UNDATED (AP) — David Perron scored two goals, Jordan Binnington stopped 29 shots and the St. Louis Blues held on for a 5-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche in their season opener. Justin Faulk had a goal and an assist and Brayden Schenn also scored for the Blues. Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, was out for the second straight game but coach Jared Bednar returned to the bench after missing Wednesday’s game due to COVID-19 protocols. Captain Gabriel Landeskog served the first of his two-game suspension for a boarding call on Wednesday, leaving the Avalanche without two members of their top line.
—Drew O’Connor scored his first NHL goal, Danton Heinen got his third in three games and the Pittsburgh Penguins scored four times in the first period to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 in their home opener. With the victory, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan surpassed Dan Bylsma for most regular-season wins in franchise history. Brock McGinn scored his first goal with the Penguins and Teddy Blueger added his second of the season, both in the first period. Jason Zucker also scored for Pittsburgh, and Tristan Jarry made 18 saves. Patrick Kane and Kirby Dach scored for the Blackhawks, who couldn’t recover from a slow start. Pittsburgh had four goals in the first period, while the Blackhawks managed just three shots.
— Alex Ovechkin notched his 733rd career goal, but it didn’t prevent the defending Stanley Cup champs from winning. Stamkos scored with 14.2 seconds left in the 3-on-3 overtime to send the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Capitals, 2-1. Ovechkin gave Washington a lead before the Bolts rallied to win for the second straight game. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves and blanked the Caps after Ovechkin tallied midway through the second period. Sergei Sergachev tied it 4:23 into the third period.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— Brad Marchand scored twice and Jake DeBrusk broke a 1-all tie early in the third period of the Bruins’ season-opening win versus the Stars, 3-1. Marchand scored on a penalty shot in the first period and added an empty-netter with 1:37 left.
— Sam Bennett notched his second career hat trick and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots in the Panthers’ 5-1 trouncing of the Islanders. Jonathan Huberdeau got the 500th point of his career for Florida, while Anthony Duclair and Aleksander Barkov added goals for the Panthers.
— Alexis Lafreniere scored midway through the third period to snap a 1-1 tie in the Rangers’ 3-1 victory at Montreal. Chris Kreider netted a power-play goal and Lafreniere tallied just 26 seconds after Jonathan Drouin tied it for the Canadiens.
— Patrick Laine scored at 2:16 of overtime to send the Blue Jackets past the Kraken, 2-1. Eric Robinson scored and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 19 shots for his second win in two games for Columbus.
— Frederik Andersen made 38 saves and Andrei Svechnikov scored with 6:00 left in the third period to help the Hurricanes down the Predators, 3-2. Teuvo Teravainen added a late empty-net goal to put Carolina ahead, 3-1.
— Alexander Kerfoot had a goal and an assist to support Jack Campbell’s 20-save performance in the Maple Leafs’ 2-1 decision over the Senators. Toronto’s Michael Bunting scored his first for his hometown team.
— Thomas Greiss handled 40 shots for the Red Wings in a 3-1 victory against the Canucks. Filip Zadina broke a 1-1 deadlock 6:42 in the second period.
— The Sabres picked up a 2-1 win over the Coyotes on shootout goals by Tage (TAYZH) Thompson and Artuu Ruotsalainen Cody Eakin to help Buffalo improve to 2-0 after posting the league’s worst record last season.
— Jasper Weatherby scored the tying goal in his NHL debut and William Eklund set up the go-ahead score in his first career game, leading the Sharks to a season-opening win over the Jets, 4-3. Andrew Cogliano, Tomas Hertl and Rudolfs Balcers also tallied for the winners.
— Connor McDavid registered his 11th career hat trick as the Oilers beat the Flames, 5-2. Mike Smith made 45 saves and Jesse Juljujarvi had a goal and two assists for Edmonton.
— Second-period goals by Frederick Gaudreau, Victor Rask and Ryan Hartman sent the Wild past the Kings, 3-2. Cam Talbot started for the second straight night and made 29 saves in the victory.
