* The Rangers achieved a rare franchise feat with seven goals in their first road game of the 2022-23 campaign, while New York’s 2022 First Round opponent Pittsburgh raced to a 3-0 lead in the first 5:10 of its season-opening win Thursday.
* New Flames players Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri and MacKenzie Weegar all found the score sheet in their team debut, while Mason Marchment and Wyatt Johnston combined for three goals during their first game in a Stars uniform.
* Kraken forward Matty Beniers, who made his League debut last April, continued the noteworthy start to his NHL career as Seattle improved to 1-0-1.
* Carolina opens its five-game road trip in San Jose on Friday, with new Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns set to face his former team for the first time since being traded by the Sharks during the offseason.
PANARIN POWERS NEW YORK PAST MINNESOTA IN SEVEN-GOAL ROAD OPENER
Artemi Panarin (1-3—4) factored on four of the Rangers’ seven goals and Mika Zibanejad (0-2—2) posted another multi-point game as New York won its road opener and improved to 2-0-0 to start 2022-23.
* Panarin’s four-point game marked the 16th of his NHL career. Only four players have posted more since he entered the NHL in 2015-16: Connor McDavid (23), Nikita Kucherov (19), Leon Draisaitl (18) and Patrick Kane (17).
* Panarin, who has five points through two games in 2022-23, had 22-74—96 in 75 contests last season – on pace for 104 over an 82-game span. Should he notch 100 points this season, Panarin would become the seventh Rangers player to reach the mark and first since Jaromir Jagr nearly 20 years ago (123 in 2005-06).
* Zibanejad (2-2—4 in 2 GP) can become the fourth player in franchise history with multiple points in each of his first three games from the start of a season. He would join Chris Kreider (3 GP in 2016-17), Bernie Nicholls (3 GP in 1990-91) and Mike McEwen (3 GP in 1978-79).
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CROSBY PROPELS PENGUINS TO QUICK START IN SEASON OPENER
Sidney Crosby (1-2—3), who began his 18th NHL campaign and 16th as Penguins captain, factored on two of Pittsburgh’s three first-period goals in a span of 5:10 to begin the contest and helped his team skate to a season-opening victory for the second time in as many years.
* Crosby (8-10—18 in 15 GP), who overtook Rick Kehoe (7 G in 9 GP) for the most goals by a Penguins player in season-opening games, also bolstered his career totals to 518-894—1,412 (1,109 GP) to overtake Alex Ovechkin (780-630—1,410 in 1,276 GP) and Dale Hawerchuk (518-891—1,409 in 1,188 GP) for sole possession of 20th place on the NHL’s all-time points list. Crosby holds the most points among active players for the first time in his NHL career.
PLETHORA OF PLAYERS SHINE IN TEAM DEBUTS
Thursday featured plenty of familiar faces in new places helping their clubs pick up wins:
* MacKenzie Weegar (0-2—2), Jonathan Huberdeau (0-1—1) and Nazem Kadri (0-1—1) combined for four assists in their team debut as the Flames toppled the defending Stanley Cup champions during Calgary’s season opener. Matthew Tkachuk, who was sent to the Panthers in the blockbuster trade involving Weegar and Huberdeau, also scored an empty-net goal for Florida on Thursday.
* Mason Marchment opened the scoring less than three minutes into his Dallas debut and added another first-period goal as the Stars skated to a season-opening win against the Predators. Dallas received its two other goals from 19-year-old Wyatt Johnston – whose parents were in attendance at Bridgestone Arena for his NHL debut – and 38-year-old Joe Pavelski.
BENIERS JOINS RARE NHL COMPANY WITH ANOTHER POINT
Kraken forward Matty Beniers recorded an assist Thursday to boost his NHL totals to 4-8—12 in 12 games since his League debut on April 12. The 19-year-old joined Jonathan Toews and Joe Sakic as the third teenager in League history to find the score sheet in at least 11 of his first 12 career NHL games.
CAN YOU SMELL WHAT #NHLSTATS IS COOKIN’ IN THURSDAY’S LIVE UPDATES?
The Oct. 13 edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured several more notes from the 10-game slate, including Auston Matthews recording the game-winning goal in the Maple Leafs’ home opener after Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made a surprise appearance at Scotiabank Arena.
QUICK CLICKS
* JosianeHuberdeau, sister of Jonathan, sings national anthem at Flames opener
* Buffalo Bills players Josh Allen, Dawson Knox show up to support Sabres, Alex Tuch
* Empire State Building lit up in Islanders colors to honor 50th season
* Unmasked: Retired goalie greats say future of position in good hands
* Travis Sanheim signs eight-year, $50 million contract with Flyers
HURRICANES’ WEST-COAST SOJOURN OPENS WITH BURNS’ RETURN TO SAN JOSE
Friday’s four-game slate is highlighted by new Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns returning to SAP Center for the first time since being traded to Carolina by San Jose on July 13. Burns skated each of the last 11 seasons with the Sharks and is the franchise’s all-time leader in goals (172), assists (422) and points (594) by a blueliner.
* Burns enters Friday with 227 career NHL goals and needs one to pass Steve Duchesne and Kevin Hatcher for sole possession of 12th place on the League’s all-time list among defensemen. Former Sharks general manager Doug Wilson, who acquired Burns from the Wild in 2011 and is set to be honored by San Jose on Saturday, occupies the 11th spot with 237.
