OTTAWA, Ontario: Craig Anderson made his first start in 69 days and turned aside 33 shots as the Ottawa Senators beat the New York Islanders 3-0 on Saturday.
Anderson left the club in early December to be with his wife, Nicholle, who is battling cancer, and returned to practice last week.
The shutout was the fourth of the season for Anderson in 20 games and eighth of the season for the Senators. Mike Condon has the other four. The win is the second straight for the Senators.
Mark Stone, Zack Smith and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Senators, who now have six goals in their past two games after being outscored 10-0 in the two previous games.
Thomas Greiss made 21 saves for the Islanders in his eighth start in the past nine games. It was just the second regulation loss for the Islanders in their past 12 games.
Capitals 6 Ducks 4: In Washington, rookie Zach Sanford scored his first NHL goal to break a tie late in the third period and Washington beat Anaheim despite giving back a three-goal lead.
Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and two assists, and T.J. Oshie, Daniel Winnik and Marcus Johansson had a goal and an assist each for the Capitals. Washington won its 12th straight at home entering its bye week.
Braden Holtby made 18 saves to win his 14th consecutive start, and Washington tied an NHL record by scoring five or more goals in an 11th straight home game.
Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and two assists for the Ducks, who scored twice in the second and twice in the third period to overcome early deficits of 3-0 and 4-1.
John Gibson made 33 saves for Anaheim, which fell to 1-3-1 with one game left on a six-game road trip.
Rangers 4 Avalanche 2: In New York, Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves for his 400th career win and New York earned its fifth consecutive victory.
Lundqvist is the 12th goaltender in NHL history with at least 400 wins and the first European-born goaltender to reach the mark.
Lundqvist also is the third goaltender to get 400 wins with one franchise. The others are Martin Brodeur (Devils) and Tony Esposito (Blackhawks).
Defenseman Kevin Klein had two goals and Rick Nash had the go-ahead score for the Rangers, who swept their season-long four-game homestand and have won eight of 10 overall. Kevin Hayes added an empty-net goal to clinch it.
Coyotes 4 Penguins 3, OT: In Glendale, Arizona, Connor Murphy's first goal of the season came with 21.8 seconds left in overtime, giving Arizona a win over Pittsburgh.
Murphy's winner came after the Penguins overcame a 3-1 deficit inside of 5 1/2 minutes left to play in regulation. Josh Archibald's short-handed goal at 14:38 made it 3-2, and Phil Kessel put in a deflected shot from Kris Letang with 14.2 seconds to play to force overtime.
Martin Hanzal scored twice and Tobias Rieder added another goal for Arizona.
Blue Jackets 2 Red Wings 1: In Columbus, Ohio, Cam Atkinson scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 35 shots and Columbus beat Detroit.
Boone Jenner also scored and Brandon Dubinsky had two assists for Columbus. Atkinson got his team-leading 27th goal of the season.
Thomas Vanek scored for the Red Wings, but Detroit dropped its third straight game and lost to the Blue Jackets for the second time in four days. That despite the efforts of Peter Mrazek, who had 37 saves.
Bruins 4 Canucks 3: In Boston, David Pastrnak scored with two minutes left in the third period and Boston won its second straight game under interim coach Bruce Cassidy.
Cassidy took over earlier in the week when the Bruins fired Claude Julien, who was in his 10th season. Boston also won in Cassidy's debut.
Frank Vatrano had a goal and two assists, and Kevan Miller and Colin Miller each had a goal for the Bruins, who won for the fifth time in seven games.
Backup goaltender Anton Khudobin made 29 saves for Boston. Ryan Miller had 26 for the Canucks.
Flyers 2 Sharks 1, OT: In Philadelphia, Wayne Simmonds scored on a breakaway just over a minute into overtime and Michal Neuvirth made 23 saves, helping Philadelphia end a three-game losing streak.
Ivan Provorov scored in regulation for Philadelphia. Patrick Marleau had the goal for Pacific Division-leading San Jose, which lost its fourth straight game and fifth in the last seven. Three of the Sharks' losses during the losing skid have been after regulation.
Simmonds capitalized on a turnover at center ice by Brent Burns and beat Aaron Dell with a shot that went off Dell's left pad and over the line. The goal was confirmed after video review.
Panthers 7 Predators 4: In Nashville, Tennessee, Nick Bjugstad and Vincent Trocheck scored 29 seconds apart in the second period, and Florida beat Nashville.
Jaromir Jagr also scored for the 1,899th point of his NHL career as the Panthers kicked off a five-game trip by scoring four goals in the second.
Trocheck finished with two goals and an assist, Jonathan Huberdeau added a goal and two assists and Jussi Jokinen had a goal and an assist to help Florida sweep the season series against Nashville.
Nashville's Pekka Rinne gave up four goals on 16 shots, including three on six shots in the second period, before being pulled. Juuse Saros quickly gave up a power-play goal to Aleksander Barkov, who capped the four-goal flurry for the Panthers before midway through the period.
Blues 4 Canadiens 2: In Montreal, Patrik Berglund scored three goals to lift St. Louis over Montreal for its fourth straight road win.
David Perron also scored for the Blues, who end a stretch of five consecutive away games on Wednesday in Detroit. St. Louis has won five of its last six games overall.
Berglund's hat trick gave him six goals in his last five games and 17 on the season.
Anderson left the club in early December to be with his wife, Nicholle, who is battling cancer, and returned to practice last week.
The shutout was the fourth of the season for Anderson in 20 games and eighth of the season for the Senators. Mike Condon has the other four. The win is the second straight for the Senators.
Mark Stone, Zack Smith and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Senators, who now have six goals in their past two games after being outscored 10-0 in the two previous games.
Thomas Greiss made 21 saves for the Islanders in his eighth start in the past nine games. It was just the second regulation loss for the Islanders in their past 12 games.
Capitals 6 Ducks 4: In Washington, rookie Zach Sanford scored his first NHL goal to break a tie late in the third period and Washington beat Anaheim despite giving back a three-goal lead.
Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and two assists, and T.J. Oshie, Daniel Winnik and Marcus Johansson had a goal and an assist each for the Capitals. Washington won its 12th straight at home entering its bye week.
Braden Holtby made 18 saves to win his 14th consecutive start, and Washington tied an NHL record by scoring five or more goals in an 11th straight home game.
Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and two assists for the Ducks, who scored twice in the second and twice in the third period to overcome early deficits of 3-0 and 4-1.
John Gibson made 33 saves for Anaheim, which fell to 1-3-1 with one game left on a six-game road trip.
Rangers 4 Avalanche 2: In New York, Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves for his 400th career win and New York earned its fifth consecutive victory.
Lundqvist is the 12th goaltender in NHL history with at least 400 wins and the first European-born goaltender to reach the mark.
Lundqvist also is the third goaltender to get 400 wins with one franchise. The others are Martin Brodeur (Devils) and Tony Esposito (Blackhawks).
Defenseman Kevin Klein had two goals and Rick Nash had the go-ahead score for the Rangers, who swept their season-long four-game homestand and have won eight of 10 overall. Kevin Hayes added an empty-net goal to clinch it.
Coyotes 4 Penguins 3, OT: In Glendale, Arizona, Connor Murphy's first goal of the season came with 21.8 seconds left in overtime, giving Arizona a win over Pittsburgh.
Murphy's winner came after the Penguins overcame a 3-1 deficit inside of 5 1/2 minutes left to play in regulation. Josh Archibald's short-handed goal at 14:38 made it 3-2, and Phil Kessel put in a deflected shot from Kris Letang with 14.2 seconds to play to force overtime.
Martin Hanzal scored twice and Tobias Rieder added another goal for Arizona.
Blue Jackets 2 Red Wings 1: In Columbus, Ohio, Cam Atkinson scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 35 shots and Columbus beat Detroit.
Boone Jenner also scored and Brandon Dubinsky had two assists for Columbus. Atkinson got his team-leading 27th goal of the season.
Thomas Vanek scored for the Red Wings, but Detroit dropped its third straight game and lost to the Blue Jackets for the second time in four days. That despite the efforts of Peter Mrazek, who had 37 saves.
Bruins 4 Canucks 3: In Boston, David Pastrnak scored with two minutes left in the third period and Boston won its second straight game under interim coach Bruce Cassidy.
Cassidy took over earlier in the week when the Bruins fired Claude Julien, who was in his 10th season. Boston also won in Cassidy's debut.
Frank Vatrano had a goal and two assists, and Kevan Miller and Colin Miller each had a goal for the Bruins, who won for the fifth time in seven games.
Backup goaltender Anton Khudobin made 29 saves for Boston. Ryan Miller had 26 for the Canucks.
Flyers 2 Sharks 1, OT: In Philadelphia, Wayne Simmonds scored on a breakaway just over a minute into overtime and Michal Neuvirth made 23 saves, helping Philadelphia end a three-game losing streak.
Ivan Provorov scored in regulation for Philadelphia. Patrick Marleau had the goal for Pacific Division-leading San Jose, which lost its fourth straight game and fifth in the last seven. Three of the Sharks' losses during the losing skid have been after regulation.
Simmonds capitalized on a turnover at center ice by Brent Burns and beat Aaron Dell with a shot that went off Dell's left pad and over the line. The goal was confirmed after video review.
Panthers 7 Predators 4: In Nashville, Tennessee, Nick Bjugstad and Vincent Trocheck scored 29 seconds apart in the second period, and Florida beat Nashville.
Jaromir Jagr also scored for the 1,899th point of his NHL career as the Panthers kicked off a five-game trip by scoring four goals in the second.
Trocheck finished with two goals and an assist, Jonathan Huberdeau added a goal and two assists and Jussi Jokinen had a goal and an assist to help Florida sweep the season series against Nashville.
Nashville's Pekka Rinne gave up four goals on 16 shots, including three on six shots in the second period, before being pulled. Juuse Saros quickly gave up a power-play goal to Aleksander Barkov, who capped the four-goal flurry for the Panthers before midway through the period.
Blues 4 Canadiens 2: In Montreal, Patrik Berglund scored three goals to lift St. Louis over Montreal for its fourth straight road win.
David Perron also scored for the Blues, who end a stretch of five consecutive away games on Wednesday in Detroit. St. Louis has won five of its last six games overall.
Berglund's hat trick gave him six goals in his last five games and 17 on the season.
