Ivan Provorov(1) scored the only goal for the Blue Jackets, and goalie Elvis Merzļikins played very well for most of this game. Ultimately, the Blue Jackets would lose 4-1 to the Colorado Avalanche. Merzļikins would end the game, stopping 

The first period was very fast, with both teams flying up and down the ice, giving each other lots of scoring chances. Both goalies had to be sharp and were, with Elvis Merzļikins getting most of the work. The Avs put 12 shots on goal and had 30 shot attempts, while the Jackets had 7 and 20, respectively. The Blue Jackets had a power play, but couldn't convert, so the period ended with neither team being able to beat each other's goalie. 

The Jackets held on as long as they could in the second period. After Ivan Provorov scored to make it 1-0, Makar and Nelson scored 1:12 apart to crush the CBJ. The law of averages caught up to the Jackets in the second. The Avs will shoot the puck, from anywhere, from anyone, and do it in short order. The Jackets thought they tied the game late in the second period when a puck went in off of Dmitri Voronkov's chest, but it was disallowed because the referee thought he had gloved it in. He did not glove it in, but it did go in off a body part, which is illegal. The Avs then scored a third goal with four seconds left on the clock to make it a 3-1 game after two periods. That goal, at the time, seemed like the nail in the coffin. 

The third period was more of the Avs just trying to end the game more than anything. The CBJ had a few chances, but the Avs shut pretty much everything down. On a good note, the Jackets killed off an Avs power play, which is something they have struggled to do this season through three games. Late in the third, the Jackets looked to have pulled to within one goal, but again the goal was disallowed due to a hand pass. The Avs would add an empty net goal to make it a 4-1 final at Nationwide Arena. 

The Blue Jackets will be fine. It's only been four games, but it's obvious where the help is needed, and that's scoring. We saw a glimpse of that against the Minnesota Wild in game two of the season when they poured in seven goals. The CBJ goalie tandem has been playing lights out for the most part, and that's a very good sign. 

The Blue Jackets honored the great Cam Atkinson before this game. Earlier in the day, Atkinson held a press conference where he signed a one-day NHL contract and then formally announced his retirement from the NHL. After warmups, Atkinson came back to the ice, dressed in his familiar #13 Blue Jackets jersey, and made a lap around the ice as the Nationwide Arena faithful went nuts. As he worked his way around the arena, he stopped to slap the glass at fans and give fist bumps through the glass as well. At one point, he even kissed the CBJ crest on the jersey, just before pointing up the Johnny Gaudreau banner that hangs on the east side of the arena. He stopped to say hi to his wife and kids and then finished his lap, as the Avs were coming onto the ice. He stayed on the ice for the National Anthem and then disappeared down the hallway. Later in the game, a couple of tribute videos were shown, most of which featured his former teammates from years past in Columbus. After one of those videos, Cam was seen chugging a beer with a massive smile on his face. Cam Atkinson was a legend for Columbus, and the fans of the CBJ should be honored to have been able to watch him play all those years. 

Even before Cam Atkinson officially retired, the #13 was never going to be worn again, but after Cam took the ice wearing it one more time, it's safe to say that that number, although not officially retired by the Jackets, will never be worn again. 

Final Stats

Player Stats

• Ivan Provorov played in his 700th career NHL game. He also scored his first goal of the season.
• Kirill Marchenko tallied an assist, his first of the season.
• Zach Werenski had 3 shots on the night.
• Elvis Merzļikins stopped 32 of 35 Colorado shots.

Team Stats

• The Jackets' power play went 0/2 against the Avs.
• The Columbus PK stopped the only Avs man advantage they had on the night.
• Columbus won 45.3% of the faceoffs.

Up Next: The Tampa Bay Lightning visit Columbus on Saturday night. 

Let us know what you think below.

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Blue Jackets & Maple Leafs Could Swap Scoring WingersThe rumour mill is heating up! The Maple Leafs eye a trade, while the Blue Jackets seek offensive spark. Could Robertson and Chinakhov be on the move?On This Date in 2024: The CBJ Honor Johnny Gaudreau At Home OpenerJohnny Gaudreau, the superstar winger for the Columbus Blue Jackets, was honored on this day, one year ago. Blue Jackets' Miles Wood Out For A Week With InjuryThe Columbus Blue Jackets are dealing with another injury, this time up front. Miles Wood left the home opener yesterday after taking a high stick to the eye area.

Carolina Hurricanes rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin has scored his first career NHL goal, just four games into his regular season career.

The highly touted Russian blueliner has been close quite a few times, especially when he hit the goal post on a 2-on-1 on Tuesday, but he finally got his.

Early into the third period, Nikishin found some soft space in the slot as the Hurricanes' top line was going to work and Sebastian Aho quickly found the activating defenseman.

Nikishin made no mistake, rifling the puck past Anaheim Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal and you could tell how much that first one meant to him.

Niki with his first, welcome to the NHL‼️ pic.twitter.com/9CbaIrkltk

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) October 17, 2025

That first NHL goal feeling 🥹 pic.twitter.com/t90p7rSfb6

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) October 17, 2025

Here's to many more, Niki!

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LAS VEGAS -- The Golden Knights got at least one point from 11 skaters Thursday night, led by William Karlsson's two goals, as Vegas defeated the Boston Bruins, 6-5.

"This was one of our more - it might sound funny - complete games, especially offensively," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I thought we were the better team most of the night. We gave up the first goal again, but answered right away. And then I thought we took it to Boston in a lot of different areas."

Vegas has given up the first goal in 15 straight games dating back to last postseason, through the preseason and over the first five games of the regular season.

"I thought the score was a little more complimentary than the game myself," Cassidy said. "I'm sure they may feel differently, but that's how I felt as a coach, and that's a good thing. That means we're moving in the right direction.

"Do we have some things to fix? Of course, you do. It's game five. It's the middle of October. We'll have things to fix for a while, but I'd like the direction the game went tonight. We're just going to keep emphasizing better starts. Some of that's puck management."

Jack Eichel became the first player in the NHL to hit double digits in points this season as he finished with a goal and an assist to extend his season-opening point streak to five games.

Eichel leads the league with 11 points, including five goals.

Everything is going in for Jack Eichel right now 👏 pic.twitter.com/174eDplfH6

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) October 17, 2025

Captain Mark Stone finished with three assists, upping his season tally to a league-leading nine helpers.

Pavel Dorofeyev scored his sixth goal of the season and moved into a league-leading tie with Ottawa's Shane Pinto.

we lost track of how many goals Pavel is on pace for but it's a lot 🚨 pic.twitter.com/wr04XropbW

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) October 17, 2025

Cole Reinhardt scored his first goal as a Golden Knight, while Tomas Hertl also scored for Vegas.

🦏 THE RHINO 🦏 pic.twitter.com/QdMfKuLRSz

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) October 17, 2025

"We got four lines that can do a lot of damage in various ways," defenseman Zach Whitecloud said. "I don't want to specify anyone, because everyone has some things that they do really well that other lines don't necessarily have their identity as, but they can all score and create problems down low, especially off the rush.

"I think we're a good team creating off the rush, especially when we're breaking pucks out well. And I've said it all the time, as long as we get our forwards going with possession out of our own zone, more often than not, they're going to do a great job creating up the ice and managing pucks."

Karlsson finished with two special teams goals, one short-handed goal near the end of the second period and a power-play goal early in the third. It was the latter that not only ended up being the game-winner, but that also moved him within one point of his 400th point as a Golden Knight.

and here's his power-play goal! 🤠 pic.twitter.com/je3QJgwur9

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) October 17, 2025

Goaltender Akira Schmid improved to 3-0-0 after stopping 19 shots in what was his third appearance but just his second start of the season.

Jack Hughes, Timo Meier, and Nico Hischier scored, and the New Jersey Devils won their home opener, 3-1, against the Florida Panthers at Prudential Center on Thursday.

Evan Rodrigues scored Florida's lone goal, and Daniil Tarasov made 31 saves for the Panthers. 

"I felt we stayed with it," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "(It was a) funny game, lots of special teams, all that kind of stuff, especially in the early going, but we stayed with our game. We built our game as we went through. Power play finally came through after a ton of chances, so that was good. Penalty kill was outstanding, and we built our lead in the third period." 

Rodrigues opened the scoring at the 1:59 mark of the first period. Brad Marchand fired two quick shots on Allen before his linemate capitalized, scoring his fourth career goal against New Jersey.  

Jack Hughes tied it 1-1 with a power play goal at 5:48 of the second period. Devils team reporter Sam Kasan perfectly described the goal, "When puck carriers get near the goal line, goalies are taught to use the Reverse VH (down on a knee with body against the post). That leaves them vulnerable up high if you can make a great shot. Jack waits for Tarasov to drop and then picks the corner."

Jesper Bratt's primary assist on Hughes' goal marked the 300th of his NHL career. It ranks 10th all-time for franchise history behind Aaron Broten's 307 (ninth). 

Meier put the Devils in front 2-1 at 6:21, redirecting Simon Nemec's shot from the blue line. Brenden Dillon picked up the secondary assist. 

"I was hoping," Meier said postgame when asked if he thought Nemec was going to take that shot. "I think that is something we can work on. Get more pucks to the net and types of goals like that. More guys at the net to get more goals like this."

Nico Hischier extended the Devils' lead with his second goal of the 2025-26 campaign. Dawson Mercer showed tremendous effort, diving to poke the puck over to his linemate. 

"It was important to treat our fans to a good game, especially in the first one of the season," Meier continued. "I thought the guys got better as the game went on; it was impressive."

The Devils' next game is scheduled for Saturday afternoon against the Edmonton Oilers at Prudential Center. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's New Jersey Devils site for THN's latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

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The Buffalo Sabres finally won a regular-season game Wednesday, beating the Ottawa Senators to get their record to 1-3-0. But if you think the Sabres are out of the woods now, think again. The Sabres are still going to have to play extremely hard to recover in the Atlantic Division standings.

Why? For one thing, lust look at the current standings position of the Senators team the Sabres just beat. Ottawa has put up a 2-3-0 record out of the skate, with the Sens being outscored 18-7 in those three defeats. So we know the Sabres weren’t taking on an elite Ottawa team Wednesday. 

The Sens will be a much better squad when they get star forward Brady Tkachuk back from injury, but as far as the Sabres go, they’d best believe Ottawa will give them a far tougher test than the one they had Wednesday.

These inter-divisional games are so important to win, so that was heartening for the Sabres. But they didn’t play a perfect game Wednesday. Far from it. Because even in a winning game against the Sens, they still gave up four goals. That means Buffalo has allowed 14 goals in its four games this season. And that’s not acceptable.

The margin for error in Buffalo is as thin as a wasp’s wing. But the biggest thing – as crazy as it sounds – is that the Sabres can’t get complacent. To get back in the race for a Stanley Cup playoff spot, they’re going to need many more wins to be in the playoff conversation. 

More Misery For Sabres As Buffalo Loses Third Straight Game To Start New SeasonAny way you want to frame it, losing three straight games to start the season is a disaster for the Buffalo Sabres. <a href="http://thn.com/buffalo">The Sabres</a>' third straight defeat came Monday at the hands of the <a href="http://thn.com/colorado">Colorado Avalanche</a> -- a legitimate Stanley Cup frontrunner -- and once again, offense was a problem for Buffalo.

Judging by last season, you need 40-44 wins just to get into a wild-card. So you can see why the road ahead is so tough for the Sabres. Their poor start to the current situation had fans anxious, but to be honest, they should still be anxious for this team for quite some time. It’s going to take a consistent effort to get this Sabres team across the finish line as a playoff team.

And if they can’t do it, change will be on the horizon in Buffalo. 

Regardless of how the season shakes out for the Pittsburgh Penguins, there are sure to be a good bit of milestones courtesy of their future Hall-of-Famers.

And one of them has climbed two all-time lists with one goal.

On Thursday, 39-year-old center Evgeni Malkin scored a second-period power play goal against the Los Angeles Kings, which puts him at 515 for his career - tying him for 41st on the NHL's all-time list with Pierre Turgeon. 

In addition, Malkin tied Guy Lafleur for 29th on the NHL's all-time points list at 1,353. He is now just one point shy of tying Brendan Shanahan for 28th on the list.

Last season, Malkin became just the 48th player in NHL history - and fourth active player - to reach the 500-goal mark. He needs just four more goals to surpass Dale Hawerchuk for 40th all-time in goals.

  

Despite Healthy Scratches, 'Development Plan' Could Be Good Sign For Two Top Penguins' ProspectsEven if the Penguins sideline top prospects Brunicke and Kindel for "development," this strategic move signals a long-term commitment - possibly defying expectations of a return to juniors for both players.

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Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!    

Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele scored twice and tied the franchise’s all-time points record as the Jets rolled to a 5–2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night at Canada Life Centre.

Scheifele, who recorded his 811th and 812th career points, matched Ilya Kovalchuk’s franchise mark and continued a strong early-season run for Winnipeg. His second goal, a power-play marker early in the third period, gave the Jets a commanding 4–1 lead and helped seal their third straight win.

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Vladislav Namestnikov opened the scoring less than five minutes into the first period, followed by second-period goals from Scheifele and Morgan Barron. The Flyers briefly clawed back into the game with a goal from Owen Tippett late in the second, but Barron responded just 1:27 later to restore Winnipeg’s two-goal cushion.

Philadelphia rookie Matvei Michkov added a late goal in the third, but Tanner Pearson iced the game with an empty-netter in the final minute.

Connor Hellebuyck made 15 saves for the Jets (3–1–0), who dominated the pace of play despite being outshot 17–15. Kyle Connor chipped in with two assists.

Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson stopped 10 shots in the loss as Philadelphia (2–2–0) dropped its second straight game.

The Jets return to action Saturday night when they host the Calgary Flames.

Ville Heinola: "I Kind of Wish Someone Would Have Picked Me Up"Frustrated by Winnipeg's deep defence, 2019 first round draft pick Ville Heinola yearns for a fresh start. The talented Finn opens up about his challenging path and overlooked potential.

Shane Pinto scored the shootout winner as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-3 on Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre. Pinto scored in regulation as well and currently leads all NHL players with 6 goals on the young season.

It was a fine bounce-back performance by Ottawa after getting pounded 8-4 in Buffalo the night before. Having said that, the Senators were less than two minutes away from their fourth straight loss. They trailed 3-2, and with Linus Ullmark on the bench for the extra attacker, Dylan Cozens scored to tie the game at 3 with 1:46 remaining.

Cozens unleashed what appeared to be a nothing shot from the boards out past the top of the right circle. But Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer may have been screened by his teammate, Jamie Oleksiak, who appeared to skate through Grubauer's field of vision at just the wrong time.

The 3-on-3 overtime settled nothing, but Tim Stützle and Shane Pinto both scored in the shootout to seal the win for Ottawa. Pinto’s goal, a shot just inside the right post, clinched it for the Sens. He's now the NHL’s leading goal scorer with 6 goals in 5 games.

For the fifth time in as many games the Senators allowed the first goal. But goals from Pinto and David Perron helped them rally to take a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. That advantage was erased by a pair of Chandler Stephenson goals – one in the second and another early in the third. And that, of course, set up Cozens’ late, game-tying heroics.

Of course, he wouldn't have had a chance to do so if Ullmark didn't make some monster saves in the third. Overall, Ullmark was excellent, stopping 30 of 33 shots, along with two more in the shootout.

 "I thought Linus was huge in the third period," head coach Travis Green told the media after the game. "Everyone raises their game, or you hope they can raise their game when the heat's on. And everyone does it in a different way. For a goalie, it's finding ways to stop the puck when maybe you don't. And the good goalies in the league make big saves when it matters. And he did tonight."

The Senators will play game two of their four-game homestand on Saturday afternoon at 3 against the New York Islanders.

More Sens headlines at the Hockey News Ottawa:
Tkachuk Has Successful Thumb Surgery And Will Miss 6-8 Weeks
Sens Call Up Kaliyev As Tkachuk Goes On IR
Senators Suffer Discouraging 8-4 Loss At Buffalo
Senators Lose Sebrango, Claimed Off Waivers By Florida
An Early Glance At The Senators' Goaltending Pipeline
Brady Tkachuk Likely To Miss A Month Of Action (At Least)

Oct 16, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Nashville Predators center Steven Stamkos (91) celebrates his goal against the Montreal Canadiens with his teammates during the second period at Bell Centre. David Kirouac-Imagn Images

Coming off a hard-fought 7-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena, the Nashville Predators hoped to get back on track in Montreal Thursday at the Bell Centre against the Canadiens.

For most of the game, it looked like that might happen. After Nick Perbix scored to put the Preds ahead 2-1 at 11:21 of the third period, Cole Caufield scored the tying goal with 19 seconds left in regulation. He then tallied the golden goal with three seconds left in overtime for a 3-2 Canadiens victory.

"I liked our game," Preds head coach Andrew Brunette told reporters. "We gave ourselves a really good chance to win. Every second counts. I think we thought it was over, kinda gave up on (the overtime) play a little bit, and it turned around. Big learning experience."

The loss was a tough one to swallow for the Predators, who drop to 2-1-2 for the season. They continue to fight hard, but need to find a way to close out games.

After a scoreless first period, Steven Stamkos scored his first goal of the season to put the Preds ahead 1-0 at 11:36 of the middle frame. Roman Josi and Luke Evangelista each picked up assists. Perbix had the other Nashville goal.

Steven Stamkos, goal No. 583.

Deflects in off a Habs defenseman. pic.twitter.com/JxIEMA6IYj

— Alex Daugherty (@AlexDaugherty1) October 17, 2025

Oliver Kapanen tied the score 1-1, and Caufield netted the final two nails in the Preds' coffin.

Prior to the game, the Predators reassigned forward Joakim Kemell to the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. Brady Martin was a healthy scratch for the third consecutive game, with Nick Blankenburg also a healthy scratch.

The Preds were facing a Canadiens team that had won their last three, including a 5-4 overtime win over the Seattle Kraken in their home opener Tuesday. The Habs improved to 4-1-1 after Thursday's win.

Here are three takeaways from the loss.

Steven Stamkos Finally Gets One

The first season in Nashville was a difficult one for Steven Stamkos as he tried to make the transition from a long career in Tampa Bay with the Lightning.

Coming into Thursday’s contest, Stamkos had no goals and an assist for one point through four games. He finally lit the lamp at the 11:36 mark of the middle frame on a nice setup by Roman Josi.

Stamkos’s shot deflected off a Habs defenseman and got past goalie Jakub Dobes to give Nashville a 1-0 lead. Josi and Luke Evangelista were each awarded assists.

"Sometimes you need that killer instinct to put some teams away," Stamkos said. "Whether that's on the power play or 5-on-5, it's been a struggle. We've just gotta keep digging."

Stamkos's goal actually came on a power play after Montreal’s Zachary Bolduc went to the sin bin for hooking. The goal snapped an 0-for-13 skid on the power play over the last three games for the Preds.

Stamkos now has 583 goals for his career. The Preds’ offense would get a real boost if he can find a rhythm, especially in tight games like these where the offense has had trouble lighting the lamp consistently.

Perbix Is Finding Some Offense, But The Preds Defense Still Has Cracks

One of general manager Barry Trotz's main tasks this past off-season was to bring more size to the defense and more protection for Juuse Saros.

Trotz brought in Nicolas Hague and Nick Perbix. Hague suffered an injury during training camp and has yet to play this season. Perbix has stepped up offensively, especially in the last two games.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Perbix scored what appeared to be the game-winner Thursday, until Cole Caufield knotted things up 2-2 with 19 seconds remaining in regulation.

Perbix's goal was his second in as many games. It came right after Saros made one of his many key saves in the game, putting the Preds ahead 2-1 at 11:21 of the third.

Perbix's offense notwithstanding, the Preds defense still needs to tighten things up. Saros, who came into the game with a 2-01 record and a 1.64 goals-against average, was money all night against the Habs. He stopped 24 of 27 shots and made countless key saves that kept his team in a tight game.

The Preds allowed Montreal to attack the net on a sequence that Saros stopped until Oliver Kapanen finally connected at the 6:02 mark of the third period. No one had an answer for Cole Caufield on either of his two goals, one that tied the game with 19 seconds left and the golden goal in overtime to break the hearts of the Preds.

Saros has been the definition of great so far this season. Great goaltending will only take a team so far, however, if his defense allows constant traffic in front of the net in close, tight contests. They must find a way to close things out and not rely on their netminder to do all the work.

Tyson Jost Is Mr. 500

Just five games into wearing a Preds jersey, forward Tyson Jost reached a milestone once he set foot on the ice by playing in his 500th career NHL game.

In 10 seasons, Jost has accumulated 149 points (61-88-149). The Predators claimed Jost off waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes Oct. 1. He scored four goals and five assists for nine points and 46 hits in 39 games for the Hurricanes last season.

In 14:31 of ice time, Jost had two shots on goal and no points. He would be a lot happier if his 500th game had resulted in a win regardless of his individual stats.

NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat tied it short-handed in the second period, scored the go-ahead goal on the power play and finished off the hat trick with an empty-netter with 8.1 seconds left to help the New York Islanders pick up their first win of the season by rallying to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Thursday night.

Seven seconds after Trent Frederic high-sticked Matthew Schaefer, Horvat beat Stuart Skinner with 4:46 left to bring fans — some of whom were booing the home team earlier — to their feet. Mat Barzal had the Islanders’ first goal and the primary assist on Horvat’s game-winner, while David Rittich stopped 30 of the 32 shots he faced at the other end of the ice in his Islanders debut.

Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard gave the puck away on an inexplicable turnover in the neutral zone to set up Barzal’s goal and was the last player back on the power play who let Horvat past him for a breakaway on Skinner. Bouchard, who is the fourth-highest-paid player at his position in the NHL and tied for 14th among all players at a salary cap hit of $10.5 million, also coughed the puck up to cause several quality scoring chances against.

Leon Draisaitl scored on the power play, his third goal this season, off a feed from Connor McDavid, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had Edmonton’s other goal. Skinner was hardly to blame in allowing three goals on 24 shots as teammates hung him out to dry on multiple occasions with mistakes all over in a back-and-forth, fast-paced game, including Frederic’s ill-timed penalty.

The Islanders will take the two points however they can get them after opening with losses at Pittsburgh and at home to Washington and Winnipeg. Schaefer, playing against McDavid for the first time as No. 1 draft picks a decade apart, skated 17:38 in his fourth game in the league.

Up next

Oilers: Visit the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

Islanders: Visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

The Colorado Avalanche concluded their two-game road trip with an undefeated record.

Their latest triumph came Thursday night at Nationwide Arena, where they dictated pace and possession in a 4–1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets — a performance that showcased both their offensive precision and defensive composure.

Scott Wedgewood once again was dominant with 22 saves on the night. Valeri Nichushkin led the offensive charge with a pair of goals, while Cale Makar marked his 400th NHL game with a goal and an assist. Brock Nelson notched his first tally of the season, and captain Gabe Landeskog recorded his first point of the campaign with an assist.

Ivan Provorov scored the lone goal for Columbus and netminder Elvis Merzlikins was solid in defeat with a 32-save performance.

First Period

Early on, Nelson displayed his hand-eye coordination by splitting two defenders and batting a loose puck out of midair before firing a shot just wide of the net.

Moments later, Victor Olofsson broke free down the left wing and tested Merzlikins with a sharp wrist shot that was neatly gloved.

Artturi Lehkonen nearly broke the deadlock for Colorado, powering through two defenders to get a clean look at Merzlikins, but his attempt ricocheted off the netminder’s right pad.

Brent Burns was called for hooking Mathieu Olivier, granting Columbus a power-play opportunity. But much like their 0-for-5 showing on Monday against New Jersey, the Jackets’ man advantage sputtered, managing only a single shot as Colorado’s penalty kill stood tall.

Late in the period, Devon Toews nearly capitalized with a wrist shot from the left circle that nicked the top of Merzlikins’ stick before sailing out of play.

Second Period

Provorov opened the scoring just 1:36 into the frame, snapping a wrister from the left circle that beat Wedgewood cleanly. The play came together after a brutal turnover at the other end of the ice gave Columbus an ample opportunity to make the Avalanche pay, and that’s exactly what they did. 

From there, Colorado flipped the script in emphatic fashion — a sequence that could only be described as a deflection masterclass.

First, in his 400th career game, Makar buried a pinpoint wrist shot off a Martin Nečas feed to even the score.

Barely a minute later, Nelson tipped home Burns’ cannon from the point to put the Avalanche ahead 2–1.

Then, with just over three seconds left in the period, Nichushkin redirected a Sam Malinski shot to cap a three-goal outburst and send Colorado into the intermission with all the momentum.

Third Period

Nečas was whistled for hooking Yegor Chinakhov, but Colorado’s penalty killers continued their perfection — even as Wedgewood absorbed a heavy shot from Adam Fantilli that briefly winded him.

Dmitri Voronkov’s hold on Makar earned Colorado their first power play of the night, but the Avs couldn’t extend the lead.

With eight minutes to play, Colorado maintained a 3–1 advantage and a 29–20 lead in shots. Nichushkin nearly made it a multi-goal night earlier, streaking down the right side and flipping a backhander that Merzlikins denied with the glove.

Columbus emptied the net with 3:31 remaining, but the gamble backfired. GLandeskog found Nichushkin racing down the right wing, and the winger tapped in his second of the game — sealing a 4–1 Avalanche victory.

Takeaways

This was a solid performance that saw a lot of players contribute towards the outcome. Most importantly, we know the offense is the primary strength of this team, but defensively, although there was a turnover that led to the only goal for the Blue Jackets, there were far less turnovers than the previous game against Buffalo. As long as we continue to get better at keeping the puck in our possession, we have a solid foundation.

Nečas is now on a five-game point streak. Sign the man. Nothing more needs to be said about that. 

Columbus had two “goals” nullified and in both cases they involved hand passes.

Next Game

The Avalanche (4-0-1) return to Ball Arena on Saturday to take on David Pastrňák and the Boston Bruins on Saturday. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. local time. 

The strong start to the season by the Florida Panthers suddenly seems like a long time ago.

Florida dropped their third straight game on Thursday night, losing 3-1 to the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center in Newark.

For the first time since they left South Florida, the Panthers were able to score the game’s first goal and simultaneously take their first lead of the road trip.

Coming out of Florida’s zone, Seth Jones made a nice lead pass to Brad Marchand, who made a nice move in the Devils end after crossing the blue line, cutting to the middle of the ice and firing a shot on Jake Allen.

The rebound tricked out to Allen’s right where Evan Rodrigues was there to slam the puck home and give Florida a 1-0 lead at the 1:59 mark of the first period.

It’s a lead that would stick for more than a period, until Rodrigues was called for tripping Jack Hughes five minutes into the second.

Hughes would score on the ensuing power play, ripping a shot over Daniil Tarasov after the goaltender dropped down as Hughes made his way to the bottom of the left faceoff circle.

With the goaltender suddenly down, Hughes found an opening under the crossbar and tied the game at one.

The tie score held until the 6:23 mark of the third period, when a deflection by Timo Meier squeaked past Tarasov, who was having an amazing game by the way, to give the Devils their first lead of the game.

Nico Hischier made it 3-1 Devils when he took advantage of a failed clear by Florida.

With both defenseman moving in the wrong direction after the broken play, the puck found its way to Hischier in the slot, and he beat Tarasov over the glove to double New Jersey’s lead.

Tarasov finished with 31 saves, including stops on all eight of the high danger shots sent his way by the Devils.

The Panthers have now scored a total of four goals over their three-game losing streak.

Florida’s road trip has two stops remaining, with games against the Sabes on Saturday and the Bruins on Tuesday.

On to Buffalo.

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Photo caption: Oct 16, 2025; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New Jersey Devils left wing Ondrej Palat (18) hits Florida Panthers left wing A.J. Greer (10) during the first period at Prudential Center. (Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images)

The Buffalo Sabres have dealt with numerous injuries to their blueline, and currently have veterans Mattias Samuelsson and Michael Kesselring unavailable. In their 8-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, head coach Lindy Ruff leaned heavily on his top four blueliners, as Rasmus Dahlin, Bowen Byram, Owen Power, and Connor Timmins played in excess of 23 minutes. 

Jacob Bryson and Ryan Johnson were both used sparingly, with Bryson playing just under 13 minutes and Johnson only 5:12. On Thursday, the club announced that they have sent down Johnson to the AHL and recalled defenseman Zach Metsa from the Rochester Americans. The 26-year-old played five seasons at Quinnipiac and won an NCAA Championship before signing a two-year AHL deal with Rochester. 

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Metsa played a significant role for current Sabres assistant coach Seth Appert as Amerks hea coach in their run to a Calder Cup Final Four appearance, and earned an NHL contract leading Rochester in defensive scoring with 46 points (7 goals, 39 assists) last season. Ruff said that both Samuelsson and Kesselring were getting better, but Samuelsson has not practice all week and Kesselring is stil on injured reserve, so the chances are likely that Metsa will make his NHL debut on Saturday afternoon against the Florida Panthers. 

Over the summer, one player that Buffalo potentially might be interested in pursuing was Columbus winger Yegor Chinakhov, a former first round pick of Sabres senior advisor Jarmo Kekalainen who requested a trade from the Blue Jackets. On Wednesday, Chinakhov played his first game of the season and 20 NHL clubs (including Buffalo) had scouts at the game. 

 

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While it’s always dangerous to make conclusions on any NHL team this early in the season, we do know some teams have not started their seasons as well as expected.

Three teams in particular have had bad starts but can turn things around in short order:

Columbus Blue Jackets

Record: 1-2-0

Why They Can Turn Things Around: The Blue Jackets dropped their first game of the season to the Nashville Predators 2-1 before beating the Minnesota Wild 7-4. But Columbus dropped its second game of the year 3-2 to the New Jersey Devils.

Having their two losses decided by one goal is a sign that the Jackets aren’t that far off from reeling off a string of victories.

Columbus’ next stretch of games is highly challenging, facing the Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars and Washington Capitals – but after that, in their next six games, they have ‘gimme’ games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders and Calgary Flames.

So long as the Blue Jackets put up a strong fight against the Avs, Stars, Bolts and Caps, they’ve got the potential to surge up the Metropolitan Division standings. 

Columbus’ explosion of seven goals in the Minnesota game is an indication of how powerful the Jackets’ offense can be. But scoring only three goals in the other two games indicates that consistency with the puck has been a problem for this team. They’ll need to be better from game to game to get into a playoff position in the Metro, but we gave the Blue Jackets a vote of confidence as a playoff team this summer, and we’re sticking by that prediction.

Los Angeles Kings

Record: 1-2-1

Why They Can Turn Things Around:The Kings haven’t performed well in their challenging schedule, losing to the Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets and Wild so far. In their 6-5 shootout win over Vegas, they blew a lead and then had to come back to tie it.

While the Kings did have moments where they looked like a guaranteed Stanley Cup playoff team – narrowly losing to the Jets and Wild in one-goal contests – Los Angeles has struggled to close things out and rise in the ranks of the relatively soft Pacific Division. But there’s good news on the horizon, and that’s coming in the form of the soft-touches they’re going to get in their next seven games.

While there are strong teams in the Kings’ way in their next seven games – the Carolina Hurricanes, St. Louis Blues and Stars – there are more teams that L.A. absolutely should be beating, including the Penguins, Predators, Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks. If the Kings can win a couple games against the Canes, Blues and Stars, they’ll be in a great position to go on a winning tear and knock off the others.

The Kings have had problems on defense, with 3.75 goals against per game. But their 2.75 goals-for per game aren't enough, either. Thus, there’s lots of room for improvement for this L.A. team, and we see the Kings getting back on track with a strong stretch of hockey from now until the end of this month.

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Tampa Bay Lightning

Record: 1-2-1

Why They Can Turn Things Around: It’s been mostly misery for the Lightning this season, with Tampa Bay getting outscored by a combined score of 13-9 in season-opening losses to the Ottawa Senators, New Jersey Devils and Capitals.

Tampa Bay did beat the Boston Bruins for its only win thus far, and the team didn't lose by more than two goals to the others. The loss to the Capitals came in overtime as well.

That said, Tampa’s upcoming schedule is going to get challenging very soon. In five of their next six games, the Lightning could well turn things around with winnable games against the Detroit Red Wings, Blue Jackets, Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks and Predators. After that, the road ahead gets considerably more difficult for the Bolts, as they’ll be taking on the Stars, Utah Mammoth, Avalanche, Golden Knights, Capitals, New York Rangers, Florida Panthers and Vancouver Canucks. 

Only three teams have a worse goals-against average than Tampa Bay’s 4.00, so the key area of improvement is clear for this Bolts team. Andrei Vasilevskiy must play like an elite netminder again, and his teammates have got to stop allowing 31.5 shots per game.

By mid-November, the Lightning could either be at or near the top of the highly competitive Atlantic Division – or they could be mired in the mushy middle of the Eastern Conference. But if they put their foot on the gas and make the most of their opportunities against the league’s lesser lights, the harder part of the schedule will be easier for Lightning fans and players to handle. 

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