The injury bug just won’t stop fluttering around the Florida Panthers.

After starting the season with three key players on LTIR – Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Tomas Nosek – Florida was forced to finished Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers down a man due to an apparent injury.

Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov left Florida’s 2-1 victory over the Flyers with just under 10 minutes left in the second period and did not return.

The play saw Kulikov go awkwardly into the boards after attempting a body check in the neutral zone.

He immediately skated to the bench afterwards, skating slowly across the ice and gingerly holding his right arm.

Soon after, the Panthers officially ruled him out with an upper-body injury.

After the game, Florida Head Coach Paul Maurice did not have much of an update on his veteran blueliner.

"We'll get him looked at tomorrow and then we'll give you a better idea,” Maurice said.

If Kulikov is unable to play, Uvis Balinskis will slot into his spot in Florida’s lineup and next to Jeff Petry on the third defensive pairing.

The Panthers will practice on Friday in Fort Lauderdale before hosting the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

Maurice’s next opportunity to provide an update will be after Friday’s skate.

Stay tuned.

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Photo caption: May 6, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov (7) looks on against the Boston Bruins during the first period in game one of the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

Former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Anthony Angello has announced his retirement from hockey. 

Angello, who played in 31 games for the Penguins from 2019-22, announced his retirement via his Instagram. 

"The time has finally come to hang the skates up. Hockey is a beautiful game that I gave everything to, and wow, was it ever generous in return. It’s given me friends, memories, and experiences to last a lifetime. It’s allowed me to chase and accomplish childhood dreams," part of Angello's post read. 

Angello compiled three goals and five points in 31 games with the Penguins. He was most recently with the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals and Syracuse Crunch during the 2024-25 season. He compiled seven goals and 14 points in 41 games with the Admirals and four goals and 10 points in 19 games with the Crunch.

The Penguins picked Angello in the fifth round of the 2014 NHL Draft. He played his college hockey at Cornell before joining the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and eventually the main NHL squad. 

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Throughout his first Training Camp as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, Todd McLellan emphasized the importance of mental fortitude and responding the right way when things inevitably go wrong over the course of an 82-game season.

The Red Wings didn't live up to his message in their Home Opener on Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens, surrendering five unanswered goals after taking an early 1-0 lead as part of a 5-1 setback.

Back at it Saturday vs. Toronto. pic.twitter.com/VwwjaYXokJ

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 10, 2025

As the seconds ticked off the clock in the third period, there was a noticeable smattering of boos from the fans who hadn't already gotten a head start on the traffic. 

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Afterward, McLellan said that that reaction was deserved. 

"We earned the Bronx boos or whatever you want to call it, we earned those," McLellan said. "And it's up to us to fix it. If we just play fundamentally sound hockey, we wouldn't be putting ourselves in that situation. Until we get that down and get it back in it's box if you will, we'll have trouble winnings games." 

Several of the Canadiens goals were a result of the Red Wings not playing the kind of fundamentally sound hockey that McLellan alluded to.

Montreal generated several odd-man rushes in the opening 20 minutes, capitalizing first on a partial breakaway after a missed defensive assignment that led to a Zack Bolduc goal, then on a two-on-one rush where Oliver Kapanen converted off a pass from Alex Newhook.

Zachary Bolduc ties it up! 💪 pic.twitter.com/Cv9HqjkFMB

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 9, 2025

Oliver Kapanen scores AGAIN after getting his first NHL goal last night 👏 pic.twitter.com/0efZcMC5bX

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 9, 2025

After two more goals from the Canadiens in the second period, goaltender John Gibson, who was making his Red Wings debut after being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks in an offseason trade, was pulled in favor of Cam Talbot. 

Defenseman Moritz Seider explained that despite the messages from McLellan during Training Camp and the pre-season, they were unable to execute the way they wanted to against the Canadiens.

"We talked about it so many times during Camp, and we just couldn't find a way to prevent the chances and make it happen on the other side," Seider said. "It's kind of tough that way, but we just have to regroup. Obviously it's a long year, and hopefully it's just a bump in the road." 

The Red Wings will have their work cut out for them as they next face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night in what will be another raucous atmosphere at Little Caesars Arena. 

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Pittsburgh Penguins legendary forward Evgeni Malkin looked like a man possessed during the Penguins' 3-0 win over the New York Rangers on Tuesday and carried that play into Thursday's game against the New York Islanders. 

He came into Thursday's game one point off from tying Mats Sundin for 30th on the NHL's all-time scoring list and ultimately passed him, thanks to a three-point performance. He opened the scoring in the first period before dishing out two beautiful assists, including the game-winner in the third period.

Justin Brazeau scored his third goal in two games with less than six minutes remaining in the third period after 

Malkin now has 1,351 points, which is 30th on the NHL's all-time points list. He's only two away from tying Guy Lafleur for 29th on the all-time scoring list and three away from tying Brendan Shanahan for 28th. Malkin's five points in the first two games of a season are a career best.

The Penguins held on for a 4-3 victory over the Islanders and are 2-0-0 to start the 2025-26 season. Malkin will try and keep his hot start going on Saturday when the Rangers come to PPG Paints Arena.

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For the first time since 2019, the Nashville Predators are opening an 82-game regular season with a win at home.

The Predators defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2-1, on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena, powered by a 35-plus save performance by Juuse Saros. Ryan O'Reilly scored the game-winning goal on the power play in the third period.

"Juice [Saros] was outstanding, and gave us a chance to win the game," Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. "I'm really proud of the group. It wasn't the smoothest water all the time, but we hung in there." 

Here are three things we saw in the season opening victory.  

Juuse Saros kept Predators close throughout

The Predators' offense struggled to get anything going through the majority of the game, but it was goaltender Saros who was able to give them a fighting chance throughout. 

Under a bit of a spotlight after a disappointing 24-25 season, Saros made 37 saves on 38 shots. In the second period, he had already faced nearly 30 shots. The goal allowed in the first period came off a play where the puck deflected off two Predator sticks before Dmitri Voronkov put it in.  

The Blue Jackets also had a goal called back at the end of the second period after it was reviewed, as Saros had been interfered with. 

The called-back goal played into what Brunette said he wanted to help Saros with in clearing out space in front of the net. He said the Predators didn't "help" Saros last season, but did in the win over Columbus. 

I never lost confidence in him [last season] and I didn't think we helped him. 
Today, we help him [Saros]; he needs to see the puck to be effective," Brunette said. "We've got to clean the porch in front of the net a little bit better. Even though we're not quite there, it was a good step in the right direction." 

While the Predators likely don't want anyone to be carrying them, Saros gave them a fighting chance the entire night, allowing them to walk away with a win. The pressure may be just what he needed to get back into form. 

"Juice [Saros] was unbelievable tonight," O'Reilly said. "He was our best player by far, especially when they [Columbus] had momentum, and he made big stops to calm it down for us." 

Predators' offense still settling in 

Nashville's offense wasn't electric, but did enough to pick up the win. 

"It was a little bit of a difficult opener. Two teams that don't play the cleanest hockey," Filip Forsberg said. "They were better for two, but I thought in the third period we played really well. We got a big power play goal and obviously dominated the rest of the match." 

It went 1-for-4 on the power play, with O'Reilly scoring the lone special teams goal on an opportunity that he really created for himself in front of the net.

He got a feed from high to low from Forsberg and backhanded it in, opening up Jet Greaves off an individual stick-handling effort. 

"The PP [power play] needed to step up and get a big goal," O'Reilly said. "We won some battles there. You could feel all the [penalty] killers moving up and I knew I had time to make a move. I tried to get it from the middle, move up and make a move in front of the net." 

Michael Bunting scored the Predators' first goal of the season, which he scored off his own rebound. Bunting's original shot was saved, bounced off two Blue Jacket players, came back to him, and he scored on the second chance. 

Playing with a handful of new players on new lines, the offense hasn't yet found its identity, let alone individual lines. The Jonathan Marchessault, Erik Haula and Bunting trio looked the best,  as they've found a bit of chemistry in the preseason. 

However, the Predators were chasing a 10-shot deficit throughout the game, with Saros having to do most of the heavy work in the first two periods. 

Brady Martin has decent debut 

While the Predators' 18-year-old center, Brady Martin, didn't record his first NHL point, he held his own on the top line with Forsberg and O'Reilly. 

Martin logged 12:44 minutes of ice time on 14 shifts, won 42% of faceoffs and had a shot block. At the same time, he was on the ice for the Voronkov goal and gave away the puck twice. 

"It was a hard game, and he's [Martin] kind of against their best players," Brunette said. "He hung in there like, he has all camp, found a way to get through it and to make a few plays. It's a great learning experience." 

It was still a good start for the fifth overall pick. He was utilized not just in the top six, but on the Predators' power play as well. Whether the Predators would like to keep him in Nashville past the nine games, Martin is still getting critical experience. 

"It's tough coming into the league as an 18-year-old with NHL players that have been here for awhile," Martin said. "I think I held my own and I'm hoping for better games to come." 

Milwaukee call-ups Joakim Kemmel and Adam Wilsby also cracked the Predators' opening night roster. Kemmel skated on the second line with Steven Stamkos and Fedor Svechkov. Wilsby was on the first pairing with Roman Josi. 

Ozzy Wiesblatt was a healthy scratch as Tyson Jost took the fourth line, right wing position. Nick Blankenburg was also a healthy scratch.