Raleigh, NC -- (Sports Network) - Erik Cole netted his first hat trick of the season, as the Carolina Hurricanes snapped a five-game slide with a 5-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Ray Whitney added a goal and two assists for the Hurricanes, who earned just their sixth win of the season. Sergei Samsonov also tallied, while Manny Legace made 33 saves. Alex Burrows, Steve Bernier and Jannik Hansen had the goals for Vancouver, which had won two in a row and four of five. Andrew Raycroft gave up four goals on 27 shots in the setback.

Final Score: Edmonton 3, Dallas 2 (SO)

Dallas, TX (Sports Network) - Ladislav Smid put to rest a lengthy goal drought, tying the game late in the third period, and Shawn Horcoff netted the decisive tally in the shootout, as the Edmonton Oilers edged the Dallas Stars, 3-2. Loui Eriksson beat Edmonton goaltender Jeff Deslauriers in the third round of the extra segment to counter a marker by the Oilers' Patrick O'Sullivan. After both participants missed the target in the fourth round, Stars captain Brenden Morrow rang a shot off the post before Horcoff pumped in the game-winner. Lubomir Visnovsky also scored in regulation for the Oilers, who had lost five in a row at American Airlines Center. Deslauriers, making his eighth consecutive start in place of the injured Nikolai Khabibulin (back), finished with 33 saves. Jamie Benn and James Neal lit the lamp for the Stars, who have dropped four of six. Marty Turco stopped 34 shots in defeat.

Final Score: St. Louis 5, Los Angeles 4 (SO)

Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Andy McDonald got the winner in the shootout as St. Louis got past Los Angeles, 5-4, at Staples Center. McDonald closed out the first round with a wrister to put the Blues ahead, then Jack Johnson's wrister for the Kings was turned aside to begin the second round. Brad Boyes followed with another quick wrister and St. Louis walked away victorious. Paul Kariya netted a pair of goals while Boyes and Keith Tkachuk scored once for the Blues, who won the final two tilts of a three-game road trip. Chris Mason finished with 36 saves for the win. Jarret Stoll posted a goal and one assist for the Kings, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end. Brad Richardson and Alex Frolov also tallied. Jonathan Quick stopped 27 shots in the loss.

Final Score: New Jersey 4, Detroit 3 (SO)

Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - Patrik Elias scored the game-winner in the fourth round of the shootout as the New Jersey Devils slipped by the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3, at Prudential Center. After Ville Leino's wrister was stopped by Martin Brodeur, Elias skated in on net and slid a low backhand under the prone body of Chris Osgood for the win. Jamie Langenbrunner, Rob Niedermayer and Johnny Oduya each had a goal for the Devils, who have won five of six. Brodeur finished the game with 28 stops. Patrick Eaves had a goal and an assist while Kris Draper and Tomas Holmstrom each had a goal for the Red Wings, who have dropped five of seven. Osgood made 23 stops in the loss.

Final Score: NY Rangers 2, Buffalo 1

Buffalo, NY (Sports Network) - Ryan Callahan's third-period goal wound up as the game-winner and Henrik Lundqvist took a shutout bid into the final minute, as the New York Rangers held off Buffalo for a 2-1 win. Christopher Higgins' first-period tally held up for 59-plus minutes until Jason Pominville scored for the Sabres just as the clock was winding inside a minute left. Lundqvist preserved the lead and finished with 36 saves in a much-needed win for New York, which had lost a season high-tying three straight and five of seven overall. Ryan Miller made 30 saves for the Sabres, who had a four- game win streak snapped.

Final Score: Colorado 3, Columbus 2

Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - Wojtek Wolski scored a goal and assisted on Chris Stewart's third-period tally that proved to be the game-winner, as the Colorado Avalanche held on to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2, at Nationwide Arena. Milan Hejduk also lit the lamp for the Avalanche, who won for just the second time in their last seven games. Peter Budaj, making his second straight start in place of netminder Craig Anderson, who remains day- to-day with a sore neck, turned aside 29 shots. Jason Chimera appeared to score his second goal of the game for Columbus in the waning seconds of regulation, but it was ruled to have gone under the net and not between the two posts. Jakub Voracek registered a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, who have lost eight of nine. Steve Mason made 16 saves in defeat.

Final Score: Boston 7, Toronto 2

Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Marc Savard recorded a hat trick as the Boston Bruins clobbered the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-2, at TD Garden. Marco Sturm and Zdeno Chara each had a goal and an assist, while Tuukka Rask stopped 31 shots for the Bruins, who have won three of four. Mikhail Grabovski and Niklas Hagman each lit the lamp for the Maple Leafs, who had won four of five coming into the game. Joey MacDonald started in net and was charged with four goals on 23 shots. Vesa Toskala played the third period and gave up three goals on 10 shots. Phil Kessel returned to Boston for the first time after being traded to Toronto in the offseason. He had a rough game as he had no points and was minus-three.

Final Score: Washington 8, Philadelphia 2

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Nicklas Backstrom posted a goal and four assists as the Washington Capitals thoroughly embarrassed the Flyers, 8-2, at Wachovia Center, in the first game for new Philadelphia head coach Peter Laviolette. Mike Green contributed two goals and two helpers for the Capitals, who tallied seven times over the first 40 minutes to pick up their fifth consecutive win. Jose Theodore stopped 34 shots for Washington, which missed a handful of regulars -- including Alex Ovechkin who was serving the final game of his suspension -- but managed to score four times on the power play and record the most goals in one game at Philadelphia in franchise history. Scott Hartnell and Mika Pyorala provided the offense for the Flyers, who put together their worst home performance of the season. Laviolette was brought in on Friday evening, just hours after the club fired John Stevens who had been behind the bench since October, 2006. Starter Ray Emery was tagged in the loss for five goals on 17 shots in 31-plus minutes. Brian Boucher yielded three scores on 13 shots over the remainder of the game for Philadelphia, which suffered its seventh loss in eight contests.

Final Score: Atlanta 2, Florida 1 (SO)

Sunrise, FL (Sports Network) - Rich Peverley scored the game-winner in the fourth round of the shootout, as the Atlanta Thrashers edged the Florida Panthers, 2-1, in a Southeast Division clash. Ilya Kovalchuk gave Atlanta an early lead in the shootout when his wrister got past Tomas Vokoun in the first round. Following a scoreless second round, the Panthers sent Steven Reinprecht out and his backhander beat Johan Hedberg. Maxim Afinogenov missed for the Thrashers to send things to a fourth round. After Rostislav Olesz's backhander went off the crossbar, Peverley lit the lamp with a wrist shot to win the game. Kovalchuk scored in regulation for the Thrashers, who have won five of six. Hedberg turned aside 30-of-31 shots for the victors. Stephen Weiss lit the lamp for the Panthers, who have lost two in a row and seven of eight. Vokoun made 36 saves in his return to the net after missing the last two games with an ear laceration.

Final Score: Chicago 2, Pittsburgh 1 (OT)

Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Kris Versteeg's goal with 2:22 remaining in overtime sent Chicago over Pittsburgh, 2-1, at Mellon Arena. Versteeg was stationed in front of the Penguins' crease, and managed to redirect Brian Campbell's centering pass home before being buried. Marian Hossa also scored for the Blackhawks, who have won two of three. Antti Niemi got the win with 32 saves and came within a minute and a half of posting his third career shutout. Jordan Staal broke up the shutout bid for the Penguins, who had won six of seven coming in. Marc-Andre Fleury was the hard-luck loser after stopping 29 shots.

Final Score: Tampa Bay 4, NY Islanders 0

Tampa, FL (Sports Network) - Mike Smith turned aside all 30 shots he faced to post his first shutout of the season and ninth of his career, as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the New York Islanders, 4-0, at St. Pete Times Forum. Ryan Malone, Steve Downie, Jeff Halpern and Victor Hedman scored for the Lightning, who snapped a four-game winless streak. Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Andrej Meszaros each recorded two assists. Dwayne Roloson stopped 21 of 25 shots for the Islanders, who have dropped five of eight.

Final Score: Minnesota 5, Nashville 3

Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - Andrew Brunette had a goal and one assist to lead Minnesota past Nashville, 5-3, at Sommet Center. Andrew Ebbett, Antti Miettinen, James Sheppard and Eric Belanger all lit the lamp for the Wild, who scored five straight goals to help them win for a fifth straight time. Josh Harding picked up the win with 26 saves. Martin Erat, Jason Arnott and Marcel Goc scored for the Predators, who couldn't maintain momentum from a road win in Chicago on Friday and have dropped three of four. Dan Ellis was tagged for four goals on 28 shots through two periods in the loss. Pekka Rinne stopped 10-of-11 shots in the final 20 minutes.

Final Score: Calgary 2, San Jose 1

San Jose, CA (Sports Network) - Miikka Kiprusoff made 35 saves to help the Calgary Flames take a 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion. Olli Jokinen and Daymond Langkow each had a goal for the Flames, who have won five of their last six games. Ryane Clowe scored the lone goal and Evgeni Nabokov was charged with two goals on 36 shots for the Sharks, who have dropped their past two games.

Final Score: Phoenix 3, Ottawa 2

Glendale, AZ (Sports Network) - Petr Prucha's goal midway through the second period proved to be the difference, as the Phoenix Coyotes held off the Ottawa Senators, 3-2. Ed Jovanovski and Taylor Pyatt also scored for the Coyotes, who snapped a five-game skid against Ottawa. Ilya Bryzgalov turned aside 26-of-28 shots for Phoenix, which won for the first time against Ottawa since a 3-2 victory on March 9, 2002. The Coyotes have won four in a row overall. Jesse Winchester scored his first goal of the season for the Senators, who have lost seven consecutive games on the road. Chris Kelly also lit the lamp for Ottawa, which got 22 saves from Brian Elliott.