Category: Ice Hockey

The Los Angeles Kings (22-16-13) delivered one of their more complete team performances tonight against the Detroit Red Wings (32-17-5), beating them on the road 3-1 at Little Caesars Arena. 

After losing the last matchup against the Red Wings on Oct. 30 in a shootout at home, the Kings were looking to flip the script tonight on the road. 

Behind great performances from Samuel Helenius and Andrei Kuzmenko, and a late goal down the stretch from Corey Perry to seal the deal, Los Angeles showed discipline and structure tonight with their depth and beat a very good Detroit team, which was 8-1-1 over its last 10 games, starting its road trip off on a high note.

THAT'S A KINGS WIN @twiliopic.twitter.com/KeTsVQsN8P

— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 28, 2026

Scoreless First

Despite both teams starting 0-0 in the opening period, the Kings controlled possession and dictated the pace. The Kings fired 9 shots on goal, while limiting Detroit to just 5, usings trong defensive pressure and forechecking to disrupt the Red Wings' zone exits. 

The fourth line of Samuel Helenius, Taylor Ward, and Jeff Malott stood out early, hounding the puck below the goal line and drawing penalties. The pressure from the Kings' line made it tough for Detroit to generate any offense, as Anton Forsberg was also great early on, turning away all five shots he faced in the opening frame. 

Helenius Sets the Tone

The Kings broke the tie in the second period when Samuel Helenius scored his second goal of the season after Los Angeles won the puck battle and fed Helenius to the center, where he finished past John Gibson, giving the Kings a 1-0 lead. 

BIG GOAL BIG SAMMY pic.twitter.com/pqN3GfBcYD

— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 28, 2026

Los Angeles continued to pressure Detroit in the period, forcing turnovers in all three zones. Detroit struggled to establish any rhythm offensively in the first 40 minutes of the game, while Forsberg denied several Red Wings' shots to keep the Kings ahead. 

King's Power Play Delivers

The Kings extended their lead early in the third period on the power play. Andrei Kuzmenko buried the low shot that beat Gibson, with Kevin Fiala picking up the assist off the nice pass. 

The goal marked Kuzmenko's 11th of the season and capped off a good movement with the puck that dismantled Detroit's penalty kill. 

Meanwhile, Detroit continued to struggle on the power play, finishing the night 0-for-4, while Los Angeles went 1-for-3 and controlled the special teams battle. 

POWERPLAY KUZMENKGOAL pic.twitter.com/OhZcUBNFrY

— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 28, 2026

Late Push Falls Short

Detroit finally showed some life late in the period with under two minutes remaining when Alex DeBrincat scored to cut the deficit to 2-1, infusing life into the building after the boos were heard in the stadium. However, any momentum was short-lived. 

Just over a minute later, Corey Perry restored the two-goal cushion with a dagger goal after the faceoff win from Los Angeles. Perry hit the puck from deep down the ice to seal it in the empty net. 

GIVE THAT GOALIE HIS HEAD TAPS pic.twitter.com/VbOfi9PvOP

— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 28, 2026

Los Angeles showed some fight today on the road, where they've been good all season, compared to at home, where they're 8-10-7, while they're 14-6-6 away from Crypto.com Arena.

The Kings were also very physical, with 21 hits to Detroit's 11 and blocked 16 shots to the Red Wings' 15. So, Los Angeles was clearly the more physical team tonight and the better defensive team, holding Detroit to just one goal for the first time in two weeks.

LA is now 2-0 in their six-game road trip and will look to continue this long stretch away from Crypto.com on Thursday against the Buffalo Sabres at 4 P.M. PT.  

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The Detroit Red Wings returned home from a successful 2-0-1 road trip, hoping to carry that momentum into another win against the Los Angeles Kings at Little Caesars Arena.

Instead, the Kings avenged their 5-2 loss to Detroit from exactly one year earlier (as well as Detroit's 4-3 shootout win in Los Angeles on Oct. 30), stifling the Red Wings’ offense in a 3-1 victory.

Final at LCA.

Next up: Washington Thursday. pic.twitter.com/rkkG8HF9RF

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 28, 2026

Andrei Kuzmenko scored what proved to be the game-winning power-play goal at 6:46 of the third period, doubling what had been a 1-0 lead. 

Alex DeBrincat gave the Red Wings life with his 28th tally of the season late in regulation, but Detroit proved unable to come up with the equalizer. 

With an assist on DeBrincat's goal, Patrick Kane tied Mike Modano with 1,374 career points and is only one point away from becoming the highest-scoring U.S.-born player in NHL history. 

While the Red Wings remain in second place in the Atlantic Division standings despite the loss, things got even tighter thanks to victories by both the Montreal Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres. 

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

Following a scoreless 20 minutes of play, the Kings found the back of the net first, exactly 10 minutes into the second period, as fourth-line forward Samuel Helenius beat goaltender John Gibson with a quick shot through the five-hole. 

Detroit had multiple chances that were stymied by Kings goaltender Anton Forsberg, leading up to Kuzmenko's power-play tally in the third period. 

Despite a late push by Detroit following their first and only goal of the night, longtime Red Wings nemesis Corey Perry delivered the knockout blow with an empty-net goal with 1:13 left in regulation. 

Gibson saw his winning streak come to a close, making 19 saves. Meanwhile, Forsberg was especially sharp in the third period, finishing with 27 saves. 

Detroit, which suffered just its second regulation loss in its last 11 games, also went 0-for-3 on the power play.

The Red Wings will next host the Washington Capitals on Thursday evening.

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TORONTO (AP) — Rasmus Dahlin had the first hat trick of his NHL career to go along with two assists and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-4 on Tuesday night.

Tage Thompson, with a goal and an assist in his 500th NHL game, Josh Doan, Alex Tuch and Jack Quinn also scored for Buffalo, which has won four straight.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed two goals on five shots before leaving with a lower-body injury in the first period. Colten Ellis made 16 saves in relief. Mattias Samuelsson added three assists.

Auston Matthews and Max Domi each had a goal and two assists for Toronto. Bobby McMann, with a goal and an assist, and Matthew Knies also scored. Joseph Woll stopped 24 shots.

The Maple Leafs came home last week off a successful road trip, but finished their disastrous five-game homestand with a solitary point (0-4-1) and have dropped seven of eight overall.

The club entered play six points back of the second wild-card spot and are now eight adrift of the Sabres in the Atlantic Division. The Sabres have an NHL-best 19-3-1 record since Dec. 9.

Former Maple Leaf Darryl Sittler was honored before puck drop in a ceremony marking 50 years since he set an NHL record with 10 points in a game. The former Toronto captain had six goals and four assists in an 11-4 victory over the Boston Bruins on Feb. 7, 1976.

Doan scored his first goal since signing a seven-year contract extension. Doan’s father, Shane, is a special adviser to Toronto general manager Brad Treliving.

Sabres: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

Maple Leafs: At the Seattle Kraken on Thursday in the opener of a six-game trip.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Mikhail Sergachev scored in the third period to put Utah ahead to stay, and the Mammoth held on for a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.

Nick Schmaltz, Sean Durzi and Barrett Hayton also scored goals for the Mammoth, who have won nine of their last 11 games and played without top goal-scorer Dylan Guenther, who has a lower-body injury. Vitek Vanecek made 25 saves and Durzi also had an assist.

Sandis Vilmanis, Cole Schwindt and Carter Verhaeghe scored goals and Sergei Bobrovsky made 16 saves for Florida, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Sergachev's goal with 8:55 to play gave Utah a 3-2 lead and Hayton made it 4-2 with an empty-netter with 56 seconds to play. Verhaeghe scored with 16 seconds left to pull the Panthers within 4-3, setting up a frantic final few seconds.

Schmaltz scored an unassisted short-handed goal with 4:14 to play in the first period when he picked up a loose puck just inside his own blue line, skated in alone and backhanded it past Bobrovsky.

The second short-handed goal of Schmaltz's NHL career (the first was on March 26, 2024, against Columbus) gives him 15 points in his last 14 games (7 goals, 8 assists).

Vilmanis' goal 2:52 into the second was the first of his NHL career and tied it at 1-1. The team's fifth-round draft choice in 2022 was playing in his ninth NHL game.

The Panthers went scoreless on the power play in four chances.

Florida's A.J. Greer played in his 300th career game

Mammoth: Play at Carolina on Thursday night in the final game of a four-game road trip.

Panthers: Visit St. Louis on Thursday night.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

DETROIT (AP) — Anton Forsberg made 26 saves and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Red Wings 3-1 on Tuesday night as Detroit winger Patrick Kane moved into a tie with Dallas' Mike Modano as the highest-scoring American-born players in NHL history.

Kane matched Modano by recording his 1,374th point on an assist on a goal by Alex DeBrincat late in the third period. He accomplished the feat just a couple of months after turning 37, while Modano was 40 when he scored a goal to register point No. 1,374. For his career, Kane has 500 goals and 874 assists in 1,341 NHL regular-season games. Modano retired in 2011 with 561 goals and 813 assists in 1,499 games.

Samuel Helenius, Andrei Kuzmenko and Corey Perry scored for the Kings, who won their third straight game.

Detroit's John Gibson made 19 saves and had his eight-game win streak halted, surrendering a goal midway through the second period and a power-play score early in the third.

The Kings have earned points in their last six games (3-0-3). The Red Wings lost for just the second time in six games and third time in their last 11.

Helenius got Los Angeles on the board at the 10-minute mark of the second period, scoring his second of the season by converting a feed from Jeff Malott from behind the net.

Kuzmenko extended the lead to 2-0 for the Kings at 6:46 of the third period, scoring on the power play on assists from Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala. The goal was the 24th of the season with a man advantage for the Kings, who rank last in the NHL on the power play.

DeBrincat scored and pulled Detroit within 2-1 at 17:45 of the third period after the Red Wings pulled Gibson for the extra skater. Kane and Moritz Seider assisted.

The Kings iced the game when Perry scored into an empty net at 18:47.

Kings: At Buffalo on Thursday in the third game of a six-game trip.

Red Wings: Host the Washington Capitals on Thursday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

MONTREAL (AP) — Jake Evans scored at 3:58 of overtime, leading the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night.

Cole Caufield, with his 30th goal of the season, and Phillip Danault also scored for Montreal, as the Habs halted a two-game losing skid.

Mike Matheson ran his point streak to a season-long five games with an assist on Caufield’s goal.

Jakub Dobes made 32 saves in his first career start against Vegas. The 24-year-old boasts a 6-0-1 record over his past seven games, with his last regulation loss coming against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Dec. 9.

Pavel Dorofeyev scored both goals for the Golden Knights, who lost their third straight game against Montreal, dating back to last season.

Akira Schmid stopped 23 shots in the losing effort. The Swiss netminder lost for the second time in as many starts against Montreal this season.

Caufield, who had a hat trick in his team’s 4-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, has scored in six straight games, the longest streak of his career. Caufield has nine goals over that six-game stretch.

Noah Hanifin skated in his 800th career NHL game for the Golden Knights. The 29-year-old Boston native became the first player of the 2015 draft class to reach the milestone.

Golden Knights: Host the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

Canadiens: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The performance wasn't among the Detroit Red Wings' best, but there was still a milestone to celebrate as Patrick Kane tied metro Detroit native (and former Red Wing) Mike Modano for most points in NHL history by a U.S.-born player.

The Los Angeles Kings, who are fighting for a playoff spot, had the better start and middle in their only appearance of the season at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 27. It wasn't until the third period that the Wings looked like they had some pop to them and got on the scoreboard, but they couldn't undo the slow start and lost, 3-1.

Red Wings playoff picture

That kept the Wings at 69 points, with a 32-17-5 record. The Tampa Bay Lightning (70 points) were idle, and still have three games in hand on the Wings atop the Atlantic Division. Kane's next chance to pass Modano will come with a notable record-holder in the building: Alex Ovechkin, who holds the NHL's all-time goals record, with 918, and the Washington Capitals visit Little Caesars Arena on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+/HULU). After that, the Wings will host Colorado at 1 p.m. ET Saturday in their last home game until March 4.

LET'S MAKE A DEAL: Detroit Red Wings have one thought in mind as trade market heats up

The Kings, whose scheduled game on Monday against the Blue Jackets in Columbus, Ohio, was postponed because of snow, looked like they had the fresher legs, even though both teams had been off since Saturday. They scored their second goal while defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker was in the penalty box early in the third period, with Andrei Kusmenko scoring on a low shot. Goalie Anton Forsberg, who had a good night, denied Alex DeBrincat in the final minutes.

The Wings pulled goalie John Gibson with about 3½ minutes to play for an extra attacker, and during that stretch, DeBrincat did succeed, edging the Wings within a goal with 2:15 on the clock. Kane's assist gave him 1,374 career points.

MIKE MODANO HAS COMPANY 🇺🇸

Patrick Kane is now tied for the most all-time points by a U.S.-Born player in NHL history 👏 pic.twitter.com/GG0gYoiuI4

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 28, 2026

Corey Perry added an empty net goal at 18:47.

A sleepy start at LCA

The Wings were home again after taking five of six points on a trip north and west. But right from the get-go Tuesday, they looked off.

Gibson was tested right away, by Warren Foegele. Midway through the first period, the Wings were assessed back-to-back penalties, to Albert Johansson and Dylan Larkin. It was while killing off the Larkin penalty that Moritz Seider was tripped, sending the Wings on a power play, as Larkin was released 6 seconds later. But the Wings got nothing out of the man advantage, running around chasing pucks and failing to generate a good chance against Forsberg. It was reflective of the Wings' first period overall: Sloppy.

San Jose Sharks newly acquired forward Kiefer Sherwood has been anticipating the moment he can suit up for his new team since being traded from the Vancouver Canucks.

Sherwood was traded to San Jose on Jan. 19 in exchange for defenseman Cole Clayton and two second round draft picks in 2026 and 2027.

Both teams play on Jan. 27 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The last time these two played each other was when the Sharks won 6-3 on Dec. 27. Sharks had goals from Macklin Celebrini, Igor Chernyshov, William Eklund, Collin Graf, John Klingberg and Ryan Reaves.

That game for the Canucks, Sherwood had five shots on goal and a missed shot in 16:22 on the ice.

Sherwood is expected to miss this reunion with his former team as it's been reported that he will not play tonight, according to Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now.

He remains on injured reserve, the team said.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Mark Scheifele scored his 26th goal of the season, reigning MVP Connor Hellebuyck stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced and the Winnipeg Jets ended their two-game skid by beating the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Tuesday night.

The Devils have lost back-to-back games after winning three in a row at the start of their Western Conference road trip. They traded veteran winger Ondrej Palat to the New York Islanders in a deal that was consummated before he left the arena prior to warmups and finalized during the first period.

Winnipeg, which entered the night eight points back of the second and final wild-card spot in the West, won for just the second time in five games. Scheifele got the Jets on the board 1:33 in, then Gabriel Vilardi, Cole Koepke and Nino Niederreiter scored in the second.

Hellebuyck, who is in line to be the U.S. starter at the upcoming Olympics, was sharp in bouncing back from allowing four goals in a 5-1 home loss to Detroit on Saturday.

New Jersey got goals from rookie Lenni Hameenaho and Swedish Olympian Jesper Bratt, and captain Nico Hischier scored with 1:46 left to make things interesting, but the offense couldn’t quite make up for a series of mistakes. Hours after coach Sheldon Keefe credited defensive commitment and “giving up way less on the rush” for his team’s recent success, all four goals against came on odd-man rushes.

That made life much more difficult for goaltender Jake Allen, who made some big saves among his 22 to keep the deficit from getting out of hand. There was little he could do when his teammates were repeatedly outnumbered skating back down the ice into their defensive zone by the opportunistic Jets.

Devils forward Cody Glass left with an undisclosed injury early in the second.

Up next

Jets: Visit Tampa Bay on Thursday night.

Devils: Host Nashville on Thursday night.

The Florida Panthers returned to home ice looking to build on their recent road success.

Unfortunately for the Carts, they came up short on home ice for the third time in four tries this month, falling 4-3 to the visiting Utah Mammoth.

It was the visitors who struck first on this night, and they did it while down a man.

With Brandon Tanev in the penalty box for tripping A.J. Greer, a turnover by Uvis Balinskis at the Utah blue line led to a breakaway for Nick Schmaltz.

A couple quick forehand-backhand dekes later, Schmaltz sent his 19th goal of the season past the blocker of a sprawling Sergei Bobrovsky to give the Mammoth a 1-0 lead with 4:14 to go in the first period.

Florida tied the game early in the second on the first NHL goal scored by Sandis Vilmanis in just his ninth National League game.

Less than a minute later, the combination of a tough line change and a turnover by Florida led to the Mammoth moving quickly into the Florida zone.

Sean Durzi scored into a yawning cage after a couple quick cross-zone passes by Utah, giving them a 2-1 lead 3:46 into the period.

Florida again tied the game, and again it was the hard-working fourth line.

After Jeff Petry forced a turnover at the Utah blue line, A.J. Greer pushed the puck along to Vilmanis, who drove to the net. The puck came off his stick and went right to Cole Schwindt, and he beat Vanecek to tie the game once again.

A point shot by Sean Durzi was deflected by fellow defenseman Mikhail Sergachev with 8:55 left in the third period to give Utah their third lead of the night.

Two embellishment penalties called on the Panthers, one on Evan Rodrigues and another on Matthew Tkachuk, greatly hindered Florida’s ability to mount a comeback in the final minutes.

An empty-net goal by Barrett Hayton would seal the deal for the Mammoth, and it was a needed goal due to a tally by Carter Verhaeghe with 14.6 on the clock.

On to St. Louis.

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Photo caption: Jan 27, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell (15) attempts to deflect the puck against Utah Mammoth goaltender Vitek Vanecek (41) during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

DETROIT (AP) — Patrick Kane of the Detroit Red Wings has tied Dallas' Mike Modano as the highest-scoring U.S.-born players in NHL history.

Kane matched Mike Modano by recording his 1,374th point on an assist on a goal by Alex DeBrincat late in Detroit's 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night. He got there a couple of months after turning 37, while Modano was 40 when he scored a goal to register point No. 1,374.

“Nothing really went right for us tonight, so it’s tough to really think about (the record) right now, but hopefully next game’s a better result and (I) can move past Mike next game," Kane said after the game. "That’d be nice, to do that and do it with a win.”

He will have a chance to move ahead of Modano when the Red Wings host the Washington Capitals on Thursday.

Kane has been one of the faces of American hockey since getting taken with the first pick in the 2007 draft by Chicago. He helped the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup three times from 2010-15 as a co-headliner of one of the most successful runs since the league’s salary cap era began in ’05.

Earlier this month, Kane became the 50th player and fifth American to score 500 goals, following Keith Tkachuk, Jeremy Roenick and Joe Mullen. Brett Hull, a dual citizen who was born in Canada and played internationally for the U.S., had 741 goals and 1,391 points.

Kane won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in ’07-08, the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2013 and the Hart Trophy as regular-season MVP in 2015-16, when he also led the league in scoring.

Kane has 1,374 points on 500 goals and 874 assists in 1,341 career NHL regular-season games.

Modano retired in 2011 with 561 goals and 813 assists in 1,499 games.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

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Detroit Red Wings forward Patrick Kane already made NHL history this season by becoming the 50th player to score 500 career goals.

Now, he's made more history by tying Mike Modano for the most points by a U.S.-born player in NHL history.

His assist on teammate Alex DeBrincat's goal on Tuesday evening confirmed the milestone: 

HOCKEY HISTORY: Patrick Kane is now tied with Mike Modano for most career points by a US-born NHL player with 1,374 points.

The Red Wings forward assisted on Alex DeBrincat's third period goal on Tuesday night. pic.twitter.com/xnbiYHjSgT

— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) January 28, 2026

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

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The press box at Rogers Arena on Tuesday will be full as plenty of scouts have made the trip to watch the Vancouver Canucks take on the San Jose Sharks. With Vancouver having already announced a rebuild, teams from across the league have sent representatives to watch and evaluate Canucks players. Vancouver currently sits 32nd in the NHL and is projected to finish last in the league this season. 

While there are usually a healthy number of scouts in the building, Tuesday will feature 17 in total. Teams with more than one representative at the game include the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Anaheim Ducks. Below is a look at which teams will have at least one scout at Rogers Arena on Tuesday.

• Anaheim Ducks (x2)
• Chicago Blackhawks
• Dallas Stars
• Detroit Red Wings
• Florida Panthers
• Los Angeles Kings
• New York Islanders
• New York Rangers
• Ottawa Senators
• Philadelphia Flyers
• St. Louis Blues
• Toronto Maple Leafs (x2)
• Utah Mammoth
• Vegas Golden Knights
• Winnipeg Jets

The Canucks continue their eight-game homestand on Tuesday against the Sharks. So far, Vancouver is 1-4 through their first five games at home. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 pm PT. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

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The season series against the Islanders so far has been a microcosm of much of the regular season for the Rangers.

That is to say a low-scoring, unwatchable disaster.

After getting shut out twice by their Long Island rivals in each of the first two head-to-head meetings earlier this season, Mike Sullivan’s last-place team will look to get onto the scoreboard and perhaps into the win column with a home-and-home set against the Islanders beginning Wednesday night at UBS Arena.

In fact, the sleepy 2-0 loss to Islanders backup goalie David Rittich in Elmont out of the Christmas break began the current tailspin, a 3-9-2 stretch that has sent the Rangers spiraling to the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

Ilya Sorokin had blanked them in a 5-0 rout at the Garden in November.

“I don’t know if there’s a common thread,” Sullivan said after practice Tuesday in Tarrytown. “We played them early in the season, and I feel like we went through a stretch of games where we were producing offense, we just weren’t scoring. I don’t think it was just against the Islanders.”

Indeed, the Rangers (22-25-6 overall) had been zipped a league-high eight times over the first 41 games of the season through their most recent loss to the Islanders, which put them on pace at the time to equal the NHL record of 16 shutouts in one season by the 2006-07 Blue Jackets.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NHL STANDINGS AND RANGERS STATS

Despite winning just three of their next 14 games, the Rangers at least haven’t added to the shutout skein thereafter, including a 4-3 overtime win against the Bruins on Monday night at the Garden.

“I think our team has done a better job scoring goals at 5-on-5 and on the power play,” Sullivan added. “I think we’ve got to continue to work at getting better on the defensive side of the puck, and being stingier defensively.

“I think that’s an aspect of our game, where for a long stretch of the season, we were pretty good and we valued it, and we were committed to it. I think that’s something that we’ve gotta continue to work at.”

One defenseman no longer with the Rangers is veteran Carson Soucy, who was dealt to the Islanders for a 2026 third-round pick after sitting out Monday’s game against Boston.

Interestingly, his first two games with his new team could come against his old one.

“Those aren’t situations you draw up, but I think we have a job to do and have to stay focused and these are really gonna be two fun games to play in,” captain J.T. Miller said. “Obviously we’ll worry about [Wednesday’s game first, and we’re gonna try to keep it going with some of this good energy from last game.”

Still, barring a dramatic turnaround on either side of the upcoming Olympic break, the Soucy trade figures to be the first of many moves made by general manager Chris Drury ahead of the March 6 trade deadline, with big names such as leading scorer and pending free agent Artemi Panarin potentially on the move.

“It’s not what our standards are here. We want to win. We want to be competing in the playoffs every year, so it’s tough,” winger Will Cuylle said. “We just have to try to come to the rink and worry about the things you can control and make sure you’re bringing the best version of yourself.

“I try to focus on the present. Try to stay focused; not look too far ahead. I try to concentrate on one game at a time.”

ST. LOUIS – Otto Stenberg came to the St. Louis Blues with an open mind.

A first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, when Stenberg was called up by the Blues and made his NHL debut on Dec. 17 against the Winnipeg Jets, there were no real expectations at the time.

But the 20-year-old made such a good and lasting impression on the Blues and the organization, he lasted 18 games, and would have lasted longer had he not been assigned to Springfield of the American Hockey League on Monday in order to remain eligible to play games there while the Olympic break is in play.

But through all the firsts of not being a pro but being an NHL pro, the trials and tribulations that go with that, including an 82-game schedule, travel, time zone changes, etc. etc, Stenberg, who had eight points (one goal, seven assists) and was a team-leading plus-4, but there’s one lasting impression the young forward made.

“He doesn’t cheat the game,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said.

Enough said.

Stenberg has been so defensively sound, so fundamentally sound, it was as if he knew what he was coming into at the highest level without being overwhelmed by what he was to face.

Sure, there were nerves. That’s only natural. But this is a kid that has played in the Swedish Hockey League as a teenager for two years with grown men, and it was instilled upon him at an early age that seems to have him at a great advantage.

“When I played on the U-20 team, it was like close to the SHL team. That was one of the things that the coach told me,” Stenberg said. “‘I need to be able to trust you in the D-zone if you want to play.’ I think that made me think about it more. I think I just got better and better every game there.

“I’m just trusting my reads. ‘Monty’ told me early that he trusts my reads so he wants me to play when I see and read the game. Of course we have some things that we do as a team, but I would say most of the time, it’s playing on what I see and trust my reads.”

Montgomery gave Stenberg immediate confidence by putting him in situations that would merit much detail in close games, and Stenberg said, “Yeah, of course. In the beginning when he told me that, it gave me confidence. It’s easy to play when you don’t have to think that much about what the coaches are saying. Of course it gives you confidence and it’s easier to play.”

Stenberg was given many roles, including a top six role, a role on the penalty kill, a role in 5-on-6 situations when it would merit the Blues closing leads out.

The kid didn’t disappoint.

“Obviously a smart hockey player, detailed, trusts his game, knows the system and I think he was very good in his first couple games defensively and making the right reads and I think how you’re just kind of seeing a little bit more confidence and with the puck,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “He’s a good, solid two-way player. He’s going to be good for a long time in this league. One, because he wants to learn and two, he’s willing to get better.”

Montgomery added, “His defensive instincts are really high-end for a young player in the league. He said that where he was in Sweden, they really harped on D-zone details. Now, his offensive side of the game, I think that’s going to shine more through him being more confident that he’s an NHL player. And then that’s up to us to encourage him to have more risk because we trust his instincts. When you trust someone’s instincts, you can have a little more risk because we know you’re going to go everything you can to get back on the right side of pucks.”

As for that offense, it will come.

And the opportunity now to go to Springfield and play in all situations should serve new Thunderbirds coach Steve Ott, who had Stenberg in St. Louis as an associate coach, well. Ott wasn’t surprised what Stenberg was able to do.

“I wouldn’t say it surprised me at all,” Ott said. “I thought in training camp, you could see his hockey IQ. It’s extremely high even for an NHL guy. His play without the puck is extremely smart. As his game progressed here in the last month or so, you could see even the more skill coming out where he’s making the strong puck play. His forecheck and pressure continues to improve and you’re watching a young player gain his confidence in the NHL, which isn’t easy to do. I think he’s got a great engine on him. He’s going to come down here and play in all situations and continue to develop so that when he does go back, he’ll be a player that sticks and has a great future in the NHL.”

The fact Stenberg is willing to check and go to those hard areas should bode well. He needs time and reps in those areas. There was a situation in a game in which he was on a backdoor play with Robert Thomas, who made a high-end play getting the puck there from the slot that Stenberg just missed on, and you could see the disappointment on his face as he got to the bench. Again, time and reps will rectify that. The fact he’s going there is something that one has to instill in themselves.

“I think it’s getting better and better,” Stenberg said. “I feel like I have more time with the puck. That’s something I want to get better at and keep developing at this level. I’ve always been an offensive player when I was young. I know I have it in me. I just need to get more and more comfortable at this level and I think it will come more and more.

“It makes it easy to play when the coach trusts you.”

And the players quickly, not only adapted, but also trusted the kid.

“I think it’s real important, whether it’s Otto or ‘Dvo’, the next guy that gets drafted by the St. Louis Blues,” Schenn said. “The faster you make people feel comfortable in the environment and the surroundings, the better off and more confident they’re going to get with their own games and the better they’re going to play for the organization. Guys did it to me when I was young, guys did it to me when I came to St. Louis, so my job is to help guys and pass things along, make them feel as comfortable as possible. Whatever help they need, I’ll try and do my best to be there for the next up-and-coming guy because someone did that for me when I was younger.”

To which Stenberg said, “He’s been so good to me, since I started in training camp and in the summer. He texted me before I came here. He’s a great guy outside of the rink and in the locker room. He’s helped me a lot with the game in the beginning. It was so easy to ask him. He talked to be about things because sometimes it’s hard to understand when (coaches) are writing stuff on the board. He just showed me and everything was clear. He’s helped me a lot. He’s been so good. To everybody in this locker room.

“It’s been great. I’m pretty sure he helps ‘Dvo’ and all the other young guys too. It’s been great.”

Stenberg is in Springfield to play today but this is only temporary. He will be back wearing No. 28 again, and soon.

“He’s had a real good stint with us,” Montgomery said. “Consistently reliable, someone that is very smart offensively and defensively, and then offensively, he needs to expand his game. Right now, he gets a lot of opportunities. I think working on his shot and mindset of being more aggressive getting to the blue paint offensively is something that’s going to let him when he comes back to be an even better Blue for us. But he’s had a really, really good tenure with us in his first go-around in the NHL.”

In other words, don’t get too comfortable in Massachusetts because Missouri will be home again, and for quite a bit.

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