Farmington Hills’ Megan Keller had an assist and Plymouth’s Kirsten Simms was scoreless in Team USA’s 7-2 win over Canada in the first game of the Rivalry Series at Tech CU Arena in San Jose on Wednesday.
Keller, a defenseman and two-time Olympic medalist, was one of two alternate captains along with Alex Carpenter with Hilary Knight as captain.
Lacey Eden and Abbey Murphy scored two goals each, Laila Edwards and Tesse Janecke added two assists each and goalie Arien Frankel stopped 26-of-28 shots.
The other four games in the Rivalry Series include:
▶ Friday, Nov. 8 at Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah (9 p.m., NHL)
▶ Sunday, Nov. 10 at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho (7 p.m., NHL)
▶ Thursday, Feb. 6 at Scotiabank Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia (6 p.m., NHL)
▶ Saturday, Feb. 8 at Credit Union Place in Summerside, P.E.I. (6 p.m., NHL)
Wednesday’s NHL games
(At) Washington 3, Nashville 2: Alex Ovechkin scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period to reach 861 in his career to beat the struggling Predators.
Ovechkin beat Juuse Saros with 9:35 left in regulation for his eighth goal of the season, tying Connor McMichael for the team lead. Ovechkin is now just 34 goals from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record and is on pace to do it before this season is over.
McMichael and Aliaksei Protas also scored for the Capitals, who have won nine of their first 12 games. Logan Thompson made 33 saves to improve to 6-0-0 in his first six starts with Washington.
The Predators’ woes continued despite 33 saves from Saros and goals by Juuso Parssinen and Steven Stamkos. Nashville has opened 4-8-1 after signing Stamkos, 2023 playoff MVP Jonathan Marchessault and defenseman Brady Skjei in a $100 million-plus free agency spending spree.
Vegas 4, (at) Edmonton 2: Noah Hanifin scored twice and Vegas rallied to beat Edmonton, spoiling Connor McDavid’s return to the lineup.
Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists and Mark Stone also scored for the Golden Knights (9-3-1), who got their first road win of the season and sixth of their last seven overall. Adin Hill stopped 27 shots.
Brett Kulak and Zach Hyman scored for the Oilers, who have lost two straight. Stuart Skinner had 31 saves.
Blues’ Holloway escapes serious injury
St. Louis Blues forward Dylan Holloway was back at the team’s practice facility Wednesday and appeared to escape serious injury a day after being struck in the neck by a puck and leaving the ice on a stretcher against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“I feel good today, feel way better,” Holloway said. “As soon as I got hit, I knew something was a little off, but then I saw we got a two on one, so I couldn’t pass up that opportunity. But as soon as I got to the bench, I was feeling a little woozy, and then I didn’t really remember much from there until I was on the stretcher close to the ambulance.”
Play had been stopped with 1:11 remaining in the first period for a high-sticking penalty that was later overturned when medical personnel for both teams started tending to Holloway before he was taken off the ice.
“I was more kind of in shock, like I wasn’t really too sure what happened and a little nauseous too,” Holloway said. “They gave me a little medication, and once I kind of figured out what really went down, I started kind of calming down and feeling better.”
Holloway was discharged from a St. Louis area hospital around 11 p.m. Tuesday and was told to abstain from physical activity for 24 hours.
Blues coach Drew Bannister said there’s a chance Holloway returns to the lineup in time for the team’s next game Thursday night versus Utah.
“I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves here. We’re only less than 12 hours away from what that injury was, so we’ll kind of take it day to day with him and see how he’s doing tomorrow, but today is a good day for us.”
Holloway’s parents, Bruce and Torrie, were in attendance at the game and accompanied him to the hospital.
“It’s definitely tough knowing that they were watching that,” Holloway said. “But, ultimately, having them there is way better. They’re staying with me, so I was able to talk with them last night, and it’s nice having some company around for sure.”
Holloway said he was getting score updates from his mom as the Blues rallied back from a 1-0 deficit to beat Tampa Bay 3-2.
Makar ‘OK’ after lower-body injury
Avalanche fans can breathe a sigh of relief about Cale Makar.
Jared Bednar said Wednesday morning that Makar is “OK” and could play Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets. Makar did not skate Wednesday at Family Sports Center, but it was an optional practice.
“He’s OK. He’s making the trip,” Bednar said. “Wants to see if he’s feeling good enough to go tomorrow.”
Makar was injured during the second period of a 6-3 win against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night at Ball Arena. He left a shift during a power play with 10:08 remaining in the second period and did not return before the intermission. He took one shift that lasted 29 seconds early in the third period. Makar tested his lower-body injury during a television timeout before leaving the bench area and not returning.
Bednar said after the game that Makar had “tweaked something” and television replays showed the star defenseman shaking his right leg after turning in the corner during that final second-period shift.
Makar leads all NHL defensemen with 23 points this season. He is tied for second in the NHL among all players behind Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon, who has 25 points.
Griffins send Bantle to Toledo
The Grand Rapids Griffins reassigned left wing Carson Bantle to the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye on Wednesday.
Bantle made his AHL debut on Oct. 26 at the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and logged three games and two penalty minutes during his call up.
The 22-year-old spent four seasons in the NCAA with Michigan Tech University (2020-21) and the University of Wisconsin (2021-24). In the college ranks, Bantle had 52 points (33-19—52) in 120 games.
The Onalaska, Wis., native was selected with the 142nd overall pick by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2020 NHL draft.
Wednesday
Red Wings 4, Blackhawks 1
Thursday, Nov. 7
Grand Rapids at Iowa, 11:30a
World U17 Hockey Challenge in Sarnia, Ontario
Quarterfinals, 4 and 7:30
U18 Five Nations in Tabor, Czechia
U.S. vs. Sweden, 3:30
Friday, Nov. 8
Red Wings at Maple Leafs, 7
Grand Rapids at Rockford, 8
Ohio State at Michigan State, 7
Notre Dame at Michigan, 6
Western Michigan at University of Nebraska at Omaha, 8
Lake Superior State at Northern Michigan, 7
Michigan Tech at Ferris State, 7
World U17 Hockey Challenge in Sarnia, Ontario
Semifinals, 4 and 7:30
U18 Five Nations in Tabor, Czechia
U.S. vs. Finland, 7
Michigan women at UMass-Amherst, 3:50
Michigan State women at Aurora University, 9
Saturday, Nov. 9
Rangers at Red Wings, 7
Ohio State at Michigan State, 6
Notre Dame at Michigan, 7
Western Michigan at University of Nebraska at Omaha, 8
Lake Superior State at Northern Michigan, 7
Michigan Tech at Ferris State, 7
World U17 Hockey Challenge in Sarnia, Ontario
Third-place game, 3:30
Championship game, 7:30
U18 Five Nations in Tabor, Czechia
U.S. vs. Czechia, 7
Michigan women at UMass-Amherst, 11:20a
Michigan State women at Aurora University, 6:50
Sunday, Nov. 10
U18 Five Nations in Tabor, Czechia
U.S. vs. Switzerland, 1
Michigan women at University of Rhode Island, 9:30a
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