Thursday's NHL Capsules

Games played on Dec. 11, 2014

BBOSTON (AP) - Ben Smith assisted on the Blackhawks' first goal and scored their second to lead Chicago to its eighth consecutive victory, 3-2 over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.

The Blackhawks lost captain and No. 2 scorer Jonathan Toews in the second period when Dennis Seidenberg hit him from behind and sent him face-first into the boards.

Scott Darling made 32 saves for the Blackhawks, who have won 11 of 12 and lost just twice in the past month.

Tuukka Rask stopped 18 shots for Boston. The Bruins have lost four of five and six out of eight. Reilly Smith and Torey Klug scored for Boston.

The Bruins were boosted by the return of captain Zdeno Chara, who missed seven weeks with a torn ligament in his left knee.

Klas Dahlbeck and Patrick Kane also scored for Chicago, and Marcus Kruger had a pair of assists as the Blackhawks opened a 3-0 lead midway through the second period.

FLYERS 4, DEVILS 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Matt Read and Sean Couturier each had a goal and an assist to lead Philadelphia over New Jersey.

Wayne Simmonds added a power-play goal for the Flyers, and Jakub Voracek scored an empty-netter late in the third period to seal the win.

Martin Havlat scored for the Devils.

The Flyers opened a four-game homestand with a needed win after dropping four of five on the road. Three of the four losses were by one goal.

The Devils have lost two straight.

With Steve Mason 0-5 against the Devils, Ray Emery got the start for the Flyers. Emery was 0-4 with a 4.12 GAA in his last four starts. But he was hardly tested against the Devils and earned his fifth win.

SABRES 4, FLAMES 3

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Matt Moulson scored twice and Jhonas Enroth stopped 42 shots as Buffalo beat Calgary.

Zemgus Girgensons and Marcus Foligno also scored for the Sabres, and Tyler Ennis had three assists. Moulson's second of the game, on a pass from Ennis with 7:29 to go, broke the 3-all tie and gave the Sabres their second straight win.

Mark Giordano, Sean Monahan and David Jones scored for Calgary, which outshot Buffalo 45-19.

The Sabres have won four straight at home, and are 4-4 against the Pacific Division.

BLUE JACKETS 3, CAPITALS 2, OT

WASHINGTON (AP) - Nick Foligno scored a power-play goal at 4:41 of overtime, Sergei Bobrovsky had 39 saves, and Columbus topped Washington for its fifth straight victory.

With Jason Chimera in the penalty box for interference, Foligno put a slap shot from the right circle past goalie Braden Holtby to give the Blue Jackets their only lead of the game.

It was Foligno's second goal of the game and team-high 13th of the season. Kevin Connauton also scored for Columbus.

Washington finished with a 41-23 advantage in shots, but Bobrovsky was the equalizer. Eric Fehr and Troy Brouwer had goals for the Capitals, whose three-game winning streak ended.

LIGHTNING 2, HURRICANES 1

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Nikita Kucherov scored a pair of goals in the third period to lift Tampa Bay over Carolina. Kucherov scored the winner when his pass went off Carolina defenseman Ron Hainsey and into the net with 30.3 seconds to play.

Lightning backup Evgeni Nabokov made 29 saves in his 353rd NHL victory, two away from tying Rogie Vachon for 17th place on the league's career list.

Justin Faulk scored for the Hurricanes, who have scored four goals during a four-game losing streak. Cam Ward stopped 25 shots.

KINGS 5, SENATORS 3

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) - Trevor Lewis' goal at 4:02 of the third period held up as the winner as Los Angeles beat Ottawa in Dave Cameron's first game as Senators head coach.

Cameron was promoted on Monday by Ottawa after Paul MacLean was fired.

Matt Greene, Justin Williams, Anze Kopitar and Tanner Pearson also scored for the Kings. Jake Muzzin had three assists, and Jonathan Quick made 32 saves.

Bobby Ryan, Mark Stone and Jared Cowen scored for the Senators (11-12-5). Craig Anderson stopped 31 shots.

Trailing 2-1, the Senators got off to a solid start in the third period to tie the game, but in less than two minutes the Kings regained a two-goal lead.

With 1:21 remaining, Cowen got a shot through traffic that eluded Quick, but Pearson scored into an empty net for his 11th goal of the season.

BLUES 6, ISLANDERS 3

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Alexander Steen scored two goals, and Jake Allen made 25 saves in St. Louis' win against the suddenly slumping New York Islanders.

Steen's goal at 4:34 of the third period broke a 2-2 tie. T.J. Oshie and Paul Stastny added insurance goals at 15:47 and 17:48.

Kyle Okposo scored his sixth goal for New York at 18:16, before Jaden Schwartz ended any hopes of a comeback with an empty-net goal at 18:56.

After surrendering just four goals during a three game winning streak, the Islanders have given up 17 during their skid - including six twice to the Blues.

The Islanders tied it with a pair of goals late in the second period.

John Tavares scored his 12th goal of the season at 16:03 to put the Islanders on the board. Mikhail Grabovski's unassisted goal at 19:55 tied it.

PREDATORS 5, COYOTES 1

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - James Neal had a goal and an assist, Pekka Rinne stopped 31 shots for his NHL-best 19th win, and Nashville sent slumping Arizona to its eighth straight loss.

Mike Fisher, Ryan Ellis, Calle Jarnkrok and Olli Jokinen also scored in the Predators' second consecutive win. Mike Ribeiro added his team-best 17th assist in a boo-filled return to Arizona following a summer contract buyout.

Antoine Vermette's goal early in the first period was the only blemish for Rinne, who improved to 19-5-1.

Mike Smith had 33 saves as Arizona extended its longest home skid since the team moved from Winnipeg in 1996. The Coyotes have lost four straight overall and nine of 11.

AVALANCHE 4, JETS 3, SO

DENVER (AP) - Matt Duchene had a goal and an assist in regulation and scored the decisive goal in the shootout, Calvin Pickard had 30 saves through overtime, and stopped two more shots with the game on the line as Colorado rallied to beat Winnipeg.

Ryan O'Reilly and Jarome Iginla also had regulation goals for Colorado, which snapped a four-game skid.

Mark Scheifele, who had a goal and two assists, gave Winnipeg a 3-1 lead at 4:32 of the third, but Iginla's wrister with 7:05 left got the Avalanche within a goal. O'Reilly tied it with 2:42 remaining in regulation.

After a scoreless overtime, Nathan MacKinnon and Duchene beat goalie Ondrej Pavelec with a couple of backhanders. Pickard stopped Mathieu Perreault and Blake Wheeler in the shootout to get the win.

SHARKS 2, WILD 1

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Joe Pavelski scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Alex Stalock made 18 saves against his hometown team to lead the San Jose to its seventh win in eight games, beating Minnesota.

Brent Burns also scored and Joe Thornton had two assists for the Sharks, who have won five straight at home after a slow start at the Shark Tank.

Christian Folin scored his first career goal to tie it just 45 seconds before Pavelski's goal, and the Wild lost for the 10th time in 11 games in San Jose. Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves.

After the teams combined for just one goal in the first 40 minutes, they each scored once in the opening 2 minutes of the third period.