Early on Thursday, Bruce Garrioch reported that Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto had signed a four-year contract extension. The new deal has a $7.5-million average annual value and will carry Pinto until his age-30 season when he'll be able to sign another contract, supposing that this one goes well.

As long as Pinto keeps doing anything close that what he's doing now, which is eight goals, six assists, 46 shots, 12 blocks, and 16 hits in 17 games (as of Thursday morning), that extension will play just fine in multi-cat salary cap leagues. He is also averaging seven faceoff wins per game, which isn't a huge number, but is inside the top-50 forwards among those with over 60 faceoff wins overall. That gives him an added boost for leagues that count FOWs.

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Both Auston Matthews and Anthony Stolarz did not play on Thursday night for the Toronto Maple Leafs, though the team said neither has a serious injury. Matthews is expected to miss about a week, and Dennis Hildeby was in net for their game against Los Angeles.

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Ryan Strome and Mikael Granlund were back in the lineup for Anaheim on Thursday. Strome had yet to play this season due to an upper-body injury while Granlund had missed over two weeks with a lower-body injury. They both were slotted on the second line with Frank Vatrano.

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Colorado Avalanche defenceman Samuel Girard was in action on Thursday night, his first game in five weeks after suffering an upper-body injury. He generally doesn't have a lot of multi-cat fantasy value – 82-game pace of 26 points, 104 shots, 130 blocks, and 86 hits over the last 2.3 seasons – but when he's at his best, he's very good defensively and that helps a Colorado team that is already among the best defensively in the league. In other words, this is good news for MacKenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood.

We also got an update on Valeri Nichushkin:

Valeri Nichushkin is week-to-week, per Bednar. No real timeline right now, though, but "nothing too serious" he says.

— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) November 13, 2025

Nichushkin left their last game, and though he's week-to-week, coach Bednar doesn't think this is something too serious. Nichushkin had five goals and 12 points in 17 games before the injury, and Gavin Brindley took his spot on the second line on Thursday night. That is a great opportunity for Brindley to continue impressing after a solid start in the bottom-6.

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The Dallas Stars went into Montreal on Thursday night and absolutely wallpapered the Canadiens by a 7-0 margin. Jason Robertson had the big night for the Stars with two goals, an assist, and a hit. That gives him back-to-back games with three points, 20 points in 18 games on the year, and he's still shooting under 8% (prior career-low of 12.6% and a three-year average of 14.6%).

Colin Blackwell had a goal and an assist in the win, Radek Faksa had a trio of helpers with a hit, and both Tyler Seguin and Wyatt Johnston (PP) got in the goal column.

Each Dallas defenceman had at least one point with Miro Heiskanen and Alex Petrovic scoring goals.

Stars goalie Casey DeSmith held the fort for a 23-save shutout.

Jakub Dobes got the nod in net for the Habs and allowed five goals in 13 shots before being pulled at the end of the second period.

Alex Newhook took a hard feet-first spill into the boards early in the second period, left the game, and did not return.

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Tim Stutzle scored with under six minutes left in the third period of Ottawa's home game against Boston, and then added an empty-net tally five minutes later, to lift the Senators to a 5-3 win over the Bruins. Stützle had an assist on a Claude Giroux power play goal earlier in the night and finished the game with three shots, two blocks, and a pair of hits. That gives Stützle 19 points in 18 games thus far with 50 shots, 24 hits, and 14 blocks. He has just been a very stellar multi-cat option this season, even without Brady Tkachuk.

Both Giroux and Dylan Cozens had a goal and an assist, the former with a PP goal and the latter with a PP assist. Cozens had two shots and three hits and is up to seven goals, seven assists, 37 shots, and a whopping 59 hits in 18 games. He has also been a great multi-cat option this season.

The new $30-million dollar man Shane Pinto scored his ninth goal of the year while defenceman Artem Zub had a huge multi-cat night with an assist, two shots, three blocks, four PIMs, and a pair of hits.

Leevi Merilainen earned the win by stopping 18 of the 21 pucks launched his way.

David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie both had a goal and an assist while Mark Kastelic tallied the third goal.

Joonas Korpisalo allowed four goals on 21 shots to take the loss.

Nick Jensen was injured late in the second period and did not return for the third. With Thomas Chabot already out of the lineup, that defence group is starting to thin out.

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Los Angeles fell behind Toronto 2-0 in the first period but scored four of the next five goals to take a 4-3 overtime win in Toronto. Quinton Byfield played the OT hero, scoring just his fourth goal of the year. Byfield assisted on an earlier Kevin Fiala goal, totaled three shots, and added a hit for good measure.

Alex Laferriere and Warren Foegele had the other tallies. Laferriere finished with five shots and four hits.

Drew Doughty amassed a couple of assists, two blocks, and a hit.

Darcy Kuemper wasn't busy but made enough saves as he prevented 12 of the 15 shots against him from entering his net.

John Tavares scored twice for Toronto and finished with four shots and two PIMs. He is now up to 11 goals and 23 points in 18 games, and he even has 16 hits for good measure.

Bobby McMann had Toronto's other goal, winding up with three shots and three hits. After going eight games without a goal, McMann now has three goals in his last six games.

Dennis Hildeby was solid for the Leafs but took the loss, allowing four goals on 37 shots.

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Florida's top line had a big game in their 6-3 win at home to Washington as Sam Reinhart had two goals (one PP) and an assist, Evan Rodrigues managed a goal, and Carter Verhaeghe posted an assist (PP), two shots, a block and a hit. Reinhart started the season with just two goals in his first eight games but now has eight goals in his last nine games. It's safe to say he's found his stride.

Not to be outdone, Florida's second line also had a great game. Eetu Luostarainen scored an empty-netter, posted two assists, and added three shots and three hits. His centre, Anton Lundell, had three assists (one PP), a block and two hits while Brad Marchand had two assists (one PP) and a shot.

Defenceman Seth Jones had a PP goal, an assist, five total shots, a pair of blocks, two PIMs, and four hits in a monster multi-cat night.

Backup goalie Daniil Tarasov was great in net, stopping 37 of the 40 pucks he faced to earn the win.

Rasmus Sandin had a big game in a losing effort for the Caps with a goal, an assist, five total shots, a block, and a pair of hits. Brandon Duhaime and Justin Sourdif had the other tallies.

Logan Thompson had by far his worst game of the year by allowing five goals on 27 shots.

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Alex DeBrincat came through in a big way for Detroit with two goals (one PP), an assist, six shots, and two PIMs in their 6-3 win over Anaheim. After going goalless in his first eight games of the year, DeBrincat has six goals and 11 points in his last nine games.

Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider both had a goal and an assist in the win, with both of Seider's points coming on the power play. He totaled four shots, three blocks, and a hit in over 25 minutes of ice time.

Michael Rasmussen and Axel Sandin-Pellikka scored the other goals for the Wings.

John Gibson was pulled after the second period, but it was after two goals on 17 shots, so it seems as if it may have been injury-related. It was an upper-body injury for Gibson and there’s no hint of how serious (or not) this is.

Chris Kreider, Cutter Gauthier, and Beckett Sennecke all scored for the Ducks. Gauthier now has 12 goals, 21 points, and 77 shots in 17 games. Defenceman Jackson LaCombe managed an assist, a pair of blocks, and a hit in nearly 24 minutes of ice time.

Lukas Dostal allowed five goals on 32 shots to take the loss.

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Columbus' depth came through in a big way on Thursday night as Mathieu Olivier had two goals and an assist while Charlie Coyle posted a goal and two assists in the Blue Jackets' 5-4 win at home to Edmonton. Olivier totaled three shots, two blocks, two PIMs, and two hits to go along with his three points. That makes eight points in 17 games to go with 54 hits and 39 PIMs, so he's bringing the multi-cat value expected of him.

Denton Mateychuk and Adam Fantilli had the other goals for the Blue Jackets. With a goal on three shots, he has three goals, three assists, and 16 shots on four games since being moved to the top line.

Jet Greaves stopped 25 shots of the 29 he faced for his fifth win, though his save percentage has now fallen to .897.

Leon Draisaitl tallied two of the four Oilers goals while Vasily Podkolzin and Matt Savoie had the others. Draisaitl ended up with four shots and a block while Connor McDavid had a pair of helpers, three shots, and a block of his own.

Evan Bouchard had a big night in a losing effort with three assists, four shots, and a block.

Calvin Pickard took the loss in net, giving up five goals on 25 shots. He is down to an .830 save percentage in his seven appearances.

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Buffalo managed to get late to the second period in a 3-3 tie with Colorado but goals from Gavin Brindley, Martin Necas, and Gabriel Landeskog put the game out of reach and the Avalanche skated away with the 6-3 win.

Nečas had the big game for the Avs this time with two goals, two assists, two shots, a block and two hits. He and line mate Nathan MacKinnon are the only players with at least 12 goals and 12 assists on the season, though MacKinnon has 14-19 so he's a little bit ahead in this department.

In Brindley's first game on the Brock Nelson line, he had a goal, an assist, two shots, and two hits in 13:02 of ice time. After posting one point in his first 10 games, Brindley is up to six points in his last six games, though he is shooting 27% in that stretch so buyer beware and all that.

Nelson and Artturi Lehkonen had the other Avalanche goals. Lehkonen finished with four shots and a block in 22:28 of ice time in the team's first full game without Nichushkin in the lineup.

In Girard's first game of the season he had an assist, a shot, and a block in 16:54 of ice time, while MacKenzie Blackwood picked up his second win of the year by holding Buffalo to three goals on 21 shots.

Tage Thompson had a multi-point night with a goal (PP), an assist, and five shots as the team also got goals from Jordan Greenway and Bowen Byram. Byram led all Sabres defencemen in ice time at 24:21 and totaled four shots, a block, and a hit.

Alex Lyon was pulled after giving up two goals on three shots in just six minutes of game time.

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Yesterday's Ramblings looked at goalies, shot distance, and why Dustin Wolf was rebounding (and should continue to do so) after a rough start. Well, Thursday night he kept making good on the upswing with a 2-0 shutout at home to San Jose. He faced just 16 shots, so not a performance of a lifetime, but he's now up to a .917 save percentage over his last 11 games.

Blake Coleman and Samuel Honzek had the goals for the Flames as that checking line continues to be solidly productive. Coleman had three shots and a pair of hits in the win so he's up to seven goals, 46 shots, and 37 hits in 19 games.

Yaroslav Askarov was great in net for the Sharks, stopping 34 of 35 shots, but took the very hard-luck loss. He has a .971 save percentage in five starts this month.

Jeff Skinner looked to injure his right leg falling on a board battle early in the first period, left the game, and did not return.

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After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, Vegas fought back to tie their home game with the New York Islanders 3-3, but Jean Gabriel-Pageau scored a short-handed overtime goal on a wrist shot from 35 feet to lift the Islanders to a 4-3 win.

Matthew Schaefer had another great game for the Isles with a goal (PP), an assist, four shots, two blocks, and two hits. He has 14 points and 52 shots in 17 games.

Emil Heineman and Mathew Barzal registered the other tallies for the Islanders. Barzal now has goals in back-to-back games and is up to 14 points in 16 appearances on the year.

Ilya Sorokin was solid in net, facing 29 shots and stopping 26 of them.

Tomas Hertl, Reilly Smith, and Shea Theodore all scored for the Golden Knights. Theodore finished with six shots and three blocks in a huge multi-cat game.

Akira Schmid allowed four goals on 24 shots.

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Seattle battled back from a 3-2 third-period deficit to peel off three straight goals and beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-3. Jordan Eberle had the game-winning and insurance goals in the third period, finishing with three shots and two blocks in 20:33 of ice time. He has 7 goals in 17 games on the year after scoring just 9 goals in 42 games last year.

Vince Dunn had a big game on the back end for the Kraken with a goal, two assists (one PP), a shot, two blocks, a hit, and two PIMs. The other goals came from Kaapo Kakko (his first of the year) and Eeli Tolvanen (PP).

Philipp Grubauer was in net again for the Kraken, and earned the win by keeping the Jets to three goals on 26 shots.

Mark Scheifele had a goal and an assist (PP) for the Jets, Kyle Connor had a PP goal, and Alex Iafallo scored his fourth of the year, all in a losing effort. Scheifele's night gives him double-digit goals on the year and pushes him to 23 points in 17 outings.

In Dylan Samberg's first game back in the lineup, he had two shots, two blocks, and two hits in 23:04 of ice time.

Connor Hellebuyck had easily his worst game of the season, giving up four goals on 17 shots.

In Kakko's first shift after scoring, he took what seemed like an innocent fall just after a faceoff, but left the game and did not return.