Steve Begin scored twice and Long Islander Christopher Higgins added a goal and assist to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders last night in Uniondale, N.Y.
Tomas Plekanec also scored for Montreal, and Cristobal Huet made 43 saves - falling 3:50 short of shutout.
Mike Comrie scored late for the Islanders, who got 29 saves from Rick DiPietro. New York, which plays in Boston tomorrow, had their NHL-record streak of regulation one-goal decisions snapped at seven, a span in which the Islanders were 5-2.
Montreal grabbed a 1-0 lead 56 seconds into the game. An Islanders turnover in their zone resulted in Begin's 25-foot slap shot from the left circle, beating DiPietro high to the glove side.
DiPietro kept the score the same when he stopped Alex Kovalev with his glove on a rebound attempt at 10:42.
In the second period, the Canadiens upped the lead to 2-0 one second after a power play expired. Higgins scored his eighth of the season as his flip shot, with help from the stick of Islanders defenseman Bryan Berard, rolled off DiPietro's glove and into the net at 6:14.
Just 1:04 later, Begin made it 3-0 with a right side slap shot that beat DiPietro again high to the glove side.
Thrashers 5, Capitals 1 - Ilya Kovalchuk scored twice to raise his NHL-best total to 19 goals and added two assists, leading Atlanta to a victory in Washington, which is off to its slowest start in 26 years.
A handful of disgruntled Capitals fans in the announced crowd of 11,669 began booing in the second period, but that sentiment grew in strength by the third, when full-throated jeers were joined by chants urging the team to dump coach Glen Hanlon. There were cheers when it was announced over the loudspeakers there was a minute left in the game.
Devils 2, Penguins 1 - In Pittsburgh, Zach Parise scored two power-play goals to support New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur's 501st career victory, and the Devils held on despite Pittsburgh's strong third period.
Parise scored six seconds after the Devils' two-man advantage ended in the first period, then took advantage of a tripping call on Penguins captain Sidney Crosby to score again off Jamie Langenbrunner's rebound early in the third.
Red Wings 3, Blues 0 - Chris Osgood made 12 saves for his 44th career shutout, and Dan Cleary had a goal and an assist to give host Detroit a win over St. Louis.
Canucks 4, Wild 2 - Markus Naslund scored three goals as visiting Vancouver improved to 6-0-2 in its last eight games.
Vancouver has gone 9-0-2 against Northwest Division opponents this season and moved into a first-place tie with Minnesota.
Stars 2, Ducks 1 - Mike Modano notched his 513th career goal on a power play and Niklas Hagman scored 41 seconds later on the same advantage as host Dallas ended Anaheim's four-game winning streak.
Panthers 5, Blue Jackets 2 - Rostislav Olesz had two goals and an assist as visiting Florida grabbed its third win in four games following a four-game skid.
Rangers 2, Lightning 1 - Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves and Fedor Tyutin and Colton Orr scored to give New York its fifth straight road victory.
Flyers 6, Hurricanes 3 - Daniel Briere scored three goals in the third period to lead visiting Philadelphia to a victory in Raleigh, N.C.
Sabres 4, Senators 2 - Derek Roy and Drew Stafford had a goal and assist each to power host Buffalo.
