Devils 2 Penguins 0
NEWARK, N.J. — Martin Brodeur and the suddenly revived New Jersey Devils took advantage of the absence of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to shut out the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-0 on Thursday night.
Brodeur had a relatively easy night, stopping 23 shots in posting his fourth shutout of the season and the NHL regular-season record 114th of his career.
Brian Rolston and rookie Nick Palmieri scored for the Devils, who have points in a season-high five straight games (4-0-1). The loss snapped the Penguins’ three-game winning streak.
The Penguins didn’t offer much resistance with Crosby and Malkin sidelined in the same regular-season game for the first time since the 2006-07 season. Crosby has missed seven straight games because of a concussion. The Penguins did not say what was wrong with Malkin, but his left knee has been bothering him recently.
Ducks 2 at Maple Leafs 5
Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 26 saves against his former Anaheim teammates and Mikhail Grabovski scored twice for Toronto.
Clarke MacArthur added a goal and two assists and Carl Gunnarsson and Tyler Bozak also scored to help the Maple Leafs rebound from a 7-0 road loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.
Dan Sexton and Brandon McMillan scored for Anaheim.
Senators 2 at Flyers 6
Mike Richards scored twice, Chris Pronger had an assist in his return from a broken foot and Philadelphia beat Ottawa in a fight-filled game.
The Flyers lead the NHL with 31 wins and the Eastern Conference with 67 points.
Daniel Briere, Scott Hartnell, James van Riemsdyk and Andrej Meszaros also scored for Philadelphia.
Milan Michalek and Nick Foligno scored for Ottawa.
Capitals 2 at Islanders 1
Alex Ovechkin assisted on goals by Jason Chimera and Nicklas Backstrom, and rookie Braden Holtby made 24 saves in his return from the minors to lift Washington.
Ovechkin had the primary assist on Chimera’s first-period goal and Backstrom’s goal in the second that put Washington ahead 2-0. The Capitals are 2-0-1 following an 0-2-1 skid but Washington’s high-powered offence failed to score more than three goals for the 12th straight game.
Michael Grabner scored for New York.
Red Wings 4 at Blues 3, OT
Darren Helm scored at 1:51 of overtime for Detroit and Jimmy Howard stopped 26 shots in his return after missing two games because of a bruised right kneecap.
Patrick Eaves, Todd Bertuzzi and Jakub Kindl — with his first NHL goal — scored in regulation for Detroit. The Red Wings blew a three-goal lead before rebounding to end a three-game road losing streak.
T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund and David Backes scored for St. Louis.
Predators 5 at Avalanche 1
Pekka Rinne stopped 32 shots for Nashville against a Colorado squad that learned hours earlier that left wing Tomas Fleischmann would miss the rest of the season because of blood clots in his lungs.
Sergei Kostitsyn, Cody Franson, Matt Halischuk, David Legwand and Colin Wilson scored to help the Predators win for ninth time in 11 games. Rinne lost his shutout bid when Matt Duchene scored with 3:37 left.
Sabres 4 at Bruins 2
Ryan Miller stopped 38 shots and Thomas Vanek had a goal and an assist for Buffalo.
Cody McCormick, Nathan Gerbe and Jason Pominville also scored in the Sabres’ fifth victory in seven games.
Dennis Seidenberg and Gregory Campbell scored for Boston.
Rangers 1 at Hurricanes 4
Cam Ward made 39 saves and Chad LaRose, Jussi Jokinen, Brandon Sutter and Jeff Skinner scored in Carolina’s victory over New York.
Tuomo Ruutu added two assists to help the Hurricanes snap a two-game losing streak.
Brandon Prust scored for New York.
Lightning 3 at Thrashers 2, SO
NHL goals leader Steven Stamkos scored twice and Dominic Moore added the shootout winner, leading Tampa Bay to its 10th straight win over Atlanta.
Stamkos has 37 goals this season. Niclas Bergfors and Anthony Stewart scored in regulation for Atlanta.
Canucks 1 at Sharks 2 (OT)
Joe Pavelski scored the shootout winner Thursday as the San Jose Sharks won their third straight game by defeating the suddenly struggling Vancouver Canucks 2-1.
Pavelski showed patience as he came in on Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo and beat him with a shot low to the stick side.
Henrik Sedin gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead while Logan Couture replied with his 21st of the season for the Sharks.
The Sharks held a 44-34 advantage in shots after 60 minutes of the wide-open game.