Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves and Paul Cotter had an empty-netter and assist in their debuts with the Devils, as they beat the Sabres 4-1 on Friday in the NHL regular-season opener that was played in the Czech Republic capital.

After former NHL great Jaromir Jagr, who still plays in the Czech league, dropped a ceremonial puck, Stefan Noesen became the first scorer of the season 8:39 in to put the Devils up. Defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic, also making his Devils debut, made it 2-0, and then Nico Hischier scored early into the second before Owen Power got the Sabres on the scoreboard midway through the third. Cotter made it 4-1.

The teams’ series of games on Friday and Saturday is part of the NHL global series. Two more international games will be played in Tampere, Finland, on Nov. 1-2 when the Panthers face the Stars.

Golf: Beau Hossler did his part on another day of low scoring at the Sanderson Farms Championship, missing only one green Friday for an 8-under 64 to take a one-shot lead into the week as he chases his first PGA Tour victory.

NBA: The NBA returned to the Persian Gulf on Friday for the third consecutive year. The preseason schedule for the 2023-24 season opened with the Celtics beating the Nuggets 107-103 in a matchup of the two most recent championship clubs. ... A Georgia businessman was convicted Friday of scamming former NBA star Dwight Howard out of millions of dollars in a bogus scheme to buy the WNBA’s Dream. The jury returned its verdict against Calvin Darden Jr. on Friday afternoon after a trial in New York City. Darden was also convicted of cheating former NBA forward Chandler Parsons in a separate ruse.

NFL: The NFL’s leading receiver in the Giants’ Malik Nabers will miss his team’s game at Seattle due to a concussion.