TAMPA, Fla. — Steven Stamkos scored his first goal since having right knee surgery in November and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 on Thursday night.
Stamkos made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 3:49 of the second period from the low left circle. The Lightning star previously scored Nov. 15 at Detroit, the same game that he had a season-ending lateral meniscus tear in the knee. Stamkos entered with five assists in three games this season.
Stamkos also tied Vincent Lecavalier for the Lightning team record with 112 power-play goals,
Slater Koekkoek got his first two NHL goals, and Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov also scored for the Lightning. Alex Killorn had four assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves.
Jake Guentzel, Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust and Matt Hunwick scored for two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh. Antti Niemi, who allowed four goals on 13 shots over 9:16 against Chicago on Oct. 5 in his Penguins debut, stopped 29 shots.
WILD 5, BLACKHAWKS 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Chris Stewart broke a tie midway through the third period with the first of his two goals and Minnesota beat Chicago for its first victory of the season.
Jason Zucker had a goal and an assist, and Devan Dubnyk made 36 saves to help the Wild (1-1-1) hand Chicago (3-1-1) its first regulation loss.
Stewart tapped Zucker's feed past Corey Crawford from the doorstep at 9:28 of the third to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead. Stewart and Zucker broke in 2-on-1 against Duncan Keith after fellow
Zucker added a power-play goal with 7:31 to go on the delay-of-game penalty that resulted from the failed Chicago challenge. He banged the puck in from behind the net off Crawford's skate.
Stewart scored into an empty net with 4:04 remaining to make it 4-1. Mikko Koivu added another empty-netter with 2:01 left. Eric Staal also scored for Minnesota.
Ryan Hartman and Jonathan Toews scored for Chicago.
PANTHERS 5, BLUES 2
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Roberto Luongo moved into a tie for fourth on the NHL career victory list with 454, making 37 saves to help Florida beat St. Louis.
The 38-year-old Luongo is tied with Curtis Joseph on the career list.
Vincent Trocheck scored the go-ahead goal, Ian McCoshen had his first NHL goal, and Jared McCann, Aaron Ekblad and Nick Bjugstad also connected for Florida.
Paul Stastny and Vince Dunn — also with his first career goal — countered for St. Louis. Jake Allen stopped 33 shots in the Blues' first loss in five games this season.
RED WINGS 4, COYOTES 2
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Luke Glendening broke a tie with a short-handed goal with 3:24 left and Detroit beat winless Arizona.
Dylan Larkin got the assist on Glendening's goal, his second of the night, after Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard made a flexible save at the other end. Howard finished with 33 saves.
Frans Nielsen sent in a long empty-net goal with 1:34 to go to seal Detroit's third victory of the season. The Coyotes have one point through four games.
Martin Frk and Henrik Zetterberg also scored for Detroit.
Clayton Keller scored twice for Arizona, with Max Domi assisting on both.
PREDATORS 4, STARS 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Samuel Girard scored his first NHL goal and had an assist to lead Nashville past Dallas.
The 19-year-old Girard was playing his second NHL game.
Filip Forsberg and P.K. Subban also had a goal and an assist, and Viktor Arvidsson scored for the Predators. Pekka Rinne made 30 saves.
Jamie Benn had Dallas' lone goal. The Stars have lost three of four to open the season.
SHARKS 3, SABRES 2
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Timo Meier scored late in the second period, lifting San Jose past Buffalo for the Sharks' first win of the season.
Tomas Hertl and Chris Tierney also scored for the Sharks, and Martin Jones made 23 saves.
Jason Pominville scored twice for Buffalo. The Sabres are 0-2-1 to begin coach Phil Housley's first season.
JETS 4, CANUCKS 2
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Patrik Laine and Tyler Myers scored 3:13 apart late in the second period to help Winnipeg beat Vancouver.
Josh Morrissey and Nikolaj Ehlers, into an empty net, also scored. Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves, and Bryan Little had two assists.
Daniel Sedin and Christopher Tanev scored for Vancouver, and Jacob Markstrom stopped 16 shots.
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