PITTSBURGH (AP) -Pittsburgh rookie defenseman Kris Letang had the only goal in the shootout and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied after giving away a two-goal lead to beat Atlanta 3-2 on Sunday and extend the Thrashers’ losing streak to seven.
Marc-Andre Fleury, making his first start in goal since badly spraining an ankle Dec. 6, turned aside 31 shots and didn’t allow former teammate Erik Christensen, Eric Perrin or Ilya Kovalchuk to get the puck past him in the shootout. Petr Sykora and Jarkko Ruutu also failed for Pittsburgh but Letang, the second of the Penguins’ three shooters, beat Kari Lehtonen cleanly on a backhander.
The Penguins, who had lost four of five, moved past idle New Jersey and into the Atlantic Division lead by one point. The Thrashers are 0-4-3 in their last seven.
Pittsburgh opened a 2-0 lead barely two minutes into the game as Ryan Malone and Maxime Talbot scored.
Jim Slater made it 2-1 later in the first and Slava Kozlov tied it for Atlanta early in the third on a power play.
Red Wings 3, Sabres 2
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula each had a goal and assist for Detroit, and Dominik Hasek made 22 saves against his former team.
Dallas Drake and Kirk Maltby also scored for the Red Wings, who snapped a four-game losing streak while winning for only the second time in their last 12 games (2-8-2). With the win, Detroit pulled five points ahead of the Dallas Stars for the top spot in the Western Conference.
Rookie Patrick Kaleta and Jason Pominville scored for the slumping Sabres, who lost for the fourth time in five games (1-3-1). Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller finished with 35 saves.
Rangers 5, Flyers 4, SO
NEW YORK (AP) – Coming on in relief of the ineffective Henrik Lundqvist, Steve Valiquette stopped 17 of 18 shots through overtime and then was perfect in the shootout for the New York.
After Jeff Carter’s second goal of the game got the Flyers even at 4 with 8:11 left in regulation, Brendan Shanahan and Nigel Dawes scored in the shootout. Valiquette has five wins this season, including three over Philadelphia.
That snapped Philadelphia’s three-game winning streak and extended the Rangers’ surge to 7-0-2.
Vaclav Prospal gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead 1:08 into the game with his 30th of the season, first since coming over from Tampa Bay on Monday, and Braydon Coburn and Carter also scored in the opening period.
Martin Straka and newcomers Christian Backman and Fredrik Sjostrom answered for the Rangers in the period, which featured six goals on 21 shots.
Wild 2, Kings 1, OT
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Martin Skoula scored with 1:15 left in overtime and Minnesota gained sole possession of the division lead.
Marian Gaborik also scored for Minnesota, which moved two points ahead of idle Calgary atop the Northwest Division, and three points ahead of Vancouver and Colorado.
Michael Cammalleri scored for Los Angeles, which lost its fifth straight road game. Erik Ersberg stopped 33 shots in his first career start.
Panthers 1, Islanders 0
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) – Craig Anderson stopped 53 shots to earn his first shutout of the season and David Booth scored in the first period for Florida.
Anderson won for the fourth time this season and second time against New York. The win was just the third for the Panthers in their last 11 games (3-5-3). It was his third career shutout.
Wade Dubielewicz filled in for Islanders starting goalie Rick DiPietro and stopped 29 shots. New York has lost four of its last five after a six-game winning streak.
Dubielewicz got the start because DiPietro left after Saturday’s game to attend services for his grandmother, who died earlier in the week.
Blackhawks 4, Canucks 1
CHICAGO (AP) – Rookie scoring-leader Patrick Kane had two goals and an assist to lead Chicago.
Andrew Ladd and Patrick Sharp also scored for Chicago, 7-3-0 in its last 10 games.
Ryan Kesler scored for Vancouver, which lost its third straight (0-2-1), but first in regulation in nine games. The Canucks took a season-low 10 shots on Chicago’s Patrick Lalime, who made his fifth straight start with Nikolai Khabibulin, nursing back spasms.
Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo blocked 22 shots in his 14th straight start before being replaced by Curtis Sanford in the third period.
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