Sept. 22: NHL Preseason Roundup

Noah Dobson made his debut for the Montreal Canadiens, a 2-1 shootout win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Bell Centre in Montreal on Monday.

Dobson had five shots on goal in 24:16 of ice time.

The 25-year-old defenseman signed an eight-year, $76 million contract ($9.5 million average annual value) on June 27 and was then traded to Montreal from the New York Islanders, where he spent his first six NHL seasons.

Owen Beck scored for the Canadiens, and Sam Montembeault stopped 20 of 21 shots. Jacob Fowler replaced him midway through the second period and stopped all 13 shots he faced.

Tristan Broz scored for the Penguins. Joel Blomqvist made 11 saves before being replaced midway through the second period by Sergei Murashov, who made 19 saves.

Each team was playing its preseason opener.

Broz gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead on the power play at 10:26 of the first period, finishing a give-and-go with Valtteri Puustinen.

Beck tied it 1-1 at 2:36 of the third period, chipping in a loose puck over a sprawling Murashov during a scramble in front.

Sean Farrell and Oliver Kapanen scored in the shootout for Montreal to secure the victory.

Sabres 4, Blue Jackets 0: Alexandar Georgiev and Devon Levi combined for the shutout for the Buffalo Sabres in their preseason opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

Georgiev, who signed a one-year contract with Buffalo on Sept. 11, made 16 saves in two periods in his Sabres debut. Levi stopped six shots in relief.

Elvis Merzlikins allowed two goals on 10 shots before Jet Greaves came on midway through the second period to make 23 saves for the Blue Jackets (1-1-0).

Bowen Byram gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 4:51 of the second period.

Beck Malenstyn made it 2-0 at 8:25 when he put in the rebound of Owen Power’s shot. Michael Kesselring had the secondary assist in his Buffalo debut.

Jack Quinn scored an empty-net goal at 15:01 of the third period to make it 3-0. Josh Doan had the secondary assist in his Sabres debut. Doan and Kesselring were traded to the Sabres from the Utah Mammoth on June 26 for JJ Peterka.

Konsta Helenius scored at 19:11 for the 4-0 final.

Lightning 2, Hurricanes 1: Mitchell Chaffee had a goal and an assist for the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Carolina Hurricanes in the preseason opener for each team at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Emil Lilleberg scored, and Conor Geekie had two assists for the Lightning. Jonas Johansson stopped 30 of 31 shots.

Logan Stankoven scored, and Cayden Primeau made 17 saves on 19 shots in his debut for the Hurricanes. The 26-year-old was traded to Carolina by Montreal on June 30 for a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

Lilleberg gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead with one second remaining in the first period after scoring on a snap shot from the high slot.

Chaffee extended it to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 6:08 of the second period, redirecting J.J. Moser’s shot near the blue line.

Stankoven cut it to 2-1 on the power play at 15:52 of the third period on a deflection of Kevin Labanc’s shot from above the right face-off circle.

Ducks 6, Mammoth 1: Chris Kreider and Mikael Granlund each made his debut for the Anaheim Ducks against the Utah Mammoth at Honda Center in Anaheim.

Kreider, who was traded to the Ducks by the New York Rangers on June 12, had no shots on goal in 16:39 of ice time. Granlund had an assist in 18:36 his first game after signing a three-year contract with Anaheim on July 1.

Matthew Phillips scored twice, Drew Helleson had a goal and two assists, Jackson LaCombe had three assists, and Beckett Sennecke, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, also scored for the Ducks.

Petr Mrazek made 25 saves in his first game with Anaheim after being acquired in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings on June 28.

Dylan Guenther scored, and Karel Vejmelka stopped 14 of 17 shots in two periods for the Mammoth. Jaxson Stauber allowed three goals on 10 shots in relief.

Helleson gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 17:05 of the first period on a wrist shot from the left circle off a feed from Troy Terry, who had two assists.

Phillips extended it to 2-0 at 4:10 of the second period, redirecting Helleson’s pass at the left post. Sennecke then scored 1:08 later to make it 3-0 at 5:18 after beating Vejmelka blocker side on the rush.

Guenther cut it to 3-1 at 14:48 when he skated in from the right circle and scored on the backhand.

Ryan Strome’s power-play goal made it 4-1 at 5:33 of the third period before Ross Johnston pushed it to 5-1 at 9:18.

Phillips scored his second goal of the game off an assist from Granlund on the rush at 14:27 for the 6-1 final.