SCOREBOARD
Saturday, Dec. 8
N.Y. Islanders at Tampa Bay (7:30 p.m. EST). The Islanders have lost four in a row and haven’t scored more than three goals in 16 straight contests.
STARS
Thursday
-Nik Antropov, Maple Leafs, scored a career-high three goals to lead Toronto to a 6-2 win over the New York Rangers.
-Daniel Sedin, Canucks, scored two third-period goals to help Vancouver defeat Nashville 5-2.
-Dustin Brown and Tom Preissing, Kings. Brown had two goals and an assist and Preissing scored twice on the power play in Los Angeles’ 8-2 rout of Buffalo.
-Chris Higgins, Canadiens, had a goal and two assists and Montreal beat Boston 4-2.
-Kris Letang, Penguins, scored the decisive goal in the shootout that gave Pittsburgh a 3-2 win at Calgary.
ON THE RISE
Toronto extended its winning streak to a season-high four games after posting a 6-2 win over the New York Rangers on Thursday night. The Maple Leafs, who hadn’t won more than two in a row before this spurt, won both meetings at Madison Square Garden this season.
LUCKEY SEVEN
Montreal defeated Boston for the seventh straight time, 4-2 on Thursday night. The Canadiens, who also snapped a three-game losing streak, have outscored the Bruins 28-11 during the run.
HOME WOES
The New York Rangers have lost four of their last five at home after a 6-2 defeat to Toronto on Thursday night. The Rangers were outscored 9-2 in consecutive home losses this week to Carolina and the Maple Leafs to fall to 9-6 at Madison Square Garden this season.
STREAKING SAVARD
Marc Savard extended his career-high scoring streak to 12 games with an assist in Boston’s 4-2 loss to Montreal on Thursday night. He has two goals and 19 points during that stretch.
STORM BREWING
Tampa Bay has won three in a row following a six-game losing streak after holding off Carolina 2-1 on Thursday night. The Lightning moved within five points of the Hurricanes for the Southeast Division lead.
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST
Los Angeles, which hadn’t scored more than three goals in any of the previous 11 games, defeated Buffalo 8-2 Thursday night for its biggest offensive output since an 8-6 victory over Atlanta on Jan. 19, 2006 – the night Luc Robitaille became their career goal leader.
GOALIE HELP
Phoenix traded goaltender Alex Auld to Boston on Thursday in exchange for a minor league player and a fifth-round pick in the 2009 NHL draft. The move came the day after Boston starter Tim Thomas was injured and had to leave a game against New Jersey after falling awkwardly while trying to snare a deflected shot. … Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick, pressed into service because of injuries to Jason LaBarbera and Jean-Sebastien Aubin, made 15 saves in his NHL debut, an 8-2 win over Buffalo.
DEMOTED
Mark Recchi, a career 510-goal scorer who was waived by Pittsburgh earlier this week, was assigned Thursday to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. It is uncertain whether Recchi must report to the Penguins’ top farm club. Recchi has not played in the minors since 1990. Recchi, with Pittsburgh for the third time in his career, has two goals and six assists in 19 games but only one goal in 18 games.
LEFT HOME
Minnesota center Mikko Koivu stayed behind as the Wild left for a five-game road trip to continue rehabilitating a broken bone in his left leg. Koivu was injured on Nov. 17 when Vancouver defenseman Mattias Ohlund hit him in the leg with a two-handed swing of his stick that earned Ohlund a suspension.
SPEAKING
“We know how desperate of a situation we’re in. We have to get points and we have to get them whenever we can.” – Calgary winger Craig Conroy after Thursday night’s 3-2 shootout loss to Pittsburgh. The Flames have lost five of six, but have gained four points over the last three contests.