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In a matchup that saw the Vancouver Canucks suffer a last-minute injury issue with the departure of center Elias Pettersson, it was Tom Willander who brought some positivity to the game against the Minnesota Wild by scoring his first career NHL goal. The defenceman now has a goal and seven assists in 19 games played at the NHL level. 

THE FIRST OF MANY FOR TOM WILLANDER❗️ pic.twitter.com/S0eoZSfFc8

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 7, 2025

Willander, the 11th overall selection in the 2023 NHL Draft, signed his entry-level contract with the Canucks back in May. He began the season in the AHL with the Abbotsford Canucks and made his NHL debut on October 28 against the New York Rangers.

Despite only being 20, the defenceman has played excellently throughout his first few NHL games, resulting in him skating in games during which defenceman Elias Pettersson and Pierre-Olivier Joseph were healthy-scratched in his stead.

Willander's goal tonight breaks a streak for Minnesota goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, who had previously posted shoutouts against all Canadian teams he had faced so far this season. He is not the only Canucks defenceman to score tonight, however, as Pettersson also found the back of the net. Willander also tallied an assist on Pettersson's goal. 

The Canucks currently have a 3-1 lead against the Wild after two periods.  

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No, the St. Louis Blues didn’t break the dam and full the net with goals. No, they didn’t run their opposition out of the building.

But they did get a win, and at this point, that’s all that matters, bagging the two points.

Thanks to the heroics of Joel Hofer with a career-high 41 saves, two goals from Jake Neighbours and a penalty kill that was bend-but-don’t-break and rock solid, the Blues survived against the Ottawa Senators, winning 2-1 at Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata, Ontario on Saturday.

And with their win, the Blues (10-12-7) swept the season series from the Senators (13-11-4) after beating them in St. Louis, 4-3, on Nov. 28, and became the last team to reach double figures in wins on the season.

Even in the win, it’s the 10th time in the past 11 games the Blues have failed to score more than two goals in a game, but it was enough thanks to Hofer’s outstanding game.

Let’s go right into the game observations:

* Hofer was outstanding – He didn’t have to sprawl all over the ice with the Senators pumping 42 shots at him throughout the game, but it was a Velcro-kind of a game for the Blues’ goalie.

Everything that came his way stuck to him, there were few to no rebounds. The one save Hofer made that really stuck out was the stop he made in a 1-0 game off a 2-on-1 on Claude Giroux at 12:07 of the second period.

If that goes in, who knows how the offensively-challenged Blues react. But he just kept turning the Senators away and making them feel like they would not be able to get one past him tonight.

It almost worked until the whistle-happy officials put the Senators on the power play seven times (more on that below).

Hofer also stopped Tim Stutzle in the waning seconds in close.

And heck, to top things off, Hofer nearly had himself a goalie goal, the second time he’s come close to it (one is coming). And he even earned himself a roughing minor with seven seconds left in the game when a brouhaha broke out in the Blues’ zone that for all intents and purposes, cost the Senators one last-ditched effort to try and tie the game:

YARD SALE IN OTTAWA ‼️ pic.twitter.com/ixQfqFiNM2

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 7, 2025

Hofer was only beaten by a Fabian Zetterlund power-play goal at 15:39 on a scramble in front on the Senators’ seventh man advantage.

Since his last what you would consider a bad outing against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 27, Hofer is 3-3-2 in 10 appearances with a 2.26 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.

* PK won the game early – Let’s face it, the penalty kill as a whole hasn’t been good for the Blues this season. Largely due to their ineptness on home ice.

On the road, a different story, and this game could have been won or lost in the first period.

It started when Robert Thomas got a double-minor for high-sticking close pal Brady Tkachuk at 4:32. The Blues killed it off despite the Senators getting four shots.

Then Jake Neighbours was guilty of a pair of minors. One for interference at 11:05 and another for tripping at 14:03. And the Blues came out of unscathed.

They had to spend so much time killing penalties in the first period that when Neighbours put the Blues’ first shot on goal 25 seconds in, they went 19:33(!) before getting their second of the period and were outshot 15-2.

On one hand, the that’s good to see the penalty kill working so hard and well, but on the other hand, could some of the penalties been avoided: sure. The Thomas one was unfortunate. Brayden Schenn’s high-sticking was a bad call, lifting the opponents’ stick into his own face but wasn’t overturned in the second and the there’s a Dylan Holloway delay of game and Justin Faulk slash (that finally yielded a goal) in the third period.

The Blues were 6-for-7 on the penalty kill and started 6-for-6.

* Blues got battered, lost Kyrou to lower-body injury – Part of the success, especially of the PK mentioned above is the blocked shots that were certainly felt by Philip Broberg, who took one off the inside of the knee and needed help off the ice before returning, and Oskar Sundqvist also slumped over on the bench after feeling one also.

But the Blues lost Jordan Kyrou to a lower-body injury when he took a hit from Stephen Halliday inside of three minutes into the game, what looked like a knock on or around his left knee and being sidelined for the remainder of the game.

Blues coach Jim Montgomery told reporters after the game that Kyrou is considered day to day and they’re hopeful it’s no more than a week to 10 days so he will join Jimmy Snuggerud (wrist), Alexey Toropchenko (leg burns) and Nathan Walker (upper body) on the sidelines with various injuries.

* Like a good Neighbour(s), Jake was on the doorstep twice – Coaches continuously harp on it. Whether players heed those words or not sometimes can be a different story.

On Saturday, Neighbours scored each of his goals within a couple feet of the goal line.

His first that put the Blues up 1-0 won’t make the highlight reels, but being where he’s supposed to be for loose pucks (in and around the crease) was enough for him to find one and tap it home at 17:36 of the second period:

Not the most conventional goal ever but a goal's a goal. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/adl0zh10N5

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 7, 2025

It came after the Blues’ first power play had ended (the Senators already had five by that point).

And the second one, which turned out to be the game-winner, came after a face-off win, getting a puck into the Ottawa zone and Jake Sanderson trying to rim it around and out, but it was a clever play that Pavel Buchnevich picked it off the boards, spun and found Neighbours cross ice at the back post for the tap-in just 12 seconds into the third to make it an all-important 2-0:

Now that's how you start a third period 🚨 pic.twitter.com/QvVWmCf7n3

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 7, 2025

* The Blues now head off to face the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday in the anticipated matchup since the 1-for-1 trade of acquiring Logan Mailloux for Zack Bolduc on July 1.

https://x.com/i/status/1997511286519632274

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The Montreal Canadiens and the Winnipeg Jets will take on each other at the 2026 NHL Heritage Classic, the league announced on Saturday.

This outdoor game will take place on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, hosted in Winnipeg at Princess Auto Stadium, the home of the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

This is the eighth NHL Heritage Classic and the first since 2023, when the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Calgary Flames at Commonwealth Stadium. Edmonton won that game 5-2.

Princess Auto Stadium is hosting the NHL Heritage Classic for the second time, following the previous occasion in 2016. The Jets took on the Oilers, seeing Edmonton take that contest 3-0 in front of a crowd of 33,240 people.

More recently, Winnipeg played its second outdoor game against Calgary in the 2019 Heritage Classic, defeating the Flames 2-1 in overtime at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

As for the Canadiens, this 2026 outdoor outing will be their first since 2017, and their fifth in total. Montreal is 2-2-0 in such occasions and lost to the Ottawa Senators 3-0 at Ottawa’s Lansdowne Park in its last affair.

Dallas Stars To Host NHL Stadium Series Game At The Home Of NFL's CowboysThe Dallas Stars could bring in one of the NHL's largest crowds ever for their outdoor game in 2027.

This outdoor tilt between the Habs and the Jets is the third event scheduled in 2026. Later this season, the New York Rangers visit Miami to play against the Florida Panthers at LoanDepot Park on Jan. 2.

NHL Unveils Rangers And Panthers' Winter Classic UniformsThe Panthers' first outdoor game uniform features the leaping panther, while the Rangers will wear a Centennial jersey-inspired look.

In addition, on Feb. 1, the Tampa Bay Lightning are hosting the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium for the second outdoor game in the state of Florida within a month of each other.

Furthermore, with the announcement of the 2026 NHL Heritage Classic, the league also announced that they have agreed on a multi-year extension with Tim Hortons - the title sponsor of the Heritage Classic - to lengthen an already longstanding partnership.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.