NEWARK, NJ – The New Jersey Devils heated up the Florida Panthers by scoring three times in the final period, but it was not enough, as the latter won 4-3 Monday night at the Prudential Center.
The Panthers signed their first victory this season in their third game.
As was the case in their first two games of the season, the Devils (1-1-1) started the game laboriously, allowing two goals to the Floridians in the first twenty, those from Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe.
Things did not get better in the middle period for Lindy Ruff’s troops, who conceded a third goal to the visitors.
It was therefore behind 3-0 that New Jersey returned to the locker room after 40 minutes of play.
Reinhart scored a second time in the match 59 seconds into the third, skillfully deflecting a point shot from Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
It was only then that the Devils showed signs of life, taking advantage of the Panthers’ indiscipline to score through Erik Haula.
A little over five minutes later, this same Haula set the table for Michael McLeod’s goal, which gave new energy to both the Devils players and their fans.
The prospect of a comeback seemed even more real when Jesper Bratt beat Sergei Bobrovsky with a superb shot into the top corner, while New Jersey was down six skaters to four.
This matchup pitted the two active NHL head coaches with the highest win totals behind the bench.
Ruff totaled 835, while Paul Maurice enjoyed his 818th success on the Bettman circuit. They come in 5th and 6th in history, respectively.
A sign that Ruff does not intend to laugh this time given the high expectations for his club, the veteran limited attacker Timo Meier and defender John Marino to one presence in the third.
The Wings make the Blue Jackets blush
James Reimer had the perfect first start with the Red Wings in a 4-0 victory over the Blue Jackets on Monday night at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
The veteran goalie stopped 23 shots to score his 29the career shutout as Shayne Gostisbehere, Michael Rasmussen, Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp found the back of the net in the victorious cause.
The Red Wings (2-1-0) finished the evening with two goals in five power play attempts. Spencer Martin made 24 saves for the Blue Jackets (1-2-0).
Jeff Petry was left out by the Red Wings who will take over on Wednesday by welcoming Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. For their part, the Jackets will try to defeat the Flames on Friday at home.
Shesterkin shines at premiere
The New York Rangers completed their home opener with a 2-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes at Madison Square Garden in New York on Monday night.
2021-22 Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin closed the door for New York with 26 saves. His opposite number, Connor Ingram also blocked 26 pucks for Arizona.
Chris Kreider scored his fourth of the season in the first period to open the scoring for the Blue Shirts (2-1). In the second period, Clayton Keller took advantage of a power play for the Coyotes (1-1) to score his first of the season and make it 1-1.
The numerical advantage is also what allowed New York to regain the lead in the third period. Vincent Trocheck then redirected a point shot from Artemi Panarin moments after the Russian was robbed of the pad by Ingram.
Kuznetsov puts everyone to sleep in the jump-off
Evgeny Kuznetsov was the only one to find the back of the net in the shootout to allow the Washington Capitals to defeat the Calgary Flames 3-2.
Kuznetsov scored with a wrist shot after moving very slowly towards goaltender Jacob Markstrom.
This is the first victory of the season for the Capitals.
The Flames scored two goals in the first period and dominated 18-3 in shots on goal. Adam Ruzicka first scored at 4:47 before seeing Dillon Dube find the back of the net on a power play. It was the first this season for both players. Noah Hanifin participated in both of his team’s goals.
The Capitals came back to life in the second period and managed to tie the first goals each this season for Matthew Phillips, who scored a goal against the club that drafted him in the sixth round in 2016, and Connor McMichael in the space of 3:04.
It was a first NHL goal for Phillips, a sixth-round pick of the Flames in 2016. He scored from the slot, following a pass from Sonny Milano.
Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who was playing his first game since the birth of his son, blocked 38 of the 40 shots aimed at him.
As for Markstrom, he stopped 21 shots in front of the Flames net.
