(Sports Network) - Antti Niemi made his Finnish countrymen proud with his first career shutout to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-0 victory over Florida in the back end of a season-opening two-game set in Helsinki. Niemi stopped 23 shots for Chicago, which picked up three of a possible four points during the weekend stay. The Blackhawks dropped a 4-3 decision in a shootout on Friday. Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Dustin Byfuglien each notched a goal and an assist on Saturday, while Brian Campbell also scored. Brent Seabrook picked up a pair of assists in the victory. Tomas Vokoun, who made 52 saves in Friday's win, turned aside 29 shots Saturday in defeat.

Final Score: St. Louis 5, Detroit 3

Stockholm, Sweden (Sports Network) - Keith Tkachuk notched a pair of goals with an assist as St. Louis topped Detroit, 5-3, in the back end of a season- opening set between the clubs at Globe Arena in Stockholm. Brad Boyes, Andy McDonald and Patrik Berglund also tallied for the Blues, who won the opener by a 4-3 count on Friday and began a year with two wins in a row for the first time since the lockout-shortened 1995 season. Ty Conklin, a Red Wing last season, turned aside 29 shots for his first win with St. Louis. Tomas Holmstrom, Niklas Kronwall and Dan Cleary hit the net for the Red Wings, who had not begun a season with two consecutive losses since going 0-3 to start the 1989-90 campaign. Jimmy Howard was shelled for all five goals on 32 shots in the setback.



Final Score: Colorado 3, Vancouver 0

Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Craig Anderson stopped 35 shots for his eighth career shutout as the Colorado Avalanche blanked the Vancouver Canucks, 3-0, at the Pepsi Center. Wojtek Wolski and Paul Stastny each had a goal and an assist while Darcy Tucker scored the other goal for the Avalanche, who opened the season with two straight wins for the first time since the 2001-02 season. Milan Hejduk had two assists in the win. Roberto Luongo was tagged for three goals on 27 shots in the loss for the Canucks, who have dropped their first two games of the season. Daniel Sedin had nine shots in the game.



Final Score: Boston 7, Carolina 2

Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Marc Savard registered a goal and two assists, as the Boston Bruins pummeled the Carolina Hurricanes, 7-2, in a rematch from last season's playoffs. The clubs faced off in the second round, with the surprising Hurricanes capturing three of the first four contests over the Bruins. Boston, however, battled back to force a decisive seventh game, but Carolina's Scott Walker, who drew the ire of many following a sucker punch earlier in the series that came with no disciplinary action, scored the overtime winner to eliminate the Eastern Conference's top seed. Michael Ryder, Blake Wheeler, Marco Sturm, Dennis Wideman, Matt Hunwick and Shawn Thornton also scored for the Bruins, who lost Thursday's season opener at home to Washington. Tim Thomas turned aside 25 of the 27 shots he faced. Walker and Eric Staal lit the lamp for the Hurricanes, who were shut out at home by Philadelphia on Friday to begin the 2009-10 campaign. Cam Ward was lifted after yielding four goals on 28 shots. Michael Leighton allowed three goals on 14 shots the rest of the way.



Final Score: Montreal 2, Buffalo 1 (OT)

Buffalo, NY (Sports Network) - Brian Gionta scored 2:42 into overtime as Montreal spoiled Buffalo's season opener with its second consecutive win in extra time, as the Canadiens took a 2-1 decision at HSBC Arena. Another offseason acquisition, Travis Moen, scored a shorthanded goal for the Canadiens, who earned an overtime victory over the Maple Leafs in their season-opener on Thursday. Carey Price made 34 saves in the victory, while Buffalo's Ryan Miller was beaten twice on 17 shots. Tim Connolly scored the only goal for the Sabres, who missed out on the playoffs for a second straight season last year.



Final Score: Philadelphia 5, New Jersey 2

Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - Ray Emery posted his second straight victory with 24 saves as the Philadelphia Flyers downed the New Jersey Devils, 5-2, at Prudential Center. Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Ian Laperriere and Darroll Powe tallied for Philadelphia, which posted just its second road victory over New Jersey since March, 2004. Matt Carle had a goal and one assist while James vanRiemsdyk added two helpers for the Flyers, who have won the season's first two games for the first time since beginning the 1998-99 season with three straight victories. Brian Rolston and Jamie Langenbrunner provided the offense for the Devils, who have dropped two of their three home openers since moving from the Meadowlands prior to the 2007-08 season. Martin Brodeur's 1,000th career game was one to forget, as the future Hall of Famer looked shaky in allowing all five goals on 27 shots.



Final Score: Pittsburgh 4, NY Islanders 3 (SO)

Uniondale, NY (Sports Network) - Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby scored during the shootout phase, giving Pittsburgh a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders and spoiling the NHL regular season debut of No. 1 overall draft pick John Tavares. Crosby and Ruslan Fedotenko each had a goal and an assist in regulation for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who were coming off a season-opening 3-2 home win over the New York Rangers on Friday. Mark Eaton also scored for the Pens. Marc-Andre Fleury made 25 saves, but faced just six shots combined in the third period and overtime. The 19-year-old Tavares finished with a pair of points on the night for the Islanders, who have missed the postseason in two straight and three of the last four seasons and finished last in the NHL with just 61 points in 2008-09. Mark Streit and Trent Hunter also had a goal and an assist, while Dwayne Roloson made 39 stops in net. The soon to be 40-year-old Roloson, who was signed to a two- year deal over the summer, started in net for an injured Rick DiPietro, who is sidelined for at least the early part of the season after undergoing knee surgery.



Final Score: NY Rangers 5, Ottawa 2

New York, NY (Sports Network) - Brandon Dubinsky had two goals and an assist, and the Rangers dominated the Senators, 5-2, in New York's home opener at Madison Square Garden and Ottawa's first game of the season. Marian Gaborik added a goal and an assist and now has three points in two games since signing a free agent contract with the Rangers, who were defeated by the Stanley Cup champion Penguins on Friday in their season opener. Vinny Prospal scored his first goal with New York since also coming over in the offseason, while Michael Del Zotto notched his first NHL goal in the win. Henrik Lundqvist was stellar in net, making 32 saves in the victory. Daniel Alfredsson and Peter Regin scored for Ottawa, which had a streak of 11 consecutive playoff appearances snapped last season after the team finished with only 83 points. The Senators had been 6-0-1 in their last seven trips to MSG but couldn't continue their winning ways. Pascal Leclaire, making his Sens debut after spending most of last season with Columbus, allowed four goals on 33 shots in defeat.



Final Score: Washington 6, Toronto 4

Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Alexander Semin scored a pair of goals and dished out an assist, as the Washington Capitals (web | news) built an early lead and held on to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-4, at Verizon Center. Alex Ovechkin had a goal and two assists for the reigning Southeast Division champion Capitals, who were coming off a season-opening 4-1 victory over the Bruins on Thursday. Brendan Morrison and Brooks Laich had a goal and an assist apiece. Mike Knuble added a score for Washington, which got 27 saves from Semyon Varlamov in the win. Alexei Ponikarovsky and Mikhail Grabovski each scored a goal and dished out an assist for the Maple Leafs, who were coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to Montreal on Thursday. Niklas Hagman and Lee Stempniak had a goal apiece while Vesa Toskala allowed three goals on only eight shots in the first period before being pulled in favor of Jonas Gustavsson, who turned aside 16-of-19 shots over the final two frames.



Final Score: Atlanta 6, Tampa Bay 3

Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Ilya Kovalchuk and Rich Peverley each had two goals and an assist, as the Atlanta Thrashers rolled over the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-3, in the season-opener for these Southeast Division foes. Anssi Salmela and Zach Bogosian also tallied for Atlanta, which defeated Tampa Bay in last season's finale, but ended up 35-41-6 to record its second losing campaign in a row. The Thrashers, who avoided blowing a 4-0 lead, got two assists each from Bryan Little and Tobias Enstrom, as well as 36 saves from Ondrej Pavelec, to take the victory Saturday. Martin St. Louis had two goals to pace the Lightning, who have lost 10 in a row dating back to last season, when they finished with the second-lowest point total in the league. Tampa Bay had 66 (24-40-18), above only the Islanders' 61. Mike Smith allowed all six goals on 28 shots in the setback.



Final Score: Columbus 2, Minnesota 1

Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - Rostislav Klesla, fresh off signing a contract extension, scored the go-ahead goal to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild in both teams' season-opener. Columbus announced earlier Saturday it had signed Klesla to a four-year extension that will keep him with the team through the 2013-14 season, and the veteran defenseman delivered in the third period to put the Jackets in front. R.J. Umberger had a shorthanded tally, while Steve Mason stopped 32-of-33 shots for Columbus, which is coming of its first postseason appearance in franchise history. The Jackets went 41-31-10 last season, setting franchise marks for wins and points, before being swept out of the first round by Detroit. Andrew Brunette had the lone goal, while Niklas Backstrom let in two goals on 39 shots for Minnesota, which was 40-33-9 last year and missed the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. The Wild's loss comes in the debut of new head coach Todd Richards, who took over for Jacques Lemaire, the only coach in the franchise's eight-year history.



Final Score: Nashville 3, Dallas 2 (SO)

Dallas, TX (Sports Network) - Michael Santorelli beat Marty Turco with a wrister in the final round of the shootout, as the Nashville Predators edged the Dallas Stars, 3-2, in the season opener for both clubs at American Airlines Center. Mike Ribeiro's backhander in the second round of the shootout put Dallas up by one. However, David Legwand started the third round with a backhander of his own to tie things. After Santorelli scored to start the final round, Loui Eriksson's wrister was saved by Dan Ellis to give Nashville the win. Jason Arnott had a goal and an assist for the Predators, who finished in the basement of the Central last season with a 40-34-8 record. Steve Sullivan had the other goal for Nashville, which got 38 saves from Ellis in the win. James Neal erased a two-goal deficit with a pair of goals for the Stars, who placed third in the Pacific last season with a 36-35-11 mark. Turco turned aside 24-of-26 shots in defeat.



Final Score: San Jose 4, Anaheim 1

Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - A 24-save performance by Evgeni Nabokov and a three-goal first period propelled the San Jose Sharks to a 4-1 win over Anaheim, spoiling the Ducks' season opener. Last season, these Pacific Division foes clashed in the opening round of the playoffs. The Ducks entered the postseason as the eighth seed and, behind the sublime goaltending of Jonas Hiller, posted a startling six-game upset of the Presidents' Trophy- winning Sharks. The Swiss netminder wasn't nearly as sharp on Saturday. He faced 37 shots and surrendered goals to Patrick Marleau, Devin Setoguchi, Joe Thornton and rookie Benn Ferriero. Dany Heatley collected two assists for San Jose, which lost Thursday's season opener at Colorado.



Final Score: Calgary 4, Edmonton 3

Edmonton, AB (Sports Network) - David Moss had a pair of goals, including the game-winner with under a minute left, as the Calgary Flames edged the Edmonton Oilers, 4-3, at Rexall Place. Curtis Glencross also scored for the Flames, who opened the season with a 5-3 win over the Canucks on Thursday. Nigel Dawes also lit the lamp in the triumph, while Miikka Kiprusoff halted 31- of-34 shots. Dustin Penner had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who failed to reach the postseason for a third straight time last year, leading to the dismissal of head coach Craig MacTavish. Pat Quinn took over as the head coach and Tom Renney was hired as an associate head coach. Gilbert Brule and Sam Gagner scored a goal each in the setback, and Nikolai Khabibulin turned away 17 of the 21 shots he faced.



Final Score: Phoenix 6, Los Angeles 3

Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Radim Vrbata scored twice as the Phoenix Coyotes took a 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings in the season-opener for both teams. Scottie Upshall, Matthew Lombardi, Robert Lang and Daniel Winnik also scored for the Coyotes in the debut of head coach Dave Tippett, who took over for Wayne Gretzky in late September. Phoenix's win starts a new season for a team that has faced near-constant turmoil since owner Jerry Moyes filed for Chapter 11 back in May. Ilya Bryzgalov made 30 saves for the Coyotes, who finished last season 36-39-7, missing the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty each had a goal and assist for the Kings, who are coming off a 34-37-11 campaign. Jonathan Quick gave up all six goals on 30 shots.























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