Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz each had a goal and two assists, and the host Pittsburgh Penguins picked up their first home victory of the season by beating the New Jersey Devils, 5-1, Saturday. Penguins defenseman Robert Bortuzzo scored his first NHL goal, Brandon Sutter got his first with Pittsburgh, and Kris Letang also found the back of the net for the Penguins, who handed the Devils their first loss in regulation this season. Nash lifts Rangers Rick Nash scored a go-ahead goal early in the third period and the New York Rangers beat the host Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2. Steven Stamkos scored both goals for the Lightning, who went 4-1 on a five-game homestand.

Marian Gaborik scored twice in the first period and then completed his hat trick 27 seconds into overtime as the New York Rangers overcame a pair of blown leads and beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3, on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden for their first win of the season. Taylor Pyatt also scored for the Rangers (2-1), who squandered leads of 2-0 and 3-2 en route to avenging a season-opening loss at Boston on Saturday.   Penguins fall Former Flyer James van Riemsdyk scored twice; James Reimer stopped 28 shots; and the Toronto Maple Leafs raced past the Penguins, 5-2, to spoil Pittsburgh's home opener.

MARIAN GABORIK scored twice in the first period and then completed his hat trick 27 seconds into overtime as the New York Rangers overcame a pair of blown leads and beat the visiting Boston Bruins, 4-3, on Wednesday night for their first win of the season. Gaborik broke free and outraced Andrew Ference and Johnny Boychuk down the ice. His first shot was blocked by goalie Tuukka Rask, but Gaborik batted the rebound out of the air to end the game and start a cascade of flying hats onto the ice. Taylor Pyatt also scored for the Rangers, who got 26 saves from Henrik Lundqvist.

THE PENGUINS have four points atop the Atlantic Division. The Rangers and the Flyers have none at the bottom. No, it isn't too early to keep an eye on the standings in this lockout-induced, 48-game sprint to the Stanley Cup playoffs. James Neal scored twice, linemate Evgeni Malkin had three assists, and the Penguins chased Henrik Lundqvist from the net in the second period of a 6-3 victory over the Rangers in New York's home opener Sunday. The Penguins haven't even played a home game.

As the Flyers and the Penguins played before a packed house at the Wells Fargo Center in Saturday's season opener - the crowd of 19,994 was the largest in Flyers history for a regular-season game - it was easy to forget how the Twitterverse was so full of venom, frustration, and threats during the NHL's 113-day lockout. How dare the players, averaging $2.4 million per season, have the audacity to complain! How dare the filthy-rich owners shut down the game when it had produced a record $3.3 billion in revenue last year!

Some folks, including the team's chairman, have suggested the Flyers need to change their style this season and tighten up their defense. After the third day of training camp Tuesday in Voorhees, coach Peter Laviolette conceded that the Flyers can give goalie Ilya Bryzgalov more support this year, but made it clear he does not plan to change the team's modus operandi: attack, attack, attack. And attack some more. Laviolette likes to talk about playing with "jam," and his 2013 edition will not be different.

PITTSBURGH'S Sidney Crosby said the headaches that have hampered him for the last 2 years have subsided and he is eager to start the season. The Penguins open in Philadelphia on Saturday. Some have wondered if he can regain the form that made him the game's most dominant player before a pair of hits to the head in January 2011 left him with concussion-like symptoms that seemed to put his career in jeopardy. "I'd be lying if I said the first couple weeks I wasn't evaluating that a bit but through the first few workouts, as long as anything doesn't come up, you don't really think about it," Crosby said.

WHENEVER THIS salvaged (or savage) NHL season finally gets under way, after the votes are counted and the signatures dry on the contracts, the Flyers should name Claude Giroux the 19th captain in franchise history. Giroux is young. He turns 25 on Saturday, about the time training camp will open. He is the face of the Flyers. He is quickly becoming one of the most electrifying players in the league. He is well-respected and well-liked in the Flyers dressing room. And he will bring some much-needed stability to a leadership position which has changed more jerseys (six)

Claude Giroux was snubbed. Again. With hockey in a deep freeze, thanks to the NHL's second labor stoppage in 8 years, the Flyers' star - whom many consider to be Philadelphia's most electrifying athlete - dropped to fifth place in the Daily News' annual Sportsperson of the Year balloting. In other words, Giroux finished further back in his own city among sports writers than he did (fourth) in Hart Trophy voting last season for hockey's Most Valuable Player award. Full disclosure: This Flyers beat writer voted for Giroux as No. 1 on his ballot, ahead of Mike Trout, Doug Collins, Carlos Ruiz and Bill O'Brien.

NEW YORK - The locked-out NHL players' association returned to the bargaining table Tuesday, and this time brought Sidney Crosby along. On Day 52 of the lockout that has delayed the start of the hockey season and threatened to wipe it out completely, the league and the players sat down for the second round of negotiations in 4 days at an undisclosed site. Not only were NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and union special counsel Steve Fehr there, as they were for a marathon session by themselves Saturday.