SCOREBOARD
Friday, Dec. 21
Philadelphia at Buffalo (7:30 p.m. EST). Daniel Briere returns to Buffalo for the first time since signing an eight-year, $52 million contract with the Flyers last summer.
STARS
Thursday
-Marian Gaborik, Wild, scored five goals and added an assist to lead Minnesota to a 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers.
-Guilliaume Latendresse, Canadiens, scored two goals to give Montreal a 5-2 win at Washington.
-Evgeni Malkin, Penguins, scored two goals in Pittsburgh’s 5-4 shootout victory over Boston.
-Daniel Sedin, Canucks, scored twice in the third period, leading Vancouver to a 3-2 win over Dallas.
WILD MAN
Marian Gaborik scored five goals, the most in the NHL since Sergei Federov scored five for Detroit on December 26, 1996, to lead Minnesota to a 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night. No Wild player had scored more than three goals in a game in team history, and Gaborik’s six points tied his career high set previously on October 26, 2002, at Phoenix.
SID THE KID
Sidney Crosby scored a goal, assisted on two by Evgeni Malkin, and dropped the gloves for the first time in the NHL to spur the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-4 shootout victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
The 20-year-old Penguins captain helped set up Malkin’s first of the game 55 seconds in, scored his 16th of the season at 8:26, and then assisted on Malkin’s 13th as Pittsburgh jumped to a 3-0 lead. Crosby fought Andrew Ference in the second period.
CLIPPED
St. Louis snapped its four-game slide and ended Detroit’s 12-game point streak by beating the Red Wings 3-2. Detroit lost in regulation for the first time in 13 contests. The Red Wings had picked up at least a point in 12 straight games (10-0-2) since dropping a 3-2 decision at Nashville Nov. 22.
REDEMPTION
Guilliaume Latendresse scored two goals in his return from a benching, and Montreal beat Washington 5-2 Thursday night. Latendresse, scratched by coach Guy Carbonneau for the Canadiens’ 3-2 loss to Florida on Tuesday, notched the fourth two-goal game of his NHL career – the second this month.
SNAPPED
The Atlanta Thrashers ended the Ottawa Senators’ winning streak at six, with a 3-2 victory Thursday night. … Phoenix snapped an eight-game losing streak to the San Jose Sharks with a 3-2 victory.
SPEAKING
“One time I got five goals when I was playing back home for a pro club back there, but this is just totally different. You score five goals in the NHL it’s just a totally different experience. To reach it here with these guys in front of our fans is just unbelievable.” – Marian Gaborik after the Wild’s 6-3 victory over the Rangers on Thursday night. Gaborik became the first player since Sergei Federov to score five goals in a game.