NHL Recaps: Panthers hand Flyers first loss, Blues and Jets win in OT
Anthony Scultore
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NHL Recaps: October 19, 2022
The NHL put forth a light night on Wednesday with only three games on the schedule, but all of them were decided by just one goal.
Two of the three games needed OT to decide a winner as the St. Louis were able to stay unbeaten and the Jets put themselves a game over .500 early in the season.
Meanwhile, in Florida, the Panthers were able to hold off the hard-working Philadelphia Flyers and hand them their first loss. The victory came just hours after announcing defenseman Aaron Ekblad was placed on long-term injured reserve for a lower-body injury.
Ekblad, 26, sustained a lower-body injury during the second period of Florida’s 5-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Monday.
No definitive timetable has been set, but he’s required to sit out at least 10 NHL games and 24 days by being placed on long-term injured reserve. Ekblad has 292 points (98 goals, 194 assists) in 557 career games since being selected by Florida with the top overall pick of the 2014 NHL Draft and has 1 goal in 3 contests this season.
NHL Recaps: Panthers hand Flyers first loss
Panthers 4 (3-1-0) vs Flyers 3 (3-1-0)
Rudolfs Balcers scored the go-ahead goal with 16:09 left in the third period as Florida beat Philadelphia in its home opener at Sunrise, Fla.
The Panthers got two goals from Carter Verhaeghe and one from Josh Mahura. Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett each added two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves for the win.
“Hopefully I will keep this trend going,” Verhaeghe said. “We’re not playing as run-and-gun as in years past, we’re playing better defensively and that takes from our offense, but I think that’s worth it. Going into hard games going down the stretch, it’s going to be worth it.”
NHL.com
The Flyers, who lost for the first time this season after three early wins, got goals from Travis Konecny, Nick Seeler and James van Riemsdyk. Konecny added an assist, and Kevin Hayes registered two assists. Felix Sandstrom, who made his season debut, stopped 31 shots in a losing effort.
Blues 4 (2-0-0)vs Kraken 3 (1-2-2) OT
Justin Faulk scored twice, including the winner 2:10 into overtime, as the St. Louis Blues defeated the host Seattle Kraken 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Brayden Schenn tallied a goal and assist, Jordan Kyrou also scored and Vladimir Tarasenko had three assists for the Blues, who improved to 2-0-0. Robert Thomas added two assists, and goaltender Jordan Binnington made 32 saves.
“Just enjoying the moment and just trying to find a way and stay focused throughout the game,” Binnington said via NHL.com. “We’re definitely happy we got a win tonight
Will Borgen, Ryan Donato and Adam Larsson scored for Seattle, which went 0-2-1 on its first homestand of the season. Alex Wennberg and Oliver Bjorkstrand each had two assists, and Martin Jones stopped 24 of 28 shots.
Seattle rookie Shane Wright, the No. 4 overall pick in this year’s draft, got his first NHL point with an assist. He nearly gave the Kraken the lead early in the third period, but his shot from the low slot rang off the left post.
Jets 4 (2-1-0) vs Avalanche 3 (2-1-1) OT
Neal Pionk scored his second goal of the game 31 seconds into overtime, and Winnipeg beat Colorado in Denver.
“Shoot hard in case you hit the puck,” Pionk said. “I was going far side. I got a little lucky, but it was a good shot.”
Sam Gagner and Cole Perfetti also scored, and Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves for the Jets. Winnipeg played without head coach Rick Bowness for the third straight game due to a positive COVID-19 test.
Mikko Rantanen had two goals and an assist, Valeri Nichushkin had a goal and an assist and Alexandar Georgiev turned away 24 shots for the Avalanche.
Earlier in the day, the Avalanche revealed that captain Gabriel Landeskog has surgery on his knee. The 30 year-old forward is expected to miss 12 weeks.
Landeskog recorded 59 points (30 goals, 29 assists) in 51 games last season before undergoing knee surgery in March. He returned for the playoffs and added 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) in 20 games to propel the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup title.
–Field Level Media contributed to this article