Rookie defenseman Andrej Meszaros had three assists, Ray Emery made 30 saves, and the host Ottawa Senators scored five special-teams goals in a 7-1 victory over the Washington Capitals last night.
Washington rookie sensation Alexander Ovechkin scored his 38th goal with 5:07 remaining in the third to spoil Emery's shutout bid. Emery won for the second straight night since taking over for the injured Dominik Hasek.
Leading 4-0 in Pittsburgh the night before, Ottawa held on to beat the Penguins in its first game after the Olympic break despite having its rookie goalie allow three third-period goals. This time, the Senators gave Emery more than enough offense with seven players scoring goals against Capitals goalies Olie Kolzig and Brent Johnson.
Wade Redden, Jason Spezza and Brian Pothier scored power-play goals and Antoine Vermette and Peter Schaefer had short-handed goals.
Mike Fisher scored the first of six goals against Kolzig 1:04 in. Bryan Smolinski scored Ottawa's seventh goal 5:25 into the third, beating Johnson, who replaced Kolzig after Pothier's third of the season made it 6-0 at 11:40 of the second.
Washington, which won 5-3 in Toronto on Tuesday night, has lost nine of 12 and is last in the Southeast Division with 45 points.
Rangers 6, Flyers 1 -- Jaromir Jagr scored his NHL-leading 41st and 42nd goals and also had an assist to lead visiting New York past Philadelphia for its seventh straight victory. The Atlantic Division-leading Rangers have a four-point lead over the second-place Flyers. Kevin Weekes made 36 saves for New York, first in its division this late in the season for the first time since 1995-96. The Rangers, 3-0-2 against Philadelphia this season, didn't need a lot of shots to beat the Flyers. They scored three goals - two on the power play - in a 1:58 span early in the second period and had four goals in a 6:46 span. Jagr, the NHL leader with 91 points, scored two power-play goals to open the second period and give the Rangers a 3-0 lead. Jagr's second goal gave him 1,400 career points.
Islanders 3, Devils 2 -- Trent Hunter smacked a shot between Martin Brodeur's pads in a shootout, denying the Canadian Olympian his 30th victory and lifting host New York over New Jersey. Brodeur, who beat Philadelphia in a shootout on Wednesday night in the Devils' first game after the Olympic break, is trying to become the first player to have 30 wins in 10 straight seasons.
Bruins 3, Thrashers 2 -- Marco Sturm scored a power-play goal with 2:41 left to give host Boston a victory over Atlanta. Sturm scored when Brian Leetch's shot from the corner deflected off Sturm's skate and through Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen's legs.
Canadiens 1, Panthers 0 -- Alexei Kovalev scored with 5:49 left in the third period and Cristobal Huet made 24 saves for his third shutout of the season to help visiting Montreal beat Florida. The Canadiens, eighth in the Eastern Conference, are 6-3-2 in their past 11 games.
Predators 3, Canucks 1 -- Greg Johnson broke a tie with a short-handed goal 45 seconds into the third period, and Tomas Vokoun made 41 saves in host Nashville's victory over Vancouver.
Avalanche 1, Blue Jackets 0 -- David Aebischer made 24 saves for his third shutout of the season and 13th overall, and Brett Clark scored the lone goal in host Colorado's victory over Columbus.
Flames 3, Blues 1 -- Jarome Iginla scored twice and had a spirited fight in host Calgary's victory over St. Louis. The Flames moved into first place in the Northwest Division, a point ahead of Colorado.
Coyotes 6, Stars 2 -- Geoff Sanderson and Shane Doan each scored twice and host Phoenix beat Dallas.