NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – October 25, 2026
Senators winger Drake Batherson has a four-point game, Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov sets a franchise record, Maple Leafs winger William Nylander reaches a scoring milestone, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
NHL.COM: Ottawa Senators winger Drake Batherson had a four-point performance (including a hat trick) in a 7-4 victory over the New York Rangers. Jake Sanderson had a goal and two assists, and Jonas Johansson stopped 24 shots in his debut with the 8-4-0 Senators. J.T. Miller and Will Cuylle each had a goal and an assist for the Rangers (7-5-1).
Ottawa Senators winger Drake Batherson (NHL Images)
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov collected an assist to pass Steven Stamkos as the franchise’s all-time points leader (1,138) in a 5-4 loss to the Utah Mammoth. Defenseman Dmitri Simashev scored his first two NHL goals (including the winner in overtime) as the Mammoth (8-4-0) hold first place in the Central Division with 16 points. Jake Guentzel scored his seventh goal of the season for the 7-3-1 Lightning.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Lightning captain Victor Hedman missed this game as he’s day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Toronto Maple Leafs winger William Nylander scored twice to reach 300 career goals as his club thumped the Edmonton Oilers 7-2. Anthony Stolarz made 30 saves while Jack Roslovic and Kirill Marchenko each had two points for the 7-4-2 Maple Leafs as they extended their win streak to four games. Leon Draisaitl scored both goals with assists from Connor McDavid for the Oilers (8-2-1), who cling to first place in the Pacific Division with 17 points.
Former Buffalo Sabres winger Alex Tuch scored twice, including the overtime winner, as the Washington Capitals downed the Sabres 4-3. Dylan Strome scored twice and collected an assist as the Capitals improved to 6-4-0. Jack Quinn scored his team-leading sixth goal and 11th point for the Sabres as they dropped to 4-4-3.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Capitals forwards Pierre-Luc Dubois and Justin Sourdif returned to the lineup after an illness sidelined them for several games. The club also claimed defenseman Jack St. Ivany off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets.
The Anaheim Ducks snapped a five-game losing skid by nipping the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4, ending the latter’s three-game win streak. Defenseman Tristan Luneau had a goal and two assists, and Leo Carlsson scored and picked up an assist for the Ducks (5-6-0). Matvei Michkov tallied twice for the 3-7-3 Flyers.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen returned to action after missing nine games with an injured hand.
New Jersey Devils defenseman Brett Pesce snapped a 1-1 as his club downed the Los Angeles Kings 3-1. Arseny Gritsyuk’s empty-netter extended his goal streak to five games as the 7-4-0 Devils’ win streak reached three games. Scott Laughton replied for the Kings (2-5-2).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before the game, the Devils held a press conference to welcome Connor Hellebuyck following his acquisition from the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. The 33-year-old goaltender said he’s looking forward to getting back on the ice and working with his new teammates.
Hellebuyck hasn’t played since the Jets suspended him without pay for skipping training camp after going public with his trade request in August. He intends to wait to speak to Jets fans about his departure until after the Heritage Classic between the Jets and Montreal Canadiens in Winnipeg on Sunday. “And I hope they know I care about them,” Hellebuyck said.
The Boston Bruins got third-period goals from David Pastrnak, James Hagens, and Fraser Minten for a 6-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Hagens, Minten, and Casey Mittelstadt each finished with a goal and an assist for the 9-2-1 Bruins, who hold first place in the Atlantic Division with 19 points. Jacob Trouba collected two assists for the Sharks (6-5-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sharks center Adam Gaudette made his season debut after being sidelined since training camp with an upper-body injury.
An overtime goal by Ville Koivunen lifted the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Nashville Predators 3-2. Arturs Silovs made 24 saves for the Penguins (5-6-1). Steven Stamkos and Jayden Struble scored for the 3-3-4 Predators.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Before this game, the Predators claimed defenseman Daemon Hunt off waivers from the Minnesota Wild.
The Columbus Blue Jackets upset the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 on an overtime power-play goal by Adam Fantilli. Denton Mateychuk also scored, and Cam Talbot turned aside 26 shots for the 4-5-0 Blue Jackets. Tomas Hertl replied for the 8-4-1 Golden Knights.
Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov made 24 saves to win his seventh straight start by shutting out the St. Louis Blues 4-0. Sean Walker, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Logan Stankoven, and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the Hurricanes (9-2-2), who hold first place in the overall standings with 20 points. Joel Hofer made 35 saves for the 5-5-1 Blues.
The Calgary Flames defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-1. Joel Farabee had a goal and two assists, and Devin Cooley stopped 28 shots for the suddenly hot Flames (4-6-0) as their win streak reached three games. Andrew Copp scored for the 4-4-3 Red Wings.
Minnesota Wild winger Blake Coleman scored two goals in a 5-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken. Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek each had a goal and an assist for the 7-3-2 Wild. Berkly Catton replied for the Kraken (7-4-1).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kraken forward Jared McCann missed this game as he’s being evaluated for a lower-body injury.
I must admit that my Bruins are playing much better than I expected this season. The reason is the play of Swayman and the kids. Minten , Hagens, Khusnutdinov , Poitras, Peterka and Brunet have been impressive so far. Even Lohrei looks better this year.
Bruins’ management take a lot of flak from Boston fans and maybe it’s deserved at times but the teams always seems competitive.
Paul h they have a big test Tuesday in Carolina. Still intrigued by the Detroit D man Edvisson. Those guys Don t come around often and I would listen on that one. For what it’s worth I would still move Lohrei before Brunet!
Paul
They seem to excel 5 on 5. All 4 lines consistently playing good hockey. Think the PP and PK. Needs to be better. Lindholm seems to fit in 3rd line with Casey and Hagens. Fun to watch
I would trade with wings if possible for Edvisson offer Zacha Lorhei and 1st. Even to a lesser extent Larkin.
Yes a pleasant surprise for B’s fans. The young/new guys are all contributing and it has made them a deep team with offense spreadout.
Guys like Borgen doing exactly what they were brought in to do.
Swayman having another good year was predictable, even likely. 3rd in the league in goals per game not on my bingo card. Hopefully it’s sustainable.
Sturm was overlooked for the Jack Adams Award maybe he gets his due this season.
He got these guys to buy in and he maximizes their value.
You could say the same for Travis Green.
Or Bear in Utah. Sneaky good team there. If their goaltending and PK shore up ….look out.
HF 30, Boston has been fortunate with deals they made 2 years ago when they had bottomed out. Trading Carlo.Brazeau,Marchand and Coyle was something they had to do. They have been fortunate that their young returns have exceeded expectations. Do you see your Habs making any moves to cover for Suzuki s injury?
Nah. The habs pool is deep. They have guys who can cover. If it were the full season injury they make a move for sure
Sr,
Suzuki’s injury found the Habs a 2C.
Kapanen took his place and the kid looked really good, showed that what e saw in him last year was real.
There are complaint among fans that he trailed off at the end of the year and he was invisible on the 4th line.
My personal opinion is that he’s the kind of guy who complements good players really well, he covers their defensive lapses, goes to the net, takes the body in the corners.
He doesn’t drive the line but he makes his wingers better.
As for Boston’s good fortune, the team didn’t improve on the ice after those deals they were treading water. When Sturm took over he changed the team, changed player roles, the system. He worked with what he had instead of trying to change them.
I didn’t see it coming but the guy’s a really good coach imo.
That was a hard game to watch last night. I really felt the game was closer than the score indicated but after stolarz made a few good stops and a flukey 1st goal on Jarry I felt it was going to be a rough night and I wasnt wrong.
I dont think Jarry makes it through the season in edmonton and that may mean demotion, trade, press box idk. Goals 1 and 5 were kinda flukey (1st put in by his dman 5th a deflection that was as much luck as it was skill). I say this because of the meaningless 7th after the leafs score an empty netter. It was a softee with a few seconds left in the game, and was to me embarrassing showing some lack of focus/giving up.
The guys have spoken or at least some of the press have reported the players being impressed with Levi’s work ethic in practice – does that imply its not matched by Jarry? Idk, idk but Jarry had a couple of decent games and a couple of stinkers.
I really expected him to have a reboud type season (rebound meaning consistent) but it looks like a continuation of last season.
Yup all luck in that game, not one team out playing another line after line including containing two of the best players to only 2 goals.
IDK but when a forth line scores on you, your team is typically being out worked up and down the lineup.
No team is perfect, but last night, the better team won.
PS was that barn a 50-50 split between fans? Great atmosphere in there.
Ron Moore – i didnt mean to imply that i thought it was a lucky win. It wasnt. Leafs were indeed the better team last night. 100%
All good. Babs post game was good/interesting. He always seem to throw out some nuggets about what he sees truthfully is you can get past the other crap he uses to deflect.
Leafs deserved the win, but the 7-2 score was not indicative of the play is what I think 1Oilerfan is saying. He’s right.
Ya some fluky goals happens. Odd man rushes is something the Oil have gotten out of their game under Babcock, it bit them again last night.
Yes 1Oilerfan, Jarry’s work ethic was lacking and it pissed off Oiler player leadership last year. What was reported anyway. It’s something you can change, so let’s hope he does. Maybe Levi can show him the way, because he does the work.
Ray did you seen Leon’s glance in Jarry’s direction after the 7th goal? Not sure it was directed to Jarry or just the camera’s angle but it was a look that said to me are you kidding me? You let that in?
Yes I did, hard to say what that was about. But if the rest of the team doesn’t like the guy, not gonna work.
He needs to earn some trust I would think.
Hellebuyck needs to shut his yap and play hockey. No one needs to hear your thoughts bro.
“And I hope they know I care about them,” Hellebuyck said.
so much so he walked out on the team & said they werent good enough for him.
Caring for co-workers and thinking your career is better served elsewhere aren’t mutually exclusive.
Except when someone thinks other parts of the team are responsible for the failures … and not me.
A good example of what I mean followed the 2024 1st-round playoff exit where the Jets gave up 28 goals to Colorado, and Hellebuyck raised eyebrows by claiming he was “playing the best hockey of my career.” I can recall comments from around the Web which had a lot of fans interpreting that statement as a total deflection of blame onto the defensive aspects of the Jets.
It took 20 years for Pittsburgh to come around on jagr. I wouldn’t hold my breathe on fans up der coming around to reason for a long time.