Sidney Crosby scored twice on the power play in the second period and Tristan Jarry stopped 20 shots as the Pittsburgh Penguins earned their first win of the season with a 4-0 victory over the Washington Capitals on Friday.

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and three assists and Reilly Smith also scored to help the Penguins rebound from Tuesday’s season-opening loss to Chicago.

Washington lost its debut under new coach Spencer Carbery and was shut out for the first time in 49 season openers.

Backup Charlie Lindgren made 31 saves in place of Darcy Kuemper, who was away while his wife gave birth to the couple’s first child.

Coyotes edge Devils in shootout

Karel Vejmelka was perfect in the shootout and the Arizona Coyotes recovered after giving up a two-goal lead in a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils.

Nick Bjugstad and Nick Schmaltz scored in the shootout and Vejmelka turned away attempts by Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt to give Arizona a win in its season opener.

Bratt had two goals and an assist in regulation, and Dougie Hamilton scored one goal and set up another for New Jersey, which was coming off a 4-3 win over Detroit in its season opener.

Connor Bedard notched a point in his NHL debut and the Chicago Blackhawks scored three times in the third period to rally for a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.

The 18-year-old Bedard – the top pick in the 2023 draft - assisted on Ryan Donato’s goal late in the second period to cut Chicago’s deficit to 2-1.

Bedard registered five of the Blackhawks’ 35 shots and dazzled occasionally with his skating.

His arrival in the NHL has been anticipated for years, much like Sidney Crosby’s when the Penguins made him the first overall selection in 2005, all of 13 days after Bedard was born.

Cole Guttman netted the tying goal midway through the third period and Jason Dickinson snapped the tie with 4:33 remaining.

Petr Mrazek gave up goals to Bryan Rust and Crosby but finished with 38 saves against the Penguins, the league’s oldest team.

Golden Knights raise banner, beat Kraken

Chandler Stephenson and Jonathan Marchessault scored in the first period and Adin Hill made 27 saves as the Vegas Golden Knights began defense of their Stanley Cup title with a 4-1 win over the Seattle Kraken.

Ivan Barbashev and Jack Eichel also tallied for Vegas, which raised its championship banner in a lavish pregame ceremony.

Jared McCann provided Seattle’s lone goal in the second period.

Paul leads Lightning past Predators

Nicholas Paul scored a pair of third-period power-play goals and Jonas Johansson stopped 28 shots to win his Lightning debut as Tampa Bay opened the season with a 5-3 win over the Nashville Predators.

Brandon Hagel scored on a penalty shot, Nikita Kucherov added a pair of goals and Brayden Point had three assists for the Lightning.

With five-time All-Star Andrei Vasilevskiy expected to miss another six weeks after back surgery, Johansson has been thrust into a starting role.

He gave up Tommy Novak’s tying goal 8:48 into the third period, but Paul scored just over two minutes later and Kucherov’s empty-net goal closed the scoring.

Ryan O’Reilly and Juuso Parssinen also scored as Nashville lost in Andrew Brunette’s debut as coach.

The Pittsburgh Penguins saw their 16-season run of appearances in the playoffs end as the New York Islanders put a halt to the longest such streak in the NHL.

Losing 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday took the Penguins' fate out of their own hands, and the Islanders squeezed in as the last team to book a playoffs spot when they beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 a day later.

Coach Mike Sullivan's Penguins team have a 40-31-10 record for the season, and they will round off their campaign against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.

Beau Bennett spent four years on the Pittsburgh team and was a Stanley Cup winner with the Penguins in 2016, the second of three NHL championships the team won during their remarkable 16-year run.

With the team's fate sealed, Bennett wrote on Twitter: "I mean people will probably be negative but think about how sick that run was. Most orgs will be lucky to have that success in 50 years."

Superstar center Sidney Crosby continues to hit the heights, managing 33 goals and 58 assists in 81 games, while Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang have maintained their own high standards. Pittsburgh's 'Big Three' have famously featured throughout the 16-year run.

It was put to Bennett that the Penguins could have gone on achieving, given their top players continued to perform.

He replied: "True but 16 years of consistency, having 3 of the best players the whole time, interchanging everyone else including coaches and management. Sometimes we take greatness for granted."

Bennett said there had been "definitely some suspect moves", with general manager Ron Hextall's rush of trades before the deadline having come in for scrutiny.

Bringing in the likes of Nick Bonino, Dmitry Kulikov and Mikael Granlund, while moving others out of the franchise, has not had the desired effect.

After those trades, Hextall said: "I think that we made our team better. I think there are a lot of teams capable of winning the Stanley Cup, and we're one."

Not this season.

As Bennett sees it, Pittsburgh's elimination now spares them hurt later along the line.

"Let's be real here," he added, "how far are they getting if they get in? All good things come to an end."

Jake DeBrusk did not want to see the Winter Classic end as he enjoyed a dream outing at Fenway Park, guiding the Boston Bruins past the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Bruins replicated their 2010 feat – when they beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 in the previous Winter Classic to be held at Fenway – by downing the Penguins by the same score on Monday.

DeBrusk was the hero with two third-period goals after Kasperi Kapanen gave the Penguins the lead in front of 39,243 fans in the NHL's annual outdoors game.

Speaking to TNT after the game – which the NHL-best Bruins have now won a record three times in four appearances – DeBrusk expressed his gratitude for the chance to play at Fenway.

"I've been lucky enough to play in three of these now, and just look around. I mean, this is Fenway Park all pretty much in yellow," DeBrusk said.

"It's one of those things where you almost don't want it to end."

DeBrusk expected team-mate Taylor Hall to make the decisive contribution after he tied things up by beating replacement goaltender Casey DeSmith just six seconds after a Pittsburgh penalty expired.

While DeBrusk ultimately proved the game-winner by knocking in a rebound with two minutes and 24 seconds left, the goal owed much to Hall's fine work.

"I actually thought it was going to be him [who scored]," DeBrusk said. "I was talking to him on the bench, saying, 'Hey Hallsy, it wouldn't be bad to score your first one at Fenway'."

The defeat leaves the Penguins in fifth in the Metropolitan Division with a 19-12-6 record for the season.

Head coach Mike Sullivan lamented fine margins, including an early injury to goaltender Tristan Jarry.

"There's a fine line between winning and losing", Sullivan said. "It comes down to subtle details. There were momentum swings on both sides in all periods.

"I don't have any update on Tristan. Obviously he is being evaluated for a lower body injury. It's tough to lose a guy that early in the game."

The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced defenseman Kris Letang will be out "indefinitely" after suffering a stroke on Monday, though his NHL career is not thought to be in doubt.

Letang was previously out of action for two months after suffering a stroke in 2014, with subsequent tests showing he was born with a small hole in the wall of his heart.

Speaking to the team's website, Pittsburgh's general manager Ron Hextall revealed the 35-year-old had suffered symptoms on Monday before undergoing testing, which will continue in the coming days.

"Kris reported symptoms to the training staff on Monday and was immediately taken to the hospital for testing," Hextall said. 

"The test results were shocking to hear, but we are grateful that Kris is doing well. We are thankful to the medical staff and the physicians at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

"He is a warrior on the ice, but first and foremost, he is a son, father, husband and friend. His health is our number one priority."

Letang, meanwhile, is optimistic he will make a swift return to action.

"I am fortunate to know my body well enough to recognise when something isn't right," Letang added. "While it is difficult to navigate this issue publicly, I am hopeful it can raise awareness. 

"It is important for me that my team-mates, family and the fans know that I am okay. I am optimistic that I will be back on the ice soon."

Letang has spent the entirety of his 17-year career with the Penguins, playing 962 regular-season games, 543 of which have come since he suffered his first stroke eight years ago.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and veteran defenseman Kris Letang have agreed to a six-year, $36.6 million contract extension, the team announced on Thursday.  

The deal runs through to the 2027-28 season, during which Letang will turn 41 years old.  

"Kris epitomises what it means to be a Pittsburgh Penguin," general manager Ron Hextall said in a statement. "The role he plays on our team is irreplaceable.

"He is a leader in our locker room, and has made countless contributions to the organisation over the last 15-plus years, which includes three Stanley Cup Championships.  

"We are thrilled to make him a Penguin for life."

Letang has only played for Pittsburgh in his NHL career after being drafted by the Penguins in the third round in 2005.  

He has hoisted the Stanley Cup three times – in 2009, 2016 and 2017 – and set career highs last season with 58 assists and 68 points, helping Pittsburgh to a 46-25-11 record. 

Letang has played 941 games in a Penguins sweater, passing Mario Lemieux for third in franchise history last season.

Only team-mates Sidney Crosby (1,108) and Evgeni Malkin (981) have played more games for the Penguins.

Star winger Artemi Panarin proved the difference in Game 7 for the New York Rangers, with his goal in overtime clinching a 4-3 win and the series on Sunday.

Overtime seemed fitting for what has been such a tight series, and the 30-year-old Russian put the Rangers up in rare circumstances, shooting through a wall of Penguins players in a power-play to score.

It was the third-straight come-from-behind victory in the series for New York, who tied the game with 5:45 left in regulation via Mika Zibanejad.

Rangers coach Gerard Gallant felt the conditions did not suit Panarin but he had the requisite skill to save his side when it mattered most.

"He's the guy, when it gets to overtime, I said to myself that he was going to score," Gallant said after the win. "If we get the winning goal, it's going to be him. Sure enough, he makes a great play.

"You know what? Honestly, the ice wasn't great tonight. The puck was bouncing and it affects his game more than the other guys. People get frustrated at times. I think we saw a little of that.

"I just thought he wasn't having his best night. He tried hard, he competed and got some pucks out. He usually makes a lot of plays and tonight it just wasn't there, but you just get a feeling with a guy like him that he can do that for you. And that's what he does."

The Penguins were bolstered by the return of Sidney Crosby after he missed Game 6 with an upper-body injury, caused by a hit from Jacob Trouba. The visitors equalised on a power-play following a penalty for high-sticking from Trouba and though they hit the lead, could not manage to see the series out.

In Sunday's other result, Johnny Gaudreau's goal in overtime secured the series for the Calgary Flames against the Dallas Stars, moving to the second round with a 3-2 win.

New York Rangers center Filip Chytil said his side were determined to keep their season alive as they came from a two-goal deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 at Madison Square Garden.

Trailing 3-1 in the series heading into the clash, the Rangers were hanging on by a thread after goals from Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang had the Penguins leading 2-0 eight minutes into the second period.

But the Rangers were not going out that way in front of their home fans, rattling off three goals in under three minutes courtesy of Adam Fox, Alexis Lafreniere and Jacob Trouba, although Guentzel's second tied it up at 3-3 going into the last period.

Chytil sent the crowd into raptures with a power-play goal just three minutes into the period, before Ryan Lindgren put the game to bed in the closing seconds.

Speaking afterwards, Chytil said there was a desperation to not go out with a whimper after being outscored 14-6 in the past two fixtures played in Pittsburgh.

"We were not happy with what happened in Pittsburgh," he said. "We just didn’t play the whole season [the] way that we played, just [to] lose games like this in Pittsburgh.

"So we just had a good meeting, good practice yesterday, and we just believed today that we’re gonna win and we’re gonna go back to Pittsburgh.

"We believed, because we should have done more… we turned momentum to our side, and that was what we need."

Fellow goalscorer Lafrieniere was also complimentary of his team for the way they handled the pressure.

"We played a good 60 minutes," he said. "We defended well and played a good all-around game.

"We did a good job of staying calm. We have to keep it going and win Game 6 – [but] we played a really good one when we needed it most."

Making matters even worse for the Penguins is the fact that Sidney Crosby was forced to leave the game after suffering an injury in the second period, with Guentzel putting it plainly how important he is to the team and the gaping hole that will be left if he cannot get up for Game 6.

"We never want to see a player like that leave, but we have to find a way," Guentzel said. "[Crosby] is the best player in the world. That's a lot of minutes other guys have to take up. Next man up."

Game 6 will head back to Pittsburgh, and if the Rangers can win it, they will earn a Game 7 at home.

The Florida Panthers twice came back from a one-goal deficit to defeat the Washington Capitals 3-2 in overtime, tying the series at 2-2.

Heading into the contest trailing 2-1, and playing on Washington's home ice, the Panthers were put on the back foot early after T.J. Oshie opened the scoring in the first period.

Carter Verhaeghe tied things up less than 10 minutes later, before Evgeny Kuznetsov put the Capitals back in front in the third period off an assist from legendary teammate Alex Ovechkin.

With just over two minutes to play, Sam Reinhart tied it at 2-2 to force an extra period, where Verhaeghe would slot the winner five minutes in to steal the game on the road.

Speaking to post-game media, two-goal hero Verhaeghe said the result adds to the belief of what this team – dubbed the 'Comeback Cats' – can accomplish.

"We wanted to come in and have our best game of the series, and I think we did a pretty good job," he said.

"It’s just kind of a building block. We know we have another level to get to, and we’re a great team, so I think it’s just building some confidence."

Fellow goal-scorer Reinhart added that the backs-to-the-wall nature of the battle was everything he enjoyed as a competitor.

"Those are the kind of situations you want to be in as a hockey player," he said. "It’s a game that can really go either way at the end of it – we stuck with it, and we’re happy with the result."

Washington's Ovechkin – a three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner for league MVP – was clear about the next course of action, and not overreacting to a painful loss.

"At the end, it was bad bounces and it goes in," he said. "It is going to be a tough, long series, so move on. Forget about it, move on."

It was much smoother sailing for the Colorado Avalanche, beating the Nashville Predators 5-3 to sweep their series 4-0. J.T Compher and Cale Makar both collected a pair of assists each for the Avalanche.

The Pittsburgh Penguins received a vintage performance from future Hall-of-Famer Sydney Crosby as he slotted one goal and dished two assists in his side's 7-2 win against the New York Rangers, taking a 3-1 series lead in the process.

Lastly, the Calgary Flames won a crucial Game 4 on the road against the Dallas Stars 4-1 to tie their series at 2-2, despite Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger making 50 saves.

New York Rangers coach Gerard Gallant has defended his call to pull goaltender Igor Shesterkin after the first period as Pittsburgh Penguins ran out to a 7-4 victory in Game 3.

The visitors suffered a playoffs setback at PPG Paints Arena, as their Pennsylvanian hosts moved into a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round series.

Shesterkin was hooked after the first period after Pittsburgh raced into a 4-1 lead and was replaced by Alexandar Georgiev.

That helped spark a turnaround for the Rangers, who clawed back three goals in the second period to move back on level terms.

But after Danton Heinen put the Penguins back in front halfway through the third period, Pittsburgh did not relinquish their lead again, with Jake Guentzel and Jeff Carter extending their advantage.

Gallant backed his decision to withdraw Shesterkin, a 2018 Olympic gold medallist, saying that it was to offer the goaltender much-needed rest after a busy schedule and thought it might provide a spark.

"It's 4-1 and you want to change momentum," he stated. "Igor has been outstanding.

"If you look at it right now, he's played 10 periods, more or less, in basically 4 and half, five days. I thought it was a good time to jump-start it.

"It was 4-1. It was totally tilted. Sometimes you spark your team with a goalie change. Igor was our MVP all season.

"I thought we'd give him a little rest tonight and hopefully spark our team. And it worked."

The Rangers will attempt to hit back in Game 4 on Monday.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was quick to back goaltender Louis Domingue, following their 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday.

The Rangers tied their playoff series up at 1-1 after Pittsburgh's 4-3 win in triple-overtime at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

One of the key figures in that overtime win, Domingue was given a start by Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, but gave up key goals to Ryan Strome and Chris Keider via deflections.

Crosby backed his teammate following the loss, bringing saves he did make with Game 2 in the balance in perspective.

"The fourth was a bad bounce, a couple of tips there," Crosby said. "I thought he [Domingue] was solid. I thought he made some big saves, especially when there was a one or two-goal difference, that kept us in it."

The two-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner believes the Penguins simply need to start better and put three periods of hockey together to progress past the Rangers.

"It's the playoffs," Crosby said. "There are going to be swings of momentum but I thought that in both games, as they've gone on, we've probably gotten better. We just have to find a way to come out of the gates a bit better.

"You don't want to get down two, we've done that a couple of times now. It's not something we want to make a habit of.

"We get that late one and we had some really good chances early in the third and didn't convert, and they got a bounce. That's what it came down to."

In other NHL playoff results on Thursday, a Cale Makar goal gave the Colorado Avalanche a 2-1 overtime win over the Nashville Predators, moving to 2-0 in their series.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers tied up respective series with the Calgary Flames and Washington Capitals.

Evgeni Malkin says the Pittsburgh Penguins "deserved to win" after he scored the decisive goal 5:58 into the third overtime of their 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers in the NHL playoffs on Tuesday.

The Penguins take a 1-0 lead in their Stanley Cup playoff opening-round series, where goalies Igor Shesterkin and Louis Domingue were outstanding for both sides.

Penguins back-up goalie Domingue came in for Casey DeSmith who exited due to cramping. Domingue starred with 14 saves in the second overtime and three more in the third.

"We know we can win every game if we play right," Malkin told reporters. "We play smart. We play hard. I think we deserved to win tonight."

The Rangers had led 2-0 after Andrew Copp doubled their lead in the second lead after Adam Fox's power-play goal in the first period.

The Penguins leveled it up after goals from Jake Guentzel in the second period, before Chris Kreider restored the Rangers' lead. Malkin found Bryan Rust to square the game up again, before it headed for overtime. Malkin came up with the decisive deflection.

The epic was the longest-ever NHL game played at Madison Square Garden.

On Domingue, Malkin added: "For me, I know Louis is unbelievable. He is big and he is fast. I wasn’t worried. It is hard to score on him in practice."

Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson was injured as his side won 4-2 over the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of their series. Wilson had scored before going off with a lower-body injury.

Colorado Avalanche piled on five first-period goals as they routed the Nashville Predators 7-2 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

Elias Lindholm's first-period goal proved the difference as the Calgary Flames got past the Dallas Stars 1-0.

Like everything else over the past year, the hockey world has been turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic. The 2019-20 season was completed with teams playing in bubble locations in Toronto and Edmonton and the 2020 campaign will open without fans as part of a condensed 56-game season, among a slew of other changes. 

With the previous season extending several months past the normal ending date, the league had little choice but to delay the start of 2021 and to find a way to make a shortened season work. The new plan is for the regular season to end on May 8, with the Stanley Cup awarded no later than July 9. 

Of course, nothing is set in stone anymore and the NBA and NFL have had to deal with countless COVID-19 issues, so the NHL expects similar problems to arise with the pandemic experiencing another surge. The league knows it may have to adapt and games will very likely need to be rescheduled. 

The NHL has already dealt with this, as the start of the season for the Dallas Stars had to be pushed back to January 19 after six players and two staffers tested positive for coronavirus. While the completion of last season in the bubble locations was virtually flawless, teams are playing in home arenas this season, increasing the chances of players becoming infected. 

To combat this, teams will be allowed to carry taxi squads of four to six extra players who will practice and be prepared to step in when needed. 

While there is less hockey to enjoy, there are some tweaks to the upcoming season that fans will enjoy. 

The four divisions have been realigned and they include an all-Canada division of seven teams, made necessary by border restrictions. The other three divisions are mostly based on geography, but St Louis and Minnesota were shuffled into a division with the three California teams, Vegas, Arizona and Colorado. 

The Chicago-Detroit rivalry gets renewed with the Red Wings moving into the Central Division, and Tampa Bay and Dallas – last season's Stanley Cup Final participants – are now together in the Central.  

There should be no shortage of intensity this season with teams scheduled to play mostly back-to-back sets solely against teams in their own division. So, the Flyers and Penguins will meet eight times, as will the Islanders and Rangers and Kings and Ducks. The teams in the all-Canada division will face each other nine or 10 times.  

The first two playoff rounds will be played within the division, meaning the bad blood that started in the regular season could grow even deeper. The division winners will then advance to the semifinals but seeding will be based on points rather than geography.  

The new setup raises the possibility of a Stanley Cup Final between traditional East teams like the Capitals and Penguins or Canadian rivals Montreal and Toronto.   

To recoup some of the money lost by having no fans or limited fans at the start of the season in some cities, the NHL is allowing teams to include a sponsor name on their helmets and each division will also include the name of a corporate sponsor. 

The condensed season was preceded by an abbreviated training camp without exhibition games and there is concern that the start of the season will be marred by sloppy play. This could be especially true for the seven teams that have not played a game since March after they did not qualify for the expanded playoffs.  

As in any offseason, several big-name players changed teams. It will be jarring to see 43-year-old Zdeno Chara in a Capitals uniform and Joe Thornton playing for the Maple Leafs after 14 seasons in San Jose. Henrik Lundqvist would have looked strange as a member of the Capitals following an 887-game run with the Rangers, but he decided not to play this season due to a heart condition. 

Injuries will also keep some marquee players off the ice for a while. Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov – the 2018-19 scoring leader – will miss the entire regular season due to hip surgery and the Stars could be without top forward Tyler Sequin (hip) and goaltender Ben Bishop (knee) until at least March.  

Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews is out indefinitely with an unknown illness and there is no word on whether the 12-time 20-goal scorer will play this season. 

While this season is full of unknowns and will be like no other before it, the potential is there for it to be one of the most exciting in recent memory.