NHL Opening Day Recap

The highly anticipated beginning of the 2023-24 NHL season finally arrived Tuesday night with a tripleheader. Here’s a brief recap of what went down.

Lightning vs. Predators

Tampa Bay scored first with a goal from Nikita Kucherov. The Predators tied the game with about four minutes left in the 2nd period, 1-1.

Only eleven seconds into the 3rd, Nashville’s Juuso Parssinen scored.

About two minutes later, Tampa Bay tied it 2-2. Brandon Hagel then scored on the penalty shot. Tampa took the lead 3-2.

The game wasn’t over yet, however, as Thomas Novak score for the Predators. The Lightning took the lead again as Nicholas Paul scored his 2nd goal of the night.

Nikita Kucherov sealed the game for Tampa on an empty-net goal. Tampa Bay won 5-3.

Goooood to be back. ⚡️

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) October 11, 2023

Blackhawks vs. Penguins

Connor Bedard made his NHL debut Tuesday night at only 18 years old. As the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, there are high expectations for his career, being called a generational talent by many. He got to face off against his childhood idol Sydney Crosby in his first game.

The Hawks found themselves down 0-2 in the 2nd period, as the Penguins got on the board early with goals from Bryan Rust and Sydney Crosby.

That was Crosby’s 551 goal in his 18th year in the NHL. Ryan Donato of the Blackhawks scored to make it 1-2, while Connor picked up his first NHL point.

Connor’s first NHL point 🥹🎙️ pic.twitter.com/sv3lXwKEbQ

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 11, 2023

Cole Guttman scored to tie it up 2-2 with about 10 minutes left in the 3rd. Jason Dickinson then took the lead for the Hawks with about 4:30 left.

The Hawks sealed the game with one more goal in the 3rd on a Penguin’s empty net, winning 4-2. The Blackhawks got the win for Bedard’s NHL debut, living up to his off-season hype and expectations.

Kraken vs. Golden Knights

The reigning Stanley Cup Champion Golden Knights started their quest to repeat Tuesday night in only their seventh season as an NHL team. They celebrated the championship by raising a banner into the rafters.

https://twitter.com/GoldenKnights/status/1711944852760666394

Chandler Stephenson scored first about seven minutes in to get the Knights off to a fast start.

Reigning Playoff MVP Jonathan Marchessault, also scored in the 1st, making it 2-0 Vegas. The Conn Smythe Trophy winner scored 13 goals in the playoffs.

Ivan Barbashev scored only about one minute into the 2nd period. Vegas took a 3-0 lead.

The Kraken got on the board with a goal from Jared McCann, but the Golden Knights were too much to handle for the Kraken, as they put the game out of Seattle’s reach with a goal from Jack Eichel. The final score was 4-1 Golden Knights.

This makes it five seasons in a row that Vegas has won its opening game, which is the longest active streak in the NHL.