NEW YORK, United States – October 6, 2026: Four NHL games on Monday night produced only 20 goals, but the real movement happened beneath the scorelines.
Ottawa looked sharper, faster and far more settled than Boston. Winnipeg turned a one-goal deficit into a third-period ambush. Dallas finally found the attack that had disappeared through its opening two games. Philadelphia, meanwhile, left Tampa with an even bigger problem than another defeat.
The Senators beat the Bruins 4-1 behind Tim Stützle’s three-point performance. The Jets scored three times in a 4-minute, 19-second burst to overturn Pittsburgh’s lead and win 3-2. Dallas shut out San Jose 5-0 for its first victory of the season, while Tampa Bay pulled away late to beat Philadelphia 4-1 and leave the Flyers without a win through four games.
None of those results settles anything in the first week of an 84-game season.
They do, however, make several early questions harder to ignore.
Ottawa may be more balanced than its preseason suggested. Winnipeg is already showing the late-game composure that strong teams need. Dallas appears capable of fixing its slow start quickly. Philadelphia’s opening problems are beginning to look structural rather than temporary.
The wider context matters because the league has already delivered several very different opening-week signals. The Sports Encounter’s Sunday analysis showed Winnipeg’s power play beginning to find rhythm, while our Saturday NHL report highlighted how quickly young teams and contenders were already separating themselves.
Ottawa Rises, Winnipeg Roars Back and Dallas Finds Its Pulse on an NHL Night of Early Fault Lines
| Matchup | Result | Defining Player | Winning Goalie | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Flyers at Tampa Bay Lightning | Tampa Bay 4-1 | Pontus Holmberg | Andrei Vasilevskiy | 19,092 |
| Ottawa Senators at Boston Bruins | Ottawa 4-1 | Tim Stützle | Linus Ullmark | 17,850 |
| Winnipeg Jets at Pittsburgh Penguins | Winnipeg 3-2 | Cole Perfetti | Clay Stevenson | 17,767 |
| San Jose Sharks at Dallas Stars | Dallas 5-0 | Jamie Benn | Jake Oettinger | 18,532 |
The official NHL schedule confirms the four-game slate and final scores.
Tim Stützle Turned Boston’s Own Power Play Against the Bruins
Ottawa’s 4-1 victory in Boston was the most complete performance of the night.
Stützle scored twice in the first period and added an assist, with his opening goal arriving short-handed after Boston mishandled possession during its own power play.
That sequence told the story of the night better than the final margin.
Boston had the extra skater.
Ottawa looked more dangerous.
Michael Amadio intercepted the puck, created a two-on-one and found Stützle for a one-timer that made it 1-0.
Less than two minutes later, Stützle scored again.
This time he stripped the Bruins after another power-play sequence had just expired, recovered after partially mishitting his first attempt and still found the short side.
By the time Drake Batherson made it 3-0 early in the second period, Boston had lost control of a game it should have been able to stabilize through special teams.
The Bruins finished 0-for-4 on the power play.
Ottawa finished with the more dangerous short-handed moment.
The NHL’s official Senators-Bruins recap confirms Stützle’s two goals and one assist, along with Ottawa’s 2-0-0 start.
Stützle also reached another individual milestone. His two goals took him past 150 for his NHL career, making him the fourth German player to reach that mark after Leon Draisaitl, Marco Sturm and Jochen Hecht.
That matters because Ottawa does not need Stützle merely to be its most gifted forward.
It needs him to influence games before they become complicated.
He did exactly that in Boston.
Ottawa’s Start Looks Better Than Its Preseason
The Senators entered the regular season carrying questions.
They had gone 1-3-1 in the preseason and finished with a minus-nine goal differential, one of the weaker exhibition profiles among Eastern Conference teams.
TSE’s 32-team preseason assessment treated that record cautiously, noting that exhibition results could not be read as a simple prediction model.
Two regular-season games later, Ottawa is 2-0-0.
The Senators opened by beating Toronto 3-2 and have now followed it with a three-goal road win in Boston.
The process is more encouraging than the record alone.
Ottawa is creating offense in transition, pressuring mistakes and getting scoring contributions beyond one line.
Michael Amadio finished Monday with a goal and an assist. Batherson scored. Stützle produced three points.
That distribution matters.
Teams that depend on one star line can survive stretches of the regular season.
Teams that intend to become serious playoff threats need scoring to travel through the lineup.
Boston’s Power Play Is the First Real Warning
Boston’s 2-2-0 record is not alarming by itself.
The way Monday’s defeat developed should concern the Bruins more.
They had four power-play opportunities and scored on none of them.
Worse, one of those advantages directly produced Ottawa’s opening goal.
Boston’s issue was not shot volume alone. It was decision-making.
The Bruins became vulnerable when possession broke down, and Ottawa repeatedly attacked the space behind their power-play structure.
James Hagens eventually scored Boston’s only goal in the third period, but by then the game was already 4-0.
Boston’s wider season still has plenty of runway, but one early question is becoming unavoidable: can the Bruins generate enough offense when their special teams do not rescue them?
The Sports Encounter’s complete 2026-27 team-by-team preview identified offensive consistency as one of the defining variables for several Eastern Conference playoff hopefuls. Boston has already supplied evidence for why that question mattered.
Winnipeg Needed Four Minutes to Change the Entire Night
Pittsburgh led 1-0 entering the third period.
Four minutes and 19 seconds later, Winnipeg had scored three times.
That alone made the Jets’ 3-2 victory the night’s sharpest momentum swing.
Alex Iafallo tied the game at 4:43 of the third.
Adam Lowry gave Winnipeg the lead at 7:08.
Declan Carlile answered for Pittsburgh at 8:53.
Nine seconds later, Cole Perfetti made it 3-2.
Nine seconds.
That response may be more important than the comeback itself.
A team can build momentum over several shifts. It can gradually turn pressure into possession and possession into scoring chances.
Winnipeg did something different.
The Jets conceded the tying goal and immediately restored their advantage before Pittsburgh had time to reset emotionally or structurally.
Perfetti’s winner came on a one-timer from the high slot after Josh Morrissey created the opening.
The official NHL recap confirms that Winnipeg’s three third-period goals came within 4:19 and that Perfetti’s winner arrived only nine seconds after Pittsburgh had tied the game.
Cole Perfetti Is Already Turning Opportunity Into Production
Perfetti has five points through Winnipeg’s first three games.
That start matters because the Jets entered the season needing more offensive responsibility to shift toward players capable of supporting Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele.
Sunday had already provided one clue.
Perfetti recorded his 100th NHL assist during Winnipeg’s 3-2 win in Detroit, a game examined in TSE’s Sunday NHL breakdown.
Twenty-four hours later, he scored the winning goal in Pittsburgh.
That does not suddenly make him Winnipeg’s most important forward.
It does show that the Jets may be developing another player they can trust in moments when the top line is not carrying the scoreboard.
Winnipeg is now 2-0-1.
Its first three games have included an overtime loss, a one-goal road win and a third-period comeback.
That is already a broader range of tests than many teams have faced.
Pittsburgh Lost for the First Time Because the Game Became Too Open
The Penguins entered Monday 2-0-0 after scoring 13 goals in their first two games.
The early offense had been one of the biggest stories of the league’s opening weekend.
Against Winnipeg, Pittsburgh looked comfortable while the game remained controlled.
Once the third period accelerated, the structure disappeared.
That may be the first useful warning for the Penguins.
They have enough offensive talent to create goals.
The question is whether they can protect games once opponents begin attacking through quick transitions and rebound pressure.
Ben Kindel and Carlile both finished with a goal and an assist, giving Pittsburgh another encouraging sign from its younger players.
The Penguins still lost because Winnipeg handled the decisive stretch better.
Dallas Went From One Goal in Two Games to Five in One Night
No team needed Monday’s result more than Dallas.
The Stars entered the game 0-2-0.
They had scored one goal across their first two matches.
Then they scored five against San Jose.
Miro Heiskanen opened the scoring late in the first period. Joel Kiviranta, Jason Robertson, Jamie Benn and Mikko Rantanen added the rest.
That distribution matters almost as much as the total.
Dallas did not fix its offense through one hot player.
It received goals from five different scorers.
Robertson and Rantanen both scored their first goals of the season.
Jamie Benn added a goal and an assist.
Roope Hintz produced two assists.
TSE’s preseason assessment had identified Dallas as one of the strongest exhibition teams after a 4-0-0 September.
The first two regular-season games made that look irrelevant.
Monday restored some of the logic behind the optimism.
Jake Oettinger Gave Dallas the Calm It Needed
Dallas’ five goals will receive most of the attention.
Jake Oettinger’s shutout may matter more.
Oettinger stopped all 13 San Jose shots and recorded the 17th shutout of his NHL career.
The shot total was low, but that reflects how well Dallas controlled the game in front of him.
The Stars spent more time forcing San Jose to defend than reacting to Sharks pressure.
That is the kind of game Dallas wanted after opening the season with two defeats.
It did not require Oettinger to steal two points.
It allowed him to protect a game the skaters had already tilted.
Macklin Celebrini’s Late Scratch Changed San Jose Before the Puck Dropped
San Jose arrived in Dallas 2-0-0.
The Sharks also arrived with one of the league’s most interesting early-season players.
Macklin Celebrini had five assists through the first two games, tying the highest total by a Sharks player through two games since the franchise entered the NHL.
He participated in warmups Monday.
Then he did not play.
Celebrini was ruled out with a lower-body injury and remained under evaluation after the game.
San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said the club would reassess him after further evaluation.
The Sports Encounter’s Saturday report had highlighted San Jose’s 2-0 start and the growing influence of its young core.
Monday demonstrated how quickly that optimism can become fragile.
The Sharks generated only 13 shots without Celebrini.
One game does not prove they are dependent on him.
It does show how different their attack can look without the player currently driving so much of their creativity.
Tampa Bay Has Corrected Its Opening-Night Problem Quickly
The Lightning lost their first game of the season 5-1 against the New York Rangers.
Two games later, Tampa Bay is 2-1-0.
That recovery is already significant.
The Lightning beat Washington 3-1 before following it with Monday’s 4-1 win over Philadelphia.
Against the Flyers, Tampa controlled the shot count 36-14.
Brayden Point opened the scoring late in the first period.
Pontus Holmberg made it 2-0 only 17 seconds into the second.
Philadelphia pulled one back through Tyson Foerster.
The game remained within one goal until late in the third.
Then Ilya Mikheyev scored his first goal for Tampa Bay before Brandon Hagel added an empty-netter.
The improvement from opening night fits one of the themes TSE raised in its opening-night analysis: the first result of an 84-game season should create questions, not conclusions.
Tampa’s response is a good example.
One ugly loss has already been followed by two disciplined wins.
Philadelphia’s Problem Is No Longer Just the Record
The Flyers are 0-2-2.
That means they have taken two standings points from four games.
The more troubling number Monday was 14.
That is how many shots Philadelphia put on goal.
Tampa produced 36.
Dan Vladar made 32 saves and prevented the score from becoming much worse.
When a goaltender stops 32 shots and his team still loses 4-1, the conversation has to move beyond goaltending.
Philadelphia is not generating enough sustained attack.
The Flyers have also opened the season with four consecutive defeats for the first time since 2014-15.
This is where early-season patience and early-season evidence have to be separated.
Four games remain a tiny sample.
Four games can still reveal repeat problems.
Philadelphia has now repeatedly struggled to create enough offense while spending too much time without the puck.
TSE’s late-preseason coverage had already identified questions around several teams entering opening night.
The Flyers have not answered theirs yet.
The Bigger Story Is How Quickly Early Narratives Are Changing
Dallas went unbeaten in the preseason and then lost its first two real games.
Now it has a five-goal win.
Ottawa struggled through September.
Now it is 2-0-0.
Pittsburgh opened with 13 goals in two victories.
Now it has lost a third-period lead.
Tampa was beaten 5-1 on opening night.
Now it has won twice in succession.
This is exactly why the first week of an NHL season can be so misleading.
Teams are still separating genuine strengths from September form.
Some are correcting problems quickly.
Others are discovering that preseason concerns were more meaningful than they hoped.
The Sports Encounter’s 32-team season preview was built around the questions every club carried into opening night.
Only a week into the schedule, several of those questions are already producing useful evidence.
What NHL Fans Should Watch Next
Ottawa’s goaltending health: Linus Ullmark left Monday’s game after two periods as a precaution following a collision with JJ Peterka. Ottawa has a back-to-back schedule, so his availability matters immediately.
Boston’s power play: The Bruins went 0-for-4 and allowed Stützle’s short-handed opener. The issue is not simply conversion percentage. Boston needs cleaner puck management when using the extra skater.
Winnipeg’s secondary scoring: Perfetti has five points through three games. If that production continues, the Jets become much harder to defend beyond Connor and Scheifele.
Celebrini’s status: San Jose will evaluate the lower-body injury that kept him out against Dallas. His availability could materially change the Sharks’ early momentum.
Philadelphia’s shot creation: Four winless games can be dismissed as an early slump. Four games with recurring territorial problems cannot.
Dallas after the breakthrough: One 5-0 victory does not erase the first two defeats, but it gives the Stars evidence that their offense can recover quickly when the forecheck and zone time improve.
One Night Did Not Define the Season, but It Did Move the Questions
That is the useful way to read October hockey.
Not as verdicts.
As evidence.
Ottawa has supplied evidence that its disappointing preseason did not follow it into the games that count.
Winnipeg has supplied evidence that it can survive uncomfortable road games and still find another gear late.
Dallas has supplied evidence that its offense did not disappear permanently during the opening weekend.
Tampa has supplied evidence that its opening-night collapse was correctable.
Philadelphia has supplied something less encouraging.
The Flyers are still looking for proof that their first four games are merely a bad start rather than the beginning of a bigger problem.
For the latest game reports, injuries, standings developments and team analysis, follow The Sports Encounter’s NHL coverage.
The opening week has already brought retirement news, injuries and shifting expectations away from the ice as well. TSE has also examined Alex Ovechkin’s decision to make 2026-27 his final NHL season and the impact of Alexey Toropchenko’s six-week absence on St. Louis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the NHL games on October 5, 2026?
Tampa Bay beat Philadelphia 4-1, Ottawa defeated Boston 4-1, Winnipeg came back to beat Pittsburgh 3-2, and Dallas shut out San Jose 5-0.
How many points did Tim Stützle score against Boston?
Stützle scored two goals and added one assist for three points in Ottawa’s 4-1 victory.
How did Winnipeg beat Pittsburgh?
The Jets scored three goals in the third period. Alex Iafallo tied the game, Adam Lowry gave Winnipeg the lead, and Cole Perfetti scored the winning goal nine seconds after Pittsburgh had made it 2-2.
Who recorded the Dallas shutout?
Jake Oettinger stopped all 13 San Jose shots to record the 17th shutout of his NHL career.
Why did Macklin Celebrini miss the Stars-Sharks game?
Celebrini was a late scratch because of a lower-body injury after taking part in warmups. San Jose said he remained under evaluation.
What is Philadelphia’s record after losing to Tampa Bay?
The Flyers are 0-2-2 through their first four games and remain without a victory.
What is Ottawa’s record after beating Boston?
The Senators improved to 2-0-0 after opening the season with victories over Toronto and Boston.
What is Winnipeg’s record?
The Jets improved to 2-0-1 after beating Pittsburgh, having also defeated Detroit after an overtime loss earlier in the opening week.