Good morning NHL fans! Opening Night contained a lot of drama and provided a strong kickoff to the 2018-19 season. Let’s recap all the madness.
Hockey fans all over the globe have been waiting for the 2018-19 NHL season to start. Opening Night has been hyped since the moment the Washington Capitals won the Stanley Cup and John Tavares signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The evening lived up to every ounce of the hype.
What happened on Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, will surely not be forgotten. Let’s recap what was an epic evening.
In Case You Missed It
- Capitals forward Tom Wilson got a jaw-dropping 20 game suspension. This came after his fourth suspension in just over 12 months.
- Ottawa Senators first-round pick Brady Tkachuk will have to wait to make his debut, as he won’t play in his team’s first game. He could play on Saturday, though.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs are hoping their young players are willing to take less for their team.
Game Recaps
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The Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins 7-0 after raising their Stanley Cup champions banner. T.J. Oshie scored on his first shift, Evgeny Kuznetsov added two goals (both on the power play), Nicklas Backstrom had one of patented three assist performances, and Alex Ovechkin chipped in a power play goal and an assist.
After picking up zero shutouts last season, Caps goaltender Braden Holtby got one in his first game. This was the largest margin of victory in a shutout for a reigning Stanley Cup champion in their home opener.
Both teams are back in action on Thursday. For some dumb reason, the Caps have to go on the road to play the Pittsburgh Penguins. Meanwhile, the Bruins head up to New York to play the Buffalo Sabres.
It was far from an optimal first game from the Maple Leafs, who needed overtime to beat the Montreal Canadiens. But Leafs fans have to be excited by what they saw from Auston Matthews (two goals, including the game winner in overtime) and John Tavares (one goal in his Toronto debut). Both teams are off until Saturday, when the Leafs host the Senators and the Canadiens face the Penguins on the road.
For the fifth straight season, the Vancouver Canucks have won their season opener. Six of the seven goals scored in the game were in the third period. Rookie sensation Elias Pettersson picked up his first NHL goal in the first period and later added an assist. Nikolay Goldobin also added a goal and an assist while Loui Eriksson added two assists.
The Flames got goals from Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Monahan. Johnny Gaudreau added an assist, as did free agent acquisitions Austin Czarnik and James Neal. New defenseman Noah Hanifin added an assist too.
The San Jose Sharks were the only home team to lose on Wednesday night, as the Anaheim Ducks got revenge for the first round of last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. Forward Max Comtois, a 2017 second-round pick of the Ducks, got his first career goal 49 seconds into the game. Jakob Silfverberg led the way with three assists. Adam Henrique picked up a goal and an assist for the Ducks. John Gibson stopped 31 of 33 shots.
Evander Kane and Tomas Hertl picked up the lone goals for the Sharks. Goaltender Martin Jones had a rough game, allowing four goals on just 14 shots.
Daily Rant
Not everything was sunshines and rainbows and happy unicorns for the Capitals on Wednesday. Lars Eller scored the final goal of the game. Naturally, he celebrated. Apparently, Bruins forward Brad Marchand took exception and fought him. Eller, however, was not a willing combatant. He came up bloodied.
Marchand has been the most fined player by the Department of Player Safety. And it’s not even close. Keep in mind Wilson got suspended (deservedly) because of his bad reputation. You really have to try to get suspended four times in a shade over 12 months. Especially when three of those suspensions come in the preseason.
I was very impressed with Wilson’s suspension. It shows the Department of Player Safety is taking reckless, dangerous hits to the head as seriously as they ought to be taken. Wilson needed a wakeup call and he got one.
Now the Department of Player Safety face a new test with Marchand. Much like Wilson, he’s a repeat offender. Marchand barely missed a mandatory match penalty because, though he got an instigator penalty, it wasn’t within the last five minutes (though it was in the last seven).
Is he going to be held accountable for his actions like his counterpart Wilson was? It’s time for the Department of Player Safety to say enough is enough with Marchand. He’s shown the slaps on the wrists he’s gotten aren’t enough to deter him from putting other players in danger. What more does Marchand have to do? Is the league going to wait for him to injure two players in a handful of games?