Ice Breaker: three fights, two shutouts and a Bruins comeback
Boston steals one in Winnipeg, Joel Hofer and Dylan Garand post shutouts, and Alex Tuch scores twice before Carolina wakes up.
Three fights, two shutouts and a Bruins comeback in Winnipeg, all on a Friday in October. The Panthers had the night off, and the rest of the league spent it dropping gloves.
The games
Bruins 4, Jets 3 (OT)
Winnipeg led 3-2 after Mario Ferraro scored with eight seconds left in the second, and still led with under two minutes to go. Elias Lindholm tied it at 18:22 of the third, and JJ Peterka won it 3:21 into overtime off a David Pastrnak feed. Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves, and Mark Kastelic and Tyrel Bauer fought seven minutes in.
Sully's chirp: Winnipeg had a lead with 1:38 left and lost. I grew up on Bruins collapses, so it's nice to finally be on the right side of one. Two and oh, start the parade on the Causeway, I don't want to hear it.
Capitals 5, Hurricanes 2
Alex Tuch scored twice in the first period and Cole Hutson added one in between, so Washington led 3-0 before Carolina found its legs. Jakob Chychrun scored on the power play, and Ryan Leonard answered Sebastian Aho's goal eight seconds later. Logan Thompson stopped 31 of 33.
Lind's read: Carolina outshot Washington 33-27 and had six power plays, and it still lost by three. The Capitals blocked 28 shots, per NHL data, and that's the game in one number.
Blues 4, Stars 0
Mason McTavish scored 94 seconds in, Dalibor Dvorsky made it 2-0 in the second, and Jimmy Snuggerud and Pius Suter added empty-netters 15 seconds apart. Joel Hofer stopped all 25 shots. Jake Neighbours and Arttu Hyry fought in the second, and Brandon Carlo got a kneeing major and a game misconduct in the third.
Sully's chirp: Mikko Rantanen logged 22 minutes, one shot and a minus-2 in the home opener. Dallas fans bought tickets for a hockey game and got a screensaver.
Ducks 4, Golden Knights 3
Anaheim scored four straight, from Beckett Sennecke, Alex Killorn, Jeff Malott and Leo Carlsson, and led 4-0 midway through the game. Vegas came back with three in the third from Shea Theodore, Tomas Hertl on the power play and Braeden Bowman. Lukas Dostal held on with 27 saves, and Jack Eichel had two assists.
Lind's read: Jackson LaCombe played 29:36 and Tristan Luneau 27:00, per NHL data. Florida sees Anaheim on Sunday, and the Ducks are leaning hard on two defensemen.
Rangers 2, Red Wings 0
A night after the home opener, Dylan Garand got the start and stopped all 22. Sean Durzi scored on the power play in the first, and Eeli Tolvanen hit the empty net. John Gibson made 19 saves at the other end.
Sully's chirp: Durzi scored, then fought Marco Kasper in the second. One assist short of a Gordie Howe hat trick, which is like leaving the bar right before your round comes up.
Three stars of the night
- Joel Hofer, STL: 25 saves for the shutout in Dallas.
- Alex Tuch, WSH: two goals in the first period at Carolina.
- Dylan Garand, NYR: 22 saves for the shutout in Detroit.
Lind's number of the night
8.3. That's Carolina's power-play percentage through two games, by our count. It's two games, but a team that lives on its special teams can't keep turning six chances into one goal.
Sully's take of the morning
Look, three fights on a Friday in October, and I'm here for all of them. Kastelic and Bauer went early, Durzi and Kasper went in the second, and Neighbours and Hyry made Dallas feel something.
Meanwhile Alexis Lafrenière has zero points through three games at 18.4 minutes a night, by our count. Durzi had a goal and a fight in one night. Somebody hand Lafrenière the fight card.
Kessler's corner
Opening weekend had a 10-2 Quinnipiac win over New Hampshire, and Colorado College shut out No. 10 UMass 2-0.
Meg's line
RPI beat Northeastern 2-1 in overtime, and UConn edged Clarkson 3-2 in women's college hockey.
Tonight
Thirteen games, and the Panthers aren't in any of them. They're at Anaheim on Sunday at 8 PM ET on Prime Video. Five teams are on the second night of a back-to-back: Washington at Tampa Bay, Carolina at Philadelphia, Boston at Minnesota, St. Louis at Colorado and Dallas at Nashville.
The one to watch is Washington at Tampa Bay at 7. The Lightning lost their opener 5-1, and the Capitals arrive on no rest after a 5-2 win.
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