Chris Kreider scored his second power-play goal of the night with just 1:27 remaining, lifting the Anaheim Ducks to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
Cutter Gauthier and Drew Helleson also found the net, while goaltender Lukas Dostal made 23 saves, News.Az reports, citing ESPN.
The win extends Anaheim’s streak in home openers to 10 games, tying Boston and Toronto for the NHL’s longest active streak.
Kreider, who also had an assist, is off to an outstanding start with four goals in three games for the Ducks after the Rangers traded their longtime left winger last June to create cap space.
Kreider scored Anaheim’s first goal off a slick pass from Leo Carlsson in the first period, and he won it for the Ducks just seven seconds after Parker Wotherspoon went to the penalty box for shooting the puck over the glass.
Justin Brazeau, Rickard Rakell and Anthony Mantha scored and Tristan Jarry stopped 17 shots as Pittsburgh opened a three-game California trip.
Sidney Crosby had two assists to pass Steve Yzerman, one of his boyhood idols, for the ninth-most in NHL history.
The Ducks had the largest crowd in franchise history for the home debut of coach Joel Quenneville, who got loud cheers when introduced. The second-winningest coach in NHL history opened his Ducks tenure with a loss and a win on the road last week.
Brazeau extended his impressive start to his Penguins tenure just 63 seconds after the opening faceoff, redirecting Ryan Shea’s point shot for his fourth goal in four games. Evgeni Malkin also got his sixth assist of the season.
Rakell redirected another shot by Shea for his first career goal against the Ducks, who drafted him in 2011. He spent parts of 10 NHL seasons in Anaheim.
Gauthier tied it late in the first with a one-timer set up by Pavel Mintyukov.
Up next
Penguins: Visit Kings on Thursday.
Ducks: Host Hurricanes on Thursday.