NHL roundup: Avalanche annihilate Blues 8-0

The Colorado Avalanche scored six power-play goals in an 8-0 onslaught of the visiting St. Louis Blues on Friday night in Denver.

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists while Gabriel Landeskog scored twice to reach 200 goals for his career.

Nazem Kadri, Mikko Rantanen, Devon Toews and Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist each and Joonas Donskoi also scored. Cale Makar had three assists, Samuel Girard added two and Philipp Grubauer made 20 saves for the Avalanche to record the 12th shutout of his career.

St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington stopped 20 of 24 shots before leaving after two periods. His replacement, Ville Husso, made 10 saves and yielded four goals in his NHL debut. Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return.

Flyers 5, Penguins 2

Travis Konecny scored three goals and added an assist for his first career hat trick to lift host Philadelphia past Pittsburgh.

Ivan Provorov and Oskar Lindblom also scored for the Flyers, who swept the Penguins in consecutive games to open the season. Philadelphia’s Jakub Voracek, James van Riemsdyk and Claude Giroux each had two assists, and Flyers goaltender Carter Hart made 31 saves.

Sidney Crosby and Brandon Tanev scored one goal apiece for the Penguins. Goaltender Tristan Jarry was pulled after allowing the first three goals of the game on just six shots. He was replaced by Casey DeSmith, who allowed only one goal and finished with 12 saves.

Capitals 2, Sabres 1

Tom Wilson scored the tiebreaking goal with 12:13 left in the third period and Vitek Vanecek made 31 saves in his NHL debut as visiting Washington topped Buffalo for a second straight night.

After the Sabres’ Rasmus Ristolainen scored less than a minute into the third to tie the game at 1-1, the Capitals regained the lead through Wilson, who also assisted on Jakub Vrana’s second-period goal. Wilson’s shot from the top of the far circle beat Buffalo netminder Linus Ullmark (19 saves) on the short side.

The Sabres had their fifth power-play opportunity late in regulation but once again failed to convert as was the case on the previous four.

Senators 5, Maple Leafs 3

Ottawa reeled off three straight goals in a span of less than five minutes during the second period and went on to defeat visiting Toronto in the Senators’ season opener.

Brady Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, and Thomas Chabot, Austin Watson, Chris Tierney and Derek Stepan also scored for Ottawa. Nikita Zaitsev, Josh Norris and Drake Batherson each had two assists. Matt Murray notched 20 saves.

John Tavares had a goal and an assist for Toronto. Zach Hyman and Alexander Kerfoot also scored for the Maple Leafs, who won their season opener on Wednesday. Frederik Andersen made 19 saves for Toronto.

Lightning 5, Blackhawks 2

For the second consecutive game, Ondrej Palat scored to spark a three-goal period, leading host Tampa Bay past Chicago.

Palat, Alex Killorn and Blake Coleman — on three different forward lines — produced tallies in the second period, with the goals coming in a span of 5:46 to create a sizable advantage for the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Yanni Gourde, Steven Stamkos, Palat and Coleman each had goal and an assist for the Lightning. Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves. Alex DeBrincat notched a goal and an assist and Patrick Kane scored his first of the season for the Blackhawks. Chicago’s Collin Delia stopped 32 of 37 shots.

–Field Level Media