PITTSBURGH: Sidney Crosby scored three goals in slightly more than eight minutes of the second period as the Pittsburgh Penguins quickly turned a two-goal deficit into a two-goal lead, then held on to beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-4 on Monday night.
Crosby tied San Jose’s Patrick Marleau for the NHL goals lead with 37. Crosby’s hat trick was his third of the season and fifth of his career, and the Penguins pressed unsuccessfully to try to get him a fourth goal in the final period.
Jordan Staal and rookie Mark Letestu also scored for the Penguins against US Olympic goalie Ryan Miller.
After protecting a two-goal lead for much of the period, the Penguins were holding on at the end. Jason Pominville scored on a power play with 3 minutes remaining.
Derek Royand Thomas Vanek scored 48 seconds apart to give Buffalo the lead against Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury, a member of Canada’s Olympic team. Tim Kennedy made it 3-1.
Ducks 3 Panthers 0:In Sunrise, Fla., Jonas Hiller made 33 saves to earn in his second shutout of the season and Anaheim beat Florida.
Ryan Getzlaf, Teemu Selanne and Corey Perry each scored for the Ducks, who wrapped up a six-game road trip and snapped Florida’s five-game winning streak at home.
Hiller’s other shutout this season came on Nov. 5 in a 4-0 Anaheim win over the Nashville Predators. Hiller, who has six NHL shutouts, was coming off a 30-save effort in the Ducks’ 2-1 shootout victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night.
Florida’s Tomas Vokounstopped 22 shots.
Hiller was perfect in his first game since signing a four-year contract extension on Saturday, that will keep Switzerland’s Olympic goalie off the free-agent market this summer. The stellar performance came one day after Anaheim traded Stanley Cup-winning goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguereto the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Flyers 3 Flames 0: In Calgary, Alberta, Mike Richards scored twice and Ray Emery made 18 saves for his third shutout of the season as Philadelphia defeated new-look Calgary.
Richards broke a scoreless tie at 10:15 of the second off a series of lucky bounces. Simon Gagne knocked the puck out of the air and off Flames defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. It bounced right to Richards, who ripped a high shot past Miikka Kiprusoff.
The Flyers extended the lead to 2-0 at 1:49 of the third after Calgary captain Jarome Iginla turned over the puck in the Philadelphia end. Arron Ashamfed Claude Giroux, who sped in alone on Kiprusoff and neatly put a backhand over the goalie.
Richards added his 22nd of the season on a power play at 17:44.
All four players acquired by the Flames in Sunday’s blockbuster trade with Toronto that sent defenseman Dion Phaneuf, forward Fredrik Sjostrom, and minor league defenseman Keith Aulieto the Maple Leafs were in Calgary’s lineup.
Oilers 4 Hurricanes 2: In Edmonton, Alberta, Marc Pouliot and J.F. Jacques had a goal and an assist each, and Edmonton ended a 13-game losing streak by beating Carolina.
Gilbert Brule and Sam Gagneralso scored for the Oilers, who went 0-11-2 in their previous 13 games. Edmonton was one loss shy of tying the franchise-worst winless streak of 14 games (0-10-4), set in 1993.
The Oilers have just two wins in 22 games and are five points behind of Carolina and Toronto for last place in the NHL. Edmonton hadn’t won since beating Toronto at home on Dec. 30.
Andrew Alberts and Jussi Jokinen scored for the Hurricanes (19-29-7), who had won four in a row and five of six before Monday.
