COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Columbus Blue Jackets raised a banner high above their arena with the name of Johnny Gaudreau and his number 13 on Tuesday, paying tribute to the star player and his brother Matthew.
The brothers lost their lives when they were fatally struck by bicycles on August 29 in New Jersey, the day before their sister Katie’s wedding.
The Blue Jackets left the left wing position empty for the opening faceoff.
We then let 13 seconds disappear from the dial, in honor of the man who was broke at 31. Matthew was 29 years old.
On the hockey side, Sam Reinhart scored a goal and three points as the Florida Panthers had the last word against the Blue Jackets, 4-3.
Reinhart leads his team with four goals this season. This time, he made it 3-2 Panthers with two seconds left in the middle period.
Florida remained in control thereafter.
Winning goalie Spencer Knight made 35 saves, 17 more than Elvis Merzlikins.
Very good friend of Gaudreau, Sean Monahan immediately turned to his banner when he scored in the second period.
Monahan also returned after the match to the emotions experienced during the ceremony and at the start of the match.
“This tribute means a lot to the Gaudreau family. It was beautiful to see the Panthers offer their support during the ceremony. It was difficult (at the start of the match). It was a special moment that I will remember for the rest of my life. Today I felt that Johnny was watching us. I felt his presence. I had a feeling I was going to score. »
Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason also returned to this special moment at the start of the game, a moment he did not expect.
“I didn’t know they were going to send the puck where Johnny should have been. We were all moved by this. It was a fantastic move, I’m sure Monahan had planned this. The fans were incredible. They loved Johnny and showed him. »
A goal for goalkeeper Gustavsson!
Goaltender Filip Gustavsson scored an empty-net goal, putting the finishing touches on the Minnesota Wild’s 4-1 win over the Blues in St. Louis.
Gustavsson, who also made 27 saves, calmly took a Blues punt before putting the puck on the ice and trying his luck. The Wild were playing on a power play.
The 26-year-old Swede became the 15th goaltender to score in the National Hockey League (NHL). Martin Brodeur and Ron Hextall have three and two goals respectively. The last one to achieve this was Tristan Jarry, on November 30, 2023 with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Special teams were at the heart of this Wild victory. Ryan Hartman opened the scoring with an extra man, while Jakub Lauko doubled the visitors’ lead while outnumbered. Marco Rossi also scored in victory.
The Wild have still not suffered a defeat in regulation time in four games (2-0-2).
Quebecer Mathieu Joseph threaded the needle for the first time in the Blues uniform. Jordan Binnington missed three times on 26 shots.
Vancouver still looking for a victory
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 26 pucks to help the Lightning win 4-1 against the Vancouver Canucks in Tampa.
Vasilevskiy also shined with a 20-save performance against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday in Raleigh, making the Florida club perfect in two games.
Vasilevskiy is 295-143-30 in 11 seasons in the NHL.
Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point scored in a second straight game for the Lightning. Anthony Cirelli also found the back of the net and Brandon Hagel completed the scoring in an empty cage,
Conor Garland responded for the Canucks on a power play in the third period, reducing the gap to two goals.
Arturs Silovs started a second game for the Canucks and allowed three goals on 27 shots. The team is still looking for its first victory after losing two tiebreaker games to start the campaign.
A 1st in the NHL for Jackson Blake
Jackson Blake scored his first NHL goal and the Hurricanes recorded their first win of the season by defeating the New Jersey Devils 4-2 in Raleigh.
The son of former Bettman Tour player Jason Blake, Jackson was the 109th selection in the 2021 draft. It was his third career game.
Jack Hughes scored the first goal of the game, putting the Devils ahead. Seth Jarvis and Shayne Gostisbehere responded before the end of the first period and the Hurricanes never looked back.
Sebastian Aho was the other scorer for the Hurricanes. Pyotr Kochetkov was responsible for maintaining the lead of the local favorites by blocking 23 shots.
Nico Hischier also moved the ropes for the Devils, who won four of their first six meetings of the season. Jacob Markstrom gave up three goals on 33 shots.
The Preds still looking for a victory
The Seattle Kraken scored four unanswered goals in the third period to defeat the Predators 7-3 in Nashville.
Jared McCann, Jaden Schwartz, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Adam Larsson all had a goal and an assist. Ryker Evans, Brandon Tanev and Jordan Eberle also scored, while Chandler Stephenson had two assists in the victory.
In his second start of the season, Joey Daccord maintained his perfect record with 30 saves.
Michael McCarron, Tommy Novak and Brady Skjei made sure the game remained close by scoring in the first 40 minutes of play. The score was 3-3 heading into the final period.
Juuse Saros was the target of 34 shots, stopping 28 of them.
Nahville still has no victory after three games.
The Stars work hard, but remain perfect
Jason Robertson, Matt Duchene and Wyatt Johnston all scored in the shootout and the Stars won 3-2 against the San Jose Sharks in Dallas.
Duchene and Roope Hintz had previously put the Stars on the board before overtime. Jake Oettinger made 25 saves and the Texas team won its first four games of the season.
Tyler Toffoli and Ty Dellandrea both broke a tie for the Sharks, who picked up their second point in three games without tasting victory.
After facing 40 shots in his first start of the campaign, Mackenzie Blackwood was this time the target of 38 shots.
William Eklund participated in a 100th career match on the Bettman circuit.
The Flames are simply on fire
Andrei Kuzmenko scored the game-winning goal on a power play in the second period and the Flames maintained their pristine record with a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in Calgary.
This is the third time in their history that the Flames have signed a fourth straight win to start the season.
Matt Coronato hit the target twice, the second into an empty net. Dustin Wolf signed the victory with 31 saves.
After a difficult season in 2023-24, Quebecer Jonathan Huberdeau is having an excellent start to the campaign. He added an assist on Tuesday to give him three goals and six points in four games.
Nick Foligno was the only scorer for the Blackhawks. Connor Bedard was held off the scoresheet. Petr Mrazek stopped 23 pucks for the visitors.
