“Sabers” lost 3: 4 (2: 2, 1: 2, 0: 0) at home.
Girgenson scored 69 seconds before the first interval, when John Jason Peterka returned the puck to him from the left throwing circle on a breakaway, and Girgenson sent the puck to the top right corner of the goal with a wrist shot, making it 2 – 2.
From 11 minutes and three seconds on the field, he played in the minority for one minute and four seconds. Girgenson scored the goal with the single shot, also accumulating two minutes of penalty and + 1 + 1.
Balcer played 12 minutes and four seconds, spending 29 seconds of that time on the pitch in the majority. He scored two goals, once his puck was removed and he had a +/- of -2.
At 11 ‘Alex Thatch gave the hosts the lead, but at 15’ Colin White and 19 ‘Matthew Tkaczak put the Panthers ahead.
The visitors took advantage twice in the second period, with goals from Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour for the 4-2.
The hockey players “Sabers” managed to recover a goal 59 seconds before half-time, when Rasmus Dālin’s shot was accurate – 3: 4, but it turned out to be the last goal in this match.
Tkačaks (1 + 1) and Aleksandrs Barkovs (0 + 2) collected two performance points each in the ranks of the winners, and Tachs and Dālins (both – 1 + 1) in the ranks of the losers.
Spencer Knight stopped 24 shots on the Panthers goal, while Eric Comrie finished with 33 shots on the opposite door.
Meanwhile, the “Blue Jackets” beat the Saint Louis “Blues” 2: 5 (0: 1, 2: 1, 0: 3) away.
Merzlikin, playing his first game this season, saved 20 of his opponents’ 25 shots. Due to illness, the Latvian goalkeeper was unable to participate in the first two games of the season.
In the sixth minute of the match, Merzlikin was beaten by Pavel Buchnevich, but in the second half, after 64 seconds of play, Vladimir Tarasenko doubled the home team’s lead. In the third minute of play, with an interval of 18 seconds, Jordan Binnington was shocked by Gustav Nykvist and Sean Kuralee – 2: 2.
True, in the second half of the third period, Merzlikin was forced to capitulate three more times: Ivan Barbashev, Jake Neibors and Tarasenko each scored a puck in the goal he was protecting.
Binnington finished with 23 bailouts.
Merzlikin’s new teammate Johnny Goodreau, who is playing his 10th season in the NHL, got his 400th career assist in the first Blue Jackets goal.
Meanwhile, striker Teodor Blüger has not yet started his season on Saturday, while his Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 (1-1, 1-0, 4-1) at home.
Due to an upper body injury, Blügers will start the season later, but already on Saturday he took part in an ice training and could be used against him in a contact match.
After Steven Stemkos put the visitors ahead in the fifth minute, “Penguins” scored five unanswered goals until the 14th minute of the third period. Sidney Crosby, Denton Heinen, Jake Guentzel, Jeff Carter and Brian Rust stood out for the home team. Brayden Point narrowed the Penguins’ lead a bit, but Rickard Rakell quickly restored the four-goal lead.
The game’s top scorer, Crosby, ended the game with one goal and two assists. “Penguins” scored six goals in each of the first two games of the season.
The “Blue Jackets” are goalless in their first three games of the season, while the “Penguins” have scored the maximum number of points, four, in two games.
In the regular season of the NHL, teams will play 82 games each.
