Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby watched the Pittsburgh Penguins raise their Stanley Cup banner, then got the defending champions off to a familiar start by scoring their first two goals during a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers last night.
Crosby and Tyler Kennedy scored 1:08 apart in the second period to give the Penguins a 3-1 lead and allow them to withstand Marian Gaborik’s first goal for the Rangers, the only scoring during the third period. Pittsburgh has won all four games against the Rangers at home the last two seasons.
Malkin, the league’s leading scorer last season, and Crosby, who was third in scoring, each got their first goal of the season and Marc-Andre Fleury made 25 saves - including a goal-saving, glove stop on Vinny Prospal late in the first period.
Panthers 4, Blackhawks 3 - In the first regular-season game played in Finland, Ville Koistinen scored the winning goal in the shootout, lifting Florida past Chicago in Helsinki. Koistinen also scored in regulation.
Blues 4, Red Wings 3 - Paul Kariya scored two goals as St. Louis rallied to edge Detroit in Stockholm.
Flyers 2, Hurricanes 0 - Ray Emery made 28 saves in his Philadelphia debut, leading the visiting Flyers over Carolina.
