National Hockey League

National Hockey League

With William Nylander out of action and absent from Saturday's game, someone needed to replace him on the Leafs' first line. The Swedish star was placed up there next to Auston Matthews and Bobby McMann as Berube put in the work to shuffle up the lineup as an attempt to provide some sort of spark. Well just one game after making that change, Robertson had to come up from being a healthy scratch and was tossed into the lions' den on the top line.

One of the struggles has been the play of the team;s defense. The defense has allowed 30.2 shots against per game, one of the worst in the league. They have allowed 22 goals in seven games and that is the worst in the Eastern Conference. The Lightning defense has been tighter than this in the past and seems to be struggling by leaving opposing players open and leaving rebounds.

The incident happened early in the first period after Anthony Mantha's goal gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead. Emergency personnel treated the fan, a man who was not identified, before taking him to Mercy Hospital, located a few blocks from the arena. Play was not halted while the man was being treated. Pittsburgh police told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the man was in critical condition.

For me, we were complicating the game at times tonight. We got burned on it. We forced pucks when we didn't need to and turned them over. They came at us, and as we've talked about, they're a talented and good rush team. They capitalized on their opportunities. More than anything, that is what it boils down to. I felt like we were disconnected at times getting through the neutral zone. It cost us.

former fourth overall pick back in 2023 Will Smith is starting to write his own story in San Jose, and is slowly becoming one of the more electrifying and exciting young prospects in hockey. Smith, who was selected as a very promising young forward out of Boston College, is now becoming one of the most integral and rapidly-developing prospects in the Sharks prospect pool, and with what he is already doing this season doesn't seem to be getting enough recognition.

But a funny thing has happened. Mittelstadt has pushed back with some very good play, and in all three zones with his vastly improving second line with Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson. And on Saturday at the Garden, he earned third star honors by scoring a goal and assisting on Arvidsson's game-winner in the Bruins' 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Connor Bedard's contract extension with the Chicago Blackhawks remains in a "fluid delay," according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Discussions between Bedard's camp and Chicago started conceptually over the summer but were paused until an undetermined time. My understanding is neither side has pinpointed exactly how far down the road they've kicked the ball. It's a fluid delay. Perhaps they pick it back up in the new year. Perhaps it waits until after the season. Either way, nothing is imminent on that front.

The Brantford Bulldogs are loading up after starting their season with a 11-0-2-1 record -- they have not lost in regulation through their first 14 games and own the OHL's best .893 point percentage. Additionally, the Bulldogs have scored the most goals in the league so far this season, with 75, while also allowing the fourth-fewest with just 47 goals allowed.

It's easy to find a lot of negative with the Rangers, so we try to focus on the positive. Though it's only 11 games, the Rangers have a lot of both going on. The defensive process as a whole is strong, with the Rangers looking like a top-10 team in terms of puck possession and play driving at 5v5. The problem is the offense is non-existent due to a number of factors, some that will work themselves out and some that won't.