NHL-Highlights of Thursday's NHL games

(Adds late matches) Jan 30 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Thursday's National Hockey League games. - - - Canadiens 4, Bruins 1 The Montreal Canadiens, making their first visit of the season to Boston, took an early lead and ended the rival Bruins' four-game winning streak with a 4-1 victory. Winning their fifth straight against the Bruins, the Canadiens (29-20-5) chased Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask in the second period and won their second straight after a four-game losing streak. Rask, who gave up three goals on 18 shots and was clearly angry when he left in favor of Chad Johnson, fell to 2-10-2 lifetime against Montreal. Center Daniel Briere had a goal, his eighth of the year, and an assist. Right winger Brendan Gallagher had two assists and defenseman Alexei Emelin (his first), left winger Max Pacioretty (No. 23) and right winger Brian Gionta (his ninth) also scored for Montreal. The first-place Bruins, losing for only the third time in their last 15 home games, are 34-16-3 and eight points ahead of the Canadiens in the Atlantic Division. - - - Blue Jackets 5, Capitals 2 Center Ryan Johansen broke out of a brief scoring slump with his third two-goal game of the season, leading the Columbus Blue Jackets to a much-needed 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals. Centers Derek MacKenzie and Brandon Dubinsky and right winger Cam Atkinson also scored for the Blue Jackets, while defensemen Jack Johnson and Fedor Tyutin each had two assists. After a franchise-record, eight-game winning streak earlier this month, the Blue Jackets (26-23-4) lost three consecutive games in regulation for the first time since November before the win while the Capitals (24-21-8) lost for the seventh time in 10 games. - - - Maple Leafs 6, Panthers 3 The Toronto Maple Leafs struck for two goals in the first minute of the second period and went on to defeat the Florida Panthers 6-3 for their second win in a row. Left winger James van Riemsdyk put the Maple Leafs ahead with his career-best 22nd goal of the season 58 seconds into the second period 31 seconds after left winger Mason Raymond had tied it at 2-2. The Maple Leafs (29-21-6) also scored twice early in the third period to put the Panthers away (21-26-7). - - - Senators 5, Lightning 3 The Ottawa Senators worked themselves into the playoff picture for the first time since Nov. 11 with a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The win was the second in a row for the Senators (24-20-10), and it gives them 58 points, good for possession of the last wild-card spot in the tight Eastern Conference standings. The Lightning (31-18-5) suffered their second consecutive defeat and also lost star goalie Ben Bishop, who left with a possible concussion after a collision in the second minute of the game. - - - Flames 4, Sharks 1 The Calgary Flames were victorious again and the San Jose Sharks were snakebitten again. The Sharks finally ended their goal-scoring drought at 160:36, but it wasn't nearly enough as the Flames registered a fourth straight win with Thursday's 4-1 triumph. Right winger Lee Stempniak, defenseman Mark Giordano, center Sean Monahan and right winger Jiri Hudler each scored for the Flames (20-27-7), while center Mikael Backlund had a pair of assists and neminder Karri Ramo made 27 saves in a first-star performance. Rookie right winger Eriah Hayes had his first NHL goal for the Sharks (34-15-6), but that was the only tally for a squad that has lost three straight, including two shutouts. - - - Sabres 3, Coyotes 2 Buffalo Sabres center Zemgus Girgensons scored a short-handed goal two minutes into the third period and goaltender Ryan Miller extended his unbeaten streak against Phoenix in the Sabres' 3-2 victory over the Coyotes. Girgensons poked the puck away from defenseman Keith Yandle in front of the Coyotes' net and knocked it through the legs of goaltender Thomas Greiss for his fifth goal of the season. - - - Devils 3, Stars 2 (Overtime) In a game that typified the grind-it-out nature of New Jersey, the Devils limited the Dallas Stars to just 16 shots in a 3-2 overtime win. New Jersey (23-21-11) got the power play game-winner from left winger Patrik Elias 40 seconds into overtime. After the Devils led for 48:09, Dallas (24-22-8) forced overtime when center Tyler Seguin scored his 24th of the season to make it 2-2 with 52 seconds remaining. - - - Avalanche 5, Wild 4 Center John Mitchell had a goal and an assist, center Matt Duchene had two assists and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4. Centers Ryan O'Reilly, Paul Stastny, Nathan MacKinnon and Maxime Talbot also scored for Colorado. Left wing Zach Parise had two goals and an assist and center Mikael Granlund and right wing Jason Pominville also scored for Minnesota. The loss left the Wild nine points behind third-place Colorado in the Central Division, with the Avalanche having played three fewer games. - - - Ducks 5, Flyers 3 Anaheim right winger Corey Perry scored his team-leading 29th goal of the season and center Ryan Getzlaf reached a new career high with his 26th, leading the Anaheim Ducks to a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Getzlaf also had an assist as Anaheim (40-11-5) swept the two-game series with the Flyers (26-23-6). The Ducks improved to 22-2-2 at home. - - - Penguins 4, Kings 1 Winger Jussi Jokinen had a goal and three assists and center Evgeni Malkin added a goal and an assist as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-1. Pittsburgh (38-14-2) maintained their stranglehold on the Metropolitan Division with the victory, extending to a 17 point lead over the second-place New York Rangers. Goaltender Jeff Zatkoff stopped 30 Los Angeles shots to earn his ninth win of the season. The Kings (30-20-6) lost for the seventh time in their last eight games. (Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)