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 just four goals in its three losses.
Chris Kelly scored 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.
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 Detroit.
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.
Islanders 2, Rangers 1
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) – Bryan Berard broke a second-period tie 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. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 28 shots.
Blues 4, Predators 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Paul Kariya helped beat his old team, assisting on two first-period goals as St. Louis beat Nashville in its home opener.
Ryan Johnson and Lee Stempniak also scored and Manny Legace had a strong game in goal for the Blues, who were 1-11-4 the last two seasons against the Predators.
Kariya, Nashville’s leading scorer the last two seasons before signing a three-year, $18 million free-agent deal in St. Louis, has five assists in the first three games.
Predators goalie Chris Mason allowed four goals on 18 shots before being pulled midway through the second period and replaced by Dan Ellis. Mason allowed one goal in 64 shots the first two games of the season, both victories.
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 Columbus.
Jason Chimera added a goal and two assists, Manny Malhotra had a goal and an assist and Jan Hejda had two assists for Columbus. Leclaire, who had just one shutout in his first 59 NHL games, finished with 32 saves, weathering six Phoenix power plays.
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.
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 Montreal.
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 their 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.
Sharks 2 Blackhawks 1
CHICAGO (AP) – Milan Michalek’s second power-play goal of the game, with 3:31 left in the third period, snapped a tie and lifted San Jose over Chicago.
From the edge or the crease, Michalek deflected Matt Carle’s shot past Nikolai Khabibulin.
Chicago rookie Jonathan Toews scored on his first shot in his first NHL game to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead in the first period. Moments later, Michalek scored his first power-play goal at the 10:28 mark.
Khabibulin made 30 saves. San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov blocked 16 shots.
Stars 5, Kings 1
DALLAS (AP) – Niklas Hagman scored two goals, including one short-handed, Marty Turco stopped 32 shots and Dallas beat Los Angeles after sweeping all three meetings last season.
Antti Miettinen, Mike Ribeiro and Joel Lundqvist added goals for the Stars.
Turco faced 11 shots in the first period, making a sharp glove save at 15:04 when he robbed Anze Kopitar on an attempt from the right circle that was headed for the upper right corner.
Kyle Calder scored on a rebound at 9:03 of the third period for the Kings.
Lightning 2, Panthers 1
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Chris Gratton scored twice and Johan Holmqvist made 30 saves for Tampa Bay, which has won its 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 midway through the second. Ville Peltonen had tied it at 1 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.
Wild 2, Oilers 0
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Pavol Demitra had a goal and an assist, Marian Gaborik added a pair of assists and Niklas Backstrom made 21 saves for unbeaten Minnesota.
Brent Burns also scored for the Wild, who have won three times at home and start a stretch of four straight games on the road this weekend.
Backstrom earned his second shutout of the season. He let in only two goals in four games against Edmonton in 2006-07, winning all four with a pair of shutouts.
Oilers goalie Dwayne Roloson stopped 24 shots against his former team and fell to 3-7-1 in 11 career starts against Minnesota. He shared the net with Manny Fernandez for the Wild from 2001-06.
Ducks 2, Bruins 1
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Ryan Getzlaf scored the tying goal and assisted on the game-winner in the third period, helping Stanley Cup champion Anaheim notch its first victory in North America.
Getzlaf slid the puck over to Francois Beauchemin at the 13:35 mark of the third period, and Beauchemin’s slap shot was deflected off the stick of Boston’s David Krejci past goaltender Tim Thomas for a 2-1 lead. The Ducks snapped a three-game losing streak.
Chuck Kobasew notched his second goal of the season for the Bruins, who fell to 1-2-0 on their season-opening road trip.
Playing 4-on-4, Anaheim tied the game when Getzlaf scored at 10:52 of the second. Kent Huskins’ slap shot was blocked by Thomas, but Getzlaf skated in and beat Thomas’ gloveside with the rebound.
Flyers 8, Canucks 2
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) – Mike Richards had four points to help Philadelphia rout Vancouver.
Jeff Carter and R.J Umberger scored 13 seconds apart midway through the first, and Daniel Briere scored and set up Simon Gagne before the period ended as Philadelphia built a 4-1 lead.
Joffrey Lupul, Mike Knuble and Richards added second period goals to blow the game open.
Richards added his second goal late in the third to go with his two assists, and Martin Biron, who like Briere started last season in Buffalo, made 25 saves.
Roberto Luongo gave up four goals on 13 shots before being pulled.
END
Add A Comment