Stamkos’ first keys Lightning
Steven Stamkos scored his first goal since having right knee surgery last November and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-4, last night in Tampa.
Slater Koekkoek got his first two NHL goals, and Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov also scored for the Lightning. Alex Killorn had four assists, while Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves.
Pittsburgh got goals from Jake Guentzel, Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust and Matt Hunwick. Antti Niemi, who allowed four goals on 13 shots over 9:16 against Chicago on Oct. 5 in his Penguins debut, stopped 29 shots.
Panthers 5, Blues 2 — In Sunrise, Fla., 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.
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 — Samuel Girard scored his first NHL goal and added an assist to lead host Nashville over Dallas.
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. The Stars have lost three of four to open the season.
Wild 5, Blackhawks 2 — Chris Stewart broke a tie midway through the third period with the first of his two goals and Minnesota won in Chicago for its first victory of the season.
Jason Zucker had a goal and an assist, and Devan Dubnyk made 36 saves to help the Wild hand Chicago its first regulation loss.
Ryan Hartman and Jonathan Toews had the goals for Chicago, and Corey Crawford stopped 29 shots.
Red Wings 4, Coyotes 2 — In Glendale, Ariz., Luke Glendening broke a tie with a shorthanded goal with 3:24 left and Detroit beat winless Arizona.
Jimmy Howard had 33 saves, and Martin Frk and Henrik Zetterberg also scored for Detroit. Clayton Keller scored twice for Arizona.
Jets 4, Canucks 2 — Patrik Laine and Tyler Myers scored 3:13 apart late in the second period, and Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves to lead visiting Winnipeg to the win in Vancouver.
Sharks 3, Sabres 2 — Timo Meier and Chris Tierney each had a goal and an assist and Martin Jones made 23 saves to power host San Jose past Buffalo, despite two goals from Jason Pominville, both assisted by Jack Eichel.
Elsewhere in the NHL — The Canadiens placed veteran defenseman Mark Streit on waivers, according to a source. The move comes four months after Montreal signed the 39-year-old Streit to a one-year, $700,000 contract after he won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh last season . . . .
New Jersey Devils rookie forward Michael McLeod had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Injured Sept. 25 in an exhibition game, McLeod is expected to be sidelined 4-6 weeks.