Zach Parise scored twice and Brian Gionta had three assists to lead the New Jersey Devils past the Carolina Hurricanes 4-0 on Friday, sending the Stanley Cup champions to a second straight home defeat to open the season.
Jamie Langenbrunner and Patrik Elias also scored for the Devils, who opened their season with an easy win in the arena where their playoff run ended last season.
Martin Brodeur made 29 saves for his 81st career shutout and 447th victory, moving him into a tie for third place all-time with Terry Sawchuk.
PHOTO: AP
Cam Ward finished with 26 saves for the Hurricanes, who were outplayed in the first period and never recovered.
Last season, Carolina won its first seven home games en route to a franchise-record 31 wins at the RBC Center.
The Hurricanes then beat the Devils in a five-game series in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, ending it with a 4-1 win at Carolina on May 14.
But the Devils looked sharp in their return on Friday, getting Parise's first goal 26 seconds in and never looking back.
Panthers 8, Bruins 3
At Sunrise, Florida, Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and three assists -- his first four-point night since Feb. 25, 2003 -- in his Florida debut, and Joe Nieuwendyk had two goals and an assist as the Panthers opened the season with a victory.
Alex Auld, who came to the Panthers with Bertuzzi in the offseason trade that sent All-Star goalie Roberto Luongo to Vancouver, stopped 34 shots for Florida.
Mike Van Ryn, Juraj Kolnik, Nathan Horton, Chris Gratton and Olli Jokinen also scored for the Panthers, who outscored Boston 4-1 in the third period. Ruslan Salei, Rostislav Olesz and Jozef Stumpel each had two assists for the Panthers.
Marco Sturm had a goal and an assist, Glen Murray and Wayne Primeau each had a goal and Zdeno Chara added two assists for Boston, which has two wins in its last 11 season openers.
Canucks 3, Blue Jackets 2, OT
At Columbus, Ohio, Daniel Sedin tied it in the closing minutes of regulation time, then scored off a rebound 31 seconds into overtime for Vancouver.
Brendan Morrison also had a goal for the Canucks, who opened the season with a 3-1 victory at Detroit on Thursday night.
Mark Hartigan had a goal and an assist and David Vyborny added a goal for Columbus, which fell to 1-4-1 in season openers.
With the Canucks trailing 2-1, Sedin scored on a backhand pass from Markus Naslund with 2:11 left in regulation.
In the overtime, Sedin's twin brother, Henrik, who had two assists, took a pass from Daniel after a faceoff, skated behind Columbus goaltender Pascal Leclaire and tried a wraparound. The puck was blocked and bounced to Daniel, who pounced on it for the winner.
Sabres 5, Canadiens 4, SO
At Buffalo, New York, Maxim Afinogenov forced overtime with 15 seconds left in regulation and then scored in a shootout, rallying Buffalo past Montreal.
Buffalo's Thomas Vanek had two assists and also scored in the shootout, while the Canadiens failed on their two shootout attempts -- the last when Alex Kovalev had goaltender Ryan Miller down, but snapped his shot off the right post.
Vanek then scored on his shootout opportunity, snapping a shot past Cristobal Huet.
The Sabres won their home opener with a wild finish, three times overcoming two-goal deficits and twice in the third period. Daniel Briere, Jiri Novotny and Jason Pominville also scored in regulation for Buffalo.
Saku Koivu had two goals and an assist for the Canadiens, Chris Higgins had a goal and two assists and Michael Ryder a goal and an assist in Guy Carbonneau's debut as Montreal's coach.
Ducks 4, Kings 3
At Anaheim, California, Chris Kunitz had a goal and an assist, Teemu Selanne added two assists and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 41 saves as Anaheim edged Los Angeles in the season opener for both teams.
The Ducks' Ryan Getzlaf snapped a 2-2 tie when he scored with 13:15 remaining, and Kunitz added a goal moments later.
Lubomir Visnovsky pulled the Kings within one with his goal with 5:07 remaining, but that closed the scoring. Corey Perry and Andy McDonald each scored in the second period for Anaheim.
Anze Kopitar, a 19-year-old rookie from Sweden, scored Los Angeles' first two goals, also in the second period.
Getzlaf beat new Los Angeles goalie Dan Cloutier high on the glove side from 25 feet to help spoil Marc Crawford's debut as the Kings' coach.
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