Eric Stephens

Ducks fall 2-0 to lowly Canucks for disappointing end to promising road trip. Nikita Tolopilo has four career NHL wins, two coming against Anaheim. 6-foot-6 goalie with 32 stops for first shutout. Tough one to drop ahead of Sunday home game against Vegas. Troy Terry appears closest to return.

Sharks have 3-0 lead after 20 and couldn't milk a two-goal edge to the end in Edmonton as Oilers get 6-on-5 goals from Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard in final 3:05 and then win 4-3 on Zach Hyman's OT goal. A point gained but another lost. Collin Graf, Adam Gaudette and Michael Misa score for SJ.

January sets new NHL record for most hat tricks in a month The previous record of 29 had stood for over 40 years before an offensive flurry to start 2026.

With Alex Tuch's three-goal game tonight, there is a new NHL record for the most hat tricks in a single month. Inside is a list of them all for January.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/700...

Win streak for Kings ends at three as the searing Sabres continue to roll with 4-1 win in Buffalo. Alex Tuch continues to raise his potential FA value with a hat trick. Someone will pay him big $$$. Adrian Kempe had the lone L.A. goal on the power play. On to Philadelphia for a Saturday matinee.

Missed that the first goal by Tuch banked in off Ceci's skate so he gets a pass there.

Not a good start so far for Darcy Kuemper in Buffalo.

An Olympic gold medal around their necks. That is the goal for Brady Tkachuk and the 🇺🇸 team.

Random thought: If I were the Sharks, I'd re-sign impending UFA Vincent Desharnais in a heartbeat. Affordable in a growing cap world, great size, likable team guy and has been the ideal 6/7 right-shot defensive defenseman for them. Reasonable term, though.

How the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program works, from consultation to treatment to release To help increase understanding of what the program does — and how — Marty Walsh and several players agreed to share their experiences.

◽️ How do players enter the program?
️◽️ Where do players go?
️️◽️ Who works with them?

@joesmithnhl.bsky.social spoke with NHLPA executive director Marty Walsh and several anonymous NHL players to discuss specifics ⤵️
www.nytimes.com/athletic/622...

Sharks snatch back the WC2 position after a 5-2 road win over Canucks. Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith each score goals and combine for seven points. Adam Gaudette, Tyler Toffoli and John Klingberg also hit the net. Sam Dickinson had two helpers. Quality start for Yaroslav Askarov with 23 saves.

Kings parlay strong defensive effort and Anton Forsberg's sharp 26-save night into a 3-1 win over Red Wings for third straight victory. Samuel Helenius, Andrei Kuzmenko (PP), Corey Perry (EN) had the goals. Alex DeBrincat spoils Forsberg's shutout bid with 2:15 left. As of now, L.A. is in WC2 spot.

Devils trade Ondrej Palat, 2 draft picks to Islanders for Maxim Tsyplakov Palat was held out of a home game against the Winnipeg Jets for roster-management reasons Tuesday.

Islanders acquire Ondřej Palát and two draft picks from Devils for Maxim Tsyplakov. #Isles #NJDevils

www.nytimes.com/athletic/700...

Sweden adds Marcus Johansson, Hampus Lindholm to Olympic hockey roster as injury replacements Johansson and Lindholm will be injury replacements for Leo Carlsson and Jonas Brodin.

Marcus Johansson and Hampus Lindholm are added to Sweden's Olympic men's hockey roster as injury replacements for Leo Carlsson and Jonas Brodin. @robrossi.bsky.social has the goods in here.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/700...

Kings did make it into Detroit around the 10 o'clock hour ET. Should be a rested team against the Red Wings, which originally would have been a back-to-back scenario.

(Not-so) Little Child has got us started on The West Wing, which we didn't watch on its first run. He's been into John Wells of late as we also started Southland and we're still re-watching ER. But I wonder if some of it is subliminally wanting to see a sane presidency in action even if in TV land.

Oilers end the Ducks' win streak at seven with a 7-4 win in Edmonton. Two ENG seal the game after Anaheim pulled to within one. Four straight goals for the Oil in a 3:49 span of the second is the difference. Mikael Granlund gets his third career hat trick. Alex Killorn also scores.

Mikael Granlund has the 26th hat trick of 2026. 26 hat tricks in one month across the NHL. All three of his goals come on the power play.

One was an unfortunate bounce off Olen Zellweger's skate. But he's been beat on stoppable shots by the Oilers defensemen, who are getting chances in a wide-open period.

In Edmonton, Ville Husso isn't stopping anything in the second period. Oilers have scored four times in the blink of an eye.

Kings sign forward Taylor Ward to a two-year contract extension with an $875,000 AAV. The son of former NHL forward Dixon Ward has two goals and two assists in nine games since his call-up after scoring in his debut game for L.A. at the end of the 2024-25 regular season.

Michael and Susan prettis statement

Michael & Susan Pretti's statement on their son #AlexPretti 💔💔💔

Kings recall Kenny Connors from AHL Ontario. Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider reports from Columbus that Alex Turcotte did not skate as team still did a full practice at Nationwide Arena. Looks like both LAK and CBJ skated this morning but local entities deemed it unsafe for fans to get to game.

Kings-Blue Jackets game is postponed tonight after heavy snowfall and brutal weather in Columbus. Scheduled to be made up on March 9, where L.A. was setting out on an east coast road trip that originally started March 10 in Boston.

First career hat trick for Beckett Sennecke gives him the rookie goal scoring lead with 18 and his OT finish caps a 4-3 comeback win for the Ducks over Flames. Anaheim now has its second seven-game winning streak. Chris Kreider tied it in the third after Sennecke pulled them out of a 2-0 deficit.

Two playoff berths are very much up for grabs in the Western Conference, the third spot in the Pacific and second wild card. Utah is hot and continues to hold down WC1. Edmonton remains ahead for home ice. Teams in play: Anaheim (57), San Jose (55), Los Angeles (55), Seattle (53), Nashville (52).

Trevor Moore returns to score a goal in regulation and gets the decisive shootout winner for Kings in 5-4 victory over Blues. Jordan Kyrou's late goal denies a regulation win, which could prove critial in tiebreakers as L.A. has only 13. Taylor Ward, Brian Dumoulin, Alex Laferriere also have goals.

Sharks win, 3-1, over Rangers and hold the WC2 spot in the West before venturing on another lengthy road trip. Every goal came in the first period. Macklin Celebrini scored twice and Pavol Regenda continues to spark. Alex Nedeljkovic is the one getting it done in net with a sharp 28-save night.

Ducks win sixth straight, taking a 4-2 road win over Kraken. Lukáš Dostál stays hot with 20-save effort and goals from Cutter Gauthier, Ryan Poehling (SH), Chris Kreider and Pavel Mintyukov (EN). Mintyukov and Gauthier also had assists. Team doing it without Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish, Troy Terry.

Real good stuff from Jesse here. Worth watching.

So much for going without a point in consecutive games. Macklin Celebrini snaps out of a "drought" with two goals in the first period and is now on hat trick watch.