WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Jack Eichel broke a tie on a power play with 4:36 left and the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 for their fifth straight victory to open the season.
The Golden Knights are the first reigning champion to open a season with five straight wins since the 1985-86 Edmonton Oilers.
“Good teams find a way to win and we found a way to win,” Eichel said according to AP. “Obviously, we´ll take the two points tonight.”
Andrew Copp and Alex DeBrincat each scored twice, Ville Husso made 30 saves and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3.
“We have a lot of depth here and you can see that every line can score,” said DeBrincat, one of the many players acquired by Detroit desperately hoping to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016. “We just have so many options that it is hard for anyone to cover all of them.”
Copp scored in a three-goal second period to give Detroit a 4-1 lead, but Pittsburgh pulled within a goal midway through the third.
“I loved the pushback,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.
Copp sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 1:32 to go. DeBrincat also took advantage of the Penguins pulling their goaltender to add an extra skater, restoring the Red Wings’ three-goal lead 21 seconds later.
DeBrincat has five goals and eight in his first four games with the franchise he grew up rooting for in suburban Detroit.
“I have to give a lot of credit to my teammates,” DeBrincat said according to AP.
Evgeni Malkin gave the Penguins their only lead in the opening minute, when he extended his goals streak to three games. Tristan Jarry stopped 23 shots.
Ben Chiarot, David Perron and Copp scored in the second period.
“We just lost ourselves for 6 or 7 minutes,” Sullivan said.
Erik Karlsson cut Pittsburgh’s deficit to two goals early in the third period. Shortly thereafter, Copp was given a penalty shot and he couldn’t get it past Jarry.
Husso kept the two-goal lead midway through the third by stopping shots by Rickard Rakell and Karlsson.
The Red Wings needed the cushion because Bryan Rust redirected a shot to make it 4-3 with 6:57 left.
“They got two easy shots through traffic, and after that we were back on our heels,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said.
Detroit has won three in a row since losing the opener by a goal at New Jersey, showing some promising signs after general manager Steve Yzerman made a series of signings and trades to bolster the team’s chances.
“I think they´ve got a good team,” Sullivan said. “Some of their young players are starting to emerge and they´ve added some veteran guys that are impactful players, like DeBrincat. They´re a tough opponent. They´ve got a lot of speed in their lineup.”
Pittsburgh had won two straight games since dropping its opening game by two goals against Chicago.
Elsewhere, Josh Norris scored a pair of goals in his season debut, leading the Ottawa Senators to a 6-1 win over the Washington Capitals.
Norris had missed the first three games of the regular season and didn´t play in the preseason, but looked solid in his return.
The road back to the game has been a difficult one for the 24-year-old Norris. He played just eight games last season because of shoulder problems that started early in the season and eventually underwent surgery in January.
