The Columbus Blue Jackets are on the road to take on the New Jersey Devils tonight at 7 PM. 

New Jersey Devils - 28-25-2 - 49 Points - 3-6-1 in the last 10 - Lost 1 - 7th in the Central

Columbus Blue Jackets - 27-20-7 - 61 Points - 9-1-0 in the last 10 - Won 5 - 4th in the Metro.

Team Notes Per CBJ PR

• Columbus has won a season-high five-straight games, as well as nine of its past 10 games overall, while outscoring opponents 39-26 since Jan. 11 following its 5-3 victory at St. Louis on Saturday.
• CBJ lead the NHL in points pct. (.900) and rank fifth in goals for/game (tied, 3.90), team save percentage (tied, .909) and power play pct. (30.4) as well as sixth in goals-against/game (2.60) over that stretch.
• The Blue Jackets finished 10-4-1 (21 pts) in January, tying for the most wins (2014, 2025) and points (2025) in the month in club history.
• The club has scored the opening goal in eight of the past 10 games and has scored the first goal in 32 contests, tied or third-most in the NHL in 2025-26.
• Columbus leads the NHL in goals by defensemen and ranks fourth in points with 41-97-138 in 54 contests.
• CBJ play their 11th of 16 back-to-back sets of the season (12-5-3 .675 pts. pct;) at New Jersey and vs. Chicago.

Player Notes Per CBJ PR

• Charlie Coyle has notched 9-5-14 in the last 10 contests and ranks second-T in the NHL in goals since Jan. 11. He has 15 goals, 24 assists, and 39 points.
• Adam Fantilli has collected points in three of the last four contests (1-4-5) and is one assist shy of tying his single-season career high (23, 2024-25). He has 13 goals, 22 assists, and 35 points.

• Jet Greaves (5-0-0, 2.47 GAA, .914 SV%) and G Elvis Merzlikins (4-1-0, 2.49 GAA, .910 SV%) have each won four games for the Blue Jackets since Jan. 11.

• Kirill Marchenko has points in four-straight games (1-4-5) and is tied for the team lead in scoring since Dec. 22, while recording points in 15 of the last 19 contests (9-11-20). He has 19 goals, 27 assists, and 46 points.

• Zach Werenski posted the second-most assists and points by a Blue Jacket in a single month (Panarin, 8-17-25, Mar. 2018) with 5-15-20 in 15 games in January. He leads NHL blueliners in goals (tied, 19), points (60), multi-point efforts (20), points-per-game (1.20), even strength goals (16), even strength points (44) and shots on goal (179) this season. He leads all Blue Jackets in goals, assists, and points.

Blue Jackets Stats

• Power Play - 20.1% - 17th in the NHL
• Penalty Kill - 76.5% - 28th in the NHL
• Goals For - 167 - 18th in the NHL
• Goals Against - 176 - 22nd in the NHL   

Devils Stats

• Power Play - 21.4% - 14th in the NHL
• Penalty Kill - 78.6% - 20th in the NHL
• Goals For - 142 - 28th in the NHL
• Goals Against - 169 - 16th in the NHL

Series History vs. TheDevils

• Columbus is 30-23-1-3 all-time, and 13-10-1-3 on the road in New Jersey.
• The Blue Jackets are 3-9-1 in the last 13 games vs. the Devils.
• The Jackets are 1-2-0 against New Jersey this season.
• The road team has won the first three meetings of the 2025-26 series and has earned points in eight of last 10 matchups (7-2-1).

• The winning team has recorded four or more goals in 10 of the last 15 meetings overall since Jan. 8, 2022, and five of the past six at Prudential Center since Oct. 30, 2022.

• The teams have combined for seven or more goals in each of the past three contests at New Jersey.

• The teams have combined for 65 shots or less in seven of the last nine matchups overall.

Who To Watch For TheDevils

• Nico Hischier leads the Devils with 18 goals and 41 points.
• Jesper Bratt leads NJ with 27 assists.
• Goalie Jacob Markstrom is 15-12-1 with a SV% of .881.
• Jake Allen is 12-13-1 with a SV% of .907.

CBJ Player Notes vs.Devils

• Zach Werenski has 11 points in 26 career games vs. the Devils.
• Sean Monahan has 27 points in 22 games.
• Charlie Coyle has 13 points in 37 games against New Jersey.

Injured Reserve

• Brendan Smith - Lower Body - Missed 16 Games IR - Out for the rest of the regular season.

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 151

How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be on FANDUEL SPORTS NETWORK. The radio broadcast will be on 97.1 The Fan, with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play.  

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have won back-to-back games for the first time in almost a month.

It wasn't always pretty, especially as the Calgary Flames cut Toronto's lead to one in the second period. But the Maple Leafs held on to beat the Flames 4-2, winning both games against Calgary this season.

Monday’s win was also the Maple Leafs’ first regulation win since Jan. 10.

William Nylander stole the show. Joseph Woll came up massive when they needed him most. And the defense, which was missing Morgan Rielly — who's out until after the Olympic break with an upper-body injury — held up.

With a win on Monday, the Maple Leafs move seven points behind the Boston Bruins for the final wild-card spot. They'll play their final game before the break on Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers.

But first, let's discuss the game that was, between the Maple Leafs and Flames:

The William Nylander show

There wasn't a better play on the ice than Nylander.

It was the forward's second game back in the Maple Leafs' lineup after reaggravating a groin injury that forced him to miss seven games. He returned on Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks and, while he didn't register a point, you could notice glimpses of the Swede returning to full form.

Nylander was in his final form against the Flames. As he always appears to be.

Entering Monday night's game, Nylander had an 11-game point streak against Calgary, the city where he was born. And it didn't take him long to find the 12th straight game with a point.

After John Tavares cut off a pass at Toronto's blue line, he sprang Nylander on a breakaway, with the forward making no mistake. He put it under Dustin Wolf's glove for his 18th goal of the year.

William Nylander wasted no time 🚨 pic.twitter.com/s9xVY86mnA

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 3, 2026

Back at it again was Nylander in the middle frame.

Just over seven minutes in, a loose puck was up for grabs behind Calgary's net. Morgan Frost appeared to have a handle on it before Nylander snuck up from behind, stripping Frost, and finding Matias Maccelli in front for a goal.

Matias Macdelli doubles the lead 🚨 pic.twitter.com/55llFsdSF4

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 3, 2026

It was Nylander's second point of the game and Maccelli's eighth goal (and surprisingly, his first on the road) to put Toronto up 2-0.

And no, Nylander wasn't done there.

After some slick passing from Nylander, Auston Matthews, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, which concluded with a scoring chance for Matthews, the puck popped back out to Nylander. He found Troy Stecher with a great pass, and the defenseman slotted it into the pretty-much wide-open net.

Troy Stecher makes it 3-0 🚨 pic.twitter.com/29QGXY5vgY

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 3, 2026

In the third, he hit a post, set up a few scoring chances and, as he was for the entire first and second period, all over the place. Nylander finished with

Joseph Woll is getting a much-needed break

If there's anyone on the Maple Leafs who needs rest, it's Woll — especially after that third period against the Flames alone.

(And sure, the rest of Toronto's players, too.)

But Woll has started in 17 of the Maple Leafs' last 25 games. Zoom in a little further: Woll has been the starting goalie in 13 of the previous 17 games. Only two goaltenders have started in more games than Woll since Dec. 16: the Nashville Predators' Juuse Saros (18) and the Winnipeg Jets' Connor Hellebuyck (19).

On Monday, there wasn't much the 27-year-old could do on Nazem Kadri's goal, Calgary's first of the game. The former Maple Leafs forward went upstairs on Woll's short side.

Make it 13 points in 12 career games vs. Toronto for Naz 🔥 pic.twitter.com/RZE71g3zVD

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) February 3, 2026

Later in the period, after Woll couldn't control a rebound, the Flames' continued offensive pressure created another goal. Kadri, again, was involved; this time, finding Joel Farabee heading to the net.

Kadri's pass went off Farabee's skate and in, making it 3-2 for Toronto.

Joel Farabee brings Calgary within one pic.twitter.com/b8T94eXWEV

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 3, 2026

In the third period, Woll made a few incredible stops. None better than the one later in the game, after the puck took a weird bounce off the glass and went towards the net.

Woll, out of his crease, quickly got on his horse to get back and take a swipe at the puck as it approached the net. Luckily, Woll got his stick on it before Adam Klapka, whose swipe of the puck put it over the net.

Joseph f--king Woll! pic.twitter.com/pmlDxiYQGS

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) February 3, 2026

Woll finished the game, stopping 28 of 30 shots and picking up his 13th win of the season.

Other takeaways

- Bobby McMann's empty-netter was his 18th goal of the year. He's now two goals shy of his career high in goals and three shy of his career high in points. If Toronto decides to move him before the trade deadline, it could bring them some good assets.

- Troy Stecher came up big for the Maple Leafs. He scored a goal and finished with 20:08 of ice time, the third-most among Toronto's players against the Flames. The defenseman continues to come up big for the club since being picked up on waivers in November.

- Easton Cowan should get into Tuesday's game against the Oilers. Not only is it the second half of a back-to-back, but he's got to play eventually, and what better test than against two of the league's best players? Cowan in for Calle Jarnkrok? Who says no?

When it rains, it pours.

That’s been the feeling around the Florida Panthers this season as the injury issues continue to pile up.

Already missing key forwards Brad Marchand and Anton Lundell, the Panthers saw another one of their vital pieces come out of a game with an injury.

Center Sam Bennett left Monday’s 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres after the first period and did not return.

“It seems like somebody is getting injured every night,” said Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk. “I feel for him, that’s not ideal going out with an injury that early (in the game).”

He played seven shifts during the first period, logging 5:11 of ice time and going 2-for-4 in the faceoff circle.

Afterwards, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice did not have much of an update on Bennett’s injury.

“We’ll just leave it as upper-body,” Maurice said. “We’ll get a better handle on it tomorrow.”

If that sounds familiar, it’s because Maurice has given similar evaluations for many of Florida’s injured players this season.

The good news is that the NHL is about to take a league-wide pause during the 2026 Winter Olympics, giving players who aren’t participating a few weeks to rest and heal for the late-season push toward the playoffs.

The bad news is that Florida picked a horrible time to go on a losing streak and have all but fallen out of contention for a playoff spot.

Following Monday’s loss to Buffalo, the Panthers are now nine points behind Boston for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, and they’re 11 points back of Montreal for third place in the Atlantic Division, with one game in hand on both.

Florida has played 55 games, meaning they have only 27 remaining to make up all those points.

The next two outings for the Panthers, Wednesday against Boston and Thursday at Tampa Bay, are the only chances the Cats have to make up any ground before the Olympic break.

Adding Bennett to a Florida injured list that doesn’t seem to want to get any smaller is just the latest setback for the league’s back-to-back Stanley Cup Champs.

Without Bennett, the Panthers are now down all of their starting centers: Sasha Barkov, Bennett, Lundell and Tomas Nosek. 

Surviving without key injured players is one challenge, but removing all of the center icemen on a team that plays a five-man defensive system like Florida is like trying to skate to the bench after your blade pops off the holder. 

We'll see how things play out in the coming days and weeks, but the Panthers need to start piling up the points before its too late. 

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Photo caption: Nov 22, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) moves the puck against the Edmonton Oilers during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

The Montreal Canadiens were taking on the Minnesota Wild on Monday night in what promised to be a tough task. Both teams were 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and had won their previous three matches. Montreal was seventh in the league while Minnesota was fourth prior to puck drop, but the Wild had been the Canadiens’ pet peeve for a long time, before the Habs finally managed to beat them less than two weeks ago in Montreal.

For a fourth game in a row, Martin St-Louis gave the net to Jakub Dobes, who had won his last six games and was undefeated in regulation in his last nine games. The Czech netminder had played a massive role in the Canadiens’ last three wins, being named the second star of the game in each one.

Former Canadiens First-Rounder Is Heating Up
Goalie Fight A Rare Feat In Montreal Canadiens History
How The Canadiens Chose Their Game Prize

Good Old Gallagher

While some are eager to point out that Brendan Gallagher doesn’t produce as much as he once did and that he gets hunched over on his stick much faster than he did in the past, there’s one thing that has never changed throughout the right wing’s career: his level of effort and dedication. On Monday night, the Alberta native was playing in the 890th game of his career with the Habs, and he decided to celebrate in style.

After the Wild had taken a 2-0 lead in the first frame, Gallagher found himself with the puck high up in the Wild’s zone, and John Hynes’ men didn’t try to close him down. The veteran took the space he was given and used it to beat both Quinn Hughes and Jonas Gustavsson, scoring a beautiful backhand goal, much like Jake Evans’ game-winning goal against the Vegas Golden Knights.

If you don’t respect Gallagher, he will hurt you. That goal gave the Canadiens a much-needed spark and was the first of three unanswered goals by the Habs. The 33-year-old doesn’t panic when his team is down; he keeps on working, grinding away. His combativity is second to none, and that’s the main reason why the coaching staff will hesitate to scratch him. He might have been a fifth-round pick, but his work ethic, effort, and dedication have always been first-class. The goal was point number 480 for Gallagher, who now trails Bobby Smith by two points for the 26th highest scorer in franchise history.

Timely Goals

The Canadiens’ first two goals were scored with less than a minute to go in the first two frames, the kind of goals that are an absolute gut-punch to the opposition. Too often this season, the Habs have given up an early goal that has taken their legs right from under them, and when the Wild scored 38 seconds in, some wondered if the early goal would send them down to the mat, but they got back up.

Chaud devant

Took the scenic route#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/Y89jayZ7Ry

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 3, 2026

Better yet, after the Wild dominated the second frame, Montreal scored another late-period goal through Ivan Demidov on an exquisite Lane Hutson cross-zone pass and then followed it up with its own early goal to take its first lead of the game. It took Kirby Dach 12 seconds from the start of the period to get the puck past Gustavsson.

Du tac au dach

Last minute goal ✅
First minute goal ✅#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/B8voBTDv33

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 3, 2026

In the end, though, it was the Wild who scored the ultimate timely goal, with the overtime game-winner. While the Canadiens would have liked to see a penalty called on the play, Joel Eriksson-Ek was just standing his ground, and Nick Suzuki collided with him because he didn’t see him, so that wasn’t interference.

With this 4-3 overtime defeat, the Canadiens leave Minnesota with one point and remain in third place in the Atlantic division, one point ahead of the Buffalo Sabres, who beat the Florida Panthers on Monday night to keep the pressure on the Habs. It also means that the Panthers are now nine points out of a playoff spot, just like the Toronto Maple Leafs. As for the Ottawa Senators, they are now trailing the Boston Bruins by seven points, but they have a game in hand. Montreal now has roughly an 80% chance of making the spring dance and finds itself in a much more comfortable position than it was last season when the league entered the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

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Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (28-15-11, 67 points, 2nd place Metropolitan Division) @ New York Islanders (30-21-5, 65 points, 3rd place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7:30 p.m. ET

How to Watch: National broadcast on TNT, streaming on HBO Max

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Penguins have just one game left after tonight, a Thursday road matchup against the Buffalo Sabres, before the Olympic break. The team will hope to give everyone, especially Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, some time to rest up before NHL play resumes on Feb. 26 with a home game against the New Jersey Devils.

Opponent Track: Like the Penguins, the Isles are coming into this game on the second part of a back-to-back. While the Penguins were losing to the Ottawa Senators, the Islanders were also looking flat in a Monday night 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals.

Season Series: The Penguins won the season opener thanks to a third-period goal from Justin Brazeau back during the second game of the season in Pittsburgh on October. 9. The Pens will meet up with the Isles one more time in Elmont on March 30.

Getting to know the Islanders

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Ondrej Palat – Bo Horvat – Mathew Barzal

Emil Heineman – Jonathan Drouin – Simon Holmstrom

Anders Lee – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Anthony Duclair

Kyle MacLean – Casey Cizikas – Marc Gatcomb

DEFENSEMEN

Mathew Schaefer / Ryan Pulock

Adam Pelech / Tony DeAngelo

Carson Soucy / Scott Mayfield

Goalies: Ilya Sorokin (starter), David Rittich

Potential scratches: Adam Boqvist, Max Shabanov, Calum Ritchie

Injured Reserve: Kyle Palmieri

• Jonathan Drouin has spent most of his career as a winger, although the Islanders are currently running him as a center. He has just three goals in 49 games since he signed with the Islanders last summer, and he’s been struggling on the face-off dot as of late (he had a 36.4 percent success rate on the draw last night against the Washington Capitals).
• The Islanders suffered a second-period collapse last night against the Capitals, blowing a 1-0 lead by allowing two goals in 32 seconds and never recovering.
• David Rittich started last night (he made 20 saves on 23 shots in the 4-1 loss), putting Ilya Sorokin on track to start against the Pens.

Season stats
via hockeydb

• The Islanders’ power play is running at 16 percent this season, ranking them down at for 26th in the NHL.
• Rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer has been a driving force behind the Isles’ climb back into the playoff picture this season. He has 37 points (15 goals, 22 assists) in 56 games of his first NHL season, the third-most points among rookies and sixth-most goals among all defensemen.

And now for the Pens

Projected lines 

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

Egor Chinakhov – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin

Anthony Mantha – Ben Kindel – Justin Brazeau

Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson

Brett Kulak / Ryan Shea

Ilya Solovyov / Connor Clifton

Goalies: Arturs Silovs and Stuart Skinner

Potential Scratches: Kevin Hayes, Rutger McGroarty

IR: Kris Letang (broken foot, out at least four weeks), Ryan Graves, Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones, Jack St. Ivany

• Bryan Rust should be back in the lineup tonight after serving out the final game of his three-game suspension on Monday. That could bump Rutger McGroarty back out of the lineup.
• The Pens are looking to bounce back from a flat loss to the Senators on Monday night. Head coach Dan Muse called the Penguins’ performance last night “far off the mark” from where the team has been lately:

• Especially notable last night was continued struggles by Evgeni Malkin, who is seemingly playing hurt and who committed three official giveaways, and the Penguins’ top line. The Justin Brazeau/Sidney Crosby/Rickard Rakell trio earned the fewest expected goals for of any line the Penguins iced last night, per MoneyPuck. The Pens will hope the return of Bryan Rust can spark something there by re-shuffling the lines.
• Arturs Silovs played in the defeat, so Stuart Skinner will likely be expected to get the nod against the Isles.
• Last night was the first time the Pens have finished a game without a point since a Jan. 11 shutout loss to the Boston Bruins.
• The Penguins currently have two points and two games in hand on the Islanders for second place in the Metropolitan Division, so a win tonight could be key down the stretch of the playoff race.