Saturday Night Hockey

Heading in to Saturday’s games the L.A. Kings and Detroit Red Wings were the only teams not to have played their first game of the season. Now everyone has played at least once.

The San Jose Sharks have had a busy week – after allowing nine goals in two games against Vegas, including five on Friday night, they could only hope that they could turn a horrific start around against the Anaheim Ducks.

 

Carolina Hurricanes v Washington Capitals

3-2 (OT)

Jake Gardiner scored his first goal for Carolina, who trailed 2-0 entering the third period, with 56 seconds remaining in overtime to give the visitors a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena.

Gardiner picked up a loose puck near center ice, entered the Washington zone on a 2-on-1 with Sebastian Aho and beat Braden Holtby from the left face-off circle.

“I thought originally that Nicklas Backstrom was kind of fading towards Sebastian there, and usually I would pass that probably,” Gardiner said. “But since I saw that, I decided to shoot.”

Erik Haula and Jaccob Slavin also scored, and Andrei Svechnikov had two assists for the Canes, who have won their first two games of the season despite trailing after two periods in each. They defeated the Canadiens 4-3 in overtime on Thursday.

James Reimer made 33 saves in his Carolina debut.

Garnet Hathaway and T.J. Oshie scored, and Braden Holtby made 25 saves for the Capitals, who were playing their home opener and the second of back-to-back games, and lost for the first time in three games this season.

The comeback win was made even more dramatic due to the recent history between the teams. Carolina eliminated their hosts with a 4-3 double-overtime victory in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round at the Capital One Arena in April. The Hurricanes trailed 2-0 and 3-1 in that game.

Up Next:

Lightning v Canes – Sunday, October 6 (5pm – ESPN+)

Stars v Capitals – Tuesday, October 8 (7pm – ESPN+)

 

New Jersey Devils v Buffalo Sabres

2-7

Victor Olofsson and Sam Reinhart each scored two goals for the Buffalo Sabres in their home opener, a 7-2 thrashing of the New Jersey Devils at KeyBank Center.

Captain Jack Eichel had three points (1g, 2a), Jeff Skinner had a goal and one assist, and Rasmus Dahlin had three assists for the Sabres, who have won their first two games of the season for the first time since 2012/13, and went 3-for-3 on the power play after going 1-for-2 in their 3-1 win at Pittsburgh on Thursday. Carter Hutton made 18 saves. 

Dahlin tied his NHL career-high point total set at the Washington Capitals (1g, 2a) on December 15, 2018, whilst Ralph Kruger became the fourth coach to win his first two games with the Sabres, joining Marcel Pronovost (Oct. 13-15, 1977), Scotty Bowman (Oct. 11-13, 1979) and Jim Roberts (Dec. 9-12, 1981).

Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac scored and Mackenzie Blackwood allowed seven goals on 26 shots for New Jersey, who lost 5-4 in a shootout to the Winnipeg Jets in their season opener on Friday. Nico Hischier‘s assist on Palmieri‘s goal was his 100th NHL point.

Up Next:

Devils v Flyers – Wednesday, October 9 (7:30pm – NBCSN)

Sabres v Blue Jackets – Monday, October 7 (7pm – ESPN+)

 

Montreal Canadiens v Toronto Maple Leafs

6-5 (SO)

The Montreal Canadiens rallied with four goals in the third period to force the Maple Leafs into a shootout, which they won.

Montreal scored four times in 9:53 to take a 5-4 lead before Auston Matthews tied it with 1:15 remaining in the third with goalie Michael Hutchinson pulled for the extra skater.

Matthews scored twice, Alexander Kerfoot had a goal and two assists, Trevor Moore had a goal and an assist, and Hutchinson made 37 saves for the 2-0-1 Leafs. 

Kerfoot‘s three points saw him tie his NHL high, and Matthews became the third player in franchise history to have multiple season-opening goal streaks of at least three games (he also did it in 2018/19), joining Corb Denney (1917/18, 1921,22) and Babe Dye (1921-22, 1925-26).

Max Domi, Jonathan Drouin, Brendan Gallagher, Jeff Petry and Phillip Danault all scored for the visitors, with Paul Byron scoring the only goal of the shootout to send them victorious. Carey Price made 32 saves.

 

Up Next:

Blues v Leafs – Monday, October 7 (7pm)

Canadiens v Sabres – Tuesday, October 8 (7pm)

 

New York Rangers v Ottawa Senators

4-1

Mika Zibanejad had a hat trick and an assist for the New York Rangers in their 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.

Zibanejad, who scored at even strength, on the power play and shorthanded, leads the NHL with eight points (4g, 4a) in two games. It’s his third NHL hat trick. The forward is the second player in franchise history to have eight points through the first two games of a season (Rod Gilbert, 1976/77), and is the sixth player in NHL history with at least fourr points in each of his team’s first two games – the first since John Cullen in 1990/91 for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Pavel Buchnevich had two assists, and Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist for the visitors, who have won their first two games and went 2-for-2 on the power play. Alexander Georgiev made 31 saves in his first start of the season.

Brady Tkachuk scored, and Craig Anderson made 26 saves for the hosts, who have allowed nine goals in their first two games – they lost 5-3 in Toronto on Wednesday – and were 0-for-5 on the power play.

Up Next:

Oilers v Rangers – Saturday, October 12 (1pm)

Blues v Senators – Thursday, October 10 (7:30pm)

 

Tampa Bay Lightning v Florida Panthers

3-4

Mike Hoffman scored a hat trick as the Florida Panthers held on for a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in their home opener at BB&T Center.

Florida split the season-opening home-and-home to give coach Joel Quenneville and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky their first win with Florida.

Noel Acciari scored his first goal with the Panthers, who had lost seven in a row to Tampa Bay, and Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists. Bobrovsky made 30 saves, including two in the final four seconds. 

Gemel Smith, Steven Stamkos and Mathieu Joseph scored for the Bolts, who defeated their opponents 5-2 at Amalie Arena on Thursday. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves.

Up Next:

Lightning v Canes – Sunday, October 6 (5pm – ESPN+)

Canes v Panthers – Tuesday, October 8 (7pm)

 

Columbus Blue Jackets v Pittsburgh Penguins

2-7

Jared McCann scored twice and assisted another in a five-goal second period for the Pittsburgh Penguins, helping them on their way to a 7-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena.

Patric Hornqvist had two goals and Matt Murray made 28 saves to ensue Pittsburgh’s eight straight home win against Columbus. The Pens haven’t lost to the Blue Jackets in Pittsburgh since November of 2015, and are 16-4-0 at home all-time against them.

Centers Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bjugstad each left with apparent injuries for the hosts. Malkin didn’t return after tripping over teammate Kris Letang and tumbling into the boards midway through the second period, and Bjugstad excited early in the third. Malkin saw his nine-game point streak against Columbus come to an end. He had 11pts (3g, 8a) during that stretch.

With two assists, Sid Crosby passed Larry Murphy and tied Jean Beliveau for 41st place on the NHL’s all-time points list with 1,219 (446g, 773a) in 945 games.

Zach Werenski and Gustav Nyquist scored for the visitors, Riley Nash got the primary assist on both, and Elvis Merzlikins made 33 saves on 40 shots.

 

Dallas Stars v St. Louis Blues

2-3

Sammy Blais had a goal and an assist as the St. Louis Blues rallied for two third-period goals to defeat the Dallas Stars 3-2 at Enterprise Center.

Blais had his first multipoint NHL game, David Perron and Brayden Schenn also scored, and Jordan Binnington made 28 saves for the reigning champions, who got their first win of the season (lost 3-2 in overtime to Capitals on Wednesday). 

With the assist on Schenn‘s goal, Vladimir Tarasenko now has 24pts (16g, 8a) in 28 regular-season games against Dallas.

Mattias Janmark scored shorthanded, Miro Heiskanen also scored, and Ben Bishop made 27 saves for the visitors, who have lost both games this season (2-1 to Bruins on Thursday), and who had a power-play goal by Esa Lindell overturned at 2:23 of the third after a Blues challenge for offside.

Up Next:

Stars v Red Wings – Sunday, October 6 (7pm – ESPN+) 

Blues v Leafs – Monday, October 7 (7pm)

 

Detroit Red Wings v Nashville Predators

5-3

Tyler Bertuzzi had two goals and two assists for the Detroit Red Wings in their season opener, a 5-3 victory over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.

Anthony Mantha had a goal and two assists, Dylan Larkin and Luke Glendening had a goal and an assist, and Jimmy Howard made 39 saves for Detroit, who have won 10 of their last 11 games against Nashville.

Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg scored, and Mattias Ekholm had a goal and an assist for the hosts. Matt Duchene had two assists for the Preds after having three in a 5-2 win over Minnesota Wild in their season opener on Thursday.

Nashville and Dante Fabbro thought he’d scored at 12:08 of the first period, but Detroit challenged for goalie interference and the goal was overturned.

Up Next:

Stars v Red Wings – Sunday, October 6 (7pm – ESPN+) 

Sharks v Predators – Tuesday, October 8 (8pm – NBCSN)

 

Boston Bruins v Arizona Coyotes

1-0

Brad Marchand scored and Jaroslav Halak made 35 saves as the Boston Bruins won their 15th consecutive game against the Arizona Coyotes with a 1-0 win at Gila River Arena.

Boston tied its team record of 15 consecutive wins against one opponent, originally set against Philly from 1970-72. They haven’t lost to Arizona since October 9, 2010 – the longest current streak against one opponent in the NHL. 

Coyotes forward Phil Kessel, traded by the Pens on June 29, played his 776th consecutive game to tie Craig Ramsay for seventh place on the NHL’s all time list. Meanwhile Arizona defenseman Alex Goligoski played his 800th NHL game.

Up Next:

Bruins v Knights – Tuesday, October 8 (10pm – ESPN+)

Knights v Coyotes – Thursday, October 10 (10pm)

 

Minnesota Wild v Colorado Avalanche

2-4

Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist for the Colorado Avalanche in a 4-2 home victory over the Minnesota Wild at Pepsi Center.

Ryan Graves, Gabriel Landeskog and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare added their names to the scoresheet, whilst Nathan MacKinnon had two assists and Phillip Grubauer made 29 saves for the 2-0-0 Avs.

Matt Calvert played his 500th NHL game, and Landeskog‘s goal was his 178th, tying him with Matt Duchene for seventh in franchise history. MacKinnon‘s two assists also tie him with Duchene for 10th place in Colorado history with 250.

Zach Parise and Ryan Suter scored, and Devan Dubnyk, who was playing his 300th game with Minnesota – the second most for a goalie in franchise history – made 28 saves for the 0-2-0 Wild.

Up Next:

Wild v Jets – Thursday, October 10 (8pm)

Bruins v Avalanche – Thursday, October 10 (9pm)

 

San Jose Sharks v Anaheim Ducks

1-3

The San Jose Sharks lost for the third consecutive game, this time 3-1 to the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center. It’s the first time they have lost three in a row to start a season since 1993/94 when they began 0-8 with one tie.

Ryan Getzlaf, Adam Henrique and Michael Del Zotto scored, Ondrej Kase had two assists, and John Gibson made 35 saves for Anaheim, who won their opening two home games for the first time since 2016/17.

Logan Couture scored, and Aaron Dell made 30 saves for San Jose.

Up Next:

Sharks v Preds – Tuesday, October 8 (8pm – NBCSN)

Ducks v Red Wings – Tuesday, October 8 (7:30pm)

 

Vancouver Canucks v Calgary Flames

0-3

David Rittich made 34 saves for his second NHL shutout, helping the Calgary Flames win their home opener 3-0 against the Vancouver Canucks at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and two assists, and Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan also scored for Calgary, who lost their opener to the Avalanche 5-3 on Thursday. Their line has combined for 10pts (5g, 5a) in two games.

Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves for the visitors, who lost their season opener 3-2 in Edmonton on Wednesday.

 

Up Next:

Canucks v Kings – Wednesday, October 9 (10pm – NBCSN)

Kings v Flames – Tuesday, October 8 (9pm)

 

Los Angeles Kings v Edmonton Oilers

5-6

James Neal scored his first two goals for the Oilers, including the game-winner, in a 6-5 thriller against the L.A. Kings at Rogers Place.

Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists, Zack Kassian, Joakim Nygard and Darnell Nurse also found the back of the net, whilst Oscar Klefbom recorded three assists, and Mike Smith made 26 saves for Edmonton.

Dustin Brown, Michael Amadio and Drew Doughty scored, Anze Kopitar and Trevor Lewis both scored one and assisted another, and Jonathan Quick made 25 saves for the L.A. Kings.

Up Next:

Kings v Flames – Tuesday, October 8 (9pm)

Oilers v Islanders – Tuesday, October 8 (7pm)

 

KEY

ALL TIMES U.S. EASTERN