
WASHINGTON (AP) — David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists and Jeremy Swayman made 35 saves in the Boston Bruins’ 3-1 victory over Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
Pastrnak scored in the second period and Elias Lindholm added a goal at 7:41 of the third — just 38 seconds after Tom Wilson had tied it at 1 for Washington.
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Morgan Geekie scored into an empty net with 57.1 seconds remaining.
The Bruins made Marco Sturm a winner in his first game as coach, killing off all five of Washington’s power plays. That included a two-man advantage that lasted nearly a minute in the second.
The 40-year-old Ovechkin is in the final year of his contract, and if this was his last season opener, at least one goal-scoring record will elude him. He has 13 goals in openers, but Michel Goulet and Dino Ciccarelli both had 14.
After breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record late last season, Ovechkin entered 2025-26 with 897 career goals. He had three shots on goal Wednesday but couldn’t beat Swayman. After dealing with a preseason injury last month, Ovechkin occasionally came off the ice during power plays instead of staying on with both units.
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Swayman stopped Nic Dowd on a semi-breakaway in the second after a poor line change by Boston. Then Washington goalie Logan Thompson returned the favor with a save on Viktor Arvidsson’s breakaway. Pastrnak opened the scoring when his wrist shot from just inside the blue line made it through traffic and past Thompson.
Wilson tied it from just to the right of the slot, but after a holding penalty on Washington’s John Carlson, Lindholm lifted a backhand over Thompson to put Boston back ahead.
MAPLE LEAFS 5, CANADIENS 2
TORONTO (AP) — Morgan Rielly broke a tie at 9:02 of the third period and Toronto beat Montreal in the regular-season opener for both teams.
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Matthew Knies chipped the puck to Rielly in the slot and he fired a wrist shot past goalie Sam Montembeault into the top right corner. Auston Matthews and William Nylander added empty-netters, with Nylander finishing with three points.
Bobby McMann and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for Toronto, and Anthony Stolarz stopped 29 shots. Rielly, John Tavares and Steven Lorentz also had two points.
Oliver Kapanen scored his first NHL goal for Montreal. Zac Boldujc added a goal, and Montembeault made 22 saves.
McMann scored for Toronto on a tip a minute into the game. Kapanen tied it on short-handed break at 5:39 of the first, beating Stolarz with a wrist shot to the far side.
Boldujc gave Montreal the lead at 1:30 of the second on a backhander off a rebound. Jarnkrok countered for Toronto at 5:40 of the period with a wrist shot while fighting off a defender.
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