The Associated Press

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — 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 Dawyne 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.

Blues 5, Red Wings 3

STOCKHOLM — 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 — 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. — 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.

‘Hawks 4, Panthers 0

HELSINKI — 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,

BUFFALO, N.Y. — 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.

Rangers 5, Senators 2

NEW YORK — 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 — 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 — 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 — 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.

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