Wedgewood’s 24 saves lift No. 1-seeded Avalanche past Kings in Stanley Cup opener

Slafkovsky fired a slap shot from the left circle that beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to the far side for the hat trick.

Game 2 is Tuesday night at Benchmark International Arena, where Tampa Bay has lost eight of its last nine home games in the postseason.

Josh Anderson also had a goal for Montreal and rookie goalie Jakub Dobes made 20 saves.

Brandon Hagel scored two goals and Darren Raddysh also scored for Tampa Bay.

SABRES 4, BRUINS 3

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Mattias Samuelson scored with 3:24 left and Buffalo overcame a two-goal deficit in the final eight minutes to beat Boston in the Sabres’ first playoff game in 15 years.

Tage Thompson scored goals 3:42 apart to tie it, and Alex Tuch sealed the victory by scoring into an empty net with 1:12 left in nearly blowing the roof off the arena.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 17 shots.

Buffalo hosts Game 2 of the first-round series Tuesday night.

The playoff win was Buffalo’s first at home — and first overall — since a 1-0 victory over Philadelphia in Game 4 of a first-round series April 20, 2011. The Sabres proceeded to lose the series in seven games. The Sabres won their first Atlantic Division this season and snapped an NHL-record 14-season playoff drought.