The three-game sweep starts in Washington, DC where the Caps hosted the San Jose Sharks.
The season is still early and while there is plenty of time for things to shake out differently from the early results, Martin Jones made 31 saves in shutting out the Caps, 5-0, Tuesday.
“You can’t really replace guys like that, but for us, we were just worried about our game,” Jones said. “It didn’t really matter who was in the lineup. I thought we did a really good job executing, and when we did get the lead, we were really strong defensively.”
Joe Thornton, Mike Brown, Tomas Hertl, Matt Nieto and Chris Tierney all scored for the Sharks in the win.
“They have a lot of depth, and the biggest mistake we could make was play differently because those guys aren’t here,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. “We have a lot of respect for the depth on that team, and I really thought the second part of the game they pushed us really hard once we had the 3-0 lead.”
Braden Holtby made 27 stops in the loss.
“We wanted to make plays and play slow, but they don’t allow you to because they track back really hard,” Caps coach Barry Trotz said. “You have to get pucks behind them, and I think probably after the — it was the third goal — I called timeout halfway through the game. The second half we were better. We weren’t great, but we were better. We were starting to understand that the way we get our identity is that if there is a play, make the play.”
In Dallas, the Stars benefitted from a hat trick from Jason Spezza in a 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
Rookie Connor McDavid scored his first NHL goal in the loss.
“I was excited but a lot of it was relief,” McDavid said. “It’s just the pressure out there these days. It felt good.”
There’s a lot more pressure out there coming if the Oilers don’t start winning. Responding to pressure is the name of the game.
Kari Lehtonen made 26 saves for the Stars.
“We made one poor decision that led to a breakaway and Lehtonen gave us was probably the biggest play of the night,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said.
Spezza’s hat trick was completed with empty-netter.
“I thought we played a good game for 60 minutes. They get two tip-in goals and we were in pretty good position on them. I think we talked about just sticking with it,” Spezza said. “If we make it 3-0, game’s probably over. They did a good job of hanging around and made it a tough game.”
Anders Nilsson was busy in the Oilers net making 48 saves on the night.
“To be as close as we were at the end was a little bit misleading I think, anybody that sat and watched that knows that we weren’t within a goal by any means, fortunate to be there at the end,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said.
In Pittsburgh, the visiting Montreal Canadiens took a 3-2 win over the winless Penguins.
The Habs are now 4-0-0 on the season.
Tomas Fleischmann’s goal early in the third period was the difference in the game.
“I’m glad that he scored a big one and gave us the winning goal,” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. “When you’re looking down the road trip, we got contributions from every line and defenseman, and got some key saves from the goalies. So it’s a good team effort all the way around.”
Carey Price had 31 saves in the win.
“Every game has been so different, it really has been,” Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. “Players have been in and out in certain games, and I thought tonight for, I’d say, 80 percent of the game, I liked the contribution from our best players. There were some moments there were I thought we let our guard down, but in the second period, we had a lot of momentum.”
The Pens are now 0-3-0 on the young season.
“I think certain parts [of the game were positive],” the Pens Sidney Crosby said. “Definitely the second, I think we did a really good job of generating chances. We had a lot of in-zone time and momentum there. Obviously, third period they found another level. I thought that we didn’t quite get to the level we were in the second, but still had our fair share of chances.
“Nobody likes to lose, so I think it’s OK to be upset over that, but we definitely have to find ways to be better.”
Max Pacioretty had two goals for the Habs.
“I talked earlier about needing everybody to touch the puck [on the power play] and getting guys moving,” Pacioretty said. “And I think, before I scored there, we had all five guys touch the puck and we were moving it quickly and were moving to get open for each other. And at the end of the day, it’s a pretty simple shot with a great screen in front by [Brendan Gallagher], but we created that space by everyone moving the puck and moving themselves as well.”
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