University of Minnesota Athletics
NHL: First Points of the NHL Season
10/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
If there's one thing to learn from last night's NHL games, it's that you shouldn't leave Gopher Hockey alums open in front of the net.
It's not going to work out well for you.
Blake Wheeler and Thomas Vanek proved that last night in their season openers while Alex Goligoski and Paul Martin both added assists for their teams as NHL action began this week.
Credit Wheeler with the first goal by a former Gopher this season as the alternate captain for Winnipeg was one of six Jets to score in a 6-2 win over Boston.
Vanek wasn't far behind. The forward scored the game-tying goal for the Wild as Minnesota rattled off four goals in five minutes to end up with a come-from-behind 5-4 victory over Colorado.
Erik Johnson came up on the short end of the Wild/Avalanche contest, but the defeseman did walk away with two points including this blast from the point.
Goligoski, meanwhile, picked up an assist in Dallas' 3-0 win over Pittsburgh while credit for the first point by a Gopher Hockey alum this year actually goes to Paul Martin, who tallied an assist in his debut with the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday -- a 5-1 victory over Los Angeles.
