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If one game can be taken for anything concrete, the Philadelphia Flyers may have found themselves a useful new piece on defense with prospect Ty Murchison.

Murchison, 22, played 14:56 in a successful NHL debut that ended in a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks, and he earned every minute, including the one he played on the penalty kill.

This decision from the Flyers was less a pat on the back for hard work and strong performances in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and more of a belief that one of their young players who was playing well earned an NHL opportunity and a chance to stick.

Egor Zamula sat in the press box as Murchison, freshly called up from the AHL, took his place in the lineup.

Emil Andrae, Adam Ginning, and now Murchison have all gotten in over Zamula at different points this season, and the latter's extremely poor skating and lack of mobility may have been the difference-maker in favor of Murchison.

'My Heart Was Beating About a Hundred Beats Per Minute': Ty Murchison on His Flyers Call UpOn Sunday, Ty Murchison sat in Lehigh Valley’s facility thinking it would be a normal morning—practice, meetings, the routine that has been both comfort and crucible for a 22-year-old defenseman trying to force his way into the conversation.

"He can skate really well. That's what I like about him, and he's competitive," Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet remarked after the win. "I thought he did a great job for us tonight. I think he backed in a couple of times, but that's normal and we'll work with him on that."

"He's a good skater, and he's got some stiffness to him. That's what I like. When you have defense that can skate and have stiffness to 'em - I think he went into the corner one time, not scared, and took a hit from [Ryan Reaves], kind of went at it with him. That's a good luxury to have."

As Tocchet mentioned, Murchison was a little tentative at times, but it was normal for him to do that in his first NHL game.

One such instance was when Macklin Celebrini was driving down the wing on the rush with Murchison in defense, and the former Arizona State rearguard backed off and showed respect to the Sharks star instead of facing up.

That allowed Celebrini and the Sharks the space to create a dangerous scoring chance, but Flyers goalie Dan Vladar was well equipped to handle the task without much fanfare.

Flyers Acquire New Prospect Defender From LightningThe Flyers have made a small trade with the Lightning.

As for a better play, Murchison lost ground defending against Sharks winger William Eklund in the first period, and, while inches away from being whistled for a hooking penalty, Murchison stopped reaching with his stick and instead used his body to finish the Swedish winger into the wall, recording one of his defense-leading three hits.

No penalty was called, of course, and the Flyers managed to kill that play then and there.

Diving into some advanced analytics, Murchison's NHL debut was ultimately an even performance. The 22-year-old was outshot 10-7 at 5-on-5 and out-chanced 4-3, according to Natural Stat Trick, but that's hardly a bad showing from a first-timer.

"Just the speed. The speed is definitely a step up," Murchison said, reflecting on his NHL debut. "Coach Reirden has been amazing with helping me out with video and subtle stuff on the bench, and I'm asking a ton of questions and he's always got great answers."

Now that he's got a game - and a solid one - under his belt, Murchison is poised to continue playing for the Flyers at the NHL level, at least until Rasmus Ristolainen returns from injury.

That said, it's become clear the Flyers' former fifth-round pick has leapfrogged Ginning and Zamula if and when the Flyers need another left-shot defender.

NEW YORK (AP) — Emil Heineman scored in the fourth round of the shootout after New York allowed a tying goal in the closing seconds of regulation, and the Islanders beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-4 on Tuesday night.

Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves in regulation and overtime before stopping all four Vegas attempts in the shootout.

Bo Horvat scored twice, while Marc Gatcomb and Simon Holmstrom also scored for the Islanders, who moved to 5-0 against Pacific Division opponents.

Pavel Dorofeyev tied the game for Vegas with 14 seconds remaining in regulation. Just before the end of the third period, New York’s Kyle MacLean was called for a high stick, but the Islanders weathered the penalty.

Heineman scored the winner in the shootout by beating Carter Hart with a shot just under his glove. The Islanders trailed 2-0 in the first period before scoring three straight goals.

Ivan Barbashev, Mitch Marner and Noah Hanifin added goals for the Golden Knights as their four-game win streak was halted.

Hart lost for the first time in three starts since returning to the NHL. The 27-year-old goalie was one of five 2018 Canada world junior hockey players acquitted of sexual assault in July.

Hart finished with 23 saves.

While Dorofeyev tied the game with 14 seconds left, Beckett Sennecke scored the equalizer for Anaheim with a second remaining at Pittsburgh as the Ducks went on to win 4-3 in a shootout. It marked the 15th day in league history to feature a pair of game-tying goals within the final 15 seconds of regulation, and fourth in the past decade, according to the NHL.

The Islanders finished 2-0 against the Golden Knights this season. They won 4-3 at Vegas on Nov. 13 courtesy of Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s short-handed goal in overtime.

Up next

Golden Knights: At Philadelphia on Thursday night.

Islanders: Host Anaheim on Thursday night.

The Winnipeg Jets have shown that even without all-star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, they can still hang with some of the very best. 

Ultimately losing 4-3 to the visiting Dallas Stars on Tuesday, the Jets twice battled back from multi-goal deficits, thanks to goals from Mark Scheifele and Logan Stanley. 

With NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in attendance from Canada Life Centre, the Jets fell behind 3-0, clawed back in the second period, gave up another in the third, but never stopped fighting in a test against one of the league's very best clubs. 

The loss moves Winnipeg to an even 14-14-1 on the season and 2-7-1 in its last 10 games.

“Yeah, I thought we played great," Scheifele reflected post-game.  

"It was nice to get two days of rest before this one, so, you can look at that one and look what worked, and keep doing that.”

It took all of 44 seconds for the league's second-place team to fire the puck past goaltender Eric Comrie. Esa Lindell put it into the back of the net off a setup play from Mikko Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston, drawing an early groan from the 13,675 gathered downtown on a blustery night. 

Other than that first minute of action, Winnipeg actually played a half decent opening frame. Dallas led 1-0 after 20 minutes but trailed heavily on the shot chart (11-6 Winnipeg). 

The second period began much like that of the first. 

But this time it took 1:16 for the visitors to strike. Roope Hintz was the last Star to touch the puck on a nifty passing play between he, Rantanen and Johnston, who each picked up their second helpers of the night. 

Dallas was not done there. 

Then, just 1:15 later, Alex Petrovic got his second of the season, as the Stars beat Comrie for the third time, and twice before three minutes had even ticked off the clock in the middle stanza. 

But it was all Jets after that, or, more accurately, it was all the Jets' top line there onward.

First, on a brutal Stars turnover, Scheifele got the puck to Kyle Connor, who dished it right back to him, for a perfect one-timer from the left circle that beat Casey DeSmith cleanly.

Then, just moments after a Stars penalty expired, Scheifele hammered his second of the game and 16th of the season past DeSmith from nearly the exact same spot, bringing Winnipeg to within one.

The Jets entered the third period down a goal, but facing a difficult statistic, to which they have won just one of 10 games so far this season when trailing after 40 minutes. 

"I think we liked a lot of our game tonight," Stanley said. "I thought that we were the better team, and maybe deserved a little better, but that's kind of the funk we're in right now. We keep battling through it, and, you know, that's a good start and a good kind of game plan for us going forward, we want to play like that. I thought we did a lot of good things."

With Dylan DeMelo in the box for high-sticking Matt Duchene, Dallas struck. This time it was Jason Robertson's 19th of the year on a perfect one-timer. 

Trailing 4-2, Stanley stepped up and potted his fourth of the season with 16 minutes left to play in the period, bringing the Jets to within just one goal for the second time. He collected the rebound on his own shot and put it into the empty net, bringing local fans back up onto their feet once again. 

With 2:30 left to play in the game, Rantanen was sent to the box for tripping, giving the Jets' top unit one more chance at a game-tying play. 

But it was all for naught, as the power play went unsuccessful, even with an additional six-on-four advantage. 

“We got pucks deep, we had a good forecheck," Scheifele added. "We didn’t give them a lot of time and space. Our D were gapping up really well which made it tough for them to make any plays, so, a lot of guys played really good.”

Comrie turned aside 15 of the 19 pucks sent his way, while DeSmith made 30 stops on 33 Jets shots. 

Next up for Winnipeg on its four-game homestand is a Thursday night affair with the Boston Bruins, before the Washington Capitals roll into town on Saturday. Thursday's game can be viewed live on TSN at 7:00 PM central. 

OTTAWA (AP) — Cody Glass scored the tiebreaking goal on a wrist shot with 7:36 remaining, and the New Jersey Devils beat the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on Tuesday night to snap a five-game skid.

Jakob Markstrom stopped 35 shots, making several saves in the final minutes to secure the victory.

Arseny Gritsyuk had a goal and two assists for the Devils, who also got goals from Simon Nemec and Paul Cotter. New Jersey had scored just once over its previous three games.

The Senators were perfect on the power play. Drake Batherson scored twice with the man advantage and Tim Stutzle also had a power-play goal.

Linus Ullmark made 28 saves for Ottawa. The Senators also went 3 for 3 on the penalty kill.

Both teams found the back of the net twice in the first period after struggling to score recently.

Ottawa struck 96 seconds when Batherson scooped up a rebound and lifted it over Markstrom. New Jersey responded a few minutes later when Nemec stepped into a shot from the high slot and beat Ullmark.

The Senators went ahead when Stutzle snapped home his first in eight games.

Connor Brown found Gritsyuk, who he raised one past Ullmark to make it 2-2 with 2:01 left in the first.

New Jersey took the lead four minutes into the second. A giveaway by Jordan Spence allowed Cotter to break in alone and tuck a backhand shot past Ullmark.

A giveaway by Brenden Dillon allowed Dylan Cozens to feed Batherson at the side of the crease for his second goal and 12th of the season.

Up next

Devils: Host Tampa Bay on Thursday night.

Senators: At Columbus on Thursday night.

The Buffalo Sabres lost yet again Monday night in Calgary, falling in a 7-4 blowout to the Flames – one of the worst teams in the NHL The loss cemented Buffalo’s place as the worst team in the Eastern Conference with an 11-14-4 record. The Sabres are now four standings points behind the 14th and 15th-place teams in the East (the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators) – and those two teams have a game in hand on Buffalo. 

The future is looking bleak for this Sabres team, and by the time their current road trip ends on Sunday, Buffalo could have its Stanley Cup aspirations all but buried for the 15th straight season. So, the question becomes -- what’s next? 

To wit: Is Sabres ownership going to fire GM Kevyn Adams and coach Lindy Ruff, and start over for the umpteenth time? Will whomever is running things take a scalpel to the roster, or will they blow things and look at moving heretofore untouchables?

We’ve already gone on record stating that the Sabres should be ready to trade starting goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as soon as possible, but what about stars Tage Thompso, Rasmus Dahlin, Bowen Byram and Alex Tuch, does anyone have the right to feel like they deserve to be untouchable? We’re not here to lay Buffalo’s struggles at the feet of any one player, but we’re also not here to absolve anyone of anything, either.

Slumping Sabres Should Be Trading This Goaltender As Soon As PossibleThe Buffalo Sabres are at the bottom of the standings yet again, and they need to start making trades. And there's one goalie in particular who they need to deal -- and they need to deal them now.

What do you think? Leave us your thoughts in the comment section. The commenters with the most intriguing trade proposals and thoughts on who is to blame for where Buffalo is in the standings could be used in a future THN.com Sabres column. 

But for now, it’s safe to say that Buffalo fans are enraged to the gills. Once again, the Sabres are proving that they don’t know how to win. And because of that fact, it’s time to take away the keys from Adams, and it’s time to make major roster moves to this Buffalo group. There can be no more excuses, only consequence

 

It was a play you don’t see very often in the National Hockey League.

In the first period of the Senators’ 4-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils at Canadian Tire Centre Tuesday night, winger Drake Batherson was down below the goal line, behind the Devils’ net, when the puck squirted toward him.

Instinctively, he tried to control the puck with his right skate. The puck then caromed off his blade toward the front of the net. However, because of where Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom was set up, the puck deflected off him and into the net.

Batherson and the Senators celebrated, but when the goal went to review, it was ruled that he had kicked the puck into New Jersey's net, or by letter of the law, he had "made a distinct kicking motion."

Drake Batherson went over to plead his case with Jamie McLennan after his goal was called off for kicking the puck 😂 pic.twitter.com/NqxAFnZpAS

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 10, 2025

Sens Nation cried foul from several perspectives.

First, and this is the most obvious point, they believed there was no distinct kicking motion at all. Batherson had only turned his skate and redirected the puck, which players are allowed to do, even when scoring goals.

Second, they argued it wasn’t an attempt to score. So even if there was a distinct kicking motion, those are allowed all over the ice, as long as you're not trying to score. It happens all the time, whether a player is passing to a teammate, or trying to clear the zone when they've lost their stick.

Batherson was down below the goal line, and it would have been an incredible display of mental processing and skill for him to be able to read the puck coming, know exactly where the goalie is, then intentionally punt a one timer in off Markstrom.

And every kicking motion has to have a follow through, right? Batherson somehow managed to pull this off without his skate ever moving in the goalie's direction. It only ever moved toward the area behind the net.

"If they see my soccer game off the ice, that would definitely have counted," Batherson told the media. "Because I couldn't try to do that if I wanted to, but it's the way it goes.

What do you think? Should Batherson’s goal have counted or not? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Steve Warne
The Hockey News

With Jason Zucker set to miss time due to injury, the Buffalo Sabres have now called up one of their promising forward prospects.

The Sabres have announced that they have recalled winger Isak Rosen from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rochester Americans. In addition Rosen was immediately put into the lineup for the Sabres against the Edmonton Oilers.

Seeing Rosen get another chance on the Sabres' roster is not surprising in the slightest. The 2021 first-round pick has been playing excellently down in the AHL with the Amerks this season, as he has posted nine goals, 10 assists, and 19 points in 13 games.

Rosen has also made an impact with the Sabres when called up to their NHL roster this season. In 10 games with the Sabres so far this season, he has recorded three goals, four assists, and seven points. Now, he will be looking to make an impact with the Sabres during his latest call-up to the NHL roster. 

In 25 career NHL games over three seasons, Rosen has posted three goals, five assists, and eight points.