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Landeskog Revives a Legendary 2022 Motto While Discussing the Power Play

The motto that underscored the Colorado Avalanche’s magical run to the 2022 Stanley Cup championship was “Find a Way,” and Gabe Landeskog echoed a similar sentiment on Tuesday morning. 

The Avalanche enter Wednesday’s game against the San Jose Sharks as the NHL’s top team, carrying a 16-1-5 record through 21 games. Having just one regulation loss at this stage of the season is almost unheard of—usually that’s a cliché, but in this case it’s fact. This level of dominance has been achieved only four times in the past 97 years. What we’re witnessing is historic.  

And yet, there’s still room for improvement. The power play remains the one area of this team that could use a reset. But it’s early in the season, and the Avalanche are dominant enough right now that it makes sense for them to experiment with a few ideas. 

Science Experiment: Power Play Edition 

Beginning with this past weekend’s road series against the Nashville Predators and the Chicago Blackhawks, the Avalanche began experimenting by moving Landeskog onto the first power play unit in place of Victor Olofsson. Landeskog told The Hockey News how he felt the group performed over those two games. 

“The power play is one of the things we continue to work on,” he stated. “We’re understanding where we’re at; we’re understand that if our power play can start chipping in goals on a nightly basis, obviously that makes a big difference.” 

But this Avalanche team has repeatedly demonstrated that even on nights when they lack their sharpest form, they still manage to manufacture wins. With that in mind, Landeskog remains confident that the group will eventually solve its power play issues. 

“It’s early on in the season; we’re working on a few things and trying a couple different looks. It’s one of the things when it’s not working, it’s easy to start overthinking it, start pointing fingers, try to re-invent the wheel, but at the end of the day, sometimes you just got to stick with it. 

“Sometimes there are tweaks to be made we make them no problem, but I think the power play is kind of the same as the rest of our game as we continue to work on it; we’re going to find ways (to succeed), and I’m not worried about it.”

Find a way, eh? What does remind of you of? We have an idea.

Credit: Mark J. Rebilas

The Avalanche (16–1–5) have recorded 13 power-play goals this season, converting at a 15.7 percent clip—a rate that places them in a four-way tie for 15th in the NHL alongside the Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, and St. Louis Blues. 

Game Time 

Colorado dropped a 3–2 overtime decision to the San Jose Sharks in their previous meeting on October 1 at SAP Center. Tonight, the Avalanche have an opportunity to even the season series on home ice at Ball Arena. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. local time. 

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Could A Canadiens’ Player Make Team Finland?

Last year, when the NHL paused to host a best-on-best tournament, two members of the Montreal Canadiens were asked to play for Team Finland: Patrik Laine and Joel Armia. The latter is no longer a member of the organization, having signed with the Los Angeles Kings over the offseason, while the former is still part of the team but, once again, sidelined by an injury.

According to the timeline provided by the Canadiens, when he underwent core muscle surgery, Laine could be back either in January or February. Even if he were back in January, would it be realistic to try to play in a best-on-best tournament? Probably not.

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There is, however, another member of the Habs who could have earned himself a spot with the Finnish national team thanks to his season debut: rookie center Oliver Kapanen. The 22-year-old is currently playing on a line with Ivan Demidov and Juraj Slafkovsky, after skating alongside Alex Newhook for the 17 games he played before his injury.

In 21 games, the youngster has put up 11 points, but he’s also been an essential part of the Canadiens’ penalty kill. Armia and Christian Dvorak’s departure created a need for the Canadiens in that role, and Kapanen jumped on that opportunity.

The center is currently fourth in rookie points with 11 and in a three-way tie when it comes to goals with seven.

The Canadiens’ coach describes him as having an elite NHL-level computer, praising his ability to read the game and the plays, which make him a very responsible two-way forward, precisely the kind of forward you need if you want to stand a chance in a best-on-best competition. The Finns will already be without one of the best two-way forwards in the game because of Aleksander Barkov’s injury, not that Kapanen can replace the Florida Panthers’ captain, but no one can replace Barkov.

Finland took the gold medal at the last tournament, but that was without NHL players competing. The last time NHLers skated in the event, at Sochi in 2014, the Finns left Russia with the bronze medal, and they’ll no doubt be aiming for the podium again.

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Florida set to host feisty Flyers in final game before Thanksgiving

The Florida Panthers are back in Sunrise and will kick off their longest homestand of the season on Wednesday night.

Florida will welcome the Philadelphia Flyers to Amerant Bank Arena for the final time this year after defeating Philly 2-1 back in the second game of the season.

It’s also the last time these teams will meet, barring a playoff series, as the Flyers took down the Panthers 5-2 on Oct. 13, which was subsequently Philadelphia’s home opener and the first road game on Florida’s schedule.

Former Panthers first round pick Owen Tippett has been a consistent source of offense for the Flyers of late.

He’s logged seven points over his past five games, and he’s placed the team in scoring over the past couple weeks.

New Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar has enjoyed a strong start in Philly.

He’s played very well in both games against Florida this season, stopping 56 of 60 Panthers shots in the two outings.

League-wide, there are 27 goaltenders who have played in at least 13 games, and of those 27 tendies, Vladar is tied with Vegas’ Akira Schmid for the fewest goals allowed at 31.

Entering play Wednesday, Vladar ranks sixth in the NHL in both goals against average, which is at 2.42, and save percentage, currently at .912.

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Wednesday’s battle with the Flyers:

Mackie Samoskevich – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand

Jesper Boqvist – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart

Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – A.J. Greer

Noah Gregor – Luke Kunin – Jack Devine

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones

Uvis Balinskis – Jeff Petry

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Photo caption: Oct 9, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones (3) moves the puck against Philadelphia Flyers right wing Owen Tippett (74) during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

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Why Feyenoord’s 1970 European Cup win was a sliding doors moment for Celtic

The final remains curious in a Celtic context because it is the showpiece occasion the club would rather forget

It feels cruel in part to use Thursday’s meeting of Feyenoord and Celtic to reflect upon illustrious times. The Dutch side are 29th in the 36-team Europa League table, with Celtic’s position in 27th only more slightly more palatable to supporters because Rangers are bottom of the pile.

Those fans disrupted an annual general meeting to the point of abandonment last week, demonstrating the disharmony that has engulfed Celtic for months. A club that progressed to the Champions League’s knockout phase last season, looking an overdue but serious European force, have starkly regressed. Celtic have the spending power to outshine clubs who routinely embarrass them in a bigger pond than St Mirren and Motherwell occupy.

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The Spin | First-over destroyer Mitchell Starc deserves place among Australia’s greats

Kerry O’Keeffe has called the veteran left-armer ‘one of the most underrated cricketers Australia have produced’, and the figures back him up

When I close my eyes at night, Mitchell Starc is at the top of his run. It might be punishment for forgetting to vote for him in the Guardian’s all-time Ashes players list.

His 6ft 6in frame elongates and stretches until he’s uncomfortably filling my mind’s eye and then the legs start, a nightmare-beautiful rhythmic run. The arms piston, the eyes steady, the head as still as a marble mantelpiece. He’s a cheetah in giant white wristbands, a moon-marauding wolf, a river of melted chocolate, that expensive, unpalatable, 95% stuff.

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These next two weeks could be a defining stretch for 2025-26 Celtics

These next two weeks could be a defining stretch for 2025-26 Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

We’re about to find out a whole bunch about the 2025-26 Boston Celtics.

On Thanksgiving Eve, the Celtics launch into a brutal seven-games-in-12-days stretch. That includes the second dreaded five-games-in-seven-nights span of the season, with five games in four different cities and travel before each tilt.

The next seven games will also feature:

  • Matchups with four of the top five teams in the Eastern Conference (Detroit, Toronto, Cleveland, New York)
  • Two games against teams with double-digit win totals in the West (Minnesota, LA Lakers)

Take away a pit stop in Washington on December 4 — the night before a rivalry showdown with the Lakers back in Boston — and the other six opponents in this seven-game stretch have a combined .702 winning percentage (73-31).

In the ’90s, the World Wrestling Federation often held an annual pay-per-view on the night before Thanksgiving. Now, the Celtics are about to launch into their own Survivor Series.

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The Celtics are 4-6 this season against opponents with a record of .500 or better. Two of those wins came against Orlando, with the others against Cleveland and Philadelphia.

After a roller-coaster 9-8 start to the season, these new-look Celtics are either going to show that they can measure up against some of the NBA’s elite, or get a bit of a reality check about the ceiling of this team while hunting for their identity as Jayson Tatum rehabs from his ruptured Achilles.

The gauntlet starts Wednesday with a showdown against the streaking Pistons. How ironic that, as Boston was starting its title march two years ago, the Celtics handed Detroit their record-tying 28th consecutive loss (albeit needing overtime) as the Pistons matched their longest losing streak in league history.

This year? Detroit will be looking to set a new franchise record Wednesday night while hunting its 14th consecutive win. Life comes at you fast in the NBA.

Adding to the daunting nature of the upcoming schedule, the Celtics will start this stretch without center Neemias Queta, who owns the best net rating (+16.4) and on/off differential (+21.0) on the team. The Celtics defense is 21.3 points per 100 possessions better with Queta on the floor and the team is severely undersized without him.

Yes, Boston starts this tall task without its tallest player (and the only 7-footer on the roster).

After kicking away some wins earlier in the season, the Celtics have won five of their last seven. As part of that stretch, they let a win slip away in Philadelphia, then played down against an inferior Brooklyn team on Sunday.

Despite some early bumps in the road, the 2025-26 Celtics sit a game above .500. There have been a lot of positives, though they’ve sometimes been masked by consistency woes.

The next two weeks ought to tell us a lot more than the first four weeks did.

Is the glass half full for the Celtics? Boston owns the fifth-best offensive rating in the league and sits inside the top 10 in net rating (tied for ninth, +4.8). Boston ranks in the top five in half-court defense and has been slowly tightening up its early-season rebounding woes.

Still, navigating even a short stretch without Queta could be daunting. Can the Celtics survive going small with Josh Minott or Chris Boucher eating the majority of center minutes? Can the team confidently lean on Luka Garza, who logged a rare DNP even after Queta limped off on Sunday night? Can rookie two-way center Amari Williams hold up if thrown into the NBA spotlight the next two weeks?

The next two weeks could answer a lot of the lingering questions about the Celtics, and it might dictate a whole new batch of questions about where the season goes from there.

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Simon Harmer routs India and lifts South Africa to Test series sweep

  • 2nd Test: SA, 489 & 260-5d, bt India, 201 & 140, by 408 runs

  • Spinner takes 6-37; Markram takes nine catches in Test

South Africa completed a memorable 2-0 series sweep against India after the off-spinner Simon Harmer claimed six for 37 to bowl the Proteas to a 408-run victory in the second Test in Guwahati.

Chasing an improbable 549 to win, India were all out for 140 in the second session on the final day, with only Ravindra Jadeja (54) offering some resistance with the bat. Aiden Markram took a record nine catches in the match for the world Test champions, who won the opening Test in Kolkata inside three days.

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