Nino Niederreiter scored his debut goal for the Nashville Predators, who beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 in Prague in the NHL regular-season opener.

The NHL playoff race is going into its final few days with both Western Conference wild-card slots still unsettled.

Jordan Staal scored twice and Nino Niederreiter beat Juuse Saros for the go-ahead goal early in the third period, helping the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators in the first game of the teams' first-round playoff series.