The hot start continues for Linus Ullmark, Tim Stützle and the Ottawa Senators.
Ullmark ran his personal record to 5-0 as the Senators (5-1-0) defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-1 at Prudential Center in Newark. Tim Stützle had a goal and an assist and now has 10 points in his first six games.
Shane Pinto and Stephen Halliday each scored in the second period, which was all the scoring the Sens needed, as Ullmark made 29 saves for the win.
As has so often been the case this season, the victory came with a price, as Nikolas Matinpalo was hurt in the first period on a hit from behind. The Sens played the final 50 minutes of this game with just five D.
Steve Warne talks about the Sens commitment to defensive structure in the ealryl days of the season
The Devils (2-3-0) came out looking to intimidate early, with veteran defenceman Brendan Dillon running around in the opening minutes.
Then came the nasty hit from behind by Anthony Mantha on Matinpalo.
Mantha got a five-minute major for boarding, giving the Senators a chance to take control of the game. But their struggling power play failed to capitalize.
The Senators wasted little time breaking the scoreless tie in the second period.
Just nine seconds after the opening faceoff, Pinto scored his first goal of the season, with Michael Amadio and Claude Giroux picking up the assists.
The Sens doubled their lead at 8:40 when Halliday scored his second of the season, finishing off a play set up nicely by Stützle. Brett Pesce blew a tire, giving Halliday, on a holiday Monday, the gift of all the time he needed to pick his spot.
It was a welcome bit of success for a struggling Sens power play that went 1 for 5.
The Devils pushed back in the middle frame, outshooting the Sens 12-10, but their high-danger chances were limited.
By the end of the second period, the Senators had also outhit the Devils 14-9, showing they were more than willing to push back on the Devils' early physicality.
The Senators tried to park the bus in the third period and were badly outshot in the period 14-3, but it worked out. The Sens didn't get their first shot on goal until midway through the period, and it was Stützle with a perfect tip-in off a Thomas Chabot slap shot.
The Devils didn't give up, though. They thought they'd gotten on the board, but their goal was overturned following a successful Ottawa challenge for goaltender interference. That was a gutsy call by the Sens, who were only up by two and risked giving the Devils a power play if the challenge was unsuccessful. But that paid off, too.
The Devils finally did get on the board on a goal by Arseny Gritsyuk, who ruined the Ullmark shutout bid, but that's as close as they would get.
The Senators had three tries at an empty net, including one by Ullmark, before Tyler Kleven put one in to seal the deal.
With Matinpalo going down, this is the fourth win this season that's been blemished by an injury concern. The others were Jake Sanderson on opening night in Toronto, Ullmark in Boston, and William Eklund against the Flyers. Best guess on Matinpalo's injury is a concussion after the side of his head struck the boards first.
On the bright side, the Sens are now 5-1 to start a season for the first time since the 2007-08 season. They'll head back home now to face the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.
As the worst offensive team in the NHL on a goals-per-game basis, the Philadelphia Flyers desperately need to find ways to add offense to the struggling group, and they have yet to really do that.
After signing Michael Bunting to a one-year contract, the Flyers sent prospect Alex Bump back to the AHL after he went without a point in his first three games of the season.
Bump, however, scored in his first game back with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, then added a goal and an assist in his second game back.
Despite that, the 22-year-old will remain in the AHL for the time being, as the Flyers instead decided to call up veteran Jack Studnicka, with Carl Grundstrom being re-assigned to the Phantoms.
Studnicka, 27, gives the 0-5-2 Flyers an additional right-handed center option to complement Noel Acciari, but he was held off the scoresheet entirely in 19 games with the Florida Panthers last year.
He does have a goal and two assists in three games with the Phantoms, but if the Flyers were really looking for offense, they would have turned to Bump, who made the team out of training camp and has consistently drawn rave reviews for his shot and willingness to make individual plays by leveraging his skills with the puck.
Instead, the Flyers have gone with the older, more experienced Studnicka, who played 52 games for Rick Tocchet's Vancouver Canucks between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.
And, despite the familiarity with Tocchet, Studnicka didn't even survive Tocchet's first full season in Vancouver, having been traded to San Jose for Nick Cicek and a sixth-round pick on Dec. 15, 2023.
Whether it's positional versatility, familiarity, or veteran leadership, the Flyers find themselves still looking for the wrong things, even from their in-house AHL call-ups.
Even Oliver Bonk, who can chip in some offense from time to time, got pressed into top-pair action next to Travis Sanheim against Carolina on Sunday night, and it went about as poorly as could be.
If the Flyers were looking for some defensive stability with Rasmus Ristolainen out, Bonk, at his age, was never going to provide it.
If the Flyers are looking for more offense with Travis Konecny out, Studnicka is never going to provide it, while Bump continues to wait in the wings for his next opportunity.
On the same night head coach Mike Sullivan bumped Pavel Dorofeyev to the first line in search of more 5-on-5 production from his top six, he also dropped Dorofeyev — acquired from the Golden Knights in June and then inked to a $77 million contract — to the second power-play unit for the third period of their 6-2 win over the Canucks on Sunday.
He has collected just one goal and a pair of assists through the opening seven games after recording 72 goals the past two seasons.
Gabe Perreault took Dorofeyev’s spot with the top unit and assisted on Alexis Lafrenière’s goal during the Blueshirts’ lone chance with the man advantage during the final frame.
“I thought Pav was fighting it a little,” Sullivan said postgame Sunday, “and sometimes, players have those nights. We thought we’d make a little tweak and see if we could get it going a little bit, and obviously, Gabe was a part of the goal, so we were happy about that.
New York Rangers Pavel Dorofeyev (16) takes a slapshot against the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. NHLI via Getty Images
“But it was just situationally based on how we thought guys were going throughout the course of the night.”
From the first power-play drill of training camp, when the Blueshirts began working on special teams during the condensed preseason, their top unit consisted of Dorofeyev, Mika Zibanejad, Adam Fox, J.T. Miller and Lafrenière.
Pavel Dorofeyev (16) of the New York Rangers passes the puck against the Vancouver Canucks at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday, October 11, 2026. NHLI via Getty Images
Perreault, who spent time on the top power-play line last year and finished with six points with the man advantage in 2025-26, opened the year on the second unit.
And Sullivan, after the top unit generated just one goal through the first five games, had said Thursday that they planned to be patient and let the group work through early growing pains.
The next wrinkle with the power play, which entered play Monday still ranked No. 7 in the NHL with a 26.3 percent success rate, will involve whether that change was temporary or for longer than one night.
Dorofeyev, who tallied 20 power-play goals last year, was signed to enhance that unit, to give the Rangers another one-timer alongside Zibanejad.
But so far, he has just six shots on goal across nearly 22 minutes of power-play ice time.
Lafrenière was named the NHL’s third star of the week after collecting five goals and two assists across the Rangers’ three games.
He leads the Blueshirts in both categories, and his latest goal unfolded on the power play Sunday night — when he sent a pass from Perreault near the net past Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen.
He also added an assist in the first period, sending a pass to Tye Kartye that led to the Rangers taking a 1-0 lead just 27 seconds into the game.
Lafrenière became the second Blueshirts player to pick up a weekly award in the opening two weeks of the season, joining goaltender Igor Shesterkin — who sustained a season-ending right knee injury last week.
The Rangers have only trailed after three periods through their opening seven games. … Liam Greentree, who was the prospect returning to the Rangers in the Artemi Panarin trade last season, scored in consecutive games for AHL Hartford over the weekend to mark the first professional goals of the 20-year-old’s career.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — You could hear a pin drop in Grand Casino Arena during the first period of Monday's game against the Vegas Golden Knights after another Minnesota Wild player was struck in the head by a hockey puck.
The first time it happened was in the Wild's final preseason game against the Dallas Stars when Brock Faber was hit in the head by Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen's shot.
On Monday, in the first period, Nico Sturm was struck in the head by Jared Spurgeon's point shot.
The veteran forward instantly went down holding his head while head athletic trainer John Worley rushed on the ice.
After being on the ice for a minute, Sturm was helped up by Michael McCarron and Worley and escorted off the ice into the locker room.
Nico Sturm had to leave the game after taking a puck to the head.
The Wild have already lost Brock Faber for an extended period after he took a puck to the head and fractured his skull. pic.twitter.com/epPbsEzJlK
Sturm, 31, was playing in his third game of the season for the Wild. The 6-foot-3 center has played in 383 career NHL games.
Obviously, a scary scene for Wild fans and the Wild, considering the status of Faber after he was hit in almost the same spot, just on the other side of the head.
*** This story will be updated when more news comes.
Update: Sturm ruled out for rest of the game with an upper-body injury.
Update 2: According to a source, Sturm was stable and on a stretcher in the back of the ambulance in Grand Casino Arena.
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Pittsburgh Penguins' general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas is well-known for targeting players who haven't been given a chance to blossom elsewhere and who could benefit from a change-of-scenery.
And he executed a trade Monday that fits that mold.
The Penguins acquired left defenseman Ryan Johnson from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for defensemen Caleb Jones and Daniel Laatsch. Jones, 29, had appeared in four games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins of the AHL this season, totaling three assists, while Laatsch, 24, was previously assigned to the Florida Everblades of the ECHL, whose home opener is set for Oct. 17.
The departure of both opened up two NHL contract slots for the Penguins, one of which is now occupied by Johnson, who is signed for two more years at $875,000.
Johnson, 25, was selected 31st overall by the Sabres in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound blueliner has not yet seen a large NHL sample, appearing in just six NHL games in the past two seasons and 47 games total in his career, with seven assists that all came during his rookie season in 2023-24.
Aside from those three games last season, Johnson spent the season with the Rochester Americans of the AHL, recording five goals and 19 points to go along with a minus-12 in 56 games. In four games with Rochester this season, he had no points.
The trade helped to not only clear contract space - the Penguins now have 47 of 50 slots full, according to Puckpedia - it also helped clear a little bit of the left defensive logjam at the minor league level. The WBS Penguins had the recently waived Ilya Solovyov, Jake Livanavage, Owen Pickering, Maleek McGowan, and Jones on the roster, and Laatsch was blocked from the AHL roster as a result.
As of now, Johnson is not part of Pittsburgh's NHL active roster, and it's unclear where he will be assigned. Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk was placed on injured reserve Monday, and he is not making the Penguins' four-game road trip that starts Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks. The team has not ruled out van Riemsdyk joining the team for the back part of the road trip.
They have also not ruled out calling on another defenseman to take van Riemsdyk's place, as his IR designation leaves the NHL club with just six active defensemen. Pittsburgh only has 21 players on its active roster, with one of those slots expected to be occupied by forward Andrei Kuzmenko, who currently has non-roster status but was a full participant in practice Monday.
One prospect that has been making some noise in the AHL this year is Ty Mueller. Through four games, the 23-year-old has four goals along with an assist. Mueller not only leads the team in points but also plays a role in all situations for the Abbotsford Canucks.
The big question when it comes to prospects like Mueller revolves around their full-time arrival in the NHL. He has played eight games for the Vancouver Canucks so far in his career, but has yet to receive an extended look with the team. With Vancouver currently in a rebuild and Mueller's early production, now could be the perfect time to see what Mueller can do at the NHL level.
There are a few things working in Mueller's favour. One is his familiarity with both Ryan Johnson and Manny Malhotra. It was clear, based on deployment over the last two years, that Malhotra trusts Mueller, which could help the center ease his way into life at the NHL level.
Another revolves around the way Mueller plays. In his limited time at the NHL level, he hasn't been a defensive liability and has shown a willingness to get pucks on net. Mueller was also decent in the NHL when it came to faceoffs last year, as he won 11 of his 21 draws.
As for the call-up itself, a few things need to happen first. Either the Canucks need to trade a few players away and ensure that the piece coming back will not take up an NHL roster spot. There is also a chance the team is hit by the injury bug, but that could lead to only a temporary call-up.
The other issue Mueller may run into is Johnson's plan regarding younger players. Vancouver's GM has made it very clear he does not want younger players bouncing between the NHL and the AHL. This means that if Johnson and his staff aren't fully ready to bring Mueller up full-time, other players could get the call-up first.
Finally, this is a contract year for Mueller. While he will still be a restricted free agent, the organization needs to decide if he is part of the future at the NHL level. While Mueller's play in the AHL has been impressive, the only way to truly find out where he is in his development is by giving him a run of games in the NHL.
Ultimately, Mueller deserves a chance to show what he can do in the NHL. He has developed well in the AHL and, with 14 shots in four games this year, is showing the offensive side of his game. With the Canucks currently in a rebuild, now is the opportunity to see if Mueller can have success at the NHL level.
Apr 7, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Ty Mueller (39) handles the puck in warm up prior to a game against the Vegas Golden Knights at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
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The Montreal Canadiens are giving one of their prospects another chance on their NHL roster.
The Canadiens have announced that they have recalled forward Owen Beck from the AHL's Laval Rocket.
Beck has appeared in four games this season with the Rocket, where he has one assist, two penalty minutes, and a plus-1 rating. This is after he had 13 goals, 33 points, and a plus-6 rating in 58 games with the Rocket during the 2025-26 campaign.
Beck also played in 15 games last season for Montreal, posting one goal, six penalty minutes, 24 hits a plus-4 rating.
Beck will now be aiming to impress after landing this latest opportunity on the Canadiens' roster. While the 22-year-old forward has yet to break out, the potential for him to emerge as a solid defensive forward in the NHL is there.
In 28 career NHL games over three seasons, Beck has recorded one goal, one assist, 47 hits, and a plus-1 rating. It will be intriguing to see what he can do after being called up to Montreal's roster again.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - SEPTEMBER 24: Ryan Johnson #33 of the Buffalo Sabres plays against the Detroit Red Wings during a pre season game at Little Caesars Arena on September 24, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) | Getty Images
An ol’ 2-for-1 trade. The Penguins have sent a pair of minor league defensemen to Buffalo for a former first round pick.
The Penguins have acquired defenseman Ryan Johnson from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Caleb Jones and Daniel Laatsch.
Johnson, 25, was taken with the 31st pick back in the 2019 draft. He’s got 47 career NHL games under his belt, though the majority of that was in 2023-24 and he’s been mostly in the AHL ever since, playing only three NHL games in both 2024-25 and 2025-26. So far this season, it’s been all AHL time for Johnson. The 6’1”, 195 left shot defender spent four seasons at the University of Minnesota prior to that. Johnson has a contract through the 2027-28 season.
In exchange, Pittsburgh does a little house cleaning to drop two players and get down to 48 contracts of the 50 they are allotted per year. The Pens traded Caleb Jones, who cleared waivers weeks ago. Jones has played four games with AHL Wilkes-Barre, recording all three of his assists on the season in the same game. The 29-year old played seven NHL games with the Pens last season before a pair of long-term injuries and the rare suspension for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program ended his season last year.
Laatsch was a seventh round draft pick in 2021, the lanky defender spent four seasons in Wisconsin then spent most of his rookie season in 2025-26 with ECHL Wheeling, with 10 games played in the AHL. He’s yet to play this season and was only going to be a swing ECHL/AHL type of depth option in the organization.
Overall, this deal helps right size the numbers for the Pens at the minor league level. The team had all of Ilya Solovyov, Jones, Owen Pickering, Jake Livanavage, Laatsch and AHL contracted Maleek McGowan as left shots fighting for time in Wilkes-Barre. Paring down the numbers should help ease the block in the future for that spot.
Beyond that, time will tell if this deal has any NHL impact. Johnson might draw some intrigue as a former first round pick and member of the US National Development team but his career track has been spinning its wheels for a while. Even if he’s nothing more than deep depth, that’s the only place what Pittsburgh gave up would be this season anyways. Mostly a minor deal, helps restock the numbers a bit but does give the Pens a chance to take a look at a former first round pick to see what might come of playing in a new organization.
The Pittsburgh Penguins returned to practice on Monday after notching a 2-1 shootout win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak that began last Monday against the Winnipeg Jets and lasted for almost a week. The Penguins needed it in the worst way since they weren't defending well and looked lethargic.
They played excellent defense, got great goaltending from Arturs Silovs, and the shooters (Ben Kindel, Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell) finally did well in a shootout.
Monday's practice saw Muse tinker with the third line some more. Ben Kindel has had a rotating cast of wingers to start the season, and that likely won't change when the Penguins head to the "Windy City" to play the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
Kindel was skating on a line with Ville Koivunen and Andrei Kuzmenko during practice. Koivunen was a healthy scratch on Saturday, while Kuzmenko sat out the last two games since he's obviously going through a lot.
Here were the full practice lines and pairs:
Forwards
Rakell-Crosby-Rust
Chinakhov-Novak-Malkin
Kuzmenko-Kindel-Koivunen
Dewar-Lizotte-Robertson
Defensive pairs
Carlile-Karlsson
Girard-Korczak
Stastney-Letang
Based on these combinations, it appears Hendrix Lapierre and Elmer Soderblom will be the odd ones out at the start of this four-game road trip.
Lapierre's scratch makes sense because, aside from that first game against the Philadelphia Flyers, he's been a bit of a non-factor. It wouldn't hurt to sit him for a game or two so he can work on a few things.
As for Soderblom, this one's a bit more surprising, especially since he played super well against the Stars on Saturday. He was great along the walls and was one of the Penguins' best forecheckers behind the net. He deserves to get more runway on that line, but the staff doesn't see it that way right now.
Spencer Stastney will be in the lineup for a little bit since Trevor van Riemsdyk is not going on the trip. Stastney was solid in his Penguins debut on Saturday and showcased some good speed and defensive ability in his own end.
He was a good fit with Kris Letang, so it'll be interesting to see if that can continue this week.
Puck drop for Tuesday's Penguins-Blackhawks game will be at 8 p.m. ET.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild (3-1-1) returns to Grand Casino Arena on Monday night for a 7 p.m. matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights (5-1-0), looking to build on Saturday's 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers.
Minnesota enters the matchup having won three consecutive regular-season games against Vegas, including all three meetings during the 2025-26 season.
The Wild have also enjoyed considerable success against the Golden Knights since Vegas entered the NHL, holding a 16-11-4 all-time record against them.
However, Monday's matchup presents an early-season test against a Golden Knights team that has won five of its first six games.
Vegas has been led offensively by Jack Eichel, who has recorded three goals and nine assists for 12 points in six games. Mark Stone has added seven points, while Tomas Hertl has contributed five.
For Minnesota, Kirill Kaprizov has been the driving force offensively.
The 29-year-old winger has recorded six goals and two assists for eight points through five games, including a hat trick and four-point performance against Florida on Saturday.
Kaprizov enters Monday tied for the NHL lead in goals and has scored in five consecutive games to begin the season. He has also enjoyed success against Vegas throughout his career, recording 11 goals and six assists for 17 points in 19 games.
Defenseman Quinn Hughes has been equally productive from the blue line, recording two goals and five assists for seven points while collecting at least one point in each of Minnesota's first five games.
One of the biggest reasons for Minnesota's early success has been its special teams.
The Wild enter Monday tied for second in the NHL with a 37.5 percent power play, converting on six of their first 16 opportunities. Minnesota has scored a power-play goal in each of its first five games, marking just the third time in franchise history the team has opened a season with a power-play goal in five consecutive contests.
The penalty kill has been just as impressive, successfully killing 16 of 17 opposing power plays for a 94.1 percent success rate, also tied for second in the league.
Vegas, meanwhile, enters the contest with a 30.4 percent power play and an 81.3 percent penalty kill.
Minnesota will once again turn to Jesper Wallstedt in goal.
Wallstedt has started all five games this season, posting a 3-1-1 record with a 1.78 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage. He stopped 29 shots in Saturday's victory over Florida and enters Monday ranked fourth in the NHL in save percentage.
The Wild will remain without Brock Faber, who continues to recover from a skull fracture suffered during the preseason. Marcus Foligno is day-to-day with a mid-body injury, while Nick Foligno is expected to miss additional time with an upper-body injury.
Zach Bogosian, who missed Saturday's game with a lower-body injury, is expected to return to Minnesota's lineup.
With both teams off to strong starts, Monday's matchup should provide an interesting test for a Wild team looking to establish consistency early in the season.
Wild Projected Lineup
Kirill Kaprizov - Joel Eriksson Ek - Matt Boldy
Blake Coleman - Ryan Hartman - Maxim Shabanov
Rieger Lorentz - Danila Yurov - Bobby Brink
Nico Sturm - Michael McCarron - Yakov Trenin
Defense:
Quinn Hughes - Jared Spurgeon
Olli Maatta - Jonas Brodin
Daemon Hunt - Zach Bogosian
Starting Goaltender: Jesper Wallstedt
Scratched: David Spacek, Matt Kiersted
Injured: Marcus Foligno (Mid-Body), Brock Faber (Upper-Body, Indefinitely), Filip Gustavsson (Lower-Body, LTIR), Nick Foligno (Upper-Body, Day-To-Day).
Golden Knights Projected Lineup
Ivan Barbashev - Jack Eichel - Mark Stone
Brett Howden - William Karlsson - Mitch Marner
Trevor Connelly - Tomas Hertl - Raphael Lavoie
Marc Gatcomb - Nic Dowd - Braeden Bowman
Defense:
Shea Theodore - Brayden McNabb
Parker Wotherspoon - Rasmus Andersson
Jeremy Lauzon - Noah Hanifin
Starting Goaltender: Carter Hart (projected)
Scratched: Dylan Coghlan, Ville Heinola
Injured: Victor Olofsson (Lower-Body).
Wild vs. Golden Knights — October 12, 2026
Game Information
Puck drop: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Grand Casino Arena — St. Paul, Minnesota
Minnesota Wild: 3-1-1 (7 points)
Vegas Golden Knights: 5-1-0 (10 points)
Wild starting goalie: Jesper Wallstedt
Golden Knights starting goalie: TBD (Carter Hart projected)
How to Watch
TV: Wild+
Play-by-play: Anthony LaPanta
Color analyst: Ryan Carter
Reporter: Kevin Gorg
How to Listen
Radio: KFAN FM 100.3
Play-by-play: Joe O'Donnell
Color analyst: Tom Reid
Studio host: Kevin Falness
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Offense has been hard to come by so far in the early goings of the 2026-27 NHL season for the Detroit Red Wings, who are off to a 1-3-1 start following their second shutout setback on Saturday evening.
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacob Fowler turned aside all 30 shots that he faced from the Red Wings in regulation and overtime, and also denied all six Detroit players he faced in the subsequent shootout.
The final save that he made that capped the victory for the Canadiens was on forward Nate Danielson, who made the roster out of Training Camp and the preseason.
But through his first five games, Danielson has a single assist; he appeared in 28 NHL games last season, scoring twice and adding five assists before being returned to the American Hockey League affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins.
During the 2026 Prospects Tournament, Griffins head coach Dan Watson said he'd like to see Danielson be more selfish with the puck and shoot more, something Danielson acknowledged he could improve upon.
"I think I could probably shoot a bit more," Danielson said after practice on Monday. "I think probably, depending on who I'm playing with, I could definitely create some more O-zone time and get in front of the net a little more and create some more opportunities that way."
According to head coach Todd McLellan, Danielson's presence on the roster is something they came into Training Camp expecting - and now that he's achieved that goal, it's time for him to start finding his name more consistently on the scoresheet.
"Danny has come in, and he's done what we thought he'd do; he made the team. We expected him to make the team," McLellan said. "And now, he's gotta take it up a notch, I'd say. He's got to perform at a higher level, or else we're expecting too much from him."
While playing on the fourth line, Danielson has skated with a revolving door of linemates so far this season, including Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, Mason Appleton, Carter Mazur, and Sheldon Dries.
According to McLellan, this has made it difficult to develop the consistency and rhythm that come from playing alongside the same forwards. Still, ultimately, Danielson needs to start meeting the offensive expectations that come with being selected ninth overall in the NHL Draft.
"He's had to deal with some tough things that aren't his fault, but overall, we'd like to see him pick it up and contribute a little more offensively," McLellan said. "It's what he's been able to do in the past; we expect that here."
Before suffering a season-ending injury in mid-February of last season, Danielson appeared in 18 games with the Griffins in 2025-26, scoring three goals and 12 assists. The previous season, in his first full AHL campaign, he played 71 games and scored 12 goals while adding 27 assists.
While Danielson is known as a defensively responsible center, it's clear the Red Wings want him to make a greater offensive impact.
Danielson and the Red Wings next face the New Jersey Devils at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday evening beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET.
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The Chicago Blackhawks are expected to have Connor Bedard in the lineup on Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. This will be his season debut for 2026-27 following shoulder surgery that he had over the summer.
Bedard's first game will also mark the first time that he wears the "C" on his chest as Chicago Blackhawks captain. He was given this honor right before the season started, and now he will serve in this role on the ice for the first time.
On the other side of the bench will be one of the best captains in NHL history, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby. Crosby is one of Bedard's childhood idols, so it's a perfect time for him to debut as captain in his 4th NHL season.
Another one of Bedard's childhood idols is his newest teammate, Patrick Kane. This will also be Bedard's first-ever game alongside Kane. The two will skate on Chicago's top line together.
"I've been watching Kane since I was 5 years old," Bedard said. "[It's] pretty cool to play with him and see him up close. The way he can think the game - the way he makes little passes. Honestly, for me, I just want to get him the puck and get open as much as I can."
These two have the brainpower to feed off each other when it comes to making plays. Kane isn't the 100-point player that he once was, but his offensive instincts are poised to work well with a young star like Bedard. The younger of the two isn't the only one excited about this opportunity, either.
"It's definitely a boost to the whole team," Kane said about Bedard coming back. "Just seeing what he's capable of doing out there, just in practice, it's high-level skill- the way he attacks, the way he can make plays off attacking. He's a special player, and he's a big part of our team, so it's nice to see him back."
Whether it is at even strength or on the power play, the offense should come quickly when these two are on the ice together. It will also slot every other player into spots that are better suited to their ability.
It might feel like an early-season Tuesday night match against an Eastern Conference opponent, but in a lot of ways, it's a new beginning for the Blackhawks and their franchise player.
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The Florida Panthers opened their brief two-game road trip on Monday afternoon in Buffalo, but the game did not go particularly well for the Cats.
Florida fell behind four different times en route to a frustrating 5-3 defeat at KeyBank Center in Downtown Buffalo.
It took less than six minutes for the Sabres to pick up the opening goal, as Josh Doan blocked a Gustav Forsling attempted dump in from the point and quickly transitioned it into a rush chance.
Doan’s wrist shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle beat Jacob Markstrom, who had been brilliant to that point, over the blocker to put the Sabres in front 1-0 at the 5:58 mark.
Florida’s first goal of the game came just over five minutes later and it was the result of some hard work by a pair of Panthers forward lines.
A shift that started with the Cats’ fourth line pinning the Sabres deep in their zone was kept going by the Lundell line, as Florida was able to make a change while still keeping the puck in Buffalo’s end.
Eventually, a point shot by Aaron Ekblad hit Sabres’ goalie Colton Ellis up high, and the rebound bounced to Anton Lundell at the side of the crease. Lundell swept the puck through Ellis’ five-hole, tying the game at one.
A holding penalty called on Dmitry Kulikov allowed Buffalo to re-take the lead, coming off a blast by Rasmus Dahlin. The Sabres had been just 1-for-17 on the power play previously.
Not that the Panthers have been any better.
Coming into the game Florida was just 1-for-28 when on the man advantage, but that changed after Owen Zellweger was called for tripping Sam Reinhart early in period number two.
Reinhart proved to be Johnny-on-the-spot, standing next to the goal crease and tapping home Seth Jones’ point shot that had just trickled through Ellis’ pads, tying the game at two.
Panthers tie it up on this Reinhart goal and Brady finally has his first point as a Panther 🔥🚨 pic.twitter.com/PDhPzv6pmi
A few minutes after Ryan McLeod put Buffalo back in front 3-2 on a breakaway, Reinhart picked up his second PPG of the night, this time benefiting off a great, between-the-legs pass by Brady Tkachuk and knotting the score for a third time.
By this point of the game, both teams had replaced their starting goaltenders.
Akira Schmid came out to start the second period for Florida after Markstrom stopped nine of 11 shots during the opening frame, and Buffalo replaced Ellis with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen after Reinhart’s first power play goal.
The third period did not go well for the visitors, as Buffalo picked up another power play goal at the 7:15 mark and then an insurance goal by Tage Thompson 6:05 later.
That 5-3 score is how the game ended, with Florida dropping its second straight game in regulation after picking up points in their first four games of the season.
Now holding a 2-2-2 record, the Panthers won’t have much time to dwell on the defeats.
They’re right back in action on Tuesday night when they face the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. Puck drop is set for 6:15 p.m. as the NHL will be holding its annual Frozen Frenzy in which all 32 games play on a staggered schedule.
Photo caption: Oct 12, 2026; Buffalo, New York, USA; Buffalo Sabres center Ryan McLeod (71) scores a goal onFloridaPanthersgoaltender Akira Schmid (40) during the second period at KeyBank Center. (Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images)
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Sabres ruled out captain Rasmus Dahlin returning after he sustained an upper-body injury in the second period against the Florida Panthers on Monday.
The Sabres did not provide any further details in making the announcement. Dahlin's final shift lasted 18 seconds and ended 3:44 into the second period during a Sabres power play.
Dahlin left the ice after going down to one knee upon taking a shot from the slot off a faceoff in the Panthers zone. He collected the rebound along the side board before turning it over, and then headed immediately to the bench.
Dahlin scored his second goal of the season on the power play 15:55 into the first period.
Meantime, Panthers starting goalie Jacob Markstrom did not return for the start of the second period. He allowed two goals on nine shots in the opening 20 minutes and was replaced by Akira Schmid. The Panthers did not have an immediate update on Markstrom's status.
Florida acquired the 36-year-old Markstrom in a trade with New Jersey to be the starter after failing to re-sign Sergei Bobrovsky, who left Florida to sign with Toronto in free agency.
