National Hockey League Game Capsules

Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Cam Atkinson’s go-ahead goal in the third period helped the Columbus Blue Jackets defeat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1, in the season opener for both teams on Thursday. Jack Skille and Artem Anisimov both scored and Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have won their last three games in Buffalo. Ryan Johansen, who agreed to terms on a three-year contract Monday after missing all of training camp, assisted on Atkinson’s momentum-shifting goal. Zemgus Girgensons supplied the Sabres’ lone goal and Jhonas Enroth stopped 37-of-40 shots in defeat.

Final Score: New Jersey 6, Philadelphia 4

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Dainius Zubrus scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period as the New Jersey Devils started their season with a 6-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. Mike Cammalleri scored two goals in his Devils debut. Michael Ryder added one goal and two assists for the Devils, who are coming off missing the playoffs for the second straight season. Cory Schneider stopped 35-of-39 shots as New Jersey began the post-Martin Brodeur era. The Devils opted not to re-sign Brodeur, the club’s longtime starting goaltender, and signed Schneider to a seven-year contract. The Devils acquired Schneider in the summer of 2013, and the former Vancouver Canuck shared time in net with Brodeur last year. Wayne Simmonds had two goals and an assist for the Flyers, who opened their season with a loss to the Bruins on Wednesday. Claude Giroux and Vincent Lecavalier also lit the lamp. Steve Mason turned aside 20-of-25 shots in defeat.

Final Score: Pittsburgh 6, Anaheim 4

Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Sidney Crosby picked right where he left off in 2013-14, with the reigning NHL MVP recording two goals and an assist to help the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-4 season-opening triumph over the Anaheim Ducks. Pascal Dupuis chipped in a goal and three assists for a Pittsburgh team that was rolling offensively in new head coach Mike Johnston’s first game behind the bench. Patric Hornqvist added a goal and one assist in his Penguins’ debut, while Olli Maatta had three helpers in the win. The Penguins put up 39 shots on Pittsburgh native John Gibson, who let up all six goals in a rough homecoming that spoiled a hat trick from Anaheim teammate Corey Perry. Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 25 chances for the Penguins. Ryan Kesler, the Ducks’ headline offseason acquisition, had a goal and two assists for his new team. Ryan Getzlaf and Sami Vatanen each registered two assists in the loss.

Final Score: Montreal 2, Washington 1 (SO)

Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) – Tomas Plekanec and the Montreal Canadiens are 2-0 for the first time in five years. Playing their second game in two days, the Canadiens shook off a slow start Thursday night to beat the Washington Capitals and their new coach Barry Trotz 2-1 in a shootout. Brendan Gallagher scored the winner in the fifth round, beating Braden Holtby with a snap shot after Plekanec tied the game in the third period with his third goal of the season. He had two against the Maple Leafs in Wednesday’s opener in Toronto, including the winner with 43 seconds left. His goal on Thursday came not long after Montreal had one disallowed because Rene Bourque made contact with Holtby in the crease, and just minutes before another would-be goal was overturned upon review. Dustin Tokarski made 29 saves for Montreal, most of them after 19-year-old Capitals rookie Andre Burakovsky scored early in the first period. He blocked shots from Burakovsky and 50-goal scorer Alex Ovechkin in the shootout. The Canadiens improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2009.

Final Score: Detroit 2, Boston 1

Detroit, MI (SportsNetwork.com) – Jimmy Howard made 16 saves and the Detroit Red Wings grabbed a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins in their season-opener on Thursday. Justin Abdelkader and Gustav Nyquist each had a goal while Johan Franzen notched two assists for the Red Wings, who were eliminated by Boston in five games in the quarterfinals last spring. Patrice Bergeron scored the only goal and Tuukka Rask made 22 saves for the Bruins, who had opened their season on Wednesday with a win over Philadelphia.

Final Score: Tampa Bay 3, Florida 2 (OT)

Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Victor Hedman’s goal 1:11 into overtime lifted the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers in the season opener for both teams. Ryan Callahan and Tyler Johnson each netted a goal while Valtterri Filppula tallied two assists for the Lightning, who have taken three straight games against Florida in Tampa and 12 of the last 14 meetings overall. Ben Bishop stopped 19-of-21 shots and added an assist on the game- winner from Hedman. Erik Gudbranson and Jonathan Huberdeau each scored a goal for the Panthers. Roberto Luongo made 29 saves in the setback.

Final Score: Nashville 3, Ottawa 2

Nashville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) – Eric Nystrom scored the last of Nashville’s three third-period goals as the Predators started the Peter Laviolette era with a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators. For the first time in franchise history, the Predators began a season without Barry Trotz behind the bench. Trotz had been the club’s head coach since its inception in 1998, but was fired this past offseason after Nashville missed out on the playoffs for a second straight year. Laviolette went out and got James Neal, who the Predators acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in a draft day trade. Nashville also signed forwards Olli Jokinen, Mike Ribeiro and Derek Roy to one-year deals this summer to try and help ease the transition to a more offensive style of play. Craig Smith and Shea Weber also scored in the third period for the Predators, who saw Pekka Rinne make 18 saves. Alex Chiasson and Kyle Turris lit the lamp for the Senators, who missed the playoffs with a 37-31-14 record in the 2013-14. Craig Anderson, who signed a three-year extension in the offseason, stopped 34-of-37 shots.

Final Score: NY Rangers 3, St. Louis 2

St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) – Rick Nash netted a pair of goals, including a tie-breaking score with just 1:50 remaining that lifted the New York Rangers to a 3-2 season-opening victory over the St. Louis Blues. Nash added an assist on Chris Kreider’s third-period tally, with Kreider notching an assist as well for the defending Eastern Conference champions. Henrik Lundqvist finished with 23 saves for New York and had a shutout working through two periods, but was reached for goals by Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko in the third that pulled the Blues even prior to Nash’s late marker. Schwartz also had an assist and Brian Elliott came up with 22 saves in the loss.

Final Score: Chicago 3, Dallas 2 (SO)

Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Patrick Kane netted the lone goal in the shootout to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars in the season opener on Thursday. Kane, Chicago’s second shooter, showed off his slick puck-handling abilities by moving the puck from his backhand to forehand several times before roofing a backhander over Kari Lehtonen. Ales Hemsky went next for Dallas, but lost control of the puck to seal the win for the Blackhawks. Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp both tallied a goal and an assist in regulation for Chicago, which lost to Los Angeles in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals last season. Corey Crawford stopped 32-of-34 shots in the win. Trevor Daley and Cody Eakin scored for Dallas and Lehtonen made 24 saves in defeat.

Final Score: Minnesota 5, Colorado 0

St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) – Zach Parise posted a goal and two assists while Darcy Kuemper notched a 16-save shutout to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 5-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche in the season opener for both clubs. Ryan Suter and Jason Pominville each had a goal and an assist, while Nino Niederreiter and Jared Spurgeon each scored for the Wild, who totaled 98 points last season to grab the Western Conference’s top wild card spot. Semyon Varlamov was tagged for five goals on 38 shots in the loss for the Avalanche, who won the Central Division last season with 112 points. Reto Berra made 10 saves in the third period in relief of Varlamov. The last time these two teams had faced each other was in the opening round of last season’s playoffs, which the Wild won in seven games. These two clubs will meet again in Colorado on Saturday.

Final Score: Calgary 5, Edmonton 2

Edmonton, AB (SportsNetwork.com) – Mason Raymond had another hat trick in a Calgary Flames game. This time the Flames were happy to see it. Raymond scored three goals in his second game with his new team and the Flames beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Thursday night. It was Raymond’s third career hat trick, with the first two coming against the Flames when he played for the Vancouver Canucks. His second goal snapped a 2-2 tie 4:23 into the third period and he completed the feat with 5:18 remaining. Jiri Hudler and T.J. Brodie also scored and Joe Colborne had three assists for the Flames, who opened the season on Wednesday with a 4-2 loss to Vancouver at home. Karri Ramo made 38 saves in the win. Teddy Purcell and Taylor Hall scored power-play goals for the Oilers, who had the worst record in the Western Conference last season. All five Calgary goals came against Ben Scrivens on just 26 shots.

Final Score: Winnipeg 6, Arizona 2

Glendale, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) – Blake Wheeler posted two goals and an assist to lead the Winnipeg Jets in a 6-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes in the season opening match for both teams. Bryan Little had two goals while Mark Stuart and Dustin Byfuglien also scored for the Jets, who finished last season with 84 points to sit last in the Central Division. Ondrej Pavelec stopped 26 shots in the win. Martin Hanzal and Mikkel Boedker scored for the Coyotes, who changed the location name of their team after missing the playoffs last season by just two points. Mike Smith allowed all six goals on 27 shots in the loss.

Categorized in: NHL