Steven Stamkos set up the first goal on his first shift in his first game since injuring his knee Nov. 15, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Nashville Predators 3-1 at Amalie Arena on Friday.
"When you don't play for as long as I have it's tough to see how the body is going to respond," Stamkos said. "I couldn't have felt any better tonight than I expected so that was a very positive thing."
Stamkos, who played 19:05 in his preseason debut, passed behind his back to Victor Hedman at the left hash marks for a shot that beat goalie Juuse Saros 33 seconds into the game for a 1-0 lead.
"I knew he knew that I was there," Hedman said of Stamkos' set-up pass. "I saw him looking at me before I got the puck so I was trying to stay in an area for him and he put it right on the tape with no look."
Stamkos had an assist on Nikita Kucherov's goal that made it 2-0 at 15:37 of the first period.
Yanni Gourde scored to put Tampa Bay ahead 3-0 at 3:26 of the third period. Austin Watson's goal at 14:05 made it 3-1.
Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves, and Saros made 26.
Maple Leafs shut out Sabres
Morgan Rielly scored an unassisted power-play goal 3:23 into the second period, and the Toronto Maple Leafs scored two empty-net goals in a 3-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto.
Curtis McElhinney and Garret Sparkscombined for the shutout in the game played at the home of the Toronto Marlies, the Maple Leafs' American Hockey League affiliate.
Husso, Blues shut out Capitals
Robert Thomas scored two goals, and Ville Husso made 27 saves to earn the shutout for the St. Louis Blues in a 4-0 win against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Friday.
Thomas and Connor Bleackley scored 39 seconds apart late in the first period to give the Blues a 2-0 lead. Thomas, selected by St. Louis with the No. 20 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, scored on the power play at 12:22 of the third period to make it 3-0, andKlim Kostin's goal with 3:32 remaining put the Blues up 4-0.
Capitals goalie Braden Holtby allowed two goals on 22 shots through the second period. Pheonix Copley made six saves in relief.
Maatta scores to give Penguins win against Blue Jackets
Olli Maatta scored with 1:23 left in the third period to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
Pierre-Luc Dubois scored twice for Columbus. He tied it 3-3 with 7:38 left, 21 seconds after Zachary Aston-Reese gave Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead.
Dubois also tied it 1-1 20 seconds into the second period before Daniel Sprong gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead with 1:01 remaining.
Cameron Gaunce made it 2-2 at 7:41 of the third period.
Sam Miletic gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 4:13 of the first period.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 15 saves facing 17 shots in two periods for Columbus. Antti Niemi made 31 saves playing the entire game for Pittsburgh.
Beauvillier helps Islanders hold off Rangers
Anthony Beauvillier had a goal and an assist, and the New York Islanders defeated the New York Rangers 2-1 at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
All the scoring came in the second period.
Beauvillier's goal broke a 1-1 tie at 11:03, after he assisted on a goal by Casey Bailey at 1:51 when the Islanders took a 1-0 lead.
Vinni Lettieri tied it 1-1 on the power play at 2:00.
Goalie Ondrej Pavelec played the first two periods for the Rangers and Chris Nellplayed the third. Jaroslav Halak played the entire game for the Islanders, who played at the home of their American Hockey League affiliate.
Yamamoto, Pakarinen score twice in Oilers win against Canucks
Kailer Yamamoto and Iiro Pakarinen each scored two goals to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a 5-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place.
Yamamoto, selected with the No. 22 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, has scored in three straight games. He put Edmonton ahead 2-1 at 5:17 of the second period, and Pakarinen scored shorthanded at 9:31 to make it 3-1.
After Anton Rodin scored to get the Canucks within 3-2 at 4:03 of the third, Pakarinen's second goal made it 4-2 at 4:41. Yamamoto scored on the power play at 12:38 for a 5-2 Oilers lead.
Defenseman Jalen Chatfield scored his second goal in two games to make it 5-3 at 14:23.
Michael Carcone scored a power-play goal 13:17 into the first period to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead, but Leon Draisaitl's goal tied it 1-1 with 36 second left in the period.
Laurent Brossoit made 23 saves for the Oilers, and Richard Bachman had 28 for the Canucks.
Smith helps Flames defeat Coyotes
Mike Smith, playing against his former team for the first time since being traded June 17, made 15 saves to help the Calgary Flames defeat the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Smith spent the past six seasons with Arizona.
Johnny Gaudreau scored two goals, andSam Bennett had three assists for the Flames.
Mario Kempe gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead on the power play at 9:15 of the first period.
Gaudreau tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 12:30, and Micheal Ferland made it 2-1 at 15:42. Gaudreau's goal with two seconds remaining in the second period gave Calgary a 3-1 lead.
Mark Jankowski scored a power-play goal at 5:51 of the third period for a 4-1 lead, and Dysin Mayo made it 4-2 on the power play at 12:27.
Louis Domingue played the first two periods and made 16 saves on 19 shots for the Coyotes. Adin Hill stopped 15 of 16 shots in the third.
Silfverberg has three points for Ducks in win against Kings
Jakob Silfverberg had a goal and two assists for the Anaheim Ducks in a 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Honda Center.
Rickard Rakell, Jaycob Megna and Mitch Hults scored for Anaheim. John Gibsonmade 10 saves on 11 shots in 31:59 for the Ducks, and Ryan Miller made a save on 12 of 13 shots he faced in relief.
Justin Auger and Matt Luff scored for the Kings. Jack Campbell made 19 saves on 20 shots in 31:59 for the Kings, and Cal Petersen made a save on 13 of 15 shots he faced in relief.
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