NHL ROUNDUP Friday's other games
Senators 4, Islanders 2
UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Backup Ray Emery stopped 25 shots, and four Ottawa players scored against Rick DiPietro to lead the Senators. Patrick Eaves, Zdeno Chara, Andrej Meszaros and Dany Heatley scored for the Senators, 3-0 against the Islanders this season. The teams will meet one more time this season, next Friday in Ottawa. Emery improved to 7-1-1 for the Senators, who have an Eastern Conference-best 51 points heading into the NHL's two-day Christmas break. New York got power-play goals from Jason Blake and Mark Parrish and 22 saves from DiPietro. But the Islanders fell to 5-13-6-1 against the Senators at home. Ottawa took control early with three goals in a span of 2:42 in the first period.
Maple Leafs 2, Bruins 1
TORONTO -- Bryan McCabe and Darcy Tucker had goals, and Toronto regained its scoring touch on the power play and rallied to beat Boston. McCabe also had an assist for the Maple Leafs, who netted both goals on the power play just one night after going 0-for-9 with the man advantage in a 4-1 loss at Boston. Toronto had lost five of seven while going 6-for-47 (13 percent) with an extra man. McCabe, who leads the league with 28 power-play points, gave Toronto a 2-1 lead at 7:52 of the third period. Ed Belfour made 25 saves for his 449th career victory. Sergei Samsonov scored for the Bruins, who have lost five of seven. Hannu Toivonen took the loss but made several impressive stops and finished with 26 saves.
Hurricanes 4, Panthers 3
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Justin Williams and Rod Brind'Amour scored third-period goals to help Carolina shake off a miserable night on the power play and beat Florida. Eric Staal and Matt Cullen also scored for the Hurricanes, who won all five games on their 11-day homestand. Martin Gerber made 22 saves. Olli Jokinen had two goals and an assist to lead the Panthers, and Gary Roberts also scored. Carolina had won both previous meetings behind shutout efforts from Gerber. The Hurricanes stayed unbeaten against the Panthers despite coming up empty on their first 13 power-play chances and finishing 1-for-15.
Sabres 4, Lightning 1
TAMPA, Fla. -- Ryan Miller made 30 saves, and Henrik Tallinder had a goal and an assist to lead Buffalo. Miller stopped Martin St. Louis on a first-period breakaway. The Sabres, who had a seven-game winning streak halted in a 4-1 loss at Florida on Thursday, improved to 16-2-1 in their last 19 games. Thomas Vanek, Chris Drury and Ales Kotalik also scored for Buffalo, which has won 10 of its last 11 road games. Vinny Prospal scored for the Lightning, who have lost four straight and five of six. Tampa Bay played without center Vincent Lecavalier, who was given a one-game suspension for a high-sticking penalty Thursday.
Capitals 4, Canadiens 2
WASHINGTON -- Rookie sensation Alexander Ovechkin scored his 20th goal of the season, and Jeff Halpern had three assists for Washington. Matt Pettinger gave Washington a 3-2 lead at 12:21 of the third off assists from Chris Clark and Halpern to help the Capitals win back-to-back games for only the second time this season. Montreal's Steve Begin had tied it at 2 at 6:16 of the third period. Dainius Zubrus gave Washington a 2-1 lead at 4:24 of the third period. Washington's Mathieu Biron tied it at 1 with a power-play goal at 2:11 of the third period. Former Capital Richard Zednik gave Montreal a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal. Capitals goaltender Olie Kolzig made 42 saves.
Thrashers 1, Devils 0
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Rookie Michael Garnett stopped 29 shots to record his first NHL shutout, and Marian Hossa scored on a power play in the second period to lift Atlanta over New Jersey. The victory was the fourth win in five games for the Thrashers (15-16-5), with the lone loss coming in a shootout against Washington on Thursday night. The Devils (15-15-5) lost for the second time in three games since general manager Lou Lamoriello assumed the coaching duties. Garnett preserved the shutout when he robbed John Madden from point-blank range, making a glove save on a slap shot with 3:21 remaining. Atlanta played without All-Star left wing Ilya Kovalchuk, who was suspended by the NHL for one game for throwing his stick into the stands Thursday against Washington.
Wild 5, Avalanche 3
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Todd White and Marian Gaborik scored 26 seconds apart, and Minnesota netted three goals in the final 5:12 to rally against Colorado. Ex-Wild forward Antti Laaksonen had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who beat Minnesota 4-3 on Thursday in Denver.
Coyotes 3, Stars 2
DALLAS -- Shane Doan and Dave Scatchard made the most of Phoenix's only shots in the third period, scoring 22 seconds apart to rally the Coyotes. Phoenix won for a second straight night after losing a season-worst four in a row. Dallas had won three of four and eight of 10. This also was only the second home loss for the Stars in their last nine, with both defeats coming against the Coyotes.
Red Wings 3, Blackhawks 2, OT
CHICAGO -- Pavel Datsyuk scored a power-play goal with one second left in overtime to lift Detroit over Chicago. The goal was allowed after a video review confirmed the puck went in before the end of the period. Nicklas Lidstrom and Kris Draper scored in the final 39 seconds of regulation, with Detroit goalie Chris Osgood on the bench for an extra attacker, to erase a 2-0 Chicago lead and force overtime.
Associated Press