NHL roundup: Owen Power lifts Sabres past Wild 3-2 in overtime after 2-goal comeback

Power’s goal came after Thompson shot wide on a drive to the net. Jiri Kulich, who scored the decisive goal against Chicago, collected the puck and fed Power, who snapped in the puck inside the left post.

Minnesota blew an opportunity to open a season 3-0 for the first time since 2021-22 and sixth time in franchise history.

Thompson’s goal was also his 400th career point with Buffalo. He became one of nine Sabres and the first since Thomas Vanek to reach the 400-point plateau in 491 or fewer games.

Ellis, Buffalo’s third-string goalie, made his season debut, with co-starter Alex Lyon still recovering from a shoulder injury.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:

RED WINGS 5 SENATORS 3

DETROIT (AP) — Dylan Larkin scored in his first game since asking for a trade, helping Detroit to a 5-3 win over Ottawa.

Larkin was initially booed by the home crowd when he touched the puck on his first shift. The boos turned to cheers when he scored in the 13th minute, giving Detroit a lead it never relinquished.

Alex DeBrincat scored twice and Justin Faulk and Viktor Arvidsson added goals for Detroit. John Gibson made 22 saves.

Drake Batherson, Tim Stutzle and William Eklund scored for the Senators, who had won their first two games. Samuel Ersson had 31 saves.

DeBrincat opened his scoring in the first with a wrist shot 3:16 into the period, assisted by Nate Danielson and Carter Mazur. He added a power-play empty-netter with 50 seconds remaining in the third. DeBrincat also had an assist.

Larkin remains in limbo several months after his trade request became public. He was stripped of the captaincy, reported to training camp despite being injured, missed the start of the season because of injury and received a frosty reaction from home fans during introductions prior to their first game last week.

MAMMOTH 5 DEVILS 3

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Nick Schmaltz scored his NHL-best fifth goal of the season, and Utah relied on its proficient power play to beat New Jersey 5-3.

Clayton Keller, MacKenzie Weegar, Lawson Crouse and Vincent Trocheck also scored for the Mammoth, and Mikhail Sergachev had three assists to surpass 300 for his career before leaving the game when he took a puck to the back of the helmet late in the second period.

Utah went 2-for-4 on the power play and has scored on eight of 13 opportunities this season with the man advantage, including Keller’s goal in the first period and Schmaltz’s go-ahead tally midway through the second that made it 3-2.

Luke Evangelista scored twice for New Jersey and Jesper Boqvist had the other goal.

The Mammoth beat the Devils for the first time, having gone 0-4 in the franchise’s previous two seasons.

Karel Vejmelka stopped 30 shots for Utah, and New Jersey’s Jake Allen made 26 saves.

MAPLE LEAFS 5 PREDATORS 4 (OT)

TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews scored with 14 seconds left in overtime and had three assists in regulation and Toronto erased a three-goal deficit in a 5-4 win over Nashville.

William Nylander, No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna — with his first as a professional — John Tavares and Jack Roslovic had the other goals for Toronto, which got 21 saves from Anthony Stolarz.

McKenna also picked up an assist on Tavares’ goal for his first NHL point. Nylander chipped in two assists and Roslovic added one.

Steven Stamkos scored twice for Nashville to move into 17th place on the NHL’s career goals list, while Nils Hoglander also scored twice. Filip Forsberg had two assists and Juuse Saros made 33 stops.

Stamkos opened the scoring at 7:13 of the first period on a power play. Nashville doubled its lead at 9:08 when Hoglander collected a rebound off the end boards and slotted it home before making it 3-0 at 3:03 of the second on another tap-in.

Tavares got Toronto going off the rush at 4:56 of the middle period and Nylander connected on a man advantage at 6:58 to make it 3-2. Stamkos scored his second to restore a two-goal lead at 13:30, but McKenna scored his first NHL goal 61 seconds later.

Roslovic tied things at 8:54 of the third.

Stamkos broke a tie with Joe Sakic and Jarome Iginla on the league’s career scoring list with his first-period goal — the 626th of his career — before adding another in the second. Dave Andreychuk is 16th in NHL history with 640 career goals.

RANGERS 5 ISLANDERS 2

NEW YORK (AP) — Alexis Lafrenière recorded a hat trick, with two goals into an empty net, and had an assist as the New York Rangers extended their winning streak to four by defeating the crosstown rival Islanders 5-2.

The Rangers are unbeaten since getting shut out in their opener a week ago at Boston. They’re 3-0 at home, a year since losing their first seven games at Madison Square Garden last season.

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice, and Mika Zibanejad finished with three assists. Igor Shesterkin made 17 saves for the victory but had his point streak from an assist Sunday and his goalie goal Thursday end at two.

The Rangers didn’t get a shot until 6:40 in, but Bjorkstrand scored on it for his first goal with his new team. He and Lafrenière took advantage of the Islanders’ Semyon Varlamov showing some rust in his first game in 676 days.

Varlamov was playing in the NHL for the first time since Nov. 29, 2024, completing his comeback from undergoing double partial knee replacement surgeries. He allowed three goals on 22 shots.

Captain Bo Horvat and young forward Calum Ritchie scored for the Islanders, while reigning rookie-of-the-year defenceman Matthew Schaefer hit the post twice among his 12 shot attempts.

HURRICANES 6 CANADIENS 4

MONTREAL (AP) — Taylor Hall scored twice as Carolina beat Montreal in its home opener.

Sebastian Aho added a goal and two assists, while Eric Robinson and Mark Jankowski had a goal and an assist each.

Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net goal and Brandon Bussi stopped 16 shots in the rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference final.

Zachary Bolduc scored twice, Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist, and Juraj Slafkovsky also scored for Montreal. Alexandre Texier and Chris Krieder had two assists apiece, while Jakub Dobes made 28 saves.

The Canadiens returned to the Bell Centre for their first regular-season home game since falling to the Hurricanes in the third round. Carolina eliminated Montreal in five games before going on to win the Stanley Cup over the Vegas Golden Knights.

The teams combined for five goals in the opening 13 minutes. Hall opened the scoring 2:25 into the first period, deflecting Jackson Blake’s shot after Slafkovsky turned the puck over in front of his own net.

The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

NHL roundup: Owen Power lifts Sabres past Wild 3-2 in overtime after 2-goal comeback

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