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The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers opened the NHL season with a 3-2 win over Chicago on a third-period goal by Jesper Boqvist.
The Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 behind two goals from Martin Necas, and the Pittsburgh Penguins shut out the New York Rangers 3-0, led by two goals from Justin Brazeau.
There are four more games on Wednesday to get the season rolling, highlighted by the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the Montreal Canadiens.
Get in touch with us: live@theathletic.com
With three games in the books tonight, the 2025-26 NHL regular season is underway.
There are four games tonight on the schedule. The most notable is the classic Original Six rivalry between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.
Below is the full schedule:
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Huge ovation at Crypto for Anze Kopitar. Quite the surprise for the new alternate jersey reveal. And … well, Kevin Fiala got a 5-on-3 PP goal. Otherwise, an ugly opener for the Kings, who absorbed a 4-1 drubbing by the Avalanche.
P3 0:00 – Avalanche 4, Kings 1
That's a wrap! The Colorado Avalanche dominate the Los Angeles Kings. Martin Necas scores two goals in the victory.
Arturri Lehkonen, Sam Malinski also added goals.
Wow, the Kings did everything but score during that last shift. L.A’s top forwards were snapping the puck around beautifully and kept going to that right circle for one-timer blasts.
P3 5:00 – Avalanche 4, Kings 1
That’s a much-needed breakthrough for a frustrated Kings’ offense that’s been stifled for most of the night. Bullet one-timer by Kevin Fiala on the 5-on-3. The Kings have a chance to make things interesting because they’re still on the power play.
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The price tag on Martin Necas’ next contract is only increasing by the day. Multi-goal game to open the season and you’d have to imagine it’ll be the first of many this year given how much time he’s going to spend on the ice with MacKinnon and Makar.
P3 9:17 – Avalanche 4, Kings 0
Not even a minute into the powerplay, and Martin Necas rips a shot by Darcy Kuemper to make it 4-0.
Fans are starting to leave the arena. You just knew it was a matter of time before Colorado's prolific powerplay unit would strike.
Necas now has two goals tonight.
Kings are unraveling here, that’s a very undisciplined penalty by Fiala. You can tell that the offensive frustration is setting in. From the Avs’ perspective, they’ve played a near-perfect game since about the midway point of the first period.
P3 10:00 – Avalanche 3, Kings 0
Halfway through the third period and the Avalanche maintain their three-goal lead.
Lots of powerplays in this frame. And yet no goals.
That’s just not close to good enough for the Kings’ top power-play unit. L.A.’s five-forward unit was so deadly down the stretch last year that it didn’t create much of anything on its first two opportunities. Joel Armia’s slot chance with the second unit was the only meaningful scoring chance they generated during those four total minutes of power-play time.
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P3 13:20 – Avalanche 3, Kings 0
The Kings needed to take advantage of special teams to get back in this game. And they haven't.
It's another win for the Colorado penalty kill, who is 3-for-3 tonight.
P3 15:26 – Avalanche 3, Kings 0
Right after Colorado kills off the Brent Burns penalty, they commit another one. This time it's Cale Makar going off for hooking.
The Kings are back to the powerplay, where they are 0-for-2 tonight.
P3 18:06 – Avalanche 3, Kings 0
The Kings get on the powerplay. Brent Burns takes a slashing penalty against Quinton Byfield.
Massive opportunity for L.A. to cut the deficit.
P3 18:36 – Avalanche 3, Kings 0
Arturri Lehkonen, who already has a goal tonight, nearly gets his second. He fires a shot in the slot but it's gobbled up by Darcy Kuemper.
P3 20:00 – Avalanche 3, Kings 0
The third period is underway with Colorado on the powerplay.
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Love what I’ve seen from Scott Wedgewood in the preseason, and so far tonight.
He plays a simple, calm game. He stays in position, challenges and makes himself big, drops into butterfly and lets the puck hit him. He’s looked very under control.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he has a good workload this season. He and Blackwood should be a strong tandem.
Cale Makar and the Avalanche are off to a stellar start to the season …
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