Martin Brodeur withstood Evgeni Malkin's goal on debut to become only the third goaltender in NHL history to post 450 wins as the New Jersey Devils beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 on Wednesday.
Malkin, one of the most awaited young players in recent seasons, was everything he was supposed to be despite missing nearly a month of play with a dislocated left shoulder.
The Russian center made exceptional passes, used his long reach to grab pucks and set up scoring chances. He also showed he could create scoring of his own by somehow finding a puck that Brodeur thought he had controlled and pushing it into the net at 18:38 of the second.
Capitals 5, Panthers 2
At Washington, Alexander Semin had a goal and an assist during Washington's five-goal first period, and the Capitals cruised past Florida.
The Capitals, who hadn't scored more than five goals in any of their first four games, tallied five in the opening 15 minutes against the Panthers. The last time Washington scored five goals in a period was in February 2003 in a 5-1 win at Atlanta.
Olie Kolzig had 34 saves, Jamie Heward and Matt Bradley scored unassisted goals and Richard Zednik had two assists for the Capitals.
Florida goaltender Alex Auld was removed at 12:36 after yielding four goals on 12 shots. Josef Stumpel and Nathan Horton scored power-play goals for the Panthers, who were 7-0-1 against the Capitals last season.
Predators 3, Rangers 0
At New York, Tomas Vokoun made 38 saves in his 17th NHL shutout, and Scott Nichol had a goal and assist for his first points of the season in surging Nashville's victory over New York.
Vokoun, who allowed 13 goals in Nashville's opening two losses, has starkly turned his early season around. He has been in the nets for each of the Predators' three straight victories and stopped 91 of 93 shots.
The Rangers outshot the Predators in every period but lost for the fourth time in five games.
Avalanche 4, Maple Leafs 1
At Toronto, John-Michael Liles scored twice to lead Colorado over Toronto.
Brett McLean and Milan Hejduk also scored for the Avalanche, who avoided a three-game losing streak.
Colorado plays in Ottawa on Thursday before goalie Jose Theodore, the 2002 NHL MVP, returns to Montreal on Saturday for the first time since being traded.
Backup Peter Budaj got the start against Toronto and finished with 27 saves.
Bates Battaglia scored for the Maple Leafs.
Blackhawks 2, Canadiens 1
At Chicago, Bryan Smolinski scored from the slot 2 minutes into the third to lift Chicago over Montreal.
Jeff Hamilton set up the play by forcing Montreal's Janne Niinimaa to turn over the puck.
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