Flyers get season started with win over rival Penguins
Joel Farabee had a goal and three assists, Michael Raffl, James van Riemsdyk and Nolan Patrick also scored to lead the host 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.
Jankowski, who scored just five goals last season, scored the first one of this season 5:12 into the game.
Erik Gustafsson had to settle for assists on two shots that seemed destined to find the back of the net in the first period. His first slapper knocked off van Riemsdyk’s stick to tie it 1-1. Gusafsson’s next shot was deflected by Patrick with 7.8 seconds to make it 2-1.
“It was a really good shot by Gus to get it through and I was able to get a stick on the puck and tip it in,” van Riemsdyk said.
• Flyers D Shayne Gostisbehere and Penguins F Kasperi Kapanen sat out for COVID-related reasons.
LEAFS BEAT CANADIENS >> Morgan Rielly scored at 3:24 of overtime, and Toronto defeated visiting Montreal in another season opener.
Montreal’s Phillip Danault missed on a breakaway during the overtime, and then Rielly converted a pass from John Tavares on a two-on-one for the gamewinner.
PANTHERS FINALLY GET GOALIE BOBROVSKY ON ICE >> The Florida Panthers got goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky back, 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.
Florida was scheduled to begin the season at home tonight against Dallas, a two-game set that was postponed because the Stars were dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak — 17 positive cases, forcing them to close their facility.
The Panthers’ opener has since been pushed back to Sunday against Chicago, so Bobrovsky has a few more days to get ready. If he can’t go Sunday, Florida would likely have Chris Driedger or Sam Montembeault in net for the opener against the Blackhawks. AVALANCHE, MCDAVID ODDSON FAVORITES AS NHL SEASON BEGINS >> The Colorado Avalanche remain the Stanley Cup favorites as the puck drops on the 2021 NHL season.
The Avalanche were installed as the favorites shortly after the Tampa Bay Lightning won the 2020 Stanley Cup in September. Those odds have remained steady at most sportsbooks, with BetRivers.com offering the Avalanche at +750 and DraftKings offering them at +650.
Oilers center Connor McDavid enters the season as the Hart Trophy favorite at +450 by DraftKings. Right behind the first overall pick in 2015 is the top pick from two years before him in Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon.