After scoring the game-winning goal against the Vancouver Canucks in the season opener on Wednesday night, Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid said he was grateful to play an important role in the victory following a difficult summer of rehab from a knee injury.

"Pretty close to (100%). I've still got lots of kinks to work out in my game," McDavid told Sportsnet's Scott Oake. "I've been working toward it but that goal means the world to me, honestly, it was a long summer and that just means the world to me."

McDavid suffered a torn PCL in the final game of the 2018-19 campaign, which created doubts about his status for the start of this season.

But with the score tied 2-2 on Wednesday, the 22-year-old flashed his trademark speed to split through the Canucks' defense before tucking the puck underneath the crossbar with 5:23 to play in the third period.

Overall, McDavid logged 21:40 of ice time and registered a pair of shots on goal in the 3-2 victory.

The two-time Art Ross Trophy winner finished last season with 41 goals and a career-best 116 points.

The Oilers will continue their campaign on Saturday night when they host the Los Angeles Kings.

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The NHL season triumphantly returned Wednesday night, featuring a four-game slate that included dramatic pregame ceremonies, a captaincy unveiling, an overtime winner, and much more.

To put a bow on the first night of the 2019-20 campaign, here's one takeaway from each contest.

Leafs finish strong on captaincy night

After weeks of suspense, the Toronto Maple Leafs anointed John Tavares as captain to kick off opening night. However, the hype of the announcement was short-lived, as Brady Tkachuk put the Ottawa Senators in front 25 seconds after puck drop to completely suck the life out of Scotiabank Arena.

Toronto ultimately lured its home crowd back in, putting together a dominant performance en route to a 5-3 victory. They did so with flash, too, with Auston Matthews burying two goals and all the new bodies from a summer full of roster turnover contributing nicely; Tyson Barrie racked up two primary assists, Ilya Mikheyev notched his first NHL goal, and rookies Rasmus Sandin and Dmytro Timashov each collected the first point of their careers.

When the final whistle blew, the Leafs had controlled 59% of shot attempts, 59% of scoring chances, and 62% of expected goals at five-on-five.

Caps' top six spoil banner night

In a battle of the two most recent Stanley Cup champions, the Washington Capitals took down the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in overtime. The home squad started hot with two goals in the first eight minutes, but the Caps took over from there and didn't look back.

Washington finished the game at 59% Corsi For while owning 60% of scoring chances and 61% of expected goals at five-on-five. The club found a ton of success through their top two lines, which is a great sign moving forward.

As usual, Alex Ovechkin found the back of the net while his line produced several chances, but Washington's second line of Jakub Vrana, Lars Eller, and T.J. Oshie did considerable damage as well. The trio owned a whopping 73% of shot attempts, and Vrana - who's expected to take on a larger role in the offense this season - registered five shots and the overtime winner in over 17 minutes of work.

Look out for this offense when Evgeny Kuznetsov returns from suspension.

McDavid and Draisaitl: Still very good

The Edmonton Oilers didn't look all that inspiring hosting the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, but their two superstars did enough to treat the home crowd to a win.

First off, Leon Draisaitl was a force. He skated with purpose and picked up right where he left off from a season ago with two goals and an assist. Then there's Connor McDavid, who looked merely pedestrian until a third period showstopper electrified Rogers Place and completed the Oilers' late comeback.

Edmonton entered the season hoping for more out of its supporting cast, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.

It's worth noting the Canucks looked solid in this one. They largely controlled play at even strength, while Tyler Myers, J.T. Miller, and Quinn Hughes all found the scoresheet. Tough result in what was an encouraging performance for Vancouver.

The Golden Knights are scary

Only one side of the high-profile Pacific Division rivalry was ready for the rematch of last season's controversial playoff series, and it wasn't the San Jose Sharks.

Vegas seemingly played in a higher gear all night, cruising to a 4-1 victory. The Golden Knights were in control in all facets of the game, scoring a goal on the power play, shorthanded, and two at even strength. They also out-chanced the Sharks 29-8 at five-on-five, and won the overall shot battle 35-22.

The Golden Knights' top line had 14 shot attempts to four against, while Mark Stone and rookie Cody Glass - two thirds of the club's second unit - each scored. A full season of Stone stands to be huge for Vegas, who fully looked the part of a Stanley Cup contender in its first test on Wednesday.

(Advanced stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick)

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A scary incident occurred in the waning minutes of the Ottawa Senators-Toronto Maple Leafs game Wednesday night, as Senators defenseman Erik Brannstrom took Auston Matthews' skate in the face as he was trying to prevent an empty-net goal.

Brannstrom received a few stitches but will be fine, Senators head coach D.J. Smith told Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch.

The Swedish blue-liner was the key return in the Mark Stone trade with the Vegas Golden Knights last season. The 20-year-old tallied 32 points in 50 AHL games in 2018-19.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs tabbed John Tavares as the 25th captain in franchise history prior to Wednesday's season opener against the Ottawa Senators.

Morgan Rielly, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner were named alternate captains. The latter two will rotate throughout the season, the team announced.

The Maple Leafs decided the captaincy well before learning of Matthews' disorderly conduct charge last week, general manager Kyle Dubas said during the first intermission, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

Tavares, 29, becomes the first Leaf to wear the captain's "C" since Dion Phaneuf in 2015-16. The Oakville, Ontario native served as captain of the New York Islanders for five seasons before signing a seven-year, $77-million contract with Toronto on July 1, 2018. He scored 47 goals in his first season with the Maple Leafs.

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It's been 112 days since the St. Louis Blues raised the Stanley Cup, and while I'm sure your team's comeback win in your rec league last week was as memorable as you've hyped it up to be, it's a relief to have real, meaningful NHL hockey back in our lives.

The league has cooked up a banger for opening night, too. The last two Stanley Cup champions meet in The Lou, there's a pair of all-Canadian matchups, and the San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights renew what's quickly developed into the greatest rivalry in hockey (shame about that whole Evander Kane suspension, though). Now, let's make a great night even better by winning some money:

Game betting

The Toronto Maple Leafs open as heavy favorites over the basement-dwelling Ottawa Senators, with the two teams projected to be at opposite ends of the standings by the end of the season. There's little value in backing the Leafs at -290, while even the -1.5 puck line has you laying juice. Could there be value with the road underdog, though? The Sens won three of four in the Battle of Ontario last season. With expectations high for the Leafs this year and the team expected to reveal its new captain before the start of the game, it's hard to envision anything other than a home win here.

Toronto's captaincy decision won't hold a candle to the pregame ceremony in St. Louis, though, as the Blues are set to raise their Stanley Cup banner before taking on the Washington Capitals. The Caps were in this spot on opening night last season and went on to beat the Boston Bruins 7-0 after raising their banner. However, since the lockout in 2005, defending Stanley Cup champions are 4-9 on banner raising night. The Caps are also 39-19-3 over the last four seasons on the road against Western Conference teams. Perhaps a play on the road team is in order here.

The Edmonton Oilers are hoping to put a disappointing year behind them as they begin their campaign Wednesday at home to the Vancouver Canucks. They're 7-2 at home to the Canucks in the Connor McDavid era.

Meanwhile, in Vegas, the Golden Knights will be out for revenge after their improbable collapse in Game 7 against the Sharks last season. This should be a highly entertaining game to cap off the night - albeit slightly less so now that Kane and Ryan Reaves won't be going three rounds at center ice. Vegas is 9-4 in franchise history at home in October.

Game props

While the Leafs can rack up goals with the best of them, they have their problems with keeping pucks out of their own net. The Senators scored nine times in two games in Toronto last season and averaged 4.16 goals per game at Scotiabank Arena over the last three years. A bet on the Sens' team total over 2.5 goals sits at +110 and is worth a look, as is the over 3.5 at +285 if you're feeling especially frisky.

The first-period goal total prop is intriguing in Edmonton, as there have been 11 opening-frame tallies in the last four meetings between the Canucks and Oilers in Alberta. There have been at least two markers during the initial 20 minutes in each of those contests, making the over 1.5 first-period goals (-110) an attractive bet. The first-period over has also hit in three of four regular-season meetings between the Sharks and Golden Knights in Vegas.

Player props

Auston Matthews tends to pad his stats against the Senators, with 10 goals and seven assists in 12 contests against them since he entered the league. Backing him to score at any time in the game is appealing, but less so at the -120 price tag. Instead, take a look at him to be the game's first scorer at +850.

Another name to look at in this game is Ottawa's Thomas Chabot. He's the quarterback of the Senators' power play and should have ample opportunity to get on the scoresheet against a Leafs team that is without its top four penalty killers from last season (Nikita Zaitsev, Ron Hainsey, Zach Hyman, and Connor Brown). Chabot has four goals in six games against the Leafs and presents good value at +250 to find the back of the net. The over 0.5 assists prop is also definitely worth a stab at +105.

There's plenty of value in Vancouver's Brock Boeser to record an assist at +160, as he had four in as many games against the Oilers last season. Stay away from the McDavid and Leon Draisaitl goal props, though. The former hasn't scored in any of his last five home games against the Canucks, while Draisaitl has just five goals in 21 career games against Vancouver.

A much stronger bet in the scoring market would be William Karlsson to find the back of the net for Vegas, as he's scored seven goals in eight games as a Golden Knights player against the Sharks, including four in four at home. I'd much rather back him at +155 than someone like McDavid (-125) or Draisaitl (-125).

Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.

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For the second straight NHL campaign, it appears no one will wear the "C" for the New York Rangers.

The club won't name a captain for the 2019-20 season, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports.

Marc Staal, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, and Jesper Fast will serve as alternates, adds Brooks.

The Rangers haven't had a captain since Ryan McDonagh, who donned the "C" from 2014-18 before being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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Jason Spezza's debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs will have to wait at least one more game.

The 36-year-old forward is a healthy scratch for Wednesday's season opener at home against his former team, the Ottawa Senators.

"You definitely want to be part of these games," Spezza told the assembled media, including the Canadian Press. "They give you things to get excited about.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed, but I'm also a professional."

Offseason signing Nick Shore will center the fourth line as head coach Mike Babcock tries to find the right combination of players deeper in Toronto's lineup.

"I've talked to (Spezza) quite a bit about this and what we're doing and so we're on the same page moving ahead, and we're going to have a rotation with a few guys," Babcock said, according to TSN.

Babcock said Spezza will play in the team's next game and cited a need for more practice on the penalty kill as his reason for holding the veteran out Wednesday.

"He's the coach and he decides the lineup. I have to get to up to speed with what he wants," Spezza said, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton.

The Toronto native signed a one-year, $700,000 contract with the Leafs on July 1 after turning down more lucrative offers from other teams.

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