ATLANTA (AP) -Antoine Vermette scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period, Brian Elliott won his NHL debut in goal and the Ottawa Senators remained unbeaten with a 3-1 victory over the winless Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday night.
The Senators improved to 5-0, just one win off the franchise record for most consecutive victories at the start of the season. Defending Southeast Division champion Atlanta has managed just four goals in its three losses.
Chris Kelly gave the Senators a quick lead, scoring an unassisted goal on the first shot of the game. Ilya Kovalchuk tied it for Atlanta with his first of the season, but Vermette scored the winner with 18:18 remaining. Joe Corvo added a power play goal later in the third.
Elliott, the 291st overall pick in the 2003 entry draft, stopped 27 shots, including a brilliant save on Alexei Zhitnik about a minute after Vermette’s goal. The Thrashers defenseman got free at the side of the net, but Elliott sprawled with his right pad to keep the puck out.
Blue Jackets 3, Coyotes 0
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Jared Boll scored his first NHL goal and Pascal Leclaire picked up his second shutout in as many games for the Blue Jackets.
Jason Chimera added a goal and two assists, Manny Malhotra had a goal and an assist and Jan Hejda had two assists for Columbus, which is 2-0 at home – both Leclaire shutouts.
Phoenix goaltender David Aebischer, who dominated the Blue Jackets while he was with Colorado, came in with a 7-0-0 career mark and three shutouts against Columbus.
Leclaire finished with 32 saves, weathering six Phoenix power plays. He had just one shutout in his first 59 NHL games, but now has two in less than a week.
Islanders 2, Rangers 1
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) – Bryan Berard broke a second-period tie in his return to Long Island, and fellow defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron had a goal and assist for the Islanders.
Berard, signed to a one-year deal Tuesday, gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead with a 5-on-3 power-play goal with 6:04 left in the period. Bergeron, who scored the first goal in the closing seconds of the opening frame, earned the second assist.
Rick DiPietro made 36 saves for the Islanders, who bounced back from a 2-1 home loss to Washington on Monday to win for the third time in four games.
Fedor Tyutin scored the lone goal for the Rangers, who have dropped two straight following a season-opening victory. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 28 shots.
Canadiens 3, Penguins 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Carey Price made 26 saves in his NHL debut and Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Markov each had a goal and an assist to lead the Canadiens.
Alexei Kovalev scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period off an assist from Plekanec. The Canadiens have earned at least a point in each of its first three games.
The 20-year-old Price, who earned MVP honors in leading Canada to the World Junior Championship last season, was taken four spots behind Penguins star Sidney Crosby at the 2005 draft. Fittingly, Price stopped the reigning NHL scoring champion’s six shots on goal.
Mark Recchi had two assists and Ryan Whitney and Maxime Talbot scored for Pittsburgh.
Lightning 2, Panthers 1
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Chris Gratton scored twice and Johan Holmqvist made 30 saves for the Lightning, who have won their first three games for the third time in team history.
Gratton, reacquired by Tampa Bay from Florida, has 14 career multi-goal games. Holmqvist has allowed four goals in three games this season.
Tampa Bay took a 2-1 lead when Gratton redirected Paul Ranger’s shot during a power play with 9:24 left in the second. Ville Peltonen had tied it at 1 for the Panthers earlier in the period.
Backup goalie Craig Anderson stopped 21 shots in his first appearance of the season for the Panthers, who have lost their first three games.
Red Wings 4, Flames 2
DETROIT (AP) – Kris Draper’s goal late in the second period broke a tie, and Chris Osgood made 19 saves in place of Dominik Hasek for the Red Wings.
Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom, and Mikael Samuelsson also scored for Detroit, which is unbeaten (3-0-1) through its first four games. Pavel Datsyuk had two assists.
Kristian Huselius scored both of Calgary’s goals, and Mike Kiprusoff stopped 24 shots.
Draper broke a 2-all tie with 3:01 left in the second period when he tipped in Andrea’s Lila’s shot from the point for his second goal. Samuelsson added a power-play goal with 4:24 left in the third period.
Hasek, in goal the first three games, didn’t play because of a bruised knee cap.
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