NHL: Thrashers win fifth straight
Jon Sim scored two goals and the Atlanta Thrashers beat Montreal 6-2 Thursday night at Atlanta for their fifth consecutive victory, matching the team record and moving them into first place in the Southeast Division.
The Thrashers also edged closer to making the playoffs for the first time in their seven-year history.
Atlanta’s other goals came from Ilya Kovalchuk, Vyacheslav Kozlov, Eric Belanger and J.P. Vigier.
Wild 2, Bruins 1: At Boston, Niklas Backstrom made 29 saves and Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored the winner to lift Minnesota to a victory over the Bruins.
Panthers 2, Flyers 1: At Philadelphia, Chris Gratton got credit for a fluke tiebreaking goal early in the third period to lead Florida past the Flyers.
Senators 5, Maple Leafs 1: At Ottawa, Mike Fisher and Dean McAmmond each scored twice and Daniel Alfredsson had three assists as the Senators ended a three-game losing streak with a win over Toronto.
Rangers 2, Islanders 1: At Uniondale, N.Y., Petr Prucha’s power-play goal, during Chris Simon’s major penalty late in the third period, lifted the Rangers to a victory and a sweep of the key home-and-home series with the rival Islanders.
Devils 4, Penguins 3 (SO): At Pittsburgh, Patrik Elias had the deciding goal in the shootout as New Jersey extended its Atlantic Division lead to eight points with a win over the Penguins.
Predators 6, Flames 3: At Nashville, Tenn., Jason Arnott had two goals and an assist and the Predators never trailed in beating Calgary.
Blues 5, Stars 3: At St. Louis, Doug Weight scored two goals to lead the Blues to a victory over Dallas.
Canucks 4, Coyotes 2: At Glendale, Ariz., Jeff Cowan scored his sixth goal in four games and Markus Naslund also scored to help Vancouver beat Phoenix. Brendan Morrison and Sami Salo also scored for the Canucks, who moved four points ahead of Calgary for the Northwest Division lead with their fourth straight win.
Off the ice
Penguins coach Michel Therrien will miss Saturday’s home game against the New York Rangers because of his father’s death. Gerry Therrien, 77, died in Montreal on Thursday after a series of strokes. … Ted Saskin’s future as executive director of the NHL Players’ Association could be decided Sunday night when the union holds a conference call with its executive board. The board, composed of player representatives from all 30 NHL teams and the seven-member interim executive committee, will consider accusations that NHLPA executives monitored private player e-mails.