SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -Craig Anderson wasn’t perfect. For a change, the Florida Panthers’ goalie didn’t have to be.
Anderson stopped 25 shots and the Panthers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Thursday night. After leading Florida to consecutive 1-0 victories, Anderson’s bid for a third consecutive shutout ended early, yet he was good enough to help the Panthers open a critical seven-game homestand with a victory.
David Booth had a goal and two assists, while Stephen Weiss added a goal and an assist for the Panthers, who remained seven points behind Carolina in the Southeast Division standings.
Rostislav Olesz and Brett McLean also scored for Florida, and Bryan Allen added an empty-netter.
Ryan Malone scored his 24th goal and Kristopher Letang got his fifth for Pittsburgh, which had beaten Florida in the teams’ last five meetings. Reigning Hart Trophy winner Sidney Crosby, in his second game back since suffering a high ankle sprain and missing six weeks of action, had an assist for the Penguins.
Rangers 4, Islanders 1
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) – Scott Gomez deflected a shot past Islanders backup goalie Wade Dubielewicz early in the third period, and the Rangers earned a split of the home-and-home series.
The Rangers came out of the two-game series with three points out of four. They are 8-0-3 in their last 11.
Brendan Shanahan and Sean Avery built the Rangers’ lead to 2-0 in the first period.
Dubielewicz had 24 saves. Islanders coach Ted Nolan went with his backup instead of starter Rick DiPietro, who was away from the team three days because of the death of his grandmother.
Henrik Lundqvist had 26 saves for the Rangers and allowed Sean Bergenheim’s second-period goal.
Avalanche 1, Ducks 0
DENVER (AP) – Jose Theodore stopped 27 shots for his second shutout of the season, Wojtek Wolski scored and Colorado won its fifth straight.
Theodore has been in net for all five victories, giving him his longest winning streak since March 2004 when he was with the Montreal Canadiens. It was Theodore’s 25th career shutout.
The Ducks have been shut out in back-to-back games.
The Avalanche remain perfect (5-0) since signing Peter Forsberg and acquiring defensemen Adam Foote and Ruslan Salei just before the trade deadline.
Maple Leafs 8, Bruins 2
BOSTON (AP) – Bryan McCabe had a goal and an assist during a four-goal second period to lead resurgent Toronto.
Maple Leafs center Mats Sundin played his 1,300th career game and scored his 553rd career goal. Toronto won for the seventh time in 10 games.
Peter Schaefer and Phil Kessel had the goals for Boston, which lost its third straight.
Flyers 3, Lightning 2
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Jeff Carter scored his second goal with 1:54 left in the third period and Philadelphia snapped a five-year home losing streak against the Lightning.
Tampa Bay had beaten the Flyers eight straight games in Philadelphia. The Flyers’ last win over the Lightning at home was 3-2 on Jan. 18, 2003.
Daniel Briere also scored for the Flyers, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Jussi Jokinen and Michel Ouellet scored for Tampa Bay, which lost its third straight game.
Hurricanes 3, Wild 2
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Matt Cullen had a goal and an assist to lead the surging Carolina.
Erik Cole scored the go-ahead goal on a deflection midway through the second period, Scott Walker also scored and Joe Corvo had two assists for Southeast Division-leading Carolina.
The Hurricanes have won six of seven, improved to 9-2-1 since Feb. 12 and opened up a five-point lead over idle Washington in the division.
Pavol Demitra and Mikko Koivu scored to rally the Wild from an early two-goal deficit.
Canadiens 4, Coyotes 2
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – Saku Koivu, Andrei Markov and Sergei Kostitsyn scored third-period goals as Montreal rallied for a win.
Alex Kovalev had three assists for the Canadiens, who are 6-0-3 against the Coyotes since 1998. Montreal’s Carey Price had 37 saves.
Shane Doan and Zbynek Michalek scored for Phoenix.
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