Sweep the NHL with the talk of the night
Updated on 06.45 | Published on 06.40
Newark. The ‘New Connor McDavid’ scored his first goal – and the Buffalo Sabres poured new millions into another young defenseman.
These are some NHL nightly sweeps points.
GOAL OF THE TONIGHT: Connor Bedard’s first NHL goal
Super-promise Connor Bedard produced his first NHL point, in the form of an assist, already in his debut against Pittsburgh yesterday — and in the night’s “back-to-back” fight away against Boston, the first goal came as well.
A ridiculously good looking one.
Five and a half minutes into the first half, he first hit a stunning behind-the-back pass to Ryan Donato, then grabbed a rebound off the backboard — and finally converted the basket in a move so explosive that even reigning Vezina Trophy king Linus Ullmark joined in.
– When I saw the puck behind the cage, I thought “Don’t drop this now.” And when I walked in, there was a lot of joy, for sure. “This moment is what a lot of people in the world dream about, and I feel very lucky to have had this moment,” the 18-year-old tells The Athletic.
However, it couldn’t have been more fun for Hawks this time. Taylor Hall, Bedard’s personal mentor, was injured after a controversial tackle by Brandon Carlo and will be out for a while – and the Bruins turned around and won 3-1.
Shooting king David Pastrnak scored twice and Ullmark stopped 20 shots, while his compatriot on the other side of the ice, Arvid Söderblom, blocked 30 shots.
Night rain money
Just a few days ago, Rasmus Dahlin signed an eight-year contract worth almost 1 billion kroner.
Last night, the Buffalo Sabers opened the wallet to another young running back. The 20-year-old Owen Bauer – who was drafted in 2021 – is receiving $8.35 million per season for seven years – a total of SEK 642 million.
With this deal, the club has five youngsters secured for at least the 2029-2030 season: Dahlen, Bauer, Taj Thompson, Dylan Cousins and Mattias Samuelsson.
NHL veteran of the night
Jordan Staal just turned 35, but the Carolina captain doesn’t seem to be aging at all.
He was impressive as the North Carolina State favorites eventually won their season opener against Ottawa 5-3 at home in Raleigh, scoring one goal on a very close backhand from close range and setting up another.
“I think there was a lot of slowdown in our game tonight, but thanks to our talent we found ways to score enough goals on them,” he says.
The only Swede on the team, Jesper Fast, was also noted for providing an assist.
Night Swedes in the NHL
William Nylander, goal (first Blue-Yellow of the season!) and assist.
John Klingberg, assisted on two goals in Game 1 for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Arvid Söderblom. The young guard lost the season opener with Chicago but stopped 30 shots for Boston.