NHL roundup: Blackhawks fall despite Connor Bedard's first goal

Field Level Media|published: Thu 12th October, 24:25 2023

Oct 11, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard (98) celebrates after scoring his first NHL goal on Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) during the first period at TD Garden. credits: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Blackhawks rookie sensation Connor Bedard scored his first career NHL goal in the first period, but the host Boston Bruins rallied for a 3-1, season-opening win over Chicago on Wednesday night.

David Pastrnak scored twice after Trent Frederic netted the first Boston goal, and Linus Ullmark stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced as Boston won for the 16th time in its past 17 regular-season games. Arvid Soderblom made 30 saves for Chicago.

Bedard had a game-high six shots on goal in 21:44 of time on ice, though Boston finished with a 33-21 edge in that department.

With his goal, Bedard became the fourth-ever No. 1 overall pick, and first since Nathan MacKinnon in 2013-14, to record points in each of his first two career games as an 18-year-old. Bedard had an assist in a road loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

Maple Leafs 6, Canadiens 5 (SO)

Mitchell Marner scored the only goal in a shootout and Toronto came back from two goals down on two different occasions to defeat visiting Montreal.

Auston Matthews scored three goals for Toronto, including two late in the third period to tie the game. Noah Gregor and William Nylander also scored for the Maple Leafs. John Tavares added three assists, while John Klingberg had two.

Alex Newhook scored twice for Montreal. Jake Evans, Cole Caufield and Jesse Ylonen also scored for the Canadiens, with Kirby Dach adding two assists. Ilya Samsonov made 19 saves for Toronto, while Jake Allen stopped 37 shots for Montreal.

Hurricanes 5, Senators 3

Brady Skjei and Jaccob Slavin scored in a 3 1/2-minute span of the third period as Carolina pulled out a season-opening victory against Ottawa in Raleigh, N.C.

Skjei scored the goal-ahead tally with 12:09 to play in a wild third period. The teams combined for five goals in an 11-minute stretch of the final period, with each team posting one short-handed goal.

The Hurricanes also got goals from Michael Bunting, Teuvo Teravainen and Jordan Staal, while Frederik Andersen made 27 saves. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 37 shots for the Senators, whose goal-scorers were Mathieu Joseph, Parker Kelly and Tim Stutzle.

—Field Level Media

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