Sept. 20: NHL Preseason Roundup

Brady Tkachuk had two goals and an assist in his debut with the Florida Panthers, a 6-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Sunday.

Tkachuk was traded to Florida by the Ottawa Senators on June 21 for the No. 9 and No. 25 picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, a conditional first-round pick in the 2029 draft and a second-round pick in the 2027 draft.

2026-27 NHL Preseason Stats

Cole Reinhardt scored twice, Niko Mikkola had a goal and two assists, and Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Jacob Markstrom made 21 saves.

Justin Robidas had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, and Pyotr Kochetkov made 28 saves.

It was the first preseason game for each team.

Dominik Badinka poked a loose puck in off Markstrom’s back after the Florida goalie had trouble controlling a rebound, giving Carolina a 1-0 lead at 6:04 of the first period.

Brady Tkachuk tied the game 1-1 with a wrist shot from the high slot on the power play at 12:02. The primary assist came from his brother, Matthew Tkachuk.

Barkov, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead at 2:30 of the second period, scoring five-hole on a breakaway after receiving a pass in stride in the neutral zone from Brady Tkachuk.

Reinhardt made it 3-1 just 1:06 later with a wrist shot from the high slot that went blocker side at 4:06. 

Robidas cut it to 3-2  during a 5-on-3 power play at 9:34. He one-timed a Charlie Cerrato pass far side over Markstrom’s blocker from the right circle.

Then with the teams skating 4-on-4, Robidas skated behind the net and whipped a pass back to the low slot, where Bradly Nadeau tied the game 3-3 at 10:45.

Reinhardt redirected a Mikkola wrist shot for his second goal of the game at 12:10 to give Florida a 4-3 lead.

Mikkola made it 5-3 with a wrist shot from the left point at 19:07.

Brady Tkachuk scored into the empty net with 2:15 remaining for the 6-3 final.

Devils 2, Islanders 1: Connor Brown scored the go-ahead goal on a breakaway in the third period to give the New Jersey Devils a win against the New York Islanders at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

It was the preseason opener for each team.

Brown gave the Devils a 2-1 lead at 7:53, capitalizing on a turnover by Marshall Warren at New Jersey’s blue line before skating in alone and sending a wrist shot past Vitek Vanecek.

David Rittich, who signed a one-year contract with the Devils on July 3, made 23 saves against his former team, including 12 in the first. He was 14-10-3 with a 2.76 goals-against average, .894 save percentage and two shutouts in 30 games (28 starts) for the Islanders last season.

Cole Eiserman scored, and Vanecek made 20 saves in his Islanders debut after signing a one-year contract July 1. 

Eiserman, a first-round pick (No. 20) at the 2024 NHL Draft, gave New York a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 55 seconds into the second. He ripped a one-timer from just beyond the right face-off dot past Rittich after a feed from Vladimir Dravecky during a 4-on-3 advantage.

Ryan Schmelzer tied it 1-1 at 3:59 off the rush, taking a pass from Ben Steeves and flipping a shot over Vanecek’s glove.

Ducks 6, Sharks 2: Beckett Sennecke had a hat trick for the Anaheim Ducks in a 6-2 win against the San Jose Sharks in the preseason opener for each team at Honda Center in Anaheim on Sunday.

Tristan Luneau had a goal and two assists, Jackson LaCombe and Leo Carlsson each had a goal and an assist, and Nico Myatovic had two assists for Anaheim. Laurent Brossoit made 21 saves.

Eric Pohlkamp and Jimmy Huntington scored for San Jose, and Eric Comrie made 14 saves in his Sharks debut before Matthew Davis took over in net halfway through the second period. He made 12 saves on 16 shots in relief.

Pohlkamp gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 1:37 of the first with a snap shot off a feed from Ethan Cardwell.

LaCombe tied it 1-1 just 1:20 later with a wrist shot at 2:57.

Carlsson gave Anaheim a 2-1 lead at 6:07, deking around defenders in front before putting a snap shot over Comrie's right shoulder.

Huntington tied it 2-2 at 11:05 of the second, getting the puck off the right boards from Brett Leason and putting it past Brossoit with a wrist shot.

Sennecke scored on the power play, getting the feed from Carlsson in front to put the Ducks back up 3-2 at 12:15. He scored again at 16:07, a slap shot just inside the blue line to make it 4-2.

Sennecke completed the hat trick at 8:10 of the third to make it 5-2. He received a pass from Mikael Granlund and gloved it down before skating in and putting the puck over Davis' right shoulder.

Luneau's one-timer got past Davis at 13:44 for the 6-2 final.

Bruins 3, Capitals 2 (SO): Charlie McAvoy scored the game-tying goal late in the third period, and the Boston Bruins rallied to defeat the Washington Capitals at TD Garden in Boston.

McAvoy tied it 2-2 with 1:43 remaining, scoring glove side on a one-timer from the point.

Jake Schmaltz also scored, and Michael DiPietro made 29 saves for Boston.

Ivan Miroshnichenko had a goal and an assist, and Logan Thompson made 28 saves for Washington.

It was the preseason opener for each team.

Jonny Brodzinski gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 8:48 of the first. He scored on a one-timer from the left circle off a pass from Miroshnichenko, who was in the right corner.

Brodzinski signed a one-year, $850,000 contract with Washington as a free agent on July 1.

Schmaltz tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 15:32 of the second.

Miroshnichenko gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead at 5:32 of the third. He scored during a scramble in the crease two seconds after a power play expired.

Boone Jenner had three shots on goal in 18:56 of ice time in his debut with Washington after signing a four-year, $23 million contract ($5.75 million average annual value) on July 1, and Alex Tuch, who was acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on June 24, had one shot on goal in 20:10 in his first game with the Capitals.

Lightning 2, Predators 1: Victor Hedman played 19:13 in his return to the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Nashville Predators in the preseason opener for each team at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa.

The defenseman and Tampa Bay captain had not played since March 19 after taking a personal leave from the team.

Ilya Mikheyev scored in his Tampa Bay debut and John Carlson had an assist in his debut for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 12 saves.

Brady Martin scored and Juuse Saros made 20 saves for the Predators.

Mikheyev, who signed a four-year, $15.4 million contract ($3.85 million AAV) on July 1, gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 1:33 of the first period when he redirected Carlson’s point shot past Saros.

Carlson signed a two-year, $17 million contract ($8.5 million AAV) with the Lightning on July 1.

Martin tied it 1-1 for Nashville at 7:39. The 19-year-old forward skated around J.J. Moser on the rush and beat Vasilevskiy from the bottom of the right circle.

Conor Geekie scored at 15:31, intercepting a clearing attempt and scoring from the slot for the 2-1 final.

Avalanche 4, Mammoth 1: Brock Nelson scored for the Colorado Avalanche in their win against the Utah Mammoth at Ball Arena in Denver.

Gavin Brindley had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all seven shots he faced before being replaced midway through the second period by Ilya Nabokov, who made 16 saves on 17 shots.

Sebastian Cossa made 11 saves on 12 shots for the Mammoth before being replaced by Michael Hrabal, who allowed three goals on five shots in the third period. Cossa was acquired in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings on June 26 for a first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

It was the first preseason game for each team.

Beckett Hamilton gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 8:54 of the second period. He scored from in front after Martin Necas intercepted a pass from Maveric Lamoureux near the left post.

Hamilton was selected in the third round (No. 74) of the 2026 NHL Draft.

Yegor Borikov tied it 1-1 at 15:27, burying a rebound at the edge of the crease.

Brindley put the Avalanche back in front 2-1 at 1:52 of the third period. Utah challenged the play for offside, but the call was confirmed after a video review, resulting in a delay of game penalty.

Nelson scored 35 seconds later on the ensuing power play to push the lead to 3-1 at 2:27.

Taylor Makar, the brother of defenseman Cale Makar, made it 4-1 at 17:27.

Vincent Trocheck was minus-2 in his Mammoth debut but won 14 of 20 face-offs and had two shots on goal in 18:24 of ice time. Trocheck was acquired by Utah in a trade with the New York Rangers on July 1.

Kraken 4, Flames 2: Logan Morrison and Ty Nelson each scored for the second straight game, and the Seattle Kraken edged the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.

Jon-Randall Avon had a goal and two assists for the Kraken, who defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Saturday. Philipp Grubauer allowed one goal on 16 shots before being replaced at the start of the third by Nikke Kokko, who made seven saves.

Aydar Suniev scored both goals for the Flames, who were playing their first preseason game. Devin Cooley made 19 saves.

Nelson gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 4:51 of the first, scoring from the high slot as a trailer on the rush.

Jagger Firkus made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 9:23.

Suniev cut it to 2-1 at 13:01, beating Grubauer glove side from the high slot.

Suniev tied it 2-2 at 10:26 of the third, but Morrison quickly responded with a power-play goal at 11:59 to put the Kraken back in front 3-2.

Avon scored a short-handed empty-net goal with 16 seconds remaining for the 4-2 final.