Saturday’s 14-game NHL slate has a little of everything: a possible record-setting hat trick in Sunrise, Connor McDavid taking his season-opening point run back into Utah, and Alex Ovechkin closing on another Capitals mark during his farewell campaign.
Tkachuk chases a hat-trick first in Florida
Brady Tkachuk takes the ice with a chance to become the first player in NHL history to score hat tricks in three straight games when the Florida Panthers host the Seattle Kraken at Amerant Bank Arena.
Tkachuk buried all three Florida goals in Thursday’s 3-2 overtime victory over the Vancouver Canucks. That came after his three-goal, four-point night in Tuesday’s 7-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Both outbursts were natural hat tricks.
Only Petri Skriko, with Vancouver from Nov. 18-21, 1986, and Ottawa’s Cy Denneny from Feb. 21-24, 1923, have recorded natural hat tricks in back-to-back NHL games. Tkachuk is already the third Panther to post hat tricks in consecutive games, following Noel Acciari in December 2019 and Pavel Bure in February 2001.
The League’s most recent consecutive-hat-trick performance belonged to Auston Matthews. The Toronto Maple Leafs center scored three in an overtime win over Philadelphia on Feb. 15, 2024, then added three goals and two assists against Anaheim two days later.
Florida enters at 4-2-2, while Seattle arrives at 5-2-1.
Ovechkin closing on Backstrom’s assist record
The Washington Capitals can lean on Alex Ovechkin’s finishing, but the captain is also two assists from matching Nicklas Backstrom for the most in franchise history. Ovechkin carries 760 helpers into Washington’s afternoon home date with the New Jersey Devils.
The 41-year-old set up a goal in Wednesday’s 5-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens. He owns an NHL-record 930 goals, 1,690 points and 1,580 games played, and has produced one goal and two assists through seven games in his 22nd and final NHL season.
Ovechkin announced Oct. 5 that he will retire once the season concludes. Washington and New Jersey each bring 4-3-0 records into Capital One Arena.
McDavid and Bouchard head back to Utah
Edmonton gets an immediate chance to answer its first regulation loss when it visits the Utah Mammoth in the back half of a home-and-home set. Utah took Thursday’s meeting 4-2, powered by two Clayton Keller goals.
McDavid supplied an assist in that loss and can push his season-opening point streak to eight games. He leads the NHL with 18 points, including four goals and 14 assists, for the 5-1-1 Oilers.
Defenseman Evan Bouchard has points in six of Edmonton’s first seven games. His assist Thursday gave him 15 points — six goals and nine assists — to lead all NHL blue-liners. Keller, meanwhile, has three goals and eight assists in eight games for the 6-2-0 Mammoth.
Top picks meet again in Toronto
The league’s two latest No. 1 draft selections share the stage when Matthew Schaefer and the New York Islanders visit Gavin McKenna and the Maple Leafs.
Schaefer, chosen first overall by New York in the 2025 NHL Draft, is off to a heavy-minute start. The 19-year-old defenseman has six assists in seven games while averaging 26:01 per night. Last season’s Calder Trophy winner had 23 goals and 36 assists in 82 games.
McKenna, 18, was Toronto’s top pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and has two goals and three assists in eight games. Neither rookie registered a point when Toronto edged the Islanders 2-1 on Sept. 30.
New York comes off a 2-1 shootout loss in Ottawa on Thursday. Toronto fell 5-4 in overtime to Buffalo that night.
Thompson’s 40-goal pursuit resumes in Montreal
Tage Thompson has four goals through eight games as Buffalo visits Montreal, and another 40-goal season would put him alongside Rick Martin in the Sabres record book.
Thompson scored 40 times in 81 games last season after putting up 44 in 76 games in 2024-25. His career high remains 47 goals in 78 games in 2022-23. A fourth 40-goal campaign, and a third in a row, would match Martin for Buffalo’s longest such streak.
Martin recorded 52 goals in both 1973-74 and 1974-75, then finished with 49 in 1975-76. Since the start of 2021-22, Thompson’s 202 goals rank second among U.S.-born NHL players, behind Matthews’ 235.
Saturday’s NHL board
| Matchup | Time (ET) | Television |
|---|---|---|
| New Jersey Devils at Washington Capitals | 1 p.m. | MNMT, MSGSN, NHLN, SNP, SNO, SNE |
| Carolina Hurricanes at Winnipeg Jets | 3:30 p.m. | SNE, SNO, SNW, CARNHL, HHN |
| Vancouver Canucks at Tampa Bay Lightning | 4 p.m. | The Spot, SNP |
| Seattle Kraken at Florida Panthers | 6 p.m. | Prime Video, SCRIPPS, KONG |
| New York Islanders at Toronto Maple Leafs | 7 p.m. | SNO, SNW, SNP, MSGSN |
| Buffalo Sabres at Montreal Canadiens | 7 p.m. | TVAS, SNE, MSG-B, NHLN |
| San Jose Sharks at Detroit Red Wings | 7 p.m. | DSN, NBCSCA |
| Ottawa Senators at Philadelphia Flyers | 7 p.m. | NBCSP, TVAS-D, SN1 |
| New York Rangers at Columbus Blue Jackets | 7 p.m. | CBJHN, CBJNHL, MSG |
| Dallas Stars at Chicago Blackhawks | 7 p.m. | Prime Video, CHSN |
| St. Louis Blues at Nashville Predators | 8 p.m. | BN+, STLNHL, SCRIPPS |
| Boston Bruins at Los Angeles Kings | 9 p.m. | ABTV, NESN |
| Edmonton Oilers at Utah Mammoth | 10 p.m. | Mammoth+, Utah16, SN |
| Pittsburgh Penguins at Vegas Golden Knights | 10 p.m. | SN-PIT, SCRIPPS |
