Patrick Marleau, Barclay Goodrow and James Sheppard each had a goal and an assist as the San Jose Sharks used a five-goal second period to beat the Anaheim Ducks 6-3 on Thursday night.
Joe Pavelski scored in the first as the Sharks improved to 4-0-1 against the division-leading Ducks this season. Antti Niemi made 25 stops in his third consecutive win, helping San Jose extend their home winning streak against Anaheim to seven.
Andrew Cogliano, Matt Beleskey and Patrick Maroon scored for the Ducks, who allowed six goals in their previous five games. Anaheim had won six in a row.
Photo: AFP
Ducks goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov made 19 saves before being replaced by Frederik Andersen late in the second period.
BLUES 5, PREDATORS 4, SO
Kevin Shattenkirk scored in a shootout in St Louis, lifting the home team to a win.
Photo: AFP
Jaden Schwartz, T.J. Oshie, Steve Ott and Ryan Reaves scored in regulation for the Blues (30-13-4), who improved to 8-0-1 over their past nine games. Brian Elliott made 33 saves.
Mike Fisher had two goals and an assist for Nashville (31-10-6), who fell to 12-8-5 on the road. Carter Hutton made 31 saves.
The Predators, who also got goals from Filip Forsberg and James Neal, finished 3-1-1 against the Blues this season.
LIGHTNING 5, RED WINGS 1
Cedric Paquette had three goals, sending Tampa Bay to a franchise-record ninth consecutive home victory.
Steven Stamkos and Mark Barberio also scored for the Lightning, who leapfrogged the Red Wings into first place in the Atlantic Division by a point. Jonathan Drouin and Alex Killorn had two assists apiece.
Tampa Bay took a 4-1 lead 11 minutes, 3 seconds into the second period, when Paquette completed his first hat-trick from the right circle during a short-handed 2-on-1. The center has four goals in the past two games after going 29 straight without one.
Darren Helm scored for Detroit, who have won six in a row.
Paquette opened the scoring 2 minutes, 3 seconds into the game when he used his backhand to beat Petr Mrazek on a rebound. His right-circle goal gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead with 36.2 seconds left in the first.
STARS 6, SENATORS 3
Jamie Benn scored two goals as the Stars beat the Senators in Jason Spezza’s first game in Ottawa since he was traded to Dallas in the off-season.
Colton Sceviour, John Klingberg, Ales Hemsky and Trevor Daley also scored for Dallas, while Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves.
Mika Zibanejad, Bobby Ryan and Alex Chiasson scored for Ottawa. Robin Lehner, making his first start since Jan. 13, stopped 35 shots.
Spezza made his NHL debut with Ottawa in 2002 and had spent his entire career with the Senators before the trade. The former Senators captain got a standing ovation from the crowd of 18,752 following a video tribute early in the first period.
The Stars grabbed a 4-3 lead midway through the third period when Klingberg took advantage of an Ottawa turnover to break in alone and beat Lehner with a wrist shot.
BRUINS 5, ISLANDERS 2
Boston’s Kevan Miller scored a go-ahead goal late in the second period in Uniondale, New York, while Tuukka Rask stopped 43 shots.
Reilly Smith, Patrice Bergeron, Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara also scored for Boston, who won for the seventh time in 10 games. Smith and Milan Lucic also had two assists apiece.
John Tavares and Michael Grabner scored for New York, while Jaroslav Halak stopped 28 shots. The Metropolitan Division-leading Islanders dropped to 17-5 at home this season.
Miller put the Bruins ahead for good with 3.4 seconds left in the second. He intercepted a clearing attempt from Halak at the right-wing boards just inside the blue line and fired a quick shot that lifted Boston to a 3-2 lead.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Meanwhile, the American Hockey League said it will create a Pacific division next season by relocating five professional ice hockey teams to California.
It is one of the biggest shifts ever in the geography of minor pro hockey in North America and it also highlights the growth of the sport in California.
“Relocating five teams is a complex process, and we are very excited to have brought this initiative to a successful outcome,” AHL president David Andrews said. “Today’s announcement launches a new era for the American Hockey League and for professional hockey in California.”
The five AHL teams are all affiliated with the parent National Hockey League clubs, comprising the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks.
The Ducks and Kings farm teams are to be based in San Diego and Ontario, California respectively. The Sharks are to move their affiliate to San Jose and the Flames’ farm team is to play out of Stockton.
The Oilers are to set up shop in Bakersfield for the 2015-2016 season, where they will replace the successful Bakersfield Condors franchise.
Since 1990-1991, the number of ice hockey players in California has increased by a staggering 361 percent and it now has the seventh-highest playing population of the 50 US states.
In other games on Thursday, it was:
‧ Blues 5, Predators 4, SO
‧ Lightning 5, Red Wings 1
‧ Stars 6, Senators 3
‧ Bruins 5, Islanders 2
‧ Coyotes 3, Maple Leafs 1
‧ Canadiens 1, Rangers 0
‧ Wild 1, Flames 0
‧ Flyers 5, Jets 2
‧ Panthers 3, Blue Jackets 2
‧ Oilers 3, Sabres 2
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