NHL Recaps: Connor McDavid hits 700 points club, Avs raise banner, and Habs upset Leafs
Anthony Scultore
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NHL Recaps: October 12, 2022
The NHL schedule on Wednesday night was plentiful with six games on the docket, including the Colorado Avalanche home opener to raise their Stanley Cup banner.
Unfortunately, during the course of the action Blue Jackets’ star Patrik Laine and Bruins’ forward Jake DeBrusk each had to leave their games early due to injury.
However, the story of the night was Connor McDavid recording a hat trick with an assist to enter the 700 points club.
NHL Recaps: Connor McDavid hits 700 points
Oilers 5 vs Canucks 3
Connor McDavid scored a hat trick and also had an assist as the host Edmonton Oilers rallied from a 3-0 second-period deficit to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 5-3 on Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams.
It was the 11th career hat trick for McDavid. Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists, Darnell Nurse scored a short-handed goal and added an assist and Zach Hyman also had two assists for the Oilers. Jack Campbell made 33 saves in his Edmonton debut.
McDavid became the sixth fasted player to record 700 points as he did it in 488 games. Ahead of him on the list are Wayne Gretzky (317 games), Mario Lemieux (363), Peter Stastny (457), Mike Bossy (469) and Jari Kurri (483).
“It was just not a good start for our group, but I don’t think there was anything to that, it was the first game and maybe there was a little bit of jitters,” McDavid said. “Sometimes you have to get in a real game to get your legs back under you. It maybe took us a little bit of time, but we found a way to get it done.”
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J.T. Miller had a goal and an assist and Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko also scored goals for Vancouver. Thatcher Demko finished with 20 saves.
Bruins 5 vs Capitals 2
David Pastrnak and David Krejci accounted for seven points as the Boston Bruins opened the season with a 5-2 win over the host Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
Pastrnak (one goal, three assists) and Krejci (one goal, two assists) led the way offensively to give Jim Montgomery a victory in his first game as Bruins head coach.
Patrice Bergeron, Taylor Hall and Hampus Lindholm rounded out Boston’s scoring, while Linus Ullmark made 33 saves. The win came at a cost, however, as Jake DeBrusk suffered an upper-body injury and didn’t return for the third period.
Anthony Mantha and Conor Sheary scored for Washington, which had a streak of five consecutive season-opening wins snapped. Darcy Kuemper made 25 stops in his Capitals debut.
Jake DeBrusk was injured late in the second period on a hit by Alex Ovechkin and did not return. An updated is expected on Thursday.
Canadiens 4 vs Maple Leafs 3
Josh Anderson scored the go-ahead goal with 19 seconds left in the third period to lift host Montreal past Toronto in the season opener for both teams.
Anderson’s winner completed a flurry of goals late in the third period. Sean Monahan gave Montreal a 3-2 lead at 17:30 with William Nylander tying it at 18:10. Cole Caufield scored twice for the Canadiens and Nick Suzuki added two assists.
Michael Bunting and Denis Malgin also scored for Toronto. John Tavares added two assists. Matt Murray made 19 saves in his debut for Toronto, while Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen stopped 29 shots.
“It was early-season sloppiness, but I don’t expect that,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said with disappointment. “For everything our team has been through together, that’s unacceptable. We have to be be way more responsible.”
Hurricanes 4 vs Blue Jackets 1
Martin Necas provided a goal and two assists, and Carolina won another season opener, defeating Columbus in Raleigh, N.C.
Seth Jarvis, Brady Skjei and Andrei Svechnikov also scored for the Hurricanes, who won their fourth straight season opener. Frederik Andersen made 31 saves for the victory.
Columbus’ Patrik Laine began the scoring, but the Blue Jackets fizzled in the latter part of the game. Goalie Elvis Merzlikins was scratched pregame due to an illness, so Daniil Tarasov got the start and stopped 39 shots.
Laine left the game midway through and did not return. An update is expected on Thursday.
NHL Recaps: Avalanche raise banner
Avalanche 5 vs Blackhawks 2
Artturi Lehkonen had two goals and an assist, Valeri Nichushkin also scored two goals and the Colorado Avalanche began their title defense with a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night in Denver.
Andrew Cogliano had a goal, Mikko Rantanen logged four assists, Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon contributed two assists each and Alexandar Georgiev stopped 15 shots for Colorado.
Jonathan Toews and Max Domi scored and Petr Mrazek made 30 saves for the Blackhawks.
The Avalanche held a banner-raising ceremony prior to the game, with injured captain Gabriel Landeskog skating the Stanley Cup around the ice.
The team gathered for a picture and invited Chicago defenseman Jack Johnson, who played the entire 2021-22 season with Colorado, to join.
Ducks 5 vs Kraken 4 (OT)
Troy Terry scored twice, including on a breakaway 55 seconds into overtime, and added an assist as the Anaheim Ducks rallied for a 5-4 victory against the visiting Seattle Kraken in the NHL season opener for both teams Wednesday night.
Ryan Strome had a goal and two assists, Trevor Zegras had a goal an assist and Frank Vatrano also scored for the Ducks, who trailed 4-2 with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation. Rookie Mason McTavish and veteran John Klingberg had two assists apiece and goaltender John Gibson made 44 saves.
Rookie Matty Beniers had a goal and an assist and Andre Burakovsky, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jared McCann also scored for the Kraken, who went 3-for-5 on the power play. Justin Schultz had two assists and Philipp Grubauer stopped 22 of 27 shots.
The winner came after Gibson stopped a Seattle breakaway. The goalie corralled the rebound and sent a lead pass ahead for Terry, who skated in and beat Grubauer with a backhander. Gibson collected an assist on the play.
–Field Level Media contributed to this article