MONTREAL (AP) — Sam Montembeault made 48 saves, Cole Caufield scored on a first-period power play and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 1-0 on Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams.
Caufield scored at 7:48 of the opening period, finishing off a tic-tac-toe play with Juraj Slafkovsky and Kirby Dach. The Canadiens were 1 for 5 on the power play after going 0 for 30 in the preseason.
Anthony Stolarz made 26 saves for Toronto after expected starter Joseph Woll was held out of the lineup. Coach Craig Berube said Woll had “lower-body tightness.”
RANGERS 6, PENGUINS 0
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Igor Shesterkin stopped 29 shots and New York opened the season with a victory over Pittsburgh.
Chris Kreider scored twice for the reigning Metropolitan Division champions. Sam Carrick, Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Vincent Trocheck also scored for New York, which dominated Pittsburgh while beating the Penguins for the fifth time in their last six meetings.
Chytil’s goal was his first in over 18 months after he missed most of last season due to a concussion. The center’s flick to the far post against Tristan Jarry just before the game’s midway point boosted New York’s lead to 4-0.
Jarry stopped 35 of the 41 shots he faced for Pittsburgh. Penguins star Sidney Crosby was held scoreless in his 20th season opener. Evgeni Malkin was held without a point. The Russian star began his 19th season with 498 career goals and 798 career assists.
JETS 6, OILERS 0
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves for his 38th career shutout and Winnipeg routed Edmonton in the opener for both teams.
Mason Appleton had a goal and two assists, Adam Lowry and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and an assist and Rasmus Kupari, Dylan Samberg and Kyle Connor also scored.
Edmonton outshot Winnipeg 30-20. The Oilers lost to Florida in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final last season.
Oilers starter Stuart Skinner allowed five goals on 13 shots before being pulled midway through the second period. Calvin Pickard gave up a goal on seven shots.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 8, AVALANCHE 4
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Ivan Barbashev, Mark Stone and Victor Olofsson each scored two goals and Las Vegas Golden beat Colorado in the teams’ season opener.
Barbashev also had two assists, linemate Jack Eichel had four and defenseman Shea Theodore added three. Adin Hill finished with 28 saves.
Mikko Rantanen had three goals, while Casey Mittelstadt also scored for the Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev made 11 saves. Justus Annunen came in for Georgiev and stopped two of the four shots he faced.
FLAMES 6, CANUCKS 5, OT
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Connor Zary scored 1:33 into overtime and Calgary opened their season with a comeback win over the Vancouver.
Anthony Mantha had a goal and an assist to lead Calgary. Rasmus Andersson, Martin Pospisil, MacKenzie Weegar and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored for the Flames, who trailed 3-0 midway through the first period.
Brock Boeser had two goals and J.T. Miller, Daniel Sprong and Conor Garland also scored for the Canucks. Arturs Silovs stopped 20 shots for Vancouver.
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