Jason Spezza scored three goals, including the tiebreaker late in the third period, as the Dallas Stars spoiled Connor McDavid’s first NHL goal with a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.
Spezza’s go-ahead goal for a 3-2 lead with 4 minutes, 30 seconds remaining came moments after Kari Lehtonen stopped Nail Yakupov on a breakaway. Lehtonen made his season debut after backing up Antti Niemi in the first two games.
The Stars had 52 shots, their most since registering 55 in a 3-3 tie with Los Angeles on Nov. 8, 1995. Spezza finished off the hat-trick with an empty-net goal.
Photo: USA Today
McDavid, selected No. 1 overall in the June draft, scored in the second period to pull the Oilers even at 2-2 after they had fallen behind 2-0.
McDavid almost scored Edmonton’s first goal when he appeared to tip a shot by defenseman Oscar Klefbom, who got credit for the goal. However, McDavid did not have to wait much longer, redirecting a long shot by Andrej Sekera past Lehtonen less than two minutes later, midway through the second period.
McDavid struggled in the faceoff circle again, winning just three of nine to put him at eight of 33 for the season. He had three shots in 16 minutes.
Jamie Benn also scored for Dallas, while Klefbom had a goal for the Oilers.
BLUES 4, FLAMES 3
Colton Parayko scored his first two NHL goals to lead St Louis past Calgary.
The 22-year-old defenseman broke a 2-2 tie on a power play at 4 minutes, 47 seconds of the second period on a long-range wrist shot that eluded goalkeeper Jonas Hiller. Parakyo scored again, with 32 seconds left in the second, on another long shot, this one changing directions slightly on the way and slipping under Hiller’s arm.
Troy Brouwer and Scottie Upshall also scored for the Blues. Mason Raymond, Jiri Hudler and David Jones scored for Calgary.
CANADIENS 3, PENGUINS 2
Tomas Fleischmann finished an odd-man rush with his first goal of the season early in the third period as Montreal beat Pittsburgh.
Fleischmann scored off a feed from David Desharnais to help Montreal wrap up their season-opening trip at 4-0-0 and drop Pittsburgh to 0-3-0.
Max Pacioretty scored twice for the Canadiens, and Carey Price finished with 31 saves.
Beau Bennett and Kris Letang scored for Pittsburgh. Phil Kessel had up an assist on his home debut with the Penguins, who picked the All-Star forward up over the summer in a blockbuster trade with Toronto.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27 shots for the Penguins.
SHARKS 5, CAPITALS 0
Martin Jones made 31 saves for his second straight shutout as San Jose took advantage of Alex Ovechkin’s absence from Washington’s lineup.
The Sharks improved to 3-0-0 and have now outscored their opponents 12-1. Jones allowed a goal on the first shot he faced this season, but has blanked opponents in the following 178 minutes, 11 seconds.
Matt Nieto and Chris Tierney each had a goal and an assist, while Joe Thornton, Mike Brown and Tomas Hertl added goals.
Ovechkin missed the game because of personal reasons. The Capitals said on Twitter about 35 minutes before the game that the Russian star would not play.
CANUCKS 3, KINGS 0
Ryan Miller made 15 saves in his 36th career shutout, while Adam Cracknell scored his second goal in two games as Vancouver beat winless Los Angeles.
Alexander Edler scored and Derek Dorsett added an empty-net goal for the Canucks, who improved to 3-0-1.
Miller is off to a strong start after matching his career high of six shutouts from last season. Jonathan Quick stopped 23 shots for struggling Los Angeles, who were outscored 11-2, losing three straight home games to open the season.
PREDATORS 3, DEVILS 1
Pekka Rinne made 22 saves as Nashville ran their season-opening winning streak to three with a victory over struggling New Jersey.
Roman Josi had a power-play goal in the first period and added a short-handed empty-net goal in the third. Eric Nystrom also had an empty-net goal for the Predators, off to their best start since the 2010-2011 season.
Rinne has played a major role in that success, allowing only two goals so far. Playing his club-record 384th game, he lost his shutout when Kyle Palmieri scored on a power play with 1 minute, 40 seconds left.
New Jersey have lost all three of their games this season, leaving the tandem of general manager Ray Shero and coach John Hynes looking for their first wins since taking over in the off-season.
PANTHERS 4, HURRICANES 1
Connor Brickley scored his first NHL goal, and Alexsander Barkov gave Florida a two-goal lead 50 seconds later in the third period as the Panthers beat Carolina.
Nick Bjugstad opened the scoring in the first period, former Hurricanes forward Jussi Jokinen added an empty-net goal with 1 minute, 47 seconds left, and Al Montoya made 25 saves to help Florida improve to 2-1-0.
Jaromir Jagr assisted on Barkov’s goal for his 1,809th career point.
Elias Lindholm scored for Carolina in the second period, while Eddie Lack made 22 saves in his first start of the season. The Hurricanes dropped to 0-3-0.
JETS 4, RANGERS 1
Brian Little scored twice, while Michael Hutchinson made 40 saves as Winnipeg beat New York to finish 3-1-0 in their opening trip.
Nikolaj Ehlers and Mark Stuart also scored for the Jets.
Mats Zuccarello scored for New York, while Henrik Lundqvist made 24 saves. The Rangers dropped to 3-1-0.
RED WINGS 3, LIGHTNING 1
Henrik Zetterberg had a goal and an assist, and Jimmy Howard made 20 saves as Detroit beat Tampa Bay to improve to 3-0-0.
Gustav Nyquist and Kyle Quincey also scored for Detroit.
Ryan Callahan scored for Tampa Bay, while Ben Bishop made 21 saves. The Lightning are 3-1-0.
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