Category: NHL

After the Montreal Canadiens lost Tuesday night’s game 6-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the organization decided to call up three players from the Laval Rocket: Adam Engstrom, Owen Beck, and Jacob Fowler. It’s the goaltender’s presence amongst the recalls that raised more than a few eyebrows.

Media and pundits alike had previously operated under the assumption that Fowler, who is primarily seen as the Canadiens’ goaltender of the future, would be spending the entire season honing his skills and getting used to the pro level in the AHL. That assumption led them all to conclude that the move was a desperate move stemming from Samuel Montembeault’s and Jakub Dobes’ performances this season.

Canadiens Forward Out vs. Penguins For Personal Reasons
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Canadiens: A Cry For Help To Fowler

But after Tuesday morning’s practice, coach Martin St-Louis was a man on a PR mission. He said several times that the plan had always been to see what Fowler could do at the NHL level this year, and that now was as good a time as any, given the schedule, adding that he would have been surprised if the youngster didn’t get a game in the NHL this season.

When told that the move was primarily seen as a panic move because of the Habs’ current goalie predicament, St-Louis dismissed the idea. He argued that the situation the Canadiens find themselves in was caused by poor collective play, by the way the team played in front of the goaltenders, rather than by their own performances.

While he has a point about the team not consistently playing well in front of the masked men, taking the responsibility away from the goaltenders serves one specific purpose: to make it clear that Fowler is not coming in as the saviour of the team. This is a smart move, especially considering that the Montreal market is a pressure cooker for any player, but even more so for the netminders.

The coach added that he didn’t know if Fowler would play in the upcoming road trip, but that if he didn’t, he would still gain valuable experience just being around the team. Still, I believe the rookie will get a game sooner rather than later and hopefully, the rest of the team will play well in front of him, giving him a real chance to show what he can do.

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Things got dicey for the Detroit Red Wings in the third period of Wednesday evening's game against the Calgary Flames, but they would ultimately walk away with the two points.

With their 4-3 win, the Red Wings moved back into the top spot in the Atlantic Division with a 17-11-3 record through the first 31 games of their centennial campaign. 

DUB IN CALGARY pic.twitter.com/nvadhbepVr

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 11, 2025

They've also now gone 3-0-1 in the first four games of their season-high six-game road swing. 

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The Red Wings built up a comfortable 4-0 lead by the end of the second period, and appeared in good position to keep their opponent off the scoresheet for the second consecutive game. However, the Flames refused to quit and made the Red Wings sweat for the entire final 20 minutes, which included the loss of defenseman Simon Edvinsson to a lower-body injury.

It was Alex DeBrincat who scored the game's first tally just 62 seconds after the opening puck drop, while rookie Axel Sandin-Pellikka increased the lead to 2-0 just three and a half minutes later.

Detroit then struck twice in short order in the game's middle frame thanks to the second of the game from DeBrincat followed by the team-leading 17th tally of the season from Dylan Larkin. 

Goaltender John Gibson was in the zone again, looking just as comfortable in net as he did during Monday evening's 39-save performance in a 4-0 shutout win over the Vancouver Canucks.

But Calgary began chipping away at Detroit's lead in the third period beginning with a penalty shot goal from Joel Farabee, followed by a goal from Matt Coronato just 1:05 later. 

With 5:20 left in regulation, the Flames drew back to within a goal after defenseman MacKenzie Weegar's shot through traffic found its way past Gibson. 

Despite a late furious attempt to knot the score by the Flames with goaltender Devin Cooley on the bench for an extra attacker, their efforts would fall short. 

Gibson won his third straight contest for Detroit, stopping 34 shots, while Cooley countered with 23 saves. 

The Red Wings will be back at it on Thursday evening with a matchup against the Edmonton Oilers from Rogers Place. 

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The Pittsburgh Penguins heartbreakingly lost their second straight game on Tuesday to the Anaheim Ducks.

They were gifted a power play with 17 seconds left in regulation, and instead of keeping the puck away from the Ducks, they allowed rookie Beckett Sennecke to get it and skate around Bryan Rust and Kris Letang for the game-tying goal with .1 seconds left on the clock. Sennecke sent a centering pass into the goal crease, and Erik Karlsson's glove deflected it in. 

The Penguins went on to lose in a shootout, and this loss comes on the heels of Sunday's shootout loss to the Dallas Stars. The Penguins dominated play in that game as well, only to allow the tying goal with less than two minutes left in regulation. 

While they were annoying losses, there were a couple of big, bright spots in them, including Tommy Novak's play. He deflected a Kris Letang shot into the goal for a 2-1 Penguins lead in the second period of Sunday's game before tying the game late in the second period against the Ducks on Tuesday. Novak banked the puck off Ducks goaltender Ville Husso and into the net during Tuesday's game. 

I bring these two instances up because Novak has been outstanding over the last couple of weeks. At the end of November, I wrote about how the Penguins needed more out of him because he had been a bit inconsistent to start the season. He was fighting it a bit and was second-guessing himself.

At the time, he had been pointless in his last four games and five out of six. However, since then, he has put together some excellent performances, scoring three goals and adding seven points in his last seven games. He's on a four-game point streak and will try to extend it to five on Thursday when the Penguins welcome the Montreal Canadiens to PPG Paints Arena.

Novak was especially great against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 28, a big reason the Penguins came back to win in overtime. He banked a pass off the boards to Sidney Crosby, leading to the tying goal before setting up Kris Letang for the overtime winner. They were both nifty feeds. 

He scored against the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 1 before adding two assists against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Dec. 4, including the game-winning one on Evgeni Malkin's second goal that made it 4-3. He found Malkin at the side of the net for an easy one-timer. 

Beyond the raw production, Novak's versatility has been on full display. He has looked excellent next to Malkin, and even when Malkin got hurt following the game against the Lightning, he went up to Crosby's wing and hasn't looked out of place. Per Natural Stat Trick, Novak and Crosby have played 39:36 at 5v5 together this season and have been on the ice for 59% of the shot attempts, 74.8% of the expected goals, 71.4% of the scoring chances, and 88.2% of the high-danger chances. It's a small sample, but they're making life extremely difficult for the opposition when they're in the offensive zone. 

Penguins' Top Goaltending Prospect Posts Impressive Shutout, Continues AHL DominanceThe <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins/">Pittsburgh Penguins</a>' goaltending situation has certainly been an interesting one to follow as a whole this season.

Novak has also played with first-round pick Ben Kindel on the third line, and they have looked solid together at times. It's been more mixed compared to Novak's play with Malkin and Crosby, but he's still an option to go down to the third line once Malkin and Rakell are back from their respective injuries. Malkin is currently week-to-week, while Rakell is getting closer to a return.

I said it over the offseason, and I'll repeat it here: Novak is a jack-of-all-trades player who can play up and down the lineup and in almost any situation. He doesn't kill penalties, but he's been featured on both power play units outside of his usual 5v5 minutes. 

He's been a solid playmaker with an underrated release throughout his career, and you're seeing both of those qualities shine as of late. He makes the Penguins a much scarier team when he's on top of his game. Let's see if he keeps it up.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins' goaltending situation has certainly been an interesting one to follow as a whole this season.

Tristan Jarry is having his best season in recent memory and is now involved in some trade speculation. Arturs Silovs started off the year well and was involved in some Rookie of the Year conversations until a recent slide in play. 

But it's hard to ignore what top goaltending prospect Sergei Murashov is doing in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS), too. And his most recent performance was, perhaps, his most impressive and dominant of his AHL career so far. 

On Wednesday, Murashov posted a 34-save shutout - which included 20 saves in the first period - en route to a 3-0 WBS victory against the Hartford Wolf Pack.

And his latest performance is only the latest example of the spectacular AHL season that he's putting together.

In 11 appearances this season for WBS, the 21-year-old Murashov is 8-2 with two shutouts, a 1.56 goals-against average, and a .943 save percentage. Both his goals-against average and save percentage are the top marks in the AHL by a decent margin, as Sebastian Cossa of the Grand Rapids Griffins is second in both categories at 1.76 and .935, respectively.

Sergei Murashov appreciation post pic.twitter.com/SGhzSkqm1F

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) December 11, 2025

Simply put, Murashov is dominating the AHL this season. He put together a pretty good run of games at the NHL level earlier this season, too, as he was 1-1-1 with a shutout, a 1.90 goals-against average, and a .913 save percentage. 

It will be interesting to see how the Penguins' goaltending situation at the NHL level shakes out the rest of the season. Regardless, they could just have a long-term answer waiting in the wings at WBS.

NHL Rumors: 2 Potential Trade Fits For Penguins' Tristan JarryThese two teams should be watched when it comes to Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry.

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CHICAGO - The Chicago Blackhawks had a tough road trip out west. They went 1-2-1 against the Vegas Golden Knights, Anaheim Ducks, and Los Angeles Kings twice.

In the final two games of the trip, the Saturday and Sunday games in Southern California, the Blackhawks were blown out of the building. 

4 Takeaways From Blackhawks Latest Road Trip Out WestThe Chicago Blackhawks are coming off a road trip out west. There is a lot to unpack when evaluating that time away from home.

Now, back at the United Center, it was Chicago's next chance to end its slump to get back to its winning ways. They may not be a playoff-caliber team just yet, but they are better than the team that went out west last week. 

The first period didn't have any scoring, but the Blackhawks controlled play. Thanks to some miraculous saves by Igor Shesterkin, the game went to the second intermission in a scoreless tie. 

In the second period, the Blackhawks started to see some reward for their effort. It started at 7:08 of the middle frame, when Louis Crevier scored a shorthanded goal. He found himself with a mini breakaway and beat Shesterkin to make it 1-0, Blackhawks. 

Shortly after, Ryan Donato put the puck in the net to make it 2-0, but the Rangers challenged it for a missed stoppage of play. After review, it was determined that before the goal was scored, Colton Dach used his hands to make a pass, waiving it off. 

The Blackhawks didn't stop grinding away after that, however, as they still found a way to make it 2-0 before the period ended. At 14:27, Connor Bedard roofed one top shelf to extend the lead to two. A great play by Andre Burakovsky using speed and skill set up the goal for Bedard. 

In the final period of regulation time, the Blackhawks did not stop. Tyler Bertuzzi took advantage of a nifty play made by Connor Bedard and Ryan Greene to make it 3-0. There was some high-end effort and stick-to-itiveness on the part of all three players. 

Spencer Knight earned his second shutout of the season as the 3-0 score held as the final. Knight made 21 saves in the effort. After the way the team was giving up goals in Southern California over the weekend, it was important for them to come out this week and be solid defensively. Getting goaltending like that from Knight made it even easier to have a bounce-back in that regard. 

Watch Every Chicago Goal

that's Alex Vlasic's most punchable player, thank you very much🙂‍↕️ pic.twitter.com/4tF61ltIt0

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 11, 2025

making it look easy😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/fH5tNB6Or2

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 11, 2025

some crafty work🎨 pic.twitter.com/wFupmjMxKV

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 11, 2025

What’s Next For The Blackhawks?

Next up for the Chicago Blackhawks is a one-game stop in Missouri to play the St. Louis Blues. This will be a Friday night ESPN+/Hulu exclusive. 

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Former Edmonton Oilers forward Derick Brassard is officially coming out of retirement. 

According to Nicolas St-Pierre, Geneve-Servette of Switzerland's National League has signed Brassard for the rest of the 2025-26 season. 

Seeing Brassard sign overseas is certainly surprising, as the 38-year-old forward has not played professionally since the 2022-23 season when he was a member of the Ottawa Senators. However, he is now resuming his career overseas, which is undoubtedly cool to see. 

Brassard will now provide Geneve-Servette with a player with a ton of NHL experience. The 2006 sixth-overall pick played 16 seasons in the NHL, where he recorded 215 goals, 330 assists, and 545 points in 1,013 games.

Brassard spent a small amount of his NHL career as a member of the Oilers. In 15 games for the Oilers during the 2021-22 season, the longtime NHL forward posted two goals, one assist, 21 hits, and a minus-2 rating. 

The New York Rangers are set to play the Chicago Blackhawks tonight at 7:30 PM EST at United Center.

Here’s all you need to know ahead of this matchup: 

Projected Lineup:

Forwards:

Artemi Panarin - Mika Zibanejad -  Alexis Lafrenière

Conor Sheary - Vincent Trocheck - J.T. Miller

Will Cuylle - Noah Laba - Brett Berard

Jonny Brodzinski - Sam Carrick - Jaroslav Chmelař

Defensemen:

Vladislav Gavrikov - Braden Schneider

Carson Soucy - Will Borgen

Matthew Roberston - Scott Morrow 

Goaltenders: 

Igor Shesterkin 

Jonathan Quick

Notable Storylines: 

• Igor Shesterkin is set to start for the Rangers. 
• The Rangers are coming off of a 3-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. 
• Adam Edström was placed on long-term injured reserve due to a lower-body injury. 
• The Rangers currently hold a 15-12-4 record. 
• The Blackhawks are coming off of a 7-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. 

The Buffalo Sabres have announced that they have signed forward Trevor Kuntar to a one-year, two-way NHL contract for the remainder of the 2025-26 season.

Kuntar signed an AHL deal with the Sabres' AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, back in July. Clearly, he has impressed the Sabres with his play in Rochester, as he has now earned this new NHL contract.

Kuntar has certainly been making an impact with Rochester so far this season. In 24 games on the year with the AHL squad, he has recorded nine goals, four assists, 13 points, and 43 penalty minutes. This is after he posted three goals and 12 points in 54 games this past season with the Providence Bruins. 

Kuntar was selected by the Boston Bruins with the 89th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. He has yet to make his NHL debut, but he has a good amount of AHL experience. In 148 career AHL games over three seasons split between Providence and Rochester, he has posted 22 goals, 23 assists, 45 points, and 232 penalty minutes. 

The Montreal Canadiens called up multiple prospects from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Laval Rocket, on Dec. 9.

Among the players who have been recalled to the Canadiens' roster is forward prospect Owen Beck. This comes with forward Jake Evans set to miss the Canadiens' Dec. 11 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins due to personal reasons. 

With this call-up, Beck now has a golden opportunity to try to prove to the Canadiens that he can be a legitimate option for their bottom six. There are spots to fight for right now in their lineup, and Beck will be looking to make a real case for himself to stick around. 

Beck is currently in the middle of a solid season down in the AHL with Laval. In 22 games so far this season with the AHL club, he has posted three goals, eight assists, and 11 points. This is after he recorded 15 goals, 29 assists, and 44 points in 64 games with Laval this past season. With this, the young forward has offensive upside. 

It is going to be very interesting to see how much of an impact Beck makes during his latest call-up to the Canadiens' roster. In 15 career NHL games over three seasons, he has recorded one assist, 10 blocks, and 23 hits. 

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While it appeared that the NHL opportunities for former Detroit Red Wings forward Robby Fabbri were limited after he failed to secure a roster spot with the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier in the fall, he's now been given a chance to return where it all began.

Fabbri has been signed by the St. Louis Blues, the same club that drafted him in the opening round (21st overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft, has returned to the franchise by signing a one-year, two-way contract. 

We’re excited to bring Robby Fabbri back on a one-year, two-way contract. #stlblueshttps://t.co/0ANBODNsiR

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 10, 2025

He'll earn $775,000 at the NHL level, while earning $300,000 at the AHL level. He's scheduled to join the team immediately for their impending matchup on Thursday evening against the Nashville Predators. 

The signing coincides with the Blues placing forward Jordan Kyrou on Injured Reserve with a lower-body injury. 

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Fabbri spent the first portion of his NHL career with the Blues, winning the Stanley Cup in 2019 while contributing a goal in 10 postseason games during their run; he lifted the Cup at TD Garden following their Game 7 triumph over the Boston Bruins.

Fabbri was then traded to the Red Wings in November 2019 for Jacob de la Rose, and was one of the few bright spots for the club in what was otherwise an extremely trying campaign in 2019-20. 

He would play the next several seasons with Detroit, culminating in his best offensive output since 2015-16 by scoring 18 goals with 14 assists. Detroit then sent him to the Anaheim Ducks during that offseason, where he scored eight goals with eight assists while playing just 44 games. 

As he has been throughout his career, Fabbri's season was cut short because of injury. He's undergone multiple ACL surgeries during his time in the NHL, along with meniscus surgery last season. 

He was signed to a professional tryout agreement with the Penguins for this season, but was unable to secure a roster spot. 

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By Gary Pearson, BetMGM

Of the seven Canadian NHL teams, only the Edmonton Oilers would have a chance to win the Stanley Cup if the playoffs started today. 

For hockey fans in the Great White North, it's a good thing there's still a ton of hockey to be played. I can assure you that nobody north of the border will want to repeat the 2015-16 NHL playoffs, which had no Canadian participants. 

To avoid that unlikely and unthinkable scenario, what do Canadian teams need to do to rise from the doldrums?  

Defensive Frailties Headline Shortcomings

Going purely by the Stanley Cup odds, you won't be surprised to learn that the Oilers are the only Canadian outfit in a playoff position.

But if you looked at the standings a couple of weeks ago and not since, you'll be taken aback by the current pecking order.

All but one Canadian team ranks in the bottom 15 according to points percentage, with the Montreal Canadiens the best of the bunch. With a .569 points percentage, they rank 16th. 

Where Do Canadian Teams Rank Defensively?

Poor defensive play, subpar goaltending or a combination of both are the primary reasons for the sluggish start to the 2025-26 season. 

Four Canadian teams rank among the bottom 10 in three primary defensive categories, including goals against, goals against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, and goals against above expected. 

The Vancouver Canucks allow the most goals per game (3.60), the most goals per 60 minutes in all situations (3.55) and, logically, have conceded the most goals overall (108). 

The Canadiens allow the second-most goals per game (3.55), the third-most goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (2.9) and the third-most goals against above expected (5.65). 

The Oilers, meanwhile, concede the fifth-most goals per game (3.47) and the eighth-most goals against above expected (-1.82). 

And then there are the Ottawa Senators, which allow the ninth-most goals per game (3.31) and goals per 60 minutes in all situations (3.25), and the most goals against above expected (10.32).

 

Four Best Long Shots To Win The NHL's Eastern And Western ConferenceThe Ottawa Senators and Minnesota Wild among the NHL squads that are long shots to advance to the Stanley Cup final, but can they pull it off?

Thanks to a recent defensive resurgence, along with solid goaltending from the now-injured Joseph Woll and call-up Dennis Hildeby, the Toronto Maple Leafs have climbed out of the basement in most categories, where they were entrenched for the first quarter of the season. 

You might be surprised to learn of the Calgary Flames' absence from those ignominious stats. The polar opposite issue plagues the Flames, whose offense is about as toothless as a four-month-old baby. 

Most tellingly, only one Canadian team – the Winnipeg Jets – ranks in the top half of the league in overall goals against.

You don't have to be a hockey savant to know what is causing insomnia for the coaches north of the 49th parallel. 

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Newly signed St. Louis Blues forward Robby Fabbri will make his debut on Thursday against the Nashville Predators, coach Jim Montgomery said on Wednesday.

Fabbri, 29, who was signed to a one-year, two-way contract for $775,000 NHL, $300,000 AHL, on Wednesday with the Blues currently without five forwards (Jordan Kyrou, lower-body; Nick Bjugstad, upper body; Alexey Toropchenko, leg burns; Jimmy Snuggerud, wrist, and Nathan Walker, upper body) out with various injuries.

Fabbri, who was with the Pittsburgh Penguins on a professional tryout but released during training camp and also signed an amateur PTO with the Florida Panthers, has played in three games recently with Charlotte of the American Hockey League and had a goal and an assist.

"The good thing about Robby Fabbri is he's played all three positions, he's familiar with the city, he's familiar what the Blues mean and the city of St. Louis and the honor and privilege is it to wear the Blues jersey," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said Wednesday. "We're going to use him; we've got to see where he's at with everything. I know he's played three games down in the American (Hockey) League and he's looked good. that's why we added a player that's played a lot of NHL games (and) has over 100 goals in the league. Someone that's going to give us a veteran mentality, understands game management and stuff pretty well."

As for Bjugstad, who departed a 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday 5:24 into the second period with an upper-body injury, Montgomery said the 33-year-old will miss "at least the next five days."

And Toropchenko, who sustained what the Blues termed "scalding burns to his legs" in a home accident, the progress is positive; he has missed the past five games.

"He's progressing pretty good," Montgomery said. 'If anyone's going to be back the quickest of any of the guys that are out, there's a good chance it's him.

"He's started on those steps of getting back on the ice already."

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