My ability to watch games tonight was limited, but what I saw mostly confirmed my earlier suspicions. The Isles were big winners tonight after shelling the Rangers all game long and winning 4-0. Buffalo looked better than I expected against the Caps, but Washington outpaced them 6-4 to bring home a season-opening victory. The Devils played hard in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Bruins. The Wings somehow stayed close through the last few minutes of the game against the Canes, losing 3-0 after being down a single goal for most of the game. Winnipeg beat Calgary 4-3 in OT. Nashville bopped Columbus 3-1. Connor McDavid led the Oilers to a 5-2 victory over the Canucks with a hat trick and an assist. The Sharks looked like they would beat out Arizona in convincing fashion, but the so-called Comeback Coyotes battled back to force OT with a Phil Kessel goal at 3.2 seconds left in the third. The Sharks won 4-3 in the night’s second shootout. The Golden Knights tried their best to lose to the Ducks, winning the game 5-2 with a buzzing third period effort. The Wild stole their season opener from the Kings in OT with three unanswered goals.
Focusing in on the Bruins and Devils, my god did New Jersey outplay expectations. Fans may be left wondering if missing the exhibition games made a significant impact to some teams’ performances this early. In such a cutthroat East Division, I have legitimate concerns for the Bruins. This was supposed to be an easy victory for the B’s, a mere formality to even take the ice. But the Devils took it to them all game long. The defense looked surprisingly adequate and the team was able to force Boston to make some mistakes. Miles Wood took a bad goaltender interference call in the third period. Nick Ritchie scored for the B’s, and the Devils came right back with a Ty Smith goal. New Jersey never really took an advantage in the game, but the team somehow found a way to compete. Going into the shootout, Mackenzie Blackwood played his heart out, making big stops on Charlie Coyle and Ondrej Kase. Unfortunately, the Rat who will not be named, Brad Marchand, played spoiler. My lack of confidence in the team has been marginally changed in its favor.
In Buffalo, the Sabres looked obviously improved with Taylor Hall’s presence. However, Washington couldn’t blunder away victory. Eichel did his damnedest to lead his squad but when you face a team as nasty as the Caps, you can lose to an autopiloting roster. I hope Hall puts up a good season for the Sabres, but I don’t see
In New York, Kevin Rooney took a nasty accidental hit to the head from Ross Johnston. There is no better analogy for the Rangers’ goalless loss than that. I don’t think the Isles meant to show out so well on offense. In fact, I think they caught themselves by surprise. Igor Shestyorkin looked decent in what I was able to catch of this game, even stopping Mat Barzal on a clean breakaway. A few minutes later, he jacked his left shoulder on a flying Jordan Eberle. His pain tolerance proved admirable as he got up, obviously ailing. Semyon Varlamov simply outplayed him, making big stops to propel his team and obviously feeling pumped up from the easy four-goal lead.
For Detroit, Jon Merrill looked good on the second powerplay unit. The team somehow stayed close despite falling terribly behind in shots. As Mickey Redmond called out on the team’s broadcast, Carolina knew a drop pass to Dylan Larkin was coming on every powerplay entry. They negated every try the first unit made. Greiss looked sharp, and while the team seemed to try to feed Dylan Larkin on his first night as el capitan, he played well too. Sam Gagner lost a fight against Dougie Hamilton, a miserable tilt by the former Oiler. Mathias Brome looked like he belonged in the majors, a much-needed sight as the Wings signed him on a prove-it deal from the SHL. He looked as fast as a young Larkin, a great sign for the future. Overall, the Wings look slightly better than last season, but a larger sample size will tell us the true tale of the tape. Putting 14 shots on goal is a disgrace to the Winged Wheel but it isn’t out of character after last season. When Detroit figures out how to play in the other zone, it’s going to be a contender.
Patrik Laine proved the haters wrong by scoring two goals and assisting on another in the Jets’ OT victory. Connor Hellebuyck looked all right, especially considering the D-corps he plays behind. Calgary shot themselves in the foot at times and while they came out strong, leading 3-1 in the first period, the Flames got caught in the afterburner of a deep Winnipeg offense. Look for this rivalry to produce one of the season’s best series.
Nashville gave Pierre-Luc Dubois evidence as to why he needs a new team pronto. Columbus looked sickly at times and I am sure John Tortorella gave them both barrels (literally flipping them) in the locker room. Looking at the box score, the game looks closer than it was. Columbus needs to shape up to compete in a top-heavy Central Division. A bright spot was Jonas Korpisalo’s play, but that’s a moot point when he can’t pull out a W.
In Edmonton, the Canucks looked pitiful compared to their effort the previous night. McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each scored four points in a routing of the ‘Nucks. Thatcher Demko played hard, but with Braden Holtby as his tandem partner it is unlikely that he will get the starting job despite what Vancouver fans will blather about.
The Yotes dusted off the Kachina jerseys, their newly minted third, for their home opener. After getting bitten by the Sharks in the first two periods, a third-period rally forced extra time. The young team battled against an overpaid San Jose roster. OT was some of the most exciting hockey of the night, especially an end-to-end sequence that saw Martin Jones position himself to prevent a Derick Brassard goal and a penalty to Clayton Keller as the Sharks almost scored on Darcy Kuemper. In the shootout, Nick Schmaltz gave Jones a little top-shelf schmutz. Ryan Donato evened it for the Sharks, while Garland made friends with the post. Logan Couture scored to give the Sharks victory as Clayton Keller missed the net. Smile you son of a bitch? Maybe next time.
Vegas looked like it wanted to lose against underdog Anaheim, going into the final period knotted up at two apiece. Newly-minted captain Mark Stone scored the go-ahead goal for the Knights and the team rallied, upping the tempo to the levels we all know and love. Max Pacioretty extended the lead to two with a goal later in the period. An empty netter from Alex Tuch sealed the game up. Max Comtois looked deadly for the Ducks, scoring the Ducks’ first two goals to tie the game up. Gibson was solid considering the youth in front of him. The West Division might be a bit weaker, but I don’t know where the Ducks slot in.
Minnesota tied up Los Angeles 3-3 in the third period, a score that would last until OT. Jonathan Quick played well despite how close this game was, especially with Kevin Fiala’s efforts in extra time. Drew Doughty made a monster (and painful) shot block that made his whole bench pay respects. Seeing an old man sacrifice the body like that isn’t inspiring. It’s like watching your professor give the same speech twice while everyone wonders if they’re in some kind of social experiment. The Kings need to send him off to the Pittsburgh Old D-man Rehab and Retirement Center. By the way, Kirill Kaprizov scored the game-winner in his debut off of a Doughty mistake while Anze Kopitar watched his goalie get abused by a filthy dangle and a goal off of his skate.
Stars of the Night:
First Star: Semyon Varlamov (24-save shutout)
Second Star: Connor McDavid (3 goals, 1 assist)
Third Star: Patrik Laine (2 goals including OT winner, assist)
Honorable Mentions: Kyle Connor (goal, 2 assists),
Tomas Hertl (2 goals, assist),
Good-Job-Rookie Award: Kirill Kaprizov (OT goal, two assists in NHL debut)
Big Tex Goes to College 