Playing his first NHL game in more than eight months, Brendan Shanahan broke a scoreless tie in the second period as New Jersey Devils beat the Nashville Predators 3-1 on Monday for its fourth straight victory.
David Clarkson and Zach Parise also scored for the Devils, who moved ahead of the New York Rangers into first place in the Atlantic Division.
It was Shanahan’s 651st goal, which ranks 11th on the NHL list.
PHOTO: AP
It also gave him 1,341 points, 24th on the career chart. Shanahan, who turns 40 on Friday, has played in 1,491 NHL games.
Shanahan signed an US$800,000, one-year contract with New Jersey last Wednesday. This was his first game since May 4 last year in the playoffs at Pittsburgh. Shanahan was drafted by the Devils with the No. 2 pick in 1987.
He left the team in 1991, signing a free-agent contract with St Louis.
Radek Bonk scored for Nashville, which has lost three straight.
BLUES 5, BRUINS 4, SO
At Boston, David Backes scored the tying goal with 0.8 seconds left in regulation as St Louis went on to beat Boston in a shootout.
Down 4-2, the Blues rallied on David Perron’s power-play goal with 1:20 left. Backes then batted the puck out of the air for an empty-net score as the siren sounded — after a lengthy replay review, the goal counted.
T.J. Oshie and Brad Boyes scored in the shootout for the Blues, who have the worst record in the Western Conference and had lost nine of their previous 10 road games.
P.J. Axelsson and Michael Ryder had power-play goals 19 seconds apart, then Zdeno Chara scored off a faceoff with 3:05 left for a 4-2 edge.
CAPITALS 2, ISLANDERS 1, OT
At Uniondale, New York, Alex Ovechkin scored two goals, the second in overtime, to help Washington send the New York Islanders to their eighth straight loss.
With Washington on a power play, Ovechkin took a pass from Alexander Semin and beat Yann Danis for the Capitals’ third straight win. Jose Theodore earned his 200th career victory with 27 saves.
Kyle Okposo scored for New York, while Danis stopped 36 shots.
Washington has 63 points, putting the Capitals are far ahead in the Southeast division and just eight points behind Boston in the Eastern Conference.
LIGHTNING 4, STARS 2
At Tampa, Florida, Vincent Lecavalier scored twice as Tampa Bay rallied for three goals in the third period to beat Dallas, their first home win over the Stars in nearly 13 years.
In other games it was:
• Sabres 3, Panthers 2, SO
• Hurricanes 2, Maple Leafs 0
• Wild 4, Blackhawks 1
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