Alex Nedeljkovic became the first goalie in NHL history to have a goal and an assist, and made 40 saves as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2.

Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek scored on a strong night for the second line, Mats Zuccarello added a power-play goal and the Minnesota Wild opened the season by beating former coach Dean Evason and the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2.

Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov each had hat tricks and three assists for the Minnesota Wild, who faced a three-goal deficit in the second period before storming back with six unanswered goals and hanging on for a record-filled 10-7 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

Brock Faber got his first NHL goal in the first period and Filip Gustavsson stopped 41 shots for a season-opening shutout as the Minnesota Wild beat the Florida Panthers 2-0.

Ryan Hartman scored 12:20 into the second overtime and the Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 in their playoff opener Monday night, and into Tuesday morning.

The Minnesota Wild brought back Marc-Andre Fleury and traded Cam Talbot for Filip Gustavsson last summer to make the Fleury their primary goalie.

Evgeni Malkin is returning to the Pittsburgh Penguins after all.

Many draft-eligible prospects and NHL teams attempting to pick them face an uncertain future after many leagues were unable to hold full seasons or play at all because of the pandemic.