After coming home with a split on the road, the Colorado Avalanche are back on home ice for another Saturday night showdown!

Tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs make their only regular season visit to Denver, with a few new faces in their lineup!

Colorado Avalanche

The Avs return home after splitting their first pair of back-to-back road games. They lost 3-2 on a (literal) last minute goal this past Wednesday against the Winnipeg Jets, but rebounded with a strong showing against the Calgary Flames in a 7-3 victory this past Thursday. The loss in Winnipeg was the first for Mackenzie Blackwood this season, while Scott Wedgewood earned his first win in his season debut against Calgary.

Jaden Schwartz scored three goals across both contests. Fedor Svechkov scored his first goal in an Avalanche sweater against Winnipeg. Zachary L’Heureux, acquired with Svechkov from Nashville in the offseason, made his Avalanche debut against Winnipeg and recorded his first assist on Nathan MacKinnon’s eventual game-winning goal in Calgary. L’Heureux also had his first fight for the Avs in a short bout with Calgary’s Matt Coronato.

Devon Toews, who had a career-low three goals last season, scored a pair of goals against Calgary. His defensive partner in Cale Makar also scored a pair of goals against his hometown team.

T.J. Hughes also recorded his first point of his NHL career, assisting on Schwartz’s first goal on against Calgary.

While the Avs remain perfect on the penalty kill, the power play has gone three games without a goal since going 4/5 in the season opener against Los Angeles on September 30.

MacKinnon leads all skaters in points (8) and assists (5), while also sharing the team lead in penalty minutes (5) with L’Heureux. He also leads the team in goals (3), along with Makar, Schwartz, and Artturi Lehkonen.

The Avs have split every season series against Toronto going back to the 2017-2018 season. Their last victory on home ice came against Toronto was in a 7-3 victory on March 05, 2025.

Projected Lineup

Forwards:
Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Nečas
Gabe Landeskog – Brock Nelson – Nazem Kadri
Jaden Schwartz – Fedor Svechkov – T.J. Hughes
Parker Kelly – Nicolas Roy – Zachary L’Heureux

Defense:
Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Brett Kulak – Sam Malinski
Josh Manson – Brent Burns

Between the Pipes:
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood

Toronto Maple Leafs

The lottery balls finally bounced Toronto’s way this offseason, giving them the first overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft. At the draft in June, they selected left-wing Gavin McKenna, whom many projected to be the top pick of the draft.

The move was one of many offseason transactions for Toronto. They sent a fifth round pick in this year’s draft to the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Darren Raddysh on June 19; Raddysh signed an eight-year, $68 million dollar contract with Toronto as part of the transaction. Toronto also acquired center Nick Paul from Tampa in exchange for goaltender Dennis Hildeby and a pair of draft picks in 2027 & 2028 on July 01.

Free agent goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky signed a three-year, $21 million dollar contract (more on him later). That same day, noted Avalanche killer Colton Sissons also signed to a two-year, $8.5 million dollar contract, and former Avalanche forward Brandon Duhaime also signed a three-year $7.8 million dollar contract.

Shortly before the start of the season, Toronto made their biggest move: they acquired right-wing Kirill Marchenko, goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, and former Avalanche forward Miles Wood from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for left-wings Matthew Knies and Steven Lorentz, defenseman Emil Andrei, and a 2027 second round pick.

Toronto 2-2-1 to start the season, and are coming into tonight’s game off a 4-3 defeat against the Vegas Golden Knights this past Thursday. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, Toronto did the Leafiest thing possible in allowing Vegas to score three unanswered goals to tie the game and lose in the shootout round.

Hiller also mentioned that he does not expect John Tavares to play against Colorado tonight due to the birth of his son Tucker on Friday.

Toronto’s last victory over Colorado came on January 12th, a 4-3 overtime victory at Ball Arena last season.

Projected Lineup

Forwards:
Kirill Marchenko – Auston Matthews – Jack Roslovic
Easton Cowan – Nick Paul – William Nylander
Gavin McKenna – Teddy Blueger – Colton Sissons
Brandon Duhaime – Zack MacEwen – Bo Groulx

Defense:
Jake McCabe – Chris Tanev
Morgan Reilly – Darren Raddysh
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Troy Stecher

Between the Pipes:
Sergei Bobrovsky
Anthony Stolarz

NOTE: Don’t forget to download the new SB Nation app for a more mobile-friendly way to follow tonight’s action and engage with Mile High Hockey’s match threads. Commenting and interacting with your communities is easier than ever before with the Game Chat feature. The app is currently available in the U.S. and Canada on iOS and Android devices.

The Kings are looking for their 1st win of the 2026-27 NHL season as they set their sights on Vegas in tonight's matchup. The Kings are coming off a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers, and in that game, Alex Laferriere was the Kings' lone goal scorer. The Kings have had a slow start to the season, with a 0-2-1 record. The Kings are looking to change that tonight against Vegas. 

Projected Kings Lines 

Here are the projected lines for the Kings tonight:

Artemi Panarin - Quinton Byfield - Adrian Kempe

Trevor Moore - Erik Haula - Alex Laferriere

Joel Armia - Scott Laughton - Jared Wright

Andre Lee - Samuel Helenius - Corey Perry

Joel Edmundson - Brandt Clarke

Brian Dumoulin - Drew Doughty

Mikey Anderson - Cody Ceci

Darcy Kuemper

Anton Forsberg

Projected Golden Knights Lines

Here are the projected lines for the Golden Knights tonight: 

Ivan Barbashev - Jack Eichel - Mark Stone

Brett Howden -  William Karlsson  - Mitch Marner

Trevor Connelly - Tomas Hertl - Raphael Lavoie

Marc Gatcomb -  Nic Dowd - Braeden Bowman

Shea Theodore -  Brayden McNabb

Parker Wotherspoon -  Rasmus Andersson 

Jeremy Lauzon - Noah Hanifin

Carter Hart

Adin Hill

Game Notes 

The Kings will miss Mats Zuccarello (upper-body injury), Alex Turcotte (undisclosed), and Kevin Fiala (leg surgery) tonight. They also scratched Erik Gustafsson. The Golden Knights are without Victor Olofsson (undisclosed), and they have scratched Dylan Coghlan. 

Tonight's matchup pits Darcy Kuemper of the Kings against Carter Hart of the Golden Knights. The Kings need to be at their best, as the Golden Knights are coming off a 4-3 shootout win over the Maple Leafs, including a comeback from a 3-0 deficit. The Kings take on the Golden Knights tonight at 10:00 PM EST as they look for their first win of the season. 

The Pittsburgh Penguins are back home for the second half of this weekend's back-to-back after losing 3-2 in a shootout to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.

It was another dreadful performance by the skaters. At one point, the Penguins were being outshot 33-10, and they finished the game outshot 45-22. 

Rookie goaltender Sergei Murashov was the only reason why the Penguins stole a point and had a chance to steal the extra one. He was locked in from the drop of the puck and made several massive saves throughout the game to keep the Penguins in it. 

In his first two starts, Murashov has made 75 saves on 80 shots, good for a .938 save percentage. He looks like the real deal. 

He'll have Saturday off when the Dallas Stars come to town. Arturs Silovs will start in this game and needs a good performance after struggling a little bit in Washington on Wednesday. 

The Penguins will play a Stars team that is 2-2 overall and has outscored their opponents 9-0 this week. They're one of the best teams in the league and are a handful to deal with.

If the Penguins want to snap their three-game losing streak, they'll need to get off to a fast start and be way more responsible in their own end. They haven't made things easy for their goaltenders over the last week, and that needs to change. 

There's a chance that head coach Dan Muse tweaks the lines after Friday's shootout loss, but this is what they looked like last night:

Forwards

Rakell-Crosby-Rust

Chinakhov-Novak-Malkin

Lapierre-Kindel-Koivunen

Dewar-Lizotte-Robertson

Defensive pairs

Carlile-Karlsson

Girard-Korczak

van Riemsdyk-Letang

Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh. You can also listen to the game on 105.9 'The X.'

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

Happy weekend and happy game day, Devils fans. As we wait for our matinee against the Canucks, please feel free to read about another set of our Top 25 Under 25!

15. Nikita Shcherbakov (LHD) — Last Rank: N/A — Age: 18 — Team: Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL)

The New Jersey Devils’ third pick from the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, selected at 44th overall, kicks off our top 15 this year. Nikita Shcherbakov is already looking like he might be one of the steals of the draft. Last season, Shcherbakov played seven scoreless games with Salavat Yulaev Ufa, spending most of his season in the VHL (Russian second-tier) with Toros Neftekamsk, where he had four goals and six assists in 35 games. He also had 10 assists in 15 games for Tolpar Ufa in the MHL, or Russian juniors. By our expectations, we would have been happy to see Shcherbakov have a good season in the VHL, improving from the slow production he had there last year. We would have been thrilled with some modest production in the KHL.

So, who would have expected that Shcherbakov would already have two goals and four assists in 14 games for his KHL club? For a KHL rookie, Shcherbakov positions himself aggressively enough to contribute to the offense. Of course, this might not last forever. According to the KHL website, Shcherbakov only plays about 10:06 per game, and he has neither received penalty killing nor power play shifts to this point. Still, he has a chance to make history. In the 18 years that the KHL has existed, the all-time leading scorers among 18-year old defensemen are Anton Silaev and Mikhail Gulyaev, who had 12 points in 63 and 64 games, respectively. The all-time leading per-game scorer among 18-year old defensemen is Shakir Mukhamadullin, who had 10 points in 39 games.

14. Shane Lachance (LW) — Last Rank: 11 — Age: 23 — Team: Utica Comets (AHL)

While he did slip a bit in these rankings, Shane Lachance still has a very good chance of making the NHL. At 6’5” and 218 pounds, Lachance’s easiest path to the big club is by establishing himself as a consistent netfront presence. Last season, we saw a glimpse of that when he scored a preseason goal against the Capitals with the Devils’ power play, but Lachance played one game for the New Jersey Devils in the regular season. On a floundering Utica Comets team for most of that season, Lachance only had 10 goals and 15 assists in 62 games after having a goal and an assist in two games for them in 2024-25 upon his departure from Boston University. It was hard not to notice that players like Lachance and Cam Squires looked outstanding immediately after leaving their juniors or college teams only to have strongly disappointing full seasons with Utica.

This season, we hope for more from Lachance. The team as a whole is built far more competitively, including multiple former NHLers such as Vladislav Kolyachonok and Colin White along with higher-scoring AHLers such as Ben Steeves and Riley Tufte. Having multiple layers of scoring threat built throughout that lineup means that games no longer hinge on whether players like Lachance, Melovsky, and Hameenaho are the absolute key to whether they win or lose, as opponents will be forced to make tougher matchup decisions. Utica played their first game eight days ago, but their season finally resumes this evening. Let’s hope for a display of improved skating and high-danger scoring from the big Lachance.

13. Matyas Melovsky (RH C) — Last Rank: 16 — Age: 22 — Team: Utica Comets (AHL)

Prior to Sunny Mehta’s trade of Jacob Markstrom for Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist, I would have thought that Matyas Melovsky was a strong candidate to make the NHL this season as a fourth-line center. The Czech right-hander was drafted in 2024 as a double-overage selection by the Devils in the sixth round, and this move has proved to be a rather solid one. Melovsky grew as a goal scorer over time in the QMJHL, going from a pure playmaker to a dual-threat with two-way success that made him one of the best players in the league at the time. Last season, in his professional debut for the Utica Comets, Melovsky had 10 goals and 16 assists in 55 games while having some of the best on-ice results on the team.

This year, Melovsky is off to a good start with an assist in Utica’s only game to date, as he got the primary assist on a goal by Ben Steeves. What makes Melovsky so easy to project into the NHL is his skating ability and positioning. He always seems to be making the right plays, far from being a selfish player. The New Jersey Devils might not have an easy way for Melovsky to get onto the team this season, but I expect him to be the regular number one center for Utica, above Schmelzer, White, and McLaughlin, by November. Of course, I think he should already be there.

12. Topias Vilen (LHD) — Last Rank: 18 — Age: 23 — Team: Utica Comets (AHL)

Continuing the theme of this entry of the Top 25 Under 25 being dominated by Utica Comets, Topias Vilen is the prospect in this section who played the most games in the NHL last season. Those two games might not stand out, but Vilen held his own in his cup-of-coffee NHL experience. Personally, I was not surprised by this, as Vilen has been playing professional hockey since he was 17, when he played in the Finnish Liiga. Since coming to the AHL in 2023, Vilen has been very consistent with 24 or more points in each season and a total of 80 points in 174 games.

This season, Vilen has to contend with a more stacked left side of the defense in Utica. Playing with Anton Silaev and Ethan Edwards, Vilen’s best chance of getting 20 minutes a game would necessitate him playing on the right side where Vladislav Kolyachonok is currently slated (especially while Seamus Casey remains out). Along with Kolyachonok, Vilen was among the final cuts from the New Jersey Devils’ roster going into the regular season, so there is a chance that we see him again this season. But if injuries arise, Mehta and Keefe will need to decide whether they prefer the steadiness of Vilen’s game or the potential of the speedy Edwards, the giant Silaev, or the NHL-experienced Kolyachonok.

11. Ethan Edwards (LHD) — Last Rank: 15 — Age: 24 — Team: Utica Comets (AHL)

The gap between Vilen and Ethan Edwards, in my opinion, is razor-thin. Honestly, going by pure production, Vilen is probably a bit better. Edwards is nearly a year older and was a four-year college player, where he was never a huge point producer at the University of Michigan. But Edwards’s skating has always been extremely intriguing. He has good edges and straight-line speed with the potential to be a good two-way defenseman that can close gaps quickly and join the attack. Last season, Edwards even had 10 goals for the Utica Comets, though his total of 23 points in 69 games still lagged well behind Vilen’s overall pace.

Edwards has one very big issue to take care of this season, though. In the 2025-26 season, Edwards had the third-worst on-ice goal rates out of 10 defensemen who played 10 or more games for the Utica Comets. And with most of the power play time last season going to Calen Addison, Seamus Casey, and Topias Vilen, Edwards was unable to push for power play time, while having significantly less success in extended penalty killing minutes than Vilen. First and foremost, Edwards needs to get his five-on-five play under control, proving that he can put his excellent skating to good use. Second, Edwards needs to find a special teams niche in the AHL, whether it is on the power play or penalty kill. If he can do that, he might put himself in position to push for a roster spot by next year. With Edwards being ranked so high, we are betting big on physical tools and athleticism.

The Vote

See below for the tally today.

As I mentioned yesterday, we are at the point where the variance in rankings has reduced significantly. The true average ranks for each of these players sat between 12 and 14.33, while the worst individual rank for any of them was 20 and the best individual ranks were as high as 9. This is where the slight disagreements came from everyone:

• I had Nikita Shcherbakov (17->15) and Shane Lachance (16->14) in the top 20.
• James had Matyas Melovsky (16->13) in the top 20 and Lachance (9->14) in the top 10.
• Jared had Ethan Edwards (10->11) and Shcherbakov (9->15) in the top 10.
• Jackson had Topias Vilen (17->12) in the top 20.
• Tim had Lachance (20->14) in the top 20 and Melovsky (10->13) in the top 10.
• The community had Shcherbakov (20->15) in the top 20 and Edwards (9->11) in the top 10.

We are largely in consensus over the general range of these prospects. By this point of the rankings, we are hoping that at least three of the five players here turn into true NHLers. They might not be superstars at this range (though Jared may have been onto something ranking Shcherbakov so high when he did), but there should be NHL depth, third pairing defensemen, or bottom six forwards of the future here. After these five, the expectations take another jump.

Your Thoughts

What did you think of today’s rankings release? Who are you excited to follow throughout this season? What do you think of Shcherbakov’s historic start in the KHL? Do you think Melovsky or Lachance will appear for the Devils this season? Do you think Vilen or Edwards might serve as injury fill-ins at some point? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Ahead of Saturday afternoon's road game against the Boston Bruins, the Philadelphia Flyers announced a slew of unfortunate injury updates that will have major impacts on the team's short- and long-term plans.

According to Flyers general manager Danny Briere, forward Travis Konecny (lower-body) and Cam York (upper-body) are both day-to-day and will not play against the Bruins on Saturday.

Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who accompanied the Flyers for their three-game road trip, has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 3, making him eligible to return as soon as he is ready to play.

With Ristolainen on injured reserve, the Flyers activated defenseman Helge Grans, who started the season on season-opening injured reserve due to a lower-body injury suffered in the preseason.

With York and Ristolainen out, Grans will make his season debut against the Bruins on Saturday on a defense pairing with Simon Benoit.

The most significant and unfortunate piece of injury news comes from a player who has hardly played in the last seven months, a trend that will linger into the foreseeable future.

Energetic young winger Nikita Grebenkin, who has not played a competitive game for the Flyers since March 21, will be out a minimum of four months after undergoing back surgery.

Grebenkin, 23, missed most of training camp with his injury but eventually returned to skate in a yellow no-contact jersey before playing against, ironically, the Bruins in a preseason game on Sept. 24.

In that game against the Bruins, Grebenkin was apparently injured by a collision along the wall, but eventually returned to the game. The Russian forward has been out since then.

Updated Flyers lineup

With the slew of injuries mentioned above, here's how the Flyers are expected to line up against Boston on Saturday, and potentially Carolina on Sunday night, too.

Christian Dvorak - Trevor Zegras - Tyson Foerster

Owen Tippett - Sean Couturier - Matvei Michkov

Denver Barkey - Noah Cates - Porter Martone

Garrett Wilson - Noel Acciari - Michael Bunting

Travis Sanheim - Jamie Drysdale

Nick Seeler - David Jiricek

Simon Benoit - Helge Grans

Having a back-to-back this weekend complicates things, as the Flyers have just one spare healthy skater on the roster in Carl Grundstrom.

Grundstrom did not play against Ottawa on Thursday night and will remain out in favor of the long-time tough guy Wilson as the Flyers face the hosting Bruins in the most important game of their winless 0-3-2 season thus far.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin is out for the season after injuring his right knee Friday night in a game at Washington, the team announced Saturday.

Shesterkin did not put any weight on his right leg as he was helped off the ice by teammates after an awkward fall into his own net against the Capitals.

Shesterkin came well out of his crease to challenge a shooter midway through the second period and fell as he scrambled back to the net. The 30-year-old Russian jammed his right skate into the right post as he slid back into the crease and collapsed into the net in pain.

“It's awful, you know? He's a pillar of this team. It stinks," Rangers captain J.T. Miller said following the 3-1 loss to the Capitals.

Coach Mike Sullivan said after his team's four-game winning streak was snapped: “He's an elite goaltender and you never want to see anyone get hurt. Obviously, he's an important player for us.”

The 2022 Vezina Trophy winner missed a month last season with a lower-body injury, contributing to the Rangers finishing last in the Eastern Conference.

Shesterkin was off to a strong start this season with a 3-1 record and 1.76 goals-against average. Last week, he became the first Rangers goalie to score a goal when he lofted the puck the length of the ice into an empty net late in New York’s home opener against Tampa Bay.

“We're not going to let that take the wind out of our sails,” Miller said about Shesterkin's injury. “We love the way we're playing most of the time.”

Shesterkin stopped 13 of 14 shots and left with the score tied 1-all. He was replaced by 24-year-old backup Dylan Garand, who gave up the go-ahead goal late in the second but finished with 11 saves on 12 shots.

It was the fifth NHL appearance and second this season for Garand, recalled last week from Hartford of the American Hockey League after clearing waivers. Garand made 22 saves in a 2-0 shutout at Detroit last Friday with the Rangers playing their second game in two nights.

Garand went 2-0-1 with a 1.62 goals-against average and .948 save percentage in three starts for the Rangers last season.

New York acquired veteran goaltender Joonas Korpisalo from the Boston Bruins last summer to be Shesterkin’s backup. But the 32-year-old Finn was placed on injured reserve last week and was week to week with a lower-body injury.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

The Rangers saw their worst fears realized Saturday morning. 

Igor Shesterkin, the face of the franchise and one of the NHL’s premier goaltenders, is out for the remainder of the season with what the team is terming a lower-body injury. Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan declined to offer any other details after practice Saturday. 

It is a crushing blow for the Blueshirts, who were off to a solid start after a nightmarish 2025-26 campaign. Then Friday night happened. In the second period of a 3-1 loss to the Capitals in Washington, he appeared to jam his right skate into the right post as he scrambled to get back into the net. His right leg then bent awkwardly as he fell to the ice.

The 30-year-old Shesterkin was helped off, unable to put any weight on his right leg. 

“It’s obviously horrible to hear. A guy like that who means so much to our team, we’re still kind of processing that and you just feel terrible for him,” alternate captain Adam Fox said. “I personally dealt with injuries the last few years and him too. It sucks when you’re not able to be out there and help the team. He’s such an important piece to this team and what we’re able to do, you just feel for him.” 

Now, a season that began with such positive vibes is in crisis. Dylan Garand, less than two weeks removed from being placed on waivers, will be the No. 1 goaltender for the foreseeable future. The 24-year-old has made four NHL starts in his entire career. 

Veteran Joonas Korpisalo, acquired in the summer in a trade with the Bruins to serve as Shesterkin’s backup, is on injured reserve and is expected to be out another month due to a lower-body injury. Spencer Martin (lower-body injury) is healthy and expected to be called up to serve as Garand’s backup on Sunday at the Garden against the Canucks. 

Asked if he can envision the franchise looking outside the organization for a goalie, Sullivan shot down the possibility. In other words, don’t expect a trade for an established netminder. 

“I’m going to coach the twenty-something guys that we have here,” Sullivan said. “We like the group we have.” 

Saturday, alternate captains Fox and Mika Zibanejad expressed sadness for Shesterkin, but belief in Garand and the team around him. They also believe the Rangers have the fortitude to survive this, that this devastating injury won’t ruin their season. 

“The season doesn’t stop. We still have 77, 78, whatever it is, games to go,” Fox said. “We have confidence in our goalies in here, confidence in our team, to play well in front of them and keep going. We have to keep pushing and keep trying to play good hockey.” 

Sullivan doesn’t expect a woe-is-us mentality to pervade the locker room. He’s seen too much good so far for that to happen. 

“I’m not worried about this group from that standpoint. We’re not looking for excuses,” Sullivan said. “We like what’s going on around here, and we’re going to continue to work at becoming the best team we can become. There are certain things you can’t control, and it’s an unfortunate injury. We’ve got very capable guys. We feel like we’ve built a pretty good team up to this point. We’re going to continue to try to develop that.” 

Shesterkin, the 2022 Vezina Trophy winner and a two-time All-Star selection, had started the year very well. Across four previous starts, he notched a 3-1-0 record with a 1.75 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage. He also scored his first NHL goal in a victory against the Lightning on Oct. 1. 

He has battled injuries throughout his career. Last season, he missed 13 games due to a lower-body injury and was limited to 51 games. But this is obviously by far the worst one yet. 

“I couldn’t be more disappointed for Shesty. I know how much playing means to him,” Sullivan said. “He’s obviously one of the cornerstones of this organization. I’m disappointed for him because he’s such a fierce competitor and he loves hockey. He loves playing.”

What we learned as playoff-hopeful Sharks get good test in loss to Oilers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Editor’s note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.

The San Jose Sharks lost a hard-fought 3-1 battle to the Edmonton Oilers.

It was good test of a playoff hopeful in San Jose and a playoff-hardened Edmonton. The Sharks actually probably outplayed the Oilers most of the night, that’s impressive, but there’s something to be learned about keeping it up for 60 minutes.

Here are some takeaways.

Mack Is Back

Macklin Celebrini didn’t miss a beat in his return to the line-up, after missing two games with a lower-body injury.

He looked fast and strong as ever, particularly on his goal, when he bullied Alex Formenton for the puck on the forecheck. He could’ve had more, hitting a post too.

Bad Timing?

You have to love Kiefer Sherwood’s balls to the wall game.

But his early third period penalty, a late side swipe of Leon Draisaitl, seemed unnecessary. The Sharks were controlling the game, up 12-8 shots at that point, and you were opening the door to letting a stifled Oilers offense feel the puck.

San Jose managed to kill the penalty, but Edmonton rolled up three shots on that PP, and scored two goals in 2:27 shortly thereafter, to make it 3-0, and basically put the game out of reach.

There’s something to be said about letting sleeping dogs lie.

Matching Up With McDavid

Alex Wennberg is Warsofsky’s go-to defensive center, so it wasn’t a surprise to see him up against Connor McDavid as much as he was on Saturday.

But it’s impressive to see 19-year-old rookie Ivar Stenberg remain on the line, along with Kiefer Sherwood.

Stenberg-Wennberg-Sherwood did solid work against Vasily Podkolzin-McDavid-Leon Draisaitl. According to Natural Stat Trick, Wennberg’s line outshot McDavid 5-1 at 5-on-5 through two periods, when both were on the ice together.

McDavid did get an assist on the game-winning Vasily Podkolzin goal, but it was against another line.

Stenberg showed lots of poise tonight in every zone, really impressive, despite not coming up with any points.

Chernyshov Demoted, Then Promoted

It wasn’t a surprise that Igor Chernyshov was demoted to the fourth line this afternoon. This, despite starting on the top line on Thursday at the St. Louis Blues.

Head coach Ryan Warsofsky was already showing displeasure in the young Russian winger’s game in St. Louis, yanking him off the power play in the third period. Then, pointedly, when asked about Chernyshov’s game afterwards, Warsofsky didn’t speak on it, choosing to talk about other topics.

The eye test saw a winger trying to do too much and who was careless with the puck. Stathletes’ micro-stats back it up: Chernyshov completed a team-worst 33 percent of his 5-on-5 passes and 52.94 percent of all passes. Just for context, teammate Tyler Toffoli completed 100 percent of his 5-on-5 passes and 95.24 percent of all passes.

Chances are, Warsofsky wants Chernyshov to simplify his game and be more aggressive attacking the net. And he did just that against the Oilers, putting his head down on multiple occasions and bull-rushing the net with the puck.

Chernyshov was rewarded in the third period with a promotion onto Celebrini’s line.

Chernyshov might be, this side of Will Smith, the Sharks’ most talented winger. But there’s nothing wrong with reminding a youngster every once in a while — Chernyshov is just 20! — about how to play winning hockey.

Sharks x PWHL San Jose

It was Sharks x PWHL San Jose Day at SAP Center.

A point made by my colleague Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News, the Sharks’ embrace of PWHL has appeared to be much stronger than any other NHL team that share cities with a PWHL sister squad.

Love that from the Sharks! PWHL San Jose drops the puck on their season on December 5^th at SAP Center.

Too Much of a Good Thing?

The lowering of the Shark Head is one of the great traditions in hockey. A great Sharks playoff tradition is the lowering of the Shark Head to the tune of Hans Zimmer’s “Do You Think I’m Saxon?”. The Sharks, however, have been using this intimidating, sounds like it was composed in a forge lead-up for all their home games this season. Call me boring, but I love this classic intro to be saved for special occasions, the home opener and the playoffs. Yeah, I get we haven’t heard this intro a lot over the last seven playoff-less years. But it’s not going to hit the same in the playoffs after I hear it in Game 66 versus the Columbus Blue Jackets.

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The Montreal Canadiens made an early-season trade on Friday, dealing defenseman Jayden Struble to the Nashville Predators for a second-round pick.

With the Canadiens having a defensive logjam on their left side, it seemed likely that one of their defensemen would be moved. Now, Struble is the player that they have decided to part ways with.

With the Canadiens trading Struble, let's look at two more Montreal players who could be on the move next. 

Kirby Dach 

Questions about Kirby Dach's future with the Canadiens have come up for a while now. He has been the subject of early-season trade rumors, and he could be a good trade chip for Montreal to dangle to upgrade their roster elsewhere.

Dach is signed for the 2026-27 season and is a pending unrestricted free agent. Thus, if the Canadiens do not view him as a long-term part of their plans, it would not be too surprising if he got moved this season. 

In four games so far this season, Dach has one assist and a minus-2 rating. 

Samuel Montembeault

Samuel Montembeault will be sidelined for the next 10 to 14 days due to injury. Although this is the case, he is still a goalie who should be watched as a trade candidate this season

Montembeault is a pending unrestricted free agent, and the Canadiens have Jacob Fowler waiting in the wings. With that, it would not be surprising if Montembeault is traded to another team by the deadline. This is especially so if he has a solid year for Montreal once he returns from injury. 

The Senators are getting one of their injured forwards back just as another heads to long-term injured reserve.

Andre Burakovsky is expected to make his Senators debut on Saturday night when they host the Nashville Predators at Canadian Tire Centre.

The veteran winger's return comes at an important time for the Senators, who just placed William Eklund on long-term injured reserve after a serious ankle injury in Thursday night's 2-1 home-opening victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Eklund was hurt in the first period after taking a hit from Flyers defenceman Simon Benoit and awkwardly jamming his skate into the base of the boards. He needed help getting off the ice and was unable to put any weight on his left leg.

The Senators haven't confirmed the exact nature of the ankle injury or provided a timetable for his return, but head coach Travis Green said Eklund will be out for "an extended period of time."

The move to LTIR means Eklund must miss at least 10 games and 24 calendar days from the date of his injury.

Based on the morning skate combinations, it looks like Green will plug Burakovsky right into Eklund's spot alongside Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson.

Burakovsky participated in Saturday's morning skate wearing a regular jersey, as did defencemen Artem Zub and Kurtis MacDermid. While that's encouraging news on the injury front, Zub isn't ready to return against Nashville.

For Burakovsky, it's a great chance to turn the page on a very rough finish to last season.

The Senators acquired the former Stanley Cup champion from Chicago during the offseason, hoping a change of scenery might help him rediscover some of the offensive production that once made him a valuable top-six forward.

His final stretch with the Blackhawks was especially tough. Burakovsky managed just four points in his final 32 games last season, despite spending much of that time playing alongside Connor Bedard. But he started the year with 29 points in his first 43 games, and the Sens would be thrilled with that version of the player.

The Senators enter Saturday's game with a 3-1 record, having won their first two games on the road against Toronto and Boston before looking tired and stumbling in Detroit.

They bounced back Thursday against Philadelphia, with rookie defenceman Carter Yakemchuk scoring the game-winning goal on a third-period power-play one-timer.

Unfortunately, injuries have been a recurring theme in the Sens' victories this season. Jake Sanderson was injured in the opener against Toronto, Linus Ullmark left the Boston game as a precaution following a collision, and Eklund went down against Philadelphia.

Ullmark returned Thursday and was excellent, stopping 28 of 29 shots in the victory.

Nashville will provide the opposition on Saturday. It's the Predators' final stop of a three-game trip through eastern Canada, and they've already collected three of a possible four points.

They opened the trip Tuesday with a 5-4 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs before bouncing back Thursday with a 5-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

On Friday, the Predators acquired 25-year-old Canadiens defenceman Jayden Struble in exchange for a 2027 second-round pick originally belonging to Vegas.

Struble, who was a healthy scratch for Montreal on Thursday, brings a strong, physical element to Nashville's blue line. He was on the ice with the Predators at Saturday's morning skate, so he's a good bet to play against the Senators.

Here's how the Sens are projected to line up on Saturday night.

Forwards

Andre Burakovsky – Tim Stützle – Drake Batherson
Ridly Greig – Dylan Cozens – Fabian Zetterlund
Michael Amadio – Shane Pinto – Claude Giroux
Warren Foegele – Stephen Halliday – Nick Cousins

Defence

Thomas Chabot – Jordan Spence
Tyler Kleven – Carter Yakemchuk
Hoyt Stanley – Nikolas Matinpalo

Goaltenders

Linus Ullmark
Samuel Ersson

Zub rotated in with Matinpalo and Stanley during Saturday's morning skate, but his return doesn't appear imminent. MacDermid also participated in a regular jersey.

But the biggest lineup development, of course, is Burakovsky's debut. For the Swedish veteran, there's no better time to start proving that a change of scenery was exactly what he needed.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa

Jaden Schwartz has never scored 30 goals in an NHL season, but four games into this year, he’s making that milestone look like a distant memory. The Colorado Avalanche forward has six points already, and he’ll look to keep it going Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Ball Arena.

Toronto is coming off a 4-3 shootout loss to Vegas on Thursday. The Leafs built a 3-0 lead in the first period but couldn’t hold on. Saturday marks their only trip to Denver this season.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Auston Matthews

Matthews has given Colorado trouble throughout his career. He has 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) in 18 games against the Avalanche, including two goals and an assist in his last four appearances at Ball Arena.

He scored a hat trick in Toronto’s 8-3 win over Colorado on Dec. 1, 2021. The Avalanche were 11-7-1 at the time, months before winning the Stanley Cup.

William Nylander

Nylander has 13 assists in 17 career games against Colorado. He’s been effective at setting up teammates in this matchup, and the Avalanche will need to keep him from finding too much room.

Gavin McKenna and Easton Cowan

McKenna, the first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, has one goal and two assists through five games. Cowan scored on a breakaway against Vegas on Thursday.

Both players have the speed to take advantage of turnovers. Colorado has given the puck away at times early this season, and those mistakes could give Toronto some dangerous chances.

Sergei Bobrovsky was impressive in Thursday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, so head coach Jim Hiller may give the two-time Stanley Cup champion another start. The 38-year-old has a 12-6-2 record in 21 career games against the Avalanche, with a 2.79 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.

Colorado Avalanche

Jaden Schwartz

Schwartz has three goals and three assists through four games, including two goals in Thursday’s 7-3 win over Calgary.

He’s never scored 30 goals in an NHL season, but his current pace has him on track for 63. It’s still early, but Schwartz has been outstanding and is giving Colorado another scoring threat alongside its star players.

Nathan MacKinnon

MacKinnon has eight points through four games this season, including a goal and two assists against Calgary. He’s also had plenty of success against Toronto, with 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 24 career games.

He’s recorded seven points in his last four meetings with the Maple Leafs.

Cale Makar

Makar had two goals and an assist against Calgary. He has 10 points in 12 career games against Toronto, including five in his last four matchups.

Brock Nelson is another player to watch. He scored a hat trick in Colorado’s 4-1 win over Toronto on Jan. 25, 2026. Martin Necas has 14 points in 16 career games against the Leafs, although 12 of those came during his time with Carolina.

Colorado has been finding the net with little trouble, but Toronto has the speed to make the Avalanche pay for mistakes. If Colorado can limit the turnovers, it will have a good chance to keep its hot start going at home.

If we have to make an educated guess, Mackenzie Blackwood will probably get the nod in between the pipes. The 29-year-old has a record of 2-2-1 in seven games with a goals against average of 3.52 and a save percentage of .886 against the Maple Leafs in his career. However, he has two out of his last three starts against Toronto.

Scott Wedgewood hasn't fared much better. However, he has not played against the Maple Leafs since he was a member of the Dallas Stars. The 34-year-old is 1-3-2 in six appearances with a goals against average of 4.15 and a sub.900 save percentage against the Leafs. 

Puck drop is at 5 p.m. local time. 

The Islanders have dodged a massive bullet. 

Bo Horvat was back on the ice with the team for Saturday’s morning skate despite taking a dirty open-ice hit from Chicago Blackhawks winger Frank Nazar late in Thursday night’s win. 

Horvat was evaluated by doctors and New York’s training staff during their off day, and he’s deemed himself ready to go for Saturday night’s meeting with the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

“Hits like those you never know, right,” the captain said. “Anytime the principal point of contact is my head it’s always scary, but I feel fine -- the right side of my head hurts a little bit, but other than that I feel pretty good.”

Horvat, of course, took Nazar’s shoulder directly to the head after burying an empty-netter, sending him twisting in the air before landing directly on his side. 

Nazar was dealt a major penalty and game misconduct for the hit, and later received a two-game suspension after meeting with the NHL Department of Player Safety.

Horvat, though, didn’t view the dangerous play as anything done intentionally. 

“It was just a chain of unfortunate events,” he explained. “I definitely didn’t see him, but I don’t think he’s the type of player to go looking for that -- it just ended up working out that way.”

Either way, the Islanders are thrilled their leader won’t have to miss any time.

“It’s a huge relief,” head coach Pete DeBoer said. “Felt it was a dangerous hit, but obviously the league dealt with it -- on our end, I’m just thankful that he’s available because sometimes headshots like that you can lose a guy for a while.”

Horvat has scored four times and added an assist over New York’s first four games. 

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues announced on Saturday that forward Dillon Dube will be re-evaluated in eight weeks after suffering a neck injury in the Blues’ 3-2 overtime loss against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.

Dube, who scored a shorthanded goal in the game but missed practice on Friday, was initially listed as doubtful for the game Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He will be replaced in the lineup by Zach Dean.

"It’s been tough," Blues coach Jim Montgoomery said Saturday morning. "We’ve had four injuries that are 4-6 weeks minimum. But it’s an opportunity for our depth now. We’ve talked about in our organization having really good depth. We have a lot of really good young players, we have a lot of good veteran players. People are going to get opportunities."

The 28-year-old has played in three games for the Blues this season and has 128 points (58 goals, 70 assists) in 328 games with the Blues and Calgary Flames.

Dube joins Tyler Tucker (knee), Alexey Toropchenko (upper body) and Logan Mailloux (hand) out of the lineup.

Two Western Canadian Boys Fell In Love With St. Louis, Now Stand As Nos. 2-3 On All-Time Games Played List For BluesColton Parayko passed Barret Jackman for No. 2 on the all-time franchise games played list Thursday at 804 games; how an Albertan, British Columbian came to love the Gateway City to the West

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The New York Islanders and their fans have been holding their breath on the status of captain and star forward Bo Horvat. But they can breathe a sigh of relief, as he'll play on Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Horvat’s good, per Horvat. #Isles

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) October 10, 2026

Horvat entered concussion protocol after an illegal hit to the head late in Thursday's win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

The NHL suspended Frank Nazar, who threw the hit, for two games on Friday night for an illegal check.

However, the Islanders continued to evaluate Horvat since Thursday, and he skated with the team on Saturday morning as a full participant. 

Horvat leads the team in goals (4) and points (5) through the team's first four games of the season. 

The Islanders remain without Mathew Barzal, who has resumed skating on his own.