NHL Recap: Hurricanes Beat Canadiens 6-4 (Oct. 6)

Our NHL recap for Tuesday, Oct. 6 covers nine games, led by the Canadiens’ 6-4 home-opener loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Centre. Auston Matthews scored in overtime to finish a Maple Leafs comeback from 3-0, Owen Power won it in overtime for Buffalo, Alexis Lafrenière scored a hat trick for the Rangers, and Dylan Larkin made his season debut in a Red Wings win. Every game in this NHL recap includes one official highlight video. If you missed Monday’s slate, our NHL recap from Oct. 5 has all four games, and you can find more on the Hockey Informers home page.

Hurricanes 6, Canadiens 4

The Canadiens had a lead, a sold-out building and a rematch with the team that beat them in last spring’s Eastern Conference Final, and they could not hold any of it. Five goals went in during the first 12:54, which is more than most games produce in 60 minutes. Taylor Hall opened the scoring 2:25 in after a Juraj Slafkovský turnover, per ESPN, and Zachary Bolduc answered 58 seconds later with a backhand into the top corner on a rebound. Nick Suzuki gave Montreal the lead at 4:27, with a snap shot over Brandon Bussi’s left shoulder off a Chris Kreider feed, and Lane Hutson picked up the second assist. Eric Robinson tied it on a deflection at 9:22, and Bolduc made it 3-2 on the power play at 12:54, with Alex Newhook and Alexandre Texier assisting.

That was the high point. Carolina, the defending Stanley Cup champion, had been outshot 12-6 in the first period and still walked into the dressing room down a goal. Over the next 40 minutes the Hurricanes took over. They outshot Montreal 17-4 in the second period, and Sebastian Aho tied it on the power play at 3:56 after a Canadiens penalty. Mark Jankowski put Carolina ahead at 13:24 after a Noah Dobson giveaway, and Hall scored his second at 12:21 of the third for a 5-3 lead, according to the team’s own recap.

Slafkovský scored at 16:57 off a Kreider and Suzuki setup to make it 5-4, and the Canadiens finished the third with a 10-5 edge in shots, but Andrei Svechnikov sealed it into an empty net at 18:45. Carolina outshot Montreal 34-20 overall. Jakub Dobeš made 28 saves on 33 shots, and Brandon Bussi stopped 16 of 20 for the win. Aho had a power-play goal and two assists, and his goal was his 77th on the power play, one short of Saku Koivu’s total of 78 among Finland-born players, per NHL.com.

Individually, the night split cleanly. Bolduc scored twice, Texier had two assists and Danault had one, so the trio combined for five points. Hutson led the Canadiens in ice time with 29:21 and had an assist. Cole Caufield finished with one shot in 21:45, and Sportsnet described Caufield, Slafkovský, Dobson and Dobeš as the Canadiens who “didn’t have it.” Alexandre Carrier, hurt in Saturday’s game in Pittsburgh, played 18:11, finished plus-2 and drew praise from coach Martin St-Louis for how he handles the puck, per the same Sportsnet report.

Montreal also played without Ivan Demidov, who will miss two to four weeks with a lower-body injury and went on injured reserve on Tuesday. “The power play has got to be better, the penalty kill has got to be better, 5-on-5 we have to be better,” Suzuki said, according to NHL.com. The Canadiens are 1-1-1 with three points through three games, and Carolina is 2-1-1. Montreal hosts the Nashville Predators on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET, then Detroit on Saturday, and you can follow the whole stretch on our Canadiens page.

The takeaway from this NHL recap for Canadiens fans is that the offence scored four times and still lost, because the defensive zone and the special teams did not hold up.

Highlights: Hurricanes vs. Canadiens | NHL Highlights | Oct 6, 2026

Maple Leafs 5, Predators 4 (OT)

Nashville led 3-0 early in the second period on goals from Steven Stamkos on the power play and two from Nils Hoglander, and Toronto still found a way. John Tavares scored at 4:56 of the second, William Nylander added a power-play goal two minutes later, and Gavin McKenna, the first overall pick in the 2026 draft, scored his first NHL goal at 14:31 to make it 4-3 after Stamkos had restored a two-goal lead, per NHL.com. Jack Roslovic tied it 4-4 at 8:54 of the third on a feed from Matthews and Nylander, and a Nylander goal at 11:49 was wiped out when Nashville won an offside challenge.

Matthews ended it at 4:46 of overtime with Nylander getting the assist, finishing with a goal and three assists. Anthony Stolarz made 21 saves for Toronto, and Juuse Saros stopped 32 of 37 for Nashville in the overtime loss. At 18 years and 290 days, McKenna became the youngest Maple Leaf to record a first point since Drake Berehowsky in 1990. “A big monkey off the back, that one felt good,” McKenna said. Stamkos had a different view: “At 3-0, that should be a game we close out if we want to be a playoff team.” Toronto is 2-2-0, Nashville is 1-1-1, and all four of the Leafs’ games have been decided by one goal.

Highlights: Predators vs. Maple Leafs | NHL Highlights | Oct 6, 2026

Red Wings 5, Senators 3

Dylan Larkin returned from an upper-body injury to make his season debut, and he was booed by the Detroit crowd after his offseason trade request. Then Detroit started scoring. Tim Stützle gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:44 and Alex DeBrincat tied it 32 seconds later. Larkin put the Red Wings ahead at 13:14, Viktor Arvidsson scored on the power play at 2:01 of the second, and Justin Faulk made it 4-1 at 4:30, per NHL.com.

Drake Batherson and William Eklund pulled Ottawa to within a goal, but DeBrincat finished the scoring with an empty-net power-play goal at 19:10, his second of the game. John Gibson made 22 saves for Detroit’s first win of the season, and Samuel Ersson stopped 31 of 35. Senators captain Thomas Chabot said, “We didn’t really play for the first 25 or 27 minutes of the game.” Ottawa is 2-1-0 and Detroit is 1-2-0, and the Senators had won 4-1 in Boston a night earlier.

Highlights: Senators vs. Red Wings | NHL Highlights | Oct 6, 2026

NHL recap: the rest of Tuesday

The rest of this NHL recap covers the other six games of the night, starting with a Buffalo comeback.

Sabres 3, Wild 2 (OT)

Buffalo trailed 2-0 in the third period and won in overtime. Danila Yurov scored on the power play at 13:53 of the second and Maxim Shabanov followed 1:45 later, but Noah Ostlund cut it to 2-1 at 3:55 of the third and Tage Thompson tied it at 9:38 on a Peyton Krebs pass. Power won it at 4:22 of overtime, converting a Jiri Kulich pass, per NHL.com. Colten Ellis made 18 saves for Buffalo, and Jesper Wallstedt stopped 25 of 28 for Minnesota.

Thompson’s goal was his 400th point as a Sabre, and the Sabres are still 0-for-10 on the power play this season. Minnesota lost forward Nick Foligno to an upper-body injury late in the first period, and the team had no update after the game. Buffalo is 2-1-0 and Minnesota is 2-0-1.

Highlights: Wild vs. Sabres | NHL Highlights | Oct 6, 2026

Rangers 5, Islanders 2

Lafrenière did most of the damage. He scored at 25 seconds of the second period on a stretch pass from Mika Zibanejad, then added two empty-net goals 32 seconds apart in the final two minutes for a hat trick and an assist. In between, Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice, including the power-play winner at 17:07 of the second that put New York ahead 3-2 after the Islanders had rallied from 2-0 on goals by Bo Horvat and Calum Ritchie, per NHL.com.

Semyon Varlamov made his first NHL start since Nov. 29, 2024, a gap of 676 days, after partial knee replacements on both knees, and stopped 19 of 22 shots. Igor Shesterkin made 17 saves. “I was having a lot of fun out there,” Varlamov said. The Rangers are 4-1-0 with four straight wins and 3-0-0 at home, their first such start at Madison Square Garden since 2009-10, and Cole Beaudoin made his NHL debut. The Islanders are 1-2-0.

Highlights: Islanders vs. Rangers | NHL Highlights | Oct 6, 2026

Golden Knights 6, Kraken 2

Vegas scored five times in the first two periods and cruised. Victor Olofsson deflected in a Rasmus Andersson shot at 13:02 of the first, Tomas Hertl scored on the power play at 15:58, and Mark Stone added a short-handed goal at 1:43 of the second after a broken stick set up a 2-on-1. Olofsson scored again at 13:07, and Jack Eichel finished a breakaway at 19:29 for a 5-0 lead, per NHL.com.

Hertl finished with two goals and two assists, and Eichel had a goal and three assists. Carter Hart made 25 saves, and Seattle’s Joey Daccord allowed five goals on 21 shots before Philipp Grubauer took over for the third period. Olofsson left the game with an injury at 8:03 of the third after a boarding hit from Ben Meyers, who received a five-minute major and a game misconduct. Vegas is 3-1-0 and Seattle is 2-2-0.

Highlights: Golden Knights vs. Kraken | NHL Highlights | Oct 6, 2026

Blackhawks 4, Blues 2

Chicago got its first win of the season in its home opener, and Patrick Kane got a long ovation. The 37-year-old, who returned to the Blackhawks on a two-year, $16 million contract signed July 23, had two shots in 20:55 after a video tribute at pregame introductions, per NHL.com. Mason McTavish gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead at 15:38 of the first, then Sam Rinzel scored on the power play at 5:40 of the second and Anton Frondell followed at 7:40 for a 2-1 Chicago lead.

Spencer Knight stopped 26 of 28 shots for the win, and Joel Hofer made 17 saves. Cole Smith scored an empty-net goal while shorthanded at 18:51, Connor McMichael answered on the power play at 19:22, and Frank Nazar sealed it into an empty net at 19:56. Chicago forward Teuvo Teräväinen left with an apparent lower-body injury in the second period. The Blackhawks are 1-3-0 and the Blues are 1-2-0.

Highlights: Blues vs. Blackhawks | NHL Highlights | Oct 6, 2026

Mammoth 5, Devils 3

Utah’s power play carried this one. Clayton Keller scored 1:57 in on the man advantage, Luke Evangelista tied it for the Devils on a 5-on-3 and again in the second period, and Nick Schmaltz put the Mammoth ahead 3-2 on the power play at 12:05. Lawson Crouse made it 4-2 at 19:03, Jesper Boqvist cut it to 4-3 in his season debut, and Vincent Trocheck scored at 16:52 of the third to seal it, per NHL.com.

Schmaltz now has a goal in each of Utah’s four games and leads the NHL with five goals. Karel Vejmelka made 30 saves, and Jake Allen stopped 26 of 31. Mikhail Sergachev had three assists before leaving late in the second period when a puck hit his left ear, and New Jersey lost defenceman Jonas Siegenthaler to a lower-body injury in the third. Utah is 3-1-0 and beat New Jersey for the first time since the franchise moved to Utah, and the Devils are 1-2-0.

Highlights: Mammoth vs. Devils | NHL Highlights | Oct 6, 2026

Panthers 2, Kings 1

The lowest-scoring game of the night also had its scariest moment. Alex Laferrière scored for Los Angeles at 19:00 of the first period, Seth Jones tied it for Florida at 3:49 of the second after the Panthers killed a two-man disadvantage, and Matthew Tkachuk scored the go-ahead goal at 11:20 of the third on a pass from Sam Bennett, per NHL.com. Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves, and Darcy Kuemper stopped 26 of 28.

Brad Marchand left late in the second period with an apparent lower-body injury after Brandt Clarke high-sticked him as he drove the net. He was helped off the ice favouring his left knee. Florida is 2-0-2 and finished a four-game road trip, and Los Angeles is 0-2-1 after its home opener. Marchand’s status is the thing to watch in the next NHL recap.

Highlights: Panthers vs. Kings | NHL Highlights | Oct 6, 2026

The Rangers’ hat trick is the standout individual performance in this NHL recap, and it carried more weight than the final score suggests.

NHL recap: three stars of the night

Our three stars for the NHL recap of Oct. 6 are below.

1. Alexis Lafrenière, Rangers – three goals and an assist in a 5-2 win over the Islanders.
2. Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs – the overtime winner and three assists in a comeback from 3-0.
3. Zachary Bolduc, Canadiens – two goals, one on the power play, in the home-opener loss.

Up next

Wednesday brings three games: the Penguins at the Capitals and the Avalanche at the Jets (both 7:30 p.m. ET), then the Oilers at the Ducks at 10 p.m. ET. The Canadiens host Nashville on Thursday at 7 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 Sportsnet and ESPN, and each game summary links to its NHL.com report.