Tag: NHL hockey

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Thatcher Demko made 27 saves in his second shutout of the season, and the Vancouver Canucks beat Jake Oettinger and the Dallas Stars 2-0 on Saturday night.

Pius Suter and Elias Pettersson scored in the second period as the Canucks improved to 4-0-1 at home. Vancouver (8-2-1) is 5-0-1 in its last six games.

It was Demko’s fifth career shutout. He is 7-0-0 against Dallas.

“It feels great to see that commitment level, and you can tell the guys are playing for one another,” the 27-year-old Demko said.

“It’s a special feeling when that kind of takes over the room. We’re excited about tonight. We know we’ve been playing some good hockey, but obviously we still have to continue to grow. It’s one game at a time. Enjoy tonight but get back to work.”

Oettinger stopped 26 shots for the Stars (7-2-1), who had won three in a row and six of seven overall.

“We had a couple opportunities to maybe get the first goal, which I think would have been critical tonight,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. “They got it. I think it was one of those nights where whoever gets that first goal, it’s a big advantage. It looked, right from the start, like neither goalie was going to give up a whole lot.”

Each team came up empty on the power play. Vancouver went 0 for 5 against the NHL’s second-best penalty kill, while Dallas was 0 for 3 with the man advantage.

“I like our penalty kills,” said Canucks coach Rick Tocchet, who made that a point of emphasis for improvement this season and now has Vancouver up to a success rate of better that 78%. “We’ve had some unfortunate 5-on-3s this year, some goals. But structurally, I think we’ve done a nice job.”

A fast-paced first period was scoreless thanks to strong goaltending at both ends. The highlight was a point-blank glove save on Wyatt Johnston by Demko during the Stars’ first power play, just more than five minutes in.

“That was a huge save,” said Dallas forward Sam Steel. “He put a good shot on it, too. A lot of times those go in, and it’s a big save. I guess it shifted momentum a bit.”

The Canucks opened the scoring 4:21 into the second, when Suter worked a give-and-go with Dakota Joshua before breaking to the slot and directing the puck past Oettinger’s glove hand. It was Suter’s second goal this season, and second in two games.

With 5:06 left in the middle period, Pettersson connected for his sixth goal on a sharp one-timer off a pinpoint pass from Filip Hronek.

“I saw he looked over, so I was hoping for him to find me there, which he did,” Pettersson said. “Hronek can skate the puck well and he’s got good skills out there as well.”

Pettersson beat Oettinger for his 20th point of the season, tying Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils for the NHL scoring lead and extending his point streak to five games.

Shortly afterward, Ian Cole and Mason Marchment dropped the gloves after Cole laid a hard hit on Stars forward Matt Duchene, who did not return to the game.

“I don’t have an update on him,” DeBoer said. “I understand that he’s doing pretty good, so that’s the latest I’ve heard.”

UP NEXT

Stars: Host Boston on Monday night before a three-game trip.

Canucks: Host Edmonton on Monday night in the finale of a two-game homestand.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

EDMONTON, Alberta — Roope Hintz had two goals and an assist, Scott Wedgewood made 46 saves and the Dallas Stars beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 Thursday night for their third straight win.

Joe Pavelski had a goal and two assists and Matt Duchene also scored for the Stars, who improved to 7-1-1 on the season.

Sam Gagner scored twice in his return to the lineup and Evander Kane also had a goal struggling Oilers, who have lost five of their last six and dropped to 2-6-1. Stuart Skinner had 23 saves.

Edmonton sent 25 shots at Wedgewood in the third period. and scored twice but could not tie it.

“We know they’ve got a high-powered offense and they’re going to keep coming,” Wedgewood said. “No matter what kind of lead you have, it’s not really safe in this league, let alone against these guys. Credit to them, they fought back. But credit to us, we kept them off the board late when we needed it on a back-to-back. (Doing that) against two hard teams is a big bonus for us.”

Trailing 4-1 in the third period, Edmonton got its second goal of the game midway through the period as Gagner lunged at a loose puck in the blue paint and poked it past an outstretched Wedgewood . It was Gagner’s first game back with the Oilers, rejoining the team for a third time after double hip surgery in the offseason.

Gagner struck again with 6 1/2 minutes to play as he took a pass from Kane and nudged it towards the net to pull Edmonton within one.

The Oilers applied a ton of pressure with their goalie pulled but were unable to get another goal.

“I thought we were still in that game and you want to make a big play and score a goal to try and help us rally,” Gagner said. “We had a lot of chances. We created a lot and had a lot of looks with the goalie pulled but just couldn’t find a way to get the equalizer.”

Dallas opened the scoring 8:08 into the game right after Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins missed a golden opportunity. The Stars went the other way on a 2-on-1 with Duchene opting to shoot and beating Skinner down low for his second of the season.

The Oilers bounced back with 3 minutes left in the first period as Nugent-Hopkins stripped a puck in the Dallas zone and directed it to Kane, who blasted his third of the season past the Wedgewood’s glove.

The Stars regained the lead 3:25 into the second on another odd-man rush as Hintz passed across to Pavelski on a 3-on-1 break. He put his fourth of the season into the net before Skinner could get across.

Edmonton had a good chance to pull even again on a power play, but Evan Bouchard hit the post on two occasions.

Dallas made it 3-1 on a power play of their own with 3:54 left in the in the middle period as a pass deflected towards the net and was directed home by Hintz.

Pavelski made a perfect pass to Hintz at the side of the net and he tapped it in for his for his fifth to make it 4-1 at 2:37 of the third.

The Oilers scored twice 3:01 apart to pull within one and kept up the pressure the rest of the way.

“The last 10 minutes, we were taking it,” Pavelski said. “We didn’t play a lot in the O-zone and they were pushing and we had a couple of big blocks and tons of big saves from Wedgey and grinded one out.”

Oilers forward Connor Brown left the game in the second period with an injury and did not return.

UP NEXT

Stars: At Vancouver on Saturday night to wrap up a three-game trip.

Oiler: Host Nashville on Saturday to finish a four-game homestand.

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TEMPE, Ariz. — Nick Schmaltz scored two goals, including the go-ahead goal in the third period, and the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Thursday night.

The game-winner came with 13:53 remaining on a Coyotes power play with Arber Xhekaj in the penalty box for cross-checking. Rookie Logan Cooley skated from the left side and hit Schmaltz with a pass to beat Jake Allen on the glove side.

The Coyotes came off a 4-3 overtime loss at Anaheim on Wednesday night to win their fifth game of the season.

“We’re in every game, we just gotta take that next step as a team and learn how to win,” Schmaltz said. “It’s fun when you’re playing in these close games, you want to be that guy who can make that play when it matters.”

Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said his team’s competitiveness had worked against it in other games.

“Tonight was not the case, we stayed composed, we pushed through and we found a way to make key plays,” he said.

Schmaltz, who has four goals and a team-high 10 points, scored his first goal on a penalty shot. Lawson Crouse also scored for Arizona and Connor Ingram stopped 28 shots.

Sean Monahan and Brendan Gallagher had goals for the Canadiens and Allen stopped 32 shots.

Schmaltz was awarded a penalty shot 6:17 into the game after Canadiens defenseman Justin Barron covered the puck in the crease — the third straight game that Montreal’s opponent has been awarded a penalty.

Schmaltz said aside from shootouts, he couldn’t remember taking a penalty shot.

“I had no idea, I didn’t know if you get to pick or who gets (to take it), that’s pretty cool,” he said. Unlike in the shootout, Schmaltz said, “It actually counts (as a goal), so that’s a plus.”

Less than a minute after Schmaltz’s first goal, Monahan scored from the slot, his sixth of the season, to tie it.

After an apparent goal later in the period by the Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki was overturned because a Montreal teammate was offside, the teams were scoreless until the final minute of the second period. Just after a Coyotes power play expired, Crouse scored from Allen’s left for his third of the season. Matias Maccelli and Nick Bjugstad assisted on the goal with 38.8 seconds to play in the period.

Gallagher, who assisted on Monahan’s goal, scored for Montreal on the power play 2:59 into the third period with Clayton Keller off for holding.

Montreal’s Rafael Harvey-Pinard skated off the ice with an apparent injury early in the second period and did not return.

NEXT

Canadiens: At St. Louis Saturday.

Coyotes: Host Winnipeg Saturday.

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SEATTLE — Philipp Grubauer made enough important saves that the Seattle Kraken goalie could be forgiven for taking his first penalty in nearly eight years.

“It’s kind of awkward not being able to sit in the box there after taking a penalty,” Grubauer joked. “But, no added pressure. It’s the same mentality. You’ve got to stop everything.”

Grubauer stopped 33 shots, Vince Dunn scored his second goal of the season off a faceoff 8:38 into the third period to give Seattle a two-goal advantage, and the Kraken beat the Nashville Predators 4-2 on Thursday night.

The Kraken withstood a disjointed and sometimes sloppy first two periods thanks to Grubauer, who was terrific, especially in the second period.

He stopped 14 of 15 shots in the period, several right around the goal mouth. Grubauer also picked up the second penalty of his career when he was called for tripping Nashville’s Liam Foudy late in the period. It was his first penalty since a 2016 game against Ottawa while playing for Washington.

“The second period, that’s the key point where (Grubauer) did a really good job getting us through that period and putting us in a good spot coming into the third period and the other guys picked it up from there,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said.

Coming off a career high in points last season, Dunn’s slap shot beat goalie Juuse Saros to the glove side to give Seattle a 4-2 lead.

The Kraken also got goals from Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jared McCann in the first period and defenseman Brian Dumoulin’s goal late in the second period snapped a 2-2 tie. Dumoulin scored in consecutive games for the first time in his career.

After playing seven of its first 10 games on the road, Seattle won consecutive games for the first time this season following its overtime win over Tampa Bay on Monday. The Kraken will spend most of November at home with seven of the next 11 games on home ice.

“It’s great to contribute. I think that’s the biggest thing, especially with this team is everyone’s got to contribute for us to win. And we’ve done that here in this last stretch,” Dumoulin said.

Tommy Novak scored in the dying seconds of a power play 6:35 into the game and Roman Josi got the only shot past Grubauer in the second period with his second goal of the season, also on the power play. Nashville has dropped the first two games of a five-game road trip.

Nashville was 2 for 5 on the power play after going 0 for 4 against Vancouver to open the road trip.

“Felt like we had a lot of looks, a lot of really good chances, especially in that second period,” Josi said. “We had a lot of pressure. Felt like we had a had a lot of really good chances we couldn’t capitalize on.”

Saros made 26 saves, but faced far more traffic than the first meeting against Seattle in the first week of the season when he made 23 saves in a 3-0 shutout.

UP NEXT

Predators: Continue their road trip at Edmonton on Saturday.

Kraken: Host Calgary on Saturday.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — Anaheim coach Greg Cronin had a question for Troy Terry before the Ducks faced the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday night.

On a team that has three of the top 30 scorers in the NHL, how come Terry wasn’t one of them?

Terry got the first-year coach’s message and answered the challenge. The right wing scored with 1:33 remaining on the clock in overtime to complete the second hat trick of his career as the Ducks rallied to beat the Coyotes 4-3 for their fifth straight win.

“I couldn’t be happier that we’ve been playing games. But selfishly, I’ve wanted to contribute more,” Terry said. “I was hoping that I can start putting these home and kind of take us to another level and hopefully add some more scoring.”

Terry had a career-high four points on the night. He started the night with a pair of power-play goals in the first period and assisted on Leo Carlsson’s third-period tally, which sent the game into overtime.

Terry got the feed from Mason McTavish and put it past Karel Vejmelka to give the Ducks their third win in overtime. It also gave Terry five goals and nine points on the season.

It also gave Anaheim its longest winning streak in two years.

The Ducks are also the fourth team in NHL history to have four victories in the first 10 games where they have trailed in the third period. The others were Columbus (2021-22), Tampa Bay (2013-14), Detroit (2008-09) and Toronto (1934-35).

“They’re starting to figure it out and they’re able to transfer the practice stuff, and I think they can identify why we do certain things,” Cronin said about his young squad. “Hopefully they continue to learn and build strength and confidence. And we can keep this going.”

It was also Anaheim’s third hat trick of the young season. Frank Vatrano has the other two. It was the fourth time a Ducks’ skater has completed a hat trick with an OT goal.

Lawson Crouse scored twice and Logan Cooley got his first NHL goal for Arizona, which has dropped two of its last three.

Lukas Dostal stopped 32 shots for Anaheim.

Carlsson evened it at 3 at 4:01 of the third when redirected Terry’s shot past Vejmelka.

J.J. Moser had two assists and Vejmelka made 25 saves for the Coyotes.

Anaheim had a 2-0 lead 9:35 into the game after Terry’s second power-play goal. Rookie defenseman Pavel Mintyukov hit the far post on a breakaway attempt, but Terry knocked in the rebound for his fourth of the season.

Arizona though rallied to tie it on goals by Crouse and Cooley.

Cooley scored his first NHL goal at 14:51 to even it at 2. He got the pass from Moser near the blue line, skated past Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe and went top shelf on Dostal.

“In the moment, it was the best feeling ever, it felt like I was on Cloud 9 there for a little bit, but I would’ve taken the win over that any day of the week,” Cooley said about the goal. “It’s good to get off my shoulders, and now I can just play, and focus on tomorrow’s game.”

The Coyotes led 3-2 after 40 minutes when Crouse put in a rebound at 14:25 of the second period. It was the seventh career multi-goal game in the forward’s eight-year NHL career.

“I think we had a tough start. We battled back. We came back in the game, and we even had a lead I think,” Arizona coach Andrè Tourigny said. “We could expect to win in that type of situation. I did not like the way we played when we were under attack, and we need to be comfortable being uncomfortable and we were not today.”

UP NEXT

Coyotes: Host Montreal on Thursday night.

Ducks: Host Vegas on Sunday night.

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TORONTO — Cam Talbot made 30 saves as the Los Angeles Kings beat Toronto 4-1 on Tuesday night in a game in which Maple Leafs winger William Nylander extended his season-opening point streak to a franchise record nine games.

Talbot improved to 4-2-1 in his first season with the Kings after signing a one-year $2 million contract as a free agent after an injury-plagued season with the Ottawa Senators limited the 36-yeaer-old to 36 games last season.

“I never take a day for granted here,” Talbot said. “At this point in my career, all I wanted to do was get an opportunity to show that I can still play and still battle for starts.

“When I’m healthy, I feel like I’m gonna be at the top of my game like that.”

Adrian Kempe, Phillip Danault, Arthur Kaliyev and Andreas Englund scored for the Kings. Quinton Byfield added two assists.

Joining the Kings, Talbot was reunited with head coach Todd McLellan, who was behind the bench for all four of his seasons with the Edmonton Oilers from 2015-16 through 2018-19.

“Very competitive,” McLellan said of his netminder. “He’s a little longer in the tooth like some of us, but he takes care of himself so well that he can play — and play a lot. He’s hungry.”

John Tavares scored for Toronto, which was coming off a 3-1-1 road trip that finished with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday. Joseph Woll stopped 23 shots.

With an assist on Tavares’ goal, Nylander passed former Maple Leafs Frank Mahovlich (1961-62), Lanny McDonald (1976-77) and John Anderson (1982-83) who had eight-game point streaks.

“Every team goes through times during the year where you have a difficult schedule,” Tavares said. “With the type of team that we have, we have to recognize and understand how you have to fight through that.”

The Kings, who entered averaging an NHL-leading 4.38 goals, opened the scoring at 6:38 of the first period when Englund’s shot went in off the stick of Toronto defenseman Mark Giordano. It was the journeyman’s first goal in his 89th career game.

Los Angeles doubled its lead at 11:40 when former Maple Leafs winger Trevor Moore spun away from Timothy Liljegren down low and found Danault near the net for his second goal of the season.

Woll robbed Kaliyev five minutes into the second, but the Kings forward scored on a power play at 9:46 when he settled a bouncing puck and scored his second.

Kevin Fiala fed Kaliyev to become the third Kings player in the last 25 years to register an assist streak of at least eight games.

The Maple Leafs scored on a power play when Tavares ended Talbot’s shutout bid with his fifth at 8:25 of the third.

Later in the third, Toronto defenseman John Klingberg turned the puck over on a sequence and Kempe scored his third at 12:13.

Next up for Talbot and the Kings is a Thursday game at Ottawa.

“Being injured three separate times, and out of training camp … it was tough to jell with the new team,” Talbot said of the Senators. “But that’s a great group over there. You meet a lot of guys throughout your career that you’re going to be friends with, and that group is no different.

“Look back on it fondly, but obviously I’m here now and looking forward to playing them.”

UP NEXT

Kings: At Ottawa Senators on Thursday.

Maple Leafs: At Boston Bruins on Thursday.

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EDMONTON, Alberta — Evander Kane had a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers beat the rival Calgary Flames 5-2 in the Heritage Classic outdoor game on Sunday at Commonwealth Stadium.

Brett Kulak, Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard and Vincent Desharnais also scored for the Oilers, who snapped a four-game skid (0-3-1). Leon Draisaitl had two assists and Stuart Skinner stopped 24 shots.

“I thought we got back to our foundation of how we like to play and how we need to play,” Kane said. “I thought we skated really well. We were physical and if you look at the goals we scored, every single one of them was around their blue paint or creating havoc around their blue paint. That is a recipe for success for our group.”

Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said he is not surprised his team stepped up for this game.

“We have a lot of proud people in our organization … and no one’s been happy with the way we started the season. I just think we’ve got to playing a certain way,” he said. “It was a big night for our city and for our organization.”

A.J. Greer and Nazem Kadri had goals for the Flames in their fifth straight loss. Jacob Markstrom had 29 saves.

“We gotta keep believing,” Flames forward Mikael Backlund said. “We have a really good team here. I believe in the guys. We have to stick with it. Play with the effort we had tonight and clean some things up, we’re going to win games eventually.”

It was much warmer (about 37 degrees at puck drop) than at the original Heritage Classic 20 years ago which reached minus-22 with the wind chill in 2003.

The Oilers started as Markstrom allowed a big rebound on an opportunity by Kane and defender Kulak was down deep to sweep in a backhand shot 4:19 into the game.

Edmonton made it 2-0 midway through the first period right after killing a two-man disadvantage as Leon Draisaitl came out of the box and waited for Hyman to catch up on a 2-on-1 before passing it to him for his third goal of the season at 9:38.

Calgary got one back with 5:05 remaining in the period and just 1 second remaining on yet another two-man advantage as Kadri’s high shot deflected off Skinner’s blocker and into the net. It was Kadri’s first goal of the season.

Edmonton regained its two-goal cushion 1:11 later as Bouchard scored on a long slap shot through traffic. Oilers captain Connor McDavid picked up an assist to extend his home scoring streak to 24 games.

Calgary got another power-play goal with 8 1/2 minutes left in the second period as Greer knocked in the rebound of Mackenzie Weegar’s point-blank shot to make it 3-2.

Edmonton got a big goal at 6:16 of the third as Desharnais’ point shot took a high bounce off of the ice and past Markstrom.

The Oilers put the game away for good in the final minute on an empty-netter by Kane, his second of the season.

“This was a big game for either side, with the teams not off to a great start,” Draisaitl said. “It could be a little bit of a kick-starter. It is only one game, but it is definitely nice to do it in front of all these fans at home here and get the two points.”

Calgary defenseman Rasmus Andersson missed the game as he finished serving his four-game suspension.

UP NEXT

Flames: Host Dallas on Wednesday night.

Oilers: Host Dallas on Thursday night.

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NEW YORK — The NHL suspended Buffalo Sabres defenseman Connor Clifton for two games without pay for what it determined was an illegal check to the head of New Jersey Devils forward Nico Hischier on Friday night.

Clifton will lose nearly $35,000 in pay, and that money will go to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund, the league’s Department of Player Safety announced Saturday.

In a video explaining the reasoning behind the suspension, the NHL said Clifton made Hischier’s head the primary target and that the hit was avoidable. It was the first such offense in Clifton’s 240-game NHL career, the league said.

Clifton was ejected for the hit to the Devils captain, which happened at the 16-minute mark of the first period of Sabres’ 5-4 loss. Hischier played in the second period but did not return for the third.

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Brad Marchand and James van Riemsdyk scored 21 seconds apart late in the first period and the Boston Bruins won their third straight game to open the season, beating the San Jose Sharks 3-1 on Thursday night.

David Pastrnak scored for the fourth time this season and Linus Ullmark made 26 saves to get the Bruins off to a good start on their four-game trip.

“I think it’s a good opportunity to get on a little bit of a roll,” van Riemsdyk said. “We have a lot of kind of games in a short span and I think that’s good this time of year to kind of get in the rhythm of our playing games and going from there.”

The Sharks wrapped up a season-opening, four-game homestand with another loss. San Jose earned only one point in the four games against reigning division champions, losing in a shootout to Colorado on Saturday night.

The Sharks became the third team ever to go winless when opening the season with four straight games at home. The California Golden Seals had two losses and two ties in 1971-72 and Calgary had three losses and a tie in 1997-98.

Anthony Duclair scored the lone goal for San Jose. Kaapo Kahkonen made 34 saves.

“We made a step forward with the things we touched on after our last game,” coach David Quinn said. “I thought we spent more time in the o-zone and there was definitely more possession and forechecking. But, we’ve got a long way to go to where we want to get to, and you’re not going to get from A to Z without going through the alphabet.”

The Sharks have lost 12 straight against Boston for their longest losing streak ever against an opponent.

San Jose got some decent opportunities early but the Bruins took control of the game in the final two minutes of the opening period. Marchand beat Kahkonen with a wrist shot from the circle for his first goal of the season.

On the next shift, van Riemsdyk jammed a puck under Kahkonen’s pad during a scramble in front of the net to make it 2-0.

“I thought the first five minutes were good,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “I thought the the next 10 kind of blah and then the last five were really good.”

Pastrnak got a bit of luck to score in his third straight game late in the second period. He was on a 2-on-1 rush when a back-checking Marc Edouard-Vlasic poked the puck away but it deflected off Pastrnak’s skate and went into the net.

ROUGH SCHEDULE

The Sharks were dealt a rough opening to the schedule with games against the four division winners from last season: Vegas, Colorado, Carolina and Boston.

This is the first time since the realignment to four divisions in 2013 that a team opened the season by playing all four defending division champs.

ROSTER SHUFFLE

Forward Kevin Labanc made his season debut for San Jose after being scratched the first four games. The Sharks placed D Radim Simek on waivers with the intent to send him back to the AHL.

UP NEXT

Bruins: At Los Angeles on Saturday night.

Sharks: At Nashville on Saturday night.

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OTTAWA, Ontario — Josh Norris scored a pair of goals in his season debut Wednesday night, leading the Ottawa Senators to a 6-1 win over the Washington Capitals.

Norris had missed the first three games of the regular season and didn’t play in the preseason, but looked solid in his return.

The road back to the game has been a difficult one for the 24-year-old Norris. He played just eight games last season because of shoulder problems that started early in the season and eventually underwent surgery in January.

“Obviously, it’s been a long road and some long days and we’re finally here now,” said Norris. “So, I think it’s kind of one of those moments. It’s weird, like, I think God’s pretty amazing and I don’t want to get like too philosophical here, but yeah, it’s just a great night and happy we won.”

As excited as Norris was to be back, his teammates were equally thrilled.

“He did what he gets paid for and put it right in the back of the net,” said linemate Drake Batherson, who set Norris up for both goals. “Super pumped for him and his family. For him to get back out there tonight, I know how excited he was. He was just happy to play, let alone get two.”

Vladimir Tarasenko, Artem Zub, Claude Giroux and Jake Sanderson also scored for the Senators (3-1-0), who picked up their third straight win. Anton Forsberg made 23 saves.

The Capitals (1-2-0), playing their first road game of the season, started off strong in the first period, but some poor defensive coverage in the remaining 40 minutes proved too much to overcome.

“In the first period, I liked our game a lot,” said Capitals coach Spencer Carbery. “I thought it was probably our best 20 minutes of the season thus far. We’re down 2-1, but I didn’t think that was an issue from a score standpoint, being able to come back in the game.

“Then the second period, sort of a microcosm of how the year is going for this group right now. Every mistake we make is ending up in the back of the net.”

John Carlson scored the Capitals’ lone goal. Darcy Kuemper stopped 23 shots.

Trailing 5-1 in the third, the Capitals managed just three shots on goal while Ottawa extended its lead on a laser of a shot from Sanderson.

Tarasenko opened the scoring four minutes in after taking a pass from Ridly Greig to beat Kuemper, but it was Norris’ power-play goal midway through the period that brought the crowd to its feet.

“He went through a lot and, you know, a lot of bad days,” said Senators coach D.J. Smith. “I know how emotional he was when he got hurt. To get to this point and get a couple goals here tonight, he just wanted to contribute. It was great.”

MILESTONE FOR BACKSTROM

Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom skated in his 1,100th career NHL game Wednesday. Backstrom made his NHL debut on Oct. 5, 2007, against the Thrashers in Atlanta. Backstrom scored his first NHL goal against the Senators that season, beating the late Ray Emery for what would prove to be the game-winning goal in a 4-1 Caps victory.

UP NEXT

Capitals: At the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

Senators: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.

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DETROIT — Andrew Copp and Alex DeBrincat each scored twice, Ville Husso made 30 saves and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 on Wednesday night.

Copp scored in a three-goal second period to give Detroit a 4-1 lead, but Pittsburgh pulled within a goal midway through the third.

Copp sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 1:32 to go. DeBrincat also took advantage of the Penguins pulling their goaltender to add an extra skater, restoring the Red Wings’ three-goal lead 21 seconds later.

Ben Chiarot, David Perron and Copp scored in the second period.

Evgeni Malkin gave the Penguins their only lead in the opening minute, when he extended his goals streak to three games. Tristan Jarry stopped 23 shots.

Erik Karlsson cut Pittsburgh’s deficit to two goals early in the third period. Shortly thereafter, Copp was given a penalty shot and he couldn’t get it past Jarry.

Husso kept the two-goal lead midway through the third by stopping shots by Rickard Rakell and Karlsson.

The Red Wings needed the cushion because Bryan Rust redirected a shot to make it 4-3 with 6:57 left.

Detroit has won three in a row since losing the opener by a goal at New Jersey. Pittsburgh had won two straight games since dropping its opening game by two goals against Chicago.

MALKIN MOVES UP

Malkin scored his 474th goal, breaking a third-place tie with Alexander Mogilny for the most NHL goals by Russian-born players. The 37-year-old center trails Washington superstar Alex Ovechkin (822) and former Red Wings great Sergei Fedorov (483) on the list.

THAT’S A FIRST

Jeff Petry had his first point with his hometown Red Wings, assisting on Copp’s first goal. The 35-year-old defenseman had 31 points in 66 games with the Penguins last season.

UP NEXT

Penguins: At St. Louis on Saturday night.

Red Wings: At Ottawa on Saturday night.

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MONTREAL — Joel Eriksson Ek had two power-play goals and added an assist to help the Minnesota Wild beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 on Tuesday night.

Kirill Kaprizov added a goal and assisted on both of Eriksson Ek’s goals, while Brandon Duhaime and Connor Dewar staked the Wild to a 2-0 lead with short-handed goals 25 seconds apart in the first period.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves for the victory in his hometown in his first start of the season. Mats Zuccarello had three assists.

Tanner Pearson and Alex Newhook scored for Montreal, and Sam Montembeault made 30 saves.

After Pearson cut it to 3-1 midway through the second period, Kaprizov restored the three-goal lead with 2:38 left in the period. Eriksson Ek made it 5-1 at 5:20 of the third with his second goal of the night.

The Wild went 3 for 8 on the power play, while the Canadiens were 0 for 4.

The matchup between Fleury and Montembeault marked the first time two Quebec-born goalies faced off in Montreal since Jan. 3, 2006.

UP NEXT

Wild: Host Los Angeles on Thursday night.

Canadiens: Host Washington on Saturday night.

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OTTAWA, Ontario — Brady Tkachuk had his second two-goal game as the Ottawa Senators beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Sunday night.

Mathieu Joseph, Vladimir Tarasenko and Tim Stützle also scored, while Joonas Korpisalo stopped 22 shots to get his first win with the Senators, who won got their second victory in two nights.

“Two games of playing our type of hockey,” Tkachuk said. “That’s just been our goal. We don’t care about wins or losses, it’s just how quickly we get to our game. I think we’ve shown that we’re starting to find it now, and I think we’re going to keep building on it.”

Anthony Cirelli and Tanner Jeannot each scored for the Lightning, and Matt Tomkins had 33 saves in his NHL debut.

Both teams had played Saturday with the Senators beating Philadelphia 5-2, while Tampa Bay fell 6-4 to Detroit.

Leading 3-2, Tkachuk was able to give the Senators some breathing room midway through the third period when he beat Darren Raddysh in a race and scored five-hole on Tomkins. Stützle added an empty-net goal, with Korpisalo picking up the secondary assist.

“Winning is exciting,” Tarasenko said. “We had a lot of talks before the season. When you win, everything is different. Like, the mood is different, you know, the atmosphere and confidence level.”

Ottawa outshot Tampa Bay 17-3 in the first period, scoring the opening goal for the third straight game when Tarasenko got a backhanded pass from Ridly Greig and beat Tomkins from down low 7:02 into the game.

“People are going to sit there and look at the first period and say oh my god, they just have 17- 3 or whatever it was,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said, “but we’re looking at chances that actually have a chance of going into the net and pucks I guess directed at the net that have a chance, but we didn’t feel like we gave them a whole lot.”

Tomkins weathered the early onslaught and looked solid.

“(Tomkins) was unbelievable,” Cirelli said. “You know from the first puck drop he made huge saves and kept us in that game the whole game. Huge credit to him the way he came in here and he made saves and played really well.”

The Lightning tied it in the opening minute of the second as Cirelli crossed to the front of the net uncontested and roofed a shot over Korpisalo.

Midway through the period, Raddysh blocked Tkachuk’s shot and dropped allowing the Senators’ captain to grab the loose puck and make it 2-1 at 8:48.

Tampa Bay tied it again with 7 minutes left in the middle period when Jeannot capitalized on the rebound of a shot by Victor Hedman.

“The two goals they score, we give them tap-ins there,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. “And that’s hard for a goalie sometimes, but give our guys credit, give the (defense) credit, we came out ready to play, we held the chances down, but certainly we have to manage those big-time breakdowns.”

With just under a minute to play in the second, Tarasenko picked off a drop pass by Tampa Bay’s Nick Perbix and passed it to Joseph, fired it into the top corner to put Ottawa ahead again.

“It was just a tough goal to give up with a minute left and we had tired D out there and again, they catch a break,” Cooper said. “You know, they try and force the puck in, we got a stick on it and it goes right to Joseph and it’s in the net.

“Tkachuk’s goal (Raddysh) blocks it and it goes right on his stick, but we put ourselves in those situations and they capitalized so you know good on them for that.”

MILESTONES

Cooper coached his 800th NHL game Sunday. He has a 481-252-67 record. … Ottawa’s Parker Kelly played in his 100th NHL game Sunday.

SIDELINED

Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos did not play. He is listed day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

SEEING FAMILIAR FACES

Austin Watson returned to Ottawa to face his former team after signing a one-year deal with the Lightning in the offseason.

UP NEXT

Lightning: At Buffalo on Tuesday night.

Senators: Host Washington on Wednesday night.

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EDMONTON, Alberta — Nils Hoglander had a goal and an assist as the Vancouver Canucks continued their early season dominance over the Edmonton Oilers, emerging with a 4-3 victory on Saturday night.

Andrei Kuzmenko, Jack Studnicka and Sam Lafferty also scored for the Canucks, who beat the same Oilers 8-1 in their season opener on Wednesday. Vancouver was winless in its first seven games last season.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and two assists, and Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid also had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who outshot the visitors 41-16.

Edmonton came out looking for retribution for Wednesday’s loss and found it just 42 seconds into the opening period after a flurry of shots on Canucks goaltender Casey DeSmith paid off with Draisaitl poking it in from under his pads in the crease for his second goal of the young season.

The Canucks tied it midway through the first on the power play as a long shot by Quinn Hughes was tipped past Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner by Kuzmenko.

Vancouver took a 2-1 lead with two minutes to play in the first as Brock Boeser hustled to keep a puck onside and launched a long shot on net that was tipped past Skinner by Hoglander in tight.

Edmonton knotted the game back up two minutes into the second period on the power play as the puck came loose to McDavid during a mad scramble in front and he scored his first of the season.

However, the Canucks regained the lead less than a minute later when a giveaway allowed a two-on-none break with Elias Pettersson sending it to Studnicka, who sniped a shot through Skinner’s legs. Studnicka is currently with the Canucks as an emergency call-up.

The Oilers rallied back again with another power-play goal midway through the middle frame as Nugent-Hopkins walked in from the point and elected to shoot himself, beating DeSmith glove-side with a heavy wrist shot.

Vancouver once again surged in front three minutes into the third period as Lafferty cut in hard on net and managed to chip the puck past Skinner.

Edmonton almost tied it again on a two-man advantage nine minutes into the third, but a Draisaitl bullet went off the post.

NOTES

Edmonton came into the game with a 24-14-5 record in home openers. … Vancouver forward Boeser played in his 400th career NHL game. Boeser was the star in Wednesday’s win over the Oilers with four goals. He became the 10th player in NHL history to score four goals in a season opener. … Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm played in his first game after missing the entire training camp with an injury. … Making his debut as an Oiler was forward Adam Erne, who attended camp on a professional tryout and earned a two-way contract. Erne spent the past four seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, dressing in 241 games while recording 27 goals and 35 assists. … Nugent-Hopkins picked up his 400th career assist in the contest.

UP NEXT

Canucks: Vancouver plays the second of a five-game road trip against the Flyers on Tuesday.

Oilers: Edmonton plays the Predators on Tuesday.

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