Capitals get win over Devils
Capitals 4, Devils Daniel Sprong set up the Capitals’ first goal and scored on a second-period breakaway to lead visiting Washington over New Jersey on Thursday night.
Anthony Mantha, Dmitry Orlov and Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored as the Capitals (3-0-1) handed New Jersey (2-1) its first loss of the season. Alex Ovechkin had his three-game goal streak snapped but he had an assist on Orlov’s goal.
Vitek Vanecek had 24 saves for Washington, losing his shutout bid on a power-play goal by Janne Kuokkanen with 6:42 to play.
Scott Wedgewood, who was in goal because Jonathan Bernier and Mackenzie Blackwood are sidelined, made 23 saves in his first start of the season.
The Capitals got two shots past Wedgewood in the opening 9:33. Sprong set up the first one at 4:14 with his persistence. Carrying the puck up the right wing to the lower circle, his initial centering pass was blocked behind the goal line. He retrieved the puck and found Mantha all alone in front for his second goal of the season.
Blue Jackets 3, Islanders 2: Patrik Laine scored at 1:49 of overtime to lift host Columbus over the New York Islanders.
Laine’s wrist shot from the left circle sent him tumbling to the ice and beat goalie Ilya Sorokin.
Elvis Merzlikins made 28 saves as Columbus improved to 3-1.
Mathew Barzal scored early in the third period for the Islanders to tie the game after the Blue Jackets had tallied twice in 33 seconds to end the second.
Eighteen-year-old Cole Sillinger got his first NHL goal and Boone Jenner scored his team-leading third of the season for Columbus.
Scott Mayfield also scored and Sorokin had 24 stops for the Islanders, who dropped to 1-3.
Hurricanes 4, Canadiens 1: Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored his first goal for Carolina in his return to Montreal, helping the visiting Hurricanes beat the winless Canadiens.
The 21-year-old Kotkaniemi left the Canadiens for the Hurricanes over the summer after signing a $6.1 million offer sheet. The Finn was booed every time he touched the ice, let alone the puck.
With 10:37 to go, Kotkaniemi tipped in a shot from Brady Skjei to restore Carolina’s two-goal lead.
Sebastian Aho had two goals and an assist, Andrei Svechnikov also scored and Vincent Trocheck and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.
Frederik Andersen made 27 saves, allowing only Tyler Toffoli’s goal.
Jake Allen made 29 saves as Montreal dropped to 0-5-0 after reaching the Stanley Cup Finals last season.
Flames 3, Red Wings 0: Jacob Markstrom stopped all 33 shots Detroit took in visting Calgary’s victory over Detroit at Little Caesars Arena.
Markstrom recorded his ninth career shutout in his 12th season in the NHL. He’d allowed seven goals with an .881 save percentage in Calgary’s first two games, but the rangy goalie had an answer for every challenge in this game.
Left wing Johnny Gaudreau set up the first goal by center Elias Lindholm by backhanding the puck through the skates of Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser. Lindholm received it in front of Alex Nedeljkovic and fired a shot over the goalie’s left shoulder for his third of the season at 10:06.
Calgary defenseman Erik Gudbranson, who assisted on that goal, did it again on Andrew Mangiapane’s goal about four minutes later. Gudbranson blasted a shot on Nedeljkovic and Mangiapane backhanded the rebound into the net for his second of the season.
Matthew Tkachuk added an emptynetter with about two minutes left in the game after Detroit pulled its goalie.
Sharks 2, Senators 1: Logan Couture and Kevin Labanc scored in the second period and James Reimer made 30 saves in visting San Jose’s victory over Ottawa.
The Sharks improved to 3-0-0. They have outscored opponents 11-4.
Drake Batherson scored for the Senators.
Panthers 4, Avalanche 1: Sam Bennett
scored the go-ahead goal and Sergei Bobrovsky earned his 300th NHL win as host Florida remained undefeated with a win over Colorado.
The 4-0-0 start is the best in Panthers history. They had seven points in the standings through the first four games on three other occasions: 199697, 1999-2000 and last season. Florida made the playoffs in each of those seasons.
Anton Lundell had a goal and an assist, and Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart also scored for the Panthers. Mason Marchment added two assists. Bobrovsky made 30 saves.
Mikko Rantanan scored for Colorado, and Jonas Johansson stopped 34 shots.
Rangers 3, Predators 1: Alexis Lafrenière scored with 9:07 remaining in the third period to lift the visiting New York Rangers over Nashville.
Filip Chytil and Barclay Goodrow also scored and Igor Shesterkin made 28 saves for New York, winners of three straight. Shesterkin has stopped 99 of 102 shots in those three games.
Philip Tomasino had the lone goal and Juuse Saros made 27 saves for Nashville, 1-3 on the season.
Jets 5, Ducks 1: Kyle Connor scored twice and added an assist with regular linemates Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele in COVID-19 protocol and host Winnipeg beat Anaheim.
Connor Hellebuyck made 38 saves to help the Jets improve to 1-2-1.
Pierre-Luc Dubois had a goal and assist, Andrew Copp and Josh Morrissey also scored, and Nate Schmidt added two assists.
Troy Terry scored for Anaheim, and John Gibson made 22 saves.