Category: Sports News

The Vancouver Canucks pulled together a gusty effort to take a 4–3 win against the Washington Capitals today, though this victory was not without worry, as Vancouver lost two players due to injury by the start of the second period. Elias Pettersson, Tyler Myers, Kiefer Sherwood, and Teddy Blueger scored for the Canucks, while Thatcher Demko made 29 saves on 32 shots faced in his fourth start of the season. 

After lots of chatter surrounding the play of Pettersson to start the season, it was the center who found the first tally of the game less than a minute into the first period. He fired a traditional seeing-eye shot past Charlie Lindgren to nab his first of the season. Pettersson finished the game with two shots and two timely blocks near the end of the third period. 

As a result of Brock Boeser’s absence, Vancouver shifted things around on their power play once again. In Boeser’s place was Sherwood, who got his first little bit of first-unit power play time of the season and made the most of it immediately. The forward honed in on the net at the perfect time, taking advantage of Washington’s poor penalty killing to start the season. 

Despite the excellent start to the game, things took a turn near the end of the first period when Tom Wilson took Filip Chytil out with a big hit. The center, whose injury issues have been well-documented throughout his career, had trouble getting off the ice and needed assistance from the training staff and teammate Conor Garland. While the hit was initially called as a major, the referees decided it was a “good hockey hit” and took the penalty away completely. Chytil was ruled out for the rest of the game.  

By the time the second period rolled around, the news kept getting worse. Jonathan Lekkerimäki, who came into the lineup for Boeser, was also taken out of the game. His ailment looked like it was sustained as the result of a hit from Matt Roy committed late in the first period. 

The rough stuff continued into the second period. Victor Mancini dropped the gloves with Brandon Duhaime, with both players feeding one-another big punches in an impressive effort for the young Canucks defenceman. Arshdeep Bains, part of the speedy Calder Cup line that has been fantastic at bringing pucks to the net, crashed into more than just the net today after he collided with Lindgren. 

Vancouver’s solid play was made even more notable considering their circumstances. Not only were they playing well when down to 10 forwards today, this was also their third game played in four days. For a team that’s been playing more often than not, especially at an early hour in pacific standard time, their early effort was notable. Players stepped up when needed and did well when taking on extra minutes. 

The third period was all Washington, with the home team controlling play more effectively in the o-zone than the Canucks. This included a brief stretch of o-zone time for the Capitals even during a Vancouver power play with around five minutes left in the third. Despite a full-sale push for the Capitals, including a late goal to cut their deficit to 4–3, Vancouver came up when they needed to and sealed their third straight win of the road trip. 

Stats and Facts: 

• With an assist on Kiefer Sherwood’s goal, Quinn Hughes extends personal point streak against the Capitals to five games 
• Quinn Hughes passes Thomas Gradin for sixth in career assists (354) scored by a Canuck 
• Tyler Myers scores his 100th career NHL goal 
• Conor Garland leads all forwards in TOI with 22:20 played 

Scoring Summary: 

1st Period: 

0:59 - VAN: Elias Pettersson (1) from Conor Garland 

17:11 - VAN: Tyler Myers (1) 

17:52 - VAN: Kiefer Sherwood (4) from Conor Garland and Quinn Hughes (PPG) 

2nd Period: 

4:54 - VAN: Teddy Blueger (1) from Evander Kane and Tyler Myers

13:42 - WSH: Ryan Leonard (2) from Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome (PPG) 

3rd Period: 

9:01 - WSH: Jakob Chychrun (2) from Hendrix Lapierre and Rasmus Sandin 

17:46 - WSH: John Carlson (1) from Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson 

Up Next: 

Vancouver’s next match of their road trip takes place on Tuesday, in what will be their fourth of five away from Rogers Arena. The Canucks will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins in what will be their first time facing former goaltender Artūrs Šilovs since trading him back in July. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 pm PT. 

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

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The Ottawa Senators raised some eyebrows on Sunday morning with the announcement that backup goalie Leevi Meriläinen has been loaned to the AHL’s Belleville Senators. In a corresponding move, Mads Søgaard has been called up from the B-Sens.

At a glance, one might think the Senators had suddenly lost faith in Meriläinen, four days after he and the team were shelled in Buffalo on Wednesday night, falling 8–4 to the Sabres. But this probably isn't a demotion, not after only one game, and not after you see that Sogaard isn't off to a great start either. This is about getting Merilainen some real game action.

The Senators don’t have a back-to-back situation in their game schedule until October 27–28. The Sens will host Edmonton on Tuesday of this week, the Flyers on Thursday, then travel to Washington on Saturday before hosting the Boston Bruins a week from Monday. Barring injury, it's likely that Ullmark will start all of those games, including the one against his old team, then the Sens will probably turn to Meriläinen in Chicago on the 28th.

Travis Green After Senators 5-4 Loss To Islanders: 'A Lot Of Things We Took Pride In Last Year, We Weren't Good At Tonight'Sens head coach Travis Green: "It hurts that we didn't get a point tonight, and I think our game's a little sloppy right now."

In the meantime, the Senators want to get Meriläinen playing for two reasons. First, they don’t want him getting rusty from going almost two weeks without playing, and just as importantly, they don’t want him stewing too long about his difficult season debut in Buffalo.

Merilainen is starting for the B-Sens on Sunday afternoon when they host the Syracuse Crunch. They may also let him start again in Laval on Wednesday, and one of the two games against Toronto on Saturday and Sunday before bringing him back.

As for Søgaard, he recently cleared waivers after camp, so he's waiver-exempt for a couple of more weeks. In the meantime, the Sens just need him for practice and to wear the ball cap on the bench in Ottawa. Based on his two games so far in the AHL, his current .864 save percentage isn’t exactly a statistic that demanded an immediate call-up to the NHL.

So Meriläinen’s assignment to Belleville should not be regarded as a demotion, but instead as a much-needed tune-up – both physically and mentally.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs had to be concerned that the departure of Mitch Marner would result in an offensive dropoff this season, as they have been dependent on the “Core Four” group carrying the bulk of their scoring load for most of the last decade.

Through the first six games of the regular season, Toronto is third in the NHL with 22 goals, and part of that excellent production has been the play of defenseman Morgan Rielly. 

The longest tenured Maple Leaf had a difficult season adjusting to new head coach Craig Berube’s style of play last season.

Like he has in previous seasons, Rielly cycled through numerous D-partners until it was finally remedied when Leafs GM Brad Treliving acquired Brandon Carlo from the Boston Bruins at the trade deadline.

The right-handed Carlo provided a stable defensive presence for the offense-minded Rielly, who finished with a subpar 41 points last season. However, the 31-year-old did produce in the playoffs, scoring four goals and three assists for seven points.

Rielly’s defensive issues have always been a focal point of criticism, and that was highlighted in Game 7 of their second-round loss to the Florida Panthers when he put up a minus-three rating.

That led to off-season rumors that Treliving would try to get the veteran to waive his no-movement clause.

Instead, he spoke to Rielly after the season about needing more from him. That resulted in him coming to training camp in great shape, with a new attitude, and that has been displayed on the ice, as he appears less tentative and willing to jump into offensive situations. 

'My Goal Was To Leave No Stone Unturned': How Morgan Rielly's Summer Could Set Him Up For Success With Maple LeafsShortly after the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/latest-news/maple-leafs-reveal-73-player-training-camp-roster-for-2025-26">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> were eliminated by the Florida Panthers in May, Morgan Rielly and general manager Brad Treliving sat down to review the year.

“I thought (Morgan) had a really good game, skated well, moved the puck well, good reads, defended well, he was solid," Berube told reporters after Rielly scored the game-winner against the Montreal Canadiens in the season opener.

"(It) was great to see him have a good game. (There was) a lot of good, and there’s stuff that we’ve got to work on, but we did a good enough job to win the game. I thought our third period was our best period, (we did a) good job protecting the lead, closing it out,” the Leafs' bench boss added.

His six points put him tied for third in the league among defensemen, behind Cale Makar and Shayne Gostisbehere.

Rielly's scoring includes goals against the Habs and on Saturday in a 4-3 overtime loss to the  Seattle Kraken. The biggest change for Rielly is his return to being the quarterback of Toronto's power play after Marner took the point of the team's five-forward power-play unit last season.

The unit with Rielly at the helm has struggled early in the year, going just two for 14, striking at 14.3 percent, which is tied for 24th best in the league.

The blueliner’s lack of a heavy shot from the point has always been a criticism, but in the past, he has made up for that with his excellent playmaking.

The effectiveness of the Leafs on the man advantage will be a significant factor in whether Toronto can have the same level of success they had with Marner in previous seasons and perhaps advance further than they did with him in the playoffs.  

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Following their disappointing 5-1 setback to the Montreal Canadiens last Thursday evening to begin their centennial campaign, the Detroit Red Wings have since rattled off four consecutive victories. 

Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that those wins have come against three tough Atlantic Divisional opponents in the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Sunday afternoon will mark Detroit's first non-Atlantic opponent, but things won't get any easier for them considering that Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers are arriving at Little Caesars Arena for what will be their only appearance in the Motor City this season barring a Stanley Cup Final matchup in June. 

It may be a daunting task for a Red Wings team with three rookies going up against two of the best players in the world in McDavid and his equally impressive teammate Leon Draisaitl, whom Todd McLellan is already well familiar with from his days as Oilers coach. 

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Having already coached McDavid and Draisaitl in his career, McLellan will be sure to inform his current team about the tendencies of Edmonton’s stars that they can exploit, while also stressing that Detroit’s rookies cannot afford to play tentatively against such talented opponents.

"They have some tendencies, but the last thing you wang to do is scare the living daylights out of your younger players," McLellan said. "They can't go out there and play tentative and fearful, but both Connor and Leon have tendencies we'll make our players aware of, and then they'll have to play and experience it."

That being said, McLellan also noted that the rookie trio of Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, and Emmitt Finnie have already faced talented competition so far in their young careers.

Red Wings' Axel Sandin-Pellikka On First NHL Goal: "It’s Unbelievable"Detroit Red Wings defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka netted his first goal in the National Hockey League on Friday evening, a feeling that he still calls "unbelievable".

"They've already gone against (Auston) Matthews, (Nick) Suzuki, (Cole) Caufield, Brayden Point, some of these players are perennial All-Stars and Olympic stars," he said. "They've faced some of these players already. It'll be a couple others, and they'll be fine." 

The Red Wings will need all of them at their best on Sunday afternoon after the news was confirmed that Patrick Kane (upper-body) will be unavailable, while the status of Lucas Raymond, who has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury of his own, hasn't yet been determined.

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The Seattle Kraken have recalled defenseman Ville Ottavainen from the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

The move comes just a day after Brandon Montour was announced out due to a personal family matter. There is no timetable for his return, and Ottavainen's promotion to the NHL is to serve as the Kraken's seventh defenseman.

Cale Fleury made his season debut last night against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Montour's absence. The 26-year-old finished the Kraken's 4-3 overtime win with one shot on goal in 11:45 of ice time.

The 23-year-old Ottavainen has played one NHL game in his career, earning a call-up to the NHL late in the 2024-25 season. He notched an assist in 14:24 in his NHL debut. 

Currently, Ottavainen will be a backup, ready to step into the lineup if another defenseman suffers an injury or is unable to play. Standing 6-foot-5, 210 pounds, the young Finnish defenseman has shown plenty of promise playing in the AHL since he was drafted in the third round (99th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft. 

The Kraken are back in action on Monday when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers on the road.

Shane Wright Scores Against Hometown Team In 100th Game As Kraken Beat Maple Leafs 4-3 In OvertimeShane Wright recorded a goal and an assist in his 100th career NHL game as the Seattle Kraken took down the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime.