Keith Yandle scored an early goal and Eetu Luostarinen snapped a tie in the third period, lifting the Florida Panthers to a 5-2 season-opening win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday in Sunrise, Fla.
Juostarinen and Patric Hornqvist, who also scored, made their Panthers debuts. Yandle, the subject of persistent trade/benching rumours, played his 867th consecutive game – the longest streak by an NHL defenseman.
Florida was the 30th NHL team to play its season opener this year, with only the Dallas Stars yet to debut.
Panthers backup goalie Chris Driedger made 23 stops to earn the win. Starter Sergei Bobrovsky is not yet in game shape.
Defenseman Aaron Ekblad and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored for Florida. Huberdeau added two assists.
Alex DeBrincat and Connor Murphy each scored and Collin Delia made 24 stops for the Blackhawks. But it wasn’t enough to prevent Chicago from losing its third straight game to start the season. Chicago had an apparent goal by Patrick Kane wiped out with 7:28 left in the first period. Pius Sutter’s spin-around assist was also nullified after the Panthers challenged, and a video review showed that Kane was offside.
The Panthers opened the scoring just 12 seconds into the second period. Ekblad’s long shot from beyond the right circle went in with help from a screen by Carter Verhaeghe.
The Panthers doubled the advantage at 5:33, with Yandle scoring his 100th career goal past an out-of-position Delia. After Delia’s breakup of a Huberdeau pass, Yandle turned his back on the goal, retrieved the puck and fired it on net in one motion.
Chicago got on the board after Andrew Shaw drew a holding penalty on Yandle. DeBrincat cashed in with a one-timer from the left circle, beating Driedger, who was out of position.
The Blackhawks tied the score 2-2 while playing four on four as Murphy scored with 2:53 left in the third period. Driedger was screened on the play.
However, Luostarinen scored 22 seconds later to give Florida a 3-2 lead. The Panthers went up 4-2 with 14:03 left in the third as Hornqvist’s intended pass for Huberdeau was unintentionally tipped in by Chicago defenseman Calvin de Haan.
Huberdeau provided the final tally, scoring with 3:05 left.
Jake Guentzel lifts Penguins past Capitals
Jake Guentzel scored in the fourth round of the shootout on Sunday to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 win over the visiting Washington Capitals. Guentzel got in tight and slipped the puck under the pads of goaltender Ilya Samsonov.
It was the first win in three games for Pittsburgh; it was the first loss, albeit with a shootout point, for Washington.
Marcus Pettersson scored the tying goal in the second period for the Penguins, who also got goals from Evan Rodrigues and Colton Sceviour.
Casey DeSmith, in his second appearance and first start, made 20 saves. He stopped all four Washington players in the shootout, including captain Alex Ovechkin after Guentzel’s goal to seal it. Ovechkin had a goal and an assist during regulation. Nic Dowd and Nicklas Backstrom also scored, Evgeny Kuznetsov had two assists and Samsonov made 24 saves.
The Penguins scored on the game’s first shift. A shot from the right point by Brian Dumoulin caromed off Rodrigues and past Samsonov just 19 seconds into the game.
Dowd tied it at 12:04 of the first on a backhander from above the crease that fluttered past DeSmith.
Washington took a 2-1 lead at 14:24 of the first on Ovechkin’s first goal through three games. Tom Wilson stole the puck from Pittsburgh defenseman John Marino in the Penguins’ end, leading to Ovechkin cashing in on a Kuznetsov rebound with a backhander.
Sceviour tied it with his first goal as a Penguin. Samsonov played the puck behind his net, but Pittsburgh’s Teddy Blueger intercepted it and got it to Sceviour in front. His lofted shot was upheld as a goal after a review to make it 2-2 at 2:10 of the second period.
The Capitals moved ahead 3-2 midway through the second period during a four-on-three power play. Backstrom converted a pass from Kuznetsov on a back-door play.
Pittsburgh tied it 3-3 at 12:57 of the second. Jason Zucker carried the puck behind the net and passed it out to Pettersson, who roofed a shot past Samsonov.
Ryan Carpenter (right) of Chicago Blackhawks and Eetu Luostarinen of the Florida Panthers battle along the boards at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. (Getty Images/AFP)
