Anze Kopitar recorded a third straight hat trick and the Los Angeles Kings cruised to a 3-1 road win over the Buffalo Sabers on Thursday night.
With Los Angeles trailing 1-0, the 37-year-old Kopitar scored 13 seconds into the third period. Then, in the waning seconds of a 5-3 power play for the Kings, Kopitar scored from the low post with 1:38 left in regulation. The veteran added an empty-net goal with 42 seconds left in the season opener for the Kings.
Meanwhile, Darcy Kuemper made 32 saves for Los Angeles, which was outscored 27-11 in the first two periods.
Alex Tuch had a goal and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 20 shots for Buffalo, which is reeling from two losses against New Jersey in Prague last week. The Sabers went 0-for-5 on the power play and have tallied three goals this season.
Utah 5, Islanders 4 (OT)
Dylan Guenther scored his second goal of the game at 2:18 of overtime for the Utah Hockey Club, who held the Islanders in Elmont, N.Y. The contest was the season opener in New York.
Guenther took Sean Durzi’s pass in the gap and sent a shot past Islanders goalkeeper, Semyon Varlamov, who was picked off by teammate Noah Dobson. It was Guenther’s second straight two-goal game, leading to a second straight win to start Utah’s season opener.
Maxim Tsyplakov, signed to the Russian KHL in May, scored with 2:07 left in regulation to give New York a 4-3 lead and his first NHL goal.
Bruins 6, Canadiens 4
Boston overcame a 2-1 deficit with four straight goals and held on to beat Montreal for the Bruins’ ninth straight home opener.
Mark Kastelic scored his first pair of goals as a Bruin, including a crucial insurance marker with four minutes left that stopped Montreal’s two-goal rally. Jeremy Swayman made 21 saves in his first start since signing an eight-year, $66 million extension with the Bruins on Sunday.
Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher scored twice and Cole Caufield added a goal. Cayden Primeau (23 saves) lost his first game of the season.
Senators 3, Panthers 1
Linus Ullmark made 30 saves in his Ottawa debut, Tim Stutzle had a double and the Senators beat visiting Florida.
Shane Pinto also scored for the Senators. Ullmark, acquired in a June trade with the Boston Bruins, made 16 saves in the third period.
Gustav Forsling homered for the Panthers, who opened a four-game road trip. Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves for the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Penguins 6, Red Wings 3
Anthony Beauvillier scored two goals to help lift Pittsburgh to a win in Detroit, robbing the Red Wings of their first game.
Marcus Pettersson and Erik Karlsson each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who were coming off a 6-0 home loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday. Joel Blomqvist made 29 saves for the win.
Alex DeBrincat had two goals and an assist for Detroit. Ville Husso stopped 10 of 14 shots before Cam Talbot made 12 saves and scored two goals.
Maple Leafs 4, Devils 2
Dennis Hildeby made 22 saves in his NHL debut and Toronto scored three goals in the first half to beat New Jersey in Newark, NJ.
The result marked the first home game for Devils coach Sheldon Keefe, who was the Maple Leafs coach for the past 4-plus seasons.
Jesper Bratt scored on the power play and Timo Meier also equalized for the Devils, who were denied their first 3-0-0 start since 2018-19. The Devils won their first two games in Prague against the Buffalo Sabres.
Stars 4, Predators 3
Mason Marchment scored twice to highlight a four-goal second half for Dallas, which inspired the visiting Stars in Nashville in the season opener for both teams.
Roope Hintz scored and set up a Jason Robertson layup 19 seconds later early in the second half. Logan Stankoven had three assists and Jake Oettinger had 33 saves for the Stars.
The Predators’ Filip Forsberg scored a power play goal in the second half to become the first player to record a point in nine straight games to open a season since Vancouver Canucks forward Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin did it from 2008-09 to 2016-17. .
Wild 3, Blue Jackets 2
Matt Boldy scored a goal and added two assists as Minnesota held on for a win over Columbus in Saint Paul, Minn., in the opener for both teams.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello also scored for the Wild, while Marcus Johansson had two assists. Minnesota goaltender Filip Gustavsson turned away 31 shots.
Kent Johnson added a goal and an assist to lead the Blue Jackets, while Zach Werenski also scored. Elvis Merzlikins made 23 saves on 26 shots. Before the game, the Wild honored Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, who were killed by an alleged drunken driver in August while riding a bicycle in New Jersey.
–Field Level Media
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