Only one player can go wire-to-wire in the race for the Rocket Richard Trophy, and even he was but a co-leader in goals after the first game.
Nino Niederreiter did come home with three tallies from the two-game “Global Series” in Prague that officially launched the NHL season, featuring the veteran winger’s Nashville Predators and the San Jose Sharks.
In his 12th season and debuting with his fourth team, Niederreiter had one in Friday’s 4-1 win and two in Saturday’s 3-2 victory.
As his career best was the 25 he scored in 2016-17, it’s unlikely the 30-year-old is going to maintain his torrid pace out of the gate.
Meanwhile, the North America portion of the 2022-23 campaign kicks off this evening, when the Tampa Bay Lightning visit the New York Rangers at 7:30 p.m. (EDT) and the Vegas Golden Knights head to Los Angeles for a 10 p.m. (EDT) tangle with the Kings.
Who’s going to be the first player to score a goal on this side of the ocean?
FanDuel has the Rangers’ Chris Kreider and Tampa’s Steven Stamkos as the favourites at +1200.
Kreider was third in league scoring last season with 52 goals, while Stamkos was tied for ninth with 42.
FanDuel also reported that, as of 11 a.m., the top five betting favourites as “Any time Scorers” were Rangers: Mike Zibanejad, Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, Kreider and Artemi Panarin.
– Don Brennan
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