NHL Recaps: Artemi Panarin goes Wild, Matthew Tkachuk scores in debut, Darryl Sutter gets win 700, and more
Anthony Scultore
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NHL Recaps: October 13, 2022
The NHL slate of games was jam-packed and action filled on Thursday night.
Several players made their highly anticipated debuts with their new teams and came out on top. Over the summer the Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames made a blockbuster deal that saw Matthew Tkachuk moved to the Sunshine State for Jonathan Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar.
All three players got on the scoresheet to make a nice first impression. Huberdeau notched an assist and Weegar picked up two helpers in the Flames win over the Avs. Meanwhile, Tkachuk scored the empty-netter to secure the Panthers victory over the Islanders and spoil the home-opener to their 50th season.
However, we start in Minnesota where the New York Rangers ran roughshod over the Wild thanks to a big night from Artemi Panarin.
Rangers 7 vs Wild 3
Artemi Panarin posted a goal and three assists as New York secured its second consecutive victory, a win over host Minnesota.
Panarin’s linemates, Vincent Trocheck (one goal, one assist) and Alexis Lafreniere (two assists), each chipped in a pair of points in helping the Blueshirts earn their first road win. Chris Kreider, who finished third in the race for the Rocket Richard trophy last season with 52 goals, notched a pair of goals. Norris Trophy candidate, Adam Fox recorded a goal and an assist. Youngsters Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil also added tallies in the rout.
“The guys played a real good game tonight,” Gerard Gallant said. “It’s nice to see the scoring spread around our group. Kaapo and Fil scored big goals tonight going to the net. It’s nice to see for our team.”
Igor Shesterkin was the winner in net stopping 33 of 36 shots. Wild netminder Marc-Andre Fleury took the loss, making 28 saves in a disappointing season opener.
“It’s a slap in the face,” Fleury said. “We just need to come back here and get ready for our next one (against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday).”
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Maple Leafs 3 vs Capitals 2
Auston Matthews scored the go-ahead goal in the third period on a deflection as Toronto defeated visiting Washington.
John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok also scored, and Morgan Rielly added two assists for the Maple Leafs in their home opener. Former Capitals goaltender Ilya Samsonov stopped 24 shots in his Maple Leafs debut.
Nic Dowd and Marcus Johansson scored for the Capitals. Charlie Lindgren made 36 stops in his Capitals debut.
Penguins 6 vs Coyotes 2
Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists as host Pittsburgh beat Arizona for the ninth straight time in the teams’ curtain-lifter.
The 35-year-old Crosby is playing in his 18th season, passing Mario Lemieux’s 17 for the most in Penguins history. Crosby’s teammates Evgeni Malkin, 36, and Kris Letang, 35, are in their 17th seasons with the club.
Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust and Jason Zucker each had a goal and an assist, Malkin and Kasperi Kapanen also scored, and Letang and Danton Heinen each added two assists for the Penguins. Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry made 26 saves.
Flyers 5 vs Devils 2
Travis Konecny and Morgan Frost each scored two goals to lift host Philadelphia past New Jersey in the season opener for both teams.
Wade Allison added one goal for the Flyers, who were victorious in coach John Tortorella’s debut. Ivan Provorov, Tony DeAngelo and Kevin Hayes each contributed two assists. Flyers goaltender Carter Hart, who sat out the entire preseason, made 34 saves.
“We played hard,” John Tortorella said after winning his Flyers coaching debut. “Nothing’s perfect. Not all minutes are perfect. Sometimes it’s ugly. Sometimes it just looks awful. But it’s a find-a-way league, and we found a way to win.”
Alexander Holtz and Damon Severson scored one goal apiece for the Devils, who played without injured captain Nico Hischier. Jesper Bratt had two assists. Mackenzie Blackwood made 20 saves.
NHL Recaps: Matthew Tkachuk scores in debut
Panthers 3 vs Islanders 1
Patric Hornqvist scored the tiebreaking goal less than four minutes into the third period as visiting Florida beat New York.
Eetu Luostarinen scored in the second period and Matthew Tkachuk added an empty-netter with 1:15 left for the Panthers, who won their fourth straight opener to improve to 14-9-1-3 (wins-losses-ties-OT losses) all-time in their first game of the season. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves.
“It’s nice to get the first one, but goal or not, that’s how I want to play,” said Tkachuk, who was acquired in a trade with the Calgary Flames for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar on July 22. “It’s the team I want to play on. … I was saying earlier how quick it’s taken us to get [together] as a team, and I know after one day I feel like I played with these guys for 10 years. It wasn’t an adjustment. I barely even played in the preseason, so it’s just a credit to the guys and the environment I’m surrounded in. I’m just so lucky.”
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Noah Dobson tied the score just prior to Hornqvist’s goal as the Islanders fell to 13-26-11 in season openers. Goalie Ilya Sorokin recorded 26 saves.
Sabres 4 vs Senators 1
Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin scored the go-ahead goal in the second period to lift host Buffalo past Ottawa in the season opener for both teams.
Craig Anderson made 35 saves to improve to 6-2-0 against his former team. Anderson, 41, is the Senators’ all-time leader in wins (202) and games played (435) by a goaltender.
Buffalo’s JJ Peterka scored his first goal while playing in his third career NHL game. Victor Olofsson sealed the victory by adding a pair of empty-net goals 15 seconds apart late in the third period.
Flames 5 vs Avalanche 3
Rasmus Andersson had a goal and an assist, and the Calgary Flames built a four-goal third-period lead before holding on for a 5-3 win over the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.
One night after raising the 2021-22 Stanley Cup banner before a home win, the Avalanche were rudely greeted by the Flames, who scored five straight goals on the way to winning their season opener.
It was career win No. 700 for Flames coach Darryl Sutter.
Brett Ritchie, Dillon Dube, Tyler Toffoli and Elias Lindholm also scored for Calgary. Nazem Kadri picked up an assist versus his old team and Jacob Markstrom made 22 saves.
“We’re going to try to contribute as much as possible,” Kadri said. “I don’t know if that’s going to result on the scoreboard every single time, but we find different ways to contribute and, you know, we play as a team, and that’s the most important thing.”
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Valeri Nichushkin scored his third goal in two games for Colorado. Nathan MacKinnon tallied a goal and an assist, Bowen Byram also scored and Pavel Francouz made 22 saves.
Golden Knights 1, Blackhawks 0
Logan Thompson turned away 27 shots for his second career shutout as host Vegas beat Chicago.
Paul Cotter scored for Vegas, which improved to 2-0 to start a season for the fourth time in the franchise’s six seasons.
Alex Stalock finished with 36 saves for Chicago, which lost to defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado on Wednesday in Denver. The 35-year-old Stalock, who missed the entire 2021 season with myocarditis — an inflammation of a heart muscle — was playing in just his second NHL game since the 2019-20 season.
Stars 4 vs Predators 1
Mason Marchment scored twice in the first period and Tyler Seguin recorded three assists as Dallas opened its season with a road victory over Nashville.
Joe Pavelski also scored and 19-year-old Wyatt Johnston registered a goal in his NHL debut for the Stars, who got 30 saves from Jake Oettinger in new coach Peter DeBoer’s debut. Marchment scored 2:31 into the game and with 1:04 left in the first to help Dallas halt an 0-1-3 rut at Nashville.
Down 4-0, the Predators’ Ryan Johansen deflected in Eeli Tolvanen’s shot at 4:53 into the third period. Goalie Juuse Saros stopped 25 shots. Nashville failed to score on all five of its power plays.
Kraken 4 vs Kings 1
Martin Jones made 26 saves to win his Seattle debut in Los Angeles.
Jaden Schwartz, Brandon Tanev, Alex Wennberg and Adam Larsson scored for the Kraken, who took three of four points on their season-opening trip to Southern California. Jones improved to 20-7-3 in 30 career decisions against the Kings, the team he broke into the NHL with in 2013-14.
Alex Iafallo scored for Los Angeles, and Jonathan Quick stopped 18 of 21 shots.
–Field Level Media contributed to this article