Monday's NHL Capsules

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Brandon Sutter had two third-period goals and rookie Jeff Skinner scored his 18th of the season to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.

Skinner scored on a power-play rebound with 8:58 remaining, giving the Hurricanes a 5-3 lead, and Erik Cole's empty-netter in the final minute sealed the victory.

Tim Brent scored two third-period goals for the Maple Leafs, who got within one at 5-4 on Mike Brown's power-play tally with 5:45 to go.

After going 16 games without a goal, Sutter has now scored three in his past three games.

Canucks 7, Stars 1

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - Alexandre Burrows, Ryan Kesler and Christian Ehrhoff scored on Vancouver's first five shots, and the Canucks snapped a four-game losing streak with a rout of the Stars.

Henrik Sedin had a goal and two assists and Mikael Samuelsson (14 games) and Mason Raymond (11 games) and Dan Hamhuis (25 games) all ended long goal droughts for the Canucks, who did have three points during their slide (0-1-3).

Vancouver, which only has two regulation losses since Dec. 5, became the first team in the Western Conference with 30 wins. The Canucks remain atop the west with 69 points - five ahead of Detroit and six up on Dallas.

Roberto Luongo made 25 saves and hasn't lost in regulation in 16 games (11-0-5).

Rangers 2, Capitals 1, SO

WASHINGTON (AP) - Artem Anisimov scored the decisive goal in a shootout, backup goaltender Martin Biron had 22 saves, and the Rangers rallied to defeat the Capitals.

Each team scored twice in the shootout before Anisimov ended the duel by beating rookie goalie Braden Holtby.

Holtby finished with 28 saves. In three games since his recall from Hershey of the American Hockey League last week, the 21-year-old has turned aside 77 of 80 shots.

But Biron was better in the shootout.

The last time the teams met, on Dec. 12 in New York, the Rangers rolled to a 7-0 win. In this one, the Capitals cranked up the defense and took a 1-0 lead in the second period on a goal by Matt Hendricks.

Flames 3, Predators 1

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) - Miikka Kiprusoff made 23 saves and Jarome Iginla scored to help the Flames beat the Predators.

Curtis Glecross and Brendan Morrison also scored for Calgary. It was Morrison's third goal in three games. Alex Tanguay and Matt Stajan added two assists each.

David Legwand scored the lone goal for the Predators, who got 24 saves from Pekka Rinne.

Calgary's third straight win came on the heels of back-to-back victories over the weekend against the Dallas Stars and Western Conference-leading Vancouver Canucks.

Nashville had won 10 of its last 12 to move into fourth place in the Western Conference before Monday's loss.

Avalanche 4, Blues 3

DENVER (AP) - Brandon Yip scored twice and Kevin Shattenkirk broke a third-period tie on a power play, helping the Avalanche snap a two-game skid with a win over the Blues.

Ryan Stoa added a valuable insurance goal and Peter Budaj stopped 21 shots as the Avs beat St. Louis for a sixth straight time.

Jay McClement, Eric Brewer and David Backes scored for the Blues, who have lost three straight.

Shattenkirk gave the Avs the lead midway through the final period when he sent a wrist shot over the right shoulder of Jaroslav Halak. The Avs were on the power play after Brad Boyes was called for a double-minor when his stick caught Yip in the face and drew blood.

Kings 2, Bruins 0

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ryan Smyth scored the Kings' first power-play goal in eight games and Andrei Loktionov added a goal, helping Los Angeles beat Boston for its fifth straight victory over the Bruins.

The teams' previous four meetings had all gone to overtime or a shootout, including the Kings' 4-3 victory on Nov. 20 after they blew a 3-0 lead on the road.

Los Angeles has won two straight after going 3-13 in its previous 16 games, a plunge that dropped it from being one of the top teams in the West to a club fighting for a playoff berth.

Smyth gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 10:50 of the first period, ending an 0-for-22 power-play drought that spanned the previous seven games. He scored his 18th goal on a rebound of Jarret Stoll's one-timer after Boston's Zdeno Chara was sent off for hooking.