Highlights of Thursday's National Hockey League games

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Rangers 2, Penguins 1

Center Derick Brassard scored after 28 seconds and the New York Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 in the opener of their first-round playoff series at Madison Square Garden.

Defenseman Ryan McDonagh also scored in the first period for the Rangers, who received 24 saves from goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

Right winger Blake Comeau scored in the second period for the Penguins, who were without three key players.

The Rangers eliminated the Penguins last season in the second round of the playoffs.

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Red Wings 3, Lightning 2

The Tampa Bay Lightning had the best NHL home record in the regular season, but they opened the playoffs with a loss against visiting Detroit as the Red Wings triumphed 3-2.

Center Pavel Datsyuk scored twice for Detroit, which built a 3-1 lead early in the third period and held on to win.

Tampa Bay outshot the Red Wings 46-14, but found it difficult to beat Detroit goalie Petr Mrazek, who made 44 saves in a superb performance.

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Wild 4, Blues 2

Left winger Jason Zucker and defenseman Matt Dumba scored to lead the Minnesota Wild to a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

The win ended a string of seven consecutive losses by the Wild in the first game of a playoff series, dating back to 2003.

Zucker gave the Wild the lead inside three minutes with his second career playoff goal and Dumba increased the advantage in the second period.

The Wild scored two late empty-netters, one before and one after a goal by Blues left winger Alexander Steen with 58 seconds left. (Compiled by Andrew Both; Editing by Julian Linden)