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On Saturday, former members of the Hockey Inside Out message board and Montreal Canadiens fans gathered at Hurley’s Irish Pub to hold their annual Habs Summit. The group included a lot of out-of-towners, people from different provinces; Ontario, Alberta, and Newfoundland, to name a few, and even one gentleman from Bulgaria.

As always, Stu Cowan from the Montreal Gazette acted as master of the ceremony and held a Q&A with the fans until the guests of honour, Yvon Lambert and Rejean Houle, arrived. The alumni members brought a team-signed stick with them, which ended up being the crown jewel of a prize table, which also included a signed Arber Xhekaj jersey, Jeff Petry game-worn gloves, and autographed pictures of Brendan Gallagher and Samuel Montembeault (generously provided by Memorable Authentic), a copy of Brendan Kelly’s Habs Nation: A People’s History of the Montreal Canadiens, and much more.

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Lambert and Houle also fielded a few questions, and Lambert gave everyone a good laugh when he gave his opinion on Marc Bergevin drafting Jesperi Kotkaniemi in no uncertain terms that cannot be published in this article. Houle poked fun at Lambert, teasing him about the fact that he has one more Stanley Cup ring than he does.

Both men played with the late great Ken Dryden in the 1970s, and they reminisced about their former goaltender and how great and focused he always was in the net. Lambert prompted another round of laughs when he told how Dryden would chase players who would shoot on him above the shoulders in practice. They also had good words for another Canadiens idol, Guy Lafleur, explaining that when he was scoreless in a game, he would often ask goaltender Michel “Bunny” Larocque to show up an hour early to practice the next day because he needed to work on his shot.

After the Q and A, the raffle was held, and everyone left with a prize, even if those who came out of the hat late got smaller prizes.$4,000 was raised for the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation. Overall, it was a great day for those fans who only get to gather once a year but have a blast discussing their beloved Habs while also raising funds for the worthy cause.

A lot of prizes on the prize table this year! The Habs Summit is happening at Hurley’s right now. #GoHabsGohttps://t.co/4m2ACMA7MJpic.twitter.com/m4XmXT5mKH

— Karine Hains (@KarineHains) October 18, 2025

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The Detroit Red Wings look to extend their winning streak to five on Sunday in a matinee matchup versus the defending back-to-back Western Conference Champion Edmonton Oilers. The Motor City hockey club is coming off impressive wins over several divisional opponents in the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and sweep of the Toronto Maple Leafs during a home-and-home. 

Superstar center Connor McDavid and the Oilers are looking to win their third game of the season after dropping two straight heading into Sunday, that leaves them with a 2-2-1 record through five games. 

Detroit's homestand to start the season has helped them get out to an early 4-1-0 record on the season as they currently sit a top the Atlantic Division. For the Oilers, they sit outside of the playoffs early on and will need to start stringing together some wins if they want to build some momentum towards a seventh straight playoff push, that has included nine series wins, three conference finals appearances and two straight trips to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Red Wings look to continue their hot streak into a potential playoff berth for the first time in nearly a decade. 

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Lineup Storylines

With Patrick Kane and possibly Lucas Raymond sidelined, the Red Wings will need a full team effort to extend their winning streak to five games. Their new-look top line features rookie Emmitt Finnie, still chasing his first NHL goal, alongside offseason acquisition Mason Appleton, who has three goals so far, tying captain Dylan Larkin for the team lead. 

The lineup shuffle will put Detroit’s depth to the test as Jonatan Berggren and Elmer Söderblom return, with Berggren stepping into a key second-line role in Kane’s absence. Meanwhile, rookie Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, also searching for his first NHL tally, will aim to spark the third line with veterans Andrew Copp and J.T. Compher. That trio has managed just one goal combined, and in a game like Sunday’s, secondary scoring could be the difference between another clutch win and a lost opportunity. 

Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features. 

The Oilers will be desperate to halt their two-game losing streak, which means the Red Wings should expect a motivated, high-energy Connor McDavid leading the charge. Edmonton’s lineup will look quite different from the last time these teams met, featuring several new faces and returning players who were previously injured. Detroit will now get a look at additions like Jake Walman, Trent Frederic, Andrew Mangiapane, and recent acquisition Jack Roslovic, along with promising prospects Isaac Howard and Matt Savoie.

The rookie duo were projected to play key roles for the Oilers this season, but both rookies have struggled to find their footing still without a point and now skating on the fourth line after opening the year in top-six roles. Much like Detroit, Edmonton will likely need some timely production from its depth players if it hopes to gain the upper hand and secure the win. 

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DET ML (+115) | EDM ML (-139)

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O/U 6.0 Goals

All eyes in Detroit will be on Connor McDavid, the Oilers’ captain who has consistently tormented the Red Wings. Over his last 17 games against Detroit, McDavid has racked up five goals and 21 assists for 26 points, including a stunning six-assist performance in February 2023, when Edmonton came out on top in an 8–4 shootout victory. That result fits a recent pattern as the Oilers have owned this matchup, posting a 5-0-2 record over their last seven meetings with the Red Wings.

High-scoring affairs have also been a trend, with the over hitting in five of the last seven matchups and both teams combining for six or more goals in many of those contests. However, history points to the more consistent outcome being over five goals, which has occurred in eight straight meetings. 

Beyond that, goal-heavy games have been somewhat inconsistent, with six or more goals in just 11 of the last 20 matchups, not exactly a dependable betting angle, especially given Detroit’s recent defensive surge. The Red Wings’ latest success has been built on tight defensive play and stellar goaltending, allowing two or fewer goals in three consecutive games. With injuries piling up, Detroit's Dylan Larkin will be asked to shoulder much of the offensive burden. Fortunately for the Red Wings, Larkin has a solid track record against Edmonton, tallying seven goals and eight assists for 15 points in 17 career games versus the Oilers. 

Goalie Matchup

Detroit: John Gibson (VS EDM: 9-9-3 record, 3.48 GAA, .893 SV% in 23 Games)

Edmonton: Stuart Skinner (VS DET: 1-1-1 record, 2.95 GAA, .919 SV% in Three Games)

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The New York Islanders got an early contender for win of the year on Saturday, defeating the Ottawa Senators late in a matinee contest. New York came from behind three times in the victory, with Anders Lee scoring the game-winner with just over a minute to play in regulation. 

However, not to be lost in the effort was a timely performance by Ilya Sorokin. While he wasn’t at his sharpest, allowing four goals on 33 Ottawa shots, he made several big saves late, including a penalty shot save on Shane Pinto, to give his team a chance to rally late. 

Sorokin stops Pinto's penalty shot 👀 pic.twitter.com/bFmf3deV37

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 18, 2025

His stop on Pinto continued his success on penalty shots in his career. Per MSG Network’s Eric Hornick, Sorokin is a perfect four-for-four on such opportunities. His stops came against Michael Bunting and the Toronto Maple Leafs in Jan. 2023, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins April 2024, Jason Zucker and the Buffalo Sabres in Nov. 2024. Two of those three stops have led to Islanders wins. 

While both sides can be heard of Sorokin’s struggles to open the campaign and the Islanders' struggles structurally, the goaltender made the big saves when needed to give them a chance to pull off the comeback.

The Islanders return to action against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday at UBS Arena, puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

The Anaheim Ducks have started their 2025-26 campaign with a 2-2-0 record, with some encouraging and discouraging trends emerging to start their season, in which the stated goal is to make the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Ducks' most recent game ended in a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, a perennial cup contender, well-oiled machine, and perhaps the early favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in June.

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Takeaways from the Ducks 4-1 Loss to the Hurricanes

After a final faceoff in the Canes’ zone and when the buzzer signified the end of the second period of that game, tempers flared between centermen Mason McTavish and Logan Stankoven, igniting a skirmish between all five skaters on the ice. Canes’ goaltender Frederik Andersen involved himself, so Ducks’ netminder Lukas Dostal took the long skate to meet him.

“We had some momentum going there at the end of that period,” Joel Quenneville said after Thursday’s loss. “(We had a couple of breaks, a couple of great opportunities. The guys were sticking together there. A little bit of hockey there.”

No gloves hit the ice, but plenty of grappling gave life to the building and had many fans and media around the league commenting on the kerfuffle. Taking a step back and rewatching, one can’t help but notice the personnel on the ice for the Ducks during the altercation: Mason McTavish, Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Sennecke, Leo Carlsson, Jackson LaCombe, and Lukas Dostal. Nearly the entire young core of the Anaheim Ducks franchise was involved to some degree, mixing it up or defending themselves and teammates.

“It’s great, I mean, especially early in the season,” Mason McTavish said. “It shows the guys are super glued together here. We got a great group, everybody loves each other, which is awesome. I’m very grateful. We have an awesome locker room here. It’s something we can build on.”

While some may scoff at the most talented players on a roster engaging in post-whistle/buzzer altercations, and it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, if the past 20 years of NHL playoff hockey have taught anything, it’s that those instances are common occurrences. The ability and willingness to engage in them is almost a prerequisite if a team has designs on lifting the Stanley Cup when it’s all said and done.

“I think we got a really, really tough team,” McTavish added after practice on Saturday. “WE got some big bodies on our team, and we’re not afraid to get in the mix. It’s just part of the game, and I don’t think anybody in here shies away from it, so it’s good to see.”

The Florida Panthers have reached the Stanley Cup Final in three straight seasons, winning the last two. They have become the poster team for post-whistle altercations and getting under opponent's skin. Radko Gudas was part of the first of the finalist teams before signing with the Anaheim Ducks the summer prior to the Panthers winning their first cup.

“I think it’s great,” Radko Gudas said. “I think everybody’s invested, everybody’s pulling the same rope, and that’s what you want. Young guys leading the charge, I think, is the best thing you can have in a team. You want the young guys to be better, and you see them driving those plays, and you want them to get their nose dirty and go in the dirty areas.

“It’s fun to have throughout the whole lineup, having guys invested in the one big goal. We’re trying to get better, and seeing those guys doing these things that’s not particularly in their job description, it’s fun to see them mixing it up and wanting to do it for themselves and for the team.”

As stated above, the Ducks have their eyes set on ending their rebuild and making the playoffs this season. They’ve loaded up the current roster and pipeline with one of the most talented collections of players. However, when the playoffs arrive, every team is loaded with firepower, the ice shrinks, and emotions run high. The Ducks’ young core’s willingness to engage on Thursday night could certainly be seen as an encouraging sign for when the games mean the most, and those instances are anything but rare.

Whether observing close or from afar, it’s clear that Ducks’ general manager Pat Verbeek had the Florida Panthers in mind when molding his club in Anaheim and is borrowing some pages from Bill Zito’s playbook. Skill, speed, and hockey IQ are all requirements, but physical willingness and tenacity are right up there as well.

“I think we’re a little younger than we were in Florida, but we also think we’re a lot more skilled, a lot faster, so those are things that we need to work in our advantage or make them our biggest advantage and slowly learn the other things that we’re going to need in the playoffs,” Gudas continued. "So there’s a lot of similarities in these two organizations. It’s a good start to have, for sure.”

The Ducks will hope to build on those playoff habits as they head on the road for an early-season five-game road trip, starting on Sunday afternoon, when they’ll take on a Chicago Blackhawks team that has been at a similar stage in their rebuild process.

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DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche extended their winning streak to three with a 4-1 triumph over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night at Ball Arena.

Chaotic Start, Composed Finish

The Avalanche continued to build their case as one of the NHL’s elite defensive teams, limiting the Bruins to just 14 shots on goal in a suffocating performance. Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman was valiant under relentless pressure, keeping the game within reach, but Colorado’s precision and poise ultimately proved too much to overcome.

The game began in chaotic fashion, with both clubs scoring on their first shots. John Beecher opened the scoring for Boston after redirecting a Charlie McAvoy shot that deflected off Josh Manson—who had courageously laid out to block the attempt. The unfortunate bounce rewarded the Bruins but only briefly.

Moments later, Nathan MacKinnon, who led the Avalanche with two goals on the night, struck back. After Artturi Lehkonen forced David Pastrňák into a turnover at center ice, Lehkonen delivered a perfect feed to MacKinnon streaking down the left wing, and the superstar buried a backhander past Swayman to even the score.

Manson redeemed himself soon after, blasting home a one-timer from Brent Burns for Colorado’s second goal—again on their second shot of the game. From that point forward, the Avalanche dictated the pace, showcasing their composure and structure despite the frenetic start.

Areas for Refinement

If there was one blemish on Colorado’s performance, it came in the faceoff circle. Midway through the second period, Boston held a 63% edge on draws—a statistic the Avalanche will want to improve against possession-heavy opponents.

The power play also remained a work in progress, finishing 0-for-5 on the night. Still, the Avalanche generated sustained pressure and quality looks, and head coach Jared Bednar remains optimistic about the direction of the special teams under new assistant coach Dave Hakstol.

“I think it’s a different view on the power plays (with Hakstol), some different messaging," Bednar told The Hockey News. “It’s not that the messaging wasn't good before, it's just trying to add and grow our PP units with a different view. He's helping out our young guys and our forwards and doing some video with those guys. It's a new voice, a new perspective, a guy's that's been around, (he's) an experienced good coach. I can't say better or worse, it's just different, and I think the guys are refreshed with some of the messaging that he's getting. That's why I have faith in the power play; I like what they're talking about. It's a matter of getting together and gelling a little bit."

Wedgewood Shines Again

Goaltender Scott Wedgewood was once again outstanding, stopping 13 of 14 shots in another composed, technically sound performance. His consistency has been a revelation early in the season, though Bednar hinted that a rest could be coming soon.

When asked when backup Trent Miner might see his first start, Bednar’s reply was characteristically concise:

“We’ll see.”

Overall, this team is very solid especially this early in the season. The Avalanche have nine goals against through six games. Last season, they gave up eight goals on opening night alone. This is a huge improvement, and of course, the offense is still producing at an extremely high rate.

Looking Ahead

The Avalanche (5-0-1) now embark on a brief road trip as they prepare to face the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday, October 21. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. local time

When the Pittsburgh Penguins embarked on their three-game California road swing at the beginning of the week, they had begun the season 2-1 and hoped to continue carrying that momentum on the West Coast.

And - by and large - they were able to do so.

After going 1-1 in their first two games of the trip against the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings, the Penguins ended their road swing Saturday on a winning note, as they beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-0. The win puts Pittsburgh at 4-2 on the season, while the Sharks have yet to find themselves in the win column with an 0-3-2 record.

After a first period where the Penguins had 18 shots on goal and dominated possession in the first half - and the Sharks nearly capitalized on some high-danger opportunities in the back half - the second period also saw the teams trade chances. The Penguins were the first to strike at 7:35 of the middle frame, when Kris Letang floated a shot toward the goal and toward ex-Penguin goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic.

On the puck's way in, Sidney Crosby flashed his hand-eye coordination and got the shaft of his stick on it for a deflection, which resulted in the game's first goal. The score remained 1-0 heading into the final frame.

Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby. An iconic duo. pic.twitter.com/90u4aZXSVP

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 19, 2025

And in that final frame - again - there were a few odd-man breaks both ways. Finally, on one of them a tick more than seven minutes into the third, Evgeni Malkin made a nice play around the offensive blue line to get the puck to a red-hot Justin Brazeau, who cut around a defender and toward the middle of the ice for a two-on-one involving him and Anthony Mantha.

Brazeau slipped a beautiful backhand pass under the stick of Nick Leddy and over to a breaking Mantha at the right circle, and Mantha took possession of the puck and sniped one in the upper-left corner and past Nedeljkovic to put the Penguins ahead, 2-0.

Size and skill on full display 💪 pic.twitter.com/2a6H2zCdUa

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 19, 2025

To cap it off, Evgeni Malkin took a nice, long pass from Sidney Crosby and put the puck home in the empty net, which finalized the score at 3-0.

Here are some notes and observations from this game:

- San Jose has some legitimate young talent, especially at the forward position.

But, man, this team looks a far cry away from contending. 

As poorly as individual Penguins' players lapsed defensively at times during this game, there weren't too many systemic issues as far as team defense. San Jose, on the other end, has a long way to go defensively - team and individual - before they can think about competing with their young roster.

The Penguins may not end up being very good this year, but they'll probably be better than the Sharks.

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- The youngsters Ben Kindel and Harrison Brunicke were absolutely fantastic in this game.

Kindel had a shift in the first period when he got about four shots off at the net front. He was noticeable all night in every zone, and his smarts were evident throughout. There was one play I especially liked where the puck was dumped deeper in the offensive zone along the left wall and behind the net, and most players would have thought to chase it. 

Not Kindel. While a couple of Sharks chased it, he recognized the play, changed his route, came in from the right side of the net, got to it first, and immediately set up Tommy Novak - who just mishandled it - for a scoring chance in the slot off a nice feed. It was a remarkable show of intelligence from a young player.

And Brunicke was brilliant in the offensive zone. There was one play in the second period when he made a move to cut into the slot, and he fired a shot off the goal post. The release on the shot was a thing of beauty. He was also walking the offensive blue line and cycling around the offensive zone with ease and confidence.

He still needs some work on his reads jumping into plays, as he gets caught up-ice defensively sometimes and lets guys get behind him, a juniors habit that should get better with time. But his skating and his confidence with the puck on his stick is mesmerizing.

These guys should be here beyond their respective game nines.

- Brazeau continues to impress. I never realized his hands were this soft, but for a big man, there is a lot of finesse to his game.

Now that Mantha is heating up, too, that big second line is hard to play against for the opposition. Malkin has nine points in six games, too, and looks like his vintage self.

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- This was another relatively quiet game from the top line. It's only a matter of time before they turn on the jets and get going, but I would like to see more from them. 

At some point, I'd also love to see Kindel get some time with Crosby. I think they'd be brilliant together. 

- Kris Letang's early-season play has been less than inspiring. It's still early, and there is plenty of time for him to turn things around, especially since his partner, Ryan Shea, has been brilliant. 

But Father Time surely isn't on his side, and it seems like his skating has lost a big step. Hopefully, he can right the ship, but he may need to adapt his game a bit in order to do so.

- The Penguins are back at home Tuesday against the Vancouver Canucks, and it's likely that Arturs Silovs will get the start against his old team.

Both Penguins' goaltenders have put together good showings in their most recent performance. Head coach Dan Muse has been directly rotating them, and I'd expect that to continue into the coming games. 

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