San Jose Sharks shoot down the Flyers

San Jose Sharks had Joe Pavelski’s second period hat-trick to thank on the way to a 7-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Raffi Torres and Logan Couture also got in on the act as the Sharks made an impressive return to action after the recent Winter Olympic break.

The Flyers’ four-game winning streak therefore came to an end despite the best efforts from Andrej Meszaros, Brayden Schenn and Matt Read who made up the scores.

Lubomir Visnovsky’s overtime winner helped to give the New York Islanders a 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Anders Lee drew the scores level twice in the third period sending the game into OT, with Michael Grabner also taking two for the Islanders.

Another hat-trick on the night came from Detroit Red Wings’ Johan Franzen in a 6-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.

Riley Sheahan, Tomas Jurco and Tomas Tatar also tallied for the Red Wings, whilst Bobby Ryan got the consolation for the Senators.

The New Jersey Devils built on three goals in the opening nine minutes as they beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 -Adam Henrique taking the plaudits with two of his own.

Goals from Derick Brassard and Rick Nash helped the New York Rangers to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers 5-4, despite the Panthers having to pull back a two-goal deficit twice in the game, it was Alexander Ovechkin who had to produce the winner late in the final period.

The Dallas Stars made light work of the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 whilst the Nashville Predators edged out the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 thanks to Patric Hörnqvist on the powerplay in the third period.

There were shoot-out wins for the Montreal Canadiens (6-5) over the Pittsburgh Penguins, with David Desharnais the sole penalty scorer, and also the Winnipeg Jets (3-2) over the Phoenix Coyotes.

Finally the Los Angeles Kings took a 2-0 win over the Calgary Flames and the Minnesota Wild also won 3-0 against the Edmonton Oilers in the late fixtures on Thursday night.