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Crosby, Pens Tame Panthers

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby, right, scores a goal on Florida Panthers goalie James Reimer in the first period the NHL hockey game, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored two goals, including a bad-angle deflection in the third period to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins past the Florida Panthers 4-3 on Saturday night.

Crosby has three goals this season. Patric Hornqvist and Greg McKegg also scored for the Penguins, who are 8-0-2 in their last 10 games against the Panthers — their longest stretch without a regulation loss in the history of the series.

McKegg, who scored his first goal for Pittsburgh, spent time with the Panthers the last two seasons, compiling eight points in 46 games and appearing in a playoff game in 2016.

Matt Murray stopped 43 shots for Pittsburgh. He earned his 44th win, tying Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford for 10th in team history.

Jonathan Huberdeau scored twice and Aaron Ekblad also had a goal for Florida. Evgeni Dadonov added two assists for the Panthers, unable to win a third straight game.

Huberdeau, Dadonov and Vincent Trocheck all have points in each of the Panthers’ first four games.

James Reimer made his second start of the season for Florida in place of Roberto Luongo, who is tied with Curtis Joseph for fourth all-time with 454 wins. Reimer made 29 saves.

Crosby scored his second of the game at 1:59 of the third period to give Pittsburgh a two-goal cushion. The Penguins’ captain redirected Kris Letang’s pass out of midair and the puck caromed off Reimer’s blocker and into the net.

Ekblad cut the Panthers’ deficit to one at 6:18 of the third with a slap shot that beat Murray. The Panthers, who average 40 shots per game, hit the post in the final minute, but were unable to get the equalizer.

Crosby opened the scoring at 6:46 of the first period with a power-play goal. He one-timed Phil Kessel’s pass from the right post.

The teams combined for three goals during a 3:05 span in the second.

Huberdeau tied it for the Panthers at 5:25 of the period, but McKegg put Pittsburgh ahead with a short-handed goal 1:15 later. Huberdeau scored his second of the game, this one on the power play, just 1:50 after McKegg’s goal.

The Penguins reclaimed the lead, 3-2, at 13:36 when Hornqvist jammed a rebound behind Reimer from the top of the crease.

FLYERS 8, CAPITALS 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Claude Giroux, Scott Laughton and Sean Couturier each scored two goals to lead the Philadelphia Flyers.

Wayne Simmonds, Claude Giroux and Valtteri Filppula also scored for Philadelphia in its home opener. The Flyers won a home opener for the 28th time in 50 games.

NHL leading scorer Alex Ovechkin failed to record a goal or assist for just the second time in six games. He failed to score a goal in last year’s season series against the Flyers for the first time in 12 seasons.

DEVILS 3, RANGERS 2

NEW YORK (AP) — Drew Stafford scored early in the third period and Keith Kinkaid stopped 29 shots in his season debut, leading New Jersey to the victory.

Adam Henrique and Miles Wood scored in the second for the Devils, who bounced back one night after their first loss of the season and improved to 4-1-0.

The Rangers dropped to 1-5-0 for the first time since 1980.

LIGHTNING 2, BLUES 1

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov became the first Tampa Bay player to score in each of the first five games of a season.

Tyler Johnson also scored for the Lightning, who have won four of five. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.

JETS 2, HURRICANES 1

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Nikolaj Ehlers scored his team-leading fifth goal, sending Winnipeg to the victory.

Ehlers took a feed from captain Blake Wheeler and wired a shot from the high slot over the stick-side shoulder of Scott Darling 6:03 into the third. Winnipeg won its third straight after an 0-2 start.

MAPLE LEAFS 4, CANADIENS 3

MONTREAL (AP) — Auston Matthews scored his second goal of the game 48 seconds into overtime to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Montreal Canadiens.

Matthews finished a 2-on-1 counterattack with William Nylander, beating goalie Carey Price with a shot from the left circle for his fifth goal in five games.

James van Riemsdyk and Patrick Marleau also scored for Toronto, which ended a 14-game winless run against Montreal dating to January 2014.

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