There were goals all over the place on Wednesday, the second official day of the regular season. Well, the goals came after the Montreal Canadiens and goalie Sam Montembeault stymied the Toronto Maples Leafs with a 48-save shutout in a 1-0 victory. But then the goals came.
In Vancouver, the Canucks jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first period against the Calgary Flames. But they suddenly found themselves needing a game-tying goal in the final moments to secure a point. In overtime, Connor Zary was the hero for the Flames in a 6-5 OT victory.
There was also a pair of one-sided 6-0 shutouts. The New York Rangers, led by goalie Igor Shesterkin, stomped the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-0 on the road. And the Winnipeg Jets — playing their first game since Colorado crushed them in five games last April — dominated the Stanley Cup finalist Edmonton Oilers behind a 30-save shutout from reigning Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck.
Colorado Hockey Now
I purposely left out the fifth game, which, of course, was the Avalanche’s 8-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. This one had the most goals and perhaps the most frustrating types of goals (albeit I didn’t watch every other game).
You can catch my game recap here.
Two performances from two notable players on the Avalanche also stood out for completely different reasons. My first edition of Good & Bad features a couple of pending unrestricted free agents.
Before the Avalanche’s flight to Vegas on Tuesday, I spoke to 19-year-old Calum Ritchie about making his NHL debut and wrote about that here. Ritchie ended the night with one shot and a -3 in 16:05. Welcome to the NHL, kid. The Golden Knights are a tough team to debut against.
Around The NHL
Casey Mittelstadt Exclusive: Let’s keep it local for one more Avalanche-related piece. For those who are unaware, I host a podcast for Mile High Sports called Rinkside with Aarif Deen. The show is 300+ episodes deep. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast app to follow along. On Monday, I sat down with Casey Mittelstadt for a 1-on-1 exclusive for about 25 minutes. He was great to get to know and opened up about his trade to Colorado, playing with stars like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, and even answered a bunch of questions about Valeri Nichushkin. There were a few other things in there as well. The audio version is on the podcast feed for both Apple and Spotify (for real, subscribe to the show!). But the video is here, on the MHS YouTube page. Enjoy. (No seriously, what are you waiting for? Subscribe to the podcast!)
Montreal Hockey Now: The Habs’ 1-o victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs was the first shutout loss the Leafs have had in 227 games. Just a crazy long streak that came to an end thanks to an incredible goaltending performance. Oh, and the lone goal scorer wore No. 13, honoring the late Johnny Gaudreau.
NYI Hockey Now: The Islanders waived Pierre Engvall and the remaining six years of his contract on Sunday. And to start the year, they’re hoping to revive the career of their 2018 first-round draft pick. Could this be a sign that Lou Lamoriello is shifting his plan for the Islanders?
Detroit Hockey Now: Following a 6-0 loss to the Rangers, the Pittsburgh Penguins won’t have much time before needing to refocus. They are on their way to Detroit for the Red Wings’ season opener at Little Caesars Arena. After missing the playoffs by a tiebreaker on the final day, the Red Wings are hoping to kickstart 2024-25 with two points. And they’ve already named their starting goalie for Game No. 1.