Playing with more speed and energy, the Washington Capitals made coach Glen Hanlon's debut a successful one, scoring three quick first-period goals in a 6-5 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday.
Jaromir Jagr, Peter Bondra, Dainius Zubrus, Matt Pettinger, Bates Battaglia and Jeff Halpern all scored for the Capitals, who broke a three-game losing streak and moved out of league's basement.
"Tonight was all about emotion and trying to get the guys to ride that," Hanlon said. "They did a good job. It was fun."
PHOTO: AFP
Former coach Bruce Cassidy was dismissed Wednesday, just 28 games into his second season.
"The first 28 games were pretty rough, and unfortunately, the coach is the one who takes the ax for it," goaltender Olaf Kolzig said. "Now, as players, the pressure is on us, and for the most part we responded pretty well."
Mike Knuble, Dan McGillis, Martin Lapointe, Ted Donato and Travis Green scored for the Bruins.
Senators 3, Lightning 2
In Ottawa, Marian Hossa ended a 10-game goal-scoring drought and Patrick Lalime made 22 saves to lead Ottawa over Tampa Bay.
Radek Bonk and Bryan Smolinski also scored for the Senators, who improved to 4-1-1 in their last six games.
Dave Andreychuk and Ruslan Fedotenko scored for the Lightning, who played their fifth game in eight days. Tampa Bay, which has lost two in a row, is just 2-6-2 in its last 10.
Maple Leafs 1, Wild 0
In St. Paul, Minnesota, Ed Belfour stopped 28 shots for his third shutout of the season, and Tom Fitzgerald scored to lead the Maple Leafs over the Wild.
It was Toronto's eighth straight road win, and the 10th consecutive game in which the Northeast Division-leading Maple Leafs earned a point.
The victory was Toronto's ninth in its last 10 games, with a 3-2 overtime loss to St. Louis on Tuesday the only blemish.
Belfour's 68th career shutout moved him into 11th place on the NHL's all-time list. He's also second among active goaltenders behind New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, who has 70.
Minnesota outshot Toronto 28-17, but couldn't score in falling to 0-4 all-time against the Maple Leafs. The Wild have just eight goals in their last eight games.
Kings 4, Predators 1
In Nashville, Tennessee, Ziggy Palffy scored two goals and added an assist as Los Angeles beat Nashville.
Luc Robitaille and Jason Holland also scored for the Kings, who are 3-0-0-2 in their last five games.
Kings goalie Roman Cechmanek left at 11:33 of the first period after bruising his hip when he collided with the Predators' David Legwand and didn't return. Cristobal Huet replaced Cechmanek and stopped 29 of 30 shots.
In other games: Blackhawks 4, Red Wings 3, OT; Flames 1, Hurricanes 0; Avalanche 1, Canucks 1;Sharks 2, Oilers 2.
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