True grit: Sharks jump on Flyers early in 8-2 blowout
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joe Pavelski scored two of San Jose's four first-period goals, and Evander Kane also scored twice to spark the Sharks to an 8-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
Flyers fans were still buzzing from the pregame festivities for the home opener, which included rookie mascot Gritty rappelling from the rafters to the ice, when the Sharks pounced.
The Flyers turned over the puck at the point, and Couture beat the odd-man rush and fired his first goal of the season past Brian Elliott. Pavelski made it 2-0 just 11 seconds later when he knocked in a rebound for his first goal of the season.
The Sharks, a Stanley Cup favorite, were just warming up. They had five goals in their first three games and then scored five goals through two periods.
Kane added his second of the game and fourth of the season in the second to make it 5-1. Tomas Hertl, Timo Meier and Barclay Goodrow also scored in the third for an 8-1 lead. Aaron Dell stopped 31 shots.
Shayne Gostisbehere and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Kyle Connor scored for a third straight game and Winnipeg overcame Ilya Kovalchuk's first NHL goal in five years to beat Los Angeles.
Mark Scheifele also scored and Connor Hellebuyck made 16 saves for the Jets, who outshot the Kings 39-17.
Kovalchuk got his first goal since returning from Russia with the Kings this season on a three-year deal. It was the 418th of his career.
Jack Campbell, replacing injured starter Jonathan Quick, stopped 37 shots in his ninth career game.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Mike Smith made 43 saves and Sean Monahan scored twice as Calgary blanked Nashville.
Elias Lindholm scored and Johnny Gaudreau had three assists for Calgary, winners of two of three.
Smith was stellar, especially in the second period when he turned aside 21 shots. Nashville had a two-man advantage for a full 2 minutes in the period.
The loss was Nashville's first after a pair of road wins to open the season. Nashville's Pekka Rinne finished with 24 saves.
HURRICANES 5, CANUCKS 3
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist, and Carolina beat Vancouver for its third straight win.
Warren Foegele scored an insurance goal in the third period, Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Staal and Brett Pesce also scored and Teuvo Teravainen had two assists.
They helped the Eastern Conference-leading Hurricanes improve to 3-0-1 — their best start since the move from Hartford in 1997 — under new coach and former team captain Rod Brind'Amour.
Sven Baertschi had two goals and an assist, and Bo Horvat scored on the power play for rebuilding Vancouver, which has lost the first two games of its six-game trip.
Curtis McElhinney made 22 saves for the Hurricanes while Jacob Markstrom stopped 28 shots for the Canucks.
BLUE JACKETS 5, AVALANCHE 2
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Nick Foligno had two goals and an assist and Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves to get his first win of the season as Columbus beat Colorado.
Pierre-Luc Dubois, Artemi Panarin and Josh Anderson also scored for the Blue Jackets, who dealt the Avs their first loss.
Philipp Grubauer, making his Colorado debut after being acquired from Washington in June, had 30 saves. Nathan MacKinnon and Carl Soderberg scored in the second period, but Colorado was shut out in the third as Columbus broke a 2-2 tie and added a couple more.
MAPLE LEAFS 7, STARS 4
DALLAS (AP) — Auston Matthews and John Tavares each had two goals, and high-scoring Toronto beat Dallas.
Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly had a career-high four assists after he scored the winning goal in Sunday night's 7-6 overtime win at Chicago. Mitchell Marner had a goal and three assists as the Maple Leafs improved to 2-0 on a four-game trip.
Led by Matthews and Tavares, Toronto has won three of its first four games.
Tyler Seguin had a goal and three assists for Dallas, and Alexander Radulov finished with a goal and two assists.
Ben Bishop, who had stopped 62 of 63 shots to help the Stars to a 2-0 start, made 23 saves.
Frederik Andersen had 30 stops for the Maple Leafs.