(File Photo: Source for Photo: Colorado Avalanche left wing Artturi Lehkonen is congratulated as he passes the team box after scoring a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon had three assists and a power-play goal, Artturi Lehkonen scored twice and the Colorado Avalanche rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Friday night.

T.J. Hughes scored his first NHL goal, while Mackenzie Blackwood settled in after a shaky start to stop 29 shots.

Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead after scoring 29 seconds apart midway through the first period. The Avalanche erupted for five straight tallies, including three in the second period.

Colorado finished 1 of 4 on the power play in the Avalanche debut of assistant coach Brett McLean. He’s in charge of the unit after Dave Hakstol left to take over as head coach of the men’s hockey program at Arizona State.

Lehkonen’s second goal tied it 25 seconds into the second period. Captain Gabriel Landeskog had a goal nearly four minutes later for his 83rd career go-ahead score. He’s tied with Mikko Rantanen for sixth-most in Avalanche history. Hall of Famer Joe Sakic tops the list with 210.

Hughes got free down low and poked in a pass from MacKinnon. He was hugged by Cale Makar and then playfully squirted with water by Landeskog as Hughes made his way past the bench.

Sidney Crosby notched his 1,110th career assist to move into sole possession of seventh place in NHL history. He’s also one assist shy of matching Ray Bourque (1,111 with Boston) for the most in league history with a one franchise.

MacKinnon improved to 12-6-3 when playing against Crosby, his good buddy from Nova Scotia. MacKinnon was awarded a penalty shot, but was stopped by Arturs Silovs.

UP NEXT

Penguins: At Vegas on Saturday night.

Avalanche: Two-game road swing starting Monday night at Philadelphia.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Chicago Blackhawks right wing Roman Kantserov (80) celebrates his second goal of the night with teammates during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Harry Figiel))

CHICAGO (AP) — Teuvo Teravainen and Roman Kantserov scored two goals apiece, and the Chicago Blackhawks topped the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 on Tuesday night in Connor Bedard’s first game of the season.

Spencer Knight made 24 saves as Chicago improved to 1-1 on a seven-game homestand. Patrick Kane picked up his 894th career assist, matching Phil Housley for the most by a U.S.-born player in NHL history.

Bedard also had an assist. The captain had surgery on his left shoulder on July 8.

Sidney Crosby scored his first two goals of the season for Pittsburgh in the opener of a four-game trip. Nick Robertson also scored, and Sergei Murashov made 15 stops.

Crosby tied it at 3-all when he swept in a rebound with 10:43 left. It was his 656th career goal, tying Brendan Shanahan for 14th on the NHL list.

But Teravainen scored from a tough angle with 4:18 remaining, and Tyler Bertuzzi closed it out with an empty-netter in the final seconds.

Chicago jumped in front 28 seconds into the game. Pittsburgh turned the puck over behind its net and Anton Frondell fed Teravainen in the low slot for his first goal of the season.

After Crosby tied it for the Penguins, the Blackhawks finished a pretty passing sequence with their second power-play goal of the season. Bedard played the puck into the middle to Kantserov, who beat Murashov with a one-timer with 2:10 left in the first.

Kantserov scored again 10:32 into the second, tipping home a pass from Artyom Levshunov. The 22-year-old rookie scored his first career goal during Saturday night’s 5-2 loss to Carolina.

Pittsburgh closed to 3-2 on Robertson’s fourth goal of the season. A streaking Robertson knocked in a loose puck with 2:09 left in the second.

The Blackhawks played without forward Frank Nazar, who finished his two-game suspension for an illegal check against the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

Up next

Penguins: At Colorado on Friday night.

Blackhawks: Host Winnipeg on Thursday night.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby (87) cannot shoot past Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) with Stars’ Thomas Harley (55) defending during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Rickard Rakell scored the deciding goal in the shootout and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Saturday.

Arturs Silovs stopped Mikko Rantanen in the shootout to help Pittsburgh snap a three-game losing streak. Sidney Crosby and Ben Kindel also scored in the shootout for the Penguins, who lost in a shootout at Columbus on Friday.

Connor Dewar scored in regulation for Pittsburgh and Silovs stopped 24 shots.

Jake Oettinger stopped 20 shots for the Stars.

Oettinger, coming off back-to-back shutouts against San Jose and Buffalo, set the longest shutout streak of his career at 188:52. It’s the third-longest shutout streak in franchise history.

During Oettinger’s run, in which he stopped 54 straight shots, the Stars set the longest shutout streak in team history at 2:06:08.

Tyler Seguin forced overtime for Dallas when he scored with 29.1 seconds left in regulation. He tipped Jason Robertson’s shot behind Silovs from the top of the crease.

Dewar scored the first goal of the game at 1:57 of the third period when he flipped a harmless looking backhand shot over Oettinger’s shoulder.

Kris Letang nearly ended Oettinger’s shutout streak early, but he had a goal waived off in the final minute of the first period. After review, it was determined that Hendrix Lapierre touched the puck with a high stick prior to Letang’s goal.

Up next

Stars: Host Colorado on Tuesday in the first game of a back-to-back against the Avalanche.

Penguins: Open a four-game road trip Tuesday at Chicago.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Columbus Blue Jackets center Kent Johnson (91) scores on Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Sergei Murashov (1) in a shootout in an NHL hockey game in Columbus, Ohio, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kent Johnson scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets over the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Friday night.

Damon Severson had a goal and an assist for Columbus. Mathieu Olivier also scored, and Cole Sillinger added two assists.

Cam Talbot made 20 saves and denied all three Pittsburgh attempts in the shootout. He became the first NHL goalie to win a game with nine teams.

Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins, who have dropped three straight games since winning their first two this season. Malkin tied it 2-all at 3:19 of the third period.

Johnson beat Sergei Murashov with a snap shot to begin the shootout.

Murashov stopped 43 shots in regulation.

The Blue Jackets outshot the Penguins 45-22 and won 66.7% of the faceoffs. Columbus outhit Pittsburgh 21-9.

The Penguins blocked 20 shots.

Talbot, in his 13th NHL season, has also won games with the New York Rangers, Edmonton, Philadelphia, Calgary, Minnesota, Ottawa, Detroit and the Los Angeles Kings.

In his first season with Columbus, he broke the previous record held by Curtis McElhinney, Sean Burke and Ron Tugnutt.

Up next

Penguins: Host the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

Blue Jackets: At the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) takes to the ice during player introductions before an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

WASHINGTON D.C. (AP) — Tom Wilson had a goal and two assists, and the Washington Capitals held on for a win in Alex Ovechkin’s final home opener, 5-3 over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.

Anthony Beauvillier, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Alex Tuch and Ryan Leonard also scored for the Capitals, who introduced their roster one by one before the game, saving Ovechkin for last. The Russian star’s two kids handled that announcement, and the crowd gave a standing ovation.

Ovechkin announced earlier in the week that this season would be the last in the NHL for the league’s career leader in goals.

Bryan Rust, Tommy Novak and Nick Robertson scored for the Penguins, who nearly rallied from a 4-1 second-period deficit.

This is the 22nd straight season Ovechkin and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby have played against each other at some point. Only one forward duo in NHL history has clashed in more consecutive seasons: Mark Messier and Ron Francis, who played each other in 23.

Crosby was on the ice for every Washington even-strength goal, finishing with a minus-4. His only career minus-5 was March 6, 2014, at San Jose.

Beauvillier opened the scoring for Washington after just 23 seconds. The Penguins needed less than a minute to tie it on Bryan Rust’s goal from in close.

Veteran defenseman Kris Letang of the Penguins played a blind pass in his own zone and paid for it when the puck went to Pierre-Luc Dubois behind the net. One pass later, and Wilson was making it 2-1 Capitals from alone in front.

Those same two players combined in the second period to make it 3-1 after another Pittsburgh mistake. Silovs went behind his net, but when he played the puck along the boards Wilson was right there to collect it and find Dubois in front.

Tuch intercepted a pass at his own blue line, and suddenly he and Wilson were bearing down alone on Silovs. After two quick passes back and forth, Tuch scored to put Washington up by three.

Novak quickly answered for the Penguins, and then Robertson cut the lead to one with a deflection from the slot.

It was 4-3 after two, but Leonard’s power-play goal in the third gave the Capitals a bit of a cushion.

Later in the third, Washington goalie Logan Thompson kept the lead at two by stopping Blake Lizotte on a breakaway just after the Pittsburgh forward came out of the penalty box.

Declan Carlile of the Penguins was shaken up in the third after Dubois was assessed a minor penalty for boarding him.

Up next

Penguins: At Columbus on Friday night.

Capitals: Host the New York Rangers on Friday night.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Winnipeg Jets goaltender Clay Stevenson (33) celebrates with Morgan Barron (36) at the end of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Alex Iafallo had a goal and an assist, Clay Stevenson made 29 saves, and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Monday night.

Pittsburgh’s Declan Carlile scored 8:53 into the third period to tie the game at 2-2, but Cole Perfetti scored the winner on a wrist shot just nine seconds later, assisted by Josh Morrissey, to put the Jets ahead to stay.

Adam Lowry also scored for the Jets, who have won two in a row after losing their season opener.

Benjamin Kindel also scored for the Penguins and Carlile added an assist. Sergei Murashov made 30 saves for the Penguins.

The Jets outhit the Penguins by 12, 23 to 11.

Up next

Jets: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night.

Penguins: Visit the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins’ Tommy Novak (18) gets a shot past the stick of Montréal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes for a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Tommy Novak scored his second goal of the game in overtime to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 6-5 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

Novak converted a 2-on-1 from Evgeni Malkin at 1:33 of overtime, as Pittsburgh recovered after allowing a four-goal lead in the second period slip away.

Malkin scored a power-play goal and had two assists. He recorded his 1,411th point, passing Dale Hawerchuk for 22nd place in NHL history.

Ben Kindel was activated from injured reserve and scored a power-play goal, while Sam Girard and Declan Carlile also scored for Pittsburgh.

Sidney Crosby had an assist, the 1,109th of his career, which tied Hall of Fame forward Joe Thornton for seventh-most in NHL history.

Arturs Silovs stopped 20 shots.

Franchise icon, former owner and hockey Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux took part in a ceremonial puck drop to celebrate the Penguins’ 60th season.

Cole Caufield scored twice, while Nick Suzuki, Chris Kreider and Ivan Demidov also scored for the Canadiens, who trailed 5-1 in the second period. Kreider scored with 1:08 to play and Demidov tied the game with 44 seconds left in regulation.

Montreal, which reached the Eastern Conference Final last season, sought to win its first two games of a season for the first time since 2015-16.

Jakub Dobes made 24 saves.

The Penguins outshot Montreal 23-5 during a 25-minute stretch and opened a 5-1 lead thanks to a four-goal second period.

Malkin scored his second power-play goal of the season, while Carlile, Girard, Novak and Kindel added second-period goals.

Suzuki started the Canadiens comeback at 18:46 of the second period before Caufield, Kreider and Demidov forced overtime with goals in the third.

UP NEXT

Canadiens: Begin a four-game homestand Tuesday against Carolina.

Penguins: Host Winnipeg Monday before playing six of their next seven on the road.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins’ Filip Hallander (11), Ville Koivunen (41), Kaedan Korczak (6) and Samuel Girard (49) celebrate after a goal by Koivunen during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Evgeni Malkin, Hendrix Lapierre and Filip Hallander scored in the second period and Arturs Silovs stopped 19 shots to help the Pittsburgh Penguins steamroll the Philadelphia Flyers 7-0 on Wednesday night.

Silovs posted his third career shutout in his 57th start. Nick Robertson scored two goals and Ville Koivunen and Egor Chinakhov also scored for the Penguins. Sidney Crosby added an assist.

The Penguins’ season ended on the same Philadelphia ice in April when the Flyers won a first-round playoff series in six games.

The Flyers left the clincher to a roaring ovation on Cam York’s winner. Five months later, the Flyers were soundly booed off the ice – reaching a crescendo after the second period – and the opening night festivities were spoiled for a team trying to become a force in the Eastern Conference.

The Penguins are trying to run it back at least one more time between the longtime core of Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang. Malkin signed a one-year deal to remain in Pittsburgh, and the hope is there’s enough magic left to help put the Penguins in position to win a playoff series for the first time in nearly a decade.

The 40-year-old Malkin ripped a one-timer from the slot early in the second period for the 3-0 lead that also gave him 100 career points against the Flyers. He became the sixth player with at least 100 points against the Flyers. Crosby’s assist on Robertson’s game-opening goal extended his record with 140 career points against Philly.

The Penguins scored five goals on their first 18 shots against Dan Vladar. Vladar didn’t play a full period in the preseason as he battled an unspecified injury, and with the Flyers in the first game of a back-to-back set, he was left in the game to take the beating.

Vladar knocked Robertson’s second goal of the game into the net with the back of his skate in a gaffe that made it 6-0.

Up next

Penguins play their home opener Saturday against Montreal.

Flyers play Thursday at New Jersey.

 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Philadelphia Flyers’ Cam York (8) celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal during overtime in Game 6 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cam York flicked a wrist shot from the point, chucked his stick into the stands and chased away years of bad hockey in Philadelphia.

York snapped the tension and a scoreless tie with the goal of the former first-round pick’s career, burying the winner 17:32 into overtime that ignited a wild celebration and sent the Philadelphia Flyers into the second round for the first time in six years with a 1-0 Game 6 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.

The Flyers are set for a second-round showdown against Carolina.

“Just tried to put it there,” York said. “We knew that it was going to be a greasy one. It felt really good to see that one go in.”

Dan Vladar was again sensational in the net and stopped all 42 shots and prevented the Penguins from playing for a shot at playoff history.

Sidney Crosby and the Penguins tried to become just the fifth team in NHL history to win a series after trailing 3-0. They won two straight to force Game 6.

It is the Flyers who are moving on in coach Rick Tocchet’s first season.

“It’s been a long time,” Tocchet said. “I know there’s been a lot of frustration.”

Arturs Silovs made 31 saves. Crosby skated over and consoled Silovs on the ice as the Flyers’ theme song — Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” — blasted throughout the arena.

“We were a shot away from going back to Pittsburgh for Game 7,” Crosby said. “It comes down to bounces sometimes. Putting yourself in that position is tough. I think we all had a lot of belief we could dig ourselves out of it. It’s just unfortunate we got behind early in the series.”

The last playoff game to head to overtime scoreless was Winnipeg and Edmonton in a 2021 first-round series. The Jets won 1-0 in the first OT.

The Flyers are in the playoffs for the first time since 2020, when they last reached the second round in the bubble season. They are in the second round in a full NHL season for the first time since 2012.

“So happy for the guys in that room,” York said. “We battled all year long for this position.”

Silovs, who allowed about four goals per game over his last 10 starts of the regular season, steadied the Penguins in place of the ineffective Stuart Skinner with wins in Games 4 and 5 and about played like a Vezina Trophy winner in Game 6.

Matvei Michkov, the Flyer’s leading scorer after the Olympic break, was scratched in Game 5. He returned to the lineup determined to be a postseason difference-maker. He had a great chance in the second period on a breakaway but was stopped. The Flyers kept the puck in the offensive zone and Michkov swooped in and tried to poke the puck into the corner of the net, only for Silovs to again clamp down and deny the goal.

The Flyers, the last team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a playoff spot, had 10 giveaways in the first period and made it six straight games in the series without a goal in the first period.

They can try to end that streak against a Hurricanes team that just swept the Ottawa Senators.

Kris Letang dropped Travis Konecny with a right hand as the second period ended and the long-time Penguin started the third in the penalty box. No matter. The Flyers came up empty with the man advantage — Michkov was wide on a one-timer — and they fell at that point to 2 for 17 on the power play in the series.

Vladar played like the team MVP he was in the regular season, willing the Flyers to the second round. Crosby early in the third flicked the puck from behind the net at Vladar. Perhaps auditioning for a spot in the World Cup, Vladar headed it like a soccer star over the back of the net and the game remained scoreless.

That was just one sign the night belonged to the Flyers.

“It’s a lot right now,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “At no point am I expecting the season to end today.”

 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins’ Elmer Soderblom (25) celebrates with Ben Kindel (81) and Anthony Mantha (39) after scoring against the Philadelphia Flyers during the first period of Game 5 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Pittsburgh, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Connor Dewar, Kris Letang and Elmer Soderblom scored and the Pittsburgh Penguins avoided elimination for the second time in 48 hours with a 3-2 win over Philadelphia in Game 5 of their first-round series on Monday night.

Sidney Crosby shook off a shot to his left knee to add two assists for the Penguins, who cut the Flyers’ lead in the best-of-seven series to 3-2.

Game 6 is Wednesday in Philadelphia, where the pressure will be on the Flyers to avoid putting themselves in danger of becoming just the fifth team in NHL history to blow a series after winning the first three games.

“We know it’s a big challenge going into there,” Crosby said. “But I think we have a lot of belief in our group, and we’ve done it time and time again.”

Alex Bump scored in his playoff debut for Philadelphia, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie it on Travis Sanheim’s second goal of the series 15:06 into the second.

Crosby, who limped to the bench and then to the training room for treatment minutes earlier after a blast from the point by teammate Ryan Shea appeared to hit the top of his left knee, helped put the Penguins back in front just over two minutes later when he fed the puck to Letang at the top of the Philadelphia zone.

Letang sent a shot toward Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar that sailed wide of the net before bouncing back toward Vladar. The puck smacked off Vladar’s left pad, then his right and across the goal line to give Pittsburgh the lead for good.

“Bounces are part of the game,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “But I think you earn them when you’re working and you try to do the right things. That’s usually when the bounces go your way.”

After four games of mostly low-event hockey, Game 5 started with a frantic pace, a style that favors the Penguins, who finished as the NHL’s third-highest-scoring team during the regular season.

That offense went largely missing while Pittsburgh fell into a 3-0 hole. Pushed to the brink, it has returned with a flourish, and this time it wasn’t just Crosby, Letang and Evgeni Malkin shouldering the burden.

Soderblom’s first goal of the playoffs and Dewar’s second gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead in the second period. Philadelphia responded behind Bump and Sanheim, but Letang’s fluky score late in the second was the difference.

Pittsburgh will take the ice on Wednesday, having all the momentum after two games in which they looked like the resilient, resourceful group that was among the NHL’s biggest surprises.

The Flyers and their late playoff surge were one of the others, though Philadelphia and its talented young core will have the difficult task of finishing off a more experienced group with Hall of Famers scattered across the roster.

“They are a veteran team, they know what it takes to win,” Vladar said. “We are still a young team. We’ve got to learn that. We’ve got to bounce back. Still try to play our game, not their game.”