Ice Breaker: Panthers win ugly in L.A., Matthews erases a 3-0 hole
Florida wins in regulation without a power-play goal, Toronto rallies past Nashville, and Lafrenière's hat trick leans on two empty nets.
The Panthers finally won one in regulation, and they did it in Los Angeles while going 0-for-6 on the power play. Toronto climbed out of a 3-0 hole and Auston Matthews finished it in overtime, while Alexis Lafrenière collected a hat trick in the Battle of New York with two empty-netters 32 seconds apart.
Panthers 2, Kings 1
Alex Laferriere scored with a minute left in the first, and Florida followed it with a high-sticking double minor that it killed. Seth Jones tied it at 3:49 of the second off a Lars Eller feed, and Matthew Tkachuk scored the winner at 11:20 of the third with Sam Bennett on the assist.
Jacob Markstrom stopped 19 of 20, Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves on 28, and Garnet Hathaway fought Joel Edmundson at 7:40 of the second.
Pabs: Three straight overtime nights, and the cats finally close one in 60 minutes, on the road, with the power play doing nothing. They took the Kings' best shot, killed all five penalties and let Chucky do the rest. Dale. Pabs' full recap is still to come.
Lind's read: Jones played 25:33, the most of any skater on either team, and scored the tying goal. The top pair is carrying the heavy minutes while the forward group settles, and last night it paid.
Sully's chirp: Florida went 0-for-6 on the power play and won anyway. In Boston we'd call that a moral victory, except this one came with two points.
Maple Leafs 5, Predators 4 (OT)
Steven Stamkos and Nils Hoglander scored twice each for Nashville, so naturally the Predators lost. John Tavares and William Nylander got it to 3-2, Gavin McKenna scored his first NHL goal, and Jack Roslovic tied it in the third before Matthews won it at 4:46 of overtime.
Lind's read: Matthews had a goal and three assists in just over 25 minutes. Toronto outshot Nashville 37-25, so the comeback was the shot count catching up rather than luck.
Rangers 5, Islanders 2
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice and Lafrenière scored early in the second. Bo Horvat and Calum Ritchie tied it within two minutes, but Bjorkstrand restored the lead on the power play and Lafrenière found the empty net twice in the final 1:38.
Sully's chirp: Two of Lafrenière's three goals went into a net with nobody in it. That's a hat trick the way a free refill is a meal.
Golden Knights 6, Kraken 2
Vegas scored five straight before Seattle got on the board. Tomas Hertl had two goals and two assists, Victor Olofsson scored twice, Mark Stone scored shorthanded and Jack Eichel had a goal and three assists.
Lind's read: Eichel has 10 points in four games, by our count, with a point in every one. Hertl leads the league with 12 high-danger shots on goal, per NHL data, and Vegas keeps feeding him the net-front spot.
Hurricanes 6, Canadiens 4
Montreal led 3-2 after a wild first, with Zachary Bolduc scoring twice. Then Sebastian Aho scored on the power play, Mark Jankowski put Carolina ahead and Taylor Hall scored his second of the night.
Sully's chirp: The Habs led after one period and finished with 20 shots. Peaking in October is a bold strategy, and Montreal is fully committed to it.
Mammoth 5, Devils 3
Nick Schmaltz scored on the power play and set up two more, Mikhail Sergachev had three assists, and Vincent Trocheck sealed it with 3:08 left. Luke Evangelista scored twice for New Jersey.
Lind's read: Schmaltz has seven points in four games, five of them goals. Utah went 2-for-4 on the power play, and that was the gap.
Sabres 3, Wild 2 (OT)
Minnesota carried a 2-0 lead into the third before Noah Ostlund and Tage Thompson tied it, and Owen Power won it at 4:22 of overtime.
Sully's chirp: Thompson put nine shots on net by himself, and the Wild had 20 as a team. Somebody check whether Minnesota's defense made the flight.
Red Wings 5, Senators 3
Alex DeBrincat scored twice, and Dylan Larkin, Viktor Arvidsson and Justin Faulk added goals. Tim Stützle opened it early, but Ottawa ran out of legs on the second night of a back-to-back.
Lind's read: Detroit outshot Ottawa 36-25, and Lucas Raymond had three assists and six shots. That's what a tired road team gives up to a rested one.
Blackhawks 4, Blues 2
Mason McTavish scored first for St. Louis, but Sam Rinzel and Anton Frondell answered in the second, and Spencer Knight stopped 26 of 28.
Sully's chirp: The Blues scored a power-play goal with 38 seconds left. That's like showing up to the party after the cops left.
Three stars of the night
Our picks.
- Alexis Lafrenière, NYR: three goals and an assist against the Islanders.
- Auston Matthews, TOR: a goal and three assists, including the overtime winner.
- Tomas Hertl, VGK: two goals and two assists in Seattle.
By our count: nine skaters now have a point in four straight games this season, and Eichel leads that group with 10 points.
Lind's number of the night
0-for-11. That's the combined power play in Florida's win in Los Angeles, the Panthers 0-for-6 and the Kings 0-for-5. When both kills hold like that, a game turns on even-strength details, and Florida's top pair won them.
Sully's take of the morning
Look, Seattle took 43 penalty minutes in a game it lost 6-2, and Brandon Montour had 17 of them by himself. That's not a hockey game, that's a time-share. Fight of the night was Hathaway and Edmundson in L.A., a real tilt that woke up both benches. Grade on the Kraken's discipline: D-minus. I said what I said.
Tonight
The Panthers are off. Pittsburgh at Washington at 7:30 PM ET on TNT is the national game, and Colorado at Winnipeg starts at the same time. The one to watch is Edmonton at Anaheim at 10 PM on Prime Video, with Connor McDavid holding the fastest skating speed of the season so far.
