NHL OCTOBER 31, 2025 – OCTOBER RECAP ON HALLOWEEN

A number of trends highlighted in the October Recap were on full display on the last day of October, including tightly-contested games as well as a mix of youth and veterans finding the score sheet.

• Ilya Sorokin turned aside 22 shots including both by Alex Ovechkin to backstop the Islanders past the Capitals in another close game (1-goal margin or 2+ with at least one empty-net goal). Sorokin has not allowed a goal by Ovechkin in six of his seven career appearances against the Capitals captain.
• Leo Carlsson (1-3—4) of the Anaheim Ducks matched a single-game career high with four points (also 1-3—4 on March 28) and factored on a shorthanded goal with Troy Terry and Drew Helleson for a second straight contest (also Oct. 28) as they defeated the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 at the Honda Centre. They became the first trio of teammates in franchise history to all factor on the same shorthanded goal in consecutive games and the first to do so League-wide since Paul Byron, Torrey Mitchell and Jeff Petry with the Canadiens (2 GP from Oct. 30 – Nov. 1, 2015).
• Brent Burns (1-0—1) and Cale Makar (1-1—2) helped the Avalanche continue their strong start as Colorado moved into first place in the Western Conference. Makar (4-13—17 in 12 GP), who is currently leading the NHL in scoring among defensemen after holding that distinction for the final 70 days of 2024-25, extended his season-opening road point streak to seven contests, which marks the second longest by a defenseman in franchise history behind Jeff Brown (8 GP in 1986-87 w/ QUE).

CONNOR VS. CONNOR HIGHLIGHTS HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA QUARTET

A 13-game Saturday features a quartet of contests on Sportsnet’s Hockey Night in Canada, which will be capped by the fifth all-time meeting between Connor Bedard and Connor McDavid. Bedard has 2-3—5 in games against McDavid (0-4—4), though Edmonton has claimed three of four victories (EDM: 3-1-0; CHI: 1-2-1).

• Bedard (6-8—14) leads a Blackhawks team in scoring that rank among the top three in the NHL for goals (2nd; 13), assists (1st; 20) and points (1st; 33) by players age 21 or younger. The forward is coming off consecutive multi-point games, which included his first career hat trick on Oct. 28, and can join Patrick Kane (3 GP in 2007-08), Jeremy Roenick (2x: both 3 GP in 1989-90) and Denis Savard (3 GP in 1980-81) as the youngest players in Blackhawks history with three straight multi-point performances.
• McDavid (364-732—1,096) enters the matchup four points back of the 1,100-point milestone – he ranks second among active players in four-point outings (41 GP) behind only Sidney Crosby (43 GP). Meanwhile, his teammate, Leon Draisaitl, will look to continue his success against Chicago – a club he has recorded a point against in his past 18 meetings dating to Oct. 28, 2018.

Islanders’ Schaefer Named NHL ‘Rookie of the Month’ for October

New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer, who topped rookie blueliners and ranked third among all rookies with 3-5—8 in 11 games, has been named the NHL’s “Rookie of the Month” for October.

Schaefer edged Montreal Canadiens teammates Jakub Dobes (6-0-0, 1.97 GAA, .930 SV%), Ivan Demidov (2-7—9 in 11 GP) and Oliver Kapanen (4‑3—7 in 11 GP); Detroit Red Wings center Emmitt Finnie (4-4—8 in 12 GP); Minnesota Wild defenseman Zeev Buium (2-6—8 in 12 GP); and St. Louis Blues right wing Jimmy Snuggerud (4-3—7 in 11 GP) for the honor.

Eichel, Scheifele and Dobes Named NHL ‘Three Stars’ for October

Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel, Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele and Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the month of October.

FIRST STAR – JACK EICHEL, C, VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS

Eichel, fresh off signing an eight-year, $108 million contract extension prior to the start of the season, led the NHL with 8-11—19 in 11 contests to power the Golden Knights (6-2-3, 15 points) to the top of the Pacific Division. He collected points in eight of his 11 appearances, sparked by a seven-game run to open the campaign (Oct. 8-20: 6-10—16). Eichel ultimately totaled six multi-point performances – one off the League lead held by teammate Mitch Marner (7x) – including 2-1—3 while celebrating his 29th birthday Oct. 28 at CAR. The No. 2 overall pick from the 2015 NHL Draft (by BUF) also was the only player to record multiple four-point efforts during the month – Oct. 8 vs. LAK (1-3—4) and Oct. 18 vs. CGY (0-4—4) – with the latter serving as his third career four-assist outing. Eichel additionally ranked among the October leaders in power-play assists (1st; 9), power-play points (1st; 9), shots on goal (t-4th; 47), assists (t-5th; 11), game-winning goals (t-5th; 2) and goals (t-8th; 8). The 2022-23 Stanley Cup champion owns 247-380—627 through 627 career NHL games (1.00 P/GP), including 108-164—272 in 252 contests since joining Vegas in 2021-22 (1.08 P/GP).

SECOND STAR – MARK SCHEIFELE, C, WINNIPEG JETS

Scheifele registered points in 10 of his 11 outings to share first place in the NHL in goals (9), finish second with 9-9—18, become Winnipeg’s all-time scoring leader and guide the reigning Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets to an 8-3-0 (16 points) October. He began 2025-26 with points in six consecutive games (Oct. 9-20: 7-3—10), highlighted by goals in each of the last five contests (Oct. 11-20: 7-0—7). Scheifele then closed the month with points in four straight (Oct. 24-30: 2-6—8), matching Eichel and three others with six overall multi-point performances. The 32-year-old Scheifele, who has spent his entire NHL career with Winnipeg since being selected seventh overall in the 2011 NHL Draft (345-477—822 in 890 GP), notched his 813th point on Oct. 18 vs. NSH to surpass Blake Wheeler for the most points in Jets/Thrashers franchise history – adding to the goals record he already owns for the organization. He now is one of seven active players who claim both the goals and points records for a single franchise.

THIRD STAR – JAKUB DOBES, G, MONTREAL CANADIENS

Dobes went 6-0-0 with a 1.97 goals-against average and .930 save percentage to propel the Canadiens (8-3-0, 16 points) to an early lead atop the Atlantic Division. Dobes, who made at least 30 saves in three of his six starts and yielded two or fewer goals four times, became the 10th rookie goaltender in NHL history to win each of his first six appearances of a season. Only four have had longer such streaks: Bob Froese (8-0-0 in 1982-83 w/ PHI), Martin Jones (8-0-0 in 2013-14 w/ LAK), Wayne Thomas (7-0-0 in 1972-73 w/ MTL) and Brent Johnson (7-0-0 in 2000-01 w/ STL). The 24-year-old Dobes, a fifth-round pick (136th overall) from the 2020 NHL Draft who played in 16 games last season (7‑4-3, 2.74 GAA, .909 SV%, 1 SO), sits among the leading 2025-26 goaltenders (minimum: 3 GP) in 5-on-5 save percentage (1st; .959), wins (t-2nd; 6), high-danger save percentage (3rd; .918), goals-against average (4th; 1.97) and save percentage (4th; .930).