Sept. 21: NHL Preseason Roundup

Matthew Schaefer had an assist in his NHL debut, a 3-2 shootout loss for the New York Islanders against the Philadelphia Flyers at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, on Sunday.

The 18-year-old defenseman, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, was in the starting lineup on a pair with Scott Mayfield.

It was the preseason opener for each team. The Flyers won the game in the 11th round of the shootout on a goal from Emil Andrae.

Schaefer got the assist when his one-timer from the point was stopped by Philadelphia goalie Aleksei Kolosov, but the rebound was put in by Kyle Palmieri at 4:01 of the second period to tie the game 1-1.

Schaefer, who was limited to 17 games last season with Erie in the Ontario Hockey League because of a broken collarbone sustained Dec. 27 while playing for Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, played a total of 24:39 and had five shots on goal.

Palmieri also assisted on Marshall Warren’s goal at 16:48 of the second that gave New York a 2-1 lead. David Rittich stopped 13 of 14 shots for the Islanders; Parker Gahagen made 15 saves in relief.

Rodrigo Abols opened the scoring for the Flyers at 2:42 of the first period. Matvei Michkov tied it at 18:42 of the third period.

Kolosov made 15 saves, allowing both goals. Carson Bjarnason made 17 saves.

Rangers 5, Devils 3: The New York Rangers scored four goals in the second period at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Dylan Roobroeck had a goal and an assist, and Jonathan Quick stopped 12 of 13 shots for the Rangers before being relieved by Dylan Garand midway through the second period. Garand made 13 saves.

Brian Halonen and Arseny Gritsyuk each had a goal and an assist, and Jake Allen stopped nine of 10 shots in the first period for the Devils. Nico Daws allowed four goals on 13 shots in relief.

It was the preseason opener for each team.

Gabe Perreault gave New York a 1-0 lead at 3:12 of the first period with a wrist shot from the slot after a feed from Casey Fitzgerald.

Halonen tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 10:55, one-timing Dennis Cholowski’s pass from above the left face-off circle.

Roobroeck put the Rangers back in front 2-1 at 3:11 of the second period on a rebound of Matt Rempe’s backhand attempt.

A sixth-round pick (No. 178) by New York at the 2023 NHL Draft, Roobroeck had 34 points (20 goals, 14 assists) in 72 games with Hartford of the American Hockey League last season, his first as a pro.

Conor Sheary gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead when he scored on a breakaway at 11:45, and Scott Morrow made it 4-1 at 13:29.

Paul Cotter cut it to 4-2 at 15:52 on a backhand, but Jonny Brodzinski scored on a rebound at 16:53 to make it 5-2.

Gritsyuk scored a power-play goal at 18:20 of the third period for the 5-3 final.

Predators 5, Panthers 0: Erik Haula scored two goals in his return to the Nashville Predators, and Justus Annunen and Matt Murray combined for 20 saves against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday in the preseason opener for each team and the first of two games in Nashville.

Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei each had two assists, Ryder Rolston and David Edstrom had goals, and Reid Schaefer scored on his 22nd birthday for the Predators.

Brandon Bussi (17 saves) and Kirill Gerasimyuk (five) were in goal for the Panthers in their first game since winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship with a 5-1 victory against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on June 17.

Rolston gave Nashville a 1-0 lead with an unassisted goal at 5:24 of the first period.

Haula made it 2-0 at 3:41 of the second period. The 34-year-old forward was acquired in a trade with the Devils on June 18 for defenseman Jeremy Hanzel and a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. He had 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 51 regular-season games and four points (one goal, three assists) in six Stanley Cup Playoff games for the Predators in 2020-21.

Schaefer scored at 12:19 to put the Predators ahead 3-0. The forward was a first-round pick (No. 32) by the Oilers in the 2022 NHL Draft and was acquired in the deal that sent Tyson Barrie to Nashville and Mattias Ekholm to Edmonton on Feb. 28, 2023.

Haula scored again at 7:11 of the third period to make it 4-0, and Edstrom at 15:44 for the 5-0 final.

Maple Leafs 4, Senators 3: The Toronto Maple Leafs scored three goals in the first period, then held off the Ottawa Senators in the preseason opener for each team at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

Calle Jarnkrok and Nicholas Robertson each scored for the Maple Leafs. Artur Akhtyamov stopped 16 of 17 shots before being replaced midway through the second period by Vyacheslav Peksa, who made 16 saves.

Ridly Greig had a goal and an assist, and Drake Batherson had two assists for the Senators. Linus Ullmark allowed three goals on eight shots in the first period. Mads Sogaard made 11 saves in relief.

Jarnkrok gave Toronto a 1-0 lead 47 seconds into the first. He stole the puck from Ottawa center Nick Cousins in the left circle, powered his way to the net and jammed a shot past Ullmark.

Robertson made it 2-0 at 12:47 with a one-timer from the top of the left circle.

William Villeneuve gave the Maple Leafs a 3-0 lead with a power-play goal at 18:00, a wrist shot from the point that found its way through traffic.

Greig cut it to 3-1 at 1:45 of the second period, but Matthew Barbolini restored Toronto’s three-goal lead with a power-play goal at 5:42 to make it 4-1.

Arthur Kaliyev one-timed Greig’s feed in the slot at 13:12 to cut it to 4-2.

Olle Lycksell cut it to 4-3 with a power-play goal at 4:33 of the third period after a feed from Brady Tkachuk, but the Senators were unable to tie it.

Ottawa outshot Toronto 14-5 in the third.

Blue Jackets 4, Blues 1: Milan Lucic had an assist in his first NHL game since Oct. 21, 2023. The 37-year-old signed a professional tryout agreement with the St. Louis Blues on Aug. 19 after not playing last season to take a leave of absence from the Boston Bruins in November 2023. He later entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.

Ivan Fedotov made 14 saves in two periods of his debut with the Columbus Blue Jackets, who got goals from Brendan Gaunce and Mathieu Olivier, a goal and an assist from Luca Del Bel Belluz, and a goal and two assists from Dmitri Voronkov. Fedotov was traded to Columbus by Philadelphia on Sept. 14 for a sixth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Nikita Alexandrov scored, and Joel Hofer (13 saves) played two periods for the Blues; they lost their preseason opener 2-1 in a shootout at the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

Gaunce opened the scoring 2:41 into the second period to give the Blue Jackets at 1-0 lead, and Del Bel Belluz made it 2-0 at 15:42, with Voronkov assisting on each goal.

Alexandrov scored at 16:58 to trim Columbus' lead to 2-1.

Voronkov scored at 17:31, and Columbus got an empty-net goal from Olivier at 19:37 for the 4-1 final.

Capitals 5, Bruins 2: Marco Sturm made his coaching debut for the Boston Bruins in a loss at TD Garden in Boston. The 47-year-old was hired June 5 and is a head coach for the first time in the NHL.

Sonny Milano had four points (two goals, two assists), Hendrix Lapierre had a goal and two assists, and Logan Thompson made 14 saves for the Washington Capitals before he was pulled midway through the second period.

Morgan Geekie and Patrick Brown scored, and Michael DiPietro and Simon Zajicek combined for 26 saves for the Bruins, who are coming off a last-place finish in the Atlantic Division after qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs the previous eight seasons.

Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy played 21:01 while skating on the first pair with Mason Lohrei and the first power-play unit. It his first game since Feb. 8 after missing the final 25 games of last season with a shoulder injury sustained playing for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off, a 6-1 win against Finland in the opener of the best-on-best tournament at Bell Centre in Montreal on Feb. 13.

Geekie's goal at 6:17 of the first period gave Boston a 1-0 lead.

Milano tied it 1-1 at 6:48, the first of four unanswered goals for the Capitals. Lapierre scored at 11:33 of the second period to put Washington ahead 2-1. Milano and Bogdan Trineyev then scored 47 seconds apart to give the Capitals a 4-1 lead.

Brown cut it to 4-2 at 3:35 of the second, but Washington took a 5-2 lead on Ryan Chesley's goal at 8:45.

Wild 3, Jets 2: Yakov Trenin scored twice, including with 1:01 left in overtime, to help the Minnesota Wild defeat the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.

Hunter Haight also scored for the Wild, and Jesper Wallstedt made 21 saves.

Morgan Barron and Danil Zhilkin scored, and Samuel Fagemo had two assists for the Jets. Thomas Milic stopped seven of eight shots he faced in two periods, and Isaac Poulter made nine saves in relief.

Each team was playing its first game of the preseason.

Barron put the Jets up 1-0 with a power-play goal 5:33 into the first period when he shoveled in a rebound off a point shot from Elias Salomonsson.

Zhilkin took a no-look, behind-the-back pass from Kevin He and sent a wrist shot from the left circle past Wallstedt to push it to 2-0 at 8:02.

Trenin cut it to 2-1 at 4:23 of the second period, taking a Vinnie Hinostroza pass from behind the net and slipping it past Milic in front.

Haight tied it 2-2 on the power play at 17:02 of the third period.

Trenin won it when he found a loose puck in the slot and beat Poulter through traffic for the 3-2 final.

Kings 3, Ducks 1: Alex Turcotte had a goal and assist, and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Anaheim Ducks at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.

Alex Laferriere and Andre Lee scored for the Kings. Carter George made 20 saves.

Nikita Nesterenko scored for the Ducks, and Ville Husso made 22 saves.

It was the first preseason game for each team.

Nesterenko opened the scoring 1:15 into the first period. He sent a wrist shot from above the right circle that deflected in off the back of Kings defenseman Kyle Burroughs.

Turcotte tied it 1-1 at 4:27 when he banged in a rebound off a point shot from Brandt Clarke.

Laferriere gave Los Angeles a 2-1 lead at 6:11 of the third period. After sending a pass to Turcotte on a short-handed rush, Laferriere crashed the net and tucked in a rebound on the doorstep.

Lee scored an empty-net goal at 18:34 for the 3-1 final.

Predators 5, Panthers 3: Matthew Wood had a goal and two assists for the Predators in a win against the Panthers at Bridgestone Arena, the second game of a doubleheader in Nashville.

Filip Forsberg and Ryan O'Reilly each had a goal and an assist, and Cole Smith and Steven Stamkos scored for the Predators. Juuse Saros stopped nine of 10 shots before being replaced midway through the second period by Magnus Chrona, who made 14 saves.

Mike Benning scored twice, and Brett Chorske had a goal for the Panthers. Daniil Tarasov, who was acquired by Florida in a trade with Columbus on June 26, made 15 saves. Cooper Black replaced him midway through the second period and stopped 11 saves of 12 shots.

Chorske put Florida ahead 1-0 at 7:44 of the first period, sending a low shot from the left of the crease that went in off Saros.

Smith deflected a shot from the right point by Nick Blankenburg to tie it 1-1 at 17:44, and Stamkos put the Predators ahead 2-1 on the power play at 18:59.

Forsberg increased Nashville's lead to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 9:39 of the second period.

Wood sent a wrist shot through traffic from the right circle to make it 4-1 at 13:24; he was selected with the No. 15 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. The 20-year-old forward had one assist in six games with the Predators last season after collecting 39 points (17 goals, 22 assists) in 39 games at the University of Minnesota.

Benning cut it to 4-2 just 21 seconds into the third period, tapping in a loose puck in the crease over the goal line. He scored again at 6:39 with a one-timer from the right circle to make it 4-3.

Benning has spent the past two seasons with Charlotte of the American Hockey League after three seasons at the University of Denver, upping his production from 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 72 regular-season games in 2023-24. The 23-year-old defenseman also had nine points (five goals, four assists) in 18 AHL playoff games, including the overtime goal in Game 2 of the Calder Cup Final.

O'Reilly scored an empty-net goal at 19:25 for the 5-3 final.

Nicolas Hague, who was acquired by Nashville in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights on June 30, was injured in the second period and did not return. The 26-year-old defenseman had one assist and three shots on goal in 15:09 of ice time.

Avalanche 5, Mammoth 1: Gavin Brindley and Tristen Nielsen each scored twice, and Valeri Nichushkin had three assists in the Colorado Avalanche’s 5-1 win against the Utah Mammoth.

The preseason opener for each team was played at Magness Arena on the campus of the University of Denver.

Isak Posch made 12 saves for the Avalanche, allowing one goal. Scott Wedgewood made eight saves.

Michael Carcone scored the first goal for Utah under the name Mammoth. Matt Villalta made 28 saves.

Carcone gave Utah a 1-0 lead at 11:00 of the first period, but Brindley scored the next two goals -- the first at 4:13 of the second period on assists from Cale Makar and Nichushkin. Brindley then scored unassisted at 5:07 of the second period to give Colorado a 2-1 lead.

Maker and Nichushkin teamed up again to assist on a goal for Danil Gushchin to make it 3-1 at 5:57. Gabriel Landeskog assisted on Nielsen’s goal at 18:03 to make it 4-1.

Nielsen scored his second goal at 14:35 of the third period on an assist from Nichushkin for the 5-1 final.

Sharks 3, Golden Knights 0: Newcomers John Klingberg , Jeff Skinner and Alex Nedeljkovic each shined in their debuts with the San Jose Sharks in their win against the Vegas Golden Knights at SAP Center in San Jose.

Michael Misa, selected by the Sharks with the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, had one shot on goal in 17:40 of ice time.

Nedeljkovic, who was acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins on July 1, made 24 saves for the shutout.

Carl Lindbom started in goal for the Golden Knights and stopped 10 of 11 shots before being replace midway through the second period. Jesper Vikman made eight saves in relief.

Klingberg, a defenseman who signed with San Jose as a free agent on July 1, made it 1-0 with a power-play goal at 7:18 of the first period. Tyler Toffoli (one goal, one assist) won an offensive zone face-off and got the puck the Klingberg, whose wrist shot beat Vegas goalie Carl Lindbom. Klingberg played 21:15.

Skinner, who signed as a free agent on July 11, made it 2-0 when he scored on a delayed penalty at 19:14 of the second period.

Toffoli scored an empty-net goal at 19:17 of the third period for the 3-0 final.

Oilers 3, Flames 0: Kasperi Kapanen scored for the Edmonton Oilers, who shut out the Calgary Flames in split-squad action at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.

Connor Clattenburg and Riley Stillman scored, and Samuel Jonsson and Nathaniel Day combined to make 20 saves for the Oilers. Jonsson stopped all 12 shots faced, and Day made eight saves in relief after entering the game at 10:29 of the second period.

Devin Cooley made 26 saves for the Flames.

Each team was playing its first game of the preseason.

Kapanen shot off Cooley's glove and in from between the hashmarks to put the Oilers up 1-0 at 2:38 of the first period.

Clattenburg pushed the lead to 2-0 at 8:18 of the third period with an unassisted goal, a shot from the slot that beat Cooley over the glove after a turnover through the middle of the defensive zone by Matvei Gridin.

Stillman scored at 11:46 on a slap shot from the point through a screen that beat Cooley glove-side for the 3-0 final.

Kraken 5, Canucks 3: Jani Nyman scored twice, Vince Dunn had three assists, Kaapo Kakko had two assists, and the Seattle Kraken topped the Vancouver Canucks in the preseason opener for each team at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.

It was Lane Lambert’s first game as coach of the Kraken and Adam Foote’s coaching debut with the Canucks.

Eduard Sale, John Hayden, and Jaden Schwartz also scored for Seattle. Joey Daccord made nine saves, allowing two goals; Nikke Kokko made 13 saves, allowing one goal.

Victor Mancini, Chase Stillman and Nils Aman scored for Vancouver. Nikita Tolopilo stopped 13 of 14 shots; Ty Young made six saves in relief.

Sale, selected No. 20 by the Kraken in the 2023 NHL Draft, made it 1-0 at 14:06 of the first period with a wrist shot that finished a 2-on-1.

Mancini tied it 1-1 at 3:25 of the second period, but Nyman scored the first of his two goals at 10:54 to give Seattle a 2-1 lead.

Schwartz made it 3-1 at 13:45, and Nyman pushed it to 4-1 at 14:25.

Nyman’s two goals were each assisted by Dunn and Kakko.

Stillman cut it to 4-2 with an unassisted goal at 19:44 of the second.

Hayden gave the Kraken a 5-2 lead at 3:07 of the third period, and Aman scored at 7:25 for the 5-3 final.

Flames 3, Oilers 2: Morgan Frost scored twice, including 1:07 into overtime, to help the Flames past the Oilers at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Joel Farabee scored a power-play goal, and Dryden Hunt had two assists for Calgary. Ivan Prosvetov stopped 28 of 30 shots.

Matvey Petrov had a goal and an assist for the Oilers. Matt Tomkins made 11 saves.

Darnell Nurse scored at 3:46 of the second period to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead.

Frost tied it 1-1 at 7:14 before Farabee put the Flames ahead 2-1 at 11:02 on the power play, tapping in a cross-crease pass from Rory Kerins.

Petrov tied it 2-2 at 18:41 when he banked in a centering pass from behind the net off the skate of Cakgary defenseman Ilya Solovyov.

Frost won it in overtime on a wrist shot from the left circle.

Avalanche 3, Mammoth 2: Martin Necas had a goal and two assists for the Avalanche at Ball Arena in Denver.

Artturi Lehkonen and Brock Nelson scored for Colorado. Trent Miner stopped 19 of 20 shots in two periods, and Kyle Keyser made four saves in relief.

Sammy Walker had a goal and an assist, and Daniil But scored for the Mammoth. Vitek Vanecek, who won the Stanley Cup last season with the Panthers, stopped 13 saves of 15 shots through two periods before being replaced by Jaxson Stauber, who made five saves.

Lehkonen gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 17:59 of the first period, whacking at a loose puck during a scramble that eventually trickled under Vanecek over the goal line.

But tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 4:56 of the second period.

Necas gave Colorado a 2-1 lead at 8:12 when he collected a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated in alone and beat Vanecek's glove with a wrist shot.

Walker tied it 2-2 at 14:09 of the third period with a wrist shot from the right circle while on a power play .

Nelson scored just 36 seconds later at 14:41. Necas sent a one-timer towards the net that Nelson deflected in front for the 3-2 final.

Utah forward Logan Cooley left the game in the third after taking a hit along the boards from Avalanche forward Zakhar Bardakov. He did not return.