Brady Tkachuk announced that he will be ready to return to game action on Friday, skating his first game in over six weeks following surgery on his thumb. The Ottawa Senators managed to stay right in the thick of the playoff race without him, but look poised to take off with their captain back in the lineup. Ottawa has two games this weekend and then three home games next week against the New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, and New Jersey Devils.

*

The Toronto Maple Leafs had some significant returns on Wednesday night as each of Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies, and Nicolas Roy returned to the lineup. Matthews and Knies were in their usual top-line roles with Max Domi while Easton Cowan was on the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander. Cowan was also on the top PP unit as the Leafs returned to a five-forward setup.

Cowan tied up Toronto's game on Wednesday night with just 3:17 left in the third period and Nylander managed the OT winner as the Leafs took a 2-1 win in Columbus. Nylander also assisted on the Cowan goal, and that pushes him over the 30-point mark on the year in just 20 appearances. At time of writing, he's just the seventh player this season to reach 30 points.

Joseph Woll had a great game in net for the Leafs, allowing just the on goal on 36 shots against. He has a .908 save percentage in five starts since returning from his off-ice absence.

Zach Werenski had the lone goal for the Blue Jackets. He finished with six shots and a block, and now has 4 goals, 11 points, and 38 shots in his last eight games.

Jet Greaves took the hard-luck loss in net, giving up two goals on 24 shots.

*

JT Miller was back in the lineup for the Rangers on Wednesday night, skating on the top line with Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin. Miller had missed two games with an upper-body injury.

The Rangers earned a tough road win on Wednesday night going into Raleigh and beating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin was the man of the evening with 35 saves on 37 shots for his ninth win of the year. That game brings his save percentage back over the .910 mark after a few rough games.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist while Noah Laba, Will Cuylle, and Trocheck all scored as well. Panarin has 15 points in 13 games in the month of November.

Defenceman Matthew Robertson had a very good multi-cat night with an assist, a shot, six blocks, and three hits in 19 minutes of ice time.

Shayne Gostisbehere (PP) and Seth Jarvis scored the goals for Carolina with Gostisbehere adding an assist on the Jarvis marker. Gostisbehere is up to 16 points in 14 games on the campaign, averaging 2.0 shots per game.

Frederik Andersen was the losing goalie for the Hurricanes as three of the 17 shots he faced got past him.

*

The Vegas Golden Knights have something to be thankful for as winger Mark Stone returned from his wrist injury and suited up on Wednesday night for the first time in over five weeks. He was skating on a line with Brett Howden and Mitch Marner while Brandon Saad was skating next to Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev.

*

After a quiet first couple of periods, the Pittsburgh Penguins exploded for three goals in under 12 minutes to take a 4-2 win at home to Buffalo. Matt Dumba, Bryan Rust, Kevin Hayes, and Connor Dewer had the tallies for the Penguins. Penguins defenceman Ryan Shea had two assists, two blocks, and a hit in over 19 minutes of ice time. He now has 10 points, 23 shots, 30 blocks, and 9 hits in 22 games this season.

Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry made his first start in 23 days and was stellar in goal, stopping 29 of the 31 shots launched his way for the win. He now has six wins in eight starts on the year after posting 16 wins in 35 starts last season.

Both Jason Zucker and Jack Quinn had a goal and an assist for the Sabres. Zucker is up to 13 points in 15 games with 33 shots on goal.

Mattias Samuelsson had an excellent multi-cat night with an assist, five shots, three blocks, and a hit in 27:46 of ice time. He has 12 points in 21 games so far in 2025-26, needing just three more points to set a career-high. I say he has a good chance of getting three more points in the next 59 games.

 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen took the loss, allowing three goals on 18 shots.

*

Alex Steeves scored twice, Tanner Jeannot tallied his third marker of the year, and Jeremy Swayman made 41 saves as the Boston Bruins took a 3-1 win against the New York Islanders. Swayman has a .935 save percentage in the month of November, winning seven of his nine starts. He has allowed just 19 goals in those nine starts.

Mathew Barzal scored the lone Islanders goal, totaling two shots and adding a block. Barzal has 36 shots and four goals in his last 12 games.

Ilya Sorokin was not very busy and gave up three goals on 14 shots to take the loss in net for the Islanders.

Matej Blumel was injured in the first period and did not return.

*

For the second time this season, Simon Nemec played the overtime hero as the New Jersey Devils took a 3-2 home win over St. Louis. Nemec finished the game with two shots and two hits, and now has as many goals this season (5) in 23 games played as he did in his first 87 regular season appearances.

Nico Hischier (PP) registered a goal and two assists in the win, making it three straight multi-point games for the Devils' captain. He has 5 goals, 4 assists, 18 shots, 7 blocks, and 10 hits in his last five games. He keeps doing all he can to allow the Devils to survive the absence of Jack Hughes.

Jacob Markstrom was in net for New Jersey and he earned his seventh win by stopping 21 of the 23 shots against.

Cam Fowler managed a goal and an assist (PP) for the Blues with Robert Thomas scoring the PP goal. Thomas has just 14 points in 20 games on the year after posting back-to-back seasons with over a point per game.

Jordan Binnington took the defeat in net for the Blues, allowing three goals on 29 shots.

Both Dougie Hamilton and Luke Hughes took time on the Devils' top PP unit, so that carousel continues to spin around unabated.

*

Sean Couturier, Tyson Foerster, and Matvei Michkov all scored for the Philadelphia Flyers as they went into Florida and beat the Panthers 4-2. Foerster had a pair of blocks and a hit as well, and he now has 4 goals, 10 shots, 4 blocks, and 3 hits in his last four games, and has totaled 8 goals in 18 games on the year.

Defenceman Emil Andrae had a multi-point night with a goal, an assist, two blocks, and two PIMs.

Dan Vladar was solid in net once again, stopping 25 of 27 shots to pick up his ninth win in his 14^th start. His save percentage is up to .913, which is a career-best thus far, with his prior top mark being .906 back in 2021-22 as a rookie.

Carter Verhaeghe posted a goal and an assist in the loss for Florida, totaling four shots and a hit. Brad Marchand scored his 14^th goal of the year while Sam Bennett assisted on both goals. Bennett also had three shots and three hits, and he now has six points in his last five games while landing 13 shots on goal and 11 hits.

Sergei Bobrovsky had another poor outing, allowing four goals on 18 shots. He has an .864 save percentage in nine starts in November, and that includes a 32-save shutout last week over New Jersey. Four of those nine starts has seen a save percentage under .800.

*

The defencemen were at it again for Washington as both John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun scored in the team's 4-3 home win over Winnipeg. Carlson now has six goals in 23 games this season, eclipsing his mark from last year in 79 games played. Chychrun, meanwhile, has scored in four straight games, totaling five goals in that span, and is up to nine goals in 24 games.

Alex Ovechkin and Connor McMichael also got in the goal column for the Capitals. After scoring 26 goals last year, McMichael now has just three goals in 24 games this year. He is shooting 5.8% after shooting 14.1% across his first two seasons, so maybe this is the start of that positive regression.

Charlie Lindgren started Washington's final game before the Thanksgiving holiday, stopping 17 of 20 shots for the win.

Gabriel Vilardi scored twice (one PP) and Mark Scheifele had the other goal for the Jets. Kyle Connor assisted on all three tallies, and now has 28 points in 22 games.

Eric Comrie was in net for the Jets and he allowed four goals on 34 shots for his third straight loss.

*

Tampa Bay scored four times in the first 10 minutes of the game and cruised to a 5-1 win at home to Calgary. Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel each managed a goal and an assist while Zemgus Girgensons, Declan Carlile, and Charle-Edouard D'Astous had the other tallies. Hagel's heater continues as he has nine points in his last three outings.

Andrei Vasilevskiy had another great game, stopping 32 of the 33 shots against for his 10^th win. He has now allowed just four goals in his last five starts.

Dustin Wolf was pulled after giving up three goals on four shots as Joel Farabee scored the lone Flames goal. Farabee has 4 goals and 13 shots in his last four games as the shooting percentage regression has kicked into overdrive.

*

Nashville and Detroit were tied 3-3 late in the third period before Ryan O'Reilly, Erik Haula, and Steven Stamkos scored three goals in 4:31 for the Predators to take a 6-3 win. O'Reilly had that goal, two assists, and over 20 minutes of ice time.

Stamkos, Haula, Michael Bunting, and Nick Blankenburg each had a goal and assist in the win, with the latter three combining for a power-play goal. Blankenburg had a balanced multi-cat night with a goal, a PP assist, a shot, a block, a penalty, and a hit.

Roman Josi had the other tally for Nashville, finishing with three shots and four PIMs while goalie Justus Annunen held the Red Wings to three goals on 31 shots for the win.

Alex DeBrincat and James van Riemsdyk scored PP goals as Ben Chiarot had their other goal. DeBrincat goes into the Thanksgiving holiday with 12 goals, 14 assists, and 92 shots in 24 games.

Cam Talbot was in net for Detroit and he took the loss, allowing five goals on 28 shots.

*

Brady Tkachuk announced that he will be ready to return to game action on Friday, skating his first game in over six weeks following surgery on his thumb. The Ottawa Senators managed to stay right in the thick of the playoff race without him, but look poised to take off with their captain back in the lineup. Ottawa has two games this weekend and then three home games next week against the New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, and New Jersey Devils.

*

The Toronto Maple Leafs had some significant returns on Wednesday night as each of Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies, and Nicolas Roy returned to the lineup. Matthews and Knies were in their usual top-line roles with Max Domi while Easton Cowan was on the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander. Cowan was also on the top PP unit as the Leafs returned to a five-forward setup.

Cowan tied up Toronto's game on Wednesday night with just 3:17 left in the third period and Nylander managed the OT winner as the Leafs took a 2-1 win in Columbus. Nylander also assisted on the Cowan goal, and that pushes him over the 30-point mark on the year in just 20 appearances. At time of writing, he's just the seventh player this season to reach 30 points.

Joseph Woll had a great game in net for the Leafs, allowing just the on goal on 36 shots against. He has a .908 save percentage in five starts since returning from his off-ice absence.

Zach Werenski had the lone goal for the Blue Jackets. He finished with six shots and a block, and now has 4 goals, 11 points, and 38 shots in his last eight games.

Jet Greaves took the hard-luck loss in net, giving up two goals on 24 shots.

*

JT Miller was back in the lineup for the Rangers on Wednesday night, skating on the top line with Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin. Miller had missed two games with an upper-body injury.

The Rangers earned a tough road win on Wednesday night going into Raleigh and beating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin was the man of the evening with 35 saves on 37 shots for his ninth win of the year. That game brings his save percentage back over the .910 mark after a few rough games.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist while Noah Laba, Will Cuylle, and Trocheck all scored as well. Panarin has 15 points in 13 games in the month of November.

Defenceman Matthew Robertson had a very good multi-cat night with an assist, a shot, six blocks, and three hits in 19 minutes of ice time.

Shayne Gostisbehere (PP) and Seth Jarvis scored the goals for Carolina with Gostisbehere adding an assist on the Jarvis marker. Gostisbehere is up to 16 points in 14 games on the campaign, averaging 2.0 shots per game.

Frederik Andersen was the losing goalie for the Hurricanes as three of the 17 shots he faced got past him.

*

The Vegas Golden Knights have something to be thankful for as winger Mark Stone returned from his wrist injury and suited up on Wednesday night for the first time in over five weeks. He was skating on a line with Brett Howden and Mitch Marner while Brandon Saad was skating next to Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev.

*

After a quiet first couple of periods, the Pittsburgh Penguins exploded for three goals in under 12 minutes to take a 4-2 win at home to Buffalo. Matt Dumba, Bryan Rust, Kevin Hayes, and Connor Dewer had the tallies for the Penguins. Penguins defenceman Ryan Shea had two assists, two blocks, and a hit in over 19 minutes of ice time. He now has 10 points, 23 shots, 30 blocks, and 9 hits in 22 games this season.

Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry made his first start in 23 days and was stellar in goal, stopping 29 of the 31 shots launched his way for the win. He now has six wins in eight starts on the year after posting 16 wins in 35 starts last season.

Both Jason Zucker and Jack Quinn had a goal and an assist for the Sabres. Zucker is up to 13 points in 15 games with 33 shots on goal.

Mattias Samuelsson had an excellent multi-cat night with an assist, five shots, three blocks, and a hit in 27:46 of ice time. He has 12 points in 21 games so far in 2025-26, needing just three more points to set a career-high. I say he has a good chance of getting three more points in the next 59 games.

 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen took the loss, allowing three goals on 18 shots.

*

Alex Steeves scored twice, Tanner Jeannot tallied his third marker of the year, and Jeremy Swayman made 41 saves as the Boston Bruins took a 3-1 win against the New York Islanders. Swayman has a .935 save percentage in the month of November, winning seven of his nine starts. He has allowed just 19 goals in those nine starts.

Mathew Barzal scored the lone Islanders goal, totaling two shots and adding a block. Barzal has 36 shots and four goals in his last 12 games.

Ilya Sorokin was not very busy and gave up three goals on 14 shots to take the loss in net for the Islanders.

Matej Blumel was injured in the first period and did not return.

*

For the second time this season, Simon Nemec played the overtime hero as the New Jersey Devils took a 3-2 home win over St. Louis. Nemec finished the game with two shots and two hits, and now has as many goals this season (5) in 23 games played as he did in his first 87 regular season appearances.

Nico Hischier (PP) registered a goal and two assists in the win, making it three straight multi-point games for the Devils' captain. He has 5 goals, 4 assists, 18 shots, 7 blocks, and 10 hits in his last five games. He keeps doing all he can to allow the Devils to survive the absence of Jack Hughes.

Jacob Markstrom was in net for New Jersey and he earned his seventh win by stopping 21 of the 23 shots against.

Cam Fowler managed a goal and an assist (PP) for the Blues with Robert Thomas scoring the PP goal. Thomas has just 14 points in 20 games on the year after posting back-to-back seasons with over a point per game.

Jordan Binnington took the defeat in net for the Blues, allowing three goals on 29 shots.

Both Dougie Hamilton and Luke Hughes took time on the Devils' top PP unit, so that carousel continues to spin around unabated.

*

Sean Couturier, Tyson Foerster, and Matvei Michkov all scored for the Philadelphia Flyers as they went into Florida and beat the Panthers 4-2. Foerster had a pair of blocks and a hit as well, and he now has 4 goals, 10 shots, 4 blocks, and 3 hits in his last four games, and has totaled 8 goals in 18 games on the year.

Defenceman Emil Andrae had a multi-point night with a goal, an assist, two blocks, and two PIMs.

Dan Vladar was solid in net once again, stopping 25 of 27 shots to pick up his ninth win in his 14^th start. His save percentage is up to .913, which is a career-best thus far, with his prior top mark being .906 back in 2021-22 as a rookie.

Carter Verhaeghe posted a goal and an assist in the loss for Florida, totaling four shots and a hit. Brad Marchand scored his 14^th goal of the year while Sam Bennett assisted on both goals. Bennett also had three shots and three hits, and he now has six points in his last five games while landing 13 shots on goal and 11 hits.

Sergei Bobrovsky had another poor outing, allowing four goals on 18 shots. He has an .864 save percentage in nine starts in November, and that includes a 32-save shutout last week over New Jersey. Four of those nine starts has seen a save percentage under .800.

*

The defencemen were at it again for Washington as both John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun scored in the team's 4-3 home win over Winnipeg. Carlson now has six goals in 23 games this season, eclipsing his mark from last year in 79 games played. Chychrun, meanwhile, has scored in four straight games, totaling five goals in that span, and is up to nine goals in 24 games.

Alex Ovechkin and Connor McMichael also got in the goal column for the Capitals. After scoring 26 goals last year, McMichael now has just three goals in 24 games this year. He is shooting 5.8% after shooting 14.1% across his first two seasons, so maybe this is the start of that positive regression.

Charlie Lindgren started Washington's final game before the Thanksgiving holiday, stopping 17 of 20 shots for the win.

Gabriel Vilardi scored twice (one PP) and Mark Scheifele had the other goal for the Jets. Kyle Connor assisted on all three tallies, and now has 28 points in 22 games.

Eric Comrie was in net for the Jets and he allowed four goals on 34 shots for his third straight loss.

*

Tampa Bay scored four times in the first 10 minutes of the game and cruised to a 5-1 win at home to Calgary. Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel each managed a goal and an assist while Zemgus Girgensons, Declan Carlile, and Charle-Edouard D'Astous had the other tallies. Hagel's heater continues as he has nine points in his last three outings.

Andrei Vasilevskiy had another great game, stopping 32 of the 33 shots against for his 10^th win. He has now allowed just four goals in his last five starts.

Dustin Wolf was pulled after giving up three goals on four shots as Joel Farabee scored the lone Flames goal. Farabee has 4 goals and 13 shots in his last four games as the shooting percentage regression has kicked into overdrive.

*

Nashville and Detroit were tied 3-3 late in the third period before Ryan O'Reilly, Erik Haula, and Steven Stamkos scored three goals in 4:31 for the Predators to take a 6-3 win. O'Reilly had that goal, two assists, and over 20 minutes of ice time.

Stamkos, Haula, Michael Bunting, and Nick Blankenburg each had a goal and assist in the win, with the latter three combining for a power-play goal. Blankenburg had a balanced multi-cat night with a goal, a PP assist, a shot, a block, a penalty, and a hit.

Roman Josi had the other tally for Nashville, finishing with three shots and four PIMs while goalie Justus Annunen held the Red Wings to three goals on 31 shots for the win.

Alex DeBrincat and James van Riemsdyk scored PP goals as Ben Chiarot had their other goal. DeBrincat goes into the Thanksgiving holiday with 12 goals, 14 assists, and 92 shots in 24 games.

Cam Talbot was in net for Detroit and he took the loss, allowing five goals on 28 shots.

*

Kirill Kaprizov ripped an absolute laser wrist shot that went bar-down on Spencer Knight to push the Minnesota Wild to a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks:

https://players.brightcove.net/6415718365001/EXtG1xJ7H_default/index.html?videoId=6385643089112

That gives Kaprizov nine goals in 14 games over the last month.

Matt Boldy had a big game with a goal, two assists (one PP), six shots two PIMs, and three hits. He goes into the Thanksgiving holiday as 1 of 2 players with at least 14 goals, 14 assists, 14 hits, 14 blocks, and 80 shots (Nathan MacKinnon is the other). That is a balanced fantasy effort so far.

Brock Faber managed a goal, an assist, four shots, and a block while Nico Sturm had the other tally. After going nine games with zero points to start the season, Faber now has 15 points in his last 15 games.

Filip Gustavsson earned the win by stopping 34 of 37 shots faced.

Connor Bedard had a goal and an assist with solo tallies from Jason Dickinson and Artyom Levshunov.

Spencer Knight took the loss by allowing four goals on 24 shots.

*

After getting out to a 2-0 lead, Colorado scored three times in 1:16 early in the second period and eventually cruised to a 6-0 win over San Jose. Both MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen added a goal and an assist to their season totals with MacKinnon totaling five shots overall. Joel Kiviranta scored in his first game back in six weeks while Ross Colton, Sam Malinski, and Josh Manson also got in the goal column. Of the 137 defencemen with at least 250 minutes at 5-on-5 this season, Malinski is 1 of 6 blue liners with at least 2.0 points per 60 minutes. The others are Cale Makar, Jakob Chychrun, John Carlson, Noah Dobson, and Josh Morrissey. That is pretty good company.

MacKenzie Blackwood earned the shutout by holding off all 26 of San Jose's shots on goal.

Yaroslav Askarov got the start for the Sharks and was pulled after allowing four goals on 19 shots.

*

Montreal scored twice early in the third period to earn a 4-3 win in Utah on Wednesday night. Both Nick Suzuki (2+1) and Zachary Bolduc (1+2) had three-point games (and both had two PP points) with Suzuki totaling two shots and four blocks in nearly 24 minutes of ice time. Through his 22 games this season, he's managed 26 points, 11 PP points, 46 shots, 22 blocks, and 18 hits. It has been an excellent multi-cat start for him.

Ivan Demidov scored the game-winner for the Habs as he goes into the Thanksgiving break with the rookie points lead with 18 in 22 appearances.

Jakub Dobes overcame a flurry of Utah goals in the second period to hang on for the win by holding the Mammoth to three goals on 34 shots.

Barrett Hayton (PP), Kailer Yamamoto, and Michael Carcone scored for Utah.

Karel Vejmelka allowed four goals on 17 shots and he's down to an .884 save percentage on the season.

Adam Engstrom made his NHL debut for Montreal while Sean Durzi returned to the lineup for Utah. Durzi skated 21:34 but was not slotted on either PP unit, but he's clearly in the running to take over the second unit from Nate Schmidt eventually.

*

Vegas clawed back from a 3-1 deficit in their Wednesday night matchup with Ottawa to tie the game 3-3 in the third period but the Senators hung on for the win in the shootout, giving them the 4-3 victory. Stone scored the game-tying goal in the third period while the Golden Knights also got goals from Brett Howden and Jack Eichel. Stone was back on the top PP unit with Braeden Bowman being moved to the second group.

Jake Sanderson had a huge game for the Sens with a PP goal, two assists, three shots, and a block. He is one point back of Lane Hutson for a top-10 spot among defencemen on the year.

Shane Pinto and Drake Batherson had the other tallies for the Sens as Linus Ullmark stopped 32 of the 35 shots directed his way. After a very poor October, Ullmark has posted a .902 save percentage in November and Tkachuk returns tomorrow.

Akira Schmid was saddled with the loss for Vegas, allowing three goals on 23 shots.

*

Nikita Tolopilo was in net for Vancouver on Wednesday night as they went into Anaheim and skated away with a 5-4 win. Tolopilo faced 41 shots but held the Ducks to four goals and that was enough to earn his second win of his career.

Max Sasson had a goal and an assist for the Canucks as they got solo goals from Evander Kane (PP), Linus Karlsson, Conor Garland, and Drew O'Connor. Defenceman Filip Hronek registered two assists, a shot, and a block.

Cutter Gauthier added a goal and a PP assist to his stellar start while Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson also scored. Defenceman Jackson LaCombe had a PP goal, two assists, two shots, and a block in the loss. LaCombe has seven points in his last seven games, so he's starting to heat up.

Lukas Dostal has been listed as day-to-day, and that meant Petr Mrazek got the start in net for the Ducks. He gave up four goals on 27 shots in defeat.

*

After missing over five weeks of action, Jared McCann was back in the lineup for Seattle on Wednesday night, but it wasn't enough of a boost for the Kraken as they lost 3-2 at home to Dallas. The Stars got a pair of goals from unheralded defencemen as both Esa Lindell and Vladislav Kolyachonok fired a puck past goalie Joey Daccord and Roope Hintz had the other tally. Lindell finished with two shots, two blocks, and a hit in over 28 minutes of ice time.

Stars got another good game from backup Casey DeSmith as he gave up just two goals on 28 shots. DeSmith has now allowed just 18 goals in his eight starts and has given up three-or-fewer goals in seven of his eight appearances.

Vince Dunn and Brandon Montour scored for the Kraken with Montour totaling six shots, a block, and three hits. McCann assisted on the Dunn goal, finishing with two shots and two hits in nearly 18 minutes of ice time.

*

A very happy Thanksgiving to all of our American readers. Enjoy the football and turkey!