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The Rangers will carry the longest active win streak in the NHL (four games) into their matchup with the Capitals on Friday night in Washington, D.C. 

At this point in the season last year, the walls of the 2025-26 campaign were already beginning to close in on the Blueshirts as they went their first three home games without a single goal and had already lost three of their first five games by infuriating margins. 

Head coach Mike Sullivan can already feel how the early success has affected his team. 

“I think it makes a world of difference,” the second-year Rangers coach said before the club ventured to the nation’s capital following practice. “When you can stack wins on top of one another, it breeds confidence. Confidence is required to have success. I think the group has done a great job in just buying into the team game. Everybody’s accepting of the roles we’ve cast them in. There’s a level of enthusiasm around the group that, for me, is a whole lot of fun to be a part of. 

“We can feel it. We can feel it in the locker room. We can feel it inside of our confines. When we go out, we’re playing the game, it’s tangible. You can hear it on the bench. An indication of it for me, you look at our third periods. Playing with leads. Just our continued ability to play on our toes and bring an aggressive approach in a responsible way. Not playing not to lose. We’re playing to win.

“It’s fun to watch these guys play and perform that way. I think there are great lessons in that. We’re going to try to continue to encourage them in some of the things we’re doing well and why we’re having success. There are areas where we know we can grow and improve and get better, and we’re working with those as well. 

“This is the journey, every year, when you go to start training camp and it’s a clean slate. A new season. It’s a whole new journey. It’s been a whole lot of fun to coach these guys to this point.” 

It’s still early in the season, but the Rangers have led (184:15) or been tied (111:58) in 296:14 of 300 minutes so far. 

The shutout loss in Boston to open the season has been an outlier compared to the other four games the Rangers have had. 

With the 20-year-old Cole Beaudoin recalled from Hartford, the Rangers officially have the youngest roster in the NHL with an average age of 26.47. 

Allowing two or fewer goals in all four games he’s played, the most among all goaltenders so far this season, Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin is off to an electric start. 

Since the 2019-20 season, the 172 times Shesterkin has allowed two or fewer goals rank fifth among all NHL goalies. He has also allowed one or fewer goals 94 times in his career, which amounts to the third most among goalies in that same span.

The Islanders’ first crack a lineup without Alexander Romanov came with a reshuffling instead of a call-up. 

Coach Pete DeBoer kept Matthew Schaefer on the right and inserted Scott Mayfield into the lineup for Thursday’s match against the Blackhawks at UBS, moving Logan Stanley to the top pair alongside Schaefer and Tony DeAngelo to his off side on Mayfield’s left. 

Those were the first and third pairs; the second featured the reunion of Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock. 

“We’re gonna start this way, and we’ll see,” DeBoer said. “And then from there, nothing’s set in stone. We might move guys around, so I think probably a lot like our line combinations, I’m not married to anything. But I think the initial thought was, we’ve got puck movers with guys that think defense first.” 

With Romanov likely to miss the entire season after tearing his ACL in Tuesday’s loss to the Rangers, it’s a safe bet this is only the first attempt at sorting out the defense pairs. It’s instructive, though, that DeBoer kept Schaefer on the right, which Schaefer said came after a conversation between the two. 

That is another sign in a series of them that the organization might see Schaefer as a long-term option on the right — which would be a way of balancing out a lefty-heavy pool of defensemen both on the roster and in the prospect pipeline. 

“Of course [DeBoer’s] gonna talk [to me] and see what I feel comfortable with,” Schaefer said. “At the end of the day, I like just being on the ice. If it’s left, if it’s right, whatever makes the boat go faster. It’s gonna be awesome.” 

DeBoer, for his part, said he’s comfortable with Schaefer anywhere — so much so that he can build the rest of the lineup first and then insert the defenseman on whichever side is needed. 

With Schaefer on the right and Romanov done for the year, the left side has quickly become much thinner than it looked just a few weeks ago, a fact underscored by Stanley playing on the top pair so soon after signing. 

DeBoer and teammates alike used words such as “devastating” in relation to Romanov, who was just three games into his return from shoulder surgery and now needs to spend another season rehabbing. 

“I just feel awful for him,” Bo Horvat said. “It’s been two tough years for him in that sense. I just feel sick for him. I know how hard he worked in the summertime to get back into the shape that he’s in, and he looked great. A couple games in, I’m heartbroken for him.” 

For Mayfield, this is also a critical chance to earn back a lineup spot he failed to defend in training camp, resulting in three consecutive healthy scratches to start the season. 

The veteran defenseman might be called into action on the penalty kill as well, should DeBoer want to continue keeping Schaefer off the 4-on-5 unit in an attempt to keep the 19-year-old’s minutes at least somewhat in check. 

“Obviously not playing, all you want to do is be out there with the guys and be competing,” Mayfield said. “Excited to be out there tonight.” 

A strong showing right away would do a lot for Mayfield given there is plenty of internal competition. Matt Kessel, another righty, is on the roster too. Isaiah George and Kashawn Aitcheson, both lefties, are in AHL Hamilton but could be in line for call-ups should a need arise. 

“What I like about [Mayfield], he didn’t pout about the situation,” DeBoer said. “He handled it like a pro. He’s got great leadership, and he worked hard. Now, he’s got an opportunity to get back in. That’s all part of hockey, it’s how you respond to adversity.”

It's cozy season.

On Wednesday, Oct. 7, the NHL partnered with PacSun and The Wild Collective to release a 15-piece women's merchandise collection. The items available are boxy T-shirts ($45), longsleeve polos ($65) and fleece hoodies ($90) from the Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals.

Instead of going the stereotypical "pink it and shrink it" route, the pieces utilize the team colors and embrace the current trend of oversized silhouettes. The hoodies are especially of note, as the logos and wordmarks are the same color as the base, giving fans a fashion-forward monochromatic look.

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The Wild Collective brand is founded by Whitney Bansin and has been licensing sports apparel for nearly a decade. She got her first sports gig with the Vegas Golden Knights when the team debuted in Sin City in 2017. The brand has since worked with the NFL, NBA and WNBA and has partnerships with Target and Anthropologie.

"It was through that initial collection with the Golden Knights that really just sparked it all," she told NBC's 3 News in Las Vegas. "I had no intention of going down the sports route. I had no intention of getting every league and doing programs for everyone. That was just not in the forefront. I just wanted to make cool stuff that people in Vegas could wear to these games."

The NHL collection continues the growing movement to invest in women's merchandise that reflects a diversity of style and taste. Jasmine Maietta founded Round21 in 2020 to bring together sports and art with an emphasis on women. Kiya Tomlin and Kristin Juszczyk have been creating women's merchandise for NFL fans for several years. Juszczyk went viral in 2024 when Taylor Swift wore a jersey jacket she designed. Her OffSeason brand now creates merchandise for multiple sports entities, including the WNBA and Formula 1.

The world of hockey is also embracing women fans and players like never before. On Thursday, the Professional Women's Hockey League revealed the jerseys and color combinations for its four expansion teams. The league, which will have 12 teams, will host its first All-Star event in March in Toronto.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: See new NHL women's merch for Red Wings, Ducks, Avs that's not pink

The Toronto Maple Leafs are visiting the Vegas Golden Knights for their first road game of the season on Tuesday. 

In the buildup to this matchup at morning skate, former Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner was mentioned to Auston Matthews and John Tavares, and they were asked about the Golden Knights' playoff campaign last year, specifically Marner's contribution.

Vegas advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup final but fell short in six games to the Carolina Hurricanes. In all that, Marner led the NHL in playoff scoring in that campaign with 29 points in 22 post-season games.

"Personally, as a friend, I was happy for him," Matthews said of Marner. "We still keep in touch. He's a great, great person. Great teammate and great friend. Personally, I was really happy for him. We stay in touch all the time, so it will be nice to see him tonight."

Maple Leafs Make Change With Middle-Six Forwards In Preparation For Golden Knights Clash In VegasThe Toronto Maple Leafs have made a small alteration to their forward group ahead of their first road game of the season against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Marner was a member of the Maple Leafs for nine seasons and was teammates with Matthews for all those years, and linemates for a good chunk of his tenure in Toronto. He was also teammates with Tavares for seven years, beginning in 2018-19.

"Saw him a good amount over the summer, even though it was extremely short for him," Tavares said of Marner. "Obviously a good friend, amazing memories playing together, but we have to go out there and battle against him tonight."

Former Maple Leafs Star Mitch Marner Comments On Toronto's 2026 NHL Off-SeasonEx-Toronto Maple Leafs right winger Mitch Marner comments on the busy off-season his former team had in the 2026 off-season.

He was impressed with Marner's performance in the playoffs, but based on what he's seen from the ex-Leaf firsthand, he wasn't really surprised by what he accomplished.

"I think he was just due," Tavares said. "He's just too good of a hockey player, impacts the game in so many different ways. He's a very unique, really special player, the way he thinks the game with and without the puck is as good as any player in the game."

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