Morning Hockey Siren

Vancouver’s nightmare start to the season hit a new low on Friday, derailed by an explosive second-period Rangers barrage and an unlikely hero in Glenn Gawdin. The Canucks actually started with intent, grabbing the lead midway through the opening period when Elias Pettersson finished off feeds from Zeev Buium and Brock Boeser. Gabe Perreault answered late in the frame, setting the stage for New York to blow the game open. Oliver Bjorkstrand snapped the tie on the power play just past the eight-minute mark of the second, and then Gawdin took over. The forward stripped a puck for an unassisted tally at 13:00, and after Alexis Lafrenière finished a crisp rush, Gawdin struck again only 56 seconds later to cap a four-goal blitz. Behind them, Dylan Garand was rock solid, turning aside 27 of 28 shots to cruise through a quiet third period. While Vancouver sinks deeper into the Pacific basement at 3-17-1, New York tightens its grip on third in the Metropolitan with crucial momentum heading into the weekend.

Juuse Saros turned T-Mobile Arena into his personal fortress on Friday night, stopping 40 shots to drag Nashville to a gritty 3-2 shootout victory over Vegas. The Golden Knights threw everything at the Finnish netminder, but Ryan O'Reilly supplied the regulation punch, beating Adin Hill eight minutes into the opening frame off a slick feed from Steven Stamkos before striking again midway through the third to knot the score. In between, Vegas had seized momentum through Victor Olofsson and a Rasmus Andersson blast halfway through the second, orchestrated by Mitch Marner. Hill was stellar with 30 stops of his own, but Roman Josi proved the ultimate difference. After setting up the tying goal in regulation, the Predators captain stepped up in the shootout and cleanly solved Hill for the winner. It was a statement triumph in a clash of division contenders, and with Saros playing at this elite level, Nashville looks downright lethal heading deeper into their road trip.