WASHINGTON: Jeff Skinner scored three goals, including the winner in overtime, and Anton Khudobin made 38 saves in his first start in 2½ months Thursday night in the Carolina Hurricanes’ 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals.

Skinner took a pass from Ryan Murphy to cap a 3-on-1 break at 1:20 of the extra period for his 19th goal of the season. Manny Malhotra also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won two in a row after a five-game losing streak.

With Cam Ward out with a lower body injury, Khudobin saw his first NHL action since Oct. 13. Khudobin had been out with a lower body injury and was recalled Tuesday after a two-game conditioning assignment in the AHL.

Blues 5, Kings 0: A day after he was named to the team that will represent the United States in the Olympics, St. Louis Blues right wing T.J. Oshie did his celebration on the ice.

Oshie scored two goals in a span of 1:31 in the second period to lead the Blues to a 5-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Brian Elliott stopped all 30 Los Angeles shots as the Kings were shut out for the second time in three games and saw their losing streak reach a season-high five games.

The win allowed the Blues to break a five-game regular-season losing streak against the Kings, who also have eliminated the Blues from the playoffs the last two seasons.

Islanders 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT): Right winger Kyle Okposo scored 58 seconds into overtime to give the New York Islanders a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Okposo, one of the most controversial omissions from the US Olympic hockey team, spared the Islanders yet another gut-wrenching home loss by putting back a rebound of center John Tavares’ shot.

Center Casey Cizikas and left winger Thomas Vanek also scored for the Islanders (14-21-7).

Defenseman Brent Seabrook and right winger Ben Smith scored for the Blackhawks (29-7-8).

Bruins 3, Predators 2 (OT): The Boston Bruins woke up after a sleepy second period and wound up winning a game 3-2 in overtime over the Nashville Predators.

Left winger Brad Marchand scored off a nifty move 54 seconds into the extra period, making a winner of goaltender Niklas Svedberg in his NHL debut.

The win allowed the Bruins to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season.

Down 1-0 and outshot 16-3 in the second period, the Bruins came out a different team in the third period. Goals by defenseman Johnny Boychuk, his first in 19 games, and right winger Jarome Iginla gave the Bruins the lead before Nashville tied the game.

Senators 4, Jets 3: The Ottawa Senators equaled a season high with their third victory in a row, defeating the Winnipeg Jets 4-3.

The loss snapped the Jets’ winning streak at three games.

Center Mika Zibanejad, winger Milan Michalek, center Zack Smith and winger Clarke MacArthur scored for the Senators. The Jets’ goals were scored by defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, winger Evander Kane and center Olli Jokinen.

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Wild 4, Sabres 1

After a nightmarish end to 2013, the Minnesota Wild began the New Year on a better note, getting 19 saves from goaltender Niklas Backstrom in a 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Defenseman Marco Scandella, right winger Jason Pominville and left winger Jason Zucker scored for the Wild (21-17-5), who lost their previous six games in a row. Backstrom lost his previous eight starts but improved to 3-9-2 for the season.

Buffalo (11-26-4) got 28 saves from goalie Ryan Miller and a goal by left winger Matt Ellis.

Canadiens 6, Stars 4: Left winger Max Pacioretty and defenseman P.K. Subban each had four-point nights for the Montreal Canadiens in a hard-fought 6-4 win against the Dallas Stars.

Center David Desharnais also finished with a goal and an assist and goaltender Carey Price stopped 28 shots for the Canadiens.

Blue Jackets 2, Coyotes 0: Nathan Horton banged home a power-play goal with 4:09 left in the second period and the Columbus Blue Jackets rolled to a 2-0 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.

The goal gave Horton 11 points (five goals) in nine career games against Phoenix.

Former Coyotes prospect Curtis McElhinney made 34 saves in the Columbus goal for his fourth career shutout.

Avalanche 2, Flyers 1: Goaltender Semyon Varlamov had 29 saves, center Ryan O’Reilly scored the winning goal and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1.

Left wing Jamie McGinn also scored for the Avalanche, who have won two straight.

Right winger Wayne Simmons scored and goalie Steve Mason stopped 29 shots for Philadelphia.

Sharks 5, Oilers 1: Five San Jose Sharks skaters scored goals, and goalie Antti Niemi made 23 saves to beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1.

San Jose (26-9-6) beat last-place Edmonton for a sixth straight time while improving to 15-1-3 at home this season. Sharks left winger Joe Pavelski, recently named to the US Olympic hockey team, scored his 17th goal of the season.