DALLAS - Jamie Benn scored a goal and added two assists as the Dallas Stars beat the Minnesota Wild 4-0 in their first-round opener Thursday night.

Jason Spezza returned to the postseason with a nifty goal and added an assist and Kari Lehtonen stopped 22 shots for his second career playoff shutout.

Dallas, the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, led 2-0 when Spezza was skating along the right side and initially faked a slap shot with just over 8 minutes left in the second period.

After skating a few more feet to near the center of the faceoff circle, he took a wrist shot and sent the puck in the upper right corner of the net.

Spezza was playing in his 57th playoff game, but first in two seasons with the Stars - and his first overall since 2013 with Ottawa.

Game 2 is Saturday night in Dallas.

Spezza assisted on Patrick Eaves' power-play goal with 5:44 left, when Eaves scored on the rebound of Spezza's shot off goalie Devan Dubnyk.

Benn scored an empty-netter less than 2 minutes later.

Rookie center Radek Faksa, a first-round draft pick by the Stars in 2012, had a goal in his playoff debut early in the second period.

The Stars were without All-Star center Tyler Seguin, who practiced this week for the first time since missing the last 10 regular-season games because of a cut left Achilles tendon.

Coach Lindy Ruff said Seguin likely would have played the opener if it was a Game 7, but should make his series debut in Game 2.

Minnesota was without forwards Zach Parise and Thomas Vanek, who didn't travel to Dallas for Games 1 and 2. Parise, their top goal-scorer, is questionable for the series.

Lehtonen got the start in net over fellow Finnish goalie Antti Niemi, who has much more playoff experience, after the two each won 25 games in the regular season for the Stars.

This was Lehtonen's ninth playoff game. His previous one had been two years ago in the same building when he allowed Anaheim to score twice late in the third period before the Ducks won the first-round Game 6 clincher less than 3 minutes into overtime.

Niemi is 35-26 in 62 playoff games, including a Stanley Cup title for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010.

Faksa scored the first Dallas goal early in the second period from the center of the ice after a pass from Ales Hemsky, playing his first postseason game since going to the Stanley Cup Finals with Edmonton 10 years ago.

Hemsky had a breakaway in the second period, but Dubnyk came well in front of the net with a diving play to poke the puck away with his stick.

Dubnyk had 28 saves for Minnesota. It was Dubnyk's fifth straight postseason loss after the Wild got swept by Chicago in the second round last year.

Dallas had a 14-1 advantage on shots before the Wild got a shot against Lehtonen in the closing seconds of the first period.

The Wild entered the playoffs after losing their last five regular-season games, and are down 1-0 in the best-of-seven series against the team that was originally in Minnesota as the North Stars before moving to Dallas in 1993 and winning the Stanley Cup six years later.

In five regular-season games between the teams, Dallas won three in overtime and had a 6-3 victory that included two empty-net goals. Minnesota had a 2-1 victory.

Notes: The Stars hadn't won a Game 1 at home since a first-round win over Edmonton in 2001. This was only their fifth playoff series opener at home since then. ... Dallas is 9-2 without Seguin this season. ... Minnesota was 0 for 2 on power plays after going 0 for 16 its last six regular-season games. ... The Stars during the regular season set an NHL record with 24 empty-netters and led the league with 265 goals overall.

- With files from theScore

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SUNRISE, Fla. - John Tavares had a goal and two assists, including one that set up Kyle Okposo's go-ahead goal early in the third period, and the New York Islanders beat the Florida Panthers 5-4 in Game 1 of the teams' Eastern Conference quarterfinal series on Thursday night.

Thomas Greiss survived a shaky beginning and made 42 saves for the Islanders in his first playoff start, and Brock Nelson, Frans Nielsen and Ryan Strome added goals for New York.

Home-ice advantage in the series now belongs to the Islanders, and they can take a 2-0 lead back to Barclays Center if they prevail when the series resumes in a quick turnaround on Friday night.

Reilly Smith had two goals, Jussi Jokinen had a goal and two assists and Teddy Purcell also scored for the Panthers. Roberto Luongo stopped 21 of 26 shots.

Florida took the lead on three occasions in the first two periods, and the Islanders came back and tied it every time.

The Panthers - somewhat predictably, since the franchise hadn't played a postseason game in four years - came out flying, getting on the board just 1:55 into the game when Purcell tapped a perfect pass from Jiri Hudler into a wide-open net to start the scoring.

Related: Panthers' 2 deadline acquisitions Purcell, Hudler connect for opening goal

Later in the first, Jokinen deflected Brian Campbell's shot from the high slot for Florida's second goal, and Smith got his first of the night 1:31 into the second period.

And after each one, the Islanders seemed most unfazed.

Nelson and Nielsen had tying goals in the first period and Tavares sent the teams into the second intermission tied at 3-3 when he took a pass from Okposo and scored his sixth career postseason goal.

Related: Watch: Tavares schools Panthers on Nielsen's power-play snipe

Tavares and Okposo worked their magic again early in the third, Tavares poking the puck from Florida defenseman Campbell to set up Okposo and put New York on top to stay. Strome made it 5-3, before Smith got Florida back within one less than a minute later - slamming his gloved hands into the glass in celebration.

Greiss made sure that was the last moment Florida enjoyed, stopping 15 of the shots he faced in the final period.

NOTES: Florida was 27-0-2 when scoring at least four times in the regular season, and 36-6-6 when scoring first. ... The Islanders also had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in last year's first-round series with Washington, before bowing in seven games. ... Florida fell to 4-4 all-time in Game 1s. The Panthers have never won a series after dropping the opening game, though this is only the eighth series in franchise history. ... Florida's Jaromir Jagr played in his 203rd postseason game. The Panthers were playing in their 39th. ... The Islanders have won 30 of the 38 games all-time in which Tavares has a three-point night. ... The game wasn't a sellout, drawing 17,422 - about 2,000 less than capacity.

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WASHINGTON - Special teams made a special impact for the Washington Capitals in their first playoff game.

With a perfect penalty-killing effort and a power-play goal by John Carlson, the Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-0 Thursday night in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Washington's penalty kill went for 4 for 4 and frustrated the Flyers, who lost second-line center Sean Couturier to an upper-body injury in the second period.

Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby had seven of his 19 saves on Philadelphia power plays to pick up his third career shutout in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Flyers counterpart Steve Mason stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced, giving up only Carlson's goal on a shot that deflected in off teammate Chris VandeVelde.

Game 2 is Saturday night in Washington.

The Capitals went 1 for 6 on the power play.

Carlson's goal plus another at even strength by Jay Beagle late in the third period was enough to take the series opener.

Holtby and Mason put on a goaltending show in a game that turned into a special-teams showcase. That played right into the Capitals' plans after finishing the regular season fifth in the NHL on the power play and second in penalty killing.

The trademark penalty kill was rolling in the first period, when Carlson went off for hooking and Brooks Orpik got sent to the box twice. The Flyers came up empty on all three of their first-period power plays, a combination of their own miscues, blocked shots and Holtby.

Capitals coach Barry Trotz said prior to the game that special teams ''can give you momentum or they can take some momentum away from you,'' and that came true. The Capitals killed off a fourth penalty in the second period to Dmitry Orlov before they got their turn.

Two power plays in quick succession against a depleted Flyers penalty kill were just what the Capitals needed. When Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning was penalized for putting the puck over the glass, Washington took advantage quickly.

Nineteen seconds into the power play, Carlson's shot hit VandeVelde as he slid across the ice to try to block it and went between Mason's legs 16:21 into the second. The Capitals got a handful of power plays in the third period, too, and used them to keep the Flyers from mounting any offense.

The Capitals could take pride in winning the kind of low-scoring game they tended to lose in past playoffs, which also came with premature exits. They were methodical in holding the Flyers to 10 even-strength shots and just eight total shots after the first period.

After Washington's Tom Wilson and Philadelphia's Wayne Simmonds dropped the gloves and the teams got back to even strength, Beagle fired a shot past Mason at 16:36 of the third to put it away.

NOTES: Capitals F T.J. Oshie was in the lineup after leaving practice Wednesday with an undisclosed injury. ... Couturier appeared to injure his left arm on a check from Alex Ovechkin midway through the second period. He went to the locker room and did not return, and the team said he'd be evaluated Friday. ... Fans at Verizon Center observed a moment of silence for Flyers owner Ed Snider, who died Monday at the age of 83 after a two-year battle with bladder cancer. Snider was a Washington native. The Flyers wore a patch with Snider's initials, ''EMS.''

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PITTSBURGH - Patric Hornqvist had his first playoff hat trick and the Pittsburgh Penguins pulled away from the New York Rangers 5-2 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals Wednesday night.

Related: VIDEO: Crosby snipes Raanta on breakaway

Hornqvist added an assist, Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists and backup goaltender Jeff Zatkoff did just fine in his first postseason start, finishing with 35 saves. Tom Kuhnhackl also scored for Pittsburgh, which took advantage when New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist left with a facial injury after the first period.

Related: Lundqvist takes high stick to eye, replaced by Raanta

Game 3 is Saturday in Pittsburgh.

Lundqvist played just 20 minutes after taking a stick to the face from teammate Marc Staal. Antti Raanta was shaky in Lundqvist's place, stopping 16 of 19 shots.

Derek Stepan scored twice for the Rangers but New York never led as its quest to knock the Penguins out of the playoffs for a third straight year got off to an underwhelming start.

The Penguins ripped off a 14-2 surge to end the regular season even with Fleury sidelined since March 31 with a concussion. He returned to practice this week and was the first goaltender off the ice during Wednesday morning's skate, typically an indication of who is starting. Coach Mike Sullivan remained coy about his decision-making process, and when Pittsburgh came out for warm-ups in their vintage black-and-gold uniforms, Fleury wasn't even in uniform, instead sitting in the press box in a blue suit.

That left the job to Zatkoff, who'd played just five times since Jan. 1 after losing his spot as the primary backup to rookie Matt Murray. Yet with Murray out indefinitely with a concussion of his own, the Penguins gave Zatkoff the first postseason start of his three-year career, or 110 fewer than Lundqvist.

Zatkoff didn't exactly look overcome by the stage. Good thing because his teammates gave him little help early. New York dominated the opening minutes, throwing shots at Zatkoff from all angles rather than trying to set anything up. Zatkoff lacks Fleury's athleticism but managed to scramble when required, keeping the Penguins afloat early while his teammates took time to find their legs.

Then, in an instant, New York's decided advantage in the net disappeared.

Staal was fending off a Pittsburgh player in front of the New York net when his stick became wedged in between the bars on Lundqvist's mask with 48 seconds to go in the first period. The goalie who has been the backbone of deep playoff runs each of the last two years writhed in pain for several moments before slowly skating to the bench. He stayed in the game long enough for Pittsburgh to take the lead when Hornqvist flipped a rebound between Lundqvist's legs with 18 seconds left.

Lundqvist stayed in the dressing room at the start of the second period, forcing Raanta to unexpectedly make his postseason debut. He had little to do until a stretch pass from Hornqvist sprung Crosby in alone. The wrist shot zipped over Raanta's glove 18:56 into the second and the Penguins were up 2-0.

New York's drew to 2-1 when Stepan stuffed in a shot from the doorstep on a 5-on-3 but Pittsburgh countered with a short-handed goal from Kuhnhackl 5:31 into the third and when Hornqvist pounced on a loose puck in the Rangers' crease and eased it in, the Penguins were up three and in control.

NOTES: The teams held a pregame moment of silence for longtime Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider, who passed away earlier this week. ... Stepan has six goals in his last six games. ... Pittsburgh dressed seven defensemen rather than the usual six and scratched forward Tom Sestito. ... The Penguins improved to 21-14 in Game 1s at home. ... Both teams went 1 for 5 on the power play.

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NEW YORK - Michael Raffl scored the tiebreaking goal early in the second period and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Sunday night.

Evgeny Medvedev, Shayne Gostisbehere, Scott Laughton and R.J. Umberger also scored for the Flyers, who trailed 2-0 midway through the first period. Michal Neuvirth stopped 15 shots in the teams' season finale that was a game rescheduled from Jan. 23 due to a blizzard.

Nikolay Kulemin and Matt Martin scored for the Islanders, who finished with the Eastern Conference's top wild card and will face the Atlantic Division champion Florida Panthers in the first round of the playoffs.

The Islanders' loss gave the crosstown-rival Rangers third place in the Metropolitan Division and a first-round matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Both the Flyers and Islanders had already secured postseason berths and sat their stars. The Islanders were without a multitude of players, including their top line of John Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen. The Flyers, who will face Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington in the first round, sat forwards Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux, and defenseman Mark Streit.

Thomas Greiss started in goal for the Islanders and stopped seven of nine shots he faced in the first period. Christopher Gibson replaced him to start the second period and finished with 15 saves.

Raffl gave the Flyers the 3-2 lead as he took a centering pass from Laughton and wristed it past Gibson for his 13th at 6:38 of the second period.

The Islanders had a 5-on-3 for 17 seconds later in the second period, but couldn't take advantage.

Laughton scored on a snap shot from the left slot at 5:50 of the third to give Philadelphia a two-goal lead. Umberger capped the scoring with a power-play goal as he converted a rebound of Raffl's shot with 8:50 to go for his second of the season.

The Flyers finished 3 for 4 on the power play and the Islanders were 0 for 4.

Trailing 2-0 midway through the opening period, Gostisbehere got the Flyers on the board with a power-play goal with 8:45 left as he took a pass from Jakub Voracek and fired a shot through the five-hole on a screened Greiss for his 17th.

Just 7 seconds after a slashing penalty on Ross Johnston gave the Flyers a 5-on-3 advantage, they tied it as Medvedev sent a pass to the left side to Matt Read, who sent it back and Medvedev fired a one-timer through traffic for his fourth with 8 seconds left in the period.

Kulemin got the Islanders on the scoreboard first, taking a pass from Calvin de Haan, used some fancy stick work to get around two defenders and poke a backhand past Neuvirth for his ninth at 5:58.

Martin doubled the lead 3:21 later as he went toward the net and redirected a pass from Ryan Pulock past Neuvirth for his career-high 10th of the season. Pulock also had a secondary assist on Kulemin's goal for his first two career assists.

NOTES: The Islanders also scratched C Casey Cizikas, D Johnny Boychuk, D Brian Strait, D Nick Leddy, and G Jean-Francois Berube. D Travis Hamonic hasn't played since suffering an injury against Columbus on March 31, and C Anders Lee is out indefinitely with a broken fibula. ... Tavares finished the season leading the team in goals (33) and points (70), and Okposo was tops in assists (42). ... F Johnston was called up from Bridgeport of the AHL and made his NHL debut, a day after Brackin Kearns and Alan Quine were called up for their season debuts with New York. ... The teams split the first four games this season. The Islanders won 3-1 at home on Nov. 25 and 4-3 in a shootout at Philadelphia on Dec. 8. The Flyers won 4-0 at home on Jan. 9 and 4-1 here on March 21. ... The Flyers also sat C Sean Couturier and starting goalie Steve Mason. ... Simmonds led the Flyers with 32 goals, and Giroux was tops with 45 assists and 67 points.

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LOS ANGELES - Milan Lucic and Kris Versteeg scored 93 seconds apart in the second period, and the Los Angeles Kings closed in on just their second division title in franchise history with a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.

Jonathan Quick made 19 saves for the Kings, who opened a two-point lead on the Ducks atop the Pacific Division by snapping their three-game losing streak in the Freeway Faceoff rivalry series.

The three-time defending Pacific champion Ducks still have a game in hand, but the Kings would clinch their first division title since the 1990-91 Smythe Division crown with a home victory over Winnipeg on Saturday in their regular-season finale.

Ryan Kesler scored an early goal and John Gibson stopped 27 shots for the Ducks, who have lost three of four.

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