Bo Horvat scored twice in a three-point game and netted the shootout winner as the Vancouver Canucks claimed their home opener by a 6-5 count over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night.
Braden Holtby made 31 saves for the Canucks, who snapped a three-game losing streak with a win that saw them blow four separate leads, then tie the game late before prevailing. Brock Boeser added two goals and an assist for Vancouver, Tyler Motte contributed a goal and J.T. Miller collected three assists.
Former Canuck Tyler Toffoli’s hat trick wasn’t enough for the Canadiens, who also got a goal and an assist from Jesperi Kotkaniemi and a goal from Brendan Gallagher. Montreal goalie Carey Price stopped 23 shots.
The Canucks took a hit on the blue line, however, as veteran defenseman Alexander Elder left the game early in the second period and didn’t return. The Canucks and Canadiens meet again Thursday and Saturday in Vancouver.
Sharks 2, Blues 1 (OT)
Martin Jones made 23 saves as San Jose earned a shootout victory at St. Louis.
Marcus Sorensen scored in regulation and Tomas Hertl produced the lone shootout goal in the fourth round for the Sharks, who earned a split in the two-game set at Enterprise Center. St. Louis won the first matchup 5-4 on Monday.
Brayden Schenn scored for the Blues and Jordan Binnington stopped 37 of 38 shots. The Blues missed two veterans from the blue line, and it showed. Robert Bortuzzo is on injured reserve due to an upper-body injury and Marco Scandella was a late scratch because of an upper-body injury.
Golden Knights 5, Coyotes 2
Shea Theodore scored two goals and Alex Tuch had a goal and two assists as Vegas remained unbeaten with a victory over Arizona in Las Vegas.
It was the third two-goal game of Theodore’s career. Mark Stone and Alex Pietrangelo each added a goal and an assist and Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves for Vegas, which improved to 4-0-0, the best start to a season in the franchise’s four-year history.
Nick Schmaltz and Phil Kessel scored goals and Darcy Kuemper had 24 saves for Arizona. The teams resume their four-game series with a back-to-back set in Glendale, Ariz., starting Friday night.
Wild 3, Ducks 2
Joel Eriksson Ek scored less than two minutes into the third period and Minnesota beat Anaheim to complete a season-opening, four-game road trip.
Ryan Hartman scored a short-handed goal for the Wild and Nick Bonino added a power-play tally. It was Minnesota’s first power-play goal in 19 tries on the season.
Nicolas Deslauriers and Cam Fowler each scored second-period goals for Anaheim, matching the Ducks’ goal total in their past two games combined.
Oilers 3, Maple Leafs 1
Leon Draisaitl’s first goal of the season, a power-play tally at 6:44 of the third period, proved to be the game-winner as Edmonton prevailed at Toronto.
Kailer Yamamoto and Josh Archibald also scored for the Oilers, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Archibald hit an empty net 66 seconds remaining in the game.
After posting a 3.80 goals-against average in his first four games of the season, Oilers goaltender Mikko Koskinen stopped 25 of 26 Toronto shots for his second victory. Auston Matthews scored and Frederik Andersen made 19 saves for the Maple Leafs.
–Field Level Media
