Category: Ice Hockey

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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The Detroit Red Wings have struggled to score goals lately, and those struggles have been on full display over their last several games.

Following Detroit’s 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday evening, their fourth straight defeat, the Red Wings have scored just four goals over their last four games. That stretch included a 4-0 shutout loss against their former Western Conference rival Colorado Avalanche.

Afterward, forward Alex DeBrincat, whom Detroit relies upon for scoring, said that the club needs to continue working hard to generate chances and thereby increase their confidence. 

"Just have to keep working hard; it doesn’t come easy," said DeBrincat. "We've got to get around the net more and I think overall, we’re trying to create our chances. It’s tough to create that confidence, so we got to find a way to be confident in ourselves, make the play, and put it in the back of the net.”

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"I think overall, we got to be better creating stuff in the first two periods," he continued. "Waited too long to get anything going and yeah, it’s tough to come back in this League.”

The Red Wings did strike first in the opening 20 minutes of play thanks to forward Andrew Copp, who netted his third goal of the season. But former Red Wings forward Pius Suter knotted the score early in the second period, followed by a goal from Justin Barron.

Jimmy Snuggerud gave the Blues insurance with a goal late in the third period; Detroit drew closer with goaltender John Gibson on the bench thanks to Moritz Seider's first goal of the campaign, but weren't able to come up with the equalizer despite a mad scramble in the game's final seconds. 

"We scrapped a way back into a game and had a chance to pull the goalie at the end," said head coach Todd McLellan. "But obviously, when you give up three and you’re only getting one or two a night, you’re not going to win, or you’re not getting points.”

The game featured the return of both Marco Kasper and Mason Appleton, both of whom missed over a month with injury. 

The Red Wings will face two straight divisional opponents, the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, on the road for their next two contests. 

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Once upon a time, long, long ago, there were two monthly sport magazines. One was simply called Sport. It began publishing after World War II and included the very best writers who scribbled about all the major leagues – including the NHL.

Sport was so successful that a writer named Bruce Jacobs launched a competitor monthly and called it Sport Life. I remember it well – so well that in my collection of hockey scrapbooks, I saved a Sport Life hockey article. Oddly enough it was not about the NHL although it did include the Rangers.

The article – authored by Jacobs, himself – was titled "MINOR LEAGUE, BUT MIGHTY GOOD."

It was all about the AHL's Cleveland Barons and its owner Al Sutphin. Few in today's hockey world ever heard of Al Sutphin but he was just inducted into the AHL Hall of Fame for a very good reason.

From the post-World War II years – and well through the 1960's – Al Sutphin built the Barons into a big league franchise in every – farm system and all – way except admittance to the NHL.

Sutphin's Barons were a kind of Rangers' farm team."We were close," said Rangers manager Frank Boucher, "because Sutphin's teams had NHL calibre players that we dealt for them more than a few times."

One of the best was defenseman Hy Buller – once a member of the New York Rovers – who made it to the NHL Second All-Star Team in his rookie year with the Blueshirts.

Another was right wing Wally Hergesheimer who instantly made a goal-scoring hit as a Ranger. 

"Sutphin's Barons belonged in the NHL as its seventh team," recalls The Old Scout, "but politics – NHL power broker Conn Smythe – intervened. Unfortunately the Cleveland Arena only held 10,000 seats which was just a bit too small compared to NHL standards."

Too bad, because Sutphin's Barons – in so many ways – was better than the Chicago Black Hawks; maybe even the Blueshirts – in that Original Six era.

But that's old business; the new and refreshing story is that Al Sutphin has finally been dutifully recognized by the AHL for a lot things summed by a long ago headline:

MINOR LEAGUE BUT MIGHTY GOOD.

On Tuesday, NHL Network analyst and former NHL goaltender Kevin Weekes reported on X, that Philadelphia Flyers winger Matvei Michkov has the preference to be traded.

Weekes said a move is Michkov's preference and tied it to the Flyers' poor start to the season and what he described as "internal turmoil" within the organization. Michkov was the seventh overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

According to Sportsnet's Frank Seravalli, Philadelphia GM Daniel Briere has no plans to trade the Russian star anytime soon.

The situation appears similar to that of Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson, who is also seeking a new deal and reportedly also has the preference of being traded. 

It sparked conversation around how both clubs could theoretically help each other with a potential swap. Both players need new contracts as Edvinsson is a restricted free agent, and Michkov is a pending RFA which could set up a dual sign-and-trade, with both players signing new deals and swapping teams.

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Michkov would be a far more expensive acquisition than Edvinsson as the high-end winger has produced 50-plus points in back-to-back seasons and is expected to top 60 for the second time in his first three NHL campaigns. His upside is considerable at just 21 years old, and his price tag would likely reflect it.

Detroit's rebuild has leaned heavily on prospects and young players, and many have yet to produce at the NHL level. Nate Danielson, Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Edvinsson himself remain blue-chip talents who are young enough to develop into stars, but none has yet proven it in the NHL. Rather than keep waiting on that group, the Red Wings could opt for a proven commodity.

Detroit also has ample cap space to give him whatever contract Michkov wants for the foreseeable future. Landing him would give the Red Wings another young centerpiece who can reliably produce 50-plus points on offense, while prospects like Carter Bear, Max Plante and others continue to develop. It would also boost the current roster without costing it anything outside of Edvinsson departing for the City of Brotherly Love.

An offer could be built around a promising defenseman like Edvinsson and highly sought after position in center with Danielson, with draft picks and other assets possibly added. For Philadelphia, it could present a package that would let the team hit the reset button and get a promising return while two young players could get exactly what they want.

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The Anaheim Ducks are in the midst of a five-game winning streak, and entering Wednesday, they sit in third place in the Pacific Division standings with 21 points in 18 games. They’ve scored 26 goals in their last five games and have scored five or more in their last eight games. 

However good their offense has been this season, mostly due to possessing the NHL’s top power play, they’ve given nearly everything back on the defensive end. They’re presently the youngest team in the NHL, averaging 26.45 years of age on their 23-man roster, contributing to most of their issues with details and inexperience. 

Takeaways from the Ducks 5-2 Win over the Penguins

Ducks Boast NHL's Top Power Play, Analyzing the Top Unit's Success

They’re about to inject a veteran star player directly into their forward group, as it is reportedly “likely” that Troy Terry (29) will make his season debut on Wednesday, when the Ducks host the Nashville Predators. 

Terry missed the first 18 games of the season recovering from an offseason hip surgery he underwent on June 9, 2026. He was given an estimated 5-6 month timetable; Monday, Nov. 9 marked five months. He’s been skating for a few weeks, including the last 11 days with the team, in a full-contact jersey. 

From Jan. 2026 until the Ducks were eliminated from the playoffs by the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round, Terry rarely skated at any point outside of games, including practices and morning skates. During the entirety of their playoff run, he only skated during games, playing through injury and finishing the season with 57 points (19-38=57) in 61 regular season games and adding 11 points (3-8=11) in 12 playoff games. 

“When you start the year not with the team, you just feel very much removed,” Terry said after his first practice on Oct. 31. “Full summer, then rehab, and just feel removed from playing hockey. And then it’s hard to not be around the guys as much.”

Terry will wear an “A” on his sweater, as he was announced as part of the leadership group that will wear letters this season, along with captain Mikael Granlund and fellow alternates Jackson LaCombe, Leo Carlsson, and Alex Killorn. 

“I haven’t had someone try and take the puck from me since game six against Vegas,” Terry said when asked about how it felt to battle in practice. “So it’s just being on the ice with the other guys was a little foreign. We have a fast team, so just being out there, the speed was good. I felt good.”

Terry skated on a line with center Tim Washe and rookie winger Nico Myatovic on the Ducks’ listed third line during Tuesday’s practice. Head coach Joel Quenneville typically refrains from altering a lineup that won the previous game, but he’s been struggling to find consistency in that spot on the third line between wingers Frank Vatrano and Sam Colangelo. 

“I’m really excited,” Myatovic said after practice on Tuesday. “We all know what Troy can do on the ice, but he’s been huge (for me). I remember my first training camp; I played my first preseason game, and he actually just took the time to come aside and ask how things were in juniors and all these different things. I always remember that, and now I get to be on a line with him in a real regular season game. It’s pretty cool.”

Most of the Ducks’ biggest struggles this season have been defensive: rush defense, breakouts, coverage. Many of those struggles stem from the roster forwards’ inability to help their extremely young defensemen in those situations as they navigate expected growing pains. The Ducks are outscoring their problems, but they can only do that for so long before their 5v5 play catches up to them.

On the season at 5v5 to date, the Ducks are 19th in the NHL in terms of goals-for percentage (47.9%), 21st in shots-on-goal share (48%), and 22nd in shot attempts share (48.4%). The addition of Terry, a 5v5 driver throughout the prime of his career, can significantly boost those numbers when he’s on the ice for Anaheim. 

“I don’t know if you watched practice today, but he looked good,” Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson said. “He’s a hell of a player. He makes plays; he’s skilled, really good off the rush. He’ll help the power play. It’s huge.

“You get a guy like that back, we’ve definitely missed him. I know we’ve been scoring a lot, but it never hurts to get a guy like that back, and he’s a great guy in the room. Guys love him, so it’s been good to see him working hard to get back out there.”

Takeaways from the Ducks 5-4 Win over the Canucks

Takeaways from the Ducks 6-3 Win over the Senators

Takeaways from the Ducks 7-6 Loss to the Sabres

The Islanders are off Wednesday in California before resuming the three-game trip in Los Angeles on Thursday. Three injured players inched closer to their returns, so we may see multiple lineup changes on the rest of the trip.

If you want to get a head start, First Islanders Goal picks for the game in L.A. go here.

Islanders News

• The Islanders need to play smarter, not get sucked into chaos like they did in San Jose. [Newsday]
• At practice Wednesday, J-G Pageau took a maintenance day while Matias Maccelli, Ryan Pulock and Mat Barzal practiced as regulars. [Isles]
• The Islanders’ letter-wearers are a sign of its changing leadership group. [Newsday]
• Kyle MacLean draws praise for ____ (if you thought that blank would be anything other than “his physicality,” you are either optimistic or cynical). [Post]
• Not The Onion: “Islanders games become new hot spot to make fashion statement as female fans flock to NHL.” [Post]

Monday night in San Jose had some theatrics. How did we feel about Mason “the dirty doesn’t fall far from the tree” Marchment?

And also:

Elsewhere

• Connor Hellebuyck returned to Winnipeg but wasn’t allowed to play by his team due to “win probability.” The fans gave it to him in warmups though, with chants of “coward” and referencing playoff failures. [Sportsnet | TSN]
• The Jets also gave their crowd a feel-good win, with ex-Devil trade piece Dawson Mercer scoring twice against his former club. [Sportsnet]
• Fans chanted Mercer’s name, ensuring he’ll never have to buy a beer in Winnipeg at least until he requests a trade. [NHL]
• Hellebuyck spoke of loving Winnipeg but experiencing threats to safety or something with his family. This calls it a “mixed message” to fans. [Sportsnet]
• The NHL will consider replay assistance for officials in more situations, like when they blow a non-major high sticking call. [Sportsnet]
• The NHLPA and NHL will discuss “smoothing” the salary cap jumps over the next couple of years. I’m just glad they’re all peacefully deciding how to share the spoils of $16 beers, $40 hats and $50 parking, it warms the heart. [Sportsnet]
• The Maple Leafs continue to be not good. [TSN]
• In contrast to what Kevin Weekes has reported, the Flyers are reportedly not looking to trade Matvei Michkov, which is usually the prelude to “team is looking to trade guy, actually.” [TSN]
• Meanwhile, the Blackhawks are looking to do anything they can, because they’re 4-13-1. [TSN]

The thunderous hit by Washington Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun that injured Ottawa Senators forward Nick Cousins late in the teams' game Tuesday night was determined not to be a penalty after on-ice officials reviewed the play.

With three minutes left in regulation, Chychrun forcefully lowered his left shoulder into the chest of Cousins, whose head was just tilting up after passing the puck. Cousins’ head hit off the glass and then the ice. He had to be helped off, did not return and coach Travis Green said afterward that Cousins was not doing great but did not go to the hospital.

Referees Brandon Blandina and Beau Halkidis called it a 5-minute major penalty, which allowed them to look at video replays of the hit, which was initially thought to be to Cousins' head. Because it was deemed not to include head contact, the penalty was taken off the board completely.

Green told reporters he was a little surprised about the call, adding he "thought it was a head shot to a player that wasn’t ready for it. They must have saw it differently.”

The NHL's Department of Player Safety monitors all situations like this for potential supplemental discipline, including plays that are cataloged even if not penalized or deemed worthy of a fine or a suspension.

The Capitals won 3-2 in overtime.

Chychrun played one full season and part of another with the Senators, from 2023-24, before being traded to Washington.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

Who:Pittsburgh Penguins (6-10-2, 14 points, 8th place Metropolitan Division) @ San Jose Sharks (8-11-1, 17 points, 6th place Pacific Division)

When: 10:00 p.m. eastern

How to Watch: Locally televised game on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and NBCSCA, streaming for out of market at ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: Monday kicked off a slack part of the schedule for the Pens, who only have three games from Nov 9 – 20. They’ll go back home and see Ottawa on Saturday night then get quite a few days off before the following game next Thursday 11/19 against St. Louis.

Opponent Track: It’s been a long November for the Sharks, who at least were able to break a five-game losing streak with a win on Monday at home against the Islanders, though it required a shootout to get there. To amend the Counting Crows line from the first sentence, there’s not much reason to believe the rest will be better than the last with games this month still to go against Utah, Minnesota, Anaheim, Vegas and Colorado.

Season Series: It won’t be too much longer before the Sharks make their trip for the year to Pittsburgh, playing the Pens again on December 6th.

Hidden Stat: The Penguins are 4-1-0 in their last five visits to the SAP Center, per Penguins PR.

Getting to know the Sharks

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Michael Misa – Macklin Celebrini – Will Smith

Mason Marchment – Alex Wennberg – Kiefer Sherwood

Ivar Stenberg – Ty Dellandrea – Tyler Toffoli

Barclay Goodrow – Zach Ostapchuk – Colin Graf

DEFENSEMEN

Darnell Nurse /Michael Kesselring

Sam Dickinson / Jacob Trouba

Dmitry Orlov / Eric Pohlkamp

Goalies: Yaroslav Askarov and Alex Nedeljkovic

Potential scratches: Adam Gaudette, Nolan Allen

Injured Reserve: Igor Chernyshov and Logan Couture

• Bringing on both Nurse and Trouba (for a combined $17.5 million cap hit this season and next) was a curious move when taken together. Grabbing one veteran in that mold was seen in many places as enough (or even one too many) getting them both in an effort to level up and
• Wennberg recently returned to the lineup, he’s quietly a big piece of the team (55 points last season) and has missed half the games this season so far, which doesn’t help matters.
• The second line has some tough customers, Sherwood leads the NHL in his this season with 106. Marchment just picked up a $5,000 fine for sticking up for an Islander who boarded Sherwood last game.

Season stats
via hockeydb

• Lots of youth for the Sharks, which has led to some uneven offensive development. Giving up chances and more goals than they’ve been able to score has been a big issue. Some have risen, like Misa in his second year, some have faded away at the moment – like Graf who scored 21 goals and 46 points riding shotgun with Celebrini last year and has barely been on the scoresheet this season.
• Taking the step from tearing down and acquiring assets has gone well, now getting up the next hurdle to become a competitive team is something SJ is trying to figure out on the fly. Toffoli has been great in support, others like Sherwood and Marchment will need to step up as the veteran help the young core needs.

Key to the game: Start fast and don’t get burned by the young talent

After taking a step forward in 2025-26, San Jose is down across the board on stats so far in 2026-27. Their offense is way down and the defensive process looks as broken as ever.

Shayna Goldman at The Athletic wrote an interesting bit about the Sharks yesterday:

High-flying rebuilding teams that play a run-and-gun style (think the 2022-23 Sabres and 2021-22 Ducks) often start stressing defensive structure above all else. But sometimes that shift can suppress what makes a team so special offensively, and doesn’t actually move the needle defensively.

That has been the case so far in San Jose, where the hockey and overall team progress have been uninspiring. Now, despite an attempted shift to play more defensive hockey, the Sharks are still bleeding chances against. The team is allowing a higher rate of chances off the rush compared to last season, as well as more passes to the slot, and is failing to limit their opponents’ offensive-zone time. And unlike last year, there isn’t that same offensive punch to make up for it. The Sharks’ young guns aren’t creating nearly as many rush chances or moving the puck as well, and are overall looking disjointed after last season’s progress.

And yet, with Celebrini and Smith and Stenberg, there’s still plenty of dynamic high-end talent that can burn an opponent at any given moment, which will have to be a priority to be mindful of for the Penguins. The Sharks season, and maybe rebuild as whole, seems like it’s in a precarious and unsteady spot at the moment. That could be good timing to meet a team now in disarray, it could also make them dangerous as they look to get on track.

The start of any game is crucial – and that will hold in this. The Sharks have only scored the first goal in 5 of their 20 games this season. They have only been leading after 20 minutes on three occasions, compared to being behind at the first intermission ten times.

For the Pens, don’t give them a reason to believe and that will trap SJ in the familiar position of chasing the game from behind and likely not being able to get a result. To avoid that, shut down the first line and the Stenberg+Toffoli combo and the Sharks don’t have a lot of other pieces that have been stepping up. (All of this is easier thought out than done, especially with a defense like Pittsburgh employs..)

And now for the Pens

Projected lines 

FORWARDS

Evgeni Malkin – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell

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* / Kaeden Korczak

Declan Carlile / Kris Letang

Goalies: Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov

Potential Scratches: Hendrix Lapierre, Andrei Kuzmenko, Ilya Solovyov

IR: Ryan Graves, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Elmer Soderblom, Bryan Rust

• Could be three new forward lines, based on practice yesterday. The first line remained the same as it has been these last few games, and then FINALLY Nick Robertson gets elevated into a bigger role after scoring as many goals as anyone for the team this year in mostly a limited and defensive line. Tommy Novak, one of the team’s best players in the last handful of games, gets a new challenge and moves back to center.
• Sam Girard missed practice yesterday with what was termed a ‘maintenance day’ and usually indicative that the team is thinking the player will still play the next game.
• Trevor van Riemsdyk, who said said to have a day-to-day injury on October 10th and hasn’t been around much ever since, has been cleared for contact and was a full participant in practice. van Riemsdyk has been limited to playing in only five games.

Rising Robertson

Muse, on potentially elevating Robertson: "He's scored a chunk of goals there for us. He's shown the ability to create offense. He drives a lot of things just with his work and tenacity. He can put that line, whoever he's playing with, in good offensive situations. So, something…

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) November 10, 2026

There is something positive to be said about being used in the key defensive role with Connor Dewar and Blake Lizotte, as Robertson has for much of the season. That is an important line for the Penguins and one the coaches and team counts on in plenty of big situations, and not the completely typical or standard “fourth line afterthought” type of usage. The Pens have given Robertson a look on the PK and a real chance to pitch in there and grow his game and reputation as more of a two-way contributor.

That said, Robertson can score goals but has lacked the opportunity to get a lot of ice time and play with talented offensive players for much of his career, so it’s been frustrating to see him not get much of a chance to make a bigger impact so far this season. That makes it heartening to see him used with Chinakhov and Kindel today, two young and offensive-minded forwards. Robertson’s sure earned it through his play and production (tied for team-high seven goals).