The defending Stanley Cup champions got back on track
after their seven-game winning streak was snapped Saturday against Dallas.
Boston (25-10-1) moved within one point of the Eastern Conference-leading New
York Rangers.
New Jersey (21-16-2) had dropped two straight after
winning two in a row and seven of nine.
Gregory Campbell got Boston even at 1 in the first
period, and Nathan Horton scored his fifth power-play goal of the season to
give the Bruins the lead. David Krejci and Shawn Thornton added goals in the
third.
David Clarkson put the Devils on top early with his
team-leading 14th goal, but it wasn't enough to keep New Jersey from its
most-lopsided loss since a 6-1 defeat at Colorado on Nov. 30.
In Montreal, Lars Eller had four goals and an assist,
Travis Moen had three assists, and Montreal bounced back from a poor road trip
with a convincing win over Winnipeg.
Eller scored his fourth goal of the game on a penalty
shot 11 minutes into the third, spinning around to beat Chris Mason for his
third tally of the period.
Montreal, which went 1-5 on the trip, won for the second
time in nine games - the last eight since interim coach Randy Cunneyworth took
over for the fired Jacques Martin on Dec. 17.
Josh Gorges, Tomas Kaberle and Michael Cammalleri also
scored for the Canadiens, who improved to 6-7-6 at home. Carey Price made 24
saves. Andrei Kostitsyn and Erik Cole each had two assists.
Blake Wheeler had a goal and an assist, including a
power-play tally 17:51 into the second to draw Winnipeg within 3-2. Tim
Stapleton's sixth goal gave the Jets a 1-0 lead 3:41 in. Andrew Ladd scored the
Jets' final goal with 6:57 left. Ondrej Pavelec made 18 saves before he was
replaced by Mason 6:49 into the third. Mason stopped six shots for Winnipeg,
which had a three-game winning streak broken.
In Ahaheim, Brad Winchester and Benn Ferriero
scored 27 seconds apart in the second period, and San Jose beat Anaheim for the
first time in four tries this season.
Joe Pavelski also scored and Antti Niemi made 26 saves in
his 13th consecutive start for the Sharks, who were inexplicably mastered in
their first three meetings with the woebegone Ducks, who sit 29th in the NHL
standings.
San Jose couldn't score for the first 36 minutes, but
Winchester's shot off the post and Ferriero's hustle play in front of Jonas
Hiller's net erased an early deficit and sent the Ducks spiraling to their
seventh loss in eight games.
Corey Perry scored for the Ducks, who have lost 11 of 14
since replacing coach Randy Carlyle with Bruce Boudreau.
Hiller stopped 33 shots for Anaheim, which didn't get a
noticeable boost from left wing Jason Blake's return from a 34-game injury
absence. Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf's scoreless slump reached a career-worst
six games in the Ducks' third straight loss to start a six-game homestand.
In Vancouver, Roberto Luongo made 28
saves in his 700th NHL game and led Vancouver to a shutout victory against
Minnesota.
Luongo earned his second shutout of the season-both
against the Wild-and the 57th in his NHL career as the Canucks (25-13-3) moved
to the top of the league standings with 53 points.
Luongo wasn't severely tested but was good when he had to
be. Top-line forwards Daniel Sedin and Alex Burrows had goals, and Manny
Malhotra scored into an empty net in the final minute.
Vancouver has one more point than Western
Conference-rival Chicago, and the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers.
The defending Western champion Canucks have won seven of 10.
The Wild (21-14-6), who led the Northwest Division before
a rash of injuries in December, lost for the 10th time in 11 games and are five
points behind Vancouver. Minnesota has lost 10 straight to the Canucks in
Vancouver.
