Lightning 7, Panthers 2
Steven Stamkos scored his first three goals of the season as the Lightning won their home opener with a 7-2 victory over the Panthers.
Stamkos, who ranked in the top five of league scoring over the past four seasons, finished off his sixth-career hat trick with a power-play goal past Panthers backup goalie Scott Clemmensen in the third period.
The Lightning improved to 3-1-0 while Florida dropped to 1-3-0.
Hurricanes 3, Capitals 2
Nathan Gerbe scored the game-winner with 6:59 gone in the third period to give the Carolina Hurricanes their first road win of the season, a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals.
Rookie Elias Lindholm and Alexander Semin also scored for the Hurricanes, who improved to 2-1-1. Jason Chimera and Alex Ovechkin netted goals for the Capitals, who slipped to 1-3-0.
Avalanche 2, Bruins 0
Veteran goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, in his first start of the season, made 39 saves and the undefeated Colorado Avalanche earned a 2-0 decision over the previously undefeated Boston Bruins.
Ryan O’Reilly’s first-period, power-play goal on a deflection was all Giguere needed as he posted his 37th career shutout, his first for new coach Patrick Roy.
Matt Duchene scored into an empty net with 25.7 seconds left to seal the victory for the Avalanche (4-0-0).
Blue Jackets 4, Sabres 1
The Columbus Blue Jackets scored three first-period goals en route to a 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
Marian Gaborik had a goal and two points for the Blue Jackets (2-1-0). The Sabres (0-4-1) remained winless.
Coyotes 4, Red Wings 2
Michael Stone’s goal with 4:47 left broke a tie and the Phoenix Coyotes beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2.
Derek Morris and Antoine Vermette each had a goal and an assist and Mikkel Boedker also scored for Phoenix, who evened their record to 2-2.
Mike Smith made 28 saves.
Joakim Andersson and Jonathan Ericsson scored for Detroit, who lost their second straight to fall to 2-2. Jimmy Howard stopped 35 shots.
Maple Leafs 4, Predators 0
Jonathan Bernier turned away 36 shots for his seventh career shutout as Toronto beat the Nashville Predators 4-0.
Acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on June 23 for right wing Matt Frattin, goalie Ben Scrivens and a second-round pick, Bernier played Thursday with a 1.17 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage.
He did no harm to either number despite a heavy workload.
The Predators (1-3-0) peppered him with 17 shots during the second period and kept coming for most of the third, but Bernier was equal to every challenge helping the Maple Leafs (4-1-0) to their third consecutive road win.
Wild 2, Jets 1
Matt Cooke’s second-period goal was the difference as the Minnesota Wild beat the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 for Minnesota’s first win of the season.
Jonas Brodin also scored for the Wild (1-1-2) and Josh Harding had 14 saves in his first start of the season.
The Wild had lost their first three games in a shootout, overtime and regulation, respectively.
The Jets fell to 2-2-0.
Canadiens 4, Oilers 1
The Montreal Canadiens scored three straight goals and then held off some furious Edmonton Oilers pressure to post a 4-1 victory.
The Canadiens fell behind 1-0 on Ryan Smyth’s first goal of the season at 2:28 in the first, but took charge after that, scoring twice in the second and twice more in the third to improve to 2-2 on the season.
Sharks 4, Canucks 1
The San Jose Sharks netted goals from four different players as they topped the Vancouver Canucks 4-1.
Matt Pelech netted the winner after being called up from Worcester of the American Hockey League earlier in the day.
The Sharks (4-0-0) remained unbeaten in the young season while posting their second victory in a week over the Canucks. Vancouver (3-2-0) saw its win streak end at three games. The Canucks’ two losses to date have come against the Sharks.
Ducks 6, Rangers 0
Jakob Silfverberg scored two goals as the Anaheim Ducks blitzed the New York Rangers 6-0 in their home opener.
The Rangers (1-3-0) were clobbered for the second game in row. They lost 9-2 to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.
The Ducks (3-1-0) captured their third consecutive win after opening the season with a 6-1 setback to the Avalanche in Colorado.
Jonas Hiller stopped 34 shots for his 17th career shutout.
