Pageau comes through to give Islanders a home victory
Semyon Varlamov stopped 27 shots for his 29th career shutout, JeanGabriel Pageau scored with 4:09 remaining, and the New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins 1-0 in their home opener Monday.
Adam Pelech fired a shot from the left point and Boston’s Patrice Bergeron deflected the puck up in air. Pageau batted it in past Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask to put the Islanders on the scoreboard.
Varlamov, who missed Saturday’s game against the Rangers after he took a puck off his neck in pregame warmups, got his second shutout in two starts this season. He had 24 saves in a 4-0 win against the Rangers last Thursday.
Varlamov stopped consecutive chances by Nick Ritchie with about a minute remaining.
Rask, who had beaten the Islanders in seven of his last eight starts against them, stopped 16 shots for the Bruins in the finale of their season-opening threegame trip. Boston won in a shootout, and then lost in OT in games at New Jersey.
It was the Islanders’ first home game since last March 7, when they lost 3-2 in overtime against Carolina at
Nassau Coliseum. Without fans in attendance this time, there were cardboard cutouts in the stands and crowd noise was pumped in on the speakers.
KLUc JAaKcTS 3, Rcb WINhS 2>> Alexandre Texier and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored 1:16 apart early in the third period to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a two-goal lead and they held on to beat the Detroit Red Wings.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored late in the second period and Joonas Korpisalo finished with 35 saves in the Blue Jackets’ first win of the season.
Detroit’s Bobby Ryan scored twice and Thomas Greiss stopped 26 shots. MAPLc LcAeS 3, JcTS 1 >>
Mitch Marner scored twice and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Winnipeg Jets.
John Tavares also scored and Frederik Andersen made 27 saves for Toronto in first of 10 meetings between the North Division rivals.
Kyle Connor scored for Winnipeg, and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 35 shots. SAKRcS 6, eLYcRS 1 >> Sam Reinhart and Curtis Lazar each scored two goals to lead the Buffalo Sabres to their first win of the season over the Philadelphia Flyers. Carter Hutton stopped 21 shots in a light night of work against a Flyers team that had scored 11 goals in their first two games.