VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Detroit Red Wings have had the hot hand in NHL shootouts this season.

Pavel Datsyuk and Jiri Hudler scored shootout goals, and the Red Wings padded their lead over Vancouver in the Western Conference standings with a 4-3 victory against the Canucks on Thursday night.

Detroit has won all six of its games decided by that tiebreaker and its just building more confidence.

“When youve won a few in a shootout youre a confident bunch,” captain Nicklas Lidstrom, adding that confidence starts with Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard and spreads to the shooters.

“Howards been playing real great for us and guys have been confident coming in on our shootouts.

“Weve been switching it up a little bit, having different guys go but guys have been very confident going in there.”

Datsyuk and Hudler both beat Canuck netminder Roberto Luongo on the stick side.

Howard had an easier time as he smothered Alex Edlers attempt when the Vancouver shooter got in too close and forced Mason Raymond to lose control of the puck.

Detroit (35-16-1) won for the ninth time in 10 games to move four points ahead of Vancouver (31-15-5), which has a game in hand.

It was also the fourth win in the last four road games for Detroit, which is now 15-14-0 away from home after struggling away from Joe Louis Arena earlier in the season.

The Canucks closed out a six-game homestand spread over the all-star break with a 3-3 record.

Drew Miller, Hudler and Dan Cleary gave the Red Wings one-goal leads as Detroit moved five points clear of Nashville in the competitive Central Division.

Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows and Raymond forced overtime for the Canucks who were outshot 43-25 after 65 minutes.

The Wings jumped on the Canucks early and only Luongos acrobatics kept Vancouver close.

“We got taken to school,” said Canucks coach Alain Vigneault who split up twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin in some line juggling to start the third period. “It was obvious to everybody.”

“Obviously, we can play a lot better. Thats no secret to anybody that knows our team. Tonight, the best team on the ice was obviously, by far, Detroit.”

Nudging a point ahead of a conference rival because of the shootout win was not lost on the Wings.

“Thats six critical points when you look at it,” Cleary said of Detroits dominance in the tiebreaker.

“Shootouts are important, not something we take for fun. If you look at it at the end of the season, those are important points – win or lose.”

While Hudler scored his fourth goal in three games and the decisive goal in the shootout, Miller counted after a giveaway allowed Burrows to give the Canucks a 2-2 tie midway through the third period.

“I just told myself Ive got to get out there and make a difference,” said Miller who broke a 17-game goalless drought Tuesday in a victory in Calgary.

“I guess scoring a goal is the best way to do that. You want to get that goal back for your team.”

Cleary was playing despite having a cyst on the back of his knee treated at a local hospital on Wednesday but it didnt stop him from stickhandling in on Luongo for the opening goal.

“It was a little sore as the game went on,” said Cleary who is facing more treatments.

“Its sore right now but, to be honest with you, its easier skating than walking.”

Both Cleary and Lidstrom expect the Wings to keep improving on the road.

“The thing I like is weve got a good goaltender and great balance in lines, weve got a good game plan and were a disciplined team,” Cleary said.

Lidstrom, who has played on great Detroit clubs in the past, said skill helps but theres plenty of grit on these Wings.

“Were a very solid group,” Lidstrom said.

“Were not a faster team that scores nice goals all the time. We can grind it out and stay with teams and get wins that way too.”

Kesler said it was one of those games where the Canucks just couldnt generate offence.

“You have to take the positives out of it,” said Kesler. “We obviously fought through a lot.

“Were down twice, three times in the game, and battled back every time and got a point out of it, which was important.”

Luongo, who robbed several Wings on break-ins, said a slow start is part of the peaks and valleys of a long season.

“You dont want this to go on forever obviously,” he said after his first start in nine days.

“We know were a much better team than that and good teams find ways to perform, especially in big games like that.

“Even though we didnt have our best game tonight, I thought we found a way to get a point.”

Notes

The teams conclude their season series Feb. 23 at Joe Louis Arena Winger Chris Higgins was out of the Canuck lineup with the flu Andrew Alberts drew in as a seventh defenseman Howard, who got the day off from practice on Wednesday, made 25 saves when the Wings blanked Vancouver 2-0 on Oct. 13 Datsyuk was also allowed to skip the practice after he and Howard participated in the all-star weekend Tomas Holmstrom was back in the Detroit lineup after sitting out Tuesdays 3-1 win in Calgary with soreness in both knees after injections last week.

Sluggish defensive play is one reason the Chicago Blackhawks are on their longest road losing streak since setting a dubious franchise record eight years ago.

Their recent visits to Calgary dont inspire much confidence.

The Blackhawks attempt to avoid a six-game road losing streak and beat the Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome for the first time in two years Friday night.

Chicago (29-16-7) opened its season-high nine-game road trip with a 3-2 overtime loss at Vancouver on Tuesday, then fell 8-4 on Thursday at Edmonton, the last-place team in the Northwest Division.

Those losses extended the Blackhawks road losing streak to six, their longest since a franchise-record 19-game run of futility Nov. 10, 2003-Jan. 29, 2004.

Theyve surrendered 27 goals during the current skid.

“We need to be better in a lot of areas and were obviously not happy at all,” right wing Patrick Sharp said after scoring two goals in the lopsided defeat to the Oilers. “Weve gotten away from what makes us a good team.

“We need to play defense first and well get our chances from there.”

Chicago defeated the Flames (23-22-6) 4-2 at home Dec. 18, but has dropped its last three visits to Calgary by a combined 15-5 margin.

Patrick Kane has 11 goals and 11 assists in 23 career meetings with the Flames, including four points in five playoff games and a goal in last months home win. The All-Star right wing has six goals and three assists in 11 career games at Scotiabank Saddledome, but was held off the scoresheet when the Blackhawks lost 5-2 in Calgary on Nov. 18.

Kane has just one goal in his last 12 games overall, but has an assist in each of his last two.

While the Blackhawks are struggling defensively, the Flames have struggled to score during a 3-3-1 stretch. Theyve been held to two goals or fewer in six of those seven contests.

That trend continued in Tuesdays 3-1 home loss to Detroit, as Calgary tied its season-high three-game home skid from November. The Flames havent dropped four straight on home ice since Oct. 28-Nov. 17, 2010.

“Weve got to capitalize on our chances,” left wing Alex Tanguay said. “We have to score some more goals and make sure we find a way to rack up two points.”

Jarome Iginla, the team leader with 39 points, has just one goal in his last seven games and is a minus-5 in his last three. The Calgary captain also has just one assist in three meetings with Chicago this season.

Michael Cammalleri scored the Flames lone goal in Tuesdays loss. It was his second goal since being acquired from Montreal last month, but his first in five games since finding the net in his Flames debut, a 4-1 home defeat to Los Angeles on Jan. 14.

Cammalleris minus-5 rating in his six games with Calgary ties him with defenseman Cory Sarich for the lowest on the team in that stretch.

Cammalleri has two goals and one assist in his last three games versus Chicago, all coming with the Canadiens.

BOSTON — Sweeping the defending Stanley Cup champions is nice, but the Carolina Hurricanes would trade all four wins for a better spot in the standings.

Cam Ward made 47 saves — 22 in the first period and 20 in the third — Brandon Sutter had a goal and an assist, and the Hurricanes finished their first season sweep of the Bruins with a 3-0 victory on Thursday.

“It feels good to beat them four times, but I would rather be first in the conference and lose to the last-place team four times,” said captain Eric Staal, who had a goal in this win.

Not only isnt Carolina on top of the Eastern Conference, the Hurricanes are stuck at the bottom. They are 15-25-9 against the rest of the NHL, but outscored Boston 14-5 in the season sweep.

This franchise had never pulled that off, even back when it was the Hartford Whalers.

“We have to play every team like they are the Bruins,” Ward said. “It is a real compliment to our team to beat the champs four times.”

Brandon Sutter had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, who scored in each period.

Staal netted a goal in the first, Tuomo Ruutu converted Sutters rebound in the second, and Sutter added a goal 3:13 into the third.

Ward, 11-11-2 against the Bruins, posted his third shutout of the season and 19th of his NHL career — including three over Boston.

Despite the high number of shots, the Bruins, just 4-4-1 in their last nine games after winning 25 of the previous 30, had few quality scoring chances.

They were booed by the home crowd.

“We had a lot of shots, but we let him see the puck pretty well and then didnt go to the net too hard at times and let him get those easy shots,” said Tuukka Rask, who played well in making 28 saves, but lost his third straight start. “I mean. tough game.”

Not for Carolina.

“It was probably the best game we have played all year,” Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller said. “Guys get excited to play the Stanley Cup champs. Seems to bring out the best in our game.”

Rask did all he could to keep the Bruins in it, but they were blanked for the third time this season — all at home. Boston lost in regulation for the third time in 20 home games and second in the past 10.

“We are not that great of a team when were just going out there and going through the motions,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien, whose team played a poor second period against Ottawa on Tuesday before rebounding in the third. “Right now were playing more like a team that should be at the bottom of the standings then at the top of the standings, and thats the reality of it.”

Ruutu hit defenseman Johnny Boychuk in the corner to start the play that resulted in Staals goal. As Boychuk was trying to get up — he had trouble breathing after his stick caught in the boards — Jiri Tlusty got the puck to Staal for a one-timer at 11:51 of the first. Carolina had the lead despite the Bruins matching their season high for shots in a period.

Staal, who has struggled this season, has 18 points in 15 games.

Boychuk missed the rest of the period but was back for the second.

It was the second time this season the Bruins had 22 shots in a period, and they allowed only eight for Carolina, but the Hurricanes had good chances and the only goal.

The Hurricanes outshot the Bruins 14-5 in the second period and cashed in on a mix-up between defensemen Andrew Ference and Adam McQuaid to make it 2-0. Sutter stole the puck from Ference and was stopped by Rask. Ruutu made a nifty move past McQuaid after picking up the rebound and swept in his 16th goal of the season on the backhand.

Notes

Bruins RW Nathan Horton, who sat out the last four games of the Stanley Cup Finals because of a concussion, missed his third straight game because of another concussion following a hit from Philadelphias Tom Sestito on Jan. 22. “Hes still where he was a few days ago, like I said feeling better but not well enough to get to that stage of working out,” Julien said. McQuaid was in the lineup despite being questionable because of a lower body injury. Ference returned after serving a three-game NHL suspension. Carolina D Jaroslav Spacek was struck by a slap shot by Boychuk midway through the second period, but wasnt seriously injured. The Hurricanes started a stretch of five of seven on the road.

NEWARK, N.J. — Zach Parise scored two goals, including the go-ahead tally with 2:44 remaining, and the New Jersey Devils beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-3 on Thursday.

David Clarkson also scored twice, including an empty-netter in the final seconds. Dainius Zubrus added a goal, and Ilya Kovalchuk had three assists for the Devils, who have won two straight. Martin Brodeur made 27 saves.

David Desharnais, Andrei Kostitsyn and Mathieu Darche scored for Montreal, which had 18 saves from Carey Price.

Parises second goal gave the Devils their first lead of the night. He deflected Kovalchuks shot past Price to break a 3-3 tie. Clarkson finished the scoring for the Devils, who had trailed 2-0 and 3-1.

Desharnais and Kostitsyn staked Montreal to an early 2-0 lead in the first period. Rene Bourque had multiple swipes at the puck deep in the Devils zone before flipping a shot that glanced in off Desharnais at 4:11. Kostitsyn, alone in the slot, spun and put the rebound of Yannick Webers point shot past Brodeur at 9:23.

Parise countered for the Devils at 10:36, cutting New Jerseys deficit to 2-1. Skating down the left wing, Parise fired a long-range shot from the circle that slipped under Prices right leg.

The Devils came close to getting even 52 seconds into the second period when Kovalchuk fired a shot that Price partially blocked. The puck trickled behind him, and the referees ruled it didnt completely cross the goal line. The call was upheld by a video review.

Seconds later, Raphael Diaz was whistled for interference, giving the Devils a power play. However, Darche scored a short-handed goal at 1:25 to give Montreal a 3-1 lead. The goal was set up by a breakaway by Tomas Plekanec that Brodeur foiled with a sprawling save, but Darche put in the rebound.

New Jersey has allowed an NHL-worst 13 short-handed goals.

The Devils had a video review go their way on the power-play goal by Clarkson that made it 3-2. Kovalchuk fired a point shot that hit a Montreal defender in the leg before glancing in off Clarksons skate at 13:43. The review confirmed that Clarkson didnt kick the puck into the net, giving him a career high 18 goals this season.

New Jersey pulled even at 6:11 of the third as Zubrus deflected in Alexei Ponikarovskys shot from the right circle.

Notes

Montreal RW Mike Blunden was forced out of the game by an undisclosed lower body injury. … Desharnais played in his 100th game with the Canadiens. … D Bryce Salvador was in the Devils lineup despite a leg injury that made his status questionable. Because of Salvadors uncertain status, New Jersey had seven defensemen in the lineup. … C Adam Henrique (groin injury), Brad Mills and Cam Janssen were scratched by the Devils. Montreal scratched C Petteri Nokelainen, D Chris Campoli, LW Travis Moen (upper body) and C Ryan White. … P.K. Subban laid out Devils rookie defenseman Adam Larson with a big shoulder check with six minutes remaining in the third. Larson was face down on the ice for over a minute before slowly getting to his skates and being helped to the locker room. … Montreal had won four straight in New Jersey.

A week off the ice might have been exactly what the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars both needed to jump start their respective sputtering offenses.

The Sharks have had little trouble scoring goals against the Stars of late.

As both clubs look for a second straight strong offensive showing, the Sharks will try for a fifth consecutive victory over the visiting Stars on Thursday night.

San Jose (28-14-6) had not scored more than three goals in any of its previous eight games before returning from the All-Star break with a 6-0 rout of lowly Columbus on Tuesday. Joe Thornton had two goals with an assist while Jamie McGinn, Michal Handzus and Joe Pavelski had one of each as the Pacific Division-leading Sharks matched their second-highest goal output of the season.

“Weve been working to score some goals,” said Thornton, who had gone his previous 10 games without a goal. “Hopefully we can get some confidence from this.”

San Jose should have plenty of confidence versus Dallas (26-21-2), which has been outscored 21-6 during a four-game series losing streak. The Sharks have scored nine of those goals in a pair of victories over the Stars in 2011-12.

Thornton has two goals and six assists in the last four games versus Dallas while McGinn has two with one assist against the Stars this season.

While the Sharks hope Tuesdays effort was the beginning of an offensive surge, their overall defense and the play of goaltender Antti Niemi has been stellar of late.

After San Jose dropped its third straight game with a 2-1 shootout loss at Edmonton on Jan. 23, Niemi made 25 saves in a 1-0 win at Calgary the next night then stopped 30 against the Blue Jackets. Neither Niemi or the Sharks franchise has ever shut out three straight opponents.

Niemi, who ranks among the NHL leaders with four shutouts, has posted a 1.50 goals-against average during his teams four-game winning streak versus Dallas.

Though the Stars face a stiff challenge in this contest, they should have some momentum after also matching their second-highest goal total of the season with their second victory in as many games over Anaheim, 6-2 on the road Wednesday.

Jamie Benn and Michael Ryder each had a goal with two assists for the Stars, who has scored just seven times in their previous six contests.

“Youre going to get your chances, you just have to bury them,” said Stars forward Vernon Fiddler, who scored his seventh goal Wednesday.

Just one point out of the last playoff spot in the Western Conference, Dallas hopes to play well out of the break, unlike last season when it followed the All-Star festivities with a 1-8-1 stretch and eventually missed the playoffs for a third straight time.

“We wanted to come out strong after the break, and weve got to keep moving forward like this if we want to make the playoffs,” said defenseman Stephane Robidas, who scored his third goal Wednesday.

The Stars could be in good shape with a healthy Benn, who returned Wednesday after missing five games following an emergency appendectomy. The third-year winger has seven goals and 14 assists in his last 15 games but has been held without a point in his last three against the Sharks.

The Anaheim Ducks opened a four-game homestand with a poor performance, and know they cant afford too many more such efforts.

They will try to bounce back when they attempt to hand the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets a seventh straight loss Friday night.

Anaheim (19-24-7) is in 13th place in the Western Conference and remains well out of playoff position despite a 9-2-1 surge. The Ducks worst effort in this stretch possibly came Wednesday, when they lost 6-2 to a Dallas team ahead of them in the standings.

“When you raise your own bar by the standards … that I thought our team had set, we werent anywhere near as good as we should be,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We had a lot of shots, but we didnt have a lot of second shots. We lost battles, and when you lose 1-on-1 battles, you lose games.”

Center Ryan Getzlaf failed to record a point for the third straight game, but he took an opposing viewpoint.

“We didnt play that awful,” Getzlaf said. “We made a few mistakes, and they cost us. … Were not going to win every single game for the rest of the year. Were on such a high, and you cant let it get too low.”

Getzlaf is not the only Anaheim star in the midst of a drought. Corey Perry, a 50-goal scorer a season ago, has no points in his last four games.

Jonas Hiller made 20 saves and has gone 6-2-0 with a 1.88 goals-against average in his last eight starts, with both defeats coming against Dallas.

Perry has recorded at least a point in his last five home matchups with Columbus (13-32-6), including a hat trick in a 7-4 victory Jan. 8. Neither Hiller nor Blue Jackets No. 1 goalie Steve Mason finished that contest.

The Blue Jackets are 0-5-1 in their last six after a controversial 3-2 defeat at Los Angeles on Wednesday. Drew Doughty scored a power-play goal with 1 second to play, although replays indicated that the Staples Center clock stopped for roughly a second when it was at 1.8 left. The league is investigating the matter, and NHL senior executive vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell said the goal shouldnt have counted.

The incident prompted a response from embattled general manager Scott Howson, who was not at the game and claimed that Doughty scored 0.4 seconds after time should have expired.

“Anyone who has competed at a high level of sports knows that when you put everything into a game, the result matters,” Howson wrote on a blog post on the Blue Jackets official website. “And to have the result altered unfairly stings.”

Columbus has numerous players out as its frustrating season continues. The Blue Jackets are the NHLs worst penalty-killing team at 75.3 percent and have conceded eight goals in their opponents last 21 chances.

“We have a lot of guys who have a lot to play for still,” goaltender Curtis Sanford said. “There are a lot of games left and we just have to do whatever we can to win as many of them as possible.”

Sanford has posted a 2.34 GAA in winning his last three starts against the Ducks while Mason is 3-1-0 with a 3.64 GAA in five career starts at Anaheim.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — All it took to wake up the San Jose Sharks after the All-Star break was one elbow to the head of captain Joe Thornton.

Thornton responded to a hit from Jared Boll on the opening shift by scoring twice and Antti Niemi posted his second successive shutout to lead the Sharks to a 6-0 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.

“Everybody wakes up,” Thornton said. “You get more into the game. Kind of a wakeup call. Gives the group a wakeup call. It was a good hit to take. Get the two points and move on.”

Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, Jamie McGinn and Michal Handzus also scored for the Sharks, who have beaten the Blue Jackets 19 times in 21 games at HP Pavilion.

Four of San Joses goals came on second chances as Steve Mason struggled to control his rebounds all game. Mason finished with 37 saves as the Blue Jackets lost their fifth straight.

“Three of those goals were self-inflicted,” interim coach Todd Richards said. “We had control of the puck and they took it away from us and scored. We made it harder on ourselves with poor puck management. … Clearly, we were not good enough tonight. Not enough guys doing the right things for us to have success.”

With a daunting second-half schedule that includes a nine-game, 15-day road trip with three sets of back-to-backs this month, the Sharks could ill afford a slipup at home against the NHLs worst team.

San Jose came out strong as the struggling power-play unit delivered a goal, the team tied its second-highest scoring game of the season and Niemi made 30 saves for his 17th career shutout. This one came in front of his father, Veikko, who was watching his son play in the NHL for the first time.

The Sharks looked well rested while the Blue Jackets just appeared rusty. San Jose had 16 of the games first 20 shots on goal and broke out to a 2-0 lead before the midpoint of the first period. The game was never in doubt after that.

After a sluggish power play following a penalty on Boll for hitting Thornton in the head just 20 seconds into the game, the Sharks got rolling.

“It created a lot of emotion in the game,” San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. “I think as a coach youre always worried about whether the guys will be sleepy and what will trigger the game, and 30 seconds in guys are on their toes already with the play. So that was a good thing for us. Its not great that Jumbo got an elbow to the head, but it did wake our group up and we played after that.”

Marleau got the rebound of Justin Brauns point shot and lifted it past Mason for his 375th career goal midway through the first.

Only two seconds after that goal, San Joses Jim Vandermeer squared off in a fight with Boll in apparent retaliation for the early hit on Thornton. Vandermeer and Boll fought again early in the third, the first of four fights in the period.

“Anytime guys go to battle for each other that just brings you that much closer together and makes the other guys want to fight that much more for everybody else,” Vandermeer said. “Sometimes you dont like to see that many, but its good to see when everybodys got each others back.”

Thornton got his own version of revenge less than two minutes after the first bout. Andrew Desjardins pressured Fedor Tyutin into a turnover and Thornton took advantage, putting his own rebound past Mason to make it 2-0.

“You give that team a two-goal lead in the first period and you cant expect to come back,” Boll said. “We need a better effort.”

The Sharks added two more goals in each of the final two periods, with Pavelski converting from the point on the power play, McGinn knocking in a rebound for his 10th of the season and Handzus getting his first goal since Dec. 15.

Thornton, who hadnt scored in 10 consecutive games before the break, capped it for his second multigoal game of the season. The Sharks scored as many goals as they had in their previous four games combined.

“Weve been working to score some goals,” Thornton said. “Hopefully we can get some confidence from this.”

Notes

F Ryane Clowe missed his sixth consecutive game for San Jose with facial injuries but could be back Thursday. … D Jason Demers sat out with a lower-body injury. … The Sharks recalled F John McCarthy from Worcester of the AHL. … This was a milestone game for San Jose D Dan Boyle (800th career game), Brent Burns (500th) and Douglas Murray (400th), as well as Mason (200th).

The Los Angeles Kings are returning from the All-Star break hoping the time off hasnt hampered their momentum – particularly on offense.

The Kings look to re-establish their success against the Blue Jackets when they conclude this four-game homestand on Wednesday night.

Los Angeles (24-16-10) is in the thick of the Pacific Division race, despite scoring an NHL-low 111 goals.

Those scoring issues have put a great deal of pressure on All-Star goaltender Jonathan Quick, who leads the league with six shutouts and is among the leaders with a 1.93 goals-against average.

While consistent scoring continues to be an issue for the Kings, theyve lost just twice in regulation over the last 18 games (10-2-6) while averaging 2.2 goals. One of those regulation defeats was a 1-0 loss to Columbus (13-31-6) on Jan. 7.

Los Angeles has scored at least three goals in five of eight games since, including a 4-1 win over Ottawa on Jan. 23 before entering the break.

“Were going to have some games where we score in bunches, and were going to have games where we have to battle it out,” said Quick, who is 9-2-5 with a 1.51 GAA and two shutouts over his last 16 games.

Quick has split six home decisions against the Blue Jackets, compiling a 2.03 GAA with one shutout.

The Kings have won seven of nine versus Columbus, which is 5-18-3 on the road, including six consecutive losses.

Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles leader with 15 goals and 44 points, has 11 goals and 11 assists in 17 meetings with the Blue Jackets. He was held without a point on Jan. 7, ending his 10-game point streak in the series.

Kopitar will look to re-establish that success against Columbus after getting one point in the last three games.

Drew Doughty will try to build on his two assists against the Senators. He has 15 points in 14 career meetings with the Blue Jackets – nine in seven contests at Staples Center.

The Blue Jackets looked every bit like the leagues worst team Tuesday, falling 6-0 at San Jose for their fifth straight loss.

“Three of those goals were self-inflicted,” interim coach Todd Richards said. “We had control of the puck and they took it away from us and scored. We made it harder on ourselves with poor puck management. … Clearly, we were not good enough. Not enough guys doing the right things for us to have success.”

They dropped a season-high six in a row from Dec. 15-27.

Rick Nash leads Columbus with 17 goals, but has just one in six games. The left wing hasnt found the net in three games against Los Angeles after collecting five goals and two assists in the previous three meetings.

Nashs minus-22 rating is among the worst in the NHL.

Grant Clitsome is a minus-11, and the defensemans only goal in 28 games was the lone tally in the last meeting with the Kings.

PHILADELPHIA — Bryan Little had the only goal during a shootout, lifting the Winnipeg Jets to a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.

The Jets have won six straight games in Philadelphia, including four when they were the Atlanta Thrashers, since a 5-3 loss on Jan. 21, 2009. The franchise has beaten the Flyers in nine of the last 10 meetings.

Chris Thorburn scored his first goal in nearly a year for Winnipegs lone tally in regulation.

Brayden Schenn scored for Philadelphia in the first period. The Flyers have gone to a shootout in three straight games, winning one.

Ondrej Pavelec stopped Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux and Jaromir Jagr in the shootout.

Ilya Bryzgalov had allowed goals on all five shootout attempts hed faced before stopping Kyle Wellwood and Blake Wheeler. But Little slid one under Bryzgalovs pads to win it.

The teams combined for 27 goals in their two previous meetings, including Winnipegs 9-8 victory at the Wells Fargo Center on Oct. 27. But this was hardly the same. Neither club registered a shot until the Jets took one on Bryzgalov 10:36 into the first.

The victory was Winnipegs fourth in 13 games since the calendar turned to 2012.

Pavelec stuffed All-Star Scott Hartnell on a 2-on-1 breakaway to keep it 1-all with 8:38 left in the third period, and it stayed tied the rest of the way.

Schenn gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead with 4:49 left in the first period when he scored his fourth goal of the season during a power play. Matt Carle took a crossing pass from Jagr and fired a shot at Pavelec. The rebound bounced in front and Schenn took a few whacks at it until it slid between Pavelecs pads.

The Flyers nearly went up 2-0 a minute later, but Pavelec made a glove save on a point-blank shot by Couturier.

Winnipeg tied it when Thorburn scored his first goal in 60 games early in the second period. Thorburns wrister from the slot sailed past Bryzgalov for his first goal since March 19, 2011, against Buffalo.

Jagr almost put the Flyers back ahead a few minutes later, but his one-timer hit the crossbar.

Notes

Jagr was back in the lineup after missing two games with a groin injury. … The Flyers are 30-10-7 against Winnipeg/Atlanta since it joined the NHL in 1999. They were 29-3-1 against the franchise from 1999-2009. … The Flyers fell to 11-8-3 at home. … Giroux, who entered the game second in the NHL in points, hasnt scored a goal in 12 games. … Thorburn followed his goal with a spirited fight against Tom Sestito in the third period. … The Flyers are 1-7-3 against the Winnipeg franchise since a 14-game winning streak from 2003-09.

TAMPA, Fla. — Steven Stamkos scored his NHL-leading 33rd goal at 2:45 of overtime, giving the Tampa Bay Lightning a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.

Martin St. Louis had a second-period goal and assisted on the game-winner, sending a point-blank shot off goalie Tomas Vokouns pads and giving Stamkos an opportunity to tap in the rebound. The sequence began with Tampa Bay goalie Mathieu Garon stopping two shots at the other end of the ice.

Matt Hendricks, Mathieu Perreault and Troy Brouwer scored for the Capitals, who rallied from a two-goal deficit to force overtime despite playing without suspended star Alex Ovechkin.

Garon finished with 26 saves, two of them in the extra period with routine stops on shots by Brouwer and Brooks Laich – the latter winding up with St. Louis, who skated up the right side before crossing in front of Vokoun, who earlier in overtime made a diving glove save on Vincent Lecavalier.

This time, the puck bounced off the goalies pads and Stamkos, who had an assist on Tampa Bays first goal of the night, sealed the Lightnings season-best fifth straight win. Vokoun stopped 27 of 31 shots.

The Capitals played without Ovechkin, whos serving a three-game suspension for a hit on Pittsburghs Zbynek Michalek. The star left wing also sat out his teams final game before the All-Star break — a 5-3 victory over Boston — and will miss Wednesday nights game at Florida before being eligible to return at Montreal on Saturday.

Washington also was without center Nicklas Backstrom, who has missed 11 games since being elbowed in the head and is out indefinitely.

The Lightning winning streak follows a season-high seven-game skid that dropped Tampa Bay to last place in the Eastern Conference. St. Louis extended his points streak to seven games and Stamkos goal and assist on Teddy Purcells first-period goal gave the Tampa Bay All-Star 24 points over his last 20 games.

Hendricks gave Washington a 1-0 lead when he whiffed on a shot only to recover by spinning around to lift a backhander past Garon. Purcell countered less than two minutes later, and St. Louis put the Lightning ahead when he took advantage of Washington defenseman Roman Hamrlik falling down to skate in on Vokoun to slip the puck between the goalies legs.

Tampa Bays Nate Thompson made it 3-1 in the third period, then helped Washington back into the game when Perreault centered the puck from behind the net and Thompson inadvertently tipped it into the net. Perreault, who had first career hat trick in last weeks win over Boston, was credited with his eighth goal of the season, pulling the Capitals to 3-2.

Brouwers unassisted goal made it 3-3 with just over 14 minutes remaining in the third period.

Notes

Lightning founder and broadcaster Phil Esposito issued a statement, thanking the “hockey fraternity,” as well as the Tampa Bay community for “thoughts, prayers and well wishes” following the death of one of his daughters in Germany. The team said Carrie Esposito Selivanov died Monday after suffering from an illness. She was married to former Lightning star Alex Selivanov. Private funeral services are planned this week in Germany. … The Capitals fell to 8-14-2 on the road, including 4-7-2 under coach Dale Hunter. … Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman played after missing 13 games because of a concussion. Forwards Ryan Shannon (knee), J.T. Wyman (hand) and Tom Pyatt (leg) also returned from injuries.