NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 26, 2025
Milestone games for the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin and the Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman, the Kraken’s Brandon Montour makes an emotional return to action, the Red Wings stage a big comeback, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin played in his 1,500th career regular-season NHL game, but the Ottawa Senators spoiled the party with a 7-1 victory. Dylan Cozens and Drake Batherson each had two goals and an assist for the Senators as they improved to 4-4-1. Trevor van Riemsdyk scored for the 6-3-0 Capitals, who also lost center Dylan Strome to a lower-body injury in the first period.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Ovechkin is the 24th player in league history to reach 1,500 regular-season games. Only seven players missed fewer games on their way to that milestone, and the eighth to do so with one team. The Capitals superstar remains one goal away from becoming the first player in NHL history to score 900 regular-season goals. Meanwhile, Capitals center Pierre-Luc Dubois returned to the lineup after missing five games with a lower-body injury.
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov (NHL Images).
Nikita Kucherov became the second player in franchise history to reach 1,000 regular-season points as the Tampa Bay Lightning nipped the Anaheim Ducks 4-3. Kucherov collected two assists, including the primary one on Anthony Cirelli’s game-winning goal. Cirelli and Jake Guentzel each scored twice, and Lightning captain Victor Hedman had two assists to reach the 800-point milestone. Troy Terry had a goal and an assist for the 4-3-1 Ducks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Steven Stamkos is the Lightning’s franchise points leader with 1,137. Hedman sits fifth among their all-time points leaders with 801. The Lightning (2-4-2) snapped a four-game winless skid (0-2-2). Meanwhile, Ducks center Mikael Granlund left this game with a lower-body injury.
The Seattle Kraken (5-2-2) got two goals from Jordan Eberle to hold off the Edmonton Oilers 3-2, tying them with the first-place Vegas Golden Knights (12 points) in the Pacific Division. Joey Daccord stopped 31 shots, and Matty Beniers collected two assists for the Kraken. Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse replied for the 4-4-1 Oilers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour logged over 23 minutes in his return to action from a leave of absence on Oct. 18 to be with his family. His brother, Cameron, passed away due to ALS (otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) two days later. “I’m very, very happy to be his brother,” an emotional Montour said. “He’s probably smiling and chirping me up there, for crying.” My condolences to Montour and his family.
Earlier in the day, the Kraken placed sidelined winger Jared McCann (lower body) on injured reserve.
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson scored the winning and insurance goals as his club overcame a 4-0 deficit for a 6-4 upset of the St. Louis Blues. Jonatan Berggren and J.T. Compher each had a goal and an assist for the 6-3-0 Red Wings. Jake Neighbours tallied two goals for the Blues (3-4-1), who’ve gone 1-3-1 in their last five games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Blues center Robert Thomas left this game in the third period with an upper-body injury.
Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares’ 499th career regular-season goal came in overtime to lift his club over the Buffalo Sabres 4-3. Tavares also picked up an assist while winger Matthew Knies had two helpers as the Leafs improved to 4-4-1. Tage Thompson tallied twice for the 4-4-1 Sabres.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Maple Leafs winger William Nylander missed this game due to an injury suffered on Friday night against the Sabres. Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly returned to the lineup after missing Friday’s contest with an undisclosed injury.
The Montreal Canadiens got a three-point performance from Ivan Demidov as they overcame a 2-0 deficit for a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Demidov scored the game-winner and collected two assists, while Nick Suzuki scored to extend his points streak to nine games as the Canadiens (7-3-0) sit atop the Atlantic Division with 14 points. Center Elias Pettersson had a goal and two assists for the 4-5-0 Canucks.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Earlier in the day, the Canadiens announced winger Patrik Laine will be sidelined three to four months after undergoing surgery to repair a core muscle injury.
Nashville Predators center Ryan O’Reilly scored two goals and collected an assist, and Ozzy Wiesblatt scored the game-winner in a shootout to nip the Los Angeles Kings 5-4. Juuse Saros kicked out 36 shots in regulation and overtime as the Predators improved to 4-3-2. Joel Armia had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who fell to 3-3-3.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kings captain Anze Kopitar was held scoreless in his return from a foot injury suffered on Oct. 17. Meanwhile, Predators captain Roman Josi missed this game as he’s listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman made 31 saves for a 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche, snapping a six-game losing streak. Morgan Geekie scored the game-winner while Mason Lohrei collected three assists for the 4-6-0 Bruins. Artturi Lehkonen tallied both goals for the Avalanche (5-1-3), who are winless in their last three (0-2-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sidelined Bruins defenseman Jordan Harris is reportedly considering surgery for a lower-body injury.
The Columbus Blue Jackets blew a 4-2 lead but emerged with a 5-4 shootout win on a goal by Kirill Marchenko. Dmitri Voronkov tallied twice for the Blue Jackets, who improved to 4-4-0. Evgeni Malkin and Anthony Mantha collected two points, and Arturs Silovs made 37 saves for the 6-2-1 Penguins.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Penguins winger Rickard Rakell left this game in the third period with an undisclosed injury. Earlier in the day, the Penguins announced defenseman Caleb Jones will be sidelined for eight weeks with a lower-body injury.
Philadelphia Flyers forward Trevor Zegras netted his first two goals of the season, and Matvei Michkov scored the shootout winner to down the New York Islanders 4-3. Zegras finished the game with three points as the Flyers improved to 4-3-1. Defenseman Marshall Warren collected two assists in his NHL debut as his Islanders sit at 4-3-1.
The Florida Panthers got a 17-save shutout from Sergei Bobrovsky to blank the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0, handing the latter their first regulation loss. Sam Reinhart, Cole Schwindt, and A.J. Greer scored for the Panthers, who improved to 5-5-0. Akira Schmid made 23 saves for the 5-1-2 Golden Knights.
Utah Mammoth forwards Logan Cooley and Nick Schmaltz each scored two goals in a 6-2 rout of the Minnesota Wild. Karel Vejmelka turned aside 32 shots for the 7-2-0 Mammoth, who extended their win streak to six games and hold first place in the Central Division with 14 points. Marcus Johansson scored both goals for the struggling Wild, who fell to 3-5-1.
The Dallas Stars got two goals from Miro Heiskanen to rally past the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2. Jake Oettinger made 26 saves as the (4-3-1) Stars snapped a four-game losing streak. Jackson Blake and Sebastian Aho tallied for the 6-2-0 Hurricanes.
Injuries are starting to add up. Montreal has had awful luck with injuries to Laine and Dach s injury history. There depth is showing through with good performances from their younger players. Tough scheduling this year. Colorado played at 3 in Boston yesterday and they play at 1 today. No wonder the injuries are mounting up!
Injuries and other factors have certainly brought about changes to my thinking about what the Habs should do. I figured there’d be no room to bring back Matheson. But the way he’s been playing, coupled with yet another injury to both Guhle and Reinbacher, makes it far more likely that he’ll be offered and will sign an extension.
Laine is likely done with the Habs after this season, I had figured that a decent year may lead to an extension at a reduced cap hit. But now, his next deal, wherever it’ll be, will likely be a one year prove it deal. I read somewhere that with the games he’s missed to injury the past few seasons, he’ll be eligible for a bonus laden deal.
Laine doesn’t fit with the Habs anymore. He is just too slow. Great shot on the PP, but Demidov and Bolduc have replaced him.
I wish him luck, he seemed to be in a good place mentally upon coming to Montreal. But sadly he is yesterday’s man.
Laine’s core muscle surgery isn’t a death sentence for the 27 y/o.
Crosby had core muscle surgery at 32y/0
He should be fully recovered by the stretch run and it remains to be seen how he will play and fit then.
His one timer didn’t look right and that probably was related and quite frankly nobody on the team can do it like he does.
He was playing much better to start the year, working in all three zones, actually checking in both o-zone and d-zone plus passing the puck and skating much better than last year.
Anybody watching his play as opposed to his stat line and analytics could see he was playing a more rounded game than last year.
I don’t know about next year but I can see HuGo signing him to a show me bonus laden contract that would earn him good money.
I watch Laine’s play. I said last year and this; he is too slow. The fact that he is less inclined to go east-west or slow the game down doesn’t make his game more well rounded in a meaningful sense, or fit with he Habs’ preferred game plan.
Watching the Habs take over the game yesterday to beat my Canucks, I was super impressed by Matheson. He just always made the smart play and was always in the right spot. He really stood out in a positive way.
Hoping that Rackell is back ASAP
RE: “Earlier in the day, the Penguins announced defenseman Caleb Jones will be sidelined for eight weeks with a lower-body injury.”
Pickering MUST immediately be called up; and Brunicke MUST be played
Consistently Pairing two righties doesn’t seem to work with Pens
Pens are doing great overall this year but last 2 games have suffered from many bouts of D-man staring into space not knowing where puck or opponent is.
The worst by far was Clifton. After an awful game vs Panthers; where after which he should have been in the press box; he followed that up with an even worse performance last night.
Of the last 7 goals against for Pens; Clifton was on for (and nowhere near his man) 4; and also took a stupid penalty resulting in a PPG against. That’s 5 of last 7 goals against where he’s had a negative impact on. Meanwhile, Muse sits Brunicke and Pickering is in WBS?????!!!!!!
This is what the pairings should be
Karllsson Wotherspoon
Tanger Pickering
Brunicke Shea
Dumba
Pickering had an entirely forgetful camp. Was one of the worst defenders in camp. But supposedly he is playing well in wbs so call up might be warranted. And the handling of brunike and Kindel is going well. If the pens start to falter they buy them time before juniors. If pens still winning it keeps them fresh so they don’t crash n burn in the stretch. It’s not the nfl where every game is paramount. Long term strategy is important in an 82 game season.
Agree re Long term strategy
Totally disagree re “Pickering had an entirely forgetful camp.”
One sub-par exhibition/pre-season game is not a good measuring stick.
I went to some. Thought he looked good most of the time.
On the flip side; regardless of our disagreement on Pickering valuation; the sitting of Brunicke (who has looked quite good) for 2 games; replaced by Clifton; was a big mistake. BIG
Experimenting with one game; decision done; so I can buy that.
But letting Clifton play last night after his pure sh#%%t-show performance vs Panthers; is bordering on insanity. What the H double hockey sticks was Muse thinking?
If Brunicke sits and Clifton plays vs Blues tomorrow night; then the gig is up. It would mean either Brunicke back-sassed Muse or another coach AND/OR hit on Muse’s wife AND/OR hit on one of his teammates’ wives.
No pure hockey playing/talent decision has Brunicke sitting with Clifton in vs Blues. None.