NHL opening night: Sharks crash the Kings’ party

Canadiens 4, Maple Leafs 3

Canucks 4, Flames 2

On a night when the Kings raised their second championship banner it was the Sharks that ended up stealing the show with a convincing 4-0 win. To put that into perspective, the Kings only lost two games all of last season by at least four goals.

No, it’s not going to erase the sour memories of losing four straight playoff games and then watching the Kings go on to win the Stanley Cup, but if nothing else the Sharks were at least able to come out of the gate strong to start the 2014-15 season with what had to be a satisfying effort after an offseason of turmoil and uncertainty.

If they’re going to end up finishing in the top half of the conference and get back to the playoffs, they’re going to need their big guns up front to carry the load and do pretty much all of the heavy lifting.

The other bad news for the Flyers? They had no answer for Patrice Bergeron.

Dynasties no longer exist in the salary cap NHL, but the Los Angeles Kings are probably as close as you’re going to get these days, and for the second time in three years they were raising a Stanley Cup banner on Wednesday night.

The Kings have done things a little differently during their banner raising ceremonies, including two years ago when they were celebrating their first championship and ruffled a few feathers among hockey traditionalists by taking another victory lap around the ice with the Cup before their season opener.

GIF via @Jeffler

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Dave Nonis seemed to catch a glimpse of himself on television during the season opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night and, well, he did not seem all that interested in being on television.

Honestly, it was almost as if the experience could not end fast enough.

One of the cooler new features in the NHL this season is the referee cam, which gives viewers a look at everything the referee sees on the ice.

It’s going to be great for when they miss a hooking penalty right in front of the net. Like this.

NHL Face-Off is going on in Toronto to celebrate opening night. This cat came prepared:

He’s got his food, his funds, his business attire, his pee-pee blanket ... the whole deal!

This is fake, right? Some sort of cruel joke about how the Maple Leafs stank up the ice last season?

THINK AGAIN!

Spotted at the MBTA stop under TD Garden:

Slow down, Bruins. It’s only Opening Day.

Vancouver and Calgary begin their schedules tonight as the Pacific Division rivals wrap up the NHL’s opening slate of games, and these are two teams that have played amid strange circumstances in recent history.

Some of the destructive elements that sparked the bad blood between the Canucks and Flames are gone, as John Tortorella, former Vancouver coach and hallway invader of the Flames, was fired this offseason. Tortorella lasted one year behind the Canucks bench, which also coincided with Vancouver’s five-season postseason streak being snapped.

All the Kings did after April 22 was win the Stanley Cup.

Los Angeles begins its title defense Wednesday night in a rematch of last year’s playoffs as they host the Sharks on banner night. And again, as has been the case for the past few years, both of these teams figure to be major players in the West.

7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT

Air Canada Centre | Toronto, Ontario, Canada

In the United States: NHL Center Ice, GameCenter Live

In Canada: Sportsnet, TVA Sports

More: Canadiens blog | Maple Leafs blog

Hockey. Is. Back.

This is a pair of teams that, on paper, didn’t really improve much this offseason.