Stamkos scores first goal

Steven Stamkos scored his first goal since having right knee surgery in November and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 on Thursday night.

Stamkos made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 3:49 of the second period from the low left circle. The Lightning star previously scored Nov. 15 at Detroit, the same game that he had a seasonending lateral meniscus tear in the knee. Stamkos entered with five assists in three games this season.

Stamkos also tied Vincent Lecavalier for the Lightning team record with 112 power-play goals,

Slater Koekkoek got his first two NHL goals, and Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov also scored for the Lightning. Alex Killorn had four assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves.

Jake Guentzel, Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust and Matt Hunwick scored for two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh.

PANTHERS 5, BLUES 2

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Roberto Luongo moved into a tie for fourth on the NHL career victory list with 474, making 37 saves to help Florida beat St. Louis.

The 38-year-old Luongo is tied with Curtis Joseph on the career list.

Vincent Trocheck scored the go-ahead goal, Ian McCoshen had his first NHL goal, and Jared McCann, Aaron Ekblad and Nick Bjugstad also connected for Florida.

Paul Stastny and Vince Dunn — also with his first career goal — countered for St. Louis. Jake Allen stopped 33 shots in the Blues’ first loss in five games this season.

PREDATORS 4, STARS 1

NASHVILLE - Samuel Girard scored his first NHL goal and added an assist to lead the Nashville Predators to a 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.

Filip Forsberg and P.K. Subban also had a goal and an assist, and Viktor Arvidsson also scored for the Predators, winners of two straight. Pekka Rinne made 30 saves.

Jamie Benn had Dallas’ lone goal.