Thursday's National Hockey League Capsules

Jan 9, 2009 - 6:11 AM By PA SportsTicker

MONTREAL 6, TORONTO 2

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MONTREAL (Ticker) -- The Montreal Canadiens wasted little time sending a message to their "Original Six" rival.

Andrei Kostitsyn recorded a goal and two assists as the Canadiens scored three times in the first period and cruised to a 6-2 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Maxim Lapierre scored a goal and set up another and All-Star Alexei Kovalev, Sergei Kostitsyn, Guillaume Latendresse and rookie Max Pacioretty also tallied for Montreal, which improved to 8-1-1 in its last 10 games.

Jaroslav Halak made 30 saves and defenseman Patrice Brisebois notched three assists to post his ninth career three-point game - and first since November 18, 2002.

Blue-liner Tomas Kaberle and Matt Stajan scored and Vesa Toskala turned aside 16 shots over two periods for Toronto, which fell to 2-6-0 in its last eight contests.

Curtis Joseph started the third session and made seven saves for the Maple Leafs.

With the scoreboard decidedly in Montreal's favor throughout the majority of the contest, play turned chippy as the teams combined for 140 penalty minutes.

After Sergei Kostitsyn opened the scoring just 2:35 into the contest with a power-play tally, Lapierre doubled the advantage less than 2 1/2 minutes later following an alert play by Brisebois.

The blue-liner fed Lapierre as he exited the penalty box after serving an interference penalty, and the center quickly skated in and tucked the puck between Toskala's pads for his eighth goal of the campaign.

Kaberle halved the deficit with a power-play tally nearly three minutes afterward, but Latendresse restored the two-goal advantage with 57 seconds remaining in the session, collecting a loose puck on the doorstep and wristing it past Toskala.

Kovalev's 11th tally of the season just 6:20 into the second gave Montreal a three-goal bulge, and Andrei Kostitsyn added a power-play tally with 67 seconds left in the period to make it 5-1.

Pacioretty netted his second goal - and third point - in four NHL games just over 12 minutes into the third.

Stajan, who returned to the lineup for Toronto after missing five games with an eye injury, tallied with 90 seconds left to cap the scoring.

CALGARY 5, NY ISLANDERS 2

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CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- Daymond Langkow recorded a goal and two assists as the Calgary Flames scored three unanswered tallies to hand the New York Islanders their 14th consecutive road loss with a 5-2 triumph.

Rene Bourque and Mike Cammalleri registered a goal and an assist apiece and Curtis Glencross also tallied for Calgary, which extended its season-high home winning streak to six contests.

Rookie Adam Pardy netted his first career goal, fellow defenseman Adrian Aucoin notched two assists and Miikka Kiprusoff made 24 saves as the Flames improved to 9-1-1 in their last 11 games.

Rookie Trevor Smith scored his first NHL goal and Jeff Tambellini also tallied for New York, which fell to 0-13-1 in its last 14 contests away from Nassau Coliseum.

Joey MacDonald turned aside 36 shots for the Islanders, who have not emerged victorious on the road since defeating the Montreal Canadiens in a shootout on November 24. They are one loss away from matching the longest road losing streak in franchise history.

BOSTON 6, OTTAWA 4

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BOSTON (Ticker) -- David Krejci snapped a tie midway through the third period and added an assist and All-Star Marc Savard scored a goal and set up two others as the Boston Bruins snapped a two-game losing streak with a 6-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators.

Michael Ryder and Chuck Kobasew also recorded a goal and an assist apiece while defenseman Aaron Ward and P.J. Axelsson added tallies for the Bruins, who had won 10 consecutive contests prior to their recent slide.

Chris Kelly and Antoine Vermette each registered a goal and an assist and blue-liners Chris Phillips and Brendan Bell also scored for Ottawa, which has lost four in a row (0-3-1) and concluded a 1-6-1 road trip. The Senators have won just one of their last 17 contests away from Scotiabank Place (1-13-3).

ATLANTA 4, NEW JERSEY 0

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NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Kari Lehtonen made 29 saves and All-Star Ilya Kovalchuk recorded a goal and an assist as the Atlanta Thrashers ended a three-game road slide with a 4-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

Colby Armstrong, Jim Slater and Marty Reasoner also scored for Atlanta, which had netted just one goal in three of its previous four games - all losses.

Lehtonen turned aside six shots in the first period, 13 in the second and 10 in the third en route to his first shutout of the season and 12th career. The 25-year-old Finn had not held an opponent scoreless since blanking Tampa Bay on March 31.

Making his 13th consecutive start, Scott Clemmensen allowed three goals on 19 shots over two periods before being replaced by Kevin Weekes, who turned aside four shots in the third.

PHILADELPHIA 3, MINNESOTA 1

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PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Scottie Upshall scored a goal and set up another as the Philadelphia Flyers extended their home winning streak to seven games with a 3-1 triumph over the Minnesota Wild.

Scott Hartnell and Mike Knuble also tallied for Philadelphia, which improved to 11-0-2 in its last 13 games at the Wachovia Center.

Martin Biron made 27 saves for the Flyers, who have won four straight meetings with the Wild.

Stephane Veilleux scored and Niklas Backstrom stopped 20 shots for Minnesota, which fell to 2-1-0 on its four-game road trip and 10-2-1 against Eastern Conference opponents.

Hartnell's goal, which was set up by Upshall - just over seven minutes into the second period snapped Backstrom's shutout streak at 149 minutes, 14 seconds - a franchise record. The All-Star entered the contest having posted back-to-back shutouts over Colorado and Boston, both on the road.

DETROIT 6, DALLAS 1

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DETROIT (Ticker) -- Marian Hossa and Daniel Cleary each scored a goal and set up another to lead the Detroit Red Wings to their fifth consecutive victory, a 6-1 triumph over the Dallas Stars.

All-Star Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg also recorded a tally and an assist and Chris Osgood made 22 saves for Detroit, which defeated Dallas in the 2008 Western Conference finals en route to its fourth Stanley Cup championship in 11 years.

Kirk Maltby and Tomas Holmstrom also scored and defenseman Niklas Kronwall collected three assists for the Red Wings, who have won six straight home games.

Blue-liner Trevor Daley netted the lone goal for Dallas early in the third period. It was the first tally the Red Wings have allowed at Joe Louis Arena since December 23, ending a shutout streak of over 179 minutes.

FLORIDA 4, CAROLINA 2

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SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- All-Star defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and Nathan Horton each scored early in the third period to help push the Florida Panthers past the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-2.

David Booth also scored his team-leading 17th goal for Florida, which has won three of four since dropping four consecutive games (0-3-1). Gregory Campbell sealed the win with an empty-netter.

Tomas Vokoun made 31 saves for the Panthers.

Defenseman Anton Babchuk and Sergei Samsonov tallied for Carolina, which had its four-game winning streak snapped.

NASHVILLE 5, PITTSBURGH 3

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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Defenseman Ryan Suter scored a power-play goal midway through the third period to snap a tie and punctuate a comeback in which the Nashville Predators erased a three-goal deficit en route to a 5-3 triumph over the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins.

Martin Erat, David Legwand and defenseman Greg Zanon each recorded a goal and an assist and Jerred Smithson also scored for the Predators, who halted a five-game losing streak.

Captain Jason Arnott notched a pair of assists for Nashville, which scored just seven goals during its slide and had not recorded more than three since November 28.

Petr Sykora, Jordan Staal and Maxime Talbot scored and All-Star Sidney Crosby registered two assists for the Penguins, who have lost six of seven games and 12 of 17.

PHOENIX 3, TAMPA BAY 2

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GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Rookie Kyle Turris snapped a tie at 8:09 of the third period, helping the Phoenix Coyotes end their struggles against the lowly Tampa Bay Lightning with a 3-2 victory.

Olli Jokinen and Peter Mueller also scored and Steven Reinprecht and All-Star Shane Doan each recorded two assists for the Coyotes, who had dropped six straight meetings with the Lightning - three of which came at home.

Jeff Halpern registered a power-play goal and an assist and defenseman Andrej Meszaros also scored for the Lightning, who failed to post back-to-back victories for the third time this season.

COLORADO 2, CHICAGO 1

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DENVER (Ticker) -- Wojtek Wolski scored the game-winning goal for the second straight contest and added an assist, lifting the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Ryan Smyth recorded a goal and an assist and Andrew Raycroft made 43 saves for the Avalanche, who have won back-to-back contests following a three-game losing streak.

All-Star defenseman Brian Campbell netted a power-play tally and Nikolai Khabibulin turned aside 30 shots for the Blackhawks, who had not lost to a team other than the Detroit Red Wings since November 29.

LOS ANGELES 4, ANAHEIM 3

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LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Alexander Frolov snapped a tie with a power-play goal at 7:43 of the third period and added an assist as the Los Angeles Kings posted a 4-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.

All-Star Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar also recorded a goal and an assist apiece for the Kings, who squandered a three-goal lead before Frolov's heroics.

Bobby Ryan erased a 3-0 deficit by recording a natural hat trick in less than three minutes of game time for the Ducks, who had defeated the Kings, 3-1, on Tuesday.