Marcus Johansson scored twice, Matt Boldy had a goal and two assists, and the Minnesota Wild beat Dallas 5-2 on Thursday night, ending the Stars’ 11-game point streak.
Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and an assist, Zach Bogosian also scored, and Vladimir Tarasenko had two assists as Minnesota won its second straight after a two-game skid that followed its 12-game point streak (10-0-2). Filip Gustavsson stopped 16 shots.
Miro Heiskanen had a goal and an assist, and Jason Robertson also scored for Dallas, which was 9-0-2 during its streak. Jake Oettinger finished with 27 saves.
Johansson gave the Wild a 3-2 lead at 8:40 of the third, beating Oettinger with a one-timer from the right circle.
Boldy had an empty-netter with 1:31 remaining for his 17th goal of the season, and Johansson added one for his 11th with 50 seconds to go.
Heiskanen put the Stars ahead 2-1 at 10:19 of the second with a short-handed score, coming on a one-timer off a pass from Esa Lindell off a faceoff in the left circle. It was the first short-handed goal by Dallas this season and the first allowed by Minnesota.
Bogosian tied it with 2:30 remaining in the middle period, firing a one-timer from beyond the left circle near the side board. It was his first goal of the season.
Robertson gave the Stars a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 9:32 into the game. Robertson fired a shot from the top of the left circle that deflected off the stick of Wild defenseman Brock Faber and past a screened Gustavsson for his 20th.
Eriksson Ek tied it with 3:50 left in the opening period, scoring on the rebound of a shot by Boldy during a Wild rush.
This highlights just how deeply entrenched the city’s love of sports actually goes.
Whether it’s merchandise, traveling to games, sports betting, or just buying tickets to watch the games, the figures indicate that when it comes to being passionate about sports, Philly fans aren’t afraid to let their wallets do the talking.
Spending Levels That Outpace Holiday Budgets
The study took a look at how much people tend to spend on Christmas gifts across the nation. It found that, on average, consumers spent around $870 per person. While not a meager sum by any stretch, Philadelphia sports fans generally exceed that figure through team-related spending, regardless of which sport they enjoy most. On average, Philly fans were willing to fork over approximately $944 each year to follow and support their favorite teams. That figure was generally split between gear, tailgates, trips to catch live games, and other related entertainment like online sports betting.
Sports betting alone has become a major driver of sports-related entertainment for local fans. With Pennsylvania boasting one of only seven fully regulated iGaming markets (online casinos included), local fans have plenty of digital platforms to turn to. The market has also branched out considerably over the years, and many fans now regularly use niche options like the best Bitcoin betting sites.
The appeal of these sites comes from their use of cryptocurrencies as a payment method. While Bitcoin is the most popular and widely used option, other tokens like Ethereum and Solana also feature regularly on these specialized sites. By exploiting the benefits of blockchain technology, crypto betting sites offer more private experiences, instant payouts, and a wide range of sports and markets to bet on.
For those who can’t regularly make it to games, online sites like these and other modern options like streaming services and social media help fans engage with their favorite teams in a variety of ways. This has translated into a democratization of sorts that now helps sports fans feel closer to their favorite teams and players. The fact that they can interact with and even directly reply to posts on social media pages has resulted in a surge of new avenues for fans to spend on sports, and Philly fans have embraced all of them.
Credit: Connor Gan-Unsplash
How Team Culture Drives Spending Habits
The gap in Philly fans’ spending habits for sports teams vs. holiday shopping shows how much weight sports carry for locals. Many fans attend several games a year across the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers. Special events like playoff runs, rivalry games, or stadium visits boost yearly totals. These costs climb once food, jerseys, travel, and parking enter the mix.
Some fans start spending early in the year. Others build their budgets around key dates like opening day or major matchups. High-demand games often draw higher prices. Families who attend games together may spend hundreds in a single outing. The survey placed Philadelphia among the highest spending markets in the United States, trailing only a few cities with strong football and baseball cultures.
A City Known for High Emotion and High Loyalty
Philadelphia fans often describe themselves as part of an extended sports community. This mindset surrounds each team with a shared sense of identity. When teams succeed, the city lights up. When teams struggle, people stay committed. Despite holiday shopping already surging this year, this emotional link helps explain why local fans spend more than the national holiday shopping average.
Season ticket holders make up a portion of this spending. Some fans keep their seats for decades. They treat renewals as part of yearly planning, much like household bills. Season ticket packages run far above casual single-game purchases, which pushes the average higher.
Travel adds more weight. Fans often take trips to see away games in nearby states. Washington, New Jersey, and New York each host teams that face Philadelphia clubs regularly. These trips often include hotel stays, meal,s and transportation. Some groups turn these events into long weekends, which adds to the total yearly outlay.
The Broader Picture Behind the Numbers
The study that produced these figures compared spending habits across major US cities. Philadelphia ranked near the top not only for total dollars spent but also for consistency across all four major sports. Many cities show strong spending in one sport. Philadelphia maintains strong spending across the board.
Even during the off-season, the spending does not fade. Many fans keep buying shirts, hats, and jerseys during roster moves or draft announcements. Preseason excitement sparks new purchases. Sports radio stations and local news outlets keep stories active, which keeps fans thinking about their teams year-round.
The Flyers keep making comebacks and winning shootouts, Trevor Zegras has kept as a spark through all of it, and maybe could just catch Team USA’s attention.
Nearly two years ago, Jared Bednar offered four words that summarized Nathan MacKinnon’s rise to the top of the NHL en route to his first Hart Trophy: We get in late.
Bednar’s team altered its travel itinerary to accommodate MacKinnon’s postgame recovery routine, which several of his Colorado Avalanche teammates also partake in. It’s just part of the near mythological tale of MacKinnon’s off-ice commitment to on-ice excellence.
Brent Burns has cultivated a similar reputation across more than two decades in the NHL. His passion for off-ice training and taking care of his body is a big part of why he has played more than 1,500 NHL games and will have a plaque inside the Great Hall at the Hockey Hall of Fame three years after he’s done playing.
This is his first season with the Avalanche, and he’s offered an addendum to the lore of MacKinnon and his teammates’ zeal for the work they put in during the season: They get in early.
Burns has mentioned this a few times. He’s always prided himself on being one of the first guys at the rink every morning, going back to his days with Joe Thornton and the San Jose Sharks. Then he signed with the Avs, and he started seeing a bunch of cars when he pulled into the Family Sports Center parking lot.
“That’s been a huge blessing for me coming here,” Burns said. “There’s so many guys here that are so dedicated to it.”
There were plenty of reasons to believe Burns and the Avalanche could be a good fit when he signed a one-year, incentive-laden deal on July 1. One of the most obvious: Burns is a workout warrior, a guy who has always been a leader in that aspect for every team he’s played for.
The idea of MacKinnon and Burns being on the same team conjured up images of the scene from Step Brothers, when Brennan Huff (Will Ferrell) asks Dale Doback (John C. Reilly), “Did we just become best friends?”
While MacKinnon and Burns haven’t done any karate together in the garage, Burns has enjoyed getting a behind-the-scenes look at what helps make MacKinnon one of the best players of his generation.
“Nate is very well known for a lot of his things and (expletive), I’ve already learned a lot from him,” Burns said. “We talk quite a bit about it. I love picking his brain.
“This stuff changes all the time, and Nate is obviously at the tip of the spear for all of it. It’s been awesome. I love that he loves to share and lets other guys know. That’s a really great thing. A lot of us can learn a lot from a guy like that.”
There have been plenty of stories about both players and their passion for taking care of their bodies, often told by teammates or ex-teammates on podcasts or just passed along by word of mouth. Both players are particular about nutrition and what they put into their bodies, though in different ways.
Burns has a ranch in Texas where he has imported various types of animals to hunt, allowing him to eat meat that never sees preservatives, a delivery truck or a grocery freezer. He makes his own coffee, both at home and on the road.
MacKinnon is one of three athletes, including Andrew Wiggins of the Miami Heat and Cole Caufield of the Montreal Canadians, who recently began endorsing HappiEats sport pasta. They also promote Cwench, a sports hydration drink. MacKinnon has been a big proponent of chickpea pasta in the past, and isn’t afraid to offer dietary tips to his teammates.
Their workout routines are undoubtedly different, but there are some similarities. Riding a stationary bike after games is a staple for MacKinnon, and many of his teammates have adopted it. Burns also likes to get on a bicycle, though his is the more traditional variety — he has incorporated cycling into his offseason plan for years.
“I do a lot of different things. He’s got his stuff, and I do a lot of things differently,” MacKinnon said. “He’s got all these different machines. I don’t know what those machines are, but they’re working for him.
Nathan MacKinnon (29) of the Colorado Avalanche and Ryan Poehling (25) of the Anaheim Ducks prepare to face off during the third period at Ball Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
“He’s a great guy, awesome teammate. He’s got a lot of stuff that he does, but he’s super excited every day about doing new things with (strength and conditioning coach Alexi Pianosi), who is also awesome. He’s a curious guy at 40, and I think that’s why he’s played so long. He’s stayed curious, doesn’t think he knows everything and he’s always open to new ideas. I think that’s kind of a key to life, to be honest, is to just stay open.”
MacKinnon might drive the proverbial bus for much of the off-ice work, but there are plenty of eager passengers in the Avs locker room. Brock Nelson has been friends with Devon Toews for years, dating back to their time together with the New York Islanders.
Nelson knew about the culture in the Avs locker room, both through Toews and because of his experience working with Andy O’Brien, one of the NHL’s most famous personal trainers. Nelson began working with O’Brien about a decade ago through John Tavares, but MacKinnon has worked with him for even longer.
That culture played a role in Nelson wanting to stay after arriving at the trade deadline last season. He signed a three-year contract in early June, weeks before he could have gone to the open market as the best center available.
“I feel like the whole performance aspect, from strength and condition to everything else here, is as good as it gets,” Nelson said. “Obviously, that is driven by (MacKinnon). He’s on a completely different level. His fitness, how dialed in he is, is as good as it gets.
“Guys see that, and there’s a method to the madness. He’s one of one. You can’t replicate what he’s doing and then after be like, ‘OK, I’m going to feel like him.’ ”
Nelson is one of the older players on the team, but he’s also someone, like MacKinnon, who has found a new level of performance and production later in his career. That’s not how aging curves have worked for much of the NHL’s history, but the work players do when they’re not on the ice is drastically different now.
Nelson has also enjoyed watching Burns assimilate with the Avalanche, and the physical fitness think tank that the team culture has fostered.
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns (84) takes the puck up ice against Josh Dunne in the second period at Ball Arena in Denver on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
“(Burns) has bags upon bags of tools and gadgets,” Nelson said. ” He’s always saying how he’s stiff and sore, but you see that he’s 40 and he still moves extremely well. He’s stacking all these habits, the gadgets. He’s always foam rolling. He’s always got something going on, something that is working for him in terms of performance and feeling good.
“It’s contagious. It drives guys to be better and try new things. If you can get 1%, 2% out of something that makes you a little bit better, it’s definitely worth it
“You have to go into like, I’m not going to feel like Superman. It’s not going to be revolutionary, but if you feel better by a little bit, then it’s something that mentally you can have belief in and conviction that this is one of those things that is helping me.”
MacKinnon is famously private about the specifics of his secrets, at least to the outside world. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman spoke about MacKinnon’s postgame stationary bike routine on an episode of the “32 Thoughts” podcast. A couple of days later, the Avs superstar countered a question about it with mild displeasure and a desire to know where Friedman was getting his information.
MacKinnon is one of the most insightful players in the NHL when it comes to the overall philosophies of taking care of the body. Just don’t ask him about specifics in his routine, unless you are one of his teammates.
“There’s a reason why he’s at the top of the world,” Burns said. “There’s obviously some God-given talent, but there’s obviously a lot of work and a lot of dedication and time. That he is willing to share with everybody else and make everybody around him better is really, well, it’s special.”
Maybe Burns would be willing to offer up a secret or two? Something that even he made him go, ‘Wow?’
“There have been lots,” Burns said. “He might share it with us, but I ain’t sharing it with anyone else.”
SAN JOSE – Perhaps the Sharks’ biggest strength in recent weeks – beyond getting outstanding individual performances from second-year center Macklin Celebrini and rookie goalie Yarsolav Askarov — has been their ability to get past a bad game.
On their heels from the start, the Sharks were blasted 6-0 by the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Wednesday night as they allowed two goals in the first period and three more in the second.
Nothing went right for the Sharks as Askarov, through no fault of his own, was pulled early in the second period after the fourth goal. San Jose also managed only a handful of quality scoring chances as it was shut out for the third time this season.
Now it’s a matter of correcting those issues – the lack of compete and physicality, along with some mental errors and defensive breakdowns – in time for their game against the Canucks, who are coming off a 5-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
“To get better and to be a good team, you can’t dwell on the past,” Sharks forward Adam Gaudette said Thursday. “If you have an off night, the most important thing is the response the next game. You can’t let those losses stack up.”
The Sharks (11-10-3) haven’t, as after their last seven losses, they’ve responded with a win six times.
The most recent example came last weekend, when, after a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, the Sharks responded the next day with a 3-1 victory over the Boston Bruins.
The Senators outcompeted the Sharks for most of the final two periods. But after what coach Ryan Warsofsky called an “honest” talk the next morning, the Sharks responded with a much better overall effort – combined with a tremendous performance from Askarov – to finish what was a four-game homestand on a positive note.
“You hope at some point it clicks, and you don’t have to have a response after a letdown, and you grow your team, and you grow your game,” Warsofsky said Thursday. “But for where we are as an organization, with the (youth) on our team, we’re probably going to have some nights where we maybe take a step forward, and a few games later, we take a little bit of a step back.
“We’ve got to, as coaches, challenge that and try to teach through that, demand more, and have an understanding of what it looks like when we have success. I think our group has responded pretty well for the most part this year.”
Much better than the previous few years, anyway. As the Sharks went 20-50-12 last season, they had five losing streaks of at least six games and responded to a loss with a win only 13 times.
This season, after a 0-4-2 start, the Sharks’ longest losing skid is two games, as they lost on the road to Calgary and Seattle on Nov. 13 and 15. That’s allowed the Sharks to stay near the playoff cutline, as they entered Thursday two points back of the second and final wild card spot in the Western Conference.
The Sharks will fly to Las Vegas right after Friday’s game to play the Golden Knights on Saturday.
“There’s just a better product on ice, and a bigger belief that we’re a good team in here,” Sharks winger Ryan Reaves said. “When you start believing that, those losses don’t mean as much. A loss is a loss, but you’ve got to move on, and good teams learn how to move on.”
CELEBRINI SITS
Celebrini was given a maintenance day on Thursday but will play Friday, said Warsofsky, adding that the Sharks’ leading scorer and No. 1 center isn’t dealing with anything specific.
“Just a lot of hockey for him,” Warsofsky said. “Just going through the wear of it all, just kind of dealing with bumps and bruises, and (Celebrini’s) no different.”
Celebrini had 20:47 in ice time on Wednesday and played late into the third period. Celebrini centered the Sharks’ top line with William Eklund and Will Smith and had three shots on net, 11 shot attempts, and won seven of 17 faceoffs. The Sharks’ power play created some scoring opportunities but still went 0-for-4.
SKINNER, MISA TIMELINES
Forwards Jeff Skinner and Michael Misa, both out with lower-body injuries, skated again on Thursday and could, if they continue to progress, join the Sharks for their next scheduled practice on Tuesday.
Skinner, 33, was injured in the first period of the Sharks’ game against the Calgary Flames on Nov. 13 as his right leg crashed hard into the boards while he was competing for a loose puck. Misa, 18, was injured during the Sharks’ morning skate on Nov. 5 before a road game against the Seattle Kraken.
“We’re rolling with 12 forwards, and it’s been a challenge to get through it, but it is what it is,” Warsofsky said. “We miss (Skinner) on the power play, and he can obviously create some offense. Misa is continuing to develop as a young center, so he gives us another option.”
Warsofsky said he wasn’t sure about the plan for Misa, whether he’ll join the Barracuda on a conditioning stint or be loaned to Team Canada for next month’s IIHF World Junior Championship in Minnesota. The Canadians are beginning their training camp in Niagara Falls, Ontario, on Dec. 12
Ducks center Leo Carlsson, right, and Vancouver Canucks center David Kampf vie for the puck during the first period on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Vancouver Canucks players celebrate a goal by center Linus Karlsson (94) during the first period of a game against the Ducks on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Vancouver Canucks center Linus Karlsson (94) celebrates his goal with the bench during the first period of a game against the Ducks on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Vancouver Canucks goaltender Nikita Tolopilo, left, blocks a shot by Ducks defenseman Jackson Lacombe, right, as Jansen Harkins waits for a potential rebound during the first period on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Vancouver Canucks goaltender Nikita Tolopilo (60) bobbles the puck during the first period of a game against the Ducks on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Vancouver Canucks left wing Evander Kane (91) celebrates his goal with the bench during the first period of a game against the Ducks on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Ducks defenseman Jackson Lacombe, left, blocks a shot by Vancouver Canucks left wing Drew O’Connor, right, during the second period on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Ducks center Mason McTavish celebrates his goal with the bench during the second period of their game against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes shoots the puck during the second period of their game against the Ducks on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Ducks defenseman Jackson Lacombe (2) celebrates his goal with the bench during the second period of their game against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Vancouver Canucks right wing Conor Garland (8) scores past Ducks goaltender Petr Mrazek (34) during the second period on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Ducks center Leo Carlsson (91) celebrates his goal with defenseman Olen Zellweger (51) during the second period of their game against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Vancouver Canucks goaltender Nikita Tolopilo, left, stops the puck in front of Ducks left wing Alex Killorn during the third period on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Ducks center Leo Carlsson shoots the puck during the third period of their game against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Vancouver Canucks players celebrate a goal by center Max Sasson (63) during the third period of their game against the Ducks on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Ducks center Leo Carlsson, right, vies for the puck against Vancouver Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek during the third period on Wednesday night at the Honda Center. The Ducks lost, 5-4. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Vancouver Canucks left wing Drew O’Connor (18) celebrates his empty-net goal with defenseman Filip Hronek (17) and center Elias Pettersson (40) during the third period of their game against the Ducks on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Ducks left wing Cutter Gauthier (61) reacts after scoring a goal with less than seven seconds left in the third period of their game against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
Vancouver Canucks players celebrate the team’s 5-4 victory over the Ducks on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
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Ducks center Leo Carlsson, right, and Vancouver Canucks center David Kampf vie for the puck during the first period on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, at the Honda Center. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
ANAHEIM — The Ducks spotted the Vancouver Canucks two goals on Wednesday night and never fully recovered to take a lead, falling 5-4 at Honda Center.
Jackson LaCombe spearheaded the losing effort with a goal and two assists. Cutter Gauthier had a goal and an assist and Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish also scored for the Ducks. Petr Mrázek got the nod in net, making 23 of 27 saves with top goalie Lukáš Dostál unavailable (shoulder, day-to-day).
Linus Karlsson, Evander Kane, Conor Garland and Max Sasson each scored for Vancouver before Drew O’Connor tacked on an empty-netter, with Sasson chipping in an assist. Tom Willander and Filip Hronek had two assists apiece. Nikita Tolopilo stopped 37 shots in his first NHL appearance of the season.
The Ducks remained atop the Pacific Division but have given up the first goal in 15 of 23 games thus far. They’ve gone 8-0-0 when scoring first but remained below .500 when ceding first blood. In Saturday’s victory over Vegas, the Ducks trailed 2-0 after less than five minutes, but they circled the wagons to win in overtime.
“We gave up two to start, you can’t expect to win back-to-back games where you’re down two-nothing before you touch the puck,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said.
He added: “It’s a tough league when you’re digging that kind of a hole.”
Gauthier scored his team-leading 14th marker off a redirection of a LaCombe pass 6.3 seconds before the final horn, leaving the Ducks short a score.
O’Connor had hit the open cage from the red line with 1:52 to play. That was after Sasson scored from in tight, being one of three Canucks who outnumbered Drew Helleson at the net with 4:02 showing on the clock. The puck ricocheted off Mrázek’s skate and then Helleson’s.
“I didn’t like the way that the last one went in with our coverage in front,” Quenneville said.
Mrázek’s glove save on Jake DeBrusk with 8:41 still to play nearly proved pivotal when Frank Vatrano stole the puck and darted off on a partial breakaway, though he was unable to slip the puck through the 6-foot-6 Tolopilo’s five hole.
The Ducks moved back within a goal by scoring with 3:41 remaining in the second period, six seconds after a Karlsson penalty had expired. They then leveled the contest off a counterattack with 1:26 left in the frame.
LaCombe’s alert backhanded chip up to McTavish sent him and Beckett Sennecke off on a break. McTavish gave up the puck to Sennecke, whose silky return pass served up McTavish’s fifth goal of the season on a velvet pillow.
“I saw (McTavish) swinging through there, he was in the right spot so I just kind of tried to throw it up there, and those two made a great play,” LaCombe said.
Carlsson flicked in his 12th goal off his backhand to cap a sequence where he generated a juicy rebound for Troy Terry, who hit the post yet again, banking the puck off the iron and into the slot for Carlsson.
Vancouver went ahead 3-1 at the 9:04 mark off a stunning effort by Garland. He took the puck from Terry and moved it to Brock Boeser, who curled and returned the puck to Garland. Garland then undressed Helleson with a show-and-go move before deking from forehand to backhand to lift a shot over Mrázek’s pad.
A mere nine seconds passed in the middle frame before the Ducks halved their deficit, marking the third-fastest goal to begin a period in franchise history, per the NHL.
Having carried over a power play through the first intermission, the Ducks won the faceoff at center ice and attacked up the left-wing boards to draw three penalty killers. That opened up space for the trailing LaCombe, who stepped into a shot for his third goal of the season, all coming in his past five appearances.
In the first period, multiple promising chances for the Ducks twice meant a Vancouver goal was quick to follow.
Terry came close to scoring shorthanded, dinging the post, and fanned on a follow-up bid not long before Kane cashed in the power play, 11:47 after the opening draw. He adjusted his angle and flicked a wrist shot to the far side from high in the left circle.
The Ducks had an odd-man rush and a regrouping that saw them storm the Canucks’ net shortly before Karlsson pounced on a puck that caromed off the end boards to finish at the side of the net, 9:49 into the contest.
“We came out hot and we got our chances. A few bounces didn’t go our way, and that’s how it goes sometimes, but I didn’t think we did anything wrong at the start, it just happens,” LaCombe said.
Up next for the Ducks is the season’s first Freeway Faceoff on Friday, when they’ll host the Kings in a matinee.
Nov 26, 2025; Elmont, New York, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) defends against a shot on goal attempt from New York Islanders center Kyle Palmieri (21) in the second period at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
ELMONT, NY — The Islanders’ power play has not been in a giving mood for quite some time, and it devoured any hopes of a win on Thanksgiving Eve against the Boston Bruins.
New York’s man-advantage unit went 0-for-4 with four shots in Wednesday night’s 3-1 loss, its second in three games since returning home from a seven-game road trip.
“The goals obviously aren’t there,” forward Kyle Palmieri said. “The percentage is what it is, but I think there’s looks. I would say tonight we had some good possession, we moved it around, we poiked and prodded, but it bounced over a couple of sticks, stuff like that. I don’t think we have to reinvent the wheel. We’re getting the puck in at will, getting set up, moving the puck well, and we’re finding ways to take what the penalty kill is giving us… The goals aren’t there, but I think there’s a lot of good things and stuff to build on, and they’ll go in.”
Trailing 2-1 midway through the third period and receiving one more opportunity to find an equalizer through special teams, Islanders’ rookie Matthew Schaefer’s errant pass was taken the other way on a 2-on-1 rush before Alex Steeves one-timed his second goal of the night past Ilya Sorokin at the 10:21 mark for a backbreaking shorthanded goal.
“The power play was not as sharp as it was maybe in the other games in a way that our entries were maybe a little too cute,” Roy said. “We tried to force plays instead of putting the puck deep and getting it. But when we did, we had our looks, and we had our chances. It’s just a matter of finding ways to get better shots on net. That’s all, because we can’t change our game. We’ve got to keep playing the same way. We just need to be a little bit better around the net and find ways to bear down on those shots.”
The Islanders (13-9-2, 28 points) are 0-for-their-last-27 on the power play in their last eight games, dating back to Nov. 13 against the Vegas Golden Knights.
With it, the offense has dried up, scoring just two goals in regulation across their last three games, though Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman did his fair part. New York more than tripled Boston’s shots, but 44 of their 45 shots were turned away. Meanwhile, Sorokin stopped 11 of 14 just shots.
“I thought we played a really good game,” Roy said. “If you’re looking at the time of possession and the scoring chances, we were the better team on the ice. But the quality of our shots may have to improve, find ways to bear down on our chances, and sometimes, we’re going to have to get a little more traffic around the net.
“But we’re going to win more games than we’re going to lose if we play that way. I can tell you that, because we played really well defensively and didn’t give them much.”
Mathew Barzal put the Islanders in front 4:41 into the game with a highlight-reel worthy flash of the mitts. Receiving a pass from defenseman Tony DeAngelo from the left point to the left circle, Barzal opted to move in toward the near post of Swayman, who was expecting a tough-angled wrister. Instead, the Islanders’ star cut toward the goal line, deked from his backhand to his forehand, and popped his hands back above the goal line to slot the puck past the out-of-position pads of Swayman.
“It was really nice,” Roy said of Barzal’s goal. “He played a really good game. I thought he was our best player. He had a lot of jump and did a really nice job on that play.”
Just 1:42 later, the Bruins equalized when Steeves found a bouncing puck in front of a falling Ilya Sorokin and stuffed it home with ease.
Tanner Jeannot put Boston ahead 43 seconds into the second period when he snapped a wrister from the right circle over the glove of Sorokin and into the top shelf of the net.
The Islanders had three power-play opportunities after falling behind, but only mustered two shots on goal in those six minutes, and they came on the first of those chances after Henri Jokiharju went off for a trip 1:33 into the second period.
Mark Kastelic’s trip eight minutes into the second resulted in two Islanders attempts getting blocked before they hit the net and a giveaway.
Morgan Geekie went off for a trip with 10:42 left in regulation, but the Bruins had more goals (one) during that Islanders power play than the hosts had shots on goal.
“The guys are there, and they know they have to do the work,” Roy said. “Maybe sometimes it’s a matter of having a bit more confidence around the net, and the power play will click. You get one, you get two, all of a sudden, you feel confident. That’s all that’s missing because we do everything right.”
Oddly enough, things tend to go wrong when the Islanders do a lot of things right. They are 2-8-1 this season when they outshoot their opponents this season and are 1-5-0 when recording 35 or more shots.
“I’m still not speaking (English) really well, but last year was worse,” Askarov said. “He was like, ‘Hey buddy, if you need to say something, just take your time. I’m going to be waiting. I’m going to be listening to you. I’m going to try to (help you) understand everything.’
“Not everybody’s like that.”
The Sharks traded Blackwood, forward Givani Smith, and a 2027 fifth-round pick to the Avalanche last December for goalie Alexandar Georgiev, winger Nikolai Kovalenko, a conditional 2025 fifth-round pick, and a second-rounder in 2026.
Still, Blackwood, with his big personality, not to mention his often-stellar play, left his mark in San Jose, particularly on Askarov, who has all but replaced Blackwood as the Sharks’ No. 1 goalie with his own recent string of success.
Askarov and Blackwood were again set to be on opposite sides of the ice on Wednesday night when the Sharks faced the league-leading Avalanche at Ball Arena. In the Sharks’ 3-2 overtime win over Colorado on Nov. 1, Askarov stopped 36 of 38 shots while Blackwood made 20 saves in what was his first game of the season.
“He doesn’t have bad days,” Askarov said of Blackwood. “He always has fun. He’s smiling, jokes around. It helps during the long hockey season, because you’re keeping your focus most of the time, but he’s that type of guy who makes your life easier and makes your life more fun.”
The Sharks haven’t reaped much reward for trading Blackwood, at least not yet, as the underperforming Georgiev and Kovalenko are now back in Russia. The 2025 fifth-round pick was used on center Max Heise, who had 15 points in 19 games for the Prince Albert Raiders before Wednesday, and the 2026 pick looks like it will come late in the second round.
Blackwood, a pending unrestricted free agent, signed a five-year, $26.25 million contract extension with the Avalanche, a term and dollar amount the Sharks were unwilling to commit to, partly because they felt they had their goalie of the future in Askarov, who spent the majority of last season in the AHL with the Barracuda.
Before Wednesday’s game, Askarov was now 7-1-0 this month with a .959 save percentage – second-best in the NHL among all goalies with at least five starts – as he helped the Sharks rejoin the playoff race after a 0-4-2 start.
There’s no doubt that Askarov credits Blackwood for helping him become comfortable in San Jose.
“Especially the first couple of weeks on a team when you’re the new guy who doesn’t know anything here,” Askarov said. “Just imagine being in a new place, and then you’re trying to learn some new things, and (Blackwood) helped me a lot. So that’s why I have a million percent respect for him.”
In 63 games with the Sharks, Blackwood was 16-34-7 with a .902 save percentage – respectable numbers considering the organization was going through a near-total rebuild.
“(Blackwood) was great for our group,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Worked really, really hard on his craft, and I think that’s something that probably (Askarov) picked up the most was how hard Blacky worked in the gym, how he worked on his body, how he took care of himself … and just becoming a pro, (Askarov) learned a lot.”
The Minnesota Wild made a long-anticipated changing of the guard in goal entering this season, following the retirement of the revered Marc-Andre Fleury and his second-most wins in NHL history.
The transition to Jesper Wallstedt as the backup to Filip Gustavsson has gone better than even the Wild could have envisioned. With a league-leading three shutouts over his last four starts, Wallstedt has played like he’s ready to be an equal part of an all-Swedish goaltending tandem on a team contending for the playoffs rather than just a rookie being eased into action.
With a 1.94 goals against average and a .935 save percentage, Wallstedt is in the top three in the NHL depending on where the playing-time minimums are drawn. He’s 6-0-2 in eight starts, becoming the fourth-youngest goalie in league history to start a season with an eight-game point streak.
The Wild, not coincidentally, have won five straight games to raise their November record to an NHL-best 9-1-1.
“When our team is boxing out players and taking sticks and blocking shots, that makes my job pretty easy,” said Wallstedt, who blanked Winnipeg on Sunday with 32 saves. “I feel like that’s been our biggest trend over the last month, especially in our own zone. Just making sure I can see and I can save the first puck, try to give no rebounds away.”
Gustavsson, who became the clear No. 1 goalie last season, shook off a rough start and has found his groove, too. He’s 4-1-1 with a .921 save percentage over his last six starts, including a shutout at Pittsburgh on Friday. After signing him to a five-year, $34 million contract extension near the end of training camp and watching their 2021 first-round draft pick blossom behind him, the Wild are feeling awfully good about their goaltending situation these days.
How Swede it is.
Both Gustavsson and Wallstedt, though four years apart, had the same goalie coaches growing up. Wallstedt even moved into Gustavsson’s old offseason apartment in Sweden, where the two grew closer last summer over golf and video games.
“Obviously it’s easier to have a conversation when you speak the same language. It’s pretty unique, being one of the only Swedish goalie tandems in a while,” Wallstedt said. “We’re great buddies, so I feel like our relationship is very good. We push each other, but at the same time we support each other.”
There are only 10 goalies born in Sweden who’ve appeared in an NHL game this season, and the Wild — fittingly for the Scandinavian country’s prominent place in Minnesota heritage — have their own pair.
“It’s a healthy competition, and I think that there’s a trust there,” coach John Hynes said. “I think that’s nice when you know, if the other guy’s going to play, that you can count on him to be able to do his job.”
The superstitious nature of the sport has steered many a coach to keep the same goalie in the next game after a shutout, but when the Wild play at Chicago on Wednesday, Gustavsson could well take the ice. Hynes said after practice on Tuesday he hadn’t yet decided. That would likely mean Wallstedt gets the net when the Wild host NHL-leading Colorado on Friday.
“They’ve both earned it. I think that the team ‘D’ in front of them is a lot sharper and better,” Hynes said. “When both goalies are playing as solid as they’re playing, then I think the rotation’s been good.”
Gustavsson and Wallstedt have kept the Wild from trailing for 480 consecutive minutes. The consecutive shutouts by different goalies was just the second time in franchise history that has happened for the Wild, with Manny Fernandez and Dwayne Roloson the other pair to do so in 2003.
After indicating Wallstedt would join Gustavsson and Fleury in a three-man mix last season, the 23-year-old was sent back to work with AHL affiliate Iowa for a third straight season. Statistically, it was his worst year in the minor league. But when he returned to the team for the stretch run of the regular season, the Wild saw a more confident goalie.
“Sometimes you feel like you did better than someone else and maybe you feel like you deserve to get to the next level and play more, but also I think what has happened happened for a reason,” Wallstedt said. “I think the success I’m having right now is something that was maybe meant to happen after what happened in the years before.”
LOS ANGELES — When the Kings and Ottawa Senators have gotten together this season, there’s been more fizzle than sizzle.
That was true again at Crypto.com Arena for much of Monday night, when the Kings prevailed, 2-1, to sweep the season series and win for just the second time in nine matches at home.
All three goals scored in the game came in the final 14:29 of the contest.
The Kings defeated the Senators, 1-0, in Ottawa on Nov. 15 in a game with 35 combined shots on goal and little dynamism to speak of across 60 minutes.
Monday’s game mostly followed suit, with the most excitement through the first 38 minutes coming during the scoreboard acknowledgement of former Kings defenseman Jordan Spence, who was traded to Ottawa this summer.
“It’s not always the most exciting action back and forth. Some of it’s just grinding in the neutral zone to just find a way to beat their system, and they had to find a way to beat our system,” said Brandt Clarke, who scored the game-winning goal. “We played a complete 60 minutes, and when we did that, we’re hard to beat. We’re obviously not jumping off the score sheet, but we’ll take the wins as they come.”
Warren Foegele also scored for the Kings with Joel Edmundson adding two assists. Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves.
Former San Jose Shark Fabian Zetterlund scored the only goal for Ottawa. Leevi Meriläinen stopped 20 shots. The Senators were without captain Brady Tkachuk (upper-body) and alternate captain Thomas Chabot (upper-body).
Just as Ottawa pulled its goalie, Quinton Byfield heaved a length-of-the-ice attempt that struck the post. The Kings had to defend five-on-six but successfully fended off Ottawa’s push, securing their first victory in four games.
The Kings’ power play, which had gone four for its past 50, came through in timely fashion, and in more ways than one. With just one second left on the power play, Clarke’s one-timer banked off Artem Zub and into the net with 6:10 to play.
Clarke, who gained the zone one on four and then spotted Corey Perry and Edmundson coming off the bench, deposited his third goal of the season. It was his first in 12 games and his first point since Drew Doughty sustained a foot injury in the prior meeting with Ottawa.
Ottawa made it a new game with 9:11 remaining. Tim Stützle gained the Kings’ zone and reversed the puck to Nick Jensen, who found Nikolas Matinpalo for a shot that created a rebound goal for Zetterlund.
The Kings removed the shrinkwrap from the net after 45:31 of game action had passed. After receiving Edmundson’s brilliant stretch pass, Joel Armia generated speed and slid a firm centering pass to Foegele, who had skated past Jensen for a tap-in at the back post and his fourth goal of the year. Armia has a season-high, three-game points streak.
Foegele had just three goals, three points and +1 rating entering the game, after posting 22 goals, 46 points and a team-leading +36 mark last season. Phil Danault, who is still looking for his first goal of the year and his fifth assist after 23 games, has seen an even bigger dip in production.
Coach Jim Hiller praised Foegele’s work on the penalty kill – the Kings were 3 for 3 on Monday and have negated an NHL best 92.5% of infractions in the past month – and hoped the goal would get him going offensively.
“‘Foegs’ got the goal – two players that jumped out at me were ‘Foegs’ and Phil Danault,” Hiller said, lauding Danault’s late-game faceoff wins on a night when the Kings were brutal in the circle. “Those two players, who would tell you they haven’t felt as good about their game as they’d like to, they were really important for us tonight.”
The Kings nearly got the game’s first goal in the final minute of the middle frame, but Byfield’s backhand had the same fate as Drake Batherson’s bid a moment earlier, eliciting the unmistakable ping of the post.
Just prior, Ottawa threatened during a power play, with an alert keep-in at the blue line by Stützle allowing Claude Giroux to feed Dylan Cozens for a sterling opportunity that was met by Kuemper’s pad before Batherson’s diving follow-up attempt nicked the iron.
Kuemper, who was a Vezina Trophy finalist last season for the first time at age 35, prompted Foegele to suggest Team Canada should be eyeing him for the upcoming Winter Olympics. He needed to do no more, however, to win over his teammates in black and silver.
“He’s our backbone, and he killed it tonight,” Clarke said.
A parade to the penalty box put the Bruins in a hole out of which they could not climb and they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Sharks in San Jose on Sunday.
The B’s took six minors and it was Macklin Celebrini’s power-play goal in the second period that stood up as the game-winner.
Jeremy Swayman was good again, making 28 saves, but Yaroslav Askarov was good, too, stopping 33-of-34 shots. But it helped Askarov that the B’s best offensive players were on the bench too often while the penalty killers were leaned on again.
“We just didn’t find our game the first half of the game,” coach Marco Sturm told NESN. “We found ourselves again too many times in the penalty box and then all of a sudden you’re down two goals. I still had confidence we could come back and we tried everything in the third. Just another frustrating night. We played good but we just left points here in the building.”
The Bruins went into the third period down 2-0 but got back into the game with a goal from — who else? — Morgan Geekie. With the return of Elias Lindholm after nearly a month out, coach Marco Sturm tried some new line combinations with David Pastrnak on a unit with Pavel Zacha and Marat Khusnutdinov and Geekie with Elias Lindholm and Alex Steeves to start the game.
But with the offense stagnant and urgency setting in, he put Geekie and Pastrnak back together with Zacha in the third period and the line responded with a dominant shift, finished off by Geekie’s 17th of the year. Pastrnak took the puck behind the net and made a terrific backhand pass to Geekie for the goal from the top of the crease at 10:02 of the third.
The B’s continued to pressure but gave up an empty-netter with 1:07 left. Nikita Zadorov circled back into the Boston zone and signaled for Jeremy Swayman to head to the bench for the extra skater. But then the defenseman’s pass from his own zone intended for Geekie at the red line was picked off by Celebrini and the Sharks were able to attack with Collin Graf finally putting it into the empty net.
While the Sharks went on the PP a half dozen times, the B’s could not capitalize on any of their three chances.
“We don’t get enough power plays,” David Pastrnak told reporters in San Jose. “We have to get to the net, that’s where you draw the penalties. We maybe don’t go enough in front of the net and that’s why we don’t go on the power play.”
The B’s found themselves down by a goal at 15:53 of the first period shortly after they killed off their second penalty. After an in-zone turnover, Shakir Mukhamadullin was allowed too much time and space, giving him a chance to move down to the right circle and his wrister ramped up off of Mikey Eyssimont’s stick over Swayman’s shoulder.
The B’s, outshot 12-10 in the first, had one power play in the opening period, with which they did nothing.
The second period saw the B’s come out better, led by the physicality of the third line of Tanner Jeannot-Frader Minten-Mark Kastelic again. They had a better power play but they could not score. And Pastrnak also forced Askarov to make an excellent save on a one-timer from the left circle.
But all those good vibes went down the drain when the Sharks cashed in on a power play at 11:45. The momentum shifted just before the PP when Dmitry Orlov upended Sean Kuraly in the Sharks’ zone on a hit that Kuraly felt was too low. As Kuraly jawed with Orlov, Ty Dellandrea attacked the Boston zone with speed and forced Jonathan Aspirot to trip him.
On the man advantage, Celebrini used a screen to beat Swayman to make it 2-0. That would be the GWG.
“I thought we played well in the second, had all the momentum and then took too many penalties. That killed us a little bit,” said Elias Lindholm. “It’s hard to win game when we’re in the box that much.”
The B’s penchant for penalties nearly could have cost them more later in the period. After Aspirot took another tripping penalty, Hampus Lindholm was called for roughing off the faceoff, giving the Sharks a 5-on-3 for 1:50, the seventh time the B’s have been down two men this season.
But the B’s managed to kill off the first penalty and then William Eklund wiped out the remaining nine seconds with a questionable holding call on Zadorov. The B’s couldn’t cash in on the first part of the PP but started the third period with 45 seconds left on the advantage. That went by the wayside, too.
The B’s eventually found a way to create some offensive momentum in the third but they could not close the deal.
SAN JOSE – Shakir Mukhamadullin and Macklin Celebrini both had goals in the first two periods, and goalie Yaroslav Askarov made 33 saves as the San Jose Sharks earned a 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Sunday to close out a four-game homestand.
Mukhamadullin scored his first goal of the season at the 15:53 mark of the first period, and Celebrini added his 14th at the 11:45 mark of the second on a power play as the Sharks took a 2-0 lead.
The Bruins got one goal back at the 10:02 mark of the third as Morgan Geekie scored his 17th of the season in front of the Sharks’ net off a pass from David Pastrnak.
Collin Graf iced the win for the Sharks with an empty-net goal with 1:07 to play.
Askarov didn’t have a chance on that play and had eight saves in the third period, as the Sharks finished their homestand with a 3-1-0 record.
Askarov made 25 saves through two periods, including one on a one-timer by Pastrnak midway through the second period.
San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) keeps an eye on the puck against Boston Bruins’ Marat Khusnutdinov (92) in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) blocks a shot ins ront of Boston Bruins’ Elias Lindholm (28) in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) blocks the puck in front of Boston Bruins’ Mark Kastelic (47) in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) and San Jose Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (33) skate off the ice following their 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) skates onto the ice after being announced as the “star of the game” after their 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
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San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) keeps an eye on the puck against Boston Bruins’ Marat Khusnutdinov (92) in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Askarov entered Sunday as one of the hottest goalies in the NHL. In seven starts this month, Askarov was 6-1-0, and his .957 save percentage was second-best among all NHL goalies who have started at least seven games.
Askarov was coming off a 31-save performance in the Sharks’ 4-3 shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings. Askarov also made 24 saves in San Jose’s 3-2 overtime win over the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday to open the homestand.
The Sharks were looking to bounce back after a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday when coach Ryan Warsofsky lamented his team’s lack of complete, battle-level, and attention to detail.
San Jose held a 2-1 lead late in the second period, but a poor line change helped lead to a goal by Senators winger Fabian Zetterlund, and a defensive breakdown late in the third allowed Tim Stutzle to score the go-ahead goal, handing the Sharks their third loss in five games.
The Sharks tweaked their forward lines for Sunday’s game. William Eklund was moved to the top line alongside Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, and Philipp Kurashev slid to the second line with Alexander Wennberg, who played his 100th game with the Sharks on Sunday, and Tyler Toffoli.
Playing on back-to-back days, Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky also wanted to get fresh legs into the lineup, as rookie Sam Dickinson entered the lineup for Sam Klingberg. But it was clear, too, that Warsofsky thought Klingberg’s miscue led to Stutzle’s goal on Saturday.
“We don’t scan well enough as a defense, we don’t read it,” Warsofsky said Sunday. “It’s a quick game. So, we’ve got to be able to read it quickly. Again, the change isn’t (ideal), but it’s a 2-1-2 (neutral-zone forecheck). We should be able to defend that pretty easily.”
San Jose Sharks’ Tyler Toffoli (73) fights for the puck against Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) and Boston Bruins’ Elias Lindholm (28) in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Ty Dellandrea (10) collides with Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) as the puck goes over the net in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Collin Graf (51) scores an empty net goal against the Boston Bruins in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini (71) celebrates his goal with San Jose Sharks’ Dmitry Orlov (9) against the Boston Bruins in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Ty Dellandrea (10) fights for the puck against Boston Bruins’ Jonathan Aspirot (45) in the second period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Alexander Wennberg (21) tries to get the puck past Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Boston Bruins’ Jonathan Aspirot (45) fights for the puck against San Jose Sharks’ Ty Dellandrea (10) in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ William Eklund (72) controls the puck against Boston Bruins’ Nikita Zadorov (91) in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ William Eklund (72) takes a shot on an empty net against Boston Bruins’ Marat Khusnutdinov (92) in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Collin Graf (51) fights for the puck against Boston Bruins’ Henri Jokiharju (20) in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ William Eklund (72) controls the puck against Boston Bruins’ Nikita Zadorov (91) in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ William Eklund (72) takes a shot on an empty net against Boston Bruins’ Marat Khusnutdinov (92) in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Adam Gaudette (81) takes a shot against Boston Bruins’ Nikita Zadorov (91) in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Barclay Goodrow (23) takes a shot on goal against the Boston Bruins in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
San Jose Sharks’ Alexander Wennberg (21) fights for the puck against Boston Bruins’ Mason Lohrei (6) in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
against xx in the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
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San Jose Sharks’ Tyler Toffoli (73) fights for the puck against Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) and Boston Bruins’ Elias Lindholm (28) in the first period at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Nov 23, 2025; Elmont, New York, USA; Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord (35) defends against a shot on goal attempt by New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal (13) in the first period at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
ELMONT, NY — The New York Islanders have done something they haven’t done in over a calendar year: Win a game in a shootout.
Facing a second straight loss after Freddy Gaudreau of the Seattle Kraken snuck the opener past Islanders netminder David Rittich, the red-hot Bo Horvat converted what would have been his side’s final chance with a quick wrister that beat netminder Joey Daccord. Kyle Palmieri snapped the winner in the next round, lifting the Islanders to a 1-0 victory on Sunday night at UBS Arena.
“It was nice to see Bo score that one because no one wanted to go back in the dressing room with a loss, even in a shootout,” head coach Patrick Roy said. “Then [Palmieri] finished the deal right after that. There was a lot of pressure on Bo. But right now, he’s responding to every challenge and deserves a lot of credit for it.”
It was just the third time ever that the Islanders (13-8-2) won by a score of 1-0 in a shootout, while breaking a five-game shootout skid that dated back to Nov. 5, 2024, against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The result helps soften the fact that the Islanders have scored just one goal in open play over their last two games (65 minutes), which began with a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday afternoon — their first game back at home following a seven-game road trip in which they went 6-1-0.
“It’s weird, back-to-back earlier starts, no pre-game skates,” Palmieri said. “We just wanted to get off to a good start. I thought we had some energy off the back-to-back. We’re excited to be back home in front of our fans on a weekend.”
Rittich continued to prove reliable in his relief appearances for Ilya Sorokin. The veteran turned away all 19 shots he faced in regulation and overtime, plus three more in the shootout.
“David was outstanding out there,” Roy said. “It was a great team effort on a back-to-back, tough schedule. We talked about it before the game. We didn’t want to lose two in a row. It was important to come with a solid performance like this one.”
SAN JOSE – Say this about the way the San Jose Sharks’ active roster is put together: When coach Ryan Warsofsky wants to make a change on defense, he has no shortage of options.
Sunday, it was again John Klingberg’s turn to take a seat in the press box, as the Sharks prepared to face the Boston Bruins at SAP Center to finish a four-game homestand.
Playing on back-to-back days, Warsofsky said he wanted to get fresh legs into the lineup Sunday, as rookie Sam Dickinson entered the lineup for Klingberg. But it was clear, too, that Warsofsky thought Klingberg’s miscue helped the Ottawa Senators earn a 3-2 win over the Sharks on Saturday.
Klingberg scored a power-play goal for the Sharks in the first period. But he was also on the ice late and out of position in the third period when the Senators got a 2-on-0 and scored what would become the game-winning goal.
As Sharks forwards Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev headed off the ice on an ill-timed line change, Klingberg was too far to the outside when Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson sent a pass right past Shakir Mukhamadullin to Drake Batherson.
Batherson passed to Dylan Cozens, whose shot on a forehand-to-backhand move was saved by Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic. Klingberg got back but was unable to clear the puck off the goal line before Tim Stutzle arrived and poked it across with 6:38 left in the third period for the go-ahead goal.
“We don’t scan well enough as a defense, we don’t read it,” Warsofsky said Sunday. “It’s a quick game. So, we’ve got to be able to read quick. Again, the change isn’t (ideal), but it’s a 2-1-2 (neutral-zone forecheck). We should be able to defend that pretty easily.”
Klingberg, signed to a one-year, $3 million contract as a free agent in July, was a healthy scratch for the first time this season on Tuesday when San Jose hosted Utah.
“I’m a defenseman. I’ve got to know what’s going on behind me,” Klingberg said after Saturday’s game. “But I’m thinking it’s a 1-1-3, so I’m gapping up on (Stutzle) and then they pass it, and there’s a breakaway 2-on-0 behind me. So, I’ve got to realize that a lot quicker.
“(Nedeljkovic) obviously makes a huge save, and then I kind of get stuck with my stick in his pad. Otherwise, I’m clearing out (the puck) on the goal line.”
Veteran defenseman Nick Leddy will also be a scratch for a third straight game Sunday, as the Sharks had eight available defensemen against the Bruins. They will soon have a ninth, as Vincent Iorio finishes up his two-week conditioning loan with the Barracuda.
The overabundance of blueliners has created a bit of a tricky situation for Warsofsky, who has to dress the best lineup he can for every game while ensuring that Dickinson and Mukhamadullin are still playing and developing the proper way.
Asked Sunday how tenable it is to continue to have nine defensemen, while only having 12 forwards, Warsofsky said, “It is what it is. We’ll focus on today, and the guys on the roster, and we’ll make do.”
Not having a spot available for a 13th forward could soon force the Sharks to make a difficult decision, as forwards Jeff Skinner and Michael Misa are progressing from their lower-body injuries and might be able to return to practice sometime next week.
After Skinner was injured against the Calgary Flames on Nov. 13, the Sharks recalled Zack Ostapchuk from the Barracuda, and Warsofsky has liked how the 6-foot-4, 212-pound center has played ever since.
When Skinner and Michael Misa get healthy enough to play, Ostapchuk could be returned to the AHL. But Warsofsky said Ostapchuk is “fighting, scratching and clawing to stay here. Competes every shift, skates, gets physical, plays towards his identity. He’s playing like there’s no tomorrow. We need more guys with that (attitude).”
The Sharks have another challenging week ahead: they travel to play the Colorado Avalanche, who are atop the NHL standings, on Wednesday, return home to play the Vancouver Canucks on Friday, and travel to play the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
SAN JOSE — Forward Philipp Kurashev scored on his shootout attempt, and rookie goalie Yaroslav Askarov didn’t allow a goal at the other end to continue his exceptional play of late as the San Jose Sharks earned a raucous 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday at SAP Center.
After the Kings scored late in the third period to tie the game 3-3, and following a scoreless overtime, Kurashev beat goalie Anton Forsberg with a wrist shot for the Sharks’ only goal of the shootout. But Askarov stopped shots by Trevor Moore and Adrian Kempe before Corey Perry’s attempt went wide, helping to give the Sharks their sixth win in their last eight games.
Adam Gaudette and Ty Dellandrea also scored, Collin Graf had two assists, and Askarov made 31 saves through three periods and overtime in another solid performance.
“I haven’t seen this team have any mental weakness,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We’re excited to come to the rink every day. They take the coaching, the constructive criticism, and they want to get better, individually and collectively. There’s a real care to win, which we haven’t had in a long time. And you can see it.”
With the victory, the Sharks, at 10-8-3, already have half of the wins they had through 82 games last season (20-50-12). They’re also 6-0-1 at home since late October, and are one point out of a playoff spot going into Friday’s games.
“We’re finding a rhythm. And I don’t think it’s just at home,” Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “We’re just finding our game altogether.”
The Sharks could have sagged after allowing a game-tying goal to Kempe with 58.3 seconds left in regulation time. But they were probably the better team in overtime, and once the shootout began, they might have felt some peace with the way Askarov has been playing of late.
This month, after Thursday, Askarov is 6-1-0 with a .957 save percentage with one of the NHL’s best marks in goals saved above expected. Askarov also had 24 saves in the Sharks’ 3-2 overtime win over the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday.
After Thursday’s shootout, Askarov pumped his fist before his Sharks teammates swarmed him.
“Awesome, unbelievable, clutch,” Dellandrea said of Askarov. “He wants the big moments. He wants a lot of saves. He could be the first star every night, it seems. He’s been playing great, winning us games, keeping us in games. We’ve got to tighten it up a bit and not rely on him.”
Thursday’s atmosphere was reminiscent of the glory days of the Sharks-Kings rivalry, as the announced attendance of 16,387 witnessed a back-and-forth game featuring dynamic playmaking and elevated physicality.
“It was great, eh?” Dellandrea said. “The Tank was loud. It was fun to play in. You hear the chants during play, during whistles. It’s a great spot to be in when it’s like that.”
“I wasn’t here when the Shark Tank was alive and well, but I’ve heard a lot about it, and we want to make it like that very, very soon,” Warsofsky said.
Anze Kopitar, in his last regular-season game in San Jose after a 20-year NHL career, scored on a breakaway on Askarov 1:47 into the second period to tie the game 2-2.
Kurashev, though, scored a go-ahead goal late in the second period.
Setting up near the slot, Kurashev created some space for himself, took a pass from Will Smith, and beat Kings goalie Anton Forsberg five-hole for his sixth goal of the season.
At the 11:46 mark of the second period, a Joel Armia goal was taken off the board, as, after a Sharks challenge, it was determined Kings forward Kevin Fiala had preceded the puck into the offensive zone.
Macklin Celebrini recorded his third career NHL hat trick in the Sharks’ win over Utah. Still, the Sharks did not like how they played, especially 5-on-5, as their lack of connectivity defensively allowed the Mammoth to create almost twice as many high-danger chances as they did, per Natural Stat Trick.
Thursday, the Sharks’ recently formed third line of Graf, Gaudette, and Dellandrea helped give the Sharks a 2-1 lead after the first period.
Gaudette scored his fourth of the season at the 2:33 mark off assists from Dellandrea and Graf.
Then, after Joel Armia scored a shorthanded goal off a Celebrini turnover at the 16:04 mark, Dellandrea gave the Sharks back the lead as a Graf pass to the front of the net went off his skate and past Forsberg for his second of the season.
For the better part of a dozen years, Brock Nelson would cue up video of the New York Islanders and watch himself move around the ice.
That’s the weirdest part for him now. When he tunes in to check out his old pals or catches Islanders highlights, that’s not him when No. 29 makes something happen.
It’s going to be an interesting weekend for Nelson and a different kind of Sunday night at Ball Arena. The guy who used to wear No. 29 for the Islanders will play against them for the first time since being traded to the Avalanche. The guy who used to play here, Jonathan Drouin, is now the guy wearing No. 29 for his old club.
“Yeah, (Drouin) texted me just to see if it was OK,” Nelson said. “It is funny — there’s a couple times where I watch their games and that just looks funny. Anytime I watched video for 12 years, I was just so programmed to be like, ‘OK, there I am.’ It’s weird to see somebody else out there.
“He’s a great guy, great player and it’s just a number. I told him I’d never tell him not to wear the number. I’m not there. Go ahead. But I appreciate him even thinking that he had to reach out.”
It’s been a pretty seamless fit with the Avalanche. He was already friends with Devon Toews from their days together on Long Island. He had an off-ice workout connection with Nathan MacKinnon.
Now Nelson will get the first of two reminders of his previous life in rapid succession. The Avs play Sunday at home against the Islanders and then travel to Long Island for the return match in less than three weeks.
“It will be fun to see those guys,” Nelson said. “There’s a lot of them I haven’t seen since the trade. I’ve talked to a lot of them. It will be weird. It will be different. Hopefully, I’ll see a few of them the day before and catch up a little bit. But I’m glad it’s here first and I get to see them before going there.”
The last time Nelson played at UBS Arena, he was named the No. 1 star of the game. His on-the-bench postgame interview was an emotional one — for him and Islanders fans. Everyone involved knew a trade was imminent.
“I’ve never really gone through anything like that,” Nelson said. “You see guys going back after long stints, and it can be emotional. So, yeah, I think it would be tough if we were going back first. It will be nice to get through this one, just to kind of see them.
“I’m sure there will be a couple of laughs, a couple funny chirps going back and forth. Just some good banter.”
Toews wasn’t with the Islanders for as long, but it was the organization that drafted him. He went through a similar situation — getting traded to Colorado, trying to find his place on a team with high expectations and settling into a completely new NHL environment for the first time.
Through Toews’ eyes, Nelson’s transition is going well.
“He’s playing great,” Toews said. “He’s not a guy that’s ever going to dwell on stats and things like that. He’s been a positive contributor to our team. That’s what he needs to be. Points will come when they come. He’s been a great addition to our penalty kill. He’s a great faceoff guy, which I knew from my time with him in New York. He’s finding ways to contribute in different ways.
“When you bring in guys like that, it raises your standard for your structure and your detail in your game. That’s sometimes lacking with younger guys, guys that are still learning and finding their way. Those (veteran) guys help with those details and then help the young guys as well, making sure they’re doing the right things and are in the right places instead of just being hyper focused on producing offense.”
Nelson has been the No. 2 center since the day he arrived. There was no question about the role he would play, which helps. Having guys like Toews and MacKinnon in his corner from day one also helped.
The offensive numbers have not matched his days on Long Island to this point. He had a mid-career renaissance from 2021-24, scoring at least 34 goals and 59 points in each of those three seasons.
In 37 games with the Avs, he has 10 goals and 20 points. This year, it’s four goals and seven points in 18 games.
The one part of his role that is different is the offensive expectations. The Avs don’t need Nelson to score 30-plus goals and drive the offense on a consistent basis to be successful.
New York needed him to raise the team’s ceiling. In Denver, he has helped raise the Avs’ floor.
“If you look at his analytics and underlying numbers, they’re all good,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “He’s a really smart, really well-rounded 200-foot player. From my tally, he’s fourth on the team in scoring chances. He hasn’t scored easily so far, but he’s right there tied with Val and his defensive metrics have been good. It’s just about trying to give him more shooting opportunities.
“Part of it is just the steadiness of his game and doing the right thing all the time.”
Nelson was a fixture in the Islanders’ core for years, but life changes quickly in the NHL. Calum Ritchie, who was part of the Avs’ package to get Nelson, will be on the other side and could be a key part of the Isles’ future. Trading Nelson was part of a reset, which was turbo-boosted when the Islanders won the draft lottery and landed defensive wunderkind Matthew Schaefer with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL draft.
Drouin is helping to replace some of the offense the club lost when it traded Nelson. Schaefer looks like a runaway Calder Trophy winner and has changed the long-term outlook for the franchise.
Nelson was part of the group that helped the Islanders reach back-to-back conference finals, the best stretch of success the franchise has had since the early 1980s when it ruled the NHL. He expects to have a chance to reminisce about those days Saturday night with his old friends, and then try and beat them Sunday night.
He’s also looking forward to the game back there in a couple of weeks. His wife and kids are going to make the trip. They’ve got a couple of old stomping grounds spots lined up and plenty of friends to catch up with.
“Sometimes I think back to my routine there and how programmed I was, how I knew everything about the surroundings,” Nelson said. “There are times where it feels like you’re still kind of feeling it out here, settling in. But there are also times where it feels like I’ve been here forever. Crazy to think it was 12 years there. It feels like it went by in a blink of an eye.
“But the more you think about it and you expand the picture, you think about the life things that happened — kids, family, all that stuff, just the friends we met there — and I feel fortunate for the time I had there.”
There is tough news for the other top NCAA hockey programs that were happy to see Matt Davis exhaust his college eligibility: It appears the University of Denver has found another one.
It was a winding journey for Quentin Miller to get here, but he looks quite at home in net for the Pioneers. He made 29 saves Friday night, outdueling Colorado College star netminder Kaidan Mbereko in a 2-1 overtime win in front of the largest crowd ever for a hockey game at Magness Arena (7,073).
“He’s amazing. He’s the best person and kid too, so you just want to see him have success,” DU defenseman Boston Buckberger said. “I think what he’s done for our team, being kind of a brick and our foundation back there, we know we can rely on him. He’s bailed us out numerous times already. When we go the other way and get our chances, we’ve got to look back and give kudos and credit to him.
“If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have been able to come back (Friday) night. Huge credit to him. I just hope he keeps it rolling, because it’s awesome.”
People toss around the term legend too loosely in sports, but Davis became one at DU after his incredible 2024 postseason run leading the Pioneers to an NCAA-record 10th national championship. He also helped the Pios back to the Frozen Four last year, and finished his career 6-1 in NCAA Tournament games with eight goals allowed.
Those are massive skates to fill. Enter Miller, who played for three different Canadian junior teams and 10 months ago wasn’t playing at all because of an injury.
A Montreal native, Miller was the backup goalie for the Patrick Roy-led Quebec Ramparts in 2022-23. That team won the Memorial Cup, and helped Roy return to the NHL with the New York Islanders. His work also made him a fourth-round pick in the 2023 NHL draft by his hometown Montreal Canadiens.
Miller was traded in the middle of the next season to Rimouski. He needed shoulder surgery in September 2024, so Rimouski, which was hosting the Memorial Cup, traded for another goaltender. When he was getting close to returning from the surgery, there wasn’t going to be obvious playing time for him, so he went west to the BCHL and joined the Chilliwack Chiefs.
That’s when the Pioneers got involved. Before players with CHL experience were granted NCAA eligibility, junior players often committed years in advance of college. The forthcoming rule change drastically altered the recruiting landscape last season.
“(Assistant coach Tavis MacMillian) learned of a guy in Chilliwack that was coming out of injuries, so just connections and people that we know up there,” DU coach David Carle said. “We didn’t have a long time to watch him, because he came back from injury sometime in late January, early February. We made the decision to recruit him and fortunately for us, he was able to get (33) games in through the BCHL playoffs.
“We have good connections in the Montreal organization as well, and they were supportive of him coming here. That all kind of factors into it.”
Miller played 10 regular-season games for the Chiefs, then helped them to the BCHL championship series before losing to the Brooks Bandits. The Pios not only had to replace Davis, but his backup from the past two seasons, Freddie Halyk, also transferred to Brown.
The three goalies on the roster are two freshmen — Miller and Johnny Hicks — plus junior Paxton Geisel, who had appeared in one game in two years.
“I think that was the big question coming into this year. We didn’t really have a goalie,” junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp said. “But (Miller) has come in and he’s been fantastic. Even from game one against Air Force, he had a really good game, and he’s just embraced it. He’s super confident. He’s easy to play with. He’s getting better on his goalie breakouts and just keeps improving.”
Miller improved to 6-2-1 with a .941 save percentage after the win Friday night. He helped DU go to Western Michigan, the defending NCAA champs, and sweep the Broncos last weekend with 76 saves on 80 shots.
Colorado College was the better team for much of the first game in the Gold Pan series Friday night, but Miller was unflappable in net. He’s allowed one goal or fewer in six of his nine starts.
The Pioneers have a deep, but young group of forwards and an experienced defense corps. They don’t have a superstar talent like Zeev Buium, but Carle’s club boasts 14 NHL draft picks and a few others who will sign professional free agent contracts.
As Pohlkamp noted, goaltending was a big question. It might not be now, given how quickly Miller has settled in as the No. 1 guy.
“I think it’s just his consistency,” Buckberger said. “I don’t think he’s really let in many bad goals. He’s just been so solid back there. Now he’s starting to play the puck better, like Matty Davis did so well. Just communicating with him, working in practice, seeing him grow as a goalie, it’s been amazing.”
Scott Wedgewood didn’t need a full calendar year to show the Colorado Avalanche why the club should want to keep him around.
Wedgewood signed a one-year contract extension Thursday morning worth $2.5 million, a source confirmed to the Denver Post. The 33-year-old goaltender is in the final season of a two-year deal he had originally signed with the Nashville Predators, and he would have been an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Instead, the Avs now have the “Lumber Yard” tandem of Mackenzie Blackwood and Wedgewood in place through the 2026-27 season.
“It’s just a place that my wife and I have felt at home with,” Wedgewood said. “A great hockey team. All those guys in the room, I owe them a lot of beers for putting me in this situation. It’s just been a good fit since I got here.”
Wedgewood’s arrival helped stabilize the goaltending position. The Avs were last in the NHL in save percentage before Dec. 1. They added Blackwood 10 days later and had the sixth-best save percentage through the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
Blackwood missed the first 12 games of this season, rehabbing from an offseason procedure. Wedgewood has filled in as the starter and leads the NHL with 10 wins (10-1-2). His .913 save percentage is fifth among goalies with at least 10 games played, and his 2.26 goals against average is third.
Wedgewood said the deal was almost completed Wednesday night, but his wife likely found out on social media when it was officially done Thursday morning because it was just before the morning skate at Ball Arena. His parents are also in town to help celebrate.
“It’s a chance to play 30-plus games, a chance to be on a really good team, a chance of winning (the Stanley Cup),” Wedgewood said. “When you put it in that perspective, it’s probably the best spot in the league to be a 1A and 1B with (Blackwood).”
The Avs also have Ilya Nabokov, a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL draft, under contract for next season. Nabokov, 22, was the KHL playoff MVP in 2024 and is expected to join the Avs in the spring after his season with Magnitogorsk ends.
After back-to-back strong seasons as Magnitogorsk’s starter, Nabokov has struggled at times this year.
“We’ve got Nabokov coming, we’ve got Blackwood locked in (through 2030), but Nabokov’s never played in North America or the NHL,” Bednar said. “(A) good prospect and has some growth that he still needs in his game.
“When you get a guy (like Wedgewood) who wants to be here and fits in your culture and then performs like this on the ice, I think the natural progression is trying to get him locked up.”
Valeri Nichushkin will miss at least a handful of games and is week-to-week, Bednar said Thursday morning. The club expects to have a better handle on his timeline early next week.
“Nothing too serious, which is good, but serious enough that he’s going to miss a handful of games at least,” Bednar said.
The Avs have had players missing with injuries this season, but the top-nine forwards all played each of the first 17 games.
In the meantime, Brindley will move up to the second line Thursday night against the Buffalo Sabres and play next to Brock Nelson and Ross Colton. Brindley has been an early-season surprise for the Avs, earning more trust from the coaching staff while playing primarily on the fourth line.
“Gavin Brindley — that’s how we (replace him),” Bednar said. “With Val, it’s power play, it’s penalty kill, it’s top-six minutes, it’s empty net when you need one and empty net when you need to keep the other team off the board. It’s a lot of different duties that we will split up.
“It’s a great opportunity for Gavin. I think he’s earned that.”
Girard returns from upper-body injury
While the forward group will be missing a key figure, the defense corps gets Samuel Girard back Thursday night against the Sabres.
Girard missed all of training camp with a lower-body injury, but returned in time for the season opener. He played two games, then was lost for nearly five weeks with an upper-body issue.
He will play with Sam Malinski on the club’s third pairing to start. Bednar said he’s liked how Josh Manson and Brent Burns have fared as the second pairing.
“I feel good,” Girard said. “It’s been a long five weeks, but I’m excited to be back. … Obviously, it sucks. You want to be out there. You want to be playing. Second game, something happened and I had to go back to zero. I’m glad to be back today.”
