One game into the season isn’t a time for teams to start making playoff plans David Perron Jersey Womens , but the Philadelphia Flyers and Colorado Avalanche are both encouraged by their openers.The Flyers (1-0-0) took it to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night in Las Vegas, beating the reigning Western Conference champions 5-2. It was a complete victory, with Philadelphia killing off all three penalties and getting good goaltending from Brian Elliott.Elliott weathered early pressure from Vegas and allowed his team to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 lead.Article continues below ...“Without him, we might have been down 2-0 or 3-0,” Wayne Simmonds, who had two goals, told Philly.com after the game. ” … He allowed us to get our footing, and the boys put pucks in the back of the net for him.”Now they want to keep that momentum when the play Saturday night in Denver. The Avalanche are coming off their own impressive win, 4-1 over Central Division rival Minnesota on Thursday night.Colorado’s top line led the way, with winger Mikko Rantanen producing a goal and an assist and Nathan MacKinnon scoring what proved to be the winning goal in the second period.“We played really well. We were solid through preseason Jimmy Hayes Jersey Womens , but we had a good week of practice and we were feeling good coming into (Thursday) night,” MacKinnon said after the game. “Feeling out the (first) period for myself personally, but I got into it in the second and third. Yeah, we played a good game.”The Avalanche have been stressing the need to start the season strong, and so far so good.One of the more impressive performances came from young defenseman Samuel Girard. He logged 20:47 of ice time and showed off his bulked-up frame. Girard added 16 pounds of muscle in the offseason and is up to 178 pounds.“I think he has the potential to be a superstar,” coach Jared Bednar told HockeyBuzz.com on Friday. “The work he put in over the summer to add size and strength … you worry about his quickness. From what we’ve seen so far, he looks better. He knows he’s stronger, he knows he can fight off more checks and not get bumped off pucks as much, he’s more experienced, he’s used to playing against bigger guys.”Colorado was also happy with the play of goaltender Semyon Varlamov. He only faced 21 shots Chris Bigras Jersey Womens , but he made big saves when the Wild were pressing for a tying goal in the third period. He will get the start Saturday, with backup Philipp Grubauer likely to make his Avalanche debut on Tuesday in Columbus.Varlamov made his eighth opening-night start, which is the most in Avalanche history. It was also his 400th NHL game.Colorado is looking for more production in its secondary lines and saw some encouraging play from Tyson Jost, Colin Wilson and J.T. Compher. Compher had an empty-net goal and Jost picked up an assist.“We had chances and we have to capitalize on some of them, but I thought we were skating really well and were really responsible in the D zone,” Jost told HockeyBuzz.com. “We didn’t give them much off the defensive side of things, so that was a plus.” WASHINGTON (AP) The plan was simple: Score early against a weary opponent and ride the momentum the rest of the way.The Tampa Bay Lightning carried out the strategy perfectly, turning a big first period into a huge 4-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night in a showdown between division leaders in the Eastern Conference.Washington had played in Buffalo one day earlier, and that played significantly into the game-plan of Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper.Article continues below ...”The big thing for us is, we knew they played (Monday). The key for that is you’ve got to get the lead Jack Johnson Jersey Womens ,” Cooper said.Brayden Point sandwiched two goals around a tally by Chris Kunitz to make it 3-0 after the first period. That proved to be enough of a cushion for goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who stopped 35 shots to earn his NHL-leading 35th win.”A good first period, and then we kind of hung on,” Point said.After Alex Ovechkin notched his NHL-high 36th goal for Washington to make it 3-2 at 11:02 of the third, Nikita Kucherov clinched it with a breakaway goal with 7:02 remaining.The victory improved Tampa Bay’s NHL-best record to 40-17-3 and kept the Lightning ahead of surging Boston in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference.”I liked a lot what happened in the first period. I thought we deserved to have a 3-0 lead,” Cooper said. ”There are a lot of positives to take out of the game, especially the fact that we got two points.”Lars Eller scored a power-play goal for the Capitals, who lead Pittsburgh by one point in the Metropolitan Division.Coach Barry Trotz was encouraged by his team’s play over the last 40 minutes, but lamented Washington’s miscues in the early-going.”We made three mistakes and they got all three of them,” Trotz said. ”They didn’t have very many shots … but they had three goals and we dug ourselves a hole.”Seeking to end a five-game losing streak in Washington Brett Howden Jersey Womens , Tampa Bay took control early behind Point, a 21-year-old playing in his second NHL season. After Point beat Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby with a power-play goal at 2:30, Kunitz scored on a deflection at 16:00 before Point split two defenders and delivered a backhander for his 23rd goal of the season at 17:52.””That’s how we wanted to start off the game,” Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said.It was the fifth career two-goal game for Point, who’s still seeking his first hat trick.”You think about it for sure, but the win is the most important thing,” he said.The All-Star center did, however, extend his point-scoring streak to five games.Eller scored his 12th goal of the season at 9:32 of the second period, but Vasilevskiy stiffened after that.”The goaltenders in this league are erasers Paul Carey Jersey Womens ,” Trotz said. ”Tonight, their eraser was really good, and so we take the loss.”NOTES: Kucherov leads Tampa Bay with 32 goals and 78 points. … One day after being obtained in trade with Chicago, Capitals D Michal Kempny participated in pre-game warmups but was scratched. … Holtby fell to 9-3-2 lifetime against Tampa Bay. … The Lightning won the season series 2-1. … Ovechkin is now six goals short of 600 for his career. He’s scored 43 against Tampa Bay in 65 games. … Washington fell to 20-9-2 at home but had its 395th consecutive sellout.UP NEXTLightning: At Ottawa on Thursday night, the second of three straight road games.Capitals: At Florida on Thursday night. Series tied 1-1, with each team winning on road.—