Islanders_Rangers_Hockey_39592

Jacob Trouba of the Rangers rides Casey Cizikas of the Islanders into the boards during the third period of their season opener Thursday night. The Islanders won, 4-0. Bruce Bennett/Pool Photo via AP

NEW YORK — Brock Nelson, Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal scored in the opening period and the New York Islanders beat the New York Rangers 4-0 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.

Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 shots for his 28th career shutout. Defenseman Nick Leddy had two assists.

CAPITALS 6, SABRES 4: T.J. Oshie had a goal and two assists in Peter Laviolette’s debut as Washington’s coach, and the Capitals won in Buffalo.

Jakub Vrana stripped Eric Staal of the puck in front of Buffalo’s net and scored 46 seconds into the third period to preserve the win after the Capitals were in jeopardy of squandering a 4-1 lead. Vrana’s goal came 26 seconds after defenseman Jake McCabe cut Buffalo’s deficit to 4-3 by roofing a shot from the right point.

John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and assist each and Brenden Dillon also scored for the Capitals. Alex Ovechkin set up the first two goals in a game Washington never trailed.

HURRICANES 3, RED WINGS 0: Nino Niederreiter scored early in the first period and Petr Mrazek had to make just 14 saves for a shutout, helping Carolina win its season opener at Detroit.

Advertisement

Ryan Ddzingel scored on a power play with 2:34 left and Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net goal.

NOTES

BLACKHAWKS: Chicago captain Jonathan Toews will miss at least 10 games after the team placed him on long-term injured reserve because of an unspecified illness.

Toews, 32, announced prior to the start of training camp last month he was experiencing symptoms that left him feeling “drained and lethargic.”

There has been no word from Toews or the team about the cause, and there is no timetable for his return.

The team also announced that defenseman Brent Seabrook has a lower back injury and moved forward Kirby Dach to long-term IR because of a wrist injury.

Seabrook, 35, has not played since December 2019. He missed the playoffs after having two hip surgeries and a right shoulder operation, and has not been on the ice since camp opened.

Dach could miss the entire season after having surgery on his right wrist. He was injured in December playing for Canada’s world junior team during an exhibition against Russia.

BLUES: St. Louis forward Sammy Blais was suspended for two games without pay by the NHL for an illegal check to the head of Colorado Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews during Wednesday’s season opener.

Comments are not available on this story.