NHL Capsules: Thrashers shutout Capitals

ATLANTA (AP) - Ondrej Pavelec stopped 29 shots to earn his third NHL shutout, and Evander Kane, Nik Antropov and Ben Eager had a goal and assist each as the Atlanta Thrashers beat Washington 5-0 on Friday night and snapped the Capitals' nine-game point streak.

The NHL-leading Capitals were shut out for the first time since Dec. 9 at Buffalo. Washington (14-5-1) had 10 wins and 21 points in its first 12 games, but missed a chance at a 15th victory that would've been the Capitals' best 20-game start.

Pavelec, who fainted early in the season-opening home victory over Washington improved to 2-4-2.

Dustin Byfuglien made it 4-0 in the final minute of the second period with his sixth goal, and Alexander Burmistrov finished the scoring when he netted his third goal late in the final frame.

Capitals forward Alexander Semin had his nine-game point streak broken.

Penguins 5, Hurricanes 4, SO

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Sidney Crosby scored in the shootout and Pittsburgh came back to beat Carolina after giving up three leads.

Crosby and Kris Letang each put the puck past Justin Peters in the tiebreaker. Jeff Skinner and Jussi Jokinen, who had two tying goals, failed against Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury.

Jokinen is 26 of 52 in shootouts, the most attempts of any player, but is 0 for 2 this season.

Crosby, who had a goal and three assists, is 21 of 50 in shootouts.

Chris Kunitz scored twice for Pittsburgh, which won four times during a five-game stretch in which it collected nine points. Wild 4, Red Wings 3, OT

DETROIT (AP) - John Madden scored 4:18 into overtime and Minnesota snapped Detroit's four-game winning streak.

Brent Burns, Cal Clutterbuck and Mikko Koivu also scored for the Wild. Jose Theodore stopped 41 shots, and Nick Schultz finished with two assists.

Patrick Eaves had a goal and an assist, and Darren Helm and Johan Franzen also scored for Detroit. Justin Abdelkader had two assists, and Jimmy Howard made 23 saves.

Sabres 4, Kings 2

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Tim Connolly snapped a third-period tie with a power-play goal to help lift Buffalo beat Los Angeles.

Thomas Vanek added a goal and assist, and Andrej Sekera and Jochen Hecht also scored for the Sabres (8-10-3), who have won five of seven after a 3-9-2 start.

Ryan Miller finished with 34 saves for Buffalo, which scored twice on the power play against a Kings penalty-killing unit that came in tied for first in the NHL. Los Angeles had allowed just seven man-advantage goals and killed 90 percent of opposition power plays.

Dustin Brown and Wayne Simmonds scored for the slumping Pacific Division-leading Kings (12-6), who have lost three straight after a six-game winning streak.

Backup goalie Jonathan Bernier made 22 saves in his second start in three games, and sixth overall this season.

Blues 5, Senators 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Brad Boyes, Carlo Colaiacovo and Eric Brewer scored 86 seconds apart in the second period to lead St. Louis past Ottawa.

The Blues (10-5-3) snapped a five-game losing streak and improved to 7-0-1 at home. Ottawa lost for the fourth time in five games.

Ty Conklin made 18 saves to record his first home win with the Blues. He had been 0-6 with a 4.45 goals-against average at the arena.

Ottawa's Brian Elliott stopped the first 17 shots he faced before St. Louis had its fastest three-goal spurt of the season.

Andy McDonald and Patrik Berglund added insurance goals in the third period. Alex Pietrangelo and David Backes both had two assists.

Avalanche 5, Rangers 1

DENVER (AP) - Craig Anderson stopped 25 shots in his return from injury and Matt Duchene scored and had two assists in a four-goal second period to lift Colorado over the New York Rangers.

David Jones, Kevin Porter, Kevin Shattenkirk and Daniel Winnik also had goals for the Avalanche, who went 3-0 on their homestand.

Anderson was back in net after missing 10 games because of a right knee injury, showing little signs of rust as he gave up just a third-period goal to rookie Derek Stepan.

Duchene scored for the first time since Oct. 26 on a shot that traveled through the legs of New York defenseman Michael Del Zotto and over the shoulder of goalie Henrik Lundqvist, the third goal he surrendered in the second period.

Lundqvist was pulled with 7:33 remaining in the period, giving way to Martin Biron, who promptly allowed a shot by Shattenkirk to trickle into the net.

Blue Jackets 4, Ducks 3

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Rick Nash scored for the sixth time in six games, Steve Mason made a season-high 47 saves in his fourth straight start, and Columbus improved the best start in franchise history with a victory over Anaheim.

Chris Clark and Mike Commodore each had a goal and an assist and Jakub Voracek also scored for the Blue Jackets (11-6). In a span of 10 days, Columbus ended a seven-game winning streak by St. Louis with their most lopsided victory in franchise history, put an end to the Los Angeles Kings' club-record 8-0 start at home, and snapped a five-game home winning streak by the Ducks.

Mason gave up a short-handed goal by Bobby Ryan and a power-play goal by Saku Koivu less than 5 minutes apart early in the second period, and a third-period goal by Corey Perry. But the Ducks lost their fourth straight following a six-game winning streak.

Flames 7, Blackhawks 2

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) - Jarome Iginla scored three times to help Calgary beat Chicago.

David Moss had a goal and two assists for the Flames, who had lost eight straight games to the Blackhawks, dating to March 16, 2008. Niklas Hagman, Brendan Morrison and Curtis Glencross each had a goal and an assist, and Alex Tanguay set up three goals.

Jack Skille and Troy Brouwer scored for the Blackhawks, who dropped to 1-1 on their six-game road trip. Marty Turco stopped 29 shots just two nights after recording an 18-save shutout at Edmonton.

The Flames scored seven consecutive goals.

Coyotes 4, Oilers 3, SO

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - Eric Belanger scored the shootout winner for Phoenix, which rallied from a three-goal deficit and beat struggling Edmonton.

Phoenix tied it 3-3 with 35 seconds left in regulation when Wojtek Wolski netted his third of the season while Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov was off for an extra skater.

Lauri Korpikoski and Radim Vrbata had the other goals in regulation for the Coyotes (9-5-5), who won their fifth in a row and have at least a point in seven straight. Vrbata also had two assists.

Ales Hemsky, Shawn Horcoff and Dustin Penner scored for the Oilers (4-10-4), who have lost six straight and have just two wins in 16 games.