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.

Up until Saturday's game against the Winnipeg Jets, the Nashville Predators didn't have a lot of issues when it came to starting off games. 

In four of their first five games of the season, if Nashville wasn't scoring in the first period, it was scoring the first goal of the game. The 7-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs was the only game out of the first five where the Predators didn't have a first-period goal or score the first of the match. 

Facing off against the reigning Presidents' Trophy winners, the Winnipeg Jets, following that trend would've been critical for the Predators to keep pace with Winnipeg. That did not happen. 

Steven Stamkos took a hooking penalty a minute into the game, allowing the third-best power play in the NHL to go to work and take a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the game. 

Halfway through the period, Nino Niederreiter snuck past the defense and scored on a breakaway to make it 2-0 Winnipeg. Six minutes after that, Brady Skjei was called for hooking. 

A disastrous first period put the Predators in a hole that they were unable to dig themselves out of, falling to Winnipeg, 4-1. 

"We didn't start on time," Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. "We took a bad penalty right away against a really good power play and made a mental mistake on the second goal. It was a lot of things we've haven't done this year so far that crept into the game a little bit." 

The Predators struggled to get the offense going in the first period as well, getting outshot 11-5 before registering 10 more shots in the second period. To Nashville's credit, outside of a bad fight by Michael McCarron and a slashing peanlty by Roman Josi that led to a Jets goal in third period, the Predators evened out the game. 

Throughout this four-game road trip, where the Predators posted a 1-2-1 record, Nashville has shown flashes that they can be a good team and play complete periods. 

"You see the images of when we play a certain way and it's a good picture," Brunette said. "For us, going forward, we need to be a little more consistent with that from the puck drop. For the most part, through this trip, we have been." 

The biggest thing the Predators need to avoid is bad habits from last season. The power play needs to improve as it is sitting at a low 8.7% efficiency. Its offense needs to start scoring more, as its 15 goals for in six games is tied for the 10th lowest in the league. 

Then there's the penalty minutes. The Predators are smack dab in the middle of the league with 49 penalty minutes in six games, but it's about the type of penalties that are taken and when. 

McCarron, who was one of the league leaders in penalties and led the Predators in fights last season with nine, squared off against Logan Stanley when the Predators were down 2-0 in the second period. 

While McCarron was likely trying to "fire up" the Predators, Nashville was playing predominantly better already than in the first period. It outshot Winnipeg 15-4 and went to the power play three times. 

Returning to Nashville with a balanced 2-2-2 record, the Predators have a five-game home stand to take advantage of and potentially turn things around halfway through the first month of play. 

Before its game against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Minnesota Wild sent forward Liam Ohgren down to the AHL and recalled forward Tyler Pitlick.

Pitlick, 33, has played in 420 NHL games before his Wild debut on Saturday. The native of Minnesota has 56 goals, 53 assists and 109 points in his NHL career. He also has 54 goals, 86 assists and 140 points in 280 career AHL games.

But for Ohgren this is a chance to actually play top minutes and get more puck touches. Wild head coach John Hynes that was the big reason why Ohgren was sent back down and even Ohgren himself agreed.

The Wild's 19th overall pick from the 2022 NHL Draft was given a chance in training camp to take the Wild's second line left wing spot with the absence of injured forward Mats Zuccarello. Ohgren did not play the best in preseason and opened the season on the fourth line.

"It's a situation where we've given him different opportunities in different situations and when you look at it, he hasn't taken one," Hynes said on Ohgren.

A team starving for even-strength offense and goal scoring, kept Ohgren on the fourth line and played him only 9:10 a night. He was a minus-four, had four shots and zero points in five games.

"At the same time, we are looking at where he's playing and what he's doing. It's only his second year over here in North America. Let him go down, play and find his game," Hynes said on the decision. "The big thing for us is puck touches. Without the puck, he has been responsible and his details were certainly growing but now, with a faster game and less time and space, it's just the puck touches and establishing himself more offensively."

Ohgren, 21, had 19 goals, 18 assists and 37 points in 41 AHL games last year. He was sent down to get more puck touches because despite the lack of scoring and being a young prospect who's top ability is scoring, the Wild felt the need to continue to play him on the fourth line.

Last year the Wild recalled Ohgren in January. He played in the top-six for four games and had two assists. He played on a line with Marco Rossi and Matt Boldy and fit in. He had a goal and two assists in seven games during that run.

After, the Wild dropped him down in the lineup and later sent him back down to the AHL were he tore it up.

When Marcus Johansson missed a game against the Seattle Kraken in March, the Wild recalled Ohgren again and stuck him on a line with Freddy Gaudreau and Gustav Nyquist. Ohgren scored in a 4-0 win and was sent back down with Johansson coming back the next game.

Wild Youngster Scores First Of The SeasonThis Wild youngster scored his first goal of the season.

He finished the season with two goals and three assists in 24 NHL games. When he was in the top-six getting 15 minutes a night, Ohgren produced and looked good offensively. The defensive side was a work in progress but that is expected for a 20-year-old at the time.

But nine minutes a night on the fourth line this year is not the best thing to do when it comes to developing a scorer. So Ohgren was sent down to the AHL to play top minutes in all situations.

"I think with more ice time and with opportunities to get his confidence us is something we felt was important and he agreed," Hynes said.

So of course in his first game with Iowa, Ohgren scored.

What a nice welcome back 🫡
Liam Öhgren ties things up for the @IAWild!@TheAHL#WildTerritory#AHLpic.twitter.com/mAZEChZ1Qp

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) October 18, 2025

Point being, you can see Ohgren is an offensive player. He has one heck of a shot. But playing in a fourth line role in the NHL is not going to suit his game. Giving him more time in the AHL is the right decision.

If there is a time this year that he is recalled, Ohgren has to be in a top-six role or there isn't a point in calling him up. Hence why the Wild recalled Pitlick to replace him on the fourth line.

Confidence is a big thing, especially for a young kid. Ruining that is not what you want to do. Hopefully this gives Ohgren confidence that he can one day score in the NHL and be a impactful top-six forward. That time is not now for Minnesota. Despite the lack of 5-on-5 scoring. But that is okay. His time will come and the Wild still believe in the youngster.

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