Quick goals were a common trend in victories for the Flyers, Canadiens and Avalanche on Saturday, with Philadelphia joining a short list in NHL history with three tallies in a span of 26 seconds.
* The Ducks, Kraken and Oilers were three Pacific Division teams to skate to Saturday victories, as Cutter Gauthier found the back of the net in overtime as Anaheim outlasted Vegas in a back-and-forth affair.
* Connor Bedard vs. Nathan MacKinnon and Winnipeg’s 2,000th game in franchise history headline a six-game Sunday of NHL action.
THREE FAST GOALS SPARK FLYERS PAST DIVISION-RIVAL DEVILS. . .
Tyson Foerster (2-0—2) scored twice during a 26-second, three-goal flurry in the opening frame while Trevor Zegras (1-0—1) found the score sheet once again in his 20th game with Philadelphia to help the Flyers (11-6-3, 25 points) skate to victory. The Flyers improved to 8-3-2 (18 points) at Xfinity Mobile Arena and are tied with the Avalanche (8-0-2, 18 points) for the second-most points on home ice this season, behind the Maple Leafs (8-4-3, 19 points).
* Foerster’s two goals in 17 seconds were the fourth-fastest two goals by one player in franchise history behind Ron Flockhart (0:08 on Dec. 6, 1981), Jeff Carter (0:13 on Jan. 8, 2008) and Ron Sutter (0:15 on Feb. 17, 1986).
* Zegras (7-14—21 in 20 GP) became the third player in the past 30 years to post more than 20 points through their first 20 career games with the Flyers, alongside Peter Forsberg (6-30—36 in 2005-06) and Daniel Briere (10-14—24 in 2007-08).
. . . WHILE OTHER TEAMS ALSO BENEFITED FROM FAST GOALS
The Canadiens (11-7-3, 25 points) and Avalanche (15-1-5, 35 points) also benefited from fast goals in winning efforts, with the latter having theirs scored by 40-year-old defenseman Brent Burns.
* Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson opened the scoring for Montreal with two goals in a span of 1:22. The only other game in the past 15 years that featured two Canadiens defensemen score two faster goals was Nov. 23, 2022, when Arber Xhekaj and David Savard each tallied during a 57-second span. The Canadiens (12-49—61) joined the Avalanche (12-51—63) as the second team with at least 60 combined points by defensemen this season.
* Burns got the Avalanche on the board just 15 seconds into the contest and recorded the second-fastest game-opening goal by a defenseman in Avalanche/Nordiques history behind Randy Moller (0:09 on Feb. 27, 1988). Burns, who tied Sandis Ozolinsh (5) for the third-most opening-minute goals by a defenseman in NHL history behind Ray Bourque (9) and Larry Murphy (6), notched his 44th career game-winning goal. That total matched Al MacInnis and Denis Potvin for third most by a blueliner in League history.
PACIFIC DIVISION CLUBS SHINE ON SATURDAY
The competitive Pacific Division saw some shuffling in its standings with wins from the Ducks (14-7-1, 29 points), Kraken (11-5-5, 27 points) and Oilers (10-9-5, 25 points) – who defeated the Panthers in their first meeting since Game 6 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final.
* Golden Knights blueliner Shea Theodore and Ducks defensemen Jackson LaCombe and Olen Zellweger accounted for three goals within the opening nine minutes of play before Troy Terry netted a game-tying tally later in the contest. Cutter Gauthier then scored the game winner with 1:03 remaining in the extra frame to lift Anaheim to its fourth overtime win of the season – tied for the fourth most among all teams; his three career overtime goals are tied with Paul Kariya, Trevor Zegras and Leo Carlsson for the most by a player in Ducks history before age 22.
* Matty Beniers scored the tying goal in the third period to help send the game to extra time, where Brandon Montour potted the winner and moved into a tie for third on Seattle’s all-time overtime goals list. The Kraken earned consecutive third-period comeback wins (also Nov. 20 at CHI) for the first time in franchise history and held on to third in the divisional standings.
* The Oilers and Panthers combined for nine goals in their first meeting since the 2025 Stanley Cup Final – a series that featured the two clubs combine to hit the mark in two of the six games. Defensemen Mattias Ekholm (1-2—3) and Evan Bouchard (0-3—3) spearheaded an Edmonton offense with three-point outings as Saturday marked the fourth time since 2000-01 that multiple Oilers blueliners registered three or more points in the same game. The others: April 3, 2022 (2), Nov. 5, 2021 (2) and Nov. 19, 2011 (2).
CROSBY’S 500TH MULTI-POINT GAME HIGHLIGHTED IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Saturday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes from all 24 teams in action, including the Penguins, who saw their captain Sidney Crosby (1-1—2) become the sixth player in NHL history with 500 career multi-point games. He became the third-fastest among that group to reach the mark, behind only Wayne Gretzky (738 GP) and Marcel Dionne (1,262 GP).
FIVE TEAMS HOST HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER NIGHTS SATURDAY
Saturday was the busiest Hockey Fights Cancer night of the 2025-26 season as the Islanders, Capitals, Predators, Mammoth and Flames held their respective ceremonies. Eighteen-year-old Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer shared an image to his Instagram earlier in the day as his club’s Hockey Fights Cancer night also coincided with his mother’s birthday. Click here for the Hockey Fights Cancer daily digest on NHL.com.
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QUICK CLICKS
* Matthew Schaefer honors mother who died of cancer with touching tribute
* Eddie Olczyk surprises son on Mammoth broadcast for Hockey Fights Cancer Night
* Blackhawks look to have stronger finish in tough test against Avalanche
* Nicklas Backstrom thriving with Brynas in return home to Sweden
SUNDAY SEES JETS’ 2,000TH GAME, BEDARD VS. MACKINNON ON SPORTSNET
The Jets will play regular-season game No. 2,000 in franchise history when they host their Central Division rival Wild for a matinee, while Sportsnet picks up coverage for three other contests on Sunday’s six-game slate. Winnipeg will be the 28th franchise to skate in that many contests, with Sunday marking the 1,098th game since it relocated to Manitoba in 2011 (902 GP as the Thrashers).
* Sunday’s action begins in Buffalo where the Sabres will host the Eastern Conference-leading Hurricanes. After scoring the game-winning goal Friday in Winnipeg, Andrei Svechnikov will contest his 500th NHL game and is set to have the fourth-highest point total at that stage among players who began their career with the Hurricanes/Whalers (top five: Ron Francis: 569; Sebastian Aho: 456; Eric Staal: 452; Svechnikov: 376 entering Sunday; Geoff Sanderson: 369).
* Four of the top 15 scorers in the NHL will share the same ice Sunday on Sportsnet (SNO & SNE), NHL Network and TVA Sports when the Avalanche (Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas & Cale Makar) visit the Blackhawks (Connor Bedard). MacKinnon (5-7—12) and the Avalanche (5-3-0) have had the upper hand on Bedard (1-4—5) and the Blackhawks (3-4-1) across the previous eight meetings between the No. 1 picks.
* Vancouver will face Calgary for the first time since its season opener, with Elias Pettersson and the Canucks looking to continue their recent success against the Flames. The Canucks have a point in seven of their past eight meetings (6-1-1; CGY: 2-5-1), while Pettersson has a point in 11 straight games against Calgary dating to Dec. 31, 2022 (7-8—15) – tied for the longest active point streak by a Vancouver player against another club (also Quinn Hughes: 11 GP vs. SJS).
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