DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon had three assists and a power-play goal, Artturi Lehkonen scored twice and the Colorado Avalanche rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Friday night.

T.J. Hughes scored his first NHL goal, while Mackenzie Blackwood settled in after a shaky start to stop 29 shots.

Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead after scoring 29 seconds apart midway through the first period. The Avalanche erupted for five straight tallies, including three in the second period.

Colorado finished 1 of 4 on the power play in the Avalanche debut of assistant coach Brett McLean. He’s in charge of the unit after Dave Hakstol left to take over as head coach of the men’s hockey program at Arizona State.

Lehkonen’s second goal tied it 25 seconds into the second period. Captain Gabriel Landeskog had a goal nearly four minutes later for his 83rd career go-ahead score. He’s tied with Mikko Rantanen for sixth-most in Avalanche history. Hall of Famer Joe Sakic tops the list with 210.

Hughes got free down low and poked in a pass from MacKinnon. He was hugged by Cale Makar and then playfully squirted with water by Landeskog as Hughes made his way past the bench.

Sidney Crosby notched his 1,110th career assist to move into sole possession of seventh place in NHL history. He’s also one assist shy of matching Ray Bourque (1,111 with Boston) for the most in league history with a one franchise.

BRUINS 4, DUCKS 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Elias Lindholm assisted on the tying goal and scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, leading Boston past Anaheim for its fourth straight victory.

David Pastrnak scored a tying power-play goal and Frederic Brunet got his first NHL goal for the Bruins, who roared back from an early two-goal deficit and improved to 6-2-0.

Less than five minutes after Pastrnak converted a give-and-go with Lindholm, the Ducks failed to mark Lindholm during a power play and allowed him to tap in a pass from Pavel Zacha with 11:39 to play. Matthew Poitras added another goal with 3:40 left on James Hagens’ second assist of the night.

Michael DiPietro made 25 saves in his second start of the season for the Bruins.

Beckett Sennecke got his fifth goal and Tim Washe also scored for the Ducks, who have lost three straight home games while giving up 13 goals. Lukas Dostal stopped 18 shots.

Ducks captain Mikael Granlund sat out with an upper-body injury, and goal-scoring winger Cutter Gauthier filled in by moving to center for the first time in his NHL career.

It’s a rare occasion when Sidney Crosby plays in Denver and this season the intriguing matchup between the Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins came early in the season. It was an interesting tug-of-war in the early stages but settled into a 5-2 blowout in Colorado’s favor on two Artturi Lehkonen goals, a first career goal for TJ Hughes and a Nathan MacKinnon power play goal.

The Game

It was a fairly even start but the Penguins exploded for two goals near the halfway mark of the opening period. First, Pittsburgh executed a nifty passing play in the neutral zone and Evgeni Malkin finished it off on a somewhat screened Mackenzie Blackwood. Then, just 29 seconds later the Eastern Conference squad found room behind a lax Avalanche defense and finished off a textbook 2-on-1 with Bryan Rust receiving the pass from Sidney Crosby.

Suddenly down two Colorado found a little life scoring on their third shot of the evening as the top line executed their own transition passing play finished off by Artturi Lehkonen. The teams got to finish out by trading power plays and Colorado’s didn’t inspire much confidence so the period ended with Pittsburgh up 2-1 and a more troubling 14-5 shot advantage.

Second periods always seen to be an Avalanche favorite and they got what they needed a minute after the first intermission as Lehkonen got his second of the game on a greasy net front deflection. Shortly after Nathan MacKinnon received a penalty shot and couldn’t convert, amazingly going 0/5 in his career with the opportunity. But, it took just a minute later for Colorado to find the back of the net when Gabe Landeskog got a tap-in chance after Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs was found lying face forward in the crease. To finish out the period there was another trading of power play chances. The Avalanche technically didn’t cash in on theirs but right after it expired TJ Hughes potted his first NHL goal to give Colorado a 4-2 lead.

There wasn’t much mystery as to who would win the game by the third period but Pittsburgh got a few chances on the board anyway, though no goals. Colorado finally found that elusive power play goal when Nathan MacKinnon scored on it with five minutes to go. At 5-2 the game was officially over in Colorado’s favor.

Takeaways

This game was not a defensive masterpiece despite Colorado holding the Penguins to their two first period goals. Pittsburgh won the analytic matchup at 55% expected goals and Corsi for, which matched the eye test of several extended Pittsburgh shifts in the Avalanche zone. High danger shots favored Pittsburgh 18-10 as well. Tonight, Colorado clearly found enough offense and counterattack to turn the game in their favor but it is a trend to keep an eye on moving forward.

With all three of Logan O’Connor, Zach LHeureux and Nic Roy currently unavailable, Jared Bednar has been running his lineup with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. It wasn’t a particularly great night for defenseman Noah Juulsen who played just over seven minutes and a 20% share of the expected goals. Heading into an east coast road trip, the Avalanche might want to bring a full roster of players.

Upcoming

A weekend off and then the start of a quick two-game road trip in Philadelphia on Monday, October 19th. Puck drop is at 5 p.m. MT.

Pregame

Egor Chinakhov apparently got injured in Thursday’s practice and doesn’t take warmups. His loss is Ville Koivunen’s gain to slot back into the lineup in a nice spot. Elmer Soderblom gets back in the mix too and Arturs Silovs starts for the Penguins.

The Colorado Avalanche are hosting the Pens with this lineup.

First period

The Pens start the game strong, controlling the shots early and looking very good. They turn that into a goal, Koivunen makes a cheeky little pass to Evgeni Malkin and then the old boy shows off his tricks, cutting into the middle of the ice and throwing a shot that beats Mackenzie Blackwood. 1-0 Pens.

Just 29 seconds later, Pittsburgh strikes again on the rush. Sidney Crosby has the puck on what looks to be a developing 2-on-1. Josh Manson stumbles in his transition to essentially make it a 2-on-0. You already know what happens next, Crosby puts a lot of mustard on a pass that Bryan Rust only needs to lift over the pad of the goalie moving laterally. 2-0.

The Avalanche respond, Nathan MacKinnon drives down the ice and matches his buddy Crosby with a great cross-ice pass for Arturri Lehkonen to score on. 2-1.

The Penguins get a power play, let’s just not talk about it.

Shots are 14-5 Pens, one of their best periods since the season opener.

Second period

Colorado scores early in the period. MacKinnon shoots hard, the puck hits Silovs and goes skyward. When it comes down, Lehkonen gloves it down from in close and smacks a backhand along the ice before any Penguin can quite catch up. 2-2 game.

Erik Karlsson hooks the Nate Dogg and it’s a penalty shot for MacKinnon as a result. Silovs stares him down and makes the save to keep the game tied.

That nice play aside, Colorado stays on the gas. Silovs finally crumbles a little giving up a big rebound on a shot. The puck goes to Brock Nelson and he makes a pass over to the backdoor for Gabriel Landeskog to guide it home. 3-2 Colorado takes their first lead of the night.

The Pens get another power play, it goes so well Ben Kindel slashes Nelson (after he shoots on the rush, even) and takes a penalty himself. Colorado’s short power play ends just as MacKinnon nabs his third point of the night when he centers a puck for TJ Hughes in front of the net. 4-2.

That period was a dose of reality for the Pens. Colorado woke up.

Third period

Quiet first-half of the third, Pittsburgh gets a third power play of the night.

Tommy Novak takes a penalty later on, the Pens almost hold until MacKinnon blasts one from the left side for his fourth point of the night. 5-2.

Pittsburgh pulls the goalie, because hey why not? Kris Letang takes a penalty late. Pittsburgh kills it off but the clock expires soon after to leave Colorado with a comforable win.

Some thoughts

• Rough last 40 minutes but it does the heart good to see Malkin cut to the middle with authority and score. He did that when he was 20 years old, and when he was 30 and now when he did it at 40. Naturally, age effects mean it’s become a rarity to see such flashes of brilliance these days, but hey – there’s not many skilled and bold enough to pull that move off at any age. Always awesome to witness a great player remind why he was, and still can be, in fact be great.
• Another feel good moment was Crosby on the Rust goal. You see Sid coming down the left side, a right-handed player in Rust bearing down on the right. It instantly screamed pass and goal, even before it happened. Then, of course, it happened just like you knew it would from 21 seasons of watching Crosby do exactly that. Happening the shift after the Malkin goal made it all the more special.
• Not just from the goal but tonight was definitely the first full game of the season where Sidney Crosby looked like *Sidney Crosby*, if you know what I mean. The passes were on point, the jump was there, he held onto pucks in the o-zone, he was going low-to-high. Maybe it just took a little while to get going (as the two goals from last game would suggest getting it into gear), maybe it was the energy boost of turning it up to show out and keep up with his buddy Nate. Either way, my goodness what a night from the captain. Could have easily had three or four assists with the chances he created for teammates.
• You think Koivunen was ready to make the most of his chance? Can’t underestimate the hunger, he knew he was on track to be a healthy scratch tonight, only playing because Chinakhov ended up injured, leaving Koivunen to take a spot on a prime line. That type of golden opportunity only comes around once every so often. Koivunen responded with perhaps his best game of the season. He did what he does best, making a skilled, subtle yet crucial play for Malkin’s goal. He then hit the post driving to the net in the first period and very nearly scored. Drew a penalty in the third. If he wasn’t hungry to make the most of this somewhat impromptu chance that would be a problem, good on him for stepping up when opportunity knocked.
• Pretty surprised to see MacKinnon get awarded a penalty shot in the second period, judging from his reaction Dan Muse was too. MacKinnon didn’t get the puck until he was at the top of the circles, it wasn’t much of a ‘breakaway’ opportunity, especially as fast as he moves.
• Immediately after Colorado took a 3-2 lead, Crosby made a beautiful pass to send Rickard Rakell in alone on the breakaway. Rakell made a move to the backhand but couldn’t finish. Setting aside Rakell has no goals on the season which adds to bigger frustrations, that’s the type of play a team simply has to score on to go punch-for-punch with an elite team like the Avs. They started hitting the Pens, you just have to hit back and keep up. That proved to be the problem of the night.
• Another big problem: the Pens’ power play is down to 0-for-19 in the last six games. Whether it’s a change in personnel, mindset, design, tactics, you name it and something has to change. A lot of things even because it’s downright bad right now.
• Speaking of that, and not to pile on Rakell- but why in the world is he still on the first power play group and Rust is not? Not to say that would solve all of that group’s issues (they have many more!) but it seems like a very easy first step.
• Tonight was Colorado’s third game in four days. It showed early on, they looked slow in the first period, sleepy and not terribly engaged. When they went down 2-0, it was like they realized they needed to wake up and play. Boy, did they ever to score five unanswered goals at that point and leave the Pens in the dust. Led, as always, by MacKinnon and his goal and three primary assists to fuel the majority of it. Turned out the Pens had no answers and couldn’t keep up. That’s a tough pill to swallow in some regards but just where both teams are on the food chain in 2026.

In a lot of ways, I don’t think the Penguins played that poorly tonight, especially compared to some of their other losses this season where they barely looked competent. That wasn’t the case today. Now, it’s certainly true that Pittsburgh was the second best team on the ice and the end result was justified but that says more about Colorado being really good. The result is the result, so no one is or should going to take a lot of solace from that, but sometimes you run into a better foe. Quick turnaround to a pretty formidable opponent on deck with the Vegas Golden Knights tomorrow.

Although the exact design and appearance is still unknown, the Philadelphia Flyers have finally revealed when they will debut their Hometown Remix jerseys this season, along with the rest of the games the team will wear them for.

In just under two weeks, on Nov. 3, the Flyers will debut their new Hometown Remix alternate jersey at home against the Minnesota Wild at 7 p.m.

Overall, the Flyers will play wearing their new threads 13 times this season, 11 of which will be at home at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Here's the Flyers' full Hometown Remix schedule, complete with the 11 home games and four matchups with Metropolitan Division rivals.

Flyers vs. Wild, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.

Flyers vs. Canucks, Nov. 27 at 3 p.m.

Flyers @ Maple Leafs, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m.

Flyers vs. Islanders, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Flyers vs. Panthers, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m.

Flyers vs. Red Wings, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m.

Flyers vs. Blackhawks, Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

Flyers vs. Devils, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m.

Flyers vs. Rangers, Feb. 20 at 12:30 p.m.

Flyers @ Islanders, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.

Flyers vs. Blues, March 7 at 3:30 p.m.

Flyers vs. Bruins, March 18 at 7 p.m.

Flyers @ Islanders, March 20 at 3 p.m.

All times listed above are in EST.

A healthy helping of afternoon games, for those who are into that, and a stretch of games primarily against Eastern Conference opponents.

The current state of the Flyers, with their 0-6-3 start, certainly casts a dim light on the anticipated reveal of the jerseys, and maybe the jerseys are the most exciting thing to talk about by the time they make their debut on Nov. 3.

That shouldn't be the case, but until the Flyers prove otherwise, it's in the realm of possibility.

In any event, the Flyers may have already (intentionally? accidentally?) leaked the design of their Hometown Remix jersey back in June ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft, debuting an orange and black liberty bell design on the floor that has apparently never been seen before.

Not much more is known about the Hometown Remix jerseys nearly three weeks into the start of the season, though the NHL has mentioned in the past that a "broad apparel and headwear collection" will also be available for each of the 32 NHL teams.

If nothing else, the wait is almost over at this point, and soon enough we'll see and know more about the NHL's upcoming Hometown Remix collection release.

DENVER — T.J. Hughes scored his first career NHL goal as the Colorado Avalanche erupted for three goals in the second period, transforming an early 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins heading into the third.

After a sluggish opening frame exposed Colorado’s defensive issues, the Avalanche responded with a dominant middle period, fueled by Artturi Lehkonen’s two-goal performance, Gabriel Landeskog’s timely finish, and Hughes’ milestone moment.

T.J. Hughes pots his FIRST NHL Goal 🚨 pic.twitter.com/7EXavHSZke

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) October 17, 2026

First Period

The Colorado Avalanche had a chance to set the tone early, but a pair of defensive breakdowns in just 29 seconds quickly put them in a hole. Artturi Lehkonen helped stop the bleeding with a timely response, but Colorado struggled to generate offense, surrendered too many chances, and finished the opening period trailing the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1.

The Avalanche faced an early test when Penguins forward Nick Robertson lifted a backhand from the low slot, only for Mackenzie Blackwood to shut the door with a glove save.

Colorado also caught a break around the 5:30 mark. T.J. Hughes appeared to deliver a slash to Pittsburgh center Ben Kindel’s leg right in front of an official, but the infraction went uncalled.

Blackwood continued to keep Colorado within reach roughly two and a half minutes later. Evgeni Malkin, who scored twice against the Avalanche in his lone meeting with Colorado last season, wrapped the puck around the net and tried to beat the goaltender, but Blackwood flashed the leather again to make the save.

Despite the solid work from their goaltender, the Avalanche soon found themselves in trouble.

Malkin opened the scoring by putting on the brakes and catching Fedor Svechkov off guard, creating a shooting lane as Sam Malinski battled for position in front of the net. With Malinski screening Blackwood, the Colorado netminder couldn’t pick up the shot in time, and Malkin buried it to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead.

The Penguins struck again just 29 seconds later, capitalizing on a costly defensive breakdown. Josh Manson had ventured too far up in the defensive zone and then lost his balance while trying to recover. That gave Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust the space they needed to race past him on a two-on-one rush. Crosby fed Rust, who finished with a tap-in to make it 2-0.

Colorado answered just over two minutes later. Nathan MacKinnon found Lehkonen at the back door, where the winger redirected the puck past Arturs Silovs for his fifth goal of the young campaign. The goal cut the deficit to 2-1 and gave the Avalanche some much-needed life.

With 5:49 remaining in the period, Tommy Novak was sent to the penalty box for high-sticking Devon Toews, handing Colorado and new assistant coach Brett McLean an opportunity to showcase the power play.

The first impression wasn’t pretty.

Colorado struggled to establish possession and gave up several dangerous shorthanded chances, fortunate to escape the man advantage without conceding another goal. Once Novak returned to the ice, Gavin Brindley was whistled for interference, forcing the Avalanche back into penalty-killing mode.

Colorado successfully killed off the penalty, but there was little else to celebrate in an otherwise underwhelming opening frame.

The Avalanche headed into the first intermission trailing 2-1 after being outshot 14-5. Lehkonen’s goal provided a much-needed spark, but Colorado needed a sharper defensive effort, better puck management, and a more effective power play to turn the tide.

Second Period

Colorado responded with authority in the second period, completely changing the game’s momentum.

Lehkonen made it two goals on the night just 25 seconds into the period, swatting a rebound past Silovs while Penguins captain Sidney Crosby tried to muscle him into the net. The quick strike tied the game at 2-2 and gave the Avalanche an immediate jolt.

Colorado needed just one more scoring sequence to take the lead. Kadri’s initial shot was denied by Silovs, but the rebound trickled toward the back door, where Landeskog was waiting to clean up and put the Avalanche ahead 3-2 with his third goal of the campaign.

With just under eight minutes remaining in the frame, Landeskog was sent to the penalty box for interference after knocking Spencer Stastney down following an offensive-zone faceoff.

Pittsburgh’s power-play opportunity didn’t last long, as Kindel was whistled for slashing. The penalties offset, forcing both teams to play four-on-four.

Colorado capitalized with 5:03 remaining. MacKinnon fed Hughes for a tap-in from the low slot, giving the defenseman his first career NHL goal and extending the Avalanche’s lead to 4-2. It was a memorable milestone for Hughes and the culmination of a dominant period for Colorado.

After being outshot 14-5 in the opening frame, the Avalanche flipped the script in the second, outshooting Pittsburgh 17-10. Three goals, a momentum-shifting start, and Hughes’ first NHL tally gave Colorado a two-goal cushion heading into the third period.

DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche look to get back on track at Ball Arena after falling to the Dallas Stars 3-2 in a shootout, while the Pittsburgh Penguins enter the matchup coming off a 5-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Colorado has several favorable individual matchups to lean on, including Nathan MacKinnon’s consistent production against Pittsburgh and Brock Nelson’s strong career numbers against the Penguins. Mackenzie Blackwood is expected to get the start in goal for the Avalanche.

This game will also mark the debut behind the bench for new Avalanche assistant coach Brett McLean, who takes over for Dave Hakstol, who accepted a new position to take over as head coach of the Arizona State Dun Devils on Thursday.

Players To Watch

MacKinnon has recorded 19 points in his last 10 games against Pittsburgh, totaling seven goals and 11 assists. He has also been productive league-wide this season, ranking among the NHL’s top scorers with 12 points, including five goals and seven assists. Martin Necas is another player with a history of success against the Penguins, having scored twice in Colorado’s 6-2 win over Pittsburgh on March 24.

Nelson enters the contest after scoring against Dallas on Wednesday. He has amassed 41 career points against Pittsburgh, with 21 goals and 20 assists, and has nine points in 11 career playoff games against the Penguins, including six goals and three assists.

Colorado will need its offense to deliver after Wednesday’s narrow defeat. The Avalanche had two goals disallowed before Gabriel Landeskog finally opened the scoring at 4:55 of the second period, redirecting a pass from Nazem Kadri for his second goal of the season. Dallas responded through Miro Heiskanen at 15:03, sending the teams into the third period tied 1-1.

The Stars moved ahead early in the final frame when Arttu Hyry scored shorthanded on a breakaway just 1:20 into the period following a costly turnover from Cale Makar, whose wife, Tracy, had given birth to two twin boys earlier in the day.

Nelson tied the game at 8:21 with a finish from the left doorstep, but neither team found another goal in regulation or overtime. In the shootout, Jason Robertson scored for Dallas in the first round, Kadri answered for Colorado in the second, and Roope Hintz delivered the coup de grace in the finale Scott Wedgewood, in his second start of the season, finished with 20 saves on 22 shots for the Avalanche.

The goaltending matchup could play a significant role in determining the outcome. Blackwood has a 2-6-1 career record against Pittsburgh across 10 games, with a 3.81 goals-against average and an .885 save percentage. In his most recent appearance against the Penguins, he allowed four goals on 15 shots.

Pittsburgh’s Arturs Silovs has faced Colorado only twice in his career, posting a 1-1-0 record, a 3.50 goals-against average and an .875 save percentage. He stopped 25 of 27 shots in his win over the Avalanche, although the limited sample size makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions from his previous performances.

The Penguins have received much of their offensive production from Erik Karlsson, who leads the team with seven points, all assists. Robertson leads Pittsburgh with four goals and four total points, while Samuel Girard has six points, including five assists.

Pittsburgh enters this matchup following a disappointing performance against the Blackhawks. They got off to a rough start after allowing a goal just 28 seconds into the game to Teuvo Teravainen. Sidney Crosby added two goals, but it wasn't enough. Pittsburgh rallied from down 3-1 to tie up the game, but Chicago surged late to put the Penguins away with a final score of 5-3. 

Colorado holds a strong historical advantage in the regular-season series, with a 26-12-3-6 record across 47 meetings with Pittsburgh. With both teams coming off losses, the Avalanche will look to use home ice to their advantage and end this homestand on a positive note before they head to Philadelphia to face the Flyers on Monday. 

The disappointment was palpable in the Rangers locker room Thursday in the aftermath of a 7-1 Battle of the Hudson loss that went from promising to bad to worse to downright embarrassing rather quickly. 

“Not proud of that performance,” J.T. Miller said. 

It was one of those games that gets away and all of a sudden, “You’re chasing,” Adam Fox said. 

But there was also a sense that it was a one-off, that the habits the Blueshirts had built over the past month since training camp began — and over the first eight games of the season — could flush everything that went wrong. 

For the worst start of Dylan Garand’s young career to be an anomaly. For the defensive identity of checking and forechecking and closing in the third period to materialize again Saturday night in Columbus. For an offense that had scored at least four goals in five of six wins to start generating chances again consistently. 

That turns Saturday night’s match against the Blue Jackets into an early-season litmus test, a gauge of whether they can move on from a crushing loss — like they did after their first two defeats of the young season — or whether this might start to spiral. The loss in New Jersey dropped them to 1-3 away from the Garden, and three of their next four games will be on the road. 

“[Thursday] shows what happens when we don’t do it,” Mika Zibanejad said Thursday, “and I feel like we’ve been building that game — and that’s why I think it’s easier to spot the difference and what happens when we don’t play our game and the little details that we have to do within our game.” 

At the center of their attempt to erase what happened will be Garand — the starter for the foreseeable future with Joonas Korpisalo on long-term injured reserve and Igor Shesterkin out for the season. 

He entered play Thursday with a .951 save percentage and a 1.15 goals against average that generated plenty of praise, but those numbers dropped to .915 and ballooned to 2.05, respectively, after he allowed four goals on 13 shots and got pulled. 

In each of his previous two starts since Shesterkin’s right skate jammed into the post and changed the outlook of the Rangers season, Garand, slightly undersized at 6-foot-1, had impressed with his ability to control pucks and play a consistent game. 

That’s the formula without Shesterkin. That’s the blueprint. The Rangers can’t force Garand to do too much, instead putting him in a position to produce the necessary saves like they did for most of the opening frame against the Devils until Miller’s brutal turnover led to the first tally. 

Thursday was Garand’s first clunker. It marked the only time in eight NHL appearances when he’d allowed more than two goals. It served as the most goals the Rangers had surrendered in a game since allowing six against the Blue Jackets on March 19. 

“I know we’re better than this, to a man,” Miller said. 

The Rangers are one of 11 teams that haven’t lost consecutive games through the opening two weeks of the season. They collapsed in the third against the Bruins in the opener but responded with a statement against the Lightning two nights later.

They lost last Friday to the Capitals on the night Shesterkin’s season ended, but they avoided an emotional hangover two nights later with a commanding win over the Canucks. 

“Ever since [the opener], we’ve played really good Ranger hockey, coming up with some identity for ourselves as a group,” Miller said. 

Their worst loss yet will test that resolve. It’ll test the emergence of Garand and whether he can thrive in the crease two nights after his low point. 

It’ll test whether Alexis Lafrenière can rebound from a minus-4 night and keep demonstrating that his 11-points-in-nine-games clip is sustainable. 

It’ll test whether a deflection goal from Pavel Dorofeyev on the power play Thursday — just his second so far — can start to shift his slow start to the season. 

It’ll test whether the Blueshirts, holistically, can move on from the rivalry disaster and their early road woes to showcase another reminder that these aren’t the same Rangers from last year. Another reminder of 2025-26, especially with Shesterkin out, is something they can’t afford. 

“We’ve learned a lot about ourselves over the last couple weeks and the last month,” Miller said, “and I think that we have a high-character group in here — so all we can do is learn from [Thursday] and move forward and be ready for the next game and come out firing.” 

Less than three weeks into the 2026-27 season, the Philadelphia Flyers have lost their first nine games (0-6-3), and already, after making the playoffs last season, face an uphill battle to even have a shot at returning to the postseason this year.

The Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings are the two remaining winless teams in the NHL, though the 0-3-2 Kings have played four fewer games than the Flyers to this point.

By default, the Kings have a better chance of turning things around than the Flyers do, and that is reflected quite starkly in the two teams' playoff odds as things stand now.

In the eyes of MoneyPuck's analytics model, the Flyers are firmly in basement territory.

With their 7.4% chance to make the playoffs, the Flyers are down there with the likes of the Chicago Blackhawks (5.7%), Calgary Flames (3.3%), and Vancouver Canucks (3%).

Those four teams are the only such teams with single-digit chances of making the playoffs; the next closest team to the Flyers is the Nashville Predators, who have them doubled up at 15.2%.

Even the winless Kings, who are in league with the Flyers in the NHL's basement right now, are still very much in the mix.

Los Angeles is currently given a 40.6% chance of making them playoffs, which sandwiches them between hopefuls like Montreal, New Jersey, and Buffalo, and outsiders like Pittsburgh, New York Islanders, Toronto, and San Jose.

Flyers' Ineffective 4th Line Has Been a Silent KillerIn just one week, the fourth line of the Philadelphia Flyers has single-handedly lost them three games.

Is a playoff run still possible?

Last season, the Flyers made the playoffs as the third-place team in the Metropolitan Division, going 43-27-12 with 98 total points.

Right now, MoneyPuck predicts that the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils as the two likeliest teams to finish third in the Metro, with a 17.6% and 16.9% chance, respectively.

The Rangers are projected to finish with 95.6 points, and the Devils 96.

In theory, a repeat of the Flyers' performance last year could be good enough to get them into third place again, or perhaps a wildcard spot depending on how the Atlantic Division performs.

To do that, though, they would have to go 43-21-9 the rest of the way, or, in other words, play at a 110-point pace.

The three teams to record 110 or more points last season were... the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, and Colorado Avalanche.

In an Eastern Conference where the competition is heavy throughout, the Flyers have their work cut out for them, but it's far from impossible to make another storybook playoff run.

Before we talk about winning 43 or more games, though, we have to start with one, first, and the Flyers will have to go through the surging Ottawa Senators on Saturday night to take their first crack at win No. 1.

The Buffalo Sabres have been making a habit of staging comebacks from significant deficits this season and after earning a point in a shootout loss in Montreal where they trailed by two goals after 40 minutes, the Sabres repeated that late-game dramatics in Toronto, where they scored twice in the final 10 minutes of regulation to tie the game, and won it 5-4 on Owen Power’s second overtime game-winner of the season.   

The Leafs led 4-2, powered by a hat trick from recently acquired Kirill Marchenko and Auston Matthew’s sixth of the season, but remained within striking distance in spite of not having team captain Rasmus Dahlin in the lineup, due in part to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s second straight strong performance and a four-point night from winger Jack Quinn. 

“We don’t like playing from behind, but we fought our way back, clawed our way back in games, down by a couple goals. We’ve got to fix the start obviously.” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game, “It’s the best game I’ve seen (Quinn) play. All around. Four points, he had a couple goal posts, scored a couple goals, an unbelievable fight – sort of. We’ll give him the Gordie Howe (hat trick) on that one.”

Toronto played short-handed for most of the third period, as veteran John Tavares left the game injured and first overall pick Gavin McKenna was benched. Buffalo took over the game territorially, outshooting the Leafs 12-4 in the final 20 minutes and getting goals from Dennis Gilbert and Mattias Samuelsson. 

Other Sabres Stories

Mrtka Looking To Take The Next Step Towards The NHL 

The Sabres returned to Montreal and will take on the Canadiens for the second time in five days at the Bell Centre on Saturday night. Ruff indicated that Dahlin will miss his third straight game due to the upper-body injury he suffered on Monday against Florida. 

Center Josh Norris left Thursday’s game, and after the game Ruff indicated he was in concussion protocol, but he participated in an optional practice on Friday. Forward Jiri Kulich was scratched before the Leafs game and was sent back to Buffalo for testing, but those tests were negative and he may rejoin the club in time to play on Saturday. 

Follow Michael on X, Instagram @MikeInBuffalo

The Ducks look to close out their short, two-game homestand with a victory. Their last game was their worst of the young 2026-27 season, a 4-2 loss to the then-winless Calgary Flames. After the game, head coach Joel Quenneville said, "I don't find much positive right now (about that game)."

Their opponent, the Boston Bruins, are 5-2-0 and coming off a 6-3 win against the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 13. Newly-named captain David Pastrňák is leading the way offensively with eight points, with Fraser Minten—who got a long-term extension this past offseason—and Morgan Geekie just behind him.

This game should be a physical affair, as the Bruins rank top-10 in hits. Nikita Zadorov, Tanner Jeannot and Will Borgen rank inside the top-50 league-wide in hits while Tim Washe and Nikita Nesterenko feature in the top-50 for Anaheim.

“If we’re using our speed, we’re tough to hit and we’re tough to stop in transition,” Ducks forward Frank Vatrano said. “They’re a team that’s not gonna give things for free. You’re gonna have to work for everything out there, so we’re gonna have to put pucks in deep. We’re gonna have to forecheck their D, make it hard on them. They have some guys up front that can make you pay. Gotta be smart with the puck, not turn pucks over at the blue lines and just play our game that we know how to play.”

“If we just play our simple brand of hockey and play with a lot of possession, smart plays with the puck and our pace, it doesn’t matter how physical they are,” Ducks forward Cutter Gauthier said. “They won’t be able to keep up.”

Cutter Gauthier | Ducks Morning Skate | Oct. 16, 2026Anaheim Ducks forward Cutter Gauthier speaks to the media after their morning skate at Honda Center.

Gauthier missed Tuesday’s game with an upper-body injury, an ailment which caused him to leave last Saturday's game early on, but one he said he is now over. Because of injuries to Ryan Poehling (sprained MCL) and Mikael Granlund, Gauthier will line-up as a center against the Bruins. He played center growing up and as a collegiate player, but shifted to the wing when he arrived in the NHL.

“I’ve been a center pretty much my whole life up until the NHL, so it’s definitely a position I’m comfortable with and something I’ve been speaking with the coaching staff to want to play that center role. I’m excited for the opportunity tonight.”

Nikita Klepov draws back into the lineup in Granlund’s absence after being a healthy scratch for the past three games. He’ll slot onto the top line with Alex Killorn and Leo Carlsson.

“We’re working with him here to get up to pace,” Quenneville said. “The speed of the game, the strength, the recognition of plays in situations. Keeping the puck, shooting the puck, give-and-go’s, coming up with loose pucks. Playing with Leo is a big step, but that’s a good opportunity for him because they can complement one another with some thought processes in some tight areas in the offensive zone. We’d like to see him take advantage of this. We didn’t mind his first game (against Edmonton), this is only his second start here. I think he’s getting better practices and I think he’s getting more competitive through our practices. It should transfer to the game.”

Ducks Projected Lines

Alex Killorn - Leo Carlsson - Nikita Klepov
Nikita Nesterenko - Cutter Gauthier - Beckett Sennecke
Frank Vatrano - Roger McQueen - Judd Caulfield
A.J. Greer - Tim Washe - Jeff Malott

Jackson LaCombe - Noah Warren
Pavel Mintyukov - Tristan Luneau
Tyson Hinds - Drew Helleson

Lukáš Dostál (confirmed)

Bruins Projected Lines

Morgan Geekie - Pavel Zacha - David Pastrňák
Marat Khusnutdinov - Fraser Minten - JJ Peterka
Casey Mittelstadt - Elias Lindholm - James Hagens
Tanner Jeannot - Matthew Poitras - Mark Kastelic

Hampus Lindholm - Charlie McAvoy
Nikita Zadorov - Will Borgen
Frédéric Brunet - Mason Lohrei

Michael DiPietro (confirmed)

The 2026–27 season has gotten off to a slow start for the Vancouver Canucks, and this particular stat only emphasizes it. 

In a 3–2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday night, Vancouver surrendered their third hat-trick of the 2026–27 season to take sole-possession of the league’s lead in hat-tricks allowed. Brady Tkachuk became the third player to score a hat-trick against the Canucks this season with his three-consecutive goals for Florida. 

Vancouver began the 2026–27 season by allowing a hat-trick against in their season-opener. Edmonton Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard put three goals past the Canucks in a 6–5 overtime win for Vancouver. Five games later, Vancouver surrendered their second hat-trick against, with Logan Stankoven of the Carolina Hurricanes being the one to score three this time around. Carolina won that game by a score of 7–2. 

Prior to Thursday’s game, Vancouver sat tied for first in the NHL in hat-tricks allowed, with the New York Islanders being the other team to allow two. So far, the Islanders have surrendered hat-tricks against Alexis Lafrenière and the New York Rangers, as well as Brandon Hagel and the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

In 2025–26, Vancouver surrendered a total of five hat-tricks throughout the year. The first came on November 5 against Tyler Bertuzzi and the Chicago Blackhawks. They allowed their third hat-trick of the season on March 4 against the Hurricanes, with Nikolaj Ehlers putting three past Vancouver. The first team to allow three hat-tricks in 2025–26 was the St. Louis Blues, who did so in their 33rd game of the year — a 7–2 loss to the Nashville Predators. 

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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Former Pittsburgh Penguins forward David Perron is officially set to play his 20th NHL season after spending over three months as a free agent.

This is because the Dallas Stars have signed Perron to a one-year, $850,000 contract for the 2026-27 season. 

The Stars signing Perron comes with them dealing with multiple forward injuries. Now, the former Penguins forward will provide the Stars with more forward depth as they look to bounce back from their slow start to the season. 

Perron appeared in 65 games this past season split between the Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings, where he posted 13 goals, 15 assists, 28 points, and 90 hits. This included him recording 10 goals and 25 points in 49 games for Ottawa before being traded to the Red Wings. 

Perron spent two seasons with the Penguins from 2014-15 to 2015-16. In 86 games with the Penguins over that span, he recorded 16 goals, 22 assists, 38 points, 202 hits, and a minus-21 rating. 

Here's the latest episode of the Sens Nation Podcast, the official Senators podcast of the Hockey News.

The Senators have had a roller-coaster week, with a win over New Jersey, an ugly loss to St. Louis, and a shootout victory over the Islanders. Now Travis Green has thrown his forward lines into a blender. Was it a necessary shakeup or an maybe an overreaction after a bad loss in part two of a back to back situation?

Stephen Halliday gets a shot alongside Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson, while some familiar top-six faces find themselves on the fourth line. Meanwhile, William Eklund is out 10–12 weeks, Artem Zub is finally back, and Jake Sanderson is getting closer to returning.

Should Samuel Ersson get the start in Philadelphia? And have the Senators already used more defencemen than any other NHL team?

Plus, former captain Brady Tkachuk is heating up in Florida and making comments that might not sit well with Senators fans ahead of his return to Ottawa. Also on the former Senator front, we discuss Alex DeBrincat's seven-year, $91 million extension, David Perron's latest move, and James Reimer signing a minor-league deal.

All that and more on this edition of the Sens Nation Podcast!

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa

While not at the absolute top of the list of their issues at the moment, the Philadelphia Flyers will, at some point, need to find a permanent solution for their dreadful fourth line, which has cost them dearly with their poor play multiple times over the last week.

After Thursday night's narrow, uninspiring 2-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet spoke about moments.

"It could be a big chance, anything. It's just, we're lacking the big moments. We got to find them somehow. We got to keep coming in every day to try and find them," he said.

Moments in a game when the team should rise above, come out on top, and show some killer instinct to make a big play, even when momentum is against them.

Whether or not the Flyers' frail mentality on the ice falls on Tocchet's shoulders has been the subject of fiery debate, but regardless, the team hasn't come through, and they're losing games as a result.

Take the fourth line as a microcosm of an entire roster failing to come through in those said moments.

In a 2-1 loss to Ottawa last week, newcomer forward Michael Bunting took a hooking penalty that put the Senators on the power play, leading to the game-winning goal, and Bunting played just 10:56 in that game, including a full two minutes on the power play.

On Tuesday, the story was similar.

Jack Studnicka took a tripping penalty against Seattle, and Bobby McMann went on to open the scoring on the power play. The Flyers mounted a furious two-goal comeback at the start of the second period, but they tailed off and eventually lost 3-2 in the shootout.

And then again on Thursday night, Noel Acciari and defenseman Simon Benoit couldn't stop Michael Rasmussen in front of the net, and a point-blank scramble in front of Joseph Woll ended in the game-winning goal for the Red Wings.

These were three games, in the span of one week, decided by one goal, with the fourth line at the scene of the crime each time.

NHL Trade Rumors: Flyers 'Untouchable' Forward Drawing Big InterestThe Philadelphia Flyers are refusing to trade this popular forward drawing trade interest around the NHL.

For as poorly as the Flyers have played all year long, they very well could have their first three wins of the year, instead of being 0-2-1 in those games.

Adding five more points to their current total of three would have the Flyers tied with New Jersey and Toronto, one point outside the second wildcard spot with plenty of hockey left to play.

Instead, the Flyers are one of two remaining winless teams in the NHL, and the other, Los Angeles, has played four fewer games.

If the Flyers are going to be that bad, at least they have more opportunities to develop their young players, right?

Well, that hasn't happened either.

Matvei Michkov, for example, ranks ninth amongst all Flyers forwards with his 19.1 shifts per game, narrowly trailing Acciari's 19.2 and Denver Barkey's 20.2.

Even worse, rookie Porter Martone is just 11th, averaging 16.9 shifts per game, placing him above only Carl Grundstrom (AHL), Alex Bump (AHL), Michael Bunting, Garrett Wilson, and Jack Studnicka.

In terms of raw ice time, Michkov is averaging just 14:55 a game, seventh amongst Flyers forwards and nearly two full minutes behind the sixth-ranked Tippett, who averages 16:26.

Michkov and Martone (13:14) are closer to Noel Acciari (14:07) than they are to the Flyers' de facto top-six, and that's a major issue, regardless of wins and losses.

Now, without making the likes of Michkov and Martone the main characters of the show, the Flyers are winless, with the dreadful fourth line instead finding itself at the heart of these key "moments", including in a tied game in Detroit with under five minutes left in regulation.

Brady Tkachuk is suddenly the hottest goal-scorer in the NHL. And if Senators fans weren't already planning to give their former captain a rough reception next Wednesday night, the timing of his comments about Florida Panthers fans have probably sealed the deal.

Tkachuk has scored back-to-back hat tricks, giving him six goals in two games after a slow start to his first season in Florida.

But it wasn't just his scoring that made headlines Thursday night.

After his latest three-goal performance, Tkachuk was serenaded with chants of "Brady! Brady!" from the Panthers faithful, a familiar sound for anyone who followed his eight seasons in Ottawa.

The chanting occurred during his rinkside postgame TV interview, and Tkachuk couldn't have been happier with the reception.

"I'm just so grateful to be here. I'm truly blessed to play in front of the best fans in the NHL! How good is this?"

Ouch.

Tkachuk's comments come just days before his return to Canadian Tire Centre this Wednesday (Oct. 21). It will be his first NHL game in Ottawa wearing enemy colours since demanding a trade in the offseason.

It's a homecoming that already promised to be highly emotional, maybe even hostile.

There's no question that some Senators fans have completely moved on, happy that the Brady Tkachuk era is behind them. Others fully understand that every NHL player is going to say that his current team has the best fans. That's just pandering 101, playing along to get along. 

But for others, the timing of their former captain's declaration, just days before his return, may prove to be a final straw.

Tkachuk's slow start in Florida provided at least a little consolation. While the Sens are in first place in the Atlantic, enjoying a strong 6-2 start to the season, their former captain was struggling to find the scoresheet with his new club.

So there was some satisfaction in Ottawa, seeing Tkachuk discover that the grass isn't always greener elsewhere. But that consolation, if it was ever really a consolation at all, is now gone.

Tkachuk has suddenly rediscovered his scoring touch, and Panthers fans are now chanting his name, just as Senators fans once did.

The Senators have already said they will recognize their former captain with a tribute video on Wednesday, acknowledging his eight seasons in Ottawa and his contributions to the franchise.

But there's no longer much doubt about how the crowd will respond. He will be booed where he once heard fans chanting his name.

They've had plenty of chances to welcome back recent former captains like Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, and Erik Karlsson.

But this one is way different.

After hearing Tkachuk make those comments so close to his return to Ottawa, anyone who still held some goodwill for the ex-captain may be fresh out by Wednesday night. 

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa