Matthews’ hat trick helps Maple Leafs open season with shootout win over Canadiens

Mitch Marner scored the only goal of the shootout as the Toronto Maple Leafs fought back from 2-0 and 5-3 deficits to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 6-5 in a wild NHL regular-season opener for both teams Wednesday.

After the Leafs and Canadiens traded chances in the 3-on-3 extra period, Marner moved in on Jake Allen and fired upstairs on Toronto’s third attempt before Ilya Samsonov stopped Kirby Dach at the other end to seal it.

Auston Matthews, with the 300th, 301st and 302nd goals of his career for his eighth career hat trick, William Nylander, with a goal and an assist, and Noah Gregor scored in regulation for Toronto.

Samsonov made 19 saves in regulation and overtime.

John Tavares had three assists, while John Klingberg, in his first game with the Leafs, chipped in with two.

Alex Newhook, with two, Cole Caufield, Jake Evans and Jesse Ylonen replied for Montreal. Allen stopped 37 shots. Dach added two assists.

Trailing 3-2 early in the third period after conceding that two-goal edge, the Canadiens got even at 4:25 on a power play when Caufield’s shot hit the stick of defenceman T.J. Brodie.

Montreal then went back in front just 1:22 later when Newhook, acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in June, tipped a point shot past Samsonov moments after the Toronto goaltender robbed Dach.

But Matthews scored his second of the night with 4:32 left in regulation with Samsonov on the bench when he beat Allen from a tough angle before completing the hat trick with 1:07 remaining on the clock to send Scotiabank Arena into a frenzy.

Leading 2-0 early in the second period, the Canadiens appeared to go ahead by three on a power play, but Caufield’s effort was wiped off the scoreboard when Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe correctly challenged for offside.

That completely flipped the script — at least momentarily.

The Leafs cut the deficit in half at 7:41 when Gregor, who earned a job in training camp on a professional tryout, snapped a shot past Allen’s glove.

Toronto, which advanced in the playoffs for the first time in nearly two decades last spring, tied it on a power play at 14:51 when Matthews fired past the Montreal netminder to become the fifth player in franchise history with 300 goals.

Nylander hit the post before Matthews equalized, but found the scoresheet with 44.5 seconds left in the period when he blasted home a one-timer to give the Leafs their first lead.

Toronto centre Fraser Minten made his NHL debut on the third line between fellow rookie Matthew Knies, who played 10 regular-season and playoff games last spring, and Calle Jarnkrok.

Expected to once again be in tough in an ultra-competitive division, Montreal went ahead 1-0 at 3:01 of the first when Brodie fell at the offensive blue line and Evans raced in alone on a breakaway.

Toronto winger Ryan Reaves, who pointed to his biceps during pre-game introductions, threw a couple of big hits as the period wore on, including one that led the Leafs’ new tough guy to drop the gloves with Arber Xhekaj.

Montreal made it 2-0 just 70 seconds into the second when Newhook finished off a pretty 3-on-2 for his first with Montreal.

Bedard scores 1st NHL goal

Trent Frederic also scored for Boston and reigning Vezina Trophy-winner Linus Ullmark made 20 saves as the Bruins won their season opener a year after setting NHL records for wins and points but then losing in the first round of the playoffs.

Matthew Poitras, the Bruins’ top rookie, assisted on Frederic’s goal for his first career NHL point.

Arvid Soderblom stopped 32 shots for Blackhawks, who beat Pittsburgh on Tuesday, with Bedard registering an assist for his first point. The highly touted rookie scored about five minutes into the game on Wednesday on a wraparound that beat Ullmark and made it 1-0.

Frederic tied it midway through the first and Pastrnak beat Soderblom on his glove side to give Boston the lead on a feed from Milan Lucic seven minutes into the second. Pastrnak made it 3-1 with just under a minute left when Soderblom was pulled for an extra skater.

Bedard also picked up his first penalty — a tripping call in the second period, and gave Blackhawks a scare when he was slow to get up after crashing into the boards skates first with about five minutes left in the third period. He remained in the game.

Boston rookie Johnny Beecher picked up his first penalty when he got in a fight with Jason Dickinson in the third period.

Hurricanes beat Senators

Defencemen Brady Skjei and Jaccob Slavin scored third-period goals that helped the Carolina Hurricanes push past the Ottawa Senators 5-3 in Wednesday night’s season opener for both teams.

Skjei scored shortly after a turnover by Ottawa in its own end, one-timing a pass from Jesper Fast to beat Joonas Korpisalo for the go-ahead score at the 7:51 mark of the third. Slavin followed minutes later with a short-handed goal, this one set up by Jesperi Kotkaniemi taking a chance to push into Ottawa’s end before feeding Slavin.

Slavin slipped the puck over Korpisalo’s right shoulder on the short side at the 11:05 mark to push the lead to 5-3.

That quick burst was the decisive stretch in a third period that turned suddenly wild, first with Carolina scoring 20 seconds into the period — also off an Ottawa turnover in its own end. Then the Senators scored twice in a 35-second span to tie it before Carolina retook control.

Ottawa is trying to make it back to the playoffs for the first time since losing the 2017 Eastern Conference Final in a seven-game series. But Carolina has been to the playoffs five straight years with three straight division titles, then spent the off-season making targeted additions to a long-successful core.

Michael Bunting scored in his first game with Carolina, while Teuvo Teravainen and Jordan Staal also scored goals. Frederik Andersen finished with 27 saves in net.

Mathieu Joseph scored a first-period goal for the Senators, while Parker Kelly and Tim Stutzle teamed up for the two-goal burst that tied the game at 3-all less than 6 minutes into the final period.

Korpisalo — who signed a five-year, $20 million US deal as a free agent in July — finished with 37 saves.

Sabres lock up Owen Power to 7-year extension

First Rasmus Dahlin and now Owen Power.

In the span of three days, the Buffalo Sabres locked up their two star defencemen by signing Power to a seven-year contract extension worth $58.45 million on Wednesday.

The deal was reached a day before the Sabres open their season hosting the New York Rangers. And it follows the Sabres making Dahlin the franchise’s top-paid player by signing him to an eight-year, $88 million deal on Monday.

Both players were No. 1 draft picks, with Dahlin selected in 2018, followed by Power three years later. And both are part of the core of a young, developing Buffalo team with rising expectations.