National Sports

VANCOUVER — Kevin Lankinen has made a point of focusing on what's in front of him — whether it's a puck or an opportunity. The goalie stuck to that ideal Friday as he made his debut for the Vancouver Canucks (0-0-2).

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored a third-period hat trick to help the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 in Friday night’s season opener for both teams.

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — Gavin McKenna scored a goal and an assist as the Medicine Hat Tigers downed the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-1 in Western Hockey League play on Friday night.

WINNIPEG — Jake Ceresna credited a collective defensive effort for the Toronto Argonauts’ 14-11 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday.

Friday's Scoreboard CFL Toronto 14 Winnipeg 11 --- NHL Winnipeg 2 Chicago 1, overtime Philadelphia 3 Vancouver 2, shootout Vegas 4 St.

VANCOUVER — Morgan Frost scored in the fifth round of the shootout and the Philadelphia Flyers opened their season with a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.

ST. JOHN, N.B. — Charles-Édward Gravel made 31 saves for the shutout as Saint John downed Sherbrooke 3-0 in Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League action Friday night. Eriks Mateiko, Elliot Dubé and Olivier Groulx tallied for Saint John.

WINNIPEG — Not only did Mark Scheifele win the game for the Winnipeg Jets, he recorded a significant milestone in doing so. The Winnipeg Jets assistant captain scored his 299th career NHL goal with 1:04 left in regulation to tie the game 1-1.

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Konnor Smith scored a hat trick as the Owen Sound Attack downed the Niagara Icedogs 6-4 in Ontario Hockey League play on Friday night. Jake Crawford added two goals for Owen Sound.

WINNIPEG — Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele scored two late goals, the second in overtime, to salvage a 2-1 victory for the Jets over the Chicago Blackhawks.