PITTSBURGH -- Phil Kessel beat Braden Holtby in the fourth round of a shootout and the Pittsburgh Penguins began the defense of their Stanley Cup with a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.Kessels wrist shot over Holtbys glove was initially ruled no goal but was overturned on replay. Marc-Andre Fleury then stuffed Alex Ovechkin from in close to help the Penguins improve to 5-0 against Washington in season openers.Fleury finished with 39 saves for Pittsburgh. Patric Hornqvist and Evgeni Malkin scored as the Penguins capped a celebratory night in which they lifted their latest Stanley Cup banner to the rafters by tripping up a familiar rival.Andre Burakovsky scored twice for Washington. Holtby made 28 stops, but allowed three goals in the shootout.RANGERS 5, ISLANDERS 3NEW YORK -- Chris Kreider scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 25 shots in the New York Rangers victory over the New York Islanders.Michael Grabner, Mats Zuccarello, Brandon Pirri and J.T. Miller also scored for the Rangers at Madison Square Garden in the opener for both teams.Lundqvist beat goalie Jaroslav Halak for the first time since Jan. 17, 2010, ending Halaks eight-game winning streak in the matchup -- including the last five since joining the Islanders.Nick Leddy, Cal Clutterbuck and Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders.Islanders captain John Tavares briefly left the game after getting whacked on his left hand in the opening minute of the third.PANTHERS 2, DEVILS 1, OTSUNRISE, Fla. -- Aleksander Barkov scored at 2:48 of overtime to lift Florida past New Jersey.Barkov took a pass from Michael Matheson and one-timed the winner past Cory Schneider. Matheson knocked Damon Severson off the puck behind the net, then found Barkov unmarked in the right circle.Roberto Luongo stopped 23 shots for Florida, including two huge saves in the final minutes of regulation. Schneider stopped 32 shots for the Devils, including all 16 he faced in the third period.P.A. Parenteau, claimed off waivers from the New York Islanders earlier this week, scored for the Devils. Jonathan Marchessault opened the scoring for Florida.The Panthers wore No. 16 jerseys with Fernandez on the back for warmups, a tribute to Jose Fernandez -- the Miami Marlins ace pitcher who died in a boating accident off Miami Beach last month. The team also presented a $35,000 check to his foundation in a pregame ceremony.STARS 4, DUCKS 2DALLAS -- Antoine Roussel scored the tiebreaking goal for Dallas against Anaheim.Roussel scored on a pass from Adam Cracknell 1:23 into the third period, 22 seconds after Andrew Coglianos second goal for the Ducks tied it at 2. Cracknell later added a goal.Lauri Korpikoski and Stephen Johns also scored for the Stars. Antti Niemi Niemi stopped 33 shots, 16 in the first periid when the Stars were outshot 17-1.Randy Carlyle, who led the Ducks to their only Stanley Cup title in 2007, coached his first game in his return. He was re-hired to replace Bruce Boudreau nearly five years after being fired.LIGHTNING 6, RED WINGS 4TAMPA, Fla. -- Tyler Johnson scored the go-ahead power-play goal off a nifty pass from Steven Stamkos midway through the third period and Tampa Bay beat Detroit.Johnson was positioned at the right circle and redirected Stamkos feed past Petr Mrazek at 8:34 to put the Lightning up 4-3, just 5 seconds after Detroit was called for too many men on the ice.Jonathan Drouin, Cedric Paquette, Brian Boyle, Alex Killorn and Valtteri Filppula also scored for the Lightning. Thomas Vanek scored twice for the Red Wings, and Frans Nielsen and Danny DeKeyser added goalsCANADIENS 4, SABRES 1BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Brendan Gallagher scored twice, including a tip-in on Shea Webers shot, in new-look Montreals victory over injury-depleted Buffalo.Al Montoya made 30 saves in place of starter Carey Price, who was sidelined by the flu. Andrew Shaw, who was acquired in a trade with Chicago in June, and Torrey Mitchell also scored for Montreal.Injuries continued to mount for Buffalo after Evander Kane was taken to the hospital for evaluation after he slammed heavily into the end boards late in the second period. The Sabres were already playing without second-year star center Jack Eichel, who is out indefinitely with a sprained left ankle.Matt Moulson scored a power-play goal for Buffalo to briefly cut Montreals lead to 2-1 in the opening minute of the third period.JETS 5, HURRICANES 4, OTWINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Mark Scheifele scored at 2:41 of overtime to give the Winnipeg Jets a 5-4 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night in the opener for both teams.After the Jets overcame a 4-1 deficit in the third period, Scheifele took a pass from captain Blake Wheeler and beat goalie Cam Ward.Jets rookie Patrik Laine scored his first NHL goal and added an assist.The crowd roared when Laine, the second overall pick in the draft, scored on the power play in the third period to close Carolinas lead to 4-3.Mathieu Perreault made it 4-4 with 1:29 left, with Laine assisting on the goal.Blake Wheeler had a goal and two assists, and Shawn Matthias also scored.Jeff Skinner, Lee Stempniak, Jordan Staal and Victor Rask also scored for Carolina.BRUINS 6, BLUE JACKETS 3COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Brad Marchand had two goals and three assists and Boston overcame a 2-0 first-period deficit to beat Columbus.David Pastrnak had two goals and two assists, David Backes also scored twice and had an assist, and Tuukka Rask made 28 saves.Backes, shifting to the first-line center position for injured Patrice Bergeron, scored both of his goals in a 3:36 span of in the second period to tie it at 3.Alexander Wennberg, Cam Atkinson and Seth Jones scored for Columbus.BLUES 3, WILD 2ST. LOUIS -- Nail Yakupov had a goal and an assist and Jake Allen made several big stops and finished with 18 saves to help St. Louis beat Minnesota.Alexander Steen and Magnus Paajarvi also scored, and Patrik Berglund had two assists.Ryan Suter and Charlie Coyle scored for the Wild. Jonas Brodin Wild Jersey . -- The goal posts lying flat on the field, Arizonas fans lingered on the field, congregating around the locker room entrance nearly 30 minutes after rushing out of the stands. Greg Pateryn Wild Jersey . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. http://www.authenticwildpro.com/Jordan-greenway-wild-jersey/ . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. Zach Parise Jersey . Goals from Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller extended Bayerns unbeaten run to a record 37 matches. "This record is incredible," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said. Alex Stalock Jersey .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. Many have wondered why Alabama allowed one player to transfer to another SEC school recently but wont let Maurice Smith do it.The school says the situations are different, but a report muddies the waters.The mother of Smith, a reserve defensive back, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week that Alabama coach Nick Saban is blocking her son from transferring to Georgia.After last season ended, Alabama did not block the transfer of wideout Chris Black to Missouri, also an SEC school.While it is understandable that questions are being asked about similarities regarding a situation involving another former football student-athlete transferring to an SEC institution, that instance occurred only because of unique circumstances, Alabama said in a statement Thursday.The student-athlete [Black] elected to have surgery in the middle of the season and left the program. Because of the timing of his departure, his scholarship was not renewed, and he requested to use the graduate transfer exception through the SEC. Our decision in this situation to support the SEC waiver was the exception and not the rule.We adhere to the SEC and institutional policies regarding issues of this manner. Waivers are not provided without compelling circumstances that present clear non-athletics reasons for the transfer. We remain happy to assist Maurice to enable a transfer to any non-SEC school, and have been doing everything requested regarding that throughout this process.Saban addressed the situation after practice and said Smith had opportunities to go to schools outside the SEC.I know theres a lot of talk out there and interest in the Maurice Smith deal, Saban said. Nothing has changed. We support the SEC rule of not granting guys release to go to other SEC schools. It has been our policy here not to do that unless there was a special circumstance.Saban declined to comment when asked if he felt there was a chance that Smith could wind up at Georgia.Blacks season ended at midseason by an ankle injury that required surgery. However, AL.com cited sources Thursday as saying that Black was actually granted his release because off a technicality.dddddddddddd A school has seven days to respond to a players request to transfer. If it misses the deadline, the player is granted a full release and can play at any school. Black requested his release during Alabamas busy run-up to the LSU game in November, and the request was lost in the shuffle, AL.com reported.In mid-June, AL.com reported that Smith was seeking to leave as a graduate transfer, which would make him eligible to play immediately at another school.He wants to go to Georgia. Period, Samyra Smith told the AJC. Thats where he wants to go.She added: The university is continuing to be resistant to any request to release my son. Thats where we are. In [Sabans] mind, the best decision is for him to stay here. And he doesnt think anything other than that is best for the kid.At media days, Saban said he and the staff had told Smith that he would be a significant contributor this season if he stayed. Alabama opened camp Wednesday.We have told him, Because we support the SEC rule, it would not be in your best interest to have to sit out. If you want to go someplace else [outside the SEC], wed be glad to help you do that, Saban said.Samyra Smith asked the AJC, So what is it? Is it really about my son, or is it about Kirby Smart and Nick Saban?Smart, who is in his first year as head coach at Georgia, served as Sabans defensive coordinator at Alabama from 2008 to 2015.I dont know what it is, she said. You just had a player leave, Chris Black, and hes at an SEC school, Mizzou. So dont tell me its about a violation of rules. I can read you the rules. I understand them well. Its not a violation of rules, or else the SEC wouldve stopped it, the commissioner wouldve stopped it. But its allowed.Georgia adheres to the same conference transfer rule. The Bulldogs wouldnt allow?running back A.J. Turman to transfer to Miami, where former Georgia coach Mark Richt has taken over.Information from ESPNs Alex Scarborough and The Associated Press was used in this report. ' ' '