New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad celebrates with teammates after scoring an empty net goal for his third of the game against the Florida Panthers in the 2026 Winter Classic ice hockey game at loanDepot Park (Rhona Wise-Imagn Images)

NHL Morning Recap – January 3, 2026

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Spencer Lazary | Last updated Jan 3, 2026 5:30 AM ET

Welcome to another edition of the NHL Morning Recap.

All the Latest NHL Daily Recaps

Today, we will be looking at the scores of the four NHL games that were played on Jan. 2, 2026. Which saw the Florida Panthers host the New York Rangers in the 2026 Winter Classic. As well as the Minnesota Wld and Anaheim Ducks battle it out in the late game.

All that and more in the Morning Recap.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3 at BLUES 4

Vegas Golden Knights Scoring Summary

P1 10:12 – Keegan Kolesar (1) from Colton Sissons (3), Kaedan Korczak (7)
P2 9:10 – Mark Stone (11) from Brett Howden (5)
P3 8:21 – Pavel Dorofeyev (16) from Braeden Bowman (9)

St. Louis Blues Scoring Summary

P1 10:39 – Alexey Toropchenko (2) from Mathieu Joseph (7), Oskar Sundqvist (10)
P2 5:39 – Justin Faulk (11) from Pavel Buchnevich (15), Tyler Tucker (6)
P2 6:37 – Sundqvist (2) from Toropchenko (2), Joseph (8)
P3 18:27 – Brayden Schenn (9) from Jimmy Snuggerud (7), Buchnevich (16)

RANGERS 5 at PANTHERS 1

Rangers Beat the Panthers 5-1 in Winter Classic

New York Rangers Scoring Summary

P1 15:09 – Mika Zibanejad (13) from Alexis Lafreniere (13), Artemi Panarin (28)
P1 16:13 – Panarin (15) from Zibanejad (19), Lafreniere (14)
P2 0:58 – Zibanejad (14) from Lafreniere (15), Vincent Trocheck (14)
P3 12:25 – Panarin (16) from Trocheck (15), Zibanejad (20)
P3 18:32 – Zibanejad (15) – Empty Net

Florida Panthers Scoring Summary

P3 2:20 – Sam Reinhart (23) from Sam Bennett (17), Brad Marchand (23)

KRAKEN at CANUCKS

Seattle Kraken Scoring Summary

P1 17:34 – Cale Fleury (1) from Jamie Oleksiak (5), Kaapo Kakko (8)
P2 8:53 – Chandler Stephenson (11) from Jordan Eberle (13), Jared McCann (4)
P2 18:13 – Ben Meyers (3) from Ryan Winterton (5), Jacob Melanson (3)

Vancouver Canucks Scoring Summary

P3 6:15 – Linus Karlsson (10) from Filip Hronek (21), DeBrusk (10)
P3 13:06 – Jake DeBrusk (10) from Kiefer Sherwood (17), Tom Willander (10)
P3 19:22 – DeBrusk (10) from Brock Boeser (9), Elias Pettersson (15)

Shootout Summary:

SEA: Matty Beniers – Winner

WILD 5 at DUCKS 2

Minnesota Wild Scoring Summary

P1 5:39 – Kirill Kaprizov (24) from Joel Eriksson Ek (20), Quinn Hughes (28)
P2 8:10 – Danila Yurov (5) from Yakov Trenin (11), Hughes (29)
P2 14:45 – Trenin (3) from Hughes (30), Eriksson Ek (21)
P3 3:21 – Yurov (6) from Hughes (31), Mats Zuccarello (14)
P3 15:02 – Nico Sturm (3) from Marcus Foligno (3), Jonas Brodin (10)

Anaheim Ducks Scoring Summary

P2 13:46 – Beckett Sennecke (13) from Mason McTavish (16)
P3 17:27 – Troy Terry (13) from Mikael Granlund (9)