NHL Recaps: Sunday, Dec 28, 2025

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

Game recaps

Final / SO

Full report

Montreal Canadiens

Tampa Bay Lightning

Tampa Bay Lightning edge Montreal Canadiens 5–4 (SO)

Tampa Bay Lightning beat Montreal Canadiens 5–4 in a shootout at home. Juraj Slafkovský (MTL) led the scoring with 2G 1A. TBL won it by committee.

•Juraj Slafkovský had two goals and an assist (3 points) on 5 shots in 20:27.
•Nikita Kucherov had two goals (2 points) on 3 shots in 19:48.
•Ivan Demidov had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 3 shots in 18:26.

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

Final

Full report

New York Islanders

Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus Blue Jackets beat New York Islanders 4–2

Columbus Blue Jackets beat New York Islanders 4–2 at home. Kirill Marchenko (CBJ) led the scoring with 2G 0A. Mathew Barzal (NYI) played 8:04, −12:45 down on his 20:49 season average over 80 games.

•Kirill Marchenko had two goals (2 points) on 5 shots in 21:18.
•Denton Mateychuk had 2 assists (2 points) on 2 shots in 26:28.
•Sean Monahan had 2 assists (2 points) on 2 shots in 17:14.

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

Detroit Red Wings edge Toronto Maple Leafs 3–2 (OT)

Detroit Red Wings beat Toronto Maple Leafs 3–2 in overtime at home. John Tavares (TOR) led the scoring with 0G 2A. TOR's first power-play unit (Tavares, Rielly, Matthews, Maccelli and Knies) scored 1 power-play goal on 10 attempts in 2:36 together.

•John Tavares had 2 assists (2 points) on 3 shots in 17:47.
•TOR's first power-play unit (Tavares, Rielly, Matthews, Maccelli and Knies) scored 1 power-play goal on 10 attempts in 2:36 together.
•New look for DET: Kane–Copp–DeBrincat skated 13:27 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (71.4% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

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

Pittsburgh Penguins rout Chicago Blackhawks 7–3

Pittsburgh Penguins beat Chicago Blackhawks 7–3 at CHI. Justin Brazeau (PIT) led the scoring with 3G 0A.

•Justin Brazeau had a hat trick (3 points) on 3 shots in 11:37.
•Ryan Shea had 3 assists (3 points) in 19:37.
•Bryan Rust had two goals (2 points) on 2 shots in 17:38.

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

Seattle Kraken beat Philadelphia Flyers 4–1

Seattle Kraken beat Philadelphia Flyers 4–1 at home. Eeli Tolvanen (SEA) led the scoring with 2G 1A. New look for SEA: McCann–Wright–Catton skated 11:06 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (33.3% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

•Eeli Tolvanen had two goals and an assist (3 points) on 4 shots in 17:58.
•Chandler Stephenson had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 1 shot in 17:56.
•New look for SEA: McCann–Wright–Catton skated 11:06 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (33.3% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

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

Goal of the night

The hardest tracked shot of the night: Nick Robertson for TOR @ DET, 65.5 mph. Full game report →

Nick Robertson (TOR @ DET): Forecheck turnover, loose puck, 1 pass, 65.5 mph shot.

Top performers

Player	Game	G	A	P	SOG	Hits	Blk	TOI	PP
Justin Brazeau PIT	at CHI	3	0	3	3	0	0	11:37	—
Juraj Slafkovský MTL	at TBL	2	1	3	5	0	0	20:27	—
Eeli Tolvanen SEA	vs PHI	2	1	3	4	4	1	17:58	—
Ryan Shea PIT	at CHI	0	3	3	0	2	4	19:37	—
Kirill Marchenko CBJ	vs NYI	2	0	2	5	1	0	21:18	—
Nikita Kucherov TBL	vs MTL	2	0	2	3	1	0	19:48	—
Bryan Rust PIT	at CHI	2	0	2	2	0	2	17:38	—
Noah Dobson MTL	at TBL	1	1	2	5	2	3	27:29	—
Ivan Demidov MTL	at TBL	1	1	2	3	1	0	18:26	—
Anthony Mantha PIT	at CHI	1	1	2	2	0	0	12:20	—
Chandler Stephenson SEA	vs PHI	1	1	2	1	0	0	17:56	—
Jack St. Ivany PIT	at CHI	0	2	2	4	5	1	19:45	—

Line changes

New look for NYI: Horvat–Heineman–Shabanov skated 6:39 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (38.9% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →
New look for DET: Kane–Copp–DeBrincat skated 13:27 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 DET: Leonard–Kasper–Danielson skated 6:15 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (68.4% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →
New look for SEA: McCann–Wright–Catton skated 11:06 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (33.3% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →

Goalie notes

Goalie	Game	Dec	SA	GA	SV%
Dennis Hildeby TOR	at DET	O	36	3	.917
Jonas Johansson TBL	vs MTL	W	35	4	.886
David Rittich NYI	at CBJ	L	34	3	.912
Philipp Grubauer SEA	vs PHI	W	33	1	.970
Cam Talbot DET	vs TOR	W	27	2	.926
Jet Greaves CBJ	vs NYI	W	26	2	.923
Arturs Silovs PIT	at CHI	W	24	3	.875
Jacob Fowler MTL	at TBL	O	21	4	.810
Dan Vladar PHI	at SEA	L	18	2	.889
Arvid Soderblom CHI	vs PIT	—	15	3	.800
Spencer Knight CHI	vs PIT	L	9	4	.556

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.