Daniel Alfredsson’s three goals helped power the Ottawa Senators to a 5-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Monday, giving the team a share of second place in the NHL’s Northeast division.
Alfredsson, in just his second game back after missing the prior 11 with a separated shoulder, scored during the first period to make it 2-0 and completed his hat-trick with a pair of goals in just over a three-minute span midway through the second period.
It marked Ottawa’s longest winning streak since November and the team’s first victory this season against the Bruins after losing the previous four contests.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Alfredsson has four goals and two assists in two games back from injury. In his first game on Saturday, he scored a goal and had two assists versus Montreal.
Ottawa goalie Brian Elliott blanked the Bruins through the game’s first two periods until Daniel Paille scored his sixth of the season just over four minutes into the third period.
Boston’s Patrice Bergeron did not register a point in his return to the team’s lineup after sitting out two weeks with a broken thumb.
It was a rare weekday afternoon game because of Martin Luther King Day in the US.
ISLANDERS 4, DEVILS 0
Rick DiPietro made 20 saves for his first shutout in almost two years and Matt Moulson scored twice to lead New York over New Jersey.
The resurgent Islanders have four straight wins, matching a season high. New York has won six of seven overall and will head to Pittsburgh to face the defending Stanley Cup champions on Tuesday.
Mark Streit and Josh Bailey also had goals for the Islanders, who chased NHL career wins leader Martin Brodeur before the start of the third period.
SABRES 7, COYOTES 2
At Glendale, Arizona, Jason Pominville scored his 12th and 13th goals as Buffalo routed Phoenix to move into a tie with Washington atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Thomas Vanek had a goal and two assists, Chris Butler netted his first goal of the season for Buffalo and Tyler Myers, Patrick Kaleta and Jochen Hecht also scored.
The Sabres scored three goals on 13 shots before Phoenix coach Dave Tippett lifted goalie Ilya Bryzgalov 4:01 into the second period.
Shane Doan scored his 14th goal and Radim Vrbata his team-high 16th for the Coyotes.
BLUE JACKETS 4, BLUES 2
At Columbus, Ohio, Rick Nash scored for his 400th NHL point and Chris Clark notched his first goal with Columbus in a victory over St Louis.
Raffi Torres added two goals and Mathieu Roy had two assists — the first multipoint game of his career. The Blue Jackets improved to 19-3-2 when Torres scores.
LIGHTNING 3, HURRICANES 2
At Raleigh, North Carolina, Steve Downie scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period to help Tampa Bay beat Carolina.
Ryan Malone and Vincent Lecavalier also scored for the Lightning, who snapped an eight-game road losing streak in the series.
Matt Cullen had a goal in the second period for the Hurricanes and Chad LaRose scored in the third in his first game back from a lower-body injury that had sidelined him for 17 games.
Antero Niittymaki made 20 saves in a relatively stress-free win.
PANTHERS 1, THRASHERS 0
At Sunrise, Florida, Gregory Campbell scored the game’s only goal midway through the second period and Tomas Vokoun made 27 saves in Florida’s victory over Atlanta.
Johan Hedberg stopped 23 shots for Atlanta, who lost for the third time in six games.
Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk, who came into the game with three goals and three assists in three games, was held without a point.
MAPLE LEAFS 4, PREDATORS 3
At Nashville, Tennessee, Phil Kessel scored the tiebreaking goal with 5:48 left to give Toronto a victory over Nashville.
Alexei Ponikarovsky had a goal and assist, and Niklas Hagman and Matt Stajan also scored for the Maple Leafs, who squandered a 3-0 lead they built in the first period.
Marcel Goc, Cody Franson and Ryan Jones had goals for Nashville.
STARS 4, WILD 3
At Dallas, Mike Modano scored his 551st NHL goal and backup Alex Auld stopped 22 shots as Dallas beat Minnesota at home again.
The Wild haven’t won in Texas since March 21, 2003, going 0-8-3 in their previous 11 visits.
Loui Eriksson, Tom Wandell and Matt Niskanen added goals for the Stars, 11-2-2 in their past 15 home games.
AVALANCHE 6, OILERS 0
At Denver, Colorado, Kyle Cumiskey and Matt Duchene each scored twice and Craig Anderson stopped 24 shots to help Colorado to its fourth straight win.
It was the Avalanche’s highest offensive output of the season. Colorado stayed ahead of Vancouver and Calgary atop the Northwest.
John-Michael Liles had a goal and two assists and Chris Stewart tallied a goal and an assist. Wojtek Wolski also had three assists.
SHARKS 9, FLAMES 1
At San Jose, California, Joe Pavelski ended a nine-game goal-scoring drought with the first of three first-period goals for the hosts and a franchise record seven other Sharks scored goals in rout over Calgary.
Dany Heatley scored twice.
The eight goal-scorers broke the franchise record of seven last reached in a 9-4 win over Detroit on Jan. 4, 2007.
Manny Malhotra and Scott Nichol also scored in the first for San Jose, which has won 13 of 16 games to tie Chicago for the most points in the NHL.
Jed Ortmeyer, Ryane Clowe, Devin Setoguchi and Rob Blake added goals as the Sharks broke out to a 7-0 lead and blew out their longtime nemesis. Pavelski added three assists, and Ortmeyer and Nichol each had a goal and two assists.
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