Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang started their 17th season together with a bang, helping the Penguins race by the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 in Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
The longtime franchise cornerstones combined for two goals and four assists as they joined former New York Yankees Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada as the longest-tenured trio of teammates in major North American professional sports history.
Crosby began his 18th season by scoring his 518th career goal 1:22 into the first period. The Pittsburgh captain also had two assists, including one on Malkin’s goal in the waning seconds of the second period that finished a sequence in which the puck made its way from Letang to Crosby before eventually ending up on Malkin’s stick.
Jake Guentzel, Jason Zucker, Bryan Rust and Kasperi Kapanen also scored for Pittsburgh. Letang finished with two assists. Tristan Jarry, who was limited to one appearance during the Penguins’ first-round playoff loss to the Rangers last spring, made 26 saves.
Flyers 5, Devils 2:
Travis Konecny and Morgan Frost scored 23 seconds apart in the second period to help host Philadelphia make head coach John Tortorella a winner in his Flyers debut.
Tortorella, who won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004, was the big offseason splash for a team coming off a last-place finish in the Metropolitan Division.
Sabers 4, Senators 1:
Rasmus Dahlin and rookie JJ Peterka scored 2:54 apart in the second period as host Buffalo rallied to beat Ottawa in the teams’ season opener.
Craig Anderson stopped 35 shots and Victor Olofsson sealed the win by scoring two empty-net goals in the final 42 seconds.
Panthers 3, Islanders 1:
Patrik Hornqvist’s third-period goal snapped a third-period tie as Florida beat host New York.
Maple Leafs 3, Capitals 2:
Auston Matthews scored the tie-breaking goal at 6:55 of the third period as Toronto won.
Briefly:
Columbus wing Patrik Laine is expected to be sidelined for at least three weeks because of an elbow injury suffered Wednesday in the Blue Jackets’ season opener…. Philadelphia defenseman Travis Sanheim agreed to an eight-year, $50 million deal…. Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse was fined $5,000 for a hit on the Canucks’ Kyle Burroughs on Wednesday…. Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson was placed on injured reserve because of a lower-body injury.