NHL2026-10-30Logan Cooley Completes a Hat Trick With One Second Left in His Hometown, and the Mammoth Beat the Penguins in Overtime: Thursday's NHL Fantasy Notes
By Verdexed NHL Desk
Logan Cooley picked the right building for the best night of his season. The Utah Mammoth center, a Pittsburgh native, batted a puck out of the air with one second left in the third period to complete his hat trick and tie the Penguins 3-3 on Thursday, and Mikhail Sergachev scored at 3:27 of overtime to give Utah a 4-3 win. Pittsburgh had taken the lead on a Ben Kindel goal with 22 seconds left in regulation.
It was Cooley's fourth career hat trick and pushed him to seven goals on the season. He scored twice in the first period and finished it off with the tying goal off a Vince Trocheck shot. For fantasy managers, it is the latest sign that Cooley's eight-year, $80 million contract was a bet on exactly this kind of production.
Cooley's breakout case
Cooley's 2025-26 season was interrupted by injury: he missed 28 games and still finished with 24 goals and 43 points. A full, healthy season was the missing piece in his fantasy profile, and the early returns are strong. Seven goals in the opening weeks puts him on a pace well above last year's per-game rate.
The usage is what makes it sustainable. Cooley is a top-six center for a Utah team built around young scorers, and the Mammoth lean on him in high-leverage moments, as the final seconds of regulation showed. Veterans like Trocheck, whose shot Cooley batted in for the tying goal, give him more support than he had early in his career.
The risk is shooting percentage. Hat tricks come with hot streaks, and a goal-scoring pace this high usually cools. But even a regression leaves Cooley as a high-end fantasy center in points leagues, and his shot volume supports his value in category formats.
The Penguins' side
Pittsburgh lost a point it had in hand with one second left, a painful result for a team that has been publicly listening to offers on veterans. Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell have all been mentioned as available, which makes the Penguins' rest-of-season fantasy outlook dependent on the trade market.
Kindel's go-ahead goal is a positive note. The young center returned to the lineup this week, and a late goal in a tight game is the kind of moment that earns more ice time.
Elsewhere on Thursday night
Six games produced several results worth acting on:
| Game | Result | Fantasy note |
|---|---|---|
| Mammoth at Penguins | UTA 4-3 (OT) | Cooley hat trick, Sergachev OT winner |
| Red Wings vs. Blackhawks | DET 4-1 | Arvidsson hat trick, Larkin suspended |
| Canadiens vs. Stars | MTL 5-2 | Caufield, Newhook two goals each |
| Lightning vs. Jets | TB 6-4 | Holmberg career-high four points |
| Hurricanes vs. Blue Jackets | CAR 3-2 | Kochetkov 9-0 |
| Sabres vs. Ducks | BUF win | Thompson natural hat trick |
Montreal has won four straight, and Cole Caufield and Alex Newhook each scored twice. Newhook is the more actionable name; a two-goal game while playing in a productive lineup makes him a streaming option in deeper leagues.
Tampa Bay got a career-high four points from Pontus Holmberg in a win that extended Winnipeg's losing streak to seven. The Jets' slide is now a real fantasy concern for their skaters and goalies.
Buffalo scored six straight goals in its win over Anaheim, and Tage Thompson recorded a natural hat trick. Thompson's ceiling is among the highest of any winger when he is shooting this well.
Injuries to track
Zach Hyman, Oilers. Edmonton placed Hyman on injured reserve on Wednesday with a stiff neck after he hit the back of his head on the glass against Detroit. Coach Mike Babcock said the news was better than expected and that the team is being cautious. It is his second IR stint of the season, after an upper-body injury in the opener cost him six games. There is no firm timeline.
Jared Spurgeon, Wild. The Minnesota defenseman and captain is week to week with a lower-body injury from Tuesday's win at Utah. His absence opens power-play time on the Wild blue line.
Kyle Capobianco, Stars. Out four weeks with a lower-body injury.
The Verdexed angle
Late-game swings like Cooley's tying goal are why overtime and regulation markets are priced differently. A team that consistently forces overtime can be worth more in moneyline markets than its regulation record suggests. For Utah, a young team with top-end scoring talent, the late push is a trait worth tracking.
The model's nightly calls are on the NHL picks pages, today at /blog/nhl-picks-2026-10-30, with the full board at /nhl/predictions.
What to do in your league
Start Cooley every night and treat him as a top fantasy center. Add Alex Newhook in deeper leagues while Montreal rolls. Monitor Kindel in Pittsburgh as a potential riser if the Penguins sell veterans. Move Hyman to IR and hold. Pick up a Wild defenseman with power-play upside while Spurgeon is out. And keep starting Tage Thompson, whose shooting form makes him a weekly must-start.