NHL: Montreal Canadiens maintain their perfect start to the season

Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau scored the only goal in the shootout as the Montreal Canadiens maintained their perfect start to the NHL season after edging to a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers looked set to bring Montreal back down to earth as they went three goals up - through Michael Raffl and two from Wayne Simmonds - in the first two periods.

But Andrei Markov, Tomas Plekanec and Alex Galchenyuk all struck in the third period to send the game to overtime and when that failed to separate the teams, Parenteau scored in the shootout to give the Canadiens their third win from three matches this season.

Reigning Stanley Cup champions the Los Angeles Kings squandered a two-goal lead as they went down 3-2 to the Arizona Coyotes.

It was a second successive defeat for the Kings, who went ahead through Tanner Pearson and Jeff Carter only for Antoine Vermette and Mikkel Boedker to level matters before Oliver Ekman-Larrson struck in the final few seconds of overtime to give the Coyotes victory.

Braden Holtby stopped 29 shots in a shutout while two goals from Alex Ovechkin and further strikes from Mike Green and Joel Ward lifted the Washington Capitals to a 4-0 win over the Boston Bruins.

Penguins prevail

Sidney Crosby was the standout player for Pittsburgh as a goal and two assists helped the Penguins to a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs while Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp and Daniel Carcillo all scored in the third period as the Chicago Blackhawks claimed a 6-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Ryan Getzlaf's two goals, including the winner in the final minute, helped the Anaheim Ducks squeeze past the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 and Damon Severson scored his first NHL goal in the the New Jersey Devils' 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers.

Jiri Tlusty's hat-trick was in vain as the Carolina Hurricances were narrowly beaten 4-3 by the New York Islanders, while Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Tomas Hertl and Patrick Marleau were all on-target as the San Jose Sharks claimed their second straight shutout with a 3-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets.

The Vancouver Canucks claimed a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers after a shootout, the Minnesota Wild comfortably beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-0 and the Nashville Predators ran out 4-1 winners over the Dallas Stars.

The St Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames by the same scoreline, the Columbus Blue Jackets eased to a 5-2 win over the New York Rangers, while the Ottawa Senators needed a shootout to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2.