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Jason Blake ends night in hospital

Matt Cullen, right, of the Hurricanes faces off against Jim Dowd of the Blackhawks at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday. Carolina defeated Chicago 5-3. PHOTO: AFP

Marc Chouinard's power-play goal in the final seconds of the second period gave the Minnesota Wild a 4-3 victory over the Islanders on Tuesday night in a game marred by an injury to New York forward Jason Blake.

Blake, New York's second-leading scorer with 24 points on 13 goals and 11 assists, had complete feeling in all of his extremities and didn't sustain any serious back or neck injuries. He was still undergoing tests a few hours after the game and was expected to remain overnight at North Shore University Hospital as a precaution.

With 12:40 left in the third period, Blake and Wild defenseman Kurtis Foster were chasing a loose puck in the Minnesota zone. Foster's stick caught Blake's skate, sending him into the boards headfirst in the corner. Foster's knee then accidentally hit Blake's head after it hit the boards.

After being down for nearly 10 minutes, with Islanders team doctor Elliot Pellman tending to him, Blake was helped to his feet and placed on the stretcher.

Marion Gaborik scored twice and Willie Mitchell added a goal for the Wild. Chris Campoli, Miroslav Satan and Mark Parrish scored for New York.

Panthers 7, Predators 3

At Sunrise, Florida, Nathan Horton had his first career three-goal game to help the Panthers snap a four-game losing streak.

Horton has seven goals in seven games since returning from a knee injury.

Gary Roberts added two goals for the Panthers, who won for only the fourth time in their last 22 games. Martin Gelinas and Juraj Kolnik also scored.

Adam Hall, Scottie Upshall and Steve Sullivan scored for Nashville.

Thrashers 7, Red Wings 6

At Atlanta, Patrik Stefan scored twice, including the go-ahead goal with less than 5 minutes left in the third period, to help the Thrashers beat Detroit for the first time.

Slava Kozlov, Marian Hossa, Ronald Petrovicky, Bobby Holik and J.P. Vigier also scored for Atlanta, which led 6-2 after two periods.

Pavel Datsyuk scored twice for the Red Wings, and Brendan Shanahan, Jason Williams, Mathieu Schneider and Tomas Holmstrom added goals.

Devils 2, Oilers 1, SO

At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Viktor Kozlov and Brian Gionta scored for New Jersey in a shootout and Martin Brodeur stopped Jarret Stoll and Ales Hemsky in the tiebreaker.

Richard Matvichuk scored in regulation and Brodeur made 29 saves to help the Devils end a four-game losing steak. Cory Cross scored for the Oilers and Ty Conklin made 27 saves in his first appearance since Oct. 21.

Flyers 3, Blue Jackets 1

At Columbus, Ohio, rookie Jeff Carter scored the go-ahead goal early in the second period and Philadelphia killed a long two-man power play in the second period.

Peter Forsberg, who has 18 points in 10 career games against Columbus, also scored for the Flyers, and Sami Kapanen added an empty-net goal with 8 seconds remaining.

Jan Hrdina scored a power-goal for the Blue Jackets.

Blues 3, Penguins 0

At St. Louis, Curtis Sanford made 21 saves for his second shutout of the season, and Keith Tkachuk, Jamal Mayers and Doug Weight scored goals for St. Louis.

Sanford was making his first start since Nov. 26.

Mayers scored a short-handed goal with about 5 minutes remaining, and Weight finished the scoring with an empty-netter with 50 seconds left.

Pittsburgh was shut out for the third time this season.

Canadiens 5, Coyotes 2

At Montreal, Andrei Kostsitsyn scored his first NHL goal and Michael Ryder scored his team-high 13th for the Canadiens.

Tomas Plekanec, Niklas Sundstrom and Jan Bulis also scored for Montreal, and Jose Theodore made 27 saves. Boyd Devereaux and Mike Ricci scored for Phoenix.

Canucks 3, Rangers 2

At New York, Vancouver's Matt Cooke knocked in a rebound with 4:31 left, snapping a tie in his first game since missing 17 with a broken jaw.

Todd Bertuzzi and Daniel Sedin also scored for the Canucks, who won their third straight and snapped a three-game road losing streak. Petr Prucha scored twice for the Rangers, who had won their previous five home games.

Hurricanes 5, Blackhawks 3

At Raleigh, North Carolina, Aaron Ward was awarded the tying goal after a video review early in the second period and Matt Cullen put Carolina ahead about a minute later.

Cullen scored again in the third period and Craig Adams also had two goals for the Hurricanes, who were playing at home for the first time since Nov. 27.

Jaroslav Spacek, Tyler Arnason and Andy Hilbert scored for Chicago.

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Sergei Fedorov will not play for Russia at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

Fedorov, a six-time NHL All-Star who turned 36 on Tuesday, said he needed the time to recuperate from a nagging injury and to adapt to his new team.

"I don't think it is appropriate to delay my decision about the Olympics any further," Fedorov said in a statement released through IMG, which handles his business affairs. "As much as I would enjoy representing my country in Italy, I'm afraid that at this point in the season my focus has to remain with the Columbus Blue Jackets."
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