Blackhawks clobber Penguins; Caps win SO
CHICAGO — Brandon Saad scored three times in his return to Chicago and Ryan Hartman had a goal and four assists, helping the Blackhawks pound the Pittsburgh Penguins 10-1 on Thursday night.
Nick Schmaltz added two goals and an assist as Chicago kicked off its season in style with a runaway victory against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. Patrick Kane also had a goal and three assists in the Blackhawks’ highest-scoring game since a 10-1 win against Winnipeg on Oct. 12, 1988.
Pittsburgh was coming off a 5-4 overtime loss to St. Louis in its season opener Wednesday, and it looked every bit like a team on the second half of back-to-back nights. Antti Niemi was pulled after allowing four goals on 13 shots in his Penguins debut, forcing Matt Murray to come in after he took the loss against the Blues. In Ottawa, Alex Ovechkin had a hat trick in a 6:33 span in the third period and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the shootout winner in Washington’s victory over Ottawa in the season opener for both teams.
Brett Connolly also scored for Washington, and Braden Holtby made 28 saves. Mark Stone struck twice for the Senators, and Derick Brassard had a goal and two assists. Craig Anderson made 24 saves.
RED WINGS 4, WILD 2: In Detroit, Henrik Zetterberg and Martin Frk scored in the third period to lift Detroit past Minnesota in the first regular-season game at Little Caesars Arena.
Anthony Mantha and Dylan Larkin scored 23 seconds apart in the second period for the Red Wings, who rallied after blowing a 2-0 lead early in the third. Joel Eriksson Ek and Chris Stewart scored 48 seconds apart to tie it, and then Zetterberg put Detroit back ahead to stay with 12:53 remaining.
CANADIENS 3, SABRES 2 (SO): In Buffalo, N.Y., Jonathan Drouin scored the lone shootout goal in rallying Montreal past Buffalo.
Phillip Danault forced overtime by scoring a short-handed goal on a wraparound with 11:59 left. Max Pacioretty also scored for Montreal. Carey Price stopped 43 shots through overtime and all three shootout attempts.
BRUINS 4, PREDATORS 3: In Boston, Jake DeBrusk had a goal and assist in his first NHL game, and Charlie McAvoy added a goal and assist in his first regularseason appearance as Boston beat Nashville.
AVALANCHE 4, RANGERS 2: In New York, Semyon Varlamov stopped 37 shots, Tyson Barrie scored the tie-breaking goal late in the second period as Colorado beat New York. Matt Duchene and Mikko Rantanen scored in the first period, and Gabriel Landeskog added an empty-netter for the Avs.