NEW YORK (AP) - John Tavares scored one of the Islanders' three-second period goals and then netted the winner in a shootout as New York broke a five-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night.
Tavares followed Frans Nielsen's goal in the opening round of the tiebreaker with one of his own, and Evgeni Nabokov stopped Marian Gaborik and Rick Nash to give the Islanders the elusive win. They had dropped eight straight at Madison Square Garden, including a loss there last week.
The Rangers squandered a 2-0 lead and had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Dan Girardi and Gaborik staked the Rangers to the lead in the first period against Nabokov. Carl Hagelin tied it in the second.
Martin Biron gave Rangers workhorse goalie Henrik Lundqvist a break by making just his second start of the season. Biron was touched for goals by Colin McDonald, Tavares and Brad Boyes in the second when the Islanders grabbed the lead.
Nabokov made 36 saves through overtime, and Biron had 28.
CAPITALS 4, LIGHTNING 3
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Eric Fehr scored two goals, Mathieu Perreault had three assists and Washington beat Tampa Bay for its third straight win.
Troy Brouwer and Jay Beagle had the other Capitals goals.
Martin St. Louis, Teddy Purcell and Nate Thompson scored for the Lightning, who have lost six in a row (0-5-1). Tampa Bay backup goalie Mathieu Garon got the start in place of Anders Lindback, who is ill. Garon finished with 35 saves.
HURRICANES 3, MAPLE LEAFS 1
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Joe Corvo had a goal and an assist, and Carolina won its third consecutive game by beating Toronto.
Jussi Jokinen scored the go-ahead goal and Jeff Skinner had two assists for Carolina.
Jordan Staal also scored for the Hurricanes, and his brother Eric Staal extended his point streak to an NHL-leading 11 games with an assist on Corvo's goal, the first of three for the Hurricanes in the second period.
Nazem Kadri scored for Toronto, which had its four-game winning streak snapped.
Dan Ellis made 22 saves for the win. Ben Scrivens stopped 30 shots for the Maple Leafs.
CANADIENS 1, PANTHERS 0, OT
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) - Rene Bourque scored 2:10 into overtime to give Montreal a victory over Florida.
Bourque's winner came on a tip-in just in front of the net. The puck drifted in front of the crease and Shawn Matthias couldn't clear it for Florida. Instead, it bounced off goalie Jose Theodore's pad and Bourque poked it in.
Carey Price made 26 saves for his 17th career shutout and second against the Panthers. The Canadiens won their second straight on the road.
Theodore stopped 31 shots against his former team but the Panthers lost their third in a row.
PREDATORS 3, COYOTES 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Pekka Rinne made 19 saves for his second consecutive shutout to lead Nashville over Phoenix.
Gabriel Bourque, Nick Spaling and Mike Fisher had the goals for the Predators.
Rinne has shutouts in three of his past four starts and has not allowed a goal in his last 137 minutes, 41 seconds of action.
Bourque scored the game's first goal at 2:40 of the third period.
AVALANCHE 4, WILD 3, SO
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Milan Hejduk and Matt Duchene scored in the shootout to lift Colorado over Minnesota.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu in the shootout to get the win.
Hejduk beat Niklas Backstrom with a backhand move and Duchene beat the Wild goalie with a wrist shot.
Hejduk, Duchene and Aaron Palushaj scored in regulation for Colorado, which ended a three-game slide. It was the first shootout of the season for the Avalanche.
Parise, Koivu and Mike Rupp scored for Minnesota, which managed three goals for the first time in seven games.