NHL Puckdoku answers and clues: October 18th, 2023

WARNING: THERE ARE PUCKDOKU SPOILERS AHEAD. DO NOT CONTINUE SCROLLING IF YOU DON’T WANT TODAY’S PUZZLE SPOILED FOR YOU.

The new game “Puckdoku” is taking the hockey world by storm. Here’s how it works. There’s a 3×3 grid, and each row and column are marked with either a team or a statistic of some sort. You have to guess players who meet the criteria for both the column and the row for the square you’re on. For example…if your square is in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ column and the St. Louis Blue row…Ryan O’Reilly would work. If it’s in the Washington Capitals column and the row says “40+ goals in a season”, Alex Ovechkin would work. You can play the daily Puckdoku puzzle here:

There’s also a rarity score in the form of a percentage next to the player you guess…the lower the percentage, the more rare the guess. Once you start getting used to the game, you want to shoot for a low rarity score. 

Without further ado, here are some hints for today’s Puckdoku puzzle, designed by TSN/Athletic Insider Chris Johnston. You can play the game for yourself here. 

Capitals/Flyers: He had a fan group that followed him from game to game wearing his many different jerseys

Kings/Flyers: He had a stop with the Columbus Blue Jackets in between these two teams

Flyers/played with Mark Recchi: He was a first overall pick in the 1990s

Capitals/Hurricanes: He scored 30+ goals three times in his NHL career

Kings/Hurricanes: His nickname is “Mr. Game 7”

Hurricanes/played with Mark Recchi: He is currently an NHL head coach

Capitals/1000+ career GP: He’s one of the most prolific goal scorers of this generation

Kings/1000+ career GP: He’s the greatest Slovenian player to ever live

Played with Mark Recchi/1000+ career GP: He is a two-time Cup champion and a four-time all-star

The most popular answers to today’s Puckdoku puzzle are below this picture of referees. Don’t scroll if you don’t want spoilers!