Flyers top Penguins
Farabee has goal, three assists in opener for Philly
Joel Farabee had a goal and three assists; Michael Raffl, James van Riemsdyk and Nolan Patrick also scored to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday in the first game of the NHL season.
The unconventional opener was decided when Raffl scored from the slot and beat Tristan Jarry 5:37 into the third for a 4-3 lead and the only cheers for the go-ahead goal came from Flyers fans watching at home.
The Flyers pounced from there — Travis Konecny and Kevin Hayes scored 20 seconds apart to turn this one into a rout.
Mark Jankowski and Sidney Crosby scored for the Penguins.
Crosby’s goal was about expected against a team he has tortured like no other. He was greeted by strange silence in the empty arena — 20,000 Flyers fans generally lose their minds chanting “Crosby sucks!” — and he simply skated away without a boo to be heard after his tying goal.
Crosby’s 44th goal against the Flyers, more than any other team in the league, in 71 games was one of his best. Carter Hart tried to clear the puck from behind the net and his lazy pass was batted down by Crosby and poked in an empty net to make it 2-2.
Maple Leafs 5, Canadiens 4 (OT):
Morgan Rielly scored at 3:24 of overtime to give Toronto a win over Montreal on Wednesday night. Rielly took a feed from Toronto captain John Tavares on a 2-on-1 to beat Montreal goalie Carey Price and end a chaotic extra period where both teams had chances to get the victory. William Nylander had two goals and an assist for Toronto, while Tavares added a goal and two assists. Jimmy Vesey chipped in with his first goal for the Maple Leafs, and Frederik Andersen had 28 saves. Josh Anderson scored twice in his debut for Montreal, while Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist, and Tomas Tatar also scored. Jonathan Drouin and Jeff Petry each added two assists inside a Scotiabank Arena empty because of CO
VID-19 restrictions. Price finished with 29 saves in the first of 10 meetings between the clubs in 2021. After the Leafs erased a two-goal deficit late in the second period, Anderson got his second of the night 1:03 into the third by cutting around Tavares and firing a shot that beat Andersen under his right arm to make it 4-3. The Toronto goalie then denied Anderson his first career hat trick on the doorstep a few minutes later after Suzuki stepped past Rielly. One of the Leafs’ lesser-known offseason additions, Vesey took advantage of a fortuitous bounce with 10:33 left in regulation when Drouin’s clearing attempt hit one of the referees in the corner. Nylander jumped on the loose puck and quickly fed Vesey, who beat a surprised Price. Auston Matthews, who scored in his four previous openers, followed that up by ripping a shot off the post behind the Montreal goalie that stayed to set the stage for overtime.
Note: Florida got back goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky on Wednesday, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner joining the club on the ice for the first time since training camp started. Bobrovsky had been on the team’s “unfit to play” list since camp began Jan. 3. That term covers anyone who didn’t participate in camp for any reason, whether it was injury or something related to COVID-19 — either a positive test or potential exposure.