Mike Richards scored his first goal of the season early in the third per-iod on Friday, helping the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 victory over Columbus and spoiling former coach Ken Hitchcock's debut with the Blue Jackets.
Peter Forsberg and Freddy Meyer added goals for the Flyers, who snapped a club-record, six-game home losing streak and stopped a three-game skid overall. Antero Niittymaki finished with 39 saves.
Jason Chimera and Rick Nash scored for the Blue Jackets, whose struggles continued with Hitchcock at the helm. Pascal Leclaire stopped 19 shots for Columbus, which tied a franchise record by losing its eighth straight.
PHOTO: AP
The game was a matchup of teams with five wins each, the fewest in the NHL.
Hitchcock was fired by the Flyers last month after a 1-6-1 start.
Hurricanes 5, Bruins 1
Justin Williams and Erik Cole scored goals 9 seconds apart in the second period to lift Carolina over Boston. With the win, the Hurricanes snapped a two-game losing streak
Minnesota 4, Phoenix 0
Niklas Backstrom recorded his first NHL shutout and Minnesota scored three special-team goals to beat Phoenix. Backstrom stopped 28 shots in his second straight start.
Islanders 3, Penguins 1
Miroslav Satan had a goal and assist, and Rick DiPietro stopped 35 shots for New York. Alexei Yashin and Sean Hill also scored for New York.
Ducks 4, Devils 2
Todd Marchant scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period while Anaheim was short-handed and added an empty-netter, leading the Ducks to victory in a matchup of division leaders.
Maple Leafs 7, Capitals 1
Toronto scored twice in the opening three minutes, then added three goals during a 60-second span of the second period to cruise past skidding Washington.
Blues 3, Red Wings 2, SO
Martin Rucinsky and Doug Weight scored in the shootout to lift St. Louis over Detroit. St. Louis goalie Manny Legace stopped Jason Williams on his attempt and Pavel Datsyuk hit the post.
Senators 6, Panthers 4
Dany Heatley had three goals and Jason Spezza scored the winner to lead Ottawa to victory over Florida.
Canadiens 2, Sabres 1, OT
Defenseman Sheldon Souray made a goal with one second left in overtime as Montreal squeaked out a come-from-behind win.
Lightning 3, Thrashers 2, OT
Martin St. Louis scored with 2:35 left in overtime and Tampa Bay overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat Atlanta. The Lightning forced overtime when Dan Boyle scored a power-play goal with 20.5 seconds left in the third.
Stars 5, Kings 3
Defenseman Philippe Boucher scored three power-play goals for his first career hat trick, leading Dallas to victory over Los Angeles.
Oilers 5, Blackhawks 1
Petr Sykora had a goal and an assist to help Edmonton extend its winning streak to a season-high five games with a victory over Chicago.
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