Brian Elliott didn't get the chance to face his former team Saturday night.

The Calgary Flames opted to start Chad Johnson over Elliott versus the St. Louis Blues.

Elliott has allowed 14 goals in his three starts - all losses - with a 4.72 GAA and .839 save percentage.

The Flames acquired the veteran from the Blues at the draft in June.

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SUNRISE, Fla. - Shane Harper scored the first two goals of his NHL career to lift the Florida Panthers over the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Saturday night.

Vincent Trocheck and Jonathan Marchessault each had a goal and an assist and Aaron Ekblad also scored a goal for the Panthers while Roberto Luongo made 26 saves.

Matt Duchene and Blake Comeau scored goals for the Avalanche. Semyon Varlamov made 33 stops.

The Panthers blew the game open in the third period as they scored three of four goals in a span of 2:26.

Ahead 2-1, Marchessault skated in on a breakaway and fired the puck between the pads of Varlamov at 4:30 to make the score 3-1. Harper followed with his second goal of the game on a one-timer from in front to stretch the lead to 4-1.

Duchene poked in a rebound past Luongo 16 seconds later to close the gap to 4-2.

Trocheck slid a loose puck into the net at 6:56 to make the score 5-2.

The Panthers took 17 shots and scored two goals in the second period.

Florida had a 2-1 lead on the goal by Harper with 2:58 left in the second. Greg McKegg stole the puck from Duchene in the neutral zone and brought it down the left side. McKegg passed to Harper in front and he poked the puck over the glove of Varmalov for his first goal.

Trailing 1-0, the Panthers evened the score at 1-all on the power-play when Ekblad took a feed from Jagr low in the left circle and one-timed the puck past Varlamov at 1:30. Ekblad recorded his first point of the season.

Comeau's power-play goal gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 7:38 of the first. Tyson Barrie shot from the blue line and Comeau tipped the puck past Luongo on the glove side. The goal was the first the Panthers have allowed on the power-play in nine opportunities.

A coach's challenge by Colorado overturned a goal by Jason Demers midway through the first. His slapper got past Varlamov but the officials ruled Trocheck was offsides before the shot.

Notes: Avalanche C John Mitchell missed the game with a lower-body injury. ... Panthers LW Jussi Jokinen missed the game with a knee injury. ... The Panthers entered the game as the only team in the NHL yet to allow a power-play goal but the streak ended in the first period.

UP NEXT:

Avalanche: Host Winnipeg Jets on Friday.

Panthers: Visit Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

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Nothing was going to stop Torrey Mitchell from earning his third goal of the season.

Despite catching a firm high stick to the face Saturday, the Montreal Canadiens center managed to chip the puck past Anton Khudobin on the way down, capping off a 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins.

Always stick with the play, folks.

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Jimmy Vesey put one past the Vezina Trophy winner in impressive fashion Saturday night.

The New York Rangers rookie took a Mats Zuccarello feed, blew past Washington Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner, and beat Braden Holtby five-hole for his second goal of the period to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead.

Vesey's goals came exactly three minutes apart in the second frame.

The prized offseason signing had one goal in the first four games.

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Joel Eriksson Ek has a knack for scoring in debuts.

The Minnesota Wild forward banged home a rebound on a Jason Zucker shot to score for the first time in his NHL career Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils.

The goal came on Eriksson Ek's first shot, exactly one minute into the second period.

The 19-year-old's reaction was priceless.

Eriksson Ek also scored in his North American pro debut and lone appearance with the AHL's Iowa Wild earlier this week.

He became the seventh Wild player to score in his NHL debut, and the first since Mikael Granlund in 2013, according to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune.

The Wild selected Eriksson Ek with the 20th overall pick in June's draft.

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A bad batch of chicken soup continues to wreak havoc in the Nashville Predators' dressing room.

Five players are out of the Predators' lineup Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Goaltender Pekka Rinne - who likely would have served as the backup after starting Friday night - and captain Mike Fisher are among the scratches.

Juuse Saros is in the Predators' crease against the Penguins after being recalled along with four others Saturday afternoon.

Craig Smith, who had to leave Friday's loss to the Detroit Red Wings due to illness, isn't in Saturday's lineup, and neither are Colton Sissons and Cody Bass. The latter was placed on injured reserve before the game.

Ryan Johansen also left Friday's game due to illness, but he was back centering the top unit in Saturday's line rushes.

Predators general manager David Poile confirmed Saturday afternoon that multiple players had come down with food poison before, during, and after Friday's contest, saying he heard the pregame chicken soup was to blame.

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Alex Ovechkin continues to be The King's archnemesis.

The Washington Capitals winger burned Henrik Lundqvist once again Saturday night, using Marc Staal as a screen before wiring a wrist shot into the top corner.

Something about Lundqvist seems to bring the best out of Ovi:

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Say it ain't so, Great One.

Wayne Gretzky might have competed for the final time in the Heritage Classic alumni game.

Watch: Selanne wins alumni game with penalty shot in dying seconds

"That might have been my last game," he told reporters Saturday, according to Sportsnet's Sean Reynolds, after his Edmonton Oilers alumni lost 6-5 to Winnipeg Jets legends at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg.

The NHL's all-time leading scorer wasn't too happy with his performance.

"I stink. I'm really bad," he said with a laugh at the postgame press conference, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

The 55-year-old luminary captained the Oilers alumni squad Saturday, but wasn't much of a factor against the Jets and Teemu Selanne, who racked up five points and converted a pair of penalty shots, including the game winner in the waning moments.

Guess this means that unlike Martin Brodeur, Gretzky isn't leaning toward suiting up for the St. Louis Blues in the Winter Classic alumni game on New Year's Eve.

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The New Jersey Devils paid homage to a franchise legend Saturday when Scott Stevens returned to town as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Wild.

The tribute, as you might expect, featured Stevens' finest moments with the club, most of which were bone-jarring hits.

Stevens won three Stanley Cups with the Devils throughout his Hall of Fame career, and earned the Conn Smythe in 2000.

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It couldn't have been scripted any better.

Tied 5-5 late in the third period, Oilers alumni Craig Simpson tripped Teemu Selanne, sending the beloved Jet to center ice for his second penalty shot of the game.

Of course, Selanne buried it, firing a quick wrister past Curtis Joseph.

The Finnish Flash racked up two goals and three assists in the win.

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