Montreal Canadiens 1 - 0 Toronto Maple Leafs
Montembeault makes 48 saves, Canadiens blank Maple Leafs in season opener MONTREAL -- Sam Montembeault stopped all 48 shots he faced for the Montreal Canadiens in a 1-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the season opener for each team at Bell Centre on Wednesday. “Those are the kind of situations you want to be in,” Montembeault said. “Last year, it happened a few times, we were leading by a goal and then we lost it and they came back. So this year I think we did a good job. We didn’t force anything in the third (period), we just played the game that was in front of us, and I think the guys did a great job.”

Cole Caufield scored a power-play goal for Montreal, which finished eighth in the Atlantic Division last season with 76 points, 26 behind the third-place Maple Leafs. Montembeault’s 48 saves set an NHL record for the most in a season-opening shutout.

“(Montembeault) was solid everywhere, really calm,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “It seemed like everything was sticking to him.”

Anthony Stolarz made 26 saves in his debut for Toronto after signing a two-year, $5 million contract as a free agent on July 3.

“The guys did a really good job in front of me, to let me see the first shot,” Stolarz said. “I moved well, in control.” It was Craig Berube’s first game as coach of the Maple Leafs.

“When you almost get 50 shots on net and you don’t get a goal, their goalie played well,” Berube said. “But I was happy with our effort. The guys battled, worked, Stolarz was really good in net. A lot of good things but we’ve got to find a way to finish better.”

Caufield gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 7:48 of the first period with a one-timer from below the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Juraj Slafkovsky. The goal came after the Canadiens won a face-off and controlled the puck in the offensive zone.

“Obviously that’s kind of a face-off play that we work at,” Caufield said. “When it’s there, it’s nice. Those are the plays that you’ve got to execute. I thought [Mike Matheson] kind of started it with a really good play there, and I just happened to finish a really good pass from ‘Slaf.’” It was the first time Toronto failed to score in either a regular season or Stanley Cup Playoffs game since Nov. 20, 2021, a 2-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“We did more than enough to score more than one goal tonight,” Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews said. “That didn’t happen, and we’ve got to regroup.”

NOTES: Before Montembeault’s 48-save performance, Filip Gustavsson of the Minnesota Wild had a 41-save shutout in their opener against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 12, 2023, and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins had a 40-save shutout in their opener against the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 5, 2006. … Montembeault’s 48 saves were the second most by a Canadiens goalie in a shutout. Jacques Plante had a 52-save shutout against the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 13, 1955. … Including playoffs, the Maple Leafs 252-game streak without being shut out was the third-longest of its kind in NHL history. Their streak of 227 regular-season games without being shut out is the eighth-longest in League history.

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Pittsburgh Penguins 0 - 6 New York Rangers
Rangers score 6, shut out Penguins in season opener PITTSBURGH -- Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves, and Chris Kreider scored twice to help the New York Rangers defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-0 at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday in the season opener for each team. The shutout was Shesterkin’s 16th in the NHL.

"Feel good. We got two points. So great job,” Shesterkin said. “They tried to go hard at the net in the first 10 minutes. So we did a great job in front of me. ... I just tried to play my game."

Alexis Lafreniere had a goal and an assist, and Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba each had two assists for the Rangers. Filip Chytil scored his first regular-season goal since March 28, 2023, for New York; he did not have a goal in 10 games last season before sustaining a suspected concussion Nov. 2.

Tristan Jarry made 35 saves for the Penguins.

“Obviously, we didn’t have the start of the season that we would have liked,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s a hard one to evaluate. I thought the start of the game, we played pretty well, the first, whatever, 13 minutes or so. ... I think it’s probably premature at this point to overreact. But certainly, we’re disappointed with the result tonight.” Sam Carrick put New York ahead 1-0 on its first shot on goal at 2:24 of the first period, holding off Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang to tip in a point shot from Trouba. Carrick made his Rangers debut after signing a three-year contract July 1.

Will Cuylle appeared to extend the lead at 9:48 but his goal was overturned following a Penguins challenge for offside.

Lafreniere then made it 2-0 at 17:23. After taking a stretch pass from Panarin, he dragged the puck around a sliding Marcus Pettersson for a wrist shot to the blocker side from the left face-off circle.

“I think we came out pretty strong,” Jarry said. “Just got a little loose at times. A lot of odd-man rushes. If I make a save on that second one, I think it at least helps the guys stay in it. ... It’s obviously tough. It’s not the outcome you want.

“It’s a long season, though. So we have to find our legs. I think we’ll be better from this one. We’ll learn from it.”

Kreider pushed it to 3-0 at 19:48 with a wrist shot from the slot off a rebound from Trouba’s one-timer.

“We had to get through the first 10 or 12 minutes. 'Shesty' made some really big saves at that point,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “Then the last, I thought, maybe, eight minutes of the first period, I thought we turned it on offensively. Able to generate and were able to carry that through the second period as well.” Chytil made it 4-0 at 9:39 of the second period. He took a drop pass from Cuylle for a snap shot that went in off the crossbar.

"We need every single person in this locker room to play 100 percent every night,” Chytil said. “I think we did it tonight. That was a great win tonight.”

Kreider scored short-handed to extend the lead to 5-0 at 11:35 of the third period. He beat Letang to the puck and slipped it through the five-hole.

Vincent Trocheck scored with a wrist shot at 16:59 for the 6-0 final.

“Just got down and tried to take chances to get back into the game,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “They’re a team that if you take chances and give them those looks, they’re going to put them in. So we got behind and chased the game.

“This has nothing to do with last year. It’s a matter of, early on in the season, a little bit of adversity, and we didn’t find a way to stick with our game. We tried to get it all back at once and we found out the hard way.”

NOTES: The Rangers recorded a shutout in their season opener for the first time since Oct. 12, 1956, when Gump Worsley made 31 saves against the Chicago Black Hawks in a 3-0 win. ... New York defenseman Victor Mancini had one shot on goal and one block in 17:27 of ice time in his NHL debut. ... Forward Reilly Smith had an assist and played 14:54 in his Rangers debut after being traded from the Penguins on July 1. ... Pittsburgh forward Rutger McGroarty had one shot on goal and played 12:20 in his NHL debut after being acquired in a trade from the Winnipeg Jets on Aug. 22. ... Defenseman Erik Karlsson played 21:01, second on the Penguins behind Letang (24:27), after missing most of training camp with an upper-body injury.

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Edmonton Oilers 0 - 6 Winnipeg Jets
Jets open with shutout win against Oilers EDMONTON -- Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves for the Winnipeg Jets in a 6-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Wednesday. "I just thought the guys in front of me were just keeping everything outside, allowing me to see pucks, allowing me to feel it, clearing rebounds, clearing lanes," Hellebuyck said. "They made my night really easy. Once in a while I made a big save, which allowed me to feel like a part of the team. So, that was just a great team effort tonight."

The Jets goaltender had been away from the team for the previous two days on personal leave to deal with family matters.

"It's been a pretty crazy week. It's been tough on the whole family but I thought the boys played great for me and they've been really supportive this entire time," he said. "I really cherish these moments and I cherish my time with family, so I hope they're doing all right."

Hellebuyck's shutout was the first in a season opener in franchise history, dating back to its inception as the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999. Mason Appleton had a goal and two assists, and Adam Lowry and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and an assist for the Jets (1-0-0), who play their next four games at home.

It was the season opener for each team.

"Obviously, it's great just to get the season off on a good note," said Jets coach Scott Arniel. "I did have a sleepless night worrying about some of these guys on offense on the other team there. You know how powerful they are as a group."

Stuart Skinner allowed five goals on 13 shots over 31:08 for the Oilers (0-1-0), who are playing their first four games of the season at home. He was replaced by Calvin Pickard, who stopped six of seven shots.

"It’s tough to rebound against this team, last year they were the best defensive team in the League, so when you’re giving them goals it’s tough to get them back," said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. "We got punched pretty good tonight but we’ve always been able to respond. Last year, I was happy with our guys, when we did have a bad game we usually responded really well. We’ll see this weekend. It’s one game. After this weekend, definitely that will be a tell of where we are at."

A turnover in the defensive zone by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ended up with Nino Niederreiter centering a pass from behind the net to Lowry, who banked in his own rebound off Skinner's skate 14:56 into the first period to put the Jets ahead 1-0.

"Honestly, it was a great save by Skinner on the first one to get a toe on it. I just tried to get it back out in front and fortunately it found its way into the back of the net," Lowry said. "To come into Edmonton, we know the roster they have here, they're a great team and to get the first win of the season right away, it's a good feeling and we're going to look to build on that." Appleton made it 2-0 with 1:25 to go in the period, taking a cross-ice pass from Niederreiter and snapping it past Skinner's glove from the left dot.

Winnipeg went ahead 3-0 at 4:17 of the second period, when Josh Morrissey sent a feed to the side of the net for Rasmus Kupari, who snapped another one in off Skinner's skate.

Just 20 seconds later, Dylan Samberg made it 4-0 with a shot from the top of the left circle that made its way high stick side off a cross-ice pass from Appleton.

At 9:33, Kyle Connor made it 5-0 on the power play with a wrist shot from the right dot that scored past the blocker of Skinner, who was pulled for Pickard during the next television timeout. The goal was Connor's seventh consecutive season-opening game with a goal, an NHL record.

"It is very frustrating to start like this. It is just not ideal, I don’t feel great, but I can’t do much about what happened tonight so I’m going to go back to a couple sheets and draw up some new stuff for me to work on and just get better from this," Skinner said. "I have been pulled before, I have let in five goals in a game before, obviously you just don’t want to do it the first game.

"You don’t want to do it ever. I’ll just get better from this and move on."

Scheifele redirected a pass by Nikolaj Ehlers on a fly by on the power play for the 6-0 final at 14:15 of the third period.

Notes: Arniel was making his debut as Winnipeg's head coach, replacing the retired Rick Bowness after serving as associate head coach the past two seasons. Arniel previously coached the Columbus Blue Jackets for two seasons from 2010-12, with a 45-60-18 record. ... Scheifele began his 14th season with the Jets, passing Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler for the most in franchise history. He also extended his franchise record in scoring his 10th goal in a season opener. ... The Jets went 3-2-1 in the preseason, while the Oilers went 3-5. ... Samberg's first goal of the season matched his entire total in 78 games played last season. ... The Oilers outshot Winnipeg 15-7 in the second period, but were outscored 3-0. ... Since being acquired by the Oilers on Feb. 28, 2023, defenseman Mattias Ekholm has a league-best plus-71 rating.

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Vancouver Canucks 5 - 6 Calgary Flames
In an exhilarating season opener at Rogers Arena, the Calgary Flames overcame a three-goal deficit to secure a 6-5 overtime win against the Vancouver Canucks, with Connor Zary netting the decisive goal 1:33 into overtime. The Flames, trailing 4-1 entering the second period, mounted an impressive comeback with four straight goals, including a go-ahead goal by Jonathan Huberdeau in the third period. Vancouver's J.T. Miller forced overtime by scoring with 1:37 remaining in regulation. Calgary's Rasmus Andersson, Anthony Mantha, and Martin Pospisil each contributed a goal and an assist, while Nazem Kadri tallied two assists. Despite Vancouver’s early dominance and power-play success, highlighted by Brock Boeser's two goals, Calgary's resilience was evident as they rallied to victory, underscored by strong words from Flames coach Ryan Huska about playing responsibly and maintaining composure. Maila Backlund expressed the Flames' no-quit attitude, signaling Calgary's determination to improve on last season’s performance. The game also featured notable performances, including Miller's 800th NHL game and Jake DeBrusk's debut assist for the Canucks.

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Vegas Golden Knights 8 - 4 Colorado Avalanche
In an electrifying season opener, Ivan Barbashev stood out with two goals and two assists, propelling the Vegas Golden Knights to an 8-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche at T-Mobile Arena. Jack Eichel contributed four assists while Mark Stone added a goal and two assists, leading Vegas to secure their seventh win in eight season openers. Despite Mikko Rantanen scoring a hat trick for the Avalanche, their defensive lapses allowed the Golden Knights to capitalize repeatedly, with Victor Olofsson also marking his debut with two goals. While Nathan MacKinnon reached his 900th career point, the Avalanche couldn't overcome their rush coverage errors, as noted by their coach Jared Bednar. The game was marked by rapid responses to scoring, with Stone highlighting the momentum as Vegas answered every Colorado goal quickly, culminating in a dominant offensive display.

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