By The Associated Press on October 16, 2023.
TORONTO (AP) – Corey Perry, Tyler Johnson and MacKenzie Entwistle scored in the second period, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Monday night. Taylor Raddysh added an empty-netter for Chicago (2-2-0), and Arvid Soderblom made 36 stops. Andreas Athanasiou had two assists. Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard – the NHL’s most-hyped youngster since Connor McDavid – continued a season-opening tour of hockey-mad markets after starting his professional career against childhood idol Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins before visiting the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens. The 18-year-old Bedard, the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft, recorded a point in each of his first three games, but was held off the scoresheet Monday. John Tavares scored for Toronto (2-1-0), and Joseph Woll made 26 saves in his first start of the season. Just the second player in the last 106 years to open a season with consecutive hat tricks, Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews was held in check. PANTHERS 4, DEVILS 3 NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Sam Reinhart scored two goals with the top line and defending Eastern Conference champion Florida held off a late rally by New Jersey. Carter Verhaeghe and Niko Mikkola also scored and Matthew Tkachuk had two assists for the Panthers, who had opened the season with losses at Minnesota and Winnipeg. Sergei Bobrovsky carried a shutout into the third period before Erik Haula, Michael McLeod and Jesper Bratt scored to get New Jersey within a goal with 2:23 to play. The 35-year-old Bobrovsky, who has started all three games this season, finished with 33 saves. Vitek Vanecek finished with 25 saves despite spending the final 4:14 on the bench as the Devils played with an extra skater. RANGERS 2, COYOTES 1 NEW YORK (AP) – Vincent Trocheck scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period and Igor Shesterkin stopped a penalty shot with under five minutes remaining as New York beat Arizona in its home opener. Chris Kreider also scored for the Rangers, who won for the second time in three games this season. Trocheck’s deflection at 8:26 on the power play snapped a 1-all tie and came after Coyotes goalie Connor Ingram made a sensational pad save on Mika Zibanejad’s shot. Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin assisted on Trocheck’s first goal of the season. Shesterkin finished with 26 saves. He denied Jason Zucker on a penalty shot at 15:12 of the third to preserve the one-goal lead. Clayton Keller scored for Arizona. Ingram made 26 saves for the Coyotes, who open the season with a four-game trip that continues Tuesday against the New York Islanders. CAPITALS 3, FLAMES 2, SO WASHINGTON (AP) – Matthew Phillips scored against his old team, Darcy Kuemper made 38 saves in regulation and overtime and three more in the shootout as Washington beat Calgary and gave new coach Spencer Carbery his first win of the season. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the only goal in the shootout to cap the rally from down 2-0, which started in the second period when Phillips scored his first NHL goal. The 5-foot-7, 140-pound winger also assisted on Connor McMichael’s goal that tied it three minutes later. The Capitals were outshot 40-23, but Kuemper was sharp throughout, including a stop on a penalty shot by Blake Coleman with 14 minutes remaining in the third. Adam Ruzicka and Dillon Dube scored for the Flames. Jacob Markstrom allowed two goals on 23 shots and fell to 1-8-2 against Washington. RED WINGS 4, BLUE JACKETS 0 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – James Reimer stopped 23 shots in his first start for Detroit, and the Red Wings scored three times in the second period in a win over Columbus. Shayne Gostisbehere, Michael Rasmussen, Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp scored as Detroit won its second straight game and first road contest. Reimer, signed as a free agent, picked up his 29th career shutout in Detroit’s only appearance in Columbus this season. He joined Ville Husso and Dave Gatherum as the only goaltenders to record a shutout in their debut with the Red Wings. Spencer Martin, claimed off waivers last month, stopped 24 shots in his first start for the Blue Jackets. Columbus has lost two of its first three games, all at home. ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL 30