Sept. 19: NHL Preseason Roundup

Cole Caufield scored with 38 seconds left in overtime, lifting the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-3 split-squad win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday.

With the Maple Leafs caught making a line change, Caufield made a move around Logan Shaw at the offensive blue line and finished a 2-on-0 give-and-go with Lane Hutson by scoring over Samuel Hlavaj’s outstretched left pad.

Hutson had a goal and two assists, and Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov scored for the Canadiens. Jakub Dobes made nine saves on 11 shots before being replaced by Jacob Fowler midway through the second period. Fowler made nine saves.

2026-27 NHL Preseason Stats

Chris Kreider was held without a point in his debut with Montreal, finishing with one shot on goal in 17:05 of ice time. The forward signed a one-year contract with the Canadiens on Sept. 12, two days after the Anaheim Ducks terminated his contract.

Henrik Rybinski had a goal and an assist, and Colton Sissons scored in his Maple Leafs debut. Artur Akhtyamov made 13 saves on 15 shots before being replaced midway through the second by Hlavaj, who also made 13 saves.

It was one of two split-squad games the teams played against each other on opening night of the NHL preseason.

Slafkovsky put Montreal in front 1-0 at 4:27 of the first period with a tip-in, and Demidov pushed it to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 12:04 when he scored with a one-timer from low in the right face-off circle.

Toronto then scored three straight goals to take the lead, starting with Rybinski’s power-play goal from the doorstep at 3:56 of the second to make it 2-1.

Sissons, who signed a two-year contract with the Maple Leafs on July 1, then tied it 2-2 at 8:32 with a deflection of Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s shot through traffic on the man-advantage, and Marc Johnstone gave Toronto a 3-2 lead at 16:21 by knocking in Rybinski’s backhand pass at the edge of the crease.

Hutson tied it 3-3 at 2:43 of the third period. He got to a loose puck and snapped a wrist shot from the left hash marks to the far side.

Canadiens 4, Maple Leafs 1: Phillip Danault scored two goals for Montreal in a split-squad win at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

Gavin McKenna, the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, made his debut for the Maple Leafs and had three shots on goal and one blocked shot in 23:39 of ice time.

Maksymilian Szuber and Samuel Poulin also scored for the Canadiens, and Sam Montembeault stopped all 13 shots he faced. Kaapo Kahkonen replaced him midway through the second period and made 11 saves.

Darren Raddysh scored for Toronto in his debut after being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 19 and signing an eight-year contract.

Sergei Bobrovsky, who signed a three-year contract as a free agent on July 1, made 10 saves in his Maple Leafs debut. Anthony Stolarz made 15 saves in relief after entering the game midway through the second period.

Danault gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead just 51 seconds into the game, scoring top shelf over Bobrovsky’s left side.

Raddysh tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 16:39, a slap shot from inside the blue line that deflected off Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson.

Szuber made it 2-1 with a slap shot through traffic from the blue line past Stolarz at 4:46 of the third period.

Danault scored into an empty net at 18:59 to make it 3-1, and Poulin tipped a shot past Stolarz at 19:37 for the 4-1 final.

Stars 2, Blues 1: Jack Becker scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period for the Dallas Stars against the St. Louis Blues in the preseason opener for each team at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

Becker put the Stars ahead 2-1 on a breakaway at 18:29 after the puck deflected in off Jordan Binnington.

Arttu Hyry also scored for Dallas. Remi Poirier made 11 saves over the first two periods before being replaced by Brandon Halverson, who stopped all 12 shots he faced in the third.

Aleksanteri Kaskimaki scored for the Blues. Binnington made 16 saves on 18 shots in the first two periods. Georgii Romanov stopped all 10 shots he faced in relief.

Hyry gave the Stars a 1-0 lead 16 seconds into the first, scoring into an open net off a backhand pass by Cameron Hughes near the right post.

Kaskimaki tied it 1-1 at 13:30 of the second, finishing on a 2-on-1 with a wrist shot from the right circle.

Oilers 5, Jets 2: Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each had a goal and assist for the Edmonton Oilers in their win against the Winnipeg Jets at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

The two star fowards played on the same line and are expected to start the season together, according to new coach Mike Babcock.

Evan Bouchard had four assists, and his new defense partner Ryan Shea had a goal and two assists for the Oilers. Shea made his debut with Edmonton after signing a five-year, $20 million contract ($4 million average annual value) on July 1.

Tristan Jarry made 15 saves through the first two periods for the Oilers before Matt Tomkins made four saves in the third.

Parker Ford and Jacob Julien scored for the Jets, and Thomas Milic made 23 saves.

It was the preseason opener for each team.

Ford opened the scoring at 1:58 of the first to make it 1-0. 

Shea tied it 1-1 at 6:52, and McDavid scored at 9:31 to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead.

Draisaitl scored at 12:08 of the second to increase the lead to 3-1, and Alex Formenton scored at 13:51 on a breakaway to make it 4-1.

Julien scored at 15:53 of the third to cut it to 4-2.

 Colton Dach scored into an empty net at 18:55 for the 5-2 final.

Wild 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT):  Tyler Pitlick scored at 3:58 of overtime, and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Chicago Blackhawks at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota.

A loose rebound of Pitlick's shot from the slot went in off the stick of Chicago defenseman Dylan Anhorn.

Rieger Lorenz had a goal and an assist for the Wild, and Nico Sturm also scored. Daemon Hunt had two assists, and  Calvin Pickard made 14 saves.

Dominic Toninato and Dillon Boucher scored for the Blackhawks, and Arvid Soderblom made 23 saves.

Each team was playing its preseason opener.

Lorenz poked the puck through the five-hole on Soderblom on a breakaway to give the Wild a 1-0 lead at 7:56 of the first.

Toninato tied it 1-1 at 12:12 on a redirection of Kevin Korchinski’s wrist shot from above the left circle.

Boucher gave Chicago a 2-1 lead at 14:19 of the second, scoring in front after a feed from Connor Mylymok below the goal line.

Minnesota tied it 2-2 at 14:06 of the third when Sturm scored in the crease off a pass from Olli Maatta in the left circle.

Golden Knights 4, Kings 2: Jackson Hallum scored twice in the third, including the go-ahead goal at 14:29, for the Vegas Golden Knights against the Los Angeles Kings in the preseason opener for each team at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.

Hallum gave Vegas a 3-2 lead after skating in from the red line and finishing on a wrist shot from the left circle. He then scored into an empty net with 1:23 remaining for the 4-2 final.

Viliam Kmec had a goal and an assist, Raphael Lavoie also scored and Marc Gatcomb had two assists for the Golden Knights. Adin Hill made 12 saves.

Lane Pederson and Anders Lee scored for the Kings. Anton Forsberg allowed three goals on 10 shots.

Kmec gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 18:40 of the first, scoring far side on a slap shot from the right circle.

Lavoie then made it 2-0 at 19:24 with a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle.

Lee cut it to 2-1 at 1:27 of the second, converting on the rush off a cross-ice pass from Kenny Connors.

Pederson tied it 2-2 at 12:06 of the third when he tapped a rebound of Cole Guttman’s shot into the open net on the rush.

Kraken 4, Canucks 2: Jake O'Brien had a goal and an assist for the Seattle Kraken against the Vancouver Canucks at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.

Jani Nyman, Ty Nelson and Logan Morrison also scored, and Jacob Melanson had two assists for the Kraken. Joey Daccord stopped all 14 shots he faced before Nikke Kokko made made four saves in the third.

Arshdeep Bains and Braeden Cootes each had a goal and an assist, and Jonathan Lekkerimaki had two assists for the Canucks, who lost Manny Malhotra's debut as Vancouver coach. He was hired June 1 to replace Adam Foote, who was fired May 19.

Nikita Tolopilo made 25 saves.

It was the preseason opener for each team.

Nyman gave Seattle a 1-0 lead on the rush at 8:29 of the first. He took a cross-ice pass from O'Brien and scored with a wrist shot from the left circle that Tolopilo got a piece of with his glove.

Nelson then made it 2-0 at 19:55 from between the circles through traffic.

Morrison extended the lead to 3-0 with a power-play goal 42 seconds into the third. He scored with a one-timer from the inner edge of the right circle off a feed from Frederick Gaudreau.

Cootes ended the shutout at 11:09, scoring on a 2-on-1 by sending a wrist shot from the left circle past Kokko on the near side to make it 3-1.

Bains cut it to 3-2 on the power play at 15:51, scoring with a one-timer from a sharp angle on the right side off a pass from Cootes.

O’Brien restored the two-goal lead at 17:25. Melanson forced a turnover on the forecheck and fed O’Brien to the left of the net, where he scored over the glove for the 4-2 final.