Devils spoil preseason debut for new Rangers Panarin, Kakko
Brett Seney's goal 3:55 into the third period was the game-winner as the New Jersey Devils beat the Rangers 4-3 Wednesday night, spoiling the preseason debuts for New York newcomers Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko at Madison Square Garden.
Nico Hischier, Mikhail Maltsev and Nikita Gusev also scored for New Jersey, which started Cory Schneider in goal. Schneider made 27 saves in the first two periods before being replaced by Evan Cormier in the third. Cormier finished with 12 saves.
Panarin, who signed a seven-year, $81.5 million contract with the Rangers on July 1, had a power-play goal 7 1/2 minutes into the second period to cut New Jersey's lead to 2-1. Kakko, selected with the second overall pick in June's draft, and new defenseman Jacob Trouba had assists on the play.
Panarin played only 12:59 as he suffered a "mild groin strain," according to the team.
Micheal Haley and Lias Andersson also scored for the Rangers. Alexandar Georgiev started in goal and gave up three goals on 11 shots. Igor Shesterkin stopped 12 of the 13 shots he faced in his half of the game.
BACKSTROM'S LATE GOAL LIFTS CAPITALS PAST BLUES
In Washington, Nicklas Backstrom's goal with 7 seconds remaining gave the Capitals a 3-2 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Blues.
Radko Gudas and Richard Panik also scored for Washington, which had Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek each play half the game in goal. Vanecek started and made 13 saves on 14 shots, while Samsonov stopped 12 of 13 shots he faced.
Austin Poganski and Zach Sanford scored for St. Louis.
Jordan Binnington started in goal for the Blues and picked up where he left off last season, as he made 22 saves on 23 shots in the first two periods. Evan Fitzpatrick played the third and allowed two goals on 10 shots.
HURRICANES BLANK LIGHTNING
In Raleigh, North Carolina, Petr Mrazek and Alex Nedeljkovic combined for 21 saves in the Carolina Hurricanes' 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Mrazek started and made six saves before giving way to Nedeljkovic, who stopped all 15 shots he faced in his half of the game.
Steven Lorentz and Clark Bishop scored for the Hurricanes.
Spencer Martin started in goal for Tampa Bay and allowed one goal on 13 shots before being replaced by Zach Fucale, who made 10 saves on 11 shots.
CANADIENS EDGE WINLESS PANTHERS TO STAY UNBEATEN
In Bathurst, New Brunswick, Alex Belzile scored a short-handed goal with less than five minutes remaining to give the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers.
Matthew Peca and Jeff Petry each had a goal and an asssit and Riley Barber also scored to help the Canadiens improve to 2-0 in preseason play. Charlie Lindgren stopped 17 shots for Montreal.
Evgenii Dadonov, Mike Hoffman and Jonathan Huberdeau had goals for Florida, which lost its third straight. Chris Driedger finished with 15 saves.
TKACHUK HELPS SENATORS HOLD ON TO BEAT MAPLE LEAFS
In Ottawa, Ontario, Brady Tkachuk scored an empty-net goal with 2:17 left, and the Ottawa Senators held on to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3.
Connor Brown, Tyler Ennis and Max Veronneau also scored for the Senators as they beat Toronto for the second straight night to remain undefeated in the preseason.
Craig Anderson allowed one goal on 22 shots through two periods before Filip Gustavsson took over in the third giving up one goal on 18 shots.
Auston Matthews, making his preseason debut, scored twice for the Leafs. His second cut Ottawa's lead to 3-2 before Tkachuk restored the two-goal advantage. Nick Shore scored with 45 seconds left for the final margin.
Michael Hutchinson gave up three goals on 20 shots through two periods for Toronto, before Brandon Halverson stopped all six shots he faced.
COPP, WHEELER SCORE EARLY, JETS BEAT WILD 4-1
In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Andrew Copp and Blake Wheeler scored 38 seconds apart early in the first period and the Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 4-1.
Copp took a long cross-ice pass from Finnish defenseman Sami Niku and fired a high shot past Wild goalie Kaapo Kahkonen 59 seconds into the game. Niku and Copp then drew assists on Blake Wheeler's one-timer at 1:37 for the 2-0 lead.
Wheeler also assisted on Josh Morrissey's power-play goal late in the third period, and C.J. Suess added an empty-netter with 1:15 remaining.
Laurent Brossoit stopped 20 shots for the Jets.
Nico Sturm banged in his own rebound for Minnesota at 8:44 of the third period to pull the Wild to 2-1.
CRAWFORD LEADS BLACKHAWKS PAST RED WINGS
In Chicago, Corey Crawford stopped 23 shots to lead the Blackhawks to a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
Brandon Hagel and Duncan Keith scored in the second period for Chicago.
Taro Hirose scored for Detroit. Jonathan Bernier started in goal and made 10 saves on 11 shots, while Filip Larsson stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced.
FLAMES BEAT WINLESS SHARKS
In Calgary, Alberta, Dillon Dube had a goal and an assist to lead the Flames to a 6-4 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Sean Monahan, Alan Quine, Adam Ruzicka, and Derek Ryan also scored for Calgary. Johnny Gaudreau was credited with an empty-netter when San Jose's Tony Sund accidentally knocked the puck into his own net.
Manuel Wiederer scored twice for San Jose, which fell to 0-2-0. Lean Bergmann and Ivan Chekhovich also scored.
