The Vancouver Canucks beat Montreal 5-1 on Tuesday to hand the Canadiens their first loss of the season.

Montreal (9-1-0) had set an NHL record with nine straight regulation wins to start the season and was one victory from tying the 1993-94 Maple Leafs and the 2006-07 Sabres for the best start in league history, at 10-0.

Brandon Dubinsky scored a tie-breaking goal early in the third period and the Blue Jackets rallied to beat the Avs 4-3 on Saturday night for their first win in nine games this season, according to an ESPN.com report.

Flyers general manager Ron Hextall says forward Michael Raffl is fine after being helped to the locker room in the second period of a 3-2 shootout win over the Rangers on Saturday night.

Raffl took an elbow to the head from Rangers center Jarret Stoll and suffered an upper-body injury.

The Canadiens were outshot 52-27 by the Maple Leafs on Saturday night but Carey Price's stellar goaltending and three special teams goals lifted Montreal to a 5-3 victory that extended its season-opening winning streak to nine games.

The Canadiens are a victory away from tying the NHL record set by the Maple Leafs in 1993-94 and matched by Buffalo in 2006-07. Their next game is Tuesday at Vancouver.

"You have to give (the Leafs) credit, they came out hard," defenseman P.K. Subban said.

Andrei Markov crossed the 500-point mark with a career-best five points, and the Canadiens beat the Sabres 7-2 on Friday night to run their season-opening winning streak to eight games.

"Maybe, I just got lucky today," Markov said after finishing with a goal and four assists. "It's great to have eight wins, but tomorrow is another challenge."

The Canadiens are the second team in NHL history to begin a season with eight straight wins, all in regulation, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Sabres did it in 1975-76.

Montreal is two victories away from matching the NHL record set by the Maple Leafs in 1993-94 and matched by the Sabres in 2006-07

Nicklas Backstrom scored twice and Alex Ovechkin added a goal and an assist as the Capitals beat the Flames 6-2 on Tuesday night.

Ovechkin gave the Capitals the lead for good 30 seconds into the second period. His long shot was stopped by Flames goalie Karri Ramo, but mishandled, allowing the Washington captain to poke in the rebound and put Washington ahead 2-1. It was Ovechkin's fourth goal of the season and 900th career point.

Anton Khudobin rebounded from a rough outing with 34 saves, and the Ducks got goals from Cam Fowler, Rickard Rakell, and Mike Santorelli to beat the Wild 4-1 on Sunday night for their first win of the season, according to an ESPN.com report.

The Capitals bounced back from a sub par performance with solid effort against the Blackhawks, who are having difficulty scoring as they begin defense of their Stanley Cup title.

Braden Holtby stopped 26 shots, Alex Ovechkin contributed a goal in his return and the Capitals cruised to a 4-1 win Thursday night.

Jason Spezza took the spotlight from star rookie Connor McDavid on Tuesday night.

Spezza scored three goals, including the tiebreaker late in the third period, and the Stars spoiled McDavid's first NHL goal with a 4-2 win over the Oilers.

The TD Garden in Boston has not been a kind place to play for Lightning star Steven Stamkos.

Not only did he and the Lightning lose Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Bruins in 2011, but Stamkos also had his career slightly altered when he broke his right leg here on Nov. 12, 2013

Stamkos tweaked those misfortunes during Monday's win over the Bruins by recording his 500th career NHL point.