NHL Recap: Shesterkin Hurt as Capitals Beat Rangers 3-1

Our NHL recap for Friday, Oct. 9 covers four games, and the biggest news came in Washington, where Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was helped off the ice with a lower-body injury in a 3-1 loss to the Capitals. Seattle scored four times in one period to beat Detroit 6-3, Columbus won a shootout against Pittsburgh, and Anaheim handled Winnipeg 5-1. Every game in this NHL recap has an official highlight video, and if you missed Thursday’s Canadiens loss, our NHL recap from Oct. 8 has all ten games. More coverage is on the Hockey Informers home page.

Habs watch: Detroit visits tonight

The Canadiens were off Friday and are back at the Bell Centre tonight at 7 p.m. ET against the Red Wings, who just lost 6-3 to Seattle, as covered below. Montreal has lost three straight (0-2-1) after Thursday’s 5-2 defeat to Nashville, and goalie Samuel Montembeault is expected to be out 10 to 14 days with a lower-body injury, according to a game preview. Jacob Fowler made 15 saves in that loss after being recalled from Laval.

Detroit is 1-3-0 and was expected to start Daniil Tarasov in goal for the first time with the Red Wings, per the same preview. Tarasov stopped eight of nine shots in relief on Friday after John Gibson was pulled. Follow the Canadiens on our Canadiens page.

Capitals 3, Rangers 1

The Rangers had won four in a row and had not allowed a first-period goal all season, and they still left Washington with bad news. Igor Shesterkin was in the crease with the score tied 1-1 when he scrambled back toward the net, jammed his right skate into the post and went down, according to NHL.com. He had to be helped off the ice by two teammates and could not put weight on the leg, and he had stopped 13 of 14 shots by that point at 8:20 of the second period.

Coach Mike Sullivan had no update afterward. “It’s concerning, obviously,” he said. “He’s an elite goaltender, and you don’t ever want to see anybody get hurt,” per NHL.com. Backup Joonas Korpisalo is already week to week with a lower-body injury, so Dylan Garand, 24, stopped 11 of 12 shots in relief and gave up the winning goal, as ESPN noted.

Before the injury, Alexis Lafreniere put New York ahead on the power play at 10:17 of the first period with a wrist shot from the top of the slot, assisted by J.T. Miller, per NHL.com. Timothy Liljegren tied it at 6:08 of the second with a one-timer from the left point, his first goal as a Capital, and Boone Jenner broke the tie at 17:38 by intercepting a clearing attempt and shooting from between the circles. It was Jenner’s first goal with Washington.

The Rangers outshot Washington 7-5 in the third period and pulled Garand late, and Tom Wilson scored into the empty net with one second left. Logan Thompson made 21 saves. Washington is 3-1-0 and the Rangers are 4-2-0. “It stems from the forecheck,” Jenner said of his goal, per the same NHL.com recap. Rangers captain J.T. Miller called it a hard-fought game against a team that is “big, fast and strong.”

Highlights: Rangers vs. Capitals | NHL Highlights | Oct 9, 2026

Kraken 6, Red Wings 3

Detroit led 1-0 and 2-1 and was outshooting Seattle 16-3 at one point of the first period, and it still lost by three. Viktor Arvidsson scored on the power play at 9:19, Berkly Catton tied it on a backhand at 14:52, and William Wallinder scored his first NHL goal at 4:00 of the second, per NHL.com. Then the Kraken scored four times in 9:26 of that period.

Frederick Gaudreau tied it at 4:39 and scored again at 7:44, with Ryan Winterton and Ben Meyers assisting on both. Mackie Samoskevich scored in between, at 6:59, after a Wallinder turnover. Meyers made it 5-2 at 14:05, 12 seconds after he came out of the penalty box, and John Gibson was pulled after allowing five goals on 15 shots. Vince Dunn scored on a two-man advantage at 11:53 of the third, and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard got his first NHL goal at 15:27.

Philipp Grubauer made 37 saves on 40 shots and Daniil Tarasov made eight saves on nine in his Detroit debut. Meyers had a goal and two assists, and Jordan Eberle’s season-opening point streak ended at four games, tying a franchise record, according to NHL.com. Seattle is 3-2-0 and Detroit is 1-3-0, and ESPN lists the same final score.

Highlights: Kraken vs. Red Wings | NHL Highlights | Oct 9, 2026

Blue Jackets 3, Penguins 2 (SO)

Cam Talbot made 20 saves in his Columbus debut and stopped all three Pittsburgh shooters in the shootout, and Kent Johnson scored the only goal of it, per NHL.com. Talbot is 39 years and 96 days old, which makes him the oldest goalie to win a game for the Blue Jackets and, according to NHL.com, the first goalie in league history to win with nine franchises.

Damon Severson, playing his first game of the season after shoulder surgery, opened the scoring at 10:52 of the first period on a one-timer off a Zach Werenski cross-ice pass, and Mathieu Olivier made it 2-0 at 11:40 of the second when his shot went in off Sergei Murashov’s skate. Bryan Rust cut it to 2-1 at 14:30, and Evgeni Malkin tied it at 3:19 of the third when an Erik Karlsson slap shot deflected off Olivier’s stick and hit Malkin on the way in.

Columbus outshot Pittsburgh 45-22, and Murashov made 43 saves on 45 shots, including 23 in the second period. Columbus is 2-1-0 and Pittsburgh is 2-2-1, losers of three straight and in a fifth straight game decided past regulation, per NHL.com. ESPN confirms the shootout result.

Highlights: Penguins vs. Blue Jackets | NHL Highlights | Oct 9, 2026

Ducks 5, Jets 1

Anaheim’s fourth line had a special night in Winnipeg. Judd Caulfield scored his first NHL goal at 14:41 of the first period, jamming in a rebound of a Jeff Malott shot, and Tim Washe finished a 2-on-1 with Malott at 5:20 of the second, according to NHL.com. Washe, Caulfield and Malott each had their first NHL multipoint game, and ten of Caulfield’s family members drove from Grand Forks, North Dakota to see it.

Sam Colangelo made it 3-0 at 4:25 of the third on a pass from Beckett Sennecke, and Kyle Connor broke up the shutout with a breakaway goal at 10:36. Connor’s goal was his 329th, which put him alone in third on the Jets and Thrashers all-time list, ahead of Ilya Kovalchuk. Mikael Granlund restored the three-goal lead at 14:06 and Nikita Nesterenko scored into the empty net.

Lukas Dostal made 15 saves for Anaheim and Clay Stevenson made 12 for Winnipeg. Anaheim is 3-1-0 and has won its first two road games of the season, while the Jets are 3-1-1 and lost in regulation for the first time. Coach Joel Quenneville said he liked the consistency of his team’s game, per ESPN.

Highlights: Ducks vs. Jets | NHL Highlights | Oct 9, 2026

NHL recap: three stars of the night

1. Frederick Gaudreau, Kraken – two goals in a four-goal second period.
2. Cam Talbot, Blue Jackets – 20 saves and three shootout stops in his Columbus debut.
3. Judd Caulfield, Ducks – his first NHL goal and an assist in the win at Winnipeg.

Up next

Saturday brings 14 games, led by the Red Wings at the Canadiens at 7 p.m. ET, with the Predators at the Senators and the Maple Leafs at the Avalanche also at 7 p.m. and the Ducks at the Flames at 10 p.m. ET. 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 NHL.com game recaps and ESPN.