Category: Ice Hockey

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Filip Hronek scored a power-play goal with 11 seconds to go in overtime to cap a run of four consecutive goals by the Vancouver Canucks, who snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 6-5 comeback win over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.

The Canucks, who won for just the third time all season, trailed 5-2 after Anaheim's A.J. Greer scored his second goal of the game with 7:37 to play in regulation.

But Jamie Oleksiak pulled Vancouver within 5-3 just 31 seconds later.

Jonathan Lekkerimaki then scored twice less than a minute apart — the second with 1:57 left in regulation — to send the game into overtime.

In addition to his winning goal, Hronek also had an assist. Liam Ohgren and Brock Boeser also had goals for Vancouver, while Elias Pettersson added a pair of assists. Leevi Merilainen made 18 saves.

The Ducks jumped to a 4-1 lead after two periods. Greer scored in the first period, then Jeff Malott, Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson added second-period goals. Sennecke's came on the power play.

Jackson LaCombe had three assists for the Ducks and Lukas Dostal made 27 saves.

Up next

Canucks: Visit the Sharks on Thursday night.

Ducks: Host the Sabres on Thursday night.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Once you got past the Semyon Varlamov of it all on Tuesday, there was the matter of the hockey the Islanders played in beating the Predators 4-3 in a shootout.

After coach Pete DeBoer went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen and essentially challenged his team following a loss in Dallas he said was their first poor performance all season, the Islanders responded in kind.

It wasn’t perfect — actually, it was nearly disastrous, as the Islanders fumbled a 3-0 lead, then failed to score with nearly four minutes at 4-on-3 in overtime — but DeBoer’s side had the qualities they’d lacked against the Stars.

They were up ice and physical, their passes crisp and their battle level high. The best example all night came at the start of the second period, when the Islanders passed the puck around the zone for nearly a minute without pause before Matthew Schaefer’s feed across gave Bo Horvat a one-timer to rocket past Juuse Saros and make it 3-0.

“We got back to our identity tonight,” Brayden Schenn said. “We know we have to play that way in order to be successful. It’s a gritty, hard-nosed game. Play good defense.”

Of course, that alone didn’t mean this was easy.

The Islanders let the Predators back in on Filip Forsberg’s power-play goal at 9:42 of the second, making it 3-1, and from there, things got hairy.

Just over three minutes later, off a rare Matthew Schaefer turnover when the defenseman got crossed up with Ondrej Palat trying to exit the zone, Alexander Kerfoot got the Predators within 3-2.

When the Islanders’ fourth power play of the night went nowhere — just as their first three had — the Predators wasted no time in making them pay. Daemon Hunt’s initial shot trickled through Varlamov’s pads before Ryan O’Reilly stuffed it in to tie the game at 4:16 of the third.

The Islanders were on their heels late in regulation, requiring a few scrambling defensive shifts to get the game to overtime, but they would eventually earn the extra point.

After Schaefer was tripped at the start of overtime, the Islanders exhausted the Predators for a ridiculous 1:45 on a delayed call before Nashville finally got a touch.

Still, somehow, the Islanders — opting to leave Schaefer, Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom out for well over four minutes of overtime, and Schaefer for all five — couldn’t convert on the power play itself. (Schaefer, who finished with a career-high 32:16 of ice, is the first player to go all five minutes of overtime in the post-lockout era.)

Shootout goals from Kyle Palmieri and Horvat sealed it anyway.

“I thought it was a great response, and I knew we would get that response,” DeBoer said. “I think the guys knew and came out and played great.”

ST. LOUIS -- Let's just call Tuesday night what it was: a goalie win for Jacob Fowler.

The Montreal Canadiens goalie was in the St. Louis Blues' kitchen the entire night, particularly the second- and third-periods of the Canadiens' 2-0 win at Enterprise Center.

Fowler made a career-high 46 saves, including 24 in the third period when the Blues (5-6-1) outshot the Canadiens (7-3-2) 24-3.

"There was definitely a lot of good looks and sometimes you've got to tip your cap to their goalie," Blues forward Robert Thomas said. 'He made a lot of good saves; we've go to find a way to bear down a little bit more and put those in the net. There's a lot of things to like about tonight."

That was a hard thing to do even on a night where the Blues had shot volume (80-49), plenty of net front traffic and tons of O-zone time.

But in the end, it's the second straight shutout loss after a 4-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, extending their shutout streak to 123:55.

"We had a lot of opportunities tonight, a lot of shots," Blues forward Dylan Holloway said. "... I thought we deserved a couple there, but credit to Fowler there in net. He was on fire tonight."

As a result, the Blues were shut out in consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 17-19, 2019 (4-0 in a loss to the San Jose Sharks and 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings) in what turned out to be Mike Yeo's final game as Blues coach before they hired Craig Berube in the Stanley Cup-winning season.

It's the second-most shots on goal in a shutout loss since Jan. 25, 1986 in a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers:

#stlblues lost that game 1-0 to the #flyers on Jan. 25, 1986; were shut out by Darren Jensen's 48 saves. https://t.co/BXmG7KYs4h

— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) October 28, 2026

As for the game ... 

* Lots of shots, lots of chances, lots of traffic ... too much Fowler -- As was mentioned, sometimes you have to tip the cap to the other guy tending the net.

Fowler was exceptional. 

I think if the Blues play this game 10 times, they win nine of them.

They did everything but score. Pucks were loose in the crease and they had several bodies there, they got to several rebounds and Fowler was there on every one.

Jake Neighbours hit the post from the slot in the opening period, and Cam Fowler (no relation) hit the post on a seeing-eye shot from the left point.

When things are going well, even good fortune can be your best friend.

But make no mistake, the Blues just got goalie-d, and those nights happen.

"Fowler was too hard to beat tonight,“ Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. "… Fowler, he was incredible tonight. Several spectacular second saves. I didn’t think we shot it in him. I thought he made the saves.

"We had plenty of both (volume and net front chances). Are we still a little too perimeter? Yeah, maybe at times, and that's something we can improve upon, but if we keep getting that many looks, there's going to be nights where you get seven, eight (goals)."

Jacob FOWLER (21) 🇺🇸 chytil 46 střel St. Louis 👀

Nejvíc zásahů nováčka u čistého konta v historii Montrealu.

Šestá výhra v řadě, čímž se také řadí ve svém věku k legendám.

Těžký test pro Kubu DOBEŠE 🇨🇿, hrdinu letošního play off.

Hokejový život 🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/j1cuIE7Ry4

— Patrik Czepiec (@CzepiecPatrik) October 28, 2026

Fowler was simply masterful, and his team relied on him heavily, and I mean heavily in that third period. 

* Bolduc bites former mates -- Let's not forget Jordan Binnington, who didn't see the shot volume (20 shots) that Fowler did, but the Blues goalie also made some really good saves when the Canadiens had the jump in the early going, but in a 0-0 stalemate, there weren't going to be many opportunities to beat these goalies.

Former Blue Zack Bolduc did the honors three seconds after a Canadiens power play had expired with a rifle of a snipe from the bottom of the right circle, and it was going to take a shot like that to beat either one of these guys tonight:

Montreal goal!

Scored by Zachary Bolduc with 11:23 left in the 2nd. Assisted by Mike Matheson and Alexandre Texier.

STL: 0 | MTL: 1#MTLvsSTL#StlBlues#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/2wqFAiMpGw

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 28, 2026

I thought the call on Thomas for holding at the time was soft, and the Blues' kill, which technically was 3-for-3 in the game, suffered off it when Montreal was able to hold the zone and keep this play alive for the icebreaker at 8:37 of the second period.

Blues fans should know all too well about these types of shots from Bolduc having seen them in the past.

* Questionable second goal -- It came early in the third with Florian Xhekaj getting his first NHL goal on a tip, what appeared to be his second tip of a Mike Matheson wrister to the net.

It appeared Xhekaj directed the puck downward on the initial shot, it deflected off Binnington and behind him, and Xhekaj was able to poke it in for a 2-0 lead at 2:17 of the third period.

The play was reviewed and upheld, with the league's response being:

Here is the league explanation. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/CcyOkQzHNA

— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) October 28, 2026

"It did look like it, but I don't know if he touched it there or not," Montgomery said. "But they get really good looks at it from Toronto. If they didn't think it was, we're not going to double down on it on a challenge. It's a hard thing to see but he does cross-check our defenseman down to the ice. If that doesn't happen, the defection never happens."

Florian Xhekaj score his first NHL goal 🥳 pic.twitter.com/gKZzDOjMP2

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 28, 2026

From there on, the Canadiens were able to sit back and defend and rely on their goalie, which they did, holding a two-goal advanatge despite the Blues throwing the kitchen sink at the Montreal goal.

* Puck movement was sloppy early -- The Blues were able to absorb the Canadiens' forecheck more times than not early, but their puck transition was not clean, and opportunities for odd-man rushes were thwarted because of it either with a bad puck touch or bad pass. 

A lot of it stemmed from puck movement through the neutral zone where things didn't look clean for this group.

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov scored his NHL-leading 14th goal of the season and added an assist, Jesper Wallstedt stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Utah Mammoth 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Joel Eriksson Ek and Maxim Shabanov also had goals while Quinn Hughes had two assists for the Wild, who have won three straight and went 3-1-1 on a five-game road trip.

Utah's Logan Cooley scored with 1:21 to play to spoil Wallstedt's shutout bid.

Kaprizov scored on the power-play just 48 seconds into the second period to give the Wild a 2-0 lead. He has multiple points in three consecutive games and has scored a goal in eight of his last nine games.

Kaprizov is also tied with Alexander Ovechkin for the fifth-most goals scored in October in NHL history.

Eriksson Ek also scored on the power play with less than five minutes to play in the first period and has eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in his last seven games.

Karel Vejmelka made 27 stops for the Mammoth, who have lost three of their last five games.

Up next

Wild: Return home to face the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

Mammoth: Open a six-game road trip at Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

DALLAS (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced to win his New Jersey debut, Nico Hischier scored two goals, and the Devils beat the Dallas Stars 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Hellebuyck, the three-time Vezina Trophy winner, started four days after being traded by the Winnipeg Jets following his suspension for failing to report to training camp. It was his first win since April 9 at St. Louis, 3-2.

The Hughes brothers, Jack and Luke, and Jesper Boqvist, also scored for the Devils, who have won four consecutive games.

Justin Hryckowian scored for the Stars, who had a five-game winning streak snapped. Casey DeSmith, making his third start of the season, made 22 saves after allowing only two goals in each of his previous outings.

The five goals are the season high against Dallas, which went into play leading the NHL with a 1.68 goals-against average.

Hischier, the team captain in his 10th season with New Jersey, provided a 2-0 lead at 2:41 of the first period and 38 seconds into the second. Dallas’ challenge for goaltender interference against Timo Meier on the first goal was denied. Hischier has a team-high seven goals and two two-goal games.

Boqvist made it 3-0 midway through the second. After Hryckowian’s deflection pulled Dallas back within two goals at 16:08 of the second, Luke Hughes answered 28 seconds later.

BLUE JACKETS 4, FLYERS 3, OT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kent Johnson scored his second goal of the game 2:22 into overtime and Columbus beat Philadelphia after coughing up a three-goal lead.

Columbus scored three goals in a 2:46 span of the first period to lead 3-0 after one.

Johnson set up Adam Fantilli for the first goal at 10:58 of the first period, and then deflected Zach Werenski’s shot past Flyers goalie Dan Vladar at 12:54. Denton Mateychuk scored for Columbus 50 seconds later. Cam Talbot made 28 saves for his third win this season.

Johnson scored the overtime winner on a two-on-none breakaway, following a give-and-go with Fantilli. It was Johnson’s sixth goal of the season.

Philadelphia forced overtime by outshooting Columbus 28-6 over the final two periods.

Noah Cates scored his first goal of the season by poking a loose puck past Talbot, while Trevor Zegras cut the deficit to 3-2 with just under five minutes left in regulation. Zegras slid a pass to Tyson Foerster, who fired a shot on Talbot that Jamie Drysdale tipped into the net with 11 seconds remaining.

Vladar made 11 saves.

BLACKHAWKS 2, KINGS 1

CHICAGO (AP) — Wyatt Kaiser snapped a third-period tie, Spencer Knight made 25 saves and Chicago beat Los Angeles.

Chicago stopped a three-game slide while improving to 3-4-0 on a seven-game homestand. Roman Kantserov scored in the second, and the Blackhawks killed off a double-minor penalty on defenseman Sam Rinzel for high-sticking.

Kaiser picked up his first goal of the season at 7:17, beating Anton Forsberg through the goaltender’s legs with a well-placed shot from the left circle. It was the 11th goal for the defenseman in 187 career games.

Samuel Helenius scored for Los Angeles in the finale of a 3-2-0 trip. Forsberg stopped 25 shots.

Kings captain Drew Doughty and forward Corey Perry were scratched after they played in Monday night’s 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers.

The Blackhawks played without defenseman Bowen Byram, who missed his fifth consecutive game with an upper-body injury.

CANADIENS 2, BLUES 0

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jacob Fowler made a career-high 46 saves for his second shutout of the season, and Zachary Bolduc and Florian Xhekaj scored as Montreal defeated St. Louis.

Mike Matheson had two assists as the Canadiens (7-3-2) improved to 4-1-1 on the road this season with their third straight away victory. Fowler’s shutout was his third in 24 career starts.

The Blues (5-6-1) fell to 3-2-1 at home as they were shut out for the second straight game. They lost 4-0 to visiting Carolina on Saturday.

Bolduc put the Canadiens ahead with 11:23 left in the second period, slapping a one-timer from the right circle for his fifth goal of the season. Bolduc’s first goal against his former team was assisted by Matheson and Alexandre Texier.

A first-round draft pick in 2021 by St. Louis, Bolduc scored 19 goals for the Blues during the 2024-25 season before being traded to the Canadiens for defenseman Logan Mailloux. The 23-year-old right winger had 12 goals and 30 points for Montreal in 78 games last season.

HURRICANES 2, BRUINS 1

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sebastian Aho’s third-period goal gave Carolina a win over Boston in a matchup of early leaders in the Eastern Conference.

Pyotr Kochetkov made 14 saves to improve his record to 8-0-0, matching the longest season-opening winning streak by a goalie in franchise history. He tied former teammate Frederik Andersen, who set the mark five years ago.

Jackson Blake also scored for the Hurricanes, who were in their first home game in two weeks following a 3-1-1 road trip.

Carolina killed two power plays in the final five minutes, helping it halt Boston’s eight-game points streak.

Pavel Zacha scored for the Bruins, who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves.

Aho’s eighth goal of the season came with 9:41 remaining shortly after Boston’s Matthew Poitras hit the post with a backhanded attempt on an open net. Aho has a team-high 19 points for the team with the best record in the league.

Zacha scored 1:31 into the game on a power play, but the Bruins failed to convert the rest of the game.

ISLANDERS 4, PREDATORS 3, SO

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kyle Palmieri and Bo Horvat scored in a shootout to lead New York to a victory over Nashville.

Horvat, Anthony Duclair and Brayden Schenn scored in regulation for New York. Semyon Varlamov made 20 saves and denied both Nashville attempts in the shootout to record his first win since Nov. 14, 2024.

Filip Forsberg had a goal and an assist, Alexander Kerfoot and Ryan O’Reilly scored and Juuse Saros made 25 saves for Nashville, which fell to 0-5 in games that have extended beyond regulation this season.

The Islanders led 3-0 early in the second before the Predators drew even.

Duclair scored at 3:07 of the opening period and Schenn followed at 8:07 of the first. The goal was the 300th of Schenn’s career.

Horvat’s goal at 1:08 of the second came on a one-timer off of a cross-ice pass from Matthew Schaefer, who has points in five straight games.

The Islanders had lost their previous seven games at Nashville, with their last victory coming on Oct. 28, 2017.

PANTHERS 5, JETS 1

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe scored twice, Matthew Tkachuk had four assists and Florida extended Winnipeg's slide to six games.

Brady Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, Niko Mikkola had a goal and assist, and Sam Reinhart rounded out the scoring for Florida, which scored three times on the power play. The Panthers salvaged their four-game trip with a pair of wins after opening with back-to-back defeats. Seth Jones had three assists.

Akira Schmid made 24 saves for his fourth victory in five starts.

Adam Lowry scored for Winnipeg, his second of the season and first short-handed. The Jets haven’t won since opening the season 4-1-1.

Clay Stevenson stopped 19 shots.

The Jets’ power play has gone stale at 0 for 14 over their last five games and 2 for 18 at home this season.

Florida scored three times by the 10:18 mark of the first period. The Tkachuk brothers have combined for 35 points in the first 13 games this season.

WILD 3, MAMMOTH 1

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov scored his NHL-leading 14th goal of the season and added an assist, Jesper Wallstedt stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced, and Minnesota beat Utah.

Joel Eriksson Ek and Maxim Shabanov also had goals while Quinn Hughes had two assists for the Wild, who have won three straight and went 3-1-1 on a five-game road trip.

Utah’s Logan Cooley scored with 1:21 to play to spoil Wallstedt’s shutout bid.

Kaprizov scored on the power-play just 48 seconds into the second period to give the Wild a 2-0 lead. He has multiple points in three consecutive games and has scored a goal in eight of his last nine games.

Kaprizov is also tied with Alexander Ovechkin for the fifth-most goals scored in October in NHL history.

Eriksson Ek also scored on the power play with less than five minutes to play in the first period and has eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in his last seven games.

Karel Vejmelka made 27 stops for the Mammoth, who have lost three of their last five games.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, SENATORS 1

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Raphael Lavoie scored his first career goal, a tap-in eight minutes into the third period to put Vegas ahead for good in its victory over Ottawa, ending the Golden Knights’ three-game losing streak.

Braeden Bowman scored a power-play goal for the Golden Knights, and William Karlsson and Jack Eichel each added an empty-netter. Nic Dowd got his 200th career point with a secondary assist on Lavoie’s goal.

Adin Hill stopped 25 shots, including a daring charge out of the net. Fellow goalie Carter Hart did not play after sustaining an undisclosed injury at the morning skate.

Shane Pinto scored on a power play for the Senators, who opened a five-game trip. Jonas Johansson made 25 saves.

CANUCKS 6, DUCKS 5, OT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Filip Hronek scored a power-play goal with 11 seconds to go in overtime to cap a run of four consecutive goals by Vancouver, who snapped a 10-game losing streak with a comeback win over Anaheim.

The Canucks, who won for just the third time all season, trailed 5-2 after Anaheim’s A.J. Greer scored his second goal of the game with 7:37 to play in regulation.

But Jamie Oleksiak pulled Vancouver within 5-3 just 31 seconds later.

Jonathan Lekkerimaki then scored twice less than a minute apart — the second with 1:57 left in regulation — to send the game into overtime.

In addition to his winning goal, Hronek also had an assist. Liam Ohgren and Brock Boeser also had goals for Vancouver, while Elias Pettersson added a pair of assists. Leevi Merilainen made 18 saves.

The Ducks jumped to a 4-1 lead after two periods. Greer scored in the first period, then Jeff Malott, Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson added second-period goals. Sennecke’s came on the power play.

Jackson LaCombe had three assists for the Ducks and Lukas Dostal made 27 saves.

SABRES 2, SHARKS 0

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Colten Ellis made 23 saves in his first appearance in more than two weeks to lead Buffalo to a victory over San Jose.

Olen Zellweger scored in the second period and Ellis did the rest to earn his second career shutout, robbing Kiefer Sherwood from point-blank range with 4:01 left in the game. Ellis had gotten pulled in the second period of his last start for Buffalo on Oct. 12 against Florida.

Zach Benson added an empty-net goal for the Sabres.

The Sabres beat the Sharks for the eighth time in the last nine meetings between the teams, including a shutout win last March in San Jose.

Yaroslav Askarov made 38 saves for San Jose in the first game back from a six-game road trip. The Sharks have only one regulation win in 13 games this season.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe scored twice, Matthew Tkachuk had four assists and the Florida Panthers extended the Winnipeg Jets' slide to six games with a 5-1 victory on Tuesday night.

Brady Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, Niko Mikkola had a goal and assist, and Sam Reinhart rounded out the scoring for Florida, which scored three times on the power play. The Panthers salvaged their four-game trip with a pair of wins after opening with back-to-back defeats. Seth Jones had three assists.

Akira Schmid made 24 saves for his fourth victory in five starts.

Adam Lowry scored for Winnipeg, his second of the season and first short-handed. The Jets haven't won since opening the season 4-1-1.

Clay Stevenson stopped 19 shots.

The Jets' power play has gone stale at 0 for 14 over their last five games and 2 for 18 at home this season.

Florida scored three times by the 10:18 mark of the first period. The Tkachuk brothers have combined for 35 points in the first 13 games this season.

Reinhart one-timed a pass by Brady Tkachuk over the shoulder of Stevenson and under the crossbar for Florida's third power-play goal of the night and a 4-1 lead. The Jets have scored more than three goals just once this season — a 5-2 victory over Minnesota on Oct. 13.

The Panthers went 3 for 5 on the power play, giving them 13 goals with the man advantage in their last eight games.

Up next

The Panthers host Winnipeg on Friday in the second of back-to-back games in Florida for the Jets, who visit Tampa Bay on Thursday.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

NASHVILLE, TX -- For the first time since Oct. 28, 2017, the New York Islanders (6-4-2) won in Nashville, defeating the Predators 4-3 in a shootout to snap a two-game skid. 

Goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who made his fourth start of the season, made x saves on x shots to earn his first win since Nov. 14, 2024, when he made 24 saves on 26 shots in a 5-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks. 

Here's how it happened:

The Islanders got the party started at 3:07 of the first period when Jean-Gabriel Pageau, at 4-on-4, found a crashing Anthony Duclair in the low slot:

What a pass from Pager and the goal from Duke! pic.twitter.com/nSjaYeYktE

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) October 28, 2026

Exactly five minutes later, Ondrej Palat found Brayden Schenn wide open at the back post to make it a 2-0 game:

3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ GOALS. pic.twitter.com/FdI2b42nPH

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) October 28, 2026

That was Schenn's 300th goal of his NHL career. 

The Islanders scored their third unanswered goal at 1:08 of the second period after Bo Horvat ripped a Mathew Schaefer one-timer home:

WHAT A PLAY. pic.twitter.com/qOULEkNhKA

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) October 28, 2026

That goal extended Schaefer's point streak to five games (two goals, three assists) and put him tied with Scott Stevens for the sixth most points by a teenage defenseman in NHL history, with 70:

Filip Forsberg got the Predators on the board at 3:07 of the second period while on the power play after he buried a backdoor feed from Jonathan Marchessault:

"Never back down, never what?"

- Yoda (probably) pic.twitter.com/4P0HaIEaek

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) October 28, 2026

The Predators inched closer at 8:07 of the middle frame with Alex Kerfoot burying a loose puck after Varlamov made two strong saves on Nils Hoglander following a Matthew Schaefer turnover. 

The Force is strong with this one 🙂‍↕️ pic.twitter.com/CPY9ozUBJz

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) October 28, 2026

The Predators evened the score at 4:16 of the third period after Ryan O'Reilly buried his own rebound, a loose puck sititng behind Varlamov. 

The game went to overtime where the Islanders found themselves on a power play but couldn't score.

The game would need a shootout where Kyle Palmieri and Horvat scored, with Varlamov denying both shots that came his way for the 4-3 win. 

UP NEXT: Islanders face the Minnesota Wild at 8 PM ET on Thursday to conclude their three-game road trip. 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Seven-hundred and twelve long, testing days later, Semyon Varlamov skated off the ice Tuesday evening with an NHL victory in hand.

The last one, all the way back on Nov. 14, 2024 in Vancouver, was under a different coach and a different general manager and with a roster that included current Islanders front office advisor Matt Martin. Varlamov got hurt at the end of that month.

Since then, he’s undergone two partial knee replacements, months of endless rehab and faced the near-universal expectation that his career was over.

So, yes, there’s plenty to unpack about the Islanders’ 4-3 win over the Predators, and all of that is going to need to wait a beat. It’s hard to speak definitively about these things, but Varlamov is almost certainly the first professional athlete to return to play after such serious procedures.

Earning a win — and Varlamov did earn it on Tuesday, making 20 saves and playing the most confident, controlled game of the four he’s started so far this season — is an awesome achievement in the word’s most literal sense.

“A year ago, to be honest with you, I didn’t see this coming,” Varlamov said in the dressing room, after every single one of his teammates spilled off the bench to envelop him in hugs after Bo Horvat’s shootout winner. “It was such a grind the last two years to get to this point where you have an opportunity to play and compete at the highest level in the world.

“I’m very thankful for this opportunity again. And then just wanted to thank everybody who was involved in the rehab and the surgery and everything and just very, very proud of everybody.”

Much as Varlamov would probably like for everyone to stop treating his every start like a big deal, he could admit that this one was special. Even as he’d played well in losses to the Senators and Kings, he’d wondered when the first win would come.

The Islanders had put a lot of faith in him. General manager Mathieu Darche said that after watching Varlamov put everything into his rehab last season, “there’s no way I could not have given him a chance.” The Islanders signed Vitek Vanecek as insurance but after Varlamov made two AHL starts at the end of last season, Darche planned as if he would be the backup. Varlamov wanted to — still wants to — prove him and the rest of the organization right.

“Discussions in the summer, I don’t think anyone was sure [about it],” coach Pete DeBoer said. “It was such an unheard-of comeback, with what he had gone through. That was the reason we signed the goaltending depth we did, because I don’t think anyone was sure until he got to camp and started to play and you talked to him after he scrimmaged or played and had no ill effects and there was no swelling.

“None of us went into camp with an easy feeling that we were gonna have him for the whole season. We really weren’t sure what we were gonna get.”

DeBoer admitted that it took until Varlamov made it through his first regular-season game, and came in the next day reporting no complications, for him to fully believe this would work.

“There’s nothing like live bullets like that,” DeBoer said. “That’s when I started to feel comfortable that he could actually do this.”

It’s only a month in. But so far, Varlamov is holding up his end of the bargain, with admirers across the organization and around the league. Darche, speaking after the game Tuesday, said Avalanche GM Joe Sakic had passed on good wishes to Varlamov on Monday. Barry Trotz, working in Nashville as a senior advisor, had too when he caught up with the Islanders following their morning skate.

“If someone would have scored five goals tonight, the guys would have been happier that Varly got the win,” Darche said. “I’m so happy for him.”

Varlamov, not usually an emotional person, couldn’t help but feel the love.

“Everybody who supported me through the last two years, I know it’s been a long journey to come back and win the first game,” he said. “I’m just very humbled and very thankful.”

New Jersey gave the Stars Hell(ebuyck). 

Connor Hellebuyck made his Devils debut in Dallas on Tuesday, just days after the Devils pulled off the blockbuster trade to acquire the Olympic gold medal-winning goaltender and end a long-running standoff with the Jets, from whom he requested a trade. 

New Jersey easily dispatched the Stars 5-1, as Hellebuyck made 16 saves, only allowing a second-period goal.

Tuesday’s game with the Stars was Hellebuyck’s first start in an NHL game since April 13, 2026 — the final regular-season game for Winnipeg during the 2025-26 season — and kickstarted a new era in the Garden State.

Hellebuyck made six saves in the first period during his Devils debut as his new team jumped out to a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.

“It was a lot of fun. I thought the guys in front of me just played a perfect game for me to get acclimated,” Hellebuyck said after the win. “Low amount of shots, blocking everything, keeping everything to the outside. Letting me see things, letting me touch the puck a lot. I have to work through a little bit of the rust, but I just thought it was a perfect gam top to bottom.”

Nico Hischier scored twice, and Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes added a goal and an assist each for the Devils, who won their fourth straight.

Hellebuyck is a three-time Vezina Trophy winner and helped Team USA win gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, but he had not played in an NHL game amid the standoff with the Jets. 

The American netminder made his trade request public in late August, even though he had five seasons left on his contract. He did not report for training last month. 

The Jets suspended him for not appearing at camp. 

Following his first practice with the Devils on Monday, Hellebuyck said that he was “really looking forward to this day for a while now” and that “it felt good getting acclimated with a new group and having some fun out there.”

“I’m just really excited to play hockey again,” Hellebuyck said. “That was the hardest part about all of this, wanting to go back and not being able to.”

The Devils ended Tuesday night in second place in the Metropolitan Division.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kyle Palmieri and Bo Horvat scored in a shootout to lead the New York Islanders to a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.

Horvat, Anthony Duclair and Brayden Schenn scored in regulation for New York. Semyon Varlamov made 20 saves and denied both Nashville attempts in the shootout to record his first win since Nov. 14, 2024.

Filip Forsberg had a goal and an assist, Alexander Kerfoot and Ryan O’Reilly scored and Juuse Saros made 25 saves for Nashville, which fell to 0-5 in games that have extended beyond regulation this season.

The Islanders led 3-0 early in the second before the Predators drew even.

Duclair scored at 3:07 of the opening period and Schenn followed at 8:07 of the first. The goal was the 300th of Schenn’s career.

Horvat’s goal at 1:08 of the second came on a one-timer off of a cross-ice pass from Matthew Schaefer, who has points in five straight games.

The Islanders had lost their previous seven games at Nashville, with their last victory coming on Oct. 28, 2017.

Forsberg got Nashville on the scoreboard at 9:42 of the second with a power-play goal.

After scoring just one goal in the first 10 games of the season, Forsberg, the Predators’ career goals leader, has goals in two straight.

Kerfoot drew Nashville within a goal at 13:02 of the second, converting the rebound of a shot by Nils Hoglander.

O'Reilly tied it at 4:16 of the third, tapping in a loose puck sitting in the crease. He has three goals in his last two games.

Up next

Islanders: Visit Minnesota on Thursday.

Predators: Host Washington on Thursday.

Nearly two years since his last official victory and two partial knee replacements later, Semyon Varlamov added regular season win number 290 to his NHL career in the most surprising of places, as the Islanders prevailed in Nashville via shootout after the open play portion of the game finished 3-3.

Not as dramatic but every bit as satisfying, the Islanders hadn’t won in Nashville since well before Varlamov joined them: that was in 2017, when John Tavares (who scored a hat trick) was captain and Doug Weight was coach.

The Islanders blew a 3-0 lead in the latter half of the second period and early part of the third, then hung on with a gutsy defensive and goaltending effort to force OT. Varlamov turned away both shots he faced (well, one was a smart pokecheck on Ryan O’Reilly, the other was a shot wide), while Kyle Palmieri and Bo Horvat each cashed in theirs.

[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]

It was a nice start for the Islanders in a penalty-heavy first period. Anthony Duclair got them on the board with some smart play at 4-on-4, leading a rush with J-G Pageau and getting inside his man to redirect Pageau’s pass in from just above the crease.

Anthony Duclair opens the scoring! pic.twitter.com/gYr8vfT9NI

— SNY Islanders (@SNY_Islanders) October 28, 2026

That gave the Isles a 1-0 lead at 3:07, and five minutes later they doubled it after some nice if chaotic work around the Predators’ zone, Brayden Schenn ultimately slipping a loose puck in after he fumbled his initial shot. Whatever works.

The Islanders picked up where they left off to start the second period, with a really impressive shift among Simon Holmstrom, Bo Horvat and Anthony Duclair. They cycled and moved to space in an impressive enough display that MSG gave Josh Bailey a whole segment about it during the intermission. Horvat finished with a one-timer off a beautifully threaded cross-slot pass from Matthew Schaefer.

This entire shift leading up to the Horvat goal is outstanding. Wow! #Islespic.twitter.com/FR3NijdSOc

— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) October 28, 2026

Just 1:08 into the middle frame with a 3-0 lead, it looked like it might be a cruise of a night for the Islanders. But they let the Predators back in.

A penalty and then careless moves got them in trouble. Nashville scored two goals in a 3:20 span, including one on the power play, and then nearly got an equalizer when Ryan O’Reilly had daylight on a point-blank chance but put his shot off the outside of the post.

The Islanders settled and also slowed things down a bit after that five-minute spiral, and they were able to steer the game to the second intermission without further damage.

Alas, that just delayed the inevitable. The Predators had the better of play to open the third, and even when the Islanders interrupted that with a decent forecheck that drew a penalty committed against a hard-working Victor Eklund, the Islanders power play fizzled.

Ryan O’Reilly came out of the box to create a chance and then soon finished off the garbage on a shot that Varlamov stopped but let squeak behind him, much like the Predators’ second goal, to tie it at 3-3 just 4:16 into the third.

That’s not meant as a critique of Varlamov’s play, at most a sign of rust, or just the bounces. Because overall, Varlamov was alive and making some excellent saves during sustained stretches of Nashville pressure. And that continued as the Predators tasted blood, and scared us all with their fifth power play of the night.

After that power play ended, the Predators kept the pressure up, and nearly took advantage when Casey Cizikas had to flee to the bench after losing his helmet on a desperate defensive play. But Adam Pelech blocked the shot from the slot, and Cizikas’ replacement, the reborn Ondrej Palat, earned himself an outstanding chance with a power move down the left wing that forced a great save from Jussi Saros.

The Isles did not see another great chance as they survived, really just survived, to get to overtime. O’Reilly, Steven Stamkos and Mavrick Bourque continued to torment them. Simon Holmstrom was part of one decent counterattack sequence to relieve the pressure, but otherwise it was the Islanders Pelech-blocking Nashville shots left and right. What was once a potential 3-0 cruise for the Islanders felt like a relief just to get a regulation point.

Overtime

OT was a little different. The Predators won the opening faceoff, but after the Isles won back possession, Schaefer drew a penalty. With Varlamov off for an extra attacker during the delayed penalty, the Islanders were smart and patient moving the puck around and creating looks for a 1:45 of bonus 4-on-3.

On the actual power play, the Islanders kept possession (as well they should, 4-on-3) but never really mounted an additional threat. At the end, Schaefer had to sprint back to spoil a breakaway for Filip Forsberg as he came out of the box — this after Schaefer had played the entire overtime period.

A shootout seemed the perfectly appropriate way to end this. And after it was done, his teammates mobbed Varlamov, all jumping up and down in a huddle by the Isles goal to celebrate his long road back.

Up Next

The Central tour continues and concludes Thursday in Minnesota.

DALLAS (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced to win his New Jersey debut, Nico Hischier scored two goals, and the Devils beat the Dallas Stars 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Hellebuyck, the three-time Vezina Trophy winner, started four days after being traded by the Winnipeg Jets following his suspension for failing to report to training camp. It was his first win since April 9 at St. Louis, 3-2.

The Hughes brothers, Jack and Luke, and Jesper Boqvist, also scored for the Devils, who have won four consecutive games.

Justin Hryckowian scored for the Stars, who had a five-game winning streak snapped. Casey DeSmith, making his third start of the season, made 22 saves after allowing only two goals in each of his previous outings.

The five goals are the season high against Dallas, which went into play leading the NHL with a 1.68 goals-against average.

Hischier, the team captain in his 10th season with New Jersey, provided a 2-0 lead at 2:41 of the first period and 38 seconds into the second. Dallas’ challenge for goaltender interference against Timo Meier on the first goal was denied. Hischier has a team-high seven goals and two two-goal games.

Boqvist made it 3-0 midway through the second. After Hryckowian’s deflection pulled Dallas back within two goals at 16:08 of the second, Luke Hughes answered 28 seconds later.

The Stars’ second-ranked penalty kill went 3 for 3 for 22 consecutive successful kills over six games.

The game was Dallas’ fourth in a season-long six-game homestand and began a road back-to-back for New Jersey.

Stars defenseman Kyle Capobianco was helped off the ice five minutes into the third period with an apparent leg injury and didn’t return.

Up next

Devils: Visit Colorado on Wednesday night.

Stars: Host Montreal on Thursday night.

___

See AP’s full NHL coverage here

On the night where Connor Hellebuyck picked up his first victory in the New Jersey Devils' red and black (a 5-1 win), the Winnipeg Jets gave up five goals in a lopsided 5-1 game of their own against to the visiting Florida Panthers. 

The Jets played some extremely uninspiring hockey, took sloppy penalties and gave up three goals in the first period - all key pieces to their loss to old friend Paul Maurice and his new-look Tkachuk-filled Panthers on Tuesday.

And despite there being multiple very willing heavyweight opponents in the Florida lineup, Tyrel Bauer didn't even drop the mitts. 

Winnipeg has now lost six-straight games and seven of its last eight outings. 

Things do not get any better for the Jets either, who now head out on the road for tests against Eastern Conference juggernauts in Tampa Bay, Florida (again), Montreal (again) and Carolina over the next week. 

“Well, go and get the next one," Dylan DeMelo said post-game.

"We’ve got to move on and be ready for a very strong Tampa team, and be ready right from the get-go. That's all we can do, we’ve got to try to learn from our mistakes here and see where we can be better at. But our focus now has to be on the game in Tampa.”

What is currently a six-game losing streak very well could turn into a run of 10-straight, should the favourites come out on top.

Head coach Scott Arniel also very well could hear his name called by GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, signalling the conclusion of his time atop the bench. 

Yes, it has been that bad. 

Winnipeg's power play went 0/2 on the night, dropping its lowly total to 2/26 in its current dry spell. While Forida managed three goals on the man advantage on Tuesday.

Matthew Tkachuk collected four points, brother Brady had three, while defenceman Seth Jones had three assists in the first period alone for Florida.

Winnipeg got its lone goal off the stick of Adam Lowry, who nearly didn't score. In fact, his pick-pocket play off the stick of goaltender Akira Scmid wasn't originally ruled a goal on the ice, but an NHL-initiated review halted play, to which the Jets' captain was able to celebrate his second goal of the season late in the middle stanza. 

“Unfortunately, we didn’t use it as a good reset," Lowry said of the last two games at home. "The first period, just mental errors. Reads, assignments, penalty kill. We give up three goals in three minutes and obviously, you have to give them credit. They did some right things, but we kind of fed all of that offence for them and kind of continue that in the second and the third. A lot of shooting ourselves in the foot right now. 

Florida scored three times in the first period and added singles in the second and third frames.

Clay Stevenson was lit up five times on 24 Panthers shots, while Schmid turned aside 24 of the 25 pucks sent his way by Winnipeg.

"Whenever you're not getting goals, and not generating the offence that we want, there's some things that we can do better, exactly what those things are, I'm not fully sure, but I think it's just, it's an array of things," DeMelo reflected.

"Full five man units out there trying to do the right things, and I’m sure we'll turn it around. But, we’ve got to stay with it and stay together and not go off script, or iso-ball it. We’ve got to continue to do it together, and do the right things, and that's the only way to turn it around.”

The Jets will now look to turn things around on a gruelling road trip, as they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Panthers again, the Montreal Canadiens and the Carolina Hurricanes, before returning home to face Vancouver next week. 

The Florida Panthers put an exclamation point on their four-game road trip thanks to a big win on Tuesday night.

Florida jumped out to a 3-0 lead midway through the first period and never looked back, wrapping up their roadie with a resounding 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre.

A pair of early penalties by the Jets helped propel Florida to a quick multi-goal lead.

First, it was Carter Verhaeghe on the power play, jumping on a loose puck after two quick attempts at the net by Brady Tkachuk and Seth Jones, both of whom ended up with assists on the game’s opening goal.

Carter Verhaeghe scores on the doorstep! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/fYx3jPpQtC

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 28, 2026

Just 75 seconds later, Niko Mikkola’s long wrist shot deflected off Jets’ defenseman Mario Ferraro’s stick and into the net, quickly doubling Florida’s lead.

They weren’t done there.

A second power play came for the Panthers just over a minute later when Winnipeg was called for too many men, and once again it would be Verhaeghe who capitalized.

Coming down with the puck from the point, Verhaeghe sent the puck down to Brady for a quick back-and-forth, clearing up room to walk into a wrist shot that beat Clay Stevenson to give Florida a commanding 3-0 lead.

Verhaeghe gets his second and the Panthers lead by three! 😳#Jetspic.twitter.com/h4WIOExchi

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 28, 2026

Jones and Matthew Tkachuk continued their respective hot starts to the season as Jones assisted on all three goals and Tkachuk helped on two.

The game’s next two goals both came with Florida on the power play about midway through the second period.

First, Adam Lowry scored after catching Akira Schmid out of the net, a goal that was not called initially on the ice, but later deemed true after a video review showed the puck completely crossing the line despite a valiant effort by Schmid to get back in the net.

Fortunately for the Panthers, they remained on the power play and quickly regained their three goal advantage.

A pretty passing play saw the puck go from Matthew Tkachuk to younger brother Brady to Sam Reinhart in the slot in the blink of an eye, and Reinhart knew what to do from there.

His sixth goal of the season put Florida ahead 4-1, a lead they took into the final frame.

The Tkachuk brothers teamed up for an even strength goal with just under eight minutes to go, as Brady reached out and with one hand on his stick, deflected a pass from Matthew over Stevenson’s glove to give the Cats a commanding 5-1 lead.

A Tkachuk to Tkachuk BEAUTY as Brady scores it 1 handed! 🔥🚨 pic.twitter.com/XycGxUnZLu

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 28, 2026

For Matthew, his four-assist evening gave him 20 points in 13 games so far this year, while Brady is now up to 15 points over his past eight games after logging a goal and two helpers on Tuesday.

Next up for Florida will be three straight games at home, starting on Friday night with a rematch against Winnipeg.

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Photo caption: Oct 27, 2026; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN;FloridaPantherscenter Carter Verhaeghe (23) celebrates a goal against the Winnipeg Jets withFloridaPantherscenter Sam Reinhart (13) in the first period at Canada Life Centre. (James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images)

DALLAS (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced to win his New Jersey debut, Nico Hischier scored two goals, and the Devils beat the Dallas Stars 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Hellebuyck, the three-time Vezina Trophy winner, started four days after being traded by the Winnipeg Jets following his suspension for failing to report to training camp. It was his first win since April 9 at St. Louis, 3-2.

The Hughes brothers, Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes, as well as Jesper Boqvist, also scored for the Devils, who have won four consecutive games.

Justin Hryckowian scored for the Stars, who had a five-game winning streak snapped. Casey DeSmith, making his third start of the season, made 22 saves after allowing only two goals in each of his previous outings.

The five goals are the season high against Dallas, which went into play leading the NHL with a 1.68 goals-against average.

Hischier, the team captain in his 10th season with New Jersey, provided a 2-0 lead at 2:41 of the first period and 38 seconds into the second. Dallas’ challenge for goaltender interference against Timo Meier on the first goal was denied. Hischier has a team-high seven goals and two two-goal games.

Boqvist made it 3-0 midway through the second. After Hryckowian’s deflection pulled Dallas back within two goals at 16:08 of the second, Luke Hughes answered 28 seconds later.

The Stars’ second-ranked penalty kill went 3 for 3 for 22 consecutive successful kills over six games.

The game was Dallas’ fourth in a season-long six-game homestand and began a road back-to-back for New Jersey.

Stars defenseman Kyle Capobianco was helped off the ice five minutes into the third period with an apparent leg injury and didn’t return.

Up next

Devils: Visit Colorado on Wednesday night

Stars: Host Montreal on Thursday night