NHL roundup: Crosby's game-winner downs Islanders

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) - Sid the Kid took the storybook ending away from prized rookie John Tavares and the New York Islanders.

Sidney Crosby, who scored a goal in the first period, netted the deciding tally in the shootout and gave the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 victory Saturday night.

Tavares, the first pick overall, got nearly everything he hoped for in his NHL debut, scoring a go-ahead goal and adding an assist on Mark Streit's goal.

He went second for New York in the shootout, but fired wide. Jeff Tambellini rang a shot off the post on the Islanders' first attempt before Penguins defenseman Kris Letang beat Dwayne Roloson in the tiebreaker.

Roloson, in his Islanders debut, looked sharp in making 39 traditional saves. Marc-Andre Fleury was just as good in stopping 25 shots.

Just 17 seconds after Mark Eaton lifted Pittsburgh into a 2-2 tie 7:19 into the third period, Trent Hunter restored New York's lead with a one-timed shot from the right circle. Ruslan Fedotenko banked a shot off the skate of Islanders defenseman Bruno Gervais with 3:49 left in regulation to make it 3-3.

Blues 5, Red Wings 3

STOCKHOLM (AP) - Keith Tkachuk had two power-play goals and an assist and St. Louis overcame a two-goal deficit for the second straight night to sweep the two-game series.

St. Louis trailed 2-0 early, then again 3-2 in the second period before scoring two goals 13 seconds apart to take a 4-3 lead and silence the pro-Red Wings crowd.

The Blues won the opener 4-3 on Friday night before another capacity crowd at the Ericsson Globe Arena in the Swedish capital.

Andy McDonald, Brad Boyes and Patrik Berglund also scored for St. Louis.

Tomas Holmstrom and Niklas Kronwall, two of the Red Wings' eight Swedes, and Daniel Cleary scored for Detroit.

Capitals 6, Maple Leafs 4

WASHINGTON (AP) - Alex Ovechkin converted on a breakaway 77 seconds into Washington's home opener, Alexander Semin added two goals, and free-agent additions Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison also scored.

Brooks Laich scored, too, giving him three goals in two games. Alexei Ponikarovsky, Lee Stempniak, Mikhail Grabovski and Niklas Hagman scored for Toronto.

Flyers 5, Devils 2

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Ray Emery made 24 saves, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards scored for the second straight night and Philadelphia beat New Jersey, spoiling Jacques Lemaire's return as the Devils' coach.

Emery came within half a period of becoming the first Philadelphia goalie since Hall of Famer Bernie Parent in 1973 to open a season with consecutive shutouts.

Ian Laperriere, Darroll Powe and Matt Carle also scored as the Flyers made Devils goalie Martin Brodeur look very ordinary in his 1,000th career game. Brian Rolston and Jamie Langenbrunner scored for New Jersey.

Blackhawks 4, Panthers 0

HELSINKI (AP) - Antti Niemi made 23 saves in front of his home crowd for his first NHL shutout, helping Chicago beat Florida.

Brian Campbell, Patrick Sharp and Dustin Byfuglien had power-play goals and Patrick Kane also scored for Chicago, coming off a shootout loss to Florida on Friday. Canadiens 2, Sabres 1, OT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Brian Gionta took advantage of a timely carom 2:42 into overtime, tapping in an errant shot to lift Montreal past Buffalo.

Travis Moen also scored for the Canadiens, who opened the season Thursday night in Toronto with a 4-3 overtime win. Carey Price stopped 34 shots in helping Montreal get off to a 2-0 start for only the second time in 10 years.

Tim Connolly scored for the Sabres.

Bruins 7, Hurricanes 2

BOSTON (AP) - Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler scored 26 seconds apart in the first period and Boston scored four-power play goals.

Marc Savard had a goal and two assists, Marco Sturm added a goal and an assist, and Dennis Wideman, Shawn Thornton and Matt Hunwick also scored for the Bruins, who got a bit of revenge against the team that knocked them out of last season's playoffs.

Scott Walker and Eric Staal scored for Carolina.

Rangers 5, Senators 2

NEW YORK (AP) - Brandon Dubinsky scored twice and Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves to help the Rangers win their home opener.

Marian Gaborik scored for a second straight game, and Vinny Prospal and Michael Del Zotto added goals for the Rangers, coming off a 3-2 loss in Pittsburgh on Friday night. Daniel Alfreddson and Peter Regin scored for Ottawa.

Avalanche 3, Canucks 0

DENVER (AP) - Craig Anderson stopped 35 shots for his seventh career shutout, and Paul Stastny and Wojtek Wolski had a goal and assist each for Colorado.

Darcy Tucker also scored to help the Avalanche improve to 2-0.

Blue Jackets 2, Wild 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Rostislav Klesla celebrated a new four-year contract extension with Columbus by scoring a goal midway through the third period.

Steve Mason, the winner of last season's Calder Trophy as the NHL rookie of the year, finished with 32 saves. R.J. Umberger added a short-handed goal for Columbus, and Andrew Brunette scored for Minnesota.

Thrashers 6, Lightning 3

ATLANTA (AP) - Rich Peverley and Ilya Kovalchuk each scored two goals, Ondrej Pavelec stopped 36 shots and Atlanta beat Tampa Bay in the opener for both teams.

Anssi Salmela and Zach Bogosian also scored for Atlanta. Martin St. Louis scored twice, and Andrej Meszaros also connected for Tampa Bay.

Predators 3, Stars 2, SO

DALLAS (AP) - Jason Arnott had an early goal, and Michael Santorelli scored the winner in a shootout for Nashville.

Arnott scored against his former team less than 2 minutes into the game when he crammed in his own rebound after Marty Turco stopped a wraparound shot. Arnott caused another rebound that Steve Sullivan slipped under Turco for a 2-0 lead in the second.

James Neal scored twice for Dallas in less than 5 minutes spanning the second and third periods. Sharks 4, Ducks 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton each scored first period goals, Dany Heatley added two assists and Evgeni Nabokov made 24 saves to help the Sharks quickly spoil the Ducks season opener.

Rookie Benn Ferriero and Devin Setoguchi also scored for the Sharks.

Ryan Whitney ended Nabokov's hopes for his 47th career shutout with a goal midway through the third period. Flames 4, Oilers 3

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - David Moss scored with 48.7 seconds left to lift the Flames over the Oilers.

Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin went out to corral a puck in the final minute but lost control of it and gave it to Moss, who easily score his second of the game.

Curtis Glencross and Nigel Dawes also scored for the Flames who improved to 2-0-0 on the season. The last time the Flames won two straight to start a season was 2001-02.

Dustin Penner, Gilbert Brule and Sam Gagner had goals for the Oilers (0-1-0) who were making their 2009-2010 debut.

Coyotes 6, Kings 3

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Radim Vrbata scored two goals to lead the beleaguered Coyotes to a win over the Kings in the season opener for both teams.

Vrbata scored his first goal on a power play with an assist from Ed Jovanovski at 5:31 to put the Coyotes ahead 1-0 in the first period and his second off an assist from Petr Prucha to extend the Coyotes lead 4-1.

For a team that has endured bankruptcy and a recent coaching change, the Coyotes didn't seem distracted. The franchise was put under bankruptcy protection in May and coach Wayne Gretzky quit nine days before the start of the season.