TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Steven Stamkos had his second hat trick this season and fifth overall on Saturday to lift Tampa Bay to a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes that gave the Lightning their third straight victory and fifth in seven games.
Stamkos scored his third goal of the game and 26th of the season from the left circle on a power-play 43 seconds into the third. Just 22 seconds later Tampa Bay went up 4-2 on a goal by Teddy Purcell.
Carolina got goals from Justin Faulk and Jay Harrison. Eric Staal had two assists, giving him three assists and five points in his last two games.
Steve Downie scored a third-period goal at 6:51 and also had two assists for the Lightning.
CAPITALS 4, BLUE JACKETS 2
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Dennis Wideman scored in a 2:53 span of the third period, erasing a 2-0 deficit and leading Washington to victory.
Ovechkin also added an insurance goal - making it four in 4:34 - and Wideman added two assists for the Capitals, who have scored 12 third-period goals in their last six games. They have 46 in the final period this season - among the most in the NHL.
Ovechkin extended his points streak to six games, a span in which he has six goals and three assists.
John Moore and Samuel Pahlsson scored for the Blue Jackets, who have been outscored 52-26 in the final period this year.
STARS 4, BRUINS 2
DALLAS (AP) - Michael Ryder and Loui Eriksson scored power-play goals in the first period, and Dallas ended Boston's seven-game winning streak.
Trevor Daley contributed a goal and two assists, Tom Wandell also scored, and Kari Lehtonen made 18 saves for the Stars, 2-4 in their previous six games.
Ryder, who helped the Bruins win the Cup last season before signing with Dallas as a free agent over the summer, notched his team-high 15th goal in the final minute of the opening period.
Tyler Seguin and Milan Lucic scored for Boston, and Tim Thomas stopped 23 shots.
COYOTES 4, WILD 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Radim Vrbata scored a pair of goals two minutes apart early in the third period and Phoenix hung on to end a four-game skid.
Daymond Langkow and Ray Whitney also scored for the Coyotes.
Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Matt Cullen scored for Minnesota, 1-6-3 in its past 10 games.
SENATORS 3, SABRES 2, SO
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Bobby Butler scored the decisive goal in the fifth round of the shootout to lift Ottawa over slumping Buffalo.
Chris Neil and Matt Carkner scored and Erik Condra had two assists for the Senators, who improved to 5-1-1 in their past seven games. Craig Anderson stopped 26 shots.
Brad Boyes and Paul Gaustad scored and Jordan Leopold had two assists for the Sabres, who dropped to 1-5-1 in their past seven games. Jhonas Enroth was by far the busiest goalie in stopping 44 shots, including getting his shoulder up to get a piece of Jason Spezza's snap shot from in close with 12 seconds left in overtime.
DEVILS 3, PENGUINS 1
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Ilya Kovalchuk scored on a penalty shot in the first period and added an assist on David Clarkson's power-play goal four minutes later and New Jersey ended a four-game winless streak against Pittsburgh.
Zach Parise scored an empty-net goal with 49.5 seconds left for the Devils, who won for the ninth time in 12 games. The Penguins, who lost their second straight after a four-game win streak, were without Sidney Crosby. He missed his ninth straight game with concussion symptoms.
Martin Brodeur made 29 saves for the Devils, including an improbable glove save on Matt Cooke with four minutes left. It was his 11th win of the season, third straight and his record 636th victory of his career. It was also his 43rd win in 75 games against Pittsburgh.
Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias each had assists on Parise's 13th goal of the season, giving both players two assists for the game.
Chris Kunitz scored a third-period goal for the Penguins.
RED WINGS 3, BLUES 0
DETROIT (AP) - Jimmy Howard stopped 31 shots for his ninth career shutout to lead Detroit to victory.
Johan Franzen, Justin Abdelkader, Jiri Hudler scored for the Red Wings, who won their 12th consecutive home game, two short of the team record. It was their second win over the Blues at Joe Louis Arena in five days.
Brian Elliott made 28 saves for St. Louis, which came closest to scoring when Carlo Colaiacovo hit the post on a shot from the point during a power play early in the third period.
PANTHERS 3, CANADIENS 2
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) - Tomas Fleischmann scored two goals, including an empty-netter with 40.2 seconds remaining that ended up being the game-winner after Erik Cole scored for Montreal with 30 seconds left.
Panthers goaltender Scott Clemmensen bounced back from his worst outing of the season the night before against the New York Rangers by stopping 17 of Montreal's last 18 shots. He replaced Jose Theodore 4:16 into the second period after Theodore left with a lower body injury.
The Canadiens struck first at the 5:37 mark of the first period when Travis Moen blasted a slap shot from the left circle.
Fleischmann tied the game with a power-play goal 3:46 into the second period and Shawn Matthias broke the tie 3:08 into the third with his seventh goal of the season.
JETS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 2
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) - Zach Bogosian and Blake Wheeler scored power-play goals and Winnipeg won its third straight.
Andrew Ladd also scored for Winnipeg and the crowd gave the players a standing ovation after the victory.
James Reimer stopped 32 shots for Toronto, which has lost three straight.
Jets winger Antti Miettinen, claimed on waivers from Tampa Bay on Dec. 13, picked up two assists for his first points with his new club.
Clarke MacArthur and Phil Kessel scored for Toronto, which fired 24 shots at Ondrej Pavelec.
ISLANDERS 4, OILERS 1
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) - Matt Moulson had a goal and two assists, and John Tavares and P.A. Parenteau both added one of each for New York, which took advantage of Edmonton and shaky goalie Devan Dubnyk.
Tavares and Moulson helped set up each other for goals in the first period, and Parenteau and Matt Martin connected in the second for the Islanders, who won their second straight against visiting teams from Alberta following a three-game losing streak.
Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves for the Islanders, 5-2-4 against Western Conference opponents.
AVALANCHE 4, DUCKS 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 18 saves in his first game in Anaheim since the Ducks traded him nearly two years ago, and Milan Hejduk scored two goals in Colorado's victory.
Kyle Quincey and Chuck Kobasew also scored for the Avalanche, who are surging into the new year with eight wins in their last 10 games.
Lubomir Visnovsky and Bobby Ryan scored for Anaheim, which is stuck in 29th place in the 30-team overall NHL standings. Saku Koivu had two assists in his return to the Ducks' lineup after an eight-game absence with a strained groin.