Nashville Predators coach John Hynes was impressed by the seamless fit of his new signings as they contributed in a major way during the 4-1 win against the San Jose Sharks in the opening game of the NHL season on Friday night.
After signing as an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, Nashville's Kiefer Sherwood opened the scoring just 61 seconds into the action at Prague's O2 Arena. He was assisted by Ryan McDonagh, who arrived from the Tampa Bay Lightning in a trade.
Fellow free agent signing Nino Niederreiter also found the back of the net late in the second period to make it 2-1, before Matt Duchene finished things off with an empty-netter.
Speaking after the game, Hynes said it was nice to see the new faces hit the ground running.
"I thought all the new guys to our team obviously contributed," he said. "A lot of them contributed on the scoreboard, but I thought also just the style of game they played really fits the identity, so it's nice. It's nice for those guys to get off to a good start."
Despite the lopsided score, the Sharks only attempted one less shot (31-32), but Predators goaltender Juuse Saros was sharp, and earned praise from teammate Mattias Ekholm.
"He's that kind of goalie, and he's always our best penalty killer," he said. "On most nights, he's our best player.
"Usually that happens when we win. He's just standing in there for us, and he did tonight. Super excited for him.
"He's a heck of a goalie, and he makes it a lot easier for us defensemen coming back there."
Ekholm also gave a shout out to the Czech crowd for their enthusiasm in the first regular season game to be played outside of North America since 2019, and looked forward to Saturday night's rematch.
"[The atmosphere] was great," he said. "Sold out. I mean, it was awesome, and that was Friday night. I can't wait for Saturday night."
It was also a memorable night for San Jose's Tomas Hertl, who was born and raised in Prague and used this same arena for his home games when playing for Slavia Praha HC.
Hertl scored the Sharks' only goal, with coach David Quinn shining a light on the achievement after his first game in charge.
"It was a pretty special moment, obviously," he said. "He's been thinking about that for a long time.
"Obviously happy for him, and the team, I thought, got a little bit inspired by that. I thought they played better after that. Unfortunately, we only got one.
"For the most part, I thought, up until they made it 3-1, we were hanging around. I liked some of the things we were doing.
"But once they made it 3-1, I really thought there was a huge disparity in the way they played compared to the way we played.
"I thought the last 25 minutes, they really took it to us, and I thought we got a little bit demoralized. We've got to toughen up a little bit mentally in that department."
Hurricanes produce yet another late comeback to continue historic season
The Carolina Hurricanes secured their first back-to-back 100-point seasons in franchise history on Tuesday as they scored three in the third period to defeat the New York Rangers 3-2 on the road.
With the victory, the Hurricanes improved their record to 46-15-8 – trailing only the 54-11-5 Boston Bruins for the league's top mark – and 69 games is the fewest needed to reach 100 points in franchise history.
Adding to their historic night, Carolina set another franchise record with their 10th third-period comeback of the season.
Despite the action-packed finish, it was a defensive grind through two periods as an early goal from New York's Tyler Motte was the only score heading into the last.
Jalen Chatfield equalised nine minutes into the third period, but Kaapo Kakko put the Rangers back in front 2-1 just 31 seconds later.
The hectic scoring sequence was not over, as Stefan Noesen made it 2-2 only 18 seconds after the restart, setting up Teuvo Teravainen for the Hurricanes' winner with 2:33 remaining.
Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said he was inspired by the way his team refused to drop their heads after going down.
"I thought it was a great effort, right from the start," he told reporters. "We didn't come off of it. We had a game plan and the guys knew what we needed to do.
"They've got a high-offense team, so we were trying to limit their chances. Everybody – all 20 guys – contributed in this win.
"Even though it wasn't looking good for most of the game, we were down, then we tied it up and they got another right away, I just loved the way we [shook it off], next shift.
"It was great to tie it up and then get the late one. We got what we deserved tonight, for sure."
Offseason acquisition Brent Burns also got in on the history-making fun, adding to his franchise record for points by a defenseman (53) with the game-winning assist, and he pointed to Brind'Amour's system as the catalyst for his terrific year.
"The system has been great," he said. "We play with a deep team and we just roll. It's been a lot of fun.
"I've said it before, but it's a great group, and a special group. It's been a lot of fun to try and come in and find a place."
Chatfield pointed to how previous comebacks have given the Hurricanes "more confidence" when faced with difficult situations, and they trust what they are doing as a unit.
"We know what we've got in this locker room, and we know how we want to play every night," he said.
"To be able to match up against these guys, another great team, [is great]. We lost the first two to them, so to be able to get this one feels nice. We just have to keep going from there."
Hat-trick hero Kane hails 'big points' as Oilers edge Kraken in tight Pacific Division playoff chase
Evander Kane underlined his value to the Edmonton Oilers with a hat-trick in their 6-4 win over the Seattle Kraken but he was more pre-occupied with what the victory meant to their playoffs hopes.
The Western Conference playoff chase is tight, with the Oilers edging ahead of the Kraken into third in the Pacific Division with Saturday's victory where they scored twice in every period in Seattle.
Edmonton are 39-23-8 on the back of three straight wins, just ahead of the Kraken (38-24-7) in the final automatic playoff spot from the Pacific Division. The Las Vegas Golden Knights (42-21-6) and Los Angeles Kings (40-20-9) lead the division.
Kane's hat-trick came from only three shots, marking his second three-goal performance of the season and fifth in his past 49 appearances.
"It's nice to help contribute to an important win," Kane said. "Big points with the division so tight.
"This is probably the tightest I've seen it with respect to the entire conference, both divisions, where you can literally be in first place in the Western Conference, or you could be in a Wild Card spot within a matter of a week. It's still tight.
"There are still very important games down the stretch left to be played, and I think it's a great opportunity for our group to enjoy that type of challenge and get you ready for the post-season."
"I've been in and out of the line-up with injuries all year, so just trying to get into some rhythm heading into the playoffs, and tonight definitely helps that."
Kane has only played in 29 of the Oilers' 70 games this campaign due to injuries, with coach Jay Woodcroft delighted to see him back at close to his best.
"Happy for him," Woodcroft said. "He's a warrior. He plays through injuries. He's just getting up and running again just because of his injuries and whatnot.
"It's kind of been a start-and-stop season for him, but he's been all around the puck in any game that he's played and for three to go in for him tonight, I was happy for him."
Kane's return to form and fitness has aided star man Connor McDavid, who had a goal and two assists, bringing up 134 points for the season.
"That's part of my job is to be productive for this group," Kane said. "Obviously we have two of the best players in the world, but they can't carry a team and win a championship. You need everyone pulling their weight.
"I've been in and out of the line-up with injuries all year, so just trying to get into some rhythm heading into the playoffs, and tonight definitely helps that."
McDavid's 134 points are the seventh-most points by a player in the past 30 years, while his performance was his 20th three-point game of the season.
Zach Hyman also added a goal and an assist, recording his first 30-goal season. He is the fourth Oilers player to reach that mark this season, the first time the franchise has achieved that since 1989-90.
Stars make it six wins from seven after thriving in 'real test' against the Kraken
Dallas Stars coach Peter DeBoer was thrilled with his team's efforts after Monday's 5-2 victory saw them sweep their two-game road series against the Seattle Kraken.
It took less than six minutes for the Stars to jump ahead by two, with Evgenii Dadonov's early opener followed shortly after by Jamie Benn's power-play goal.
The power-play unit consisting of Benn, Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson were dynamic, as Pavelski and Robertson assisted Benn's goal, before Benn turned provider for Pavelski early in the second period, and Benn nabbed another assist when he set up Robertson for the third power-play goal of the night to seal things.
Stars center Wyatt Johnson – who assisted the opener and scored his side's fourth goal – highlighted the impact of getting such incredible production from their power-plays.
"It's huge," he said. "Especially when you're on the road – just getting like three goals on the power play, it's always, always a big help."
Coach DeBoer called it "an important four points" as the Stars hold onto a three-point buffer atop the Central division, and sit one point behind the Vegas Golden Knights in the race for the top seed in the Western Conference.
"You look at the standings and we're in a fight for first in the division, first in the conference," he said. "[Seattle are] in a battle for playoff positioning.
"They've been playing great all year, so this was a real test for us coming in here for two games and I thought our group really responded."
On the other side, the Kraken blew a golden opportunity to establish themselves as one of the West's top sides, getting leapfrogged by Dallas, the Minnesota Wild and the Los Angeles Kings during their current three-game losing streak.
"Bottom line, we didn't get job done," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. "At the end of the day that's what matters.
"We've been a group that's been able to turn the page and go back to the next job at hand. This group has to be able to do that again."
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