All eyes were on centres Sidney Crosby and Connor Bedard.
Crosby, the future Hall of Famer who has captained the Penguins to three Stanley Cups and opened his 19th season, had a goal. Bedard, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft who has been labelled as the latest generational talent, tallied an assist for Chicago in his NHL debut.
Nick Foligno produced a goal and an assist, Ryan Donato and Cole Guttman also scored, and Corey Perry had two assists for the Blackhawks. Chicago goaltender Petr Mrazek made 38 saves while Tristan Jarry stopped 32 shots for Pittsburgh.
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Golden Knights 4, Kraken 1
Adin Hill stopped 32 of 33 shots and Chandler Stephenson had a goal and an assist as Vegas opened defence of its Stanley Cup title with a victory over Seattle in Las Vegas.
Jonathan Marchessault, Ivan Barbashev and Jack Eichel also scored goals and Mark Stone added two assists for the Golden Knights, who raised their first Stanley Cup banner during a glitzy pregame ceremony that saw the banner emerge from a giant slot machine on the ice.
Jared McCann scored for the Kraken. Philipp Grubauer finished with 24 saves.
Lightning 5, Predators 3
Nicholas Paul's second power-play goal midway through the third period proved to be the game-winner as Tampa Bay kicked off the NHL's opening night with a victory over visiting Nashville.
Nikita Kucherov, who scored earlier at even strength, potted one into an empty net with two seconds left. Brandon Hagel tallied on a penalty shot for Tampa Bay. In his first start for the Lightning in place of goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (back surgery), Jonas Johansson made 28 saves.
The Predators got a goal and an assist from Ryan O'Reilly in his club debut, along with goals from Juuso Parssinen and Tommy Novak (power play). Juuse Saros stopped 29 shots, and coach Andrew Brunette lost in his Nashville debut.
