PITTSBURGH TOPS SAN JOSE IN EARLY CUP REMATCH

pittsburgh» Evgeni Malkin, Scott Wilson and Patric Hornqvist scored during a furious third-period rally to lead the Penguins to 3-2 victory over the Sharks on Thursday night.

The Penguins trailed by two goals after two largely lifeless periods in a rematch of last June’s Stanley Cup Final before catching fire late. Hornqvist and Malkin both finished with a goal and an assist. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 32 shots and bought the Penguins time until the offense finally got going.

Tomas Hertl and Patrick Marleau scored for the Sharks, who controlled the first 40 minutes and appeared well on their way to a one-sided victory before falling apart late.

THURSDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS

Alex Ovechkin scored the gamewinning goal midway through the third period to lift the Capitals over the Panthers 4-2. Marcus Johansson, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Justin Williams scored goals for the Capitals. Matt Niskanen recorded two assists and Braden Holtby made 26 saves. Jaromir Jagr became the third player to score 750 goals. He is in third place all-time in the NHL, behind only Wayne Gretzky (894) and Gordie Howe (801). … Patrice Bergeron scored the tiebreaking goal with 75 seconds left in his season debut to give the Bruins a 2-1 victory over the Devils. … Carey Price made 27 saves in his season debut to help the Canadiens beat the Coyotes 5-2. Price made his first NHL start since injuring his right knee Nov. 25, 2015. … Ryan Garbutt’s goal broke a tie in the third period and sent the Ducks to their first win of the season, 3-2 over the Flyers. … Eric Staal scored twice and the Wild recovered from another deficit to beat the Maple Leafs 3-2. … Alec Martinez scored 1:20 into overtime and the Kings beat the Stars 4-3. … Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist as the Oilers won their second straight game, defeating the Blues 3-1. Tyler Pitlick and Milan Lucic also scored for the Oilers, who improved to 4-1-0 on the season. … Eddie Lack made 26 saves as the Hurricanes defeated the Flames 4-2. Noah Hanifin had three assists for Carolina.

FOOTNOTE

Pens goalie gets big pay bump. Matt Murray’s breakout performance in last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs earned the Penguins goaltender a hefty raise. The 22-year-old and the team agreed to a three-year extension beginning next season that will pay Murray $3.75 million per season. Murray went 15-6 with a 2.08 goals against average and a .923 save percentage in the postseason.