The visiting Edmonton Oilers lost center Connor McDavid to a lower-body injury in the opening minute against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday evening and then lost the game 6-1.
McDavid was tripped as he crossed the blue line shortly after winning the opening faceoff. The three-time Hart Memorial Trophy (most valuable player) winner slid skates-first into the sideboards and into the corner before leaving the ice under his own power. McDavid will head back to Edmonton to be re-evaluated, coach Kris Knoblauch said postgame.
Sean Monahan scored two goals, Cole Sillinger had a goal and two assists, Adam Fantilli added a goal and an assist and Elvis Merzlikins made 31 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have alternated losses and wins through the first nine games of the season. Columbus’ Mikael Pyyhtia and Mathieu Olivier also scored.
Mattias Ekholm scored and Stuart Skinner made 19 saves for the Oilers, who had won two in a row.
Maple Leafs 6, Jets 4
John Tavares recorded a hat trick while Max Pacioretty and William Nylander combined for six points as visiting Toronto handed Winnipeg its first defeat of the season.
Nylander had a goal and two assists and Pacioretty added three helpers as the Maple Leafs snapped the three-game slide (0-2-1). Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies also scored and Anthony Stolarz made 19 saves for the Maple Leafs, who have won six straight over Winnipeg.
Kyle Connor recorded two goals and two assists while Josh Morrissey added three assists for the Jets, who also had their 16-game regular-season winning streak end. Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi each logged a goal and an assist while Connor Hellebuyck stopped 30 shots.
Golden Knights 5, Flames 0
Keegan Kolesar scored two goals and Adin Hill stopped 16 shots for his first shutout of the season as Vegas completed a sweep of a four-game homestand with a victory over Calgary in Las Vegas.
It was the first two-goal game and three-point game of Kolesar’s career. Nicolas Roy had a goal and two assists and Mark Stone and Alex Pietrangelo also scored goals for the Golden Knights, who improved to an NHL-best 7-0-0 at home.
Dan Vladar made 33 saves for the Flames, who dropped their third straight game.
Panthers 5, Sabres 2
Aleksander Barkov celebrated his return to the lineup with a goal and an assist to help visiting Florida beat Buffalo.
Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart each had a goal and an assist for Florida, and Sam Bennett scored in his fifth straight game. He also added an assist. Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves for the Panthers, who have won three straight.
Jason Zucker and Rasmus Dahlin scored for the Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves for Buffalo, which had won three in a row.
Lightning 3, Predators 2 (OT)
Nick Paul tapped in a goal 3:22 into overtime as the Lightning spoiled Steven Stamkos’ two-assist return to Tampa Bay by beating Nashville.
Brayden Point had a goal and an assist and Mitchell Chaffee scored as Tampa Bay improved to 4-1-0 at home. Jake Guentzel had two assists, giving him 500 career points. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves.
Ryan O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist scored as the Predators earned a point in their fourth straight game.
Sharks 5, Utah 4 (OT)
Alexander Wennberg scored the overtime winner as San Jose erased a three-goal third-period deficit to edge Utah in Salt Lake City.
Fabian Zetterlund scored twice, Mikael Granlund had a goal and two assists and Wennberg and Tyler Toffoli each had a goal and an assist for San Jose, which won for the first time this season (1-7-2). Jake Walman had three assists, and Sharks goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 19 saves.
Matias Maccelli scored a pair and Dylan Guenther and Mikhail Sergachev scored for Utah, which has lost four straight (0-3-1). Vladislav Kolyachonok and Ian Cole each notched two assists, and Connor Ingram stopped 40 shots in the loss.
Hurricanes 4, Canucks 3 (OT)
Sebastian Aho scored 47 seconds into overtime as visiting Carolina beat Vancouver for its fourth consecutive win.
The Hurricanes recovered after surrendering a two-goal third-period lead, and they completed a 5-1-0 road trip. Martin Necas had a goal and an assist and William Carrier and Jack Roslovic also scored for the Hurricanes. Pyotr Kochetkov made 24 saves.
Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes both scored once in two-point performances while Pius Suter added a goal and J.T. Miller collected two assists for the Canucks, who had their four-game winning streak end. Kevin Lankinen stopped 28 shots.
Blackhawks 5, Avalanche 2
Ryan Donato had two goals and an assist, Philipp Kurashev, Lukas Reichel and Ilya Mikheyev also scored and Chicago beat Colorado in Denver.
Jason Dickinson had two assists and Petr Mrazek turned away 24 shots for the Blackhawks, who snapped a four-game skid.
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal to extend his points streak to 10 games, Casey Mittelstadt also scored and Alexandar Georgiev made 21 saves for the Avalanche, whose five-game winning streak ended. Ross Colton exited due to a foot injury.
–Field Level Media