Worldwide Sports News

The Vancouver Canuck snapped their four-game losing streak on Saturday with a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild. Tom Willander scored his first career goal while defenceman Elias Pettersson also found the back of the net. As for the other two goals, they were scored by Aatu Räty while Nikita Tolopilo was solid, stopping 28 of the 30 shots he faced. 

Starting with Tolopilo, he was one of the main reasons why the Canucks were able to skate away with a victory. He stopped nine of the 10 shots he faced in the first, including a massive stop on a breakaway against Kirill Kaprizov. Tolopilo also stepped up in the third, turning aside 13 of the 14 shots the Wild directed his way.

The other star for Vancouver on Saturday was Räty. Not only did he record three points, but he also went 14 for 16 in the faceoff. Post-game, Räty spoke to the media about the win.

"It means a lot," said Räty. "We talk about it. I think we played better than the scoreboard has shown in the last few games. It's a game of wins, and we got one today. So that's great."

As for a special moment, that came in the second period when Willander beat Jesper Wallstedt for his first career goal. The 21-year-old also added an assist during his 13:18 of ice time. Post-game, Quinn Hughes spoke about Willander and even reminisced about his own first goal in the NHL.

"he's a really good player," said Hughes. "Steady. You know, the more and more he plays, he gets 80, 100, 140 games in the league. He's going to continue to develop and get better and better, more confident. Just seeing more reps in different situations. Obviously, I remember scoring my first goal and how excited I was, so I'm sure he's feeling that right now, and probably nice to get off his back too."

The biggest storyline from this game, however, happened pre-game as center Elias Pettersson departed warm-ups early and did not play. As per Head Coach Adam Foote, Pettersson is dealing with an upper-body injury and will be getting an MRI on Sunday. More information should be available on Pettersson when the team hits the ice for Morning Skate on Monday. 

The best word to describe the Canucks performance on Saturday was gutsy. They didn't back down from the Wild and were able to get some standout performances from their younger players. Ultimately, Lady Luck was in Vancouver's corner as they sent the fans at Rogers Arena home happy for the first time since November 8. 

Stats and Facts:

- Aatu Räty records his first career goal

- Tom Willander records his second career multi-point game

- Aatu Räty finishes the game 14 for 16 in the faceoff dot

- David Kämpf goes 15 for 20 in the faceoff dot

Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

3:11- MIN: Matt Boldy (16) from Mats Zuccarello and Yakov Trenin

2nd Period:

9:29- VAN: Tom Willander (1st Career Goal) from Linus Karlsson and Jake DeBrusk
11:46- VAN: Elias Pettersson (1) from Tom Willander and Aatu Räty
15:12- VAN: Aatu Räty (2) from Evander Kane

3rd Period:

5:09- VAN: Aatu Räty (3)
17:22- MIN: Mats Zuccarello (2) from Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy (PPG)

Up Next:

The Canucks continue their four-game home stand on Monday against the Detroit Red Wings. Last season, Detroit and Vancouver split the season series with each team picking up a win at home. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm PT.  

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

Latest From THN’s Vancouver Canucks Site: 

Must See: Canucks' Tom Willander Scores First Career NHL Goal Versus The Minnesota Wild

Canucks Elias Pettersson Leaves Warmups Ahead Of Game Against The Minnesota Wild Due To Injury 

Report: Canucks And Devils Have Had Talks About Quinn Hughes

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.

Follow Michael Whitaker On X

Following their wild 6-5 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday evening, the Detroit Red Wings began their trek out west and wanted to start earning more points in the standings. 

Thanks to some late-game heroics from a first-ballot future Hall of Famer, they managed to do just that.

Red Wings forward Patrick Kane scored the go-ahead goal with just 2:29 remaining in the third period against the Seattle Kraken, his second goal in as many games and the 497th of his NHL career. His goal proved to be the winner, as Detroit held on for a 4-3 regulation win at Climate Pledge Arena. 

#REDWINGS WIN IN SEATTLE! pic.twitter.com/o33eeEgcyj

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 7, 2025

With the win, the Red Wings have improved to 15-11-3 and are just one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the top spot in the Atlantic Division. 

Detroit, which trailed 3-2 in the second period, tied the game late in the frame on James van Riemsdyk’s fifth goal in his last six outings. Ironically, van Riemsdyk was selected one pick after Kane in the 2007 NHL Draft.

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

The Red Wings opened the scoring in the first period on a tally from rookie Emmitt Finnie, who buried a beautiful cross-ice feed from fellow rookie Nate Danielson for his sixth goal of the season. Rookie defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka also picked up an assist.

Veteran forward Andrew Copp, who hadn't scored in nearly two full months, registered his first tally since Oct. 11 in the second period, as he jammed the puck at the side of the net through the pads of goaltender Joey Daccord. Play continued, but at the next stoppage of play, replays confirmed the puck fully crossed the goal line. 

But it would be the Kraken who scored the next two goals courtesy of Adam Larsson and Chandler Stephenson, the latter of whom tallied on a deflection past John Gibson. 

For the second time in as many games, the Red Wings mounted a comeback effort and ultimately took the lead, and this time, protected it to the final horn. 

Gibson picked up the victory by making 24 saves, while Daccord countered with 21 saves. 

Detroit's road trip will continue with a tilt against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday evening at Rogers Arena. 

Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites!

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.

The Los Angeles Kings (13-8-7) needed to give their home fans a response after suffering one of their worst home performances Thursday night against the Chicago Blackhawks (12-10-6). Playing the Chicago again for the second time in two days, L.A. was poised to avenge its loss. 

Kings' Late Push Not Enough As Blackhawks Hold On 2-1The Los Angeles Kings went scoreless for two periods and looked disconnected early on, resulting in a 2-1 loss to a Blackhawks team that looked more poised and composed to win

The Kings steamrolled the Blackhawks 6-0 in what was one of their best wins of the season. Even though the win wasn't against a powerhouse team in the Western Conference, it's still a quality win given how much L.A. had been struggling lately. 

Feelin' good on this Saturday. #GoKingsGopic.twitter.com/iQA8W1hvX3

— LA Kings (@LAKings) December 7, 2025

The game began very slowly, reminiscent of Thursday's matchup, which was 0-0 until the second period, when Chicago scored two goals. But tonight, the Kings found their rhythm early in the second period and never looked back.  

Los Angeles scored three goals in the middle frame, overwhelming a Chicago team that looked like it wasn't prepared for what was coming at it. 

The star of the night was definitely Brandt Clarke who scored twice, joined by Warren Foegele, Andrei Kuzmenko, Mikey Anderson, and Alex Turcotte. 

Second Period Surge

LA took full control in the second period. It was Foegele's goal early in the second that set the tone. But, it was the team as a whole that stepped up which made tough for Chicago to find a groove. Kuzmenko's goal was especially important because it was Los Angele's first power-play goal in four games. 

Chicago rarely managed to recover from the hole it dug itself into in the second period, and it kept getting worse as we headed into the final frame.  

Third Period Turns Into A Blowout

Starting the third period with a commadning 3-0 lead, the Kings didn't sit back, they buried the Blackhawks with three more goals. Clarke opened the floodgates, scoring his second of the night early in the period. 

Anderson and Turcotte each added their own respective goals to push the lead into a 6-0 blowout with under 10 minutes left in the final period. Chicago's defense had no answer under pressure for Los Angeles and got punished every time on the ice. 

By the time the final horn had rung, the Kings had outshot Chicago, dominating the face-off circle and controlling every possession with pace and tempo. 

A Complete Performance

This game tonight was a whole team effort. It's also one of the first times the team is fully healthy and looks more like the disciplined, structured group that dominated at home last season. 

It shows proof that Los Angeles can be a dangerous team if they play hard every night with pace and precision; they can overwhelm opponents. Even though fans will say this is a fluke because it's the first time this season Los Angeles played perfectly, it still shows signs of what this team can do.

It's also Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper's 38th career shutout after tonights 6-0 win against Chicago.  

Final: 6-0 LAK

An offensive explosion for the Kings. Something to build off of.

— Russell Morgan (@NHLRussell) December 7, 2025

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.

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.  

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

Latest From THN’s Vancouver Canucks Site: 

Canucks Elias Pettersson Leaves Warmups Ahead Of Game Against The Minnesota Wild Due To Injury 

Report: Canucks And Devils Have Had Talks About Quinn Hughes

Lineup Notes: Pettersson Hits 500, Kane Returns As Canucks Battle The Wild

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.

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

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.