Sat,
Jan 19 - Results
Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia 3-1 - The Pens gained revenge for their first round playoff loss last season. Marc-Andre Fleury, who faced criticism in that series, hit back stopping 26 of 27 Flyers shots last night. Tyler Kennedy, James Neal and Chris Kunitz all grabbed a goal, while Paul Martin chipped in with 2 assists. The Pittsburgh penalty kill, which was abused by
Philadelphia last spring, successfully thwarted all five Flyers
man-advantage opportunities. Flyers captain Claude
Giroux scored his team's lone goal. Goalie Ilya
Bryzgalov made 24 saves in front of 19,994 fans at Wells Fargo
Center, the largest regular-season crowd in Flyers history. While the
Penguins' victory can't erase all the bad memories from last spring's
playoff disaster, they certainly can feel good going forward.
Especially Fleury, who posted a 4.63GAA and .834 save percentage in
that first-round loss. Fleury wasn't tested much early, as the Flyers
had just three shots until a late first-period power play that saw
them get a quick flurry of three shots. Fleury was up to the
challenge then, and carried that play throughout the game, including
the final five minutes of regulation, when the Flyers' push to tie
the game was aided by a pair of power plays. The Penguins' penalty
killers weren't far behind. After allowing the Flyers to score 12
extra-man goals in 23 chances in last year's series, the Pens limited
the Flyers to no goals and 11 shots on their five extra-man chances,
including the two late in the third. The Penguins also dominated in
faceoffs, winning 35 of 62, with two wins leading directly to goals.
Sutter, making his debut as the Pens' third-line center, beat Giroux
on a faceoff in the Philadelphia end late in a man-advantage, with
the puck going back to Matt
Niskanen. He passed over to defense partner Paul
Martin, who fired a shot from the right point that deflected off
Kennedy and past Bryzgalov at 4:40 of the first period. For Sutter,
acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes in June as part of the Jordan
Staal trade, it was an opportunity for him to make a solid early
impact with his new team. Playing with Staal's old linemates, Kennedy
and Matt
Cooke, he won eight of 14 faceoffs and had two takeaways in 17:08
of ice time. Minutes later another faceoff win led to the Pens'
second goal. Evgeni
Malkin beat Sean
Couturier on a draw in the left circle and kicked the puck behind
him to Neal. He ripped a one-timer from the top of the circle that
zipped past Bryzgalov at 7:20 to make it 2-0. The Flyers got a goal
back 23 seconds into the second period. Scott
Hartnell carried the puck down the left side in the Pittsburgh
end and floated a perfect saucer pass through the slot to Giroux on
the right post, and he jammed it past Fleury to make it 2-1. The
Flyers continued to push for most of the second period. Their best
chance came with 8:30 left, when Giroux made a sensational move
around Martin on a rush into the Pittsburgh end, faking and dragging
the puck past the Penguins defenseman. He tried to get a shot on net,
but the puck bounced across to Hartnell, who couldn't get a clean
shot off and Fleury was able to cover the puck. Then came the two
late power plays for Philadelphia, but again Fleury was in full
bloom, stopping everything that came his way. Kunitz's empty-net
power-play goal with 11.2 seconds left closed the scoring, and sent
the Penguins off to New York for Today's game at the Rangers in a
positive mood.
Ottawa @
Winnipeg 4-1 - The Senators disappointed a sold-out house by
beating the Jets 4-1. Milan
Michalek tied the game late in the first period, Chris
Neil put the Senators ahead to stay in the second, and reigning
Norris Trophy winner Erik
Karlsson, who also contributed two assists, and Kyle
Turris finished off the Jets with third-period insurance goals.
Ottawa goaltender Craig
Anderson, made a huge stop during one of Winnipeg’s final few
offensive pushes on Dustin
Byfuglien’s point-blank chance that could have tied the game.
Ondrej
Pavelec, stopped 33 shots. Byfuglien scored the Jets’ lone
goal. The Senators returned to action with offseason addition Marc
Methot on their blue line to go with forwards Guillaume
Latendresse and youngster Jakob
Silfverberg. Winnipeg, maligned as a one-line club last season,
added forward depth in veteran center Olli
Jokinen and winger Alexei
Ponikarovsky in a bid to return to the postseason for the first
time since 2007. But in playing their first game in more than nine
months, the Jets lacked execution from much of their roster. Fan
favorite Byfuglien delivered the Jets’ first goal six minutes into
the game. Byfuglien, who ranked second in scoring among defensemen
with a career-high 53 points last season, made Ottawa pay 30 seconds
after Neil took an offensive-zone penalty for driving Jets defenseman
Mark Stuart
into the end boards. Against an Ottawa penalty kill that ranked 20th
last season, Tobias
Enstrom slid a cross-ice pass to Byfuglien, who unleashed a
rising left-circle shot that beat Anderson cleanly under the
crossbar. However, the Senators then controlled the game through much
of the first period, rolling off an 11-3 shots advantage in one span
against a Jets club that finished 26th in goals-against last season.
Michalek scored 35 goals last season, five of them against the Jets,
and continued his production against Winnipeg as turnovers, a
familiar Winnipeg problem last season, and a heavy Ottawa forecheck
led to the tying goal. Rookie defenseman Paul
Postma turned over the puck deep in his own right corner. Patrick
Wiercioch settled the loose puck and pushed it ahead to Michalek
in the left circle, where the Ottawa sniper slipped a shot between
Pavelec’s pads at 16:02. Neil redeemed himself late in the second
period less than a minute after the Senators’ first power play had
expired when he pounced on a big rebound and tucked it behind Pavelec
to give Ottawa a 2-1 lead with 2:48 remaining in the middle period.
The Jets enjoyed six of the game’s eight power-play opportunities,
but the Senators used the man advantage to lock up the two points.
Winnipeg captain Andrew
Ladd’s third-period slashing minor set up Ottawa’s second
power play, which Karlsson used to blast a left-point shot past
Pavelec with 7:45 remaining. Turris capped the scoring when he
deflected a right-side shot off Byfuglien’s leg and past Pavelec
with 2:10 to play.
Chicago @ Los Angeles 5-2 -
The Stanley Cup is again up for grabs, and the
Kings need to be much better than they were yesterday if they want
the opportunity to play for it again. The Chicago
Blackhawks silenced the previously deafening and delirious
sold-out crowd of 18,545 with three goals in the first period and
another early in the second before finishing off a 5-2 victory thanks
to a three-point afternoon from Marian
Hossa and 19 saves from Corey
Crawford. The Kings, who perhaps were left flat-footed by a
stirring pregame ceremony that included them receiving championship
rings from Tiffany & Co., an appearance by the Stanley Cup, and
the championship banner going up to the rafters, didn't respond until
Rob Scuderi
scored late in the second period. By then it was much too late.
Jonathan
Quick, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy last year because he didn't
allow more than three goals in any of his 20 Stanley Cup Playoff
games, gave up the five goals on 22 shots. Los Angeles' top line of
Mike Richards,
Dustin Brown
and Simon
Gagne was a combined minus-9 and the Kings' power play went
0-for-5 with five shots on goal. The Kings however, were missing Anze
Kopitar, who is recovering from a knee injury. Kane scored the
first goal of the 2012-13 NHL season with a sharp one-timer from the
lower right circle during a 5-on-3 to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead
3:41 into the game. Hossa and Michael
Frolik gave Chicago its 3-0 lead at the first intermission by
scoring back-to-back goals separated by 74 seconds. Hossa's goal came
off an attempted pass to Toews that hit Kings defenseman Drew
Doughty in the legs and redirected into the net. Frolik scored on
a one-timer from the top of the right circle off a feed from Marcus
Kruger, who niftily split Gagne and flat-footed Matt
Greene to carry the puck into the zone. Quick, who allowed three
goals twice in 20 playoff games last year, was beaten three times on
nine shots in the first period. Toews, who played despite missing
practice Friday with the flu, made it 4-0 76 seconds into the second
period when he stuffed in a wide-open rebound left by Quick, who had
just finished foiling Kane on a breakaway attempt. Alec
Martinez and Slava
Voynov tried to get back to catch Kane, who was stopped when he
attempted to put the puck through Quick's five-hole. However,
Richards and Brown were several steps behind Toews, who without the
pressure of backchecking forwards didn't have to do much to get the
puck into the net. The Kings scored the next two goals, the first off
a Scuderi wrist shot late in the second period and the second on a
tip-in by Jordan
Nolan midway through the third. However, 15 seconds after Nolan
scored from the slot, Hossa beat Quick for his second goal of the
game. Hossa's shot deflected off Martinez's leg, changing direction
just enough to fool Quick.
NY Rangers @
Boston 1-3
- With balanced scoring and solid goaltending,
Boston started off the shortened season on the right foot. Tuukka
Rask started the post-Tim Thomas era with 20 saves, while Milan
Lucic, Gregory
Campbell and Johnny
Boychuk found the back of the net. Reigning Vezina Trophy winner
Henrik
Lundqvist made 31 saves in the loss for the Rangers. Newly
acquired sniper Rick
Nash set up the Rangers' lone goal, which Brad
Richards scored 12:50 into the second period to cut the Bruins'
lead to 2-1. However, it was a long, difficult night for Richards and
Nash, who were trying to get their chemistry right while going
head-to-head with Boston's gargantuan defenseman Zdeno
Chara. The Bruins dominated the season's first period with a 14-7
edge in shots on goal and the period's lone goal. Boston used a power
play of more than three minutes to wear down the Rangers with a lot
of pressure and a couple near misses. With the teams back at full
strength, the Bruins finally scored when Lucic
won a race to a rebound of a Krejci shot on the rush. Defenseman
Andrew Ference
had sprung David Krejci with a tape-to-tape stretch pass just before
the goal at 14:14. Rask was a perfect 7-for-7 in saves, including a
couple late stops on Rangers defenseman Michael
Del Zotto with bodies screening in front. Rask's view of the puck
was seemingly clear throughout the night. The Bruins' fourth line
doubled the lead 8:20 into the second period when Daniel
Paille tipped Campbell's
slap shot past Lundqvist at the end of a shift. Richards' goal sent
the Bruins to the second intermission with just a one-goal lead.
Boston's fourth line got involved in the action again later in the
period, but in a different way. First Shawn
Thornton held his own in a bout with Rangers center Mike
Rupp, who was bloodied in the bout. Campbell, however, was
bloodied after his brief bout with Stu
Bickel just three seconds of game time after the Thornton-Rupp
tilt. Lundqvist came up with an early candidate for save of the
season at 7:07 of the third period to keep the Rangers within one. He
dove to his left and gloved Krejci's shot just before it crossed the
line, a fact that was confirmed by video review. But Lundqvist
couldn't come up with a miracle save on Boychuk's shot from the right
point at 8:13, so the Bruins extended to a 3-1 lead. Patrice
Bergeron had just won the draw back to Boychuk and then screened
Lundqvist.
Toronto @ Montreal 2-1 -
The Toronto
Maple Leafs' goaltending and overall team defense were major
sources of concern for the organization over the long offseason. One
game into the new season, so far, so good on both fronts. Goalie Ben
Scrivens got the nod over assumed incumbent James
Reimer and needed to stop only 21 shots to backstop the Maple
Leafs to a 2-1 opening-night victory against the rival Montreal
Canadiens. The Maple Leafs finished 29th in the NHL in
goals-against per game last season, but they played tight, defensive
hockey and snuffed out any momentum the Canadiens could have had
after an emotional opening ceremony to kick off the 2012-13 season.
Nazem Kadri
and Tyler
Bozak scored power-play goals, and Phil
Kessel assisted on both for the Maple Leafs to provide Scrivens
all the offense he would need, though he received a lot of help from
teammates who kept the Canadiens largely on the perimeter and chasing
the puck most of the night. The Canadien's theme for the season is
"Raise the Torch," so former Canadiens captains Yvan
Cournoyer, Henri Richard, Vincent Damphousse, Serge Savard and Jean
Beliveau, who received an ovation that nearly blew the roof off Bell
Centre, conducted a torch relay that ended with current captain Brian
Gionta on the ice. The torch was passed from player to player as
they were introduced to the sellout crowd, and 18-year-old rookie
Alex
Galchenyuk received one of the loudest ovations prior to his NHL
debut. But one of the most enthusiastic crowd responses was reserved
for coach Michel Therrien, coaching his 500th game, his first since
being hired for his hometown team. The warmth from the crowd,
however, did not last very long, the Canadiens took a penalty 46
seconds after the opening faceoff when Ryan
White was called for goaltender interference, triggering a
Montreal parade to the penalty box. Erik
Cole took Montreal's second penalty of the game 16 seconds after
White's ended, and the Maple Leafs took advantage when Kadri jumped
on a blocked centering pass from Kessel and caught goaltender Carey
Price moving the wrong way at 4:51 of the first. It was Toronto's
first shot on goal this season. The early Canadiens penalties took
the crowd out of it and gave the Maple Leafs momentum they would not
relinquish. Were it not for a number of strong saves by Canadiens
goaltender Carey
Price, the game could have gotten out of hand. The Maple Leafs'
tight defensive play should be a welcome sign for their fans and
coach Randy Carlyle, who is beginning his first full season behind
the Toronto bench after taking over for Ron Wilson on March 2, 2012.
Montreal's frustration appeared to show itself at 7:14 of the second
period when Tomas
Plekanec was whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct after giving
Scrivens a snow shower. Bozak scored Toronto's second power-play goal
of the game less than a minute later, jumping on a rebound of a
Kessel rocket from the slot at 8:12 to put Toronto ahead 2-0. By the
end of the period, the crowd that was so revved up by the opening
ceremony was booing the Canadiens. The hostility continued into the
third period despite the fact Montreal began showing signs of life,
spending extended stretches in the Toronto zone for the first time in
the game and pressuring the Maple Leafs. The hard work paid off at
13:51 when Gionta jumped on a Scrivens rebound at the lip of the
crease on the power play in his first game since Jan. 10, 2011, after
missing most of last season with a torn biceps muscle. But the Maple
Leafs successfully held off the late Canadiens charge and headed back
to Toronto to prepare for their home opener Monday against the
Buffalo Sabres with a perfect record.
New Jersey @
NY Islanders 2-1 -
David
Clarkson was an unlikely 30-goal scorer last season. He hasn't
lost his touch despite not playing in seven months. Clarkson's goal
at 8:17 of the third period gave the New
Jersey Devils a 2-1 opening-night victory against the New
York Islanders at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Saturday.
Clarkson made the NHL because of his abilities as an enforcer. But
he's become a key offensive contributor for a team that often
struggles to score. Just 65 seconds after the Islanders tied the game
on a power-play goal by Travis
Hamonic, Clarkson put the Devils ahead when his screened shot
from the right circle ticked the skate of Isles defenseman Brian
Strait and floated between the legs of Islanders goaltender
Evgeni
Nabokov. Brodeur stopped 18 shots and was rarely tested. Nabokov
finished with 26 saves. The Devils, coming off a six-game loss in the
Stanley Cup Final last spring, dominated the first two periods, but
couldn't break through until 14:01 of the second, when a bad
Islanders line change led to a 3-on-1 break for New Jersey. Ilya
Kovalchuk stepped around a sliding Mark
Streit and put a pass right on the stick of a charging Travis
Zajac, who lifted it into a wide-open net. Despite the closeness
of the score, the Devils controlled play for most of the night and
looked much less ragged than the Islanders after the work stoppage.
The Islanders, who managed just three shots in the opening period and
had only 10 through 40 minutes, tied it at 7:12 of the third period.
With New Jersey defenseman Henrik
Tallinder in the box for hooking Keith
Aucoin, Michael
Grabner found Hamonic alone in the slot. Hamonic ripped a shot
over Brodeur's catching glove and under the crossbar. Hamonic also
had the Isles' best chance to tie the game, but Brodeur robbed him
with 4:14 remaining. The game drew an announced sellout crowd of
16,170 to the Coliseum, which the Islanders are scheduled to leave
after the 2014-15 season for their new home in Brooklyn. Islanders
coach Jack Capuano missed the game for what the team termed medical
reasons. Assistants Doug Weight and Brent Thompson ran the bench in
his absence.
Washington @ Tampa Bay 3-6 -
The Tampa
Bay Lightning didn't generate a shot on goal until more than six
minutes had gone by in the opening period, but their first one was a
sign of things to come. Eric
Brewer connected on his team's first shot for the first of his
two goals as the Lightning defeated the Washington
Capitals 6-3 in their season opener at the Tampa Bay Times Forum
on Saturday night. Washington did battle back three times to tie the
game, but Tampa Bay scored three unanswered goals in the third period
to put the game away. Martin St. Louis scored two goals, including a
power-play tally in the third that proved to be the game-winner, and
Cory Conacher,
skating in his NHL debut, had a goal and an assist. Teddy
Purcell assisted on all three third-period goals and Vincent
Lecavalier had a multi-point game with a goal and an assist.
Washington pushed back each time the Lightning edged ahead behind two
goals by Joel
Ward and a score by Wojtek
Wolski. The Capitals began the game with three consecutive power
plays, but were able to convert on only one, when Ward scored at
8:25. Alex
Ovechkin, skating on right wing instead of his accustomed spot on
the left, produced four shots in the opening period but was held
without a shot on net for the remainder of the night. Boosted by
those early extra-man opportunities, the Capitals outshot the
Lightning 17-8 in the first period, but Anders
Lindback, making his debut for Tampa Bay between the pipes, kept
the Lightning in the game. Lindback stopped 27 shots on the way to
the win. For Conacher, skating on a line with Lecavalier and Purcell,
his debut was a magical night. The game remained close until the
final period when Tampa Bay dominated in every aspect, out-shooting
the Capitals 13-7 and converting two of three power-play chances.
With the win, the Lightning have now won their last three season
openers and improved their opening-night record to 12-6-2 overall.
Carolina @
Florida 1-5 - Jonathan
Huberdeau had an NHL debut to remember. The Florida
Panthers' prized rookie admitted to being nervous before his
first shift, but he was all smiles in a victorious locker room after
flashing the skills that made him the third player chosen in the 2011
NHL Draft. Huberdeau had a goal and two assists, finished with a
game-high five shots and earned First Star honors after leading the
Panthers to a 5-1 victory against the Carolina
Hurricanes on Saturday night. The line of Huberdeau, veteran Alex
Kovalev and free agent pickup Peter
Mueller combined for two goals and five assists. Kovalev, signed
after attending Panthers camp on a tryout basis, also had a goal and
two assists, while Mueller had an assist. It also was a big night for
defenseman Brian
Campbell, who scored two power-play goals in the first period,
both on slap shots. For one night at least, Campbell made his
teammates and fans forget about the loss of Jason Garrison, whose
booming shot from the point helped him score 16 goals for the
Panthers last season before he left for Vancouver as a free agent.
Scottie
Upshall also had a first-period power-play goal for the Panthers,
who led 4-0 after the first 20 minutes, delighting the full house of
19,688. It was a spectacular start for the Panthers, especially
considering they were missing six players, all regulars on last
season's Southeast Division championship team. Jose
Theodore made 41 saves for Florida. Patrick
Dwyer scored for the Hurricanes, who are looking to get back to
the playoffs for the first time in four seasons. Cam
Ward started in net for Carolina, but was pulled for Dan
Ellis following the first period after allowing four goals on 12
shots. The Hurricanes, who lost five of six against Florida last
season, don't play again until Tuesday night when they host the Tampa
Bay Lightning. Carolina had the better of play over the last two
periods, but by then the damage had been done. It didn't help that
the Hurricanes finished 0 for 9 on the power play. The Panthers were
opening at home for the first time since October 2006, when they had
another memorable performance. That night, they beat the Boston
Bruins 8-3. After a pregame ceremony that included the unveiling of a
banner commemorating the first division title in franchise history,
Huberdeau scored Florida's first goal of the season at 3:51. He was
standing in front of the net when he tapped in Mueller's perfect
passout. Campbell made it 2-0 at 6:42 after Carolina's Jiri
Tlusty tried to move the puck past him at the blue line instead
of simply clearing the zone. After stealing the puck, Campbell skated
and beat Ward with a slap shot high to the glove side. Campbell's
second goal at 16:47 came with eight seconds remaining in a 5-on-3
advantage. Like the first, Campbell scored on a slap shot, but this
one went high to the stick side. Upshall closed out the first-period
scoring after a nifty play by Huberdeau. After taking a pass from
Tomas
Fleischmann just inside the Carolina blue line, Huberdeau deked
past Tlusty before passing to the wing to Upshall, who one-timed it
past Ward. Huberdeau also got the first assist on Kovalev's goal,
which gave Florida a 5-0 lead 3:35 into the second period. Kovalev,
back in the NHL after playing 22 games in the KHL last season, scored
when he ricocheted a backhand from behind the net off Ellis' back and
into the net.
Detroit @ St Louis 0-6 -
There was a reason the Blues wanted to move up in
the 2010 NHL Draft. A certain Russian sniper had caught their eye
that they felt was worth a gamble on a first-round pick. The Blues
already had the 14th pick and selected Jaden
Schwartz but moved up to select Tarasenko by trading first-round
defensive prospect David Rundblad to Ottawa. After Tarasenko's debut,
the Blues have every reason to be thrilled. Tarasenko finally made
his long-anticipated NHL debut Saturday night, and the native of
Novosibirsk, Russia, didn't disappoint. Tarasenko scored on his first
two shots, quickly attracting chants of "Tara-senko!" as
the Blues dominated the Detroit
Red Wings from start to finish in a 6-0 opening-night victory at
Scottrade Center. The Blues, coming off a Central Division title,
wasted little time ridding themselves of the foul taste left by a
playoff sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings last spring.
Familiarity is something this team feels like it has going for it. It
was obvious. The Blues, with high hopes in the abbreviated season,
want to mirror what their Saturday opponent has accomplished for
decades. In order to be respected as one of the best, you have to
beat the best. On opening night, a statement was made ... at least
for one game. For the Red Wings, a team accustomed to being at or
near the top of the NHL standings and making the playoffs as a matter
of course, it's rare to see such a humbling loss. Tarasenko scored a
pair of highlight-reel goals, both times going in alone on Wings
goalie Jimmy
Howard, who did his best to keep the score respectable. T.J.
Oshie scored a shorthanded and Patrik
Berglund added a power-play goal. Jaroslav
Halak breezed to his 23rd career shutout and 14th with the Blues,
stopping all 14 shots and becoming the first Blue to record a shutout
on opening night. Alex Steen, Kevin
Shattenkirk and Oshie also added two assists each. The Blues had
all the legs and momentum rolling their way in the opening period,
getting goals from Tarasenko and Stewart. The train continued to roll
over the final two periods. Tarasenko joined fellow 2010 first-round
pick Schwartz in scoring score in his first NHL game and on his first
NHL shot, Schwartz did it on March 17, 2012, at Tampa Bay, by taking
a stretch pass from Ian
Cole and snapping a rooftop shot over Howard's paddle for a 1-0
lead 6:36 into the game. But Tarasenko outdid his teammate by scoring
on his first two shots in the same game. Schwartz also scored on his
first two NHL shots but in separate games. Stewart, who had a
disappointing season with only 15 goals last season following
back-to-back 28-goal campaigns, scored a power-play goal at 14:44 for
a 2-0 lead as the Blues blitzed the Red Wings, outshooting them 17-2.
Tarasenko undressed Wings defenseman Kyle
Quincey before lifting a backhander over Howard for a 3-0 lead in
the second. Oshie took a long stretch pass from Pietrangelo and
snapped a shot through Howard for a shorthanded goal late in the
second. The shots (27-7) and score (4-0) were very indicative of how
the first 40 minutes were played. Howard's night ended when Stewart
got his second early in the third, the Blues' third power-play goal
on four chances. Howard stopped 23 shots before he was replaced by
Jonas
Gustavsson. After Berglund added a fourth power play goal on five
chances, it was a picture-perfect night for the home side.
Columbus @
Nashville 3-2 -
The post-Rick Nash Era in Columbus is off to a
good start. Derick
Brassard scored in the sixth round of the shootout Saturday night
to give the Blue Jackets a 3-2 victory at Nashville, a place where
they had won once in their past 20 visits since the start of the
2006-07 season. Brassard beat goaltender Pekka
Rinne to start the sixth round of the shootout, and Columbus
goaltender Sergei
Bobrovsky gave the Blue Jackets the extra point when he denied
Chris Smith's attempt, disappointing a sellout crowd of 17,113. The
game sold out in three days after tickets were put on sale. After
finishing last in the overall standings in 2011-12, the Blue Jackets
dealt Nash, who holds almost all of the franchise's offensive
records, to the New York Rangers for three young players and a draft
pick. One of those players, center Artem
Anisimov, tied the game by beating Rinne at 12:05 of the second
period. He also beat Rinne with a backhander in the second round of
the shootout. David
Legwand prolonged the tiebreaker by scoring in the third round
for Nashville. The Predators made few changes from last season, but
coach Barry Trotz said the lack of a preseason was still a problem.
Martin Erat
got the Predators off to a fast start by beating Bobrovsky with a
wrist shot 39 seconds into the game. Another Columbus newcomer, Nick
Foligno, tied it with a power-play tip-in at 16:08, but
defenseman Ryan
Ellis scored a power-play goal at 17:55 to put the Predators back
in front. Columbus tied it when Anisimov took a pass from Fedor
Tyutin at the blue line and held off Nashville center Paul
Gaustad before beating Rinne with a backhander. Bobrovsky, who
was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers during the summer, stopped
32 shots. Rinne finished with 26 saves. Nashville captain Shea
Weber fought Columbus' Jared
Boll in the second period after he felt Smith was checked too
hard. It was his first fighting major since 2009-10.
Phoenix @ Dallas 3-4 - A great pass from new teammate Jaromir
Jagr with 6:55 left in the third period allowed Dallas
Stars winger Loui
Eriksson to drain an 18-foot wrister from the slot, the
game-winner as the Stars defeated the Phoenix
Coyotes 4-3 Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 18,532 at
American Airlines Center. Jagr made his Dallas debut memorable,
scoring his first goal for the Stars at 18:36 of the opening period.
After a nice feed from Eriksson, Jagr dashed up the ice and slipped a
wrister under the left pad of goaltender Mike
Smith for a 1-0 lead. Jagr added a second goal late in the second
period. Radim
Vrbata had two goals and an assist for Phoenix, which lost its
season opener for just the second time in the past seven seasons.
Dallas won its opener for a third straight year. Stars goaltender
Kari Lehtonen
stopped 37 of 40 shots; Smith denied 22 of 26. The Coyotes' David
Moss drew a pair of penalties in the second period to put his
club on the power play twice. Moss first drew a double-minor high
sticking on Philip
Larsen at 4:05, but the Stars' penalty kill was up to the
challenge. Dallas wasn’t quite so lucky on the second Coyotes power
play, which came after rookie defenseman Brenden
Dillon was whistled for a cross check on Moss at 8:23. Just 41
seconds later, Lauri
Korpikoski made it a tie game, knocking home a 15-foot wrister
after a cross-ice pass from Vrbata at 9:04. Phoenix made the Stars
pay again at 11:53, 48 seconds after Dallas captain Brenden
Morrow was sent off for a high stick on Korpikoski. This time it
was Vrbata finishing for the visitors, redirecting a shot by Keith
Yandle about 10 feet from the goal to give the Coyotes their
first lead at 2-1. Jagr revved up the home crowd again with his goal
at 18:38 of the second, putting a wrister from Smith’s left to make
it 2-2. Dallas had gone on the power play at 16:47 when Reilly
Smith drew a holding penalty on Vrbata. Dallas grabbed a 3-2 lead
31 seconds into the third period when former Coyote Ray
Whitney, another of the Stars' offseason additions, beat Smith
with a wrister from the right circle with Dallas on the power play.
Assisting were Jagr and Stephane
Robidas, his second helper of the night. Whitney's goal made
Dallas 2-for-4 with the man advantage, the Stars' latest opportunity
coming after Phoenix center Boyd
Gordon was called for slashing at 19:37 of the second. Last
season, the Stars had the NHL's lowest-ranked power play, converting
at a rate of 13.5 percent. Vrbata made it a 3-3 game with his second
at 3:30 of the third. He found himself on a breakaway after Stars
defenseman Jordie
Benn lost the puck in his own end, and Vrbata quickly beat
Lehtonen with a wrister for the equalizer.
Colorado @
Minnesota 2-4 -
With all the talk surrounding the Minnesota
Wild debuts of Zach
Parise and Ryan
Suter, it was Dany
Heatley who stole the show at Saturday's season opener. The
veteran forward scored a pair of goals, including the 350th of his
career, as the Wild beat the Colorado
Avalanche 4-2 in front of a sellout crowd of 19,298 at Xcel
Energy Center, the sixth-largest turnout in franchise history. Parise
was pretty good too. Avalanche goalie Semyon
Varlamov stopped a close-in shot by Parise early in the second
period, but the rebound came free to Heatley, who buried his first of
the night, tying the score 1-1. Later in the period, Parise gained
control in the right corner and fed Heatley in front. Varlamov
stopped the first chance but Heatley slammed home the second one to
make it 3-1 at 10:01. Sandwiched was the first career goal of Wild
center Mikael
Granlund, who redirected a point shot by defenseman Jared
Spurgeon into the net less than a minute after Heatley's first
goal. The quick offensive burst erased a miserable first period for
the Wild, who spent much of the opening 20 minutes chasing the
Avalanche around the rink. The Avs jumped ahead 2:07 into the game
when John Mitchell slammed home a rebound off a scramble in front of
Wild goaltender Niklas
Backstrom. Colorado had two power plays in the first period and
almost extended its lead but could not find the net again despite
holding a 12-5 edge in shots. Backstrom played a big role in that by
making 11 saves. Cody
McLeod's goal early in the third period pulled Colorado within
3-2, and a shot at a wide-open net by Steve
Downie with just over three minutes left in regulation rang the
right post. Less than two minutes later, Wild forward Pierre-Marc
Bouchard buried a rebound of his own shot from the bottom of the
left circle for some insurance. Despite allowing four goals, Varlamov
was superb in goal, stopping 31 shots. Backstrom made 25 saves.
Minnesota will host Dallas on Sunday evening in the second of
back-to-back games for both teams. The Stars defeated Phoenix 4-3 in
Dallas on Saturday.
Anaheim @ Vancouver 7-3 -
Teemu
Selanne continues to defy time for Anaheim, he kicked off his
21st NHL season with two goals and two assists as the Ducks spoiled
the Vancouver
Canucks' home opener with a 7-3 victory Saturday night. It sure
seemed like a fun night all around for the NHL's elder statesmen as
Selanne moved into a tie for the League scoring lead after one game,
joining fellow graybeard Jaromir Jagr, who had four points in his
debut with Dallas. At 42 years and 200 days, Selanne also became the
oldest NHL player with four points in a game since Gordie Howe (42
years, 326 days) tallied four in 1971. It certainly wasn't for new
Canucks No.1 goaltender Cory
Schneider, who was pulled from his first season-opening start
after giving up goals on three straight shots early in the second
period, finishing with five goals on just 14 shots. While Schneider
struggled in his first game as Vancouver's starter, several Ducks
newcomers made great impressions in their first game. Free-agent
additions Daniel
Winnik and Sheldon
Souray scored in the first period, and Winnik added his second
3:33 into the second to start the three-goal outburst that ended
Schneider's night. Corey
Perry added a power-play goal three minutes later, and Kyle
Palmieri made it 5-2 just 11 seconds after that. Jonas
Hiller made 26 saves as the Ducks picked up where they left off
last season, when they finished 13th in the Western Conference
despite a late flourish as one of the NHL's top teams during the
second half. After an introduction that included thanks from Canucks
general manager Mike Gillis and captain Henrik
Sedin, as well as the national anthems sung by Sarah McLachlan,
it was the Ducks that opened the scoring. Playing without defenseman
Cam Fowler,
who was a late scratch with the flu, Winnik's deflection of a soft
Saku Koivu
wrist shot from the top of the circle caught Schneider moving in the
wrong direction just 6:31 in. Vancouver took the lead on a one-timer
from Dan
Hamhuis midway through the period and a power-play goal for
Daniel Sedin
90 seconds later. But Souray, who didn't get regular power-play time
in Dallas last season, was left alone between the top of the circles
on an offensive zone faceoff won by Selanne and wired a hard slap
shot under Schneider's blocker. Winnik, who scored only eight goals
while splitting last season between Colorado and San Jose, added his
second early in the second period, going hard to the net to finish
off a nice three-way passing play from Koivu and Andrew
Cogliano with a redirection up and over Schneider in tight. Perry
was left all alone after another offensive zone faceoff just four
seconds into a power play and shoveled a bouncing puck through
Schneider's legs, and Ryan
Getzlaf fed Palmieri alone in the slot for a quick, high shot
past Schneider 11 seconds later, the two fastest Ducks goals since
2005. That ended Schneider's night after goals on three straight
shots, and three on just four shots in the period – and started
another goaltending controversy in Vancouver. After taking the
starting job from Luongo in the playoffs last spring, Schneider
watched as Luongo took over in the opener. Selanne beat him on a
sharp-angled shot on the power play with 13.3 seconds left in the
second period. Canucks defenseman Alexander
Edler made it 6-3 with Selanne in the penalty box midway through
the third period, but the Finnish veteran made up for that by beating
Luongo cleanly on the blocker side from between the hash marks just
22 seconds later. Selanne, who was playing his 1,342nd career game,
moved past Dale Hawerchuk and into 18th spot in all-time scoring with
1,410 points. Luongo, who was widely expected to be traded before the
season, finished with 10 saves, setting up an interesting goaltending
decision ahead of today's game
Sun, Jan 20 - Fixtures
Philadelphia @ Buffalo 12pm ET
San Jose @ Calgary 6pm ET
Pittsburgh @ NY Rangers 7pm ET
Dallas @ Minnesota 8pm ET
Edmonton @ Vancouver 9pm ET
Chicago @ Phoenix 10pm ET
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