LAS VEGAS -- The Golden Knights overcame a two-goal deficit and defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-3, on Thursday in the first of two home games.

After losing starting goaltender Carter Hart and falling behind 2-0 by the midway point of the first period, the Golden Knights scored four unanswered goals, including two from Reilly Smith, en route to their second straight win.

Vegas has now won six of the last eight meetings.

Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Brett Howden also scored for the Knights, while Akira Schmid stopped 20 shots in relief of Hart.

Hart was injured when he twisted his left knee awkwardly, and the only shot he faced, by Boone Jenner, gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead. Kent Johnson gave Columbus a 2-0 lead a little more than two minutes later.

Smith scored the first of his two goals in the first period, and then tied the game 5:19 into the second period.

Eichel gave the Knights a 3-2 lead with his 13th goal of the season and 13th point in his last nine games.

Stone notched his 14th goal of the season - and sixth straight in as many games - with a power-play goal late in the second.

Kirill Marchenko's gave Columbus its final goal with 5:23 left in the game, while Howden's goal with 3:46 left provided the final margin.

Columbus goalie Jet Greaves stopped 21 of the 26 shots he faced.

KEY MOMENT

With the Golden Knights slowly grabbing momentum and the game tied at 2-all, Stone's backcheck in the neutral zone to grab the puck and get play moving in transition led to the game-changing moment. Stone fed Ivan Barbashev, who took the puck at the blue line and found Eichel alone at the top of the left circle, where he skated to the center dot and ripped home what was the go-ahead goal at the moment. Though it wasn't the game-winning goal, it provided the momentum needed at the perfect time.

"Our guys do bounce back," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I thought they'd have the ability to do that, especially at home, and they did. So once we got our game going, I felt pretty good about our chances. You never want to start from behind. ... We're a better finishing team than starting, and that was the case again tonight."

KEY STAT

55% ... After scoring just three goals in his first 29 games, Smith has now scored five goals in his last nine games - a 55% clip.

"He's a leader in here," Howden said of Smith. "He was here since day one, had a little stint going away, but he's back here, and it's like he never left. He's one of our leaders. He's a voice in the room. ... Him tonight, having two big goals, it was great to see."

WHAT A KNIGHT

Other than the goal he let in right after entering the game, Schmid was once again stellar off the bench in relief of Hart. It marked the fourth time he's come into the game cold, and the third time he's earned the win. Schmid has allowed a total of two goals in the four times he's entered for either Adin Hill or Hart.

"Felt good about Akira going in, he's done the job before ... a couple of times this year, so we knew we're probably going to get good goaltending, and that's the way it worked out," Cassidy said. "Probably tells you a little bit about his demeanor. He's just handled it well.

"And I think our guys responded well, too, for the most part. I think the first shot was a bit of a misread on the rush. But after that, we got going and knew we were going to need to score some goals ... and we did. And we have been a little bit lately, so that's a good thing, that's starting to turn a little as well."

UP NEXT

The Golden Knights finish their quick two-game homestand by hosting the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

PHOTO CAPTION: Vegas Golden Knights right wing Reilly Smith (19) congratulates goaltender Akira Schmid (40) after the Golden Knights defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 at T-Mobile Arena. 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Filip Forsberg scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the Nashville Predators over the New York Islanders 2-1 on Thursday night.

Ryan O’Reilly evened the score with a short-handed goal late in the second period and Juuse Saros made 30 saves for Nashville before denying all three Islanders attempts in the tiebreaker.

Simon Holmstrom scored midway through the second and David Rittich stopped 26 shots for New York.

In the shootout, Forsberg beat Rittich with a forehand-to-backhand move. Nashville is 3-0 in shootouts this season, all with Saros between the pipes.

Holmstrom scored with 7:46 remaining in the second. Scott Mayfield carried the puck behind the Nashville net and found an unchecked Holmstrom just off the right post, where he scored his second goal in two games.

Holmstrom has three goals and four assists in six career games against the Predators.

O’Reilly has scored two of Nashville’s three short-handed goals this season.

The Islanders have allowed five short-handed goals.

Saros stopped Matthew Schaefer on a breakaway with 20 seconds left in overtime to send the game to a shootout.

Up next

Islanders: Visit the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

Predators: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.

For 15 consecutive games, the Pittsburgh Penguins operated without the services of one of their best players in Evgeni Malkin.

That changed Thursday, when he made his return to the lineup against the New Jersey Devils. And - even if he started off a bit slow - he did not disappoint.

The 39-year-old veteran scored a crucial five-on-three power play goal late in the second period en route to a 4-1 win over the struggling Devils, who earned their third consecutive loss. In contrast, Pittsburgh earned its sixth straight win, all since the holiday break, and climbed into the East's first wild card spot. And they are a team that is clicking on all cylinders right now.  

"I feel like right when we came back from the break, we just got back to work," goaltender Stuart Skinner said. "I feel like our details in here are really solid and just our commitment to those details. So, ever since we got back, I feel like we've been rolling pretty good, and it's our job to keep that consistency going."

The Penguins - coincidentally, for the sixth consecutive game - secured an early lead when Rickard Rakell fed a breaking Erik Karlsson on the rush down the right side, and he put a puck top-shelf over Devils' goaltender Jake Allen to put his team up, 1-0. Things got a bit rocky in the opening frame, though, as the Devils outshot the Penguins, 11-7, but Skinner was there to shut the door and preserve the narrow lead. 

Connor Dewar took an early second-period penalty that the Penguins managed to kill off, and - upon his return to the ice - Rakell connected with him on an impressive stretch pass for a breakaway opportunity. He beat Allen five-hole, gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead, and turned the tables in favor of Pittsburgh.

HOW DEW YOU LIKE THAT? 💪

out of the box and on the board! pic.twitter.com/QKXaFDM0it

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 9, 2026

Nearing the end of the second, Timo Meier went to the box for slashing, and Connor Brown followed him there with a tripping penalty just 22 seconds after to give the Penguins a five-on-three. Although the power play was sloppy early on, Malkin eventually capitalized with less than a minute to go in the middle frame from the right circle off a one-time feed from Sidney Crosby.

Malkin also took a slashing penalty early in the third, and the Penguins surrendered a goal to Luke Hughes on the Devils' man advantage. But Pittsburgh recovered from there, and they got a late insurance goal from Blake Lizotte to seal the deal and send the lively crowd home happy. 

"It's a huge credit to [the team]," head coach Dan Muse said. "They came out of that break, and right away, we felt refreshed just having a little bit of time. And now, you start to build some momentum. You build from one game to the next."

He added: "I also feel like the ebbs and flows of the game are being controlled better. And that's probably, if I was going to say one thing in terms of there's a difference between these last six games and maybe the 6-10 games prior, it's that. It's part of a season, too. You learn from the things that go well, you learn from the things that don't, and you keep moving forward." 

The Penguins Have Found Something With Novak Centering Brazeau And ManthaTommy Novak found instant chemistry with Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau once he started centering them.

Here are some thoughts and takeaways from yet another Penguins' win:

- To start this game, Malkin looked like a guy who hadn't played the last 15 games. 

He was slow-footed, he couldn't handle passes, the puck was floating off his stick, and he couldn't connect on passes. And that's all to reasonably be expected from a 39-year-old player who missed a month of game action and came back playing in a pretty unfamiliar position. 

However, he woke up in the second period. He looked like he was playing angry, which is never a good thing for the opposing team. He broke through on the five-on-three, and that was after a botched three-on-one opportunity earlier in the period as well as a few other chances. 

"It's not easy changing positions," Malkin said. "Long time ago, I play wing. But, after first, I think I take a couple pucks, use my stickhandling. You know, it feels a little better, for sure. Unusual for me, and I hope we play same next game, too."

As for his line, Ben Kindel got better as the game progressed. And I do quite like Egor Chinakhov's game. This guy wins puck battles, is strong on the puck with possession, and isn't trigger-shy. Once Kindel, Chinakhov, and Malkin gel, I think this has the makings of a good line for the Penguins. 

HE🔥IS 🔥 BACK🔥 pic.twitter.com/Ya2msWrSjI

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 9, 2026

- Talk about a goal providing a spark.

Dewar was sent to the penalty box for high-sticking early in the second period, and the Penguins managed to kill it off. Rakell - already with an assist in the game - sprung Dewar for the breakaway with a beautiful stretch pass, and Dewar - as mentioned before - didn't miss.

While the goal was an impressive play all-around, it was what happened after that made a huge difference. The Penguins suddenly awoke from their first-period malaise, and they got opportunity after opportunity. Malkin, Kindel, and Chinakhov had that three-on-one shortly after. The first line had an utterly dominant shift in the offensive zone where they were teeing off left and right. The Penguins seized momentum for the period and never really gave it back, outshooting the Devils 17-5 in the middle frame. 

Of course, there were some Devils' chances in the third, but the Penguins were, ultimately, able to shut the door and pad their lead. That was a crucial goal in this game, and it was - unsurprisingly - courtesy of one of their fourth-line players.

And - unsurprisingly - that same fourth line earned another big goal at the end to put the cherry on top.

The fourth line coming up clutch again 💪 pic.twitter.com/ptdlRObrrG

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 9, 2026

- I haven't been enamored with the Penguins' power play in a general sense as of late. 

Are they still second in the league? Yes. Are they still scoring with relative frequency? Also yes. But there is not nearly as much player movement or puck movement as there was at the beginning of the season, and they're just not generating as much as they were.

We've seen how high a level this unit can operate at. If they can get back to that level, this team will be even more dangerous than it has been on this six-game winning streak.

- Boy, Skinner was good in this game. 

The Penguins didn't get off to a particularly good start. They were clearly shaking off the rust of their three days off coming into this one, and he had to make some key saves to preserve the 1-0 lead - including a breakaway save on Jesper Bratt and a point-blank net-front save on Nico Hischier. And he did the same thing in the third period, when the Devils started to pressure a bit again. 

He's not the quickest goaltender post-to-post, but he has size. And when his reads are on, he's a very competitive netminder. 

Things are definitely trending up for him. He has been great in his last two starts, and Arturs Silovs has given them a few good starts in a row, too. If the team's goaltending can sustain, I don't see why they won't be hanging around for the rest of the season. 

Erik Karlsson’s Confidence Continues To Help Guide The PenguinsErik Karlsson's confidence is through the roof, and it continues to pay dividends for the Penguins.

- Rakell and Karlsson were very, very good in this game. Karlsson has been at the top of his game during this winning streak, and he extended his home point streak to nine games, which is the longest home point streak of his career. 

And Thursday was the best version of Rakell I've seen since he returned from injury. His pass to Dewar was excellent, he was good on the penalty kill, and he was creating space and opportunity in the offensive zone, using physicality to gain positioning.

The goals will come if he keeps playing this way, but regardless, his distribution game was really good in this one. 

- The Penguins have won six straight hockey games. They are now 20-12-9 and sit in the East's first wild card spot. They are only one point back of second in the Metropolitan and six points back of first in the Metro, a spot currently occupied by the Carolina Hurricanes.

They're getting pretty good goaltending at the moment. Their defensive details are much better late in games. They have four lines that they can roll effectively and a fourth line that has quite literally changed the shape of some hockey games recently. 

When healthy, this is a good hockey team, especially on the forward front. That's been the case all year.

Malkin's Return Exposes Center Depth As Strength For Penguins This SeasonPittsburgh Penguins' center Evgeni Malkin is poised to make his return to the lineup soon, and his deployment shows just how much center depth the Penguins have on their NHL roster this season

Only four of their 11 games for the remainder of the month are against teams  - the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Seattle Kraken, and Edmonton Oilers - currently in playoff position. With just three games more games after that in February prior to the nearly three-week Olympic break, the Penguins need to bank as many points as possible against teams below them in the standings. Their schedule in March is condensed, and it's not an easy one by any stretch of the imagination, as they play the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights twice each as well as the Hurricanes three times. 

If they can pad their playoff positioning a bit prior to the break, that would be huge. And with the way they're playing - and how dangerous this team looks right now - these games should be very winnable.

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Not only did the Detroit Red Wings remain hot by picking up their seventh victory in their last 10 games, but there was also some notable NHL history made on Thursday evening at Little Caesars Arena. 

Forward Patrick Kane scored the 499th and 500th goals of his illustrious career as part of a 5-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks, improving Detroit's record to 26-15-4 and keeping them near the top of the Atlantic Division standings. 

#REDWINGS WIN!!!! #LGRWpic.twitter.com/ouahj3Pw6G

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 9, 2026

Kane not only scored a power-play goal in the opening 20 minutes of play, but made no mistake with Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen lifted for an extra attacker late in regulation. 

Following the historic goal, which made Kane just the 50th player in NHL history to reach the milestone, the rest of his teammates poured off the bench to share in the celebration with him, while the fans gave him a rousing standing ovation. 

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

It was Kane who scored Detroit's first goal of the game while the Red Wings enjoyed a five-on-three power-play opportunity.

Rookie defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka increased Detroit's lead to 2-0 early in the second period with a perfectly placed shot from the slot past the blocker of Lankinen after taking a feed from James van Riemsdyk.

While the Canucks got a bit of life thanks to a power-play goal from Jake DeBrusk, that momentum was quickly snuffed out after van Riemsdyk dished out another nifty assist, this time to J.T. Compher all alone in front of the net for what was his first goal in 19 games. 

Not long after Kane's historic 500th goal late in the third period, Lucas Raymond would score his second goal in as many games, increasing the lead to 5-1. 

John Gibson was solid in the victory for Detroit, making 23 saves. Lankinen countered with 20 saves.

The Red Wings will next head out on the road Saturday evening to face the Montreal Canadiens, which has now become a clash of two of the top teams in the Atlantic Division with 56 points each. 

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Patrick Kane has been a thorn in the Vancouver Canucks side for years. Now, he has made history against the franchise as he became the 50th player in NHL history to score 500 goals. Kane's historic goal came on Thursday night when the Detroit Red Wings winger scored into Vancouver's empty net at 16:07 of the third period. 

Over the year's Kane has caused the Canucks plenty of pain. In 51 regular-season games, he has scored 17 goals while recording 47 points. Overall in his career, Kane has recorded 1,369 points, which is tied for 28th all-time. 

As of writing, Kane ranks seventh among active players for points against Vancouver. The only players who have more are Jordan Eberle, Corey Perry, Anže Kopitar, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. Thursday could be Kane's last time playing the Canucks, as the 37-year-old is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. 

While Kane has been successful in the regular season, he is more known for what he has done against Vancouver in the playoffs. Kane's 22 career playoff points in 19 games against the Canucks are the third most by a player in franchise history. The only two ahead of Kane are Al MacInnis, who had 25 points in 28 games and Wayne Gretzky, who recorded 29 points in 15 games. 

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