Cooke comes back and helps Canucks trip Rangers
Matt Cooke knocked in a rebound with 4:31 left, snapping a tie in his first game since missing 17 with a broken jaw and lifting the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-2 victory over the Rangers last night in New York.
When Michael Nylander mishandled the puck in front, Cooke swooped in and smacked it in for his fourth goal and first since Oct. 29 -- three days before he was hurt in practice.
Wild 4, Islanders 3 -- Marc Chouinard's power-play goal in the final seconds of the second period gave visiting Minnesota the victory.
Chouinard's goal came just nine seconds after Islanders forward Arron Asham took the second of three penalties in a three-minute span, and helped the Wild to their second win in their last eight games (2-4-2).
Thrashers 7, Red Wings 6 -- Patrik Stefan scored twice, including the go-ahead goal with less than five minutes left, as host Atlanta blew a four-goal lead before recovering to beat Detroit.
Pavel Datsyuk scored two goals for the Red Wings, who had a three-game winning streak end and had been unbeaten in seven games all-time against Atlanta.
Panthers 7, Predators 3 -- Nathan Horton had his first career hat trick to help Florida snap a four-game losing streak with a victory over visiting Nashville.
The Panthers spoiled the first NHL start for Predators goalie Brian Finley, who was pressed into duty when scheduled starter Chris Mason pulled a groin in warmups.
Canadiens 5, Coyotes 2 -- Andrei Kostsitsyn scored his first NHL goal and Michael Ryder scored his team-high 13th, lifting host Montreal.
Tomas Plekanec, Niklas Sundstrom, and Jan Bulis also scored for Montreal, which had lost nine of 12.
Devils 2, Oilers 1 -- Viktor Kozlov and Brian Gionta scored in a shootout and Martin Brodeur stopped Jarret Stoll and Ales Hemsky in the tiebreaker to give host New Jersey the triumph.
Richard Matvichuk scored in regulation and Brodeur made 29 saves to help the Devils end a four-game losing steak. Cory Cross scored for the Oilers and Ty Conklin made 27 saves in his first appearance since Oct. 21.
Blues 3, Penguins 0 -- Keith Tkachuk and Jamal Mayers each scored their eighth goals of the season and Curtis Sanford made 21 saves as host St. Louis shut out Pittsburgh.
Flyers 3, Blue Jackets 1 -- Rookie Jeff Carter scored the go-ahead goal early in the second period, and Philadelphia killed a long two-man penalty in the second period in its win over host Columbus.
Peter Forsberg, who has 18 points in 10 career games against Columbus, also scored for the Flyers.
Hurricanes 5, Blackhawks 3 -- Aaron Ward was awarded the tying goal after a video review early in the second period and Matt Cullen put Carolina ahead about a minute later against Chicago.
Cullen scored again in the third period and Craig Adams also had two goals for the Hurricanes.
