The NHL’s Frozen Frenzy has become one of those “Hockey Christmas” days on the calendar — all 32 teams are in action, with staggered start times so that fans can easily get a sample of each game.

Tuesday’s third edition brings with it an air of familiarity, and also the right amount of unpredictability on the ice and blistering pace that hockey fans crave — especially those with a short attention span.

The night includes a tripleheader on ESPN — Pittsburgh Penguins–Philadelphia Flyers (6 p.m. ET), Washington Capitals–Dallas Stars (8:30 p.m. ET) and Los Angeles Kings–San Jose Sharks (11 p.m. ET) — every other game on NHL Power Play on the ESPN App, along with a Red Zone-style whip-around show hosted by John Buccigross and Kevin Weekes.

In honor of Tuesday’s festivities, here are the five games I’m looking forward to most on Frozen Frenzy night. Get ready for an amazing evening, hockey fans.

8:30 p.m. ET | ESPN

Alex Ovechkin has 899 career goals heading into this game; he could absolutely hit 900 on Frenzy night. That would be awesome. Amid all the chaos, all the action going on, all the counting of goals across the league, everything would stop for a moment to celebrate another surreal milestone for the greatest goal scorer hockey has ever seen.

Not to mention the fact that the Caps are off to a great start (6-3-0). On the Stars’ side, Jake Oettinger hasn’t been his absolute best (with an .899 save percentage through seven games), but Mikko Rantanen is chugging along, leading the team with 11 points through nine games.

9 p.m. ET | ESPN+

Two of the teams off to the hottest starts in the league go head to head in a rematch from Sunday’s 4-3 OT win for New Jersey. The Devils have the league’s best record at 8-1-0, while the Avs are fourth overall, with 14 points (5-1-4).

Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt are absolutely crushing for the Devils. Nico Hischier is shutting down every superstar he faces. For the Avs, goaltender Scott Wedgewood had an unreal 5-0-1 start before cooling off. Cale Makar, unsurprisingly, leads all defensemen in points, with 11. Martin Necas had a terrific point streak to start the season. Nathan MacKinnon has 14 points through 10 games.

There are a lot of fast skaters competing in this one, and it has all the makings of a track meet, so it should be a blast.

9:30 p.m. ET | ESPN+

All of the hockey hipsters that said Utah would be a playoff team are looking pretty smart right now — at least early in the season. The Mammoth are a perfect 7-0-0 since unveiling Tusky as their mascot on Oct. 15, and their overall 8-2-0 record has them on top of the Western Conference. Nick Schmaltz has 16 points. Logan Cooley has seven goals. Dylan Guenther has three game-winning goals. This team is a lot of fun to watch.

Meanwhile, the Oilers will always a spotlight on them because of the 97-29 connection. Connor McDavid had the longest goal drought to start a season in his career, finally getting one on Oct. 21 in Ottawa (he still has 12 points in 10 games). Leon Draisaitl has seven goals in 10 games. There’s plenty to watch in this one.

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Logan Cooley scores natural hat trick in under 5 minutes for Utah

Check out this quickfire trio of goals from Utah Mammoth’s Logan Cooley against the St. Louis Blues.

7:45 p.m. ET | ESPN+

The “Stamkos Bowl” sees both teams not exactly where you thought they would be. The Predators, coming off an absolutely disastrous 2024-25 season, are 4-4-2, 3-2-1 at home.

The Bolts are near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, with a 3-4-2 record. Andrei Vasilevskiy doesn’t look at his best, currently without a win and sporting an .892 save percentage through six games. Nikita Kucherov has three goals and eight points, while Brayden Point has two and seven, but have had plenty more goals hit the back of their own net.

Their old pal Steven Stamkos hasn’t been lighting it up either, with a goal and an assist through 10 games, but perhaps facing his old team will provide a spark.

6:30 p.m. ET | ESPN+

Another matchup of two (storm) surging teams in this one. The Golden Knights top the Pacific Division at 5-1-3, while the Canes (6-2-0) are third in the Metro, behind the Devils and the Penguins … yes, you read that correctly.

Jack Eichel is tied for the league lead, with 16 points. Mark Stone has 11 assists and 13 points. Vegas fans continue to have a charmed existence as the success keeps rolling.

On the Carolina side, Seth Jarvis has seven goals and 11 points through eight games, and continues to show off one of the best personalities in the league. Sebastian Aho isn’t far behind, with 10 points. The Canes (as the Whalers) just participated in the jersey battle of the season with the Avs (as the Nordiques). Give me all of that nostalgic greatness.

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Carolina Hurricanes vs. Colorado Avalanche: Game Highlights

Carolina Hurricanes vs. Colorado Avalanche: Game Highlights

Jump ahead:
Game of the week
What I liked this weekend
Hart Trophy candidates
Social posts of the week

Biggest game of the week

Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN+

Aside from the Frozen Frenzy, one game I have my eye on this week is the Islanders meeting the Hurricanes on Thursday in Raleigh.

The No. 1 draft pick this summer, Isles defenseman Matthew Schaefer has had a terrific start to his season, and he’ll be facing the formidable tandem of Jarvis and Aho in this game. I hope the three find themselves on the ice together a bunch, since I’d like to see how Schaefer fares against the pair.

What I liked this weekend

Trevor Zegras is absolutely nasty in shootouts. He makes it look effortless and goalies look pedestrian. His approach in the shootout this weekend almost seemed nuanced at first, before he decided “OK, I’m done waiting, time to score,” and just ripped it into the net.

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Flyers knock off Islanders in shootout

Flyers knock off Islanders in shootout

Zegras has the second best shootout percentage in NHL history (63.6%, with 14 goals on 22 attempts).

Can you guess who has the best shootout percentage in NHL history with a minimum of 10 attempts?

I’ll give you a hint: it’s not Artemi Panarin (27-for-26, 58.7%). It’s not Patrick Kane, although he has the most goals and attempts in NHL history (53-for-132, 40.2%). It’s not Kane’s former teammate Jonathan Toews (52-for-110, 47.3%) or even (shockingly) my ESPN colleague TJ Oshie (49-for-104, 47.1%), who famously went 4-for-6 against Russia at the 2014 Olympic Games.

The name you are looking for is Petteri Nummelin, who played 139 games in the NHL — 61 games in the 2000-01 season with the Columbus Blue Jackets, then two seasons in 2006-2008 with the Minnesota Wild. In that time, he took exactly 10 shootout attempts and scored on eight, giving him an 80% success rate.

(Insert “The More You Know” rainbow star here…)

MVP contenders if the season ended today…

Matthew Schaefer has fallen out of the top three. It’s not because he has been playing poorly, but because the Hart Trophy finalist list is by design ruthless and unforgiving, and a two-game pointless streak gets you booted this early in the season. Sorry, kid.

Eichel still holds a share of the league lead in points, with 16 through nine games as the Knights roll on, so he stays on my finalist list.

Welcome Nick Schmaltz, Hart Trophy finalist. He has 16 points through 10 games, including seven goals, two of them winners for the first-place Mammoth. The 29-year-old is currently shooting at a 19.4% clip.

And welcome Jakub Dobes, Hart Trophy finalist. The Montreal Canadiens goalie hasn’t lost yet, going 5-0-0, with an elite .940 save percentage. He has faced north of 30 shots in four of his past five games. Last season’s playoff surprise, the Habs are atop the Atlantic Division, with 14 points.

Hockey social media posts of the week

Social teams around the NHL have really stepped up their game. The Utah Mammoth are definitely among them. Please give us more of these ridiculous graphics:

The Wild must be 6-2 their stomachs 💔 pic.twitter.com/0naH6ITHu1

— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) October 26, 2025

I also loved the interaction between Tusky and WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre, who attended a game last week:

Looks like @TuskyNHL made a new friend tonight 👊💥@DMcIntyreWWE | @WWE pic.twitter.com/C0ZpCsonYA

— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) October 22, 2025

This might have been the biggest “we live in a new era of admin autonomy” moment of the week: the Winnipeg Jets‘ social media admin posted this while attending the World Series:

no one here knows I’m the jets admin pic.twitter.com/r2HT1tyrxz

— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) October 26, 2025

It’s funny and surreal to see on an official team account, and we’re here for the randomness. It’s relatable in the moment to Jets fans (a number of whom are also Blue Jays fans).

But the absolute best social post might have been courtesy of the Capitals, as they documented Ovechkin’s teammates arriving to the building for his 1,500th game. Iconic.

The boys cooked up a special arrival for Ovi’s 1,500th game tonight pic.twitter.com/kY5qH0WGN3

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 25, 2025

And, an extra stick tap to content creator SideDisch who recently surpassed 500 subscribers on YouTube.

Assistant coach Mitch Love was relieved of his duties by the Washington Capitals following the conclusion of an NHL investigation into his personal conduct, the team announced Sunday.

Love was placed on team-imposed leave Sept. 14, with the Capitals awaiting the league’s investigation into allegations related to Love’s personal conduct, a league source told ESPN back in September.

“Mitch Love has been relieved of his duties as an assistant coach, effective immediately,” the Capitals said in a statement. “This decision follows the findings of an NHL-led investigation into past allegations. The organization is committed to maintaining the highest standards of conduct and accountability.”

After missing the playoffs in the 2022-23 season, the Capitals hired coach Spencer Carbery, who then added Love to his staff as an assistant coach.

Carbery’s first season in charge of the Capitals saw them finish first in the Metropolitan Division with 111 points before losing in the second round of the postseason to the Carolina Hurricanes.

That, in turn, made Love a sought-after coaching candidate in an offseason in which nearly a third of the NHL was seeking a new head coach.

Love interviewed with a few teams and was thought to be among the finalists for the Boston Bruins‘ and Pittsburgh Penguins‘ openings.

The league source told ESPN that the NHL received a letter detailing allegations about Love’s personal conduct while he was interviewing with teams. Two of the teams that Love reportedly interviewed with were sent a similar letter. Those allegations are said to have predated his tenure with the Capitals.

In response to the NHL’s months-long investigation, the Capitals placed Love on leave after the league informed the club of the allegations.

Prior to joining the Capitals, Love spent two years as the head coach of the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate, during which he was named AHL Coach of the Year twice.

Love began his coaching career as an assistant with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips before leaving to become the head coach of the Saskatoon Blades, who also play in the WHL.

His was also an assistant coach on two of Canada’s U-20 World Junior Championship teams, which won a gold medal in 2020 and silver the following year.

Entering Sunday, the Capitals (6-3-0) sat fourth in the Metropolitan Division standings and were four points behind the New Jersey Devils for the division lead. They will take on the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Rickard Rakell is expected to be sidelined six to eight weeks after having surgery on his broken left hand, the team said Sunday.

Rickard sustained the injury while blocking a shot in the third period of a shootout loss to Columbus on Saturday night.

The injury timeline means Rakell would miss the NHL Global Series against the Nashville Predators in his native Sweden on Nov. 14 and 16.

Rakell was injured in Saturday’s shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Pittsburgh is off to a 6-2-1 start, its best since 2019-20, with Rakell providing three goals and five assists.

The Penguins called up forward Ville Koivunen from their AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Pittsburgh next plays Monday night at home against the St. Louis Blues.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.