Ice Breaker: Stars and Wild brawl, and Kyrou needs 11 seconds

Four preseason games on Friday, and one of them ended like last call. Dallas and Minnesota packed three fights into the final 1:16 of a September game. Thomas Harley scored the winner, then went and found Matt Boldy.

Over in Washington, Jordan Kyrou needed 11 seconds of overtime to make his first real impression as a Capital.

Stars 2, Wild 1

Radek Faksa opened the scoring for Dallas, and Joel Eriksson Ek tied it early in the second. Harley broke the tie at 18:38 of the second, with Mikko Rantanen and Jamie Benn on the assists. Casey DeSmith stopped 26 of 27, and Dallas won despite getting outshot 27-18.

Then the last 1:16 happened. Harley and Boldy fought at 18:44 of the third. Twenty-four seconds later, Benn went with Marcus Foligno, and Justin Hryckowian squared off with Michael McCarron. Hryckowian and McCarron both got game misconducts.

Lind's read: Dallas needed only 18 shots because DeSmith gave up one goal on 27. That's the number from this one that still matters once the fights fade from the highlight packages.

Capitals 3, Bruins 2 (OT)

Washington built a 2-0 lead on power-play goals from Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson. Boston tied it in the third on goals from Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak, the second one on the power play. Kyrou ended it 11 seconds into overtime, on the power play, with Jakob Chychrun setting him up.

Logan Thompson made 20 saves for the win. Jeremy Swayman made 32 on 35. Kyrou arrived this summer from St. Louis in the trade that sent Connor McMichael, Milton Gastrin and a first-round pick to the Blues.

Sully's chirp: Three Bruins penalties, three Capitals power-play goals. That's not a penalty kill, that's a toll booth with the gate stuck open.

Avalanche 5, Jets 2

Winnipeg led 2-1 midway through the second on goals from Nino Niederreiter and Vladislav Namestnikov. Then T.J. Hughes scored twice in 81 seconds late in the period, at 18:28 and 19:49, and Colorado never trailed again. Cale Makar added one, and Hughes finished the hat trick into an empty net.

Jaden Schwartz had a goal and two assists. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 24 of 26.

Lind's read: Hughes scored three times on three shots in 15:37 and finished plus-4. One was an empty-netter, so call it two real finishes and a gift. The two goals 81 seconds apart are the part a coach remembers on cut day.

Rangers 6, Islanders 1

The Rangers were up 6-0 before Pierre Engvall scored for the Islanders at 11:22 of the third. Oliver Bjorkstrand, J.T. Miller, Tye Kartye, Gabe Perreault, Will Cuylle and Mika Zibanejad scored for New York. Adam Fox had three assists, two of them on power-play goals.

Igor Shesterkin stopped 15 of 16. Semyon Varlamov stopped 21 of 27.

Sully's chirp: Shesterkin faced 16 shots in 60 minutes in somebody else's building. I've seen goalies work harder in the warmup line.

Three stars of the night (our picks)

1. T.J. Hughes, Avalanche: three goals and an assist in 15:37.
2. Casey DeSmith, Stars: 26 saves on 27 shots, in a game his team was outshot.
3. Adam Fox, Rangers: three assists in a 6-1 win.

Lind's number of the night: 3 for 3

Every Washington goal came on the power play, the overtime winner included, and Boston took three minors. It's one preseason game with September lineups, so it proves little about either team. It does tell Boston what the first video session is about.

Sully's take of the morning

Look, it's September. The games don't count. Dallas and Minnesota still found three fights in 24 seconds.

Harley scored the winner in the second and dropped the gloves with Boldy in the third. That leaves him one assist short of a Gordie Howe, which in Texas I assume still counts. Benn went with Foligno like somebody owed somebody money.

Hryckowian and McCarron got thrown out with 52 seconds left in an exhibition game, which is like getting kicked out of a dress rehearsal.

Fight of the week, and the week isn't over. Grade: A. The Central Division just mailed October its invitation early. I said what I said.

Gord's whisper

Elliotte Friedman has the Panthers and Vladimir Tarasenko "eying each other" for a reunion, as relayed by The Hockey News, with the fit tied to Brad Marchand's October timeline. Grade: Reported. The rumor is real; the cap math is the problem, and Gord has it here: /post/tarasenko-panthers-reunion-friedman-cap-marchand-ltir-2026-09-25

Tonight

Fourteen preseason games. The Panthers host Tampa Bay at 6 PM ET at Amerant Bank Arena (The Spot, Scripps), a day after the Lightning cut camp to 37 and shipped Jonas Johansson to Ottawa.

Kyrou gets a second look in Philadelphia at 5, and Colorado visits Utah at 5. Montreal and Ottawa play a split-squad doubleheader at 7, one game in each barn. The one to watch for fun is Calgary at Edmonton at 9, because the Battle of Alberta doesn't know what preseason means either.