Matthews' seventh leads Leafs past Capitals
Auston Matthews scored his seventh goal six games into the young season, Joseph Woll made 36 saves and the Toronto Maple Leafs handed the Washington Capitals their fourth loss in five games, 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal this season and 823rd of his NHL career, moving 71 back of Wayne Gretzky's record. Ovechkin, who would have tied a career-long season-opening goal drought if he hadn't scored, had a game-high 14 shots, including a failed penalty shot.
“Fourteen shots? He shoots a lot,” Woll said. “Obviously, he has a great shot. There's a reason he's scored so many goals. He was a dangerous player, especially in his little kitchen on the power play. I thought we did a good job.”
Toronto has started the season 4-2-0.
STARS 4, PENGUINS 1 » Thomas Harley and Wyatt Johnston scored third-period goals and visiting Dallas beat Pittsburgh. Bryan Rust scored the first goal for the Penguins, but Dallas had the next four as the Stars haven't lost in regulation yet this season.
Penguins defenseman John Ludvig left with an injury at 10:41 of the second period. He was briefly knocked unconscious following a collision at center ice with Stars forward Radek Faksa. Ludvig was eventually helped to his feet and skated from the ice with assistance from teammates Marcus Pettersson and Noel Acciari.
DEVILS 5, CANADIENS 2 » Tyler Toffoli had a hat trick against his former team to lead visiting New Jersey. Alexander Holtz and Nico Hischier also scored for the Devils, and Jack Hughes continued his hot start to the season with four assists. Hughes, who entered the game tied for third in the league in scoring, has 14 points in five games.
Justin Barron and Mike Matheson scored for Montreal.
SABRES 6, SENATORS 4 » Jeff Skinner and Tage Thompson each scored twice and visiting Buffalo beat Ottawa. The Sabres cruised to a 5-1 lead before almost letting it all slip away. A furious rally by the Senators culminating with Mathieu Joseph's goal narrowed the deficit to 5-4 with 1:02 remaining, but Thompson got an empty-netter with 23 seconds left and locked down a wild win.
WILD 7, OILERS 4 » Ryan Hartman scored three goals as part of a careerhigh-tying five-point game, and host Minnesota scored five times in the final period to beat Edmonton. It was the Oilers' first game without captain and threetime MVP Connor McDavid, who suffered an upperbody injury Saturday and is expected to miss a week or two.
KRAKEN 5, RED WINGS 4 (OT) » Jordan Eberle scored with five seconds remaining in overtime and visiting Seattle snapped Detroit's fivegame winning streak. Eberle's game-winner was set up by Jared McCann, who tied the game on a power play goal with 1:22 left. Jaden Schwartz scored two goals for the Kraken. Alex DeBrincat scored his leaguehigh ninth goal this season for the Red Wings.
AVALANCHE 7, ISLANDERS 4 » Mikko Rantanen scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and had three assists as visiting Colorado beat New York for its NHL-record 15th straight road win. Ryan Johansen scored twice for the Avalanche, who won their sixth straight to open the season. Cal Clutterbuck had a goal and an assist for the Islanders.
PANTHERS 3, SHARKS 1 » Sam Reinhart extended his goal streak to five games, helping host Florida to win over San Jose. Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe and Kevin Stenlund each scored for the Panthers (3-3-0). Fabian Zetterlund scored for the Sharks. At 0-5-1, San Jose has matched the worst six-game start in franchise history.
BRUINS 3, BLACKHAWKS 0» Matthew Poitras and Trent Frederic scored 56 seconds apart in the third period visiting Boston beat Chicago to match the best start in franchise history. The Bruins moved to 6-0 in the franchise's centennial season. Boston also won its first six games of the 193738 season.
UPON REVERSAL, PLAYERS CAN USE PRIDE TAPE » NHL players will be allowed to use Pride tape this season after all with the reversal of a ban that sparked a backlash around hockey and among LGBTQ+ advocates in sports.
The league, players' union and a committee on inclusion agreed to give players the option to represent social causes with stick tape during warmups, practices and games. The move announced Tuesday rescinds a ban on rainbow-colored Pride tape for on-ice activities that was provided to teams earlier this fall as guidance for theme nights.
“We are so very grateful to everyone who believes hockey should be a safe, inclusive and welcoming space for all,” the makers of Pride Tape said on social media. “We are extremely happy that NHL players will now have the option to voluntarily represent important social causes with their stick tape throughout season.”