DALLAS — With 32 franchises, expansion is not at the top of the priority list for the NHL, but it should be a louder point of discussion. For all of its faults and flaws, no league has figured out how to add teams better than the NHL.

And, with the exception of Las Vegas, no team entered a new market better than the Stars when they relocated ...Read more

The good feelings from a perfect Blues road trip dissipated on Wednesday night with a 8-3 thumping against the Blackhawks at Enterprise Center.

The eight goals allowed were the most by the Blues at home since an 8-1 loss to Washington last year.

Joel Hofer allowed seven goals while Jordan Binnington yielded one. Jake Neighbours, Dylan Holloway...Read more

ST. LOUIS — Lukas Reichel had two goals and an assist, and the Chicago Blackhawks pounded the St. Louis Blues 8-3 on Wednesday night for their second straight win.

Connor Bedard had three assists for the Hawks, who beat the Utah Mammoth 3-1 on Monday for their first victory of the season. Ilya Mikheyev had a goal and an assist.

The Hawks ...Read more

CHICAGO — Chicago Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno will be away from the team for an unknown amount of time as his daughter undergoes heart surgery, the team announced Wednesday.

The Hawks called it a “brief leave of absence as his daughter undergoes follow-up surgery related to her congenital heart disease” and said neither Foligno nor ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Parker Wotherspoon got off to a fine start with the Penguins. But the defenseman’s critical error late in Tuesday’s game cost his new team.

Wotherspoon was penalized for putting the puck over the glass with 1:34 to go in the third period. He wasn’t under much duress when he made that costly mistake.

The Ducks ...Read more

SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks could legitimately say that they deserved to win their first two games, as they held leads late in the third period against both the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks last week before they found a way to lose both games in overtime.

The Sharks could not make that claim against the Carolina Hurricanes. Not ...Read more

The Wild’s stagnant offense while playing 5-on-5 continued for the third consecutive game Tuesday in a 5-2 loss to the Stars in Dallas.

They scored two power-play goals, but also gave up two and are 2-2 in the young NHL season.

The Wild haven’t tallied an even-strength goal since the opener Thursday at St. Louis when they won 5-0.

...Read more

Goaltender Akira Schmid replaced an injured Adin Hill after the first period Tuesday, and the Golden Knights rallied for a 4-2 win over the Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta.

Schmid stopped all 19 shots he faced in relief of Hill, who allowed two goals on 10 shots before departing with what the team said was a lower-body ...Read more

WASHINGTON — It’s clear the Lightning are still finding their footing early in this season.

To claim three points out of four in their road back-to-back normally would be satisfactory, but the Lightning sit at 1-2-1 following a 3-2 overtime loss to the Capitals on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena.

They weren’t able to carry over ...Read more

Cole Caufield’s second goal of Tuesday’s game won it for the Montreal Canadiens in overtime, 5-4, and the Kraken’s modest win streak to start the 2025-26 season ended on the road. Seattle collected one standing point after erasing three one-goal Montreal leads.

The Kraken fell to 2-0-1 after winning their first two games for the first ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — What began as a scoring spree for the Minnesota Wild ended as a drilling for their defense.

The Los Angeles Kings rallied from a 3-0 deficit, scoring in the final minute of regulation to tie the game, before the Wild won in a shootout 4-3 on Monday night at Grand Casino Arena in backup goalie Jesper Wallstedt’s season debut.

...Read more

The St. Louis Blues swept a two-game trip through Western Canada by beating the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Monday evening.

Jimmy Snuggerud scored twice, as the Blues also received goals from Brayden Schenn, Nick Bjugstad and Jake Neighbours (empty net). Jordan Binnington bounced back from an opening night loss by making 29 saves on the 31 shots ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The Flyers’ theme this season is brick-by-brick, and as any mason knows, it is a meticulous process that cannot be rushed.

But on Monday, as they lifted the lid on the home schedule, the Flyers laid the first brick with a “W” on it. In an impressive, gritty game against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida ...Read more

TORONTO — The Detroit Red Wings won Monday afternoon but also suffered a loss.

The Wings skated into Toronto on Canadian Thanksgiving and let a third-period lead slip away before Mason Appleton's goal with 44.1 seconds left salvaged a 3-2 victory over the Maple Leafs, completing the two-game back-to-back series sweep.

Dylan Larkin's first-...Read more

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins showed plenty of gumption, but they could not outhustle their mistakes on Monday at TD Garden.

The B’s had their chances to complete a comeback from a three-goal deficit – incurred by a series of their own miscues – but they fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-3, suffering their first loss of the young season. ...Read more

SEATTLE — Two games in, the Seattle Kraken have almost 60 minutes of Grade-A film, a blueprint for how they need to play this season. They can beat teams that way.

It took 64 minutes and 55 seconds, but they managed to take down the big, bad Vegas Golden Knights, who have had their number from Game 1, with a 2-1 victory.

On Saturday night ...Read more

DENVER — Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas were electric together Saturday night, and the scary part is they think it will get better.

MacKinnon and Necas each had a goal and three points in a 5-4 shootout loss to the rival Dallas Stars at Ball Arena. It was only Game No. 3 on the schedule, but this will be one of the great contests of the ...Read more