NHL Recaps: Thursday, Dec 18, 2025

10 games: what happened that matters for your fantasy team, built from the play-by-play and shift charts.

Game recaps

Final

Full report

Edmonton Oilers

Boston Bruins

Edmonton Oilers beat Boston Bruins 3–1

Edmonton Oilers beat Boston Bruins 3–1 at BOS. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (EDM) led the scoring with 1G 1A. BOS's first power-play unit (Lindholm, Pastrnak, Zacha, McAvoy and Geekie) scored 1 power-play goal on 3 attempts in 2:43 together.

•Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 3 shots in 22:56.
•Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 3 shots in 22:05.
•BOS's first power-play unit (Lindholm, Pastrnak, Zacha, McAvoy and Geekie) scored 1 power-play goal on 3 attempts in 2:43 together.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Montreal Canadiens beat Chicago Blackhawks 4–1

Montreal Canadiens beat Chicago Blackhawks 4–1 at home. Lane Hutson (MTL) led the scoring with 0G 3A. Matt Grzelcyk (CHI) played 21:12, +4:17 up on his 16:55 season average over 68 games.

•Lane Hutson had 3 assists (3 points) on 1 shot in 26:19.
•Zachary Bolduc had two goals (2 points) on 2 shots in 16:23.
•Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 2 shots in 17:23.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Ottawa Senators rout Pittsburgh Penguins 4–0

Ottawa Senators beat Pittsburgh Penguins 4–0 at home. Brady Tkachuk (OTT) led the scoring with 2G 0A. OTT's first power-play unit (Batherson, Tkachuk, Cozens, Sanderson and Stützle) scored 1 power-play goal on 2 attempts in 1:46 together.

•Brady Tkachuk had two goals (2 points) on 5 shots in 17:02.
•Drake Batherson had 2 assists (2 points) on 1 shot in 17:36.
•OTT's first power-play unit (Batherson, Tkachuk, Cozens, Sanderson and Stützle) scored 1 power-play goal on 2 attempts in 1:46 together.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Los Angeles Kings edge Tampa Bay Lightning 2–1

Los Angeles Kings beat Tampa Bay Lightning 2–1 at TBL. Adrian Kempe (LAK) led the scoring with 2G 0A. TBL's first power-play unit (Guentzel, Bjorkstrand, Point, Raddysh and Cirelli) scored 1 power-play goal on 4 attempts in 4:40 together.

•Adrian Kempe had two goals (2 points) on 2 shots in 15:41.
•TBL's first power-play unit (Guentzel, Bjorkstrand, Point, Raddysh and Cirelli) scored 1 power-play goal on 4 attempts in 4:40 together.
•Nikita Kucherov (TBL) played 0:00, −20:36 down on his 20:36 season average over 75 games.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Washington Capitals rout Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0

Washington Capitals beat Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 at home. John Carlson (WSH) led the scoring with 1G 2A. New look for WSH: Milano–McMichael–Frank skated 5:51 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (63.6% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

•John Carlson had a goal and 2 assists (3 points) on 2 shots in 21:52.
•Jakob Chychrun had two goals (2 points) on 3 shots in 24:11.
•Justin Sourdif had 2 assists (2 points) in 14:04.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Final

Full report

Minnesota Wild

Columbus Blue Jackets

Minnesota Wild beat Columbus Blue Jackets 5–2

Minnesota Wild beat Columbus Blue Jackets 5–2 at CBJ. Matt Boldy (MIN) led the scoring with 1G 2A.

•Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and 2 assists (3 points) on 2 shots in 23:44.
•Matt Boldy had a goal and 2 assists (3 points) on 3 shots in 21:25.
•Zach Werenski had two goals (2 points) on 8 shots in 28:30.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Buffalo Sabres beat Philadelphia Flyers 5–3

Buffalo Sabres beat Philadelphia Flyers 5–3 at home. Zach Benson (BUF) led the scoring with 0G 2A. BUF's first power-play unit (Thompson, Norris, Dahlin, Doan and Benson) scored 1 power-play goal on 5 attempts in 6:28 together.

•Bobby Brink had 2 assists (2 points) on 1 shot in 14:38.
•Mattias Samuelsson had 2 assists (2 points) on 1 shot in 19:43.
•Zach Benson had 2 assists (2 points) on 4 shots in 17:11.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

New York Rangers edge St. Louis Blues 2–1 (OT)

New York Rangers beat St. Louis Blues 2–1 in overtime at STL. J.T. Miller (NYR) led the scoring with 1G 0A. New look for NYR: Zibanejad–Lafrenière–Cuylle skated 12:16 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (50% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

•New look for NYR: Zibanejad–Lafrenière–Cuylle skated 12:16 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (50% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.
•New look for NYR: Carrick–Rempe–Othmann skated 6:14 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (60% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.
•New look for NYR: Raddysh–Laba–Perreault skated 7:56 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (50% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Calgary Flames beat Seattle Kraken 4–2

Calgary Flames beat Seattle Kraken 4–2 at home. Rasmus Andersson (CGY) led the scoring with 0G 3A. Joey Daccord (SEA) faced 45 shots and stopped 42 (.933), +17 against a season average of 27.8; the loss.

•Rasmus Andersson had 3 assists (3 points) on 3 shots in 25:11.
•Mikael Backlund had two goals (2 points) on 4 shots in 16:34.
•Nazem Kadri had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 5 shots in 22:02.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Dallas Stars beat San Jose Sharks 5–3

Dallas Stars beat San Jose Sharks 5–3 at SJS. Wyatt Johnston (DAL) led the scoring with 2G 0A.

•Collin Graf had two goals (2 points) on 4 shots in 19:29.
•Wyatt Johnston had two goals (2 points) on 4 shots in 18:43.
•Roope Hintz had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 3 shots in 14:35.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Goal of the night

The hardest tracked shot of the night: John Carlson for WSH vs TOR, 93.3 mph. Full game report →

John Carlson (WSH vs TOR): Rebound, carried in, 3-on-2 at the blue line, 3 passes, 93.3 mph shot.

Top performers

Player	Game	G	A	P	SOG	Hits	Blk	TOI	PP
Matt Boldy MIN	at CBJ	1	2	3	3	0	2	21:25	—
John Carlson WSH	vs TOR	1	2	3	2	0	0	21:52	—
Kirill Kaprizov MIN	at CBJ	1	2	3	2	0	0	23:44	—
Rasmus Andersson CGY	vs SEA	0	3	3	3	0	1	25:11	—
Lane Hutson MTL	vs CHI	0	3	3	1	0	0	26:19	—
Zach Werenski CBJ	vs MIN	2	0	2	8	0	2	28:30	—
Brady Tkachuk OTT	vs PIT	2	0	2	5	1	0	17:02	—
Wyatt Johnston DAL	at SJS	2	0	2	4	1	1	18:43	—
Mikael Backlund CGY	vs SEA	2	0	2	4	0	0	16:34	—
Collin Graf SJS	vs DAL	2	0	2	4	0	0	19:29	—
Jakob Chychrun WSH	vs TOR	2	0	2	3	0	0	24:11	—
Zachary Bolduc MTL	vs CHI	2	0	2	2	2	0	16:23	—

Line changes

New look for PIT: Hayes–McGroarty–Kindel skated 12:09 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (69.2% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →
New look for TBL: Guentzel–Paul–Cirelli skated 6:31 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (71.4% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →
New look for WSH: Milano–McMichael–Frank skated 5:51 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (63.6% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →
New look for NYR: Zibanejad–Lafrenière–Cuylle skated 12:16 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (50% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →
New look for NYR: Carrick–Rempe–Othmann skated 6:14 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (60% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →
New look for NYR: Raddysh–Laba–Perreault skated 7:56 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (50% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →

Goalie notes

Goalie	Game	Dec	SA	GA	SV%
Joey Daccord SEA	at CGY	L	45	3	.933
Jake Oettinger DAL	at SJS	W	37	3	.919
Spencer Knight CHI	at MTL	L	34	3	.912
Anton Forsberg LAK	at TBL	W	32	1	.969
Jordan Binnington STL	vs NYR	O	31	2	.935
Dennis Hildeby TOR	at WSH	L	29	4	.862
Jesper Wallstedt MIN	at CBJ	W	29	2	.931
Alex Nedeljkovic SJS	vs DAL	L	29	4	.862
Alex Lyon BUF	vs PHI	W	27	3	.889
Samuel Ersson PHI	at BUF	L	27	4	.852
Igor Shesterkin NYR	at STL	W	27	1	.963
Arturs Silovs PIT	at OTT	L	26	4	.846
Jet Greaves CBJ	vs MIN	L	26	3	.885
Jeremy Swayman BOS	vs EDM	L	25	3	.880
Linus Ullmark OTT	vs PIT	W	25	0	.1000
Dustin Wolf CGY	vs SEA	W	23	2	.913
Logan Thompson WSH	vs TOR	W	22	0	.1000
Andrei Vasilevskiy TBL	vs LAK	L	20	2	.900
Jakub Dobes MTL	vs CHI	W	15	1	.933
Calvin Pickard EDM	at BOS	—	13	0	.1000
Tristan Jarry EDM	at BOS	W	13	1	.923

Next up: tonight's starting goalies, today's line combinations and today's games. Takeaways are generated from the numbers with fixed rules; nothing is written by a language model.