Gonchar powers OT win

Sergei Gonchar scored Pittsburgh's third power-play goal 3:33 into overtime, and the Penguins used the kid tandem of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to beat the New York Islanders, 4-3, last night in Uniondale, N.Y.

Islanders captain Alexei Yashin was enjoying a 3-point night, but he was in the penalty box when Gonchar took a pass from Ryan Whitney and ripped a shot in off the right post. Pittsburgh went 3 for 8 on the power play, using the advantage to take a 2-0 lead and then to win after falling behind in the second period.

Malkin scored his second goal in two NHL games to tie it at 3 in the third, and the 19-year-old Crosby had three assists to help Pittsburgh snap a two-game losing streak.

Crosby dug the puck out from behind the net and found Malkin with a pass near the right post. Malkin wasted no time in knocking a shot past surprised goalie Mike Dunham to tie it 8:08 into the third period.

Sharks 5, Red Wings 1 -- Captain Patrick Marleau scored two of San Jose's five power-play goals and the host Sharks rolled to the best start in franchise history with their sixth victory in seven games, defeating Detroit.

Milan Michalek, Mark Bell, and Marleau scored in the first 15 minutes to chase Detroit goalie Chris Osgood. Jonathan Cheechoo and Marleau added third-period goals as the Sharks tied their club record for power-play scores, set last February in another home game against Detroit.

Predators 4, Devils 3 -- Martin Erat scored the only goal in the shootout and Chris Mason stopped all three shots to lead visiting Nashville over New Jersey.

Paul Kariya set up first-period power-play goals by Jason Arnott, and Erat and Scott Nichol tallied shorthanded in the second for Nashville, which had eight shots on goals over the final two periods and the overtime.

Thrashers 4, Capitals 3 -- Vyacheslav Kozlov and Marian Hossa each scored in a shootout to lift host Atlanta over Washington.

Kozlov beat Capitals goaltender Brent Johnson to open the shootout. Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen then stopped Alexander Semin before Hossa beat Johnson. Lehtonen blocked Alex Ovechkin's shot to finish off the 2-0 shootout.

Avalanche 2, Senators 1 -- Joe Sakic and Brad Richardson scored second-period goals and Jose Theodore made 26 saves to lead Colorado to victory in Ottawa.

Sakic scored his third goal of the season midway through the second to open the scoring.

Kings 4, Coyotes 0 -- Michael Cammalleri, Alexander Frolov, and Anze Kopitar each had a goal and an assist, and Los Angeles beat Phoenix in Glendale, Ariz.

The Kings scored their goals on the power play and Phoenix was assessed 57 penalty minutes.

Lightning 4, Flyers 1 -- Ryan Craig and Ruslan Fedotenko scored second-period goals and Marc Denis made 34 saves to help host Tampa Bay beat Philadelphia.

The Lightning, who had lost four of five, also got third-period goals from Vinny Prospal and Nikita Alexeev.