Gameday 4 (Tue, 23 Jan)

Winnipeg v Washington 4-2 - The Adam Oates era with the Washington Capitals is off to a stumbling start. The Capitals fell to 0-2-0 under their new coach when the Winnipeg Jets came into the Verizon Center on Tuesday night and defeated Washington 4-2 for their first victory of the new season. Suffice it to say that the Capitals' are going through some growing pains in making the transition from Dale Hunter's defense-first strategy to Oates' more offense-oriented system. The loss spoiled the Capitals' first home game of the season after they lost their season-opener 6-3 at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night. It also ended their 10-game winning streak in home openers; they hadn't lost their first home game of the season since a 4-1 win by the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 6, 2000. Winnipeg, playing its third game in four days, improved to 1-1-1 by rebounding after a 2-1 shootout loss at the Boston Bruins on Monday afternoon. Getting three of four points in a two-day span in two of the NHL's toughest buildings for visiting teams left Jets coach Claude Noel a lot happier than he was when his team hit the road after losing 4-1 to the Ottawa Senators at home in their season-opener Saturday. The Capitals got off to a strong start and took the lead when Matt Hendricks crashed the net and deflected Nicklas Backstrom's pass behind Pavelec at 10:02 of the first period. But Washington's penalty-killers, who allowed three goals at Tampa Bay, coughed up two more before the end of the period. Evander Kane tied the game at 12:34, and Jets captain Andrew Ladd put his team ahead to stay at 16:26. After outshooting the Capitals 13-8 in the opening period, the Jets were even more dominant in the second, outshooting Washington 20-9 and scoring twice in the last six minutes to take a 4-1 lead into the dressing room after 40 minutes. Wheeler converted a feed from Kane at 14:32, and Jim Slater got a backbreaker when he beat Braden Holtby through the pads with a stoppable shot with 45.4 seconds left in the period. The Capitals dominated the third period but managed only a power-play goal by Troy Brouwer with 1:16 remaining.

Tampa Bay v Carolina 4-1 - Cory Conacher has two goals and five points in his first three NHL games. Against Carolina, he drove the net to finish Vincent Lecavalier's rebound, giving the Lightning a 2-0 lead in the first period. Goals by Tom Pyatt, Keith Aulie and Ryan Malone rounded out the Tampa Bay scoring. Conacher may be in the considerable offensive shadow of teammates like Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis, but after scoring 80 points in the AHL last season, he showed he can add depth to a team with offensive weapons. The entire Lightning roster was ready in all phases of the game Tuesday night. After falling behind the New York Islanders 4-0 before losing 4-3 on Monday, Boucher wanted to see his team cut down on odd-man rushes against Carolina. But it was the offensive side of the puck where Pyatt made his biggest contribution. He batted Lecavalier's pass from the boards out of midair, swatting it past Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward. It was a thing of beauty for a guy with just 16 previous goals in 177 NHL games. Mathieu Garon, who played 48 games in goal for Tampa Bay last season, stopped 35 shots in his first start of the season. He gave credit to his teammates for blocking 23 shots, but he was particularly sharp in the final minutes of the game, stopping both Jordan Staal and Eric Staal on quality chances. For Tampa Bay, the results are already coming. With the third-period goals from Aulie and Malone, the Lightning now have scored eight of their 13 goals in the third period.

Florida v Montreal 1-4 - The Montreal Canadiens were running short on commemorative game pucks Tuesday night as a team with new players, new coaches and new management all collected their first win of the season. Alex Galchenyuk scored his first NHL goal and defenseman Andrei Markov scored a pair to get the Canadiens on the board for the 2012-13 season with a 4-1 win against the Florida Panthers at the Bell Centre. The victory was also the first for coach Michel Therrien in his second stint with the Canadiens. Even Galchenyuk's first goal was assisted by Brandon Prust for his first point as a Montreal Canadien, and it was also the first career point for Brendan Gallagher, who was making his NHL debut. Galchenyuk, the No. 3 pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, scored at 14:25 of the second period to give the Canadiens a 4-1 lead with an incredible deflection. Prust wheeled around the Panthers' net toward the half boards and blindly threw a shot on goal that looked to be headed towards Galchenyuk's midsection in front of the net. But the rookie somehow got his stick on the puck and tipped it up and over Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen, landing it just past the goal line. Tomas Plekanec also scored for the Canadiens (1-1-0) and Price made 27 saves in goal. After opening the season with an impressive 5-1 win at home against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Panthers (1-2-0) lost for the second time in as many nights. They were blanked 4-0 in Ottawa on Monday. Markov's two goals snapped a long drought for the oft-injured defenseman. His last goal came on Nov. 10, 2010, against the Vancouver Canucks, but because of a serious knee injury since that time, he had gone only 16 games without one. Still, after waiting 26 months between goals, Markov got two in a span of 15:07. But more importantly, Markov has shown over the past two games that he may be on the way to becoming the dominant player he was before two knee reconstructions limited him to playing 20 games the past two seasons. He's not as fast as he once was, but he's still a highly intelligent playmaker and defender who's able to snuff out opposing rushes before they materialize and put pucks on teammates sticks they never saw coming. Carrying a 4-1 lead into the third period, the Canadiens gave the Panthers a golden opportunity to get back into the game when Ryan White went after Tomas Fleischmann for hitting defenseman Josh Gorges from behind at 3:13 of the third period. White was given an instigator penalty and a fighting major while Fleischmann was only given a minor penalty, giving Florida a five-minute power play. Markov was then called for interference at 6:37, giving the Panthers 1:36 of a two-man advantage. Florida managed only two shots on goal during the five-minute power play and never really threatened to score, snuffing out any chance the Panthers may have had to get back in the game. Gallagher wasn't the only rookie making his NHL debut as the Panthers dressed Drew Shore in place of Mike Santorelli, and the No. 44 pick in the 2010 draft had a great scoring chance with 3:20 left in regulation but he was robbed by a nice pad save by Price. Alex Kovalev was making a return to the building where he made the fans rise out of their seats over his five years with the Canadiens, but his most remarkable play of the game came on a goal for the home team when he missed a defensive assignment to allow Plekanec to open the scoring at 3:26 of the first period on a one-timer from the slot. Markov got his first on a power play at 13:24, rifling a slap shot top corner past a helpless Clemmensen. Tomas Kopecky got Florida on the board with a power play goal at 4:33 with a rocket of a one-timer off a Fleischmann feed, but Markov got his second on another power-play point shot at 8:31 to re-establish Montreal's two-goal lead. That set the stage for Galchenyuk's goal at 14:25, blowing the roof off the Bell Centre and effectively ending Florida's chances of staging a comeback.

Philadelphia v New Jersey 0-3 - New Jersey Devils coach Peter DeBoer admits that while it wasn't the greatest performance by his team, there were a few individuals who certainly made it appear that way en route to a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday before a full house of 17,625 at Prudential Center. Martin Brodeur made 24 saves to earn his first shutout of the 2012-13 season, his 10th against the Flyers and the 120th of his 19-season career. The Devils, who won their second game in as many outings, received goals from Travis Zajac, David Clarkson and Ilya Kovalchuk to beat their reeling Atlantic Division rival. The loss is the third straight for the winless Flyers, who have led for only 10:57 of 180 minutes in their three games this season. It also marks the third time in franchise history the Flyers have opened a season with three successive losses, the others coming in 1989-90 and the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign. The Flyers, who used seven different defensive pairings in the game, have never started a season with four straight setbacks. They'll host the New York Rangers on Thursday, their fourth game in six days. Though they outshot the Flyers 26-24, the Devils were outplayed for long stretches of the game. But Brodeur was there time and again to bail out his team. Kovalchuk scored his first of the season 2:44 into the second period on his fourth career penalty shot. After being pulled from behind by Kimmo Timonen during a shorthanded breakaway attempt, the big Russian was given his opportunity against fellow countryman, Bryzgalov. Kovalchuk broke in and deposited his third career penalty shot goal off a backhand over the goalie's right pad for a 3-0 lead that looked even bigger considering the way Brodeur was playing. Dating back to last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Devils have won five straight against Philadelphia. While two victories to start the season is huge for the team's confidence, Clarkson and Brodeur know there's plenty of hockey left. After the Kovalchuk goal, the remainder of the game was highlighted by plenty of Philadelphia frustration. During an offensive flurry 12:50 into the middle period, Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds delivered a mild cross check that sent Brodeur to the ice. Simmonds, expecting to get some attention, immediately tossed off his gloves and began throwing rights at Jacob Josefson before Ryan Carter stepped into the fray. Simmonds was whistled for goalie interference and a double minor for roughing on the play. That scuffle came a little over two minutes after Clarkson and Scott Hartnell exchanged pleasantries in front of the Devils bench after the New Jersey forward had dumped Timonen to the ice in the neutral zone. The third period included a pair of fights: Simmonds traded blows with Clarkson and New Jersey's Steve Bernier squared off with Brayden Schenn. The Devils took a 1-0 lead just 1:07 into the game when Zajac connected off a rebound in the slot with Bryzgalov out of position. Kovalchuk sent a breakout pass to defenseman Bryce Salvador, who curled the Flyers cage and released a shot from the left circle that Bryzgalov could not handle. Zajac was there for his second of the season The Flyers settled down after giving up the early goal but couldn't solve Brodeur, who made nine saves in the opening 20 minutes. His best stop might have been on Hartnell at the 11:48 mark when the Flyers forward was alone in the slot but denied by Brodeur's blocker. The Flyers were also foiled on two power-play attempts and finished 0-for-6 with the man advantage. Philadelphia is now 1-for-15 for the season on the power play. Clarkson extended the lead to 2-0 by scoring a power-play goal with just 24.9 seconds remaining in the first. Clarkson, who finished with a career-high 30 goals in 2011-12, scored his second in as many games this season off a wraparound attempt that ricocheted off the skate of Philadelphia's Ruslan Fedotenko in the crease and went past Bryzgalov. The Flyers have allowed six power-play goals in 16 attempts in their first three games. The Devils scored two goals on three shots in the first, the only miss coming off the stick of Patrik Elias.

Dallas v Detroit 2-1 - The Detroit Red Wings paid tribute to newly retired Tomas Holmstrom before the game, when he dropped the puck for the ceremonial faceoff. The Red Wings didn't give the full house at Joe Louis Arena much else to celebrate at Tuesday's home opener. Michael Ryder scored his first two goals of the season, and Kari Lehtonen stopped 39 shots as the Dallas Stars put a damper on the night with a 2-1 victory, their second win in three games. Holmstrom, a four-time Stanley Cup winner and one of the best net-front presences in NHL history, made his retirement official a few hours before the game. The Red Wings could have used him on the ice as they failed to build on Monday's 4-3 shootout win at the Columbus Blue Jackets, managing only a goal by rookie Damien Brunner with 3.4 seconds remaining. Both teams were playing for the third time in the first four days of the new season. The Stars showed fewer effects of the tight schedule, though they needed some heroics by Lehtonen down the stretch. Ryder gave the Stars the lead when he beat Jimmy Howard 5:41 into the game for his first goal of the season. He picked up a pass from new linemate Cody Eakin, moved across the high slot and beat Howard with a wrist shot through a screen. Howard's heroics kept the score at 1-0 through two periods, making 17 of his 30 saves as the Stars outshot Detroit 17-7 in the second. Howard made big saves on Loui Eriksson, Jaromir Jagr, Derek Roy, Tom Wandell and Trevor Daley. Ryder gave the Stars some insurance at 5:34 of the third period when he took Brenden Morrow's pass from the right half-wall and one-timed a 15-foot wrister from the slot that beat Howard cleanly. Lehtonen made the lead stand up with a handful of excellent saves in the final minutes, when the Red Wings generated most of their 20 shots in the third period. He robbed Henrik Zetterberg from the slot with about 8-1/2 minutes remaining, and denied Pavel Datsyuk from close in with 4:20 left after Datsyuk had slithered through the defense. He also stopped Zetterberg's stuff try off a scramble with 1:05 to play and made a diving stop on a wide-open wrister by the Red Wings' new captain. Brunner's goal on the Red Wings' 40th and final shot of the night served only to spoil Lehtonen's shutout. The Red Wings' power play is showing the effects of the absence of Holmstrom and captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who retired during the summer. They went 0-for-4 with the extra man and have yet to score in 15 tries through three games.

Nashville v Minnesota 3-1 - Martin Erat's goal with just over eight minutes to play was the difference Tuesday night as the Nashville Predators opened a seven-game road trip with a 3-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. It was a blue-collar effort for the Predators, who scored a pair of greasy goals, and it was just enough. Erat's winner came during a 4-on-4 situation. Wild winger Zach Parise aimed a pass at Jared Spurgeon while in the Preds' zone, but the puck was deflected down the rink. Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom was faced with a decision, leave his crease to retrieve the puck or let Erat come in alone a breakaway. Backstrom hesitated for a second and chose the former, beating Erat to the puck, but misplayed it right into his pants. He got to his feet, but a diving attempt to get the puck away from Erat at the left circle came up empty as Erat gained control, cruised around Backstrom and swept the puck into an empty net. Erat said it may have been some payback for a quirky goal scored last season by Minnesota's Cal Clutterbuck, who took advantage of a weird puck bounce off the glass on a play that made Pekka Rinne look out of sorts. The play started at the far end when Parise misread what Spurgeon was doing at the point. Erat tipped the puck past Spurgeon and out of the zone, where the footrace with Backstrom ensued. The goal broke a 1-1 tie that had stood since the latter stages of the first period. Minnesota got on the board first, as Dany Heatley wheeled around the top of the right circle and sailed an off-speed wrister through traffic that deflected off Preds defenseman Kevin Klein's glove in front and past Mason at 6:02. For Heatley, it was his third goal of the season. The goal also extended Heatley's point streak dating back to last season to eight games (eight goals, three assists). Nashville tied the game later in the period, as a loose puck squirted free to Klein on the blue line. The defenseman snapped a shot towards the net that deflected off a scrum in front and right onto the stick of Nick Spaling at the right hash marks. He slipped the puck past Backstrom for his first of the season. Spaling now has five goals in nine career games against Minnesota. He has 14 against the rest of the League in 173 games. David Legwand added an insurance goal with 17 seconds remaining. Nashville, which lost its first two games in shootouts, improved to 1-0-2 on the season. The loss was Minnesota's first in three games this season.

St Louis v Chicago 2-3 - It might be just three games into a compressed regular-season schedule, but the Chicago Blackhawks look like they're already in midseason form. After taking their first two games on the West Coast this past weekend, the Blackhawks continued their torrid start by downing the equally-hot St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Tuesday night at United Center in the first of five games between the Central Division rivals. Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook and Viktor Stalberg scored goals for Chicago (3-0-0). The Hawks also got a solid performance by goalie Corey Crawford, who made 32 saves to pick up his second win. Chicago is off to a 3-0-0 start for the first time since the 1972-73 season and has done it by beating the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, the defending Pacific Division champion Phoenix Coyotes, who ousted them in the first round of last season's Stanley Cup Playoffs, and now the defending Central champion Blues. So far, it's been a pretty high standard. That's also been a key for the Blues since coach Ken Hitchcock took over last year, but they were playing the back end of the first of 10 back-to-backs this season and looked the part early. Andy McDonald and T.J. Oshie scored for St. Louis (2-1-0), but until Oshie's goal, which he scored on a power play with 5:07 left in the third to make it a one-goal game, it looked like Chicago would comfortably finish off a business-like victory. The late push made Crawford come up with some big saves to preserve the win. It didn't help that the Hawks were opening their home schedule in a building where they've held a decided advantage over St. Louis of late. The Blues, who played without fourth-liners Scott Nichol and Ryan Reaves, are winless at the United Center dating back to Feb. 3, 2010, and have won just once in their last 11 visits. This time, Chicago controlled most of the first and put a lot of heat on goalie Brian Elliott with some prime scoring chances off odd-man rushes in the first five minutes of the game. Elliott was up to the challenge until the Hawks finally got one past him for a 1-0 lead at 7:20 of the first, after all five Blues skaters got caught in the offensive zone and turned the puck over to create a 3-on-0 break for Chicago's second line of Kane, Dave Bolland and Patrick Sharp. Nick Leddy stole the puck and zipped a pass to Kane in the neutral zone. Kane then found Sharp at the right dot, took a return pass and deked Elliott to the ice from close range, capping it off by sliding a backhander into the net. Chicago kept the pressure on, but the Blues eventually tilted the ice in their favor toward the end of the first, forcing Crawford to come up with several impressive stops. His sprawling pad save against red-hot rookie Vladimir Tarasenko off a point-blank rebound chance really stood out. Chicago upped its lead to 2-0 on Seabrook's power-play goal with 11:39 left in the second period. After Crawford swatted the puck away from David Backes to thwart a shorthanded St. Louis scoring chance, Toews rushed the puck up the ice and slid a short pass for a one-time blast by Duncan Keith from the point. The puck hit Seabrook's right skate as he floated through the slot and changed direction just enough to fool Elliott, who watched the puck slide through his legs. Aside from Crawford starting it with his poke check, the play involved all Blackhawks players who helped win the 2010 Stanley Cup championship. Stalberg put the Hawks up 3-0 just 2:09 into the final period by taking a pass from Bryan Bickell and firing a laser through the legs of Chris Stewart and past Elliott before McDonald finally got the Blues on the board a little more than two minutes later. Oshie's goal late in the third, which came off a rebound of David Perron's shot to make it 3-2, forced Crawford to come up big a couple of times before the final horn sounded.

Los Angeles v Colorado 1-3 - The Los Angeles Kings are finding out that wearing the Stanley Cup crown can be a heavy burden. The Kings fell for the second time in as many games as defending champions Tuesday night, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center. The Avalanche, who won all four meetings between the teams last season, struck for three third-period goals to wipe out a 1-0 deficit for their first win of the young season. Los Angeles lost a regular-season game when leading after two periods for the first time since April 2, 2009, at Phoenix. The Kings went 86-0-9 in 95 games when leading after 40 minutes during that stretch. The Avalanche got goals from new captain Gabriel Landeskog and David Jones 95 seconds apart early in the third to grab a 2-1 lead. Landeskog, last season's Calder Trophy winner, tied the game at the one-minute mark and Jones broke the stalemate with a power-play goal at 2:35. Landeskog scored while standing to the left of Kings goalie Jonathan Quick after Matt Duchene passed to Jan Hejda for a shot from the left point. The puck caromed off the boards to Landeskog, who swept it by Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi and inside the near post. Jones wired a shot past Quick off a pass from Paul Stastny after the Kings turned the puck over in their own end with Dustin Penner off for holding. The Avalanche used the boards as an advantage again at 8:16 to hike the lead to 3-1. Ryan Wilson fired the puck from the left point off the boards and Erik Johnson slipped it to PA Parenteau in front for the two-goal advantage. The Avalanche also got a solid performance from goalie Semyon Varlamov, who stopped 28 of 29 shots, with 21 of his saves coming in the first two periods. The closest the Kings came to cutting the deficit in half came with 7 1/2 minutes remaining when Alec Martinez clanged a shot off the left post during a power play. The Avalanche killed all six of the Kings' man advantages. Quick, who faced 22 shots Saturday in the Kings' opening 5-2 home loss to Chicago, wasn't taking anything for granted with a 1-0 lead heading to the third period, even after his teammates killed off a two-man disadvantage in the second. The Kings welcomed the return of star center Anze Kopitar, who missed the opener with a sprained knee sustained while playing in Europe during the lockout. He didn't register a shot on goal in 19:54 of ice time and was a minus-1. The Kings had a 1-0 lead thanks to a first-period goal by Kyle Clifford and some outstanding penalty killing late in the second. Clifford scored at 15:52 after Jordan Nolan fired a shot while skating down right wing. Varlamov made the stop, but the rebound went to Clifford driving into the slot for an easy goal. The Kings failed to capitalize on power plays, but stayed in front by killing off a two-man disadvantage that lasted 1:29 in the second period with Penner (hooking) and Drew Doughty (high sticking) sitting side-by-side in the penalty box. Avalanche left wing Steve Downie limped off the ice at 2:33 of the second period with a knee injury after a hit in the corner with Kings defenseman David Drewiske. Downie didn't return and will be re-evaluated Wednesday.

San Jose v Edmonton 6-3 - The San Jose Sharks are heading back to the Bay Area for their home opener after spoiling the Edmonton Oilers' first appearance at Rexall Place this season. The Sharks completed only the second Alberta sweep in franchise history by scoring six goals in the first period for the first time ever and cruising to a 6-3 victory on Tuesday night. Edmonton came home after rallying for a 3-2 shootout win at Vancouver on Sunday, and with one of the NHL's deepest groups of young talent, including the last three No. 1 overall picks, Oilers fans have visions of ending a playoff drought that dates to 2006. Instead, they watched the Oilers allow six goals in a period, one short of the franchise record of seven at Boston on Jan. 17, 1980, the franchise's first season in the NHL. The lone bright spots were the first NHL goals for prized rookies Nail Yakupov, the first player taken in the 2012 NHL Draft, and defenseman Justin Schultz. The Sharks will take a 2-0-0 record back to HP Pavilion for their home opener against Phoenix on Thursday after matching the franchise record for goals in any period and scoring six goals in a period during a road game for the first time in franchise history. San Jose took advantage of early penalty trouble by the Oilers to score two power-play goals in a 73-second span. Dan Boyle connected at 3:17 during a 5-on-3 advantage and Logan Couture got the first of his two goals, beating Devan Dubnyk with a wrist shot at 5:30 with the Sharks playing 5-on-4. Yakupov drew cheers when he beat Antti Niemi during a power play at 8:25 for his first NHL goal, but the Sharks responded quickly and blew the game wide open. Patrick Marleau, who had a pair of goals in Sunday's 4-1 win at Calgary, made it 3-1 at 10:02 when he finished off a passout by Joe Thornton, then scored the Sharks' third power-play goal of the period 65 seconds later, a wrister from between the hash marks, off the third assist of the period by Thornton. Couture put in a rebound at 18:09, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic capped the period by blasting a slap shot past Dubnyk at 19:20, giving the Sharks six goals on 17 shots and bringing on Yann Danis in place of Dubnyk to start the second period. It was also a complete reversal for the Sharks from the first period in Calgary two nights earlier, when they were badly outplayed by the Flames before regrouping for the win. Perhaps sparked by the goaltending change, the Oilers outshot the Sharks 17-9 in the second period. But they managed to score only once, when Schultz, their star rookie defenseman, stepped into a one-timer from just inside the right circle and beat Niemi cleanly at 14:25 during a 5-on-3 power play. Taylor Hall made it a three-goal game 3:34 into the third period when he finished a give-and-go with Jordan Eberle by using Sharks defenseman Justin Braun as a screen and beating Niemi with a rocket of a 20-foot wrister from the slot. But the Oilers managed only four other shots in the period against Niemi, who finished with 26 saves.