Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (5-9-2, 12 points, 7th place Metropolitan Division) @ Los Angeles Kings (5-7-2, 12 points, 7th place Pacific Division)

When: 9:00 p.m. ET

How to Watch: Locally televised game on ABTV and Sportsnet Pittsburgh, streaming for out of market at ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Penguins have less than 24 hours from tonight’s puck drop before the team’s next game starts at 8 p.m. ET Sunday in Anaheim. The Pens will then stick around on the West Coast for a Wednesday game against the San Jose Sharks before returning to Pittsburgh to play the Ottawa Senators next Saturday.

Opponent Track: The Kings opened the season on a six-game losing streak but have since gone 5-3, most recently claiming a 7-2 win Wednesday over the visiting San Jose Sharks.

Season Series: The Penguins will see the Kings again Dec. 17 in Pittsburgh.

Hidden Stat: The Kings were the last team in the NHL to record their first win this season after their 0-4-2 opening to the campaign, per The Athletic’s Eric Stephens.

Getting to know the Kings

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Artemi Panarin – Alex Laferriere – Adrian Kempe

Trevor Moore – Quinton Byfield – Corey Perry

Andre Lee – Scott Laughton – Martin Chromiak

Erik Haula – Kenny Connors – Joel Armia

DEFENSEMEN

Erik Gustafsson / Brandt Clarke

Joel Edmundson / Drew Doughty

Mikey Anderson / Brian Dumoulin

Goalies: Darcy Kuemper, Anton Forsberg

Potential scratches: Alex Turcotte (day to day), Cody Ceci, Samuel Helenius

Injured Reserve: Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Fiala (LTIR)

• The most dangerous part of the Kings’ lineup is the first line, which has combined for more than a third of the team’s total production so far this season. Adrian Kempe, in his first game back from an absence due to illness, scored his first hat trick of the season in Wednesday’s win against the Sharks.

THAT'S A HAT TRICK FOR ADRIAN KEMPE 🧢🚨 pic.twitter.com/rtKEcq57XJ

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 5, 2026

• Kenny Connors, who was recently called up from the AHL, made his season debut and recorded his first NHL point during the Kings’ Wednesday win over the Sharks.
• There are a few ex-Penguins playing in Los Angeles. Brian Dumoulin, who is in his second season with the Kings, recently skated in his 800th career game. Cody Ceci has appeared in seven games but has become a regular healthy scratch from the roster.

Special teams notes

• The Kings have struggled with one of the NHL’s least effective power plays early this season, but the unit might be bouncing back now that Kempe has returned to the lineup. Los Angeles went 3-for-5 on the man advantage Wednesday against the Sharks.

Q-TIP! pic.twitter.com/DUKmaagplp

— LA Kings (@LAKings) November 5, 2026

• Penalty killing is still a problem for this team. The Kings allowed two power-play goals from the Sharks and currently rank last in the NHL with a 62.2 percent success rate on the man disadvantage. The Penguins will hope that sparks some life in their own power play, which has fired at just a 16 percent success rate over this 2-7-1 stretch.

Season stats
via hockeydb

There are a lot of similarities between the Kings and Penguin rosters at first glance. The Kings are one of the oldest teams in the NHL. They’re not getting much production outside of their veteran players. And they’re stuck in the awkward spot between a retool and a rebuild after getting eliminated from the first round of last year’s playoffs.

The Kings might still be hoping this team is one superstar away from contention. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported earlier this week the Kings have “already talked about” a potential trade for Tampa Bay Lightning star Nikita Kucherov and “would be all over it if possible.”

And now for the Pens

Projected lines 

FORWARDS

Tommy Novak – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell

Egor Chinakhov – Ben Kindel – Evgeni Malkin

Ville Koivunen – Hendrix Lapierre – Justin Brazeau

Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Nick Robertson

DEFENSEMEN

Sam Girard / Erik Karlsson

Spencer Stastney / Kaeden Korczak

Declan Carlile / Kris Letang

Goalies: Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov

Potential Scratches: Andrei Kuzmenko, Ilya Solovyov

IR: Ryan Graves, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Elmer Soderblom, Bryan Rust

• Jake Livanavage didn’t see any action before he rejoined the Wilkes/Barre-Scranton Penguins for their Friday night game.
• Both Penguins goaltenders will likely be in action this weekend given the upcoming back-to-back coming against the Anaheim Ducks.
• Despite the Penguins’ struggles, Nick Robertson has proved to be one of the most effective offseason additions in the NHL. Per Pens PR, he ranks fifth in goalscoring among players that joined a new team ahead of the season.
• The Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks are the only two teams in the NHL heading into Saturday with fewer standings points than the Penguins.
• The Penguins are on their second four-game losing streak of the season. The Pens last lost more than four games in a row last December, when the team went 0-4-4 from Dec. 7 to Dec. 20 before rallying to win seven of their next eight games.

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Cutter Gauthier broke a tie with 1:34 left to extend his goals streak to five games and help the Anaheim Ducks beat the Calgary Flames 5-3 on Friday night for their fourth straight victory.

The Ducks are the first team since the 1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins to score at least five goals in seven consecutive games.

Gauthier one-timed a pass from Mikael Granlund. He has scored 10 of his 12 goals this season during the five-game streak.

Jeff Malott, Tristan Luneau, Leo Carlsson and Nikita Nesterenko, into an empty net, also scored for Anaheim. Granlund and Beckett Sennecke each had two assists.

William Stromgren, Joel Hanley and Joel Farabee scored for Calgary. Morgan Frost and Zayne Parekh each had a pair of assists as the Flames’ five-game home winning streak ended.

Lukas Dostal got the start for Anaheim, but was chased after giving up three goals on 11 shots in the first period. Ville Husso, who gave up seven goals in his last appearance, came on in relief and stopped all 10 shots he faced. He improved to 2-3-0.

Dustin Wolf, making his third straight start, had 24 stops for Calgary.

SABRES 5, BLUE JACKETS 2

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Norris scored twice, defenseman Owen Power had three assists and Buffalo beat Columbus.

Norris ended a six-game goals drought to help Buffalo win for the fourth time in five games.

Jack Quinn, Rasmus Dahlin and Josh Doan also scored, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 24 saves.

Kent Johnson and Zach Werenski scored for Columbus, and Jet Greaves made 32 saves. The Blue Jackets have lost three straight road games.

Quinn opened the scoring at 6:50 of the first period with his ninth of the season, and Johnson tied it with 4:00 left in the period with his eighth. Norris made it 2-1 with 1:50 to go in the first with his first goal since Oct. 17.

Dahlin made it 3-1 with a one-timer 4:30 into the second period. Norris’ second goal at 9:46 made it 4-1. Doan made it 5-1 1:07 later.

Werenski’s power-play goal with 1:39 left in the third made it 5-2.

WILD 4, SHARKS 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov scored his NHL-leading 16th goal and added three assists in Minnesota's victory over San Jose.

Quinn Hughes had a goal and two assists, and Maxim Shabanov and Zach Bogosian also scored for the Wild. They are 6-0-1 in their last seven games and have 27 points, tops in the Western Conference.

Jesper Wallstedt stopped 23 shots for his 11th victory in 16 starts, both tops among NHL goalies.

Macklin Celebrini scored and Yaroslav Askarov made 25 saves for the Sharks. They are 1-6-0 in their last seven games

Shabanov broke a 1-1 tie with a power-play goal with 5:45 left in the second period. Kaprizov zipped a cross-ice pass through the slot that Shabanov redirected past Askarov at the far post.

Hughes made it 3-1 when he skated across the high slot before sending a wrist shot over Askarov’s shoulder at 6:55 of the third period.

Bogosian later added his first goal of the season to seal the win for Minnesota.

The Montreal Canadiens picked up a hard-fought 5-4 overtime win against the Utah Mammoth on Nov. 5. 

Canadiens defenseman Adam Engstrom had a big moment in the contest. This is because he scored his first career NHL goal at the 14:54 mark of the third period, which forced overtime. 

Engstrom's goal was a good one, too, as he showed patience with the puck before beating Mammoth goaie Sebastian Cossa with a nice snap shot. 

Engstrom scoring an important goal like this is certainly big for him. The 22-year-old defenseman is trying to prove that he is ready to be a full-time NHL defenseman. Having a clutch moment like that will certainly help his chances of becoming just that. 

Engstrom is a promising prospect in the Canadiens' system and has the tools to become a good NHL blueliner. Thus, the 2022 third-round pick is certainly a defenseman who the Habs are hoping continues to trend in the right direction with his development. 

Engstrom took a nice step forward last season in the AHL with the Laval Rocket, as he posted 10 goals, 34 points, and a plus-14 rating in 45 games. Now, he is beginning to show off his skill at the NHL level, and he will be a big player to watch as this campaign rolls on because of it. 

The Chicago Blackhawks are as lousy as any team in the National Hockey League. At 4-12-1, their playoff hopes are over, and it is still multiple weeks before American Thanksgiving. At some point, changes are going to be made, as they always are with underperforming NHL teams. 

However, no team lacks silver linings. For the Chicago Blackhawks, one of those is rookie forward Roman Kantserov. Sometimes he plays center, and other times (especially recently) he plays on the wing. 

In Kantserov's last 7 games, all on the top line with Connor Bedard, he has a point in all of them. He is the first Blackhawks rookie to have a 7-game point streak since Jonathan Toews did so in 2007-08. Toews's went all the way up to 10. 

Only Toews and Jeremy Roenick have had such a point streak as a rookie over the last 40 years. That is some elite company to find your name next to. 

Entering action on Friday, while the Blackhawks are idle, Kantserov leads all NHL rookies with 8 goals. His 10 points are only 2 off the rookie scoring lead, which he is tied for 4th. If this type of goal-scoring and point-producing production continues, his name will start to be involved in the inevitable Calder Trophy conversations. 

Anton Frondell is the other high-end rookie on the Blackhawks. He is the better all-around player, but offensive statistics are usually what catch the eyes of voters. Frondell is great defensively for a first-year player, and he is a top-ten rookie scorer with 8 points, but Kantserov's offensive totals are slightly more impressive at this time. 

Chicago is unlikely to climb out of the hole that they have dug themselves into. However, there is room for the team to improve and not let this season go totally to waste. Seeing where Kantserov can take his goal (and point) totals is important for the future of the team.

Last season, Kantserov led the KHL in goal scoring at such a young age. During that time, he caught the attention of the hockey world and made it clear that he had what it takes to produce in the NHL. When they made him a 2nd-round pick (44th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft, there was a lot of faith that he'd be a good player. So far, he's exceeded expectations. 

Right now, Kantserov is on pace for 40 goals. That would be an impressive goal total for Connor Bedard or Patrick Kane in his prime. For Kantserov to reach a number like that would be as impressive a total as any rookie goal scorer has had in Blackhawks history. 

Is it likely he gets that many? No. But if he can finish in the 20s and perhaps flirt with 30, he will make it clear that he is a long-term piece for their top-nine forward group as an above-average sniper in the NHL. 

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

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When Cole Caufield scored the overtime game-winning goal on Thursday night, it was more than just the goal that helped the Montreal Canadiens beat the Utah Mammoth; it also helped him set a new NHL record.

With that lamplighter, the 15th of his career in overtime, he became the fastest player in league history to score 15 overtime goals. The American winger took just 384 games to reach that milestone. In the process, he overtook some elite players in the 15-overtime-goals club. Connor McDavid held the record until Thursday night, having needed 559 games to reach the milestone. Sebastian Aho is now in third place; he needed 645 games to reach the 15-OT-goal club, while Alexander Ovechkin did it in 653 games.

Canadiens Coach St-Louis’ Aware Of The Big Decisions He’ll Have To Make
Canadiens Win Thriller In Overtime
Canadiens: Tough Choices Had To Be Made And Will Be Made Again

In other words, it took Caufield 175 games less than it took McDavid to score 15 OT goals. The mark needs context; the young Canadiens haven’t always been good at closing out a game in regulation or protecting a lead, which gave Caufield plenty of opportunities to score overtime goals. Not trying to take anything away from the sniper, but Montreal has struggled to win in regulation for quite a while.

GOAL CAUFIELD MAKES HISTORY 🔵⚪️🔴 pic.twitter.com/IylhNf7bgZ

— NHL (@NHL) November 6, 2026

In 2020-21, the Habs only had 17 wins in 60 minutes; in 2021-22, the Canadiens were dead last in regulation wins with just 16. The year after, in 2022-23, they were 27th in the league with 21 regulation wins. In 2023-24, they were 28th with just 20 victories before extra time. In 2024-25, they climbed to 21st place with 30 regulation wins; last season, they were ninth in the league with 34.

In 2020-21, despite playing only 10 regular-season games, the sniper scored two overtime goals; in 2021-22, Caufield added two more. In 2022-23, he played only 46 games and scored no overtime goals. In 2023-24, he had 3, followed by 1 the following year, five last season, and two in just 16 games this year.

Whichever way you slice it, Caufield remains an incredibly clutch player, and the Canadiens can thank their lucky star that he fell all the way to 15 in the 2019 draft. Given how many goals he can score, it shouldn’t surprise anyone when other players try to get him off his game, just like MacKenzie Weegar did on Thursday night.

Embarrassing stuff by Utah’s Mackenzie Weegar pic.twitter.com/QiU5oDUCIy

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) November 6, 2026

---

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.

Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.

Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.

The Buffalo Sabres wasted an excellent performance from Colten Ellis in the opener of their four-game homestand against Ottawa on Wednesday, as Shane Pinto and Michael Amadio scored in the final 10 minutes of regulation to hand the Atlantic rival Senators a 2-1 victory. 

After the game, head coach Lindy Ruff indicated he was not pleased with his club’s effort, stating that they were outskated and outworked, and because of that, the Sabres have scratched two players who have been in the lineup for every one of their 15 games. 

Center Ryan McLeod, whose lost defensive zone draw and failed coverage led to Pinto’s tying goal, did not take line rushes at the club’s morning skate on Friday in preparation for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Defenseman Louis Crevier, who played a team-low 8:05 on Wednesday is also expected to be a healthy scratch. 

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Prior to Wednesday’s game, Ruff said that both forward Jiri Kulich and defenseman Conor Timmins were ready to return to the lineup. Kulich took McLeod’s spot on the wing with Josh Norris and Jason Zucker, while Timmins is expected to pair with Zach Metsa. 

"(McLeod) knows he needs to be better,” Ruff said. “He’s taken full responsibility (for the miscue) and understands. It's not about not playing tonight; it's really about what the next game is going to look like. When you meet with a player and you go through details of the game, there’s a lot more to the game than just that faceoff." 

Crevier, who signed a four-year, $16 million extension before the season, has just one assist in 15 games after scoring 25 points with Chicago last season, but Timmins, who was injured in the preseason after an excellent showing in the playoffs, is ready to make his first start of the campaign.  

The Sabres will start Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in goal, The Blue Jackets are coming off a 2-1 shootout victory over Dallas on Thursday and will go with Jet Greaves in goal in the second of back-to-back games. Buffalo announced that they have placed defenseman Jack Rathbone on waivers. Rathbone was injured during training camp and needs to clear to be demoted to the AHL Rochester Americans.

Follow Michael on X, Instagram @MikeInBuffalo

The New Jersey Devils begin a three-game road trip with a mission. It’s a get-right stretch, one where they hope to return to the brand of hockey that made them a juggernaut. This is particularly the message after the recent game against the St. Louis Blues, where they blew a 4-1 lead in the third period yet recovered and won 5-4 in overtime. 

“Just get back to our game and keep playing a good brand of hockey,” Luke Hughes stated after the game as the team turns the page. The Devils were overconfident against the Blues and tried making highlight plays that almost cost them in the end. “That has been the furthest thing from our mind when we've been playing here of late. So that's the lesson,” head coach Sheldon Keefe added. 

Anthony Mantha’s Versatility Is A Devils Secret Weapon In The Forward UnitThe Devils' power forward has played in multiple spots in the lineup and gives the forward unit a little bit of everything. It gives a deep forward group another layer of talent.

Keefe wants the Devils to play a disciplined and structured brand of hockey, especially when they have a late-game lead. A road trip is a good time to focus on that brand and for the Devils to win the way they have been doing so all season. 

This road trip is a unique one. The Devils face the New York Islanders on Saturday night and then play the second of a back-to-back against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday. Then they wrap it up on Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets. It’s three different opponents that will test the Devils and dare them to win in multiple ways. 

Is Hellebuyck Ready To Outduel An Elite Goaltender? 

Hellebuyck reinvigorated the Devils, the fanbase, and the energy around the team. However, he hasn’t had any lights-out starts yet despite a 4-0 record. He has a .891 save percentage and a 2.44 goals-against average on 92 shots, with 0.1 goals saved above average. 

It’s understandable for Hellebuyck to have a shaky start to the season considering he missed training camp and is adjusting to a new team. With each start, he’s slowly acclimating to the action and the workload, and the recent game was his toughest test as the Blues generated 32 shots. 

Devils Surviving Blues Comeback Attempt Proves There’s More To This Team“We're just a group that continues to learn. The recipe for us to win games is right there for us. I think there are no shortcuts,” Jesper Bratt

Hellebuyck has faced some great offenses but has yet to face an elite goaltender on the other end. Ilya Sorokin was a Vezina Trophy finalist in 2022-23 and 2025-26. He’s one of the few goaltenders in the NHL who can take over games with a dominant start. 

The Devils might end up in a low-scoring game with the Islanders, especially if Sorokin is sharp from the opening puck drop. It will challenge Hellebuyck to outduel Sorokin, something he’ll want to prove he can do. 

The Devils Offense Looks To Go Toe-To-Toe With The Maple Leafs Firepower

After a disappointing 2025-26 season, the Maple Leafs have bounced back, at least offensively. They average 3.65 goals per game, the fifth-most in the NHL. Auston Matthews and William Nylander are the star players leading the way, while Easton Cowan and Gavin McKenna have injected youth and an exciting flair into the offense. 

The Devils have already been tested by high-octane offenses. They faced the Colorado Avalanche twice and the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. The Devils not only handled both offenses but outdueled them. 

Luke Hughes & Philip Broberg Show The Reward Of Paying Defensemen With UpsideBoth the New Jersey Devils and St. Louis Blues paid their young defensemen recently, betting on their upside and development into elite defensemen. It’s a risk, but part of the new age of thinking for contracts.

The Maple Leafs are led by a great offense but have also struggled on defense, allowing 3.24 goals per game. It sets them up to make games high-scoring and match them goal for goal. The Devils have the offense to do that and hope their high-end skill can once again deliver. 

The Jets Will Provide The Devils & Hellebuyck With A Test Unlike Any They’ve Seen

The atmosphere in Winnipeg on Nov. 10 will be one of a kind. Hellebuyck makes his much-anticipated return, and the Jets fans will be ready with boos, chants, jeers, and everything in between. 

What will make it unique is that Hellebuyck is a goaltender. The Islanders fans booed John Tavares in his return game every time he took the ice. Likewise, Brady Tkachuk was met with booing and chirping with every shift in his return game against the Ottawa Senators. A skater allows fans to stop and go, but what about a goaltender? 

Needless to say, the fans will come prepared. They will likely boo Hellebuyck the moment he takes the ice for warmups, and if the Jets score, the fans will erupt much like they would for a goal in the playoffs. 

This is a challenge for Hellebuyck and something the Devils must handle as well. The players must handle the intensity. Likewise, the Jets will feed off the energy from the crowd and give the Devils all they can handle. Even in a rough season for the Jets, this is one game they certainly won’t want to lose. It’s not a playoff game, but the players handling this environment will speak volumes about their ability to play under pressure. 

Just under a quarter of the way through the 2026-27 season, the Philadelphia Flyers have won only four of their first 18 games, and the way they continue to find ways to lose games is impressively bad.

Overall, the Flyers actually played a solid game against the Metropolitan Division rival New York Rangers on Thursday night. The Rangers held a narrow 28-25 advantage in shots on goal, while 5-on-5 shot attempts, according to Natural Stat Trick, were an even 48-48.

In the expected goals battle, the Flyers eked out a 2.67 to 2.65 advantage.

By the numbers, it was an extremely even game, but one the Flyers should have won.

Thanks to unlikely goal contributions from Simon Benoit, who scored his first goal since March 10, 2025, and Noel Acciari, the Flyers went into the third period on Thursday night nursing a 2-1 lead. And they played like it.

The Rangers, of course, pushed, out-shooting the Flyers 10-8, and out-attempting the Flyers 17-11 at 5-on-5.

Midway through the third period, a chintzy slashing penalty on Denver Barkey put the Flyers on the penalty kill, and Pavel Dorofeyev cashed in to tie the game at 2-2.

The Flyers continued to sit back and play conservatively, and a routine offensive zone dump-and-chase was quickly thrown back the other way, with Rangers forward Ty Kartye finding an inexplicable amount of open space for a breakaway, which he scored on to give the Blueshirts an insurmountable 3-2 lead.

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On Kartye's goal, Travis Sanheim was pinched up in the neutral zone on his man, Jamie Drysdale was far off to the left of the ice, and Sean Couturier was at the red line. In the end, nobody cut off the middle and right side of the ice, and regardless of whose mistake it was in coverage, it was made by someone who should know better.

"I'm not sure. I was up on my check in the neutral zone, and I haven't watched it yet, so I'm not sure what happened," Sanheim said bluntly of the goal after the game.

In the end, nobody on the Flyers knows, or wants to say, what the issue is that's causing this team to turtle and throw games away.

"I think we were trying to defend a lead rather than just play the game and kind of do what made us successful during the other period," Acciari offered. "I don't know what it was, but needed to keep the foot on the gas and keep doing what got us there."

Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet, who bears the responsibility for this fairly or unfairly, is out of answers, too.

"I don't know the answer. When the pressure hits, you want to embrace it. You want the puck. You want to be in situations that, 'I want to be the difference.' Whether it's a wall play, a blocked shot, a good back check. Those are the moments that we need people to consistently give," Tocchet said.

Flyers Lament Lack of Finishing Touch After Disappointing Loss to Wild Rick Tocchet and Trevor Zegras sounded off on the Philadelphia Flyers inability to score goals in crucial moments.

As for players who weren't as involved in the collapse, Matvei Michkov played just three shifts inside the final 10 minutes of the third period, including the 6-on-5 with the extra attacker at the very end of the game.

For Porter Martone, he played just two, was left off the 6-on-5 entirely, and finished the night with just 11:51 of ice time.

First-year pro Cole Knuble played just two shifts in the final 10 minutes, too: once immediately before the Barkey penalty, and once for the faceoff after the Kartye goal. That was it.

It's become abundantly clear that the Flyers are trying to grasp at wins, playing not to lose instead of playing to win at a point in the season where every point in the standings matters. That's what happens when you light the first nine games of an 84-game season on fire.

Now, the Flyers are 0-4-3 against divisional opponents this season and cruising along in their race to the bottom of the NHL.

Two of the Vancouver Canucks’ most intriguing prospects will now be playing on the same OHL team.  

After speculation that he would be traded by his former team, the London Knights, Canucks prospect Aleksei Medvedev has been dealt to the Peterborough Petes in the OHL. This move will unite him with fellow Canucks prospect Adam Novotný, who has been with Petersborough since the 2025–26 season. 

2026–27 is Medvedev’s third season in the OHL and was his third with the Knights. After putting together a strong 22–8–2 record with London in 2024–25, as well as a 2.79 GAA and .912 SV%, the goaltender was selected 47th-overall by the Canucks in the 2025 NHL Draft. His play has faltered since being drafted, with his numbers dropping to a 3.26 GAA and .891 SV% in 2025–26. Medvedev was traded to the Petes for a 2028 second-round pick, 2027 third-round pick, and 2030 fifth-round pick. 

Novotný has been a star for the Petes since the start of the 2026–27 season. After putting up 34 goals and 31 assists in 58 games in his first OHL season, the forward was selected 24th-overall by the Canucks in 2026. He put together a strong Development Camp and Training Camp effort but was sent back down to the OHL, where he has since scored 10 goals and 12 assists in 16 games. Novotný currently leads the Petes in points with 22. 

Despite Novotný’s strong individual play, the Petes are currently at the bottom of the East Division with eight wins and 10 losses. That said, they currently sit at sixth in the Eastern Conference and have won five of their last eight games. 

Peterborough will play their next game on November 8 at 11:05 am PCT, hosting the Niagara IceDogs. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

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James Reimer's latest NHL opportunity didn’t go nearly as well as his time with the Senators last season. The veteran goaltender was placed on waivers by the New York Rangers after just one period of action .

For Senators fans, it's a sharp contrast to how things went for Reimer last season when he effectively stepped in to give the club solid support when it needed help between the pipes.

He was never expected to be a long-term solution here, but when Linus Ullmark stepped away on a personal leave of absence for mental health, and backup Leevi Merilainen struggled, Reimer provided some timely saves in a supporting role.

His brief time with the Rangers has been a different story.

Reimer signed a one-year, $850,000 contract with the Blueshirts on October 25, as the Rangers scrambled to deal with injuries.

With Igor Shesterkin sidelined for the season following a knee injury and former Senators goalie Joonas Korpisalo also out, the Rangers were looking for someone who could take some of the workload off their starter for the moment, Dylan Garand.

Reimer got his opportunity the following night against the Los Angeles Kings, but it didn't last long. He gave up three goals on eight shots in the opening period and was pulled after 20 minutes.

The Rangers went on to lose 6-3. Reimer hasn't played since.

On Thursday, just 11 days after signing him, the Rangers placed him on waivers.

It's a disappointing development for a goalie who had given the Senators some much-needed stability earlier in this calendar year.

In 14 appearances with the Senators, Reimer posted a 7-4-2 record, a 2.42 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage, along with one shutout. He stabilized the position and generally made the saves he was supposed to make, giving the Senators a chance to win on most nights.

His final start with the Senators came on April 15, when he made 19 stops in a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The timing of Thursday's waiver move suggests the Rangers are preparing for Korpisalo's return. If Reimer goes unclaimed, the Rangers can assign him to the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, where he'll still make his full NHL salary.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa

DENVER — Apparently, the best way to hurt the Avalanche this season is to have played for them first.

Colorado has had a familiar problem this season: former players keep showing up on the scoresheet against them. Some have done more damage than others, but the pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. And it hasn’t been limited to one opponent.

Ryan O’Reilly has been the biggest thorn in Colorado’s side as of late. 

The Nashville Predators forward spent the first six seasons of his NHL career with the Avalanche after being drafted by the organization in 2009. He’s been productive against his former team ever since, totaling 46 points in 39 career games against Colorado, including 15 goals and 31 assists.

The latest three meetings have been particularly rough. O’Reilly scored twice and added two assists in Nashville’s 6-2 win on Oct. 25 at Bridgestone Arena, then chipped in two more assists in Thursday night’s 3-2 overtime victory at Ball Arena. Over his last three games against Colorado, he’s collected 10 points — five goals and five assists.

O’Reilly isn’t the only former Av making himself comfortable in Nashville. Jack Drury, who landed with the Predators in the offseason, scored in that Oct. 25 meeting, while Ross Colton, who was dealt to Nashville earlier, opened the scoring Thursday night. Apparently, the Predators have found a few ways to make use of Colorado’s old roster.

Toronto got in on it, too.

Nick Blankenburg, who spent time with the Avalanche after being acquired ahead of last season’s trade deadline, scored in his first game with the Maple Leafs on Oct. 10. He didn’t need much time to make an impression, either. His first shot on goal in a Toronto sweater beat Mackenzie Blackwood for the opening goal in a 6-3 Maple Leafs win.

On Election Day, former Avalanche players made their choice pretty clear: they elected to score against Colorado.

Charlie Coyle and Valeri Nichushkin combined for three goals and three assists as the Columbus Blue Jackets handed the Avalanche a 7-2 loss. Two more familiar faces, another miserable night for Colorado.

And it’s not just the players putting pucks in the net who have given the Avalanche trouble.

Justus Annunen, who once backed up Alexander Georgiev in Colorado before being traded to Nashville, has started both games against his former team this season. He’s won both. Annunen has stopped 49 of 53 shots in those appearances, good for a .925 save percentage and a 2.00 goals-against average. The former Avalanche goaltender has been just as effective against Colorado as some of his old teammates have been with the puck.

Of course, this isn’t the first time a former Avalanche player has delivered a particularly painful blow.

Matt Duchene provided perhaps the most infamous example in Game 6 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs’ second round. In double overtime at Ball Arena, Duchene scored the goal that eliminated Colorado, sending the Avalanche home at the hands of a player who once wore their sweater.

That one still hurts. This season has offered a few more reminders.

Between Nashville's former Avalanche contingent of O'Reilly, Drury and Colton, Blankenburg's quick strike in Toronto, Coyle and Nichushkin's performance in Columbus, and Annunen's two wins, Colorado has spent an awful lot of time dealing with players it once called its own.

The Avalanche have enough opponents to worry about without their old teammates joining the list.

Every couple of Friday’s we are going to look at some Penguins numbers, both traditional numbers and fancy stats, just to see what is going on with the team and some individual players.

Today is one of those Friday’s.

So let’s look at some Penguins numbers.

The Penguins power play has a problem

I hate to be a “shoot the puck” guy, but …

After Thursday’s game against Boston, the Penguins success rate on the power play has dropped down to just 17.8 percent for the season, placing them 24th in the entire NHL. They failed to score on their one power play attempt on Thursday, which came after a disastrous 0-for-6 night on Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights that saw them fail to score on an extended 5-on-3 in the closing minutes of regulation, just before Tomas Hertl scored a power play goal of his own to win the game for Vegas.

The drop in production from the Penguins power play is just one of the factors that has resulted in an early season regression from the 2025-26 season, and it is not hard to nail down the problem on this year’s power play.

They can not generate shots.

Or attempt shots.

Or do anything with shooting the puck.

As of Friday morning the Penguins power play has the following ranks in terms of shot generation on the power play:

• Total shot attempts per 60 minutes: 32nd (77.13 attempts per 60 minutes)
• Unblocked shot attempts per 60 minutes: 32nd (55.32 unblocked attempts per 60 minutes).
• Shots on goal per 60 minutes: 32nd (33.84 shots on goal per 60 minutes)
• Expected goals per 60 minutes: 32nd (5.69 expected goals per 60 minutes)
• Scoring chances per 60 minutes: 31st (44.08 scoring chances per 60 minutes)
• High-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes: 28th (18.1 high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes)

Abysmal. Horrid. Rancid. Terrible. Pathetic. Pick a word. Any of them work. If anything, the power play unit is outperforming what it should be doing based on this. They are not just last in almost all of these categories, they are last by a significant margin.

It is especially frustrating because the Penguins numbers in the same categories during 5-on-5 play are consistently top-10 across the board.

The Penguins have a lot of problems defensively.

They have had problems in goal.

The power play is right there with both of those areas in terms of contributing to the early season failures in the standings.

Two things about that: 1) Special teams (both power play and penalty kill) are two of the biggest areas on a team where coaching can make a difference, and 2) that is also an area where the Penguins most experienced, highest paid, and theoretically best players are getting the bulk of the playing time.

Sidney Crosby still off to one of the worst starts of his career

The Penguins top line started to find some juice against Montreal and Vegas, and that includes the captain. But with just 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his first 16 games, this remains the second-worst start to a season in his career.

The only 16-game start worse than this remains the start of the 2015-16 season under Mike Johnston.

He had nine points in the first 16 games of that season.

There is another layer to that: You can point to the early season struggles of Rickard Rakell and his lack of finishing as eating away at some potential assists for Crosby, and that is certainly fair. But Crosby has just 28 shots on goal in these first 16 games.

That is the lowest total through 16 games in his career. The next lowest was 38 shots on goal which he had through the first 16 game of the 2025-26 season. Prior to last season, he never had less than 40 shots on goal through the first 16 games of a season.

Hard to hide from the numbers.

Some quick hit numbers

• The Penguins have had eight different defense pairings play at least 40 minute of 5-on-5 ice-time together this season. None of them have a positive goal differential. They have several that are exactly even, and three that are on the negative side. Nobody is on the positive side. Sam Girard and Kaeden Korczak are 9-9. Erik Karlsson and Spencer Stastney are 5-5. Korczak and Declan Carlile are 3-3. Kris Letang and Stastney, and Letang-Trevor van Riemsdyk are all 1-1.
• Not only does Nicholas Robertson lead the team with seven goals, the Penguins are outscoring teams by a 10-3 margin when he is on the ice during 5-on-5 play. Among players with at least 50 minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time, that is the best on-ice goal-differential on the team.
• The worst? Andrei Kuzmenko at two goals for and eight goals against.
• The Penguins defensive zone play is bad, and it is not just the defensemen contributing to it. The forwards have not been particularly useful, either (with few exceptions). The Penguins goalies are not without blame. Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov are a combined minus-4.6 in goals saved above expected. Individually, Murashov is 62nd in the league and Silovs is 47th.
• Kaeden Korczak is the only Penguins defenseman (again, minimum 50 minutes) with a positive on-ice goal-differential during 5-on-5 play (16-14). He is also up to 10 assists in 16 games. He is also second on the team in 5-on-5 points per 60 minutes, trailing only Evgeni Malkin. He’s been really good. Still only 26 years old.
• Going back to the power play and the lack of shooting. Egor Chinakhov has the most power play shot attempts per 60 minutes at 29.5. He also has the third-most individual expected goals per 60 minutes on the power play (1.95). He has not consistently hit the net, and the goal-scoring has not yet emerged, but he also has just 22 minutes of power play time. Move him up. Get that shot on the top unit.

Joined again by writer, podcaster and Blackhawks fan Sam Fels, we remember goalie Jeff Hackett, who played decently in 500 NHL games for some of the worst teams of his era.

Jeff Hackett’s NHL career has a defined pattern. Every time he was given a chance to rise from back-up to starter, the team in front of him went directly into the crapper. He went from a bad early 90’s Islanders team to an awful inaugural Sharks team. When he was sent to Chicago two years later, a new problem emerged: Ed Belfour was already the starter and wasn’t keen on sharing his crease. Hackett endured Belfour’s bullying for years before the elder goalie was shipped to San Jose and Hackett got the net full time. Too bad the Hawks playing in front of him were the definition of mediocre. His last starting gig was with the Montreal Canadiens, where the good new was that he wasn’t directly following a Hall of Famer. The bad news was basically everything else.

Sam walks us through Blackhawks goalie debates and in-fighting (which occasionally included actual fighting) in the era before Toews-Kane-Keith-etc changed everything. Fans in Chicago couldn’t watch home games on TV thanks to a cheapskate owner, but the team was barely worth watching anyway. On that team, Hackett wasn’t a bad goalie; he was just more of an “innings eater” than anything else. Sam regales us with some of the personalities and peculiarities of that time in Chicago sports and we share with him tales about some forgettable Islanders teams. Meanwhile, most of Mike’s memories of Hackett come from his years as a Hab during one of their fallow periods. It’s a wide-ranging episode covering a lot of 1990’s and 2000’s NHL nostalgia.

Thanks as always to Sam for coming on. We could have listened to his Weird Blackhawks stories all day. Be sure to subscribe to his great newsletter, which covers hockey, football, soccer, pro wrestling and more. And check out our Weird Islanders Extra! Patreon bonus episode with Sam and us talking more shit about Ed Belfour, a great goalie and true lunatic in his time.

WEIRD BONUS MATERIAL

• Jeff Hackett won just five games with the Islanders in 1990-91. If you watch this compilation, five wins seems very, very generous.

• One of his wins that second season was a 4-1 home victory over Winnipeg where he made 41 saves.
• That same season, young Hackett was trucked by future Blackhawks teammate Bob Probert in a game in Detroit. The Islanders were down 8-4 in the third at the time. Rough night for ol’ Hack.
• With Mark Fitzpatrick and Glenn Healy ahead of him, Hackett was left exposed in the 1991 expansion draft. He was selected by the San Jose Sharks, the only team in the league that was worse than the Islanders. He won just 13 times in 78 games as a Shark.

• Getting traded from a terrible expansion team to an original six playoff team sounds great. But the relationship between Hackett and All Star Ed Belfour was most definitely not. Belfour berated and belittled the younger goalie for the better part of four seasons until “The Eagle” was finally dealt to… the Sharks! Belfour was gracious as always on the way out.
• Late Breaking Bonus: Hackett was the starting goalie on the night the Islanders first honored Al Arbour with a banner at Nassau Coliseum on January 25, 1997.

• Hackett spent about two years as the starter for a less than stellar Blackhawks team (16, 26, 29:30), before being traded to the Habs in a deal for another legend, Jocelyn Thibault.
• Somewhat ironically, while playing against the Islanders for Montreal in 1998, Steve Webb barrelled into Hackett and knocked him out of the game.

• After stops in Boston and Philly, Hackett retired due to vertigo.
• In 2011, Bleacher Report ranked the top 100 goalies in NHL history. Hackett was No. 99.
• In 2017, Hackett was elected to the London Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.

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• Played one (1) season or less for the Islanders or very short stints over multiple seasons.
• Be a veteran NHLer who is not generally associated with his time on Islanders.

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The Hamilton Hammers have not had an ideal start to their inaugural season, dealing with a slow start along with key injuries, including one to forward Cole Eiserman, while Mitchell Chaffee, who initially led the Hammers in scoring, has been in the NHL for the better part of a month now.

In light of the injuries, along with a 3-8-2 start, the Hammers have made two moves on Friday morning.

The team first announced they signed AHL veteran Antonio Stranges to a PTO.

Stranges, 24, was a fourth-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2020. 

He's a veteran of 208 AHL games, all with the Texas Stars. He's also played 18 AHL Playoff games in his career.

Stranges posted 14 goals and 34 points in 70 games last season. The year prior, Stranges posted 18 goals and 43 points in 55 AHL games.

Additionally, the team made a bigger splash by inking longtime NHL veteran Robby Fabbri to a PTO.

Fabbri, 30, is a veteran of 463 NHL games, with his career spanning back to the 2015-16 season.

He played 21 NHL games last year, 15 with the St. Louis Blues, then 6 with the Minnesota Wild.

In those games, he scored 2 goals and 5 points.

Fabbri also played three AHL Games with the Charlotte Checkers. Before that, he hadn’t played an AHL Game since 2018-19.

Fabbri's only ever played a total of 9 AHL games in his entire career, but has 3 goals and 8 points in those games.

Both forwards will be strong depth additions to Hamilton, even if only temporarily via the PTO.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are on the road to take on the Buffalo Sabres tonight at 7:00 PM.    

Buffalo Sabres - 7-5-3 - 17 Points - Lost 1 - 7th in the the Atlantic Division  

Columbus Blue Jackets - 7-7-0 - 14 Points - Won 2 - 6th in the Metro

Player Notes Per CBJ PR

• Charlie Coyle notched 0-3-3 on Oct. 1 vs. Buffalo to improve to 10-17-27 in 39 career games against the Sabres.
• Conor Garland has collected 5-6-11 in 14 career meetings against Buffalo, including posting 3-4-7 in seven career trips to KeyBank Center.
• Zach Werenski posted two assists earlier this season on Oct. 1 ys. Buffalo to improve to 2-19-21 in 23 career matchups. He has notched multi-point performances in five of his past eight against the Sabres (1-10-11).
• Jet Greaves owńs a 4-1-0 record with a .919 save percentage and 2.59 goals-against average in five career games vs. Buffalo, while making 30 or more saves in three of his five starts against the Sabres.
• Sean Monahan scored on Oct. 1 vs. the Sabres to improve to 10-15-25 in 27 career games against the club, including points in seven of his last 10 matchups (3-4-7).
• Valeri Nichushkin has recorded 4-8-12 in his last 10 matchups against Buffalo (5-9-14 in 15 career GP overall).
• Matthew Knies has 3-7-10 in 12 career GP with points in 4-straight vs. BUF (3-4-7), including 2-1-3 on Oct. 1. 

Blue Jackets Stats 

• Power Play - 16.2% - 28th in the NHL
• Penalty Kill - 73.2% - 24th in the NHL
• Goals For - 36 - 32nd in the NHL
• Goals Against - 42 - 5th in the NHL   

Sabres Stats 

• Power Play - 16.3% - 27th in the NHL
• Penalty Kill - 69.8% - 27th in the NHL
• Goals For - 44 - 24th in the NHL
• Goals Against - 50 - 16th in the NHL

Series History vs.Sabres            

• The Blue Jackets are 15-9-0-3 in Buffalo and 30-17-1-3 overall vs. Buffalo.
• Columbus beat Buffalo 6-3 on 10-1. 
• The Blue Jackets have won 5 of their 7 meetings with the Sabres over the past two seasons (5-2-0).
• The Blue Jackets have picked up points in nine of their past 11 trips to KeyBank Center since March 31, 2019 (6-2-3). 
• The Blue Jackets have not surrendered a power play goal in the past nine games of the series (23-for-23 on penalty kill) after finishing 5-for-5 on the PK in the club's matchup earlier this season on Oct. 1.

Who To Watch For TheSabres        

• Tage Thompson leads the Sabres with 10 goals and 18 points. 
• Zach Benson leads Buffalo with 12 assists. 
• Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is 4-3-3 with an .874 SV%. His last start was on 10-31.

Injured Reserve & Other Injuries

• Isac Lundestrom - Achilles Surgery - LTIR - 14 Games Missed - Lightly skating. Could return soon.

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 38

How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be simulcast on The Blue Jackets Hockey Network and 93.3 The Bus, with Steve Mears behind the mic doing the play-by-play.

TV: CBJHN - Spectrum HD Ch. 320/1320; IP Ch. 349; Prime Video, Fubo. DirecTV Ch. 660 (streaming), 660-1 (satellite). U-Verse (1735/735)

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