Penguins edge Wings in preseason opener

Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, left, gloves a rebound on a shot by Pittsburgh Penguins' Brian Gibbons, right, with help from Cory Emmerton (48) during the second period Wednesday night.

PITTSBURGH -- Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist in his first NHL game action in more than seven months, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 last night in the preseason opener for both teams.

Malkin, a former NHL scoring champion, didn't play after Feb. 5 when he tore an ACL and joined star teammate Sidney Crosby on the sideline down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Chris Kunitz and Matt Niskanen also scored for Pittsburgh (1-0). Niklas Kronwall and Jiri Hudler scored for the Red Wings (0-1) and Pavel Datsyuk had two assists.

Crosby has not been cleared for contact workouts due to a concussion.

Jordan Staal and Brooks Orpik did not play for Pittsburgh, while Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg didn't dress for Detroit.

Blue Jackets 4, Capitals 3

COLUMBUS -- Alexandre Giroux scored on the power play with 2:24 left in overtime and the Columbus Blue Jackets survived a late Washington rally to beat the Capitals in a preseason game.

Maksim Mayorov had a goal and an assist, and Cam Atkinson and David Savard also scored for Columbus.

Jeff Halpren and Roman Hamrlik both had a goal and assist, and Andrew Carroll scored for Washington. Alex Ovechkin didn't play for the Capitals.

Carroll and Hamrlik scored through traffic in the final 2:26 of regulation to make it 3-3.

Steven Mason went the distance for Columbus, finishing with 27 saves. The Capitals' Braden Holtby played the first two periods and stopped 12 of 14 shots.

Jackets sign Umberger to a 5-year extension

COLUMBUS -- Forward R.J. Umberger will be a Columbus Blue Jacket for a while longer.

The former Ohio State player, starting his fourth season with the Blue Jackets, signed a five-year contract extension that takes effect next year and will take him through the 2016-17 season.

The Columbus Dispatch reported the contract was worth $23 million. General manager Scott Howson confirmed the signing on his Twitter account, saying, "Thrilled to have such a big part of our team signed long term."

The 29-year-old Umberger has 74 goals and 84 assists and has not missed a game with 246 starts since being acquired in a trade with Philadelphia. He has 123 goals and 151 assists in 474 career NHL games.