A week out from Halloween and the hauntings have begun.
Steven Stamkos showed Leafs fans what they might have had in Toronto, Brian Elliott burned his former club, and Sidney Crosby made memorable his return from another concussion.
Here are five things we learned Tuesday.
Crosby scores in return from concussion
After a slump-busting, Cup-winning, Conn-honoured, World Cup-dominating 2016 for Sidney Crosby, it was a damn, dirty shame that the superstar suffered a concussion to sap momentum from an incredible calendar year.
Tuesday he returned, and quickly got back on the scoresheet.
Crosby finished with a goal on four shots while playing 18:02. His goal began the Penguins’ comeback from a 2-0 deficit as they beat the Panthers 3-2. He missed Pittsburgh’s first six games in which the team started the season 3-2-1.
Flames’ Elliott singes the Blues
It took a few games for new Flames goaltender Brian Elliott to get his first win in his new uniform, but once he did just that on Monday, he went straight to St. Louis to stare down his old team, the Blues.
The St. Louis faithful even chanted his nickname, “Moose.”
The veteran goalie made 23 saves in the win.
On the other end of the ice, Deryk Engelland (Deryk Engelland?) scored this beauty on new Blues goalie Carter Hutton.
Stamkos haunts the Leafs
Steven Stamkos may have never truly considered signing as a free agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs but Leafs fans still let him hear it Tuesday night when he and the Tampa Bay Lightning were in town. He scored two goals on his first two shots and the booing mysteriously ceased.
The blame could fall on goaltender Frederik Andersen, whose early struggles were analyzed by one goalie coach in Elliotte Friedman’s latest 30 Thoughts (#10), but maybe some perspective is needed when you consider who’s shooting at him.
Then again, Andersen did end up giving up all seven in the Leafs’ 7-3 loss. Stamkos finished with four points, tying his career-high.
So Stamkos and the Bolts smoked the Leafs — that’s not shocking anyone. But if you’re a goaltender, this should:
Ben Bishop lost a couple front teeth after Peter Holland fired a shot off the netminder’s mask. Those things are supposed to stop that kind of thing, no? Bishop, meanwhile, stayed in the game.
Despite all the doom and gloom for the Leafs and their fans on this night, to finish with Auston Matthews atop the league in both goals and points is not bad at all.
Taylor Hall off to hot start with Devils
Taylor Hall may be hotter on ice this season than he’s ever been.
The new Devil already has a pair of two-goal games after potting two more Tuesday against the Arizona Coyotes and now has five on the season.
What do you bet he’s pretty popular with his teammates?
Hall then assisted on a late, go-ahead goal by Travis Zajac who scored two in the last two minutes of the game.
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Malcolm Subban yanked in 2nd career NHL start
It’s been a tough start to the season for goaltenders all around the NHL. Goal totals are high, goalies are going down with injuries, and rookies are being forced into high-pressure situations.
The Bruins have had their share of misfortune with Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin both going down with maladies. Enter Malcolm Subban for his second career start.
It could have gone better.
Subban made 13 saves on 16 shots and was pulled halfway through the game. The Wild went on to shut out the Bruins 5-0 on the strength of Devan Dubnyk‘s 27 saves.
In his only other NHL start back in 2014-15, Subban allowed three goals on six shots in almost exactly the same amount of time on ice (31 minutes). The rookie will surely be fine in the long run but when your first two games in the bigs are flops, that’s gotta lead to a sleepless night or two.
Bonus thing: Konecny scores his 1st NHL goal
We’ve always got time for an NHLer’s first career goal and Travis Konecny‘s will be one to remember. He deflected a shot from fellow rookie Ivan Provorov which led to the Flyers’ incredible comeback from a 3-0 deficit against the Sabres.
Way to go, kid.
