Thursdays National Hockey League Capsules
TORONTO 5, NY ISLANDERS 4 (SO)
UNIONDALE, New York Tim Stapleton netted the decisive goal in the third round of a shootout, lifting the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-4 victory over the New York Islanders.
Jason Blake also tallied in the bonus format and Vesa Toskala stopped 40 shots before denying one shot in the shootout for Toronto, which won its third straight contest.
Defenseman Ian White scored a goal and set up another while Dominic Moore, blue-liner Pavel Kubina and Nik Antropov netted goals in regulation.
All-Star defenseman Mark Streit and Jon Sim each recorded a goal and an assist and Sean Bergenheim and newly acquired Dean McAmmond also tallied for the Islanders, who began a six-game homestand.
In the first round of the bonus format, Frans Nielsens attempt hit the crossbar and New Yorks Joey MacDonald stmyied Nikolai Kulemin.
Jeff Tambellini then fired a hard wrist shot past Toskalas glove to give the Islanders an early edge but Blake followed with a dazzling sequence, during which he spun in the crease and faked out MacDonald with a backhander to pull the Maple Leafs even.
Toskala poked away the puck before rookie Kyle Okposo even got off a shot in the third set and Stapleton then secured the win with a snap shot.
White opened the scoring 87 seconds into the first period and Moore scored shorthanded 57 seconds into the second to give Toronto an early lead. However, McAmmond - traded by the Ottawa Senators for Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli six days ago - halved the deficit with 5 1/2 minutes left in the second.
Bergenheim forged a 2-2 tie at 3:30 of the third by wristing the puck past Toskala from the low slot. MacDonald was not able to fend off the Maple Leafs as Kubina and Antropov tallied in a 90-second span shortly thereafter.
Streit kept New Yorks comeback hopes alive with 8:31 remaining in the third, converting a wrist shot for his 12th goal of the season. Sim capped the rally by taking a pass from Streit and unleashing a snap shot from the left faceoff circle with 3:07 left.
The Islanders, which had previously failed to scored three or more goals in a game since January 29, have reached that feat twice in row.
SAN JOSE 2, OTTAWA 1
OTTAWA Milan Michalek and captain Patrick Marleau netted power-play goals 78 seconds apart in the second period to lift the San Jose Sharks to a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators.
Brian Boucher made 23 saves in his first start in over two weeks for the Sharks, who have won five of their last six contests.
Alex Auld turned aside 22 shots and Mike Fisher scored the lone goal for the Senators, who have lost four of their last five games.
COLUMBUS 1, EDMONTON 0
EDMONTON, Alberta Raffi Torres scored on a breakaway nearly eight minutes into the third period and rookie Steve Mason turned aside all 19 shots he faced as the Columbus Blue Jackets skated to a 1-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
A former Oiler, Torres was sprung behind the Edmonton defense on a beautiful cross-ice pass by Jared Boll and came in alone on Roloson. Torres made a pretty deke before sending the puck into the net with a backhand shot at 7:45.
Mason made the goal stand up, posting his league-leading eighth shutout. Mason stopped seven shots in the first and third periods and five in the second.
The Blue Jackets missed a golden chance to go up by two goals when captain Rick Nash broke in on Roloson. This time, the goaltender got the better of the Blue Jackets, stopping Nashs shot with a pad save.
Roloson kept the Oilers in the game, making 31 saves.
NEW JERSEY 4, COLORADO 0
NEWARK, New Jersey After missing four months with a devastating injury, Martin Brodeur made 24 saves and All-Star Zach Parise and Travis Zajac each recorded a goal and two assists as the New Jersey Devils blanked the Colorado Avalanche, 4-0.
Captain Jamie Langenbrunner scored a goal and set up another, Patrik Elias also tallied and defenseman Paul Martin notched two assists for New Jersey, which went 32-17-1 without Brodeur.
A four-time Vezina Trophy winner, Brodeur turned aside five shots in the first period, 12 in the second and seven in the third to register his third shutout of the season and 99th career - leaving him four behind Terry Sawchuks all-time mark of 103.
Brodeur also recorded his 545th career win, pulling within six of Patrick Roys all-time record.
Andrew Raycroft stopped 28 shots for Colorado, which has lost three in a row.
BOSTON 6, ANAHEIM 0
BOSTON Chuck Kobasew tallied twice and All-Star Tim Thomas turned aside all 35 shots he faced and added an assist as the Boston Bruins scored four times in the second period en route to a 6-0 triumph over the Anaheim Ducks.
Michael Ryder recorded two goals and an assist and defenseman Matt Hunwick and Phil Kessel also tallied for Boston, which has won two straight after posting a 1-4-2 mark in its previous seven games.
Rookie Byron Bitz netted his fourth goal of the season - and third in two games - and rookie Blake Wheeler and defenseman Andrew Ference notched two assists apiece for the Bruins, who improved to 21-2-3 in their last 26 home games.
Thomas stopped 10 shots in the first period, 12 in the second and 13 in the third to post his fourth shutout of the season and 11th career. It was also Thomas 100th career NHL victory.
All-Star Jean-Sebastien Giguere turned aside five of eight shots before he was replaced by Jonas Hiller, who finished with 16 saves.
CAROLINA 2, BUFFALO 1 (SO)
RALEIGH, North Carolina Cam Ward stopped 36 shots in regulation and denied all three attempts in the shootout as the Carolina Hurricanes recorded a 2-1 triumph over the Buffalo Sabres.
Jussi Jokinen scored in the second round of the bonus format and defenseman Anton Babchuk tallied in regulation for Carolina, which improved to 4-1-0 in its last five games.
Patrick Kaleta scored in regulation and Patrick Lalime turned aside 31 shots for Buffalo, which has dropped consecutive games since netminder Ryan Miller suffered a high-ankle sprain on Saturday.
FLORIDA 2, NY RANGERS 1
NEW YORK David Booth and Nathan Horton scored one minute apart in the third period as the Panthers rallied for a 2-1 victory over the slumping New York Rangers.
Craig Anderson made 40 saves for Florida (31-22-8), which pulled into a tie with New York (31-24-8) for sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
All-Star Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 20 shots and Markus Naslund netted the lone goal for the Rangers, who have lost 12 of their last 14 contests (2-8-4).
WASHINGTON 4, ATLANTA 3
WASHINGTON Alexander Semin recorded a goal and two assists as the Washington Capitals used three power-play goals to skate past the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-3.
Defenseman Mike Green recorded a goal and an assist while Brooks Laich and Eric Fehr also tallied for Washington, which ended a five-game homestand with a 3-2-0 mark.
Rookie goaltender Michal Neuvirth won for the second time in as many starts, stopping 21 shots for the Capitals.
Washington tied a season-high in goals with the man-advantage, converting on 3-of-8 chances. However, Atlanta pulled to within 4-3 late in the contest with a shorthanded goal.
All-Star Ilya Kovalchuk and Todd White collected a goal and an assist apiece and Rich Peverley also tallied for Atlanta.
NASHVILLE 4, PHOENIX 1
NASHVILLE, Tennessee Joel Ward had a goal and an assist and the Nashville Predators recorded their third straight win with a 4-1 triumph over the Phoenix Coyotes.
Captain Jason Arnott, Steve Sullivan and David Legwand also scored for the Predators as they followed Tuesdays five-goal outburst against Chicago with another stellar offensive performance in this one.
Rookie Pekka Rinne made sure the four goals stood up, stopping 25 shots to record his second win over the Coyotes this month.
Defenseman Ed Jovanovski had the lone tally for Phoenix, which fell to 3-11-0 in its last 14 games.
ST LOUIS 3, DALLAS 1
DALLAS Rookies T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund scored just over two minutes apart in the third period to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 3-1 triumph over the slumping Dallas Stars.
Jay McClement also tallied and Chris Mason made 41 saves for the Blues, who have surrendered one goal in each of the last four games - posting a 3-0-1 record over that stretch.
Marty Turco stopped 19 shots and Jere Lehtinen netted the lone goal for the Stars, who have lost three contests in a row - managing just two goals in that span.