NHL Capsules : Capitals best Bruin

WASHINGTON (AP) - John Carlson scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:35 left, and the Washington Capitals chased goalie Tim Thomas and beat the Boston Bruins 5-3 Friday night after blowing a three-goal lead.

Carlson scored on a slap shot off a pass from Eric Fehr to put Washington up 4-3, and Alex Ovechkin had an empty-net goal in the final minute to clinch it.

Boston had won a franchise-record five straight road games to start the season and had defeated the Capitals twice earlier in a home-and-home series.

After Washington's three-goal second period against Thomas, the Bruins scored three times in a seven-minute span of the third period to pull even and send Washington goalie Michal Neuvirth to the bench.

Michael Ryder started the run by tapping in a rebound with 16:53 remaining. Fifty-five seconds later, Nathan Horton scored his team-high sixth goal to get Boston to 3-2. Shawn Thornton then put a backhander into the net with 10:09 remaining to tie it and chase Neuvirth.

Neuvirth was replaced by Braden Holtby, who stopped Boston's final four shots in his NHL debut.

Thomas came in 7-0 with an 0.72 goals-against average - including 3-1 and 4-1 wins over Washington. In addition, he hadn't given up more than two goals in a game. Fortunately for Thomas, Boston's scoring flurry enabled him to avoid his first loss.

Tyler Sloan, Mike Green and Alexander Semin scored in the second period for the Capitals.

Ducks 3, Penguins 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf and Saku Koivu scored during a 6:51 span of the second period to break open a scoreless game, and Anaheim overcame two goals by Sidney Crosby.

Lubomir Visnovsky had two assists and Jonas Hiller made 30 saves, helping the Ducks win consecutive games for the first time this season. Hiller has allowed no more than two goals in any of his last six starts after struggling through his first five starts with a 4.06 goals-against average.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 16 saves for Pittsburgh in the only meeting of the season between the teams. Fleury is 1-6, while backup Brent Johnson is 5-1-1 with a 1.70 GAA.

Rangers 3, Devils 0

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Henrik Lundqvist made 33 saves for his second shutout of the season and Brandon Dubinsky scored two goals for New York, keeping New Jersey winless at home.

Dubinsky scored an even-strength goal in the first period and added a short-handed tally in the third during New Jersey's first power play to tie him for the NHL lead with 10 goals.

Brian Boyle scored in the second to give Lundqvist more than enough offense to beat Devils goalie Johan Hedberg, who subbed for the injured Martin Brodeur.

It was Lundqvist's second shutout in four games and 26th in the NHL.

The Devils, who returned home after a 2-4 trip, dropped to 0-5-1 in New Jersey.

Red Wings 3, Oilers 1

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - Jimmy Howard made 29 saves, Valtteri Filppula broke a tie on a second-period power play and Detroit beat Edmonton for its third straight victory and sixth in seven games.

Justin Abdelkader opened the scoring for Detroit in the first period, and Taylor Hall tied it for Edmonton on a power play in the second. Dan Cleary added an empty-net goal and had two assists for the Red Wings, coming off a 2-1 victory in Calgary on Wednesday night.

The Oilers have one win in their last nine games after a 2-0 start.

Canadiens 3, Sabres 2

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Benoit Pouliot scored twice, Jeff Halpern had a goal and two assists, and Carey Price made 29 saves to help Montreal improve to 8-4-1 and snap a two-game losing streak.

Montreal was without scoring leader Tomas Plekanec, who was scratched because of flulike symptoms.

Mike Grier had a goal and assist, Jordan Leopold also scored, and backup goalie Patrick Lalime, playing in place of injured starter Ryan Miller, made 29 saves for the Sabres, 0-6-1 at home and 3-9-2 overall.

Miller wasn't in uniform for the second straight game because of a lower-body injury, and also will sit out Saturday night when the Sabres play at Toronto.

Panthers 7, Hurricanes 4

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) - Chris Higgins broke a tie late in the second period, and Stephen Weiss added two goals for Florida in the first game of a home-and-home set.

David Booth, Mike Santorelli, Marty Reasoner and Michael Frolik also scored for Florida, which outshot Carolina 50-31. Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun was pulled only 10:49 into the first period after giving up two goals. Scott Clemmensen replaced him and ended up with 23 saves.

Erik Cole, Tim Gleason, Tuomo Ruutu and Sergei Samsonov for Carolina.

The teams will meet again Saturday night in Carolina.

Stars 6, Coyotes 3

DALLAS (AP) - Loui Eriksson scored two of Dallas' four power-play goals and had two assists, and Brad Richards had one of his two goals with the man advantage.

Brenden Morrow added his 200th career goal, Jamie Benn also struck on the power play, and Mike Ribeiro had three assists for Dallas. The Stars set a season-high for goals and have 15 in their last three games.

Kari Lehtonen stopped 25 shots as the Stars won their third in a row after dropping the first three of a season-high six-game homestand.

Sami Lepisto, Shane Doan and Lauri Korpikoski scored for the Coyotes, led by former Stars coach Dave Tippett.

Wild 2, Flames 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Martin Havlat scored his first goal of the season to break a third-period tie, and Niklas Backstrom made 33 saves for Minnesota.

Cal Clutterbuck also scored to help the Wild finish 3-1-1 on a five-game homestand. Rene Bourque scored a first-period goal and Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 21 shots for Calgary. The Flames have lost four games in a row.

Havlat scored at 4:20 of the third period, taking a pass from Matt Cullen, kicking the puck to his stick and sneaking a shot past Kiprusoff to make it 2-1.