VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Morgan Frost scored the deciding goal in the fifth round of the NHL shootout as the Philadelphia Flyers opened their season with a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.
Nikita Kucherov had a third-period hat trick to help the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1.
Tyson Forester and Cam York scored in regulation for the Flyers, and Samuel Ersson finished with 24 saves. Teddy Blueger and Nils Hoglander scored for the Canucks, and Kevin Lankinen made 30 saves in his Vancouver debut.
It marked the second straight game where the Canucks lost in extra time after holding a lead heading into the third period.
Travis Konecny also scored int he shootout for Philadelphia, and Jake DeBrusk tallied for Vancouver, AP reported.
Canucks: Vancouver lost a big player less than two minutes into the game when defenseman Tyler Myers went down after hitting Joel Farabee along the boards.
Myers spent several minutes on the ice being looked at by trainers before he was helped up and went directly to the locker room, favoring his right leg. He did not return.
Flyers: Highly touted prospect Matvei Michkov made some big moves in his NHL debut. The 19-year-old Russian right wing tried to beat Lankinen with backwards, between-the-legs shot in front of the net on a third-period power play. The Flyers selected Michkov seventh overall in the 2023 draft.
York put a shot up and under the crossbar 2:48 into the third, but the puck pinged back out and play continued for several moments before the horn sounded. His goal tied the score at 2-2.
Philadelphia kept Vancouver´s star-studded power play in check, killing off all five penalties they faced and not allowing a single shot on the final three.
Kucherov, meanwhile, beat goaltender Frederick Andersen for the go-ahead power-play goal with a low slap shot on the glove side with 8:54 left in the third.
The Lightning winger then iced the game with empty-net goals with 2:08 and 16 seconds left. Brayden Point also scored a power-play goal for the Lightning to open the scoring. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 20 saves.
Captain Jordan Staal scored a first-period goal for Carolina by tapping in an around-the-net feed from William Carrier, but the Hurricanes were unable to beat Vasilevskiy again.
Andersen finished with 19 saves for Carolina. The opener came amid concerns for storm damage back home, with captain Victor Hedman saying that the players “owe it to everyone that we put our best foot forward.”
Kucherov pushed the Lightning ahead for good, taking a feed from Hedman to blast a one-timer on the right side past Andersen just six seconds into the power play.
The Hurricanes spent too much time in the penalty box for a tightly-contested game. They were sent to the box six times, with the Lightning twice scoring in the first 15 seconds of the man advantage after faceoff wins by Nick Paul.
The teams were originally slated to play again in Florida, though that game was postponed due to Milton recovery. Both teams now return to action Tuesday, with Carolina hosting New Jersey and Tampa Bay hosting Vancouver.
Jack Eichel, Ivan Barbashev and Shea Theodore each had a goal and an assist to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues.
Nicolas Roy, playing in his 300th career game, scored the other Golden Knights goal, and Mark Stone had two assists. Adin Hill made 19 saves.
Pavel Buchnevich totaled two goals and an assist for the Blues – who lost for the first time this season after winning their first two – and Robert Thomas had the other goal. Jordan Kyrou recorded two assists, and Jordan Binnington made 24 stops.
