Defending champion Blackhawks win 6-4

NHL: Brandon Saad, Johnny Oduya and Marian Hossa scored in the third period, and the Chicago Blackhawks kicked off their Stanley Cup title defense with a 6-4 victory over Mikhail Grabovsky and the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.

Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook and Brandon Bollig also scored as Chicago won its first game for the second straight season. Corey Crawford made 28 saves, including a couple of huge stops when the Blackhawks killed off a late 5-on-3 power play.

Grabovsky had three goals and an assist in his first game since he signed with Washington in August.

• Leafs drop Canadiens: Tyler Bozak scored a short-handed goal and Mason Raymond netted the winner in his first game with the Maple Leafs as Toronto spoiled the Montreal Canadiens’ home opener with a 4-3 victory.

James van Riemsdyk and Dion Phaneuf also scored in a fight-filled game in which Montreal’s new enforcer George Parros was carried off on a stretcher following a bout. Toronto’s Colton Orr pulled Parros down during the fight, and the Canadiens forward’s face crashed into the ice.

• Frolik leads Jets: Michael Frolik scored a pair of goals, and the Winnipeg Jets rallied to spoil Edmonton’s home opener with a 5-4 regular season-starting victory.

• Toronto, Kessel agree to extension: The Toronto Maple Leafs and star forward Phil Kessel have agreed to terms on a $64-million, eight-year contract extension.

NASCAR fines Piquet Jr. for using anti-gay slur

Motor sports: NASCAR has fined Nelson Piquet Jr. $10,000 and ordered him to attend sensitivity training for using an anti-gay slur on social media.

The Nationwide Series driver posted the remark on Instagram Sept. 25 in a post that has since been deleted.

• Indy opening earlier for Grand Prix: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway will open two days earlier than expected to accommodate the new Grand Prix of Indianapolis road race.

Track officials announced that the inaugural May 10 race will be televised by ABC. Practice begins May 8 with qualifying scheduled for May 9.

• Patrick unveils pink car: Danica Patrick’s familiar GoDaddy green will be gone the entire month of October as she’ll race with a bright pink paint scheme to help raise breast cancer awareness.

Patrick unveiled her No. 10 pink GoDaddy car in Times Square in a joint appearance with Chevrolet, which showcased a pink Camaro SS official NASCAR pace car.

• Larson making Sprint Cup debut: Kyle Larson will make his Sprint Cup Series debut next week at Charlotte Motor Speedway driving for Phoenix Racing.

Larson will drive Oct. 12 and he is also scheduled to drive the No. 51 Chevrolet at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 27.

Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea post Champions League wins

Soccer: Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea recovered from poor starts in the Champions League by winning their first group matches, while Barcelona beat 10-man Celtic 1-0 to avoid a second consecutive loss at Celtic Park.

Robert Lewandowski scored twice as Dortmund, last-season’s runner-up, defeated Marseille 3-0 in Group F. Arsenal leads the group with six points after a 2-0 win over Napoli.

Chelsea kick-started its campaign with a 4-0 rout of Steaua Bucharest in Group E.

Serena Williams, Djokovic advance in China Open

Miscellany: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams advanced with straight-set victories at the China Open in Beijing, while Venus Williams was eliminated in the second round.

Djokovic beat Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-3 in the first round, while Serena Williams downed Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-5 in the second round.

• Uchimura dominates: Olympic champion Kohei Uchimura showed he is the overwhelming favorite to win a record fourth all-around world gymnastics championship by qualifying for Thursday’s final by a big margin at Antwerp, Belgium.

Uchimura also qualified for the weekend floor exercise, high bar and parallel bar finals.