Carolina goaltender Martin Gerber stopped 16 shots in the third period to lead the Hurricanes to a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers. Carolina has won five straight games and has the best record in the N.H.L.
Ottawa goaltender Ray Emery had 31 saves for his second shutout of the season, as the Senators beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-0.
Washington rookie Alex Ovechkin scored his 40th and 41st goals of the season to lead the Capitals past the New York Islanders, 5-2. Ovechkin is the first Capitals player to hit the 40-goal mark in the last five seasons.
The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Florida Panthers, 4-3, in a shootout. Slava Kozlov scored the lone goal of the shootout to give the Thrashers their second straight win, and sixth in the last eight games.
And the Philadelphia Flyers also won in a shootout, topping the Montreal Canadiens, 5-4. Petr Nedved scored the decisive goal in the shootout to help the Flyers snap a four-game losing streak.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
