Devils still perfect and off to best start in 23 years
NEWARK, N.J. >> Kyle Palmieri scored his seventh goal in four games, Keith Kinkaid stopped 24 shots for his second shutout and the New Jersey Devils continued their perfect start, beating the Dallas Stars 3-0 Tuesday night.
Late pickup Jean-Sebastien Dea tallied for the third straight game and Blake Coleman added a goal as the Devils (4-0) remained the NHL’s only unbeaten team. The 4-0 start is their best since 1995-96.
Palmieri also became the first player in NHL history to score his team’s opening goal in four consecutive games to begin a season, the league said.
Anton Khudobin made 31 saves as Dallas lost for the second time in as many nights. It marked the first time it had been shut out.
RANGERS 3, AVALANCHE 2 >> Kevin Shattenkirk scored the deciding goal in a shootout to lift the Rangers over the Avalanche.
Mats Zuccarello scored for the Rangers in the first round of the tiebreaker, and Mikko Rantanen tied it in the second. Shattenkirk then beat Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov in the third round, and Henrik Lundqvist denied Gabriel Landeskog to secure New York’s second win in six games this season (2-4-0).
Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider scored in regulation for the Rangers, and Lundqvist stopped 31 shots through overtime. Zuccarello and Shattenkirk each had two assists.
Nathan MacKinnon, who also had an assist, scored for Colorado to set the franchise record with a goal in each of the first six games to open a season. Tyson Jost also had a goal for the Avalanche. Varlamov, who came in 3-0-1 with a 1.75 goals-against average, made 41 saves.
CANUCKS 3, PENGUINS 2 >> Brock Boeser fired a wrist shot by Casey DeSmith’s stick and into the net 34 seconds into overtime to lift the Canucks to a victory over the Penguins.
The Penguins tied it late in regulation when Carl Hagelin took a perfect pass from Phil Kessel and slipped it past Anders Nilsson with 3:14 to go.
Vancouver, however, responded in the extra period.
Boeser took the puck and drifted through center ice as the Canucks worked through a line change behind him. Rather than drop it off to a teammate, he let one go just inside the right circle for his second goal of the season.
WILD 2, COYOTES 1 >> Eric Staal and Mikael Grandlund scored and Devan Dubnyk stopped 27 of 28 shots to lead the Wild to a win over the Coyotes.
Brendan Perlini scored and Darcy Kuemper stopped 30 shots in his season debut for Arizona. Kuemper was making his first appearance against the franchise that drafted him in 2009. He spent parts of five seasons in Minnesota before leaving as a free agent in 2017.
Staal scored the game-winner with 13:42 to play by converting after a mad scramble in front of the net. After Kuemper stopped Ryan Suter’s initial shot, Jason Zucker tapped it across the crease to Staal, who buried it for his second goal of the season.
The Coyotes entered the night having scored just two goals in four games, including three shutout losses. But they opened the scoring midway through the first period when Perlini scored his first of the season on the power play.
LIGHTNING 4, HURRICANES 2 >> Tyler Johnson had three goals, Yanni Gourde scored on a power play to put Tampa Bay ahead in the third period and the Lightning beat the Hurricanes.
Johnson scored in all three periods, completing the hat trick on an empty-netter with 1:56 remaining.
After Carolina defenseman Calvin de Haan fanned on a clearing attempt, Gourde made it 3-2 on a pass from Ondrej Palat at 7:02 of the third.