Maple Leafs edge Capitals

Alexei Ponikarovsky, who has scored four of his seven NHL goals against Olaf Kolzig, beat the goaltender twice in the third period Wednesday night to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals.

Ponikarovsky scored his first NHL goal against Kolzig and the Capitals on Feb. 1, 2001. He has scored four goals this season, including three against Washington.

Trent Whitfield and Peter Bondra scored for the Capitals, whose season-high five-game point streak came to an end.

Craig Johnson also scored for the Maple Leafs.

Blue Jackets 3, Blues 1

In Columbus, Ohio, Manny Malhotra scored two third-period goals to lead Columbus past St. Louis.

Malhotra has scored seven goals for Columbus, one fewer than his career best. The two in one game are a career high.

The win kept Columbus interim coach Gerard Gallant unbeaten at home (2-0-1) and ended the Blues' six-game winning streak over the Blue Jackets.

Todd Marchant also scored his seventh for Columbus.

Chris Pronger notched his 11th goal for the Blues.

Hurricanes 2, Devils 1

In East Rutherford, New Jersey, a revitalized Jeff O'Neill scored his fifth goal in four games late in the second period to lift Carolina.

Josef Vasicek also scored and Kevin Weekes made 20 saves as the Hurricanes snapped a two-game losing streak and won for only the second time in seven games (2-4-1).

Jeff Friesen scored for New Jersey, which also got a stellar 21-save performance from Martin Brodeur in his first appearance in three games. The two-game rest was the longest for Brodeur since he missed two games with the flu in the 1997-1998 season.

Avalanche 6, Panthers 5

In Sunrise, Florida, Alex Tanguay's third goal of the game with 5:41 left gave streaking Colorado a come-from-behind victory over Florida.