Bruins Win 9th Straight Against Penguins

Phil Kessel and Chris Mason helped the Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators beat teams they've dominated for a while. <br/><br/>Kessel scored the winning goal in the shootout to give Boston a 5-4

Friday, January 19th 2007, 6:28 am

By: News On 6

Phil Kessel and Chris Mason helped the Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators beat teams they've dominated for a while.

Kessel scored the winning goal in the shootout to give Boston a 5-4 victory over Pittsburgh on Thursday night for the Bruins' ninth straight victory over the Penguins. Kessel, who had two goals in a loss at Buffalo the previous night, was in his sixth game back after missing nearly a month following surgery for testicular cancer.

``He is a great player _ fast and has a great shot,'' Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby said. ``I know he's been through a lot of adversity, so that says a lot about his character.''

Pittsburgh's last win against Boston came on Nov. 1, 2003, and its last win in Boston was Feb. 8, 2003.

Mason made 33 saves for a career-high and franchise-record fifth shutout this season, and David Legwand and Paul Kariya each had a goal and an assist as the Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0.

``I guess that's pretty cool, but it's definitely one that's going to be broken,'' Mason said of his record. ``I guess it's cool to get it, and I honestly just wanted to win. That's really all that mattered.''

Steve Sullivan and Martin Erat also scored for Nashville, which beat Columbus for the third time in seven days and the sixth time in six games this season. The teams have two more scheduled matchups left.

In other NHL games Thursday night, it was: Montreal 4, Atlanta 1; Washington 5, Carolina 2; the New York Islanders 4, Philadelphia 2; Vancouver 2, Ottawa 1; Toronto 3, Florida 2; Tampa Bay 3, New Jersey 2 in a shootout; Edmonton 4, Anaheim 1; San Jose 5, Phoenix 2; and St. Louis 3, Los Angeles 1.

Boston goalie Hannu Toivonen recovered from a shaky first two periods to record his first win since Oct. 19 against Calgary. Toivonen allowed four goals on 21 shots through two periods before saving all 12 shots in the third and two in overtime.

After allowing Erik Christensen to score on Pittsburgh's first shootout attempt, Toivonen stopped Evgeni Malkin, Crosby and Sergei Gonchar to set the stage for Kessel.

``I thought it was the right moment, the stage was set,'' Boston coach Dave Lewis said. ``I had a lot of choices, so I can't take credit.''

Kessel faked left and went right to beat Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and lead the Bruins to just their third win in 10 games. Glen Murray, Brad Stuart and Marco Sturm also scored in regulation for Boston.

Malkin _ who leads NHL rookies in goals and points _ had two goals, Jordan Staal added a goal and an assist, and Ryan Malone also scored for the Penguins.

At Nashville, Tenn., Mason's strong play combined with the return of starting goalie Tomas Vokoun after a 21-game absence due to a torn tendon and broken bone in his left thumb is making it tough for coach Barry Trotz to decide which goalie to start against Chicago on Saturday night in the Predators' finale before the All-Star break.

``I don't have any concerns about Tomas' game,'' Trotz said. ``He's going to get that going, and there's a reason he's an elite goaltender in this league. He's mature. He expects that of himself. We expect that of him. When Mase is in, he expects to play well for us, and we expect that.''

With their NHL-best 33rd victory, the Predators moved atop the league for the first time in the franchise's eighth season, one point ahead of Anaheim and Buffalo.

Islanders 4, Flyers 2

Mike Sillinger and Andy Hilbert scored 1:18 apart early in the third period to help visiting New York snap a three-game losing streak and hand Philadelphia its seventh straight loss.

Randy Robitaille and Jason Blake also scored for the Islanders, who had dropped nine of 11.

Canadiens 4, Thrashers 1

Montreal broke out of its scoring slump after back-to-back shutouts and All-Star Cristobal Huet made 44 saves to help the visiting Canadiens win for the fifth time in 14 games.

Sheldon Souray, Tomas Plekanec and Sergei Samsonov scored in a span of 6:40 in the second period to lead Montreal.

Capitals 5, Hurricanes 2

Alexander Semin and Chris Clark score two goals apiece to help Washington snap a six-game road losing streak.

Olaf Kolzig had 34 saves for his 260th career win, tying Gilles Meloche for 30th place on the career list. Clark and Alex Ovechkin scored empty-netters in the final minute to secure the Capitals' win.

Canucks 2, Senators 1

Roberto Luongo made 34 saves, Rory Fitzpatrick scored his first goal of the season and Vancouver won its third straight to end host Ottawa's season-high five-game winning streak.

Taylor Pyatt added a goal and an assist for the Canucks.

Daniel Alfredsson scored 8:13 into the third to end Luongo's scoreless streak at 154 minutes, 42 seconds.

Maple Leafs 3, Panthers 2

Andrew Raycroft stopped 39 shots, and Boyd Devereaux, Chad Kilger and John Pohl scored goals to lead visiting Toronto to its third win in six games.

Gregory Campbell and Ville Peltonen scored for Florida, which lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Lightning 3, Devils 2, SO

At East Rutherford, N.J., Brad Richards scored both goals in regulation and had the only tally in the shootout to lead Tampa Bay.

Johan Holmqvist was steady throughout for the Lightning, making 25 saves in regulation, and one more in overtime before denying Zach Parise, Brian Gionta and Patrik Elias in the shootout. Tampa Bay won for the sixth time in seven games.

Jay Pandolfo and Paul Martin scored in regulation for the Devils, who had won nine of their last 11 games.

Oilers 4, Ducks 1

Ryan Smyth had two goals and an assist for host Edmonton, which won for the fourth time in six games.

Teemu Selanne had the only goal for the Ducks, 2-6-2 in their last 10.

Sharks 5, Coyotes 2

Patrick Marleau had a goal and two assists, and host San Jose got its seventh victory in eight games.

Milan Michalek, Ryane Clowe and Matt Carle also scored before Joe Thornton added an empty-netter for the Sharks, who pulled to four points behind first-place Anaheim in the Pacific Division.

Blues 3, Kings 1

Dallas Drake scored twice in a 2:32 span of the first period and St. Louis gave coach Andy Murray a victory in his return to Los Angeles.

Blues goalie Manny Legace made 34 saves against the team he broke in with in 1998-99.