The Hockey News Morning Skate: McDavid's Dominant Start, Panthers' Flurry Of Hat Tricks, And More

Peter Creveling-Imagn ImagesPeter Creveling-Imagn ImagesOct 19, 2026 1:43 PMPublished Oct 19, 2026 1:43 PMIn this edition of The Hockey News Morning Skate, Eric Cruikshank and Michael Traikos break down Connor McDavid's incredible start to the season, the Florida Panthers' recent scoring spree, and more.Welcome to The Hockey News Morning Skate, where we give a quick recap of all the action from the NHL every weekday morning so you stay up to date.It's time to recap an action-packed weekend of hockey with 18 games between Friday and Sunday.Let's run through the biggest storylines that emerged from last night, and make sure to check out the video version of this story above.McDavid Continues Torrid PaceThe Edmonton Oilers took down the Utah Mammoth 6-2 on Saturday on the back of a five-point effort from Connor McDavid, who extended his season-opening point streak to eight games and leads the NHL with an incredible 23 points.Related storiesNo More Hats Left In SunriseSam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe each recorded hat tricks against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday to lead the Florida Panthers to an 8-2 win. With Verhaeghe's three consecutive second-period goals, the Panthers became the first team to have a natural hat trick in three straight games.Flyers Youngsters Help Earn First Win After starting the season with nine straight losses, the Philadelphia Flyers picked up a 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators for their first victory of the season. Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov each recorded a goal and an assist in the game despite both playing less than 15 minutes.Kaprizov Fills The NetMinnesota Wild star Kirill Kaprizov scored his league-leading 10th goal of the season on Sunday to help his team earn a 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 29-year-old has scored 40-plus goals in four of his previous six seasons with a career-high of 47. It's hard to imagine he'll maintain his his 93-goal pace, but Kaprizov could be a candidate to lead the NHL in goals by season's endFor action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free.