Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

NHL Short Notes

10/09/2014 at 10:48am EDT

VISITORS CRASH OPENING NIGHT CELEBRATIONS
Three of the four road teams picked up wins Wednesday to spoil opening night for home crowds:

* Tomas Plekanec scored his second of two goals with 42.9 seconds remaining in regulation to break a 3-3 tie and lift the Canadiens over the Maple Leafs in the opening game of the 2014-15 season.

* Antti Niemi made 34 saves for his 28th career shutout – and third versus Los Angeles – to spoil the Kings’ banner-raising ceremony and lead the Sharks to a 4-0 victory.

* Radim Vrbata potted the game-winning goal and Ryan Miller recorded 23 saves to power the Canucks past the Flames in their team debuts.

PLEKANEC, CANADIENS EDGE FAMILIAR FOE
Max Pacioretty scored the first goal of the season on Montreal’s opening shot of the game and Tomas Plekanec added a pair, including the game-winner in the final minute of regulation, to lead the Canadiens past the Maple Leafs in their sixth consecutive season-opening game.

* The Canadiens earned their first season-opening victory since 2009, when they picked up a 4-3 overtime victory at Toronto. Josh Gorges netted the decisive tally in that contest with 12.8 seconds remaining in the extra frame, with Plekanec collecting the secondary assist.

* The Canadiens improved to 6-9-0 all-time in mutual season-opening games with the Maple Leafs (TOR: 9-5-1). They also snapped Toronto’s four-game winning streak in season openers and seven-game point streak (5-0-2).

* Pacioretty gave the Canadiens an early 1-0 lead. He led Montreal, and ranked fourth in the NHL, with a career-high 39 goals in 2013-14. Five of those goals were scored in five games against Toronto (5-2—7).

* Carey Price made 24 saves to improve to 14-13-1 with a 2.74 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and three shutouts in 28 regular-season appearance versus the Maple Leafs.

* Alexei Emelin and Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau each added a pair of assists. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Canadiens posted a 15-0-1 record when Emelin found the scoresheet in 2013-14, including a 10-0-1 mark on the road.

* Elias also says that the six consecutive season-opening meetings between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs matches an NHL record. The only other teams to meet in six straight season-opening games: the Canadiens and Blackhawks from 1949-50 through 1954-55.

WINGELS, SHARKS SPOIL KINGS’ BANNER CELEBRATION
Tommy Wingels scored a pair of goals, including what proved to be the game-winner at 5:43 of the opening period, to lead the Sharks past the Kings on the night they raised their second Stanley Cup championship banner.

* The Sharks picked up their fifth consecutive opening-game victory, the longest active streak among NHL teams. They also improved to 6-1-0 in season openers under head coach Todd McLellan.

* Wingels posted his eighth career game-winning goal; he led the Sharks and tied for 11th in the NHL with seven decisive tallies in 2013-14 (77 GP). Prior to then, Wingels had zero game-winning goals in 80 career games.

* Antti Niemi improved to 13-6-3 with a 2.33 goals-against average, .925 save percentage and three shutouts in 23 career regular-season appearances versus the Kings.

* According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Niemi became the first goaltender to record a shutout against the defending Stanley Cup champions in their first game of the season since 1941-42, when Maple Leafs goaltender Turk Broda blanked the Bruins.

* The Sharks picked up just their second victory in their last 10 regular-season visits to STAPLES Center and first since April 5, 2012 (2-5-3).

KELLY LEADS BRUINS PAST FLYERS
Chris Kelly buried a loose rebound with 1:51 remaining in regulation to break a 1-1 deadlock and lead the reigning Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins past the Flyers.

* The Bruins improved to 13-3-1 in their last 17 meetings with the Flyers dating to 2009-10, including four consecutive victories. They also earned their fourth consecutive win against Philadelphia at TD Garden.

* Kelly recorded his 16th career game-winning goal and first since March 24, 2012 at LAK.

* Reigning Vezina Trophy winner Tuukka Rask made 19 saves to improve to 7-1-1 with a 1.89 goals-against average, .935 save percentage and one shutout in 10 career regular-season appearances versus the Flyers.

FRESH FACES HELP CANUCKS EXTINGUISH FLAMES
Offseason acquisitions Radim Vrbata (GWG) and Ryan Miller (23 saves) combined to help the Canucks defeat the Flames in the head-coaching debut of Willie Desjardins.

* The Canucks picked up their eighth consecutive victory over the Flames, including four straight on the road.

* According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Vrbata now has 13 goals in his team’s first game of the season – the most of any active player (Jaromir Jagr is second with 11). That includes six goals in his last three season openers, highlighted by a hat trick for the Coyotes last year (vs. NYR).

* Elias also says that Desjardins became the first Canucks bench boss to win his NHL head-coaching debut since Oct. 5, 1996, when Tom Renney led the team to a 3-1 victory over the Flames.

* ICYMI: Henrik Sedin (1-1—2) sealed the game with a highlight-reel, empty-net goal.

NEVER GIVE UP THE DREAM
Several players made their long-awaited NHL debuts Wednesday:

* Bruins forward Bobby Robins, 32, skated in his first NHL game after playing in a combined 499 professional games in the AHL (280), ECHL (142) and Europe (77). The Rhinelander, Wis., native previously signed with the Senators as a free agent in 2006 before inking a deal with the Bruins last year.

* Flyers forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, 29, signed with the team in June after winning the Swedish Hockey League championship with Skelleftea in 2013-14. The undrafted Le Blanc-Mesnil, France, native also has represented his home country in each of the past five World Championships, leading the team in 2014 with five assists while placing third with eight points.

* Maple Leafs forward Brandon Kozun, 24, played four seasons for the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL (2006-10), leading the team with 108 points in 2008-09 before being selected by the Kings in the sixth round (179th overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft in his second year of eligibility. The Los Angeles native then posted his second consecutive 100-point campaign in 2009-10 before embarking on a four-year stint in the AHL with the Manchester Monarchs and Toronto Marlies.

ROGERS DEBUTS NEW CAMERA ANGLES
The debut of Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey on Sportsnet also featured the introduction of a number of new camera angles, including the Ref Cam and Sky Cam.

Click here to view the opening face-off of the 2014-15 season from the referee’s perspective.

LOOSE PUCKS
Other players with multi-point efforts on opening night: Sharks teammates Patrick Marleau (1-1—2) and Brent Burns (0-2—2), Canucks teammates Brad Richardson (0-2—2) and Christopher Tanev (0-2—2), and Bruins forward Carl Soderberg (0-2—2) . . . The Ducks announced that defenseman Francois Beauchemin and forward Corey Perry have been named alternate captains . . . The Avalanche announced that forward Jarome Iginla will serve as an alternate captain . . . The Maple Leafs announced that defenseman Stephane Robidas has been named an alternate captain . . . The Sharks announced that defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and forwards Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton will serve as alternate captains . . . Bruins forward Daniel Paille skated in his 500th NHL game.

Thanks to the NHL PR department for the above information.


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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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