Category: NHL

If anyone was worried about the Pittsburgh Penguins coming out of the Olympic break without their best player and captain, this team sure had something to say about it when they faced the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. 

Despite coming out of the break without the services of Sidney Crosby, who sustained a lower-body injury during the Olympics that will keep him out around four weeks, the Penguins came to life in the third period of Thursday's game to beat the Devils, 4-1, in Pittsburgh. 

Penguins' goaltender Arturs Silovs - who played for Team Latvia at the Olympic games in Milan - was outstanding, allowing just one goal on 29 shots and staving off some early pushes by New Jersey. Tommy Novak, Connor Clifton, and Egor Chinakhov got on the board for the Penguins before Blake Lizotte added a shorthanded empty-net goal at the end of the game to cap it off.

Pittsburgh was first to get on the board, as a late power play goal by Tommy Novak - a shot from the point by Kris Letang that was tipped on the way in by Novak - in the opening frame gave them the 1-0 lead. With a power play in the first part of the second period, though, the Devils started to gain a bit of momentum, and shortly after that man advantage, Paul Cotter tipped a Dougie Hamilton shot at the net-front to tie the game.

The Penguins and Dan Muse challenged the play for goaltender interference to no avail - making Muse 0-for-6 this season in coach's challenges for goaltender interference - putting the Penguins back on the PK. Avery Hayes - playing in just his second NHL game - took another penalty midway through the period, too, but the Penguins wouldn't surrender. In fact, they were getting ample chances on their penalty kill throughout the game, including a shorthanded breakaway by Connor Dewar and several other odd-man breaks. 

And this seemed to help turn the momentum back in the way of the Penguins, who were clearly struggling to find rhythm with their four-line attack early on without their captain. 

The Penguins were pressing heavily in the third, and six minutes in, the third line of Ben Kindel, Justin Brazeau, and Anthony Mantha was cycling in the offensive zone. The puck came to Ryan Shea at the left point, who pinged one off the crossbar on a heavy slapper. And, luckily, it trickled over and ricocheted off the right wall directly to Clifton, who one-timed it home to give the Penguins the 2-1 lead.

SHEAZO WITH THE OL' OFF THE CROSSBAR APPLE 🍎

CLIFFY HAMMERS IT FOR THE LEAD!!! pic.twitter.com/esMbpbziNW

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) February 27, 2026

And, just as they have done many times this season, the Penguins quickly built their lead. Just 50 seconds later, Egor Chinakhov took a stretch pass from Evgeni Malkin, breaking into the offensive zone at full speed. He burst in deked backhand to forehand and laid one over the pad of Jacob Markstrom to put the Penguins up, 3-1.

CHINNY SHOWING OFF THE NEW DAD STRENGTH 💪

2 GOALS - 50 SECONDS! https://t.co/CmvaEn2tKIpic.twitter.com/9ZQXKvbtWZ

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) February 27, 2026

New Jersey got a few opportunities later on, but nothing Silovs couldn't handle - even on the late penalty kill that Lizotte scored his shorthanded empty-netter on.

"It was huge," Clifton said. "I don't think we were very good in the first. We weren't very sharp. But we had a long [what felt like] training camp for the past couple weeks here. It felt like a long time. But I thought in the second and third, we were good, man. We didn't miss a beat.

"So, yeah, obviously we were playing really good before the break, and we got that long break, but we're right back in it. So, another big one on Saturday."

Here are a few thoughts and takeaways from this one:

- This was the best game that Clifton has played as a Penguin. And he earned that goal.

Not only did he finish the game with a team-high seven hits - as he often does - he scored the game-winning goal and made several big defensive plays throughout the evening, including a stick play in the blue paint at the end of the first period that prevented a New Jersey goal. 

Clifton is well-liked in the locker room, and he has been playing much better hockey as the season has bore on. It was good to see him rewarded in this one.

Crosby Addresses Injury, Talks Olympic ExperiencePittsburgh Penguins' captain Sidney Crosby reflects on his time at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan and discusses the confidence he has in his team to make the playoffs while he's out four weeks with a lower-body injury.

- Aside from Clifton and Silovs, I thought the best players in this game were Ben Kindel and Erik Karlsson.

Karlsson was simply outstanding, and it was easy to tell there was carryover from the Olympics. He didn't end up on the scoresheet and was a plus-1, but his defense was what really stood out in this one, especially in the first period, when the Penguins and Silovs were under siege for a bit.

Then, there's Kindel. I'm running out of adjectives to describe this guy, and with Crosby out longer-term, I don't think it's going to be long before he sees an elevated role in the lineup. Everything comes so natural to him, and he's so good in all three zones. If I'm the Penguins, I'm also putting him in Crosby's spot on the first power play unit - because he is the one who directs the traffic on a second unit that was very effective Thursday.

There was a play in the first period where the Penguins were in the offensive zone, and Nico Hischier got the puck near the right point. Kindel just took Hischier out and won the physical battle and the puck battle, created a two-on-one opportunity, and put a perfect seam pass on the stick of Brazeau for a scoring opportunity. It was fun to witness.

'On Any Given Night, Anybody Can Step Up': With Crosby Out, Penguins Prepared To Elevate GameWith the news that Pittsburgh Penguins' star center Sidney Crosby will miss four weeks with a lower-body injury, his teammates are ready to step up in a big way to propel the Penguins to the playoffs in his absence.

- Another guy I'm running out of adjectives for? Chinakhov, who now has nine goals in 19 games with the Penguins, which is a 39-goal pace. In addition, Malkin has six assists on Chinakhov's goals, with five of them being primary assists.

That duo is just magical, and Chinakhov truly has a gift for finishing plays. If the Penguins make the playoffs mostly Crosbyless, they will be a huge reason why.

- I mentioned it in passing before, but this penalty kill is simply outstanding. Not only did it kill off all six New Jersey opportunities, it is now ranked second in the league at 84.5 percent behind only the Chicago Blackhawks, and it actually spends a fair amount of time in the offensive zone.

You have units that can kill penalties and stymie chances in-zone - which the Penguins certainly do - and then you have units that are a constant threat to take it the other way. The Penguins do both so well, and it makes them a legitimate threat shorthanded.

That's why it kind of makes me wonder if the unit is, at all, a factor in the decision-making for Muse when it comes to coach's challenges. Perhaps the Penguins aren't uncomfortable being shorthanded, so the stakes aren't as high as they would be otherwise if they challenge and lose (situation-dependent, obviously).

Just impressive stuff from them, all the way from Noel Acciari to Karlsson.

With Latest Trade, Kyle Dubas Continues To Create Something Out Of NothingPittsburgh Penguins' general manager Kyle Dubas traded for Colorado Avalanche defenseman Sam Girard on Tuesday, which was the latest in a string of moves that show why he's one of the best in the business

- This was a really, really big win for the Penguins. Not only did it put them seven points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets, five points ahead of the Washington Capitals, and maintain their one-point lead on the New York Islanders, it was also a statement win without Crosby. 

Everyone knows what lies ahead. This team has a packed schedule with a high degree of difficulty, and this team found their footing within this game and managed to take over the game completely once their legs were found. And they did it without 87. 

That's a statement that they're not going anywhere, and it's a confidence-booster for a locker room that was already confident. 

So, if you're one who doubts the Penguins' chances without Crosby, just stay tuned. They might surprise you.

Penguins' Players React To Gold Medal Game, Crosby's InjuryOn Sunday, Sidney Crosby's Penguins' teammates reacted to the captain's inability to appear for Team Canada in their gold medal game against Team USA, which the Americans won, 2-1, in overtime to capture their first Olympic gold medal since 1980.

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

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Olympic silver medalist Brad Marchand scored twice, Evan Rodrigues got the first short-handed goal of his career and added an assist, and the Florida Panthers resumed their playoff push with a 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

Marchand now has 27 goals, tying Sam Reinhart for the team lead. Olympic bronze medalist Anton Lundell had two assists for Florida, while Carter Verhaeghe and gold medalist Matthew Tkachuk also scored for the Panthers — the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions who began the night eight points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots for Florida, which had lost five of its last six games going into the break.

John Tavares scored for Toronto, which started the night six points out of a playoff berth and — like the Panthers — is looking for some late-season magic to get into the postseason. Joseph Woll stopped 31 shots .

Marchand — after watching a celebration of USA Hockey’s Olympic gold medal to start the game, a win that came over his Canada club — opened the scoring just 3:18 into the contest, the start of a three-goal opening period for the Panthers.

It was only the second time this season that Florida scored three times in an opening period; it had four goals in the first 20 minutes of an 8-3 win in Nashville on Nov. 24.

PENGUINS 4, DEVILS 1

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Connor Clifton and Egor Chinakhov scored 50 seconds apart in the third period and Pittsburgh surged past Jack Hughes and reeling New Jersey.

Tommy Novak, serving as the first-line center while captain Sidney Crosby recovers from a lower-body injury sustained at the Milan Cortina Olympics, picked up his 12th goal of the season. Blake Lizotte added an empty-netter late for Pittsburgh, which has won eight of 10 to move into second place in the crowded Metropolitan Division.

Arturs Silovs stopped 28 shots to win for the fourth time in five starts.

Paul Cotter scored his sixth goal of the season for the Devils but couldn’t halt New Jersey’s slide. The Devils have dropped seven of eight to fall off the pace in the race for one of the Eastern Conference’s two wild-card spots.

HURRICANES 5, LIGHTNING 4

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sebastian Aho banged in a power-play goal through traffic midway through the third period to help Carolina beat Tampa Bay.

Aho’s shot from up top slipped past Jonas Johansson, with Carolina captain Jordan Staal rooted in front of Johansson at the top of the crease to make it 5-4 at the 7:17 mark of the third.

That decided a back and forth matchup of the Eastern Conference’s top two teams, with Carolina jumping to a 3-0 lead in the first seven minutes in its return from the Olympic break only to see Tampa Bay tie it early in the second period.

The game ended with the Hurricanes holding up against the Lightning going with an extra attacker for the last three minutes, with multiple Lightning players diving on the ice to stop Carolina’s repeated attempts at an empty-net clincher until the horn sounded.

Carolina pushed its point streak to 11 games, while Tampa Bay lost in regulation for only the second time since Dec. 18.

BURINS 4, BLUE JACKETS 2

BOSTON (AP) — Viktor Arvidsson scored twice, Joonas Korpisalo made 36 saves and Boston beat Columbus in the first game for both teams after the three-week break for the Olympics.

Morgan Geekie and Sean Kuraly and also scored for the Bruins. Kuraly gave Boston a two-goal lead in the third period, but Columbus pulled within one with six minutes left when Adam Fantilli ripped a shot from the high slot.

The Blue Jackets pulled goalie with Elvis Merzlikins with two minutes left, and Arvidsson scored into the empty net in the final minute.

Kirill Marchenko scored his 20th of the season for Columbus, and Merzlikins made 19 saves.

RED WINGS 2, SENATORS 1, OT

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Dylan Larkin scored in his second goal of game at 1:50 of overtime, John Gibson made 26 saves and Detroit beat Ottawa.

Larkin beat Linus Ullmark with a backhander in the tiebreaker.

Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk opened the scoring in the first period. Ullmark stopped 18 shots.

Detroit tied it at 1 on a power play early in the second when Lucas Raymond fed Larkin at the side of the net for a one-timer past Ullmark.

Just over two minutes later, Simon Edvinsson stepped into Tkachuk, with the Senators forward’s stick bouncing up and hitting him in the face. Tkachuk dropped to the ice, and Dylan Cozens jumped to his captain’s defense. Edvinsson and Cozens were both sent to the box.

Tkachuk returned to the ice before play resumed and skated to the penalty box to confront Edvinsson, drawing a 10-minute misconduct. Once in the box, Tkachuk continued to voice his displeasure.

ISLANDERS 4, CANADIENS 3, OT

MONTREAL (AP) — Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored 3:14 into overtime, rookie Matthew Schaefer had two goals in a 55-second span in the second period and New York rallied to beat Montreal.

Schaefer has 18 goals to surpass Denis Potvin for the most by a rookie defenseman in team history. Schaefer, selected first overall in last year’s draft, also moved past Phil Housley for the most goals in NHL history by an 18-year-old defenseman.

Islanders captain Anders Lee, skating in his 900th game, also scored and Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves to help New York win its third straight. Sorokin improved to 7-0-2 in his career against Montreal.

The Canadiens’ Noah Dobson scored two goals in his first game against his former team. Cole Caufield scored his team-leading 33rd goal for Montreal in the third period and Samuel Montembeault made 23 saves.

BLUES 5, KRAKEN 1

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Dylan Holloway had a hat trick and added an assist in his return from a sprained ankle, Joel Hofer made 23 saves and St. Louis came off the Olympic break to beat Seattle.

Jordan Kyrou and Holloway — activated from injured reserve before the game — scored in a 23-second span early in the second period to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.

Pius Suter added a goal and two assists to help the Blues end a three-game losing streak.

Holloway completed St. Louis’ first hat trick of the season with 3:01 left, scoring into an empty net for his 11th of the season.

Kaapo Kakko tied it at 1 for Seattle in the first period, and Philipp Grubauer stopped 26 shots. The Kraken were coming off a 4-1 loss in Dallas on Wednesday night.

Kyrou made it 2-1 at 1:12 of the second off a feed from Pavel Buchnevich on a break. Holloway poked the puck past Grubauer off a scramble at 1:35. Suter scored at 1:56 of the third.

PREDATORS 4, BLACKHAWKS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Ryan O’Reilly scored with 3:16 remaining and Nashville scored three times in the third period in a win over Chicago in the teams’ first game following the Olympic break.

Filip Forsberg and Matthew Wood also scored for Nashville. Steven Stamkos scored his 29th of the season into an empty net in the final minute for the Predators, who had lost two in a row and five of their last seven games heading into the break. Justus Annunen stopped 21 of 23 shots.

Connor Bedard and Tyler Bertuzzi scored for the Blackhawks, who have one victory in their last eight games. Spencer Knight made 22 saves.

Forsberg scored unassisted with just over six minutes remaining in the first period. Forsberg, who played for fourth-place finisher Sweden at the Olympics, scored his 25th of the season.

Bedard scored his career-best 25th goal just over four minutes into the second period to tie the game at 1. Ryan Greene had his 14th assist. Bedard had 22 goals in 68 games in 2023-24 and 24 goals in 82 games last season.

FLYERS 3, RANGERS 2

NEW YORK (AP) — Matvei Michkov scored his second goal of the game 2:10 into overtime and Samuel Ersson made 23 saves as Philadelphia rallied to beat New York.

Michkov beat Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin for his 15th goal of the season after the Rangers failed to score on a power play to start the extra period.

Trevor Zegras also scored for the Flyers, who trailed 2-0 early in the second period before rallying for their second win since Jan. 23.

Sam Carrick and Alexis Lafreniere scored for the New York, which lost their fifth straight game. Shesterkin, who suffered a lower-body injury in a home loss to Utah on Jan. 5, made 21 saves in his return. The Rangers are 6-15-5 at home this season.

Carrick opened the scoring at 9:56 of the first, beating Ersson with a shot from long range for his fourth goal. Lafreniere’s 13th of the season made it 2-0 at 1:23 of the second.

Michkov scored on the power play at 10:25 of the second, cutting the Flyers’ deficit to 2-1. Zegras scored 39 seconds into the third to tie the game at 2.

WILD 5, AVALANCHE 2

DENVER (AP) — U.S. Olympian Matt Boldy had two goals and two assists, Filip Gustavsson stopped 44 shots and Minnesota beat Colorado for its sixth straight victory.

In Minnesota’s first game after the Olympic break, Boldy extended his points streak to seven games, and fellow U.S. teammate Quinn Hughes had his team-leading 53rd assist of the season.

Gustavsson improved to 17-2-4 in his past 23 games.

Joel Eriksson Ek had two power-play goals, giving him six goals in Minnesota’s past seven games and 26 points over his past 24 games. Mats Zuccarello also scored for Minnesota.

Martin Necas scored twice for NHL-leading Colorado, which returned from the break Wednesday night with a victory in Utah. The Avs are 5-6-2 in their past 13 after starting the season 33-4-7.

FLAMES 4, SHARKS 1

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Nazem Kadri scored two goals and Calgary beat San Jose in the first game back from the Olympic break for both teams.

Connor Zary broke a tie early in the third period when he beat Yaroslav Askarov with a shot for the slot on the rush. Kadri provided some needed insurance when he converted after a defensive-zone turnover by Timothy Liljegren for his second goal of the game.

Mikael Backlund added an empty-net goal to seal the win.

Dustin Wolf, a native of nearby Gilroy, made 34 saves to improve to 10-2 in his career against San Jose.

Tyler Toffoli scored the lone goal for the Sharks, who lost the opener of a crucial six-game homestand as they try to make a playoff run. San Jose began the night five points out of a playoff spot.

Askarov made 25 saves.

OILERS 8, KINGS 1

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Connor McDavid secured his ninth 100-point season with a goal and an assist, Leon Draisaitl had a goal and three assists, and Edmonton snapped its four-game skid with a victory over Los Angeles.

McDavid scored his 35th goal and Draisaitl got his 30th during his fourth four-point game of the season as the Oilers again routed the opponent they’ve knocked out of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in each of the past four seasons.

Jake Walman scored two goals, Zach Hyman had a goal and two assists, and Ty Emberson, Vasily Podkolzin and Andrew Mangiapane also scored in Edmonton’s impressive rebound from a painful loss in Anaheim. Connor Ingram made 22 saves for the Oilers, who have returned from the Olympic break with 13 goals in two games.

Warren Foegele scored for the Kings, who have lost five straight games since January. Los Angeles’ humiliating third-period collapse against Vegas one night earlier bled into this game: When Hyman scored on a power play midway through the second period, the Kings had allowed 10 goals in their past 41 minutes of play.

Darcy Kuemper gave up four goals on 15 shots before getting pulled early in the second period for Anton Forsberg.

There was a point, about midway through Thursday’s 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh, where it kind of, sort of felt as if the Devils might manage to salvage a point, maybe even steal two from the Penguins.

Paul Cotter had scored, an almost water-to-wine level miracle. Jacob Markstrom was playing as well as he has at any point this season. The Devils sure seemed to be spending a lot of time in the Penguins’ end.

But that was more a function of the Penguins playing much of the second period short-handed than anything the Devils did. And, the Devils failed to make Pittsburgh pay for any of the slew of second-period penalties that could have easily turned the game New Jersey’s way.

Instead, the Penguins killed all four Devils’ power plays before scoring three unanswered third period goals to send the Devils to their fifth straight loss.

The Devils have now dropped five in a row for the second time this season. Five-Game Losing Streak No. 1 was the Nov. 29 to Dec. 6 skid that began their free fall from atop the Eastern Conference standings. In the 91 days since, they’ve also managed a four-game winless streak (0-3-1, Dec. 21-Dec. 30) and a four-game losing streak (Jan. 4-Jan. 11).

The current five-game streak dates back to a 4-1 loss in Ottawa on Jan. 31. They’ve also lost seven of their last eight games. A somehow even way more damning stat – the Devils have not held a lead in regulation since Jan.25, when Dougie Hamilton opened the scoring in a loss to Seattle.

Thursday marked the seventh straight game the Devils fell behind 1-0. This time it was Pittsburgh’s previously sputtering power play – the Penguins were on an 0-for-10 drought coming in – that dumped the Devils in a 1-0 hole when Tommy Novak tipped a Kris Letang point shot past Markstrom with 1 minute 9 seconds to play in the first.

Cotter, who hadn’t had a point in 23 games dating back to Dec. 13, got the Devils even at 4:56 of the second.

For some reason, the Penguins decided to challenge the play for goalie interference. This gave the Devils their second power play of the period and a chance to take the lead, but the Devils couldn’t capitalize on the delay of game, or slashing and interference minors to Avery Hayes and Letang later in the period.

Pittsburgh would get goals from Jersey native Connor Clifton and Egor Chinakhov 50 seconds apart early in the third to put the game out of reach. Clifton roofed a slap shot from the right circle over Markstrom at 6:30 and Evgeni Malkin found Chinakhov snuck behind Brett Pesce and Jonathan Kovacevic at 7:20.

Blake Lizotte would pick off a Hamilton pass and score into the empty net at 18:01 to seal the win.

Up Next

The Devils will try to avoid a six-game losing streak when they travel to St. Louis and face the Blues at 5 p.m., Saturday. The Blues are somehow even worse than the Devils. St. Louis (21-28-9) is 30th out of 32 teams. The Blues are 2-7-1 in their last 10. They beat the Seattle Kraken 5-1 Thursday night on a Dylan Holloway hat trick. Holloway had a four-point night.

Your Thoughts

They’re pretty much daring GM Tom Fitzgerald to fire head coach Sheldon Keefe at this point right? Or ownership to fire Fitzgerald and Keefe? Or something? Anything? This has to be close to the absolute nadir in team history. Not even being hyperbolic. There’s the 96 choke job and Tom Chorske’s giant middle finger to Lou and Lemaire, and then. …. That Game 7 collapse to Carolina is up there. This may not be that level of awful, but it’s still horrifying. These guys have completely up and quit, every last one of them. The core guys, who are supposed to be leaders, are just so checked out. I know that at this point they’re better off losing out, picking Gavin McKenna, and starting over next year, but how can this be allowed to continue? . … It’s not just me, is it?

NEW YORK (AP) — Matvei Michkov scored his second goal of the game 2:10 into overtime and Samuel Ersson made 23 saves as the Philadelphia Flyers rallied to beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Thursday night.

Michkov beat Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin for his 15th goal of the season after the Rangers failed to score on a power play to start the extra period.

Trevor Zegras also scored for the Flyers, who trailed 2-0 early in the second period before rallying for their second win since Jan. 23.

Sam Carrick and Alexis Lafreniere scored for New York, which lost its fifth straight game. Shesterkin, who suffered a lower-body injury in a home loss to Utah on Jan. 5, made 21 saves in his return. The Rangers are 6-15-5 at home this season.

Carrick opened the scoring at 9:56 of the first, beating Ersson with a shot from long range for his fourth goal. Lafreniere’s 13th of the season made it 2-0 at 1:23 of the second.

Michkov scored on the power play at 10:25 of the second, cutting the Flyers’ deficit to 2-1. Zegras scored 39 seconds into the third to tie the game at 2.

Defenseman Adam Fox returned to the lineup for the Rangers.

New York traded top scorer Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 4 and additional trades could come ahead of the March 6 trade deadline. The Rangers are 2-11-2 since winning the Winter Classic on Jan. 2 in Miami.

The Flyers, who lost 3-1 at Washington on Wednesday, have also tumbled in the standings. Philadelphia is 4-9-4 since Jan. 6.

Before the game, the Rangers honored Olympic gold medal-winning players J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck, along with head coach Mike Sullivan, assistant coach David Quinn and general manager Chris Drury, the assistant GM of the U.S. Olympic team in Milan.

Drury was loudly booed by the Madison Square Garden crowd.

Up next

Flyers: Host Boston on Saturday.

Rangers: Host Pittsburgh on Saturday.

For 40 minutes, it looked like a reprieve for the Rangers, the rare night when they could temporarily escape their reality — the cellar of the Eastern Conference — of a lost season, encounter some glimmers of hope and snag a rare home win in regulation.

Even when they blew a two-goal lead, the Blueshirts still started overtime with nearly a full power play.

But with this edition of the Blueshirts, not even that can go right. They watched as Matvei Michkov scored the winner 2:10 into overtime with a gassed power-play unit stuck on the ice, falling 3-2 to the Flyers on Thursday to spoil the returns of defenseman Adam Fox and goaltender Igor Shesterkin from injuries and the returns of J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck from Team USA’s gold medal trip.

The resumption of their season following the Olympic break ended with the Blueshirts (22-29-7) opening a four-game homestand on a sour note.

“They just didn’t have any juice,” Sullivan said of Fox, Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck, who were all on the ice for the entire extra frame.

But until it all fell apart, just about everything went right for the Rangers. The night all started with the returns of Shesterkin and Fox, who both took their spots in the lineup for the first time since Jan. 5.

Trocheck and Miller were honored pregame for their gold medal, along with head coach Mike Sullivan (USA head coach), assistant coach David Quinn (USA assistant) and president and general manager Chris Drury (assistant GM) — who was greeted with nothing but boos given the current state of the Rangers team he’s directly responsible for.

Shesterkin, at times, looked like his vintage self. Fox manned his spot on the power play and with the top defensive pairing, though Sullivan said they’re still “capable of another level.”

For Fox, it marked just his fourth game since Nov. 29, as his brief return from a shoulder injury was followed almost immediately by a stint on long-term injured reserve for a lower-body injury. He felt “a little helpless” just watching as The Letter 2.0 — when Drury signaled a retool — dropped and he couldn’t do anything.

“[Fox has] missed a lot of hockey, so it’s gonna take him some time to get into the game speed, the game timing, things of that nature,” Sullivan said. “He’s missed so much time. I would anticipate Foxy getting better with each game that he plays.”

Even with the Rangers’ stars acclimating, they still took a 2-0 lead behind unlikely contributors. Fourth-line center Sam Carrick flung a puck from the boards that somehow got past Samuel Ersson for the Blueshirts’ first goal — and his fourth of the season — midway through the third period.

Alexis Lafrenière, in the middle of another disappointing season with his name swirling in trade rumors, scored 1:23 into the second period too.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NHL STANDINGS AND RANGERS STATS

Shesterkin, until allowing the trio of goals across the final two-plus frames, turned aside shot after shot, including some tricky rebounds.

Three minutes into the second, Carl Grundstrom and Jamie Drysdale had chances that Shesterkin stopped, and another Flyers shot went wide. When Owen Tippett’s shot gave Noah Cates an open lane from the right side, Shesterkin managed to knock the puck away with his glove.

Eventually, Michkov scored his first tally on the power play later in the frame, Trevor Zegras tied it just 39 seconds into the third and Michkov won it with his second after the Blueshirts failed to capitalize with the man-advantage for the third time Thursday.

The Rangers had a chance to push all of their pressing issues aside for another day.

They had a chance to make sure a celebratory night at the Garden ended that way when fans spilled out the exits and onto the streets.

They had a chance to forget that their roster might look entirely different a week from now when the March 6 trade deadline arrives, to still emerge with a win even as young players — such as Noah Laba and Brennan Othmann — received extra chances with the penalty kill because Sullivan wanted “to see what they’re capable of” while using Zibanejad, Miller and Trocheck less in those spots.

That, as much as the Artemi Panarin trade and The Letter 2.0, is a clear sign of a retool.

Instead, by the time overtime ended, their season-long problems had come right back into focus.

Ryan O'Reilly's 21st goal of the season in the final five minutes of the game elevated the Nashville Predators to a 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.

It was the Predators' first game since the pause for the Winter Olympics and their first since Feb. 5. The win also puts Nashville just two points outside the final Wild Card spot in the West. 

With 3:15 left in the third period, O'Reilly got a feed from Roman Josi from behind the net and put a soft, quick wrist shot on net that beat goalie Spencer Knight five-hole. 

Steven Stamkos added an empty net goal in the final minute to ice the game. 

Filip Forsberg opened up the scoring, finding the back of the net off a steal along the boards and a wrist shot from the right face-off dot to make it 1-0 in the first period.

It was the first time the Predators had scored the first goal of a game since Jan. 24 against the Utah Mammoth.

Factor on the doorstep 💥 pic.twitter.com/HiOOg1Hgtz

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) February 27, 2026

Connor Bedard responded for Chicago early in the second to tie things up. In the early third, Adam Wilsby was called for a delay of the game, and Tyler Bertuzzi scored to give the Blackhawks their first lead of the night. 

Later in the period, Nick Foligno was called for interference to put Nashville on the power play. Matthew Wood found the back of the net from the left side of the slot to tie the game up at two. 

Justus Annunen picked up the win, making 21 saves on 23 shots for his fifth win of the season. 

The Predators struggled to stay out of the box, logging 12 penalty minutes to the Blackhawks' four, but went 4-of-5 on the penalty kill. 

Nashville heads on the road on Saturday to face the Dallas Stars at 7 p.m. CST. The Stars defeated the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday, 4-1, in their first game since the pause and have won seven straight. 

The 2026 NHL Trade Deadline is only a little more than a week away. Despite the NHL just returning to play on Wednesday, the Vancouver Canucks have made themselves a large presence in the trade market, namely due to rumours surrounding defenceman Tyler Myers’ future with the team. 

Last night, during a 3–2 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets, Myers was made a healthy-scratch due to roster management reasons. As today has progressed, more has come out about the situation with the veteran defenceman, with Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford speaking on it during an interview with the 100% Hockey podcast. 

“We do have an offer for him. We’re working through that process now, and we’ll see where it goes. Nothing’s final at this point,” Rutherford told podcast hosts John Shannon and Daren Millard. “It was just being cautious last night. You don’t want a player to play in a game and get injured when potentially something might happen.” 

The thing that has complicated a potential Myers trade is the fact that the defenceman’s contract currently has a no-movement clause, meaning he controls whether he’s traded or not and where-to if that’s the case. This clause shifts to a 12-team no-trade list next year, which would give Vancouver more control over where the defenceman goes if he remains with the team and if they still want to trade him. 

“It’s a little bit of everything. It’s just the process. Patrik’s the one that’s doing this, and I got an update earlier this morning, and everybody’s trying to work together to see if something works.”

The course of the current season has been difficult for the Canucks and their fans, as Vancouver has sat comfortably at the bottom of the NHL’s standings for at least a couple of months now. They’ve already made two big moves throughout the season, trading captain Quinn Hughes and Kiefer Sherwood, and while many expect that they’ll be busy in the lead-up to the deadline, Rutherford warned that there’s a chance this may not be the case. 

“We’ll be as active as possible if, in fact, something makes sense for our return. We’re not out looking to just give away players. I don’t know how many younger players, mid 20s to younger, that are going to be available that we could acquire, but we’re going to look at all possibilities, sticking to that plan of staying younger, getting a group together that can come together over the next couple of years as a team and start to get in a position that we should be in, but at this point in time, the market is very slow. Patrik does the deals, he talks to the GMs, but talking to a couple of other people that hold the same position as me, they are surprised too, how slow the market’s moving. So it may end up that it’s a slower deadline because of some of the rule changes and how teams have to approach things going forward for the playoffs, or maybe it’s just going to open up here next week, getting closer to the deadline.” 

Regardless of what happens in the next couple of weeks, the trade deadline will play a big role in how Vancouver approaches their future moving forward. This includes the 2026 NHL Draft, in which the Canucks are expected to make their first selection relatively high-up. 

“I think it starts here with the next week, and I can give you that answer a lot better after we get past the trade deadline, but we’re going to acquire as many young assets as possible, and that’s probably more in line with being draft picks, position ourselves as strong as we can going into the draft and going into the off-season of free agency, and continue to let the young players play, live with them adjusting to a very tough league. I think that the young guys we have now are doing a really good job, especially young defencemen that are playing as much as they are and doing as well as they are, and they’ll just get better and better, and we’ll look forward to the draft and free agency to see the changes that need to be made so we can start to progress in the right direction next year and build this team up over the next couple of years.”

With the things that have occurred with the Canucks throughout the season, it’s likely felt as though every player’s name has been mentioned in some sort of trade rumour. While things have shifted throughout the season, Rutherford did clarify that there are some members of the team that they won’t field calls on regarding trade interest. However, he also added that “the list is relatively short” and would not give an inkling of which players could be on it. 

Something that may make acquiring players hard, particularly in free agency, is the desire to play in Vancouver, according to Rutherford. The President of Hockey Operations spoke on what the demographic of players who have typically wanted to play in Vancouver look like, with the focus primarily being on those who are from western Canada in particular. 

“I think you’re seeing a trend where the majority of players want to play in the US, but there are players who want to come to Vancouver, and they like the organization. We treat players extremely well here. They like the passion of the market, and they like the city. So we will have a chance to get free agents. It may not be the top guy that everybody will want us to get, that we would probably try to get, but what we need to do now is get as many young players in here and get established that this is a young group that’s going to grow together and want to be here for a long time — that’s our priority right now. 

“We would love to have more Canadian players. So make that very clear. But if there’s a player from whatever country in the world [who] can come and contribute to the Vancouver Canucks, we’re going after that player. But at this point in time, when I look at our team, I’d like to see us have more Canadian players on it.” 

The NHL Trade Deadline takes place on March 6 at 12:00 pm PT. 

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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While the Detroit Red Wings didn’t get off to the start that they wanted on Thursday evening against the Ottawa Senators, all’s well that ends well.

Fresh off a gold medal victory with Team USA, Dylan Larkin scored both goals for the Red Wings, including the overtime game-winner, in Detroit’s 2-1 victory at Canadian Tire Place.

#REDWINGS WIN IN OTTAWA! #LGRWpic.twitter.com/ofCjTBWkjd

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 27, 2026

In doing so, they vaulted past the idle Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens (who lost in OT to the New York Islanders) and into the second overall spot in the Atlantic Division.

The Red Wings thought they’d struck first in the opening 20 minutes of play, as Michael Rasmussen broke in on a two-on-one rush with Elmer Soderblom and beat Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark under the glove with a quick wrist shot.

However, the Senators successfully challenged for the play being offside, which video replay confirmed.

The Senators then took a 1-0 lead thanks to Larkin’s Team USA teammate Brady Tkachuk, who scored on the man-advantage.

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. 

Not to be outdone, Larkin notched a power-play goal of his own early in the second period, knotting the score at 1-1.

Neither team found the back of the net from that point on through the rest of regulation, setting up overtime.

After winning a face-off in the defensive zone, Larkin maneuvered his way down the ice and took a feed from Lucas Raymond, broke in alone and beat Ullmark with a backhand shot, securing the win for Detroit.

Red Wings goaltender John Gibson was impressive, stopping 26 shots. Ullmark countered with 18 saves.

The Red Wings’ three game road swing will continue on Saturday night in North Carolina against the Hurricanes.

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With Jeremy Swayman given an extra night off to acclimate to post-Olympic life, Joonas Korpisalo filled in more than admirably.

The former Columbus netminder made 36 saves, including several big ones, to lead the Bruins to a 4-2 win over the Blue Jackets at TD Garden.

Viktor Arvidsson led the way on offense with two goals, one an empty-netter to seal it. Sean Kuraly (also a former Blue Jacket) and Morgan Geekie scored the other goals.

Kirill Marchenko got the scoring started in this one, making it 1-0 Columbus with a breakaway goal less than five minutes into the first period.

Arvidsson got the Bruins on the board with a lucky bounce off a toss on net ten minutes later, making it a 1-1 game.

Geekie gave the Bruins the lead with a power play goal seven minutes into the second period, making it 2-1 Bruins.

Kuraly added an insurance goal midway through the third period, beating Elvis Merzlikins with an “off-the-post-and-in” goal to make it 3-1 Bruins.

Adam Fantilli would make it a one-goal game just two minutes later, beating Korpisalo from the high slot to make it 3-2 Bruins.

Arvidsson would seal it with an empty-netter with 33 seconds left in the third.

Bruins win, 4-2.

Game notes

• Korpisalo left the game for a little more than six minutes in the second period after being bowled over by Miles Wood. With Swayman not dressing, Michael DiPietro, who has had a terrific season in Providence, stepped in as the back-up and made two saves on two shots. A nice 1.000 save percentage for six minutes of work. NOT BAD.
• 20 of Korpisalo’s 36 saves came in the first period, as Columbus fired plenty of rubber on net early.
• The B’s took just a single penalty on the night, a holding call on Mikey Eyssimont late in the first period. Maybe they left their penalty woes in the pre-Olympic portion of the season?
• The B’s celebrated Charlie Coyle during a break in play, as the Weymouth native made his first return to TD Garden since getting dealt to Colorado.
• Charlie McAvoy showed little rust in his return from Olympic duty, leading the B’s in TOI at 23:55 and registering an assist.
• Per NESN, the Bruins have won ten homes games in a row and are 12-2-3 since the calendar turned to 2026. They have points in eight straight games as well.
• It’s probably too early for intense standings watching, but this was a pretty big win for the B’s based on other results: Florida and Detroit won, while both Ottawa and Montreal picked up points in losses.
• That Florida win was a 5-1 decision over Toronto, which also lost on Wednesday night. Auston Matthews was a -4 in tonight’s loss, which should inspire some nuclear-level takes up in the Great White North. That game included this comedy of errors goal.

The Bruins will be back in action on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. That game will be a 3 PM start, broadcast nationally on ABC.

MONTREAL (AP) — Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored 3:14 into overtime, rookie Matthew Schaefer had two goals in a 55-second span in the second period and the New York Islanders rallied to beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Thursday night.

Schaefer has 18 goals to surpass Denis Potvin for the most by a rookie defenseman in team history. Schaefer, selected first overall in last year’s draft, also moved past Phil Housley for the most goals in NHL history by an 18-year-old defenseman.

Islanders captain Anders Lee, skating in his 900th game, also scored and Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves to help New York win its third straight. Sorokin improved to 7-0-2 in his career against Montreal.

The Canadiens’ Noah Dobson scored two goals in his first game against his former team. Cole Caufield scored his team-leading 33rd goal for Montreal in the third period and Samuel Montembeault made 23 saves.

Dobson, who scored at even strength and on the power play, spent his first six NHL seasons with the Islanders before being traded last June to Montreal for Emil Heineman and two 2025 first-round draft picks.

It was the first game back for both teams following the NHL’s 19-day pause for the Milan Cortina Olympic Games.

Dobson took advantage of a poor line change by the Islanders to open the scoring for Montreal in the first period. The Canadiens defenseman took a stretch pass from Lane Hutson before firing a wrist shot from the left circle that beat Sorokin to the glove side.

Dobson has 12 goals, one shy of his single-season high set with the Islanders in both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

Up next

Islanders: At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

Canadiens: Host the Washington Capitals on Saturday.

Noah Dobson scored two fist-pumping goals in his first meeting against his old team, but Matthew Schaefer scored two of his own to erase those, then the Islanders tied the game late with a sixth attacker, which set the table for Canadiens-killer J-G Pageau to score the OT winner in Montreal.

The 4-3 win gives the Isles a two-point boost coming out of the Olympic break, in a game that could’ve slipped away from them after an unimpressive second period (until Schaefer’s late heroics) and a power play goal gave the Habs a 3-2 lead midway through the third.

The Islanders hardly touched the puck in OT through two long but mostly unthreatening shifts, before Simon Holmstrom won a faceoff board battle with, um, Dobson, and sent Pageau off to the races to settle down a wobbly puck just in time.

[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]

The Isles had a decent start and though they opened scoring in the first period, but Marc Gatcomb’s goal was called back for offside, with Schaefer the glaringly guilty party. That seemed to stunt the Isles’ energy or give the Canadiens a boost, because play started to tilt after that.

Dobson’s opener at 12:11 wasn’t a particularly threatening play — though Schaefer screened Ilya Sorokin on the shot after stumbling from a netfront battle — but it followed a sequence of increasing, sustained Montreal control.

The Islanders made it to the first intermission only trailing one, but they didn’t rebound in the second. Cole Caulfield had a bid to make it 2-0 immediately waved off due to a kicking motion.

Scott Mayfield took the first penalty of the game, and Dobson converted on that power play to give the Canadiens a real 2-0 lead, one that seemed imposing at the time, based on how things were going.

But, well, you know: anything Dobber can do, Schaefer can do better.

The Islanders got the break they needed with a nearly full two-minute 5-on-3. It looked like they would need every second of it before Schaefer finally broke the ice with a wicked shot through the defender’s legs and over the glove. That got the Islanders on the board, though they couldn’t do anything with the remaining half minute of 5-on-4.

However, thankfully, Schaefer wasn’t done. Less than a minute later, he did one of his regroups, calling for the puck back at their blueline, flying through the neutral zone, orbiting behind the net, changing directions to shake the checkers and then whipping another shot through a screen to tie it at 2-2.

So they were back even, a new game headed into the third period. They’d just need a solid start and a better 20 minutes and…oh. Simon Holmstrom took a penalty 18 seconds in, one of two correct-but-soft tripping calls the Isles would take.

They killed off the first one convincingly. They killed most of the second one (seven minutes later) with the same approach, but a squib through the crease left an open net for Caulfield to slam it home and give the Habs the lead with 10:49 to go in the period.

Things looked stark, but for once the Islanders pulled the goalie during a proper flow into the zone. Their top guys maintained possession despite some close calls from good defensive pressure from the Habs. Just when it seemed like that would all be for naught on that shift, Bo Horvat’s last-gasp shot from the high slot deflected in off the chest of captain Anders Lee, playing his 900th regular season NHL game.

We were mercifully spared a shootout thanks to Pageau finishing the game 1:46 into OT. The Canadiens won the faceoffs and controlled the puck up to that point, but they didn’t really threaten thanks to patient positioning from the Isles.

When Pageau won the next draw in the D-zone to the right wing, Holmstrom won his battle and chipped a puck off the boards to send his running mate in. The puck seemed to be wobbling all night, as if the [telecom or bank or whatever] Cent(e)r(e) ice care team took the entire Olympics off, and Pageau indeed had to settle this one before depositing it between Sam Monte…Monteba…Monte-not-gonna-work-here-much-longer’s legs.

Up Next

This mini-post-Olympic road trip continues Saturday in Columbus, the opener of a back-to-back that finishes back home against the Panthers.

MONTREAL — Maybe the first game back after three weeks was always going to be about which team could shake the cobwebs off quicker. Certainly, neither the Islanders nor Canadiens were anything like the best versions of themselves Thursday night.

At points, one would have been forgiven for assuming all 40 players on the ice had just gotten back from Milan, as the hockey took on a jet-lagged and disjointed quality.

Matthew Schaefer, though, woke the Islanders right up, earning himself another highlight and another pair of records, even as everyone has already lost count of both. As the night wore on, the Islanders found their urgency, they found their resiliency and they came away with a 4-3 win over the Canadiens on Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s backhand 1:46 into overtime.

“I have that feeling this year,” Pageau said. “When we get down, we always have a chance to come back.”

This was not pretty hockey. Both teams looked disconnected at points. The Islanders missed plenty of passes, they looked a step slow at times. So too did the Canadiens.

This turned into a fun one anyway, largely because of the two defensemen who are so central to the story of this Islanders’ season. Going into the third period, Noah Dobson had two goals against his old club, Schaefer had two goals for his new club and it was anyone’s game.

The Canadiens, though, struck first in the third, with Cole Caufield scoring off Ivan Demidov’s cross-crease feed on the power play for a 3-2 lead at 9:11 of the third.

The Islanders spent the rest of the third pressing, but it took until there was 1:41 to go and they were skating at six-on-five for Anders Lee to finally tip Bo Horvat’s shot in and tie the game at three, sending his 900th career game into overtime.

The Islanders barely touched the puck for the first 1:23 of overtime, but Pageau was sprung by Simon Holmstrom off a defensive zone faceoff win and poked his backhand past Samuel Montembeault.

“That’s fun hockey,” said Schaefer, who wasted no time reminding the NHL of his brilliance with a pair of goals 55 seconds apart, the latter a brilliant solo effort, to erase a 2-0 deficit at the end of the second period. “I thought we fought so hard. It’s so fun playing with this group of guys. I love coming to the rink when all the boys are going to war.”

Dobson, facing the club that dealt him away over the summer, scored his pair of goals first: a left-circle blast while the Islanders were caught in the middle of a change, then a slap shot from the top of the zone on the power play. The two points mean he’s already passed his total from a year ago, a sign of how happily his marriage with the Canadiens has gone so far.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NHL STANDINGS AND ISLANDERS STATS

It wasn’t so long ago that Dobson was the next big thing on defense for the Islanders. Schaefer, though, has made that easy to forget.

With the Islanders skating five-on-three, he scored from the top of the slot to cut the lead in half. When the power play ended, he went and scored one of his more ridiculous goals of the season, skating behind the net, going around it, pulling up before the blue line, cutting back and lashing a shot from atop the right circle. By the end of the sequence, according to MSG, Schaefer had skated over 270 feet.

“I didn’t think we shot enough early in the game,” Schaefer said.

Exactly in line with what Patrick Roy was thinking.

“I never doubt his IQ,” the head coach said. “If there’s something I’ve seen pretty fast, it’s that.”

The first goal tied Schaefer for both the franchise lead in goals by a rookie defenseman and the all-time lead in goals for an 18-year-old defenseman. The second gave him both records, passing Denis Potvin and Phil Housley, respectively.

Just another Thursday for Schaefer.

And just another night to leave one wondering where the Islanders might be without him.

Pregame

The first Crosby-less lineup of the season for the Penguins serves as the first Samuel Girard appearance in the lineup. Arturs Silovs gets the nod in net.

The visiting New Jersey Devils bring this lineup to the proceedings.

First period

Both teams trade some chances early, the Penguins are the better team early with the Evgeni Malkin line generating some chances before New Jersey starts to get the better of the play, forcing Silovs to make a couple of nice blocker stops.

Pittsburgh gets the first power play and nice zone time, it takes a while for them to settle in. Malkin and Kris Letang move the puck, Letang fires. Tommy Novak gets a piece to redirect things on Jacob Markstrom. 1-0.

One goal often begats another, NJ gets a chance very late but it doesn’t go.

Shots go 9-6 PIT in the first, the power play goal being the difference.

Second period

The Devils adjust and respond in the second with a better effort and more control of the puck. They get their first power play when Malkin high sticks a guy.

The power play doesn’t score but it helps build towards a goal soon after. Paul Cotter gets a piece of a Dougie Hamilton point shot. The Penguins decide to challenge, for some unknown reason because there was hardly anything there.

Goal stands, NJ to the power play. The Pens kill it off but are right back to the penalty box soon after, Avery Hayes being the guilty party this time with a slash.

The penalty parade continues, Hayes draws one this time however the Penguins can’t score on their second power play of the evening. Soon after it’s Kris Letang’s turn to head to the box after knocking over Jesper Bratt. Another kill after some Connor Dewar hero ball to keep rushes going up the ice.

Turns out with 2:00 left that one more power play can get squeezed into a penalty-fest of a period, this time Simon Nemec of the Devils was the guilty party. No dice for the Pens on the late chance for a go-ahead goal.

Silovs and saves like this are the reason the game is tied after two periods:

Third period

Pittsburgh comes out strong to start the third, the Hayes, Rakell and Rust line builds momentum and amps up the pressure. That continues a little later, Ryan Shea hammers the post so hard the puck ricochets with force way out to Connor Clifton. Clifton can tell that Markstrom is way off his angle and quickly sends another effort in. It hits the crossbar and goes in. 2-1 Pens.

50 seconds later, the Pens double their lead. Malkin springs Egor Chinakhov, who drives to the net and makes a deft move to lift the puck back across Markstrom. 3-1 Pens, just like that.

The Devils pull Markstrom with almost four minutes left, getting aggressive while down two goals. That added pressure might have been a reason Clifton went to clear a puck on his backhand and sailed it out of play to take a penalty. They get Markstrom out for a 6v4 but their push ends when Blake Lizotte picks off a Hamilton pass, skates down and puts the puck into the empty net. 4-1.

Some thoughts

• Faceoffs will be one area to monitor for the Pens without Crosby. He’s always not only near the top of the league in faceoff winning percentage, but also in pure numbers of faceoffs. This season, for instance, Crosby’s 1,171 faceoffs represent almost 39% of the total draws the team has had and was the third highest in the league. Ben Kindel (way down 402 faceoffs) was next on the list. Faceoffs were a struggle tonight, the Pens only won 40% of the draws and most of their top centers struggled (Rakell at 30%, Lizotte and Novak at a matching 33%).
• Welp, Dan Muse didn’t learn what goaltender interference was during the Olympic break. Muse is now 0-6 at making coaches challenges in that area. Each one has been seemingly been a worse challenge than the next, this one was almost no amount of contact with the goalie. It’s arguably the one hole in Muse’s coaching repertoire so far. Whatever the thought process is on those challenges need to be worked out, already!
• One area Muse has nailed is in the department of picking a goalie. Silovs was incredible in this game and was at his best when most of the game was tight. The Pens weren’t great over stretches for this one, thanks to their goalie they weren’t punished for that and able to punch in a few in the third period to pull away.
• Connor Dewar had two shorthanded breakaways. Didn’t score on either though it’s a sign he’s definitely looking to get up the ice these days even when shorthanded. The Pens’ PK has been good this year (and very good lately) yet they haven’t really been aggressively looking to strike on it too often. That might be changing.
• Samuel Girard as a Penguin was an interesting watch, as expected he’s a good skater. You can tell he’s been well-schooled and coached, had a team-high three blocks and was positioned impeccably in the defensive zone to leave a fine first impression.
• Evgeni Malkin always seems to look fresh and rejuvenated when he gets a few weeks off, he doubtlessly also knows without No. 87 around it’s on him to step up as the guy. That usually works out well too given his 1.34 point/game rate in the situation. Two assists tonight, plus four shots on goal, very noticeable performance.
• The defense was just as key at generating offense tonight. Letang’s shot got deflected for a goal. Shea hit two posts, the second one opening up an opportunity for his partner Clifton to score it himself. All hands are going to have to be on deck like that.
• The penalty kill is going to have to be strong as well, and was up to the task by going a perfect 5/5, plus Lizotte’s EN clincher. Big effort there, particularly in the second period when New Jersey had four cracks at their power play.
• Pens improve to 11-1-5 in games against division opponents this year. Massive stuff to pile up the points against the teams they’re competing with the most for a playoff berth.

That makes for a victorious first game back from the break, getting the Pens off on the right foot for what figures to be a very challenging path ahead. They handled business nicely against a team down in the standings while at home, as they should have. Up next are two afternoon games this weekend, starting in New York against the Rangers on Saturday.

The Florida Panthers resumed their NHL season following the league’s Olympic break when they hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

With only 25 games remaining and plenty of ground to make up in the playoff race, Florida jumped all over the Leafs and skated to an exhilarating 5-1 victory at Amerant Bank Arena.

It didn’t take long for the Panthers to give their home fans something to cheer about.

Just 3:18 into the game, Brad Marchand jumped on the rebound of an Anton Lundell shot from the side boards, kicking the puck to his stick and depositing it behind a sprawling Joseph Woll to give the Cats an early 1-0 lead.

Less than two minutes later, with Nicolas Roy in the penalty box for tripping Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers stuck again.

This time it was a great backhand pass by Evan Rodrigues finding Carter Verhaeghe at the side of Woll’s net, and a quick snipe over Woll’s glove to put Florida up 2-0 at the 5:13 mark.

With Toronto on the power play late in the period, Florida took the opportunity to add to their lead.

As the Leafs were attempting to exit their own zone and move toward Florida’s blue line, Rodrigues picked off a pass by William Nylander and headed in all alone on a breakaway.

A nasty backhand-forehand move in which Rodrigues completely stopped his forward motion and dangled the puck around Woll’s leg gave the Panthers a 3-0 lead to take into the first intermission.

That’s how the score would remain until early in the third period.

With Toronto on the power play, a backhand pass by John Tavares went off Gus Forsling’s skate and through the legs of Sergei Bobrovsky, cutting into Florida’s lead just 47 seconds into the final frame.

The Leafs wouldn’t get any closer, as Bobrovsky shut the door and Marchand added an empty-net goal with 3:09 to go to give the Cats a 4-1 lead.

For good measure, Matthew Tkachuk also got in on the fun, scoring his own empty-netter with 1:52 to go after Toronto pulled Woll a second time. 

On to the Sabres.

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Photo caption: Feb 26, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Brad Marchand (63) scores against Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk was acknowledged before Thursday's game for winning a gold medal with Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.

Midway through the Feb. 26 home game against the Detroit Red Wings, Tkachuk had a bloody nose and a trip to the penalty box.

At the 7:40 mark of the second period, Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson delivered a big hit that sent Tkachuk to the ice. The puck wasn't nearby, so Edvinsson was assessed two minutes for interference, plus five minutes for fighting as Ottawa's Dylan Cozens dropped the gloves in defense of his teammate.

Some rough stuff breaks out after Brady Tkachuk gets interfered with 👀 pic.twitter.com/NJL8BrgPad

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) February 27, 2026

But Tkachuk also received a 10-minute misconduct penalty, apparently for chirping at Edvinsson after he went to the penalty box.

Both continued to argue with each other while in the penalty box.

Brady Tkachuk and Simon Edvinsson have a spirited conversation in the box 😳 pic.twitter.com/FjXbkS4tyJ

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) February 27, 2026

Tkachuk scored the game's opening goal, but Detroit captain Dylan Larkin, another Team USA standout, scored twice in the Red Wings' 2-1 overtime win.

The day was a busy one for Tkachuk, who was making his first appearance since the Olympics. He answered questions after practice about the gold medal experience plus a White House TikTok video in which his voice was dubbed over to make it sound like he was insulting Canadians.

Tkachuk called the video, which included artificial intelligence, "clearly fake because it's not my voice and not my lips moving."

He added: "It's not my voice. It's not what I was saying. I would never say that. It's not who I am. So, I guess I don't like that video."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brady Tkachuk bloodied by Simon Edvinsson hit in NHL return