Sept. 22: NHL Preseason Roundup

Dan Vladar left the game with an upper-body injury at 13:31 of the first period for Philadelphia Flyers in their loss to the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in Boston.

The Philadelphia goaltender was replaced by Aleksei Kolosov during the stoppage after Boston’s Michael Eyssimont scored the game’s first goal. Vladar was making his preseason debut after establishing himself as Philadelphia’s No. 1 goalie with a 29-14-7 record, 2.42 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in his first year with the Flyers last season.

2026-27 NHL Preseason Stats

Eyssimont had two goals, and Morgan Geekie, Brian Halonen and Elias Lindholm scored for the Bruins (2-0-0). Frederic Brunet had two assists, and Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves.

Jacob Gaucher scored for the Flyers (0-2-0). Vladar made six saves before leaving the game and Kolosov made 14 saves in relief.

Eyssimont gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with a redirect in the slot of a shot from Brunet at 13:31 of the first period.

The Flyers tied it 1-1 at 18:06 when Gaucher brought the puck into the zone on the left side, skated to the net and lifted the puck over Swayman’s blocker.

Geekie gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead at 5:19 of the third period with a redirect of David Pastrnak's pass into the slot on the power play, and Halonen made it 3-1 with a netfront rebound at 7:43.

Lindholm scored on a one-timer from the slot to finish a give-and-go with Nikita Zadorov in the corner at 14:49 to make it 4-1, and Eyssimont got his second goal at 18:47 for the 5-1 final.

Hurricanes 3, Panthers 2 (SO): Brady Tkachuk did not return to the bench for the third period in the Florida Panthers' 3-2 shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday.

The forward had a goal and an assist before his last shift ended with 29 seconds left in the second period. He finished with 9:40 of total ice time.

Aleksander Barkov also had a goal and an assist, and Jacob Markstrom made 12 saves on 13 shots faced for the Panthers (1-1-0). He was replaced halfway through the second period by Akira Schmid, who made 12 saves in relief.

Bradly Nadeau and Justin Robidas each scored, and Brandon Bussi made 11 saves on 13 shots for the Hurricanes (1-1-0). Cayden Primeau took over in net halfway through the second period and made 20 saves in relief before stopping both attempts he faced in the shootout. Both Nadeau and Felix Unger Sorum scored in the shootout for Carolina.

The teams also faced off against each other on Sunday when the Panthers defeated the Hurricanes 6-3 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.

Tkachuk gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 4:31 of the first period with a snap shot off a feed from Sam Reinhart.

Nadeau tied it 1-1 at 7:00, putting Mike Reilly's rebound past Markstrom with a snap shot.

Barkov put the Panthers back ahead 2-1 just 18 seconds later with a wrist shot off an odd-man rush following a pass from Tkachuk.

Robidas tied it 2-2 at 11:25 of the second period, retrieving the puck off the left wall and putting it past Schmid short side on a wrist shot.

Islanders 4, Rangers 3: Semyon Varlamov stopped all 10 shots he faced in his first NHL game in almost two years, and the New York Islanders rallied past the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Varlamov, who replaced Ilya Sorokin midway through the second period, was playing his first game with the Islanders since Nov. 29, 2024, when he sustained a knee injury. The 38-year-old goaltender then spent the next 22 months rehabbing from double partial knee replacements.

Matias Maccelli had two goals and an assist, and Matthew Schaefer had a goal and two assists for the Islanders (1-1-0). Sorokin allowed three goals on nine shots.

Pavel Dorofeyev scored for the Rangers (0-2-0). Igor Shesterkin made 18 saves before being relieved by Spencer Martin, who allowed two goals on eight shots in the third period.

Cole Beaudoin gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 8:23 of the first period, knocking in a loose puck in the crease during a delayed penalty.

Dorofeyev made it 2-0 at 6:03 of the second period, ripping a one-timer past Sorokin's glove from the left circle.

Dorofeyev was making his Rangers debut after being acquired in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights on June 26. He signed a seven-year, $77 million contract ($11 million average annual value) with the Rangers on June 30.

Taylor Raddysh extended the lead to 3-0 at 7:20.

Kyle MacLean began the Islanders' comeback at 11:36 when he lifted in the puck near the right post to make it 3-1.

Schaefer cut it 3-2 with a power-play goal at 17:47.

Maccelli then scored two more goals with the man-advantage in the third period to give the Islanders the lead.

Maccelli tied it 3-3 at 4:02 when his cross-crease pass deflected in off the skate of Rangers defenseman Sean Durzi. He made it 4-3 at 9:29 by swiping in the rebound of Schaefer's point shot with his backhand.

Red Wings 7, Penguins 4: Michael Brandsegg-Nygard scored twice, and Anton Johansson had four assists for the Detroit Red Wings, who pulled away in the third period to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

Viktor Arvidsson had an assist in his debut for the Red Wings after signing a two-year, $10 million contract ($5 million AAV) on July 1. Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Mason Appleton scored, and Ben Chiarot had two assists.

John Gibson made 22 saves over the first two periods for Detroit (1-0-1) before being replaced by Trey Augustine, who allowed two goals on eight shots in the third.

Nick Robertson had a short-handed goal and an assist in his debut for the Penguins (1-1-0). Rickard Rackell also scored, and Arturs Silovs allowed seven goals on 23 shots.

Robertson was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1 for a fourth-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft before signing a two-year, $6.5 million contract ($3.25 million AAV) with Pittsburgh on July 14.

Twin brothers Liam and Markus Ruck, playing on the same line, each made his debut for Pittsburgh after being selected in the 2026 NHL Draft. Liam, who was selected in the first round (No. 22), had two assists in 12:58 of ice time on the right wing. Markus, a second-round pick (No. 39), had an assist in 10:03 at center.

Robertson gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead on the penalty kill at 7:19 of the first period. He skated down to the right circle from the neutral zone, maneuvered around Theo Rochette and beat Gibson blocker side.

Brandsegg-Nygard tied it 1-1 at 18:23 on a one-timer from the right circle off a feed from Nate Danielson.

Appleton put Detroit ahead 2-1 at 4:26 of the second period, knocking in a rebound of Chiarot’s point shot.

Sandin-Pellikka’s goal 31 seconds later extended it to 3-1, a one-timer from the slot off an assist from Arvidsson.

Rakell cut it to 3-2 at 12:22, spinning and finishing on a wrist shot near the right post after receiving a pass from Samuel Girard.

Brandsegg-Nygard’s power-play goal made it 4-2 at 5:37 of the third period, knocking in a rebound on the backhand.

Kaedan Korczak cut it to 4-3 at 6:55. The 25-year-old defenseman, who also had an assist, was making his Penguins debut after being acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights for Parker Wotherspoon on June 30.

Ondrej Becher extended it to 5-3 at 9:24 before Wilmer Skoog stretched it to 6-3 at 12:39. Jesse Kiiskinen then scored at 13:46 to make it 7-3.

Rutger McGroarty cut it to 7-4 at 17:47.

Sabres 5, Blue Jackets 1: Noah Ostlund scored two goals for the Buffalo Sabres in their win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist, Owen Power had three assists, and Zach Benson had two assists for the Sabres (1-1-0). Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped all 13 shots he faced before being replaced by Colten Ellis, who allowed one goal on 13 shots in the third period.

Cam Talbot, who signed a one-year, $950,000 contract on Sept. 14, made 23 saves through two periods for Columbus (1-1-0). Evan Gardner allowed two goals on nine shots in the third.

Josh Norris gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 10:12 of the second period, scoring with a slap shot from the right face-off dot off a pass from Power.

Ostlund then scored two goals in 28 seconds to push the lead to 3-0.

He first chipped a loose puck into the open net at 11:54 after Benson's initial attempt off his saucer pass hit the crossbar. Ostlund then buried a one-timer from the right circle at 12:22 off a pass from Benson on a 2-on-1.

Conor Timmins made it 4-0 at 3:53 of the third period, and Thompson extended the lead to 5-0 at 14:32.

Corson Ceulemans ended the shutout by scoring for Columbus at 16:19.