Jason Smith's first goal of the season helped the Edmonton Oilers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 on Wednesday in a repeat of last year's Stanley Cup Final.
The game marked the only meeting between the teams this season following their thrilling seven-game final series, won by Carolina.
The Oilers took revenge, however, Smith firing a slap shot at 19:00 of the second period on a pass from Raffi Torres to help them snap a three-game home losing streak.
PHOTO: AP
Brad Winchester and Fernado Pisani scored the other goals for the Oilers, with Pisani's goal early in the third period providing insurance for goalie Jussi Markkanen who made 28 saves.
Cam Ward stopped 21 shots in goal for the Hurricanes, who out-shot the Oilers 29-24, including 10-6 in the third period.
Craig Adams scored the lone goal for Carolina midway through the second period after Winchester's goal at 2:30 of the second period opened the scoring.
Edmonton (15-10-2) took over first place in the Northwest Division by two points over Minnesota with their second straight win. The Hurricanes (15-12-3) lost their second straight to remain second in the Southeast Division.
Capitals 6, Senators 2
Washington Capitals captain Chris Clark scored twice off assists from Alex Ovechkin and suddenly surging Washington beat the Ottawa Senators 6-2 on Wednesday night for its fourth consecutive victory.
Washington, which ended Ottawa's four-game winning streak, has won three in a row at home for the first time since Feb. 24 to March 2, 2003.
After averaging only 1.5 goals during a six-game winless drought, the Capitals have averaged 5.5 goals in victories over Tampa Bay, Dallas, Buffalo and Ottawa.
The Capitals went ahead 2-0 in the first period on goals 36 seconds apart by Matt Bradley and Clark, who added his second of the game and ninth of the season 13:54 into the second period. Alexander Semin, Matt Pettinger and Brooks Laich padded Washington's lead in the third.
Devils 2, Canadiens 1, OT
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Patrik Elias scored a power-play goal with 7.3 seconds remaining in overtime to lift New Jersey over Montreal.
Stars 3, Coyotes 0
Marty Turco made 25 saves for his 27th career shutout, leading the Stars past the Phoenix Coyotes 3-0.
Ducks 4, Predators 0
In Anaheim, Teemu Selanne scored twice and Jean-Sebastien Giguere posted his 25th shutout as the Anaheim Ducks blanked the Nashville Predators 4-0.
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