Jacob Fowler has faced plenty of oddities in his young NHL career, but tracking a green apple sailing toward his crease mid-play was a first.

During the second period of Saturday’s Original Six matchup at Scotiabank Arena, a fan launched a small green apple, later confirmed to be fake, from the stands, sending it skidding onto the ice right in front of the Montreal Canadiens goaltender while play was live. Referee T.J. Luxmore collected the object, pocketed it, and later produced it during a stoppage, holding it up near Fowler in a moment that left the broadcast booth and viewers doing double-takes.

“I was pretty dialled in but I saw an apple come on the ice right in front of me. I’m used to tracking a black puck not a green apple,” Fowler told Sportsnet’s Kyle Bukauskas afterward, laughing. “I saw that one and (Luxmore) told me he would have blown the play dead if they had gotten in the zone so thankfully they didn’t get one there.”

The 21-year-old American, who stopped 26 shots in Montreal’s 4-2 victory, confirmed to reporters that a fan had thrown it directly at him. 

I hoped this was referee JT Luxmore's own apple from his pocket, but, unfortunately, that's not true.

Was thrown on the ice https://t.co/p9gjiAESZx

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) November 8, 2026

“It’s the first time that’s happened to me. It was thrown right at me,” he told reporters in the visiting locker room.

Fowler, still relatively new to the league’s quirks, handled the moment with the same poise he’s shown throughout a strong start (8-1-1). He joked with the official about the hypothetical.

"It's so surreal. I still feel like a little kid every time I get to put on the gear. It's so special to play in this organization."

Jacob Fowler joined @sportsnetkyle after a 26-save performance in the Canadiens' win over the Maple Leafs. pic.twitter.com/JVmDYENkbS

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 8, 2026

“As a young player, I try to stay in the good graces of the referees. I always ask them how it’s going. He showed me what it was. I asked him if the goal would have counted if they scored. He said, ‘We’ll see!’” Fowler recounted.

The incident occurred amid a game in which the Canadiens extended their point streak to 10 games. Alex Newhook scored twice, Chris Kreider and Zachary Bolduc added goals, and Fowler held firm after Toronto cut a 3-0 deficit to 3-2 early in the third. William Nylander and Gavin McKenna scored for the Maple Leafs, who have dropped four of five.

The incident didn’t help Toronto in any manner as they continue to struggle to find a way to play their game for a full 60 minutes.

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For the second time this season, the Montreal Canadiens visited the Toronto Maple Leafs, but this time the Habs wore their Hometown Remix jersey, and they were without Josh Anderson (out for personal reasons). Owen Beck deservedly moved up in the lineup to replace the alternate captain, and Jacob Fowler returned to net, facing Toronto for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, the Leafs went back to Sergei Bobrovsky, who had three losses in his last three starts.

Beck slotted right along Jake Evans and Chris Kreider, taking over from Anderson while Alex Newhook remained on the fourth line with Kirby Dach and Oliver Kapanen. Toronto was getting John Tavares back after the center had missed nine games with a lower-body injury, and with Kirill Marchenko also injured, his comeback was more than welcome for the hosts.

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Fourth Line Rolling

Newhook might have been demoted to the fourth line on Nick Suzuki’s return, but this fourth line doesn’t play like a fourth line. The Newfoundlander scored two goals in the first frame, allowing the Habs to go back to the room with the lead after 20 minutes, and Montreal never surrendered the lead.

As for Dach, he played with a lot of energy, and in a third-frame scrum, he helped Arber Xhekaj when he was surrounded by three Leafs. On that play, Xhekaj got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for face-washing Teddy Blueger, who had taken a few shots at a tied-up Dach. The Canadiens’ defenseman was the only player sent to the box on that sequence, which even puzzled Leafs fans. After the game, Martin St-Louis said:

I feel bad for Jacko; I don’t think that was a penalty.

As for Kapanen, he had an assist on the night, but he also won the four faceoffs he took. As Dach rightfully pointed out after the game, all three players on that line have played center over their careers, and it certainly helps them play on the defensive side of the puck.

Absolutely insane that they're only taking Xhekaj out of this. Ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/VbWnIxL7Ye

— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) November 8, 2026

The Longest Shift Ever

One of the key moments of the game tonight came in the second period, when the Leafs pinned the Canadiens down in their own zone for over two minutes. Phillip Danault, Zachary Bolduc, Alexandre Texier, Alexandre Carrier and Kaiden Guhle were all on the ice for 2:17 or more on that sequence. Normally, when a shift lasts that long, it ends in one of two ways: with a penalty or with a goal. Full marks to those five players for keeping it clean and not falling in the trap.

They finally got off the ice after Fowler made a save with the butt of his stick, which deflected off the crossbar and out of play. Some may say that was a stroke of luck, but as they say, you’ve got to be lucky to be good and good to be lucky.

Fantastic Fowler

If some were worried about Fowler being shaken up after the 5-4 OT loss on Tuesday night, he quickly put their minds at ease. In the first frame, he made a tremendous save on Auston Matthews, who was all alone in front of the net, and he even made it look easy. Once again tonight, the young netminder looked “Pricessque” out there; he’s calm, he’s collected, and he seems to embrace the pressure. He stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced, and when your netminder plays that well and is that calm, it certainly gives you some confidence.

Jacob Fowler with the great blocker save in the 1st period pic.twitter.com/YkpWPU8T7O

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) November 8, 2026

In the post-game scrum, it was mentioned to St-Louis that when the Canadiens were up 3-2 in the third, and there was a TV timeout, Fowler was at the bench telling his teammates they were fine and there was no need to worry. That’s a 21-year-old. It’s rare to see such a young player take it upon himself to do that. It says a lot about how confident he is and how much of a leader he is.

Stopping The Bleeding

The Leafs got a power-play goal to come back into the game off a William Nylander one-timer, and less than a minute later, Gavin McKenna scored a second goal on a rebound. At that point, most people wondered if the Leafs were about to do what the Winnipeg Jets did to the Habs on Tuesday night, but they didn’t. Not only did the Canadiens stop the bleeding, but they also cauterized the wound, scoring a power-play goal five minutes later through Zachary Bolduc and ending the game with a big double-minor penalty kill on a Juraj Slafkovsky high-stick. The Canadiens have eight power-play goals this season, and three of them are Bolduc’s.

BOLDUC BLAST 💥 pic.twitter.com/MmXDscwNMC

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) November 8, 2026

In that sequence, two of the four penalty killers broke their sticks, including Kaiden Guhle (the new Mike Matheson, broken-stick-wise), but they still came out unscathed. That’s two wins in Toronto so far this season and two big points, which tie them with the Boston Bruins atop the Atlantic Division at 25. The Hometown Remix jerseys are not cursed, and the Habs can protect a lead.

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Pierre-Luc Dubois had the finishing touch Washington needed on Saturday night.

The former Los Angeles Kings forward scored the eventual game-winning goal in the third period, helping the Washington Capitals erase an early deficit and defeat the Florida Panthers 4-3 at Capital One Arena.

Dubois, who spent the 2023-24 season with Los Angeles, finished with a goal and an assist as Washington rallied from a 2-1 hole. His goal came at 4:42 of the third period, giving the Capitals some much-needed breathing room at 4-2.

The play featured a little chemistry with teammate Aliaksei Protas. After Protas found him with a pass, Dubois reached around Florida goaltender Akira Schmid and managed to slide the puck across the goal line.

It was a timely contribution from a player who knows what it takes to produce in big moments. Dubois finished his lone season with the Kings in 2023-24 with 16 goals and 24 assists across 82 regular-season games, adding one goal in five playoff appearances.

Washington needed the production, too. The Capitals had dropped their previous two games, both at home, before Saturday's matchup.

The afternoon didn't begin smoothly for them. Jack St. Ivany opened the scoring with his first NHL goal, but Florida's Brady Tkachuk answered with two first-period goals to put the Panthers ahead 2-1. Matthew Tkachuk assisted on both, giving the brothers four combined points in the opening period.

Alex Tuch pulled Washington even in the second period before Protas put the Capitals ahead 3-2 with a goal assisted by Dubois.

Dubois then delivered the decisive blow in the third.

Sam Bennett brought Florida within one with 47 seconds remaining, but Washington held on to secure the 4-3 victory. Logan Thompson finished with 27 saves for the Capitals.

For Dubois, it was a productive night against a Panthers team that had no shortage of offensive firepower. His goal ultimately proved to be the difference, giving Washington a much-needed win and adding another contribution to his first season with the Capitals.

The surprise Saturday morning wasn’t so much that Ben Hutton was making his Islanders debut, with the defenseman’s inclusion in the lineup having been telegraphed since he was signed off his PTO on Thursday.

Rather, it was that Hutton was skating on the left side of Matt Kessel against the Devils and not Scott Mayfield, who was a healthy scratch.

While Mayfield has been fighting what looks more and more like an uphill battle for his spot on the depth chart since training camp, it would be hard to argue he hasn’t outplayed Kessel lately and harder still to argue that his importance to the penalty kill doesn’t justify keeping him in the lineup until Ryan Pulock returns from an upper-body injury.

In the first three games since Pulock’s injury, Mayfield has been the Islanders ice-time leader at 4-on-5, as the penalty kill had gone 10-for-11.

That felt extra prescient as the Islanders skated on the penalty kill four times in a 5-4 overtime defeat, using just three defensemen at 4-on-5 while leaning heavily on Logan Stanley and Adam Pelech — both of whom took penalties themselves.

“He’s a part of [the penalty kill],” coach Pete DeBoer said of Mayfield before the game. “When you make those decisions, guys come out and we’re well aware of some of the strengths of the guys coming out. Also some of the strengths of guys going in. I think if we take five or six penalties tonight we’re in trouble anyway. We gotta stay out of the box.”

Afterward, he praised the job the PK did and said, “All penalty killers get fatigued,” when there are that many opportunities.

Though Mayfield and general manager Mathieu Darche have both dismissed trade rumors surrounding him, this does come against the backdrop of those rumors as well — as well as a looming roster crunch once the Islanders, currently one player short of the roster limit, activate all three of Mathew Barzal, Matias Maccelli and Calum Ritchie.

Barzal and Maccelli were both full participants at Saturday’s optional morning skate and could be back soon, but the Islanders could stave off waiving someone once that happens by moving Ryan Pulock to injured reserve.

Mayfield can’t be traded without his consent, but he could be waived, and the Islanders could wield that weapon to get him to agree to a trade, a move the Rangers controversially employed to get Jacob Trouba to waive his no-trade clause a couple of years ago.

---

DeBoer did not have an answer following the game on whether Barzal or Maccelli would travel with the team to San Jose on Sunday, saying he needed to meet with the medical staff.

DENVER — Hockey is a game of inches, split-second decisions and details that can be easy to miss if you aren't watching closely. For casual fans, it can sometimes feel like the puck is moving faster than the eye can follow. But every so often, a play offers a glimpse into what separates the best players from everyone else.

Nathan MacKinnon provided one of those moments Saturday night against the Detroit Red Wings. It wasn't a goal or an assist. Instead, it was a brief moment of communication that said plenty about how he sees the game and the standards he holds his teammates to.

The Avalanche were looking to find some offensive rhythm after a sluggish opening period. With Justin Faulk serving a minor for interference and Nazem Kadri and Detroit's Moritz Seider both in the box for roughing, Colorado had another opportunity to get its power play going after coming up empty on its first three attempts.

MacKinnon had possession in the high slot when he noticed something wasn't quite right. He lifted his stick and motioned toward a teammate, signaling that someone needed to adjust their positioning. Initially, it appeared he was directing the message toward Martin Necas. It turned out he wanted Parker Kelly to move higher into the offensive zone.

The sequence ended with T.J. Hughes getting a turnaround shot away on Red Wings goaltender Daniil Tarasov. The rebound bounced off Tarasov and slid through the crease, where Necas was waiting unmarked at the backdoor. He tapped it home for Colorado's first power-play goal of the night.

It was the first of three power-play goals for the Avalanche, who went on to shut out Detroit 4-0.

Martin Nečas opens the scoring in Colorado! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/e8KiYliwOp

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 8, 2026

The play itself might not stand out on a highlight reel, but the details behind it are worth a closer look. MacKinnon recognized where Kelly needed to be and wasn't shy about communicating the adjustment.

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar offered some insight into what happened during the sequence, explaining why MacKinnon was looking for Kelly in the first place.

"I think (his leadership skills) are great because... he's a super intelligent guy. He notices things; he picks up on stuff throughout the course of a game," he told The Hockey News.

🗣️ "I think the momentum really turned for us when we started managing the puck better."

HC Jared Bednar on the Avs 4-0 win against the Detriot Red Wings#GoAvsGo | #McRibpic.twitter.com/hjoyCBwwW4

— Guerilla Sports (@guerillasports) November 8, 2026

Bednar explained that with Kadri in the penalty box, Colorado needed someone new to fill the bumper position on the power play. Kelly had already generated two quality scoring chances at even strength in the first period, including a shot off the post, so Bednar wanted to give him an opportunity in that spot.

The problem was Kelly had drifted too close to the net instead of occupying the space in the middle of the ice.

"I decided to throw him in that bumper spot, and Kelly was standing too deep, almost at the net front. Mac wanted him in the pocket. He noticed it right away because he was looking for him, and there was a little hole there. Parker was too deep, so he was trying to get him out of there," Bednar explained.

The Avalanche eventually went with a goal-line play, and the puck worked its way toward the net before Kelly came downhill. With Detroit's defenders converging, it ultimately found its way onto Necas' stick.

For Bednar, it was another example of MacKinnon's ability to recognize things others might not immediately catch.

"It's just a little thing that he picked up on. He'll move guys around and bark at you to get you in the right spot, and then do something else and look for you, especially on the power play when you get a little bit of time."

MacKinnon isn't simply pointing out mistakes. He's communicating what he wants from his teammates because he's already anticipating where they need to be for a play to work.

It's part of what makes him such an effective leader, even if he's never been particularly interested in being the most outspoken person in the room.

MacKinnon has built his reputation as one of the NHL's premier players through an unwavering commitment to his craft. His preparation, training, recovery and attention to nutrition are well-known around the league. He expects a tremendous amount from himself, and those expectations extend to his teammates.

He's an intense competitor. Winning is the priority, and he's not always going to sugarcoat his feelings when he believes something needs to change. His competitive nature was even on display during the Winter Olympics in Milan, where not even a stuffed animal was immune to his intensity.

His reserved personality can sometimes lead people to underestimate him away from the ice. MacKinnon isn't particularly interested in lengthy media appearances or elaborate answers. But being quiet and having little to say are two very different things.

Over the past couple of seasons, The Hockey News has seen MacKinnon offer pointers to T.J. Hughes, Artturi Lehkonen and others. There have also been stories about his willingness to hold younger teammates accountable for their habits away from the rink.

Sam Malinski, now in his fourth year with the organization, shared a particularly entertaining example during an appearance on the NHL Unscripted podcast.

When Malinski first joined the Avalanche, he quickly discovered that MacKinnon had some strong opinions about what his teammates should be eating before games.

"I would always eat peanut butter and jelly before the games, just a quick sandwich, and he told me pretty quickly that he didn't like that very much," Malinski said.

MacKinnon apparently wasn't much happier with Malinski's pasta consumption, either.

"He didn't like that I ate pasta. He always does sweet potatoes, and so I switched to that for a little bit," Malinski explained.

There was a funny twist, though. Malinski admitted that when his game started to slip last season, he went back to eating pasta before games and felt his play improved.

"Honestly, I think this is probably a mental thing for me, but last year I started, I wasn't playing very well, and so I went back to my pasta, and then I started playing good again," Malinski said.

It's a funny story, but it also offers a glimpse into what it's like to be a younger player in Colorado's locker room. MacKinnon might not be the teammate constantly cracking jokes or commanding attention with a big personality. That's more captain Gabe Landeskog's territory. But the two share an important quality: They want to get better, and they expect the people around them to do the same.

There are different ways to lead a hockey team. Some players do it with speeches, others with their personalities. MacKinnon has never needed to be the loudest voice in the room to make his presence felt.

Sometimes it's a quick correction during a power play. Other times, it's a conversation about what a teammate is eating before a game. More often than not, it's the example he sets every time he steps onto the ice.

Saturday night was another reminder that MacKinnon isn't just concerned with making the right play himself. He's paying attention to what everyone around him is doing, too. And his teammates are better for it.

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Leon Draisaitl had two goals and an assist, Connor McDavid added three more assists and the Edmonton Oilers beat the struggling Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Saturday night.

Mattias Ekholm and Jason Dickinson also scored for the Oilers (12-3-3), who snapped a two-game slide. Edmonton is 10-0-2 when scoring first this season.

Devon Levi returned from an injury to make 20 saves and improve to 7-1-0 in the Edmonton net.

Max Sasson and Brock Boeser scored for the Canucks (3-15-1), who have lost five straight. They are 1-14-1 since a 2-1 start.

Leevi Merilainen stopped 26 shots for Vancouver.

McDavid extended his season-opening assist streak to 18 games. He leads the NHL with 37 assists and 47 points.

The Oilers' captain matched Adam Oates for the second-longest assist streak in league history behind Wayne Gretzky (23 games) in 1990-91. McDavid also became the sixth NHL player with at least one point in the first 18 games of a season.

Dickinson scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third and Edmonton made it 3-1 four minutes into the period when its potent power play struck. McDavid sent the puck across to Draisaitl and he unleashed a one-timer.

Boeser scored at 17:25 but Draisaitl added an empty-netter for his 16th goal with 45 seconds remaining.

Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard had an assist, extending his points streak to six games. He and Draisaitl both have points in 16 of 18 games.

The Canucks came in giving up 4.61 goals per game. Meanwhile, the Oilers entered as the league’s highest-scoring team at 4.12 goals per game.

Up next

Canucks: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.

Oilers: Host the New York Rangers on Monday night.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

LOS ANGELES — The Kings controlled many aspects of this game but still lost 5-2 to the Penguins. There are many of the mistakes Los Angeles caused that led to their own downfall.

Straight from the puck drop, the Kings came out of this game flat, which allowed Pittsburgh to take advantage. Tommy Novak hit the first two goals of the game and gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead in the first period.

“It’s on the room not being ready to go, Mikey Anderson said. “It’s hard to dig out of a hole when it happens that fast.”

While the Kings responded in a more desperate effort, it wasn’t enough to get the pucks in the net. Despite Los Angeles having nine more shots on goal, Sergei Murashov was a brick wall in front of the net. Murashov had a .926 save percentage and 26 saves.

Early momentum and goaltending was enough for the Penguins to withstand any comeback attempt from the Kings. The Kings offense couldn’t take advantage of a Pittsburgh team that has struggled on defense.

Heading into the game, the Penguins gave up 3.56 goals per game. This ranked as the fourth most goals allowed per game in the league. However, the Pittsburgh defense didn’t break against the Los Angeles offense.

Los Angeles didn’t have enough passes in slots which relied more on outside shots. So although the Kings had 28 shots on goal, most of them weren’t at the net.

“Pass up too many chances in the Ozone, and we had good movement and everything, Alex Laferriere said. “We just keep it on the perimeter. Nothing good is going to come from that, so yeah, I just think it's about getting to the hard areas and getting pucks there.”

Offensively, the Kings left points on the board and even gave up opportunities for the Penguins offense. Pittsburgh stole puck possessions and capitalized with goals of their own.

“If you don't execute what you're trying to do out there, it usually leads to opposition,” Coach Laviolette said. “Possible runs coming back at you, possible goals coming back at you, points coming back at you. So there’s things we definitely could’ve controlled better tonight.”

Defensively, the game plan was supposed to be simple for the Kings: win the physical battle against the Penguins. Los Angeles did have 29 hits compared to 11 hits from the Penguins, but this didn't change much.

Although the Kings dished out hits, they were not physical enough to limit good chances for Pittsburgh. The Penguins had clean shots from the perimeter and even shots at the net.

The Kings had more shots on goal, more hits and a higher face-off percentage, but ultimately still lost. Lapses at both ends of the ice led to the Kings turning their mistakes into goals for the Penguins. This was a game where the Kings beat themselves more so than the Penguins did.

The Utah Mammoth’s trip to Pennsylvania and Eastern Canada is over, and once again, they could’ve easily won the final game. After a crushing overtime defeat on Thursday to the Montreal Canadiens in overtime, it was a similar tale on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators, except the Mammoth couldn’t even squeeze out the extra point.

With just a little over two minutes remaining, Nick Cousins tipped in Thomas Chabot’s shot to score the game-winning goal for the Senators. Shane Pinto put in an empty-net goal to inflate the score to 4-2. However, despite what the score tells you, it wasn’t a bad game for the Mammoth.

The Mammoth came out swinging. In the first period, they outshot the Senators 14-7. They outshot them again in the third period, 11-5.

However, sometimes all it takes to decide a game is one error. Sometimes, the best team doesn’t win. That’s what happened to the Mammoth. Michael Amadio’s goal that gave the Senators the lead early in the third period came off a bad defensive play that ended up being a three-on-one goal.

“When our back end is banged up, you cannot give up the odd-man rush we did,” André Tourigny said. “That was totally in our control. It's not like we fumbled a puck or something like that. It's a bad read, and it's a bad decision. Then we give up an odd-man rush. You put it back. We crawl back, and we miss an assignment on the faceoff. So those are the things. We're better than that.”

The aforementioned goal given up right after the faceoff was Cousins’ game-winning goal. If the Mammoth didn’t give up that three-on-one goal, this game might’ve gone into overtime, and they would’ve gotten a point. It’s a game that has consequences after even one small error, and the Mammoth saw that firsthand tonight.

Tourigny does have a point. The Mammoth came into this game shorthanded. Not only are they near the end of a long road trip, but they’re also banged up. It was announced right before the game that Nate Schmidt wouldn’t play due to an upper-body injury and is now listed as day-to-day. 

Schmidt joins John Marino and Kailer Yamamoto in the group of injured Mammoth players over the past couple of weeks. They are now relying on Artem Duda in his first NHL season and Nick DeSimone as their bottom pair on the blueline. While Duda is a promising prospect and DeSimone is a solid seventh defenseman who can fill in when needed, they are currently not full-time NHLers on a competitive team looking to go far in the playoffs.

Both Duda and DeSimone played decently, and so did Liam O’Brien, who has also become an everyday NHLer with Yamamoto banged up. While ideally, you’re not dressing those players every day, you can’t argue with the fact that the three of them have risen to the occasion during this trip.

“We have a lot of depth, a lot of great players that can play anywhere in the lineup and contribute,” Clayton Keller said. “I think guys have had lots of chances. They've done a great job. It's only going to get better. We have a great group, and everyone trusts one another. Everyone's excited to play with one another. We have a great team, lots of confidence.”

There’s been a lot of criticism around Karel Vejmelka’s play, and rightfully so. He hasn’t been great this season. It seemed like it was going to be another game to add to that collection of bad games for him as well. Fabian Zetterlund’s goal to open up the game wasn’t a great one to give up.

However, it turned out to be a pretty solid game for Vejmelka. He made some pretty good saves, and you can’t blame him for the three-on-one goal or the game-winning goal. You’d like to see his save percentage above .850, but when you look at the film, the only play you can really nitpick is Zetterlund’s goal.

Denied by Veggie! ❌ pic.twitter.com/j45zF62W3m

— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) November 8, 2026

Also on the positive side, Keller’s point streak extended to five games with his goal, which he got by tapping in his own rebound. He also assisted on Barrett Hayton’s goal, a shot from the captain that Hayton ended up deflecting into the back of the net.

Keller cashes in! 🫡 pic.twitter.com/C1Xet3LPPj

— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) November 8, 2026

This is a hard game to really dwell on. You can’t say the Mammoth had a bad game. They kept up with the Senators, a really solid team, despite being shorthanded and being at the tail end of a long road trip. There were some key errors that ended up costing them the game, but it’s not like they allowed odd-man rushes repeatedly throughout the game.

The Mammoth should be frustrated that they lost. It’s two points they didn’t get, which allowed the Dallas Stars and the Nashville Predators to pass them in the standings. Yet, this is not the game to over-critique.

“We played well,” Tourigny said. “Ottawa is a good team, and we pushed through. We were two minutes and a half away from having at least one point, so we're not happy. We're frustrated, but we need to make sure we're not overreacting here.”

The Mammoth will get a much-needed three days off before a very tough first-round rematch against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. There are things to build on here. Taking those things, getting rest, and finding a way to be better is the goal, and the Mammoth do have the ability to do that. They haven’t lost consecutive games before Saturday. They know how to bounce back.

“We just need to build on tonight,” Keller said. “After every game, we always think we can be better, but I think we did a lot of good things. It sucks to lose, but you know you can always learn from it and take it into the next game. It's such a hard league, and you get humbled very quickly. You always gotta strive to get better.”

The Mammoth will have the next three days off before traveling to Las Vegas to play the Golden Knights. The Golden Knights are 11-5-2 and are coming off a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. They’ll play the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday before heading back home for Wednesday’s game.

Before embarking on quite an important road trip, the Colorado Avalanche had one last matter to take care of at home. The task at hand was hosting the Detroit Red Wings in the debut of Colorado’s very blue Hometown Remix threads. The home team gave their fans something to cheer about in the 4-0 victory, Colorado’s first shutout of the season. Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves and Martin Nečas scored a pair of goals as the Avalanche cruised to their 10th win.

The Game

It was a slow start in the first period, which has become all too common, but at least the Avalanche didn’t give up a goal. Still, they were outshot 13-5 despite some back and forth action. Neither team committed a penalty either, so there would (definitely) be opportunity later.

As suspected, the second period featured a healthy amount of special teams time and on their third power play, the Avalanche finally got on the board. Martin Nečas found a loose puck on the doorstep and was able to sweep it past Detroit goaltender Danil Tarasov. Colorado scored another power play goal minutes later, as the Detroit penalty killers were clearly tired, and Nathan MacKinnon put one home from his favorite spot to put Colorado up by two after two.

Colorado extended their lead early in the third period as Nečas got his second goal of the night with some nifty hand-eye coordination as he swatted the puck behind Tarasov. Then, Gabe Landeskog and Moritz Seider had a surprisingly spirited tilt, which led to another Avalanche power play in which Cale Makar finally found the back of the net for his first power play goal on the season. Up 4-0 the game was all but over and it finally was as Mackenzie Blackwood secured a 27-save shutout for the win.

GABRIEL LANDESKOG AND MORITZ SEIDER DROPPED THE GLOVES 😱👊 pic.twitter.com/WzQzLcEfHi

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) November 8, 2026

Takeaways

Not sure the game needed an AHL level of 14 penalties, specially since none were taken in the first period, but with five power plays and Detroit’s 25th ranked penalty kill, it all helped get the Avalanche out of a funk. Their special teams made the difference tonight, which is something the team needed and can hopefully build off of.

Cale Makar played just under 23 minutes in this game even with six minutes of power play time. Reducing the load on him might be the new tactic to rejuvenate the superstar defenseman and get him back to creating dynamic offense every night. And early returns with one goal on the evening might encourage the coaching staff to keep the strategy going.

Upcoming

The Avalanche embark on a Canadian road trip with their first stop in Toronto for a rematch with the Maple Leafs on Tuesday, November 10th at 5:00 p.m. MT.

Pittsburgh Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby has hit another impressive NHL milestone. 

With a goal during the second period of the Penguins' Saturday evening tilt against the Los Angeles Kings at Crytpo.com Arena, Crosby recorded his 1,772nd career point, officially surpassing Marcel Dionne to take sole possession of sixth place on the NHL's all-time scoring list.

Crosby added an empty-net goal at the end of the game to give him two points in the contest and help snap a four-game losing streak by the team. 

The 39-year-old Crosby has not enjoyed the hottest start to the 2026-27 season, registering just six goals and 12 points in 17 games. However, he seems to be turning a corner lately, recording three goals and six points in his last six. As it stands now, Crosby has put together an NHL record 21 consecutive seasons at point-per-game or higher, and he recently broke the NHL record for most points with a single franchise.

Most points in NHL History:

1. Wayne Gretzky - 2,857
2. Jaromir Jagr - 1,921
3. Mark Messier - 1,887
4. Gordie Howe - 1,850
5. Ron Francis - 1,798
6. Sidney Crosby - 1,772

Give it up for Sid 👏 https://t.co/clwHAPaiE3pic.twitter.com/Os2b5EyHfn

— NHL (@NHL) November 8, 2026

Crosby is in the final season of a two-year contract extension he signed during the summer of 2024, and he has yet to sign an extension for next season. Crosby has made it clear that he is taking a year-by-year approach to new contracts from here on out, as he wants to see how his body feels throughout the course of a season.  

Next up for Crosby on the all-time points list is Ron Francis, who sits in fifth place with 1,798 points. Gordie Howe's 1,850 points puts him fourth all-time.

Penguins' Captain Sidney Crosby Sets New NHL RecordPittsburgh Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby continued to build his NHL legacy Saturday with yet another notch in the record books.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Tuch and Aliaksei Protas scored in the second period to lift the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday.

Brady Tkachuk scored two goals for the Panthers in the first, the latter coming on an extended power play after Washington’s Tom Wilson was ejected for a hit on Sandis Valmanis, but the Capitals rallied in the second.

Jack St. Ivany scored his first career goal for the Capitals in the first, and Pierre-Luc Dubois added one in the third. Sam Bennett brought the Panthers within one with 46.6 seconds to play.

Valmanis did not return after Wilson’s hit to his back knocked him headfirst into the area where the boards and glass meet. Wilson was given a major penalty for boarding, and Tkachuk put Florida ahead 2-1.

Tuch tied it with his 11th goal of the season, and then Washington took the lead with a nice team goal. Ryan Leonard battled behind the net and sent the puck to Dubois in the left circle. He made one more pass to Protas on the right doorstep, and he had an open net to shoot at.

PREDATORS 3, BLUES 1

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Steven Stamkos had a goal and an assist and Juuse Saros made 25 saves to lead Nashville to a victory over the St. Louis.

Ross Colton and Nick Perbix also scored and Roman Josi had two assists for Nashville.

Jimmy Snuggerud scored and Joel Hofer made 26 saves for the Blues, who have lost three straight.

Snuggerud scored the game’s first goal at 13:07 of the opening period.

With the Blues on a power play, Snuggerud beat Saros with a one-timer from the lower part of the left faceoff circle.

Snuggerud leads the Blues with nine goals this season.

Nashville, who entered Saturday with the NHL’s third-best penalty kill at 90%, had not allowed a power-play goal against in its previous seven games.

RANGERS 4, KRAKEN 3

SEATTLE (AP) — Gabe Perreault, Tye Kartye and Jaroslav Chmelar scored in the first period and New York held off Seattle for their third straight victory.

Pavel Dorofeyevalos also scored for the Rangers (10-7-1), and Alexis Lafrenière and Mika Zibanejad each had two assists.

Joonas Korpisalo stopped 25 shots in his Rangers debut. Acquired from Boston in July, he had been on injured reserve because of a foot infection.

Kaapo Kakko, Jordan Eberle and Vince Dunn scored for Seattle (9-6-1) in the final period. Berkley Catton had two assists, extending his points streak to a career-high eight games.

Joey Daccord was pulled for Philipp Grubauer after giving up three goals in the first 14 minutes. Grubauer stopped 15 shots.

CANADIENS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 2

TORONTO (AP) — Alex Newhook scored twice in the first period, Jacob Fowler made 26 saves and Montreal beat Toronto.

Chris Kreider and Zachary Bolduc also scored for Montreal (11-3-3). The Canadiens have won seven of their last eight games.

William Nylander and Gavin McKenna scored for Toronto (8-8-2), and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 shots. The Maple Leafs have lost two straight and four of five in regulation.

The Canadiens opened the scoring at 5:56 of the first when Newhook’s pass in front of Bobrovsky pinballed into Toronto’s net after a giveaway by McKenna started the sequence. Newhook then tipped in Kaiden Guhle’s point shot with 6:54 left.

The Canadiens made it 3-0 on a breakaway with 7:03 to go in the second when Kreider intercepted McKenna’s pass at Montreal’s blue line and beat Bobrovsky past his blocker. Toronto’s rookie winger was benched for the rest of the period.

SENATORS 4, MAMMOTH 2

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Nick Cousins broke a tie on a deflection with 2:18 left and Ottawa beat Utah.

Shane Pinto added an empty-net goal with 16 seconds left.

Fabian Zetterlund and Michael Amadio also scored for the Senators (11-6-1). Samuel Ersson turned away 30 shots for his third victory of the season.

Clayton Keller and Barrett Hayton scored for the Mammoth (10-7-1), with Karel Vejmelka making 17 saves.

The Mammoth played the fifth and final game of a trip where they went 2-2-1.

DEVILS 5,, ISLANDERS 4 (OT)

NEW YORK (AP) — Jack Hughes scored in overtime to lift the New Jersey to a victory over New York.

Dougie Hamilton, Luke Evangelista, Declan Chisholm and Evan Rodrigues also scored for New Jersey, which extended its winning streak to four games. Jake Allen made 19 saves.

Hughes scored with 3:42 remaining in overtime, keeping the puck on a two-on-one rush before firing a shot past Ilya Sorokin’s blocker.

Anthony Duclair, Matthew Schaefer, Simon Holmstrom and Victor Eklund scored for New York, which lost its third straight game. Sorokin finished with 45 saves and captain Bo Horvat added two assists.

The Devils erased a two-goal deficit in the third period, capped by Hamilton’s power-play goal with 6:18 remaining in regulation. Jack Hughes curled around the net before finding Hamilton in the slot for the tying goal.

HURRICANES 9, BLACKHAWKS 2

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jordan Martinook scored two of Carolina’s four first-period goals in the Hurricanes’ win over Chicago.

Andrei Svechnikov added two goals, and Seth Jarvis, Jackson Blake, Sebastian Aho, Shayne Gostisbehere and Alexander Nikishin, making his season debut, also had goals. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Eric Robinson and William Carrier all had two assists for the NHL-best Hurricanes, who’ve won six of their last seven games.

The nine goals tied the Carolina franchise record since relocating from Hartford, Connecticut, in 1997.

Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 18 shots in his first outing since his franchise-record 10-game winning streak ended Tuesday in Nashville.

STARS 4, SHARKS 3

DALLAS (AP) — Defenseman Thomas Harley scored one of Dallas’ three power-play goals in his first three-point game of the season and the Stars beat San Jose.

Roope Hintz had a goal and an assist, and Jamie Benn and Jason Robertson also scored for the Stars, who are 3-0-1 in their last four games. Jake Oettinger made 20 saves.

Michael Misa, rookie Ivar Stenberg and Will Smith scored for the Sharks, who were swept in a road back-to-back after losing at Minnesota on Friday night and have dropped five straight, all in regulation.

Macklin Celebrini assisted on each Sharks goal for his fourth three-point game of the season. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 26 shots.

The Stars are 10-0-1 against the Sharks dating to March 2024.

LIGHTNING 4, WILD 3 (OT)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored a power-play goal 3:23 into overtime and Tampa Bay rallied past Minnesota.

In the opener of a four-game trip, the Lightning got two goals and an assist from Jake Guentzel and a goal and two assists from defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous. Brayden Point and John Carlson also had two assists, and Dennis Hildeby made 19 saves.

Kucherov took a pass from Guentzel in the slot and ripped a shot past Calvin Pickard for his first goal in seven games.

The reigning NHL MVP, Kucherov recently requested a trade from the Lightning because he feels disrespected by a lack of communication with general manager Julien BriseBois. Kucherov, a two-time MVP, can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Tampa Bay has won three in a row and is 4-0-2 in its past six games.

AVALANCHE 4, RED WINGS 0

DENVER (AP) — Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves, Martin Necas had two goals and two assists and Colorado beat Detroit.

Blackwood had his first shutout of the season and 18th of his career and Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar had a goal and two assists each for Colorado.

It was the 800th career game for Avs coach Jared Bednar, with all coming behind the Colorado bench. His 455 wins are fifth through 800 games.

The once-fierce rivalry, which accounted for five Stanley Cup titles from 1996-2002, has cooled significantly since Detroit moved to the Eastern Conference and the teams have not been competitive at the same time. Colorado has been a perennial title contender since 2020, winning it all in 2022, while the Red Wings are in the midst of an 11-season playoff drought.

PENGUINS 5, KINGS 2

LOS ANGELES (AP-) — Sidney Crosby scored two goals while moving into sole possession of sixth place on the NHL’s career scoring list, and Pittsburgh snapped their four-game skid with a victory over Los Angeles.

The 39-year-old Crosby broke his tie with Kings great Marcel Dionne by scoring his 1,772nd point when Evgeni Malkin’s one-timer deflected in off him in the second period. Crosby added a late empty-net goal, diving face-first on the ice to tip it home.

Tommy Novak got two goals in the first six minutes and Egor Chinakhov also scored for the Penguins, who moved Crosby and the 40-year-old Malkin onto their top line before the game in an effort to spark their struggling lineup. Sergei Murashov made 26 saves as Pittsburgh opened a three-game California trip with just its third win in 11 games.

Corey Perry and Alex Laferriere scored and Darcy Kuemper stopped only 14 shots for the Kings, who have lost two of the last three during their seven-game homestand.

OILERS 4, CANUCKS 2

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Leon Draisaitl had two goals and an assist, Connor McDavid added three more assists and Edmonton beat struggling Vancouve.

Mattias Ekholm and Jason Dickinson also scored for the Oilers (12-3-3), who snapped a two-game slide. Edmonton is 10-0-2 when scoring first this season.

Devon Levi returned from an injury to make 20 saves and improve to 7-1-0 in the Edmonton net.

Max Sasson and Brock Boeser scored for the Canucks (3-15-1), who have lost five straight. They are 1-14-1 since a 2-1 start.

Leevi Merilainen stopped 26 shots for Vancouver.

McDavid extended his season-opening assist streak to 18 games. He leads the NHL with 37 assists and 47 points.

____

The Chicago Blackhawks were blown out again. This time, it was at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. Carolina scored the first 7 goals of the game and eventually skated off with a 9-2 victory. 

Before all of the fans were in their seats, the Hurricanes were out to a lead that already had the game out of reach for the Blackhawks. It was as disturbing a performance as you will find from an NHL team at any point this season. 

The Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in June, and are now 14-3-2 with the NHL's best record in terms of wins and points, but that does not give the Blackhawks an excuse for this performance. 

The first of Chicago's two goals that they scored was off the stick of Roman Kantserov. He buried a Connor Bedard centering pass for his NHL rookie-leading 9th goal of the season. He is truly in a scoring groove now. This extends his point streak to 8 games. 

Connor Bedard made it a two-point night for himself shortly after with a goal of his own. All game, the Bedard line with Roman Kantserov and Tyler Bertuzzi played well, but the rest of the group had no chance against this Hurricanes powerhouse. 

Spencer Knight was pulled in favor of Arvid Soderblom after Carolina scored their 6th goal, but the blame will not be placed on Knight. Never judge a good goalie on a lousy team, which is the case here. The system that the Blackhawks play defensively leaks 2-on-1 chances at an extremely high rate, and no goalie would be able to mask that. 

A players-only meeting was held by the Blackhawks after this loss. Being soundly beaten from the opening whistle to the end for the third game in a row was enough to warrant that, but it probably should have happened a long time ago. 

You can't help but wonder what types of moves are made before their next game. Is there going to be some sort of front office, coaching, or player roster change? Everything is on the table at this point in time. 

Watch Every Chicago Goal

8-game point streak for Roman Kantserov ‼️ pic.twitter.com/fJG42YjEZf

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 8, 2026

aye aye Cap 🫡 pic.twitter.com/ClMED6alFz

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 8, 2026

What’s Next For The Blackhawks?

The Chicago Blackhawks will be away from game action until Thursday. The Buffalo Sabres will be at the United Center to close out their season series. 

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

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DALLAS (AP) — Defenseman Thomas Harley scored one of Dallas’ three power-play goals in his first three-point game of the season and the Stars beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Saturday night.

Roope Hintz had a goal and an assist, and Jamie Benn and Jason Robertson also scored for the Stars, who are 3-0-1 in their last four games. Jake Oettinger made 20 saves.

Michael Misa, rookie Ivar Stenberg and Will Smith scored for the Sharks, who were swept in a road back-to-back after losing at Minnesota on Friday night and have dropped five straight, all in regulation.

Macklin Celebrini assisted on each Sharks goal for his fourth three-point game of the season. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 26 shots.

The Stars are 10-0-1 against the Sharks dating to March 2024.

Harley’s goal put Dallas ahead 4-2 at 14:30 of the second period after the Stars followed Misa’s opening goal with three consecutive scores later in the first period. It was San Jose’s first 1-0 lead in nine games.

Smith pulled the Sharks within a goal with a 5-on-3 score about 2 1/2 minutes after Harley’s goal.

he Stars’ league-best home penalty kill went 5 for 6 and has allowed two goals this season on 34 opportunities, both being 5-on-3’s.

San Jose has allowed seven power-play goals in its last three games.

Dallas’ Wyatt Johnston and Mikko Rantanen had two assists each.

Sharks rookie Eric Pohlkamp had an assist for his first NHL point in his third game.

Benn, whose 18 NHL seasons have all been played with Dallas, has 999 career points.

Dallas is 9-0-0 when scoring at least three goals, 1-5-2 when not — the win coming in a 3-2 shootout.

The Stars began a four-game homestand.

Up next

Sharks: Host the New York Islanders on Monday night.

Stars: Host Winnipeg on Thursday night.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Macklin Celebrini had a three-point night as the San Jose Sharks nearly completed a comeback against the Dallas Stars, but they were unable to overcome their struggles, particularly on special teams as the Stars won 4-3.

The Sharks' top line had a phenomenal shift, that went on for quite a while as well. It was arguably one of the best shifts we've seen from the Sharks in weeks and fittingly, it ended with a goal as Michael Misa redirected a pass from Macklin Celebrini to give the team in teal a 1-0 lead for just the fifth time this season.

Shortly after the goal, Mikko Rantanen and Mason Marchment took penalties at the same time as Rantanen was called for tripping while Marchment took a controversial embellishment penalty. It then became a 4-on-3 in favor of Dallas, when Jacob Trouba interfered with Roope Hintz. During that unconventional power play, Hintz scored his seventh of the season to tie things up at a goal a piece. 

Stars captain Jamie Benn gave the Stars their first lead of the night, with his third goal of the season, at 15:17 in the first period. After Marchment took a holding penalty, Jason Robertson doubled the Stars' lead with just over three minutes remaining in the opening period. 

2:51 into the second period, Macklin Celebrini connected with Ivar Stenberg on the rush to bring the Sharks back within one. Eric Pohlkamp got the secondary assist, registering his first career NHL point.

Thomas Harley fired a one-timer from the point to make it 4-2 in favor of the Stars while Will Smith served a bench minor penalty for too many men on the ice. With that goal, the Stars' power play improved to three goals in four attempts on the night.

The Sharks' power play finally came through as Will Smith scored with a 5-on-3 advantage late in the middle frame to bring them back within a single goal.

Despite having significant sustained pressure late in the final frame, the Sharks were unable to find an equalizer and lost their fifth straight game.

The morning’s undertones told you that the Islanders’ lineup could look different awfully soon. The evening’s overtones told you that might be a good and necessary thing.

As much as the Islanders have every right to be livid with how this game was refereed — from the stripes seeming to miss an Adam Pelech high stick before calling it off the arena video board to Luke Hughes’ brazen trip of Matthew Schaefer that went uncalled seconds before Jack Hughes won it in overtime, not to mention the 4-0 power-play disparity — the fact staring them at the end of this 5-4 overtime defeat was that they were badly outplayed by the Devils.

“Did we deserve a win tonight? Probably not,” coach Pete DeBoer said.

That was the case not only Saturday but also in the first two games of this homestand, both of which ended in defeat.

There were feel-good spots in this subplot-rife game, namely Ilya Sorokin’s 45-save night and Schaefer’s beatdown of Luke Hughes in a gloves-on fight, but the best news the Islanders had all day happened hours before when Mathew Barzal and Matias Maccelli shed their non-contact jerseys at morning skate. Though DeBoer didn’t say whether the pair will travel to California on Sunday, their returns to the lineup are starting to look like a matter of when. They can’t make it back soon enough, and ditto for Ryan Pulock and Calum Ritchie.

As for the lineup DeBoer did have at his disposal, well, it’s never a good thing when pregame line changes get abandoned after one period, as happened here.

The decision to take Scott Mayfield out of the lineup and leave the Islanders short on penalty killers was a head-scratcher as well.

This, though, was much more about the Islanders struggling to get to their game than any coaching decision. The intensity was there and lent itself to the best atmosphere of the season at UBS Arena, but even in getting out to a 4-2 lead, the Islanders never had a forecheck and never put extended pressure on the Devils’ zone.

More than anything, the difference going into the third period was goaltending — one accentuated even more when Sorokin stretched out his right pad to deny Nico Hischier at the backdoor 1:01 into in the final period.

The goaltending from Sorokin, who stuck out the same pad to deny Hischier a second time a little more than five minutes later, was a sign of the chances the Islanders were bleeding. Luke Evangelista cut it to 4-3 on a shift that saw Sorokin make multiple acrobatic saves before the Devils finally stuck one by him at the 6:08 mark.

“It’s fun watching him, but we can’t make him stop those every night,” Schaefer said. “It’s not fair to him. We gotta help him out a little more.”

That wasn’t the only way the Islanders beat themselves Saturday. Their penalty kill held out admirably, but the decision to go one penalty killer short bit them late in the third, along with an in-arena replay that seemed to influence the (correct) high-sticking call on Pelech that put the Islanders at 5-on-3 at 12:35 of the third.

After killing off the two-man advantage, the Islanders — who had leaned heavily on Pelech at 4-on-5 all night along with Logan Stanley — let up a power-play goal on a Dougie Hamilton one-timer that tied the game.

That wasn’t the only way the Islanders beat themselves Saturday. Their penalty kill held out admirably, but the decision to go one penalty killer short bit them late in the third, along with an in-arena replay that seemed to influence the (correct) high-sticking call on Pelech that put the Islanders at 5-on-3 at 12:35 of the third.

After killing off the two-man advantage, the Islanders — who had leaned heavily on Pelech at 4-on-5 all night along with Logan Stanley — let up a power-play goal on a Dougie Hamilton one-timer that tied the game.

The Islanders hung on for a point and felt the second was stolen from them on the uncalled trip of Schaefer. While the crowd was still screaming for a whistle, Jack Hughes had all the time in the world to pick his spot on a 2-on-0 break and score the overtime winner.

“I think it’s an obvious penalty,” Simon Holmstrom said. “If you compare them to the other ones, I think it’s pretty obvious. It is what it is.”

Schaefer was more diplomatic.

“It could’ve gone both ways, but I thought I did [get tripped],” he said. “But they could’ve seen otherwise. At the end of the day, it’s a good hockey game. They fought back. I thought we could’ve had a little bit of a better game leading up to it.”