Monday’s three-game NHL slate starts early in Buffalo, then shifts to New Jersey and Minnesota, with the Senators, Golden Knights and Wild all carrying early-season momentum into the night.
Key takeaways
- Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle enters the Devils game with eight points through five outings and can reach 10 points in the club’s first six games.
- Nico Hischier scored his 200th and 201st NHL goals Saturday, becoming the second-quickest Swiss-born player to reach the 200-goal mark.
- Vegas has won four straight and owns seven power-play goals, tied for second-most in the League.
- Kirill Kaprizov shares the NHL lead with six goals after a hat trick against Florida, while Quinn Hughes has an assist in all five Wild games.
- Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk, Buffalo’s Tage Thompson and Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk reunite Monday after winning Olympic gold with the United States in 2026.
Ottawa tests its fast start in New Jersey
The Senators bring a 4-1-0 record into Prudential Center for a 7 p.m. ET meeting with the Devils. Ottawa has opened with four wins in five games for the first time since 2014-15, with Stutzle driving the attack from the middle.
The 24-year-old German forward, selected third overall in the 2020 NHL Draft, has four goals and four assists. Two more points against New Jersey would make him the seventh Senator to post at least 10 points over the season’s opening six games.
That short list includes Marian Hossa and Alexandre Daigle, each of whom got there in five games, as well as Brady Tkachuk, Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and Dan Quinn. Spezza reached the mark in both 2005-06 and 2007-08.
New Jersey is 2-2-0 after Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks, a game in which Hischier supplied a pair of milestone goals. The Devils captain reached 200 and 201 in his 613th NHL appearance. Only Timo Meier, who needed 569 games, got to 200 faster among players born in Switzerland.
Ottawa at New Jersey will be carried by MSGSN, NHLN, SN+ and TVAS.
Special teams headline Buffalo and Minnesota stops
Florida visits Buffalo at KeyBank Center at 1 p.m. ET, bringing two power plays that need to find a gear. The Panthers sit last in the NHL at 3.6 percent, converting once in 28 opportunities, while the Sabres are 30th at 5.9 percent on a 1-for-17 start.
Buffalo has had more success against Florida in recent head-to-head meetings, going 6-for-15 with the extra skater across its past five games against the Panthers. Florida still owns the broader edge in the series, however, with a 14-5-0 record since 2020-21 and seven wins in its past nine trips to KeyBank Center.
Matthew Tkachuk arrives on a four-game point streak for the 2-1-2 Panthers, with three goals and an assist over that span. He has scored in consecutive games. Thompson has three goals and two assists through five games for Buffalo, which is 2-3-0. Their matchup also puts the two U.S. Olympic gold medalists on the same ice, with Brady Tkachuk joining them later in the evening for Ottawa.
Florida at Buffalo is available on MSGSN, NHLN, SN+ and TVAS.
The late game has Vegas, 5-1-0, visiting Minnesota, 3-1-1, at Grand Casino Arena at 8 p.m. ET. The Golden Knights have taken four in a row and are 2-0-0 away from home. Their power play has scored in five of six games, including both Vegas goals in Saturday’s 2-1 overtime victory against the Los Angeles Kings.
Vegas is tied with Carolina for second in the NHL with seven power-play goals and ranks fifth at 30.4 percent. Minnesota will counter with Kaprizov, who has eight points and six goals after his three-goal performance in a 4-1 win at Florida on Saturday. Hughes has provided seven points, two goals and five assists, while opening the season with helpers in each of the Wild’s five games.
Golden Knights at Wild will air on Wild+, MINNHL and SCRIPPS.
