Opening Night Results-

Washington was impressive in a 4-1 victory over Boston. Game Story
Blake Wheeler only registered one shot in his 14:02 of ice time. Wheeler did see one shift short-handed, something that rarely happened last year as a rookie.

Rochester native Mark Stuart and former Colorado College defenseman got his first point of the season with an assist on the Bruins only goal. Stuart logged 12:44 of ice time and was a +1. Based on last night's ice time Stuart is the fifth or sixth defenseman on the Bruins.

Toronto looked good, but fell in overtime to Montreal. Game Story
Jason Blake had an assist for the Leafs. He had four shots on goal and was a -1 playing 20:17.

Colorado looked impressive in last night's 5-2 win over San Jose. The Avs started the season with two 18-year old rookies in the lineup. Their first round pick Matt Duchene and second round pick Ryan O'Reilly are both forwards and have been given a great opportunity to open the season. It's worth noting simply because in a month we will hear about WCHA and MIAC teams talking about the difficulty throwing 18 year old kids in the lineup. It speaks to just how good these youngsters are.

Blaine's Matt Hendricks had his first opening night game of his career and played well. He only saw 9:15 of ice time, but had two shots including one great scoring chance. The Avs may be thinking of using him as a special teams player since he spent 2:14 killing penalties for Colorado.

The Sharks looked a bit flat. They were excited to be joined by former Wisconsin Badger Dany Heatly, but it was another former Badger Joel Pavelski who had two assists in the game.

Finally, Calgary defeated Vancouver 5-3. The only notable Minnesota tie to this game is Canuck forward Mason Raymond who played at UMD for a couple of years. Raymond played his first full season in the NHL last season and compiled 11 goals and 12 assists. He will likely improve those numbers this year with increased ice time and responsibility. He had four shots on goal last night and one penalty.