LAS VEGAS — Some fans brought signs supporting Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart, and the Vegas crowd generally welcomed him from the moment he skated onto the ice.

Hart, one of five 2018 Canada world junior hockey players acquitted of sexual assault in July, made his first NHL appearance in nearly two years Tuesday night and received the loudest response during introductions before Vegas’ 4-3 shootout victory over Chicago. If there were any boos, they were difficult to hear.

Hart made 27 saves, including six in overtime.

“I think just skating out the first time onto the ice wearing a Golden Knights sweater is an amazing feeling,” Hart said. “It didn’t really sink in until the national anthem. Just looking around and that feeling you’re back playing.”

Hart then became emotional, wiping his right eye.

“Sorry,” he said. “Yeah, it’s been a really difficult journey to get back, one I wouldn’t have been able to do without my family and friends. I’m just so happy to be playing the game again.”

Hart was the first of those five Canada junior players to agree to an NHL contract. The league ruled those players were eligible to sign deals beginning Oct. 15 and to play starting Dec. 1. Hart signed a two-year, $4 million contract and has been working with Vegas’ American Hockey League affiliate in Henderson, Nevada.

After he agreed to sign, Hart read a statement to reporters that, in part, said he wanted “to show the community my true character and who I am and what I’m about.”

Hart was asked Monday what steps he has taken to fulfill that pledge.

“There’s been a few things we’ve talked about,” Hart said. “We did a thing there in Henderson helping out the homeless. There’s some things we’ve talked about throughout the season. Whatever I can do to help, I’m happy to help.”

Giving Hart his first start at home could help ease him into what could be a rocky reception around the league. After facing the Blackhawks, Vegas goes on a five-game road trip against Eastern Conference teams, including a Dec. 11 stop at Hart’s former club, the Philadelphia Flyers.

“I think he just wants to go back to being a hockey player,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. ”Getting back on the ice and practicing, all that was step one of preparation for this moment. He’ll keep doing that for his next start. We’ve got Philly around the corner. I’m sure there will be a conversation about that down the road. We’ll deal with that next week when we get to it, but right now, he should just enjoy his night.”

Hart worked in Henderson on getting back into NHL game shape. He appeared in three games and went 1-2.

“I’ve worked my (butt) off to get back to this point,” Hart said Monday. “For me, the key is preparation and I’ve done everything I can to be prepared.”

Against the Blackhawks, Hart gave up a goal on the second shot he saw, a drive from Oliver Moore above the right circle. In the second period, Hart left his crease to try to clear the puck but instead sent the pass right to Tyler Bertuzzi, who scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard then beat Hart with pinpoint shot from the right circle for a 3-2 lead early in the third.

But when the Golden Knights absolutely needed saves, Hart delivered. He shut out the Blackhawks over the final 15:15 of regulation and was spectacular in overtime — particularly when teammate Shea Theodore broke his stick. Hart then stopped three of four attempts in the shootout to end Vegas’ seven-game losing streak in games that went to overtime.

His new teammates celebrated as if they had just won a Stanley Cup playoff game.

“Everybody here has been so great,” Hart said afterward. “They’ve been very welcoming. The organization’s been awesome, and I’m just grateful for everything and the opportunity here.”

The 27-year-old last played in an NHL game on Jan. 20, 2024, for Philadelphia. Hart played six seasons for the Flyers, going 96-93-29 with a .906 save percentage and 2.94 goals-against average.

The Golden Knights could use the help in net, especially with starting goalie Adin Hill on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and his return possibly weeks away. Akira Schmid has received the majority of the work with Hill out and is 9-2-4 with an .896 save percentage and a 2.51 GAA.

Vegas had lost four straight games before defeating San Jose 4-3 on Saturday night.

“I thought he was outstanding,” Theodore said about Hart. “He made a lot of huge saves, especially in the shootout. That’s what you need, and we’re all so happy for him.”

ST. LOUIS — Jimmy Snuggerud is expected to miss at least six weeks with a left wrist injury that requires surgery, and fellow St. Louis Blues forward Alexey Toropchenko also is out a significant amount of time after sustaining burns to his legs in a home accident.

General manager Doug Armstrong announced Snuggerud will go on injured reserve and be re-evaluated in six weeks and Toropchenko is being listed as week to week. No other details were provided.

Aleksanteri Kaskimaki was recalled from Springfield of the American Hockey League in a corresponding roster move. He could make his NHL debut as soon as at home against Anaheim.

Snuggerud is tied for 10th among NHL rookies in scoring with 11 points in 26 games. Toropchenko was ejected from the Blues’ most recent game for injuring Utah’s Logan Cooley with a knee-on-knee hit.

NEW YORK — Islanders forward Kyle Palmeiri will be out six-to-eight months with a knee injury that will require surgery, the team said Sunday.

The 34-year-old forward tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee late in the second period of Friday’s 4-3 shootout loss to Philadelphia at UBS Arena when he was checked by Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale and fell awkwardly into the boards near the opposing net.

Palmeiri was still able to steal the puck from a Flyers defenseman and register the secondary assist on a goal by Emil Heineman.

Palmeiri had six goals and 12 assists in 25 games this season. The gritty forward joined the Islanders in a trade with New Jersey in April 2021. He had played 223 straight games for the Islanders before Friday’s injury.

Palmieri was a first-round pick by Anaheim in 2009. He has 276 goals and 269 assists in 925 regular-season games with the Ducks, Devils and Islanders.

The Islanders also lost defenseman Alexander Romanov to a serious shoulder injury earlier this month. Forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau is also out with an upper-body injury.

New York (13-9-3) hosts Washington on Sunday.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck will undergo an arthroscopic procedure on his knee and be out four to six weeks, the team said Friday.

Jets coach Scott Arneil said Friday that Hellebuyck, a three-time Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL's top goalie, had been trying to play through a knee injury, and the timing is right to get it taken care of.

“Obviously, he’s, what is it, 10 years, he’s been pretty healthy,” Arniel said. “And this has kind of been nagging on him here since training camp. It’s something we’ve kind of known about, he was trying to play through it, would be good days, bad days, just something that, timing’s right, get it done now.

“A lot of schedule ahead of us, so that was really just the thinking. Sat down, talked to him, obviously the medical staff, everybody, agent. This was the time to do it.”

The surgery comes less than three months before the start of the Olympic men’s hockey tournament in Milan, Italy.

Hellebuyck is 8-6-0 with a 2.51 goals-against average and .913 save percentage this season for the Jets (12-7-0), who entered a game Friday against Carolina in third place in the Central Division.

The 32-year-old Hellebuyck won his first Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and his second straight - and third career -Vezina Trophy in 2024-25, helping the Jets to the best regular-season record in the NHL. He also won the award as top goalie in 2019-20.

Hellebuyck, from Commerce, Michigan, was not included in the first group of six players announced for the United States’ Olympic preliminary roster, but was widely expected to be added to the team.

Eric Comrie is expected to take the Jets starting role in Hellebuyck’s absence. He is 4-1 with a 2.60 GAA and .908 save percentage this season.

In a corresponding move, the Jets called up goaltender Thomas Milic from the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose.

“Obviously we’ve been really fortunate to have Helly be healthy and available," Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. "His durability is something to marvel at. Obviously now without him, you can’t replace a guy like that.

“But we’re super confident in Coms and Milly and our defensive game. But definitely, we’ve been fortunate to not have him out of the lineup for a whole lot of years.”

Hellebuyck, who last played on Nov. 15 in a victory over Calgary, was 47-12-3 last season. He has a career record of 330-191-44 with a 2.56 GAA and .918 save percentage and 45 shutouts.

MONTREAL — Alex Ovechkin padded his NHL goals record and moved up a couple other big lists in the Washington Capitals’ 8-4 romp over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.

Ovechkin had his 33rd career hat trick to tie Brett Hull for fourth in NHL history and added an assist as he moved past Joe Sakic into 10th on the points list.

“I just try to do my job and try to enjoy the moment and enjoy the time,” Ovechkin said

Ovechkin has 10 goals in 21 games this season to push his NHL-record to 907. The 40-year-old Russian has 1,643 points, two more than Sakic.

Ovechkin opened the scoring on a power play a minute into the first period, firing a wrist shot past goalie Sam Montembeault off a faceoff. Ovechkin assisted on Ethen Frank’s goal two minutes into the second that gave the Capitals the lead for good at 2-1.

The Washington star scored twice late in the third period, the first on a rush with 4:57 to go and the second into an empty net from his own zone with 2:04 remaining. He has scored in four straight games and has seven goals in his last six games.

Linemate Dylan Strome assisted on Ovechkin’s first two goals, the second after learning during the first intermission that wife Tayler had given birth to their third daughter. The couple named the girl Sutton Kimberley.

“Since like first shift, I think Stromer was feeling it,” Ovechkin said. “I think he was unstoppable today.”

Coming off a 7-4 home victory over Edmonton on Wednesday night, Washington has won three in a row to improve to 11-8-2. It was the Capitals’ lone road game in an eight-game span.

Montreal has lost five straight and seven of eight.

LOS ANGELES — Forward Adrian Kempe has agreed to an eight-year, $85 million contract to stay with the Los Angeles Kings, a person with knowledge of the deal tells The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Kings hadn’t announced their deal with the 29-year-old Kempe, who would have been an unrestricted free agent next summer. The deal extends through the 2033-34 season and has an average annual value of $10.625 million.

Kempe has been the Kings’ most dependable offensive player over the past four seasons, earning an All-Star selection in 2022 and leading Los Angeles to four straight playoff appearances. The Swedish right wing has 200 goals and 220 assists in a 10-year career spent entirely with Los Angeles, which drafted him with the 29th overall pick in 2014.

Kempe scored a career-high 41 goals during the 2022-23 season, and he has four consecutive 25-goal seasons. He leads the Kings with six goals and 13 assists in 19 games this season while playing extensively on special teams.

Kempe is also on Sweden’s initial roster for the 2026 Olympics.

Re-signing Kempe has been a top priority for new Kings general manager Ken Holland, who said he wanted to maintain a foundation of leadership and talent when longtime captain Anze Kopitar retires next year. But negotiations with Kempe stretched from the summer into the season, leading to increasing speculation that Kempe would hit the open market next year.

Instead, Kempe joins the list of potential 2026 free agents who have re-signed with their teams. Connor McDavid, Martin Necas, Jack Eichel and Kirill Kaprizov have all committed to their respective teams recently.

The Kings (10-5-4) have rebounded from a slow start to their season with four consecutive victories on their current six-game road swing. They next play at Washington.

SALT LAKE CITY — Matthew Schaefer scored on a slap shot 2:08 into overtime to become the youngest player to score an overtime goal in a regular-season NHL game and the New York Islanders beat the Utah Mammoth 3-2 on Friday night for their third straight extra-time victory.

Jonathon Drouin and Emil Heineman also scored for the Islanders (10-6-2) in their fourth straight win, and Tony DeAngelo had two assists. David Rittich stopped 27 shots — including all 16 after the first period.

Schaefer, the defenseman selected No. 1 overall in this year’s NHL draft, has 15 points — most among NHL rookies. He is 18 years and 70 days old, younger than Sidney Crosby who was 18 years and 101 days when he scored an OT goal on Nov. 16, 2005.

Dylan Guenther and JJ Peterka scored for the Mammoth in the Utah franchise’s 100th game. Karel Vejmelka had 18 saves.

The Mammoth are the best in the NHL in limiting shots on goal and they outshot the Islanders 29-21 as they dropped to 5-1-1 at home.

New York tied it 2-2 with 6:16 remaining when the puck went off Jonathon Drouin’s skate and was touched by Utah defenseman Nate Schmidt’s stick as it passed over the goal line. The goal was initially disallowed but reversed after video review.

Heineman opened the scoring 7:13 into the first period — the second straight contest he notched the first goal of the game.

Peterka tied it with just under 7 minutes remaining in the first with his sixth of the season.

The Mammoth ended their seven-game power-play goal drought when Guenther’s slap shot went over Rittich’s shoulder during a 5-on-3 with 1:25 left in the opening period to take a 2-1 lead. That marked the first time this season the Islanders gave up a goal with a two-man disadvantage.

The Islanders beat Las Vegas in overtime Thursday and was in the second half or a back-to-back but matched the Mammoth’s energy with rugged defense and deft power-play kills, squelching five of six opportunities.

Up next

Islanders: At Colorado on Sunday for the fifth game of their road trip.

Mammoth: At Anaheim on Monday.

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Brad Marchand reached 1,000 career points with two assists, Sam Reinhart scored twice and Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals 6-3 on Thursday.

Eetu Luostarinen, Seth Jones, Cole Schwindt and Evan Rodrigues also scored for the Panthers, who began a run of 11 of 12 games at home.

Marchand assisted on Jones’ goal that put Florida ahead 5-3 late in the third period and Luostarinen's empty-netter with 1:30 remaining.

Marchand has 335 goals and 565 assists in 1,116 regular-season games. Jones and Rodrigues each scored their 100th NHL goals.

Panthers backup goalie Daniil Tarasov stopped 37 shots for his first victory with the club.

Rasmus Sandin, Justin Sourdif and Brandon Duhaime scored for the Capitals. They were 1-3 on a four-game trip.

Goals from Reinhart and Schwindt in the second period put the Panthers ahead 3-1. Schwidnt’s goal 3:05 into the period snapped a 1-all tie.

Reinhart padded the lead with his power play goal with 5:19 left in ther period. Logan Thompson stopped Carter Verhaeghe’s shot but Reinhart tapped in the deflection.

After the Capitals narrowed the deficit on Justin Sourdif’s goal 52 seconds into the third period, the Panthers responded with goals by Reinhart and Jones.

The Panthers were again with a slew of injured players, including Aleksander Barkov, Dmitry Kulikov and Jonah Gadjovich. But coach Paul Maurice indicated that Matthew Tkachuk — who has yet to play this season following offseason surgery — might be inching toward a return in the coming weeks.

Up next

Capitals: Host New Jersey on Saturday night.

Panthers: Host Tampa Bay on Saturday.

DENVER — For Gabriel Landeskog, it wasn’t so much relief over ending a regular-season goal-scoring drought that had stretched to 1,347 days.

It was more about the excitement for the Colorado Avalanche captain of getting to tell his biggest fan. Only, he had to wait to deliver the news since his young son, Luke, was sleeping after dad knocked one in.

Landeskog’s second-period goal in a 4-1 win over Anaheim on Tuesday night was his first score in the regular season since March 5, 2022. He missed the last three regular seasons due to a knee injury before making his return in the playoffs in April. He scored a goal in the Dallas series.

“My son will be happy (Wednesday) when he wakes up,” Landeskog, who turns 33 on Nov. 23, said after the game. “He keeps asking me (about scoring) and I’m like, ‘No, not yet.’”

There have been plenty of close calls, though. He’s had two goals overturned this season after challenges by opposing teams. It’s become such a thing he almost was anticipating a Ducks challenge.

“I thought my stick maybe caught the goalie’s stick — goaltender interference or something,” the left wing cracked. “I got back to the bench and obviously nothing to argue there. Felt good.”

So did the cheers from the capacity crowd after he lined in a rebound off a shot from Valeri Nichushkin. That goal, those cheers, were of course worth the long, arduous journey to get back.

Before his return seven months ago in the playoffs, Landeskog’s last NHL appearance was June 26, 2022, when he and the Avalanche beat Tampa Bay to capture the Stanley Cup. He’s dealt with a chronically injured right knee, which led to cartilage transplant surgery on May 10, 2023.

Now, the Avalanche have their captain back in full capacity. He’s led the Avalanche to an NHL-best 11-1-5 (27 points) start.

“He’s just the voice of reason,” goaltender Scott Wedgewood said of Landeskog, who’s in his 14th season as captain. “He’s just a calm, collected human being. ... We all know the story and what he’s gone through. It radiates off him.”

Landeskog is steadily working his way back into the form that made him an All-Star in 2018-19. He’s playing on the third line and averaging 13 minutes, 43 seconds of ice time per game. (He’s averaged 19:18 over his career since being selected No. 2 overall in 2011.)

As for how he’s feeling, he said it’s, “not perfect. I don’t think anybody’s perfect during the season. You’ve got bumps and bruises along the way. Going into training camp is probably as good as you’re going to feel all year.”

He added that, “bad days aren’t bad at all anymore. There are things I have to do on a day-to-day basis to make sure I feel good and feel good enough to play. You’re never going to be 100%. I don’t think many guys are. No different with me.

“But I would say the difference between the good and the bad days are smaller now than they have been in years past, for sure.”

The goal-scoring slump weighed on him a little bit, he acknowledged. But he found other ways to contribute, including a fight with Tampa Bay’s Charle-Edouard D’Astous in a 3-2 win over the Lightning last week. Landeskog has four assists this season.

“I try not to focus on the outcome, just kind of surrender that and focus on what I can do,” said Landeskog, who plans to play for Sweden at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in February. “Having said that, you like to go home and know that you at least got one on the scoresheet.”

Notes: Nichushkin suffered a lower-body injury Tuesday that will cause him to miss some time, coach Jared Bednar said before an optional practice Wednesday. “I just don’t know how much.” ... Mackenzie Blackwood is slated to start in goal Thursday against Buffalo.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Carolina Hurricanes rookie defenseman Charles Alexis Legault had surgery to repair multiple torn extensor tendons in his right hand after getting cut by a skate blade during a game in Toronto.

General manager Eric Tulsky announced the operation was completed by Dr. Harrison Tuttle at Raleigh Orthopaedic.

Legault’s hand was sliced by one of Nick Robertson’s skates during a scrum at the end of the first period, while the Maple Leafs forward was prone on the ice following a hit.

The team put Legault on injured reserve and said he was expected to miss 3-4 months. The Hurricanes in a statement thanked the Leafs’ medical staff for swift and decisive assistance in triage care of the injury.

Legault, 22, played in his first eight NHL games this season as injuries piled up on the blue line for Carolina.