CHICAGO (AP) - Brandon Saad, Johnny Oduya and Marian Hossa scored in the third period, and the Chicago Blackhawks kicked off their Stanley Cup title defense with a 6-4 victory over Mikhail Grabovski and the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night in the NHL regular-season opener.
Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook and Brandon Bollig also scored as Chicago won its first game for the second straight season. Corey Crawford made 28 saves, including a couple of huge stops when the Blackhawks killed off a late 5-on-3 power play.
Grabovski had three goals and an assist in his first game since he signed with Washington in August. Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist, but the Capitals were unable to protect a third-period lead.
Grabovski had consecutive power-play goals in the third, lifting Washington to a 3-2 advantage with 14:44 left. But Saad finished a beautiful give-and-go with Michal Handzus, and Oduya converted a long slap shot at 13:53 to put the Blackhawks ahead to stay.
MAPLE LEAFS 4, CANADIENS 3
MONTREAL (AP) - Tyler Bozak scored a short-handed goal and Mason Raymond netted the winner in his first game with the Maple Leafs as Toronto spoiled Montreal's home opener.
James van Riemsdyk and Dion Phaneuf also scored in a fight-filled game in which Montreal's new enforcer George Parros was carried off on a stretcher following a bout. Toronto's Colton Orr pulled Parros down during the fight, and the Canadiens forward's face crashed into the ice.
Lars Eller's second goal of the game with 2:22 left brought the Canadiens within 4-3 but they couldn't get even. Eller also set up a goal by Brendan Gallagher on the first night of the NHL regular season.
The mood turned somber 2:34 into the third period when Parros was prone on the ice. Orr had fallen and pulled down Parros, who was bleeding and looked woozy. A team of trainers from both teams spent several minutes treating him.
The Canadiens said Parros sustained a concussion, but was alert and conscious and undergoing more tests.
JETS 5, OILERS 4
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - Michael Frolik scored a pair of goals, and Winnipeg rallied to spoil Edmonton's home opener in the first game for both teams.
With 5:02 left, Eric Tangradi sent a beautiful backhand pass in front to Frolik, who snapped a 4-4 tie by directing his second goal of the night into the net before goalie Devan Dubnyk could get back across the crease.
Jacob Trouba also scored and added an assist in his first NHL game for the Jets, who made their first appearance as a Winnipeg team in Edmonton since 1996.
Mark Scheifele and Bryan Little also scored for the Jets, and Ondrej Pavelec made 34 saves for the win.
Mike Brown, Boyd Gordon, Ales Hemsky and Jesse Joensuu scored for the Oilers, who squandered a 4-2 lead. Dubnyk stopped 23 shots.