After falling 4-0 to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night, the Montreal Canadiens were hoping to bounce back by taking on the Vancouver Canucks. The British Columbia outfit rolled into two, having lost its last three games in regulation and its last six games if you count extra time, which should have made it easy prey on paper.

Unfortunately for the Habs, the game isn’t played on paper, and no matter how badly a team is doing, there isn’t a single squad in the NHL that will give you the win. If you repeatedly shoot yourself in the foot, there’s not a single team that won’t make life complicated for you, and the Canadiens must have realized that tonight.

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A Comedy Of Errors

After 40 minutes, goaltender Jakub Dobes had given up three goals on just 14 shots, giving him a .786 save percentage. While that’s clearly not good enough, it was hard not to feel bad for the masked man since each of those goals came from glaring defensive mistakes.

On the first goal, it was Oliver Kapanen who missed his defensive coverage and wasn’t in a position to make life complicated for Ellias Pettersen as he jumped on a rebound. On the second one, Arber Xhekaj, who had been playing very well since the start of the new year, was under pressure in his own zone with two Canucks hot on his tail. He opted for a no-look backhand pass at the top of the defensive zone, which, of course, became a giveaway and was in the net seconds later. Then, on the third goal, Xhekaj and Kaiden Guhle collided, taking themselves out of the play, and the Canucks had an easy two-on-zero to score easily.

Nobody expects the defensive game to be flawless, but there’s a world of difference between playing a perfect match and making such enormous mistakes. The Canadiens played a much better defensive game in the third period, and Dobes shut the door on the eight shots he faced in the final frame, although he did get some help from his posts a couple of times.

Carrier’s Milestone

Before Monday night’s game, the Habs had a single goal from their blueliner on the power play and Noah Dobson, freshly inserted on the first man advantage unit, added one to that small tally. In the second frame, fellow defenseman Alexandre Carrier scored a pair of goals, which turned out to be his 100th and 101st points in the NHL. The Quebec City native now has five points in his last five games and must really enjoy being paired with Lane Hutson.

Interestingly, in 245 games with the Nashville Predators, the right-shot rearguard had only 69 points, averaging 0.28 points per game. With the Canadiens, he now has 32 points in 97 games, averaging 0.33 points per game, a slight increase.

The Habs now have the second-most productive blueline in the league with 119 points, second only behind the Colorado Avalanche, who had 144 points from their defensemen at the time of writing.

Turning It On In The Final Frame

After making a lot of mistakes through 40 minutes, the Canadiens came out strong in the third frame. It was almost as if the players felt bad for their goaltender and decided to go and get two points for him. After six minutes in the third, the Habs scored three times to take a three-goal lead, which would hold until the end of the game.

It was a strong frame for the second line as the three youngsters scored two of the three goals. In two games against the Canucks this season, the duo of Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov has put up 11 points (five for the Slovak and six for the Russian). They certainly wouldn’t complain if they had to play them more often.

Trop forts ces jeunes-là

Try stopping these kids challenge (impossible)#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/Au2ub5A1L4

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 13, 2026

About The Roster

On Monday night, Arber Xhekaj played his worst game since the calendar turned to 2026, and it will be interesting to see if Martin St-Louis decides to replace him with Jayden Struble on Tuesday night in Washington. Will his strong start to the year have bought him a bit of leeway, or will his minus-three rating and juicy giveaway prove fatal? It’s also worth mentioning that Tom Wilson plays for the Caps and is a tough customer.

While Dobes has won four of his last five games, he has received a lot of offensive support, and his stats are not great. On Monday night, he finished the game with a .870 SV, and with Kent Hughes having said the Canadiens wouldn’t keep three goalies around for too long, one can wonder if the Slovak netminder might not be the one to go down. Speaking to the press after the game, Dobes said that he wouldn’t understand if he were sent back down to the Laval Rocket. Asked about that comment during his post-game media availability, the coach said whoever asked Dobes how he would feel if he was sent down had asked a bad question and did not say anything further.

After Monday morning’s practice, the coach said that it was a possibility that Josh Anderson could come back in the lineup on Tuesday night to face the Washington Capitals. If he is, in fact, inserted in the lineup, someone will have to come out. Against the Canucks, the fourth liners were the least-used forwards: Owen Beck spent 11:03 on the ice, Sammy Blais 11:06, and Joe Veleno 12:40.

After the game, the Canadiens took off for Washington, where they’ll join Samuel Montembeault, who had flown earlier to be fresh and ready for Tuesday night’s tilt—a wise move from the Habs who decided to take advantage of having three goaltenders around.

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Don’t look now but the Florida Panthers might be picking up some momentum.

After a frustrating start to their season-long six-game road trip, the Panthers have bounce back in a big way, picking up wins in Ottawa and Buffalo over the past few nights.

Monday’s win over the Sabres was particularly noticeable due to the fact that Buffalo had gone 13-1-0 since early December and were the hottest team in the league.

They also hadn’t lost a game on home ice since the day after Thanksgiving.

Now the Panthers get to take a few days off and relax in their own homes (they’re spending the off time in South Florida) as their roadie doesn’t resume until Friday when Florida plays a back-to-back set in Carolina and Washington.

Let’s get to Monday’s takeaways:

GREER GETS GOING

It had been a while since Greer put up three goals and five points in a six-game span back in late November.

We know what the gritty, skilled forward is capable of offensively, but it’s not often that he gets the opportunity to show it off.

Skating on a line with Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe this week, Greer took advantage and showed what he can do when playing in a top six role.

The 29-year-old scored two goals in a game for the second time this season while also picking up the game-winner in Monday’s 4-3 win in Buffalo.

“He plays hard,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “Our first introduction on day two of training camp a couple years ago, I don't think I've seen a guy work that hard straight through a brutal practice, and he's been doing it every night. Analytically, that line, they just score when they're together. Good for him. I don't know that he’s scored a lot of empty net goals in his career, because he wouldn't have got the opportunity to be out there, but he earned it tonight and deserved to be on the ice.”

STRONG FINAL FRAME

If ever there was a time the Panthers knew they’d be in for a fight for two points, it was during the intermission between the second and third periods on Monday in Buffalo.

The Sabres have turned KeyBank Center into a house or horrors for visiting teams over the past month during their ascent up the Eastern Conference standings.

They also had just tied the game a few minutes before the end of the second period, so both the crowd and the team were buzzing.

All Florida did was hold Buffalo to a single shot through the first 13:05 of the third period, which gave the Panthers an opportunity to apply some pressure of their own.

The Cats controlled puck possession and put up eight shots during that time, eventually taking their third lead of the game, one they would ultimately hold on to, on a goal by Anton Lundell.

“We were good,” Maurice said. “I think we had given up one shot in the first 11 minutes. I don't know when the shot came, but at the nine-minute timeout we'd given up one, so we weren’t sitting back, we weren't just flipping pucks out, we were trying to push the pace, but we were right.”

TWO BIG POINTS

The victory allowed Florida to keep pace in a fast-moving Eastern Conference playoff race.

That’s what will happen when there are so many teams competing for so few spots, so tightly packed together.

As it stands, there are two points separating top Wild Card spot (held by Toronto with 53 points) and the five teams below them, a group that includes the Panthers and their 51 points.

There are only eight points, and all eight non-playoff teams, between Toronto and Columbus, who sits in last place in the conference.

Buffalo is the second Wild Card team, one point ahead of Florida.

So yeah, beating them in regulation was fairly big for the Cats.

“They're huge,” Maurice said of the two points. “But the real takeaway is, I loved the way we played, and I felt the same way in Ottawa and the last two periods in Montreal. With some guys out, I get that, but the guys that were in there, they played hard, and we were on the puck, and we were frustrating to play against. We just played fast, and that's a great place to be at this point of the year, to understand that that's the way we got to play.”

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Photo caption: Jan 12, 2026; Buffalo, New York, USA; The Florida Panthers celebrate a win over the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. (Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images)

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A night that was years in the making unfolded at Little Caesars Arena on Monday evening in downtown Detroit, as the iconic No. 91 jersey of former Detroit Red Wings Hall of Fame forward Sergei Fedorov was officially retired and raised to the rafters. 

One of the greatest players in team history, Fedorov endeared himself to the fans of Hockeytown over 13 seasons with the club, during which he scored exactly 400 goals while also playing an integral role in their 1997, 1998, and 2002 Stanley Cup wins. 

Fedorov, whom the Red Wings selected with the 74th pick in the 1989 NHL Draft and first arrived in Detroit after famously defecting from the Iron Curtain of the soon-to-be-fallen Soviet Union in 1990, began his NHL career under head coach Bryan Murray.

But in 1993, the Red Wings hired Scotty Bowman, who was already regarded as perhaps the greatest coach in the history of the sport. 

Just as he did with Steve Yzerman, Bowman helped Fedorov become a special two-way player who was just as good on the defensive side of the puck as he was offensively. In fact, Bowman sometimes even played Fedorov as a defenseman. 

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Prior to his official jersey retirement ceremony, Fedorov explained that the greatest lesson that he learned while playing under Bowman was

"First of all, no matter how difficult things are going not your way hockey-wise, Scotty always was calm, leveled, and came to the locker room to talk to use without, if I may say, any panic in his voice," Fedorov said after taking a moment to contemplate. "He just basically addressed the issue in what we have to get better at."

"No matter how bad we lose, no matter how good we played, it was the same manner," Fedorov continued. "Because after a few seasons, when we couldn't get the job done, in other words, to win the Cup, we understood one thing - it was all in our hands."

Under Bowman, the Red Wings reached heights they hadn’t seen in decades, rising to the top of the hockey world three times, including back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998.

Before arriving in Detroit, Bowman famously led the Montreal Canadiens dynasty of the 1970s, winning the Stanley Cup in 1973 and from 1976 through 1979, and later coached the Pittsburgh Penguins to the 1992 Stanley Cup.

He retired after guiding the Red Wings to their third Stanley Cup championship in six years in 2002, his ninth as a head coach, a record that still stands today.

It was that experience that particularly stood out to Fedorov. 

"Scotty was just that kind of person, obviously an experienced person," Fedorov said. "He knew before the game if we were going to win or not, I have no doubt in my mind. Lately, I've analyzed it and come to that conclusion.

"And he was just sort of cool in the sense that he gave so much belief, confidence, and guidance from his demeanor when he came to speak to us - in any situation, bad or good."

While Bowman himself wasn't able to personally attend the ceremony on Monday evening, he was one of several who recorded a special video message as part of the proceedings. 

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The NHL says it will "continue to monitor" the unfinished Winter Olympic hockey venue in Milan but said it was "pleased" with a test event held at the Santagiulia Arena.

Delays in construction and doubts about the quality of the ice had raised concerns about players from North America's National Hockey League, the biggest in the world, taking part in next month's Winter Games for the first time since 2014.

"We expect that the work necessary to address all remaining issues will continue around the clock," said a statement from the NHL and NHL Players' Association after seven games were played in the arena over three days.

"The NHL and NHLPA will continue to monitor the situation, standing ready to consult and advise on the work being done to ensure that the local organising committee, the IOC (International Olympic Committee), and the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) deliver a tournament and playing conditions befitting the world's best players.

"We were pleased that this weekend's event was a good trial run and provided important insight into the current status."

The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics will take place from 6-22 February, with ice hockey matches split between the new Santagiulia Arena and the existing Milano Rho Arena.

The rink in Milan, approved by the IIHF, is shorter than the minimum requirement in the NHL, leading to suggestions there could be an increase in high-speed collisions.

During the test event, there was a short delay while a small hole in the ice had to be repaired on Friday before the other matches took place without incident.

IIHF president Luc Tardif said "the puck was sliding and not bumping" and believes "there is no reason that the NHL will not come".

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters: "There are still challenges because the building is still under construction and the ice is new.

"We've been assured that, or we expect, that everything that needs to be done on a timely basis will get done.

"But, as you know, it's not our event. We're invited guests. We've offered to help and consult and advise as they feel they need and would be appropriate because we do have a little bit of expertise in that area."

History denied.

The Colorado Avalanche saw their 17-game home winning streak — one shy of tying a franchise record — come to an end Tuesday night at Ball Arena.

How It Unfolded

In overtime, William Nylander stripped Nathan MacKinnon of the puck and, moments later, outraced the Avalanche superstar up ice before finishing the play himself to secure a 4–3 win for the Toronto Maple Leafs. It marked Colorado’s first home loss in more than two months, though a late goal from Martin Nečas ensured the Avalanche still salvaged a point — something they’ve now done in all 22 home games this season.

With Mackenzie Blackwood still sidelined on injured reserve and Scott Wedgewood dealing with a minor issue, Colorado once again turned to Trent Miner. The 24-year-old, fresh off his first NHL victory, delivered another steady performance, but ultimately couldn’t come up with one more save than Joseph Woll at the other end.

88 ➡️ 8 🚨

Martin Necas finds Cale Makar, who rips it upstairs to even the score 🥬 pic.twitter.com/sjGI4aW6Wg

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 13, 2026

It didn’t help that one puck found the Avalanche net off a teammate.

After Woll denied several early looks from Brock Nelson, Toronto opened the scoring when Easton Cowan sent a puck toward the crease and Brent Burns inadvertently redirected it past Miner with his skate. Colorado answered quickly. Five minutes later, Cale Makar tied the game following some excellent work by Nečas along the boards. Nearly two minutes later, the Avalanche took the lead when Nelson scored five seconds into Colorado’s first power play of the night.

From there, the game began to tilt away from the Avalanche.

Colorado went nearly 13 minutes of the second period without registering a shot on goal. Before they could snap the drought, Toronto tied the game by capitalizing on a breakdown between Victor Olofsson and his defensemen. Olofsson attempted a drop pass, but Bobby McMann jumped it, then beat Sam Girard and Ilya Solovyov up the ice to score on a breakaway and even the game.

That space expanded further when Nečas and Laughton went to the box — Laughton for high-sticking and Nečas for holding — setting the stage for four-on-four hockey. Auston Matthews took full advantage, using Josh Manson as a screen before executing a toe drag and ripping a wrist shot top shelf over Miner’s glove, leaving the goaltender no chance.

As they’ve done all season, the Avalanche didn’t fold. Less than three minutes later, Nečas struck again, finishing a perfect feed from MacKinnon to tie the game. Colorado had a late opportunity to take the lead with Matthews in the box, but struggled to gain the zone with possession and failed to generate a look.

Overtime nearly ended in Colorado’s favor when Nečas set up MacKinnon for a one-timer off the rush, but the shot rang off the crossbar and kept the game alive. The miss proved costly. With just over a minute remaining, Nylander stripped MacKinnon once more and finished the play moments later, sealing the win for Toronto.

Despite the loss, the Avalanche moved to 19-0-3 on home ice and maintained their 12-point cushion atop the Central Division.

Next Game

The Avalanche (33-4-8) square off against the Nashville Predators (21-20-4) on Friday. Coverage will begin at 9 p.m. local time in what is certainly a very late start. 

The Los Angeles Kings (19-16-10) went scoreless for the first 40 minutes of the match, but showed a strong response after the early setback, only to fail to clutch up and win the game Monday night. Despite playing great defense with their no offense being cold early on, the Kings still came up short when it mattered most, falling 3-1 at Crypto.com Arena to the Dallas Stars. 

Dallas closed the game out in the clutch when the game was tied 1-1 in the third period, while Los Angeles struggled to convert its chances against Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger, who finished with 24 saves on the night, consistently denying the Kings shots on ice. 

Final from LA. #GoKingsGopic.twitter.com/WbBAjRtJh4

— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 13, 2026

Early Turnover Leads to Opening Goal

The games opening goal came off a early Kings turnover. Just three minutes into the first period, Wyatt Johnson beat Darcy Kuemper on a rush chance alone after turnover, giving Dallas the early lead. 

From there, the Kings leaned into physical play with their offense being stagnant. The fourth line of Andre Lee, Samuel Helenius, and Taylor Ward brough that Ontario energy to the Kings tonight. It was a great defensive affair from that line, keeping the Kings very much alive for the first two periods of the game, despite their offense not finding any room to score. 

Kings Tilt the Ice 

Los Angeles had a solid second period, bringing a lot of offensive-zone pressure, but was still unable to score a goal. The Kings couldn't find the net with Oettinger under the crease, swatting rebounds and forcing Los Angeles to reset on multiple promising sequences. 

The breakthrough finally came in the third period on the power play. Brandt Clarke kept the puck on the blue line and moved it quickly to Corey Perry, who fed Quinton Byfield for a one-timer that tied the game 1-1. 

The assist from Perry marked his 500th career NHL assist, making him the first player in league history reach that milestone at age 40 or older. It was a deserved award for a power play unit that's been struggling this season to see that kind of achievement happen during the night for Perry. 

Per @NHLPR, Corey Perry is the first player in @NHL history to collect his 500th career assist at age 40 or older. He is also the 29th active skater to reach such mark. pic.twitter.com/nNW1Y2Z4on

— LA Kings PR (@LAKingsPR) January 13, 2026

Empty-Netter Seals It

Momentum swung to Dallas with under four minutes remaining when Jason Robertson scored the go-ahead goal that went past Kuemper, giving the Stars a huge momentum swing. The Kings pushed late, generating several looks in the final minutes, but couldn't beat Oettinger again. 

Matt Duchene sealed the game in regulation with an empty-net goal in the final seconds, sending the Kings to their latest loss in a game that followed a similar script. The Kings finished the night with more shots and one power play goal, despite the Stars going blank on the power play. Los Angeles' inability to close out games came back to haunt them, despite winning in the statsheet.

Give credit to Oettinger who proved to be the difference, repeteadly turning aside Los Angeles chances during its strongest pushes, while the Stars capitalized on their oppourtnites at the other end. 

While the Kings' fight showed improvement from their young guys, especially being shorthanded, still without Anze Kopitar or Joel Armia, the results once again showed that the Kings are unable to win games that come down to the clutch. 

Next up, the Kings will host their final two game home stand on Wednesday, January 14 at 7:00 p.m. against the Las Vegas Golden Knights. 

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