NHL : Morrison, Canucks beat Hawks

Brendan Morrison scored early in the third period to break a tie and also had an assist in the Vancouver Canucks’ 3-2 victory over the host Chicago Blackhawks Wednesday night.

Morrison scored at 3:11 of the third. His shot from the right circle deflected off Chicago defenseman Andrei Zyuzin and slid past goalie Nikolai Khabibulin just inside the right goal post.

Mattias Ohlund and Byron Ritchie also scored for the Canucks. Taylor Pyatt had two assists.

Martin Lapointe and Martin Havlat scored for the Blackhawks, whose five-game home winning streak ended.

With an assist on Ohlund’s goal, Markus Naslund recorded his 725th point with Vancouver and passed Trevor Linden as the team’s career scoring leader.

Devils 4, Bruins 3 (OT): At Newark, N.J., Patrik Elias scored his second goal of the game with 1:44 left in overtime, and New Jersey extended its winning streak to eight with a victory over Boston.

Zach Parise also scored twice, and Martin Brodeur made 23 saves to help the Devils overcome a three-goal deficit.

Thrashers 4, Islanders 3 (SO): At Atlanta, the Thrashers overcome nine wasted power plays to beat the New York in a shootout, handing the Islanders their fourth straight loss.

Slava Kozlov and Ilya Kovalchuk scored in the shootout for Atlanta.

Blue Jackets 5, Avalanche 4: At Columbus, Ohio, Dan Fritsche’s goal with 4:05 left capped a wild six-goal third period in the Blue Jackets’ comeback victory over Colorado.

Colorado led 3-1 heading into the third period.

Senators 5, Panthers 4: At Sunrise, Fla., Randy Robitaille scored twice, and Ray Emery stopped a penalty shot in the third period to help Ottawa snap a seven-game losing streak with a victory over Florida.

Ducks 4, Sabres 1: At Anaheim, Calif., Andy McDonald had a goal and an assist, Mathieu Schneider and Corey Perry scored power-play goals, and the Ducks snapped a 10-game skid against Buffalo.

“NHL playoffs MVP Scott Niedermayer will rejoin the Anaheim Ducks after sitting out the first 28 games of the season pondering retirement.

Sharks 3, Stars 2: At Dallas, Joe Thornton scored the go-ahead goal with 8:36 left and added two assists to help San Jose win its third straight with a victory over the Stars.

Flyers 3, Wild 1: At St. Paul, Minn., Jeff Carter had a goal and an assist and Philadelphia beat Minnesota for its fourth straight road win.

Coyotes 4, Kings 1: At Glendale, Ariz., Peter Mueller had a goal and two assists, and Phoenix beat Los Angeles to snap a four-game losing streak.

It was the second three-point game for the 19-year-old Mueller, a rookie.

Penguins 4, Oilers 2: At Edmonton, Alberta, Sidney Crosby had three assists in the third period in his first professional game in Western Canada, leading Pittsburgh to a victory over the Oilers.