Outside or in, Penguins just keep piling up wins
Evgeni Malkin had his first NHL 3-goal game, and the host Pittsburgh Penguins put Toronto away with three goals in 48 seconds early in the third period, returning indoors for a 6-2 victory Thursday night that ran their season-best winning streak to five games.
Sidney Crosby assisted on 2 of Malkin's goals, Petr Sykora had a goal and an assist and Ty Conklin turned aside 33 shots to improve to 6-0 as a starter since being called up from the minors following goalie Marc-Andre Fleury's ankle injury.
The Penguins showed no aftereffects from their physically demanding 2-1 Winter Classic victory Tuesday in Buffalo, the NHL's first regular-season outdoor game in the United States. The players talked during a long practice Wednesday of not getting caught up in the emotion and the aura of the showcase game, watched by the largest crowd to attend an NHL game.
Panthers 4, Islanders 3 (OT): Jassen Cullimore's goal 1:37 into overtime helped the host New York Islanders snap Florida's three-game losing streak.
In his first game back after missing the previous three with a sprained left knee, Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro came out for warmups and played the first period in clean, white leg pads. However, for the second and third periods, he switched back to his old orange, blue and white pads without an explanation. A goalie's equipment must be inspected and approved by the NHL before it can be used in a game.
Bruins 2, Capitals 0: Tim Thomas stopped 31 shots for his first shutout this season, Marc Savard broke a scoreless tie in the second period and host Boston ended Alex Ovechkin's seven-game point streak in a win over Washington.
Predators 5, Oilers 2: Alexander Radulov scored 2 goals, and Dan Ellis stopped a penalty shot by Kyle Brodziak as host Nashville beat Edmonton.
Wild 6, Stars 3: Marian Gaborik scored twice, Pierre-Marc Bouchard added a goal and 2 assists and Brent Burns had 3 assists as host Minnesota beat Dallas.
Niklas Backstrom stopped 25 shots for his 16th win.
Canadiens 6, Lightning 3: Michael Ryder had 2 goals, and host Montreal scored three times in the third period to beat Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay matched a season high with its third six-game winless streak of the season (0-5-1).