NEW YORK — Brett Howden broke a tie with 4:09 remaining, and the New York Rangers beat the Winnipeg Jets 6-4 in a wild season opener on Thursday night.

Mika Zibanejad had a goal and three assists, Jacob Trouba had a goal and two assists, and Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist for New York. Marc Staal also scored for the Rangers, and Henrik Lundqvist – making his 14th consecutive opening-day start – stopped 43 shots.

On the go-ahead goal, Jesper Fast fired a shot from the left point that was blocked by former Ranger Neal Pionk. The puck went Howden, who scored to give New York its fourth lead of the game.

The Jets went on their fifth power play with 1:37 left, and were skating with a six-on-four advantage when Brendan Smith scored into the empty net with 17 seconds remaining to seal the Rangers’ win.

Blake Wheeler had two goals, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor also scored and Nikolaj Ehlers had three assists for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck finished with 26 saves.

Connor gave the Jets their first lead of the game, 4-3, with a power-play goal at 2:41 of the third as he tipped Josh Morissey’s shot through Lundqvist’s legs. Patrik Laine also had an assist on the goal.

Zibanejad, who had 30 goals last season, got a pass from Trouba, broke in on Hellebuyck and beat the goalie to tie it at 5:04.

SABRES 3, PENGUINS 1: Conor Sheary scored twice against his old team and Carter Hutton stopped 26 shots in Buffalo’s win at Pittsburgh.

Rasmus Dahlin also scored to help Buffalo give Ralph Krueger a victory in his Sabres coaching debut. Buffalo beat Pittsburgh in regulation for the first time since April 23, 2013.

Krueger last coached in the NHL in 2012-13 when the Edmonton Oilers had 19 wins during a shortened 48-game regular season. Buffalo went 33-39-10 under Phil Housley last season.

Sheary, who won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins, has four goals and six points in four games against his former team. He scored two goals twice last season, including a March 1 home game against Pittsburgh.

HURRICANES 4, CANADIENS 3: Dougie Hamilton scored in the shootout, Petr Mrazek stopped three shots in the tiebreaker and Carolina beat visiting Montreal.

Erik Haula, making his debut with the Hurricanes, tied it at 3 with a power-play goal with 13:05 left in regulation. Martin Necas also scored with the man advantage for a Carolina team that struggled in those situations during the postseason.

LIGHTNING 5, PANTHERS 2: Reigning NHL MVP Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist, Kevin Shattenkirk and Pat Maroon scored in their Tampa Bay debuts, and the Lightning opened the season with a win at home.

Last season’s Presidents’ Trophy winners spoiled goalie Sergei Bobrovsky’s debut for the Panthers, who are counting on the two-time Vezina Trophy winner to help transform them into a playoff team.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots for Tampa Bay, which extended its winning streak in season openers to a league-best six.

NOTES

FLYERS: Team founder Ed Snider will be honored with a mural in South Philadelphia.

The Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation and Mural Arts Philadelphia will dedicate “Snider Hockey: Inspiring Our Youth” on Saturday at 10th and Snyder Avenue. Snider, who died in 2016 , had long said he wanted his youth hockey foundation to become his legacy. The Flyers won Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975 under Snider. He was arguably the most influential executive in Philadelphia sports history.

OILERS: The Edmonton Oilers placed defenseman Adam Larsson on long-term injured reserve because of a broken foot.

Larsson was hurt in the first period of Wednesday night’s opening win against Vancouver. The Oilers said surgery is not required and there is no timetable for his return.

FLAMES: The Calgary Flames announced a multiyear contract extension for GM Brad Treliving, hours before their season opener against Colorado.

He is entering his sixth season as GM.

BLACKHAWKS: The Chicago Blackhawks and forward Alex DeBrincat agreed to a three-year, $19.2 million contract extension through the 2022-23 season.

DeBrincat, 21, tied for sixth in the NHL and second on the team to Patrick Kane last season with 41 goals and he also had 35 assists.

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.