NEW YORK (AP) — Igor Shesterkin became the first New York Rangers goalie to score when he lofted the puck the length of the ice into an empty net, capping a 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.

A year after failing to score in their first three home games last season, the Rangers wasted little time preventing a repeat performance, getting a goal from Mika Zibanejad less than six minutes into their Madison Square Garden opener.

Pavel Dorofeyev and Eeli Tolvanen each scored his first goal with his new team, and top prospect-turned-important contributor Gabe Perreault deflected in a shot by No. 1 defenseman Adam Fox.

Shesterkin scored with 2:34 remaining, becoming the 18th goalie in NHL history with a goal. The first of his career was the 21st by a player at the position, counting the playoffs.

It was a far cry from the nightmare start at MSG in October 2025, when the Rangers went nearly 181 minutes before setting off the goal horn there. They became the first team in league history to get shut out in the first three home games of a season.

The crowd at this home opener didn’t even have much of a chance to get nervous. Coming off getting blanked 3-0 on the road Tuesday night at Boston, New York was the aggressor early. Drawing a penalty paved the way for Zibanejad to score on the power play.

The offensive outburst allowed the Rangers to put up four goals on 24 shots against two-time Vezina Trophy- and Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. In a matchup of two of the best at the position in the world, Shesterkin stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced, leading to chants of “Igor’s better!”

BLUE JACKETS 6, SABRES 3

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Matthew Knies had two goals and an assist in his Columbus debut and the Blue Jackets beat Buffalo for their first season-opening victory in five years.

Cole Sillinger, Adam Fantilli, Sean Monahan and Mathieu Olivier also scored, and Charlie Coyle added three assists. Reigning Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski had two assists, and Jet Greaves stopped 23 shots.

Knies, acquired from Toronto on Monday, became the first Columbus player to score twice in his Blue Jackets debut. The three points tied the franchise record for a debut set by Artemi Panarin, who had three assists in 2017.

Mattias Samuelsson, Jack Quinn and Konsta Helenius scored for Buffalo, and Noah Ostlund and Owen Power each had two assists. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 16 shots.

DEVILS 3, FLYERS 2, OT

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes scored with 1:37 left in overtime to lift New Jersey to a win over Philadelphia.

Hughes scored on a wrist shot with an assist from Jesper Bratt in New Jersey’s home opener.

Hughes, who led Team USA to the gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics last winter, led New Jersey with 77 points last season and ranked second with 27 goals despite missing 21 games with a hand injury. The Devils went 8-13-0 without Hughes, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft.

His brother Luke tied the game at 2-all with a snapshot at 9:44 of the third period from Luke Evangelista.

Joseph Woll, who was acquired in an offseason trade with Toronto, stopped 41 shots for Philadelphia. Jake Allen made 23 saves for the Devils.

All four goals in regulation were scored by defensemen.

The Flyers, who suffered a 7-0 home loss to Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, got goals from Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen.

WILD 3, PREDATORS 1

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nick Foligno and Blake Coleman scored first-period goals, and Minnesota beat Nashville in the season opener for both teams.

The Wild lost in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs last spring in five games to Colorado. After giving coach John Hynes a contract extension last month, Minnesota is targeting a third straight postseason berth.

Kirill Kaprizov also had a goal for Minnesota, which is playing 21 of its first 31 games on the road this season. Jesper Wallstedt made 19 saves.

Roman Josi scored for Nashville, which went 0 of 4 with the man advantage.

Filip Forsberg matched an NHL record with an assist on Josi’s goal, giving him at least a point in 11 straight season openers. Forsberg now has 15 points in 11 openers, tying the mark held by Viktor Kozlov (1997-98, 2008-09) and Vincent Lecavalier (2002-03 and 2013-14).