NHL ROUNDUP | Friday’s games
Canadiens 5, Panthers 1
SUNRISE, Fla. — Guillaume Latendresse, Michael Ryder and Christopher Higgins scored on the first three shots of the game to lead Montreal. Craig Anderson came on to replace Tomas Vokoun after the third goal came 5:03 into the game. Florida had been 5-0-1 against Montreal the past two seasons. Cristobal Huet stopped 40 shots for Montreal.
Devils 2, Sabres 1, SO
NEWARK, N.J. — Mike Mottau’s first goal since October got New Jersey even late in the third period, and Zach Parise came back from a sick day to score the only goal in the shootout. Martin Brodeur made a rolling poke-check stop on Ales Kotalik to start the tiebreaker and then denied Tim Connolly and Thomas Vanek to seal New Jersey’s third straight win. The Devils have scored five goals in the spurt. Ryan Miller did all he could to protect a 1-0 lead after Kotalik scored early in the second, but Mottau wrecked the shutout bid with 6:23 left in regulation.
Hurricanes 4, Bruins 3
RALEIGH, N.C. — Chad LaRose converted a penalty shot, and Eric Staal scored on the power play in the third period. Cam Ward made 18 saves for the Hurricanes, who won consecutive home games for the first time since early November. Mike Commodore and Rod Brind’Amour had Carolina’s other goals. Phil Kessel, P.J. Axelsson and Chuck Kobasew scored for Boston. Kobasew’s was a short-handed goal, his second of the year.
Sharks 1, Blues 0
ST. LOUIS — Evgeni Nabokov made 26 saves to earn his fifth shutout and league-leading 20th win to help San Jose extend its club-record road winning streak to eight games. The Sharks also set a team record by earning a point in their 11th straight road game (10-0-1). San Jose, which got a goal from Milan Michalek late in the third period, has has outscored its opponents 32-16 over the stretch. Nabokov now has 39 career shutouts, fourth among active goaltenders. The Blues, who were blanked at home for the second straight game, have lost six of seven at the Scottrade Center. Blues goalie Manny Legace stopped 17 shots. It appeared that the Blues would get at least a point, as the game was scoreless with less than four minutes left in regulation. But Michalek took advantage of a clearing pass that bounced off a skate behind the net and went straight to the slot. He beat Legace with a one-timer from the between the circles with 3:55 left. Joe Thornton got an assist for his team-leading 42nd point.
Associated Press