Jesper Boqvist Leads Florida to NHL Season Opener Win Over Chicago

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Jesper Boqvist Leads Florida to NHL Season Opener Win Over Chicago
Photo: Rebecca Blackwell/AP/TT

Jesper Boqvist became the match winner for the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida when the NHL season began with a 3–2 win over Chicago.

The Swede scored the decisive 3–2 halfway into the last period after Matthew Samoskevich served the puck with a chip right in front of the goal.

That's what we wanted, to take those two points. It was a fantastic evening, to hoist the flag and all that, says Boqvist to nhl.com.

The evening began with the team's second consecutive championship flag being hoisted in the ceiling of Amerant Bank Arena, in front of about 20,000 spectators. The cries of taking home a third echoed between the walls as Aaron Ekblad glided onto the ice with the Stanley Cup buckle in his hands.

NY Rangers shut out

After a somewhat shaky start, the audience could note that the first step towards that dream has been taken. Despite missing both team captain Aleksander Barkov and superstar Matthew Tkachuk due to injuries.

Pittsburgh shut out New York Rangers on the road and won 3–0. In the home team's goal in Madison Square Garden stood Mike Sullivan, who until last season coached Pittsburgh.

Very nice to get such a start, says Pittsburgh's star defender Erik Karlsson to Aftonbladet.

Goalkeeper Artur Silov, who came from Vancouver this summer, kept his first shutout in his career in the NHL's regular season when he saved 25 shots. Justin Brazeau became a two-goal scorer for the away team.

It feels like everyone in here is satisfied with themselves and we should be, because I think we played well as hell from the start and then kept it up for 60 minutes, says Erik Karlsson.

Landeskog played NHL premiere

After a nearly three-year-long struggle with a knee injury, Gabriel Landeskog made a comeback in the spring's playoffs. Now the forward star made his first NHL premiere since 2021 and the season started in the best way for his Colorado.

It became a win with 4–1 away against Los Angeles. The decisive goal came in the second period when the away team scored three goals. In the middle of the third act, the extension came to 4–0 before Los Angeles could reduce in a power play. Adrian Kempe was credited with an assist on Los Angeles' consolation goal.

Landeskog left the ice without points and got just over eleven minutes on the ice.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers

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