Sundays National Hockey League Capsules
VANCOUVER 3, OTTAWA 0
VANCOUVER, British Columbia The Vancouver Canucks didnt miss captain Roberto Luongo in this one.
Curtis Sanford made 18 saves to record his first shutout of the season, leading the Canucks to a 3-0 victory over the slumping Ottawa Senators.
Henrik Sedin and Pavol Demitra each scored a goal and set up another for Vancouver, which avoided a third straight loss.
Defenseman Alexander Edler also tallied and Daniel Sedin had a pair of assists for the Canucks, who have been without Luongo since November 19. The superstar goaltender has been sidelined with a groin injury.
The Senators have lost their first three contests on their current eight-game road trip. Ottawa has been outscored by a 15-7 margin over that stretch.
Sanford turned aside five shots in the first period, six more in the next and seven in the third to complete his first shutout since January 23, 2006. It was his fifth career blanking.
Henrik Sedin opened the scoring at 8:17 of the first session after Demitra forced a turnover in the Senators zone and found Sedin open in front of the goal. Sedins first attempt was
stopped by Ottawa netminder Martin Gerber, but he converted the rebound.
Demitra was set up for a breakaway by Daniel Sedin and fired a snap shot past Gerber on the blocker side to give the Canucks a 2-0 edge with 9:44 left in the middle period.
Edler provided the final margin, blasting a slap shot past Gerber with 2:50 left in the second.
Gerber finished with 29 saves.
EDMONTON 5, NASHVILLE 2
EDMONTON, Alberta Erik Cole scored a goal and had two assists and Sam Gagner and defenseman Sheldon Souray each scored and set up a goal as the Edmonton Oilers used a key second-period surge to cruise past the Nashville Predators, 5-2.
Shawn Horcoff and Andrew Cogliano also scored and Dwayne Roloson made 28 saves as the Oilers extended their winning streak to three games.
Martin Erat and defenseman Shea Weber each netted goals for Nashville, which has alternated wins and losses over its last six contests following a three-game losing skid.
WASHINGTON 4, TORONTO 1
WASHINGTON Brooks Laich and Alex Ovechkin scored two goals apiece to lead the Washington Capitals past the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1.
Nicklas Backstrom and defenseman Mike Green each recorded a pair of assists for Washington, which improved to an Eastern Conference-best 15-1-1 at the Verizon Center.
Jose Theodore finished with 23 saves for the Capitals.
Niklas Hagman scored and Vesa Toskala turned aside 25 shots for Toronto, which dropped its third straight game.
BOSTON 2, ATLANTA 1
ATLANTA Michael Ryder scored with 6:04 remaining in the third period to snap a tie, enabling the Boston Bruins to extend their winning streak to eight games with a 2-1 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.
Phil Kessel netted his team-leading 22nd goal of the season and Manny Fernandez turned aside 32 shots as the Bruins matched their longest winning streak since stringing together victories over the final eight games of the 1992-93 campaign.
Bryan Little scored for the sixth time in three contests for the Thrashers, who fell to 1-8-2 in their last 11 games at home.
CHICAGO 4, MINNESOTA 1
ST. PAUL, Minnesota Dustin Byfuglien recorded two goals and two assists as the Chicago Blackhawks posted a franchise-best ninth consecutive victory with a 4-1 triumph over the Minnesota Wild.
Rookie Kris Versteeg had a goal and two assists, Martin Havlat also scored and Cristobal Huet turned aside 18 shots for Chicago.
Rookie Cal Clutterbuck scored and Niklas Backstrom finished with 28 saves for Minnesota, which fell to 2-7-1 in its last 10 games.
ANAHEIM 4, ST. LOUIS 3
ST. LOUIS Bobby Ryan scored a power-play goal to snap a tie with just over seven minutes remaining in the third period as the Anaheim Ducks rallied for a 4-3 triumph over the St. Louis Blues.
Defenseman Steve Montador knotted the game at 3-3 seven minutes into the third off an assist from Ryan, who later converted on his decisive shot with 7:11 remaining in the session. Blue-liner Scott Niedermayer had a goal with a man advantage and added an assist and Rob Niedermayer also scored for the Ducks, who halted a three-game losing skid.
Starting for the fourth time in six games, Jonas Hiller stopped 27 shots in place of Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
David Perron netted his fourth goal of the season and Keith Tkachuk and Brad Boyes had power-play tallies, but the Blues fell for the eighth time in 10 contests.