Anze Kopitar scored a third-period hat trick and the Los Angeles Kings earned a 3-1 road victory over the Buffalo Sabers on Thursday night.
Kopitar, 37, scored 13 seconds into the third period with Los Angeles trailing 1-0. Then, in the final seconds of the Kings’ 5-on-3 power play, Kopitar scored from a low point with 1:38 left in regulation. The veteran added an empty-netter with 42 seconds left in the Kings’ season-opening win.
Meanwhile, Darcy Kuemper made 32 saves for Los Angeles, which trailed 27-11 in the first two periods.
Alex Tucci scored and Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen stopped 20 shots for Buffalo, which fell again after losing two games to the New Jersey Devils in Prague last week. The Sabers went 0-for-5 on the power play, scoring a total of three goals this season.
Utah 5, Islanders 4 (OT)
Utah Hockey Club defeated the Islanders in Elmont, New York on Dylan Gunther’s second goal of the game 2:18 into overtime. The contest was New York’s season opener.
Gunther received a pass from Sean Duruji on target and fired a shot past Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov, but teammate Noah Dobson screened it. It was Guenther’s second goal in a row and gave him his second straight win to start his first year at Utah.
Maxim Tsyplakov, who was released from his contract by Russia’s KHL in May, scored his first NHL goal with 2 minutes and 7 seconds left in regulation time to give New York a 4-3 lead.
Bruins 6, Canadiens 4
Boston overcame a 2-1 deficit with four consecutive goals and beat Montreal for the Bruins’ ninth straight home opener.
Mark Kastelic scored his first goals as a Bruin, including a key goal with four minutes left to stop Montreal’s rally from a two-goal lead. 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 two goals and Cole Caufield scored one goal. Kayden Primeau (23 saves) was lost in his season debut.
Senators 3, Panthers 1
Linus Ullmark made 30 saves in his debut in Ottawa, Tim Stutzle scored twice and the Senators defeated 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 scored for the Panthers to begin 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 lead Pittsburgh to a victory over Detroit, spoiling the Red Wings’ season opener.
Marcus Pettersson and Erik Karlsson each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who bounced back from a season-opening 6-0 home loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday. Joel Blomqvist made 29 saves in the win.
For Detroit, Alex DeBrincat had two goals and one assist. Ville Husso stopped 10 of 14 shots and was replaced by Cam Talbot, who made 12 saves and scored two points.
Maple Leafs 4, Devils 2
Dennis Hildeby made 22 saves in his NHL debut and Toronto scored three goals in the first period to defeat New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey.
The result spoiled the home debut of Devils coach Sheldon Keefe, who had coached the Maple Leafs for the past four-plus seasons.
Jesper Bratt scored a power-play goal and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils, but the Devils were off to a 3-0-0 start for the first time since the 2018-19 season. The Devils defeated the Buffalo Sabers in their first two games in Prague.
Star 4, Predator 3
Mason Marchment scored twice to highlight Dallas’ four points in the second period, giving momentum to the visiting Stars who beat Nashville in the season opener for both teams.
Lupe Hintz scored the goal, followed by linemate Jason Robertson’s score 19 seconds early in the second period. For the Stars, Logan Stankoven had three assists and Jake Oettinger made 33 saves.
The Predators’ Filip Forsberg scored a power-play goal in the second period, making it the first nine consecutive games to open a season since Vancouver Canucks forwards Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin did it from 2008-09 to 2016-17. He became the first player to score a goal. .
Wild 3, Blue Jackets 2
Matt Boldy scored a goal and had two assists to lead Minnesota to a win over Columbus in the teams’ opening game in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Mats Zuccarello also scored for the Wild, and Marcus Johansson had two assists. Minnesota goaltender Filip Gustafsson stopped 31 shots.
Kent Johnson led the Blue Jackets with a goal and an assist, and Zach Werenski also scored. Elvis Merzlikins made 23 saves on 26 shots. Before the game, the Wild paid tribute to Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Gaudreau, who were killed by what appeared to be a drunk driver while riding their bicycles in New Jersey in August.
–Field level media
