NHL Frozen Frenzy live blog 

Welcome to the NHL Frozen Frenzy live blog. All 32 NHL teams are in action on Tuesday, the first game starting at 6 p.m. ET and the last game of the night starting at 11 p.m. ET. NHL.com Editor-in-Chief Bill Price will be monitoring every game, providing sights, sounds and highlights all night.

11:23 p.m. ET

The Stars-Avalanche game is over (the Avs held on for a 3-2 win), the Sharks and Bruins have dropped the puck and this blogger is hitting the hay. 

The Frozen Frenzy has been as advertised -- at this moment five-plus hours of non-stop hockey with another two-plus hours to go. 

Remember, there will be another 16-game night this season - the last night of the season in April. 

That is a long way off, but if the rest of the season is anything like tonight, fans are in for another treat. 

This has been awesome. ESPN's coverage was incredible, and, of course, the players and coaches who make it all possible are the stars of the show. 

Thanks for following along and be sure to read about all 16 games tonight and about all things NHL all season on NHL.com. 

Good night.

11:10 p.m. ET

There is one thing I've learned working with Dan Rosen over the years - he hates when people say a regular-season game had a playoff-like atmosphere. I don't know why he feels that way, but he does and he's very serious about it. 

Still, watching this Avalanche-Stars game on ESPN I dare to say it feels like a playoff atmosphere, and that's just from watching on TV. 

And why wouldn't it. These two teams have met in the postseason seven times, Dallas winning the two most recent series. It's led to some bad blood and intense games, even in October. So I'll say it, playoff atmosphere. 

Speaking of teams who have met in the playoffs, the Oilers now lead the Kings 3-0 on a goal from Connor McDavid (he's pretty good). 

The last game of the night - Sharks-Bruins will drop the puck at 11:15, and that is the time I'm going to drop keyboard and call it a night for the blog. 

So I'll have one more entry in a few and then call it a night.

10:57 p.m. ET

We have a barn burner in Dallas. The Avalanche lead the Stars 3-2 with about 16 minutes left. Dallas just scored on a goal from Roope Hintz. 

Remember, these two teams play again tomorrow night in Denver on TBS. Fun stuff. 

The Golden Knights have opened up a 5-2 lead in Nashville and the Mammoth lead the Maple Leafs 5-2 after two periods. 

And the Oilers have come flying out of the gate, taking a 2-0 lead in LA. 

Going back to the Montreal-Buffalo game tonight, the Canadiens scored all three goals in the shootout to win. 

According to the crack team at NHL stats, the only other time the Canadiens have gone 3-for-3 to win a shootout was Nov. 25, 2022. Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach each scored for a 3-2 win at the Chicago Blackhawks.

10:49 p.m. ET

As we get later into the night, there is some news coming out of Detroit. The Red Wings and Alex DeBrincat are close to agreeing to a seven-year contract with an AAV of $13M a year. 

For a team that has gone through a lot this offseason and doesn't officially have a GM, it's a good move that bring some stability to the team. 

The Jets, who have had a tumultuous offseason of their own, appear on their way to a big win against the Wild. They lead it 5-2 in the final minute. The win would give the Jets a 4-1-1 start to the season, one where Connor Hellebuyck is suspended for not reporting to camp after he requested a trade.

10:42 p.m. ET

As the Chicago-Pittsburgh game comes to an end, the Blackhawks winning the game, 5-3, we are at 85 goals, according to ESPN (I would count myself, but my math skills are not there tonight after watching close to five straight hours of hockey). 

We still have one game (Bruins-Sharks) yet to start and nine games over. 

So by math, there are six games being played right now.

The most recent to start is Oilers and Kings in LA. 

The closest one to completion is the Jets and Wild in Winnipeg, the Jets leading 5-2. 

Three games are in the second intermission, one game is in the intermission.

10:30 p.m. ET 

As they say on NFL Red Zone, we are approaching the Witching Hour where wins become losses and losses become wins. 

That's especially true in Chicago, where the Blackhawks just scored with 4:18 left in the third to take a 4-3 lead over the Penguins. Teuvo Teravainen scored for the second time to give Chicago the lead. 

The only other game that's close to coming to an end is in Winnipeg, where the Jets lead the Wild, 4-2. 

We still have two more games that need to start - the Oilers at the Kings in just a few minutes, and the Bruins at the Sharks in about 40 minutes.

10:23 p.m. ET

It's a Frozen Frenzy sweep for the New York area teams. 

First, the Devils topped the Red Wings in overtime. 

Then, the Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, and now the Islanders have topped the Vancouver Canucks. 

With that game at UBS Arena over, our attention goes to Chicago, where the Penguins and Blackhawks are tied 3-3 with 10:43 left. 

On a night Connor Bedard returned for the Blackhawks, another former No. 1 pick - a guy by the name of Sidney Crosby - has two goals. 

Nathan MacKinnon is getting put through the wringer in Dallas. He had that fight earlier in Dallas and now he just got tripped and then took a stick to the face while falling to the ice. 

The power play after he was tripped led to a goal by Martin Necas to give the Avs a 3-1 lead.

10:08 p.m. ET

We just had a real slugfest in Dallas with Nathan MacKinnon and Roope Hintz dropping the gloves. 

MacKinnon had blood all over his face when it was over. 

Those two teams don't like each other. 

The Mammoth just scored to take a 2-0 lead on the Maple Leafs. 

The Blues haven't officially won yet, but they lead the Senators 7-1 in Ottawa. 

The Penguins and Canucks are now in a one-goal game, Chicago up 3-2 early in the third. 

Also, the Flames and Ducks, the 14th game of the night, has begun, so just two more games that need to start tonight - Oilers at Kings and Bruins at Sharks.

9:55 p.m. ET

The Flyers are still looking for their first win of the season. 

They fall to the Kraken in the fifth round of the shootout. Bobby McMann won the game in the fifth round and the Flyers are now 0-5-3. 

They appeared to be sunk in the fourth round of the shootout, but Dan Vladar robbed Mackie Samoskevich with a brilliant glove save. 

The Flyers got to the shootout after being called for too many men on the ice in overtime with about 2:39 left. 

The Rangers won at home again. They beat Tampa Bay 4-1. 

They have five regulation wins at home already. They had nine home regulation wins all of last season. What a turnaround. 

The Blue lead the Senators 5-1 with under five minutes left in Ottawa. 

The Islanders lead the Canucks 3-2 in the second period. Per our Brian Compton, who worked a desk shift today and then went to UBS, those are Palmieri's first two goals since November of last season before tearing his ACL the day after Thanksgiving . 

Once we catch our breath from the Philly game, we'll check in on the late games.

9:50 p.m. ET

And we have a third game tonight going to overtime - this time the Kraken and Flyers going past 60 minutes. The Flyers need a win in the worst way, starting the season 0-5-2. 

The Rangers are 4:26 away from getting another regulation win at home, leading the Lightning 3-1, but Tampa Bay is going on the power play, so hold on there. 

By the way, the Lighting have pulled the goalie on the power play. Can we get another goalie goal by a Rangers goalie against the Lightning at the Garden this year? Not sure Jon Cooper would like that. 

The Blues have a 4-1 lead over the Senators with about eight minutes left in Ottawa. 

The Islanders and Canucks are tied early in the third period. 

The rest of the game are either in the first or second periods or in the second intermission.

9:41 p.m. ET 

Really cool stat from the Panthers game. 

Brady Tkachuk is the first player in NHL history to have a hat trick where his brother assisted on all three goals. 

Speaking of assists, Connor Bedard has his first helper of the season, helping the Blackhawks to a 3-1 lead over the Penguins. 

What a big night for Chicago fans to see Bedard back and in the lineup with Kane. 

The Rangers still lead Tampa Bay, 3-1, with about 7 minutes left at MSG. 

The Senators appear on their way to a win in Ottawa.

The Flyers and Kraken are still tied and could be our third game that goes to OT tonight.

9:34 p.m. ET

The Hurricanes have done the Storm Surge after their win against the Capitals - so we now have three of the 16 games over, the Devils, Canadiens and Hurricanes winning so far. 

We have the Flyers and Kraken tied with about eight minutes left in Philly and the Rangers lead the Lightning 3-1 with about 11 minutes left at MSG. 

The other game in the third has the Blues leading the Senators 3-1 

Out in Utah, Daniil But has scored for a 1-0 lead over the Maple Leafs.

9:29 p.m. ET

The Canadiens win in the shootout, Cole Caufield, Alexander Texier and Zach Bolduc all scoring to win it. 

What a game in Montreal. 

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes now have a two-goal lead over the Capitals on a goal from Mark Jankowski. 

And now we turn our focus to Philly, where the Flyers and Kraken are tied 2-2 with 9:33 left. The Flyers are looking for their first win of the season. They need this game. 

And the Canucks have also battled back from a 2-0 hole and are tied with the Islanders after two periods.

9:21 p.m. ET

What an epic OT in Montreal, with the Sabres and Habs each having some Grade A chances to win it. 

The Sabres got a power play with about 30 seconds left with Juraj Slafkovsky took an offensive zone penalty. But we are now going to our first shootout of the night. I have a feeling these two teams are going to battle for the top spot in the Atlantic Division all season long. 

Hold off on the OT in Raleigh. Andrei Svechnikov has scored again and the Canes lead the Capitals with about six minutes left in regulation. 

And don't the count the Flyers out just yet -- they scored at 6:07 of the third and trail the Kraken 2-1. Hold on, they've scored again. It's now 2-2.

9:14 p.m. ET

We have a second game also headed to OT - this time it's the Sabres and Habs in Bell Centre. 

The Devils and Red Wings had to go beyond 60 minutes and Jack Hughes won it for New Jersey. 

Now the Sabres and Canadiens, who staged an epic seven-game second round series last year, going to OT. 

Montreal nearly scored in the final seconds, but UPL made another huge save to get the game to overtime. 

We may also be heading to overtime in Raleigh, where the Capitals and Canes are tied 2-2 with under eight minutes to go.

The other final so far is Florida beating Columbus 7-3.  

A look at some of the later games. 

The Avalanche have gotten an early 1-0 lead on the Dallas. Remember, those two teams play again tomorrow night in Colorado on TBS. 

The Golden Knights and Predators are tied 1-1 midway through the first period and the Maple Leafs and Mammoth are scoreless about five minutes in.

9:08 p.m. ET

While the Habs and Sabres and Caps and Canes come down the stretch tied, we have a great one shaping up in The Peg, the Jets and Wild tied 2-2. Kirill Kaprizov has two goals for Minny. 

Can we get more OT tonight? Why not? 

We appear to have the remote situation squared away, but my son tries to sneak the baseball game on and I have to remind him it's hockey only down here. 

The Predators have gone ahead of the Golden Knights on a goal by Ryan O'Reilly. 

Nice moment in Dallas where a young girl rang the bell to symbolize the end of the chemotherapy. It's the first Hockey Fights Cancer Night of the season and it was a such a nice moment. 

The NHL put out a bunch of info on Hockey Fights Cancer for this year. Check it out on NHL.com.

8:57 p.m. ET

We are now up to 42 goals, according to the ESPN counter, Denton Mateychuk and Cole Sillinger of the Blue Jackets scoring 22 seconds apart in to cut Florida's lead to 6-3 with about five minutes left at Nationwide Arena. 

The Sabres and Canadiens are tied 3-3 with about 8:30 left at Bell Centre and the Caps and Canes are tied 2-2 early in the third. 

The Rangers lead the Lightning 3-1 with 1:34 left in the second on a goal by Will Cuylle. Here's a crazy stat. If the Rangers win this game in regulation, it would give them five regulation wins at home this season. They had nine regulation wins at home -- all of last season.

The Golden Knights and Predators are underway in Nashville. The Maple Leafs and Mammoth start in about 10 minutes. That's the final of the first 13 games that started within 15 minutes of each other.

8:50 p.m. ET

This is the first time I've done a live blog with multiple games going on. I usually do it for the Cup Final and that's one game and I'm in the building. 

This is a bit tougher. I have two TVs going, one game on my phone and one on my laptop, so it's hard to tell where music is coming from, so I don't know which rink is playing Metallica or Volbeat or Ozzy. 

While I type that, Olen Zellweger scores again and how the Sabres and Habs are tied 3-3. 

The Blackhawks also just scored again to take a 2-1 lead on the Penguins - it's Roman Kantserov on the power play.

8:43 p.m. ET 

One game ends - Detroit and New Jersey - and another - Colorado at Dallas - starts. Those games are ESPN exclusives, while ESPN+ and the ESPN app have all the other games. 

We had a quasi goalie fight in Philly, with Kraken goalie Philip Grubauer and Flyers forward Trevor Zegras mixing it up. 

The Jack Hughes overtime goal was the 35th of the night - as of 8:40 p.m. ET. 

The Rangers still lead the Lightning 2-1 at MSG. 

The Panthers are rolling 6-1 in Columbus 

The Canadiens lead the Sabres 3-1. 

The Capitals and Hurricanes are tied 2-2 

The Kraken lead the Flyers 2-0 

The Blues lead the Senators 1-0 

The Islanders lead the Canucks 2-0 

The Penguins and Blackhawks are tied 1-1 and the Wild and Jets are tied 1-1. In fact, I think the game-tying goal by Kirill Kaprizov is the 36th goal of the night. 

And the Stars and Avalanche are just getting started with Vegas and and Nashville next on the docket.

8:36 p.m. ET

And the Devils win in overtime. It's Jack Hughes - I think he scored a big overtime goal last February - scores on a breakaway to end it. 

If you get a second, check out the save Akira Schmid made for the Panthers against the Blue Jackets. It's a big one. 

And now Carter Verhaeghe has scored again and the Panthers rolling 6-1 in Columbus. 

The Avalanche and Stars, the 10th game of the night, will be starting momentarily now that the Detroit-New Jersey game is over.

8:31 p.m. ET

We have our first overtime game of the night and it's also the first game of the night. 

The Devils and Red Wings go past 60 minutes in hockeytown. 

The Jets and Wild have started and the Jets get the jump on a goal by Cole Perfetti (his fourth of the season). 

The Panthers are rolling 5-1 in Columbus, Sam Reinhart joining the party and Islanders now lead the Canucks 2-0 thanks to a goal from Matias Maccelli. 

Some more news tonight - this from Dallas. 

Stars forward Wyatt Johnston is out tonight (illness).

8:26 p.m. ET 

We had a few goals in the past few minutes. 

Sidney Crosby scored in Chicago to even the game with Blackhawks in the first period. 

Ville Ottavainen scored for the Kraken to give them a 2-0 lead in Philly (Gritty must be getting worried). 

The Devils and Red Wings are still tied with 2:40 left in the third. Only three of the nine games being played have multigoal leads.

The rest are tied or just one-goal games. 

What fun.

8:22 p.m. ET

The 10th game of the night is about to start, this one in Winnipeg between the Jets and Wild. 

Some updates as we approach 8:30 here on the East Coast. 

The Devils and Red Wings are tied 4-4 with under 5 minutes left. 

The Panthers lead the Blue Jackets 4-1 in the second intermission, and the Habs lead the Sabres 3-1 also in the second intermission. 

The Capitals lead the Hurricanes 2-1 in the second period and the Kraken lead the Flyers 2-0 in the second. 

The Rangers are up 2-1 on the Lightning ready to start the second. 

And the most recent games to start - the Blackhawks and Penguins are tied 1-1, the Blues lead the Senators and the Islanders lead the Canucks. All 1-0. 

We seem to have the remote situation under control - the key is you have to aim the one at a 90-degree angle from the on TV so that TV will change while the other one wont.

8:15 p.m. ET

The first game of the night appears to be going down to the wire. The Devils and Red Wings are tied 4-4 with under seven minutes to go. 

What a way to start this incredible night. 

We just had our first penalty shot of the night, with Seattle''s Jordan Eberle getting stopped by Flyers goalie Dan Vladar. 

Some injury news from our team of correspondents around the League. 

From Carolina, Kurt Dusterberg reports that Taylor Hall missed the start of the second period, returned for one shift, then headed to the room again. 

Sean Farrell in Montreal is reporting that Canadiens defenseman Noah Dobson left at 11:02 of the second period after he was struck in the face by a shot by Buffalo defenseman Mattias Samuelsson.

The Canadiens lead that game 3-1 on a goal late in the second period from Josh Anderson.

8:10 p.m. ET

John Gibson just made a stellar save to keep the Red Wings-Devils game tied. It wasn't on the level of the UPL save earlier in the night, but pretty good to keep New Jersey front taking the lead. 

They have dropped the puck in Chicago, so nine of the 16 games have started. We are in full frenzy mode now. And the Blackhawks score just 20 seconds in. Great start.  

My son is losing his mind while we flip the channel here. We have two TVs and two different remotes, but the TVs don't know which remote goes to which, so we have channels changing, and some salty language flying around when the wrong TV changes channels. 

It's a Frenzy here in the NJ bunker.

8:05 p.m. ET

And now the Blues have joined the goal party with Pius Suter giving St. Louis a 1-0 lead in Ottawa. That's 21 goals. 

No, wait, it's 22, with Carter Verhaeghe scoring for the Panthers to make it a 4-1 Panthers lead. 

What a big night for the Panthers, who went 2-2-2 through their first six games and never seemed to find their game. They have found it tonight. 

The first period is over at MSG with Rangers up 2-1. 

Well, now it's 23 with Alex DeBrincat scoring his second goal of the to tie things up with the Devils, 4-4. 

So we have one guy with three goals - Brady Tkachuk - and two guys - Alex Lafreniere and Alex DeBrincat with two each.

8:01 p.m. ET 

The Carolina Hurricanes join the goal-scoring party with Andrei Svechnikov getting on the board at 3:58 of the second to tie the game 1-1 against the Capitals. 

According to ESPN, that's the 19th goal scored so far tonight, with seven of them being scored in Detroit, where the Devils lead the Red Wings 4-3 after two periods. 

Brady Tkachuk has the most goals so far with three and Alex Lafreniere is right on his tail with two. 

Again, it's early. Eight games have started, and none or over. 

Oh, and make that 20 goals, with Zemgus Girgenson's scoring for the Lightning to make it a 2-1 game at MSG.

7:55 p.m. ET

We have our first set of fisticuffs on the night, with Matt Rempe of the Rangers and Jeffrey Viel dropping the gloves at MSG. The Rangers and their fans are feeling it. 

The next game on the slate tonight - the Canucks at Islanders - has officially begun so that's now 8 games having started and it's not even 8 p.m. yet. 

I'm no math major, but I think eight is half of 16. 

The ninth game will be the return of Connor Bedard to the Blackhawks as he finally gets to play with Blackhawks legend Patrick Kane. Will be an electric night in Chicago.

7:50 p.m. ET 

How's everyone doing out there? 

It's been an eventful night and we are still not even two hours in. 

Brady Tkachuk has his first, second and third goals for the Florida Panthers. 

And Alex Lafreniere now has two for the Rangers and seven this season. What has gotten into him? He's the first player to hit seven goals this season. 

But to me, the highlight so far is the fit Kevin Weekes is wearing on ESPN2. Check it out. You may need sunglasses.

7:44 p.m. ET 

This is turning into the Brady Tkachuk Frenzy. The Panthers forward, who hadn't scored in Florida's first six games, has three tonight all assisted by his brother, Matthew. 

That is what the Panthers fans envisioned when they traded for him back in June. 

What a huge game for Brady with guys like Barkov and Marchand hurt. 

Six games are now going with Ottawa and St. Louis just getting started in Ottawa. Next up are the Canucks and Islanders at UBS Arena.

7:50 p.m. ET

We have 40 minutes in the books in Detroit and the Devils lead 4-3 over the Red Wings. 

Meanwhile, Connor Bedard is in the lineup in Chicago for his season debut against the Penguins. That one will start a little after 8. 

Washington and Carolina are in the first intermission with Washington up 1-0. 

The Sabres and Canadiens are also through one period and it's 1-1 in Montreal.

The Kraken lead the Flyers 1-0 in the first and Blues and Senators have just started in Ottawa.

7:34 p.m. ET 

And now the Devils take a 4-3 lead on a goal from Jesper Bratt, what a wild game to start the Frenzy. 

The Rangers are buzzing at MSG. They appeared to score a second goal, but the puck stayed out. Even the spotlight came on for a brief second. 

The Panthers are now on top of Columbus on Brady Tkachuk's second goal of the game and season. Oh boy, maybe now that he has broken the seal, he has two goals. 

Look out. 

The next game will see the Blues and Senators start in Ottawa.

7:26 p.m. ET

And Brady Tkachuk is finally on the board for the Florida Panthers, scoring his first goal for Florida on an assist from his brother, Matthew. 

What a moment for the Tkachuks. Brady had struggled to score for Florida, but that monkey is off his back, so watch out. 

It's 1-1 between the Panthers and Blue Jacket in Columbus.

While Brady has struggled, Alex Lafreniere has not. He scored his sixth goal of the season just 1:02 into the game at MSG and the Rangers lead 1-0. 

What a start for the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.  

And now the Red Wings have tied up the Devils, 3-3, in Detroit. 

We are cooking now.

7:23 p.m. ET 

The Devils have now taken the lead in Detroit, 3-2, on a goal from Nico Hischier. The Red Wings scored early in the second to take a 2-1 lead, but the Devils have stormed back. 

And the Kraken have taken a 1-0 on the Flyers on a goal from Bobby McMann. 

We have five games underway and they are on the ice for warmups at Madison Square Garden where the Rangers and Lightning are meeting for the second time in about 12 days. 

The Blue Jackets and Panthers are getting ready to start the second period with Columbus up 1-0. The Sabres and Canadiens are tied 1-1, the Capitals lead the Hurricanes, 1-0. 

We are about 90 minutes into this blog and I'm already in awe of Scott Hanson, who hosts NHL Red Zone each Sunday. I don't know how he does it. 

Of course, I don't have an octobox here in the New Jersey bunker. Still, I'm already trying to figure out how take my bathroom break.

7:14 p.m. ET

Boone Jenner gets the Capitals on the board first in Raleigh, making it a 1-0 game at 9:26 of the first period. 

Speaking of Jenner, he had a big game the other night and we needed a pun headline for NHL.com and producer Dave Miniaci came up with OK, BOONER. I didn't get it, but editor George Henn explained it to me. Now I get it. 

I would've went with HERE'S BOONER - but that just shows how old I am. 

The Canadiens had a great chance to get on the board against the Sabres with a 5-on-3 and they cashed in on a goal by Lane Hutson. 

And now the Devils have tied the game in Detroit, 2-2, on a goal by Anthony Mantha.

7:07 p.m. ET

We have our save of the night candidate and we're just an hour into the night. UPL of the Sabres just robbed Josh Anderson on a 2-on-0. Check it out. 

The fans in Carolina just gave a nice ovation for Alex Ovechkin, who is making playing his final regular-season game in Raleigh tonight. Of course, he could be back there in the postseason. 

The Flyers and Kraken are getting ready to go and then up next are the Rangers and Lightning at MSG.

7:05 p.m. ET

While the first period ends in Columbus, the second period starts in Detroit. I mean, it was almost at the exact moment. 

And the Red Wings come out flying taking a 2-1 lead on a goal by Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. 

The break in the action in Columbus will give us time to head to Philly for the start of the Kraken-Flyers game. 

If you're keeping score at home, that's the fifth game of the night. 

The first 13 games of the night are all starting 15 minutes apart, right up until 9 p.m. between Utah and Toronto. 

Then there is a game at 9:45, 10:30 and 11. 

I'm tired just thinking about it.

7 p.m. 

Lars Eller has gone to the room in Columbus after taking a shot right to the face. As if the Panthers need any more injuries with Brad Marchand and Slava Barkov already out. 

The second period is about to start in Detroit with the Devils and Red Wings tied 1-1. 

The Sabres lead the Canadiens 1-0 and Blue Jackets lead the Panthers 1-0. No score yet between Carolina and Washington. 

Some lineup news from Dan Rosen at Madison Square Garden - Mads Sogaard is dressing as the Lightning backup to Andrei Vasilevskiy tonight. No word yet on Dennis Hildeby. He skated this morning. Sogaard was recalled from Syracuse today. Andrei Vasilevskiy is the starter.

6:55 p.m. ET 

The fourth game of the night has started, this one in Raleigh between the Hurricanes and Capitals. This will be Alex Ovechkin's final game in Carolina - at least in the regular season - as his farewell tour begins. 

To keep you all updated - the Devils and Red Wings are tied 1-1 after the first period, the Blue Jackets lead the Panthers 1-0 in Columbus and the Sabres lead the Canadiens 1-0 in Montreal. 

The next two starts will be the Philadelphia Flyers, who are looking for their first win of the season, against the Kraken. 

Then the Rangers, who are off to a surprising 5-2-0 start, host the Lightning, who have won four in a row. 

Good stuff.

6:51 p.m. ET 

And now the Blue Jackets are on the board in Columbus and the cannon has fired. 

Kent Johnson scores a nice move after Matthew Knies forces an offensive zone turnover against the Panthers. 

So we have four goals so far - two in Detroit, one in Montreal and one in Columbus. 

Johnson now has three goals this season. Good start for the Blue Jackets.

6:45 p.m. ET 

The Sabres strike first in Montreal with Olen Zellweger scoring at 2:18 of the first. Big goal for the Sabres, who are playing the second of a back to back after being the Panthers at home on Monday afternoon.  

It was a big day in Buffalo with the Sabres winning during the day and Bills winning a wild one against the Rams on Monday Night Football. I'm a Rams fan so that's the last time we will mention that game. 

The first period of the first game - in Detroit - is in the books with the Devils and Red Wings tied 1-1. 

Next up are Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals at the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, followed by the Seattle Kraken at the Philadelphia Flyers at 7. 

That's when the ESPN2 whiparound show will start as well, and I expect plenty of good times there. 

6:40 p.m. ET

The Red Wings are on the board in Detroit and it's tied 1-1 late in the first period. It's Emmitt Finnie with the goal. 

As Shawn Roarke would say, we have our first taste of argy bargy tonight with the Blue Jackets and Panthers introducing themselves to each other after a scramble in front of the Blue Jackets goal. 

I expect a lot of that tonight as well. The first few weeks of the season are in the books and some teams are already starting to feel to heat of slow starts. 

And now we have our first penalty of the night, with Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers going off with 10:06 left in the first period. 

We are about to start in Montreal, where the Sabres and Canadiens meet for the first time since their epic 7-game second round series from last year.

6:30 p.m. ET

We have started in Columbus and next up is the game between the Sabres and Canadiens in Montreal followed by the Capitals and Hurricanes in Raleigh.

In case you are just joining, we have 16 games tonight, and two are already underway with the Devils leading the Red Wings 1-0 and the Panthers and Blue Jackets scoreless. 

The ESPN2 whiparound show starts at 7, and by them six games will be underway or just about to start.

6:15 p.m. ET 

We have our first goal of the night, the Devils taking a 1-0 lead on a goal by Evan Rodrigues. 

I'm sure it will be the first of many tonight. 

The second game of the night between the Panthers and Blue Jackets is just about to start in Columbus. 

The Panthers are already dealing with injuries to Slava Barkov and Brad Marchand and are 2-2-2. Columbus is playing just its fifth game of the season, and enter with a 2-2-0 record.

6:10 p.m. ET 

The puck has dropped in Detroit and not only is this the first game of the Frozen Frenzy, it's a huge game for the Devils and Red Wings. 

The Red Wings are 1-3-1 in their first five games while the Devils or 2-3-0. 

As Yogi Berra said, "It's getting late early" for both teams. 

We all know what has gone on with the Red Wings - from the Dylan Larkin saga to the Simon Edvinsson situation. 

The Devils are having trouble scoring, averaging 2.20 goals per game, which is tied for 26th in the NHL. 

Something has to give and maybe one of these teams can get on a roll. 

In case you're wondering, I have two TVs going here at NHL.com Frozen Frenzy central. The main ESPN is on one TV while I have the ESPN app on the other. There is can watch multiple games at once and then will go to the whiparound show when that starts in an hour. 

Here we go. 

5:45 p.m. ET

We are about 15 minutes from the first puck drop of what should be a big night in the NHL. 

If you want a one-stop shop for all the projected lineups and goalies for tonight, here you go. 

One name you will find in the Ducks lineup is Roger McQueen, who is making his NHL debut tonight. 

The No. 10 pick by Anaheim in the 2025 NHL Draft, McQueen was recalled from San Diego of the American Hockey League after leading the team with three goals in four AHL games. The 20-year-old forward, who signed his entry-level contract with the Ducks on April 18, practiced on the third line between Frank Vatrano and A.J. Greer. 

"It's a great day, so very excited," McQueen said. "Kind of waited for this moment for a while, so super excited. Obviously, just trying to get the win and just enjoy it. You only get this once, so it's one of those things you want to enjoy." 

Here is all the lineup news for today.

And if you play fantasy hockey, here are some picks from our crack fantasy team. 

I'll be back when the puck drops in Detroit. 

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5:30 p.m. ET\\

We are about 30 minutes away from puck drop in Detroit where the Red Wings and New Jersey Devils will start the Frenzy on ESPN. From there, a game will start every 15 minutes through 9 p.m. ET when the Utah Mammoth host the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

Then there is a game at 9:45 p.m. ET (Flames at Ducks), 10:30 p.m. ET (Oilers at Kings) before the Bruins and Sharks at 11.

The whiparound show on ESPN2 begins at 7 p.m. It should be a blast. 

The big pregame news today was that Chicago Blackhawks captain Connor Bedard will make his season debut. He was injured in the offseason and was expected to miss four months, but he’s back a month early. That’s great news for Chicago, which is off to a 1-5-0 start. 

While we all get ready for what’s about to unfold, here is some assigned reading material to get you prepped for the night. 

Here is Mike Zeisberger’s story from the ESPN announcers’ perspective.

Many of the players who won gold for Team USA at the Winter Olympics will be in action tonight. Here Dan Rosen writes about how their lives have changed since that big win in Milan. 

Who are some of the breakout stars in NHL who will be playing tonight? Let other NHL players tell you who. 

Kevin Weekes will be part of ESPN’s whiparound show tonight. Read what he had to say about Frozen Frenzy.