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. - Whenever the New York Islanders got behind, they fought their way out of trouble. And when they finally got the lead, they didn't give it back. John Tavares had a goal and two assists, including one that set up Kyle Okposo'...

Sharks PP chance - Streamable

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Drew Doughty's Norris Trophy candidacy is up for debate, but maybe he should be considered for the Vezina.

The Los Angeles Kings defenseman bailed out Jonathan Quick with a huge save of his own Thursday night in Game 1 against the San Jose Sharks, hitting the deck to deny Patrick Marleau of a goal.

Doughty's desperation save came moments after the Sharks were robbed of a goal, thanks to referee Brad Meier's quick whistle.

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The officials robbed the San Jose Sharks of a goal in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.

The Sharks appeared to score during a delayed penalty against the Kings in the second period, but referee Brad Meier blew the play dead just prior to the goal, either due to losing sight of the puck, or presuming the L.A. gained possession.

During the ensuing stoppage, Meier admitted to Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer that the officiating crew made the wrong call.

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Shawn Thornton gives Ryan Strome the business #whoareyou #NYIvsFLA pic.twitter.com/0JLPI0T76N

— Tony Notarianni (@TonyNotarianni) April 15, 2016

Ryan Strome will sleep easy; his third-period goal stood as the eventual winner for the New York Islanders in Game 1 versus the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.

But he came out on the losing end of at least one exchange, falling victim to this playful ruse from long-time shift disturber Shawn Thornton.

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Choo choo!

San Jose Sharks forward Tommy Wingels was run over by a freight train named Kyle Clifford.

The high-impact hit was clean and definitely got the approval of the Los Angeles Kings faithful.

You have to love playoff hockey.

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With the blue lines now equipped with cameras, Antoine Roussel, lingering offside in the attacking zone in Game 1, was wise to not take any chances as his teammates turned back up ice.

He executed his best triple jump while scurrying back onside, sticking a two-footed landing at the base of the Stars bench seconds before Radek Faksa opened the scoring with a gorgeous transition release.

🐰 pic.twitter.com/nmz4V81Qwt

— Stephanie (@myregularface) April 15, 2016

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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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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 quarter...

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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