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DETROIT - Steve Yzerman's goal with 1.7 seconds left capped the Red Wings' come-from-behind 3-2 season-opening win against the Kings on Thursday night.
Yzerman, playing in his 21st season, scored from the right circle off a pass from newcomer Ray Whitney after starting the rush in Detroit's end.
Yzerman was given a rousing ovation before the game.
"My first thought was, "I just don't want it to be booing by the third period,"' said Yzerman, who wasn't joking.
Pavel Datsyuk tied it at 2 with 3:45 left when he redirected Nicklas Lidstrom's slap shot, about six minutes after Ziggy Palffy scored a go-ahead goal for the Kings with a shot that could have spoiled Dominik Hasek's return to the NHL.
Hasek, who ended his one-year retirement in July, played in his first game since June 13, 2002, when he won his first Stanley Cup with a win over Carolina.
The six-time Vezina Trophy winner made 21 saves, but couldn't stop Palffy's shot right in front of him.
Kings captain Mattias Norstrom played eight minutes and left with an undiagnosed injury. He planned to fly this morning to Los Angeles and he was expected to miss at least two games.
Thrashers honor, winATLANTA - On a night of tributes to Dan Snyder, his former teammates gave him the best one - a season-opening victory.
Chris Tamer scored with 2:24 left on a pass from Shawn McEachern as the Thrashers capped an emotional night with a 2-1 victory over the Blue Jackets.
Snyder died Sunday from injuries sustained in a car wreck with teammate Dany Heatley, who was charged with vehicular homicide. The entire team - Heatley included - left right after the game to attend Snyder's funeral in Elmira, Ontario, today.
Heatley broke his jaw and tore two ligaments in his knee. He's out indefinitely, but general manager Don Waddell expects Heatley to play this season - if his legal troubles allow it.
"He's feeling good about the surgery," Waddell said. "That's all he's feeling good about."
Tamer, one of three players left from Atlanta's inaugural season, took a shot that beat Marc Denis, who didn't appear to see the puck. The Blue Jackets pulled Denis in the final seconds but never got a clear shot at the tie.
The night began with video clips of Snyder's career. The final shot showed a smiling Snyder smoking a cigar and holding the Calder Cup after Atlanta's minor-league affiliate won the AHL championship in 2002.
When it was over, several Thrashers wiped away tears.
"It was the toughest game I ever played," Tamer said. "That was one of the biggest goals I've ever scored."
CAPITALS 6, ISLANDERS 1: Peter Bondra scored twice, and Jaromir Jagr had a goal and an assist for host Washington.
Bondra scored as an extra skater during a delayed penalty.
It was a miserable debut for New York rookie coach Steve Stirling, whose team was 7-0 in the preseason. Goaltender Garth Snow, who Stirling said got the start out of "pure respect," was pulled midway through the second period, and captain Michael Peca was caught as an extra man on the ice during a power play.
The Capitals honored four of their all-time greats in a pregame ceremony to open their 30th season: Yvon Labre (representing the 1970s), Rod Langway (1980s), Dale Hunter (1990s) and Calle Johansson (2000s).
PREDATORS 3, MIGHTY DUCKS 1: Andreas Johansson and Mark Eaton each scored in the second period for host Nashville.
The victory was the Predators' first since March 7, snapping a 15-game winless skid that concluded last season.
Anaheim rested goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere after he gave up four goals in Wednesday's loss to Dallas.
Nashville's Jordin Tootoo made history as the first person of Inuit descent to play in the NHL.
SENATORS 5, CANADIENS 2: Jason Spezza and Petr Schastlivy scored power-play goals in the first period for host Ottawa. Even without unrestricted free agent Martin Havlat, Ottawa's power-play unit excelled, scoring on two of its first three opportunities.
FLYERS 2, SABRES 0: Mark Recchi and Michal Handzus scored power-play goals and Jeff Hackett was perfect in his debut for host Philadelphia. Hackett, who signed as a free agent, stopped 17 shots.
PANTHERS 3, HURRICANES 1: Kristian Huselius scored 7:37 into the third period for host Florida. Carolina had a chance to tie with just more than a minute left when defenseman Danny Markov one-timed a pass to the side of the net, but Roberto Luongo slid across the crease to make the save. Viktor Kozlov had an empty-net goal with 49 seconds left.
OILERS 5, SHARKS 2: Raffi Torres scored the tiebreaking goal and added an assist in his debut for host Edmonton and Ryan Smyth added two goals. The fourth line of Torres, Shawn Horcoff and George Laraque was Edmonton's best of the game. The Oilers retired the No. 31 jersey of Hall of Fame goalie Grant Fuhr. "I have been part of a lot of opening nights, but none better than this," said Fuhr, who played 19 seasons.
PENGUINS: Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, 18, will start tonight's opener against the Kings. It's his professional debut. Sebastien Caron, the Penguins' starting goalie at the end of last season, will start Saturday in Philadelphia, with the starting job likely a game-by-game decision. Fleury will be among the youngest goalies to start. The youngest was 17-year-old Harry Lumley for Detroit in 1943. Goalies who played at 18 but were younger than Fleury: John Vanbiesbrouck, Martin Biron, Tom Barrasso and Dan Blackburn.
STARS: Right wing Jere Lehtinen is day to day with a shoulder injury.