The Vancouver Canucks will officially enter the 2026 Winter Olympic break after a 5–2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Two defencemen found the scoresheet for Vancouver, with Elias Pettersson and Pierre-Olivier Joseph scoring the Canucks’ lone two goals of the game. Kevin Lankinen made his second consecutive start, stopping 26 of 31 shots faced and will now head to Italy to represent Finland at the Olympics. 

Despite not being the most eventful, the start of this game didn’t go poorly for the Canucks. They managed to limit Vegas to seven shots on goal while also killing a penalty. While Lankinen did end up having to make a couple of big stops, for the most part, Vancouver did their due diligence to keep high-danger chances away from their goaltender. 

Vancouver’s power play has been a talking point as of late as well, as prior to tonight, they’d only scored once in their last nine games. As a change-up, the Canucks switched their first-unit up by subbing Garland in for Jonathan Lekkerimäki. They were unable to convert on their lone power play awarded in the first period, generating only two scoring chances. 

Tonight was a big game for defenceman Elias Pettersson, who faced his fair share of challenges in the first period after being crunched into the boards by Vegas forward Keegan Kolesar. In the second period, it was the young Pettersson who gave the Canucks a bit of life by joining the rush and scoring after Vancouver quickly allowed two goals. 

Last game, the line of Liam Öhgren, Teddy Blueger, and Conor Garland played well for the Canucks. This trio repeated their efforts tonight, generating some jump early on in a scoreless first period while also generating a fair amount of chances for the Canucks. Vancouver’s first goal of the game came as a direct result of this line’s drive into the O-zone, with Blueger’s retrieval along the boards factoring into Öhgren’s rush feed to Pettersson. This line’s efforts didn’t stop there, however, as more O-zone pressure from the trio gave Joseph the space to shoot the puck on Akira Schmid, giving the defenceman his first goal as a Canuck after being denied earlier in the game. 

Despite being able to cut their deficit to one, Vancouver suffered a brief collapse at the start of the third period that allowed Vegas to widen the gap to three within the span of a minute. Pavel Dorofeyev was left all alone at Lankinen’s back-door on the Golden Knights’ first goal of the third period, while Alexander Holtz capitalized on an open opportunity in the slot to make it 5–2 for Vegas. From there, the Canucks were unable to generate enough quality chances to cut the lead, putting only four shots on goal during the final period. 

"You've gotta experience it," Canucks Head Coach Adam Foote said post-game of what can be worked on regarding not letting quick goals-against impact the team. "We're a young team [...] we're going to see blips of it here and there. We need everyone on board and when we're playing our best hockey, everyone is, we had blips of it today, but we just have a tiny breakdown there, a couple mistakes on a couple of goals, leave the slot open just on bad reads, and that'll continue to be worked on, and it is what it is. It's a young group. This level of a team, that experience, they're going to take advantage of that in these situations." 

The Canucks will officially enter the 2026 Olympic break with a record of 18–33–6, cementing themselves safely in 32nd in the NHL throughout the bulk of February. When they return, they could end up regaining quite a few bodies in the lineup, as Marco Rossi, Brock Boeser, Filip Chytil, Nils Höglander, and Zeev Buium are all currently out. 

Stats and Facts: 

• Canucks enter the 2026 Olympic break with a record of 18–33–6
• Vancouver has scored only power play goal in their last 10 games 
• Teddy Blueger is now up to four goals and three assists in eight games since returning from injury 

Scoring Summary: 

1st Period: 

No Scoring. 

2nd Period: 

5:09 - VGK: Jack Eichel (20) from Rasmus Andersson and Mark Stone 

6:34 - VGK: Cole Reinhardt (3) from Braeden Bowman and Shea Theodore 

7:11 - VAN: Elias Pettersson (D) (2) from Liam Öhgren and Teddy Blueger 

7:39 - VGK: Ivan Barbashev (16) from Mark Stone and Jack Eichel 

19:51 - VAN: Pierre-Olivier Joseph (1) from Conor Garland and Teddy Blueger 

3rd Period: 

2:33 - VGK: Pavel Dorofeyev (25) from Mitch Marner and Reilly Smith 

3:31 - VGK: Alexander Holtz (3) from Keegan Kolesar and Jeremy Lauzon 

Up Next: 

With tonight’s loss, the Canucks are now on break as the 2026 Winter Olympics begin. Elias Pettersson (Sweden), Kevin Lankinen (Finland), Teddy Blueger (Latvia), Anri Ravinskis (Latvia), Filip Hronek (Czechia), David Kämpf (Czechia), and Lukas Reichel (Germany) will now head to Italy to represent their respective countries. Vancouver’s next game isn’t until February 25, when they take on the Winnipeg Jets at Rogers Arena at 7:00 pm PT. 

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The Calgary Flames closed out the pre-Olympic break schedule with bragging rights, knocking off the Edmonton Oilers 4–3 in a spirited Battle of Alberta on Wednesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Edmonton responded immediately with their lethal power play. With the man advantage winding down, Leon Draisaitl walked in tight and roofed a sharp-angle shot over Devin Cooley to tie the game 1–1. The goal also pushed Draisaitl past Mark Messier for fourth on the Oilers’ all-time points list, adding another milestone to his growing résumé.

Calgary struck first and wasted no time doing it. On their opening shot of the game, Mackenzie Weegar slid the puck to Jonathan Huberdeau at the top of the circle, and he snapped a far-side wrist shot past Tristan Jarry for a power-play goal just minutes in. The tally marked Huberdeau’s 10th of the season and set the tone for a special-teams-heavy opening frame.

The Flames reclaimed the lead later in the period on another power play. Weegar fired a stretch pass to Matvei Gridin, who broke in alone and ripped a shot past Jarry at 14:44. The goal gave Calgary a 2–1 edge and marked Cooley’s first career NHL assist.

The second period delivered the physical edge expected in a rivalry game. Joel Hanley and Ty Emberson dropped the gloves in a spirited bout that energized the building, and Calgary fed off that momentum. After hemming Edmonton in their zone, Zach Whitecloud sent a point shot toward the net that deflected off Connor Zary and in, extending the Flames’ lead to 3–1.

Edmonton pushed back once again on the power play before the break. Connor McDavid worked the puck to Evan Bouchard, who found Draisaitl at the side of the net for his second power-play goal of the night, trimming the deficit to 3–2. The assist marked Bouchard’s 300th career NHL point.

The Oilers finally pulled even early in the third when Kasperi Kapanen threw a puck on net that slipped through Cooley, with Bouchard collecting his third assist of the game. But the tie was short-lived.

Moments later, a broken-play scramble saw the puck bounce to Ryan Lomberg, who jammed it home after Jarry couldn’t control the rebound. That goal stood as the winner, sealing a 4–3 Flames victory in a game that had the intensity of playoff hockey.

Cooley finished the night with 36 saves to earn his seventh win of the season, helping Calgary head into the Olympic break on a high note.

Three Takeaways

1. Special teams stole the spotlight

Both teams leaned heavily on the power play, combining for four man-advantage goals. Calgary capitalized twice, while Edmonton’s top-ranked unit answered right back, keeping the game tight from start to finish.

2. Devin Cooley continues to deliver

Under constant pressure, Cooley stood tall with 36 saves and made several key stops to preserve the lead. Adding his first NHL assist was the cherry on top of another confident performance.

3. Matvei Gridin keeps making his case

Gridin recorded a goal and an assist and looked comfortable in a high-tempo rivalry game. Even with a likely return to the AHL during the break, his play made it clear he’s knocking on the door for a longer NHL stay.

DENVER — Artturi Lehkonen scored twice, Josh Manson netted the go-ahead goal at 12:44 of the third period, and Nathan MacKinnon notched his 700th career assist in a two-assist performance as the Colorado Avalanche overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat the San Jose Sharks 4–2 at Ball Arena on Wednesday. 

Valeri Nichushkin set up three of Colorado’s goals, while Brock Nelson also scored, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves to secure the victory for the Avalanche (37–9–9), who are 3–3–0 in their past six contests. The win also ended a three-game home losing streak, as the team had not triumphed at Ball Arena since a 5–2 victory over the Washington Capitals on January 19. 

MacKinnon on reaching 700 career assists: “I think everyone gets a little better as they get older. I’ve played for 13 years, so it’s not that impressive… I think this could end at any moment. I’m not thinking about any milestone; I’m truly not.” 

Phillip Kurashev and Timothy Liljegren scored for the Sharks and Yaroslav Askarov made 38 saves in a valiant effort between the pipes. 

First Period 

Nelson came close to opening the scoring early, threading a crisp cross-ice pass to Victor Olofsson, whose one-timer was expertly denied by Askarov’s blocker. 

Just under four minutes in, Parker Kelly was whistled for slashing John Klingberg, giving Colorado its first power-play opportunity. The Sharks’ penalty kill, however, held firm, allowing only a single shot on goal. 

Later, Nelson was sent to the box for hooking Kurashev, but San Jose’s man advantage was brief. Alex Wennberg was assessed a hooking minor of his own, creating 41 seconds of 4-on-4 action before the Avalanche returned to the power play for just over a minute. 

Colorado generated several dangerous chances, including a prime rebound opportunity for Lehkonen, who swung at a loose puck only to be denied by an impressive pad save from Askarov. Moments later, Jack Drury was struck by a MacKinnon shot and went down in pain. The play was immediately halted, though Drury later returned. Despite the pressure, the Avalanche’s power play remained scoreless. 

Shots on goal are 21-6 for the Avalanche, which was ironically Randy Johnson's record during the D-Backs 2001 World Series winning season.#goavsgo#avs@TheHockeyNews

— Ryan O'Hara (@OHaraSports) February 5, 2026

The team earned another man-advantage opportunity with 2:22 left in the period after Kiefer Sherwood—making his Sharks debut following a trade from Vancouver—was penalized for holding Brent Burns. 

Second Period 

Colorado broke through just 1:05 into the second frame. A loose puck in the crease triggered a chaotic scramble, with players tumbling into the blue paint as Askarov sprawled along the goal line. Lehkonen emerged victorious, jamming the puck home to give the Avalanche a 1–0 lead. 

MacKinnon to Lehkonen.

Lehkonen has scored both goals for the Avalanche tonight. And that's his 19th of the season.#goavsgo#avs@TheHockeyNews

— Ryan O'Hara (@OHaraSports) February 5, 2026

Later, Kurashev was called for high-sticking Cale Makar, giving Colorado its third power play of the night, but the team was once again unable to convert. 

Lehkonen struck again with a blistering one-timer from the right circle off a MacKinnon feed, doubling the lead to 2–0. The assist marked a milestone for MacKinnon, the 700th of his career. 

The period ended with Colorado holding a commanding 2–0 lead and an overwhelming advantage in shots, 32–13. 

Third Period 

San Jose responded quickly, scoring twice within the first four minutes. Liljegren opened the period with a point shot that beat Blackwood, followed shortly by Kurashev, who capitalized on a turnover at center ice for a breakaway to tie the game. 

Colorado regained the lead with 7:16 remaining when Manson received a pass from Nichushkin and unleashed a slap shot over Askarov’s glove during 4-on-4 play, as Macklin Celebrini and Brent Burns were serving separate penalties. 

Nelson sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with 1:17 left, sending the Avalanche home with a 4–2 win. 

Brock Nelson gets the empty-net goal to make it 4-2.

Brent Burns goes off for slashing… and then it’s overturned after officials determined his stick was broken prior.

Avs win.

Olympic break!#goavsgo#avs@TheHockeyNews

— Ryan O'Hara (@OHaraSports) February 5, 2026

Next Game 

With the three-week Olympic break underway, the Avalanche will return to action on February 25 on the road against the Utah Mammoth. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. local time. 

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In recent seasons, something about playing against the Arizona Coyotes/Utah Hockey Club/Utah Mammoth just does not agree with the Detroit Red Wings. 

The Red Wings fell 4–1 on Wednesday evening in just their second-ever visit to the Delta Center in Salt Lake City since the franchise relocated from the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Final from Utah.

We'll be back in action on February 26th in Ottawa following the Olympic break. pic.twitter.com/4K9b4F0YGV

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 5, 2026

Dating back to March 2019, the franchise has gone through three official names, but has managed to accumulate a 10-1-1 record against the Red Wings. 

For Detroit, it's not how they wanted to enter the three-week Olympic break, especially after delivering such a strong performance 48 hours prior in their 2-0 triumph over the Colorado Avalanche. 

They now sit at 33-19-6. Their regulation loss, combined with the Montreal Canadiens' victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday, has them both knotted at 72 points apiece. 

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

Just as the Red Wings did to the Avalanche on Monday, the Mammoth struck early on Wednesday, finding the back of the net on their first attempt on goaltender John Gibson at the 58-second mark of the opening frame. 

Following Sean Durzi's early goal, the Mammoth doubled its lead on the man advantage thanks to Nick Schmaltz, who scored his 23rd goal of the season. 

Following a goalless second period, the Red Wings had the chance to cut into Utah's lead with an early power-play chance in the third period, but went for naught. Not long afterward, Utah essentially salted the game away with a goal from Dylan Guenther, his 25th, at 4:40. 

"Really Cool": John Gibson Loved Seeing Red Wings Fans Invade DenverDetroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson gave a shoutout to the thousands of Red Wings fans in attendance for their 2-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena in Denver.

While Dylan Larkin managed to spoil Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka's shutout attempt with his 26th goal of the season at 15:52, the Mammoth ensured victory with an empty-net goal from Clayton Keller late in regulation. 

Vejmelka improved to 4-1-1 lifetime against the Red Wings, stopping 29 of 30 shots. Meanwhile, Gibson made 21 saves on the 24 shots he faced.

Aside from their three Olympians, the Red Wings are now officially off until Feb. 26 when they face the Ottawa Senators on the road. 

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SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Brad Marchand scored in the fourth round of the shootout in his return to Florida’s lineup after missing two games to give the Panthers a 5-4 win over the Boston Bruins, his former team, on Wednesday night.

Anton Lundell had a goal and two assists for his second three-point game of the season, while Matthew Tkachuk and Uvis Balinskis had a goal and an assist each as the Panthers ended a four-game losing streak. Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves.

Michael Eyssimont scored twice for the Bruins, who have lost two straight games in Florida in a shootout, including Sunday’s NHL Stadium Series game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Mark Kastelic and Casey Mittelstadt also had goals and Joonas Korpisalo had 22 saves.

The Panthers trailed 2-1 after the first period despite taking the lead on a goal from Eetu Luostarinen at 4:22.

Eyssimont scored a pair of goals on breakaways — including one when he came racing out of the penalty box and got Bobrovsky to go down, leaving the net open enough for him to be able to tuck the puck in.

Florida scored three goals on special teams in the second, two on the power play and one short-handed.

Balinskis tied the score 30 seconds into the period. Tkachuk made it 3-2 at 2:22 on a power-play goal and the Panthers made it 4-2 with 1:27 remaining in the second, Sam Reinhart feeding Lundell off the rush while Florida was killing off a penalty.

BLUE JACKETS 4, BLACKHAWKS 0

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Zach Werenski became the first defenseman to score 20 goals before an Olympic break, Jet Greaves got his second shutout of the season and Columbus extended its winning streak to seven with a victory over Chicago.

Ivan Provorov, Danton Heinen and Sean Monahan also scored for Columbus, which has won 10 of 11 since Rick Bowness became coach on Jan. 12.

Columbus was seven games out of a playoff spot when Bowness was hired to replace Dean Evason. The Blue Jackets enter the Olympic break only two points behind the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Greaves stopped 21 shots for his fourth career shutout in 58 regular-season games. Charlie Coyle added two assists.

It’s the first time since 2020 that Columbus got shutouts in two straight games and the first time since 2019 that they’ve done it on back-to-back nights. The Blue Jackets defeated New Jersey 3-0 on Tuesday night.

CANADIENS 5, JETS 1

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson each had a goal and two assists, Samuel Montembeault stopped 36 shots to earn his first win since Jan. 17 and Montreal beat Winnipeg.

Rookie Oliver Kapanen, Lane Hutson and Phillip Danault, also scored for the Canadiens, who are 4-0-1 during a five-game points streak and 6-2-1 in their last nine.

Montembeault, who made his first start since Jan. 24, had given up three or more goals in five of his six previous starts.

Kyle Connor scored for the Jets and Connor Hellebuyck made 22 saves.

Winnipeg took an early 1-0 lead when Connor scored his 25th goal on a one-timer during a power play at 6:07 of the first period.

Kapanen, who’s heading to the Olympics for Finland, got his 18th goal 10 minutes later when a rebound went off Jet Cole Perfetti’s stick right to him and he then flipped the puck past a sprawled Hellebuyck.

Montreal went ahead 3-1 at 6:44 of the second after goals 76 seconds apart by Anderson and Hutson.

WILD 6, PREDATORS 5, OT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Matt Boldy scored three times in the first 13 minutes and assisted on Jared Spurgeon’s goal with 45.1 seconds left on the clock in overtime to lead Minnesota over Nashville.

Yakov Trenin and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored and Filip Gustavsson made 30 saves for the Wild, who have won five straight games.

Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists for Nashville, which is 2-0-3 in its last five. Filip Forsberg, Luke Evangelista, Erik Haula and Roman Josi also scored. Ryan O’Reilly had three assists and Juuse Saros stopped 38 shots.

All three games between the teams this season have gone to overtime.

In the extra period, Boldy slipped a pass to Spurgeon, who maneuvered to the low slot and beat Saros to the far side.

Tarasenko scored with 4:36 remaining in the third period. But just 34 seconds later, Josi tied it 5-all.

The teams combined for six goals in a wild first period.

MAMMOTH 4, RED WINGS 1

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist each, Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves, and Utah beat Detroit.

Sean Durzi and Dylan Guenther also had goals for Utah, helping the Mammoth improve to 8-1-1 on their home ice since the start of January.

Schmaltz tallied his 23rd goal of the season, matching a season-high set in the 2021-22 season with Arizona. He trails only Guenther, who has 25, in goals scored for Utah this season.

Dylan Larkin scored for the Red Wings, who lost for the fourth time in five games. John Gibson made 21 stops for Detroit.

AVALANCHE 4, SHARKS 2

DENVER (AP) — Josh Manson scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and NHL-leading Colorado beat San Jose.

Artturi Lehkonen scored twice and Nathan MacKinnon had two assists for Colorado to reach another career milestone.

MacKinnon joined Joe Sakic as the only players in franchise history with 700 assists. Sakic, the team president, finished his career with 1,016.

Brock Nelson scored an empty-net goal, Valeri Nichushkin had three assists and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 23 shots for the Avalanche.

Timothy Liljegren and Philippe Kurashev scored 2:51 apart early in the third to tie it for the Sharks. Yaroslav Askarov made 38 saves, but San Jose enters the three-week break on a four-game skid.

STARS 5, BLUES 4

DALLAS (AP) — Captain Jamie Benn snapped a 15-game goal drought by scoring twice, including the game-winner with 23 seconds left, and Dallas beat St. Louis to go into the Olympic break with a six-game winning streak.

Jason Robertson became the first player from the NHL’s 2017 draft class to score 200 career goals. He and Benn each had an assist for the Stars. Matt Duchene had a goal and an assist, the helper coming on Benn’s goal in the second period that was his first since Dec. 23.

Robertson scored his 32nd goal this season in the first off a nifty pass from Mikko Rantanen, who had to regain control of the puck while going toward the net and pushed it across to Robertson to his right. It was the 431st career game for Robertson, the 39th overall pick in 2017 after the Stars had already taken defenseman Miro Heiskanen and goalie Jake Oettinger in that draft.

Oettinger, one of seven Stars going to the Olympics, made 14 saves to win his sixth game in a row. Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, who will be on Canada’s Olympic team, stopped 23 shots.

Jordan Kyrou had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who won only once in their last nine games before the break. Pavel Buchnevich had a power-play goal for St. Louis, which has scored with the man advantage in seven of its last eight games.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 5, CANUCKS 2

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist and Vegas Golden snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over Vancouver.

Ivan Barbashev scored a goal for the fourth straight game, and Cole Reinhardt, Pavel Dorofayev and Alexander Holtz also had goals for the Knights. Mark Stone had a pair of assists.

Akira Schmid made 21 saves, including a spectacular stop on Vancouver’s Pierre-Olivier Joseph midway through the second period when he dove across the crease to snag the puck with his glove and preserve a 3-1 lead.

Elias N. Pettersson and Joseph had goals for the Canucks, who have now lost three in a row and six of their last seven games and remain in last place in the NHL. Teddy Blueger had a pair of assists and Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves.

KRAKEN 4, KINGS 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shane Wright scored twice to lead Seattle to a win over Los Angeles.

Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson also scored and Chandler Stephenson and Frederick Gaudreau each had two assists for the Kraken, who have won five of their last six games. Joey Daccord made 25 saves.

Andrei Kuzmenko scored both of Los Angeles’ goals and Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves.

The Kings took a 1-0 lead at 7:42 of the first period when Kuzmenko scored on the power play.

Wright tied it at 1 at 9:16 on a backhander for his first goal of the game and Larsson put Seattle up 2-1 at 10:14 on a one-timer. Dunn made it 3-1 on the power play at 15:21.

Kuzmenko cut it to 3-2 on the power play at 10:27 of the second period, but Wright gave the Kraken a two-goal lead again with a power-play score at 5:50 of the third.

FLAMES 4, OILERS 3

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Matvei Gridin had a goal and an assist for the rookie’s first multipoint game in the NHL, leading Calgary to a victory over Edmonton.

Ryan Lomberg scored the go-ahead goal at 6:44 of the third period. Jonathan Huberdeau and Connor Zary also scored for Calgary. Nazem Kadri, MacKenzie Weegar and Zach Whitecloud had two assists apiece.

The Flames took the season series against their provincial rival, winning three of four meetings.

Leon Draisaitl had two goals and Kasperi Kapanen also scored for the Oilers, who limped into the Olympic break on a three-game losing streak. Evan Bouchard had three assists.

Flames goalie Devin Cooley stopped 36 shots. Tristan Jarry made 21 saves for Edmonton.

Another Nashville Predators comeback was spoiled by a pair of bounces in an overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild, 6-5, on Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena.

The Predators chased a two-goal deficit twice, erased it and forced overtime before eventually falling in the extra period.

"It was one of those games when you know the break's coming," Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. "I don't know if the focus on both teams was all that high. I think we scored 3 goals in our own net. It's just one of those games." 

Matt Boldy scored a hat trick less than 13 minutes into the game, which put the Wild up 3-1.

The hat trick goal came off a play where Nick Blakenberg swatted Boldy's lobbed shot into Michael McCarron. Boldy followed his own rebound and put it in the back of the net.  

"It's tough luck," Roman Josi said. "Everybody goes through that throughout the year, and it's just bad luck. Blankie has been unbelievable for us. We all love blanking. He's a fighter. He plays the game hard and he's an amazing person." 

Filip Forsberg had the Predators' first conversion of the game on the power play. 

Steven Stamkos scored off a one-timer to make it 3-2. The goal moves him past Mario Lemieux for seventh place on the NHL's all-time power-play goals list with 237.

Stamkos (2G, 1A)  and Ryan O'Reilly (3A) finished with three points each. 

Erik Haula registered the first weird bounce goal of the game. Deflecting a Jonathan Marchessault pass out to the front of the net off of the goalie Filip Gustavsson's back to tie the game at 3-3. 

"The resilience and the grittiness of this group. They believe," Brunette said. "Even on the bench, to hear them talk and say 'Hey, we got time, we're gonna get it, I think that's a great sign for our group...I felt like we didn't grab that consistency through the different stretches of the game." 

Nashville took its first lead of the game off a goal from Luke Evangelista as he put away a Stamkos rebound to make it 4-3. 

Dishin' straight into the goal🪄 pic.twitter.com/frTOqZtZSh

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) February 5, 2026

Minnesota took a late lead in the third off another goal that deflected off of Blakenberg and into the net. The goal was credited to Vladimir Tarasenko. 

Roman Josi tied the game with 4:12 left in regulation to force overtime. He finished with two points and now has 11 points in seven games. 

In the extra period, the Wild caught the Predators in a change, allowing Krill Kaprizov to spring Matt Boldy and Jared Spuregon on a 2-on-1. Spuregon scored with 46 seconds left to secure the victory. 

In the Predators' last four games decided in a five-minute overtime, they are 1-3.

"We've gotta stop playing from behind," Evangelista said. "We're doing a good job of climbing back, but I think if we have some better starts and sustainable 60 (minutes), we'll have some better luck than we did tonight." 

if we had a nickle for every time Jared Spurgeon had an OT goal against Nashville in white sweaters... pic.twitter.com/VztGJI7vcz

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 5, 2026

Juuse Saros has only one win in his last five starts, making 38 saves on 44 shots in the losing effort.

He was pulled in the second period of the Predators' 6-5 win over the Blues, lost to the Boston Bruins in overtime and lost against the Utah Mammoth. Saros's last win was 4-3 against the New York Islanders on Jan. 31. 

The Predators have one more game left before a two-week pause for the Winter Olympics, facing the Washington Capitals 24 hours later in DC. 

Picking up a point in the loss, the Predators (59 points) are two points outside of a Wild Card spot, with results from Seattle (61 points) and Los Angeles (60 points) still pending.

"We're definitely battling for life in these past couple of weeks and months, now," Marchessault said. "It's just that time of the year for us. It's catch-up, playoff hockey, so we're just trying to get in and keep moving forward." 

It certainly hasn't taken long for Pittsburgh Penguins' top forward prospect Tanner Howe to adjust to professional hockey.

In fact, two games into his professional career, he doesn't look like he's missed a step.

After registering his first career AHL point in his professional debut on Sunday, Howe followed that up by scoring his first AHL goal in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's (WBS) 4-1 win over the Hershey Bears on Wednesday. His first professional tally came late in the third period, when defenseman Chase Pietila fired a shot from the top of the left circle off a faceoff win, and Howe tipped it at the net front.

HOWIE ‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/Rtx3CyMEFd

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 5, 2026

Howe, 20, tore his ACL near the end of his WHL regular season last year, which required reconstructive surgery. Sunday marked his first game action since his injury in late April, and he has two points in his first two AHL games. He also saw time on the penalty kill against Hershey.

The 5-foot-11, 187-pound left wing is known for his chippiness, two-way prowess, and offensive instincts. He figures to spend the rest of the season in the AHL with WBS, barring performance.

Penguins' Forward Prospect Makes Professional DebutAfter missing the entire 2025-26 season up to this point, a <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a>' prospect finally made his professional debut on Sunday.

WBS is currently second in the AHL's Atlantic Division with 64 points, and they have an 11-point lead on the third-place Charlotte Checkers. They trail the Providence Bruins by just three points for the division lead, but the Bruins have four games in hand. 

Aaron Huglen, Avery Hayes, and Aidan McDonough also registered goals for the WBS Penguins on Wednesday, and goaltender Sergei Murashov improved to 17-5-0-2 in a 30-save effort. His season save percentage improved to .926 with the win. 

For the second straight game, Howe played on the second line with Huglen and Hayes.

---

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In a Florida Panthers 5-4 shootout win over the Boston Bruins, rookie Sandis Vilmanis was forced to exit the game with an upper-body injury. 

The 22-year-old recorded just 2:35 of ice time, exiting the game in the first period. The Panthers did not announce that Vilmanis wouldn’t return to the game until the start of the third period. 

In Vilmanis’ brief game, he recorded two penalty minutes, which came on a controversial hit on Bruins’ star defenseman Charlie McAvoy. 

Vilmanis attempted to catch McAvoy with an open ice hit, but he connected with McAvoy’s head in the process. He was assessed a two-minute minor for an illegal check to the head and did not play following the hit.

Following the game, coach Paul Maurice mentioned that Vilmanis should be “okay.” That’s good news for the Panthers and Latvia, who Vilmanis will be representing at the Olympics next week. 

Maurice also provided an update on defenseman Tobias Bjornfot, who did not play in the third period. Maurice said Bjornfot is unlikely to play tomorrow against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Bjornfot recorded just 8:27 of ice time, throwing one hit. What injury Bjornfot has sustained hasn’t been revealed yet.

The final update Maurice provided was that there are probably three guys who played tonight who won’t play tomorrow against the Lightning, Jordan McPherson reported.

The Panthers will be in Tampa Bay on Thursday for their final game before the 2026 Winter Olympics. 

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The Florida Panthers took the ice on Wednesday for their final home game before the NHL Olympic break.

Desperate for every point they can get, Florida welcomed the Boston Bruins to Sunrise for a matchup of Atlantic Division rivals.

The Bruins were fresh off Sunday’s deflating defeat at the 2026 Stadium Series in Tampa when Boston took a 5-1 lead only to lose 6-5 in a shootout.

This time, Boston was the team making the comeback and forcing the game to a shootout, but the Panthers persevered and picked up the 5-4 win.

Florida actually took a 1-0 lead on twice on Wednesday night.

First it was Sam Bennett lighting the lamp on a goal that was challenged and overturned due to the play being offside at the Boston blue line.

A couple minutes later, Eetu Luostarinen jumped on a turnover just inside that same blue line, skated the puck between the circles and wired a wrist shot over the glove of Joonas Korpisalo to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead at the 4:22 mark.

The lead would be short lived though, thanks to a pair of goals by Michael Eyssimont five minutes apart, giving the Bruins a 2-1 lead after the first period.

The Panthers started the second period on the power play, and it didn’t take long for Florida to cash in.

Matthew Tkachuk found himself with some time and space in the corner next to Korpisalo, and after Sam Bennett moved toward the net and opened up some space behind him, Tkachuk made a perfect pass to Uvis Balinskis coming down from the point.

A quick wrist shot by Balinskis for his fifth goal of the season knotted the score at two just 30 seconds into the period.

Another Panthers power play a couple minutes later led to another Cats goal.

This time it was Tkachuk lighting the lamp, taking a pass from Anton Lundell at the side of the net and banking a shot from below the goal line off Korpisalo’s arm and into the net.

Despite being called for consecutive penalties late in the period, the Panthers were able to double their lead and keep momentum squarely on their side.

Directly off a faceoff win in their own end, some quick, pretty passing between Lundell and Sam Reinhart spring the pair on an odd-man rush. After moving into the Bruins zone, Reinhart laid a saucer pass across the zone that landed right at the blade of Lundell’s stick, and his quick one-timer easily beat a sprawling Korpisalo to send Florida into the intermission with a 4-2 lead.

A fluky deflection about eight minutes into the third period would bring the Bruins back within one. Charlie McAvoy’s long slapshot went off the stick of Aaron Ekblad and the arm of Mark Kastelic before fluttering past Bobrovsky.

Boston tied the game soon after on their fifth consecutive power play when Casey Mittelstadt jumped on a rebound and slammed it past Bobrovsky with 9:30 to go.

That’s how the score would remain through the end of the third period and a five-minute overtime session in which Florida actually outshot Boston 3-2.

Goals by Lundell and Brad Marchand in the shootout propelled the Panthers to a massive win that they can hopefully build on tomorrow night.

On to Tampa.

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Feb 4, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Brad Marchand (63) scores the winning goal against Boston Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo (70) during a shootout at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

Josh Anderson and Lane Hutson scored just over a minute apart in the second period, helping the Montreal Canadiens to a 5-1 road win over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.

The all-Canadian matchup was the final test for each club prior to the NHL's Olympic break, with Winnipeg not returning to Canada Life Centre until March. 

The Jets actually opened the scoring on Wednesday, with Kyle Connor blasting home a power play strike just 6:07 into the contest. 

With Anderson in the box for high-sticking Nino Niederreiter, Gabe Vilardi found Connor across the ice, who one-timed the puck past Sam Montembault for the early 1-0 lead.

The goal cemented Connor's active streak of nine-straight seasons of 25 goals or more. 

But Winnipeg's lead didn't last long. 

Rookie Oliver Kapanen collected his 18th of the season with just over three-and-a-half minutes to go in the frame, bringing the Canadiens' majority crowd to its feet in celebration.

A span of just 76 seconds in the middle stanza sealed the Jets' fate, as Montreal pounced for two strikes to pull ahead 3-1 through 40 minutes of play.

First, it was Anderson, who redirected a Jayden Struble point shot perfectly past Hellebuyck 5:28 into the period. Then, it was Hutson's 10th of the season that gave Montreal its two goal lead.

The sophomore defender engaged in the rush up-ice and collected a poor Anderson pass. He had to turn around in order to corral the disc, but managed to get back on track towards the Jets' net and beat Hellebuyck high, short-side, making it 3-1, to which it would stand through the second period. 

"It was those 1:30 where we gave up two goals there," head coach Scott Arniel reflected. "We talked about Montreal’s D being in the rush and gave up the one, there was a couple there where we got on the wrong side of people and they got in there with their speed game, which they do well. We did a good job of containing that but in the second period we allowed them to do that a few times. Like I said, in 1:30 it was a 3-1 hockey game."

Interestingly, it was Winnipeg that held a narrow 26-21 shot lead heading into the final frame. 

“I do think it was one of our better games offensively, I would say," Niederreiter said. "I mean we definitely had a lot of good looks, just couldn't find a way to put them in.”

With Olympian Josh Morrissey in the box for slashing, the Canadiens found another goal - this one coming off an odd-man rush up-ice. Kirby Dach dished the puck cross-crease to Brenden Gallagher, whose sixth put the game out of reach for the home team. 

Winnipeg pulled Hellebuyck for the extra attacker for nearly six minutes, and despite a Montreal penalty it was the Canadiens who scored the lone goal. Phil Danault potted Montreal's fifth tally of the game with 13 seconds to play, finishing off the Jets 5-1.  

Hellebuyck made 22 stops on 26 shots faced on Wednesday, while Montembault turned aside 36 of the 37 pucks fired his way by the Jets. 

"It's been a rollercoaster year so far," Niederreiter said. " I mean there's times where we played good hockey and there's times where we didn't play as well as we wanted to. It's definitely a good break for everyone, mentally, and we know what's at stake coming back.”

The Jets will now take the next three weeks off before returning with a three-game road trip through Vancouver, Anaheim and San Jose beginning on February 25th. 

The Chicago Blackhawks entered Wednesday with one more match before the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan. With a chance to have another strong showing going into the break, they fell flat. 

They had a handful of good chances, but Jet Greaves and the Blue Jackets shut out the Blackhawks 4-0. Zach Werenski, Ivan Provorov, Danton Heinen, and Sean Monahan scored for Columbus. 

Chicago’s power play broke through in Monday’s game against the San Jose Sharks, but they were unable to score on any of their three chances in Columbus. The positive, once again, was not allowing a power play goal against, although they only took one penalty. 

Jet Greaves made 21 saves on 21 shots to keep Chicago off the board. The Hawks had an offensive outburst against the Sharks, but came crashing down against the Jackets on Wednesday. 

The Blackhawks were defeated, but they lost more than just the game in this one. Wyatt Kaiser endured a gruesome-looking injury as Zach Werenski fell on his leg. Kaiser, of course, didn’t return to the game. 

There is a lot of time during the break to recover, but this looked like an injury that could keep him out for much longer than that. After the game ended, Jeff Blashill said that he will miss some time, but his status after the break is to be determined. 

Colton Dach, who was also injured during the game, is going to be good. Right now, he is day-to-day. The break should be more than enough time for him to recover. 

Watch Every Chicago Goal

The Chicago Blackhawks scored 0 goals in the contest. 

What’s Next For The Blackhawks?

The Blackhawks are going to have a few weeks off now. Teuvo Teravainen will represent Team Finland at the Olympics, but the rest of the group gets a reset. They will return to play on February 26th when they will pay a visit to the Nashville Predators. 

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The Pittsburgh Penguins and the NHL have both confirmed that defenseman Caleb Jones will be suspended for 20 games after violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program.

The former Edmonton Oilers' defenseman will be suspended without pay.

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— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 4, 2026

“At the time of the test, I was receiving an exosome therapy for a documented injury from an outside provider. I believe that my positive test was related to a contaminated substance associated with that treatment,” Jones said in a statement.

“While I did not use the prohibited substance intentionally or for performance enhancement, I understand that players are responsible for everything that enters their body and accept the discipline imposed by the program. I’m sorry to have let down my teammates, the Penguins organization, and our fans.”

Jones, 28, has played with several teams since leaving the Oilers. He's made stops with the Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, and Los Angeles Kings of the NHL, as well as the Colorado Eagles, Ontario Reign, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. He has one assist in seven games this season for the Penguins.

He signed a two-year, $1.8-million contract prior to this season. 

Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas said in a statement, “Throughout the process, Caleb has been forthcoming with the organization as to how he believes the positive test occurred." He added, “Caleb takes full responsibility for his actions, despite him being unaware that what he consumed was a prohibited substance at the time.”

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The Olympic break has begun, but one last big move took place in the NHL before the trade freeze for the games. On Wednesday the New York Rangers traded star forward Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings in a move designed to solidify the Kings’ playoff push in the back end of the season. Panarin subsequently signed a two-year, $22M contract extension ($11M AAV), which will keep the wing until the end of the 2026-27 season.

In exchange the Rangers received forward prospect Liam Greentree, and a conditional third round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, which will become a second round pick if the Kings win a playoff round, as well as a conditional fourth round pick which hinges on the Kings winning two playoffs series this season.

Los Angeles Kings analysis and grade

There has been dire need for Los Angeles to find a legitimate, point-per-game superstar to try and put together a playoff run this season. Truth be told, it’s been a down year for the Kings who projected to be much better on paper than they’ve been on the ice.

Panarin is a legitimate star who can get 40-year-old Corey Perry off the top line. Perry has been good in short bursts, but injured far too much to be a consistent difference maker. Panarin will solidify that top line alongside Alex Laferriere and Adrian Kempe to form a unit capable of winning games for Los Angeles and getting them into the playoffs.

The biggest question mark about this deal is what the expectations are for the Kings. This team is still woefully lacking at center, have no great prospects at the position, and just gave away the No. 1 prospect in their system for a few years of Artemi Panarin — who will be 37-years-old at the end of this deal.

If your goal as an organization is being content with getting bounced early in the playoffs, then this is a great deal — it will achieve precisely that. I’m not buying for a second that Panarin is the missing piece to put together a Stanley Cup run, especially in the West up against the likes of the Avs, Wild, and Stars.

The saving grace is that the Kings managed to pull off this deal without including a 1st round pick, which was being rumored as part of the asking price for Panarin, along with a top prospect.

Grade: B

New York Rangers analysis and grade

For the life of me I can’t fathom why the Rangers felt the need to rush the deal and pull the trigger on a Panarin trade before the Olympics. With Panarin being a Russian national he won’t be in Milano Cortina for the games, eliminating any risk of injury — and after the games teams will be feeling froggy to make big trades, especially if a core player gets injured.

I really like Liam Greentree as a prospect. There’s potential for him to develop into a Top 6 forward on the Rangers, but he’s utterly untested. One would assume the Rangers would have at least asked for a NHL-tested player and a first round pick to get this done, making the deal reek of settling.

This is designed to turbo-charge the Rangers tank and rebuild, but this just wasn’t a smart deal. In the course of a week we’ve seen talks of a Panarin deal shrink from landing a highly-valued young player like Jackson Blake (CAR) and a first rounder, to now accepting much, much less.

Bad timing. Mediocre return. The Kings ongoing struggles will continue until there’s a shakeup in the front office — starting with Chris Drury.

Grade: D

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While flirting with a spot in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Detroit Red Wings were soundly defeated in consecutive games by the Ottawa Senators in a 12-3 combined final score. 

It was at that time that GM Steve Yzerman decided his team wasn't ready for playoff hockey and became a seller at the upcoming NHL Trade Deadline, trading Tyler Bertuzzi to the Boston Bruins, Filip Hronek to the Vancouver Canucks, and Oskar Sundqvist to the Minnesota Wild. 

The following season, Detroit found itself in an advantageous position in the standings, holding a nine-point lead over the cutoff for the final wild-card playoff spot. However, what followed was a disastrous 3–9–2 stretch in March, culminating in the team losing any hope of the postseason on the final day of the regular season due to a tiebreaker.

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Last season, the Red Wings were in one of the final Wild Card postseason spots near the end of February, but once again, struggled in March. They posted a 4-10 record that month and fell out of the postseason race. 

Wednesday evening marks Detroit’s final game for several weeks, as the NHL schedule breaks for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

When play resumes in late February, the Red Wings, currently second overall in the Atlantic Division, will be determined to write a new script this time around.

Multiple rumors suggest the Red Wings could become buyers for the first time since 2015, when they acquired Erik Cole from the Dallas Stars and Marek Zidlicky from the New Jersey Devils.

NHL Insider Links Red Wings to Potential Blockbuster With Former Western Rival NHL Insider Darren Dreger has given insight into what the Detroit Red Wings could potentially be looking for via trade.

That season also marked the year before their most recent appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

If they were to begin today, the Red Wings would confirm their spot in the postseason for the first time since 2016.

To ensure Stanley Cup Playoff hockey comes to Little Caesars Arena for the first time, the Red Wings must avoid the March struggles that have plagued them in each of the past two seasons, a goal they'll have their sights trained on. 

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