MONTREAL – Mike Ribeiro had a goal and two assists, and the Montreal Canadiens scored three power-play goals in a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.

The Canadiens extended their season-opening winning streak to three games, while the Penguins slipped to 0-2-1.

Ribeiro set up a goal by Richard Zednik late in the second and Jason Ward’s power-play goal that gave Montreal a 3-1 lead at 9:19 of the third.

Ribeiro scored the Canadiens’ third power-play goal two minutes later for his third goal in four games.

Andrei Markov also scored on the power play in the first, and Jose Theodore finished with 22 saves.

Theodore has allowed just two goals in three games, and Montreal has outscored its opponents 12-2.

Avalanche 5, Wild 2

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Peter Forsberg notched a goal and an assist and Teemu Selanne scored his first goal in a Colorado uniform as the Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Thursday night.

Forsberg scored the first of three second-period goals for Colorado, which beat the Wild for the 12th time in 16 regular-season games. John-Michael Liles and Milan Hejduk also scored in the second for the Avalanche.David Aebischer stopped 21 shots for Colorado to send the Wild to their third loss of the season. Andrei Nikolishin also scored his first goal of the season, giving Colorado an early 1-0 lead.

Blue Jackets 2, Blackhawks 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Rick Nash had a goal and an assist and Marc Denis stopped 30 shots as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 Thursday night.

Todd Marchant had a goal and Geoff Sanderson added two assists for the Blue Jackets, who won their third game in a row at Nationwide Arena – the best homestand in the team’s four seasons.

Columbus’ 3-1-0-0 start is also a team best. Brett McLean, called up from Norfolk of the AHL to replace the injured Alex Zhamnov, scored his first NHL goal midway through the third period.

Red Wings 3, Canucks 2

DETROIT – Ray Whitney broke a tie with 1:06 left and minik Hasek made 36 saves as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 Thursday night.

Whitney’s backhander in the slot was his first goal with the Red Wings.

He was signed as a free agent from the Columbus Blue Jackets during the offseason.

Detroit, which has won all three of its games, also got goals from Brendan Shanahan and Nicklas Lidstrom. Mathieu Schneider had two assists.

Lightning 5, Coyotes 1

TAMPA, Fla. – Martin St. Louis and Jassen Cullimore scored 25 seconds apart in the second period as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Phoenix Coyotes 5-1 Thursday night.

St. Louis put the Lightning up 2-1 from the left circle during a power-play at 8:07. Cullimore made it a two-goal game on a close-in shot at 8:32.

Devils 2, Maple Leafs 2

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Sergei Brylin scored with two seconds left in regulation and the New Jersey Devils salvaged a 2-2 tie with the Toronto Maple Leafs after raising their Stanley Cup championship banner Thursday night.

Jay Pandolfo also scored for New Jersey, and Martin Brodeur made 12 saves as the Devils remained unbeaten at 1-0-2.

Predators 4, Blues 1

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Marek Zidlicky scored a power-play goal and assisted on another, leading the Nashville Predators to a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.

Zidlicky converted a pass from Andreas Johansson at the 8:18 mark of the first period, beating St. Louis goaltender Chris Osgood on the stick side from close range.

Petr Cajanek scored on a shot from just inside the blue line, beating Nashville goaltender Tomas Vokoun over the right shoulder and tying the game at 8:47 of the second period.

The Predators regained the lead at 10:53 of the second period on the third power-play goal of the game. Dan Hamhuis scored on a one-timer from the top of the slot, beating Osgood on the glove side.

Vladimir Orszagh scored a short-handed goal at 11:23 of the third period, and Andreas Johansson, who also had an assist, scored into an empty net at 18:22.

Vokoun stopped 30 shots for his second victory of the season.

Notes: Dallas Drake made his regular-season debut for the Blues wearing a half-face shield to protect a fractured bone under his eye. … Zidlicky has a modest two-game goal-scoring streak for the Predators. He has points in all three games. … Keith Tkachuk had scored the Blues only three goals of the season entering the Nashville game.

AP-ES-10-16-03 2301EDT