Bits & Bites: This Week in Sports (US)

🏒NHL: Regardless of how desperately we missed hockey, it still feels like the new NHL season snuck up on us last night...especially with that 5:30 p.m. ET puck drop between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers. Sidney Crosby was back to his classic goal-scoring ways, but so were the Flyers, who won 6–3.

• The prime matchup of the night was, of course, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. Renewing their age-old rivalry, the Leafs took the W in overtime. Check out all the scores from night one here.

🎾Tennis: Thanks to three straight qualifying wins, 30-year-old Vancouverite Rebecca Marino qualified for the upcoming Australian Open yesterday, securing her first major appearance since 2013. Age is but a number.

• On the flipside, former World No. 4 Eugenie Bouchard was dealt a second qualifying round loss (and a classic sister snapback from her twin), so she’ll miss the major, due to start February 8th. Ouch.

⚽️Soccer: Everyone, including Megan Rapinoe, knows that Canadian soccer is the best soccer. And the North Carolina Courage showed they agree, drafting Deanne Rose, Canada’s youngest goal scorer in Olympic soccer history, as their 10th overall pick in last night’s NWSL Draft. Represent!