Auston Matthews scores 3 times to send Toronto Maple Leafs past Minnesota Wild 7-4
Auston Matthews registered his second hat trick in two games to open the season, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Minnesota Wild 7-4 on Saturday night.
William Nylander had two goals and an assist for Toronto, and Ilya Samsonov made 28 saves. Calle Jarnkrok had a goal and an assist, and Tyler Bertuzzi also scored. Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly each had two assists.
Matthews is the fifth player in NHL history to open a season with back-to-back hat tricks, joining Alex Ovechkin (2017-18), Cy Denneny (1917-18), Joe Malone (1917-18) and Reg Noble (1917-18).
Matt Boldy, Ryan Hartman, Marco Rossi and Brandon Duhaime scored for Minnesota. Filip Gustavsson stopped 26 shots.
CANADIENS 3, BLACKHAWKS 2
MONTREAL (AP) — Cole Caufield scored the first of Montreal's three unanswered second-period goals, and the Canadiens beat Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks in their home opener.
Bedard, hockey's most anticipated prospect since Connor McDavid, received a not-so-warm welcome from a Montreal crowd that booed the hockey phenom every time he touched the puck.
Tanner Pearson and Sean Monahan also scored for Montreal, which earned its first win of the season. Sam Montembeault made 28 saves.
Tyler Johnson scored twice for Chicago. Petr Mrazek stopped 33 shots.
JETS 6, PANTHERS 4
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Kyle Connor had two goals and an assist, and Winnipeg earned its first win of the season.
Mark Scheifele and Mason Appleton each had a goal and an assist for the Jets, who lost 5-3 at Calgary on Wednesday in their opener. Morgan Barron and defenseman Dylan DeMelo also scored.
Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves for the Jets in the opener of a three-game homestand.
Evan Rodrigues had two goals and two assists for the Panthers, who dropped their second straight game to begin the season. Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 shots.
BLUE JACKETS 5, RANGERS 3
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Boone Jenner had a natural hat trick and Columbus gave Pascal Vincent his first coaching victory.
Rookie David Jiricek and Justin Danforth also scored for Columbus, which opened with a 4-2 loss to Philadelphia on Thursday night. Johnny Gaudreau and Ivan Provorov each had two assists.
Elvis Merzlikins stopped 24 shots before departing with an illness after the second period. Spencer Martin came in for the last 20 minutes and stopped 15 shots in his Columbus debut.
Erik Gustafsson had a goal and an assist for the Rangers, and Will Cuylle and Chris Kreider also scored. Adam Fox had two assists and Igor Shesterkin made 16 stops.
RED WINGS 6, LIGHTNING 4
DETROIT (AP) — Alex DeBrincat had two goals and an assist in his home debut with Detroit, leading the Red Wings to the victory.
DeBrincat was acquired in a July trade with Ottawa. The Michigan native also scored in the Red Wings' season-opening loss at New Jersey on Thursday.
Daniel Sprong, Lucas Raymond, J.T. Compher and Moritz Seider also scored for Detroit, and Dylan Larkin added two assists. Ville Husso made 23 saves.
Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist for the Lightning, who beat Nashville 5-3 on Tuesday in their season opener. Victor Hedman had a goal and two assists, while Brandon Hagel contributed a goal and an assist. Jonas Johansson stopped 36 shots.
PENGUINS 5, FLAMES 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist during Pittsburgh's five-goal third period.
Malkin tied Alexander Mogilny for third-most goals in NHL history among Russian-born players. Malkin, who scored his 473rd career goal, trails only Sergei Fedorov (483) and Alex Ovechkin (822) in goals scored among Russian-born players.
Bryan Rust scored twice, including an empty-netter, and Reilly Smith and Jake Guentzel also scored during Pittsburgh's big third period. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 34 shots.
Jonathan Huberdeau and Matt Coronato scored for Calgary in the opener of a five-game trip. It was Coronato's first NHL goal.
Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves for the Flames.
BRUINS 3, PREDATORS 2
BOSTON (AP) — James van Riemsdyk broke a tie with his second goal of the game early in the third period, sending Boston to the win.
Both of van Riemsdyk's goals — his first two in his initial season with the Bruins — happened on a power play.
Jeremy Swayman made 33 saves in his season debut for Boston (2-0), which killed seven penalties. David Pastrnak scored on a penalty shot.
Colton Sissons scored twice for the Predators (1-2) and Juuse Saros made 28 stops.
SENATORS 5, FLYERS 2
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Brady Tkachuk and Jakob Chychrun each scored twice, leading the Senators to the victory.
Anton Forsberg made 19 saves for Ottawa, which earned its first win after losing 5-3 at Carolina in its season opener on Wednesday night. Jake Sanderson also scored.
Travis Konecny and Cam York scored for the Flyers. Carter Hart stopped 26 shots.
Philadelphia opened the season with a 4-2 win over Columbus on Thursday night, but it struggled to generate much against Ottawa.
