Category: Sports News

LAS VEGAS -- The Golden Knights got third-period goals from Pavel Dorofeyev and Kaedan Korczak to erase a two-goal deficit, but it wouldn't be enough as the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks won 4-3 in overtime.

Anaheim (10-3-1) snapped a four-game skid against the Knights (7-3-4), who swept the series last season. With the win, the Ducks are three points ahead of Vegas and Seattle (7-3-4).

The surprising Ducks have now won six straight, a streak that has come against teams that had a combined record of 38-21-7.

Trailing 3-1 after two periods, Dorofeyev scored a power-play goal less than four minutes into the third when he gathered a loose puck after a faceoff in the right circle, skated to the slot and fired the puck past Anaheim goalie Petr Mrazek.

Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) on XSCORE O FEYEV 🚪

Korczak tied the game with a little more than five minutes left in the game when he fired from the exact same spot where Dorofeyev scored from, firing a laser past three defenders and Mrazek.

Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) on XBIG TIME KORCZY 🐲😮‍💨

Jacob Trouba scored the game-winner with 32 seconds left in overtime.

Brett Howden also scored for the Knights while Akira Schmid made 25 saves.

Leo Carlsson scored twice, and Frank Vatrano also scored for the Ducks. Mrazek finished with 36 saves.

Howden put Vegas on the board first when he took a beautiful pass from William Karlsson, who streaked down the right side and below the goal line before backhanding the puck back in front for the one-timer.

Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) on XHowie's third of the season gets us going 💪🍞

The Ducks tied the game when Olen Zellweger fired a shot from the point, and Vatrano was in the right spot to get a stick on the puck to beat Schmid.

After playing 5:03 over the entire first period, Karlsson did not return for the final two periods. Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said after the game it was a lower-body injury, and would not speculate yet if Karlsson is day-to-day until hearing more on Sunday.

Carlsson's two second-period goals gave Anaheim a 3-1 lead.

"I think our third period was encouraging," Howden said. "They're a good team, they're playing well. But I think a lot of it is on us, too. It wasn't our kind of hockey."

KEY MOMENT: After squandering a power-play opportunity to start the third period, the Golden Knights got a second chance when Carlsson was called for high-sticking Jeremy Lauzon. At the time, Vegas was mired in a 2-for-24 skid with a man advantage, but was able to capitalize with Dorofeyev's goal. The Knights are now 3 of 26 on the power play in the last eight games.

"We needed a power play goal, hadn't gotten one in a while, gave us some life," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "And really thought we should have won the game. I'm not walking out of here tonight, gonna beat our guys up. Were there pockets of the game we weren't enough? Of course. Certainly, a game we should have had the two points."

KEY STAT: The Golden Knights opened the season tied for the league lead after outscoring teams 10-4 in the second period. Over their last eight games, though, they've been outscored 7-1 in the middle stanza.

"I don't think we're terrible in the second period," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I'll have to look at it again. Obviously, we gave up goals, so you look at the results weren't good."

WHAT A KNIGHT: Defenseman Brayden McNabb had two blocked shots for the Knights, upping his league lead to 47 this season. McNabb is the franchise's all-time blocked shots leader with 1,322 since the inaugural season, a tally that also leads all NHL skaters in the same stretch. McNabb has appeared in 274 consecutive games after appearing in all 82 games the previous three regular seasons. McNabb is on pace to become the first Vegas skater in franchise history to reach 600 games played with the organization (597).

UP NEXT: The Golden Knights continue their season-long six-game homestand on Monday against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

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’Twas a snowy night in Edmonton, and the only thing falling faster than the flakes was the Oilers’ defensive structure, as the Colorado Avalanche stormed into Rogers Place and proceeded to dismantle their hosts. 

Colorado poured in nine goals in a full-scale rout, a 9–1 shellacking that left the Oilers buried under an avalanche in every sense of the word. 

Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) on XMake that nine.

Four Avalanche players scored twice—Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Jack Drury, and Parker Kelly—highlighting just how lopsided the night became. It was Colorado’s first nine-goal game since April 13, 2022, when they beat the Los Angeles Kings 9–3 at Ball Arena. MacKinnon had a hat trick in that one; this time he settled for two goals and two assists, giving him a four-point performance. Scott Wedgewood stopped 23 shots. Gavin Brindley, who was playing the first time after sustaining a concussion against the Vegas Golden Knights, had a goal and an assist for Colorado. 

For MacKinnon, he’s up to 24 points tallied on the season, tied for first in the league with San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini. His 12 goals are also tied for first in the NHL with Montreal’s Cole Caufield. 

The Oilers’ lone tally came courtesy of Connor McDavid; beyond that, the night resembled a full-scale oil spill. The goaltending, in particular, was as shaky as ever. Stuart Skinner was yanked midway through the second period after surrendering four goals on 13 shots, and Calvin Pickard didn’t fare any better—if anything, he was worse—allowing five goals on 21 shots in relief. 

First Period 

The Oilers came out flying in the early stages and 4:23 into the period, Martin Necas tripped McDavid to put Edmonton on the power play. Colorado withstood the assault and killed the penalty. Six minutes into the game, Colorado was held shotless, but MacKinnon got room and broke free down the ice, but was tripped up by Darnell Nurse as he let go of a shot. As a result, Colorado got their chance on the man advantage. 

With four seconds left to go in the power play, Brindley was called for tripping Evan Bouchard, who appeared to trip over Brindley’s skate. On the very next play, Jack Roslovic made it 4-on-4 again after he earned an interference call after running over Parker Kelly. 

Makar snapped a wrister from the right circle, threading it over Skinner’s right shoulder to stake the Avalanche to a 1–0 lead. The sequence began with MacKinnon commandeering the puck along the left wing. Edmonton tried to smother him with a quick double team, but that was precisely the trap MacKinnon had set. By drawing both defenders out of position, he opened a seam to Devon Toews, who collected the puck in stride and slipped it across to Makar. The defenseman walked into space unhindered and uncorked a razor-sharp wrist shot to finish the play. 

Landeskog appeared to have added to the avalanche of offense, wiring home a one-timer off a crisp drop pass from Victor Olofsson in the slot. But for the second time this season, “The Captain” saw a goal erased, this one overturned after a coach’s challenge confirmed that Drury had slipped offside on the entry. 

Tensions simmered late in the frame. McDavid drew a high-sticking minor for catching Josh Manson under the visor with 3:15 left—no blood, so only two minutes. Seconds later, Jake Walman compounded Edmonton’s troubles by cross-checking Brindley into the boards, handing Colorado a 5-on-3 advantage. 

After a frenetic, chaotic opening twenty minutes, the Avalanche carried a 2–0 lead into the intermission. 

Second Period 

Brindley scored his second of the season just 2:37 into the period, and a little more than two minutes later, Drury added his own second of the night with a beautiful redirect off a Brent Burns slap shot from the point, stretching the lead to 4–0. 

The Oilers responded by pulling Skinner for former Av Pickard, but the switch made no difference. With 10:26 left in the frame, Kelly buried his third of the season after taking a pass from Brindley in the slot and faking Pickard out of his skates before sliding a backhander home to make it 5–0. 

Edmonton finally got on the board with 8:30 remaining, scoring just seven seconds into a power play after Josh Manson was called for cross-checking Mattias Ekholm. McDavid snapped a wrister from the left circle past Wedgewood on the short side to cut the deficit to 5–1. 

Colorado returned to the power play when Vasiliy Podkolzin was whistled for high-sticking Drury, and although the Avalanche generated plenty of pressure, Pickard held strong—at least for the moment. 

Landeskog later took a tripping penalty on Bouchard, but even that worked against Edmonton. Kelly struck again, scoring shorthanded on a breakaway to push the lead to 6–1 with 5:22 left in the period. 

Third Period 

The rout rolled on just 24 seconds into the final period when the Oilers mishandled the puck at the blue line, allowing MacKinnon to scoop up the loose puck and rip it past Pickard on a 2-on-1 rush, pushing the score to 7–1. 

MacKinnon later went to the box for roughing David Tomasek in front of the net. But the moment he stepped out of the penalty box, he jumped into the play, took a pass in stride, and snapped another shot past Pickard for his second of the night at 5:02. Colorado’s lead swelled to 8–1. 

The Avalanche earned a four-minute power play when Walman was called for hooking Victor Olofsson and then hit with an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct after shouting something that didn’t sit well with the officials. Colorado couldn’t capitalize on the man advantage, but they scored anyway—Ross Colton found Drury in the slot, and he buried his second of the game. 

In summary, this was a beatdown. 

Next Game 

The Avalanche (9-1-5) have a quick turnaround as they take on the Vancouver Canucks (8-8) on Sunday, with puck drop set for 8 p.m. local time at Rogers Arena. 

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ST. LOUIS – It was deja vu all over again for the St. Louis Blues.

They thought they had a game won, until they didn’t, and then fell in heartbreak in overtime, against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night, falling 4-3 on a Shane Wright game-winner.

The Blues (5-8-3) were stunned on a Chandler Stephenson goal with 1.9 seconds left in regulation that needed league assistance for a potential goalie interference that wasn’t called before falling.

The Blues led 2-0 on goals by Dylan Holloway and Dalibor Dvorsky before Jordan Kyrou scored in the third period on his return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch Thursday that gave them a lead again.

Joel Hofer made 26 saves.

Let’s go right into Saturday’s observations, and we have some thoughts:

* The league truly doesn’t even know what goalie interference is – The subhead here speaks for itself. I don’t think the league has a clue what its own rule on this is, and that’s why the players, coaches, executives, anyone involved has no clue what goalie interference is.

When Chandler Stephenson scored from the high slot to tie the game 3-3 with – at the time – 0.5 seconds left in regulation, it momentarily stole a point away from the Blues, who know this feeling all too much going back to Game 7 of their first round playoff series.

But the pause on the ice was somewhat confusing, then officials made a call that there was a league-initiated challenge on the call.

Upon seeing multiple shots of the play, Seattle forward Jordan Eberle is by his own accord, in the crease, and his left skate sliding through the top of the crease, makes direct contact with Hofer’s stick, preventing him from having use of it along with his blocker.

Hofer got beat on that short side shot, and his stick and blocker were clearly impeded from using it.

The league review took some time, and I have no clue why it did, but when referee Gord Dwyer came back and confirmed it was a good goal, it left a building speechless. It left a team speechless and quite frankly, those that once again felt confused about a rule feeling even more convinced nobody knows what the rule is:

Make it make sense. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/pBVPQjRLF0

— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) November 9, 2025

“We were certain on the bench that we were going to win the game because the criteria for goalie interference is first the player has to be in the blue paint,” Montgomery said. “Then he has to impede the goalie from playing his position. His left skate hits our goalie's stick, and when he hits the goalie's stick, his arm has to come in. He cannot use his blocker because of Eberle's foot hitting his stick and turning his arm in. The puck goes in on the blocker's side. For us, it meets all the criteria for goalie interference. We understand we’ll get a ruling from the league on it, but for us, it meets all the criteria for goalie interference. If it was not, if this was at the five-minute mark, we would have challenged it. That’s how certain we were.”

Montgomery said they would get an explanation from the league, but it’ll be no more than this laughable reasoning:

#stlbluespic.twitter.com/GL8AVggYFF

— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) November 9, 2025

When already told what it said, and asked how could they come to this conclusion, he said, “I don’t know. I do wonder if they have a goaltender, an ex-goalie in the room because our goalie coach and the goalie explanation to me, I’m not an ex-goalie, is that it does impede your ability to use your blocker.”

Here is the rule itself, Rule 69.3:

Hofer wasn’t certain of the rule, only saying, “I mean yeah, my stick got hit there. I just didn't know if the guy was in the crease or not. I saw on the jumbotron that he was, so I don't know what the rule is. I thought the rule was that if the guy was in the crease, then it's no goal or if he stops me from making the save. I don't know what their thought process was on that, but yeah, I'll leave it at that.”

Hofer was also told of what the league ruling was, and was confused.

“I mean, like, I don't know. If my stick is there, who knows if it hits my shaft, who knows if it hits my blocker,” he said. “I guess nobody knows. I thought the only ground rule was if he was in the crease and he did. Like I said, nobody knows, but you can't be making assumptions if it's going to hit me or not. Nobody knows.”

Hofer looked at the replay and like the bench, felt confident it would get overturned.

“I'd say I was over 50 percent that I was confident, but yet I was still trying to stay focused because nobody really knows nowadays,” Hofer said. “I feel like every other week there's something that there's always a debate on it. That's kind of how the rule is.”

And what makes this even more perplexing is that on Oct. 30, Montgomery and the Blues won a challenge against the Vancouver Canucks that negated what would have been an Evander Kane go-ahead goal with just over three minutes remaining in regulation that was wiped out by what wasn’t nearly as egregious as this one was:

This was a Goalie Interference game on 10/30 vs VAN. It was called No Goal. HOW DID THIS IMPEDE THE GOALIE BUT EBERLE DIDN’T!!!! #stlblueshttps://t.co/ja80bUEFE1pic.twitter.com/0yl95lqhka

— Alex Ferrario (@Ferrario101ESPN) November 9, 2025

“It looked like a similar play against Vancouver where the guy kind of took our goalie’s stick and they disallowed it,” Kyrou said. “I thought it was going to be no goal, but I guess not.”

It’s quite obvious players are as confused as anyone with the grayness of goalie interference calls, especially ones where a team is quite certain the call will go their way.

“A little bit. I don’t know the exact definition of the rule, but I’ve seen calls go the other way in that kind of situation,” Holloway said. “A foot in the crease takes away the stick, I feel like I’ve seen that called the other way before. It’s definitely a bit of a gray area and just unfortunate that we couldn’t get that call.”

* Blues never had puck in OT – When Stephenson won the opening face-off from Robert Thomas, the Kraken would never lose the puck again.

The Kraken would reload a couple times, but the Kraken would keep possession of the puck the entire 1:57 until Wright potted the game-winner and send the Blues home stunned:

“Definitely tough,” Holloway said. “I have faith in our group that we have good enough players, good enough forecheck that they can get the puck back. It’s tough not to start with it, but it’s just stuff to learn from.

* Failure to close a game out again, iced puck three times with chance to hit empty net – Regardless of how the goalie interference call came down, the bottom line is the Blues did not close the game out.

They had three chances (Hofer, Thomas and Nick Bjugstad) to hit the empty net, and Hofer was behind his and narrowly missed to the left with 2:06 remaining, but it was the first icing.

Then Thomas was on the defensive side of the red line but Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour got a piece of his opportunity with 1:49 remaining.

And Bjugstad spun and hurled a chance down the ice from three-quarters length of the ice that also missed the empty target with 1:31 remaining, also an icing.

“We iced the puck three times I believe and we had two opportunities to end the game at the red line,” Montgomery said. “It’s an open net. The game should be over.”

The third icing came off the stick of Philip Broberg that brought the face-off back into the Blues’ zone with 11.8 remaining.

Since it was an icing, the Blues could not change, and Bjugstad had to take the face-off against Stephenson, which he lost. Montour grabs the puck, skates down the lefthand side, slings a backhand through the crease, off the boards and back out towards the right point retrieved by Matty Beniers, who finds Stephenson in the high slot for the shot and score.

“Obviously a call didn’t go our way,” Holloway said. “We thought that Eberle’s skate took out ‘Hofe’s stick there. We thought that based on the rule, that could be goalie interference, but obviously the refs didn’t see it that way.

“As a group, we’ve got to bounce back from that. Can’t be giving up a goal that late in the game. That’s on all of us on the ice. We got into a habit of that last year, so we’ve got to clean that up.”

* Explain how and why players “take our foot off the gas” – This has got to be the most confusing and baffling comment of taking the foot off the gas.

The Blues were ahead 2-0 after the first and were in a good position. Then were completely outplayed in the second period that enabled the Kraken to tie it on goals by Ryker Evans at 8:28 and Eeli Tolvanen on the power play at 15:25.

The Blues were outshot 15-5 in the period and seemed to be chasing the puck most of the period, and when they had it, were quickly giving it right back.

“I think they played to the goal line and we turned the puck over way too much,” Montgomery said. “At the offensive blue line, we had 10 turnovers in the second period. That’s us not willing to work offensively for opportunities. They had better gaps than they had in the first period. They played better. We played into their hands. Got to get better from it.”

But when you ask players why a period or a segment of the game sequence got away, it should drive a coach nuts when he hears something similar to this:

“We kind of just took our foot off the gas,” Kyrou said. “I think in the first we were really skating and we were winning a lot of our puck battles. I think in the second, we kind of just stopped skating and we stopped competing a bit.”

Added Holloway, “First period, I thought we were good. Second period, we kind of took our foot off the gas a little bit. Third period, I thought we were playing stingy hockey and guys are battling and trying to get that two points. There’s a lot of good from that game, but also a lot of stuff we need to work on.”

So it begs the question, why on earth would you take your foot off the gas when you were working so hard and so well. It just makes no sense when players say that. Why would you want to allow a team to gain momentum and build back up when you had them down? It makes no sense, and this isn’t just picking on these two players; they just happen to be the latest to say it, but countless other players in that locker room and around the league have said the exact same thing.

* Kyrou’s response was good – Kyrou was going to be determined. You know in the back of his mind, he was upset with getting healthy-scratched.

He played 16:00 and led the Blues in shots (four) and attempts (six). His goal at 5:10 of the third period put the Blues ahead 3-2 and was holding out to be the game-winner until the end:

Not how we drew it up probably but good with us. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/CEerWVB7Um

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 9, 2025

“Just felt good to give our team the lead,” Kyrou said. “It’s tough we couldn’t pull that win out today.

“I’m just trying to do what I can to help my team win tonight. … I thought I was skating well. I thought I was competing. I thought I was attacking the net more.”

Kyrou played with Thomas and Brayden Schenn on Saturday.

“I thought he was great tonight,” Holloway said of Kyrou. “He possesses a skill ability that not a lot of guys have. He’s definitely a valuable guy in our room. It was great that he got that big goal for us there in the third. I like ‘Rouzy’ a lot as a player. I think he’s awesome. He bounced back in a good way.”

Kyrou had a similar response like Mathieu Joseph had Thursday in a 3-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

“He led us in shots, he led us in shot attempts,” Montgomery said of Kyrou. “I thought he was skating well. I thought he responded with what could have been the game-winning goal.”

* Blues came out with some fire – The Blues played with pace and aggressiveness in the opening 20 minutes and gained a 1-0 lead on Holloway’s goal at 5:30 off a good read intercepting a pass in the slot of the offensive zone:

a pizza right down Main Street 😂😂😂 🍕🍕🍕 pic.twitter.com/FKGgrDSzcE

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 9, 2025

Then when Dvorsky tried hitting Jimmy Snuggerud for a redirection goal in front on the power play at 9:40, Dvorsky was credited with the goal after it caromed in off Adam Larsson’s stick:

🚨 ⬜️ ⬜️
⬜️ 🚨 ⬜️
⬜️ ⬜️ 🚨

TIC-TAC-TOE-GOAL pic.twitter.com/BMOmwRezkM

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 9, 2025

“Good first, poor second, third was even,” Montgomery said. “We did some good things in the third. I thought from the eight-minute mark on, we didn’t really give them much. We had a chance to end the game with the (Alexey) Toropchenko chance to make it a two-goal game at the net front. It was a back-and-forth NHL game.”

* Hofer was sharp again – Regardless of the outcome, Hofer had himself another solid outing.

He was especially sharp to open the game and despite allowing two goals in the second, he kept the Blues tied in a period when they were outplayed by a wide margin.

It's the third straight strong start for Hofer, despite allowing four tonight.

“I've just got to find one extra save,” Hofer said. “We battled hard. Yeah, that one stings, thoug

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The vibes are high right now for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and it's certainly no secret that new head coach Dan Muse is getting the most out of his 9-4-3 team - which is tied for third in the Eastern Conference and fourth in the league.

But the same cannot be said for the Penguins' former head coach with his new team. 

The New York Rangers and their new bench boss Mike Sullivan - who was at the helm for the Penguins from 2015-2025 - have struggled out of the gate this season. The Rangers sit at 7-7-2 with 16 points, which ranks sixth in the Metropolitan Division and sixth in the Eastern Conference. 

The Rangers have also scored a league-worst 35 goals, they have yet to win a game on home ice (0-6-1), and their top producer is defenseman Adam Fox, who has three goals and 11 points in 16 games. Their only forward with double-digit points is Artemi Panarin with 10, and no one else on their roster is at more than a half point-per-game. 

Suffice to say, they lack scoring depth and are struggling mightily to put the puck in the back of the net, even if the advanced analytics say they should be scoring more. Both their expected goals for (38.06) and expected goals share (57.29 percent) - according to Moneypuck - are top-four marks in the league, but they simply cannot finish their chances.

Rangers' Home Struggles Reach A New Low In Loss To Islanders Déjà vu is the best word to describe the New York Rangers’ 5-0 home loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday night. 

This is an issue that the Sullivan-era Penguins had for the last several years of Sullivan's tenure in Pittsburgh, and it seems to have carried over to his time with the Rangers so far. The process is there, but the finishing talent simply isn't.

So, what does this mean for the Rangers? Of course, there is still a lot of season left, and the East is a very tight race. Only eight points separate the top of the conference from the bottom of the conference, and the same goes for the Metro. Moneypuck also still has the Rangers at top-eight odds to make the playoffs at 74.7 percent.

But, if they are to turn around their season, their top players in J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad, and Alexis LaFreniere need to start producing with more frequency. And only time will tell if the Rangers' issues stem more so from coaching or from personnel or if Sullivan and his team can overcome their early-season struggles. 

Penguins Earn Point In 'Prove-It' Game Against New Jersey DevilsAt this time last season - and in the two seasons before - there was always an overwhelming sense of frustration when the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a> lost precious points in overtime and in the shootout.&nbsp;

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

At this time last season - and in the two seasons before - there was always an overwhelming sense of frustration when the Pittsburgh Penguins lost precious points in overtime and in the shootout. 

Last season, they managed to reverse a lot of their overtime woes. They appear to play well in overtime this season, too, but the trouble is that they haven't yet finished a game in OT, which has led to three shootout losses - an area in which the Penguins have lost 10 out of their last 11.

But, even after yet another shootout loss - this time a 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils, the top team in the East - it doesn't quite feel like a loss.  There is a new air around this Penguins' team, and they largely passed the test against one of the league's best teams on Saturday. 

After the Devils came out strong in the first five minutes of play, the Penguins slowly began a takeover. They controlled play and possession for pretty much the entire final 15 minutes of play in the opening frame. 

Unfortunately, a costly defensive zone turnover by defenseman Kris Letang led directly to an Arseny Gritsyuk goal. Letang had the puck near the left circle, and Gritsyuk was behind him. Instead of simply putting the puck up the wall, he tried a no-look backhand pass right into the slot, which Gritsyuk intercepted and took straight to the goal, beating Silovs.

And that is where it became pretty clear that the Penguins are simply a different team than in years past. We've seen egregious defensive zone turnovers from the Penguins before - especially from their core players - essentially deflate the team for the rest of the game and lead to disaster.

But that's not what happened in this one. The Penguins responded with yet another dominant period, spending most of the period hemming New Jersey in their own zone and generating scoring chances. They had all kinds of Grade-A looks, but they were rewarded with one of the most fluky goals of the season so far. 

Defenseman Ryan Graves - recalled from the AHL prior to Thursday's 5-3 win against the Washington Capitals - simply threw a puck toward the net from the left point. The puck hit off of what appeared to be Devils' forward Ondrej Palat's face on the way in - he was okay after the shot - and went in the net to tie the game at 1-1. 

The Devils pushed back a bit in the third, and the period was a bit more even and back-and-forth. The game went to OT - a thrilling one, at that - before Silovs could not stop either Paul Cotter or Jesper Bratt in the shootout and neither Bryan Rust or Sidney Crosby could score. 

Of course, the Penguins don't want to keep surrendering points in shootouts. But all three of their shootout losses this season haven't exactly felt like games where they're giving points away. Instead, they feel like points well-earned - even if they could have gotten the two points.

Here are a few takeaways from this one:

- He did not register a point in this one. But Erik Karlsson was outright brilliant in this game. And, as good as he's looked this season as a Penguin, this is one of the best games he's played in the uniform. 

His skating was on another level. He transitioned into the offensive zone with blazing footspeed on more than one occasion, and he was also able to bring himself back into the play on the backcheck when he needed to. He was outstanding defensively in the overtime period, and he made an excellent defensive stick play on the backcheck when the Devils were developing a two-on-one before stymying the play altogether. 

This coaching staff is getting the most out of Karlsson, and I think it goes back to some things both he and Ryan Shea said to me a few weeks back about mutual trust between players and coaches coming as a result of communication and understanding what the other needs. Karlsson also made some interesting comments to The Athletic's Josh Yohe in the postgame, which - in a way - indicted the old coaching guard.

It's not an exaggeration to say that Karlsson - aside from Crosby - is the most important player on this team. It's not a coincidence that the Penguins are a good team this season and that Karlsson is in Norris Trophy form this season. 

It's remarkable to watch. If he can keep up this level, the Penguins might be going places. 

- Silovs was magnificent in this game. I'm not even going to expend the energy discussing how much he struggles in shootouts, as he is now just one of eight on shootout attempts this season. 

I want to focus on how good he was in this game to get the Penguins to the shootout in the first place. Pittsburgh should have put more than one goal on the board with the way they were dominating. But they didn't, and Silovs had to make some tough saves. 

The best of them came in the waning seconds of the middle frame, when Danton Heinen committed a bad turnover in front of his own net in the slot. The puck found its way to Jack Hughes, who sent the puck across the low slot area and over to Bratt. 

And Silovs made what will probably be one of the best NHL saves of the year.

He is a legitimate problem in shootouts right now, and it's something the Penguins might have to address at some point. But he was brilliant in this game and deserves a lot of credit for the Penguins getting a point out of this one. 

- The Penguins' penalty kill, once again, came through for them in this game. They killed off two penalties - and one of them came in the second part of the third period in a tie game and as a result of Evgeni Malkin delivering an ill-advised cross-check on former Penguin Cody Glass - and made it look relatively easy. 

The power play only got one opportunity in this one and was zipping the puck around on it. That unit remains No. 1, while the penalty kill is up to eighth in the league. 

Todd Nelson (power play) and Mike Stothers (penalty kill) have done wonders for the special teams units, and they are making a world of difference for this team.

- Graves has been perfectly solid since being inserted back into the lineup. He's making simple plays, he's not holding onto the puck too long in the defensive zone, he's controlling his gaps, and he's playing unafraid. 

I think his defensive partner, Connor Clifton, has had some bouts of uneven play, even if he was pretty solid in this one. The Penguins still have some decisions to make regarding their defensive corps and 19-year-old rookie Harrison Brunicke, who played in his ninth NHL game Monday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

If Graves keeps this up, I almost want to see how he'd do alongside the dynamic but flawed youngster in Brunicke, assuming he sticks around for the time being. It's only been two games, but I think Graves has - so far - been better than any other blueliner who has occupied that left side on the third pairing so far this season.

- It's abundantly clear that the second line is missing Justin Brazeau. I think Tommy Novak has been perfectly serviceable there, and he's been playing quite a bit better in recent games. But that line - with Malkin and Anthony Mantha as its other cogs - isn't nearly as dominant as it was, and I think their size was a big part of that.

We'll see who finds a home there without Brazeau, but I'm almost inclined to say that Ville Koivunen should get a look. Koivunen has been very good in recent games, but he simply cannot buy a goal. He and Malkin had shown chemsitry in that small sample size last season, and I'd like to see if they can build on that. 

- The Penguins will face the Los Angeles Kings for the second and final time this season Sunday afternoon. It will likely be top goaltending prospect Sergei Murashov's NHL debut. 

The Penguins have had their way with the Kings in recent years, as they have won four out of the last five games against them and have outscored them 17-10 in those games. They also tend to play a tight-checking game in these contests.

Either way, it should be a special afternoon for Penguins' fans and for Murashov, as it is a potential glimpse at the Penguins' future at the position. 

Be there. It should be a good one. 

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LAS VEGAS -- Golden Knights forward William Karlsson did not come out for the second period of Saturday night's game against Anaheim, and was ruled out for the rest of the game.

Karlsson played the first 20 minutes and took his last shift as the first period ended, not appearing to take an injury.

Karlsson was interviewed between periods for the TV broadcast by rinkside reporter Jamie Hersch, and though he did not appear injured, he appeared to be winded. While that's to be expected, considering he just left the ice and had 5:03 of time on ice, the Golden Knights television play-by-play broadcaster Dave Goucher pointed out Karlsson appeared out of breath.

Karlsson assisted on Brett Howden's first-period goal, which gave Vegas an early 1-0 lead before Anaheim tied the game later in the period.

Karlsson has appeared in all 14 games for Vegas, and has six points (4 goals, 2 assists).