Sept. 26: NHL Preseason Roundup

Luke Evangelista scored twice for the New Jersey Devils in a 4-1 win against the New York Islanders in the preseason finale for each team at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York on Saturday.

The 24-year-old forward signed a five-year, $36.25 million contract ($7.25 million average annual value) with the Devils on Sept. 15 after being acquired from the Nashville Predators on Sept. 1 for a first-round pick and a second-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft.

Dougie Hamilton and Arseny Gritsyuk also scored for the Devils, who finished the preseason 3-0-1. Jake Allen made 14 saves.

Simon Holmstrom scored for the Islanders, who finished the preseason 1-3-0. Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves.

2026-27 NHL Preseason Stats

Evangelista’s power-play goal gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead at 6:13 of the first period. He scored on a wrist shot from the slot off a centering feed from Jack Hughes.

Gritsyuk’s goal 42 seconds into the second period extended it to 2-0, finishing from the top of the left circle on an odd-man rush.

Evangelista made it 3-0 with his second goal of the game 19 seconds later. He skated in for the rebound and scored from the right post at 1:01.

Hamilton pushed it to 4-0 at 14:48 after roofing a shot over Sorokin’s left shoulder.

Holmstrom made it 4-1 at 15:21 of the third period.

New Jersey hosts the Philadelphia Flyers in its regular-season opener on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; Disney+, HULU, ESPN+). New York visits the Toronto Maple Leafs in its opener on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; Prime, MSGSN).

Oilers 4, Flames 1: Connor McDavid and Kasperi Kapanen each had a goal and assist for the Oilers in the preseason finale for each team at Rogers Place in Edmonton. 

Zach Hyman and Ryan Shea also scored for the Oilers, who finished the preseason with a 4-0-0 record. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two assists and Devon Levi made 23 saves.

Matt Coronato scored and Dustin Wolf had 24 saves for Calgary, which finished the preseason with a 1-2-1 record.

Hyman scored on the power play, converting a centering pass from McDavid at 16:46 of the first period to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. 

McDavid made it 2-0 at 7:55 of the second period, one-timing a shot from the bottom of the face-off circle off a cross-ice pass from Leon Draisaitl.

Shea made it 3-0 at 13:26. He stepped into a shot from the blue line on a pass from Kapanen.  

Coronato scored on the power play at 9:06 of the third period to cut the Calgary deficit to 3-1, and Kapanen scored on a breakaway at 10:52 for the 4-1 final.  

The Oilers open the regular season by hosting the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; SN). Calgary hosts the Seattle Kraken in its season opener Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, KONG, KHN/Prime).

Sharks 4, Golden Knights 2: Macklin Celebrini and Mason Marchment each had a goal and an assist, and the San Jose Sharks defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in the preseason finale for each team.

Dmitry Orlov and Michael Misa also scored for the Sharks (2-1-1) and Yaroslav Askarov had 28 saves.

Tomas Hertl and Nic Dowd scored for the Golden Knights (3-1-0) and Carter Hart made 13 saves.

Orlov gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead with a wrist shot from the point on the power play at 19:20 of the first period.

Celebrini made it 2-0 for the Sharks at 6:45 of the second period, going bardown with a wrist shot from the left circle on the rush, converting a cross-ice pass from Will Smith.

The Golden Knights cut it to 2-1 at 17:24 as Hertl reached into the crease to clean up a loose puck that had gotten behind Askarov

Dowd tied the game 2-2 with a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Brett Howden on the rush at 3:18 of the third period.

Marchment squeezed in a sharp-angled shot from low in the circle, getting the puck between Hart and the left post to give the Sharks a 3-2 lead at 9:47.

Misa made it 4-2 for San Jose at 14:56 with a wrist shot up over Hart’s shoulder from the right dot on a rush.

San Jose hosts the Panthers in its regular-season opener on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, NBCSCA, TVAS). Vegas is at home to open the season against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, TVAS2).

Canucks 4, Kraken 3: Jake DeBrusk had a goal and two assists, and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Seattle Kraken for their first win of the preseason in the preseason finale for each team at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

Brock Boeser and forward Elias Pettersson each had a goal and an assist for the Canucks, and Kevin Lankinen made 25 saves. Vancouver finished the preseason with a 1-3-0 record.

Brandon Montour had a goal and an assist for the Kraken, and Joey Daccord made 26 saves. Seattle finished the preseason with a 3-1-0 record.

Montour’s one-timer from the point on the power play gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 2:13 of the first period.

Bobby McMann made it 2-0 for the Kraken at 7:51, scoring from the slot on a rebound of Cale Fleury’s shot from above the right circle on the rush.

The Canucks cut the lead to 2-1 at 11:15 on Boeser’s netfront redirect of Filip Hronek’s shot from the point on the power play.

Pettersson tied it 2-2 at 2:31 of the second period, scoring from in front after a Seattle giveaway behind the net.

Berkly Catton went forehand-backhand to finish a 2-on-1 rush with Ryan Winterton and give the Kraken a 3-2 lead at 1:29 of the third period.

Zeev Buium’s power-play goal, tapping in a cross-slot pass from Linus Karlsson at 11:05, tied the game 3-3.

Boeser’s shot from the slot went off DeBrusk to give the Canucks a 4-3 lead at 18:22 of the third period.

Vancouver opens its regular season at the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; SN). Seattle is at the Calgary Flames for its regular-season opener on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, KONG, KHN/Prime).

Blue Jackets 4, Red Wings 2: Jet Greaves made 31 saves to help the Columbus Blue Jackets hold off the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit in the preseason finale for each team.

Charlie Coyle and Valeri Nichushkin each had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets (3-1-0).

Ben Chiarot had a goal and an assist, and John Gibson made 18 saves for the Red Wings (2-1-1).

Coyle gave Columbus a 1-0 lead on the power play at 14:40 of the first period, redirecting a centering pass from Kirill Marchenko.

Nichushkin made it 2-0 at 18:44. Coyle intercepted a clearing attempt and passed into the slot to Nichushkin, who went top shelf with a one-timer.

Jack Williams pushed the lead to 3-0 at 3:55 of the second period, scoring from the inside edge of the right circle on a 3-on-2 rush.

Chiarot pulled Detroit to within 3-1 at 6:39 of the third period, scoring from the blue line off a face-off win.

Michael Rasmussen made it 3-2 at 14:19, stealing the puck as Erik Gudbranson attempted to clear and scoring five-hole from the left side.

Cole Sillinger scored an empty-net goal at 19:49 for the 4-2 final.

Columbus opens its regular season on Thursday at home against the Buffalo Sabres (7 p.m. ET; CBJHN, CBJNHL, MSG-B). Detroit hosts the New York Rangers on Friday (6:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN1).

Senators 4, Canadiens 3: William Eklund broke a tie midway through the third period on the power play, and the Ottawa Senators recovered for a split-squad win against the Montreal Canadiens at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

Eklund gave Ottawa a 4-3 lead at 10:57, knocking in Dylan Cozens’ cross-ice pass at the right post after the Senators blew a two-goal lead earlier in the period.

Claude Giroux had a goal and two assists, and Drake Batherson and Carter Yakemchuk also scored for the Senators, who finished the preseason 1-3-1. Andre Burakovsky had two assists, and Linus Ullmark made 20 saves.

Sasha Pastujov had a goal and an assist, and Brett Berard and Alex Belzile also scored for the Canadiens, who finished the preseason 4-1-0. Jakub Dobes made 22 saves.

Berard gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 3:49 of the first period, chipping the puck in past Dobes.

Giroux tied it 1-1 on the power play at 9:16, burying a slap shot from the right point.

Batherson put Ottawa ahead 2-1 on the power play at 10:31 of the second period, burying a one-timer from the left circle.

Yakemchuk also scored a power-play goal 41 seconds later to extend it to 3-1.

Belzile cut it to 3-2 at 5:18 of the third period, and Pastujov tied it 3-3 at 7:05, finishing far side after retrieving a loose puck in the slot.

Canadiens 4, Senators 2:  Chris Kreider scored his first goal with the Montreal Canadiens in the win against the Ottawa Senators at Bell Centre.

The forward signed a one-year contract with the Canadiens on Sept. 12, two days after the Anaheim Ducks terminated his contract.

It was one of two split-squad games the teams played against each other on the final night of the NHL preseason.

Juraj Slafkovsky had a goal and two assists, and Phillip Danault and Noah Dobson each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (4-1-0). Jacob Fowler made 16 saves on 18 shots. Sam Montembeault came on midway through the second period and stopped 14.

Philip Tomasino and Tyler Boucher scored, and Samuel Ersson made 22 saves for the Senators (1-3-1).

Tomasino scored a power-play goal at 11:54 of the first period to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead, walking in from the left circle for a close-range wrist shot.

Kreider tied it 1-1 at 13:31, backhanding in a loose puck in front.

Boucher gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead at 19:19, scoring a power-play goal on a one-timer from the left circle.

Dobson tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal from the point just 47 seconds into the second period.

Slafkovský gave the Canadiens a 3-2 lead at 6:13 of the third period. His attempted pass in front was deflected by an Ottawa player right back to him, and he scored on a one-timer.

Slafkovsky then set up Danault in front with a pass from below the goal line, and Danault buried it to make it 4-2 at 12:56.

Montreal opens its regular season at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday (7 p.m.; TVAS, SN). Ottawa plays at the Maple Leafs on Oct. 3 (7 p.m.; SNO, SNP).

Blackhawks 3, Blues 2: Spencer Knight made 29 saves, and the Chicago Blackhawks held off the St. Louis Blues at United Center in Chicago.

It was the preseason finale for each team. 

Roman Kantserov, Anton Frondell and Ian Cole scored for the Blackhawks (2-1-1), and Tyler Bertuzzi had two assists.

Jonatan Berggren and Colton Parayko each scored, and Joel Hofer made 19 saves for the Blues (1-3-0).

Frondell put the Blackhawks on the board 1-0 at 6:27 of the first period. Bertuzzi took a shot off the face-off that hit the right goal post and bounced to Frondell, who put it past Hofer with a wrist shot from the slot.

Cole made it 2-0 with a short-handed goal at 7:00 of the second period, getting the puck off St. Louis defenseman Philip Broberg's rebound and putting it past Hofer on the breakaway.

Kantserov scored a power-play goal at 9:31 to push it to 3-0 thanks to a cross-ice pass from Bertuzzi that Kantserov finished on the backhand in front.

Berggren cut it to 3-1 at 19:04, stealing the puck from Chicago forward Ryan Donato and putting a wrist shot past Knight from the high slot.

Parayko pulled it within one to 3-2 at 18:44 of the third period with a wrist shot from the right dot.

Chicago will open its regular season at the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, TVAS2). St. Louis opens at Dallas on Friday (9 p.m. ET; TNT, TruTV, HBO Max, SN1).

Penguins 3, Sabres 1: Sidney Crosby scored his first goal of the preseason for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Arena in Buffalo on Saturday.

Ville Koivunen and Nicholas Robertson scored, and Arturs Silovs made 23 saves for the Penguins, who finished the preseason 2-2-0.

Ryan McLeod scored for the Sabres, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 15 saves, before leaving in the third period. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said he "tweaked something" and the team was being cautious. He was replaced by Colten Ellis, who made six saves. Buffalo finished the preseason 1-3-0.

Crosby scored at 9:00 of the first period with a slap shot from the left circle. Koivunen made it 2-0 at 10:56, knocking a backhand in from the crease.

McLeod made it 2-1 with a power-play goal from the right circle at 11:30 of the second.

Robertson added an empty-net goal with 1:05 remaining  for the 3-1 final.

It was the preseason finale for each team. Pittsburgh opens the regular season against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT). Buffalo visits the Columbus Blue Jackets in its opener on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; CBJHN, CBJNHL, MSG-B)

Hurricanes 6, Predators 0: Jackson Blake had a goal and two assists when the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Nashville Predators n the preseason finale for each team at Bridgestone Arena.

Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist, and Brandon Bussi made 22 saves for the Hurricanes, who finished the preseason 3-1-0.

Blake gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 5:02 of the first with a power-play goal from the left circle.
Jordan Martinook made it 2-0 at 7:04 scoring in front off a feed from Ehlers.

Ehlers then scored his first of the preseason after he created a turnover in the defensive zone and skated in, scoring with a wrist shot from the right circle at 13:29 of the first.

Logan Stankoven increased the lead to 4-0 at 16:37 of the second.

Mark Jankowski made it 5-0 when he scored on a one-timer from just outside the left circle for a power-play goal at 9:21 of the third.

Andrei Svechnikov concluded the scoring, making it 6-0 with 55 seconds left after his shot went in off Predators defenseman Adam Wilsby's skate in front.

Juuse Saros made 20 saves for the Predators, who finished the preseason 1-3-0.

Carolina hosts the Florida Panthers in its regular-season opener on Tuesday (5 p.m. ET. ESPN). Nashville hosts the Minnesota Wild on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; Wild+, MINNHL, SCRIPPS).

Kings 6, Ducks 2: Mats Zuccarello had three points in the Los Angeles Kings' win against the Anaheim Ducks at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

The 39-year-old forward, who had a goal and two assists, signed a one-year, $1 million contract with Los Angeles on July 1 as a free agent.

Alex Turcotte scored twice and had an assist, Adrian Kempe and Erik Haula each had a goal and an assist, Scott Laughton scored, and Drew Doughty had three assists for the Kings. Darcy Kuemper made 17 saves.

Nikita Nesterenko and Beckett Sennecke each scored, and Lukas Dostal made 14 saves for the Ducks.

Both teams were playing their final preseason game and second game against each other. The Kings finished the preseason 2-2-0 while the Ducks were 1-3-0.

Nesterenko put the Ducks on the board 1-0 at 7:06 of the first period, snapping Tim Washe's centering pass past Kuemper from the slot.

Laughton put the puck past Dostal's backside after Haula's shot from the point rebounded wide off the end boards to make it 1-1 at 8:44.

Sennecke scored on the power play to make it 2-1 at 16:32. He got the puck from Leo Carlsson and put a snap shot past Kuemper from the high slot.

Kempe tied it 2-2 at 19:18, getting the pass from Brian Dumoulin off his skate and putting it past Dostal stick side.

Zuccarello put the Kings ahead 3-2 with a power-play goal at 8:56 of the second period thanks to a cross-crease pass from Artemi Panarin.

Turcotte tipped in Doughty's shot from the point to make it 4-2 at 1:39 of the third period. He scored again at 8:56, a wrist shot to push it to 5-2, getting the stretch pass from Zuccarello and putting a wrist shot past Dostal.

Haula scored on the power play at 11:52 to make it 6-2. He got the rebound of Turcotte's shot off the end boards and wristed it past Dostal from the left post.

Los Angeles will open the regular season at the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; TNT, TruTV, HBO Max). Anaheim opens at Vegas on Friday (10 p.m. ET; Prime Video, KCOP-13, SCRIPPS, SN, TVAS).

Capitals 5, Flyers 1: Andrew Cristall had a goal and an assist for the Washington Capitals, who cruised past the Philadelphia Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

Maxim Schafer and Ethen Frank also scored for the Capitals, who finished the preseason 3-0-1. Charlie Lindgren made 32 saves over the first two periods before being replaced by Calvin Petersen, who stopped all four shots he faced in relief.

Jamie Drysdale scored for the Flyers, who finished the preseason 1-3-0. Aleksei Kolosov allowed five goals on 24 shots.

Drysdale gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead 31 seconds into the second period, beating Lindgren glove side on a wrist shot from the slot.

Cristall tied it 1-1 at 4:32 with a tap-in into the open net while falling to the ice.

Schafer put Washington ahead 2-1 at 7:36 on a snap shot from the left circle.

Frank’s power-play goal extended it to 3-1 at 12:24 with a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle.

Theodor Niederbach pushed it to 4-1 at 1:07 of the third period, and Lynden Lakovic scored at 16:06 for the 5-1 final.

Washington opens the regular season at the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes on Friday (7 p.m. ET; HHN, CARNHL, MNMT, SN, TVAS). Philadelphia hosts the Pittsburgh Penguins in its opener on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT).

Mammoth 2, Avalanche 0: Karel Vejmelka made 25 saves, and the Utah Mammoth shut out the Colorado Avalanche at Delta Center in Salt Lake City in the preseason finale for each team.

Jack McBain and Logan Cooley scored for Utah (2-1-1).

Scott Wedgewood made 33 saves for Colorado (2-2-0).

McBain gave Utah a 1-0 lead at 6:38 of the first period when he tapped in a loose puck in the crease.

Cooley extended the lead to 2-0 on the power play at 10:35. He dangled toward the net then had the puck go off the right post, but it was knocked across the goal line during the ensuing pileup in the crease.

Utah hosts the Chicago Blackhawks in its season opener on Thursday (9:30 p.m. ET; Disney+, HULU, ESPN+). Colorado hosts the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; HBO Max, TNT, truTV).

Lightning 3, Panthers 2 (SO): The Lightning edged the Panthers in a shootout in the preseason finale for each team at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.

Lucas Mercuri and Benjamin Rautiainen scored for the Lightning, and Dennis Hildeby made 20 saves. Tampa Bay finished the preseason 2-1-1.

Sandis Vilmanis and Matvei Shuravin scored for the Panthers, and Akira Schmid made 20 saves. Florida finished the preseason 1-1-2.

Mercuri gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 8:50 of the first period, scoring off a pass from Nick Abruzzese from behind the net.

Vilmanis tied it 1-1 for the Panthers at 17:58 with a wrist shot from the high slot after a Lightning turnover.

The Panthers took a 2-1 lead at 2:03 of the second period on Shuravin’s shot from the point over the blocker.

Rautiainen scored from in front on the power play off Gage Goncalves' cross-ice pass to tie the game 2-2 at 12:58 of the third period.

Tampa Bay defenseman Matt Pietroniro was helped down the tunnel after taking a hit along the boards from Florida’s Jack Devine at 4:31 of the third period.

Florida visits the Carolina Hurricanes in its regular-season opener on Tuesday (5 p.m. ET; ESPN). Tampa Bay visits the New York Rangers to open its regular season on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; The Spot, MSG, TVAS).