Pascal Vincent earned his first NHL victory as head coach, with the Columbus Blue Jackets winning 5-3 against the New York Rangers on Saturday night.
He received a big helping hand from his captain, Boone Jenner, who completed the second hat trick of his career in the second period after scoring three unanswered goals. He started by recovering a loose puck in the slot and finished by deflecting Jake Bean’s shot.
David Jiricek, who was drafted sixth overall in 2022, extended the lead to 4-1 a minute later with his first NHL goal on a good wrist shot, while Justin Danforth got the other Jackets net. Johnny Gaudreau had two assists on Jenner’s first two goals.
Will Cuylle also scored his first goal on the Bettman circuit in the defeat. Erik Gustafsson and Chris Kreider provided the Rangers’ response.
Trailing 4-1 after two periods, the Rangers completely dominated the third period, having a 17-2 advantage in shots on goal.
Columbus starting goaltender Elvis Merzlikins did not finish the game. Sick, he gave up a goal on 25 shots before remaining on the bench after two periods. Spencer Martin took over and made 15 saves to maintain the victory.
After shining in the curtain-raiser against the Sabers in Buffalo on Thursday, Igor Shesterkin gave up five times on 21 shots.
Benson shines in defeat
Promising forward Zach Benson picked up his first two NHL points, but his efforts weren’t enough for the Buffalo Sabres, who suffered a 3-2 loss to the New York Islanders.
Benson was instrumental in goals from Jordan Greenway and Casey Mittelstadt, which allowed the Sabers to erase a two-goal deficit.
The game certainly did not start as hoped for the Sabres, who saw the Islanders take control of the game in the first twenty.
In the first minutes of the game, Brock Nelson recovered a puck and fired an excellent wrist shot from the top of the slot to open the scoring.
Then late in the first period, Kyle Palmieri jumped on a long return in front of the net and pushed the puck into the back of the cage to score his first goal of the season and double the Islanders’ lead.
Buffalo refused to give up and the team worked hard to come back. Greenway first cut the lead in half in the middle period, before seeing Mittlestadt quickly tie the game in the third period.
Casey Cizikas finally played the hero with less than seven minutes remaining in the game when he deftly redirected an Adam Pelech shot to restore New York’s slim one-goal lead.
Ilya Sorokin did well in front of the Islanders cage with 26 saves. His opposite number, Devon Levi, allowed three goals on 29 shots.
The Sabers thus suffered a second setback in as many games this season, while New York triumphed in its first outing of the campaign.
Kyle Connor delights his fans against the Panthers
Kyle Connor scored two goals and added an assist in a 6-4 victory for the Winnipeg Jets against the Florida Panthers.
Mark Scheifele and Mason Appleton also contributed with goals and an assist, and Dylan DeMelo also scored in the Jets’ home opener.
Josh Morrissey had two goals and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 29 pucks for the Jets, who began a three-game stretch at Canada Life Center
Evan Rodrigues had two goals and two assists for the Panthers. Sam Reinhart had two points, including a goal. Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov both had two assists. Tkachuk obtained his 300th career assist.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves for Florida, which was playing the second game of a three-game series on the road.
The score was 1-1 after one period, but the Jets led 4-2 after the second.
Scheifele scored 33 seconds into a power play after receiving a pass from Connor. He beat Bobrovsky to the glove side at 3:30 of the first period. The Panthers responded on a power play, courtesy of Reinhart.
Rodrigues gave the visitors the lead early in the second, but the Jets then scored four unanswered goals to record their first victory of the campaign.
The Panthers will visit the New Jersey Devils on Monday, while the Jets will host the Los Angeles Kings the next day.
DeBrincat makes sure he gets loved in Detroit
Alex DeBrincat had three points, including two goals, in his first home game in Detroit, leading the Red Wings to a 6-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
DeBrincat was acquired from the Ottawa Senators in July. The Michigan native also scored in the Red Wings’ season opener Thursday against the New Jersey Devils.
Daniel Sprong, Lucas Raymond, JT Compher and Moritz Seider also lit the red light for the Red Wings, while Dylan Larkin had two assists. Ville Husso made 23 saves.
Steven Stamkos scored twice and added an assist for the Lightning, who defeated the Nashville Predators 5-3 in the curtain-raiser on Tuesday. Victor Hedman had a goal and two assists, while Brandon Hagel contributed to his team’s cause with a goal and an assist.
The score was 3-3 when Compher redirected a Seider shot with just over four minutes remaining in the second period.
The Wings made it 5-3 at 4:44 of the final period. Larkin started a two-on-one before handing the puck to DeBrincat, who hit the target with a one-timer.
Hedman closed the gap midway through the period on a power play. But a net from Seider in an empty cage in the final moments sealed the result of the match.
