Bruins 2, Islanders 1

Bruins 2, Islanders 1

BOSTON — Tim Thomas stopped 25 shots and Glen Metropolit scored the winner to lift Boston. Metropolit scored in the third period for the Bruins, who won for the fourth time in five games. Mike Sillinger scored for the Islanders, who have two goals or fewer in their last seven games, but have won three. The Islanders had a two-man advantage for 1:40 early in the third period, but didn’t get a shot on Thomas.

Capitals 4, Flyers 3, OT

PHILADELPHIA — Nicklas Backstrom scored in overtime to make Bruce Boudreau’s debut as the Washington interim head coach a success. Backstrom, who also had two assists, slipped a loose puck past Philadelphia goaltender Marty Biron at 1:55 of the extra period to snap the Capitals’ five-game losing streak. Philadelphia’s Mike Richards had tied the score on a rebound goal with 4:15 left in regulation. Mike Green, Chris Clark, and Donald Brashear also scored for the Capitals, who jumped off to a 3-0 lead. Tom Poti added two assists for Washington. Danny Briere and Jeff Carter scored for the Flyers.

Ducks 3, Coyotes 3, SO

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Radim Vrbata scored his second goal of the game on a power play with 1:07 left in regulation, then added the clinching goal in the shootout to lift Phoenix. Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, who made 23 saves, was Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s backup in Anaheim before he was claimed off waivers by the Coyotes on Nov. 17. Giguere had a rinkside seat at the end of the Anaheim bench for Bryzgalov’s return, while new Ducks backup Jonas Hiller stopped 35 shots.

Hurricanes 4, Lightning 3

RALEIGH, N.C. — Glen Wesley capped a third-period comeback with his first goal in more than nine months to help Carolina beat Tampa Bay. Down 3-1 entering the final 20 minutes and headed toward another lopsided loss to their Southeast Division rival, the Hurricanes scored three goals in less than 7 minutes to beat Tampa Bay for the first time this season. Carolina’s Erik Cole returned after missing four games with a neck injury and assisted on Eric Staal’s first-period goal, the 100th of his NHL career. Vincent Lecavalier, the league’s top scorer, padded his lead with a goal and an assist, and Vaclav Prospal and Paul Ranger also had goals for the Lightning.

Sabres 4, Canadiens 2

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Thomas Vanek scored to break a third-period tie, Tim Connolly had a goal and an assist and Ryan Miller made 30 saves to drive Buffalo. Derek Roy and Daniel Paille also scored for the Sabres, who matched a season high with their third straight win. Chris Higgins and Tomas Plekanec scored for Montreal, which lost for just the fourth time in regulation in 12 road games. The Canadiens have alternated wins and losses the past eight games. Miller, making his eighth straight start, has allowed two or fewer goals in six of those games. Montreal goalie Carey Price finished with 28 saves, and had his personal three-game winning streak stopped. The rookie netminder lost for just the second time in regulation in eight starts.

Devils 3, Thrashers 0

ATLANTA — Martin Brodeur made 22 saves in his first shutout of the season, and Rod Pelley and Paul Martin scored second-period goals for New Jersey. Jay Pandolfo scored an empty-net goal, his eighth, with 28 seconds left and the Devils won their season-high third straight game. The Devils cooled off the Thrashers, who had won four in a row and seven of eight. New Jersey also moved to the .500 mark (10-10-2) for the first time since Oct. 17 when they were 3-3. The Thrashers (11-11) fell to 11-5 under general manager Don Waddell as coach, who took over for the fired Bob Hartley when Atlanta opened the season 0-6. Brodeur, who won the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie in the league last season, earned the 93rd shutout of his career. He made a brilliant, diving kick save of a shot by Pascal Dupuis from in close with nine minutes remaining.

Panthers 3, Rangers 2

SUNRISE, Fla. — Olli Jokinen scored the only goal of the shootout and Tomas Vokoun made 28 saves to lead Florida. Each team missed four shots before Jokinen’s wrist shot beat New York goalie Stephen Valiquette. Chris Drury, who scored twice for the Rangers in regulation, missed on the ensuing turn. Stephen Weiss and David Booth also scored for the Panthers, who have won four of five. Valiquette stopped 33 shots in his second start of the season for New York, which had its five-game road win streak ended.

Blues 3, Canucks 1

ST. LOUIS — Paul Kariya had a goal and an assist, and backup goalie Hannu Toivonen made 25 saves for St. Louis. Rookie Erik Johnson and Martin Rucinsky also scored for the Blues, who had a four-game winning streak snapped in a 3-0 loss at Detroit Wednesday. They have won four in a row at home. The Canucks lost for the first time in regulation in their last nine games. They had gone 6-0-2 in their previous eight games. Ryan Kesler scored for Vancouver, 5:11 into the third period, to break up Toivonen’s bid for his second career shutout.

Stars 3, Maple Leafs 1

DALLAS — Antti Miettinen scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period, and Marty Turco made 18 saves to help Dallas stretch its season-best winning streak to four games. With the game tied at 1 late in the second period, a forechecking Miettinen stole the puck from Toronto defenseman Tomas Kaberle, skated in alone and beat goalie Vesa Toskala for Miettinen’s second goal of the season. Turco was back in goal after backup Mike Smith started and won the previous three games.

Associated Press