NBA and NHL and College football results for Tuesday, October 20, 2026: the day in numbers
Tuesday's biggest storyline was the start of the NBA season, which opened with three games and a pair of road winners. Paul George hung 38 points on DET, but it was DET that came out 1-0. Elsewhere, the NHL played eleven games, and a college football night produced a 99-point shootout.
NBA
The opener of the night was the most interesting one on the board. BOS fell 121-113 at DET even though Paul George scored 38 points on 12-of-21 shooting, with seven threes, five rebounds, three assists and five steals. He led all scorers in a loss, and BOS is now 0-1. DET is 1-0, and its scoring was spread out: Jalen Duren had 22 points and 9 rebounds on 8-of-13 shooting, and Cade Cunningham added 22 points and 8 assists.
PHI won on the road at NY, 106-100, to go 1-0 and send NY to 0-1. Tyrese Maxey led the way with 28 points, 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks on 9-of-19 shooting. That 206 combined was the lowest total of the NBA night.
OKC beat SA 116-104 on the road. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points on 13-of-27 shooting, with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. For SA, Stephon Castle scored 24 points with 7 rebounds and five threes. With only opening-night games played, there is no season average combined score or player average to measure any of these against yet.
NHL
The NHL's 11 games averaged 6.5 combined goals, well above the season average of 5.6 coming in. Seven of the 11 games reached 7 or more goals combined, and only three stayed at 5 or fewer.
The biggest offensive game was CAR's 6-3 win at VAN, which was also the night's highest total at 9. CAR is 1-1, and VAN fell to 0-1. Four CAR players showed up among the standouts: Nikolaj Ehlers (2 goals, 1 assist, 4 shots), Logan Stankoven (2 goals, 1 assist, 5 shots), Jackson Blake (3 assists) and Nicolas Deslauriers (2 goals).
The night's one upset by records came in MTL, where SJ won 4-3 to move to 1-2 against an MTL team that fell to 1-1. Macklin Celebrini had 2 goals and an assist on 6 shots in that game.
Mikko Rantanen produced the only hat trick, scoring 3 goals on 6 shots as DAL beat BOS 3-2 and improved to 2-0. Rantanen accounted for all three DAL goals.
In EDM, a 4-3 win over MIN kept the home team at 2-0. Leon Draisaitl scored twice and Connor McDavid had three assists.
TB won 6-2 at VGK, with Anthony Cirelli scoring twice and Nikita Kucherov adding a goal and two assists. TOR also scored six, beating CBJ 6-2 to reach 2-1, with Easton Cowan posting a goal and two assists. LA beat WSH 5-2, with Adrian Kempe scoring twice on 6 shots and Artemi Panarin adding a goal and two assists.
Low-scoring games were the exception. WPG lost 2-1 at STL, the night's lowest total at 3. COL is 0-2 after a 4-3 loss at NJ, despite two goals from Artturi Lehkonen. ANA is also 0-2 after a 3-2 loss at NYI, which is 2-0.
College football
The night's headline was DEL's 61-38 win over MOST. The 99 combined points were far above the 53.3 season average across 510 games, nearly double it. The win ended a 3-game losing streak for DEL, which is now 3-4, while MOST fell to 2-5.
The other two games were closer to normal. MTSU beat FIU 26-23 for its second straight win and moved to 4-3, while FIU has now lost two in a row and is 3-4. The 49 combined points came in a bit under the season average. MRSH beat USA 20-13 to reach 4-3, and USA dropped to 4-3 as well. That game's 33 combined points was 20.3 below the season average.
Numbers to know
Paul George's 38 points were the most in any NBA game on the night, and his team lost.
The NHL's 11 games averaged 6.5 goals, compared with a season average of 5.6.
DEL and MOST combined for 99 points, 45.7 above the college football season average of 53.3.
Mikko Rantanen's 3 goals were the only hat trick of the NHL night.
CAR's 6-3 win at VAN was the highest-scoring NHL game of the day at 9 combined goals.
NBA final scores
| Game | Final | Records now |
|---|---|---|
| BOS @ DET | 113-121 | BOS 0-1 (L1) · DET 1-0 (W1) |
| PHI @ NY | 106-100 | PHI 1-0 (W1) · NY 0-1 (L1) |
| OKC @ SA | 116-104 | OKC 1-0 (W1) · SA 0-1 (L1) |
NBA standout games
| Player | Line |
|---|---|
| Paul George BOS vs DET | 38 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl (12-21 FG, 7 3PM) scoring leader, 7+ threes |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander OKC vs SA | 32 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl, 3 blk (13-27 FG, 3 3PM) scoring leader |
| Tyrese Maxey PHI vs NY | 28 pts, 4 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl, 3 blk (9-19 FG, 2 3PM) scoring leader |
| Stephon Castle SA vs OKC | 24 pts, 7 reb, 1 ast (9-21 FG, 5 3PM) scoring leader |
| Jalen Duren DET vs BOS | 22 pts, 9 reb, 1 ast (8-13 FG, 0 3PM) scoring leader |
| Cade Cunningham DET vs BOS | 22 pts, 4 reb, 8 ast (8-18 FG, 1 3PM) scoring leader |
NHL final scores
| Game | Final | Records now |
|---|---|---|
| SJ @ MTL | 4-3 | SJ 1-2 (W1) · MTL 1-1 (L1) |
| COL @ NJ | 3-4 | COL 0-2 (L2) · NJ 1-0 (W1) |
| ANA @ NYI | 2-3 | ANA 0-2 (L2) · NYI 2-0 (W2) |
| LA @ WSH | 5-2 | LA 1-1 (W1) · WSH 0-1 (L1) |
| TOR @ CBJ | 6-2 | TOR 2-1 (W2) · CBJ 1-2 (L2) |
| WPG @ STL | 1-2 | WPG 0-1 (L1) · STL 1-1 (W1) |
| BOS @ DAL | 2-3 | BOS 1-1 (L1) · DAL 2-0 (W2) |
| MIN @ EDM | 3-4 | MIN 1-1 (L1) · EDM 2-0 (W2) |
| DET @ SEA | 3-4 | DET 1-1 (L1) · SEA 1-0 (W1) |
| CAR @ VAN | 6-3 | CAR 1-1 (W1) · VAN 0-1 (L1) |
| TB @ VGK | 6-2 | TB 1-0 (W1) · VGK 1-1 (L1) |
NHL standout games
| Player | Line |
|---|---|
| Nikolaj Ehlers CAR vs VAN | 2 G, 1 A, 4 shots two goals, 3-point night |
| Logan Stankoven CAR vs VAN | 2 G, 1 A, 5 shots two goals, 3-point night |
| Macklin Celebrini SJ vs MTL | 2 G, 1 A, 6 shots two goals, 3-point night |
| Jackson Blake CAR vs VAN | 0 G, 3 A, 5 shots 3-point night |
| Nicolas Deslauriers CAR vs VAN | 2 G, 0 A, 2 shots two goals |
| Artturi Lehkonen COL vs NJ | 2 G, 0 A, 2 shots two goals |
| Mikko Rantanen DAL vs BOS | 3 G, 0 A, 6 shots hat trick |
| Leon Draisaitl EDM vs MIN | 2 G, 0 A, 4 shots two goals |
| Connor McDavid EDM vs MIN | 0 G, 3 A, 4 shots 3-point night |
| Adrian Kempe LA vs WSH | 2 G, 0 A, 6 shots two goals |
| Artemi Panarin LA vs WSH | 1 G, 2 A, 3 shots 3-point night |
| Anthony Cirelli TB vs VGK | 2 G, 0 A, 2 shots two goals |
| Nikita Kucherov TB vs VGK | 1 G, 2 A, 2 shots 3-point night |
| Easton Cowan TOR vs CBJ | 1 G, 2 A, 2 shots 3-point night |
College football final scores
| Game | Final | Records now |
|---|---|---|
| MTSU @ FIU | 26-23 | MTSU 4-3 (W2) · FIU 3-4 (L2) |
| MOST @ DEL | 38-61 | MOST 2-5 (L1) · DEL 3-4 (W1) |
| USA @ MRSH | 13-20 | USA 4-3 (L1) · MRSH 4-3 (W1) |
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