National Hockey

DALLAS — The Dallas Stars formed a line next to players from the Vegas Golden Knights to honour victims of last weekend's mass shooting before the debut of the first major pro sports franchise in Las Vegas.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Washington Capitals forward Nathan Walker will become the first Australian player to dress in an NHL game when he makes his debut Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens.

PITTSBURGH — Four months ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators spent six games trading shots and momentum in a spirited tug-of-war for the Stanley Cup that ended with the Penguins skating away with their second straight title.

The hats were flying at a historic pace on the first two nights of the NHL season. Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin, Wayne Simmonds and Brandon Saad each recorded a hat trick in his team's season opener.

TORONTO — Despite watching his team win 7-2 in Winnipeg to kick off the season, Mike Babcock wants improvements in Saturday's home opener against the New York Rangers.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Ducks weren't too excited about the start to their season opener, but turns out they had an exciting finish in the wings.

LOS ANGELES — Jonathan Quick's last season opener ended in the first period, and his groin injury kept him out for the Los Angeles Kings' next 59 games.

CHICAGO — Brandon Saad scored three times in his return to Chicago and Ryan Hartman had a goal and four assists, helping the Blackhawks pound the Pittsburgh Penguins 10-1 on Thursday night.

CHICAGO — Brandon Saad was a force on both ends of the ice. Patrick Kane made a couple of dazzling passes. Nick Schmaltz showed off his speed, and Ryan Hartman was everywhere. It was quite a show, especially for opening night.

DETROIT — The first two goals at Detroit's new arena came from young standouts the team is trying to build around. When that wasn't enough to shake the Minnesota Wild, grizzled veteran Henrik Zetterberg put the Red Wings back ahead to stay.