Tag: NHL hockey

Rantanen’s hat trick leads Avs past Blue Jackets in Finland

TAMPERE, Finland — Mikko Rantanen scored three goals in his native country and the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-3 on Friday night in the NHL’s second visit to Europe this year.

Cale Makar had a goal and an assist, Logan O’Connor and J.T. Compher also scored and Nathan MacKinnon contributed four assists for the Avalanche, who stopped a two-game skid.

Colorado blew a three-goal lead in its previous game, a 5-4 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday, and allowed Columbus to tie it after taking a 3-0 advantage this time. But Rantanen put the Avs ahead for good in the third period with his second goal.

“Two points are obviously the biggest thing,” Rantanen said, but he added of the hat trick, “I was obviously happy with that too.”

Patrik Laine had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets in front of a sellout crowd of 12,882 in his hometown, Jakub Voracek scored Columbus’ first power-play goal of the season and Sean Kuraly also scored for the Blue Jackets, who dropped their fourth straight.

The teams will play again Saturday at Tampere’s Nokia Arena as part of the league’s Global Series. Nashville swept two games from San Jose last month in Prague to kick off the regular season, the first NHL games in Europe since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rantanen made it 4-3 with a one-timer from the right circle on the power play at 8:54 of the final period. He completed his hat trick with an empty-netter, his seventh goal of the season, to the delight of the fans chanting his name.

“The crowd chanting that was pretty cool. I had chills on the bench,” he said.

MacKinnon assisted on the empty-netter.

“I knew he was probably gonna pull up and maybe look for me so I was skating up there,” Rantanen said. “It was a good pass from him for an assist, it tells how good of a player he is and a nice guy, I’d say.”

Alex Newhook fed O’Connor to score the opening goal with a snap shot past goaltender Elvis Merzlikins 1:36 into the game. Compher doubled the lead on the power play with by deflecting Devon Toews’ shot from the blue line into the net with 7:36 to go as Avalanche dominated the opening period, outshooting Columbus 16-7.

Rantanen made it 3-0 just 35 seconds into the middle period.

Voracek reduced the Avalanche’s lead to 3-1 a minute after Rantanen’s goal on power play.

Laine got the Blue Jackets within one from the left circle at 7:16 of the period for his second of the season.

It was his fifth NHL goal in Finland after four in two regular-season games for the Winnipeg Jets against the Florida Panthers in their 2018 series in Helsinki, most of all NHL players in games outside North America.

“I think satisfied is the wrong word, but I feel like we had some good looks,” Laine said. “Especially after the stretch we’ve had, we were really happy the way we were moving. We got a lot of chances and could have easily had a couple more, but it wasn’t bouncing our way. We can’t wait and hope for the bounces. We have to create our own luck and work harder and bury next time.”

Kuraly tied it 2:32 into the final period. The Blue Jackets outshot the Avalanche 39-36, but Alexandar Georgiev stopped 36 of those shots.

“It was an exiting game for the fans but the coaches would disagree a little bit, maybe too many penalties and scoring chances against, but Georgiev was really good in the net again and made some key saves at the key times again,” Rantanen said.

This is the ninth season the NHL has played in Europe in hopes of connecting with hockey-mad fans. Colorado played Ottawa in Stockholm in 2017, while the Blue Jackets played overseas for the first time since 2010, when they faced San Jose in Stockholm.

NOTES

It was the 31st regular-season game played in Europe, the eighth in Finland and the first in Tampere, and the 37th NHL game contested outside North America. … Avalanche leading scorer Valeri Nichushkin (lower body) did not play for the third straight game. … Captain Boone Jenner returned from an illness to play his 600th game for Columbus, moving past Nick Foligno for third-most in franchise history.

UP NEXT

The teams complete the series on Saturday night.

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November 4, 2022
Hughes and Sharangovich help Devils beat Canucks 5-2

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Yegor Sharangovich and Jack Hughes each scored and had an assist to help the New Jersey Devils beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Tuesday night.

Nico Hischier, Michael McLeod and Dawson Mercer also had goals for the Devils (7-3-0), who won their fourth game in a row for the first time since October 2018.

Bo Horvat replied for the Canucks (2-6-2) with a pair of power-play goals. J.T. Miller assisted on both.

New Jersey netminder Mackenzie Blackwood made 21 saves and improved his career record against Vancouver to 5-0-0.

“I think we’ve been doing a good job of capitalizing on our chances as of late and really limiting stuff that the other team was getting in our end,” Blackwood said. “Tonight we did a good job of burying chances.”

Jesper Bratt had an assist on Hischier’s fifth goal, extending his season-opening point streak to 10 games (four goals, 12 assists), which equaled a franchise record.

“I think (Bratt’s) playing a team game and he’s getting rewarded,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said.

“He’s taking advantage of the opportunities and he’s finding a way every night to get on the board.”

Thatcher Demko stopped 32 of 36 shots for Vancouver.

The defeat snapped a two-game win streak for the Canucks, who lost seven in a row to start the season.

“We need our veteran guys and our better players to be better players consistently, every day, not just one good game here and one good game there,” Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau said. “And that goes not only for (defensemen) but it goes for the forwards as well and the goaltending as well.”

Boudreau pulled his goalie with less than two minutes left and Hughes scored into the empty net.

Vancouver made a late push, pulling Demko in favor of an extra attacker after New Jersey’s Ryan Graves was called for holding with 3:34 left on the clock.

The move paid off when Horvat buried his second of the night with a one-timer from the high hash marks at the 17:12 mark, cutting the deficit to 4-2.

“Obviously, the puck’s going in right now. But I’d rather be getting wins than scoring goals right now. I’d rather have none and be 9-0-0,” Horvat said. “But it’s not the way it’s going right now. And we’ve got to put this one in the past and keep plugging away here.”

NEW FACES

Canucks defenseman Ethan Bear and center Jack Studnicka made their debuts for Vancouver after being acquired in separate trades last week. Star blueliner Quinn Hughes returned to the lineup after missing four games with a lower-body injury.

NEW THREADS

The Canucks wore their new navy blue “Johnny Canuck” reverse retro jerseys. The sweaters pay homage to the team’s namesake, a lumberjack-looking character called Johnny Canuck, which served as the team’s logo when it entered the Western Hockey League in 1945.

UP NEXT

New Jersey: At the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

Vancouver: Hosts the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday.

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November 1, 2022
Zibanejad scores in 3rd to lift Rangers past Coyotes, 3-2

TEMPE, Ariz. — One of Arizona’s biggest concerns against New York was the Rangers’ dangerous power play, led Mika Zibanejad.

The Coyotes managed to kill off an early penalty, but were hit with another at a crucial junction. The puck ended up on Zibanajed’s stick and he made them pay.

Zibanejad broke a tie with the goal in the third period, Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists and the Rangers kept the Coyotes winless at Mullett Arena with a 3-2 victory Sunday night.

“We have to be honest, we’re scared to death of their power play,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. “They have elite players and we got away with it in the first.”

The Coyotes couldn’t capitalize on a raucous crowd in the opener at the 5,000-seat Arizona State University arena Friday night, losing 3-2 to Winnipeg in overtime.

New York pressured Arizona early despite playing the night before and went up on Alexis Lafreniere’s second-period goal. The Coyotes responded quickly on goals by Lawson Crouse and Nick Bjugstad, but the Rangers ramped up the pressure again.

Panarin scored late in the second period and New York went on a power play in the third when Dylan Guenther was called for hooking in Arizona’s offensive zone.

Panarin got the winning play started by sending a puck to the crease, Chris Kreider redirected it behind him and Zibanejad flipped in his sixth goal of the season over Connor Ingram with seven minutes left. Igor Shesterkin stopped 18 shots for the Rangers.

“It was a great play by (Kreider) and it was up to me to hit the net,” Zibanejad said. “It went in this time around.”

The Rangers had the early jump in the second game of a back to back, spending long stretches with the puck in Arizona’s end.

Ingram saw the puck and moved well in his first start at The Mullett, turning away a flurry of shots on a power play midway through. He also splayed out to stop Vincent Trocheck on a breakaway shortly after that. He finished with 36 saves.

New York kept up the pressure early in the first period and scored when Lafreniere slipped in behind Ingram for a one-timer on a pass from Panarin in the right circle.

Lawson tied it on a power play a few minutes later, beating Shesterkin glove side on a feed from Guenther.

BJugstad put Arizona up 2-1 on a flip shot past Shesterkin after New York defenseman Ryan Lindgren whiffed trying to clear a rebound.

Panarin tied it late in the second period, flipping a sharp-angle shot between Ingram’s left shoulder and the post.

Arizona killed off a penalty in the first period, but gave the Rangers another power play at the wrong time — and the puck ended up on Zibanejad’s stick.

“I thought we played good, but it came down to a penalty kill and they have such a good power play,” Bjugstad said.

BIRTHDAY GIFT

Panarin turned 31 on Sunday, but the Rangers felt like they were the ones receiving gifts from the talented left wing — particularly Lafreniere.

Panarin had a defender draped all over him in the right circle and traffic in front of him, but somehow found his teammate charging to the crease from the back side.

“It’s more of a gift from him to me,” Lafreniere said. “He played great again. When you play with him, you’ve just got to try to get your stick down and good things happen.”

NOTES: New York F Vitali Kravtsov did not play after slamming hard into the boards against Dallas on Saturday. … Coyotes F Nick Schmaltz missed his seventh straight game with an upper-body injury.

UP NEXT

Rangers: Hosts Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

Coyotes: Hosts Florida on Tuesday night.

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October 30, 2022
Canucks top Penguins 5-1 for 2nd straight after opening skid

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Bo Horvat scored twice, Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist and the Vancouver Canucks won their second straight after a season-opening skid, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 on Friday night.

Tanner Pearson and J.T. Miller also scored, Ilya Mikheyev had two assists and Spencer Martin made 34 saves. On Thursday night in Seattle, the Canucks beat the Kraken 5-4 to end their season-opening losing streak at a franchise-record seven games.

“Obviously there’s a lot more energy, obviously the smiles on our faces,” Horvat said. “But I mean, we’ve got to dig ourselves out of the hole here. Obviously, we put ourselves in this situation. Just because we won two games, you can’t be satisfied. We’ve got to keep going here.”

Rickard Rakell scored for Pittsburgh and Tristan Jarry made 24 saves. The Penguins have lost three straight in regulation to fall to 4-3-1.

“I just don’t think we’re putting a 60-minute effort together, and it’s hard to win in this league when you don’t,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.

Weariness appeared to creep into the home side’s game, with the Penguins outshooting the Canucks 30-19 across the second and third periods, but Martin held fast for the victory. The 24-year-old goalie is 4-0-4 with Vancouver.

“Eight games now and he’s gotten points in eight straight, so I haven’t seen him do anything negative,” Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “And that’s great when you can have your other goaltender doing that, that makes an inner competition a little bit.”

The Canucks took a 2-1 lead into the third period and struggled in the opening minutes, fighting mightily to get out of their own zone.

Martin said he wasn’t concerned.

“Honestly, I don’t think they had much,” he said. “We did a fantastic job, obviously. They have a lot of firepower there. They did a good job getting behind the net, I thought, but we kept them to the perimeter. So it was a good game.”

After the barrage, Vancouver erupted with three goals in just over seven minutes.

Kuzmenko tipped in a long shot from defenseman Luke Schenn and Horvat scored on a power-play before Miller added an empty-netter with 2:10 remaining.

Third-period collapses have become a trend for the Canucks this season, and Boudreau said his group appeared as if “the weight of the world was lifted off (their) shoulders” after weathering the adversity.

“Every other third period has been like ‘Oh, what’s gonna happen that’s negative?’” Boudreau said. “And I think once we got through the first three minutes, and it was like, ‘OK, let’s go.’ And everybody just played. … And I thought it was really good.”

TRADE ADDITIONS

Vancouver acquired defenseman Ethan Bear and forward Lane Pederson from Carolina a few hours before the game for a fifth-round draft pick. The 25-year-old Bear has not played this season after finishing with five goals and nine assists in 58 games for the Hurricanes last season. Carolina will retain $400,000 of Bear’s $2.2 million contact. Pederson, also 25, is scoreless in four games this season for the Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League.

UP NEXT

Penguins: At Seattle on Saturday night.

Canucks: Host New Jersey on Tuesday night.

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October 28, 2022
Hughes scores to back Vanecek, Devils beat Avalanche 1-0

NEWARK, N.J. — Jack Hughes scored on power play early in the third period and Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves for his first shutout with New Jersey in the Devils’ 1-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.

The Devils won for the fifth time in six games after dropping the first two games of the season. New Jersey also denied defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado’s NHL-best power play six times.

“Honestly, it was really good game. The guys played really well and we just scored the goal,” said Vanecek, who won his first contest with the Devils 6-2 on Tuesday night in Detroit. “That felt really good and now a home game, so I’m really happy with that.”

Hughes scored his third of the season on the power play at 2:59 of the third, shooting the puck past Pavel Francouz. Assists went to Jesper Bratt and Dougie Hamilton. The assist was a team-leading 10th for Bratt who has points in all eight Devils games this season and leads New Jersey with 13 points. Francouz made 22 saves.

“It was a great game by both clubs. It felt like a playoff game,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “This was the right team to play at the right time. We blocked shots. There was a lot of good stuff tonight.”

The Devils appeared to open the scoring with just over five minutes left in the first period but an apparent goal by Miles Wood was nullified when the play was deemed offsides on review.

New Jersey outshot the visitors 8-4 in the opening period. In the second, the Avalanche had a 10-7 shots advantage over the home team as both goaltenders made sterling saves to keep the scoreless game intact.

“We just didn’t have jump,” Avalanche forward Evan Rodrigues said. “We didn’t get enough odd-man rushes.”

The Avalanche were coming off 3-2 shootout win over Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday in which former Rangers netminder Alexandar Geogiev was the winner in his return.

Avalanche coach Jared Bednar was impressed with the new-look Devils who are showing promise after missing the playoffs the past four seasons.

“They have great team speed, good skill,” Bednar said. “Give them credit, their PK is really good.”

Vanecek also denied Colorado forward Dryden Hunt in the second on a point-blank shot from between the faceoff circles.

The 26-year-old netminder, who had six shutouts with the Washington Capitals prior to this season, made a dazzling pad save on Rodrigues midway through the third and foiled a one-timer by Arturi Lehkonen with just over eight minutes left. He made 10 saves in the third.

“He made the big save when we needed it. That lifts the whole bench,” Ruff said about Vanecek’s save on Rodrigues. “And our penalty killers did a great job. We limited their key players.”

Avalanche leading scorer Valeri Nichushkin did not play Friday because of a lower-body injury.

Following their game Saturday night against the Islanders at UBS Arena, the Avalanche will fly to Finland, where they will play the Columbus Blue Jackets twice next weekend.

“We had too many turnovers and we didn’t do enough to win the hockey game,” Bednar added. “Tonight we just didn’t have the jam.”

NOTES: The Devils scratched forwards Alexander Holtz, Ondrej Palat and defenseman Kevin Bahl … Colorado also scratched defenseman Kurtis MacDermid.

UP NEXT:

Devils: Host Columbus on Sunday.

Avalanche: At New York Islanders on Saturday night.

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October 28, 2022
Bruins improve to 6-1; beat Stars 3-1 behind Hall, Ullmark

BOSTON — Taylor Hall scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period, Linus Ullmark stopped 30 shots and the Boston Bruins beat the Dallas Stars 3-1 on Tuesday night to improve to 6-1.

It was the third straight game-winning score for Hall, who had an overtime goal to beat Minnesota on Saturday after collecting the lone tally in a shootout against Anaheim last Thursday.

David Pastrnak added a power-play goal and an assist, and Patrice Bergeron had an empty-netter with 27 seconds to go for the Bruins, who remained unbeaten at home at 5-0 in coach Jim Montgomery’s first season running the team.

“We haven’t won a game doing that,” said Montgomery. “We kind of surrendered leads, then we ended up winning in overtime or we pull away late. It’s nice to close out a game. … Dallas pushed us, they tested us. I like the way we shut it down the last four minutes.”

Wyatt Johnston scored for Dallas (4-2-1), which dropped its second straight game. Jake Oettinger made 26 saves.

“It’s not easy; the second night of a back-to-back,” Oettinger said. “Guys played really well in front of me.”

In a matchup of two of the league’s better teams early in the season, Boston took the lead in the second and made it stand with steady defensive play and another solid effort by Ullmark, who made his third straight start.

“I don’t want to talk about me,” Ullmark said. “I want to talk about the team. It’s not just me. We’re doing this together. I’ve got guys in front of me blocking shots left and right.”

With 63 seconds left in the second, Hall one-timed Pastrnak’s cross-ice pass into the net from the right faceoff circle for his third goal (not counting his shootout winner) in the last three games, moving the Bruins ahead 2-1.

“It wasn’t an easy shot,” Pastrnak said. “It was a hard pass from me. Credit to him getting it off.”

Ullmark made a nice stop on Luke Glendening at the end of a 3-on-1 break with just over 15 minutes to play in regulation. Then added a right-pad stop on Joe Pavelski’s shot from the slot with about 90 seconds left.

Coming off a loss in Ottawa on Monday night, the Stars tied it at 1 on Johnston’s goal 1:48 into the second. Both Bruins defenseman (Derek Forbort and Connor Clifton) ended up behind the net trying to get to the puck, but it popped out front where Johnston slipped it past Ullmark from just above the crease.

“I think every game and every day I’ve been getting more confident and more comfortable,” said 19-year-old rookie Johnston. “It’s obviously a big adjustment from Juniors. As the days and games go on, I’m getting more comfortable.”

With Johnston in the box serving a roughing call on Colin Miller who also got a major for fighting, Boston took the lead when Pastrnak one-timed a soft pass from Hampus Lindholm over Oettinger’s left shoulder from the left circle 12:49 into the game.

HOT GOALIES

Both goaltenders entered with 4-0 records and solid goals-against-averages. Oettinger was second in the league at 1.25 and Ullmark came in with a 2.33 mark.

NOTES

Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo returned after missing the last four games with what he confirmed was a concussion. With him back, forward Jakub Lauko was sent to Providence of the AHL. … Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen was sidelined with an undisclosed upper-body injury. … Lindholm’s next game will be the 600th of his NHL career.

UP NEXT

Stars: Host the Washington Capitals on Thursday.

Bruins: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.

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October 25, 2022
Svechnikov, Hurricanes hand Canucks 7th straight loss

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Andrei Svechnikov scored his seventh goal of the season and the Carolina Hurricanes handed the winless Vancouver Canucks their seventh straight loss, 3-2 Monday night.

Sebastian Aho and Jesper Fast also scored for the Hurricanes, and Brent Burns had two assists. Frederik Andersen had 14 saves.

“You’ve got to have your top guys contributing nightly or it’s gonna be hard,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They come to play every game this year. I’m real proud of the group, honestly.

“I know it’s early in the year, but we really come out hard in every game and tonight was tough sledding, I felt like we were in control but it was a tight game and the guys just keep working and we got the two points.”

J.T. Miller scored two goals for the Canucks (0-5-2), who are the only NHL team without a win. Thatcher Demko stopped 36 shots.

“Night in and night out, losing, it takes a toll on you mentally, physically, trying to come from behind the last couple games,” Canucks captain Bo Horvat said. “It’s frustrating right now, obviously, and you’ve got to stay optimistic. You can’t just keep beating yourself up or keep feeling sorry for yourself because it’s just gonna get worse if you do that. So we’ve just got to get ready for the next game.”

Tied 1-1 since midway through the first period, Carolina scored twice early in the third to take control.

In the opening minute of the period, Seth Jarvis got a partial breakaway and fired a shot at Demko. The goalie made the stop but couldn’t corral the puck, leaving it unattended in the blue paint. Aho sprinted in and popped it into the yawning net to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead at 50 seconds.

The goal extended Aho’s point streak to five games, with four goals and five assists in the stretch.

“He’s elite. He’s an elite player,” Jarvis said of Aho. “You expect nothing less from them and it’s nice to see to see him getting production and scoring a lot and that only helps our team win. So any time he’s having a good night it usually results in wins.”

Just 37 seconds later, Fast registered his first of the season when a pass from Jordan Staal caromed off his skate into Vancouver’s net to make it 3-1.

The Canucks pulled to 3-2 midway through the period after the puck hit Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Miller picked it up, firing a quick one-timer past Andersen for his second goal of the game.

Vancouver called a 30-second timeout with 2:20 left, then pulled Demko in favor of an extra skater but couldn’t get the tying score.

The Canucks were 1 for 2 on the power play while the Hurricanes went 1 for 3.

Carolina opened the scoring early in the first after Vancouver’s Dakota Joshua was called for interference on Paul Stastny. It took the Hurricanes just 11 seconds to score on the man advantage as Necas sent a cross-ice pass to Svechnikov and the Russian unleashed a one-timer that beat Demko for a power-play goal at 6:06.

Svechnikov’s goal tied him with Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos for the NHL lead at seven apiece.

Carolina briefly appeared to double its lead midway through the period when Derek Stepan batted a puck in over Demko’s pad. Officials quickly disallowed the goal, citing goalie interference by Stastny, whose skate was in the blue paint. The Hurricanes challenged the call but a video review upheld the ruling and Carolina was handed a delay-of-game penalty.

Vancouver capitalized with Elias Pettersson moving the puck behind the net and whipping it up to Horvat. The captain tapped it across the crease to Miller and he tapped it in to tie the score at 1-1 with 7 1/2 minutes left.

THE FINAL MELTDOWN

Vancouver has been outscored 15-2 in the third period over their first seven games of the season.

“I’m not a psychiatrist,” Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I mean, sometimes coaches have to be. But I think maybe … they don’t want to make the mistake, to be the one that loses the game. But in effect when you’re doing that, that’s what you do. You become the player that makes the mistake because you don’t play forward, you’re playing waiting.”

Hurricanes: Host the New York Islanders on Friday night.

Canucks: At Seattle on Thursday night before returning for a four-game homestand.

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October 25, 2022
Ovechkin scores 783rd goal as Capitals beat N.J. Devils 6-3

NEWARK, N.J. — Alexander Ovechkin took a spot from the great Gordie Howe in the NHL record book and closed in another.

Ovechkin scored his 783rd career goal in a big second period and the Washington Capitals beat New Jersey 6-3 Monday night, ending the Devils’ three-game winning streak.

Ovechkin’s third goal of the season gave Washington a 4-1 lead and it turned out to be his 122nd game winner, passing Howe (121) for second overall behind Jaromir Jagr (135).

“Yeah. It’s pretty cool obviously to be in that company and pass those legends, it’s a pretty cool moment,” Ovechkin said.

The Great Eight needs four more goals to pass Howe (786) for the most goals in NHL history with one franchise.

Caps coach Peter Laviolette is handed a piece of paper every time Ovechkin passes a mark.

“It’s unbelievable. That’s when you stand the test of time over the years,” he said. “He’s been able to just constantly contribute offensively and score goals. I guess if you do it well enough and long enough, you’re gonna bring down some milestones and so we give it a quick shout at the end of the game when things like that happen.”

Garnet Hathaway, Conor Sheary and Nick Jensen also scored in the four-goal period for Washington. Backup goalie Charlie Lindgren made 37 saves in winning for the first time since signing with the Caps as a free agent.

Nic Dowd also scored for Washington, which scored five times on 18 shots in driving Mackenzie Blackwood from the net after 40 minutes. Aliaksei Protas added an insurance goal late after the Devils pulled to 5-3.

Nathan Bastian, Tomas Tatar and Jesper Bratt each scored their first goal of the season for New Jersey, which was looking for its first four-game winning streak since October 2018.

“If you don’t play 60 minutes it’s hard to win games in this league,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “We had a hard time finding our legs and they made us pay.”

Washington has won six straight at the Prudential Center and is 13-2-1 in the last 16 games here. Overall, the Caps are 26-3-3 in the last 32 games against the Devils.

After Bastian and Dowd traded goals in the opening period, the Capitals blew the game open with two, two-goal spurts in the middle stanza.

Hathaway gave Washington the lead after stealing a puck from defenseman Damon Severson along the side boards and beating Blackwood with a quick 25-foot shot at 9:16.

Sheary scored short-handed 47 seconds later as he stole a pass by Bratt in the Devils’ zone and beat Blackwood from between the circles.

Ovechkin stretched the margin to 4-1 with a power-play goal from his office in the left circle at 17:14. Jensen scored on a shot from the point 33 seconds later.

Tatar and Bratt got the Devils within two goals early in the third period and Lindgren, who had faced Toronto earlier this season, had a made a spectacular pad save on Yegor Sharangovich with about six minutes to go.

“So they fired a lot of biscuits at the net,” said Lindgren, whose brother Ryan plays for the Rangers. “But I do like feeling the puck, I feel like I get into the game, and it felt awesome to get the win tonight.”

NOTES: F Beck Malenstyn, who was playing in his first game of the season with Connor Brown hurt, got his first NHL assist in 16 games on Dowd’s goal. … Former Capitals goalie Vitek Vanecek played the third period for New Jersey and made three saves. This was Washington’s first win on the road in three games. New Jersey was 0 for 4 on the power play.

UP NEXT

Capitals: at Dallas on Thursday in the second stop on a four-game road trip.

Devils: at Detroit on Tuesday night.

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October 24, 2022
Toffoli scores in OT, Flames rally to beat Hurricanes 3-2

CALGARY, Alberta — Tyler Toffoli scored at 4:30 of overtime and the Calgary Flames rallied to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Saturday night.

Rasmus Andersson carried the puck up the side boards and deep into the Hurricanes’ end before zipping a pass into the slot that Toffoli one-timed inside the post for his third of the season.

“Ras did a really good job taking it wide and using his speed and I was just trying to find a little space and he made a great play right in the middle,” Toffoli said.

Andersson had two assists and led both teams in ice time at 27:47.

“Our penalty kill had a really good night,” Andersson said. “Still need to get a little bit better five on five, but it was a tough game to play and it was nice to see that overtime goal go in.”

Nazem Kadri and Brett Ritchie also scored as the Flames came back from a 2-0 deficit midway through the first period. Toffoli had an assist and Jacob Markstrom stopped 25 shots to help Calgary improve to 4-1-0.

Kadri is the fourth player to begin his Calgary career with a five-game points streak.

Sebastian Aho and Calvin de Haan scored for Carolina. Antti Raanta finished with 29 saves. The Hurricanes fell to 3-1-1.

“We had a pretty good first period, except we gave up a PK goal and didn’t cash in on our power play,” Aho said. “At the end of the day, that was the game tonight. We get a huge opportunity at the end, four minutes on the power play, and we’ve got to make them pay there. Special teams got us. That’s on us.”

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Wrap up their five-game trip in Vancouver against the Canucks on Monday night.

Flames: Continue their season-high, eight-game homestand against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.

———

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October 22, 2022
Kuhlman scores tiebreaking goal, Kraken beat Avalanche 3-2

DENVER — Karson Kuhlman scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and the Seattle Kraken beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Friday night.

Jaden Schwartz and Jared McCann scored 22 seconds apart in the second period and added an assist each for Seattle. Philipp Grubauer had 17 saves before being replaced by Martin Jones midway through the third period. Jones got the win with just one save.

Bowen Byram had a goal and an assist and Evan Rodrigues also scored for Colorado, which has dropped two straight.

Kuhlman put the Kraken ahead when he maneuvered around Kurtis McDermid and beat Pavel Francouz with 7:54 left in the third.

The game was scoreless after the first period but the teams combined for three goals in the first six minutes of the second. Schwartz scored a power-play goal at 1:38 with a one-timer from the slot, and McCann’s second goal of the season made it 2-0 just 22 seconds later.

The Avalanche cut the lead in half when Rodrigues scored off a feed from Valeri Nichushkin at 5:55 for his first goal in a Colorado sweater. Nichushkin had two assists.

Byram scored a short-handed goal at 6:58 of the third to tie it.

RETURNING CHAMPION

Kraken left wing Andre Burakovsky was honored on the scoreboard in his first game back in Denver since signing with Seattle in the summer.

Burakovsky played three season with the Avalanche and was a key part of their run to the Stanley Cup title. He scored the overtime goal in Game 1 of the final against Tampa Bay and finished with three goals and five assists in 12 postseason games.

Colorado played a short video of his highlights with the team, and he raised his stick to the crowd as it cheered him on.

NOTES: Avalanche D Devon Toews was scratched with an undisclosed injury. Toews left Wednesday’s overtime loss to Winnipeg and didn’t return. Coach Jared Bednar said Toews will likely miss Saturday night at Vegas but said his injury was “short-term.” … D Michal Kempny cleared unconditional waivers from Seattle.

UP NEXT

Kraken: At the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.

Avalanche: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night.

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October 21, 2022
Vilardi leads Kings to 4-3 shootout win over Predators

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Gabriel Vilardi scored the shootout winner and had a goal and an assist in regulation in the Los Angeles Kings’ 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.

Matt Roy had two third-period goals and Cal Petersen made 31 saves in regulation and overtime and denied all three Nashville attempts in the shootout to help extend the Kings’ winning streak to three.

Cody Glass, Filip Forsberg and Tanner Jeannot scored for Nashville and Juuse Saros made 32 saves. After winning a pair of season-opening games against the San Jose Sharks in Prague, the Predators have dropped three in a row.

Roy sent it to overtime, scoring with 2:08 remaining in the third.

Jeannot scored with 30 seconds remaining in the second, converting the rebound of his initial wraparound attempt, giving Nashville a 3-1 lead.

FIRST GOAL IN GOLD

Glass scored for the first with the Predators. Acquired from Vegas as part of a three-team trade in July 2021, Glass skated in eight games with Nashville last season and did not score. He has dressed in four of five games so far this season. His last NHL goal was March 17, 2021, with Vegas.

IAFALLO OUT

Los Angeles forward Alex Iafallo was placed on injured reserve Tuesday because of a lower-body injury sustained late in an overtime victory in Detroit on Monday night.

WHAT’S NEXT

Kings: At Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

Predators: At Columbus on Thursday night.

———

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October 18, 2022
Zibanejad, Panarin lead Rangers to 6-4 win over Ducks

NEW YORK — Mika Zibanejad had two goals and two assists, Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists, and the New York Rangers beat the Anaheim Ducks 6-4 Monday night.

Vincent Trochek had a goal and an assist, Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafrenière also scored, and Adam Fox had three assists to help the Rangers win for the third time in four games this season. Igor Shesterkin had 18 saves to improve to 3-0-0.

“It’s nice to contribute,” Zibanejad said. “We are working for each other. That’s a big key for us.”

Frank Vatrano, Trevor Zegras, Max Comtois and Derek Grant scored for the Ducks. Troy Terry and Pavol Regenda each had two assists. John Gibson gave up five goals on 34 shots through two periods before Anthony Stolarz came on to start the third and stopped eight of the nine shots he faced.

Kakko’s second goal of the season snapped a 2-2 tie at 9:54 of the second. Lafrenière extended the Rangers’ lead to 4-2 at with 2:21 remaining in the middle period with his first before Panarin fired the puck past to make it 5-2 with 34 seconds to go with his second goal of the season.

Panarin’s four-point game was his second already this season. He also had a goal and three assists against Minnesota last week. His 10 points set a Rangers franchise mark for most points through the first four games of a season.

“It’s a good start to the season,” said Panarin, who led the Rangers last season with 96 points. ”We definitely had a good power-play tonight.”

After Comtois pulled the Ducks within two 5 1/2 minutes into the third, Zibanejad scored his second of the game and fourth of the season a little more than 6 minutes later on the power play again to make it 6-3.

“Tight games, 5-on-5 you have to take advantage of your power plays. When you get it, you have to take advantage of it,” Zibanejad said.

Grant capped the scoring with just under 4 minutes remaining.

The Rangers continued their mastery over the Ducks, improving to 6-0-1 in seven matchups back to the 2018-19 season. Since 2014-15, the Rangers are 12-2-1 against Anaheim.

“I thought we were in the game but one power-play goal in the first was a gift,″ Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. ”In the second period, we gave them two absolute gifts. So we gave them three easy ones and lose by two.”

Trocheck and Zibanejad had power-play goals in the first to give the Rangers the early lead. Trocheck, who signed a seven-year deal with the Rangers in the offseason, scored his second goal at 7:34. He has points in three out of four games. Zibanejad made it 2-0 at 13:10, whipping a high shot past Gibson for his third goal of the campaign.

Rangers coach Gerard Gallant was pleased with the power-play prowess exhibited by his team.

“The way they snap the puck, they just have so much skill and power,” he said. ”Tonight they were finishing their plays and making it happen.”

Gallant did caution that he also expects to his team to defend better.

“I want to win games every night, but I don’t want four goals going in our net every night,” he said. “Our guys know that, too.”

Vatrano, who finished last season with the Rangers after being acquired at the trade deadline, got the Ducks on the scoreboard with 4 1/2 minutes left in the first and Zegras tied it at 1:34 of the second as he rifled a shot past Shesterkin.

Anaheim, coming off a 7-1 loss at the New York Islanders on Saturday night, lost its second straight after winning its home opener over Seattle last Wednesday.

SEASON DEBUT

Forward Sammy Blais made his season debut for the Rangers after missing the first three games with an upper-body injury. Blais played just 14 games last season before suffering a major knee injury. He was acquired from St. Louis in a trade for Pavel Buchnevich in July 2021.

STROME RETURNS

The contest also marked the New York return for popular forward Ryan Strome, who played four seasons for the Rangers before signing with Anaheim as a free agent. The 29-year-old Strome, also with the Islanders for four years, said he loved playing in Manhattan, especially contributing a career-best 21 goals last season and helping the Rangers reach the Eastern Conference finals. “The city was pretty bananas,’’ he said of the post-season hysteria. “It was awesome.”

PANARIN’S POINTS

Panarin leads the Rangers with 10 points (two goals, eight assists) and has scored in all four games. Panarin’s eight assists tied Rod Gilbert (1976-77) for the most through the first four games and are the most for a Rangers player since Jaromir Jagr had six in 2006-07.

UP NEXT

Ducks: At New Jersey on Tuesday night in the third of five-game trip.

Rangers: Host San Jose on Thursday in the second game of a four-game homestand.

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October 17, 2022
Aho’s late goal leads Hurricanes past Sharks 2-1

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Sebastian Aho scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:58 remaining in the third period and the Carolina Hurricanes handed the San Jose Sharks their third straight loss to open the season, 2-1 on Friday night.

Martin Necas scored his second goal in two games for Carolina to tie it late in the second period before Aho won it in the third when he deflected a point shot from Brett Pesce past James Reimer.

“Just a great play by Pesce taking a little second to look,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Aho beats his guy to the net and on the tape and puts it in. … I think we got what we deserved tonight for sure.”

Antti Raanta made 18 saves, including one in close to stop Tomas Hertl in the closing seconds as the Hurricanes improved to 2-0 on the season.

“Obviously a little chaos there and the puck was rolling in the crease there,” Raanta said. “I was just trying to keep my pads on the ice and not letting anything go in. Maybe a little bit of luck also there. Got my body in there and was able to make the save and you hear the buzzer so obviously a good feeling to make that a save and obviously get that win.”

San Jose had lost the first two games of the season to Nashville in the Czech Republic but were unable to get on the winning side in the home opener for new coach David Quinn.

Evgeny Svechnikov also scored his first goal for San Jose. James Reimer made 33 saves.

“You got to find a way to get it done,” Quinn said. “If you’re tired, you have got to find a way to play tired. A lot of times teams are tired in this league, and the teams that manage it and understand how to play when they’re tired, they have a chance to have success in games like tonight.”

The Sharks opened the scoring late in the first period when Jaycob Megna set up Svechnikov in the high slot for a quick shot that appeared to surprise Raanta.

Svechnikov’s younger brother, Andrei, was on the ice for Carolina on the goal — marking the first time in eight games they have played against each other that one brother was on the ice when the other scored. Andrei scored for Carolina against Evgeny’s Detroit team on March 4, 2021, but Evgeni wasn’t on the ice.

“I mean, it’s huge to get it,” Svechnikov said. “You get momentum, just trying to shoot the puck there, and doesn’t matter if it’s any team really. I just try to shoot the puck for a goal.”

The Hurricanes dominated the second period, holding San Jose without a shot on goal for the first 13:22 and outshooting the Sharks 16-4. But they couldn’t get anything past Reimer until Andrei Svechnikov took the puck away from Kevin Labanc in the neutral zone and set up Necas for the tying goal with 22.9 seconds remaining in the period.

Necas’ four points in the first two games are one shy of the franchise record set by Mark Howe and Mike Rogers in the 1980-81 season when the team played in Hartford.

BURNS RETURNS

The Sharks played a pregame video tribute to defenseman Brent Burns, who was traded to Carolina over the summer. Burns was one of the most popular players during his 11 seasons in San Jose. He won the Norris Trophy in 2017 as the league’s top defenseman. He has 172 goals and 422 assists in 798 games with the Sharks.

“It was special. It was great,” Burns said. “It was awesome to see the video and see some of the guys and some of those moments that we had. It’s just a special place. It’s great people.”

INJURY UPDATES

The Hurricanes sent F Ondrej Kase back home to be evaluated for a possible concussion. … Sharks F Alexander Barabanov remains sidelined with a lower-body injury. … San Jose F Timo Meier and D Mario Ferraro were in the lineup after being slowed earlier this week with upper-body injuries.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Visit Seattle on Monday night.

Sharks: Host Chicago on Saturday night. San Jose will honor former GM Doug Wilson in a ceremony before the game. Wilson stepped down last season for medical reasons.

———

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October 14, 2022
Stamkos scores 2, Lightning beat Blue Jackets 5-2

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Steven Stamkos scored twice, and Corey Perry and Ross Colton each had a goal and an assist, as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 Friday for their first win of the season.

Cal Foote also scored for the Lightning, and Vladislav Namestnikov, Alex Killorn and Mikhail Sergachev each added two assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 26 shots.

“It was a well-rounded game,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “It was something we needed, and now we’re just going to have to carry it into tomorrow.”

Johnny Gaudreau got his first goal since signing with the Blue Jackets in the offseason, and Gus Nyquist also scored for Columbus. Daniil Tarasov remained winless in seven NHL appearances, finishing with 34 saves.

Columbus dropped its first two games for the third time in four seasons and the seventh time in franchise history. The Blue Jackets were playing their first game without star forward Patrik Laine, who injured his shoulder in the opening loss against Carolina and is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.

“We were sloppy,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “We weren’t good enough tonight….We had some bad bounces but that’s not why we lost tonight. We lost because they were the better team.”

Colton picked up a loose puck in the right circle and quickly fired a shot past Tarasov to give the Lightning a 3-2 lead with 1:05 left in the opening period.

Foote’s deflection of a pass from Colton went off the right skate of Blue Jackets defenseman Jake Bean and in past Tarasov to push Tampa Bay’s lead to 4-2 at 7:45 of the second.

Columbus failed to capitalize on a 5-on-3 powerplay to end the second period, before Stamkos got his second of the night and third in two games this season to make it a three-goal game at 7:57 of the third.

“Whenever you kill a 5-on-3, it’s a boost to the team and gives you energy,” Namestnikov said.

Gaudreau put Columbus on the board at 2:21 of the first, taking a behind-the-net feed from Justin Danforth and burying it past Vasilevskiy to earn chants of “Johnny! Johnny!” from the sellout crowd.

“I thought, we had a good start,” Gaudreau said. “In the second they kind of took it to us to us. We lost focus. We just weren’t making the right plays in our D-zone.”

Perry and Stamkos scored 1:13 apart late in the opening period to put Tampa Bay ahead. Perry tied it with a power-play goal with 5:52 left for the 406th score of his career, tying him with Rod Gilbert and John LeClair for the 99th place in NHL history. Stamkos put the Lightning ahead with a shot that bounced off the skate of Columbus defenseman Adam Boqvist into the back of the net.

“You knew they were going to come our hard with their home opener, and you knew their juices would be flowing for them,” Perry said. “The crowd was into it early. They got an earlier one, but we found a way on the power-play to get one right back. We answered and we continue to do the good things.”

Nyquist, however, tied it 34 seconds later with his first of season with just over 4 minutes remaining in the period.

WELCOME HOME

Gaudreau was one of three Blue Jacket players making their Nationwide Arena debuts Friday. He was joined by forward Mathieu Olivier, who was acquired from Nashville via trade, and defenseman Erik Gudbranson, who signed last summer as a free agent and assisted on Nyquist’s goal.

FEELING BLUE

Stamkos (14 goals, 16 assists) has recorded more goals and points against Columbus than any skater in Lightning franchise history and has nine points in his last four games against the Blue Jackets.

CENTURY MAN

Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman played in his 900th career game and notched an assist on Colton’s goal.

ON THE MOVE

Elvis Merzlikins returned from sickness to be the Blue Jackets’ backup netminder, with goalie Jet Greaves returned to Cleveland of the AHL. Forward Kent Johnson was recalled and skated on the third line. … The Lightning recalled defenseman Trevor Carrick from AHL Syracuse to fill the void left by the suspension of Ian Cole.

UP NEXT

Lightning: At Pittsburgh on Saturday night to finish a season-opening three-game trip.

Blue Jackets: At St. Louis on Saturday night.

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October 14, 2022
Tanev scores go-ahead goal in 2nd, Kraken beat Kings 4-1

LOS ANGELES — Brandon Tanev scored the go-ahead goal early in the second period and the Seattle Kraken rebounded from an opening loss to beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 on Thursday night.

Jaden Schwartz, Alex Wennberg and Adam Larsson also scored for the Kraken and Martin Jones made 28 saves.

Seattle bounced back from a 5-4 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night, when the Kraken squandered a two-goal lead in the third period.

“We played hard for 60 minutes,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “In every way we were better with the puck, we were smarter and a lot of the areas that we wanted to address we did. But biggest thing is we just played together as a group.”

Alex Iafallo had Los Angeles’ lone goal and Jonathan Quick stopped 18 shots.

The Kings have dropped their first two games. Throughout the preseason, coach Todd McLellan preached getting off to a good start after Los Angeles went 1-5-1 in its first six games last year before rebounding and making the playoffs.

“Well, it’s a losing streak to start the season already ’cause we’re at two and haven’t put one on the board yet,” a philosophical McLellan said. “You get to recreate yourself every year, and the reference point we had after Game 1 was last year. Now we have six periods in the bag, and much better defensively today. Gave up far fewer opportunities than we did against Vegas. Still many things to work on.”

Tanev, who had nine goals and 15 points in 30 games last season before suffering a season-ending knee injury, got his first goal in 11 career games against the Kings at 6:08 of the second period. He won possession of the puck in the corner, got past Adrian Kempe and then put a wrist shot above Quick’s shoulder on the short side.

“They play a difficult system and a trap that’s tough to break. But I think when the simplicity of the game of is getting pucks in, forechecking and being physical it makes it easier,” Tanev said. “I think when you’re out there with guys that understand the way we need to play it makes the game easier and you just read off each other and communicate try to make things easy.”

Seven minutes later, Wennberg gave the Kraken a two-goal advantage when he grabbed Matty Beniers’ pass at the front of the net and put it past Quick.

It was tied 1-1 after 20 minutes after both teams scored on the power play. Seattle scored first at 5:21 Schwartz put in a rebound after Quick made a pad save on Jordan Eberle’s shot from the slot. Two minutes later, Iafallo evened it on a wraparound after the Kings won the faceoff.

Larsson added an empty-net goal with 1:01 remaining.

QUICK START

Beniers had an assist and became the sixth player in the NHL’s modern era (since 1943-44) to find the score sheet in at least 11 of his first 12 career games. He joins Jonathan Toews, Rob Gaudreau, Teemu Selanne, Dimitri Kvartalnov and Joe Sakic. Kvartalnov and Sakic had a point in their first 12 games.

Beniers, the second overall pick in the 2021 draft, has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his first 12 games.

CLARKE’S DEBUT

Los Angeles defenseman Brandt Clarke made his NHL debut. The 19-year old Clarke, the eighth overall pick in the 2021 draft, is the 32nd teenager to play for the Kings and the fourth to make his debut in Todd McLellan’s four seasons as coach. The others were Tobias Bjornfot, Arthur Kaliyev and Quinton Byfield.

UP NEXT

Kraken: Have their home opener against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night.

Kings: Begin a five-game trip against Minnesota on Saturday night. Kevin Fiala, who was traded to Los Angeles during the offseason, faces his former team for the first time.

———

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October 13, 2022
Matthews breaks tie in 3rd, Maple Leafs beat Capitals 3-2

TORONTO — Auston Matthews broke a third-period tie, Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves against his former Washington teammates and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Capitals 3-2 on Thursday night.

John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok also scored and Morgan Rielly added two assists to help the Maple Leafs rebound from an opening 4-3 loss at Montreal on Wednesday night.

“Good bounce-back win.” Matthews said.

Nic Dowd and Marcus Johansson scored for Washington, coming off a 5-2 home loss to Boston on Wednesday night. Charlie Lindgren stopped 36 shots.

“A start we don’t want to have,” Washington captain Alex Ovehckin said. “A wake-up call.”

Matthews scored at 6:55 of the third, his first goal of the season after leading the NHL last season with 60. Mark Giordano found a seam on a point shot that Matthews got a piece of with his stick before it handcuffed Lindgren and dribbled over the goal line.

“We had a frank discussion this morning,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “The guys responded really well.”

Samonov and the Maple Leafs held on late, killing two penalties and weathering a stretch with Lindgren off for an extra attacker.

“A lot of emotion in the first period,” the Russian netminder said. “First game with the Leafs for me and (against) my old team.”

Toronto opened the scoring at 6:40 of the first period on a power play that finally clicked when Rielly found Tavares at the lip of the crease with a slick feed.

“We talked about being more patient with our game,” Tavares said. “We tried to do a little too much (in Montreal), caught us chasing a little bit.”

The Capitals responded at 9:57, with Dowd scoring from close range. Johansson gave Washington the lead on a shot off the rush with 6:08 left in the period.

Toronto tied it at 4:03 of the second. Alexander Kerfoot took a pass from Rielly at the offensive blue line and delayed before finding Jarnkrok with a terrific feed for his first with the Maple Leafs after signing in free agency.

Samsonov was drafted 22nd overall by Washington at the 2015 draft, but didn’t receive a qualifying offer from Washington, making him a free agent. The 25-year-old was 52-22-8 with a .902 save percentage and 2.81 goals-against average in 89 regular-season appearances with the Capitals.

UP NEXT

Capitals: Host Montreal on Saturday night to open a two-game homestand.

Maple Leafs: Host Ottawa on Saturday night to continue a four-game homestand.

———

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October 13, 2022
Connor McDavid opens with hat trick, Oilers beat Canucks 5-3

EDMONTON, Alberta — Connor McDavid had three goals and an assist and the Edmonton Oilers overcame an early 3-0 deficit to beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-3 on Wednesday night.

Leon Draisaitl added a goal and two assists and Darnell Nurse also scored for the Oilers in the opener for both teams. Jack Campbell made 33 saves.

“It wasn’t according to anyone’s script, for sure,” said Edmonton head coach Jay Woodcroft. “I don’t think we were sharp. I don’t think we were in sync early. We found a way to win the game, that’s a really good sign, but we can be better.”

Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller and Andrei Kuzmenko — in his NHL debut — scored for the Canucks. Thatcher Demko stopped 20 shots.

Pettersson and Miller scored in an early 51-second span and Kuzmenko made it 3-0 39 seconds into the second on a power play. He’s the first player in Canucks history to score a power-play goal in his debut.

“That was pretty disappointing, I thought we came out pretty good in the first and special teams kind of cost us the game,” said Canucks defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. “The power play wasn’t good enough and we couldn’t keep the puck out of our net on the (penalty kill).”

Edmonton got on the board 4:12 into the second when Draisaitl took a deflected pass at the side of the net and slammed it past Demko on a power play.

The Oilers pulled within a goal with another power-play goal with 5:59 left in the second on a three-way passing play from Zach Hyman to Draisaitl and then to McDavid.

“It was just not a good start for our group. It was the first game and maybe there was a little bit of jitters,” McDavid said. “It is not going to be perfect every night. You are not going to have the game you want every night and sometimes you get a win with your ‘B’ or ‘C’ game. It was certainly not our ‘A’ game to start, but we found a way to get our legs going and get ourselves back in it.”

Edmonton pulled even with 41 seconds left in the period on a 2-on-1 short-handed break as Draisaitl fed it across to Nurse, who beat Demko with a one-timer.

The Oilers took the lead with 4:59 left in the third period with McDavid orchestrating a give-and-go with Hyman before depositing his own rebound past Demko. It was McDavid’s 700th career point, making him the sixth-fastest player to hit the mark in 488 games.

McDavid completed the hat trick with 25 seconds left when Evander Kane dropped it back to him for an empty-net power-play goal.

———

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October 12, 2022
Necas helps Hurricanes beat Blue Jackets in opener

RALEIGH, N.C. — Martin Necas had a goal and two assists and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 in the season opener for both teams Wednesday night.

Seth Jarvis, Brady Skjei and Andrei Svechnikov also scored for the Hurricanes, who’ve won four consecutive opening games.

Patrick Laine had the Columbus goal, giving the Blue Jackets a brief second-period lead.

Frederik Andersen made 31 saves for the Hurricanes.

Columbus turned to Daniil Tarasov as the surprise opening-night starter because top netminder Elvis Merzilikins was ill. Tarasov, who appeared in his fifth NHL game, made 39 saves.

The Hurricanes would like to churn out another stellar opening stretch. They won their first nine games last season.

Necas began his points-producing spree by assisting on Skjei’s go-ahead goal with 1:30 to play in the second period. The Hurricanes were in transition, but Skjei spotted up inside the blueline and Necas delivered a pass back to him to set up the shot.

Necas then scored 6:29 into the third period off a rebound. Less than three minutes later, he recorded the primary assist on Svechnikov’s goal.

Laine scored the first goal 11 seconds into the second period following a Carolina turnover. He has 10 goals in 20 career games against Carolina.

WELCOME THEM ALL

A few players made debuts with their respective teams.

Six-time All-Star Johnny Gaudreau was in the Columbus lineup, while defenseman Brent Burns played in his 680th consecutive game – but first for Carolina – to move into sole possession for the 10th longest streak in NHL history.

Paul Stastny, another veteran in his first game for the Hurricanes, assisted on the team’s fourth goal. He’s beginning his 17th NHL season.

UP NEXT

Blue Jackets: Friday night vs. visiting Tampa Bay.

Hurricanes: Friday night at San Jose to begin a five-game road trip.

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October 12, 2022
Mark Stone’s last-minute goal sends Vegas past Kings 4-3

LOS ANGELES — Mark Stone scored the tiebreaking goal with 24.9 seconds to play, and the Vegas Golden Knights punctuated coach Bruce Cassidy’s debut with a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.

Arthur Kaliyev tied it for the Kings with 7:02 left, but the Knights capitalized in the waning seconds after the Kings made an ill-advised move up the ice instead of running out the clock for overtime. Chandler Stephenson controlled a turnover at mid-ice and carried it in for Stone, who whipped a shot past Jonathan Quick to cap Vegas’ three-goal third period.

“We had our breakdowns, but that’s just learning curves,” Stone said. “If we can cut those in half, we’ll get it done. Power play got a little talking-to in between periods there. We stepped up for it in the third.”

William Karlsson had a goal and an assist as the Golden Knights put a whopping 51 shots on Quick, including 20 in the final period. Jonathan Marchessault and Jack Eichel also scored, while Alex Pietrangelo had assists on Vegas’ last two goals.

Cassidy spent the past six seasons with the Bruins, who fired him in June even though Boston made the playoffs in every year of his tenure. The Golden Knights hired him eight days later to get the NHL’s model expansion franchise back to the postseason.

“I thought we showed a lot of resilience,” Cassidy said. “We kept pushing back whenever something didn’t go our way. … For a coach, you’re always worried that when you don’t know your team that well — it’s our first league game — what will happen when things don’t go well? It’s always, to me, a sign of good character in the room when a team is resilient, so that’s a big plus for me no matter how the score turned out.”

Logan Thompson made 27 saves in his first game since becoming Vegas’ first-choice goalie in the absence of injured Robin Lehner and Laurent Brossoit.

Quick made 47 saves while starting on opening night for the 14th time in the Kings’ last 15 seasons. Gabe Vilardi and Adrian Kempe also scored for Los Angeles, but coach Todd McLellan lamented his team’s poor game management and overall defensive intensity while saying the Kings’ last-minute turnover “makes no sense” and “was just stupidity.”

“We’ve preached and preached about it,” McLellan said. “Sometimes you’ve got to get hit pretty hard with a two-by-four. Maybe this was it. … That is all game management. That’s getting engaged and being ready to go. Their team did a better job of it than we did tonight.”

Vegas’ impressive entrance into the NHL in 2017 coincided with the Kings’ decline from the best times in franchise history, but the momentum shifted last season between two teams separated by about 3 1/2 hours of desert freeway.

Los Angeles ended its three-year playoff drought and stretched Edmonton to seven games in the first round after finishing the regular season five points ahead of the Golden Knights, who missed the postseason for the first time.

In their first meeting of the new season, the Knights showed they’ve got more than enough offense to break through the defense-minded Kings.

“We wasted an outstanding goaltending night by not at least getting a point,” McLellan said. “That’s disappointing.”

Eichel put Vegas ahead early in the third with a rebound goal, but Kempe tied it 2 1/2 minutes later with a one-timer on a sharp pass from captain Anze Kopitar, who is beginning his 17th season with the Kings.

After Eichel and Kempe traded goals early in the third, Karlsson expertly redirected Pietrangelo’s soft pass from the point with 12:43 to play. Los Angeles answered moments after a power play expired, with Kaliyev hitting an open net after a scramble in front.

QUIET DEBUTS

Phil Kessel didn’t score in the 35-year-old forward’s Vegas debut, and prolific Swiss forward Kevin Fiala didn’t score in his first game with the Kings.

BARNSTORMING BETTMAN

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman attended the game and said he was pleased with the renovations and additions to the Kings’ downtown arena. Although the league has no active expansion plan, Bettman said he has received numerous inquiries from parties interested in getting a new franchise in the NHL, which currently has a symmetrical 32 teams.

Bettman also said the league is still investigating the separate sexual assault allegations against Tampa Bay’s Ian Cole and the 2018 Canadian world junior championships team.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Host Blackhawks on Thursday.

Kings: Host Kraken on Thursday.

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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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October 11, 2022