Los Angeles @ Carolina 2-1 SO - The teams played scoreless hockey for 53-plus minutes, going long stretches with neither generating much offense. But to the trained eye, the game had plenty of redeeming value. In the end, it came down a lone shootout goal, a backhander by Jeff Carter that beat Carolina's Cam Ward over the blocker. Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped Jeff Skinner, Alexander Semin and Nathan Gerbe in the shootout to preserve the win. The Kings broke the scoreless tie 13:26 into the third period while L.A.'s Jarret Stoll was serving a hooking penalty, as Dwight King took advantage of a Carolina turnover to score his 10th career goal. After Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk bobbled Eric Staal's errant cross-ice pass, King moved in and beat Ward with a backhander for a shorthanded goal. But with Stoll still in the box, the Hurricanes tied it 40 seconds later when Jeff Skinner fired home the rebound of Andrej Sekera's point shot for his first goal of the season. The Kings had a great chance to win in overtime when Jay Harrison went to the penalty box for tripping. But the Hurricanes frustrated the Kings' 4-on-3 power play, clearing the puck four times and not allowing a shot on goal. The Hurricanes' play met the standards of coach Kirk Muller. He added big defenseman Mike Komisarek and enforcer Kevin Westgarth to the lineup for the first time this season, hoping to match the Kings' physical presence.
New Jersey @ Calgary 2-3 - Eighteen-year-old Sean Monahan broke a tie late in the third period, and Joey MacDonald made 19 saves to lift the Flames to a 3-2 victory at Scotiabank Saddledome. The win set a Flames record for most consecutive games with at least a point to start a season (five, 3-0-2). The Devils have gone winless in their first five games of the season (0-2-3) for the first time since moving from Colorado in 1982. Monahan, who turns 19 Saturday, broke the tie with 2:43 remaining, taking a cross-ice backdoor pass from Sven Baertschi and burying it behind Martin Brodeur. Brodeur kept the game tied 2-2 early in the third, stopping three consecutive sharp-angle shots from Kris Russell on the short side and another at the far post by Jiri Hudler, stretching his arm to deny the Flames forward. The Devils poured on pressure with just over six minutes remaining, trapping the Flames in their zone for more than two minutes. New Jersey managed two shots on MacDonald on the shift but had three blocked by diving Flames forwards, two by Lance Bouma. The goaltender flashed the glove on Wideman's shot from the top of the slot 3:53 into the game and used his mask to stop Hudler in the slot with 3:46 remaining in the period, bookending his 10 first-period saves. Between Brodeur's saves came the lone goal of the period, off the stick of Henrique. MacDonald got a pad on Damien Brunner's deflection off Andy Greene's shot from the point but kicked the rebound to Henrique in the slot, where he buried the puck into an open net at 13:58 for his first of the season. The Flames got to Brodeur 5:37 into the second period. With Anton Volchenkov in the penalty box for interference, Wideman one-timed a cross-point pass from Mark Giordano that snuck under the bar to tie the game 1-1. With an assist on the play, Hudler extended his point-scoring streak to five games. Zubrus restored New Jersey's lead at 16:03 with a one-timer of his own, hammering a Travis Zajac feed behind MacDonald after the Flames struggled to clear the zone. Michael Ryder thought he put the Devils up by two a minute-and-a-half later. Driving to the net, Ryder tapped a Ryane Clowe rebound over the goal line but was whistled for goaltender interference. Calgary capitalized on the power play with 18.3 seconds remaining in the period. Taking a pass from Hudler at the point, Giordano worked his way into the slot and let go a soft backhander that deflected off Zubrus' skate and behind Brodeur to send the game into the second intermission tied.
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