Crosby has first NHL scuffle

Sidney Crosby punched his way to his first NHL “Gordie Howe hat trick.”

Crosby scored a goal, assisted on two by Evgeni Malkin, and dropped the gloves for the first time in the NHL to spur the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-4 shootout victory over the host Boston Bruins on Thursday night.

The 20-year-old Penguins captain and reigning MVP helped set up Malkin’s first of the game 55 seconds in, scored his 16th of the season at 8:26, and then assisted on Malkin’s 13th as Pittsburgh jumped to a 3-0 lead.

Crosby, playing in his 194th NHL game, fought Andrew Ference to at least a draw in the second period. Ference had a cut over his left eye, but it wasn’t clear if that was caused by a Crosby punch or Ference’s helmet.

Wild 6, Rangers 3: At St. Paul, Minn., Marian Gaborik posted the NHL’s first five-goal game in a decade, lifting Minnesota to a win over New York.

Gaborik’s outburst was the biggest in the league since Sergei Fedorov scored five for Detroit on Dec. 26, 1996, in an overtime game against Washington. Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux was the last to net five in regulation, pulling off the feat on March 26, 1996, versus St. Louis.

Panthers 5, Hurricanes 4: At Sunrise, Fla., Brett McLean scored the winner, and Florida moved better than .500 for the first time this season with a win over Carolina.

Ray Whitney, Cory Stillman, Erik Cole and Andrew Ladd had goals for Carolina.

Canadiens 5, Capitals 2: At Washington, Guilliaume Latendresse scored two goals in his return from a benching, and Montreal beat Washington.

Latendresse, scratched by coach Guy Carbonneau for the Canadiens’ 3-2 loss to Florida on Tuesday, notched the fourth two-goal game of his NHL career – the second this month. Latendresse has nine goals this season.

Lightning 2, Maple Leafs 1: At Tampa, Fla., Vincent Lecavalier scored with 41.6 seconds left in the third period and rookie Karri Ramo made 31 saves to lead Tampa Bay past Toronto.

Thrashers 3, Senators 2: At Atlanta, Todd White’s power-play goal 47 seconds into the third period broke a tie and helped the Thrashers snap Ottawa’s winning streak at six.

Blues 3, Red Wings 2: At St. Louis, Keith Tkachuk and Lee Stempniak scored power-play goals in the third period, and Manny Legace made 34 saves to help the Blues to a victory over Detroit that snapped their four-game slide and ended the Red Wings’ 12-game point streak.

Canucks 3, Stars 2: At Vancouver, British Columbia, Daniel Sedin scored twice in the third period and Roberto Luongo made 33 saves, leading the Canucks past Dallas.

Coyotes 3, Sharks 2 (SO): At San Jose, Calif., Shane Doan scored a short-handed goal to tie the game with 41.5 seconds left in regulation and Ilya Bryzgalov stopped all three shots in the shootout to help Phoenix snap an eight-game losing streak to the Sharks.