Wednesday's NHL Capsules

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Erik Christensen and Alex Frolov scored 15 seconds apart to spark a four-goal third period, and the New York Rangers rallied for a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.

Sidney Crosby extended his point streak to a career-high 20 games when he assisted on Evgeni Malkin's first-period goal, but the Penguins lost for the second straight night after winning 12 in a row.

Christensen tied it with 9:50 to play, while New York was on the power play, and Frolov gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead by burying his own rebound at 10:25.

Artem Anisimov and Brian Boyle scored 34 seconds apart less than five minutes later to ice the Rangers' first win in regulation in Pittsburgh in nearly five years.

Ducks 2, Capitals 1, OT

WASHINGTON (AP) - Ryan Getzlaf scored 4:03 into overtime to give Anaheim a victory and send Washington to its seventh straight loss.

The Capitals are on their worst skid since Bruce Boudreau became coach just over three years ago.

The Capitals finished with a 32-24 edge in shots, but the game was even after Washington controlled the first period. Washington had 17 shots in the first, a period in which the Capitals took a 1-0 lead on Brooks Laich's goal.

But the Ducks slowed the Capitals in the second and tied it on Joffrey Lupul's power-play goal.

Red Wings 5, Blues 2

DETROIT (AP) - Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom had three goals and an assist for his first career hat trick to help the Red Wings beat St. Louis.

The 40-year-old Swede, a six-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's best defenseman, has helped Detroit win four Stanley Cup titles and also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs MVP.

Danny Cleary added a goal and two assists, Niklas Kronwall also scored, Henrik Zetterberg had four assists, and Jimmy Howard made 19 saves for Detroit.

Carlo Colaiacovo and Brad Winchester scored for St. Louis. Jaroslav Halak stopped 32 shots.

Devils 3, Coyotes 0

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Ilya Kovalchuk broke out of a drought with two goals, and Martin Brodeur made 29 saves as New Jersey snapped a five-game losing streak by beating Phoenix.

Kovalchuk posted his first multigoal game of the season and rookie defenseman Mark Fayne scored his first in the NHL to give New Jersey (9-19-2) its first win in December. Brodeur has three shutouts this season and a league record 113.

The Devils hadn't won since Nov. 27 against Philadelphia.

Sabres 3, Bruins 2

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Drew Stafford scored three goals for his third hat trick, and Buffalo broke a third-period tie and beat Boston.

Derek Roy assisted on all of Stafford's goals, and Ryan Miller made 32 saves for the Sabres, who won for the first time in four meetings with the Bruins.

Stafford, Tim Connolly and Rob Niedermayer all returned for Buffalo after being sidelined because of injuries. Stafford missed all but one of 16 games because of a shoulder injury. Connolly (groin) and Niedermayer (knee) were out the past eight games.

David Krejci and Michael Ryder scored, and backup goalie Tuukka Rask finished with 32 saves for Boston, which has lost two straight.

Miller made his eighth consecutive start after missing two because of groin soreness. He improved to 5-2-1 during that span.

Flyers 5, Canadiens 3

MONTREAL (AP) - James van Riemsdyk scored his second goal of the game on a power play 14:27 into the third period and Philadelphia Flyers extended its winning streak to four.

Carey Price made the initial save on the play that led to van Riemsdyk's goal that gave the Flyers a 4-3 lead. Canadiens defenseman Roman Hamrlik's clearing attempt put the puck right on the Philadelphia forward's stick for an easy tally.

Claude Giroux made it a two-goal lead with his 16th goal at 15:28. Sergei Bobrovsky made 38 saves for his 15th win. Jeff Carter had a goal and two assists, and Nikolay Zherdev had a goal and an assist for the Flyers, who lead the NHL with 47 points.

P.K. Subban had a goal and an assist for Montreal, which has lost three in a row for the first time this season. Tomas Plekanec and Brian Gionta scored 2:54 apart midway through the third for the Canadiens, who trailed 2-0 and 3-1.

Lightning 2, Thrashers 1, SO

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Victor Hedman scored in the fourth round of a shootout to help Tampa Bay beat Atlanta.

Hedman has scored just two goals in 30 games this season. The defenseman's goal was the lone one in the shootout.

Sean Bergenheim scored for the Lightning, who have beaten the Thrashers eight straight times.

Rich Peverley had the only goal for the Thrashers.

Hurricanes 4, Panthers 3

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -Tuomo Ruutu scored two third-period goals and Carolina rallied for a win over Florida.

Ruutu's goals came 1:28 apart as the Hurricanes overcame a 3-0 deficit and beat the Panthers in Florida for the first time in five games. Erik Cole and Jamie McBain also scored, and Justin Peters had 21 saves for Carolina in relief role.

Evgeny Dadonov, Michael Frolik, and Bryan McCabe had goals for Florida, which got 30 saves from Tomas Vokoun.

Predators 3, Sharks 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Sergei Kostitsyn and Colin Wilson scored goals 44 seconds apart in the third period and Nashville earned its fourth straight victory.

Jordin Tootoo also scored for the Predators, who have at least one point in nine consecutive games.

Kostitsyn tied it 2-2 with 3:16 left when he put a shot between Antti Niemi's pads. Wilson scored the game winner with 2:32 remaining.

Niclas Wallin and Dany Heatley scored for the Sharks, who led 1-0 and 2-1.

Avalanche 4, Blackhawks 3

CHICAGO (AP) - Tomas Fleischmann scored three times, including back-to-back, power-play goals in the third period, to lead Colorado over Chicago.

Colorado stretched its winning streak to four and gave the Blackhawks their ninth regulation loss at home. Chicago had only eight last season before winning the Stanley Cup.

Greg Mauldin gave Colorado a 1-0 lead in the first period.

Brian Bickell tied it in the second and Jonathan Toews and Troy Brouwer added goals in the third for Chicago.

Canucks 3, Blue Jackets 2, OT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - Ryan Kesler scored a power-play goal 1:30 into overtime to complete his first NHL hat trick and lift Vancouver past Columbus.

Kesler, who had 12 previous two-goal games, took a pass from Daniel Sedin on a 2-on-1 break and fired a quick shot over the outstretched pad of goalie Mathieu Garon. Vancouver received the power play when Jan Hejda was called for boarding Dan Hamhuis.

Roberto Luongo made 28 saves as Vancouver improved to 7-1-1 its last nine games.

Tom Sestito tied it with his first NHL goal and point on a power play 7:34 into the third period, parking his 6-foot-5, 228-pound frame atop the crease and deflecting Mike Commodore's low point shot past Luongo.

Derick Brassard also scored, and Garon finished with 27 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have two wins in 10 games (2-5-3).