NHL-Highlights of Thursday's National Hockey League games

Reuters

(Adds later games) Feb 27 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Thursday's National Hockey League games: - - Canadiens 6, Penguins 5 (shootout) Center David Desharnais collected the only goal in the shootout as the Montreal Canadiens edged the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5 in a see-saw game in which the Penguins blew two third-period leads. Canadiens' center Daniel Briere scored twice in regulation. There were 11 combined penalties and each team converted twice with the man-advantage. Right winger Brendan Gallagher and left winger Max Pacioretty also scored for Montreal while left winger James Neal and defensemen Deryk Engelland and Olli Maatta added goals for Pittsburgh. - - Rangers 2, Blackhawks 1 The New York Rangers shut down the NHL's most explosive team with a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Center Derick Brassard and left wing Rick Nash scored for New York, while Chicago center Peter Regin scored his third goal of the season with 12 seconds left in the game. - - Devils 5, Blue Jackets 2 Center Adam Henrique scored twice as the New Jersey Devils used an early three-goal barrage to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2. Left wingers Ryane Clowe and Patrik Elias and right winger Jaromir Jagr added goals for the Devils. Right winger Marian Gaborik and left winger Artem Anisimov scored for the Blue Jackets. The Devils scored three goals in 2:45 of the first period to jump to a 3-0 lead. - - Islanders 5, Maple Leafs 4 (Overtime) Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky scored with 3:05 left in overtime to cap a comeback 5-4 win by the New York Islanders over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Visnovsky picked up a loose puck and fired it past Toronto goaltender Jonathan Bernier to end a 22-minute period in which six goals were scored. Center Anders Lee, who was recalled from AHL Bridgeport earlier this week to replace the injured John Taveras, scored a two game-tying goals in the third period. Right winger Michael Grabner scored two short-handed goals on the same power play in the first period for the Islanders. - - Sharks 7, Flyers 3 Center Joe Pavelski scored a hat trick while left wing Raffi Torres and center Logan Couture both scored two goals as the San Jose Sharks beat the Philadelphia Flyers 7-3. Defenseman Andrej Meszaros, center Brayden Schenn and right wing Matt Read scored for the Flyers. - - Capitals 5, Panthers 4 Washington captain Alex Ovechkin scored the go-ahead goal with 4:17 remaining to give the Capitals a 5-4 victory over the Florida Panthers. It was Ovechkin's 41st goal of the season and third point of the game for Washington, who twice allowed the Panthers to overcome two-goal deficits. - - Red Wings 6, Senators 1 Detroit Red Wings winger Johan Franzen scored three times to lead his team to a 6-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Franzen, who missed 27 games due to concussion, completed his hat trick by the 3:49 mark of the second period, giving him 12 goals on the season. Center Riley Sheahan, winger Tomas Jurco and center Tomas Tartar also scored for Detroit. - - Predators 3, Lightning 2 The Nashville Predators fell behind 2-0 midway through the first period but got two second-period power-play goals and another on a third-period man-advantage in a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Nashville (26-24-10) center Craig Smith and defenseman Roman Josi scored in the second period and right winger Patric Hornqvist got the winner with 6:04 remaining. Right winger Martin St. Louis scored twice for the Lightning. - - Jets 3, Coyotes 2 (shootout) Center Olli Jokinen's shootout goal lifted the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes. Jets' right winger Devin Setoguchi and Coyotes center Antoine Vermette traded goals in the shootout before Jokinen deked goalie Mike Smith for the eventual winner. Winnipeg goalie Ondrej Pavelec stopped center Mike Ribeiro on the final shot to give his side the win. - - Stars 4, Hurricanes 1 Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff's fears that his club might be rusty after the 19-day Olympic break were allayed as Dallas jumped to an early 2-0 lead and cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Stars center and captain Jamie Benn contributed a goal and two assists and goalie Kari Lehtonen made 29 saves for Dallas. - - Wild 3, Oilers 0 Mikael Granlund, stephane Veilleux and Dany Heatley all scored goals in the first, second and third periods as the Minnesota Wild secured a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper picked up the shutout, stopping 21 shots. - - Kings 2, Flames 0 Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick delivered a 25-save shutout to lead the Kings to a 2-0 victory over the Calgary Flames. Left wingers Dustin Brown and Dwight King scored for the Kings. - - (Compiled by Ben Everill)