After a quarter review of the Kings' forwards, it is now time to see how the Kings' defence has been doing. 

With the Kings still a true contender through a quarter of the NHL season, let's take a look at how good the defence has been thus far. 

Best Kings Defence

Starting with Drew Doughty, who was playing some great hockey until his unfortunate injury put him on injured reserve. In 19 games this season, Doughty has had 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points. Doughty, so far this season, has a +7 in plus-minus and averages 22 minutes per game. While he did not put up the most points when Doughty was playing, his leadership and strong defensive skill set not only benefited his team but also gave the other defensemen confidence.  

Another defenseman who has been playing well for the Kings is Joel Edmundson, who has 1 goal and 9 assists for 10 points in 23 games this season. Edmundson took a big step for the Kings after Doughty was put on Injured Reserve, as he filled the top defence role alongside Mikey Anderson. Edmundson has been averaging 17 minutes a game, but his ability to play on any line has provided the Kings with much-needed support, especially with Doughty gone.

Next is one of the Kings' young guys, and that's Brandt Clarke, the 22-year-old with 3 goals, 7 assists for 10 points in 23 games. The former 8th overall pick has finally emerged as a solid, reliable defenseman for the Kings, playing on the second line. He has shown both his offensive and defensive capabilities and is making a charge to be on the Kings' power play in the future, indicating that the team trusts him. 

Lastly, the Kings' top left-handed defenseman, Mikey Anderson, has been one of the most reliable players this season. Anderson has registered 1 goal and 4 assists for 5 points in 23 games played, and he is averaging nearly 20 minutes a game. Anderson has been paired with Doughty, Ceci, Edmundson, and Dumoulin, and he has been able to adapt his style of play and play a solid game no matter who his linemate is, and the Kings have been able to use that to their advantage, especially with the injuries. 

Disappointing Kings Defence 

While the majority of the Kings' defensemen have been good, there have been some who are disappointing, and they are Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin, 2 guys who signed in the offseason. According to MoneyPuck, Ceci and Dumoulin, when paired together, have 9 goals against, which is tied with Edmundson and Clarke for the most as a pairing. The only difference is that the Clarke and Edmundson line have 11 goals for, and Ceci and Dumoulin have 1 goal for. Ceci is averaging 17 minutes a game, and Dumoulin is averaging nearly 20 minutes a game. While I wouldn't say they have been the worst defensive pairing in the NHL, they haven't been super good either, and fans weren't the happiest when the Kings signed both of them. 

Even with these two defensemen being disappointing thus far, they are not playing super bad hockey; it's just that, compared to the other Kings defence, their negative play stands out more. 

As the NHL season progresses, the Kings' defence, if it remains as it has been thus far, will be a big factor for them, possibly making the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

Heading into Thanksgiving, the New York Rangers secured a gutsy 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night. 

In their previous three-game road trip, the Rangers looked outskilled and outmatched against the Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, and Utah Mammoth, three highly skilled teams. 

The Hurricanes were another big test for the Rangers to truly see where this team stood among the league’s best. 

Despite getting outshot 13-4 in the first period, the Blueshirts actually were pleased with their performance through the first frame. 

They played an aggressive offensive game, and while it didn’t translate into many shots, the Rangers were able to control the pace of play.

Rod Brind'Amour’s offensive system in Carolina is predicated on attempting as many shots as possible, which is why the Rangers did not get discouraged by their barrage of shots on net. 

“It’s not a big deal,” J.T. Miller said of the Rangers getting heavily outshot in the first period. “Sometimes it is, but this team is notorious for shooting everything. They are a team that are going to outshoot you most nights because they go low to high and shoot every single puck. I thought the first 5-8 minutes of the game, we played really well.”

Noah Laba’s goal 16:53 minutes into the opening frame put the Rangers up 1-0. The line of Laba, Brett Berard, and Jonny Brodzinski brought a spark, as they were generating chances all night long due to their speed and physical presence. 

There’s been a lot of pressure on the team’s top-six forward unit, with the bottom-six core struggling to generate consistent offense. The trio of Laba, Berard, and Brodzinski posed to be a scoring threat, which could take a weight off of some of the Rangers’ top point producers moving forward if they stay intact. 

In the second period, the Rangers committed three penalties, shifting momentum to Carolina’s side and allowing them to tie the game. 

However, on a set play to close out the second period, Artemi Panarin scored immediately after a faceoff after a pass from Adam Fox. 

Panarin carried the momentum into the final frame, setting up Vincent Trocheck perfectly for a goal, in a way that only a player of Panarin’s calibre can make. 

In two plays, Panarin changed the game, showcasing his incredible and unique talent. 

“That’s what he is capable of, he has game-breaking abilities,” Mike Sullivan said of Panarin. “He doesn't need a lot of opportunities, and when he gets them, for the most part, he can convert. Just his ability to just delay and create time and space, grabs the blue line and that's where he trusts his instincts. I think that's the type of player that he is. He has the ability to change outcomes with those types of plays.”

Taking a 3-1 lead with just under 20 minutes to play, the Rangers stuck to their structure, playing a defensively sound game, but also remained aggressive offensively, helping make for a strong, balanced attack. 

Getting Scratched Out Of The Lineup Unlocked A Version Of Adam Edström We've All Ben Waiting ForIt came as a bit of a surprise when Mike Sullivan decided to scratch Adam Edström last week for the New York Rangers’ game against the Vegas Golden Knights. 

“I thought we just did a better job at taking what the game gave us, and if plays weren't there, we were willing to make space plays or we were willing to punt and hunt,” Sullivan said. “I just think that's a part of the modern NHL.”

Igor Shesterkin’s 36-save performance also helped propel the Rangers to a victory, with their superstar goalie bailing the Blueshirts out when defensive breakdowns ensued. 

It wasn’t always pretty, but the Rangers found a way to win on the road against the top team in the Eastern Conference. Both their well-structured and organized offense, and stingy defensive effort contributed to this victory in what was a complete team effort from New York. 

The Rangers will be back in action on Friday afternoon against the Boston Bruins.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins secured a massive win over the Hershey Bears on Wednesday evening.

The WBS Penguins came into Wednesday's game with a 13-4-1 record, good for first place in the Atlantic Division, and kept their top spot after a 6-3 win over the Bears. They're now 14-4-1 and have 29 points in 19 games. 

Boko Imama got things going for the WBS Penguins off a beautiful goal on a penalty shot in the first period. He came in on the right side in the offensive zone and rifled a beautiful backhand shot past the Bears goaltender. 

Boko Imama with the penalty shot!! pic.twitter.com/IN2pHLrqHT

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) November 27, 2025

After that, Rutger McGroarty continued his hot start with his third goal in three games. He fired an absolute snipe top shelf to make it 2-0 later in the first period. He also added two assists, bringing his total to five points.

He continues to look better and better, and it's only a matter of time before he gets called up to the NHL.

3 games played, 3 goals scored for Rutger McGroarty! pic.twitter.com/CZSM8PXkFk

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) November 27, 2025

Avery Hayes (two goals), Philip Tomasino, and Sam Poulin also scored for the Penguins. This was Tomasino's first game in WBS after he cleared waivers and was reassigned. McGroarty had a great no-look assist on Tomasino's goal, which made it a 4-2 game. 

Tomasino finds the back of the net on the power play!! pic.twitter.com/Rd0PzspjFE

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) November 27, 2025

Harrison Brunicke was also in the lineup for WBS after he was sent down on a conditioning assignment. He had been accumulated at least five scratches in a row in the NHL, paving the way for him to be sent to WBS. 

He was paired with Aleander Alexeyev for his first game on the second pair. 

Next up for WBS is a game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Black Friday (Nov. 28).

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Stop us if we’ve called this Groundhog Day before.

Once again, as repetitive as it sounds, the St. Louis Blues do lots of good things in a hockey game, only to have it decided in extra time, only to come away with half of the objective goal.

Simon Nemec scored at 2:58 of overtime for the New Jersey Devils, who never led in this game until then and they come away with a 3-2 win against the Blues at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Wednesday.

The Blues (7-10-7) closed out a five-game road trip 1-1-3 – one win (not good) but yet somehow take half of the points at stake (five). That’s because they lost three games on this trip by identical 3-2 scores in OT.

Kind of hard to do, but it has to somewhat feel like a waste (again) getting good goaltending by Jordan Binnington (26 saves). Cam Fowler scored his first goal this season and had an assist, and Robert Thomas had a power-play goal.

Let’s get to the game observations:

* You want to know why you’re always on the wrong end in OT? – When you win the opening face-off, like Pius Suter did, to gain possession, it’s a huge advantage.

But the problem, like tonight, for the Blues in these 3-on-3 competitions is they don’t regularly go north-south with the puck and try and attack.

For the fourth time in seven games that have gone beyond regulation, the Blues failed to get a shot on goal. Now granted, they didn’t have the puck too long after Philip Broberg put Thomas in a tough spot with a pass along the left side wall and he got checked off it by Devils captain Nico Hischier, but it’s too many possessions and too many back outs of the zone.

And it seems once the opposition gains control and can look to win the game, the Blues don’t seem to get the puck back. That was the case on Wednesday when the Devils gained the zone, defenseman Dougie Hamilton twice shot pucks, and the Devils were able to get the puck retrievals.

Once the second one happened, Hischier makes a play with it behind the net, curls around left to right and finds Nemec alone at the left post and the defenseman slammed it past Binnington.

Now, who’s responsibility was Nemec? Fowler and Jordan Kyrou were both on the ice. Seemed like Fowler was caught in no man’s land, and it was too late to realize there was a man behind him after Kyrou was there with Nemec but decided to move up to the higher slot to try and pick up Dawson Mercer. It almost seems like communication – if there was none – needed to happen there on who had who. But regardless, it would up as a familiar result:

SIMON NEMEC! 🚨

That's his second @Energizer overtime winner of the season! pic.twitter.com/L2cpjOhVe6

— NHL (@NHL) November 27, 2025

* Second period was actually really good – Yes, second periods haven’t been kind for the Blues this season, being a period-worst minus-14, and yes, they lost the second period Wednesday 1-0 thanks to a Hischier power-play goal at 8:49, but I liked the Blues’ second much better than I actually did in the first when they scored twice.

They sustained more O-zone time and weren’t under the kind of siege they were in the opening period when Binnington had to make 13 saves, and a number of them between the dots because the Blues didn’t look like they were skating toe to toe with the Devils, who took advantage of some sloppy puck play by the Blues early.

The Devils were able to gain the zone easier in the first, and the Blues took that away in the second period.

They had an extended shift with roughly five minutes left in the period that unfortunately for them yielded a number of blocked shots by the Devils.

But the Hischier goal, that ended a Blues penalty kill streak on the road at 14, came off a tripping call on Justin Faulk, one in which he was indecisive on making a line change and that hesitancy cost him the minor, came when Tyler Tucker was caught out of position trying to get to Timo Meier’s one-time shot that once it got through without it being blocked, Hischier was open for the rebound and he slammed it through Binnington at 8:49 to tie the game 2-2:

Thankful for the best two-way forward in hockey.#NJDevils | @Mikes_Amazingpic.twitter.com/axRBCXt7m6

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) November 27, 2025

* Offense continues to be dry – For the fifth straight game on this trip and sixth straight game overall, the Blues can’t get past two goals in a game.

They started well again when Fowler’s one-time rip on a puck off the boards beat Jacob Markstrom at 2:16 of the first period to make it 1-0:

Everybody's hands go UP! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Sj5FYarhoV

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 27, 2025

And after allowing Meier’s tying goal at 11:02, Thomas gave them the lead again at 2-1 when he found some room at the top of the left circle, changed his angle and wired a shot top corner on the short side of Markstrom at 14:37 to make it 2-1:

A beauty. #stlblueshttps://t.co/BRD0RgwCdA

— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) November 27, 2025

But there it is again: the Blues score first and don’t won. They are now 5-4-6 when scoring first. The Devils (15-7-1), meanwhile, came in 10-1-1 when scoring first. Good teams get the lead and build on it, then hold it. This is why the Blues are where they are and New Jersey is where it is.

There was Oskar Sundqvist on a rare breakaway with a chance to give the Blues a two-goal lead in the second but couldn’t beat Markstrom 6:11 in. Could have made it 3-1 there.

And in the third, Mathieu Joseph, who I thought had a nice game playing 13:29 with three hits and a shot on goal with a plus-1 rating, took a pass from Broberg and used his speed to get to Markstrom but couldn’t put the Blues up 3-2 with 6:46 remaining.

There were a couple others, but those are the chances that are the difference between a point and two points in a lot of these games.

Probably the biggest difference, and coach Jim Montgomery has harped on it often, is the lack of net front presence and playing between the dots, and when they do get there, it just doesn’t seem like it’s enough of a battle to win those loose pucks or fly by's.

* Four-minute power play wasted – For the second straight game, the Blues wasted a four-minute man advantage.

In a 2-2 game after Logan Mailloux, who got the second assist on the Fowler goal for his first point in 11 games with the Blues, was high-sticked by Ondrej Palat with 18:00 left in the game, it was a chance to grab the game and perhaps pull away. But despite five shots on goal and three Devils blocks, there just never really seemed like a threat of putting New Jersey’s PK under duress there.

Kyrou had the best chance on the second half of the PP when he took a Thomas pass in the slot and changed the angle of his shot but couldn’t beat Markstrom. There’s another chance for one of the Blues’ top players to be a difference maker in a game.

* Blues playing much better defensively, getting the goaltending – Remember earlier in the year when the Blues were scoring five or more but still on the losing end of things?

They only allowed more than two goals once (three to the New York Rangers on Monday) in regulation and despite allowing 14 first-period shots in which Binnington was razor sharp in, the forecheck became much better and didn’t allow the Devils to play their rush game, limiting New Jersey to 15 shots the rest of the way after the first period.

If the Blues can start potting some goals and playing defense/getting this kind of goaltending, maybe wins will follow.

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It's been a long time coming, and there have been plenty of chances, but Artyom Levshunov has finally scored his first career NHL goal. 

Connor Bedard sent one cross-ice pass to Levshunov, who made a brilliant move for his first. Levshunov has created a ton of offense in his young NHL career, and he's hit a couple of posts along the way, but this long-anticipated goal is finally in the books. 

thankful for Arty's first NHL goal🥹👏 pic.twitter.com/rvEnsWOw9M

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 27, 2025

Colton Dach also earned an assist on the goal scored by Levshunov. It was a youthful goal all around, with every player involved being someone who could be around for a long time. 

It was a big goal at the time of the game as well. Levshunov made it 3-2 in favor of the Blackhawks, not long after the Wild evened it up after being down 0-2. 

This is a weight off the shoulders of Levshunov. Although he is a defenseman, he will need to provide some offense to reach his true potential. Now that this one is behind him, he can focus on playing hockey the right way, which will lead to plenty of goals. 

The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. To view this game, it can be found on ESPN+ or Hulu. The puck will drop at 7:30 PM CT. 

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On paper, the Detroit Red Wings should have had no problem defeating the Nashville Predators, who came into Wednesday's game not only with the NHL's worst record but the NHL's worst goals-per-game average. 

But as the saying goes, that's why the games aren't played on paper.

The Predators struck twice inside of a minute on two separate occasions in the third period alone en route to a 6-3 victory at Little Caesars Arena, handing the Red Wings what was nothing short of a disappointing loss. 

pic.twitter.com/bCZTfQXiOc

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) November 27, 2025

The Red Wings took a 2-1 lead into the game's final frame after power-play goals from Alex DeBrincat and James van Riemsdyk in the second period after the Predators had struck first in the opening 20 minutes of play.

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Nashville knotted the score at 3-3 thanks to a partial breakaway goal from Nick Blankenburg, followed by a goal from Roman Josi just 15 seconds later. Detroit responded 44 seconds after that, as Ben Chiarot scored for the second time in three games. 

But once again, the Predators came up with the answer that Detroit wasn't able to match.

Ryan O'Reilly was left alone at the side of the net and tucked home a wraparound pass from Steven Stamkos at 14:14 of the third, while Erik Haula increased the lead to 5-3 after he was left all alone in front of the net just 38 seconds later.

Stamkos added an empty net goal with 85 seconds left in regulation. 

Red Wings goaltender Cam Talbot lost for the second straight game and has now allowed nine goals in his last two outings combined; he made 23 saves.

Meanwhile, Predators goaltender Justus Annunen, who was 0-3-1 coming into Wednesday's game, picked up his first win of the season by making 28 saves. 

The Red Wings were also playing their third straight game without defenseman Simon Edvinsson, who was unavailable because of an illness. 

These are the kinds of games that the Red Wings simply cannot afford to lose, and it was another rough lesson for a team attempting to take the next step. 

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NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Simon Nemec scored on a wrist shot at 2:58 of overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.

New Jersey (15-7-1) has won a franchise-record nine of its first 10 home games.

Nico Hischier assisted on Nemec’s winner and finished with a goal and two assists. Hischier has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his last five games. Timo Meier added a goal and an assist for New Jersey, extending his goal-scoring streak to three games.

Cam Fowler had a goal and an assist, and Robert Thomas scored on the power play for St. Louis (7-11-6).

Jacob Markstrom stopped 21 shots for the Devils. Jordan Binnington had 26 saves for the Blues.

With the game tied at 2, New Jersey killed a four-minute penalty early in the third period, limiting the Blues to just four shots on goal. Ondrej Palat was called for high sticking Logan Mailloux.

Hischier tied the score at 2-all with a power-play goal, with assists from Meier and Luke Hughes, in the second period.

Thomas scored on a power play, his 12th point in the last 15 games, to give the Blues a 2-1 lead at 14:37 of the second.

Fowler gave the Blues an early 1-0 lead with his first goal of the season at 2:16 of the first. Meier tied it, with an assist from Hischier, at 11:02.

The Devils are 4-1 in overtime games this season. St. Louis, which is 0-5 in overtime, finished its longest trip of the season by going 1-1-3.

Up next

Devils: At Buffalo on Friday.

Blues: Host Ottawa on Friday.

The Florida Panthers and Philadelphia Flyers wrapped up their three-game regular season series on Wednesday night in Sunrise.

In what was a tight game for much of the night, the Flyers came out on top thanks to a pair of last-minute goals, defeating the Panthers 4-2.

Florida scored the game’s opening goal 5:21 into the first period, and it came off the stick of Brad Marchand.

Moments after a flurry in which Flyers goalie Dan Vladar made several strong saves, and Carter Verhaeghe rang one off the post, Sam Bennett cut to the net and saucered a pass to Marchand in the slot, and he roofed the puck over Vladar’s glove.

It was about a period later that the Panthers doubled their lead.

A pretty passing play that started with A.J. Greer in the high slot saw the puck travel to Aaron Ekblad, then Sam Bennett at the side of the net. His cross-ice pass to Verhaeghe was so good, there was nothing but a wide-open net for Verhaeghe to guide the puck into.

At the 5:16 mark of the second period, the Cats had opened up a nice two-goal advantage.

Philadelphia was able to get on the scoreboard a few minutes later when a point shot from Emil Andrae got past a screened Sergei Bobrovsky, who was trying to regrip his stick after it fell from his hand due to a nice save on Jamie Drysdale a moment prior.

Another long Flyers shot got past Bobrovsky less than four minutes later, and once again it was off the stick of Andrae.

This time, the long wrist shot was deflected on its way to the goal by Matvei Michkov, tying the game at two with 8:49 go to in the second period.

That’s how the score would remain until the final minute of the game.

Tyson Foerster took a shot that was blocked by Aaron Ekblad, but the puck went right back to Foerster.

With Ekblad down and in pain, Foerster shot the puck again, and this time it got through and past Bobrovsky, giving the Flyers a 3-2 lead with 44.5 seconds to go.

Sean Couturier added another goal 21 seconds later before Bobrovksy could get to the bench, cementing a solid victory for the visitors.

On to the Flames.

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Photo caption: Nov 26, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Flyers center Trevor Zegras (46) shoots the puck but cannot score against Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) and defenseman Seth Jones (3) during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Steeves scored twice and Jeremy Swayman made 44 saves as the Boston Bruins downed the New York Islanders 3-1 on Wednesday night.

Tanner Jeannot also scored for the Bruins, who won for just the third time in seven games but completed a three-game sweep over the Islanders this season.

Swayman made 23 saves in the third to improve to 10-6-0. The Bruins — who missed the playoffs last season — have started 14-11-0 under first-year coach Marco Sturm.

After New York’s Mathew Barzal opened the scoring at 4:41 of the first with his seventh goal, Steeves tied it at 6:23 of the opening period.

Jeannot put Boston ahead 43 seconds into the middle period with his third.

Steeves added his second goal of the game and third of the season – shorthanded – at 10:21 of the third.

Steeves, a 25-year-old free-agent addition by the Bruins last July, had one goal in 14 games with Toronto before this season.

Boston rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win 5-2 in Boston on Oct. 28, then won 4-3 in a shootout at UBS Arena on Nov. 4.

New York’s power play was 0-19 over its previous six games, then failed four more times with the man-advantage on Wednesday. The Islanders haven’t scored in 27 straight power-play chances overall since converting early in a 4-3 win at Las Vegas on Nov. 13.

Ilya Sorokin made 11 saves in defeat to fall to 7-7-2. The Islanders are 1-2-0 on their current seven-game homestand after going 6-1-0 on their recently completed road trip.

The Islanders were coming off a 1-0 home shootout win over Seattle on Sunday.

Up next

Bruins: Host New York Rangers on Friday afternoon.

Islanders: Host Philadelphia Flyers on Friday afternoon.