Thursday, October 1, 2026
NHL Opening Night Brings Goals and Drama
The NHL regular season opened with high scores and a wild finish in Vancouver, but there were no PWHL games on the slate.
The NHL regular season kicked off with fireworks across the league as teams racked up goals and two games needed overtime. In Vancouver, the Canucks and Oilers combined for a remarkable 16 goals, with Edmonton ultimately taking a 9-7 victory at Rogers Arena.
Connor McDavid starred for the Oilers, piling up a goal and four assists, while Leon Draisaitl contributed two goals and an assist. The Canucks staged a furious comeback after trailing by as many as eight goals, getting two goals and an assist from Marco Rossi, but it wasn't enough to overcome Edmonton's early lead.
In the East, the New York Rangers broke open their home opener against Tampa Bay with a 5-1 win, thanks to a strong night from their goaltender, Igor Shesterkin, and goals from five different skaters, including Pavel Dorofeyev and Mika Zibanejad.
The new era for the Utah Mammoth began with a commanding 6-0 shutout win over the Chicago Blackhawks, led by two goals from Dylan Guenther and perfect goaltending from Karel Vejmelka. Elsewhere, the Seattle Kraken overwhelmed the Calgary Flames 6-1 in Calgary, while Columbus found steady scoring in a 6-3 win over Buffalo.
There was late drama at the Prudential Center in New Jersey, where Jack Hughes scored in overtime to give the Devils a 3-2 win over Philadelphia. Out west, the San Jose Sharks pulled out a 4-3 overtime win at home against Florida, with Will Smith tallying two goals and an assist.
Minnesota started their campaign by besting the Predators 3-1 in Nashville, getting goals from Nick Foligno, Blake Coleman, and Kirill Kaprizov. There were no PWHL games on the schedule for opening night.
- Jack Hughes scored the overtime winner at 3:23 (assist: Jesper Bratt).
- Luke Hughes also scored for New Jersey.
- Rasmus Ristolainen and Travis Sanheim had goals for the Flyers.
- Goaltenders: Joseph Woll (PHI) 41 saves on 44 shots; Jake Allen (NJD) 23 saves on 25 shots.
- Three stars: 1. Jack Hughes (NJD), 2. Luke Hughes (NJD), 3. Joseph Woll (PHI).
- Igor Shesterkin made 24 saves for the win.
- Rangers goals: Mika Zibanejad (PP), Pavel Dorofeyev, Eeli Tolvanen, Gabe Perreault, Igor Shesterkin.
- Lightning goal: Nikita Kucherov (assists: Ilya Mikheyev, Brayden Point).
- Three stars: 1. Igor Shesterkin (NYR), 2. Pavel Dorofeyev (NYR), 3. Mika Zibanejad (NYR).
- Matthew Knies scored twice for Columbus and added an assist.
- Buffalo goals: Mattias Samuelsson, Jack Quinn, Konsta Helenius.
- Goalies: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (BUF) 17 saves on 22 shots; Jet Greaves (CBJ) 23 saves on 26 shots.
- Three stars: 1. Matthew Knies (CBJ), 2. Zach Werenski (CBJ), 3. Charlie Coyle (CBJ).
- Nick Foligno, Blake Coleman (PP), and Kirill Kaprizov scored for Minnesota.
- Roman Josi had the lone goal for Nashville.
- Goalies: Jesper Wallstedt (MIN) 19 saves on 20 shots; Juuse Saros (NSH) 27 saves on 30 shots.
- Three stars: 1. Blake Coleman (MIN), 2. Nick Foligno (MIN), 3. Roman Josi (NSH).
- Dylan Guenther scored twice for Utah.
- Karel Vejmelka stopped all 15 Chicago shots for the shutout.
- Other Utah goals: Michael Carcone, Nick Schmaltz, Anders Lee, Daniil But.
- Three stars: 1. Dylan Guenther (UTA), 2. Clayton Keller (UTA), 3. Karel Vejmelka (UTA).
- Vince Dunn had a goal and two assists for Seattle.
- Other Kraken goals: Jordan Eberle (PP), Frederick Gaudreau, Chandler Stephenson, Matty Beniers, Kaapo Kakko.
- Flames goal: Ryan Strome.
- Goalies: Joey Daccord (SEA) 24 saves on 25 shots; Dustin Wolf (CGY) 26 saves on 32 shots.
- Three stars: 1. Vince Dunn (SEA), 2. Joey Daccord (SEA), 3. Jordan Eberle (SEA).
- Connor McDavid led the Oilers with a goal and four assists.
- Leon Draisaitl scored twice and added an assist.
- Vasily Podkolzin, Owen Michaels, Evan Bouchard, Ryan Shea, Trent Frederic, McDavid, Kapanen also scored for Edmonton.
- Vancouver goals: Paul Cotter, Brock Boeser, Arshdeep Bains, Marco Rossi (2), Elias Pettersson, Jamie Oleksiak.
- Goalies: Devon Levi (EDM) 15 saves on 22 shots; Kevin Lankinen and Leevi Meriläinen combined for 23 saves on 31 shots for Vancouver.
- Three stars: 1. Connor McDavid (EDM), 2. Marco Rossi (VAN), 3. Leon Draisaitl (EDM).
- San Jose's Will Smith scored twice and added an assist.
- Luca Cagnoni won the game in overtime at 3:14 (assists: Smith, Macklin Celebrini).
- Florida: Eetu Luostarinen scored twice, Matthew Tkachuk added one.
- Goalies: Akira Schmid (FLA) 28 saves on 32 shots; Yaroslav Askarov (SJS) 23 saves on 26 shots.
- Three stars: 1. Will Smith (SJS), 2. Luca Cagnoni (SJS), 3. Macklin Celebrini (SJS).
Sources: NHL scores