Martin Jones fell just short of a third consecutive shutout, and then Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns scored in a shootout to lift the San Jose Sharks to a 2-1 victory over the winless New Jersey Devils on Friday night.
Jones stopped 31 shots and came within 3 minutes, 38 seconds of his third shutout in four games as the Sharks improved to 4-0 under former New Jersey coach Pete DeBoer. New Jersey are 0-3-1 under new coach John Hynes.
Patrick Marleau scored for the Sharks in the opening minute and the goal stood until Adam Henrique ended Jones’ shutout bid with a tying power-play goal.
Photo: AFP
Henrique scored for New Jersey on their first shootout attempt, but Jacob Josefson was stopped on the second and Mike Cammalleri missed the net on the third.
On his goal, Henrique tipped a shot from the point by Damon Severson past Jones. It was the first goal Jones had allowed in a franchise-record 234 minutes, 33 seconds. The only goal he had given up this season came on the first shot he faced in the season opener against Los Angeles.
AVALANCHE 3, DUCKS 0
In Anaheim, California, Reto Berra made 35 saves for his second career shutout, while Nathan MacKinnon scored in the opening minute of Colorado’s victory over winless Anaheim.
Jack Skille also scored for the Avalanche, who dominated their road opener against the three-time defending Pacific Division champions. The Ducks fell to 0-3-1 with just one goal all season.
Berra became the third goalie to shut out the Ducks this season, making several big saves. It was the Swiss netminder’s 52nd NHL game.
Frederik Andersen stopped 22 shots for the Ducks, who have not scored in more than 163 minutes since Sami Vatanen got their only goal against Vancouver on Monday.
KINGS 2, WILD 1, OT
In Los Angeles, Anze Kopitar scored at 2:19 of overtime, Tyler Toffoli connected on a power play in the second period and Los Angeles got their first victory of the season.
The Kings, who last season became the eighth team in NHL history to miss the playoffs a year after winning the Stanley Cup, were in danger of starting a season 0-4 for the first time. Their longest winless streak from the start of a season was nine games in 1984-1985 (0-6 with three ties).
Kopitar scored on a 25-foot wrist shot in the first overtime game for either team in the new three-on-three format.
Minnesota coach Mike Yeo challenged that LA were offside on Kopitar’s goal, but the goal was upheld.
For Minnesota, Darcy Kuemper stopped 35 shots in his season debut. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick stopped 25 shots.
MAPLE LEAFS 6, BLUE JACKETS 3
In Columbus, Ohio, Leo Komarov scored two late goals as Toronto beat Columbus to give Mike Babcock his first victory as coach of the Maple Leafs.
Joffrey Lupul had a goal and an assist, and Jake Gardiner, James van Riemsdyk, and Nazem Kadri also scored to help Toronto improve to 1-2-1. Daniel Winnik added three assists, Morgan Rielly had two, and James Reimer finished with 24 saves. The Maple Leafs played for the first time six days.
Scott Hartnell had a goal and an assist to reach 600 career points, and Boone Jenner and Nick Foligno also scored for Columbus. The Blue Jackets are 0-5-0, extending the worst start in franchise history.
HURRICANES 5, RED WINGS 3
In Detroit, Eric Staal and Kris Versteeg each had a goal and two assists as Carolina handed Detroit their first loss of the season.
Brock McGinn, playing on the line with Staal and Versteeg, added a goal and an assist in his NHL debut. Cam Ward only needed to make 17 saves to help Carolina to their first victory.
Justin Faulk and Chris Terry also scored for Carolina.
Gustav Nyquist, Riley Sheahan and Teemu Pulkkinen scored for Detroit.
JETS 3, FLAMES 1
In Winnipeg, Canada, Dustin Byfuglien broke a tie with 1:28 left, and Ondrej Pavelec made 19 saves in Winnipeg’s victory over Calgary.
Byfuglien forced a turnover, took a pass and went around efenseman Dennis Wideman and beat Karri Ramo with a sharp-angle, low shot. Calgary coach Bob Hartley challenged the goal to see if Byfuglien was offside, but the goal stood.
Blake Wheeler added an empty-net goal with 53 seconds left, the 150th of his career, and leads the Jets with seven points.
Bryan Little also had a goal and assist for Winnipeg.
The Jets are 4-1-0.
Mikael Backlund scored for Calgary.
BLUES 4, CANUCKS 3
In Vancouver, Canada, Alexander Steen had a goal and an assist for St Louis.
Jori Lehtera, Robert Bortuzzo and Kyle Brodziak also scored, and Jake Allen stopped 31 shots. The Blues have won three straight to improve to 4-1-0.
Brandon Sutter had a goal and two assists, and Jared McCann and Daniel Sedin also scored for Vancouver. Ryan Miller made 28 saves.
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GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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