Five Minute Major

*Photo from TheScore*     The hot start continues in Texas. Jason Robertson had two assists, Evgenii Dadonov had a goal and an assist, and the Dallas Stars defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 5-3 victory on Monday night in Dallas.    The Stars have lost just twice in 7 games, sitting at 5-1-1 and second place in the Central Division to open the year. 5 players had two point games for the Stars, with Robertson and Jamie Benn having two assists while Dadonov, Roope Hintz, and Wyatt Johnston all had a goal and an assist.    Stars goalie Jake Oettinger said that "We were flying. I think it started with Duchene and Marchment's line, I think they were the best line on the ice by far. Really happy to see those guys get rewarded. They’ve been our best line the last few nights. We need them. We have such a deep team, and they just showed that tonight."    Just 27 seconds into the game, Thomas Harley got the Stars on the board, giving them a 1-0 ...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     Outdoor hockey is always a spectacle. Evander Kane had a goal and two assists, Zach Hyman had a two point game, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Calgary Flames with a 5-2 victory on Sunday night at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.    The Oilers snapped a 4 game losing streak with the outdoor win, sitting at just 2-5-1 to begin the season. Hyman, Kane, and Leon Draisaitl all had multi point games, with Draisaitl having two assists and Hyman putting up a goal and an assist.    Kane said of snapping the losing streak that "I thought we got back to our foundation of how we like to play and how we need to play. I thought we skated really well. We were physical and if you look at the goals we scored, every single one of them was around their blue paint or creating havoc around their blue paint. That is a recipe for success for our group."    Brett Kulak started the scoring for the Oilers, giving the...

*Photo from AP News*     Losing streak? Not anymore. Claude Giroux had two assists, Brady Tkachuk scored two goals, and the Ottawa Senators defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 5-2 victory on Saturday in Pittsburgh.    Snapping a 3 game losing streak, the Senators rode to a win on the road to improve to 4-4-0 on the season. Tim Stutzle had two assists and Ridley Greig had a goal and an assist to join Tkachuk and Giroux as two point scorers in the win.    Tkachuk said of the losing streak that "I think it forced us to play simple. I think it forced us to focus on the defensive side of the puck and go from there. Each line has the mindset of wanting to be even or better. That's what we're going to have to carry moving forward. Take advantage of the opportunities that they give us."    Starting the scoring for the Senators was Greig. On the power play 4:24 into the game, Greig scored his second goal of the season to give them a 1-0 lead, assi...

*Photo from Reuters*     The last unbeaten team in the league is no longer. Ryan Donato scored, Philipp Kurashev won the game, and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Vegas Golden Knights with a 4-3 overtime victory on Friday night in Las Vegas.    The Blackhawks are sitting at 3-5-0 through 8 games but have ended the unbeaten run of the defending champion Golden Knights. 8 different players recorded a point for the Blackhawks, who ended a 3 game losing streak with the win.    Kurashev said of the win that "It's great for us. We're young team and we beat the defending champs, so it's a great confidence boost for us. We can learn a lot from it and take good things from it, and hopefully we can build on something."    Pavel Dorofeyev gave the Golden Knights an early 1-0 lead just 1:35 into the game. William Karlsson then scored his 3rd goal of the season to double the lead to 2-0. At the 13:20 mark of the period, Donato got the Blackhawks ...

*Photo from BVM Sports*     Down two goals? No problem here. Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a goal and an assist, Martin Necas scored twice, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Seattle Kraken with a 3-2 overtime victory on Thursday night in Raleigh.    The Hurricanes won their 4th game out of 8 to start the season, sitting at an even 4-4-0 and 4th place in the Metropolitan Division. The Hurricanes were trailing 2-0 before scoring 3 straight goals, two of which came from Necas, who also finished with an assist.    Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said of the win that "I’m pretty happy with that game, especially the response. Definitely putting on a good push. We had a lot of good opportunities, and finally cashed in on the one. So, I think we got the two points we deserved."    Seattle started the scoring in the game. Oliver Bjorkstrand found the back of the net 11:24 into the first period, making it 1-0 on his second goal of the season. At ...

*Photo from TSN*     This was a classic back and forth offensive shootout. Evgeny Kuznetsov had two assists, Dylan Strome scored twice, and the Washington Capitals defeated the New Jersey Devils with a 6-4 victory on Wednesday night in Newark.    It was a game of momentum shifts. The first period was 3-0 Washington before the Devils scored 4 straight goals in the second period. The Capitals then answered back with 3 goals of their own. Strome, Kuznetsov, Alex Ovechkin, and Anthony Mantha all had two point games for Washington.    Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said that "Our power play stepped up right out of the gate to sort of set the tone for the third period, and then I thought for the first half of the third we were on it. Then we did enough good things in the final 10 minutes to hang on. We made smart decisions, smart reads, and smart puck plays to keep everything to the perimeter."    Mantha started the scoring 6:37 into the game,...

*Photo from Moose Jaw Today*     The Jets took flight in this game. Neal Pionk had two assists, Mason Appleton scored, and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the St. Louis Blues with a 4-2 victory on Tuesday night in Winnipeg.    The Jets have now won two straight games, sitting at an even 3-3-0 to open the season. Pionk was the only multi point player for the Jets, who had 4 different skaters score goals and 10 skaters in total register a point.    Winnipeg acting head coach Scott Arniel said that "We talked this morning about how good St. Louis is on the rush and we saw that, especially the top line. They had five or six chances there through the first two periods. We kind of got that straightened away a little bit in the third, we did a little better job of keeping them in front of us. At the end of the day, we've always talked about playing tight games, 2-1 games, and finding ways to finish them off and that's where we were going into the third period, and...

*Photo from the Rink Live*     The strong start to the season continues in Quebec. Brendan Gallagher had a goal and an assist, Tanner Pearson had an identical line, and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Buffalo Sabres with a 3-1 victory on Monday night in Buffalo.    Montreal won their second straight game and are now 3-1-1 to begin the year, 3rd place in the Atlantic Division. They got big stops in goal as well as a productive offense. Gallagher and Pearson were the only multi point players for the Canadiens.    Gallagher said of his two point game that "I’m playing with two guys that make it really easy. Really comfortable playing with them (Pearson, Sean Monahan). The line seems to be working right now, and I’m healthy. It’s one of those things where you just hope it keeps going."    The Canadiens took the lead first in this one. Scoring 2:56 into the game was Justin Barron, who gave Montreal a 1-0 lead on his first goal of the season, a...

*Photo from TheScore*     Things are humming along in Beantown to open the year. Jake DeBrusk had an assist, Matthew Poitras scored twice, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Anaheim Ducks with a 3-1 victory on Sunday night in Anaheim.    Wrapping up a 3 game west coast road swing, the Bruins won their 5th straight game to open the season, moving to a perfect 5-0-0. The Bruins are off to their best 5 game start in 86 years, dating back to 1937-1938. The road trip isn't over for them either.    Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said of the win "3 in 4 on the road with travel against an Anaheim Duck team that played really physical, played with a lot of emotion and they had us on our heels in the first there, physically. I think we got a little bit better as the game continued to go on, but it was a big win for us."    The first two periods were scoreless in this one. Mason McTavish broke the stalemate 5:05 into the 3rd period, giving the Du...

*Photo from the Morganton News Herald*     Here comes British Columbia. JT Miller had two assists, Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Florida Panthers with a 5-3 victory on Saturday night in Sunrise.    After starting last season 0-5-2, the Canucks are off to a better 3-2-0 start to this season, snapping a two game losing streak with the win. They won despite blowing a two goal lead in the 3rd period, responding with two goals of their own late in the game.    Canucks captain Quinn Hughes said of the win that "The crowd started getting into it at 3-3, and we have been known over the past couple of years to let leads like that slip away. For us to kind of hold our ground, have confidence and see Casey make some big saves was great. We had guys ready to play and who wanted to win."    It was Hughes who started the scoring in the game. On the power play at the 11:09 mark of the first period, he score...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     This win was a long time coming. Justin Danforth had a goal and an assist, Spencer Martin shined in net, and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Calgary Flames with a 3-1 victory on Friday night in Columbus.    The Blue Jackets improved to an even 2-2-0 to open the season with the win. Danforth and Werenski were the only multi point players for the Blue Jackets, with Werenski returning to the lineup after an injury.    After a scoreless first period, the Blue Jackets took the lead in the second period. Sean Kuraly started the scoring, giving them a 1-0 lead 6:29 into the period, assisted by Danforth and Ivan Provorov. Danforth started the scoring in the 3rd period, making it 2-0 Blue Jackets with Werenski and Jack Roslovic assisting.    While shorthanded 10:37 into the period, Elias Lindholm scored his second goal of the season, getting the Flames on the board and making it 2-1 with an assist from Mi...

*Photo from the Los Angeles Times*     Offense was on display for the California kids. Kevin Fiala had two assists, Pierre-Luc Dubois scored two goals, and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Minnesota Wild with a 7-3 victory on Thursday night in Saint Paul.    The Kings won their second straight game to improve to 2-1-1 with 7 goals to boot. Adrian Kempe, Fiala, and Dubois each had multi point games for the Kings. Anze Kopitar also tied the franchise lead for most games played, tying Dustin Brown at 1,296.    Carl Grundstrom scored 2:39 into the game to give them a 1-0 lead. Connor Dewar and Kirill Kaprizov answered for the Wild, giving them a 2-1 lead. Vladislav Gavrikov scored to tie the game 2-2 before Dubois scored at the 19:02 mark of the first and again just 12 seconds later, making it 4-2 Kings after one period.    Kings head coach Todd McClellan said of the first period that "Quite frankly, it was a strange period, the way some of the goal...

*Photo from WXYZ*     Things are looking up in the motor city. Alex DeBrincat had two goals and an assist, Andrew Copp scored twice, and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 6-3 victory on Wednesday night in Detroit.    After dropping the first game of the season, the Red Wings have won 3 games in a row to move to 3-1-0 on the season. They were led in scoring by DeBrincat, who has started out his tenure in Detroit with 5 goals and 3 assists in 4 games.    DeBrincat said of his hot start in Detroit that "This kind of start makes everything easier, and a lot of that is because of my linemates and teammates. We have so many scoring options that it is hard for anyone to cover all of them."    Evgeni Malkin started the scoring right away for the Penguins. Just 53 seconds into the game, he gave them a 1-0 lead with his 3rd goal of the season, assisted by Reilly Smith and Erik Karlsson. DeBrincat scored at the 12:53 mark of ...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*     The storm surge has passed through San Jose. Seth Jarvis scored two goals, Martin Necas had a goal and an assist, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the San Jose Sharks with a 6-3 victory on Tuesday night in San Jose.    The win boosts another strong start to a season for the Hurricanes, who sit at 3-1-0 and atop the Metropolitan Division after 4 games. Jarvis, Necas, Stefan Noesen, Brady Skjei, Michael Bunting, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi each had two point games for the Hurricanes.    Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin said of the win that "We were playing solid all game. We had chance after chance. We knew we just had to stick with it. Our power play came up huge there in the third period. That's always good to get them clicking and firing on all cylinders."    Fabian Zetterlund started the scoring for the Sharks in the first period, scoring 3:14 into the game to give them a 1-0 lead, assiste...

*Photo from the Chicago Tribune*     This has been a scrappy bunch to start the year. MacKenzie Entwistle scored, Andreas Athanasiou had two assists, and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 4-1 victory on Monday night in Toronto.    The Blackhawks improved to an even 2-2-0 on the season and it served as the first game that first round pick and phenom Connor Bedard didn't record a point in. What proved to be the difference for the Blackhawks was the 3 goal second period that helped them pull away.    Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson said that "I thought it was a complete game tonight, 60 minutes. That’s what we challenged the guys for, that’s what we needed against a team like that. It was great, a great effort."    After a scoreless first period, Entwistle started the scoring in the second for the Blackhawks. He scored his first goal of the season 2:59 into the frame to make it 1-0. John Tavares then scored 5:1...

*Photo from theartofyarrrr*     Are these new look Sens for real? Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist, Brady Tkachuk had two goals, and the Ottawa Senators defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 5-2 victory on Sunday night in Ottawa.    The Senators have now won two straight games after dropping the season opener, sitting at 2-1-0. Tkachuk had two goals and an assist to pace the Senators on the scoresheet, while Tarasenko was right behind him with two points as Ottawa's only multi point scorers on the night.    Senators head coach DJ Smith said that "The two goals they score, we give them tap-ins there. And that’s hard for a goalie sometimes, but give our guys credit, give the D credit, we came out ready to play, we held the chances down, but certainly we have to manage those big-time breakdowns."    Tarasenko started the scoring for the Senators, scoring 7:02 into the game to make it 1-0 Senators. Anthony Cirelli scored for the...

*Photo from Reuters*     The stars of a team frequently lead the way. Kyle Connor had a 3 point game, Mark Scheifele had a goal and an assist, and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Florida Panthers with a 6-4 victory on Saturday afternoon in Winnipeg.    After losing the first game of the season, the Jets entered the win column for the first time in 2023-2024, dispatching the Panthers in what proved to be a high scoring affair. Connor led the way with two goals and an assist, while Scheifele had a Gordie Howe hat trick and a two point game.    Jets head coach Rick Bowness said of Scheifele's game that "You look at his face-offs tonight, he’s dialed right in there. Gordie Howe Hat Trick, we never thought we’d associate that with Mark but good for him. He’s playing hard, he’s playing with a lot of emotion, and when you do that you get involved in the game physically, which he’s been engaged both games. He’s been outstanding with and without the puck." ...

*Photo from the Morganton News Herald*     The older guys are still doing pretty well. Evgeni Malkin had 4 assists, Sidney Crosby scored twice, and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Washington Capitals with a 4-0 shutout victory on Friday night in Washington.    Crosby and Malkin, the old guard in Pittsburgh, showed they've still got it as they spoiled the Capitals season opener with their first win of the season. Crosby had two goals while Malkin had a goal and 3 assists. Jake Guentzel contributed two assists as well.    Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said that "I don’t want to say a better effort, I just thought we played smarter tonight. Just our play without the puck was a little bit more conscientious certainly than it was in Game 1, and I think that gives our guys an opportunity to act on the talent that we have. So, we played hard tonight, but we also played smart."    After a scoreless first period, the Penguins got things sta...

*Photo from All About the Jersey*     So far, so good in New Jersey. Jack Hughes scored two goals, Jonas Siegenthaler had 3 assists, and the New Jersey Devils defeated the Detroit Red Wings with a 4-3 victory on Thursday night in Newark.    In their season opener, it was Hughes who led the way for the Devils, scoring a pair of goals as the Devils were able to hold off the Red Wings. Siegenthaler had the most points with 3 while Dougie Hamilton scored.    Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said that "I thought in the second period we got going pretty good for a while, there were pockets of good play. I know consistently through the game we can be a lot better. I had individuals that didn't have a very good night. I can point to a lot of different players and a lot of different lines. I thought every line had something missing, so it was hard to get some continuous flow in the game when maybe two guys are going pretty good and one guy wasn't."    Aft...

*Photo from AP News*     What a way to begin the season in British Columbia. JT Miller had a goal and 3 assists, Brock Boeser scored 4 goals, and the Vancouver Canucks pummeled the Edmonton Oilers with an 8-1 victory on Wednesday night in Vancouver.    The Canucks opened their season with a showcase on goal scoring, tallying 3 goals in both the second and 3rd periods to blow the Oilers out of the building. Miller and Elias Pettersson each had a goal and 3 assists for the Canucks, while Boeser tied the record for most goals in a season opener in team history.    Boeser said of his confidence "I'd say it's pretty high. I got to that mindset in the summer where I’ve got to be a better hockey player and really work hard. I came back and it continues every day. I’ve got to have that same mindset tomorrow, the next practice, the morning skate, I’ve got to keep it going."    Conor Garland got the Canucks on the board first. He gave them a 1-0 lead 8...