NHL Player News

Hallander is dealing with a blood clot in his leg and will be out of action for at least three months, the Penguins announced Friday.

Based on the timeline, Hallander figures to be sidelined through the Olympic break in February, if not longer. Through 13 games this season, the 25-year-old center tallied one goal, three assists and three hits while averaging 13:09 of ice time. While not official yet, Hallander is a near-lock for long-term injured reserve in the coming days, given the length of his absence.

Kindel notched two power-play assists in Thursday's 5-3 win over Washington.

With injuries piling up for the Penguins, Kindel found himself elevated not only to the first line but also the No. 1 power-play unit, where he is playing with three future Hall-of-Famers. The 18-year-old Kindel didn't look out of place at all, even feeding a cross-ice pass to Sidney Crosby. When the team is fully healthy, Kindel likely will be shifted back to the third-line center role, but he may have secured his place on the top power-play unit with Thursday's performance.

Crosby scored a pair of power-play goals on six shots in a 5-3 win over Washington on Thursday.

Crosby currently sits atop the NHL in goals this season (11), tied with Anaheim's Cutter Gauthier, in addition to being in a three-way tie for the lead in power-play tallies. To further the point, Crosby has goals in eight of his last 11 games and shows no sign of slowing down despite being 38 years of age. At this point, Crosby is a near-lock to reach the 30-goal threshold for the fifth straight year.

Hughes produced two assists in Thursday's 4-3 overtime win over Montreal.

The 24-year-old center popped for his fifth multi-point performance in the last 10 games by helping to set up Ondrej Palat's first goal of the season in the second period, and Timo Meier's game-tying tally late in the third. Hughes has nine goals and 15 points over that 10-game surge, and it's been so far so good on the health front -- he hasn't played more than 62 regular-season games in a campaign since 2022-23.

Geekie scored a goal on a team-high four shots in Thursday's 3-2 overtime win over the Senators.

After giving the red light a break for a couple contests, Geekie found the back of the net Thursday for the 10th time in 16 games, putting him one back of league leaders Sidney Crosby and Cutter Gauthier in the early stages of the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy. Geekie set a career high with 33 goals in 77 games in 2024-25, production that came on 22.0 percent shooting, but he's somehow been even more efficient this season with a 27.8 percent mark. The 27-year-old's offense tends to come from in close -- Thursday's tally came when he tapped in a puck that got through Linus Ullmark but bounced off the post into the crease -- so while regression is almost certainly coming for his shooting percentage, it may not bite as hard as expected.

Eichel logged two assists and seven shots on goal in Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Lightning.

Eichel had gone two games without a point, prompting head coach Bruce Cassidy to reunite him with Mitch Marner. The 29-year-old Eichel helped out on goals by Marner and Ivan Barbashev to pick up his two helpers. For the season, Eichel has eight goals, 13 assists, 57 shots on net and a plus-7 rating through 13 appearances, pulling into a three-way tie for first place in points (21) with San Jose's Macklin Celebrini and Edmonton's Connor McDavid through Thursday's action.

Goncalves scored a goal on two shots, added two PIM, blocked two shots and went plus-3 in Thursday's 6-3 win over the Golden Knights.

The goal was Goncalves' first of the year. It sparked the Lightning's offense early in the second period, helping them overcome an early 2-0 deficit. Goncalves has added four assists, nine shots on net, 14 hits, 11 blocked shots and a plus-2 rating across 14 appearances. He's occupying a third-line role currently, so his offense may not be very consistent.

James scored a goal, added two assists, logged three hits and went plus-3 in Thursday's 6-3 win over the Golden Knights.

James didn't have a point over his first seven NHL games, but the 23-year-old made up for it in his eighth appearance. He set up a Gage Goncalves tally for his first career assist early in the second period before scoring his first goal just a few minutes later. James added a helper on a Brandon Hagel goal -- the eventual game-winner -- in the third period. Through eight contests, he's added 12 shots on net, 18 hits, four PIM and a plus-1 rating while becoming a regular in the Lightning's bottom six.

Kopitar scored a power-play goal on three shots in Thursday's 5-2 loss to the Panthers.

The goal was Kopitar's first of the season. He has three points over his last four games. The 38-year-old center is at one goal, six helpers, 17 shots on net, 12 blocked shots, 11 hits and a plus-6 rating over 11 appearances. He missed some time due to a foot injury in October, but it's unclear if that has continued to hamper his performance since he returned to the lineup Oct. 25.

Bennett scored a goal on two shots, added two PIM and doled out four hits in Thursday's 5-2 win over the Kings.

Bennett has a point in all three games in November so far, totaling two goals and assist. That's more than he had in all of October (two points). The 29-year-old is at three goals, five points, 27 shots, 29 hits, 12 PIM and a minus-7 rating through 14 appearances and should continue to see prominent usage in the Panthers' lineup.