NHL Roundup: Smith scores twice, Predators beat Rangers

NEW YORK (AP) — Cole Smith scored twice in the first period, and the Nashville Predators beat the New York Rangers 4-1 on Thursday night.

Ryan O’Reilly and Filip Forsberg also scored for Nashville, and Juuse Saros, starting for fifth time in five games this season, made23 saves.

Adam Fox scored for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin, starting for the fourth time in four games, was pulled in the second period after giving up four goals on 18 shots. Jonathan Quick, signed to be the backup in the offseason, stopped all nine shots he faced in his season debut.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 5, JETS 3

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Jack Eichel broke a tie on a power play with 4:36 left and the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights beat the Winnipeg Jets for their fifth straight victory to open the season.

After Eichel gave Vegas a 4-3 lead, Nicolas Roy capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 1:03 remaining.

Jonathan Marchessault, Brett Howden and Alec Martinez also scored for the Golden Knights. Logan Thompson stopped 36 shots.

Alex Iafallo scored twice for Winnipeg and Cole Perfetti added a goal. Laurent Brossoit made 22 saves.

PANTHERS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 1

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Kevin Stenlund and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored their first Florida goals, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 shots and the Panthers won their home opener, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in a playoff rematch.

Stenlund scored with 2:52 left in the first, Ekman-Larsson made it 2-0 with seven seconds left in the opening period and that was enough for Bobrovsky. Sam Reinhart added a short-handed empty-net goal as time expired.

Mitch Marner scored his first goal of the season, coming on the power play, midway through the second period for Toronto. Ilya Samsonov made 21 saves.

STARS 3, DUCKS 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Leo Carlsson scored a goal in the third period while making an impressive NHL debut in Anaheim's loss to Dallas.

Joe Pavelski had a goal and an assist for the Stars, and Mika Heiskanen got credit for the tiebreaking goal with 13:13 to play when Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler kicked a centering pass under goalie John Gibson.

Carlsson, the 18-year-old Swede picked second overall by Anaheim in June, hit the ice to cheers from a Honda Center crowd eager for the start of a new era after five straight non-playoff seasons. The cheers became a standing ovation when he confidently fired home his first goal on the rush off Troy Terry’s pass.

Terry had a goal and an assist, and Gibson stopped 21 shots. Roope Hintz scored a power-play goal and Jake Oettinger made 27 saves for Dallas.

COYOTES 6, BLUES 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis product Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz each had a goal and an assist, sparking Arizona past the Blues.

Nick Bjugstad, Jason Zuker and Sean Durzi scored on the power play for Ariziona, Michael Carcone added a goal and Connor Ingram stopped 24 shots. The Coyotes finished a season-opening trip 2-2.

Jakub Vrana and Sammy Blais scored for St. Louis.

LIGHTNING 4, CANUCKS 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored twice and Tampa Bay beat Vancouver to end a three-game winless streak.

Nicholas Paul and Michael Eyssimont also scored, and Jonas Johansson made 26 saves for the Lightning. Steven Stamkos had an assist after missing the previous two games because of an undisclosed lower-body injury.

Thatcher Demko stopped 31 shots for Vancouver, and Brock Boeser, Tyler Myers and J.T. Miller scored.

AVALANCHE 4, BLACKHAWKS 0

DENVER (AP) — Logan O'Connor scored a short-handed goal for the second straight game, Alexandar Georgiev stopped 18 shots and Colorado beat Chicago in its home opener.

Ryan Johansen, Devon Toews and Nathan MacKinnon also scored to help the Avalanche improve to 4-0. Georgiev was sharp in posting his 14th shutout.

Colorado kept top pick Connor Bedard in check.

KRAKEN 7, HURRICANES 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Vince Dunn and Oliver Bjorkstrand each had a goal and two assists and Seattle won for the first time this season, beating Carolina.

Yanni Gourde, Jaden Schwartz and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored in a three-goal first period for the Kraken. Seattle was winless in its first four games, earning only one point in the standings.

Jared McCann and Tye Kartye scored 21 seconds apart midway through the third after Carolina pulled to 4-3. Bjorkstrand added an empty-netter with 3:09 left.

Joey Daccord made 33 saves for Seattle. Seth Jarvis scored twice, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jesper Fast also connected for Carolina.

FLYERS 4, OILERS 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cam Atkinson scored twice and Sean Walker added his first goal with Philadelphia, helping the Flyers beat Edmonton.

Atkinson missed all of last season because of a neck injury. Walker had his first goal since February, ending a 25-game drought.

Joel Farabee opened the scoring in the first period for Philadelphia. Carter Hart made 22 saves. Zach Hyman scored for Edmonton.

KINGS 7, WILD 3

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Pierre-Luc Dubois scored twice in a 12-second span in the first period and Cam Talbot stopped 29 shots in Los Angeles’ victory over Minnesota.

Carl Grundstrom, Vladislav Gavrikov and Trevor Moore also scored and Adrian Kempe and Blake Lizotte had empty-net goals.

Connor Dewar, Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek scored for Minnesota.

FLAMES 4, SABRES 3

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Adam Ruzicka scored the go-ahead goal on a bad-angle shot 4:35 into the third period and Calgary beat Buffalo.

Jonathan Huberdeau, Blake Coleman and Walker Duehr also scored, and Calgary improved to 1-1-1 three games into a five-game Eastern trip. Dan Vladar stopped 24 shots in his season debut.

Tage Thompson, JJ Peterka and Erik Johnson scored for the Sabres.