Associated Press
The NHL roundup …RALEIGH ó Cam Ward made 19 saves for his second shutout in two weeks, and Matt Cullen had a goal and an assist for the second straight game in the Carolina Hurricanes’ 2-0 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night.
Cullen and Ray Whitney scored during a dominating first period, and the Hurricanes held on for their fourth win in five games while sending the Thrashers to their fourth straight loss.
With a sweep of struggling Southeast Division rivals Tampa Bay and Atlanta, the Hurricanes moved back into second place ó one point ahead of Florida ó in the division. Now Carolina heads to the West Coast for game against Vancouver, San Jose and Phoenix.
Capitals 4, Red Wings 2
WASHINGTON ó Alex Ovechkin broke a third-period tie with a highlight-reel goal and scored on a power play less than 2 minutes later to help Washington beat Detroit 4-2 on Saturday, extending the Red Wings’ losing streak to a five .
Ovechkin appeared to have overskated Viktor Kozlov’s feed along the left wing, but reached behind, put the puck through his legs and used defenseman Brian Rafalski as a shield before pushing a low shot past Ty Conklin with 7:08 remaining.
Bruins 1, Rangers 0
BOSTON ó Tuukka Rask made 35 saves for his first NHL shutout in his fourth start, and Marc Savard scored for Boston.
Rask, playing his first NHL game since Dec. 6, 2007, after an injury to Manny Fernandez forced Tim Thomas to play the previous eight games, helped the NHL-leading Bruins improve to 7-1-2 in their last 10 games.
Stars 7, Blue Jackets 3
COLUMBUS, Ohio ó James Neal had two goals and an assist, and Marty Turco made 35 saves to lead Dallas to its fourth straight victory.
Canadiens 4, Kings 3
MONTREAL ó Saku Koivu scored on a power-play goal with 22.3 seconds remaining to end Montreal’s season-high losing streak at four games.
Maple Leafs 5, Penguins 4
TORONTO ó Jason Blake beat Mathieu Garon with a wrist shot with 9:55 left and Toronto held on to beat Pittsburgh.
Blake scored for the fourth straight game to cap a festive night at Air Canada Centre that started with the Maple Leafs honoring former captain Doug Gilmour.
Ducks 4, Avalanche 3
DENVER ó Teemu Selanne broke a tie early in the third period, and Anaheim handed Colorado its fourth straight loss and seventh in eight games.
George Parros, Ryan Getzlaf and Scott Niedermayer also scored for Anaheim. John-Michael Liles, Milan Hejduk and Ian Laperriere scored for Colorado.
Islanders 3, Panthers 1
UNIONDALE, N.Y. ó Yann Danis made 37 saves to lead New York to its third straight victory, allowing only Gregory Campbell’s goal with 1:27 left.
Mike Comrie, Bill Guerin and Kyle Okposo scored for New York.