First goals, milestone markers, a few close calls and more. Here are six things we learned on a busy 12-game night in the NHL.
Duchene gets some air time
Matt Duchene got a bit of a harsh welcome to Washington Tuesday night, as the Colorado Avalanche forward was the target of a pretty massive hit.
Washington Capitals defenceman Dmitry Orlov caught Duchene with a low hit as he came speeding into the Capitals’ zone, causing him to get some serious air time.
Thankfully, Duchene was not hurt on the play, so we can all enjoy the cartwheel in all its glory.
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Hall’s powerful play
Still having trouble adjusting to seeing Taylor Hall in New Jersey Devils sweater?
Maybe this will help.
Hall scored his first goal wearing the Devils crest Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks. The winger was in perfect position to tap in a rebound on the power play for his first point of 2016-17. (Watch the goal at the top of this post.)
Hall then scored another power-play marker just five minutes later to get his new club the 2-1 win at home.
Yup, looks like Hall is fitting in quite nicely in New Jersey.
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Canadiens open Bell Centre with a win
The Montreal Canadiens shut out the Pittsburgh Penguins in their home opener at Bell Centre on Tuesday, and it was quite an eventful night.
Captain Max Pacioretty got the scoring started early with a goal just 23 seconds into the game, setting a franchise record in the process.
(The Canadiens captain also had a bit of a scare late in the game when he left the ice with what looked like a leg injury. Turns out, it was just cramping, and Pacioretty would return.)
While Montreal’s usual suspects contributed to the 4-0 win, it was the club’s newest members who really made an impact.
Alexander Radulov scored his first regulation goal in a Habs sweater, and it was pretty impressive.
(Radulov seemed equally impressed with the electric atmosphere at his new home rink.)
But perhaps the biggest difference maker for the Canadiens was backup netminder Al Montoya, who once again took the spot of Carey Price (flu). In addition to earning an assist on Radulov’s goal, Montoya stopped all 36 shots he faced for his sixth career shutout.
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Ups and downs in Ottawa
Tuesday night started out well enough for the Arizona Coyotes.
The young team saw rookie Dylan Strome register his first career NHL point in his pro debut, earning an assist on Tobias Rieder’s first period goal to open the scoring against the Ottawa Senators.
By game’s end, however, the Coyotes were without starting goaltender Mike Smith and lost 7-4.
Smith went down with an injury in the third period and had to leave the game. Louis Domingue stepped in, but didn’t fare too well, letting in two quick goals.
The Senators, meanwhile, bounced back from a sluggish loss to the Detroit Red Wings Monday night. They scored four times in the third period to claim victory over Arizona, with Erik Karlsson topping it off and writing his name into Ottawa’s record books.
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Hossa gets 500
Goal No. 500 is in the books for Marian Hossa.
The veteran forward scored the milestone goal in the Chicago Blackhawks‘ high-scoring affair against the Philadelphia Flyers, which they won 7-4.
He’s the 44th player to reach that milestone.
With that many goals, it’s safe to say Hossa has done some damage around the league.
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Tkachuk gets on the board
Matthew Tkachuk impressed Calgary Flames management during the pre-season, and it looks like he’s carried that momentum into regular-season play.
The No. 6 overall pick last June scored his first NHL goal, tying up Tuesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres to push it to overtime.
The Flames won 4-3 in overtime, thanks to Sean Monahan’s game-winner.