Habs top Leafs in SO to cap wild comeback
Zibanejad’s hat trick powers Rangers past Senators
TORONTO, Oct 6, (RTRS): Paul Byron scored the only goal in a shootout, and the visiting Montreal Canadiens came back from three goals down to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-5.
The goal not only gave Montreal its first win of the season but completed a wild third period and overtime. After William Nylander scored 5:16 into the third to give the Leafs a 4-1 lead, Montreal scored four straight goals, with Phillip Danault’s tally giving Montreal a 5-4 lead at 15:20.
Auston Matthews tied the game at 5 on his second goal of the game – and fifth of the season – at 18:45 of the third with Toronto’s goaltender off for an extra attacker.
The Maple Leafs survived a Canadiens power play during overtime, forcing the shootout.
Rangers 4, Senators 1 In Ottawa, Ontario, Mika Zibanejad recorded a hat trick just 32:07 into the game, and New York spoiled Ottawa’s home opener.
The ex-Senator Zibanejad had goals of the power-play, even-strength and short-handed variety, the last with 7:53 left in the second period, and also added an assist. According to Rangers stats and information, Zibanejad became the first Rangers player since Derek Stepan in 2014 to score in those three ways.
Hurricanes 3, Capitals 2, OT In Washington, Jake Gardiner scored with 56 seconds left in overtime to give visiting Carolina a comefrom-behind victory over Washington.
Gardiner came in on a two-on-one after Andrei Svechnikov pushed the puck forward to him. The defenseman raced up the left wing and beat goalie Braden Holtby with a short-side shot.
The Hurricanes erased a 2-0 deficit to earn two points. The game marked the Capitals’ home opener and a rematch of the first round of last year’s playoffs, when Carolina upset the then-defending champions in seven games.
Bruins 1, Coyotes 0 In Glendale, Arizona, Brad Marchand’s goal late in the first period stood as the winners as Boston defeated Arizona in their home opener.
Marchand, coming off of four straight 30-goal campaigns, tallied his first of the season at 18:41 of the first, when Patrice Bergeron fed him with a backhand pass off the boards.
The Bruins have wins in the first two games of a four-game Western Conference road trip to open the season. They got 35 saves from Jaroslav Halak in net, two days after Tuukka Rask stopped 28 Dallas Stars shots in a 2-1 win.
Avalanche 4, Wild 2 In Denver, Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist, and Gabriel Landeskog and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also scored as Colorado beat Minnesota.
Ryan Graves scored his first goal, Nathan MacKinnon had two assists and Philipp Grubauer made 29 saves for the Avalanche, who have won eight straight regular-season home games dating back to last season.
Panthers 4, Lightning 3 In Sunrise, Florida, Mike Hoffman produced a hat trick as hosts Florida defeated Tampa Bay to win their home opener, and also answer the Lightning’s home win in both teams’ season opener on Thursday.
Hoffman, who is in the final season of his contract, already has four goals in two games. His first two were power-play wrist shots from the right circle – both on passes from Jonathan Huberdeau. Hoffman’s third goal came on his deflection of an Aaron Ekblad shot just 17 seconds into the third period.
Penguins 7, Blue Jackets 2 In Pittsburgh, Jared McCann had two goals and an assist, and Patric Hornqvist also scored twice as hosts Pittsburgh ripped Columbus.
Marcus Pettersson, Kris Letang and Teddy Blueger added goals, and Alex Galchenyuk and Sidney Crosby had two assists each for Pittsburgh. Matt Murray made 28 saves.
Zach Werenski and Gustav Nyquist scored for Columbus. Elvis Merzlikins, making his NHL debut after playing in the Swiss League, stopped 33 of 40 Pittsburgh shots.
Blues 3, Stars 2 In St Louis, Brayden Schenn and Sammy Blais scored third-period goals as St Louis rallied past visiting Dallas.
David Perron also scored for the Blues. Goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped 28 of 30 shots.
Mattias Janmark and Miro Heiskanen scored for the Stars, and goaltender Ben Bishop made 27 saves.
Red Wings 5, Predators 3 In Nashville, Tyler Bertuzzi had two goals and two assists, and visiting Detroit won their season opener by downing Nashville.
Anthony Mantha supplied a goal and two assists, while Dylan Larkin and Luke Glendening each added a goal and an assist for the Red Wings. Jimmy Howard made 39 saves.
Sabres 7, Devils 2 In Buffalo, Victor Olofsson scored a pair of power-play goals, and hosts Buffalo converted three times with the man advantage to hammer New Jersey and improve to 2-0-0 under new coach Ralph Krueger.
Sam Reinhart tallied twice, and captain Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner each collected a goal and an assist, while Carter Hutton followed up his 28-save performance in Thursday’s win at Pittsburgh by turning aside 18 shots.
Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac each scored, and Mackenzie Blackwood yielded seven goals on 36 shots for the Devils, who have seen the bottom fall out after squandering an early fourgoal lead in a shootout loss to Winnipeg on Friday.
Oilers 6, Kings 5 In Edmonton, James Neal scored two power-play goals, the latter to break a tie with 6:32 remaining, as Edmonton defeated visiting Los Angeles.
Connor McDavid, Zack Kassian, Joakim Nygard and Darnell Nurse also scored for Edmonton, which has won its first two games. Goaltender Mike Smith made 27 saves. McDavid and Oscar Klefbom each had three assists, while Leon Draisaitl had two.
The Kings – who were playing their season opener under new coach Todd McLellan, fired last year by Edmonton – got goals from Dustin Brown, Trevor Lewis, Anze Kopitar, Michael Amadio and Drew Doughty. Goalie Jonathan Quick stopped 25 of 31 shots.
Ducks 3, Sharks 1 In Anaheim, California, Ryan Getzlaf scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, and John Gibson made 35 saves as hosts Anaheim skated past San Jose.
Adam Henrique and defenseman Michael Del Zotto also scored, and Ondrej Kase notched a pair of assists to highlight a plus-3 performance as the Ducks improved to 2-0-0 under new coach Dallas Eakins.