Less than a quarter into the 2025-26 season, Philadelphia Flyers fans are already having difficulty coping with the team's lifeless offense and overall struggles under new head coach Rick Tocchet.

This isn't necessarily to say that Tocchet can't turn things around in Philadelphia, because we're 12 games in, but his teams have historically always played like this.

A Sportsnet infographic that has gone semi-viral online has shown that, in his last four seasons as a head coach, including this season and excluding 2022-23, Tocchet's teams have ranked no higher than 26th in the NHL in shots per game.

The good news for Tocchet is that his assistant coach pick, Todd Reirden, has the defense humming despite a considerable talent gap relative to most competitive teams around the league.

Goalies Dan Vladar and Aleksei Kolosov, who have been below-average NHL netminders statistically throughout their young careers, have save percentages of .924 and .929, respectively.

https://t.co/TmLZcp0gf6pic.twitter.com/YmroeHjkue

— J (@jceezz) November 3, 2025

To an extent, Tocchet's system is working, but the results are the results. The Flyers, at the time of this writing, are in last place in the Eastern Conference, have scored the fourth-fewest goals, and don't have a win on the road yet.

All of these factors have made some fans appreciate Tortorella more, and there are some who have yet to see it that way.

The truth is that Tortorella's fingerprints are all over this roster, debacles with Cam York and Sean Couturier aside.

Noah Cates and Bobby Brink both made the jump from inconsistent players who may or may not play to lineup staples relied upon to perform in an important checking role.

Tyson Foerster has quietly emerged as one of the league's best defensive wingers while taking on a new role as a penalty killer, while Owen Tippett, too, is adding more responsibility to his game.

Under Tortorella, Tippett went from an unwanted prospect to a three-time 20-goal-scorer, with a career-best 28 goals, 25 assists, and 53 points coming in his second year under the former Flyers boss in 2023-24.

Ex-Flyers Coach John Tortorella Recounts Golden Matvei Michkov StoryTortorella dished on Michkov's surprising but enthusiastic penalty box strategy, which goes to show how well the two understood each other while they were together on the Flyers.

Travis Sanheim experienced a career rebirth playing for Tortorella and ultimately leveled up as a player, and his partner in crime, Travis Konecny, also had the three most prolific years of his career over the last three seasons.

Of course, the 5-foot-9 Emil Andrae blossomed with the guidance of Tortorella, of all people, only to fall behind the likes of Egor Zamula, Adam Ginning, and Noah Juulsen with Tocchet in charge. And that's almost exclusively due to his diminutive stature.

On top of that, Tortorella helped weed out underachieving talents in Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee while dealing with key losses at the trade deadline in consecutive years.

The most important part of this is Matvei Michkov, the Flyers' franchise player who expressed on record his disappointment for seeing his first NHL coach leave after just one season of working with him.

Tortorella, despite the healthy scratches, benchings, and heated verbal exchanges, helped guide a 19-year-old (turned 20 midseason) Michkov to a successful 26-goal, 63-point rookie campaign that saw the Russian pace all rookies in goals.

That same Michkov, only a handful of months later, has just one goal in 12 games under Tocchet, and his ice time has dramatically decreased from 16:41 a game to 14:58.

The Flyers star is shooting less, scoring less, and playing less under Tocchet, and he just lined up against the Calgary Flames next to Rodrigo Abols, of all players.

That's no slight against Abols, but he's a career journeyman who scratched and clawed his way onto the roster and has sat out some games to start this season.

The lack of ice time for Nikita Grebenkin - who also hasn't played every game - despite Tocchet's acknowledgement that the forward needed to play more, has been a similarly frustrating pain point for many.

Matvei Michkov Says He Was 'Very Upset' When Flyers Fired John TortorellaThe relationship between star <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers">Philadelphia Flyers</a> rookie Matvei Michkov and fired head coach John Tortorella was much better than many have made it out to be.

A player as prodigious as Michkov, and a player who has a knack for making plays like Grebenkin, should be playing with similarly skilled players, but it didn't happen.

Plus, Michkov hasn't been able to recreate the magic he had with Sean Couturier and Konecny last season, though the latter has drastically improved his own play over the last week.

That said, the only Flyers forward who has been a consistent proprietor of offense this season has been Trevor Zegras, who has impressively tallied 13 points in 12 games to kick off his Flyers career.

Tortorella, for better or for worse, didn't have that kind of support at center over the last three seasons.

Speaking of centers, it can also be noted that Jett Luchanko objectively took a step back this season.

The 2024 first-round pick averaged 14:03 a game in four matches under Tortorella, but that plummeted to 8:58 last month under Tocchet.

Maybe a then-18-year-old Luchanko wasn't ready for the NHL, but at least Tortorella had a plan for him and mostly executed it before the team collectively pulled the plug.

How John Tortorella Protected Matvei Michkov in Flyers Debut, Rookie SeasonJohn Tortorella may not be the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers anymore, but in his short time coaching rookies Matvei Michkov and Jett Luchanko, the polarizing bench boss left his mark.

With Luchanko, and with the rest of the team, it's still wait-and-see mode with Tocchet, but a dreadful back-to-back on home ice this past weekend is already affirming fans' fears and increasing impatience with the club icon.

After all, the Flyers handed the Toronto Maple Leafs their first road win of the season on Saturday, then lost to the worst team in the NHL in the Flames on Sunday, scoring just two goals at even strength between both games.

Few view Tortorella as a coach who aided a rebuild, but perhaps his Flyers tenure wasn't so bad after all.

The road has not been particularly kind to the Florida Panthers so far in the early stages of the new NHL season.

Despite holding a strong 5-1-1 record on home ice, Florida has faltered when traveling away from Sunrise.

So far through five road games, the Panthers are just 1-4-0 while being outscored 18-8, and now they’re starting a west coast trip that could just as easily chew them up and spit them out.

The first if four games out west begins on Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks.

Anaheim has been one of the surprise teams of the Western Conference early this season.

They enter play Tuesday holding one of the three playoff spots in the Pacific Division, skating to an impressive 7-3-1 mark through their first 11 outings.

The Ducks have currently won three straight games, five of their past six overall and are 5-1-1 over their past seven, a stretch that includes last Tuesday’s 3-2 shootout win over the Panthers in Sunrise.

Youngster Cutter Gauthier has been on fire of late, riding a six-game point streak in which he’s logged four goals and nine points.

Veteran Chris Kreider, one of the newest Ducks this season, has started his career in Anaheim with six goals over his first seven games, including tallies in each of his past two outings.

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Tuesday’s tilt with the Quackers:

Carter Verhaeghe – Evan Rodrigues – Sam Reinhart

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand

Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Jesper Boqvist

A.J. Greer – Cole Schwindt – Noah Gregor

Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones

Dominic Sebrango – Jeff Petry

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Photo caption: Oct 28, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Anaheim Ducks right wing Troy Terry (19) scores a goal past Florida Panthers goaltender Daniil Tarasov (40) during an overtime shootout at Amerant Bank Arena. (Jim Rassol-Imagn Images)

ST. LOUIS – Boy, did they need that.

It looked ominous, like a franchise-tying eighth consecutive defeat, but the St. Louis Blues showed some resolve, got a little puck luck, some clutch goaltending from Jordan Binnington, a first NHL goal and a victory for the first time in 16 days.

Pius Suter’s go-ahead goal with 1:23 remaining in regulation capped off a two-goal rally by the Blues, who ended a seven-game losing skid with a 3-2 win against the two-time defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers at Enterprise Center on Monday.

Dalibor Dvorsky scored his first goal in the NHL in his fifth game, Robert Thomas had a goal and an assist in his return after missing four games with an upper-body injury, and Binnington stopped 24 shots for the Blues (4-7-2), who were 0-5-2 their past seven games.

“We needed it, but I think we’re a process-oriented team,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “We believer that if the things that we believe, we have to be good at, whether it’s habits or details or certain parts of our process of the game, winning net front battles. And then the results that come from that is Grade A chances and then game management was really good tonight. And that belief leads to good results. For me, this was the third good hockey game in a row that we’ve played, and if we keep playing like this, we’re going to in a lot of hockey games.”

They were finally able to shed the gorilla on their backs despite Connor McDavid becoming the fourth-fastest player in NHL history to reach 1,100 points with two assists. McDavid only trails Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy in that department.

Let’s look at Monday’s game observations:

* Congratulations to Dvorsky, and his goal was clutch – It was definitely coming, and we predicted it here that Dvorsky’s first one was on the cusp.

Down 2-0 on goals by Jack Roslovic (PPG) and Andrew Mangiapane, the Blues didn’t cower down and go away.

They got a late power-play in the second period when McDavid upended Colton Parayko, and Dvorsky made them pay.

His one-timer from the right circle when Justin Faulk put it on a platter for him has been on display the first couple games, but this one found the bar and down short side on Calvin Pickard at 16:08:

Congratulations Dalibor Dvorsky on your first career NHL goal. Many more to come. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/QqXd3cOk4J

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 4, 2025

“Obviously it was awesome,” Dvorsky said. “Nothing else to say. Great pass from Faulk there. Just tried to shoot it and I'm happy it went in.

“To be honest, I wouldn't care if I kicked the puck in or shoot it. The first goal is the first goal. I'm happy it went in this way, but whatever, first goal, doesn't matter how I scored.”

The first of many. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/sa32yt343v

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 4, 2025

What it did was bring a bit of a lifeless crowd into the game needing – and looking – for something to happen. They got it, and the Blues channeled their energy and momentum in the right direction because Thomas would tie the game 2-2 at 18:38.

“That’s a massive goal for us,” Thomas said. “You see the way we just kept on rolling after that goal. Some you need a big power play. That was a wicked shot. Definitely should get a lot of credit for really changing the tide of the game.”

The Blues weren’t necessarily playing bad, but they were victims of an unfortunate Oskar Sundqvist holding penalty late in the first period that the Oilers turned into a power-play goal by Roslovic eight seconds later at 18:38, and then after a Parayko shot was blocked at the blue line, a fortuitous carom into the neutral zone led to a 4-on-2 odd-man rush where Mangiapane made it 2-0 at 2:27 of the second period.

The Blues, once again, were missing some high Grade A scoring opportunities, and they had three in succession prior to Mangiapane’s goal from Suter, Brayden Schenn and Philip Broberg but couldn’t convert.

“On the bench, I felt we were pretty confident,” Montgomery said. ‘Yeah, we’re down 2-0 and yeah, they’ve made some high-end plays, but we had three odd-man rushes before they scored the goal to make it 2-0. So that gave us a lot of positive talk on the bench and then the power play came through.

“Great job by the kid cranking it home. What a shot. You get your first goal, that’s one you want to talk about. I went bar down on a one-timer. Pretty cool.”

Dvorsky and Jimmy Snuggerud were bookend flanks on power-play unit No. 1. Get used to seeing it now and into the future, because these two have tremendous shots and they’re not afraid to use them.

“Coaches, all the guys (preach shoot) as well,” Dvorsky said. “When I have the opportunity to shoot, I should do it. It was probably a good thing I shot that puck.

“We played a great team game, so I felt like our overall team game kind of got the fans going. I just try to do my best every time I’m out on the ice. I get so much help from my teammates here. I love being here and playing here.”

* Puck luck – The Blues received some good puck luck on Thomas’ tying goal when he finished off a play from a sharp angle that hit the near post, off Pickard’s stick and his body and back into the net to tie the game 2-2:

WE ARE TIED, EVERYBODY pic.twitter.com/KnG7njlSGO

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 4, 2025

Good, solid shifts following the Dvorsky goal led up to the goal and momentum scoring twice late in the second.

“A little lucky, off the post, off the goalie and in,” Thomas said. “We’ll take it. … Sometimes you get those bounces and that was a big one.

“Even their second goal, we come out that period, we’re playing well, we have a ton of chances, they block a shot and end up with a 4-on-2 and they’re able to score and we just keep going right back at them. For me to jump in the lineup and have the guys playing like that, have that mentality, it wasn’t too hard for me.”

* Suter right place, right time again – The Blues didn’t have a ton going in the third period but defended pretty well.

They had just three shots on goal until Suter made it 3-2, but Suter and Schenn each had another glorious scoring chance early to give the Blues a lead.

So it’s only fitting that Suter, who Montgomery had stated previously is always in the right spots on the ice, worked himself back into the play after Schenn found Parayko for a one-time shot from the blue line that Suter corralled and deposited past Pickard with Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard lurking nearby:

YEAHHHH SUTES!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/o8qi3ww3k2

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 4, 2025

“I’m seeing him teeing it up,” Suter said of Parayko. “He’s got a hard shot. I saw a guy I think trying to block it, so kind of was in the way of both sides. I just stayed there and hopefully the bounce and the rebound goes there.

“I’m just kind of trying to be around where I was before. Both sides of the puck. Some guys are faster, so you’ve just got to be in a good position.”

And he was again, and Montgomery explains why.

“He knows where he scores goals from the hash marks down to the goal line and he finds his way there,” Montgomery said. ‘He has impeccable timing. When you’re his size, you can’t plant yourself in front of the net like a Jake Neighbours or like a [Alexey] Toropchenko can. You have to get there when the puck’s arriving. That’s what happened on the game-winning goal. It was a real good shift by that line, who I thought was a really good against the [Leon] Draisaitl line tonight. They got that game-winning goal, which was huge for us.”

* Thomas return important – It’s no secret that the Blues missed their No. 1 center, for obvious reasons. But not only does Thomas add scoring for the Blues, he also draws the top assignments – like he did against McDavid on Monday – and takes many of the important draws.

“Obviously massive,” Suter said. “He’s such a good player. Top speed, confidence, holds on to pucks. He just gets us going.”

There’s just certain parts of the game Thomas touches that other skaters on this squad can’t, and it was obvious from the opening puck drop.

“Well, the puck possession would be one,” Montgomery said. ‘The offense that he generated tonight, that line was really good. But the important thing was I was matching him up against McDavid and for the most part, they hit a knob on a 4-on-2 and that’s the only goal they gave up. Went the other way 4-on-2 and they made a bang-bang play. Theirs went in, ours hit a knob, and that’s why I like the resolve (and) resilience that we had after that. When you’re talking about Thomas, when you lose your No. 1 center and you get him back, you see the difference. Talk about people being deployed; he played 19 minutes, our second-line center played about 17, Dvorsky played about 15 and our fourth-line played about 12. That’s good balance.”

Thomas and linemates Snuggerud and Pavel Buchnevich held McDavid without a shot on goal for just the 28th time in his 726 regular-season game career.

“’Pary’ does a great job,” Thomas said of Parayko. “It’s hard. He’s got a ton of speed. It’s impossible to really contain him. We’ve got one of the best shutdown D’s in the league and he always steps up and is big in these games.”

* Broberg accepts challenge – Montgomery said this of containing McDavid despite the two assists.

“I thought that we were very aware when he was on the ice,” Montgomery said. “We didn’t really shut him down; he had two assists. He’s kind of like Michael Jordan, you keep him under 30 and you’re happy, right? But that’s what generational players do. I thought that we were able to negate his speed at our blue line by our up-ice awareness of marking him up.”

But when McDavid was able to gain the zone – as he often does with his speed element – it seemed as if Broberg was there waiting for the challenge, either killing a play, standing up to the talented Oilers center or just neutralizing him and not giving him the time and space.

“I thought that this morning Broberg was looking for that challenge because we showed a lot of clips obviously of him and Draisaitl,” Montgomery said. ‘We have an acronym MDM, most dangerous man, and I added a ‘W’ for [McDavid] because he’s the most dangerous man in the world in our sport, and when I looked up and I said it, ‘Broby’ was like really intense, like looking forward to the challenge intense, which is what you want from your players.”

Broberg finished with an assist, a plus-1 rating in 21:38 with three shots on goal, two takeaways (both on McDavid) and two blocked shots playing alongside Parayko.

“It’s an element (a shutdown role) that we’ve talked to him about starting this year,” Montgomery said of Broberg. “He’s on the first PK. That goes hand-in-hand with that kind of shutdown role. Now that he’s with Parayko, I don’t know if it stays that way, but that’s a good pairing right now and I like the pairing of [Cam] Fowler and [Justin] Faulk the way they’ve been moving the puck, but we’ll see how the pairs continue to evolve here. But I guarantee you Broberg and Parayko will be playing together in Washington (Wednesday).”

* Binnington’s key, timely saves – It’s no secret that looking at the numbers, they haven’t been good for Binnington and Joel Hofer.

But on Monday, Binnington followed up Hofer’s strong start Saturday in Columbus and did what was needed of him to give the Blues a chance: make those saves in key moments.

There was a sequence where Binnington made consecutive stops, one with the blocker on Vasily Podkolzin at 7:33 of the second, then Noah Philp from the right circle three seconds later before finishing a sequence of saves off at 8:10 on Mangiapane from the slot. If any one of those get in, it’s 3-0 and likely game over.

“Those two saves after it went 2-0 were huge,” Montgomery said. ‘It really elevated our bench. A lot of people on the bench, a lot of players, I remember someone saying, ‘Binner’s fighting for us.’ That’s what he does. He gives you the confidence that you’re never out of a game because of the competitive spirit he has in the crease.”

“He had some big saves,” Thomas said. “There was one on Mangiapane right in the slot. Those are saves that make a huge impact on the game and that’s what we’re used to from ‘Binner.’”

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The Chicago Blackhawks won their first-ever game against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena, but they are now 0-5-1 since.

This comes after a defeat on Monday night. This was Chicago's third straight loss, which is also an 0-2-1 start to the longest road trip of the season. Following a strong start to the new year, this trip is sinking them a little bit. 

The first period was scoreless, but the Kraken got out to a 2-0 lead in the middle frame, which would last all the way through the second intermission. 

In the third period, the Blackhawks finally got on the board to make it a game. Connor Bedard's effort and speed were on full display, as he made a strong chip play along the wall to find Andre Burakovsky, who was all alone in front for the shot, and he didn't miss. 

Burakovsky's marker made it three straight games with a goal. It also extended Bedard's point streak to five games, and he has nine points in those five games. 

From there, the Blackhawks continued to have their chances, but a Frank Nazar mishap in the neutral zone led to a two-on-one for Seattle. On this play, Jordan Eberle didn't miss his chance to put the Hawks away for the night. The 3-1 score stood as the final, despite two attempts at a goalie goal for Joey Daccord, who made 29 saves on 30 shots. 

Arvid Soderblom did his job in this game. As the backup, he doesn't get the chance to get in any kind of rhythm, he just has to be ready when his name is called. He made 21 saves on 24 shots, but you can't win when you only score one goal. 

B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) on XDaccord tried to go for a goalie goal TWICE at the end 😭😭

Lack Of Execution

The Blackhawks had the shot advantage in this game, outshooting Seattle 30-24. Things evened up slightly in the third period, as the Blackhawks were leading that category 24-15 after two periods. 

A lack of execution sunk the Blackhawks. Not only did they outshoot them, but they also outpossessed them. Seattle found a way to continue blocking shots and getting sticks in the lanes, but the Blackhawks were not able to adjust at any point. 

The Blackhawks also had a major issue with missing the net. Although Daccord saw 30 shots, not many of them were of the grade-A variety, and it should have been a lot more based on the possession advantage that the Blackhawks had. 

Going forward, they'd be better served making sure that they are smarter with their shot selection, especially if they have the puck as often as they did. Perimeter chances are not usually going to work out well in the NHL. Goalies are too good. 

Oliver Moore

Oliver Moore made his NHL season debut after nine games to start the year in the AHL. In the first period, Moore was Chicago's best skater. Even throughout the rest of the game, his speed was noticeable as he attempted to create chances. 

Moore's role will expand once he gets increased NHL time. He wasn't on the penalty kill, despite being an outstanding penalty-kill player. The Rockford IceHogs run a different PK system, and Jeff Blashill wants to get him in a practice to learn his system before he throws him to the wolves.

The speed that Moore possesses is going to be mentioned on a loop for a long time. It's his number one asset for everything he does on the ice. It won't take long before he starts impacting the scoresheet with regularity. The chances in his first NHL game of the season were an indicator of what's to come. 

Watch The Blackhawks Goal

Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) on XAndre Burakovsky has goals in three straight games🔥

Next Up For Chicago

The Chicago Blackhawks are halfway done with the longest road trip of the season. Next up is a trip to Connor Bedard's home town where they will face the Vancouver Canucks for the second time this season. That will take place in British Columbia on Wednesday night. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

The Nashville Predators' comeback effort fell short in Monday's matchup against the Vancouver Canucks as Brock Boeser scored with two seconds left in overtime to give the Canucks a 5-4 win over the Predators. 

Filip Forsberg put the Predators up early in the first period off his sixth goal of the season. Nashville fell into a 3-1 hole in the second period, and Erik Haula scored on the power play to cut into the Canucks lead. 

Vancouver built its lead back up to two goals in the early third period, but conversions from Michael Bunting and on the power play, Nick Blankenburg, sent the game to overtime.

In overtime, Elias Petterson swatted the puck to Boeser in front of the net and he scored on a backhander to end the game. It was his second goal of the game. 

"It's too bad," Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. "I guess we're learning our lessons a little hard here. Factor (Ryan O'Reilly) did a great job winning a battle, and we kind of just let our foot off the gas.

"We got on the wrong side of stuff coming out of the corner, and that's why you play right to the buzzer." 

Here are three takeaways from the Predators loss to the Canucks 

Predators haunted by another overtime loss 

Nashville has won beyond regulation this season, which was a 5-4 shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 25. However, it is 0-for-3 in games decided in a five-minute overtime. 

Against the Utah Mammoth, the Predators were dominated in the possession battle and saw Utah convert just under three minutes into extra time. Against the Canadiens, Cole Caufield stung Nashville twice at the buzzer, ending the game with three seconds left in extra time. 

"It obviously sucks to lose, if it's in the first second or last second," Forsberg said. "That's kind of what I have to say about that." 

Monday was another overtime, with the opponent dominating possession. Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes hung onto the puck for long periods of time and forced the Predators to chase them. 

"You get a guy like Quinn Hughes skating around. 
He's hard to get the puck off, now he has more room, and he's kind of raging it, and waiting and waiting," Brunette said. "It kind of gets into that kind of game a little bit." 

Nashville had one chance as Brady Skjei got a good look at the net. It was able to shove a few Canucks off the puck, but the Predators could not get a good rush going.

Unlike in the past, the Predators battled back to force overtime. They faced a two-goal deficit midway through the third period and got their offense going. It was an improvement, but not enough for the win. 

"These games, the margins are so tight," Brunette said. "Night in and night out and for us to succeed, we're going to have a lot of these games. 
The positive I take out is we're going through it and we'll get better for it." 

Power play flourished, penalty kill struggled 

On most nights, the Predators' power play is bad, and the penalty kill is elite. Coming into Monday's game, Nashville had a 12.5% (30th) power-play efficiency and an 88.4% (6th) penalty-killing efficiency. 

Against the Canucks, it was the power play that dominated and the penalty kill that sputtered. 

The Predators' power play converted on 2-of-4 opportunities, which included the game-tying goal. It's the first time this season the Predators have scored twice on the power play in a game and the first time since April. 10, they've scored more than once with the man advantage. 

"It's a big point for us being down two goals. It's never easy to come back in this league, and good resiliency by our group," Haula said. "It's nice that our power play was able to step up. We've been needing that." 

It's the boost the unit has needed all season, considering the power play is one of the worst in the league. 

"Obviously, the power play needs to be going for us, and, both units are contributing," Blankenburg said. "We've just gotta continue to build out and keep moving forward." 

On the flip side, the penalty kill successfully killed off only 1 of 3 penalties. Their successful kill, which was one of two penalties on Vancouver's 5-on-3 advantage, was followed by a Canucks goal six seconds later on the 5-on-4 power play. 

Nashville also gave up a power-play goal in the first period off a long one-timer shot from the point by Evander Kane. The lapse on special teams comes after the penalty killing unit debuted customized hoodies. 

Kane scored his second goal of the game in the third period, which was on a delayed Predators penalty. It won't be counted as a power-play goal allowed, but it's another situation where Vancouver had the man advantage and scored. 

Cole Smith's presence was missed as the Predators announced Sunday that the forward was week-to-week with an upper-body injury. He has played a significant role on the penalty kill. 

Saros had to make up for offensive shortcomings...again

Nashville struggled with getting the puck on net all night, while Vancouver had no issues getting shots on Juuse Saros. 

The Predators were outshot 36-29, had just four shots on net in the first period and barely eclipsed double figures in the second period. Nashville's offense is one of the lowest-scoring in the NHL, averaging 2.46 goals per game, ranking 30th. 

Meanwhile, this was the eighth game this season that Saros was tasked with making 30-plus saves.

Saros continues to lead the NHL in shots faced and saves made, now with 361 shots faced and 325 saves made. While Saros is proving that he is one of the best goalies in the league, the Predators continue to ask a lot of him in the early season. 

Everyone on the team, including Brunette, has praised Saros' efforts this season and stated how they need to play better in front of him. The hope is that Nashville doesn't exhaust him after the first month of the season. 

Up next: Nashville Predators at Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. CST 

The Pittsburgh Penguins played perhaps their most dominant period of season in their Monday evening tilt against the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

After a solid opening frame and carrying a 2-0 lead into first intermission on goals from Erik Karlsson (1) and rookie Ben Kindel (4), the Penguins absolutely dominated the Leafs in the second period. They outshot the Leafs, 16-3, and Kindel added a third tally on the power play. Everything was humming. The Leafs had just nine shots on goal after 40. The Penguins had complete control.

Then, an old, all-too-familiar version of the Penguins showed up in the third period. 

Heading into this game, the Penguins had not surrendered a third-period lead and were outscoring opponents, 20-9. They seemed to be an entirely different third-period team than the ones of the past three non-playoff years - when no lead was safe, and the final frame was always an adventure. 

Unfortunately, that's what happened. The Penguins' 3-0 lead in the third period was decimated in within the first seven minutes of the final frame - courtesy of an Auston Matthews breakaway goal and two subsequent goals by William Nylander, who returned to the lineup Monday after missing two games to injury - and the Leafs scored the back-breaker with a little more than six minutes to go in regulation when Bobby McCann put home a second-chance opportunity. 

For 40 minutes, this was just about as good a response game as the Penguins could have asked for after a tough loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. But they were harshly reminded that they cannot afford to take their foot off the gas and need to play a full 60, especially after outclassing what has been a perennial playoff team for the first two periods.

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"We got away from it," head coach Dan Muse said after the game. "We felt the first two periods are the way we want to be playing. It has to be a full 60, though. We got away from it there.

"I think it was a number of different factors. I think when they took momentum there, we weren't able to at least pause the momentum. It kept coming, and then we're back on our heels, and we can't play the game that way. I mean, the things that were working there in the first two periods, they're things that can be sustainable. But we got away from them, and it can't happen."

Here are some thoughts and observations from this brutal loss:

- Let's start with some positives. And, wow, what a player Benjamin Kindel is.

It's not too early to start saying that this kid is a star. He's going to be exactly that. You simply don't see 18-year-old centers come up and dominate the way Kindel has so quickly at the NHL level, and he's doing it against elite competition in what is often the opposition's top-six. 

He did it again Monday. He fits in seamlessly on a power play with three surefire Hall-of-Famers. He's crashing the net. He's generating chances left and right and has consistently been the best player on the ice for the better part of the last three games. According to Moneypuck, his line controlled 95.5 percent of the expected goals share against the Leafs (and, by the way, Ville Koivunen was very good in this game, too).

95.5 percent. Let that sink in.

Ben Kindel is tied for the league lead in goals among NHL rookies with five 👀 pic.twitter.com/C01c6WMeki

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 4, 2025

This guy is 18! I can't emphasize enough how this just doesn't happen. Kindel is a very, very special player, and he is now tied for the rookie lead in goals. 

Get hyped, Penguins' fans. This guy is going to be - and already is - a very, very good hockey player.

- Karlsson played another outstanding game. His first goal of the season was a rocket and a beauty, and it was well-earned.

He is now up to 11 points in his first 14 games. He continues to be a huge difference-maker for the Penguins.

- The Penguins' special teams are really something. The penalty kill has stymied 16 of the last 17 opposing power plays - and is now top-10 - and the power play is second in the league at 32.4 percent. 

If they can keep this up with special teams, it will help them win a lot of hockey games.

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- Now, let's get to the bad. 

To be honest, I had nearly written an entire piece that was a glowing endorsement of this team. Let's just say that I had to scrap all of that and write something completely different.

I don't know what happened, to be honest. The Penguins had an absolute stranglehold on this game, and they just completely stopped playing for the first seven minutes of the third and let the Leafs walk right back in.

To the Leafs' credit, they did come out strong in the third. But this simply cannot happen. They lapsed entirely defensively. Matthews never should have gotten behind Ryan Shea and Kris Letang on the first goal. Jarry should not have allowed the second. The Penguins were outskated on the third and hemmed in their own zone. Owen Pickering was burned badly by McCann on the winning goal, and he couldn't recover or do anything to stop him - and neither could Harrison Brunicke at the net front.

MANN THAT WAS CLUTCH!!@OREO | #LeafsForeverpic.twitter.com/P0L2135di0

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 4, 2025

The third period was nothing short of a disaster, and it happened so quickly. It's something the Penguins can learn from, but we've seen this movie many, many times before.

- Speaking of Pickering and Brunicke, that last goal really was a shame because I thought they were pretty solid for most of the evening. Brunicke - playing in his ninth NHL game, which is the final one before his entry-level contract would kick in at the 10th, should he stay - was especially solid in the first 40 minutes, and this was good to see after a rough outing in Winnipeg.

But, unfortunately, Brunicke needed to stand out in a good way in this game, since he is now at that 10-game mark, where the Penguins need to make a decision on him. I do think the fourth goal was mostly on Pickering, and I think it's hard to single Brunicke or Pickering out when the entire team fell apart in the third - and when it probably wouldn't have mattered who was on the ice because the Leafs tying it felt inevitable.

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I'm not sure he did enough in this game to sway the coaching staff or management more toward keeping him. He was good for most of it, but he was on the ice for the back-breaking goal, and he had a small hand in it.

If I'm the Penguins, I'm keeping Brunicke regardless. More on that later. But I just think there is far too much risk in sending him back to juniors, especially when his bad habits probably can't be addressed in any super meaningful way at that level. 

Let him take his lumps at the NHL level and learn from two legends on the right side, and let him get direction from this coaching staff. That's where I'm at.

- Jarry - playing in his 300th NHL game - was not good in this one. I realize that it can be difficult for a goaltender when they are essentially coming into a third period cold because they hadn't seen any action for 40 minutes.

But he just didn't have it Monday. That second goal was brutal.

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- Speaking of brutal, this was a brutal game for Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust defensively, and that theme is becoming a bit too common. I'm not really sure what the solution is other than breaking them up for a bit, but I don't expect that to happen.

- Noel Acciari left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return. Muse put the Penguins' lines in a blender for the rest of the game as a result.

Admittedly, I was not a fan of this approach. 

I realize it's not easy to adjust to being down a forward that early in the game. But nothing was consistent the rest of the game, especially in the third period. And I just think they were breaking up some chemistry that was working for them due to the injury of a fourth-line player. It wasn't the worst decision, but I don't think the constant switching helped them in the third. 

I'm also not sure how I feel about Crosby, Rust, and Malkin together. I'd rather see Kindel or Koivunen take one of their places if they're going to shake things up. 

- The Penguins return home to play the Washington Capitals on Thursday. 

The response after this gut-wrenching loss will say a lot about this team. Stay tuned. 

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