15 Oct 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Florida Panthers right wing Patrick Giles (36) slides into Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins (90) after taking a shot during the third period at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory credit: Image Russell LaBounty-Imagn Sam Reinhart scored one goal and had two assists as the Florida Panthers defeated the Blue Jackets 4-3 in an emotional home opener for Columbus on Saturday night.
Florida also got goals from Anton Lundell, Dmitry Kulikov and Eetu Luostarinen and 35 saves from Spencer Knight, who recorded their first NHL win since January 3, 2023. Columbus got goals from Cole Sillinger, Sean Monahan and James van Riemsdyk.
The game started with 19:47 in the first half. This 13-second time is in honor of Johnny Gaudreau, who wore number 13 in his illustrious NHL career with the Calgary Flames and then Columbus.
Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were riding a bike when they were killed on August 29 by a suspected drunk driver. On Tuesday, the Blue Jackets raised Johnny Gaudreau’s No. 13 jersey to the rafters as fans chanted “Johnny Hockey!”
3 Stars, 2 Sharks (SO)
Matt Duchene scored in regulation and in the shootout to fuel host Dallas to victory over San Jose.
Jason Robertson’s wrist shot slid under the crossbar in the opening half of the shootout for the Stars. Duchene sent home a wrister that froze Mackenzie Blackwood in the second half, and Wyatt Johnston’s snap shot in the third helped Dallas improve to 4-0-0 this season.
Former Dallas forwards Ty Dellandrea and Tyler Toffoli each scored in the second period for the Sharks, who extended their October winless stretch to 13 games (0-10-3). Blackwood turned aside 36 photos.
Fire 3, Blackhawks 1
Calgary set a franchise record by winning its fourth straight game to open the season, defeating visiting Chicago.
Matt Coronato scored twice, Andrei Kuzmenko added a power-play goal and Dustin Wolf made 31 saves for the Flames, matching the season-opening marks previously accomplished in 1993-94 and 2009-10.
Nick Foligno scored and Petr Mrazek made 23 saves for the Blackhawks, who fell to 1-2-1.
Lightning 4, Canucks 1
Brayden Point scored what ended up being the game-winning goal and added an assist, leading Tampa Bay to a home win in Vancouver.
Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel each added a goal and an assist and Nikita Kucherov also scored for the Lightning, who have won back-to-back games to start the season. Nicholas Paul added two assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves for his second win of the season and ninth of his career against the Canucks.
Conor Garland had Vancouver’s lone goal, and Arturs Silovs stopped 24 shots. The Canucks, who open a four-game road trip on Friday, are winless in three games to start the season (0-1-2).
Capital 4, Golden Knight 2
Alex Ovechkin reached the 700-assist mark for his career with two during the third period of Washington’s third-goal to help the Capitals beat visiting Vegas.
In his 20th NHL season, Ovechkin had assists on goals by Tom Wilson and Aliaksei Protas, providing 700 assists for 853 goals for Washington.
Victor Olofsson and Jack Eichel each scored while Mark Stone recorded two assists for Vegas, which suffered its first loss in four games to open the season. In the first road contest, the Golden Knights got 18 saves from Adin Hill, who has allowed 11 goals in three starts this season.
Storm 4, Devil 2
Rookie Jackson Blake scored his first NHL goal as Carolina earned its first win of the season, defeating New Jersey in Raleigh, NC
Seth Jarvis and Shayne Gostisbehere scored in the second period for the Hurricanes, who were playing just their second game of the season. Sebastian Aho added an empty net goal.
Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist and Nico Hischier also scored for the Devils, who played their sixth straight game and won their fourth. A 1-0 lead early in the second period disappeared when the Hurricanes scored twice later in the frame.
Wild 4, Blues 1
Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves and scored an empty-net goal as Minnesota upset St. Louis’ home opener.
Gustavsson scored with 8.1 seconds left to ice the game, flipping the puck in the air through all three lines and seeing it roll the last stretch into the net. It was the first goalie goal in franchise history.
Ryan Hartman, Jakub Lauko and Marco Rossi scored early for the Wild, and Kirill Kaprizov had two assists. Mathieu Joseph scored for the Blues, who lost their second game in a row.
Kraken 7, Predator 3
Jaden Schwartz, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Jared McCann and Adam Larsson each had a goal and an assist and Seattle scored four goals in the third period to beat host Nashville.
Ryker Evans, Brandon Tanev and Jordan Eberle also scored for the Kraken, who are 2-1-0 on the three-game trip. Chandler Stephenson and Jamie Oleksiak added two assists, and Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord made 30 saves.
Michael McCarron, Tommy Novak and Brady Skjei scored for the Predators, who lost their third straight game to open the season. Juuse Saros stopped 28 of 34 shots.
–Field Level Media
