NHL roundup: Caps spoil Blues' party in OT

[October 03, 2019]  Jakub Vrana's overtime goal lifted the visiting Washington Capitals to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night, a season-opening showdown between the last two Stanley Cup champions.

Alexander Ovechkin and Dmitry Orlov also scored for the Capitals, and Lars Eller had two assists. Goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 20 of 22 shots.

Sammy Blais and Alex Pietrangelo scored for the Blues, and Ryan O'Reilly had two assists. Blais exited the game in the third period after absorbing a big hit from Capitals winger T.J. Oshie. Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped 31 of 34 shots.

The Blues celebrated their first Cup triumph in 52 years during a pregame banner-raising ceremony before facing the 2018 champions.

Golden Knights 4, Sharks 1

Reilly Smith scored two goals, Mark Stone had a goal and an assist, and Marc-Andre Fleury tied an NHL record with his 10th season-opening win as Vegas skated to a victory over San Jose in Las Vegas.

Cody Glass scored a goal in his NHL debut, and William Karlsson added two assists for Vegas, which improved to 6-1-2 in regular-season games against the Sharks. Fleury, playing in his 799th NHL game, finished with 21 saves to tie Curtis Joseph and Martin Brodeur for wins in a season opener. It was also his 440th career victory, which ranks eighth in NHL history.

Marcus Sorensen scored a goal, and Martin Jones finished with 31 saves for San Jose. The Sharks played without suspended left winger Evander Kane and also two-time Norris Award-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson, who was scratched about an hour before the game for what the team said was a personal matter.

Oilers 3, Canucks 2

Connor McDavid scored the go-ahead goal at 14:37 of the third period as Edmonton rallied to defeat visiting Vancouver in the season opener for both teams.

Washington Capitals left wing Jakub Vrana (13) handles the puck as St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk (72) defends during the third period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Leon Draisaitl added a goal and two assists for the Oilers, playing their first regular-season game under new coach Dave Tippett. Zack Kassian added a goal and an assist, and defenseman Matt Benning had two assists. Goaltender Mike Smith, making his Oilers debut after being signed away from the rival Calgary Flames as a free agent, made 31 saves.

Alexander Edler and Tanner Pearson scored for the Canucks, who had won their past five season openers. Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves.

Maple Leafs 5, Senators 3

Auston Matthews scored two goals, Ilya Mikheyev added a goal and an assist in his NHL debut, and Toronto defeated visiting Ottawa in the season opener for both teams.

Matthews has scored a goal in each of his first four career season openers, notching a total of nine goals in those games.

Frederik Gauthier and Trevor Moore also scored for the Maple Leafs, who got 23 saves from goaltender Frederik Andersen. Tyson Barrie added two assists. Brady Tkachuk, Scott Sabourin (in his first NHL game) and Bobby Ryan scored for the Senators. Craig Anderson stopped 37 shots.

--Field Level Media

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.