Shesterkin's goalie goal, Bouchard's record start and the first standings: NHL digest, Sept. 28–Oct. 4

The 2026-27 NHL season is six nights old, and the first week produced something no one had seen in a Rangers sweater: a goaltender scoring a goal. Igor Shesterkin flung the puck the length of the ice into an empty net in New York's home opener on Oct. 1. 1

Sept. 28 was dark — the regular season opened Sept. 29 with five games, and from there the league played 39 games across six nights. 23 This is also the week the standings finally mean something: divisions, the wild-card line and the league leaderboards all exist now, built on one to four games per team. Everything below is what those six nights actually established.

The Rangers have the most points in the league (6), and Edmonton's 2-0-1 is the best record in the West. Only two teams have played four games and 18 have played two, so the table changes shape almost nightly; the number that matters more than the order right now is the gap — four points separate the Eastern Conference leader from 13th place. 4

Two things are worth reading carefully. First, points beat points percentage in the sort order, which is why Vancouver (4 points in four games) sits above Winnipeg (3 points in two) in the West — the Jets have the better rate but the smaller total. Second, three teams are still pointless: Dallas, Chicago and Calgary, outscored a combined 37-9 across seven games, with Dallas scoring once in two. 4

Ottawa is the outlier at the top of the East wild card: the Senators have played exactly one game, a 3-2 win at Toronto on Oct. 3, and now play Monday at Boston, Tuesday at Detroit and Thursday at home against Philadelphia, so that points percentage will not survive the week untested. 56

Home teams went 22-17, and nine of the 39 games went past regulation. 23 Every game is below, with the goals, the clock and the individual lines that mattered.

A goalie goal at Madison Square Garden. Shesterkin capped a 5-1 win over Tampa Bay on Oct. 1 by shooting the puck the length of the ice into the empty net at 17:26 of the third period. He is the first goalie in Rangers history to score, the 18th goalie in NHL history, and the 21st goalie goal overall — 19 in the regular season and two in the playoffs. "That was a lot of fun, but to be honest, someone on the blue line, he screened me a little bit when I make the shot and I didn't see the puck land, so I didn't know can I celebrate or not," Shesterkin said. "I just started doing that when everyone was like fired up." It was also his 100th win at the Garden, in 177 games — the fourth-fewest needed by a Rangers goalie, behind Mike Richter (172), Eddie Giacomin (173) and Henrik Lundqvist (176). 1

He was not done. On Oct. 4 he took an assist on Tolvanen's empty-netter and became the first goalie with points in consecutive appearances since Connor Ingram did it for Utah on Feb. 6-9, 2025. Only Lundqvist (2010-11), Ed Belfour (2001-02) and Tom Barrasso (1984-85, 1988-89) have points in three straight goalie appearances in NHL history. 12

Bouchard's start is an NHL first. Evan Bouchard opened with a hat trick and five points in the 6-5 overtime loss to Vancouver on Sept. 29, then added a goal and two assists in the rematch on Oct. 1. His eight points (four goals, four assists) across Edmonton's first two games are the most by a defenseman through a team's first two games in league history; the previous mark belonged to Larry Sacharuk of the 1974-75 Blues, who had four goals. 13 He has yet to score in the third game, which is also why the Oilers are 2-0-1 rather than comfortable: Edmonton has allowed 14 goals in three games. Bouchard leads all defensemen in five-on-five shot attempts differential (plus-29) and is tied with Draisaitl for the most shot attempts in the league (18). 13

Sixteen goals in Vancouver. The Oilers led the Oct. 1 rematch 5-0 five minutes into the second period and 8-2 with 12 minutes left in it, and still had to hold on for a 9-7 win after Vancouver scored four of the last five goals. McDavid finished with a shorthanded goal and four assists, and Edmonton scored shorthanded twice in 34 seconds, through McDavid at 7:49 and Kasperi Kapanen at 8:23. 9 The two teams have now combined for 27 goals in two meetings. 2

Pittsburgh's 7-0, and then the 6-5. The Penguins opened with a 7-0 rout in Philadelphia on Sept. 30 — seven goals from six scorers, and only 19 Flyers shots — then beat Montréal 6-5 in overtime on Oct. 3 after the Canadiens scored twice in the final 68 seconds. Pittsburgh is 2-0-0 with 13 goals and five against, the only perfect points percentage in the East. 58

Colorado's eight-goal opener. The Avalanche scored eight in a season opener for the first time in franchise history on Sept. 30, beating Los Angeles 8-4. MacKinnon and Lehkonen each scored twice; Brock Nelson had a goal and two assists; Cale Makar, Nazem Kadri, Devon Toews and Jaden Schwartz had two assists each. Makar also became the first defenseman in NHL history with multiple points in five straight season openers. Two nights later Colorado beat St. Louis 6-1. 57

Utah's three games in four nights. The Mammoth won 6-0 in Chicago on Oct. 1 — 32 shots to 15 — then 4-1 in Columbus on Oct. 3, then lost 4-2 at the Rangers on Oct. 4 after leading through two periods. Nick Schmaltz has a three-game goal streak (four goals) and Dylan Guenther has three. 39 Utah coach Andre Tourigny was blunt about the finish at the Garden: "Through two periods we were probably doubling that team in scoring chances; that's a lot of good. But that said, that's why you play three periods and I just think mentally we did not sustain in the third." 12

Seattle's bookend wins over Calgary. The Kraken beat the Flames 6-1 in Calgary on Oct. 1 and 6-1 in Seattle on Oct. 4, scoring six in each of their two wins and losing 3-1 in Edmonton in between. Joey Daccord has stopped 56 of 58 shots in two starts. 3914

Marchand's return, and Anaheim's answer. Brad Marchand made his season debut on Oct. 4 at Anaheim after offseason surgery and tied the game with 1:50 left in the third; Mikael Granlund won it for the Ducks 4:14 into overtime, with Cutter Gauthier scoring twice and Leo Carlsson recording four assists. 315

McDavid leads the league with nine points in three games, but the most interesting number on the board belongs to his teammate: Bouchard, a defenseman, is second with eight. 16

Seven goalies have started twice and won twice. Two of them have barely been beaten: Seattle's Joey Daccord and Minnesota's Jesper Wallstedt. 14

NHL.com ranked the season's top 10 rookies on Sept. 29, the day the season opened. 17 Here is what the first week did to that list.

James Hagens (Boston, ranked No. 8) scored his first NHL goal on Oct. 2 at Winnipeg, shoving his way to the crease and scoring from the back side at 15:20 of the first period to make it 2-1. The 19-year-old had 47 points in 34 games at Boston College last season. "Honestly, you kind of black out for a second there. It is something I will always remember," Hagens said. He is giving the puck to his parents. 1117

Luca Cagnoni (San Jose) did not make the top 10 but was named separately among rookies worth watching, with the note that he was seeing first-unit power-play time in the preseason. He scored the overtime winner at home against Florida on Oct. 1, 3:14 in. 1718

Igor Chernyshov (San Jose) scored twice on Oct. 3 against Los Angeles, the second of them 3:18 into overtime, and has three points in two games. 516

Cole Hutson (Washington, No. 4) scored in the Capitals' 5-2 win at Carolina on Oct. 2. He had three goals in 14 NHL games last season, so this was not a first — but it was the kind of game the Calder conversation is built on. 1017

Konsta Helenius (Buffalo, No. 7) scored in the Sabres' 6-3 loss at Columbus on Oct. 1, playing on the second line with Josh Norris. 918

Victor Eklund (NY Islanders, No. 10) scored in the Islanders' 6-0 win over New Jersey on Oct. 3, after also setting up Brayden Schenn's goal earlier in the same game. 5

Anton Frondell (Chicago, No. 5) had two assists in the Blackhawks' 4-3 loss at Buffalo on Oct. 3. Chicago is 0-3-0 and has been outscored 15-5, which is a bigger problem than any individual line. 45

Two names from the top of that list have not produced yet. Porter Martone (Philadelphia, No. 1) is still looking for his first point, and the Flyers have four goals in three games. Gavin McKenna (Toronto, No. 2) has not registered a point either, though Toronto has won one of three. 417

The week's biggest story is in Florida, and it is not the two overtime losses.

Aleksander Barkov, C, Florida. The Panthers captain was placed on long-term injured reserve Oct. 3 with a lower-body injury, which guarantees he misses at least 10 games and 24 days. He was hurt in the second period at San Jose on Oct. 1, in just his second game back after missing all of last season with a right knee injury that required MCL and ACL surgery. He will see a doctor Monday to determine the extent. Lars Eller has moved to the top line between Brady Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart. "We don't even know the extent of it yet, so it doesn't feel anything like last year," coach Paul Maurice said. "Last year, we were playing on a quarter tank of gas... This one, we've got good depth. Everybody's going to make it." 15

Alexey Toropchenko, F, St. Louis. Out at least six weeks with an upper-body injury suffered Oct. 2 at Dallas, when he was hit into the glass by two Stars players. He had 11 points in 65 games last season. 19

Jake Sanderson, D, Ottawa. Reaggravated an undisclosed injury and left at 12:45 of the first period of the Senators' win at Toronto on Oct. 3. He missed part of camp with the same injury. "A little bit concerned," coach Travis Green said. "We will know more in the next few days." Artem Zub (knee) and Andre Burakovsky (upper body) are skating in non-contact jerseys. 19

Matt Roy, D, Washington. Questionable for Wednesday's game against Pittsburgh after a lower-body injury in the second period of the Oct. 3 loss at Tampa Bay. 19

Joe Veleno, C, NY Rangers. Left midway through the first period on Oct. 4 with a lower-body injury and did not return; the team expected more information Monday. 12

Jacob Melanson, F, Seattle. Placed on injured reserve and is week to week after three games. 19

Bowen Byram, D, Chicago. Missed the Oct. 3 loss at Buffalo for a family matter. 19

Back on the ice: Gustav Forsling returned for Florida on Oct. 4 after missing one game, and Brad Marchand made his season debut in the same game after offseason surgery. 15 Chicago is also without Connor Bedard, which is why Roman Kantserov is skating on the top line with Frank Nazar and Patrick Kane. 18

NHL.com's first waiver list of the season named 10 players to add, plus a deep-league tier, and it was published Sept. 29 — before the games. 18 Here is that list measured against what actually happened.

The calls that hit. Luca Cagnoni (7% rostered) was flagged for first-unit power-play time and scored the overtime winner against Florida on Oct. 1. 9 Mason Marchment (30%) was listed on the top line with Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith and scored on Oct. 1. 9 Chris Kreider (27%) was listed on Montréal's top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield and scored in Pittsburgh on Oct. 3. 5 Luke Evangelista (39%) was listed with Nico Hischier and Timo Meier at even strength and on the top power play; he assisted on Luke Hughes's goal on Oct. 1. 9 Konsta Helenius (9%) scored on Oct. 1. 9 Jake Allen (29%), named New Jersey's No. 1 goalie, won in overtime against Philadelphia with 23 saves. 9

The deep-league add to check. Vasily Podkolzin was listed in the bottom tier at 24% rostered. He has three goals and two assists in three games, skating on Edmonton's top six with McDavid or Draisaitl on the ice nearly every shift. 1618

Hold, for now. Roman Kantserov (17%) got the deployment the list promised — first line with Nazar and Kane, with Bedard out — but Chicago has five goals in three games and Kantserov has no points. Mats Zuccarello (19%) has one assist. Aaron Ekblad (19%) has one assist on the Florida power play, and Barkov's absence opens more of that unit's minutes to him. 51518

Where the goals are. Three teams have already scored 12 or more goals — Edmonton (17), Colorado (14) and Seattle (13) — and all three are above the wild-card line, which is where streaming decisions should start. 4

The week runs Oct. 5 through Oct. 11 and gets heavy fast: four games Monday, nine Tuesday, three Wednesday, 10 Thursday, four Friday and 14 on Saturday. 6

Monday, Oct. 5. Ottawa, the East's early wild-card leader, is at Boston at 7:30 p.m. ET in the first of three games in four days for the Senators. Winnipeg visits Pittsburgh (7:30 p.m. ET), a test for the Penguins' 2-0-0 start. San Jose, also unbeaten, is at Dallas (8 p.m. ET, Prime Video) against a team that has scored once in two games. Philadelphia opens at Tampa Bay at 7 p.m. ET. 6

Tuesday, Oct. 6. The Islanders visit the Rangers on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET, and Florida is at Los Angeles at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN. Nine games in all, including Carolina at Montréal and St. Louis at Chicago. 6

Wednesday, Oct. 7. Pittsburgh at Washington on TNT and HBO Max (7:30 p.m. ET) matches the East's best offense against a Capitals team that just split a back-to-back. Colorado at Winnipeg (7:30 p.m. ET) puts two of the West's unbeaten teams in the same building, and Edmonton at Anaheim (10 p.m. ET, Prime Video) is a matchup of the Pacific's top two by points. 6

Worth tracking. Barkov's Monday examination sets Florida's timeline, and if Sanderson's injury is worse than Ottawa hopes, the Senators' week gets hard quickly. Colorado's two-game trip — Winnipeg on Wednesday, Calgary on Thursday — is the first real test of whether an 8-4 opener and a 6-1 follow-up were an offense clicking or an opponent problem. 61519