Stars und Sternchen! » -year-old forward’s second goal in four games since

One game into the season isn’t a time for teams to start making playoff plans Adidas Dylan DeMelo Jersey , but the Philadelphia Flyers and Colorado Avalanche are both encouraged by their openers.The Flyers (1-0-0) took it to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night in Las Vegas, beating the reigning Western Conference champions 5-2. It was a complete victory, with Philadelphia killing off all three penalties and getting good goaltending from Brian Elliott.Elliott weathered early pressure from Vegas and allowed his team to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 lead.Article continues below ...“Without him, we might have been down 2-0 or 3-0,” Wayne Simmonds, who had two goals, told Philly.com after the game. ” … He allowed us to get our footing, and the boys put pucks in the back of the net for him.”Now they want to keep that momentum when the play Saturday night in Denver. The Avalanche are coming off their own impressive win, 4-1 over Central Division rival Minnesota on Thursday night.Colorado’s top line led the way, with winger Mikko Rantanen producing a goal and an assist and Nathan MacKinnon scoring what proved to be the winning goal in the second period.“We played really well. We were solid through preseason, but we had a good week of practice and we were feeling good coming into (Thursday) night,” MacKinnon said after the game. “Feeling out the (first) period for myself personally, but I got into it in the second and third. Yeah, we played a good game.”The Avalanche have been stressing the need to start the season strong Adidas Paul Carey Jersey , and so far so good.One of the more impressive performances came from young defenseman Samuel Girard. He logged 20:47 of ice time and showed off his bulked-up frame. Girard added 16 pounds of muscle in the offseason and is up to 178 pounds.“I think he has the potential to be a superstar,” coach Jared Bednar told HockeyBuzz.com on Friday. “The work he put in over the summer to add size and strength … you worry about his quickness. From what we’ve seen so far, he looks better. He knows he’s stronger, he knows he can fight off more checks and not get bumped off pucks as much, he’s more experienced, he’s used to playing against bigger guys.”Colorado was also happy with the play of goaltender Semyon Varlamov. He only faced 21 shots, but he made big saves when the Wild were pressing for a tying goal in the third period. He will get the start Saturday, with backup Philipp Grubauer likely to make his Avalanche debut on Tuesday in Columbus.Varlamov made his eighth opening-night start, which is the most in Avalanche history. It was also his 400th NHL game.Colorado is looking for more production in its secondary lines and saw some encouraging play from Tyson Jost, Colin Wilson and J.T. Compher. Compher had an empty-net goal and Jost picked up an assist.“We had chances and we have to capitalize on some of them, but I thought we were skating really well and were really responsible in the D zone,” Jost told HockeyBuzz.com. “We didn’t give them much off the defensive side of things, so that was a plus.” CHICAGO (AP) — The Calgary Flames might not have been at their best Sunday night, yet they got the breaks they needed.Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm each had a goal and an assist as Calgary edged the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 and moved into first place in the Pacific Division.Derek Ryan also scored and Johnny Gaudreau had two assists for the Flames Adidas Chris Tierney Jersey , who won their second straight game and for the third time in four contests.“We got the two points, right?” coach Bill Peters said. “There’s lots of things we could have done better. Could have managed the puck a little bit and made some decisions.”But the Flames managed to cash in on a flagrant Chicago mistake.Lindholm and Ryan scored power-play goals 1:26 apart in the second period to give Calgary a 3-1 lead after Chicago veteran Chris Kunitz received a major penalty and game misconduct for elbowing Travis Hamonic in the face.“That ended up being the game-winning goal on the power play, so we did what we needed to do,” Peters said. “You’d rather not see a guy take a head shot.”Hamonic said he probably has a broken nose, but the defenseman returned after the hit and played over 22 minutes.“Probably not our best game, to be honest with you, but found a way to get through it,” Hamonic said. “Found a way to win, came up with some big saves and big plays at the end.”Mike Smith made 22 saves, including a few flashy ones in the scoreless third, to preserve the win. While sprawled on his stomach, Smith stopped Artem Anisimov’s point-blank attempt with his right skate with 5:14 left.“A gaping net,” Smith said “I was kind of a fish out of water there, kind of kicking my feet and fortunately got a piece of it.”Jonathan Toews and Dylan Strome scored for struggling Chicago Adidas Gabriel Gagne Jersey , which dropped its fourth straight and lost for the sixth time in seven games. The Blackhawks fell to 3-8-2 under coach Jeremy Colliton, who replaced Joel Quenneville on Nov. 6.Chicago’s Corey Crawford blocked 38 shots.The Blackhawks have led only once in their last seven games — at the end of a 5-4 overtime win at Florida on Nov. 24.“I thought tonight was better, regardless of the result,” Colliton said. “We don’t control the result, we control our performance.”But Colliton couldn’t control the hit by the 39-year-old Kunitz on Hamonic.“It was hard to see and didn’t really get a good look at it,” Colliton said. “It was unfortunate.”In their previous six games, the Blackhawks had been outscored 17-4 in the first period and 31-19 overall. So, escaping the opening period tied 1-1, despite being outshot 18-6 by the Flames, was something of a moral victory for Chicago.“A lot of little things seem to go wrong,” Toews said. “It’s just one of those things we’re stuck in right now, snowballing in the wrong direction.”An opponent scored first against the Blackhawks for the seventh straight time when Monahan knocked in a rebound midway through the opening period for his second goal in two games in third in four. He connected from the left side of the net after Crawford stopped Lindholm from the slot.Toews tied it at 1-all just over three minutes later.Following a faceoff in the Chicago zone, the puck and Toews got by Flames defensemen Noah Hanifin at the left point. Toews raced in alone, cut to the slot and beat Smith with a shot between the pads.Kunitz Adidas Mikkel Boedker Jersey , a healthy scratch in six of the last seven games, elbowed Hamonic in the face along the boards at 7:08 of the second. Hamonic dropped to the ice with a bloody nose and Kunitz was sent off.Lindholm scored 10 seconds later, connecting on a shot from the right circle after taking a cross-ice pass from Gaudreau.Crawford was out of position to the left of the net, but managed to reach across the goalmouth and glove Lindholm’s shot. A video review, however, showed Crawford’s glove was over the goal lineRyan made it 3-1 at 8:44, beating Crawford on the stick side from the top of the right circle.Strome’s power-play goal with 4:15 left in the second cut it to 3-2. It was the 21 Chicago acquired him from Arizona.Crawford passed the puck from the crease to Alex DeBrincat near the Calgary blue line. DeBrincat dished to Strome, who beat Smith from the slot with a backhander into the upper right corner.NOTES:Lindholm has a goal and four assists in his last three games. . Chicago D Erik Gustafsson was a healthy scratch for the first time this season.Also sitting out for Chicago were C John Hayden and LW Andreas Martinsen. . Calgary D Juuso Valimaki (lower body) missed his third game and F Michael Frolik (lower body) and D Michael Stone (on IR, blood clot in arm) each missed their fifth.UP NEXTFlames:At Columbus on Tuesday.Blackhawks:At Anaheim on Wednesday.