Category: NHL

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov had a natural hat trick and an assist — all in the third period — and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Buffalo Sabres 8-3 on Wednesday night for their fourth victory in five games.

Kucherov, the Russian star who requested a trade Oct. 30, had his eighth NHL hat trick after the Sabres scored three in a row to cut it to 4-3.

Brandon Hagel scored twice, John Carlson had a goal and four assists, and Scott Sabourin and Yanni Gourde also scored. Jake Guentzel had four assists, and Anthony Cirelli added three, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.

Josh Doan, Jason Zucker and Tage Thompson scored for the Sabres, who have lost three of their last four. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made nine saves on 14 shots and Colten Ellis stopped five of eight shots in relief.

Thompson cut it to 4-3 33 seconds into the third period, but Kucherov soon took over, scoring his first two in a 2:46 span.

RANGERS 3, FLAMES 1

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Mika Zibanejad scored twice in the second period, Joonas Korpisalo made 29 saves and New York beat Calgary for its fourth victory in five games.

Tye Kartye, into an empty net, also scored for New York (11-8-1).

Adam Klapka scored for Calgary (8-10-1). Devin Cooley stopped 21 shots.

Zibanejad opened the scoring 59 seconds into the second period.

Halfway through the second, Zibanejad fired a one-timer on a power play past Cooley after being setup on a cross-ice pass from Pavel Dorofeyev.

Glenn Gawdin, who broke into the NHL with the Flames, made his New York debut at fourth-line center. It was his 14th NHL game and first since March 6, 2024.

OILERS 3, FLYERS 2, OT

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Evan Bouchard scored on a one-timer from the left side 47 seconds into overtime and Edmonton beat Philadelphia for its third straight victory.

Bouchard leads NHL defenseman with 11 goals.

Connor McDavid picked up an assist in the second period to extend his season-starting points streak to 20 games, tying his career high and becoming the eighth player in NHL history with multiple 20-game streaks. The Oilers captain leads the league with 49 points.

Zach Hyman scored twice for Edmonton (14-3-3), which matched its second-best start in franchise history through 20 games. The Oilers are 12-0-2 when they score first this season.

Tristan Jarry made 30 saves to improve to 5-1-3.

Tyson Foerster and Travis Sanheim scored for Philadelphia (5-10-6), which has lost four of its last five. Dan Vladar stopped 21 shots.

VEGAS 5, UTAH 3

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mark Stone had an early assist to move within two points of breaking Vegas’ career scoring record, Ivan Barbashev scored twice in the second period and the Golden Knights beat Utah.

Stone helped set up Jack Eichel’s power-play goal at 2:15 of the first period to push his Vegas total to 416 points, one off Jonathan Marchessault’s mark.

Carter Hart made 14 saves to help Vegas open a five-game homestand with its fourth straight victory. Mitch Marner had three assists.

Victor Olofsson made it 2-1 on a power play at 3:07 of the second, then set up Barbashev’s goals at 4:51 and 8:16 — the second on a breakaway.

After Dmitri Simashev pulled Utah to 4-3 at 9:07 of the third, Brett Howden slipped a shot through traffic 1:12 later to push the lead back to two goals.

Lawson Crouse scored for Utah in the first period and set up Jack McBain’s second-period goal.

Sebastian Cossa stopped 23 shots for the Mammoth.

PREDATORS 4, DUCKS 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shane Wright, Nils Hoglander and Jayden Struble had a goal and an assist apiece, and Nashville extended its winning streak to six games with a victory over Anaheim.

Hoglander put Nashville ahead with a remarkable between-the-legs goal in the second period, and Justus Annunen made 27 saves to win his fourth consecutive start. Steven Stamkos also scored late in the third period.

One night after a comfortable shutout in Los Angeles, the Predators completed the Southern California sweep by cooling down the surging Ducks, whose five-game winning streak ended.

Cutter Gauthier extended the NHL’s most prolific seven-game goal scoring binge in more than three decades with a first-period score for Anaheim. Captain Mikael Granlund also had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who had been the first team since the 1988-89 Los Angeles Kings to score at least five goals in eight consecutive games.

Laurent Brossoit stopped 18 shots in his first loss in his five starts for Anaheim. The Ducks’ power play went 0 for 3 after scoring in eight consecutive games since Oct. 22.

PENGUINS 3, SHARKS 2, SO

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Ben Kindel scored in regulation and had the lone shootout goal and Pittsburgh beat San Jose after blowing a two-goal lead in third period.

San Jose star Macklin Celebrini scored with 8:28 left, and set up Mason Marchment’s tying goal with 4:11 remaining.

The Penguins then survived a San Jose power play for the final 43 seconds of overtime after Kris Letang was sent off for holding Sam Dickinson’s stick.

Sergei Murashov made 34 saves for the Penguins through overtime, then ended the tiebreaker by stopping Will Smith in the third round. Kindel scored on the first attempt of the shootout.

Samuel Girard opened the scoring for Pittsburgh on a slap shot at 8:57 of the first period, and Kindel connected on a power play at 3:28 of the third.

Yaroslav Askarov stopped 33 shots for San Jose.

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Evan Bouchard scored on a one-timer from the left side 47 seconds into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory.

Bouchard leads NHL defenseman with 11 goals.

Connor McDavid picked up an assist in the second period to extend his season-starting points streak to 20 games, tying his career high and becoming the eighth player in NHL history with multiple 20-game streaks. The Oilers captain leads the league with 49 points.

Zach Hyman scored twice for Edmonton (14-3-3), which matched its second-best start in franchise history through 20 games. The Oilers are 12-0-2 when they score first this season.

Tristan Jarry made 30 saves to improve to 5-1-3.

Tyson Foerster and Travis Sanheim scored for Philadelphia (5-10-6), which has lost four of its last five. Dan Vladar stopped 21 shots.

Philadelphia defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen returned after missing seven games after aggravating an upper-body injury he suffered against Anaheim on Oct. 24.

Up next

Flyers: At Columbus on Saturday night.

Oilers: At Toronto on Saturday night.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

The Vancouver Canucks seem to have developed a fondness for former Ottawa Senators.

Both players the Senators have lost on waivers this season are now members of the Canucks organization, following Vancouver's claim of defenceman Cameron Crotty from the Minnesota Wild this week.

The Senators placed Crotty on waivers in late October, hoping to send him to Belleville. Instead, the Minnesota Wild claimed the 27-year-old Ottawa native, bringing his time with his hometown club to an end.

But Crotty's NHL stay in Minnesota turned out to be brief.

This week, the Wild attempted to send him to their own AHL affiliate by placing him back on waivers. That's when the Canucks stepped in, putting in a successful claim of their own.

Crotty was originally selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft. The 6-foot-3, right-shot defenceman appeared in six games for the Senators last season and another three this season before being placed on waivers.

He was primarily a depth option for the Senators, providing insurance on D while splitting his time between the NHL and AHL.

In hindsight, the Sens might have been wise to keep Crotty around as their seventh D instead of 21-year-old Carter Yakemchuk, who's been a healthy scratch in five the past six games.

As for Meriläinen, the Canucks got him directly from the Senators on September 25 after the Senators exposed him to waivers during training camp. Meriläinen will best be remembered here for his fantastic run as the club's emergency starter two years ago. 

In 12 appearances in relief of injured goalies Linus Ullmark and Anton Forsberg, Meriläinen went 8-3-1 with a 1.99 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. Without him, the Sens probably would have missed the playoffs for an eighth straight season.

That led the Sens to believe he was ready for full-time backup duty last season, but things didn't pan out. He appeared in 20 NHL games, posting an 8-10-1 record with a 3.51 goals-against average and an .860 save percentage. He was eventually sent back to Belleville and replaced with free agent backup James Reimer.

Crotty and Meriläinen weren't expected to play a major role in Ottawa this season, but losing both assets for nothing wasn't ideal. That's how it goes when you have a team with depth. The rules are set up to make sure NHL-level players don't get buried in the minors.

Of course, both men are glad to be wanted in the NHL, but at 3-16-1, they're now hoping the Canucks have better days ahead.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa 

With Erik Karlsson returning to the SAP Center once again on Wednesday night, it seems apropos to take a look back at the trade that sent him out of the Bay Area and to the Steel City.

The initial trade was completed on August 3, 2026 and was as follows. Erik Karlsson ($1.5 million retained), Dillon Hamaliuk, and a 2026 third-round draft pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins with Mikael Granlund, Mike Hoffman, Jan Rutta, and a 2024 first-round pick heading to the San Jose Sharks. 

Penguins' Half of the Tree

First, we'll address the Penguins side of things, simply because it's a little quicker.

Erik Karlsson is still patrolling the Penguins' blue line and is still performing at a point-per-game pace. With that being said, he's going to continue being in the rumor mill for the foreseeable future unless the Penguins either trade him or start performing at a higher level to compete for a playoff spot.

Hamaliuk, the Sharks' 55th overall selection in the 2019 NHL Draft, wasn't offered a qualifying offer at the end of the 2023-24 season and became a free agent. Currently, he is unsigned and most recently played for the ECHL's Fort Wayne Komets last season.

The third-round pick was then traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Elmer Soderblom in March of 2026. It continued to be a trade asset when the Red Wings then sent it to the St. Louis Blues as part of a deal to bring Justin Faulk to the Motor City. Last but not least, the Blues traded the pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs as a part of a package for Brandon Carlo. The Maple Leafs selected Zac Olsen with the pick.

The Sharks' Tree

Now, we'll take a look at how the trade broke down for the Sharks. First off, Jan Rutta and Mike Hoffman's contracts expired. Hoffman's at the end of the 2023-24 season and Rutta's the following summer.

Granlund was traded to the Dallas Stars along with defenseman Cody Ceci ahead of the 2025 Trade Deadline. The Sharks got the Stars' 2025 first-round pick and a 2025 fourth-round pick that originally belonged to the Winnipeg Jets in return. The Sharks used the picks to select Joshua Ravensbergen and Zack Sharp respectively.

The Sharks then packaged the first-round pick which ended up being 14th overall with a second-round pick that originally belonged to the New Jersey Devils to move up to the 11th overall selection in the 2025 NHL Draft which they used to select Sam Dickinson. The Buffalo Sabres, who received the two picks, selected Konsta Helenius and Adam Kleber.

The Sharks still have $1.5 million of Karlsson's cap hit, but his current contract is set to expire at the end of the season.

All-in-all, the Karlsson trade directly resulted in the addition of two of the Sharks' top young assets in Dickinson and Ravensbergen. It's safe to say three years down the line, things seem to have worked out for the Sharks.

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Mika Zibanejad scored twice in the second period, Joonas Korpisalo made 29 saves and the New York Rangers beat the Calgary Flames 3-1 on Wednesday night for their fourth victory in five games.

Tye Kartye, into an empty net, also scored for New York (11-8-1).

Adam Klapka scored for Calgary (8-10-1). Devin Cooley stopped 21 shots.

Zibanejad opened the scoring 59 seconds into the second period.

Halfway through the second, Zibanejad fired a one-timer on a power play past Cooley after being setup on a cross-ice pass from Pavel Dorofeyev.

Glenn Gawdin, who broke into the NHL with the Flames, made his New York debut at fourth-line center. It was his 14th NHL game and first since March 6, 2024.

Up next

Rangers: At Vancouver on Friday night.

Flames: At Los Angeles on Saturday night.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

CALGARY, Alberta — Mika Zibanejad scored one of the biggest goals of his hockey career inside the Scotiabank Saddledome. 

There were other notable moments here that followed, like the time he recorded a natural hat trick in 2 minutes, 38 seconds to set a franchise record for the fastest hat trick in Senators history in February 2016. 

But the golden goal he scored at 18 years old in overtime for Sweden in the 2012 World Junior Championship to end his country’s 31-year gold medal drought at the tournament was a defining moment of his career. 

So to say farewell to the rinky-dink barn in its last season as home to the Flames, Zibanejad did what he does best in this building and scored twice in a 3-1 win. 

“Yeah, I don’t mind [playing here],” No. 93 said with a smile. “It’s too bad that they’re moving.” 

The Blueshirts have desperately needed more 5-on-5 production from their top two centers. 

Zibanejad (1) and captain J.T. Miller (3) entered Wednesday’s game combining for approximately 11 percent of the Rangers’ total 5-on-5 goals (35). 

The two are also key pieces of the power play, which went 0-for-5 in Edmonton and hasn’t quite found a groove yet. 

While Zibanejad’s play away from the puck has been effective and Miller has generated an abundance of scoring chances as one of the hardest-working Rangers below the hash marks, the team has suffered at times without the necessary scoreboard impact from those two. 

The 33-year-old Zibanejad registered his first multigoal game of the season and his 43rd as a Ranger to tie Andy Bathgate for the fifth most in franchise history Wednesday night. 

Intentionally banking the puck off Flames goalie Devin Cooley off the rush, Zibanejad put the Rangers up 1-0 less than a minute into the second period. The Swedish center then blasted a one-timer from his sweet spot in the left circle on the Rangers power play just over 10 minutes later. 

The power-play goal was his second of the season and first since Game 2. It also tied Zibanejad with Daniel Sedin for the second-most power-play goals (138) in NHL history among Swedish players. 

Plus, with two goals in the second period, Zibanejad tied Steve Vickers for the second-most multigoal periods in Rangers history (26). 

“He’s so important to our team,” head coach Mike Sullivan said of Zibanejad. “He drives offense in so many ways. He drives his line. He drives offense on the power play. He just impacts the game in so many different ways. Obviously, when he’s scoring goals, it’s good for him, it’s good for us.” 

Rangers goalie Joonas Korpisalo, appearing in his second game of the season, made the standout play of a scoreless opening 20 minutes. Quite frankly, it was the play of the game. 

Zayne Parekh was showing off some wizardry with the puck, dangling Glenn Gawdin in his Rangers debut before skating around all the traffic in the zone. 

As the 20-year-old Calgary defenseman attempted to score on a wraparound, Korpisalo purposely dropped his stick and stretched his whole body across the crease to get his blocker glove in front of the puck. 

It was one of just three high-danger chances for the Flames through the first period, but the Rangers only had four of their own, according to Natural Stat Trick. 

Korpisalo ultimately stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced in his second victory of the season. 

“That was a heck of a play by him,” Korpisalo said of Parekh, who was a menace with the puck more than once throughout the night. “He got me swimming. It’s just straight desperation. Dropped my stick to get my leverage, get my blocker there and I got lucky.”

The Pittsburgh Penguins have begun their three-game California road swing an even 1-1, and Wednesday, they will look to come away with a winning record when they take on the San Jose Sharks.

And, presumably, they'll be doing so with a different lineup. 

On Tuesday, the Penguins held a practice in Anaheim before heading to San Jose, and they debuted some new line combinations. The top line of Rickard Rakell, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin remained untouched, but the other three lines saw a little bit of an overhaul. 

Nick Robertson earned a promotion to the second line with Ben Kindel and Egor Chinakhov, while Tommy Novak slid back to the center position on the third line between Ville Koivunen and Justin Brazeau, with Hendrix Lapierre out. In addition, forward Rutger McGroarty appears to be taking Lapierre's spot in the lineup, and he was placed on the fourth line with Blake Lizotte and Connor Dewar. 

Head coach Dan Muse also confirmed that rookie goaltender Sergei Murashov, who earned his first victory of the season in a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings Saturday. Sam Girard, who missed practice with a "maintenance day" Tuesday, will probably slot back in. 

Here are the projected lines and pairings for Sunday's matchup:

Forwards
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin
Egor Chinakhov-Ben Kindel-Nick Robertson
Ville Koivunen-Tommy Novak-Justin Brazeau
Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Rutger McGroarty

Defensemen
Spencer Stastney-Erik Karlsson
Sam Girard-Kaedan Korczak
Declan Carlile-Kris Letang

Penguins' Nick Robertson Primed To Get Another Shot In Top-Six, Where He Never Should Have LeftThe 25-year-old Penguins' forward has been one of the team's best forwards all season despite playing in a limited role

The Sharks have not exactly come out the gate on fire to start the season, as they are 8-11-1 and are 3-7 in their last 10. They added some veterans to complement their youth this summer to try to take the next step toward playoff contention, including defensemen Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba, who are a combined minus-11 this season.

Of course, the player to watch is always 20-year-old superstar Macklin Celebrini, who has seven goals and 21 points in 18 games this season for the Sharks. Their next-closest point producer is center Will Smith with 13 points in 20 games. 

This sheds light on the Sharks' minus-20 goal differential, which is the fourth-worst mark in the league behind only the Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, and Vancouver Canucks. 

Puck drop is set for 10:00 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh. You can also listen to the game on 105.9 'The X."

Former Penguins 64-Point Forward Placed On LTIR After Scary PlayThis former Penguins forward is going to be out long-term.

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

Why Sharks fans must be patient amid disappointing start to 2026-27 NHL season 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.

Macklin Celebrini, no doubt, accelerated the Sharks’ timeline last year.

I don’t know if anybody expected the then-19-year-old to put up an MVP-caliber campaign, and in the season before he was eligible for a July 1 extension.

So it makes sense that Sharks general manager Mike Grier cashed some chips in to acquire expensive veterans like Mason Marchment, Kiefer Sherwood, Jacob Trouba, Darnell Nurse and Michael Kesselring, in part to help Celebrini.

The early returns, a quarter into the 2026-27 NHL season, aren’t great though: The Sharks are 8-11-2, with just two regulation wins so far this season.

That’s on the veterans. But it’s also on the Sharks’ cavalcade of recent high draft picks, all of them showing flashes of elite talent, but still not quite reliable every night contributors.

That’s a tall order, of course, for any young player. There’s pretty much no one like Celebrini … except, perhaps, his counterpart on Wednesday night, Sidney Crosby.

In 2006-07, Crosby won the Hart Trophy as a 19-year-old, leading the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup playoff appearance since 2001.

Last year, Celebrini was almost just as great, finishing fourth in the MVP voting, and leading the Sharks within four points of the playoffs.

The next year, Crosby led the Penguins to the 2008 Stanley Cup Final.

The differences between the 2007-08 Penguins and this year’s Sharks aren’t, full credit to Celebrini, really between Crosby and Celebrini, though. Both are transcendent players, already among the best in the league.

But look at the rest of those Pens: Evgeni Malkin, 21, finished second in the Hart Trophy voting. Jordan Staal, 19, was already a playoff-caliber middle-six center. Marc-Andre Fleury, 23, was one of the better goalies in the league. Along with Crosby, these were all top-two picks who were already true NHL stars or high-level contributors.

In addition, Pittsburgh had a legit No. 1 defenseman, the underrated and should-be in the Hall of Fame Sergei Gonchar. And their depth, up and down the lineup, was superior. San Jose’s depth, speaking on Grier’s behalf, was the problem that he was trying to solve when he acquired Sherwood and company. No one is under any illusions that Nurse or Trouba are bona fide No. 1 defensemen in this league.

Celebrini, and this is no disrespect to the likes of high picks like Will Smith, Michael Misa, Ivar Stenberg, Sam Dickinson, and Yaroslav Askarov, doesn’t have Crosby’s kind of help…yet.

He will, I think.

Askarov, the oldest of the bunch, is already starting to show more consistency than he did last year, his first full season as starter. Twenty-one-year-old Smith, 19-year-old Misa and 20-year-old Dickinson are clearly better than they were last year, even if their numbers aren’t there. And the best of the bunch could be the most recent top pick, 2026 second-overall Stenberg, who has put together some of his best games in the NHL recently. They’re not Fleury, Malkin, Staal, and Gonchar yet, but there’s a good chance that at least of couple of these young guns could get close.

So be patient, Sharks fans. This season so far has been a little bit of a disappointment, considering all the hype, generated in part by Celebrini’s incredible sophomore season.

But the kids clearly are getting better, that’s the important thing. Celebrini is getting high-level help soon, and it’s going to come from within. It just might take a few more months or another year longer than you’d like.

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You can be doing a lot of things in Las Vegas on Wednesday evening. Go gambling, eat some good food, and watch a show. Yet no one in the city will be thinking of that, as all eyes will be on T-Mobile Arena. It’s fight night.

For the first time since late April, when Brett Howden scored the double-overtime winning goal in Game 5, giving the Vegas Golden Knights a 3-2 lead in the first round, the Utah Mammoth will return to Sin City, where the beginning of the end of their 2025-26 season happened.

BRETT HOWDEN CALLS GAME!!! ✅

VEGAS WINS GAME 5 IN @ENERGIZER DOUBLE OT! #StanleyCuppic.twitter.com/5xiFHLANGU

— NHL (@NHL) April 30, 2026

After the dramatic Game 5 victory, the Golden Knights beat the Mammoth 5-1 in Game 6 in Salt Lake City to punch their tickets to Round 2. The Golden Knights went on to be within just two games of the Stanley Cup. Meanwhile, the Mammoth players went home, bitter and frustrated that they still weren’t playing. That feeling, six months later, still lingers a bit.

“We know the task at hand, but we just got to take it one game at a time,” Lawson Crouse said. “It’s a great opportunity to get a little redemption. I’d say everyone knows what happened, but just looking forward to it.”

It’s clear that the Mammoth’s rivalry with the Golden Knights is the biggest one they currently have. While battles between the Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche have heated up, it’s obvious the relationship with the Golden Knights is special. Once you fight a team in the playoffs, especially if it’s as intense as the series was between these two, it’s just different.

For people who don’t remember, the first-round series in the last playoffs between these two was close until Game 6. The first five games were decided by at most two goals. Game 4 and Game 5 both went into overtime. There were crazy hits and viral moments, headlined by the Logan Cooley and Nic Dowd spat in Game 1. The Mammoth are expecting something like that physicality and bad blood to resurface on Wednesday night.

Nic Dowd had some choice words for Logan Cooley after being bloodied late in the third 👀 pic.twitter.com/K4wqH7gnzR

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 20, 2026

“I'm sure there'll be some stuff, but we just have to keep our emotions in check and keep things between the whistles and be smart and disciplined,” O’Brien said.

Yet, there was a sense of calmness on Wednesday morning, hours ahead of the rematch. The Mammoth held an optional practice, with smiles and chirping going around the team. 

This is a different Mammoth team than the one the Golden Knights faced back in April and May. The team added quite a few new faces, like Anders Lee, Vincent Trocheck, Andrew Peeke, and Sebastian Cossa, who is projected to start on Wednesday. Former faces who played a big role in the series, like Ian Cole, are gone.

Even players like Kailer Yamamoto, who led the Mammoth in postseason scoring, probably won’t play on Wednesday. The team is pretty banged up, with John Marino, Nate Schmidt, Dylan Guenther, and Yamamoto all injured. Coming off a long, rough five-game road trip, the Mammoth needed a break. Luckily, going into this game, they did have three days off, some much-needed time away from playing games.

“It was huge,” head coach André Tourigny said. “At the end of the trip, I think everybody was tired. I like the way our guys fought and everything. But mentally, physically, we were a little bit drained. The way we managed it with two short practices, with a lot of energy, a lot of pace, a lot of smiles. I think that was good. We all feel good today. Talk to the players, talk to myself, the coaches. We feel energized.”

However, it’s due to the departures, the injuries, and the new faces that surround the Mammoth that make Tourigny think there won’t be a lot of spillover from the playoffs. However, like everyone else, the longtime head coach wouldn’t mind seeing some of that drama, physicality, and competitiveness return from last spring.

“I would not mind,” Tourigny said. “We will play a hard game. I think they will play a hard game. It's a good team. We will go at each other. We need the two points. They need the two points. I think there will be a lot of pride. But normally, those things when you expect something, there's nothing that happens, and when you don't expect it, something is happening. We'll be watching.”

A lot of people will be watching, as the game will be nationally televised on TNT. The anticipation is high. Will someone like O’Brien or Jack McBain make a massive physical play early on to continue that rivalry we saw in the postseason, or will this turn out to be a mild game, letting down the fans who will be tuned in to this one? Don’t be disappointed if this isn’t the all-out brawl it’s hyped up to be.

Regardless of how many fights, goals, and saves there are on Wednesday, there’s no doubt that by the end of the 60 minutes, these two teams will be reminded that they are two of the best teams in the Western Conference for a reason. The second game in early December between them could be more of a return to the level we saw in the playoffs, depending on what happens in this one.

At the end of the day, as Tourigny said, there are two points on the line. That is the Mammoth’s priority. Coming out early and stunning the energetic crowd in Las Vegas is the goal.

“Coming out flying with pace, that's our strength,” O’Brien said. “We just need to fly and skate, and that's when we have success. It's when we're at our best.”

Wednesday might be a different battle than most expect, with new faces on both teams and some familiar faces gone. It should be a very good hockey game nevertheless. Don’t worry, though. Knowing these two teams, they’re ready to rumble. No matter what their rosters look like, there should be some fireworks and flaring tempers.

The Buffalo Sabres are having an okay start to the season, as they have an 8-6-3 record and are sixth in the Atlantic Division. 

Yet, with the Atlantic Division being so competitive, the Sabres should be looking to add to their roster through the trade market. When looking at trade candidates around the NHL, Washington Capitals forward Ivan Miroshnichenko is standing out as an intriguing potential target to consider. 

Miroshnichenko was recently given permission to seek a trade from the Capitals, and the Sabres would be wise to kick tires on him because of it.

Miroshnichenko has had trouble breaking out at the NHL level, but a change of scenery could be what helps him change that. The 2022 first-round pick has good potential and skill, so he would be a fascinating player for a Sabres club that needs more offense to take a gamble on. 

In three games this season with the Capitals, Miroshnichenko has scored one goal. This is after he had two goals and three points in 13 games this past season for the Capitals. While he has not taken off offensively yet, perhaps getting a fresh start on a team like the Sabres would help him do so. 

Ultimately, with the Sabres being a team focused on both the present and the future, they would be wise to consider targeting the 22-year-old. It will be interesting to see if they do just that from here. 

The Vegas Golden Knights return home after an Eastern Conference road trip where they won three in a row and picked up seven of eight points. They’ll look to continue their winning ways at home as they begin a five-game homestand against the Utah Mammoth.

Puck drop is scheduled for 6:38 p.m. PST. 

The Golden Knights last played on Sunday against the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres were the better team early, but Adin Hill kept the game tied 0-0 after the first period. In the second, Mitch Marner broke the ice shorthanded, and Jack Eichel scored the eventual game-winner; after Buffalo struck in the third, Hertl scored a pair of goals to secure a 4-1 victory for the Golden Knights.

This will be the final game of a six-game road trip for the Mammoth, who last played on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators. They chased the game all night and gave up a late third-period goal, leading to a 4-2 loss.

Carter Hart was the first goaltender off the ice, and he’ll start in net for the Golden Knights. Hart has a 5-3-2 record and an average save percentage of .900 in 10 games played this season.

Sebastian Cossa is projected to start in net for the Mammoth. Cossa has a 4-1-1 record and an average save percentage of .871 in seven games played this season.

Golden Knights Lines

Trevor Connelly — Jack Eichel — Mark Stone

Brett Howden — William Karlsson — Mitch Marner

Ivan Barbashev — Tomáš Hertl — Victor Olofsson

Marc Gatcomb — Nic Dowd — Braeden Bowman

Defense

Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore

Jeremy Lauzon — Rasmus Andersson

Parker Wotherspoon — Dylan Coghlan

Goaltenders: Carter Hart / Adin Hill

Projected Mammoth Lines

Anders Lee — Barrett Hayton — Clayton Keller

Logan Cooley — Vincent Trocheck — Lawson Crouse

Jack McBain — Nick Schmaltz — Dylan Guenther

Michael Carcone — Kevin Stenlund — Liam O’Brien

Defense

Mikhail Sergachev — Mackenzie Weegar

Dmitri Simashev — Andrew Peeke

Artem Duda — Nick DeSminome

Goaltenders: Sebastian Cossa / Karel Vejmelka

Special Teams

VGK power play: 26.3%, 9th

VGK penalty kill: 76.5%, 19th

Mammoth power play: 37.1%, 2nd

Mammoth penalty kill: 69.6%, 27th

Game Notes

Last year, the Golden Knights lost two of three games against the Mammoth during the regular season, finishing 1-2-0. They are 3-3-0 against Utah all time in the regular season.

The Golden Knights and the Mammoth matched up in the first round of the playoffs, and Vegas won the series in six games.  

Jack Eichel leads the Golden Knights in scoring this season with 24 points in 19 games. Eichel has two goals and six points in six career regular-season games against the Mammoth. 

Clayton Keller leads the Mammoth in scoring this season with 24 points in 18 games. Keller has 10 goals and 26 points in 34 career regular-season games against the Golden Knights.

This will be Carter Hart’s first career regular-season game against the Mammoth.

This will be Sebastian Cossa’s first career game against the Golden Knights. 

We’re on Milestone Watch! Brayden McNabb is one point away from 200 career points.

Milestone alert! Shea Theodore skated in his 600th game as a Golden Knight on Sunday against the Buffalo Sabres.

Milestone alert! On Sunday against Buffalo, Mitch Marner recorded his 100th point as a Golden Knight, becoming the fastest player to do so in just 98 games.

The Golden Knights are 6-3-0 at home this season; the Mammoth are 6-5-1 on the road.

There’s a little unfinished business between Utah and Vegas.

The Mammoth return to T-Mobile Arena Wednesday night for the first time since their six-game playoff series against the Golden Knights, and fans won’t have to look far for a reason to be excited about this matchup.

Utah (10-7-1) faces Vegas (12-5-2) at 7:30 p.m. MT. Three of the six playoff games last season were decided by a single goal, so these teams are no strangers to close, hard-fought hockey.

The Mammoth are coming off a 4-2 loss to Ottawa, with captain Clayton Keller and Barrett Hayton scoring. Logan Cooley leads Utah with 11 goals, while Keller has been the team’s biggest playmaker with 24 points.

Vegas has been a tough team to crack this season, allowing the fifth-fewest goals per game in the NHL. The Golden Knights are also coming off a 4-1 win over Buffalo, where Tomas Hertl scored twice.

Utah knows it will have to work for its chances. Getting bodies in front of the net, winning battles down low and avoiding costly turnovers will be important against a Vegas team that is dangerous in transition.

The Mammoth do have one major strength to lean on: their power play. Utah ranks second in the NHL at 37.1%, while Vegas sits ninth at 26.3%.

Wednesday also marks the final game of Utah’s six-game road trip. The Mammoth return home Thursday to begin a five-game homestand, starting with the St. Louis Blues.

The teams will meet twice more this season, with another matchup in Vegas on Dec. 3 before closing out the series April 3 in Utah.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT. The game will air on TNT, truTV and HBO Max.

The New York Rangers’ Wednesday night game against the Calgary Flames will mark the first time Brennan Othmann faces off against his former team.

Othmann had high expectations upon being selected in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft by the Rangers.

However, his game never quite translated to the NHL level, as he spent a large chunk of his tenure with the Blueshirts playing in the American Hockey League for the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The 23-year-old forward spent his final two seasons with the Rangers organization getting sent up and down from the AHL to the NHL, playing a total of 39 NHL games while struggling to carve out a permanent role in New York.

During the 2025-26 season, Othmann played in 17 games with the Rangers and 26 with the Wolf Pack, a stretch he described as “egregious.”

On Mar. 6, Othmann was traded to the Flames in exchange for forward prospect Jacob Battaglia.

“It was obvious that it wasn’t really gonna work out,” Othmann said of his time with the Rangers via Vincent Mercogliano of The Athletic. 

Othmann described his departure from the Rangers as a “mutual thing,” while expressing frustration with the organization over a lack of opportunity.

“Just opportunity, I feel like,” Othmann said about why it didn’t work out with the Rangers via Mollie Walker of The New York Post. “I felt like when (ex-head coach Peter Laviolette) was there, I played a couple of games with (Panarin) and (Trocheck). I thought I played really well. You lose some games and stuff changes around. And then last year, I played a few games with (Will Cuylle) and (Noah Laba), and I thought we were playing well. And then a lot of people look at the product on the ice and look at stats and stuff like that too.”

All these months following the trade, Othmann is excited about the opportunity to face off against the Rangers and his former teammates.

“I’m looking forward to playing against those guys, for sure,” Othmann said. “I think it’s going to be an exciting game for everyone, for myself too, selfishly, … a couple guys already giving it to me this morning, so it’s always fun when everyone rallies around you for a game like that.”

Despite making the Flames' opening-night roster out of training camp, Othmann played in just six games before suffering an upper-body injury on Oct. 28 against the Edmonton Oilers.

“Obviously, it doesn’t feel good anytime you sit out when you’re hurt or a healthy scratch, so just been trying to grind, get back in the lineup as fast as I can,” Othmann said. “I’m just happy to be back and a full-go…

“I thought I was playing well. I know a lot of people look at … the stat sheet at the end of games, and I know it may not look like the prettiest, but I feel like I was playing pretty good hockey. I was getting good feedback from the coaching staff.”

Likely playing in a fourth-line role on Wednesday night, Othmann will have a chip on his shoulder, and he didn’t shy away from it.

Othmann has been searching for a permanent NHL role for years with the Rangers and now has the opportunity presented right in front of him in Calgary.

“The goal at the start of the year was,” Othmann said. “To win the trade, in a sense, I guess. To make the team and prove that I am an NHL player. I think I have been doing that and I just want to keep doing that. … There’s definitely a little fire going into (Wednesday), so I’m looking forward to it.”

On Tuesday, former Winnipeg Jets forward Evander Kane has signed a new deal overseas, agreeing to terms with Sibir of the KHL.  It will not be Kane's first stint in the Russian league as he played for Dinamo Minsk during the 2012-13 NHL lockout.

The move is surprising, given reports that the 35-year-old, who was selected fourth overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009, had multiple offers to remain in North America. It is not clear whether those were NHL contracts, minor-league deals to play in the AHL, ECHL, or opportunities elsewhere.

Kane most recently played for his hometown Vancouver Canucks, finishing this past season with 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points in 71 games.

🇨🇦 Evander Kane is heading to Novosibirsk! pic.twitter.com/hfQTuzvpVG

— KHL (@khl_eng) November 10, 2026

Off-ice concerns have followed him throughout his career, including long-standing reports of conflicts in the locker room. This past September, former teammate Kurtis Gabriel described Kane as habitually late to team meetings and routinely unprofessional in how he dressed. Gabriel also called him a bully who leaned on his toughness to intimidate teammates.

Kane responded on social media with a cryptic message. "I can't wait for the day I decide to share my truths. The only difference? Mine will come with facts, receipts, and the actual truth," he wrote.

"A lot of people have become far too comfortable speaking publicly while relying on my silence. Enjoy it while it lasts. There are plenty of bombs with plenty of names attached."

Between 2013 and 2021, Kane also faced legal controversies, gambling-related debt and bankruptcy, and an NHL investigation into match-fixing that cleared him of betting on games, along with repeated reports of conflicts with teammates.

Now Kane will take his game to Russia, where he will face some of the best talent the country has to offer.

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