NHL Today: Islanders Want Winter Classic; PWHL Begins Inaugural Season

Good morning, my name is Andrew Fantucchio. It’s Tuesday, January 2, and here’s what’s happening around the NHL today.

Islanders Want Winter Classic:

The NHL kicked off 2024 in Seattle, where the Kraken shut down the Vegas Golden Knights in the annual Winter Classic.

It’s no secret the New York Islanders have had their eyes set on hosting the NHL’s marquee event ever since they broke ground on UBS Arena five years ago.

Now that UBS  is finished, and with more additions to the surrounding area on the way, the Islanders have a vision for a Winter Classic at Belmont Park.

PWHL Makes History:

While most of the hockey world’s attention was on the NHL’s Winter Classic, it’d be careless of me not to highlight the start of the PWHL season.

The new six-team league has centralized women’s hockey, putting the best players in the world all under one roof.

The PWHL is slowly coming together. Teams don’t have names or logos. All the focus is on the hockey itself, which began on New Year’s Day.

PWHL New York won the very first game in the history of the league, 4-0, over PWHL Toronto.

Corinne Schroder stopped 29 shots in the shutout. Ella Shelton scored the PWHL’s first-ever goal with a wrist shot from the left circle in the first period.

Ella Shelton (@ella_shelton11) scores the first goal in PWHL HISTORY! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/oULOfmFWfi

— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) January 1, 2024

PWHL New York will play the majority of its home games at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport and has a few at UBS Arena as well. They’ll play at the home of the Islanders on Jan. 10 against PWHL Montreal.

Market For Devils McLeod:

New Jersey Hockey Now’s James Nichols pulled a string and unraveled a pretty big trade rumor.

Originally, the story was that the Devils were interested in trading center Michael McLeod. But that’s only where the story begins.

It turns out the NHL’s top faceoff man is off-limits, but that isn’t stopping teams from calling up New Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald anyway.

The Mystery That Is Mitchkov:

Of course, Connor Bedard had the most intrigue of any player taken in this past summer’s draft. However, Matvei Michkov has more mystery to him.

The seventh overall pick by the Philadelphia Flyers is rumored to be as good if not better than Bedard and is currently lighting it up over in the KHL.

Playing for HK Sochi, Michkov is on pace to break a record currently held by an NHL legend.

Yesterday’s Scoreboard:

Kraken: 3, Golden Knights: 0

Today’s Schedule:

All Times EST

New York Islanders vs. Colorado Avalanche, 9 p.m.

Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Rangers, 7 p.m.

Boston Bruins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets, 7 p.m.

Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, 7:30 p.m.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Dallas Stars, 8 p.m.

Calgary Flames vs. Minnesota Wild, 8 p.m.

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Nashville Predators, 8 p.m.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Winnipeg Jets, 8 p.m.

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Edmonton Oilers, 9 p.m.

Florida Panthers vs. Arizona Coyotes, 9 p.m.

Ottawa Senators vs. Vancouver Canucks, 10 p.m.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Los Angeles Kings, 10:30 p.m.

Detroit Red Wings vs. San Jose Sharks, 10:30 p.m.

More From National Hockey Now:

Boston: Phil Kessel began his career with the Boston Bruins. Does his former team have an interest in bringing him back all these years later?

Colorado: Above all else, if the Islanders want a win tonight against the Colorado Avalanche, they’ll need to slow down Nathan MacKinnon.

Nashville: Earlier this week, the Nashville Predators beat the Capitals in a shootout. But should they have? According to the NHL rule book, no.

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