The Florida Panthers came up short on Saturday in the first of a three-game homestand.

Playing just their third game in Sunrise over the past several weeks, Florida took a lead into the third period only to lose 2-1 to the Winnipeg Jets at Amerant Bank Arena.

Despite skating without key forwards Brad Marchand (undisclosed) and Anton Lundell (upper-body), Florida played a strong game during the opening periods and took an earned lead into the late stages of the contest.

That lead was off a snipe by young forward Eetu Luostarien that came moments after Florida came off the power play.

As Jets’ defenseman Logan Stanley was sprinting out of the penalty box after serving a two-minute minor for cross-checking Florida forward Mackie Samoskevich, Evan Rodrigues corralled the puck at the blue line and fed an open Eetu in the right circle.

It didn’t take long for Luostarinen to wind up and fire a laser of a wrist shot past a screened Jets’ goalie Eric Comrie’s glove and into the net at the 14:40 mark of the first period.

Florida held onto that lead into the third period, and it wasn’t until nearly the halfway point of that final frame that Winnipeg finally was able to light the lamp.

After Gabe Vilardi made a couple nice moves to get to the Cats’ net, a streaking Cole Perfetti found a rebound and beat Sergei Borbovsky to knot the score at one at the 8:34 mark of the third period.

That’s how the score would remain until there was just 4:14 on the clock.

On what appeared to be a harmless zone entry, Winnipeg made a couple quick passes to completely bewilder the Panthers and take a 2-1 lead in the game’s final minutes.

It was a great passing sequence, with Gus Nyquist finding Kyle Connor entering the zone and then Connor going to the back of the crease where Mark Scheifele was waiting to slam home what proved to be the game-winning goal.

On to the Sabres.

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Photo caption: Jan 31, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Winnipeg Jets center Cole Perfetti (91) scores against Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

The Islanders lost a frustrating game in regulation to the Nashville Predators, one they didn’t really deserve anything from, though the circumstances were still frustrating.

They blew an early 2-0 lead after looking pretty good in the first 10 minutes of the game, then were completely discombobulated the rest of the way, relying on Ilya Sorokin to keep them in it. Even with that, they also lost a 3-2 lead, had a goal overturned (and their coach’s challenge denied) for goalie interference on Anthony Duclair outside the crease, and gave up the game winner with just 1:14 left to play while the teams were at 4-on-4 following another head-scratching official’s ruling.

All that said, they’d have been lucky to get one point from this game and the 4-3 loss was warranted. You could argue they should’ve lost by much more — the Predators had a UBS record 22 shots in the second period alone — if only to make crystal clear they can’t get away with playing like this against non-Rangers-level foes.

[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]

To think, it all started out like it might be a fun night. Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair were buzzing on their first shift and got the Isles on the board at 1:29 as Barzal batted a bouncing puck in at the back door.

Matthew Schaefer double the lead four minutes later when Ryan Pulock handled a difficult pass from Barzal but stumbled with it just long enough to draw the opposite side winger toward him. That left Schaefer wide open for a feed, and the 18-year-0ld drove down the left wing faceoff circle and picked his spot on Juuse Saros for his 15th(!) goal.

But the lead didn’t last, and once again the Isles special teams could not reverse the tide. Nashville got on the board at the midway point just six seconds after Adam Pelech went into the box for tripping, and the Preds added a tying goal three minutes later. As the Predators continued to push, the Isles looked lucky to escape the period tied.

Even moreso in the second, when J-G Pageau got them a brief lead scoring against the flow of play. He drove the slot and made a pass attempt for Anders Lee, who had fed him first. The pass was blocked, but it still sent all of the Predators, including Saros, the wrong way while Pageau picked up the rebound and slid it in.

Filip Forsberg tied it at 3-3 seven minutes later, and miraculously that was how things would stay until Roman Josi’s late dagger.

The Goalie Interference(?)

Patrick Roy, the veteran of 19 NHL sesons and 1,029 games, clearly doesn’t understand what counts a goalie interference in this league…and neither does anyone else. The officials aggressively called this one off rather than waiting for a Nashville challenge (Saros’ dramatic glove toss may have helped), so it was left for the Isles to challenge and note some things that we have heard are important: 1) Duclair wasn’t in the crease, 2) Saros initiated contact, with his teammate helping keep Duclair there, 3) Not even sure if that contact was what prevented Saros — who seemed more intent in coming out to push Duclair — from making a play on a shot from the other side.

But whatever. I’m kind of glad it happened in a game the Isles seemed intent to lose anyway. You can argue from the scoreboard that it cost them the game, but they still killed the ensuing penalty off and they were sabotaging themselves throughout, they would’ve still found a way to lose.

This and That

• With the Isles under a barrage and unable to connect passes, Roy had his line blender out and was trying all kinds of combos. Nothing seemed to right the ship.
• Casey Cizikas did return to the lineup but Max Shabanov stayed in, replacing Jonathan Drouin who was officially listed as sick.
• Is there any more pure joy on Bossy’s green earth than 18-year-old Matthew Schaefer celebrating a goal?

Up Next

Can’t help thinking this one was a costly loss. Nashville is beatable, while the Penguins, Capitals, Blue Jackets and Canadiens all won tonight.

The Isles’ remaining schedule includes the back-to-back of Monday night in Washington and Tuesday back home vs. the Penguins, before they finish the pre-Olympic stretch Thursday in New Jersey.

It was an emotional day at PPG Paints Arena as a reunion of sorts was held for the Penguins’ 2016 Stanley Cup team.

A large chunk of the team’s roster from the 2016 Stanley Cup team was back in Pittsburgh to be honored and celebrated before the Penguins’ game against the New York Rangers.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby spoke at length about how it felt to be reunited with his teammates, saying that as you continue playing in your career, you tend to forget some of the big moments from the winning years, but that it was awesome to see everyone back in Pittsburgh.

As a tribute video to the team was playing in the arena, Crosby was visibly emotional on the ice.

“I just you know, obviously loved that group and it’s pretty special when you have that bond and you win together,” Crosby said to Kevin Weekes during an interview on the ice. “When you see them all here and you see some of those clips, it’s definitely emotional but it’s still awesome to see them.”

Bryan Rust shared a similar sentiment.

“We were hockey players, and that’s our goal, to win Stanley Cups,” Rust said. “To be able to do this, and do that with the group that we had and all the amazing memories, it brings back so many smiles. It brings back happy tears.”

Patric Hornqvist said he didn’t come back to town just for the ceremony, but to take a little walk down memory lane as well.

“We rented a car yesterday to drive around, see our old houses, where my kids went to school, and the grocery stores,” Hornqvist said. “We almost lived our old life for one day, not playing hockey, and then the same night, you meet these guys who are like family. When you win, that’s how close you get to each other.”

As for this year’s Penguins, Pittsburgh defeated the Rangers in a 6-5 barnburner of a game.

Pittsburgh has now won six straight games and are 7-0-2 in their last nine games with their last regulation loss coming on January 11.

The Penguins are back at home on Monday night as they host the Ottawa Senators and then hit the road to face the New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres before the NHL’s Olympic break.

Timo Meier scored, and Jake Allen made 30 saves on 33 shots in the New Jersey Devils 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday night.

New Jersey surrendered the game's opening goal for the 31st time this season. After the Devils failed to convert on two power play opportunities, Brady Tkachuk scored while Ottawa was on the man advantage at the 13:38 mark of the first period.

With 1:41 remaining in the period, Cody Glass won the offensive zone draw against Ridly Greig. The 26-year-old battled for the puck near Linus Ullmark's crease and passed it to Meier to tie the game entering the first intermission.

37 seconds into the third period, Jonas Siegenthaler was called for a hooking penalty, leading to the Senators scoring their second power play goal for a 2-1 lead. Ottawa went 2-for-3 on the man advantage, while the Devils couldn't convert on their five opportunities.

Tim Stützle and Shane Pinto scored the Senators' third and fourth goals in the final two minutes of regulation. Tkachuk finished the game with three points (one goal, two assists).

Jack Hughes was sidelined with a lower-body injury that he sustained against the Nashville Predators and is currently considered day-to-day.

The Devils will return to Newark and prepare to host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday at Prudential Center.

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Captain Roman Josi scored his 200th career goal in the third period, snapping a tie and giving the Nashville Predators a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday at UBS Arena. 

He is now the 24th defenseman all-time to surpass 200 career goals. Josi now has 10 goals and 23 assists on the year, recording a goal and an assist against the Islanders.

On the play, during 4-on-4 play, Josi took the puck up the ice into the Islanders' zone before backpedaling and then wristing a shot bardown on Ilya Sorokin for the lead with 1:14 left in the game. 

The Predators gave up the first goal of the game 1:29 into the game off a shot from Matthew Barzal. It's the fifth time in the last six games that the Predators have fallen behind early.

The 2025 first overall pick, Matthew Schaefer, scored his 15th goal of the season to double the Islanders' lead less than six minutes into the game. 

Adam Pelech was called for tripping on Andreas Englund, putting the Predators on the power play halfway through the first period, and Filip Forsberg converted to get Nashville on the board. 

 About three minutes later, Matthew Wood scored his first goal since Dec. 6 to tie the game at two. Wood had his first multipoint game (one goal, one assist) since Dec. 11, when he had two assists in a 7-2 win over the St. Louis Blues. 

J.G. Pageau gave the Islanders back in the second period, but Forsberg would net his second goal of the game to tie things up at three. Forsberg now has 22 goals and 21 assists on the season. 

New York believed it had scored the game-leading goal in the third period, but it was waived off due to goaltender interference. The Islanders challenged the call and lost. 

Of note, defenseman Nick Blakenburg did not play due to illness and was ruled "day-to-day."

Nashville improves to 25-23-6 on the season and is within three points of a Wild Card spot. It will face the St. Louis Blues next on Monday at 7 p.m. at Bridgestone Arena. 

NEW YORK (AP) — Roman Josi scored with 1:14 remaining in the game to lift the Nashville Predators past the New York Islanders 4-3 on Saturday night.

Filip Forsberg scored twice for Nashville, while Matthew Wood added a goal and an assist as the Predators snapped a three-game losing streak. Juuse Saros finished with 27 saves including a point-blank stop on Emil Heineman in the closing seconds.

On his winner, Josi skated into the Islanders zone, circled back and fired a shot over the glove of Ilya Sorokin that made him the first defenseman in franchise history with 200 career NHL goals.

Mathew Barzal finished with a goal and an assist for the Islanders. Matthew Schaefer and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored but the Islanders’ three-game winning streak came to an end. Sorokin made 38 saves.

The Islanders jumped to an early 2-0 lead when Barzal and Schaefer scored 4:27 apart within the first six minutes of the first period.

Forsberg got the Predators on the board with a power-play goal, and Wood capitalized on an Islanders miscue 2:54 later to tie the game at 2-all with 6:07 remaining in the first period.

Pageau put the Islanders back in front at 7:21 of the second period, burying his own rebound, but Forsberg answered again later in the frame with his second goal of the night to knot the score at 3.

Up next

Predators: Host St. Louis Blues on Monday night.

Islanders: Visit Washington Capitals on Monday night.