Islanders open with win over the Rangers
Goalie makes 24 saves to lead N.Y. to opening win
Above, Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders scores a first-period goal against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. At right, K’andre Miller of the Rangers tries to maneuver the puck around Kieffer Bellows of the Islanders. Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves for the Islanders in the 4-0 victory.
Brock Nelson, Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal scored in the opening period and the New York Islanders beat the New York Rangers 4-0 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 shots for his 28th career shutout and third with the Islanders. Defenseman Nick Leddy added two assists.
Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves as the Rangers fell in the first of eight games between the rivals. Alexis Lafreniere, the first overall selection of the 2020 NHL draft, made his debut and recorded one shot in 15:27 minutes of ice time.
Barzal capped the three-goal first period with an impressive stick-handling maneuver before sending the puck past Shesterkin. The Islanders signed Barzal to a three-year contract earlier this month worth a reported $21 million. The 23-year-old center has led the Islanders in scoring in each of his three NHL seasons.
Capitals 6, Sabres 4: T.J. Oshie had a goal and two assists in Peter Laviolette’s debut as Washington’s coach and the Capitals opened the season with a win over Buffalo. Jakub Vrana stripped Eric Staal of the puck in front of Buffalo’s net and scored 46 seconds into the third period to preserve the win after the Capitals were in jeopardy of squandering a 4-1 lead. Vrana’s goal came 26 seconds after defenseman Jake Mccabe cut Buffalo’s deficit to 4-3 by roofing a shot from the right point. John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and assist each, and Brenden Dillon also scored for the Capitals. Alex Ovechkin set up the first two goals in a game Washington never trailed. Ilya Samsonov stopped 22 shots in his first game as the Capitals’ starter following Braden Holtby’s offseason departure. Samsonov snapped an 0-4-1 skid to win his first game since a 25-save outing in a 5-3 victory at Ottawa on Jan. 31. High-profile offseason free-agent addition Taylor Hall scored Buffalo’s first goal. He was set up for a tap-in in front by Victor Olofsson on a power play to tie the game at 1 a little under nine minutes in. The Capitals went ahead for good on Oshie’s power-play goal 1:45 later.
Bruins 3, Devils 2 (SO):
Brad Marchand had a goal and an assist, then scored the only goal in the shootout as Boston beat New Jersey, spoiling Lindy Ruff’s debut as Devils coach. Marchand scored a power-play goal and set up another by Nick Ritchie for the Bruins, who won the Presidents’ Trophy for having the best record in the NHL during the 2019-20 regular season. Tuukka Rask made 20 saves, including two on breakaways in overtime, and added two stops in the shootout.
Hurricanes 3, Red Wings 0: Nino Niederreiter scored early in the first period and Petr Mrazek made 14 saves for a shutout, helping Carolina beat Detroit. Ryan Ddzingel scored on a power play with 2:34 left and Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net goal.
Predators 3, Blue Jackets 1: Filip Forsberg scored the tiebreaking goal at 5:48 of the third period to lead Nashville over Columbus.
Jets 4, Flames 3 (OT): Patrik Laine scored his second goal of the game in overtime to give Winnipeg a victory over Calgary in the opener for both teams.