ALEXANDER GEORGIEV

Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin each scored two power-play goals, Mikko Rantanen had four assists and the fast-skating Colorado Avalanche began their Stanley Cup title defense with a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Johnny Gaudreau leaving Calgary for Columbus headlined a busy offseason of player movement around the NHL.

Executives around the NHL expect plenty of movement before free agency opens Wednesday.

The goalie carousel continues to spin even before the second day of the NHL draft begins.

The Montreal Canadiens have selected Slovak winger Juraj Slafkovsky with the first pick in the NHL draft.

Colorado, Chicago and Pittsburgh all made key moves ahead of the NHL draft with the Stanley Cup champion Avalanche making a deal to shore up their goaltending situation and the Penguins ensuring a long-time defenseman was sticking around.

Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists to become the sixth player in NHL history to reach 200 career playoff points and the Pittsburgh Penguins throttled the New York Rangers 7-2 to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Danton Heinen’s first playoff goal in three years just past the midway point of the third period helped the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 7-4 victory over the New York Rangers.

Tony DeAngelo had a goal and two assists against his former team as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 6-3.

Mika Zibanejad had his eighth career hat trick, Igor Shesterkin stopped 38 shots for his second shutout of the season and the New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0.

While the fisticuffs never materialized, the Washington Capitals made a season-opening 5-1 victory against the division-rival New York Rangers memorable for Alex Ovechkin’s 731st and 732nd goals and Hendrix Lapierre’s first.

Anthony Beauvillier scored twice and Semyon Varlamov stopped 28 shots for his league-leading seventh shutout of the season as the New York Islanders beat the New York Rangers 3-0 to clinch a playoff spot for the third straight season.

Ovechkin scored two rebound goals in the final seven minutes to give the Washington Capitals their seventh consecutive victory by coming back to beat the New York Rangers 2-1 on Friday night. He has scored in five in a row and has seven goals in the past seven games. “We liked he way we played for the most part," Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba said. LINDGREN DELIVERSWhile Washington players jawed at Lindgren plenty after his open-ice hit on Ovechkin midway through the second period, Ovechkin himself had no issues with it. “It was a great hit," Ovechkin said.

New York Rangers' Mika Zibanejad (93) scores against Philadelphia Flyers' Carter Hart (79) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, March 17, 2021, in New York. (Bruce Bennett/Pool Photo via AP)NEW YORK – Mika Zibanejad had three goals and three assists in New York’s seven-goal second period, and the Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 9-0 Wednesday night. Hartford Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch and associate head coach Gord Murphy, and Rangers associate general manager Chris Drury were behind the bench. Ad“You didn’t have much time to think about it,” Knoblauch said when asked about pregame preparation as the acting head coach. “Nothing about this game was any good,” Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said.

FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2021, file photo, New York Rangers' Tony DeAngelo gets off a pass during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh. General manager Jeff Gorton says DeAngelo has played his final game for the Rangers despite going unclaimed on waivers. The Rangers assigned DeAngelo to their taxi squad, but the 25-year-old defenseman won't be around the team moving forward. The NHL's other 30 teams passed on the opportunity to add DeAngelo when New York put him on waivers Sunday. "I feel like this is the necessary move that we had to make.”The Rangers just re-signed DeAngelo to a $9.6 million, two-year contract in October.

Lundqvist signed with the Capitals when free agency opened Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)Nets around the NHL will look very different next season after a flurry of musical goaltenders in free agency. "You saw the goalie carousel take place," said San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson, who traded for goalie Devan Dubnyk this week. 1 goalies.”After trading Dubnyk to San Jose, the Minnesota Wild signed former Flames goalie Cam Talbot to an $11 million, three-year deal. After losing series to them in 2009 and 2011, Lundqvist eliminated the Capitals three times: 2012, 2013 and 2015.

FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2017, file photo, New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist celebrates his 400th career win, after an NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche, in New York. The New York Rangers have bought out the contract of star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. The New York Rangers bought out the contract of star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist on Wednesday, parting ways with one of their greatest players in franchise history after 15 mostly spectacular seasons. “We would like to thank Henrik for his immeasurable contributions to the New York Rangers,” Rangers President John Davidson said. His Henrik Lundqvist Foundation strives to create positive change in the lives of children and adults throughout the world through education and health services.