NHL roundup: Boqvist scores winning goal, Panthers edge Blackhawks 3-2 in season opener

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Jesper Boqvist scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period and the Florida Panthers, after raising their second straight Stanley Cup banner, opened defence of the title by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in Tuesday night’s regular-season opener.

Mackie Samoskevich — getting his second assist, the fifth two-point game of his career — chipped the puck toward the goal and Boqvist knocked it out of the air for the lead with 10:20 left. A.J. Greer and Carter Verhaeghe also had goals for Florida, which got 18 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.

Frank Nazar had a goal and an assist and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for Chicago. Former Panthers goalie Spencer Knight made 34 saves for the Blackhawks.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:

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PENGUINS 3 RANGERS 0

NEW YORK (AP) — Justin Brazeau scored twice, Arturs Silovs stopped all 25 shots he faced for his first regular-season NHL shutout, and Pittsburgh beat New York 3-0 in each team’s opener.

Dan Muse won his debut as Penguins coach with his predecessor, Mike Sullivan, on the other bench running his first game with the Rangers. Sullivan guided Pittsburgh to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and ’17 as part of a nearly decade-long run there before parting ways in April.

Brazeau and Silovs were also playing for the Penguins for the first time. Brazeau signed as a free agent, while Silovs joined in a trade from Vancouver.

Evgeni Malkin led off his 20th season in the league by setting up Brazeau’s goal. Malkin beat Vincent Trocheck on an offensive zone faceoff to get the puck to Brazeau, who was alone in front and roofed a backhander past Igor Shesterkin.

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AVALANCHE 4 KINGS 1

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Martin Necas scored two goals, Nathan MacKinnon had two assists to become the leading scorer in Avalanche history, and the Colorado Avalanche opened the regular season with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

Sam Malinski and Artturi Lehkonen also scored during Colorado’s three-goal second period. Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves during a commanding performance by the Avalanche in their first game back from their disappointing first-round playoff exit to Dallas.

Kevin Fiala scored a power-play goal with 4:53 left for the Kings, who matched the franchise records for victories and points last season before their fourth consecutive first-round playoff loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

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