Hockey

Top-5: Knights remove goalie, score from center ice… and win in overtime
Marc-Olivier Cook
Top-5: Knights remove goalie, score from center ice… and win in overtime
Credit: Screenshot / X

The Canadiens were in action last night, taking advantage of their visit to the home of the Red Wings to pick up their first win of the season(by a score of 5-1). But there were also 13 other games presented in the National League.

1: A crazy end to the game in San Jose

The Golden Knights visited San Jose last night, and Pavel Dorofeyev continued his fine start to the season: after scoring a hat-trick in his very first game of the campaign, the Russian hit the target again last night.

He already has four goals in just two games this season:

But this game got a lot of attention… especially for what happened at the end. The Golden Knights were trailing 3-2 and decided to pull their goalie. The Sharks were unable to score in an empty net… and Jack Eichel picked up the disc to launch a counter-attack. The Knights' star forward shot from the blue line… and created the tie to force overtime:

But it didn't end there. In overtime, Alex Nedeljkovic made a fool of himself by coming out of his net in a rather haphazard fashion. Reilly Smith took advantage to give his team the 4-3 victory. This is no joke:

Clearly, Nedeljkovic looked better and so did the Sharks. Can someone tell them that the season has officially begun, or…? content-ads

2: A difficult start for Logan Mailloux

Logan Mailloux was officially playing his first regular game with the Blues, and it didn't go as planned. The St. Louis team was crushed by Minnesota 5-0. And Mailloux struggled defensively, finishing the game at -2.

It's just one game, we agree. But everyone in St. Louis would have been a different result. Mailloux couldn't help his club achieve success, and meanwhile, in Montreal, Zachary Bolduc is off to a monstrous start… Better luck next time, Logan!

3: Hat-trick for Kyle Connor

It was Jonathan Toews' big comeback last night. The former Blackhawks captain returned to the game after missing years of action, and the crowd gave him a big welcome for the occasion.In Winnipeg, we already love him a lot:

But in the game, it was Kyle Connor who took care of the show for Jets fans. The man who just signed a new eight-year, $96M contract started his season off strong… with the help of a hat trick. His scoring talents are so underrated:

However, Connor's efforts were not enough as the Jets lost the game 5-4.Mikko Rantanen stood out for the Stars with a fine three points (one goal and two assists)

4 : A first NHL point for Matthew Schaefer

Matthew Schaefer, who was selected with the very first pick in the last draft, made his NHL debut last night. And it went relatively well. The defenseman collected his first NHL point with an assist on the Islanders' very first goal of the season… which was scored by Jonathan Drouin. His family was happy:

On the Isles, there's also another guy who was playing his first career big-league game. We're talking about Max Shabanov… and he too took the opportunity to collect his first career point. He scored a superb goal:

The Penguins eventually won by a score of 4-3, and good old Sidney Crosby helped his team to victory with a goal and an assist,while Evgeni Malkin had a big night with three assists

5: A first fight… on his first appearance

Do you know the name Curtis Douglas? If you don't, maybe you shouldn't. We're talking about a 25-year-old player. We're talking about a 25-year-old player drafted in the 4th round (2018) who had never played a single NHL game before last night. And the 6'9, 242-pound forward (you read that right) took advantage… to fight in his very first appearance on the ice. I like this:

The Lightning lost 5-4 to the Senators, but it wasn't because Brayden Point didn't try to lead his team to victory.

The diminutive forward scored once and added two assists: it's the third time he's collected at least a point in his team's season opener, and he became the first to accomplish the feat in Lightning history:

'Prolongation'

– A special moment.

– What a shot.

– Funny goal.

– Nathan MaaaaaaaacKinon!

– Oops.

– A first NHL goal for Beckett Sennecke.

– Feels good.

– Well done.

– Wow.

– Beautiful.

– Beautiful goal!

– Brad Marchand has his first goal of the season.

– Bravo!

– Top scorers of the night:

(Credit: Screenshot / NHL.com)

– There are no games tonight in the NHL.

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