NHL: Hatcher scores late to give Flyers victory

Derian Hatcher scored midway through the third period and Antero Niitymaki stopped 38 shots, helping the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Florida Panthers 1-0 on Sunday in Sunrise, Fla., for their third straight victory.

It was the third career shutout and first of the season for Niittymaki, who has appeared in 111 games over parts of four season with the Flyers.

Florida goalie Tomas Vokoun matched Niittymaki well into the third period, when the Flyers’ Stefan Ruzicka fired a wrist shot from the left circle. The puck deflected off Florida defenseman Bryan Allen and wound up with Hatcher.

The Flyers defenseman skated toward the front of the net, got by Florida’s Brett McLean to reach the loose puck, and fired the go-ahead goal past Vokoun at 9:14. It was Hatcher’s second of the season and 80th in 1,022 career games.

Kings 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT): At Chicago, Dustin Brown scored his second goal of the game in overtime to give Los Angeles a win over the Blackhawks.

Brown skated down left wing, cut to the net, and beat Nikolai Khabibulin with a low shot at 3:31.

Brown and Kyle Calder connected in the third period to rally the Kings from a 2-0 deficit and force overtime.

Los Angeles won its second straight game after ending an eight-game losing streak Saturday with a 3-1 win in Colorado.

Rookies Jonathan Toews and Jacob Dowell scored in regulation for the Blackhawks, whose four-game winning streak ended.

Rangers 4, Canadiens 3 (OT): At New York, Brendan Shanahan scored early in overtime to give the Rangers a victory over Montreal, extending New York’s winning streak to three games.

Shanahan was sprung on a breakaway by Chris Drury. He skated straight down on Montreal goalie Cristobal Huet and sent a 15-foot wrist shot over the goalie’s left shoulder 1:06 into the extra period.

Drury tied the game with 5:51 left in regulation when he found a loose puck at the top of the crease and flipped it over a prone Huet.

Dan Girardi, who assisted on Shanahan’s goal, and Jaromir Jagr also scored for the Rangers, who got 18 saves from Henrik Lundqvist.

Canucks 2, Ducks 1: At Vancouver, British Columbia, Daniel Sedin and Matt Cooke each scored and the Canucks got the victory over struggling Anaheim.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Ducks lost two of three on their post-Christmas swing through western Canada, beating Edmonton on Thursday before falling to Calgary on Saturday. They are just two games above .500 heading into the new year.

Jonas Hiller got the start in net for Anaheim in place of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who gave up four goals in a 5-3 loss to Calgary on Saturday.