Recap of NHL from 1 January 2026

It will soon be time to open the roof at loanDepot park in Miami as the Panthers and Rangers will make history tonight when they compete in the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic – the southernmost regular-season game in League history and first NHL outdoor game in the state of Florida.

* With an average high of 76°F/25°C on Jan. 2 (according to AccuWeather.com), it was thought the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic could be the warmest puck-drop temperature for an outdoor game in League history – however, the temperature was 58°F/14°C at ice level Tuesday when NHL officials opened the roof for a test with a similar forecast for tonight’s 8 p.m. ET start. Click here to view the puck-drop temperature for each of the 43 outdoor games to date.

* Before the puck drops on Friday’s slate, more NHL players will be named to rosters for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 as Team USA, Team Finland and Team Sweden are all scheduled to announce today. #NHLStats will provide a “By the Numbers” breakdown for each.

2026 DISCOVER NHL WINTER CLASSIC IN MIAMI WILL BE “HUGE GAME”

There will be two key points when the Panthers and Rangers clash at loanDepot park in Miami for the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic and, as told by NHL.com, the stakes are not lost on either team – even with a setting that will include pink flamingos, pink umbrellas and a pink lifeguard stand. The teams are separated by two points in the Eastern Conference standings and will lean on leading scorers and outdoor game veterans Brad Marchand and Artemi Panarin for the primetime showdown (8 p.m. ET; TNT, HBO MAX, truTV, SNW, SNO, SNE, TVAS & NHL in ASL).

* The end of 2025 and start of 2026 has been a memorable stretch for Marchand: he was honored Tuesday for reaching 1,000 NHL points, named to Team Canada’s Olympic roster Wednesday and will play in the Winter Classic today. From February 2025 to February 2026, Marchand will also have won the 4 Nations Face-Off championship, been traded to the Panthers, won his second Stanley Cup and make his first Olympic appearance.

* Marchand, 37, enters his fourth career outdoor game riding a nine-game point streak (7-7—14), his longest since joining the Panthers in 2024-25. Earlier this season, Marchand recorded a point in every appearance from Oct. 21 to Nov. 17 (10-7—17 in 11 GP; maxed out at official 8-game point streak).

* Panarin will look to help his club stay perfect outdoors and pull into a tie with the Panthers in terms of standings points by spoiling their outdoor debut. Panarin netted the overtime winner for New York in the 2024 Stadium Series to claim his first outdoor win in three tries and boost the Rangers’ record to 5-0-0.

* Mika Zibanejad enters his fourth outdoor game sitting one shy of tying the franchise record for career power-play goals and is one of two current Rangers who played for the club in their last Winter Classic appearance. The other is captain J.T. Miller who scored the overtime winner for the Rangers in the 2018 Winter Classic at Citi Field to defeat Sam Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues and the Sabres.

WINTER CLASSIC QUICK CLICKS

* Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk ‘boost morale’ at Panthers practice on eve of Winter Classic

* Rangers aim to show ‘hockey world’ how good they can be at Winter Classic

* Winter Classic puts spotlight on Florida’s rise as home for hockey

* Interactive Information Guide

* #NHLStats Pack: 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic

2025 YEAR IN REVIEW

The #NHLStats: 2025 Year in Review looks at some of the most memorable moments and top trends from the year that was, ranging from Connor McDavid and the Tkachuk brothers at the 4 Nations Face-Off to Alex Ovechkin’s completion of The Gr8 Chase to the Panthers winning a Stanley Cup Final rematch to Sidney Crosby breaking a record long held by “Super Mario” to the emergence of teenage stars Macklin Celebrini and Matthew Schaefer.

RESULTS FROM NEW YEAR’S DAY ACTION

CANADIENS OUTLAST HURRICANES IN 12-GOAL MATCHUP

The highest-scoring game of New Year’s Day saw Montreal take a 2-0 lead, Carolina score four straight to go up 4-2 before the Canadiens responded with four consecutive of their own and remained in the lead to capture two points and reach 50 points on the season. Montreal (40 GP) required their fewest games to reach 50 points in a campaign since 2016-17 (37 GP) and earned its 12th comeback win of 2025-26, which is the second most among all teams behind Philadelphia (14).

* Nick Suzuki (1-0—1) improved to 14-31—45, which is the most points by a Canadiens player through 40 games in a season since Saku Koivu in 1996-97 (47).

* Lane Hutson (6-34—40 in 40 GP) collected a goal and an assist to become the third blueliner this season to reach 40 points (also Cale Makar w/ 45 & Zach Werenski w/ 40). Hutson has the third-most points by a Canadiens defenseman through 40 games of a campaign behind Larry Robinson (47 in 1985-86 & 1976-77) and Guy Lapointe (42 in 1974-75 & 41 in 1976-77).

* Cole Caufield (1-0—1) and Hutson joined Suzuki as Montreal’s second and third 40-point scorers so far in 2025-26. The last time the Canadiens had three players with 40 points through 40 games of a season was 1992-93 (Kirk Muller, Stephan Lebeau, Vincent Damphousse & Brian Bellows).

* Sebastian Aho factored on all five of his club’s goals Thursday for his second career five-point game, which is tied for the third most in Hurricanes/Whalers history behind Ron Francis (8) and Eric Staal (4). Aho became the fourth player in franchise history to factor on all team goals in a single game (min. 5 goals), joining Staal (5 on April 8, 2010), Ray Whitney (5 on Feb. 8, 2007) and Nelson Emerson (5 on Jan. 25, 1997).

Guenther, Matthews start New Year with first, 14th career hat tricks
Dylan Guenther (3-1—4) and Auston Matthews (3-1—4) had three goals apiece Thursday, which marked the second New Year’s Day in NHL history to feature multiple hat tricks (also Troy Murray & Al Secord in 1986):

* Guenther generated three of Utah’s seven tallies as the Mammoth defeated the Islanders, whose star rookie Matthew Schaefer (18 years, 118 days) became the youngest defenseman in NHL history at the time of his 10th career goal. Guenther had his first career hat trick and needs three more tallies to become the first player to score 50 with Utah.

* Matthews scored his 14th career hat trick to climb a number of NHL lists, move to the brink of tying Mats Sundin for the Maple Leafs’ all-time goals record and help Toronto earn its second three-goal comeback win of 2025-26 – tied the Panthers for the most among all teams. Matthews passed Pat LaFontaine (13) for the most hat tricks by a U.S-born player in League history; he also tied Charlie Conacher for the third most in Maple Leafs history, trailing Darryl Sittler (18) and Babe Dye (16).

MORE OF LAST YEAR’S LEAGUE TRENDS CONTINUE IN 2026’S FIRST LIVE UPDATES
A total of 66 goals were scored across Thursday’s slate, filling the first Live Updates of 2026 with an abundance of #NHLStats. It marked the second-highest scoring New Year’s Day in NHL history behind 2022 (69).

* Tim Stützle assisted on the winner with 2:22 remaining in regulation to stretch his point streak to 11 games and help the Senators secure a multi-goal comeback win during the NHL’s first contest of 2026. Stützle and Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 teammate Leon Draisaitl account for all 13 double-digit point streaks among German players in NHL history (Draisaitl: 11; Stützle: 2).

* Nikita Kucherov (1-2—3) factored on three of Tampa Bay’s five goals to help the Lightning (24-13-3, 51 points) extend their winning streak to six games and climb within a point of the Atlantic Division-leading Red Wings (24-14-4, 52 points). Kucherov became the second player in franchise history with a six-game road multi-point streak, following Steven Stamkos (8 GP from Oct. 7 – Nov. 9, 2017).

* Sidney Crosby (2-1—3) and Kris Letang connected on the overtime winner as the Penguins quelled a multi-goal comeback attempt by the Red Wings. Crosby collected his 49th career overtime point to extend his NHL record, while Letang logged his 13th career overtime goal to pass teammate Erik Karlsson as well as Seth Jones (both w/ 12) and tie Scott Niedermayer for second place on the League’s all-time list among defensemen.