NHL roundup: Knights extend franchise-record perfect start

 

[October 25, 2023]  Shea Theodore scored the game-winner with 32.5 seconds remaining as the Vegas Golden Knights extended their franchise record for the best start to a season with their seventh straight win, a 3-2 decision over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday in Las Vegas.

Vegas extended its NHL record for most wins to begin a season by a reigning Stanley Cup champion.

Paul Cotter and Ivan Barbashev also scored goals, Jack Eichel had two assists and Logan Thompson finished with 26 saves for the Golden Knights.

Noah Cates and Cam Atkinson found the net and Carter Hart made 26 saves for Philadelphia.

Bruins 3, Blackhawks 0

Three players scored and Jeremy Swayman pitched a 23-save shutout to lead Boston over host Chicago.

Pavel Zacha, Matthew Poitras and Trent Frederic all lit the lamp for Boston, which finished off a four-game road trip and improved to 6-0-0 for only the second time in the franchise's 100-year history. The shutout was the 10th of Swayman's career in only 91 regular-season games.

Petr Mrazek stopped 40 shots for the Blackhawks, who have been shut out twice during their current three-game skid.

Kings 6, Coyotes 3

Anze Kopitar, Trevor Lewis and Trevor Moore scored first-period goals as Los Angeles rebounded from an early deficit to take down visiting Arizona.

Blake Lizotte, Kevin Fiala, Adrian Kempe and Kopitar each had a goal and an assist for Los Angeles. Pheonix Copley made 24 saves in his second start as the Kings won for the third time in four games.

Jack McBain, Nick Bjugstad and Clayton Keller scored for the Coyotes, who fell to 3-3-0, having played five of their six games on the road.

Canucks 3, Predators 2

Phillip Di Giuseppe and Nils Hoglander scored just 2:49 apart in the second period and Thatcher Demko made 15 saves as visiting Vancouver defeated Nashville.

Ilya Mikheyev also scored for the Canucks, who won their second straight game.

Colton Sissons and Kiefer Sherwood scored, while workhorse Juuse Saros stopped 21 shots as Nashville had its two-game winning streak come to an end.

Kraken 5, Red Wings 4 (OT)

Jordan Eberle scored the winning goal with 4.9 seconds remaining in overtime to lift Seattle over host Detroit.

Eberle took a pass in front of the Detroit goal from Jared McCann and one-timed a shot into a half-open net. Jaden Schwartz added two goals for Seattle, and Tye Kartye and McCann also scored.

Dylan Larkin had a goal and two assists for Detroit, which saw a five-game winning streak end. The Red Wings also got goals from Joe Veleno, Shayne Gostisbehere and Alex DeBrincat.

Avalanche 7, Islanders 4

Goals from Nathan Mackinnon and Bowen Byram in the final 30 seconds of the second period proved critical for Colorado in a win at New York.

Mikko Rantanen scored the tiebreaking goal 7:47 into the third period as the Avalanche improved to 6-0-0 on the season and won its 15th straight regular-season road game, an NHL record. Ryan Johansen scored twice, Rantanen had a goal and three assists and Cale Makar added a goal and two assists. Ross Colton also scored and Alexandar Georgiev stopped 27 shots for the Avalanche.

Cal Clutterbuck led the Islanders with a goal and an assist, while Simon Holmstrom, Kyle Palmieri and Anders Lee also scored. Noah Dobson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each notched two assists for New York, and Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves.

Panthers 3, Sharks 1

Backup goalie Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves in his debut, leading Florida over San Jose in Sunrise, Fla.

The Panthers got goals from Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart and Kevin Stenlund. It was Reinhart's team-high seventh goal of the season.

The Sharks, who have lost all six of their games this season (0-5-1), got a goal from Fabian Zetterlund and 32 saves from Mackenzie Blackwood. San Jose is the last NHL team without a win.

Lightning 3, Hurricanes 0

Goaltender Jonas Johansson recorded his second career shutout, Brayden Point broke a season-long goalless drought and Tampa Bay shut out visiting Carolina.

Johansson stopped all 32 shots he faced in running his record to 3-1-2 in his first season with the Lightning. Point, a 51-goal scorer last season but scoreless through this season's first six games, hit the net in the first period on the power play. He added an assist for the only multi-point effort of the game.

Alex Barre-Boulet scored for the second straight game, and Nick Paul added a marker. Nikita Kucherov assisted on Point's goal, marking the 41st time the right wing has made the score sheet in the past 45 home games.

Sabers 6, Senators 4

Tage Thompson had two goals and an assist to help visiting Buffalo beat Ottawa.

Jeff Skinner scored twice, Alex Tuch had a goal and an assist and Casey Mittelstadt added two assists for the Sabres, who have won three of five since losing their first two games of the season. Zemgus Girgensons added a goal for Buffalo, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 34 saves in his first start of the season.

Oct 24, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore (27) celebrates with Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb (3) after scoring a goal against the Philadelphia Flyers during the third period at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Mathieu Joseph and Vladimir Tarasenko each had a goal and an assist for the Senators, who have lost two in a row after a three-game winning streak. Ottawa's Jakob Chychrun and Josh Norris also scored. Anton Forsberg allowed five goals on 18 shots before being replaced by Joonas Korpisalo (five saves) at the start of the third period.

Wild 7, Oilers 4

Ryan Hartman had three goals and two assists to help Minnesota to a win against visiting Edmonton.

Mats Zuccarello and Joel Eriksson Ek each had a goal and assist, Jake Middleton and Kirill Kaprizov each had three assists and Filip Gustavsson made 24 saves for the Wild, who have won nine of the past 10 against Edmonton.

Warren Foegele scored two goals, Evan Bouchard had a goal and two assists, Evander Kane had a goal and an assist and Jack Campbell made 24 saves for the Oilers, who played without star center Connor McDavid because of an upper-body injury.

Maple Leafs 4, Capitals 1

Morgan Rielly and Auston Matthews each had a goal and an assist as visiting Toronto defeated Washington.

John Tavares and William Nylander also scored for the Maple Leafs, who have won two games in a row. Joseph Woll made 36 saves for Toronto in a strong effort.

Alex Ovechkin scored for the Capitals, who have lost four of their first five games. Washington lost despite outshooting Toronto 37-17. Darcy Kuemper stopped 13 shots for the Capitals.

Ducks 3, Blue Jackets 2 (OT)

Frank Vatrano scored on a breakaway 2:20 into overtime to fuel visiting Anaheim to a victory over Columbus.

Anaheim's Ryan Strome scored in the second period and fourth-liner Brett Leason tallied in the third. Lukas Dostal made 35 saves for the Ducks, who have won five in a row against Columbus and five consecutive encounters in the series at Nationwide Arena.

Blue Jackets rookie Adam Fantilli had an assist on Emil Bemstrom's power-play tally in the first period before scoring a goal in his second straight game. Columbus native Jack Roslovic started a rush by Fantilli, who skated up the left wing before wiring a shot from the left circle that beat Dostal to give Columbus a 2-1 lead at 9:13 of the third period.

Devils 5, Canadiens 2

Jack Hughes continued his hot start with four more assists and set up each of Tyler Toffoli's three goals as visiting New Jersey beat Montreal.

Hughes has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) through New Jersey's first five games. That surpassed the 13 by San Jose's Patrick Marleau (2012-13) and Joe Thornton (2012-13) along with Edmonton's Connor McDavid (2021-22) for the most points in the opening five games since 2010-11.

Justin Barron and Mike Matheson scored for the Canadiens, who were unable to win their third straight game. Montreal goalie Cayden Primeau allowed four goals on 33 shots in his season debut.

Jets 4, Blues 2

Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves as Winnipeg defeated visiting St. Louis.

Kyle Connor, Mason Appleton, David Gustafsson and Morgan Barron scored for the Jets, who have won two straight games after losing three of their first four.

Pavel Buchnevich had a goal and an assist for the Blues after missing two games with an upper-body injury. Robert Thomas also scored for St. Louis and Jordan Binnington stopped 26 of 29 shots.

Rangers 3, Flames 1

Erik Gustafsson collected one goal and one assist and goaltender Igor Shesterkin regrouped to reach his top form after surrendering an early goal as visiting New York claimed a victory over slumping Calgary.

Alexis Lafreniere and Chris Kreider also scored in the win, while Filip Chytil collected a pair of assists for the Rangers, who won consecutive games for the first time this season. Shesterkin made 24 saves.

Blake Coleman scored for the Flames, who have lost three straight games. Goalie Jacob Markstrom stopped 17 shots.

Stars 4, Penguins 1

Jason Robertson and Thomas Harley each had a goal and an assist to help visiting Dallas down Pittsburgh for its third straight win.

Evgenii Dadonov and Wyatt Johnston also scored for the Stars. Jake Oettinger made 38 saves.

Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins, who lost their third in a row. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 30 shots.

--Field Level Media

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