ATLANTA - Niclas Wallin scored on a deflection 16 seconds into the third period as the Carolina Hurricanes pulled away for a 5-1 victory over the slumping Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday night.
The Hurricanes, who lead the NHL with 74 points, won for the 12th time in 13 games, including the past three in a row. They came into the night with an 18-point lead over Tampa Bay in the Southeast Division.
Atlanta is fading a bit in the playoff race, losing its fourth consecutive game - one away from its worst skid of the season.
The Thrashers fell behind 2-0 in the second period, but began to turn things around after star Ilya Kovalchuk was struck by a stick and headed off the ice with blood streaming down his face. No penalty was called, and Kovalchuk slammed his helmet to the ice in disgust as he headed to the locker room for stitches.
BRUINS 3, CAPITALS 2
In Boston, Marco Sturm scored in the third period to lift Boston to a victory over Washington.
After Ben Clymer tied the game at 2 for Washington at 10:55, Sturm responded 25 seconds later when he backhanded a shot under the arm of Capitals goalie Brent Johnson.
Alexander Ovechkin missed a chance to tie the game for Washington when he failed to convert a shorthanded breakaway with 3:20 to play.
The Bruins won their third in a row and reached the .500 mark for the first time since Nov. 12.
Tim Thomas made 31 saves and is 5-0-2 since taking over as starting goalie for the Bruins.
RED WINGS 2, CANUCKS 1
In Detroit, Brendan Shanahan's power-play goal with seven minutes left gave Detroit a win over Vancouver.
Detroit, which snapped a two-game losing streak, also got a goal from Nicklas Lidstrom and had a 35-15 shots advantage.
Red Wings goalie Manny Legace held off Vancouver scramble in front of the net with 41 seconds to play to preserve the lead.
Anson Cater scored for Vancouver, which lost its third straight.
Shanahan beat Canucks goalie Alex Auld, who was screened by Steve Yzerman, low on the short side with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle. Shanahan took a pass from Jason Woolley after Yzerman had won a faceoff. Shanahan's 23rd goal of the season came with Vancouver's Brendan Morrison in the penalty box for hooking.
SENATORS 3, CANADIENS 0
In Ottawa, Daniel Alfredsson had two goals and an assist, and Dominik Hasek recorded his fifth shutout, leading Ottawa to a win over Montreal as the Canadiens tied a franchise record by being held to 12 shots.
Zdeno Chara also scored for Northeast Division-leading Ottawa, which outshot Montreal 33-6 through the first two periods and 40-12 overall. The Senators went 2-for-6 on the power play through the first two periods while Montreal had only one opportunity with the man advantage over the same stretch.
ISLANDERS 4, PENGUINS 3 (SO)
In Uniondale, N.Y., Alexei Yashin had a goal and recorded his 400th NHL assist, and backup Wade Dubielewicz stopped all three Pittsburgh skaters in the shootout, lifting New York to a victory.
The Penguins, who lost for the 11th time in 12 games, tied it on John LeClair's goal with 26.6 seconds left in regulation, and they did it with Sidney Crosby in the penalty box.
LeClair got to a bouncing puck in front and whacked it in out of the air on the Penguins' 15th shot.
But Dubielewicz stopped Michel Ouellet, Crosby and Ryan Malone to help the Islanders break a three-game losing streak.
ISLANDERS: New York recalled defenseman Joel Bouchard from Bridgeport of the AHL on Thursday and sent down forward Jeff Hamilton.
Bouchard, who had seven goals and seven assists with Bridgeport this season, was put right into the Islanders lineup as New York beat the Pittsburgh Penguins at home 3-2 in a game game.
The Islanders are Bouchard's seventh NHL team, but Thursday marked just the 84th big league game in which he played.
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