Igor Shesterkin Helped Off in Washington, Cam Talbot Wins for His Ninth Team, and Saturday Serves Up 14 Games

Four games Friday, fourteen today — the season's first real Saturday pileup is here. Friday night gave us the week's biggest injury scare, a goalie playing for his ninth team, and a fourth line that keeps wrecking game plans. For the full game-by-game treatment of all four finals, see our Friday night finals piece. This is the morning-after version: what it means, who's hurt, and what's on today across the NHL.

The Shesterkin scare is the story of the night

With 11:40 left in the second period of a 1-1 game at Capital One Arena, Igor Shesterkin slid into position to make a save and jammed his right skate awkwardly into the goalpost. He stayed down for several minutes. Two teammates had to help him to the bench. He did not return.

That's the sentence that changes the Rangers' weekend — and maybe their month. Shesterkin entered Friday at 3-1-0 with a 1.75 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage, the entire foundation of a four-game winning streak. He stopped 13 of the 14 shots he saw before the injury. Backup Dylan Garand — who posted a 22-save shutout at Detroit on Oct. 2 — stopped 11 of 12 in relief, but the game tilted the moment the starter left.

Washington took the lead for good with 2:22 left in the middle frame, and it came gift-wrapped: Boone Jenner intercepted an ill-advised Adam Fox pass in the slot and snapped home his first goal as a Capital. Timothy Liljegren had tied it at 1-1 earlier in the period with a point shot through a screen. Alexis Lafreniere — three days removed from a hat trick against the Islanders — opened the scoring on a first-period power play. Tom Wilson's empty-netter closed it, Logan Thompson made 22 saves, and the Capitals have now won three of their first four while snapping the Rangers' streak.

The footnote that matters most in Washington: Alex Ovechkin, the league's all-time goals leader at 929, playing his 22nd and final NHL season, is still looking for his first goal. Two shots on goal Friday. The chase for 930 — and whatever comes after — is officially on.

As of Saturday morning there was no further update on Shesterkin's status. The Rangers host Vancouver on Sunday afternoon. That crease question is now the biggest one in the league.

Talbot's ninth team gets a win, and Murashov gets nothing

Cam Talbot has played for so many NHL teams he needs a seating chart. Columbus is the ninth — he signed a one-year deal on Sept. 14 — and his debut could not have gone much better: 20 saves, a 3-2 shootout win over Pittsburgh at Nationwide Arena, and a shootout performance that made Kent Johnson's first-round goal (between Sergei Murashov's pads) stand up. Talbot denied Rickard Rakell and Ben Kindel; former Blue Jacket Egor Chinakhov missed the net entirely.

The Jackets got a second debut worth celebrating: defenseman Damon Severson, activated from the injured list after April shoulder surgery, scored a goal and added an assist. Mathieu Olivier scored too, Cole Sillinger had two assists, and Columbus owned the run of play — 45 shots to 22, 30 faceoff wins to 15.

And then there's Murashov. Forty-three saves. A third-period escape act that dragged Pittsburgh to overtime despite being outshot 33-10 through two periods — Bryan Rust scored for the second straight game, Evgeni Malkin tied it at 3:19 of the third off a loose puck from Erik Karlsson's point shot — and none of it mattered. That's the cruelest line in hockey: 43 saves, one shootout goal against, a loss.

Pittsburgh has dropped three straight (0-2-1) and doesn't get a breather: Dallas visits at 4 p.m. PT today, the second half of a back-to-back. Columbus (2-1) heads to St. Louis tonight.

Anaheim's kids keep scoring first

The Ducks walked into Canada Life Centre two nights after a 5-2 loss in Edmonton and handed Winnipeg a 5-1 beating — and the names on the scoresheet tell you everything about where this team is headed.

Judd Caulfield opened the scoring at 14:41 of the first, sliding home a rebound for his first NHL goal in his fourth game. Tim Washe finished a 2-on-1 from Jeff Malott at 5:20 of the second. Sam Colangelo tapped in a Beckett Sennecke feed early in the third. Mikael Granlund ripped a slap shot from above the left circle to restore the three-goal lead after Kyle Connor briefly broke up the shutout bid, and Nikita Nesterenko hit the empty net with 41 seconds left.

Caulfield, Washe and Granlund each finished with a goal and an assist. Malott and Sennecke each had two assists — Malott's first multipoint NHL game, and Sennecke now has three goals and three assists through four games of his second season. Lukas Dostal needed just 15 saves.

Here's the number that should worry the Pacific: Anaheim has scored first in every game this season. That's not luck anymore; that's a habit. The Ducks are in Calgary tonight at 7 p.m. PT, the second half of a back-to-back, with a chance to keep it rolling.

Winnipeg, meanwhile, had won three straight after an overtime loss to Boston in the opener. Clay Stevenson made 12 saves in his seventh NHL start. One bad night doesn't erase a good week — but the Jets got run out of their own building by a fourth line.

Seattle's loud answer in Detroit

Two nights after a 6-2 loss in Vegas, the Kraken hung four goals on Detroit in the second period at Little Caesars Arena — three of them in a disastrous 3:05 span — and cruised to a 6-3 win. Frederick Gaudreau scored twice, Ben Meyers had a goal and two assists, and linemate Ryan Winterton set up both of Gaudreau's goals. Berkly Catton and Mackie Samoskevich added goals, Vince Dunn scored on a third-period 5-on-3, and Seattle opened a five-game road trip with a statement.

Detroit's night wasn't all misery: Viktor Arvidsson scored for the third straight game, and William Wallinder and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård each scored his first NHL goal. But John Gibson allowed five goals on 15 shots and got pulled for Daniil Tarasov's Detroit debut, the fans chanted and booed the team off after the second, and Alex DeBrincat — who recorded his 600th career point in his 700th game — called it "a wake-up call." The Wings fell to 1-3-0, last in the Atlantic, and head straight to Montreal tonight for the first road game of the season.

Injury notebook

Igor Shesterkin, Rangers (lower body): left Friday's game and did not return; no update as of Saturday morning. The Rangers host the Canucks on Sunday — watch the morning skate.

Victor Olofsson, Golden Knights (undisclosed): week to week after a hit in Tuesday's win over Seattle. Raphael Lavoie drew into the lineup in his place.

Kings: still without Kevin Fiala (leg), Mats Zuccarello, Jakub Dvorak (upper body) and Jan Jenik for tonight's game in Vegas.

Good news: Damon Severson is back for Columbus after April shoulder surgery (a goal and an assist in his return). In Florida, Sasha Barkov is nearing a return and Brad Marchand could be back within weeks, per the AP. In Carolina, Seth Jarvis has shed the no-contact jersey as he works back from shoulder surgery.

Saturday's 14-game slate

All times Pacific. The season's first Saturday pileup:

10 a.m. — Flyers at Bruins (NHL Network). The early window.

12:30 p.m. — Canucks at Devils. Vancouver opens a back-to-back: New Jersey today, Madison Square Garden tomorrow.

1 p.m. — Oilers at Sharks. Evan Bouchard's historic start rolls into San Jose, two nights after Edmonton pumped Anaheim 5-2.

3 p.m. — Wild at Panthers. Florida could be getting captain Sasha Barkov back soon, per the AP.

4 p.m. hour (eight games): Utah Mammoth at Sabres; Hurricanes at Blackhawks; Maple Leafs at Avalanche (NHL Network) — the national game, and the one to watch: No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna is still looking for his first NHL point on a retooled Toronto third line, Sergei Bobrovsky is in the Leafs' net, and Colorado hung 14 goals in its first two games looking every bit the Cup favorite; Red Wings at Canadiens (ESPN+); Predators at Senators; Stars at Penguins — Pittsburgh on a back-to-back after last night's shootout loss; Blue Jackets at Blues — Columbus on a back-to-back after last night's shootout win.

4:30 p.m. — Lightning at Islanders.

7 p.m. — Ducks at Flames; Kings at Golden Knights. Anaheim's second half of a back-to-back in Calgary. And at T-Mobile Arena, the Knights host the Kings on the franchise's 10th-anniversary "Welcome to Impossible" night — the 4-1 Knights against a winless Kings team. Our full preview of the anniversary night is here.

For the full Friday setup, see our Friday night finals and Thursday's Knights-Leafs shootout. The end of the sellout streak is also worth your time before tonight's puck drop.