(Sports Network) - Alexander Semin's goal just 22 seconds into overtime gave the Washington Capitals (web | news) a 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins in a battle between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Eastern Conference. Moments into the OT, Semin cranked a shot on net inside the neutral zone just past the red line that Tim Thomas got a piece of, but it retained enough momentum to slip through his body and into the net for the win. Alexander Ovechkin scored his league-leading 45th goal of the season while Tomas Fleischmann and Nicklas Backstrom also lit the lamp for the Capitals, who have won three of their last four games. Jose Theodore made 34 saves in the win. Phil Kessel and Matt Hunwick each had a goal and an assist for the Bruins, who had a two-game winning streak stopped. Marc Savard had three assists while Thomas made 28 stops for Boston. The Bruins currently lead the Eastern Conference with 93 points while the Capitals sit in second in the conference with 85 points.

Final Score: New Jersey 7, Florida 2

Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - Zach Parise scored twice and added an assist as the Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey Devils hammered the Florida Panthers, 7-2, at the Prudential Center. Brendan Shanahan, Brian Rolston and David Clarkson each added a goal and a helper for New Jersey, which has won six straight games on home ice and seven of nine overall. The Devils now sit seven points ahead of Philadelphia atop the Atlantic. Travis Zajac and Dainius Zubrus also lit the lamp for New Jersey, which claimed its 12th consecutive 40-win regular season. Martin Brodeur, who posted his 99th career shutout in the Devils' 4-0 win over Atlanta on Thursday, turned aside 15- of-17 shots. The veteran netminder was making only his second start since returning from a near four-month layoff after suffering a torn distal biceps muscle in his left elbow. Ville Peltonen and Bryan McCabe accounted for the Panthers goals. Florida, coming off a 2-1 win against the Rangers on Thursday, dropped to 1-2 on a five-game road trip that continues Sunday in Washington before closing on Tuesday in Atlanta. Craig Anderson made 39 saves in defeat.



Final Score: Anaheim 4, Dallas 3

Dallas, TX (Sports Network) - Teemu Selanne scored the game-winner in the third period as the Anaheim Ducks edged the Dallas Stars, 4-3, at American Airlines Center. Corey Perry, Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer each had a goal for the Ducks, who improved to 3-2 on their six-game road trip. Jean- Sebastien Giguere made 30 saves in the win. Mike Ribeiro had two goals and an assist for the Stars, who dropped their fourth straight game, which is a season-high. Marty Turco gave up all four goals on just 18 shots in the loss.



Final Score: Montreal 3, San Jose 2

Montreal, QC (Sports Network) - Jaroslav Halak made 46 saves and helped back the suddenly surging Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 win against San Jose at the Bell Centre. Andrei Markov and Saku Koivu had a goal and an assist each while Josh Gorges also scored for the Habs, who have won four straight after losing the previous three contests. Prior to this winning streak, the Canadiens had gone 3-11-1 in their previous 15 games. Not coincidentally, Montreal has been riding the heady play of Halak, who has seemed to supplant starter Carey Price between the pipes. Halak has backed all four wins on the streak and improved to 16-10-1 on the season. Montreal next kicks off a three- game road trip Wednesday in Buffalo. Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton found the back of the net just 49 seconds apart in the second period after Montreal took a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. Brian Boucher was solid the rest of the way in stopping 18-of-21 shots overall.



Final Score: Toronto 4, Ottawa 3 (OT)

Ottawa, ON (Sports Network) - Pavel Kubina scored twice, including the winner 33 seconds into overtime, as the Toronto Maple Leafs came back to edge the Ottawa Senators, 4-3, at Scotiabank Place. Kubina also netted the tying goal in the third period, while Jamal Mayers and rookie Tim Stapleton tallied for the Maple Leafs, who were able to build off a 5-4 shootout win at the New York Islanders on Thursday. Toronto has won four straight overall after dropping the previous three contests. Stapleton's marker was the first of his NHL career. Curtis Joseph turned aside 29-of-32 shots for the Maple Leafs, who have garnered a point in six straight contests and have gone 4-0-2 in that span. Ryan Shannon, Jarkko Ruutu and Daniel Alfredsson accounted for the Ottawa goals. The Senators have lost two straight and five of six overall. Brian Elliott made 34 saves in defeat.



Final Score: NY Islanders 2, Buffalo 0

Uniondale, NY (Sports Network) - Yann Danis stopped 31 shots to secure his second consecutive home shutout and Sean Bergenheim scored twice as the New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres, 2-0, at Nassau Coliseum. Jack Hillen, Kyle Okposo, and Frans Nielsen each had an assist for the Islanders, who bounced back from a 5-4 defeat in a shootout against Toronto on Thursday. Danis made a career-high 40 saves to earn his second career shutout in a 4-0 win over the Devils one week ago. Patrick Lalime turned away 32-of-34 shots for the Sabres, who have dropped three straight games.



Final Score: NY Rangers 6, Colorado 1

New York, NY (Sports Network) - Scott Gomez posted a goal and two assists as the dormant New York offense, spurred by a four-goal first period, awakened to lead the Rangers to a 6-1 win over Colorado at Madison Square Garden. Nikolai Zherdev, Chris Drury and Markus Naslund each posted a goal and one helper for the Rangers, who halted a four-game losing streak and posted a season-high for goals in a single game. The rout also gave John Tortorella his first victory as head coach. Named to the post after Tom Renney was fired on Monday, Tortorella's first two games at the helm were 2-1 losses, at Toronto in a shootout on Wednesday and in regulation to Florida on Thursday. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 23 shots for his first win in five starts. Ryan Smyth notched the lone goal for the Avalanche, who stumbled to their fourth straight defeat. Starter Peter Budaj was victimized for three goals on nine shots in just over 13 minutes. Andrew Raycroft finished the game by allowing three goals on 21 shots.



Final Score: Atlanta 5, Carolina 3

Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Rich Peverley's second goal of the game with 1:28 to play helped the Atlanta Thrashers rally for a 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at Philips Arena. Atlanta was trailing by two goals in the third period, but rallied to tie the game and Peverley gave his team the lead. With the puck in the Carolina end while on the power play, Peverley chipped it off the left boards as his defender fell down and picked it up deep. He then cut out to the front and shelved it over Cam Ward. Carolina pulled Ward with over a minute to play for the final attacker, but Ilya Kovalchuk sealed the win with the empty-netter. Kovalchuk finished the game with two goals and three assists while Todd White added a goal and an assist for the Thrashers, who have won two of their last three. Kari Lehtonen finished the game with 32 saves. Tuomo Ruutu had a goal and an assist and Ward allowed four goals on 31 shots in the loss for the Hurricanes, who have dropped two of their last three games.



Final Score: Nashville 8, Detroit 0

Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - Jason Arnott posted his first hat trick of the season and Pekka Rinne made 30 saves for the sixth shutout of his career as Nashville blasted Detroit, 8-0, at Sommet Center. Shea Weber, Joel Ward and Ville Koistinen added a goal and assist apiece for the Predators, who won their fourth straight game and fell one tally short of a franchise- record for most goals in one game. Steve Sullivan and J.P. Dumont contributed three assists each for Nashville, which also set a franchise- high in goals in one game against Detroit. The previous high was six, last done in a 6-2 win at Nashville on November 25, 2006. Ty Conklin suffered the loss, allowing four goals on just nine shots for the Red Wings, who lost for the second time in six games and suffered their worst shutout loss since an 8-0 defeat on October 9, 1982 at home against the Winnipeg Jets. Chris Osgood surrendered four goals on 14 shots in the final 50-plus minutes.



Final Score: St. Louis 3, Phoenix 1

Glendale, AZ (Sports Network) - Chris Mason collected 26 saves and the St. Louis Blues picked up an important 3-1 victory against Phoenix as part of their recent playoff push in a clash between two teams battling to rejoin the Western Conference playoff picture. David Perron, Jay McClement and Andy McDonald tallied scores for the Blues, who won their third consecutive game and sixth in their last eight. It's the club's first three-game winning streak since November 21-25. St. Louis is getting it done on the road recently, with three straight wins and six over the last nine road tests. Olli Jokinen picked up the lone goal and Ilya Bryzgalov successfully handled 27-of-30 shots in taking the loss for Phoenix, it's third straight and 12th in the last 15 games.



Final Score: Edmonton 3, Minnesota 2

Edmonton, AB (Sports Network) - Dwayne Roloson was outstanding between the pipes with 43 saves and the Edmonton Oilers held off a furious Minnesota Wild attack in the final period to emerge with the 3-2 win. Tom Gilbert got the game-winner off a great feed from Liam Reddox late in the second period for Edmonton, which has won two of three following a three-game skid. Gilbert also had an assist while Reddox also set up a Zach Stortini goal for his first career multi-point effort. Ales Hemsky also scored. Andrew Brunette and Antii Miettinen lit the lamp for Minnesota, which had a 27-save effort from Josh Harding go by the wayside in the club's third straight loss and sixth over the last eight games. The end of the game saw an incident that could very well cast a dark shadow over the contest as Edmonton's Ethan Moreau caught a high-stick flush in his right eye after Miettinen had his blade inadvertently thrust up after stepping on Moreau's foot with 20 seconds left. Moreau stayed laying on his stomach for a stretch before being helped to the locker room. He was taken to Royal Alexandria (web | news) Hospital, which specializes in optometry. Doctors informed head coach Craig MacTavish that the stick looks like it gashed the socket and raked across the eyeball.











































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