Senators continue to lay down tough law
Backup Ray Emery stopped 25 shots, and four Ottawa players scored against Rick DiPietro to give the Senators a 4-2 victory Friday over the New York Islanders at Uniondale, N.Y.
Patrick Eaves, Zdeno Chara, Andrej Meszaros and Dany Heatley scored for the Senators, 3-0 against the Islanders this season.
The Senators have an Eastern Conference-best 51 points heading into the NHL’s two-day Christmas break.
Maple Leafs 2, Bruins 1: Former Spokane Chief Bryan McCabe and Darcy Tucker had goals, and Toronto rallied to beat Boston at Toronto.
Hurricanes 4, Panthers 3: At Raleigh, N.C., Justin Williams and Rod Brind’Amour scored third-period goals to help Carolina beat Florida.
Predators 5, Blue Jackets 4: Paul Kariya had assists on three of Nashville’s four first-period goals, and the Predators beat the Blue Jackets at Columbus, Ohio.
Sabres 4, Lightning 1: Ryan Miller made 30 saves, and Henrik Tallinder had a goal and an assist to lead Buffalo over Tampa Bay at Tampa, Fla.
Capitals 4, Canadiens 2: Rookie sensation Alexander Ovechkin scored his 20th goal and Jeff Halpern had three assists for Washington, which won at home against Montreal.
Flyers 5, Penguins 4: Sidney Crosby scored twice 44 seconds apart early in the third period, but Mike Knuble and Peter Forsberg scored two late goals to rally Philadelphia past the Penguins after blowing a three-goal lead at Pittsburgh.
Thrashers 1, Devils 0: Rookie Michael Garnett stopped 29 shots to record his first NHL shutout and Marian Hossa scored on a power play in the second period to lift Atlanta over New Jersey at East Rutherford, N.J.
Wild 5, Avalanche 3: Todd White and Marian Gaborik scored 26 seconds apart and Minnesota netted three goals in the final 5:12 to beat visiting Colorado at St. Paul, Minn.
Coyotes 3, Stars 2: At Dallas, Shane Doan and Dave Scatchard made the most of Phoenix’s only shots in the third period, scoring 22 seconds apart to produce a victory.
Oilers 5, Kings 3: Ales Hemsky scored the winning goal off his foot and Edmonton won its fifth straight, defeating Los Angeles at Edmonton, Alberta.
Red Wings 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT): Pavel Datsyuk scored a power-play goal with 1 second left in overtime to lift Detroit over the Blackhawks at Chicago.
Flames 6, Canucks 5 (SO): At Vancouver, British Columbia, Steven Reinprecht scored two goals in regulation and another in the shootout to lift Calgary past Vancouver.
Blues 2, Sharks 1 (SO): At San Jose, Calif., Petr Cajanek scored the winning goal in the first extra round of the shootout to give St. Louis a victory over San Jose.
Around the league
Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ilya Kovalchuk of the Atlanta Thrashers were suspended one game each by the NHL. Lecavalier was suspended for high-sticking New York Rangers forward Dominic Moore during Thursday’s 4-2 loss. Kovalchuk received a one-game ban for throwing his stick into the stands during Thursday’s 6-5 shootout loss to Washington.
•Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook is expected to be out four to six weeks after spraining his knee against Nashville. … Kings center Jeremy Roenick was placed on the injured reserve list, a day after undergoing surgery on his broken left ring finger.