deal and went to Colorado.
The Avalanche brought in Nelson to help with another Stanley Cup run. He scored 33 goals during the regular season, but his playoff production dropped off. He scored twice in the postseason, with both goals coming into empty nets. Nelson also won Olympic gold in Milan.
Ritchie had a good first full season with the Islanders, putting up 13 goals and 17 assists in 65 games. He started this season with one goal and one assist in eight games before the injury. Mitchell Chaffee is expected to get a bigger role while Ritchie is out.
Ritchie spoke with The Hockey News in November before the Islanders played Colorado at Ball Arena. Asked if playing against his former team gave him extra motivation, he made it clear he wasn’t spending much time looking back.
“I’m just trying to focus on myself and stay present,” Ritchie said. “I mean, I’m with the Islanders and not focusing on the past and what happened there. I’m just really excited to be a part of the Islanders, like I said, and staying present.”
The Islanders will have to wait a few weeks to get him back. Until then, Ritchie’s focus will be on getting healthy and returning to the lineup.
Los Angeles Kings head coach Peter Laviolette arrives for a game against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026.
The seasonlong layoff ex-Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette had after he was relieved of his duties in New York in April 2025 was the longest he’d spent away from the NHL since the lockout season.
He went to Scotland to watch his daughter Elisabeth’s fiancé play golf. He visited the historic coastal university town of St. Andrews and attended a couple of weddings he otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.
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The 61-year-old spent time with his wife Kristen and his family, and was able to watch his son Peter play in his final season in the East Coast Hockey League.
It was obvious how much Laviolette relished that time as he reflected on it from outside the visitors locker room in his return to Madison Square Garden as head coach of the Kings on Monday.
The whiplash of his first season to his second in Manhattan — going from winning the Presidents Trophy and losing in the conference final to missing the playoffs — certainly required some recovery.
“It was kind of a tale of two years,” Laviolette said of his tenure with the Rangers ahead of his new team’s clash with the Blueshirts on Monday night. “The first year was really good, I mean, most wins and most points and a very storied franchise. Took it to three rounds to Florida and lost in Game 6, and that was disappointing. Not to win a couple more games and get that chance to play for the Cup. But, overall, looking back at that year, it was a year that was really good. It was something that I’ll remember being here in New York. Obviously, the second year was not as smooth and had problems inside of it.”
Los Angeles Kings head coach Peter Laviolette arrives for a game against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026. Getty Images
Los Angeles hired Laviolette in June after relieving D.J. Smith of his interim responsibilities behind the Kings bench.
The hiring ensured a Rangers reunion out West between Laviolette and Artemi Panarin, who decided he wanted to go to LA after he was informed by president and general manager Chris Drury that he wouldn’t be re-signed in January.
Drury eventually traded Panarin to the Kings in exchange for prospect Liam Greentree and a conditional 2026 third-round pick that became Slovakian center Tomas Chrenko.
Los Angeles Kings head coach Peter Laviolette looks on against the Florida Panthers during the first period of an NHL hockey game at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026. Getty Images
In addition to former Rangers associate coach Phil Housley joining Laviolette on the West Coast, one-time Ranger Erik Gustafsson also signed a one-year, $1 million deal with the Kings on July 1 to play under the veteran coach for a third time.
“I really enjoyed being here,” Laviolette said. “I love being at Madison Square Garden. I mean, the New York fans were just awesome. I can’t tell you how many times I was around the country and somebody would come up to me and say, ‘I’m the biggest Rangers fan ever.’ And I’m like, ‘They’re all the biggest Rangers fans ever.’ And I think they are. They talk about the history of how their grandfather took them to a game like 50 years ago, and they’re 60 years old and now they’re taking their grandkids. Because it’s been around for 100 years, you get stories like that.
“You can feel the passion from the people and the fans, and it’s pretty cool to be in a city like this. It’s one of the greatest cities in the country. It’s a huge sports market. It’s Madison Square Garden. It’s the New York Rangers. There was a lot of things that I loved about being here and part of New York.”
New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer (48) shoots the puck against the Dallas Stars during the first period of an NHL hockey game at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Despite the stated desire from coach Pete DeBoer to be careful with Matthew Schaefer’s workload, the 19-year-old’s minutes are up by over 90 seconds per game from last season, enough that he’s now fourth in the league at an eye-popping 26:13 per night.
That, however, is not an issue for either Schaefer or the Islanders, albeit for different reasons.
For Schaefer’s part, he simply likes playing, feels his body is fine and is never going to ask for fewer minutes.
And for the Islanders’ part, DeBoer pointed at the breakdown of those minutes — namely, taking Schaefer off the penalty kill this season — as the team’s way of managing him, rather than the raw number.
“I think 26 minutes isn’t necessarily all the same type of minutes,” DeBoer said after the Islanders practiced on Monday at Bridgestone Arena. “If you’re defending all night, if you’re killing penalties, those are different minutes [than] power play and offensive situations, things like that.”
New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer (48) shoots the puck against the Dallas Stars during the first period of an NHL hockey game at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Through Schaefer’s first year and change in the NHL, there’s been little reason to suspect that his workload has had a massive effect on his day-to-day output. He’s yet to experience an extended slump in the NHL, and doesn’t tend to fade late in games, even when the Islanders lean on him heavily.
To the extent there’s a worry, it’s less about the here and now and more that the mileage Schaefer accumulates as a teenager could affect him in the future.
“Obviously sometimes [DeBoer] will check in and be like, make sure you’re resting the body, taking the option you need and things like that,” Schaefer told The Post. “At the end of the day, I think he knows I love to be out there. I’m still young, so try to burn some energy out there. It’s fun.”
The Islanders moved Matias Maccelli (lower body) and Calum Ritchie (lower body) to injured reserve, clearing two roster spots with which they called up Kashawn Aitcheson and Pierre Engvall as paper transactions.
Neither Aitcheson nor Engvall are expected to play or even to join the team, but adding their cap hits allows the Islanders to get closer to the salary cap ceiling and maximize their long-term injury pool, if and when Alexander Romanov is added to LTIR. Paper transactions in the opposite direction — that is, sending a player down on paper to maximize cap accrual — has been legislated out of the NHL, but doing so with a call-up is still allowed.
Matias Maccelli (63) of the New York Islanders battles against Auston Matthews (34) of the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period in their NHL game at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. NHLI via Getty Images
Moving to IR doesn’t affect the time frame for Maccelli or Ritchie, as both have already missed the required seven days.
Maccelli is expected to begin skating on his own Tuesday.
In 2025–26, the Vancouver Canucks tied their franchise’s third-longest winless streak when they hit 11 consecutive games without a win. This streak began on December 30 when the team suffered a 6–3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, and finally ended after they recorded their first win of the calendar year on January 21 against the Washington Capitals.
While outside expectations for the Canucks weren’t substantial heading into the 2026–27 season, things haven’t exactly been smooth sailing to start the year. Vancouver is already inching dangerously close to a winless streak like last season’s less than a year after. After registering their 10th consecutive game without a win on Sunday against the Minnesota Wild, the Canucks are only one game away from tying last year’s team for the winless-streak record.
To specify: an NHL winless streak consists of games that have seen a team not register a win, including overtime or shootout losses. The NHL defines a losing streak as a stretch of games in which a team has not even registered a point — thus negating losses that go past regulation.
Vancouver’s last win came against the Calgary Flames on October 3 nearly a month ago. The last time they went past regulation was in a 3–2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on October 15, putting their current losing streak at four.
Towards the start of this winless streak, the Canucks arguably played with enough effort to produce at least one win, though the results didn’t end in their favour. Most of Vancouver’s best efforts have been on a period-by-period basis.
Any loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday will tie this year’s Canucks team with last year’s (as well as the 1979–80 team) for the third-longest winless streak in club history. The franchise’s longest winless streak is currently held by the 1973–74 team, which went 13 consecutive games without registering a win.
Oct 22, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Detroit Red Wings defenseman William Wallinder (54) celebrates his goal with defenseman Justin Faulk (72) in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
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The St. Louis Blues have condemned what they called an antisemitic protest during a game last week at Enterprise Center.
Blues chairman and governor Tom Stillman says arena staff and law enforcement removed activists who displayed anti-Israel banners during Thursday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Activists displayed banners, including one reading “Israel Kills” with a crossed-out Star of David surrounded by red markings resembling blood. The banners appeared in at least two locations: rinkside seats and a private box overlooking Sections 111 and 112.
Other signs displayed from the private box read “Free America From Israel” and featured images of the Statue of Liberty.
On Monday, the Blues released a statement from chairman Stillman on X.
“The St. Louis Blues organization — and I personally — condemn antisemitic rhetoric in all forms,” said Stillman. “The vile messages of hate briefly displayed at our game last Thursday were unfortunate and unforgivable, and not remotely representative of our fans or our hometown. Our arena staff and local law enforcement responded immediately to confiscate the prohibited banners and eject the offending individuals. Antisemitism has no place in our community, and we will never allow it in our building.”
The Blues remain on home ice for the next two games, concluding their five-game homestand against the Boston Bruins on Thursday, Oct. 29.
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Speaking at the club’s morning skate ahead of their game against the Calgary Flames on Monday, Chayka addressed the Leafs’ handling of McKenna, who has seen reduced minutes in certain late-game situations as the coaching staff prioritizes defensive reliability when protecting leads. Chayka described the approach as healthy development rather than a setback.
“I know Jim and the coaching staff loves working with him. I think he’s gotten better pretty much every game. There’s been ups and downs like any player, but a lot of good trends. I think when it comes to protecting a lead, you know, as a coaching staff, trying to win hockey games at the NHL level. And, you know, for all of Gavin’s offensive gifts, again, coming into the league, playing without the puck, when you’re used to having the puck your whole life, you’d probably guess there’s players on the roster that they get paid to play better defensively.
"For a coaching staff, being on those players more heavily probably makes logical sense. But, you know, as we work through the development process with Gavin, and that’s what it is, I have no doubt that, you know, his time will come, and he’ll continue to build up trust and confidence with the coaches, and I think that’s all really healthy, actually. I think it’s actually the right thing for his development, and candidly, I thought Jim handled it well and continues to build a relationship with Gavin, and I think it’s going to be a really good relationship over a long period of time.”
During Toronto’s current four-game winning streak, McKenna’s ice time has hovered around the 11-minute mark.
Turning to Cowan, Chayka said the young forward has exceeded early expectations and brings the type of complete game the organization values.
“It’s tough to say he hasn’t exceeded expectations. At the same time, he’s a good player. He’s a really good player that impacts the game a lot of different ways. And, yeah, he’s been great. And any time you get young players like that, progressing like that, it gives you a shot in the arm. We saw a lot of these flashes at the American League level. To do what he did at that age was pretty special. But then to go elevate at this level, it’s been nice — found money for sure.”
When asked whether Cowan has become untradeable, Chayka was direct.
“I don’t think any player is untradable, but he’s a good player. He’s everything you’d want at Toronto Maple Leafs. He loves the Leafs, is passionate about it, plays a 200-foot game, does whatever it takes, in the gym, doing extra on the ice. It’d be tough to ever improve on a player like that.”
It’s clear the Leafs are high on Cowan right now, who has fit in well on the first line with Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic. Cowan has five goals and seven assists in 13 games.
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It's no secret that the Florida Panthers play physically and walk a fine line in terms of what is legal and illegal on the ice.
They don't back down from anyone and want their opponents to have a certain level of fear, but are the Panthers pushing it too far?
Through 12 games, the Panthers rank 32nd in the NHL in average penalty minutes with 15.1. The Calgary Flames, who rank 31st in the NHL, average just 12.8 penalty minutes. There is a clear gap.
With a 6-4-2 record and 14 points on the season, the Panthers haven't been overly affected by it, but they're still in sixth place in the Atlantic Division. The Panthers have the sixth-ranked penalty kill in the NHL, killing 84.9 percent of their penalties, but this path is a recipe for disaster.
So far, the Panthers have played three teams that rank in the top 10 in power-play percentage: the Carolina Hurricanes, San Jose Sharks, and Minnesota Wild. The Panthers lost two of those three games. They defeated the Hurricanes in the season opener without allowing a power-play goal, but they lost 4-3 to the Sharks and gave up a power-play goal, and they allowed one power-play goal in a 4-1 loss to the Wild.
With the in-your-face approach and personnel the Panthers deploy, they'll never be at the top of the penalty minute rankings, but they could be smarter in how they approach their physical play.
Offsetting penalties and fights aren't an issue. If players like Bokondji Imama, Garnet Hathaway, and the Tkachuk brothers rack up penalty minutes through fights, they don't hurt the team. But players like Radko Gudas, Dmitry Kulikov, Niko Mikkola, and Aaron Ekblad have all taken at least four minor penalties.
That puts the Panthers at a disadvantage too often and puts too much pressure on the penalty kill and goaltending.
The Panthers have played only two divisional games so far, and in November and December they'll face many Atlantic Division opponents. Those teams will capitalize on their power-play opportunities if the Panthers give it to them.
This isn't to say the Panthers need to change who they are, but they can definitely play smarter and take fewer penalties.
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