NHL Recap: Capitals Beat Penguins 5-3, Oilers Win (Oct. 7)

Our NHL recap for Wednesday, Oct. 7 covers three games, and the headline belongs to Alex Ovechkin, who played his final home opener in Washington as the Capitals beat the Penguins 5-3. The Oilers scored five goals in one period to beat the Ducks 5-2, and Kyle Connor scored with one minute left to give the Jets a 3-2 win over the Avalanche. Every game in this NHL recap has an official highlight video, and if you missed Tuesday’s Canadiens loss, our NHL recap from Oct. 6 has all nine games. More coverage is on the Hockey Informers home page.

Habs watch: Montembeault hurt, Fowler recalled

The Canadiens did not play Wednesday, but they had a rough day anyway. Goalie Samuel Montembeault left practice early with what looked like a right-leg or groin injury, and the team recalled Jacob Fowler from Laval, according to TSN. Martin St-Louis had no update beyond saying Montembeault was being evaluated, per Sportsnet. Montembeault had been slated to make his first start of the season against Nashville, and Jakub Dobeš has started all three games so far, going 1-1-1 with a 4.43 goals-against average and a .857 save percentage.

They are already without Ivan Demidov for two to four weeks, and forward Oliver Kapanen was absent from practice and remains day-to-day, per the team’s practice report. Montreal (1-1-1) hosts the Nashville Predators tonight at 7 p.m. ET at the Bell Centre, and the starting goalie has not been confirmed. Follow the team on our Canadiens page.

Capitals 5, Penguins 3

The Capitals gave Ovechkin the kind of night they wanted, even though he did not score. Washington introduced its roster one player at a time and saved the captain for last, with his sons Sergei and Ilya announcing him onto the ice to a standing ovation, per Sportsnet. Ovechkin, 41, told his teammates on Monday that this will be his last NHL season, according to NHL.com. He had two shots on goal and stayed at 929 career goals, and neither he nor Sidney Crosby recorded a point in their 101st meeting.

Anthony Beauvillier scored 23 seconds in on a breakaway, his 300th NHL point, and Bryan Rust tied it 56 seconds later in his season debut after missing three games with an upper-body injury, per NHL.com. Then the Pierre-Luc Dubois line took over. Tom Wilson scored at 11:51 off a no-look pass from Dubois, Dubois scored at 4:42 of the second, and Alex Tuch made it 4-1 at 13:14 on a 2-on-0 rush with Wilson. Wilson finished with a goal and two assists, and Tuch’s goal turned out to be the game winner.

Pittsburgh did not go quietly. Tommy Novak scored 51 seconds after Tuch and Nick Robertson deflected in a Kaedan Korczak shot at 18:01 to make it 4-3, but Ryan Leonard scored on the power play at 3:55 of the third. Jordan Kyrou, acquired from St. Louis in June, picked up his first point as a Capital on that goal. Logan Thompson made 27 saves, and Arturs Silovs stopped 22 of 27. Washington is 2-1-0 and earned its first home-opener win since Oct. 13, 2021, and Pittsburgh is 2-2-0. Rust said his team was not what it wanted to be early on, and Penguins coach Dan Muse said he did not like how the Capitals were getting chances.

Highlights: Penguins vs. Capitals | NHL Highlights | Oct 7, 2026

Oilers 5, Ducks 2

Anaheim looked like the team in control for 20 minutes. Beckett Sennecke scored on the power play at 4:11 and again at 15:28 of the first period, and the Ducks led 2-0 after one, per NHL.com. Then the second period turned into the Evan Bouchard and Leon Draisaitl show, and Edmonton scored five times without an answer. That second period is the performance that stands out in this NHL recap.

Bouchard scored 11 seconds into the period with a slap shot from the right point and added another at 14:12 for a 3-2 lead, with Draisaitl setting up both. Kasperi Kapanen tied it at 6:30 with a power-play one-timer, his 100th NHL goal. Vasily Podkolzin scored on a breakaway at 16:49 after a Draisaitl stretch pass, and Connor McDavid finished it with 52 seconds left in the period during 4-on-4 play. Draisaitl had four assists and McDavid had a goal and two assists, so the trio combined for 10 points.

Bouchard has six goals through four games, which leads the NHL and made him the second defenceman in league history with at least six goals through the first four games of a season, per ESPN. Devon Levi stopped 29 of 31 shots, and Lukas Dostal was pulled after two periods with 12 saves on 17 shots. Anaheim also had 18-year-old Nikita Klepov, the No. 15 pick in this year’s draft, make his NHL debut, and he became the youngest player in franchise history. Edmonton is 3-0-1 and opened a three-game California trip with its third straight win. Anaheim is 2-1-0.

Highlights: Oilers vs. Ducks | NHL Highlights | Oct 7, 2026

Jets 3, Avalanche 2

Winnipeg needed a late goal to keep its record clean in regulation. Jaden Schwartz put Colorado ahead at 2:51 of the second period, but Connor tipped a Neal Pionk shot past Mackenzie Blackwood 70 seconds later, and Cole Perfetti deflected a Dylan Samberg shot in at 18:16 for a 2-1 lead, per NHL.com. Fedor Svechkov tied it at 12:35 of the third, and then Mark Scheifele sent a cross-ice pass through traffic to Connor, who scored with a wrist shot at 19:00.

Stuart Skinner made 32 saves on 34 shots as Colorado outshot Winnipeg 34-19. “[Skinner] kept us in it when we weren’t at our best,” Connor said, per NHL.com. Connor’s second goal was his 328th, tying Ilya Kovalchuk for third in Jets history, and he and Scheifele have now combined on 62 game-winners, the most by a duo in franchise history. Winnipeg is 3-0-1 and Colorado is 2-1-0 after its first loss. The Jets did lose defenceman Josh Morrissey to an upper-body injury after a hit late in the first period, and coach Scott Arniel said the team would check on him Thursday. ESPN also lists the result as 3-2.

Highlights: Avalanche vs. Jets | NHL Highlights | Oct 7, 2026

NHL recap: three stars of the night

1. Evan Bouchard, Oilers – two goals and an assist, his sixth goal in four games.
2. Leon Draisaitl, Oilers – four assists in a five-goal second period.
3. Kyle Connor, Jets – two goals, including the winner with one minute left.

Up next

Thursday brings ten games, led by the Predators at the Canadiens at 7 p.m. ET, and the Maple Leafs at the Golden Knights closes the night at 10 p.m. ET. The Flyers visit the Senators, the Canucks are in Carolina and the Avalanche play again in Calgary. Watch all of the night’s videos on our Highlights page and check back tomorrow for the next NHL recap. A new NHL recap goes up every morning after a night with games.

Sources for this NHL recap

Scores, times and statistics in this NHL recap come from the NHL’s official game data, cross-checked against ESPN and Sportsnet.