Vilmanis Breaks Out for Florida, Beniers Ends It in Seattle, Ottawa Steals One Late

Wednesday was a short slate — four games — and the news came in three parts: Sandis Vilmanis broke out for Florida in a 5-3 win over Chicago, Matty Beniers ended Seattle's night 55 seconds into overtime against Calgary, and Ottawa stole one late in Buffalo, scoring twice in the third period to win 2-1. The fourth game already has its own story here: Adrian Kempe's hat trick in the Kings' 7-2 rout of San Jose. This is the rest of Wednesday night, and a look at a Thursday slate that makes up for the quiet in a hurry.

Vilmanis had three points all season. Then he had four in one night.

Sandis Vilmanis came into Wednesday with one goal and two assists in 14 games for Florida. He scored at 4:43 of the first period, set up Seth Jones in the second, scored again at 11:01 of the third, and assisted on Sam Reinhart's empty-net goal to finish a 5-3 Panthers win over Chicago at Amerant Bank Arena — two goals, two assists, the first multipoint game of his NHL career, in 13:34 of ice time.

His line did the heavy lifting all night. Vilmanis, Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe combined for nine points — four goals and five assists. Verhaeghe's power-play goal made it 2-0 in the first, Jones made it 3-0 in the second, and Florida looked finished with this one early.

Chicago had other ideas, which is becoming the Blackhawks' whole deal this season: too talented to quit, too leaky to win. Roman Kantserov got them on the board late in the second. Frank Nazar scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 9:31 of the third to make it 3-2, and after Vilmanis restored the two-goal lead, Nazar scored again at 16:09 to cut it to 4-3. Reinhart's empty-net goal at 18:33 finally closed it.

The goaltending subplot writes itself. Spencer Knight, Florida's first-round pick in 2019 and traded to Chicago in the Seth Jones deal on March 1, 2025, made 25 saves and fell to 0-4-0 against his former team — beaten, among others, by Jones himself. Jacob Markstrom made 17 saves for Florida (9-5-2), which has won four of its past five. Chicago (4-11-1) has lost four straight, going 0-3-1 in that stretch.

For a Panthers team built on stars, a night belonging to a 22-year-old who started it with three points this season is found money. Vilmanis is the ninth Panthers player to record a four-point game at age 22 or younger, per the Panthers' own recap. Whether he stays on that line is the coaching staff's problem — a good one.

Beniers needed 55 seconds of overtime

Seattle owed Calgary one. Five days after a 6-2 loss in Calgary, the Kraken got the Flames at Climate Pledge Arena and ground out a 2-1 overtime win that took patience more than flair.

Yegor Sharangovich put Calgary ahead at 12:45 of the first. Berkly Catton tied it at 13:09 of the second, taking a pass from new linemate Mackie Samoskevich — a line combination created by Sunday's Shane Wright trade, which also brought Matthew Wood to Seattle; Wood made his Kraken debut in this game. Catton's goal extended his point streak to seven games.

The third period belonged to Joey Daccord, who stopped two breakaways among his 25 saves and bought Seattle its overtime. It took 55 seconds. Brandon Montour intercepted a pass in his own end and pushed the puck ahead to Matty Beniers, who skated in alone and put a low shot off the post and in past Dustin Wolf. Wolf stopped 27 shots in Calgary's first overtime game of the season — and its first overtime loss.

Seattle (9-5-1) got its first overtime win of the season. Calgary (7-8-1) is still 7-3-1 since an 0-5-0 start, which tells you both how bad the opening was and how real the recovery has been. The Kraken host the New York Rangers on Saturday, then head to Finland for two games against Carolina in the NHL Global Series.

Ottawa waited until the third in Buffalo

For two periods in Buffalo, the Senators had nothing: Peyton Krebs scored at 14:00 of the second, assisted by Tage Thompson and Zach Benson, and the Sabres carried a 1-0 lead and a three-game winning streak into the third.

Then Ottawa scored twice, unanswered, and left with a 2-1 win. Shane Pinto tied it at 11:33 of the third, with Philip Tomasino and Thomas Chabot assisting. Michael Amadio won it at 16:51 — 3:09 remaining — off assists from Tim Stützle and Fabian Zetterlund. Samuel Ersson made 23 saves for the Senators, who outshot Buffalo 30-24 and closed a five-game road trip at 2-2-1. Colten Ellis stopped 28 shots for the Sabres.

Ottawa (10-6-1) is quietly stacking points while Buffalo (7-5-3) learns the difference between a streak and a run. One third period flipped both stories.

Tonight: 11 games, and Vegas in Detroit leads them

Thursday makes up for Wednesday. Eleven games, nine of them at 7 p.m. ET.

The headliner is Vegas at Detroit. The Golden Knights (10-5-2, 22 points, second in the Pacific) are playing the third game of a four-game road trip after Tomas Hertl scored twice, including the power-play winner with 35 seconds left, in a 3-2 win at Pittsburgh on Tuesday. Jack Eichel leads Vegas with 22 points. Detroit (7-6-3) lost 4-2 at Tampa Bay on Tuesday and lost goaltender John Gibson in the process — he left with a lower-body injury after allowing two goals on 11 shots and is day to day, with Daniil Tarasov in line to start. Vegas may also get a reinforcement: the club sent Jonas Rondbjerg and Viliam Kmec to Henderson this week, a move that points to Victor Olofsson — four goals in four games before he was hurt early last month — being close to a return, though a return Thursday is not confirmed.

Elsewhere at 7: Boston (11-4-1) at Pittsburgh (5-8-2), where Evgeni Malkin is day to day with a lower-body injury after missing Tuesday's game; Carolina (12-3-2) at the Islanders (7-5-2); Utah (10-6-0) at Montreal (9-3-3); Chicago at Tampa Bay (9-3-2); St. Louis at New Jersey (10-5-0), two nights after Jack Hughes scored twice in a shootout win over Edmonton; Philadelphia at the Rangers; Dallas at Columbus, which hung seven goals on Colorado on Tuesday; and Vancouver (3-13-1) at Winnipeg (5-8-3), two nights after the Jets completed the latest four-goal comeback in NHL history against Montreal.

The late games: Anaheim at Edmonton (11-2-3) at 8 p.m. ET, where Connor McDavid has an assist in all 16 games this season and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins just became the Oilers' all-time leader in games played, and Nashville at Colorado (9-6-1) at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Wednesday was short. Thursday is not. It starts in Detroit.