Hurricanes edge Predators in SO

Kings goalie Mathieu Garon drops to the ice to make a save against the Bruins during the first period in Boston, Thursday. PHOTO: AP

Frantisek Kaberle scored on a penalty shot midway through overtime to lead the Carolina Hurricanes past the Nashville Predators 5-4 on Friday.

Kaberle awarded the chance when Scott Hartnell -- who was trying to stop a rush up ice by Carolina -- threw his stick along the ice to slow Kaberle as he skated in for a breakaway against Tomas Vokoun. Kaberle didn't get off a shot then, but took advantage right after.

Kaberle as he took the puck to the left side and flipped it by Vokoun at 2:31 of the extra period.

Rod Brind'Amour scored two goals for the Hurricanes, who won their sixth straight game and beat one of the Western Conference's top teams for the second time this week. Carolina, which defeated Central Division-leading Detroit on Tuesday, moved into a tie with Philadelphia with an NHL-best 62 points.

Andrew Hutchinson and Erik Cole also scored for Carolina, and Cory Stillman had three assists.

Martin Erat scored a pair of third-period goals for the Predators. Steve Sullivan and Kimmo Timonen each added goals.

Frantisek Kaberle, right, of the Hurricanes, shoots a game-winning penalty shot in overtime against Predators goaltender Tomas Vokoun in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday. Carolina defeated Nashville 5-4. PHOTO: AP

Devils 3, Canucks 0

At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Martin Brodeur made 26 saves for his second consecutive shutout, leading New Jersey to a victory over Vancouver.

Brian Gionta scored two power-play goals in the third period and Viktor Kozlov also scored for the Devils, who won their fifth straight.

Brodeur, who defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 on Monday, earned his 78th career shutout and third in five games.

The Canucks outshot the Devils 13-11 in the first period. Brodeur made good stops on Henrik Sedin's close-in shot and Mattias Ohlund's power-play slap shot.

Thrashers 2, Blues 0

At Atlanta, Kari Lehtonen made 37 saves and Atlanta beat St. Louis for its fourth straight victory, tying a franchise record.

Lehtonen up his first shutout this season and the second of his career.

Patrik Stefan gave Atlanta a 1-0 lead that stood up from the first period until the third when Ilya Kovalchuk scored his NHL-leading 34th goal with 5:39 left on a power play.

Kovalchuk's goal snapped an 0-for-6 power-play skid.

St. Louis lost its fifth in a row and has managed a total of two goals in the last four defeats.

The Thrashers also had two four-game winning streaks early in the 2003-2004 season.

Lightning 4, Blue Jackets 2

At Tampa, Florida, Martin St. Louis had a goal and an assist to lead Tampa Bay past Columbus.

Tim Taylor, Ruslan Fedotenko and Vincent Lecavalier also scored for Tampa Bay, which won for the fourth time in 12 games. The victory was coach John Tortorella's 143rd with the Lightning, which moved him past Terry Crisp for most in franchise history.

Blue Jackets goalie Marc Denis made 35 saves. Tampa Bay's Sean Burke stopped 22 shots.

David Vyborny and Nikolai Zherdev scored for the Blue Jackets.

Blackhawks 4, Penguins 1

At Chicago, Andy Hilbert scored two goals to lead the Blackhawks to a win over Pittsburgh.

Rookie Adam Munro also stopped 28 shots for Chicago, which has won two of three following a 10-game losing streak. Radim Vrbata and Martin Lapointe also scored.

Colby Armstrong scored for the Penguins, who lost their fifth straight. Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves.

Hilbert his first multiple-goal game in the NHL after entering play with six goals in 50 games.

Capitals 3, Mighty Ducks 2, OT

At Anaheim, California, rookie Alexander Ovechkin completed his first career hat trick 2:04 into overtime to lift Washington over Anaheim.

Chris Clark and Dainius Zubrus each had two assists for the Capitals, who snapped a six-game losing streak. Brent Johnson made 32 saves in his first start since Dec. 28 at New Jersey when he injured a groin muscle.

Joffrey Lupul and Travis Moen scored for the Anaheim. Teemu Selanne, the Ducks' leading scorer, missed his first game of the season because of a groin strain.