LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jeff Carter scored his first two goals since joining the Kings last week, and Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in Los Angeles' 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.
Captain Dustin Brown scored a power-play goal and Anze Kopitar added an empty-netter for the Kings, who won the Freeway Faceoff for the fourth time in the Southern California clubs' five meetings this season. Mike Richards had three assists for Los Angeles, which also improved its playoff chances by moving within one point of Dallas for eighth place in the Western Conference.
Sheldon Brookbank and Devante Smith-Pelly scored for the Ducks, whose hopes for an improbable playoff run are fading with their third loss in four games following the trade deadline.
Jonas Hiller stopped 16 shots in his 25th consecutive start for Anaheim, but the Ducks are stuck in 12th place in the conference, seven points from a playoff spot with 16 games to play.
In his fourth game with the Kings, Carter injected some life into the NHL's lowest-scoring lineup with a pair of second-period goals. Los Angeles traded defenseman Jack Johnson to Columbus for Carter, who has added toughness and skill to a surprisingly punchless offense that has scored 13 goals since he arrived.
MAPLE LEAFS 3, CANADIENS 1
MONTREAL (AP) - Mikhail Grabovski scored twice in the third period and Toronto gave Randy Carlyle a victory in his first game behind the Maple Leafs' bench, beating Montreal.
The Maple Leafs fired Ron Wilson on Friday night and hired Carlyle.
Matt Frattin also scored and Jonas Gustavsson made 21 saves to help Toronto end a six-game losing streak and win for the second time in 12 games. Erik Cole scored for Montreal.
PENGUINS 5, AVALANCHE 1
DENVER (AP) - Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 shots, Steve Sullivan had a goal and an assist and Pittsburgh beat Colorado to stretch its winning streak to a season-high five games.
Evgeni Malkin, Arron Asham, Richard Park and Deryk Engelland also scored for the Penguins.
Matt Hunwick scored, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 22 saves for Colorado.
The Penguins won after losing another player to a concussion. Defenseman Kris Letang was scratched after taking an inadvertent hit to the head from Dallas' Eric Nystrom on Wednesday night. Captain Sydney Crosby has missed 36 games with neck and concussion-like symptoms this season.
SABRES 5, CANUCKS 3
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - Ville Leino scored twice in the first 3:44 and Ryan Miller made 32 saves to help Buffalo beat NHL-leading Vancouver, spoiling Zack Kassian's first games against his former teammates.
Kassian, dealt to Vancouver along with Marc-Andre Gragnani in exchange for Cody Hodgson and Alexander Sulzer at the trade deadline Monday, scored his first goal for the Canucks and added an assist while playing mainly on the second line with Ryan Kesler and David Booth.
Brad Boyes, former Canuck Christian Ehrhoff and Tyler Ennis also scored for Buffalo, while Miller had his shutout streak stopped at 1:55:37. The Sabres, 6-0-2 in their past eight games, moved within two points of eighth-place Winnipeg in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Booth scored twice for Vancouver. The Canucks lost in regulation for only the second time in the past 21 games.
ISLANDERS 3, BRUINS 2
BOSTON (AP) - John Tavares tipped in Matt Moulson's shot for the tiebreaking goal with 4:39 left, Evgeni Nabokov stopped 32 shots, and New York beat Boston to snap a five-game road losing streak.
Josh Bailey and Moulson also had goals for the Islanders, who won for the second time in six games. New York, 0-4-1 in its five previous road games, completed a 1-2-1 trip.
Tyler Seguin tied it for Boston with his 22nd goal early in the third period. Milan Lucic also scored his 22nd, converting on a first-period power play. The defending Stanley Cup champions have dropped five of eight.
Tim Thomas took the loss in relief of injured starter Tuukka Rask, who left with an undisclosed injury midway through the second period. Thomas stopped 11 of 13 shots after Rask gave up one goal on 12 shots.
BLUES 3, SHARKS 1
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Andy McDonald and Kevin Shattenkirk scored power-play goals and St. Louis completed a four-game season sweep of San Jose.
T.J. Oshie also scored and Jaroslav Halak made 18 saves for the Blues, who outscored the Sharks 10-1 over the final 10 periods played between the teams this season.
Torrey Mitchell scored the lone goal for the Sharks, who have lost nine of their last 12 games to fall out of first place in the Pacific Division.
PREDATORS 3, PANTHERS 1
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) - Mike Fisher scored early in the second period and Pekka Rinne made 39 saves in Nashville's victory over Florida.
David Legwand and Andrei Kostitsyn also scored, and Kostitsyn added an assist as the Predators won for the fifth time in seven games.
It was the 100th NHL goal for Kostitsyn, who was acquired at this week's trade deadline. Paul Gaustad and Hal Gill, also new additions to the Predators, earned assists on the goal.
Wojtek Wolski had the lone goal for the Panthers, who got 20 saves from Scott Clemmensen. Florida lost for the fifth time in six home games.
LIGHTNING 4, HURRICANES 3, OT
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Steven Stamkos scored twice, including a power-play goal 2:41 into overtime, to lift Tampa Bay over Carolina.
Stamkos leads the NHL with 47 goals. Teddy Purcell extended his career-best point streak to nine games with a power-play goal in the third period, and Tim Wallace netted the first goal of his career.
Mathieu Garon had 25 saves in the win.
Tampa Bay won in overtime for the second straight night after beating the New York Rangers at home on Friday.
Anthony Stewart had two goals in his first multipoint game for Carolina, and Jussi Jokinen also scored for the Hurricanes. Carolina captain Eric Staal, who had two assists, extended his NHL-best point streak to 11 games and his assist streak to 10. Cam Ward, playing in his 400th NHL game, stopped 19 shots in the loss.
BLUE JACKETS 5, COYOTES 2
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Rick Nash had two goals and an assist in Columbus' win over Phoenix.
Nikita Nikitin and Derick Brassard scored in the third period after the Coyotes rallied from a two-goal deficit to make it 2-2. Colton Gillies got an empty-net goal to cap the scoring for the Blue Jackets, who have won two in a row on the road for the first time this season.
Ray Whitney and Lauri Korpikoski scored for Phoenix. Shane Doan assisted on both goals.
Nash, whose wish to be traded went unfulfilled, has four goals in four games and six in seven.
After going 11-0-1 in February, the Coyotes have lost two in a row, both at home.