* The trend of down-to-the-wire action continued Thursday as Ben Kindel scored the go-ahead goal with 25 seconds remaining in regulation, only to have Logan Cooley complete his hat trick in the final second to force overtime en route to a Utah win. There have been 12 game-tying or go-ahead goals in the final minute of regulation in 2026-27, the second most at this stage of a season (213 GP) in the past decade behind 2020-21 (15).
* Tage Thompson and Viktor Arvidsson also scored hat tricks Thursday to help their teams earn a win, with the former netting the sixth natural hat trick of 2026-27 – tied for the second most at this stage of a season in NHL history (213 GP).
* A three-game Friday features Matthew Tkachuk and Seth Jones looking to add to their October totals when the Panthershost the Jets at Amerant Bank Arena.
COOLEY COMES UP CLUTCH WITH LATE HOMECOMING HAT TRICK. . .
After Logan Cooley (3-0—3) scored twice to put Utah up 2-0, Ben Kindel (1-1—2) – in his return to the Penguins lineup – helped his club erase the deficit and scored the go-ahead goal in the final 25 seconds of regulation, only for Cooley to complete his hat trick with one second remaining to set the stage for the Mammoth’s overtime victory.
* Cooley scored at 59:59 to complete his hat trick with family and friends in attendance at PPG Paints Arena and eclipsed Jack McBain (59:56 on Nov. 7, 2024) for the latest game-tying goal in Mammoth franchise history. He also matched the longest road goal streak by a Utah player (3 GP).
* The Pittsburgh native, who got his start in hockey during the inaugural season of Sidney Crosby’s Little Penguins Learn to Play Program, became the third Pennsylvania-born player to record a hat trick against the Penguins, following Brandon Saad (3-0—3 on Oct. 5, 2017) and R.J. Umberger (3-2—5 on Dec. 11, 2007) and is the first to do so in Pittsburgh.
. . .WHILE THOMPSON AND ARVIDSSON ALSO MAKE HATS FLY
Tage Thompson (3-2—5) netted his third career natural hat trick and 10th overall, while Viktor Arvidsson (3-1—4) recorded his sixth career three-goal performance to help the Sabres and Red Wings skate to wins. The 2026-27 season has seen 17 hat tricks so far – only two campaigns in the past 30 years have featured as many through this stage (213 GP): 2023-24 (21) and 1996-97 (18).
* Thompson tied Jeremy Roenick and Jimmy Carson (both w/ 10)for the sixth-most hat tricks by a U.S.-born player in NHL history behind Auston Matthews (14), Pat LaFontaine (13), John LeClair (11), Kevin Stevens (11) and Joe Mullen (11). Thompson, who tied the second-most natural hat tricks in Sabres history, also put up his fourth career five-point performance and tied Alexander Mogilny and Danny Gare for the fourth most with the franchise as well as Patrick Kane for the second most by an active American player, behind Matthew Tkachuk (5).
* Arvidsson scored his first hat trick in a Red Wings uniform – the fourth different franchise he’s had a three-goal performance with (also BOS, LAK & NSH). Only six players in NHL history have had a hat trick with more teams: Bill Guerin (6), Radim Vrbata (5), Brendan Shanahan (5), Tony McKegny (5), Ivan Boldirev (5) and Eddie Shack (5).
SCHAEFER HELPS ISLANDERS OUTLAST HUGHES, WILD IN OT
Two of the NHL’s premiere offensive defensemen shone in regulation as Matthew Schaefer (2-1—3) and Quinn Hughes (1-1—2) helped the Islanders and Wild trade leads but it was the 19-year-old reigning Calder Trophy winner who rose to the occasion in overtime by scoring 33 seconds into the extra frame. He became the first teenage defenseman in NHL history with three career overtime goals, breaking a tie with Cam Fowler (2).
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* A game removed from becoming the first skater on record to skate all five minutes of an overtime period (since 2009-10), Schaefer scored his fifth career game-winning goal. He tied Rasmus Dahlin and Mikhail Sergachev for the third most by a teenage defenseman in NHL history, behind Phil Housley (8) and Aaron Ekblad (6).
* Schaefer collected his first point of the contest with a game-tying goal – the seventh of his career, which tied Ray Bourque for the third most by a teenage defenseman in NHL history behind Bobby Orr (10) and Housley (8). Overall, his five career multi-goal games tied Housley for the most by a teenage blueliner in League history.
KOCHETKOV REMAINS PERFECT THROUGH FIRST NINE GAMES OF 2026-27
The Hurricanes kept their spot atop the League standings thanks to a ninth straight victory by Pyotr Kochetkov – the longest season-opening win streak by a goaltender in franchise history. After dropping its first two contests of 2026-27, Carolina has gone 11-1-1 in its past 13 games and tied its third-most wins in a single calendar month behind January 2006 (13) and December 2022 (12).
* Kochetkov (9 GP) matched Brandon Bussi (2x in 2025-26) and Cam Ward (2008-09) for the longest win streak in franchise history and also became the sixth goaltender to record 80 wins with the club. Kochetkov (134 GP) became the fifth-fastest active goaltender (min. 1 GP in 2026-27) to reach 80 NHL wins, behind Igor Shesterkin (129 GP), Logan Thompson (133 GP), Jeremy Swayman (133 GP) and Tristan Jarry (133 GP).
MORE STARS SHINE IN #NHLSTATS: LIVE UPDATES
Several more stars shone during Thursday’s 11-game slate as the Canadiens, Lightning and Kings each skated to victory. Find notes on every game in #NHLStats: Live Updates.
* Cole Caufield and Alex Newhook both scored twice to help the Canadiens defeat the Stars and extend the League’s longest active point streak to six games (5-0-1). Montreal concluded its four-game road trip with a perfect 4-0-0 record, marking just the second time in the past decade that the franchise has swept a trip of at least that length (also 5-0-0 from March 28 – April 4, 2026).
* The Lightning withstood multi-point games from Mark Scheifele (0-3—3) and Kyle Connor (1-1—2) and did so with John Carlson’s help en route to a sixth straight home win to start 2026-27 – tied for the longest season-opening home win streak in franchise history. Carlson (4-2—6 in 12 GP) scored one of Tampa Bay’s six goals and became the fifth defenseman with four tallies through his first dozen games with the franchise alongside Rob Ramage (5 in 1992-93), Kevin Shattenkirk (4 in 2019-20), Mikhail Sergachev (4 in 2017-18) and Bob Beers (4 in 1992-93).
* Drew Doughty had two assists through two periods as his Kings took a 5-1 lead, but a relentless rally from the Senators saw the game go to overtime where Doughty factored on Quinton Byfield’s winner to secure a victory for Los Angeles. At 36 years of age, Doughty became the oldest player in Kings history to collect three points in consecutive outings.
QUICK CLICKS
* Patrick Kane receives warm ovation from Red Wings fans in return to Detroit
* Unmasked: Unique goggles offer new way for goalies to track pucks
* Gunnar Nordstrom ready to make history with upcoming Hockey Hall of Fame induction
* Barry Trotz inducted into Predators Golden Hall
* European notebook: Mikhail Gulyayev among defensemen contributing offense
BRINGING THE OFFENSE IN OCTOBER: TKACHUK AND JONES RETURN TO ACTION
Matthew Tkachuk (16 A in 13 GP), Seth Jones (14 A in 13 GP) and the Panthers (7-4-2, 16 points) are one of six teams in action Friday as the teammates enter play with two of the highest single-month assist totals in October. Only one set of Florida teammates have each recorded 15 or more assists in a single month: Aleksander Barkov (15) and Tkachuk (15) in January 2023.
* Tkachuk and Jones can become the ninth set of teammates in NHL history to each register 15 assists in a single October and just the third forward-defenseman combination, alongside Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux (22) and Paul Coffey (18) in 1988 as well as New York’s Brian Leetch (16) and Darren Turcotte (15) in 1990.
