Enquirer wire services

PITTSBURGH - Rookie goalie Marc-Andre Fleury will start for the Pittsburgh Penguins in their season opener tonight against the Los Angeles Kings.

Fleury, 18, will be making his professional debut. The No. 1 pick in June's draft reached contract terms Monday, and he was told Thursday by coach Eddie Olczyk that he would start.

Sebastien Caron, the Penguins' starting goalie at the end of last season, will start Saturday night's game in Philadelphia.

Fleury will be among the youngest goalies to start a game in NHL history. 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.

• Thrashers 2, Blue Jackets 1: 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 Marc Savard as Atlanta capped an emotional night with a win.

• Red Wings 3, Kings 2: Steve Yzerman's goal with 1.7 seconds left capped Detroit's comeback against Los Angeles. Yzerman, playing in his 21st season, scored from the right circle off a pass from newcomer Ray Whitney.

• Panthers 3, Hurricanes 1: Kristian Huselius scored 7:37 into the third period to lift Florida. The Panthers hadn't won their opener since beating Washington 4-3 in 1999.

• Senators 5, Canadiens 2: Jason Spezza and Petr Schastlivy scored power-play goals in the first period to send Ottawa past Montreal. Chris Neil, Chris Phillips and Daniel Alfredsson also scored for Ottawa, which had the NHL's second-ranked power play last season before falling one win short of the Stanley Cup finals.

• Flyers 2, Sabres 0: Mark Recchi and Michal Handzus scored power-play goals and Jeff Hackett was perfect in his Flyers debut as Philadelphia beat Buffalo. Hackett stopped 17 shots for his 24th career shutout.

• Capitals 6, Islanders 1: Peter Bondra scored twice, and Jaromir Jagr had a goal and an assist in the win. The Capitals were 10-1 last season when both Jagr and Bondra scored. The Capitals got goals from John Gruden, Mike Grier and Jeff Halpern.

• Predators 3, Mighty Ducks 1: Andreas Johansson and Mark Eaton each scored in the second period and David Legwand added a goal and an assist in Nashville's win. The victory was the Predators' first since March 7, snapping a 15-game winless skid that ended last season.

Basketball

XU: Xavier University plans to introduce its men's and women's basketball teams to fans at Musketeer Madness Saturday, Oct. 25.

The event is free and begins at 6 p.m. at Cintas Center. It includes a 30-minute scrimmage for the women's team and 20 minutes for the men's, as well as team introductions and fan contests.

Racing

NASCAR: Ryan Newman won his series-best eighth poll of the season for this weekend's UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

His 186.657 time set a track record. Jeff Gordon qualified second, and Jimmie Johnson finished third.