NHL REVIEW OCT. 17, 2025 – OVECHKIN CLOSES IN ON 900-GOAL MILESTONE AS CAPITALS WIN FOURTH STRAIGHT

Alex Ovechkin (1-1—2) scored the first goal of his 21st NHL season and the 898th of his career to bring him within two of becoming the League’s first 900-goal scorer. The Capitals earned their fourth straight win after beginning 2025-26 with a loss and are now tied with three other teams for the longest active winning streak (also DET, MTL & CAR).

• Ovechkin closed in on the milestone against a team he’s had success against throughout his career. His 0.81 goals-per-game average (21 in 26 GP) against the Wild is his highest versus any franchise (min. 3 GP). The goal also marked his 125th in the month of October, one back of Wayne Gretzky (126) for the most in NHL history.

MAMMOTH DUO OF SCHMALTZ, KELLER EACH POST FOUR POINTS

The Mammoth posted their highest-scoring performance of the season thanks to a pair of four-point nights from Nick Schmaltz (3-1—4) and Clayton Keller (1-3—4). They became the first pair of teammates this season to each record four points in the same game as Utah improved to 2-0-0 at Delta Center and remained one of six teams still perfect on home ice in 2025-26.

• Schmaltz ended the first period as the fourth Mammoth player with a multi-goal period. He finished the middle frame as the franchise’s second player to score a hat trick, following Barrett Hayton (Feb. 22, 2025), and ended the third stanza with his fourth point of the night alongside Keller – who recorded his club-leading fifth career game with at least four points.

SPORTS WORLDS COLLIDE, RECORDS COULD FALL ON HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA

Seattle vs. Toronto is the theme of the weekend in the sports world, with the Kraken and Maple Leafs set to square off on Hockey Night in Canada as the cities also go head-to-head in the MLB Postseason – part of a four-game slate on Sportsnet that includes an Original Six matchup and two divisional clashes in the Western Conference.

• Seattle vs. Toronto will be the theme across sports this weekend as a matchup between the 2-0-2 Kraken and Maple Leafs (3-1-0 at home) helps open Hockey Night in Canada, just steps away from where the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays will contest Game 6 of their MLB Postseason series on Sunday – with Sportsnet carrying both contests.
• Back in 1993, when the Blue Jays last won an AL pennant to secure a spot in the World Series, the NHL and MLB scheduling matchups overlapped in a similar fashion. On Oct. 9, 1993, the Maple Leafs defeated the Blackhawks with a Wendel Clark winner on Hockey Night in Canada to improve to 2-0-0 on the season and the Blue Jays faced the Chicago White Sox in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series. That is the only other instance of the Maple Leafs playing a team from the same metropolitan area as the Blue Jays’ ALCS opponent (and at the same time as the Blue Jays’ series).
• Later that month, on Oct. 23, 1993, Toronto sports fans were treated with the famed “Touch ‘em all, Joe!” call for Joe Carter’s World Series-clinching walk-off home run as well as a ninth consecutive win by the Maple Leafs. Five days after that, Toronto once again defeated Chicago on the ice as the Maple Leafs improved to 10-0-0 to start the season (with Clark again netting the winner) – an NHL record that still stands (tied once since).
• The Rangers are 6-0-2 in their past eight visits to Montreal, tied for their longest active road point streak against one opponent as well as their second-longest against the Canadiens, but the Blueshirts will have to contend with a Bleu-Blanc-Rouge squad riding a four-game winning streak thanks in part to consecutive overtime goals by Cole Caufield. While Caufield can become the second player in NHL history with an overtime goal in three straight team games, captain Nick Suzuki has played a part too by assisting on the winning goal in each of the club’s past three contests (click here for more on both players).
• Franchise records could fall on Hockey Night in Canada as Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey both enter tied for a significant club benchmark. Scheifele collected point number 812 on Thursday to equal Blake Wheeler for the Jets/Thrashers record, while Morrissey sits tied with Dustin Byfuglien for the most assists by defensemen (294). Scheifele is one of 21 players to at least share the club records for goals and points for an active franchise, and one of seven active players on that list. Nashville’s Filip Forsberg is within reach of achieving the feat one day (1st in goals, 2nd in points).
• For the second time in five days, the Flames and Golden Knights will clash – this time with Jack Eichel as the NHL’s leading scorer and Vegas riding a season-opening five-game point streak (3-0-2). Eichel has collected three of his 11 points on goals that also involved new teammate Mitch Marner, who will make his first Hockey Night in Canada appearance wearing Vegas colors. Often a Hockey Night in Canada staple for the first nine seasons of his career with Toronto, Marner collected 235 points across 185 Saturday games from 2016-17 to 2024-25 – tops among Maple Leafs players during that span.

NHL, NINE DEBUT BROADCAST DEDICATED TO AUSTRALIAN AUDIENCE

A landmark media partnership between the NHL and Nine premiered when the Red Wings defeated the Lightning during the first of 21 regular-season games airing on 9GO! and 9Now in Australia this season. The bespoke broadcast feed, produced by NHL Productions and developed specifically for the Australian market, includes dedicated commentators providing play-by-play and analysis tailored for the Australian audience, as well as customized intermission coverage.

• The first broadcast of the season saw 20-year-old defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka (1-0—1) score his first NHL goal – exactly 34 years after Red Wings legend and Hall of Fame member Nicklas Lidstrom netted his first tally on Oct. 17, 1991 – before Dylan Larkin (1-1—2) potted the overtime winner. Larkin (10) passed Steve Yzerman as well as Brendan Shanahan for the second most overtime goals in Detroit Red Wings history, behind only Sergei Fedorov (12).
• Two players with ties to Australia are likely to be in action as part of Saturday’s 13-game slate: Nathan Walker of the Blues and Jordan Spence of the Senators. To date, Walker is the only Australian national to play in the NHL, while Spence is the only Australian-born player to do so. The Blues and Senators are slated to meet twice this season (Nov. 28 and Dec. 6).

MATINEE TRIO LEADS OFF 13-GAME NHL SCHEDULE

With the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 approaching the “100 Days to Opening Ceremony” countdown Oct. 29, the global audience will get plenty of NHL action this weekend as NHL Saturday & NHL Sunday kickstarts action both today and tomorrow. In Saturday’s opener, the Sabres will vie for a second straight win when the reigning Stanley Cup champions come to town – part of a matinee slate that also puts Matthew Schaefer’s point streak on the line alongside the ninth all-time meeting between Connor McDavid and Jack Hughes (and first since the 4 Nations Face-Off final).