San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Gibson stops 41 shots as Ducks beat Coyotes
John Gibson stopped 41 shots, rookie Max Comtois scored for the second straight game to open his NHL career and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Arizona Coyotes 1-0 on Saturday in Glendale, Ariz. The Ducks and Coyotes played a tight game until Comtois scored in the closing seconds of the second period. He had a goal 49 seconds into Anaheim’s season-opening win over the Sharks. Anaheim had a penalty with 2:01 left in regulation and another with a minute left. Arizona pulled goalie Antti Raanta with about 30 seconds left to create a 6-on-3, but Gibson held on for his 17th career shutout.
“When you get to the end of the game, it’s about sacrifice and doing the little things,” Gibson said. “We really did that.”
Arizona was shut out in consecutive games to open a season for the first time in 39 years as a franchise after opening with a 3-0 loss to Dallas.
Gibson was sharp against the Coyotes, turning away a couple of good chances in the first two periods.
Raanta, who finished with 19 saves, stopped two breakaways in the first two periods, but was unable to foil a mini breakaway by Comtois, who got behind Ilya Lyubushkin with 31 second left in the second.
The Coyotes picked up the pressure to open the third, but Gibson kept turning them away, including Richard Panik’s quick wraparound attempt.
Golden Knights 2, Wild 1: Erik Haula scored in the shootout as Vegas rallied to win in Minnesota. Max Pacioretty, who was acquired from Montreal in an offseason trade, scored his first goal for the Golden Knights, who have used Pacioretty and Haula on opposite sides of new center Paul Stastny in the season’s first two games. Pacioretty’s goal tied the game with 1:31 left in regulation. Marc Andre-Fleury made 29 saves for Vegas, bouncing back after being pulled in the season-opening loss to Philadelphia.
Blackhawks 5, Blues 4: Jonathan Toews scored his third goal of the game 2:20 into overtime to lift visiting Chicago. Toews tied it at 4 at 6:59 of the third period when he corralled the rebound of Alex DeBrincat’s slap shot and pushed it past goalie Jake Allen. Toews scored the winner on a breakaway to give the Blackhawks their second consecutive overtime victory. Chris Butler put the Blues ahead 4-3 in the third just 22 seconds after Vladimir Tarasenko’s second goal. . Canadiens 5, Penguins 1: Paul Byron had two goals and an assist for visiting Montreal. Brendan Gallagher, Joel Armia and Charles Hudon also scored to help the Canadiens snap a five-game losing streak against Pittsburgh. Riley Sheahan scored for the Penguins. Kris Letang, a Montreal native, had an assist and passed Hall of Famer Paul Coffey for most points in team history by a defenseman with 441.
Lightning 2, Panthers 1: J.T Miller and Nikita Kucherov scored in the shootout and Tampa Bay beat visiting Florida in the season opener for both teams. Florida goalie Roberto Luongo departed midway through the second period with a lower-body injury after teammate Frank Vatrano landed on his extended right leg during a scramble in front of the goal. Luongo stopped all 13 shots he faced in just over 32 minutes. Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 42 saves in regulation. He made one save in the shootout and saw another shot hit the post.
Flames 7, Canucks 4: Elias Lindholm scored his first two goals with Calgary and the host Flames scored four unanswered goals in the third period against Vancouver. Lindholm, acquired from Carolina in June, scored a power-play goal that was the eventual winner at 14:28 of the third period.
Avalanche 5, Flyers 2: Colin Wilson scored two goals and Semyon Varlamov had 35 saves for homestanding Colorado. Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist and Gabriel Landeskog and J.T. Compher also scored for the Avalanche.
Stars 5, Jets 1: Jamie Benn had two power-play goals, Tyler Seguin scored another and had a goal at even strength in Dallas’ victory over visiting Winnipeg. Ben Bishop made 32 saves, allowing only Kyle Connor’s goal. Dallas dominated the first period with a 16-9 advantage in shots and two goals less than three minutes apart by Alexander Radulov and Seguin, the latter on the power play.
Predators 4, Islanders 3: Viktor Arvidsson scored twice and Nashville spoiled New York’s home opener. Mattias Ekholm and Craig Smith also scored for the Predators, and P.K. Subban had two assists. Juuse Saros, starting in place of reigning Vezina Trophy winner Pekka Rinne, finished with 26 saves to help Nashville win its second straight to start the season. Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist, and Valtteri Filppula and Anders Lee also scored for the Islanders. They were trying to get new coach Barry Trotz a win in his home debut.
Sabres 3, Rangers 1: Conor Sheary scored two goals, Carter Hutton made 43 saves and Buffalo beat visiting New York. Captain Jack Eichel added an empty-net goal in the final seconds. After being booed by their home fans in a shutout loss to Boston on Thursday night in the opener, the Sabres snapped a six-game losing streak at KeyBank Center dating to last season. Brett Howden scored for New York.
Senators 5, Maple Leafs 3: Thomas Chabot had two goals and an assist, and Craig Anderson made 34 saves in Ottawa’s victory in Toronto. Dylan DeMelo and Chris Tierney, who were among the players acquired from the Sharks last month in a trade for Erik Karlsson, also scored for Ottawa. Mark Stone added an empty-net goal. Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly each had a goal and an assist for Toronto.
Devils 5, Oilers 2: Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac scored two goals each to lead New Jersey in the season-opening game in Gothenburg, Sweden. Stefan Noesen also scored, Miles Wood had two assists, and Keith Kinkaid made 17 saves. Milan Lucic and Leon Draisaitl scored for Edmonton.