NEW YORK, United States, September 23, 2026: Semyon Varlamov had not played an NHL game in almost two years. Detroit scored seven. Nashville trailed by two with less than seven minutes remaining. Buffalo dressed something close to the group it expects to use when the real season begins. San Jose gave the No. 2 pick in the draft more than 22 minutes. Utah watched a former Islanders captain score twice in his first game wearing Mammoth colors.
That was the real story of the NHL’s September 22 preseason slate.
Ten games were played across the league, but the scores alone only explain part of what mattered. The shortened 2026 preseason has made every appearance more valuable because teams have fewer exhibition games to evaluate prospects, test new combinations and move veterans toward regular-season speed.
Tuesday offered almost every version of that process at once.
Varlamov supplied the night’s most human moment. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Anton Johansson drove Detroit’s seven-goal eruption. Noah Ostlund scored twice in 28 seconds for Buffalo. Matthew Wood turned Bridgestone Arena from a quiet building into the site of the night’s best comeback. Anders Lee scored twice in his Utah debut. Ivar Stenberg looked completely comfortable in his first Sharks preseason game. Arturs Silovs and Ilya Sorokin endured difficult nights in goal.
And with the 84-game regular season beginning September 29, the question behind every exhibition performance is becoming sharper: which of these September clues will still matter when the standings begin to count?
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NHL Preseason Results for September 22, 2026
The NHL’s official September 22 preseason roundup confirms all 10 results and the principal individual performances.
| Game | Result | Defining Story |
|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Flyers at Boston Bruins | Bruins 5-1 | Michael Eyssimont scores twice; Dan Vladar leaves injured |
| New York Islanders at New York Rangers | Islanders 4-3 | Varlamov returns after 22 months; Islanders erase 3-0 deficit |
| Columbus Blue Jackets at Buffalo Sabres | Sabres 5-1 | Noah Ostlund scores twice in 28 seconds |
| Detroit Red Wings at Pittsburgh Penguins | Red Wings 7-4 | Anton Johansson records four assists; Brandsegg-Nygard scores twice |
| Florida Panthers at Carolina Hurricanes | Hurricanes 3-2 SO | Cayden Primeau makes 20 saves in relief and shuts down the shootout |
| Tampa Bay Lightning at Nashville Predators | Predators 3-2 OT | Matthew Wood scores twice late before Felix Nilsson wins it |
| Edmonton Oilers at Winnipeg Jets | Oilers 2-1 OT | Viljami Marjala scores the overtime winner |
| Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames | Flames 3-1 | Joel Farabee produces a goal and an assist |
| Vegas Golden Knights at San Jose Sharks | Golden Knights 2-1 SO | Ivar Stenberg impresses in Sharks debut |
| Utah Mammoth at Los Angeles Kings | Mammoth 6-3 | Anders Lee scores twice in his Utah debut |
The Heart of the Night Belonged to Semyon Varlamov
Preseason hockey exists partly to test line combinations and roster depth.
Sometimes it provides something far more meaningful.
Varlamov replaced Ilya Sorokin midway through the Islanders’ game at Madison Square Garden and stopped all 10 shots he faced in New York’s 4-3 comeback victory.
It was his first game with the Islanders since November 29, 2024.
The 38-year-old had spent the next 22 months rehabbing after double partial knee replacements.
That makes his stat line important, but not nearly as important as the fact that he played at all.
“It means a lot. I had fun today,” Varlamov said afterward.
The Islanders’ official recap also documented the hugs he received from teammates when the comeback was complete.
That is the player who won hearts and minds on Tuesday.
Not because 10 saves in a preseason game are extraordinary.
Because reaching those 10 saves required almost two years of rehabilitation.
The Islanders Gave Varlamov a Comeback Worth Remembering
The game around him made the return even better.
The Rangers led 3-0 after goals from Cole Beaudoin, Pavel Dorofeyev and Taylor Raddysh.
Sorokin struggled, allowing three goals on nine shots before Varlamov took over.
Then the game turned.
Kyle MacLean scored to begin the comeback. Matthew Schaefer added a power-play goal. Matias Maccelli scored twice with the man advantage in the third period.
Maccelli finished with two goals and an assist.
Schaefer finished with a goal and two assists.
The Islanders power play went 3-for-5.
That is useful preseason evidence for a club that entered camp trying to build a more dangerous man advantage.
It also gave Varlamov exactly the kind of return a veteran goalie could have hoped for: no goals allowed, a three-goal comeback behind him and teammates waiting to embrace him afterward.
The Rangers’ side of the result offered another useful clue. Dorofeyev scored in his first game for the club, another piece of a Metropolitan Division landscape that TSE has been tracking throughout the offseason and preseason.
Detroit Produced the Night’s Biggest Offensive Explosion
If Varlamov owned the emotional story, Detroit owned the box score.
The Red Wings beat Pittsburgh 7-4 and scored four times in the third period to turn a competitive game into the highest-scoring team performance of the night.
Anton Johansson quietly produced the most productive individual stat line on the entire slate with four assists.
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard scored twice.
Axel Sandin-Pellikka scored.
Mason Appleton scored.
Viktor Arvidsson recorded an assist in his Detroit debut.
The important part was not merely seven goals. Detroit received production from several layers of its roster.
That is exactly what teams want to see in a short preseason.
The Sports Encounter’s September 21 NHL report showed how quickly individual performances can alter roster conversations when players have only a handful of exhibition opportunities.
Johansson and Brandsegg-Nygard made sure Detroit’s coaching staff has another set of positive decisions to consider.
Anton Johansson Was the Night’s Box-Score King
Four assists in a preseason game do not guarantee anything about October.
They do tell a coaching staff that a player repeatedly helped create offense.
Johansson collected assists across Detroit’s attack while Brandsegg-Nygard provided the finishing.
The combination gave the Red Wings something more valuable than one hot scorer.
It showed multiple young players connecting within the same offensive structure.
That matters because Detroit had scored no goals in 65 minutes against Columbus one night earlier before losing in a shootout.
Twenty-four hours later, it scored seven.
That is the kind of correction coaches want to see during camp.
Pittsburgh Found Positives Inside a Very Ugly Score
The Penguins did not leave the 7-4 defeat empty-handed.
Nicholas Robertson scored shorthanded and added an assist in his Pittsburgh debut.
The Ruck twins also produced an unusually memorable first NHL preseason appearance together.
Liam Ruck had two assists.
Markus Ruck had one.
Those are valuable development moments.
The goaltending line was much harder to defend.
Arturs Silovs allowed seven goals on 23 shots.
That was the toughest goalie stat line of the entire night and the clearest individual disappointment in the raw box scores.
It is still September, defensive combinations are unstable and exhibition lineups create unusual matchups. Silovs should not be judged as if this were a regular-season start.
But seven goals on 23 shots is the kind of result that demands a response in the next appearance.
Who Failed to Meet Expectations? Sorokin and Silovs Had the Roughest Nights
Two goaltenders stand out for different reasons.
Silovs allowed seven goals.
Sorokin allowed three goals on only nine shots before Varlamov replaced him.
Sorokin’s performance is more notable because of his established status.
The Islanders expect him to be a major part of their regular-season structure. A rough preseason segment changes nothing about that role, but it was still far below the standard associated with his name.
The contrast became even sharper when Varlamov entered and stopped everything.
That is one of the strange qualities of preseason hockey. A starter can struggle, a veteran returning from major surgery can look calm, and neither result necessarily predicts what happens a month later.
TSE examined that tension in Why NHL Fans Care About Preseason: the useful information often comes from the performance underneath the final score rather than the standings value of the game.
Noah Ostlund Scored Twice in 28 Seconds and Buffalo Looked Fast
Buffalo’s 5-1 win over Columbus contained perhaps the clearest “ready for opening night” sequence of the evening.
Josh Norris opened the scoring.
Then Ostlund struck twice in 28 seconds.
Conor Timmins scored in the third.
Tage Thompson added the fifth.
Owen Power recorded three assists.
Zach Benson had two.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped every shot he faced through two periods.
More importantly, Buffalo dressed what its own team coverage described as its projected opening-night NHL lineup.
That makes the performance slightly more useful than a typical split-squad exhibition result.
There is an obvious warning.
Columbus brought a lineup with substantially more AHL-level personnel.
Buffalo should have looked better.
It did.
Buffalo Looked the Most Regular-Season Ready, With One Large Asterisk
If one team has to be selected as the most regular-season-ready based strictly on Tuesday night, Buffalo gets the narrow nod.
The Sabres used a lineup close to the one they expect to deploy when games count.
The goaltending was clean.
The top players produced.
The young forwards drove the middle of the ice.
The team eventually separated itself from an inferior lineup rather than allowing the game to remain uncomfortable.
That is how an NHL-heavy team should handle a preseason opponent built with more organizational depth players.
The asterisk is health.
Defensemen Mattias Samuelsson and Olen Zellweger both left the game early. Zellweger entered concussion protocol, while Samuelsson was being evaluated after blocking a shot.
Buffalo therefore finished a very encouraging night with two reasons for concern.
That combination captures preseason better than almost anything else: one game can make a team look ready while simultaneously creating a roster problem it did not have when the puck dropped.
Matthew Wood Became the Home-Crowd Hero in Nashville
There is no league-wide “crowd favorite” statistic, so naming one requires a little editorial discipline.
The most defensible choice from Tuesday’s home-arena performances is Matthew Wood.
Nashville trailed Tampa Bay 2-0 with less than seven minutes remaining.
Wood scored at 13:30 of the third.
He scored again at 17:41.
Then Felix Nilsson won the game 2:33 into overtime.
The Predators’ official recap described the comeback as giving the home fans a show and highlighted Wood’s line with Filip Forsberg and Nils Hoglander as one of Nashville’s strongest combinations.
That makes Wood the closest thing Tuesday produced to a true home-crowd hero.
Nashville’s Comeback Was the Best Finish of the Night
Tampa Bay led 2-0 after Jeffrey Viel scored twice.
The Lightning were fewer than seven minutes away from a second straight preseason win over Nashville.
Then the game disappeared.
Wood’s first goal gave Nashville life.
His second forced overtime.
Nilsson stole the puck from Tomas Kralovic and scored from the high slot to complete three unanswered goals.
That made Tampa Bay’s collapse the most painful team low of the evening.
It also gave Nashville something coaches value during camp: a group that continued pushing after the game appeared nearly finished.
Preseason character does not guarantee regular-season resilience.
It is still better than learning your team stops pushing when an exhibition game becomes inconvenient.
Anders Lee Made Utah’s Summer Investment Look Good Immediately
Utah’s 6-3 win in Los Angeles provided another strong candidate for the night’s most encouraging team performance.
Anders Lee scored twice in his Mammoth debut.
Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist.
Daniil But had a goal and an assist.
Nick Schmaltz scored.
Mikhail Sergachev and MacKenzie Weegar each recorded two assists.
Eleven Utah players reached the scoresheet.
Five produced multiple points.
That distribution matters.
Utah did not rely on one hot line or one prospect playing against minor-league competition. Established players, new additions and younger pieces all contributed.
Coach André Tourigny said afterward that Utah played with more pace and physicality and looked more like the identity he wants.
Buffalo may have supplied the clearest opening-night dress rehearsal, but Utah arguably produced the most balanced team performance.
Ivar Stenberg Looked Like He Belonged
San Jose lost 2-1 in a shootout to Vegas.
For a rebuilding team, the most important result may have been what happened around the No. 2 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Ivar Stenberg played 22:17.
He recorded four shots on goal.
He assisted on Michael Misa’s power-play goal.
He then scored in the first round of the shootout.
That is an unusually substantial workload for an 18-year-old making his first preseason appearance.
San Jose did not hide him.
The Sharks gave him enough ice time to experience multiple game situations and see what his skill looked like against NHL competition.
That is exactly what this compressed preseason is supposed to reveal.
Vegas eventually won the shootout after Alexander Holtz tied the game in regulation, while Carter Hart made 28 saves.
But San Jose probably learned more from Stenberg’s 22 minutes than it would have learned from the extra standings-free preseason victory.
Cayden Primeau Quietly Produced One of the Best Goaltending Performances
Carolina’s 3-2 shootout win over Florida lacked the scoring volume of Detroit or Utah.
Its most important individual performance came in goal.
Cayden Primeau entered halfway through the game and made 20 saves.
Then he stopped both Florida attempts in the shootout.
That gave Carolina the win and provided another strong goaltending audition for a defending Stanley Cup champion that knows exactly how important depth in net can become.
TSE’s Stanley Cup clincher from June showed how central goaltending became to Carolina’s championship run.
Primeau’s preseason performance does not carry that kind of pressure.
It does show that the organization is still demanding competition behind its established structure.
Brady Tkachuk Was Excellent Before Florida Shut Him Down
Brady Tkachuk scored and assisted on Aleksander Barkov’s goal before sitting out the third period.
That immediately raised concern because preseason injuries can undo months of roster planning.
Florida coach Paul Maurice quickly reduced the alarm.
He described the issue as minor and precautionary, saying Tkachuk had tightened up and might be back on the ice the following day.
That distinction matters.
This should not be framed as another confirmed injury unless Florida later says otherwise.
Tkachuk had already looked sharp in TSE’s earlier preseason analysis, and Tuesday’s goal and assist continued that trend before his night ended early.
Boston Turned a Tie Game Into a Third-Period Rout
Boston and Philadelphia were tied 1-1 after two periods.
Then the Bruins scored four times in the third.
Michael Eyssimont finished with two goals.
Morgan Geekie, Brian Halonen and Elias Lindholm also scored.
Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves.
The result moved Boston to 2-0-0 in the preseason.
It also produced a useful example of why teams value veteran depth in a shortened exhibition calendar. Boston stayed even when the game was tight, then separated itself once Philadelphia began to fade.
The Bruins entered this season having already committed heavily to their next core, including the long-term extension TSE examined in Boston’s $50.4 million investment in Fraser Minten.
Tuesday did not answer Boston’s biggest season questions.
It did show a team capable of turning control into goals once the opponent’s structure loosened.
The Biggest Low Was Dan Vladar Leaving Hurt
No preseason loss matters more than a health problem involving an expected starter.
Philadelphia goaltender Dan Vladar left the game at 13:31 of the first period with an upper-body injury.
He had made six saves before leaving.
Vladar established himself as Philadelphia’s No. 1 goalie last season, going 29-14-7.
That makes his status more important to the Flyers than the 5-1 final score.
Philadelphia also fell to 0-2-0 after losing 5-2 to Washington the previous night, but preseason records can be misleading when teams use incomplete rosters on back-to-back nights.
A starting goalie’s health is not misleading.
That is the issue Philadelphia will monitor most closely.
Edmonton Won a Different Kind of Game
Edmonton opened the preseason by beating Winnipeg 5-2 with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard driving the offense.
TSE covered that veteran-heavy opening statement in its opening-night NHL preseason report.
The rematch looked completely different.
Edmonton won 2-1 in overtime.
Atro Leppanen scored in regulation.
Viljami Marjala finished the game 1:26 into overtime after finding open ice on a line change and converting Zach Hyman’s pass.
Devon Levi looked composed in his Oilers preseason debut, and Connor Ungar was perfect after taking over.
The Oilers are now 2-0-0.
What makes that useful is not the record itself.
They have won one game through established stars and another through depth players and goaltending.
That is a healthier preseason signal than simply running the same top unit onto the ice every night.
Calgary Quietly Put Together a Professional Win
Calgary’s 3-1 victory over Vancouver was less dramatic than the games in Nashville, Pittsburgh or New York.
It may have been more useful.
Joel Farabee scored on a power-play breakaway and added an assist.
Zayne Parekh recorded two assists.
Matvei Gridin also recorded two.
Matt Coronato and Samuel Honzek scored during a three-goal second period.
Kevin Lankinen made 28 saves for Vancouver and kept the game from becoming more lopsided.
Arshdeep Bains scored the Canucks’ only goal.
Vancouver is now 0-2-0 in the preseason, but the more relevant concern is that Calgary controlled the decisive second-period stretch and forced Lankinen to do significant work.
The Night’s Highs and Lows
| Category | Choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Human story of the night | Semyon Varlamov | Returned after 22 months and double partial knee replacements, stopped all 10 shots |
| Best pure production | Anton Johansson | Four assists in Detroit’s 7-4 win |
| Best scoring burst | Noah Ostlund | Two goals in 28 seconds |
| Home-crowd hero | Matthew Wood | Two late goals erased Nashville’s 2-0 deficit |
| Best veteran debut | Anders Lee | Two goals in first Utah Mammoth appearance |
| Best young debut | Ivar Stenberg | Assist, four shots, 22:17 ice time and a shootout goal |
| Best relief goaltending | Cayden Primeau | 20 saves and two shootout stops |
| Toughest individual night | Arturs Silovs | Allowed seven goals on 23 shots |
| Most disappointing established star | Ilya Sorokin | Allowed three goals on nine shots before Varlamov entered |
| Most painful collapse | Tampa Bay Lightning | Led 2-0 in the third, lost 3-2 in overtime |
| Most concerning development | Dan Vladar injury | Philadelphia’s No. 1 goalie left with an upper-body issue |
| Most regular-season-ready look | Buffalo Sabres | Projected opening-night lineup won 5-1, with top players and goaltending sharp |
Which Team Looks Most Ready for the NHL Season?
Buffalo provided the cleanest answer Tuesday, but it should not be treated as a preseason power ranking.
The Sabres used a lineup close to their expected opening-night group and looked faster, deeper and more organized than Columbus.
Luukkonen was sharp.
Power distributed the puck effectively.
Norris scored.
Thompson scored.
Ostlund and Benson created offense together.
The score eventually reflected the personnel advantage.
Utah deserves almost equal attention because 11 players reached the scoresheet and the Mammoth repeatedly answered Los Angeles whenever the Kings threatened to make the game close.
Boston also looks comfortable through two preseason wins.
Edmonton has shown two different ways to win in two games.
That is why preseason readiness should be interpreted as evidence rather than prediction.
The full competitive picture begins September 29, when the league moves into the expanded 84-game season outlined in TSE’s 2026-27 NHL curtain-raiser.
Why September 22 Mattered More Than the Scores
The standings will erase every one of these results before opening night.
Teams will not.
The Islanders learned Varlamov can handle game speed again.
Detroit saw young players drive offense.
Buffalo received evidence that its expected lineup can impose itself.
Nashville watched Wood change a game late.
Utah saw Lee fit immediately.
San Jose gave Stenberg substantial responsibility and watched him respond.
Carolina saw Primeau close the door.
Philadelphia left Boston worrying less about the score than the status of its starting goalie.
That is the preseason equation.
The goals disappear from the record book.
The decisions they create remain.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many NHL preseason games were played on September 22, 2026?
Ten games were played across the NHL on September 22.
What was the biggest score of the night?
Detroit scored seven goals in a 7-4 victory over Pittsburgh.
Who had the most points on September 22?
Detroit defenseman Anton Johansson recorded four assists, the highest individual point total highlighted in the night’s official NHL roundup.
Who scored two goals in 28 seconds?
Buffalo forward Noah Ostlund scored twice in 28 seconds during the second period of the Sabres’ 5-1 victory over Columbus.
How did Semyon Varlamov perform in his return?
Varlamov stopped all 10 shots he faced after replacing Ilya Sorokin as the Islanders came back from 3-0 down to beat the Rangers 4-3.
How long had Varlamov been out?
He had not played an NHL game since November 29, 2024, spending approximately 22 months rehabbing after double partial knee replacements.
Who was Nashville’s best player against Tampa Bay?
Matthew Wood scored twice in the final seven minutes of regulation to erase a 2-0 deficit before Felix Nilsson won the game in overtime.
How did Ivar Stenberg perform in his Sharks debut?
Stenberg recorded an assist, four shots on goal, played 22:17 and scored in the shootout during San Jose’s 2-1 shootout loss to Vegas.
Who scored twice in his Utah Mammoth debut?
Former Islanders captain Anders Lee scored twice as Utah beat Los Angeles 6-3.
Which goalie had the toughest night?
Pittsburgh’s Arturs Silovs allowed seven goals on 23 shots against Detroit.
Which team looked most ready for the regular season?
Buffalo produced the clearest opening-night-style performance by using a projected regular-season lineup in a 5-1 win, although the result should be tempered by Columbus using a more AHL-heavy roster.
When does the 2026-27 NHL regular season start?
The regular season begins on September 29, 2026.