Red-hot Connor leads Winnipeg past Kings
Kyle Connor scored for a third straight game, and Winnipeg overcame Ilya Kovalchuk’s first NHL goal in five years to beat Los Angeles 2-1 on Tuesday.
Mark Scheifele also scored and Connor Hellebuyck made 16 saves for the Jets, who outshot the visiting Kings 39-17.
Kovalchuk got his first goal since returning from Russia with the Kings this season on a three-year deal. It was the 418th of his career.
Jack Campbell, replacing injured starter Jonathan Quick, stopped 37 shots in his ninth career game. BLUE JACKETS 5, AVALANCHE 2>> Nick Foligno had two goals and an assist, and Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves to get his first win of the season.
Pierre-Luc Dubois, Artemi Panarin and Josh Anderson also scored for the Blue Jackets, who dealt the Avs their first loss.
Philipp Grubauer, making his Colorado debut after being acquired from Washington in June, had 30 saves. Nathan MacKinnon and Carl Soderberg scored in the second period, but Colorado was shut out in the third as Columbus broke a 2-2 tie and added a couple more.
FLAMES 3, PREDATORS 0 >> Mike Smith made 43 saves and Sean Monahan scored twice for Calgary.
Elias Lindholm scored and Johnny Gaudreau had three assists for Calgary, winners of two of three.
Smith was stellar, especially in the second period when he turned aside 21 shots. Nashville had a twoman advantage for a full 2 minutes in the period.
The loss was Nashville’s first after a pair of road wins to open the season. Nashville’s Pekka Rinne finished with 24 saves. HURRICANES 5, CANUCKS 3 >> Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist, and Carolina won its third straight.
Warren Foegele scored an insurance goal in the third period, Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Staal and Brett Pesce also scored and Teuvo Teravainen had two assists.
They helped the Eastern Conference-leading Hurricanes improve to 3-0-1 — their best start since the move from Hartford in 1997 — under new coach and former team captain Rod Brind’Amour.
Curtis McElhinney made 22 saves for the Hurricanes while Jacob Markstrom stopped 28 shots for the Canucks.
MAPLE LEAFS 7, STARS 4 >> Auston Matthews and John Tavares each had two goals as the Maple Leafs improved to 2-0 on a fourgame trip.
Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly had a career-high four assists after he scored the winning goal in Sunday night’s 7-6 overtime win at Chicago. Mitchell Marner had a goal and three assists.
Led by Matthews and Tavares, Toronto has won three of its first four games.
Tyler Seguin had a goal and three assists for Dallas, and Alexander Radulov finished with a goal and two assists.
PENGUINS >> Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray is out indefinitely with a concussion.
Coach Mike Sullivan said Murray suffered the concussion during practice Monday and reported potential symptoms to the training staff immediately afterward.
This is the third time in his NHL career the 24-yearold Murray has been diagnosed with a concussion. He suffered one in practice last February and missed nearly a month. He also suffered a concussion late in the 201516 season when he collided with Philadelphia’s Brayden Schenn.
Casey DeSmith will get the first chance at replacing Murray.