NHL 2026-27: Two Nights In, and the Penguins Have Already Won 7-0
Eight games, 49 goals and two shutouts in the first two nights of the 2026-27 season. Pittsburgh have already won 7-0, Colorado have already won 8-4, and the champions lost their banner-night game with four seconds left in overtime.
First two nights: quick answers
- How many games have been played? Eight — five on Tuesday, three on Wednesday.
- Biggest win so far? Pittsburgh 7-0 at Philadelphia.
- Highest-scoring game? Colorado 8-4 over Los Angeles — twelve goals.
- How did the champions start? Carolina lost 1-0 in overtime after raising the banner.
- What is on Thursday? Eight games, starting at 7 p.m. ET.
Key takeaways
- Eight games in, 49 goals have been scored — an average of 6.1 a night.
- Pittsburgh have the biggest win of the young season: 7-0 at Philadelphia, on TNT's opening night.
- Colorado 8-4 over Los Angeles was the highest-scoring game so far, with twelve goals in Denver.
- Carolina raised their Stanley Cup banner and then lost 1-0 in overtime, on a Florida goal with 4.3 seconds left.
- Four wins each for home teams and road teams, and two of the eight games needed overtime.
Every game so far
| Night | Result | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Tue 29 Sep | Panthers 1, Hurricanes 0 (OT) | Forsling scored with 4.3 seconds left, after Carolina raised the banner. |
| Tue 29 Sep | Canadiens 3, Maple Leafs 2 | Nylander scored twice for Toronto; McKenna's debut finished minus-two. |
| Tue 29 Sep | Bruins 3, Rangers 0 | Three goals in 75 seconds late in the third; Boston's 11th straight home-opener win. |
| Tue 29 Sep | Canucks 6, Oilers 5 (OT) | Eleven goals in Edmonton, decided in overtime. |
| Tue 29 Sep | Golden Knights 5, Blackhawks 2 | Vegas opened at home with a comfortable win. |
| Wed 30 Sep | Penguins 7, Flyers 0 | The widest margin of the young season, on TNT's opening night. |
| Wed 30 Sep | Maple Leafs 2, Islanders 1 | Toronto's first win, a night after losing their opener. |
| Wed 30 Sep | Avalanche 8, Kings 4 | Twelve goals in Denver, the highest-scoring game so far. |
Swipe the table sideways →
The five stories from two nights
Pittsburgh 7, Philadelphia 0: the season already has its outlier
Two nights in, the biggest scoreline of the season belongs to Pittsburgh. Seven goals and a shutout on the road, on the night TNT opened its schedule. It is one game, It is also the sort of scoreline that decides which shirts sell in October, because a 7-0 win gets watched twice.
Colorado 8, Los Angeles 4: twelve goals, and no real answer for either team
The highest-scoring game of the opening week was in Denver, and the Avalanche won it by four. Twelve goals in sixty minutes tells you more about the goaltending and the defensive structure at this stage of a season than about any offence — neither club will be happy with the tape, and both will be glad the two points are banked.
Toronto 2, Islanders 1: a first win after a first-night defeat
Toronto lost their opener to Montreal with the No. 1 pick in the lineup. Twenty-four hours later they beat the Islanders 2-1 and got to 1-1, which matters more than it looks: a rebuilt roster that starts 0-2 in a market like that one generates noise a club cannot use.
Carolina's banner went up, then Florida won it with 4.3 seconds left
The story of night one is still the story of the season so far: the Hurricanes took the Cup out at centre ice, did the Storm Surge, raised the banner — and lost 1-0 in overtime to the club that won the two Cups before theirs. Jacob Markstrom, back with Florida, made 15 saves for the shutout; Aleksander Barkov returned from knee surgery and Brady Tkachuk made his Florida debut alongside his brother.
Edmonton 5, Vancouver 6: eleven goals, and questions in two creases
The other shootout of the first night was in Edmonton, where the Canucks won 6-5 in overtime. Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves for Vancouver and Tristan Jarry stopped 17 of 23 for the Oilers, which is the sort of line that gets a goaltending debate started in a city that has been having one for years.
Thursday: eight more games
| Game | Start (ET) |
|---|---|
| Sabres at Blue Jackets | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| Flyers at Devils | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| Lightning at Rangers | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| Wild at Predators | 8:00 p.m. ET |
| Kraken at Flames | 9:00 p.m. ET |
| Blackhawks at Mammoth | 9:30 p.m. ET |
| Panthers at Sharks | 10:00 p.m. ET |
| Oilers at Canucks | 10:00 p.m. ET |
Swipe the table sideways →
The first two nights by the numbers
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Games played | 8 |
| Goals scored | 49 |
| Goals per game | 6.1 |
| Shutouts | 2 (Boston 3-0, Pittsburgh 7-0) |
| Games decided in overtime | 2 |
| Home wins / road wins | 4 / 4 |
| Widest margin | 7 goals (Pittsburgh) |
| Highest-scoring game | 12 goals (Colorado 8-4 Los Angeles) |
Swipe the table sideways →
Sources: Scores per NHL.com and the Associated Press. Totals calculated from the scorelines.
Shirt demand index: the first week
Built from our own order flow and range depth the morning after night two.
Penguins and Avalanche. A 7-0 and an 8-4 in the same week get watched twice, and a club that has not had much to celebrate in recent years sells on a result like that more than a contender does.
Maple Leafs, Bruins and Golden Knights. Toronto are 1-1 in a market that buys regardless; Boston have won eleven straight home openers; Vegas opened with a comfortable home win.
Panthers and Flyers. Florida won on banner night in Carolina with a new goaltender; Philadelphia have started with a 7-0 loss at home, which is the kind of week that produces the cheapest prices in the range.
First-week shirts
The clubs at the centre of the opening week, in fan and player editions. Printed names add a few days — order before the first homestand ends.
Seth Jarvis Carolina Hurricanes Alternate Bre…
Florida Panthers Home Pro Custom Shirt Red
Toronto Maple Leafs Home Pro Custom Shirt Blue
Juraj Slafkovsky Montreal Canadiens Premium S…
Edmonton Oilers Away Premium Shirt in White
Vegas Golden Knights Home Breakaway Custom Sh…
Boston Bruins Away Breakaway Custom Shirt - W…
Igor Shesterkin New York Rangers Centennial P…
Our verdict
Two nights is not a season, but it is long enough to notice a pattern: the goals are coming. Forty-nine in eight games is six a night, and the two clubs that won by four or more — Pittsburgh and Colorado — did it against opponents who will both be looking at their defensive structure in the video room. For a fan buying one shirt in October, the useful signal is the one that does not change: Carolina's banner went up and their title defence started with a loss, which is exactly the kind of result that keeps a championship range selling into November.
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