Associated Press
Avalanche 7, Blues 3
DENVER (AP) -- Chris Stewart completed his first NHL hat trick with a penalty shot, Milan Hejduk scored twice for Colorado in his return from a seven-week injury layoff, and Craig Anderson made 39 saves in his team-record 20th consecutive start.
Stewart, who boosted his season total to 24 goals, had crossed the blue line on a breakaway when beaten Blues defenseman Erik Johnson tripped him in a desperate attempt to stop him, leading to the penalty shot. Stewart put a shot into the upper right corner above Ty Conklin's glove hand with 57 seconds remaining in the second period.
T.J. Galiardi and Matt Hendricks also scored. Alexander Steen scored twice, and David Perron added a goal for St. Louis.
Lightning 6, Thrashers 2
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Steven Stamkos extended his franchise-record points streak to 16 games, and Antero Niittymaki remained perfect against Atlanta.
Stamkos had two goals -- which gave him 40 for the season -- and an assist. The center has 15 goals and 14 assists during his streak.
Niittymaki improved to 17-0-0 overall against Atlanta. Martin St. Louis, Paul Szczechura, Teddy Purcell -- on a penalty shot -- and Vincent Lecavalier also scored for the Lightning, who stopped a five-game losing streak.
St. Louis was shaken up after being checked into the boards by Atlanta's Clarke MacArthur with 7:46 left in the game. After spending a couple minutes kneeling behind the Thrashers' net, St. Louis was able to skate off the ice.
Niclas Bergfors and Colby Armstrong scored for Atlanta.
Capitals 2, Rangers 0
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eric Belanger scored his first goal for Washington, fellow trade-deadline pickup Joe Corvo had an assist, and the NHL-leading Capitals stretched their club-record home winning streak to 13 games.
With two-time league MVP Alex Ovechkin mired in his longest goal drought of the season -- six games -- the Capitals are finding scoring elsewhere. Eric Fehr put in his 17th goal off assists from Corvo and Tomas Fleischmann during a 5-on-3 in the first period, and Belanger doubled the lead in the second period.
Jose Theodore made 30 saves for his first shutout in nearly a year.
Sharks 2, Blue Jackets 1
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Joe Pavelski scored with 4:40 remaining to cap the second straight third-period rally for San Jose and the Sharks won their 11th straight home game against Columbus.
After being blanked by Steve Mason for more than two periods, the Sharks finally broke through with goals from Dany Heatley and Pavelski in the third. San Jose scored two third-period goals Thursday night to rally to a 3-2 victory over Montreal.
Andrew Murray scored the lone goal for Columbus.
Coyotes 4, Ducks 0
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Ilya Bryzgalov made 32 saves for his seventh shutout of the season, and Wojtek Wolski scored his second goal in two games with Phoenix.
Wolski, acquired from Colorado on Wednesday before the trade deadline, added an assist, and Petr Prucha, Vernon Fiddler and Keith Yandle also scored to help the Coyotes win their second straight after a three-game losing streak.
Bryzgalov faced just three shots in the first period, but was kept busy by the Ducks over the final two en route to his 15th career shutout and second against Anaheim this season. The Ducks lost for the second time in three games.
Panthers 4, Hurricanes 1
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- Michael Frolik and Kamil Kreps scored in a 1:11 span of the first period, Tomas Vokoun made 31 saves and Florida snapped Carolina's winning streak at seven games.
Cory Stillman scored late in the third period, and Kreps added an empty-net goal to help Florida win its second straight game after a seven-game losing streak.
Justin Peters made 26 saves while suffering his first career loss following three straight wins. Jussi Jokinen scored his 25th goal for Carolina.
Canadiens 4, Kings 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Brian Gionta scored in the first minute, Benoit Pouliot connected in the opening minute of the third period and Dominic Moore put Montreal ahead to stay with a short-handed goal in the second.
Tomas Plekanek scored his 18th goal into an empty net with 1:11 to play, and Scott Gomez had two assists. Jaroslav Halak made 23 saves for the Canadiens, who broke out of a three-way tie with Atlanta and the New York Rangers in the race for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
Anze Kopitar scored his 30th goal of the season in his 300th NHL game, and Fredrik Modin scored his first goal for Los Angeles after being acquired from Columbus.
Maple Leafs 2, Senators 1, SO
OTTAWA (AP) -- Phil Kessel and Nikolai Kulemin scored on Toronto's first two shootout attempts, and Jonas Gustavsson turned aside Ottawa's two attempts.
Kessel, who scored his 22nd goal and had another potential goal waved off in the second, beat Pascal Leclaire with Toronto's first shot in the tiebreaker, and Kulemin ended it when he converted the Maple Leafs' second attempt.
Gustavsson stopped 22 shots in his first start since playing for Sweden during the Olympics as Toronto ended a four-game losing streak. Chris Neil scored for Ottawa.
Bruins 3, Islanders 2
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- Tim Thomas made 37 saves, and Marc Savard, Milan Lucic and David Krejci scored for Boston in its first game on a seven-game trip.
The Bruins have won two straight and six of their past seven to move into seventh in the Eastern Conference. Josh Bailey and Matt Moulson scored for New York.
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