DETROIT — Gustav Nyquist’s power-play goal in the second period lifted Detroit to a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night in the Red Wings’ season opener.

Justin Abdelkader also scored for Detroit, which lost to the Bruins in the first round of last season’s playoffs. Patrice Bergeron scored Boston’s only goal Thursday.

Jimmy Howard had 16 saves for the Red Wings. Detroit was without star forward Pavel Datsyuk, who is recovering from a separated shoulder.

The Red Wings outshot Boston 24-17. The Bruins managed only nine shots on goal through the first two periods.

Boston nearly tied it late in the third after Detroit’s Johan Franzen was called for elbowing Bergeron, but Brad Marchand’s shot pinged off the post, and Zdeno Chara was called for goaltender interference seconds later, ending the power play with 1:46 remaining in the game.

Nyquist led the Red Wings with 28 goals last season, and Detroit overcame injuries to players like Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg to extend its postseason streak. The Red Wings made the playoffs for the 23rd straight time, but they were eliminated by Boston in five games.

The Bruins won their opener this season over Philadelphia on Wednesday, but they struggled to match Detroit’s energy a night later. Boston didn’t manage a shot on goal until 12:01 into the game, although Bergeron scored on that one, beating Howard with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle for an unassisted goal.

The Red Wings tied it in the second when Danny DeKeyser’s shot from the blue line was deflected by Abdelkader past Tuukka Rask, the Bruins’ Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender.

That goal came moments after a shot by Chara slipped past Howard, only to bounce off the right post.

Rusk had almost no chance on Nyquist’s goal, which came while Bergeron was in the penalty box for slashing. Darren Helm found Nyquist in front, and the 25-year-old Swede scored from point-blank range with 5:14 remaining in the period.

Devils 6, Flyers 4

PHILADELPHIA — Dainus Zubrus scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and Michael Cammalleri had two goals, leading the New Jersey Devils to a season-opening 6-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

Michael Ryder, Adam Henrique, and Patrick Elias also scored for the Devils.

Claude Giroux had a goal and Wayne Simmonds scored twice to help the Flyers rally from a 3-0 deficit. Vincent Lecavalier also scored for the Flyers, who lost 2-1 in their season opener Wednesday night against Boston.

Blue Jackets 3, Sabres 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Cam Atkinson scored the tiebreaking goal on a third-period power play, and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 in the season opener for both teams Thursday night.

Artem Anisimov and Jack Skille also scored for the Blue Jackets, who got 21 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Atkinson snapped a 1-all tie with 7:15 remaining.

Zemgus Girgensons scored for Buffalo, and Jhonas Enroth made 37 saves.

Penguins 6, Ducks 4

PITTSBURGH — NHL MVP Sidney Crosby scored twice and added an assist as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Anaheim Ducks 6-4 Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.

Pascal Dupuis added a goal and three assists in his return from knee surgery for the Penguins, who rolled to victory in new coach Mike Johnston’s debut. Patrick Hornqvist, Blake Comeau and Brandon Sutter also scored for Pittsburgh. Marc-Andre Fleury made 25 saves.

Canadiens 2, Capitals 1

WASHINGTON — Tomas Plekanec scored his third goal of the young season, and the Montreal Canadiens recovered from a slow start Thursday night for a 2-1 shootout win over the Washington Capitals and new coach Barry Trotz.

Brendan Gallagher scored the decisive goal in the fifth round of the shootout, which, intriguingly, did not feature Capitals star and three-time NHL MVP Alex Ovechkin until the fourth round.

Dustin Tokarski made 29 saves for the Canadiens, getting the start after Carey Price worked the 4-3 win over Toronto on Wednesday.

Lightning 3, Panthers 2

TAMPA, Fla. — Victor Hedman scored a power-play goal 1:11 into overtime and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 in their season opener Thursday night.

Hedman took a pass from goalie Ben Bishop at the offensive blue line, skated in and beat Roberto Luongo from the left circle. Tampa Bay also got goals from Tyler Johnson and Ryan Callahan. Valtteri Filppula had two assists.