NHL Tuesday’s games

February 11, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Blue Jackets 3, Avalanche 0

COLUMBUS — Dan LaCosta made 31 saves — including a toe stop on Marek Svatos with seconds remaining — for his first career shutout in his second NHL start. LaCosta, who won his first start Saturday, a 3-2 overtime decision over Western-Conference leading San Jose, played again because rookie Steve Mason is out due to mononucleosis. Regular backup Wade Dubielewicz has the flu. Mason might return Friday against Detroit. Andrew Murray, Jason Williams and Fredrik Modin scored third-period goals and Jan Hejda added two assists for Columbus, which swept the season series (4-0) from the Avalanche for the first time.

Sharks 5, Bruins 2

BOSTON — Patrick Marleau, Milan Michalek and former Boston captain Joe Thornton scored in a 6:16 span of the third period to rally San Jose in a matchup of the NHL’s top two teams. The Eastern Conference-leading Bruins, on top of the NHL with 85 points, carried a 2-1 edge into the third period behind two first-period goals by Milan Lucic. Boston had been 26-0-2 when leading after 40 minutes.

Red Wings 5, Predators 3

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk each had two goals and an assist for Detroit. Zetterberg has 18 points in his past 15 games. Datsyuk scored a power-play goal and added an empty-netter with 12 seconds left. Marian Hossa also had a power-play goal, and Brian Rafalski added two assists.

Associated Press