Sept. 24: NHL Preseason Roundup

Alex Lyon left late in the first period and did not return for the Buffalo Sabres in their 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Thursday.

Lyon exited with two minutes remaining in the first period. After diving forward and corralling a loose puck, he flexed his left arm and immediately skated toward the bench. Colten Ellis then replaced Lyon, who stopped seven of eight shots.

2026-27 NHL Preseason Stats

Alex DeBrincat won it for the Red Wings 33 seconds into overtime, finishing a one-timer from the left circle off a feed from Lucas Raymond during a power play.

Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Sheldon Dries also scored for the Red Wings (2-0-1). Daniil Tarasov made 17 saves.

Jiri Kulich and Trevor Kuntar scored for the Sabres (1-1-1). Ellis made 16 saves.

Kuntar gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 10:48 of the first period, roofing a shot after retrieving a failed clearing attempt by Tarasov.

Sandin-Pellikka tied it 1-1 at 16:11 with a power-play goal, a one-timer from the right circle off a feed from Anton Johansson.

Kulich scored 33 seconds into the second period to put Buffalo back ahead 2-1 after his shot on the rush trickled through Tarasov’s five-hole.

Dries tied it 2-2 at 7:13 of the third period, redirecting Jacob Bryson’s shot from the blue line in the left circle.

Hurricanes 6, Predators 5: Logan Stankoven scored twice for the Carolina Hurricanes, who rallied from four goals down to defeat the Nashville Predators at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a goal and an assist, and Taylor Hall had two assists for the Hurricanes (2-1-0). Pyotr Kochetkov made 23 saves.

Vitali Pinchuk had a goal and an assist, Jack Drury and Jonathan Marchessault also scored, and Tanner Molendyk had two assists for the Predators (1-2-0). Justus Annunen made 25 saves.

Kotkaniemi got the Hurricanes to within 5-2 at 13:38 of the second period, and Juha Jaaska cut it to 5-3 at 16:19.

Juuso Valimaki made it 5-4 with a power-play goal at 8:26 of the third period. He buried a one-timer in the low slot off a pass from Hall.

Stankoven tied it 5-5 with 1:24 remaining in regulation before Felix Unger Sorum completed the comeback by scoring the game-winning goal with three seconds left. Unger Sorum skated into the right circle and beat Annunen with a wrist shot under his glove.

Pinchuk gave Nashville a 1-0 lead at 1:48 of the first period. He collected Molendyk's shot from the point and slid the puck under the glove of Kochetkov.

Cole O'Hara made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 7:09, and Marchessault extended it to 3-0 on a breakaway at 15:24.

Stankoven made it 3-1 at 1:19 of the second period, tapping in a pass from Hall after his initial attempt went wide of the net.

Adam Edstrom made it 4-1 at 3:20, and Drury pushed it to 5-1 at 8:24 with a backhand on a partial breakaway.

Panthers 5, Lightning 3: Cole Reinhardt scored his third goal of the preaseason and also had an assist for the Florida Panthers, who defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa.

Kai Schwindt also had a goal and an assist, and Cooper Black got the start and made 14 saves for the Panthers (2-0-1). Kirill Gerasimyuk made 11 saves in the third period.

Jansen Harkins had two goals, Conor Geekie scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning (1-1-1).

Bokondji Imama put the Panthers on the board first at 19:44 of the first period, deflecting Donovan Sebrango's shot from the blue line past Vasilevskiy in front.

Schwindt made it 2-0 at 2:29 of the second period after the puck was pulled into the net by the right pad of Vasilevskiy.

Harkins cut it to 2-1 at 3:14, taking a feed from Ilya Mikheyev and scoring with a snap shot.

Geekie tied it 2-2 at 13:09 off a 2-on-0 rush with Sam O'Reilly.

Hunter St. Martin put the Panthers ahead 3-2 at 4:21, but Harkins scored his second of the game at 5:29 to tie it 3-3.

However, Reinhardt put the Panthers back in front just six seconds later. He stole the puck from Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh in front and snapped it past Vasilevskiy to make it 4-3.

Sandis Vilmanis scored into an empty net at 19:36 for the 5-3 final.

Flyers 2, Bruins 0: Joseph Woll made 28 saves for the Philadelphia Flyers, who shut out the Boston Bruins at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

Matvei Michkov and Cole Knuble scored for the Flyers (1-2-0).

Michael DiPietro made 26 saves for the Bruins (2-1-0).

Michkov gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead at 4:02 of the first period. He knocked a loose puck into the open net after Helge Grans' initial shot hit Porter Martone in front.

Knuble made it 2-0 at 2:57 of the third period, jamming in a rebound in the crease.

Blue Jackets 4, Penguins 0: Valeri Nichushkin scored in his debut for the Columbus Blue Jackets in their win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

The 31-year-old forward was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche on June 25 for a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft and a fifth-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft.

Zach Werenski, Kirill Marchenko and Danton Heinen also scored, and Dmitri Voronkov had two assists for the Blue Jackets (2-1-0). Cam Talbot made 15 saves for the shutout.

Sergei Murashov made 13 saves for the Penguins (1-2-0).

Werenski gave Columbus a 1-0 lead at 11:48 of the first period by burying a point shot through traffic.

Nichushkin extended it to 2-0 at 14:42 of the second period, scoring with a backhand on the rush.

Heinen stretched the lead to 3-0 at 19:45, tapping in his own rebound following a pass from Charlie Coyle.

Marchenko scored into an empty net at 17:28 for the 4-0 final.

Rangers 4, Devils 3 (SO): Will Cuylle had a goal and an assist and scored the deciding goal in the shootout for the New York Rangers in their win against the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Anton Blidh and Scott Morrow scored, and Gabe Perreault had two assists for the Rangers (1-2-0). Joonas Korpisalo made 20 saves and stopped all three attempts in the shootout.

Stefan Noesen, Ethan Edwards and Amadeus Lombardi scored, Matyas Melovsky had two assists, and Nico Daws made 20 saves for the Devils (2-0-1).

Noesen put the Devils in front 1-0 at 8:51 of the first period with a power-play goal. He deflected Seamus Casey's shot from the point up and over Korpisalo.

Edwards pushed it to 2-0 at 12:09 of the second period, scoring with a snap shot from the left dot.

Cuylle cut it to 2-1 at 3:10 of the third period. Perrault's shot toward the net hit Matthew Robertson in front before deflecting in off of Cuylle.

During a delayed penalty, Blidh put Glenn Gawdin's feed past a prone Daws to tie it 2-2 at 5:21.

Morrow gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead at 10:03, finishing a cross-crease pass from Cuylle.

Lombardi tied it 3-3 at 18:21, getting the puck out of a scrum along the left boards and snapping a shot through Korpisalo's pads.