Motivated by the pre-game ceremony to mark their first conquest of the Stanley Cup, the Florida Panthers started their season strong Tuesday in Sunrise, easily defeating the Boston Bruins 6-4.
Dominating 14-1 in shots on goal after 12 minutes of play, the Panthers led 4-1 after the first period. Only the Montreal Canadiens of 1976-77 had previously started a campaign with four goals in the first period after being crowned champion.
The Panthers never looked back and improved to 11-0-2 in their first home game of the season.
Sam Bennett led the charge with a double. Eetu Luostarinen, Sam Reinhart, Jonah Gadjovich and Evan Rodrigues also lit the red light for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky gave up four times in 28 shots.
Pavel Zacha, Charlie McAvoy, Trent Frederic and David Pastrnak responded for the Bruins.
After missing all of training camp before signing an eight-year, US$66 million contract late last week, Jeremy Swayman watched the game from the end of the bench. Newcomer Joonas Korpisalo allowed six goals on 35 shots.
Before the game, Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov walked around the ice with the Stanley Cup. The Panthers then raised the banner to the ceiling, then posed one last time with the silver bowl before moving on to the new season.
“Now we have to try to win it one more time,” said Barkov, who, with an assist, moved past Mikko Koivu (711) into fifth place in National Hockey League (NHL) history for points by a Finn with 712.
The Blues are coming back
The St. Louis Blues came from behind with three goals in less than two minutes in the second period in Seattle, winning 3-2 against the Kraken in the curtain-raiser of their season.
Jordan Kyrou scored two of three goals in one minute 55 seconds. Philip Broberg, whom the Blues obtained in a hostile offer from the Edmonton Oilers this summer, hit the target 20 seconds before Kyrou’s second.
Justin Faulk collected two assists in the victory. Jordan Binnington stopped 30 pucks.
Vince Dunn and Eeli Tolvanen had previously put the Kraken on the board. Philipp Grubauer was put to the test 25 times in front of the local favorites’ cage.
Jessica Campbell became the first woman to serve as an NHL assistant coach during a regular season game.
Moments before the game, the Kraken announced the appointment of Jordan Eberle as captain.
Aged 34, the veteran who is entering his 15e season in the NHL succeeds Mark Giordano, who served as the organization’s first captain before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in March 2022. The club has not had a captain since.
“It is an honor to be named captain of the Seattle Kraken,” Eberle said in a statement. I was able to learn from great leaders throughout my NHL career. I take a lot of pride in being a good teammate and mentor. »
Eberle, who was selected by the Kraken in the 2021 expansion draft, scored 17 goals and totaled 44 points in 78 games last season. He got an assist against the Kraken.
Contributed by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press at Sunrise