Evgeni Malkin continued his hot start to the season and helped the Penguins move into first place in the League standings, while Mark Scheifele and the reigning Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets soared to the top spot in the West.
* Trevor Zegras notched his second three-point outing in three games and helped the Flyers post their longest home winning streak since 2019-20.
* Friday’s three-game Halloween slate features a Sportsnet ONE tripleheader that starts with a Nevada Day matinee at T-Mobile Arena.
PENGUINS, JETS MOVE UP STANDINGS WITH HELP FROM STAR PLAYERS
The Penguins (8-2-2, 18 points) and Jets (8-3-0, 16 points) both made moves up the NHL standings thanks to notable performances from star players:
* Evgeni Malkin (0-1—1) factored on one of his team’s four goals to help Pittsburgh defeat Minnesota and move into first place in the League standings for the first time since Dec. 28, 2016 (min. 10 GP). The Penguins are off to one of their best starts to a season, with their 18 standing points tied for the second most in a single October in franchise history (also 18 in 2013-14, 2011-12 & 1992-93) behind only 2009-10 (11-3-0, 22 points).
* Mark Scheifele (1-2—3) factored on three of six Winnipeg goals to join former teammate Blake Wheeler (109) as the second player in Jets/Thrashers history with at least 100 multi-assist performances. Scheifele (9-9—18 in 11 GP) moved within one point of Jack Eichel (8-11—19 in 10 GP) for the League lead in points and helped the reigning Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets soar atop the Western Conference standings.
ZEGRAS’ POINT-PRODUCING WAYS LIFT FLYERS TO FIFTH STRAIGHT HOME WIN
Trevor Zegras (2-1—3) recorded his second three-point outing in three games and helped the Flyers skate to their fifth consecutive home win – their longest home winning streak since 2019-20, when they had two runs of that length (7 GP & 5 GP). Zegras registered multiple three-point games in a campaign for the first time since 2022-23 and reached that total in just 10 games (2021-22: 22 GP; 2022-23: 47 GP).
* Zegras (4-8—12 in 10 GP), who sits tied with Justin Brazeau (6-6—12 w/ PIT) and Mitch Marner (2-10—12 w/ VGK) for the most points among players skating on a new team in 2025-26, boosted his totals thanks, in part, to seven straight home games with a point. He became the first Flyers skater with at least 12 points through their first 10 contests with the franchise since James van Riemdsyk (2-11—13 in 2009-10).
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WORKING OVERTIME THURSDAY NIGHT
The Senators, Bruins, Lightning, Canucks, Rangers and Red Wings all required more than 60 minutes to defeat their opponents Thursday as close games continued to define the opening month of the season.
* Ottawa scored three game-tying goals before Drake Batherson and Tim Stützle each scored in the shootout as the Senators captured their fifth comeback win of the season – tied with the Mammoth for the most among all clubs. Linus Ullmark also made 27 saves in the contest to earn his 30th career win with the club and tied Craig Anderson (54 GP) for the third-fewest games in franchise history to reach the mark, behind only Martin Gerber (51 GP) and Ray Emery (52 GP).
* Morgan Geekie scored one of three Bruins goals in regulation before Marat Khusnutdinov netted the winner 2:07 into overtime. Geekie, who broke a tie with Mark Scheifele (5 GP from Oct. 11-20) for the NHL’s longest goal streak this season, became the sixth Bruins player with multiple goal streaks of at least six games. The others: Cam Neely (3x), Phil Esposito (3x), Barry Pederson (2x), Johnny Bucyk (2x) and Ken Hodge (2x).
* Anthony Cirelli netted his 23rd career game-winning goal 2:36 into overtime and helped teammate Andrei Vasilevskiy improve to 3-0-0 in his past three contests after starting the season 0-3-2. Vasilevskiy (20 saves) improved to 16-4-3 all-time against the Stars and only has more wins against two other franchises (17 vs. FLA & CBJ).
* Kiefer Sherwood scored a hat trick to help Vancouver battle back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits and set the stage for its shootout victory. Sherwood recorded his second career hat trick (also Dec. 16, 2024) and became the fifth active undrafted player with multiple, following Artemi Panarin (8), Jonathan Marchessault (6), Frank Vatrano (6) and Noel Acciari (3).
* The Kings rallied late to tie the game with 1:33 remaining in regulation but the Red Wings prevailed in the shootout to earn their third straight win and improve to 8-3-0 (16 points). Detroit recorded at least eight wins in October for just the fifth time in franchise history, following 2005 (11-1-0), 2001 (11-2-0), 2007 (10-2-1) and 1997 (10-2-2).
* Taylor Raddysh netted the tying tally in the third period and J.T. Miller scored the overtime winner to help seal the Rangers’ first multi-goal, third-period comeback victory since Feb. 18, 2024 – a 6-5 win against the Islanders at the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series. Miller notched his 15th career overtime goal and tied Johnny Gaudreau for the second most in NHL history among American players, behind only Max Pacioretty (16).
SAN JOSE’S CELEBRINI SHINES IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Macklin Celebrini (0-1—1) continued his hot start to the season by factoring on one of San Jose’s five goals against New Jersey to boost his 2025-26 totals to 6-11—17 (11 GP) – tied for the third-most points by a teenager in a single calendar month in the past 15 years. For more on Celebrini and other players with notable performances last night, check out the latest edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates.
NHL AND OVO UNVEIL LIMITED-EDITION COLLECTION
The NHL and October’s Very Own (OVO), the Canadian lifestyle brand co-founded by Aubrey “Drake” Graham, Oliver El-Khatib, and Noah “40” Shebib, unveiled a new limited-edition collection of NHL-licensed apparel, outerwear and hats. The campaign for the collection features former NHL players Tie Domi, Ken Daneyko, Joe Kocur, Rob Ray and Craig Berube. Starting today, fans can purchase the collection at NHLShop.com, NHLShop.CA, the NHL Shop NYC store in Manhattan, respective team shops, octobersveryown.com and October’s Very Own stores around the world.
QUICK CLICKS
* NHL.com’s 10 things to watch for before Olympics start
* Stars forward Tyler Seguin reflects on key moments in career ahead of 1,000th NHL game
* Oilers honor Adam Henrique for 1,000th NHL game
* ‘NHL Hockey Academy’ debuts on League’s YouTube channel
* Tuesday’s NHL Frozen Frenzy tripleheader up 20% YoY on ESPN
HALLOWEEN HAS SPORTSNET ONE TRIPLEHEADER opening WITH NEVADA DAY MATINEE
Each contest during the NHL’s three-game Halloween slate will be carried by Sportsnet ONE in Canada, starting with a matinee between the Avalanche and Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena as Nevada Day is observed in “The Silver State.” Colorado (6-1-4, 16 points) and Vegas (6-1-3, 15 points) are the only teams with just one regulation loss this season.
* Jack Eichel can eclipse Mark Stone (12 GP in 2024-25) as the fastest player in franchise history to reach 20 points in a campaign and become the League’s sixth American to hit the mark in 11 contests or fewer, following Kevin Stevens (8 GP in 1992-93 & 11 GP in 1990-91), Pat LaFontaine (8 GP in 1992-93), Jack Hughes (9 GP in 2023-24), John Carlson (11 GP in 2019-20) and John LeClair (11 GP in 1995-96). Nathan MacKinnon looks to become the second player in Avalanche team history (since 1995-96) with 10 goals through a dozen games in a season, joining Gabriel Landeskog (10 in 2018-19).
* Matthew Schaefer is set to skate his second career contest against fellow No. 1 pick Alex Ovechkin (also Oct. 11), who completed The Gr8 Chase against the Islanders on April 6 and needs one goal to become the first player in NHL history with 900. Schaefer scored his third goal of the season Thursday to boost his career totals to 3-5—8 (10 GP) and joined Phil Housley (2-8—10 in 10 GP) as the second 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history to record eight or more points through his first 10 games.
* Leo Carlsson can extend his point streak to a career-high five games and become the sixth player in franchise history with a run of that length at age 20 or younger, following Paul Kariya (8 GP & 5 GP in 1994-95), Mason McTavish (7 GP in 2023-24), Brandon McMillan (5 GP in 2010-11), Ryan Getzlaf (5 GP in 2005-06) and Oleg Tverdovsky (5 GP in 1995-96). Carlsson is set to skate his fourth career contest against countryman Lucas Raymond as the former hopes to join the latter on Team Sweden’s roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
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