Sept. 22: NHL Preseason Roundup

Dan Vladar sustained an upper-body injury at 13:31 of the first period for the Philadelphia Flyers in their 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in Boston on Tuesday.

The goalie 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 in 2025-26 with a 29-14-7 record, 2.42 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in his first season with the Flyers.

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. 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.

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.

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 goalie then spent the next 22 months rehabbing from double partial knee replacements.

"It means a lot. That was nice," Varlamov said about getting hugs from his teammates. "It was a preseason game, but it’s exciting to win, even a preseason game. It’s nice to be out there with the teammates, battle, and yeah, I had fun today. Overall, it was a good game. I just tried to get used to the game speed, feel good and work on a few things.

“We didn’t give up much. We didn’t give up 2-on-1s, we didn’t give up any odd-man rushes, really. I thought we were solid defensively. Like I said, I felt pretty comfortable. There were no backdoor plays. The D-men played really good for me.”

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

Pavel Dorofeyev scored for the Rangers. 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, knocking in a loose puck in the crease during a delayed penalty.

Dorofeyev made it 2-0 at 6:03 of the second, 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 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.

Golden Knights 2, Sharks 1 (SO): Ivar Stenberg had an assist in his debut with the San Jose Sharks, who lost in a shootout to Vegas at SAP Center in San Jose.

Stenberg, who was the No. 2 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, finished the game with four shots on goal in 22:17 of ice time. He also scored in the first round of the shootout.

Alexander Holtz scored, and Carter Hart made 28 saves for the Golden Knights.

Michael Misa scored, and Yaroslav Askarov made 22 saves for the Sharks.

Misa gave San Jose a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 4:18 of the third period. He got a loose puck in front and buried it past Hart.

Holtz tied it 1-1 at 8:22, roofing a shot from the edge of the left hash marks.

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

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.

"Minor. Just precautionary," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "He may well be on the ice tomorrow. We'll see. But it's not an injury. It just tightened up on him. So, it's exhibition."

Aleksander Barkov also had a goal and an assist, and Jacob Markstrom made 12 saves on 13 shots faced for Florida. He was replaced halfway through the second period by Akira Schmid, who made 12 saves.

Bradly Nadeau and Justin Robidas each scored, and Brandon Bussi made 11 saves on 13 shots for Carolina. Cayden Primeau took over halfway through the second and made 20 saves before stopping both attempts he faced in the shootout.

Nadeau and Felix Unger Sorum scored in the shootout for the Hurricanes.

Tkachuk gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 4:31 of the first 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 at 7:18 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.

Mammoth 6, Kings 3: Anders Lee scored twice in his debut for the Utah Mammoth, who defeated the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

The 36-year-old forward, who was New York Islanders captain since the start of the 2018-19 season, signed a three-year, $16.2 million contract ($5.4 million AAV) with Utah as a free agent on July 1.

Clayton Keller and Daniil But each had a goal and an assist, and Nick Schmaltz also scored for the Mammoth. Mikhail Sergachev and MacKenzie Weegar each had two assists, and Karel Vejmelka made 19 saves.

Brandt Clarke had a goal and an assist, and Taylor Ward and Martin Chromiak scored for the Kings. Darcy Kuemper made 29 saves.

But’s power-play goal gave Utah a 1-0 lead at 8:49 of the first period, a deflection of Weegar’s point pass.

Keller extended it to 2-0 at 18:43 after stealing the puck from Koehn Ziemmer in the offensive zone and quickly ripping a wrist shot from the slot.

Clarke’s power-play goal cut it to 2-1 at 2:42 of the second, redirecting Adrian Kempe’s pass from just outside the right circle.

Schmaltz scored just over a minute later to make it 3-1 at 3:51 with a wrist shot near the left post.

Lee’s first goal stretched it to 4-1 at 12:22 on the rush, finishing from the slot after a backhand pass by But at the goal line.

Chromiak made it 4-2 at 16:23, scoring off a forehand-backhand move following a breakout pass by Clarke.

Ward cut it to 4-3 at 1:48 of the third, but Liam O'Brien extended it to 5-3 at 3:14.

Lee then scored into an empty net at 19:10 for the 6-3 final.

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 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 before being replaced by Trey Augustine, who allowed two goals on eight shots in the third.

Nicholas Robertson had a short-handed goal and an assist in his debut for Pittsburgh. Rickard Rakell also scored, and Arturs Silovs allowed seven goals on 23 shots.

Robertson was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1 before signing a two-year, $6.5 million contract ($3.25 million AAV) on July 14.

Twin brothers Liam and Markus Ruck, playing on the same line, each made his debut for the Penguins 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 Pittsburgh 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 at 4:57 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, knocking in a rebound on the backhand.

Kaedan Korczak cut it to 4-3 at 6:55. The 25-year-old defenseman also had an assist in his Penguins debut after being acquired from the Golden Knights 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. 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 the Blue Jackets. 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, and Thompson extended the lead to 5-0 at 14:32.

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

Predators 3, Lightning 2 (OT): Matthew Wood scored twice late in the third for the Nashville Predators, who rallied past the Tampa Bay Lightning at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Felix Nilsson won it at 2:33 of the extra period for the Predators after he stole the puck from Lightning defenseman Tomas Kralovic, took it to the high slot and scored on a wrist shot past Dennis Hildeby.

Wood cut it to 2-1 at 13:30 of the third, tipping Ryan Ufko's shot over Hildeby's glove. He scored again to tie it 2-2 at 17:41 with a wrist shot from the slot.

Justus Annunen made 25 saves for Nashville.

Jeffrey Viel scored twice, and Hildeby made 23 saves for Tampa Bay, which blew a 2-0 lead.

After a scoreless first period, Viel gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 3:44 of the second. He took advantage of a turnover in the offensive zone and put the puck through Annunen's five-hole.

Viel’s second goal extended it to 2-0 at 4:54 of the third, this time off a cross-crease feed from Pontus Holmberg.

Oilers 2, Jets 1 (OT): Viljami Marjala scored at 1:26 of overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers the win against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.

Marjala came off the bench on a change to skate into open space on the right side and receive a pass from Zach Hyman on a 2-on-1, scoring the winner on a wrist shot from the right circle.

Atro Leppanen also scored for the Oilers (2-0-0). Devon Levi made 12 saves before being replaced in the third period by Connor Ungar, who stopped all five shots he faced.

Alex Iafallo scored for the Jets (1-1-1), and Domenic DiVincentiis made 21 saves.

Iafallo gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 13:04 of the first period, scoring on a rebound left of the crease after Nino Niederreiter’s shot went wide of the net and caromed off the end boards.

Leppanen tied it 1-1 at 15:50.

Flames 3, Canucks 1: Joel Farabee had a goal and an assist, and the Calgary Flames defeated the Vancouver Canucks at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.

Zayne Parekh and Matvei Gridin each had two assists for the Flames (1-1-0), and Dustin Wolf made eight saves.

Arshdeep Bains scored for the Canucks (0-2-0), and Kevin Lankinen made 28 saves.

Farabee beat Lankinen on a power-play breakaway to give Calgary a 1-0 lead at 15:00 of the second period.

Matt Coronato’s wrist shot from the left circle made it 2-0 at 17:30, and Samuel Honzek chipped in a rebound at the left post for a 3-0 advantage at 18:58.

Bains cut it to 3-1 at 6:22 of the third period. He went short side from low in the right circle off a pass from Braeden Cootes below the goal line.