NHL Capsules

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Tomas Vokoun stopped 28 shots for his 49th NHL shutout, and the Pittsburgh Penguins scored on the first shot of the first and third periods in a 3-0 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

Evgeni Malkin gave the Penguins the lead just 1:24 in, James Neal added a power-play goal 28 seconds into the third — after another costly too many men on the ice penalty for the Rangers — and Simon Despres netted his second NHL goal to give Pittsburgh (4-3) its second win in five games.

Malkin added an assist, as did captain Sidney Crosby, on Neal's goal. Pittsburgh is winless at home but 4-1 on the road. The Penguins have two wins in New York this season, one fewer than the host Rangers (3-4), who had won three of four overall.

New York struggled to generate offence in its first game without captain Ryan Callahan, expected to be sidelined 10-14 games by a shoulder injury sustained Tuesday in a win against Philadelphia.

SHARKS 3, OILERS 2, SO

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Michal Handzus and Dan Boyle scored in the shootout to help San Jose beat Edmonton, extending the best start in franchise history with its seventh straight win.

Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski scored unassisted goals off turnovers 39 seconds apart in the second period against Devan Dubnyk to break open a scoreless game. Antti Niemi made 26 saves as the Sharks remained the only unbeaten team in the NHL.

San Gagner scored in the second period and Taylor Hall tied it in the opening minute of the third for the Oilers, who had won two straight. Dubnyk made 36 saves, including seven in an overtime that included a San Jose power play.

PREDATORS 2, KINGS 1, SO

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sergei Kostitsyn scored in the eighth shootout round and Nashville snapped its three-game skid with a victory over Los Angeles.

Pekka Rinne made 23 saves and stopped five of Los Angeles' eight shootout attempts as the Predators overcame a weak offensive performance thanks to their Finnish goalie's sturdiness and a timely shot by Kostitsyn, who finally ended the long shootout.

Dustin Brown scored his first goal of the season for the Stanley Cup champions, who are off to a 2-2-2 start.

Jonathan Quick stopped 13 shots for the Kings, whose NHL-worst power play went 1 for 6 while Nashville and Los Angeles slogged through a largely dull game between two of the NHL's lowest-scoring teams.

Brandon Yip scored in the opening minute of the Predators' fifth stop on a seven-game trip.

SABRES 7, BRUINS 4

BOSTON (AP) — Thomas Vanek had three goals and two assists, setting up the tiebreaking score with 13:06 left in the third period to lead Buffalo over Boston.

Vanek opened the scoring 98 seconds into the game, then had a goal and an assist to tie it after Boston took a 3-1 lead in the second. The Bruins went up 4-3 in the third before Alexander Sulzer tied it, and then Vanek helped give the Sabres the lead with a pass to Cody Hodgson for the game-winner.

Ryan Miller made 38 saves for Buffalo, which ended a four-game winless streak. Tuukka Rask stopped 25 shots for the Bruins.

Vanek completed his eighth career hat trick with 1:31 left. He has 54 points in 46 career games against the Bruins.

Brad Marchand scored two goals and Rich Peverley and David Krejci had one apiece for Boston (5-1-1), which was trying to equal the best start in franchise history.

ISLANDERS 5, DEVILS 4, OT

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Brad Boyes scored a power-play goal on a rebound at 2:01 of overtime and New York handed New Jersey its third straight loss in overtime.

John Tavaras scored twice, and Keith Aucoin and Mark Streit once for the Islanders, who avenged an opening-night loss to the Devils. Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves, including a big one on an early Devils power play in overtime.

Adam Henrique, Steve Bernier, Ryan Carter and Henrik Tallinder scored for the Devils, who three times rallied to tie it. Martin Brodeur made 30 saves but had the puck stolen from him by Boyes, setting up the game-winner.

BLUES 4, BLUE JACKETS 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Barret Jackman, Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Tarasenko each scored in the opening 14 minutes, Brian Elliott made 24 saves and St. Louis beat Columbus for its fourth straight victory.

David Backes, who also had an assist, added an empty-net goal. T.J. Oshie had two assists.

Derick Brassard scored for the Blue Jackets, who couldn't overcome the early blitz. Steve Mason replaced Sergei Bobrovsky after the early goals and stopped all 14 shots he faced.

MAPLE LEAFS 3, CAPITALS 2

TORONTO (AP) — Nikolai Kulemin and Matt Frattin scored third-period goals to rally Toronto past struggling Washington for its first home win of the season.

Kulemin tied it 2-all at 7:40 of the third, poking in a puck that squeezed through goalie Michal Neuvirth's legs following Michael Kostka's shot from the point. Frattin made it 3-2, capping a nice passing play with Nazem Kadri at 9:53 by tapping in the puck for his fourth goal — and sixth point — in four games.

James van Riemsdyk also scored for the Maple Leafs (4-3-0), who outshot Washington 40-22.

Alex Ovechkin and Joel Ward had goals for the Capitals (1-5-1), winless on the road.

PANTHERS 6, JETS 3

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Alex Kovalev scored the go-ahead goal during Florida's five-goal outburst in the third period, helping the Panthers rally for a victory over Winnipeg.

Kris Versteeg, Peter Mueller, Jonathan Huberdeau and Tomas Kopecky also scored in the final frame for the Panthers, who had four unanswered goals in the final 8:40 after falling behind 3-2. Brian Campbell also scored and Jose Theodore stopped 21 shots to help Florida snap a five-game losing streak with its first win since the season opener on Jan. 19.

Tobias Enstrom, Olli Jokinen and Grant Clitsome scored as the Jets dropped their second in a row following a three-game win streak. Ondrej Pavelev had 28 saves for Winnipeg.

AVALANCHE 6, FLAMES 3

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Paul Stastny scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the third period, to lead Colorado over Calgary.

John Mitchell and P.A. Parenteau each had two goals and an assist for the Avalanche, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Matt Duchene and Jamie McGinn both added a pair of assists.

Jiri Hudler had two goals and an assist for the Flames, who hadn't played since beating Edmonton at home last Saturday. Alex Tanguay had the other goal for Calgary, while Matt Stajan added two assists.

In his first start this season for the Avalanche, Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 25 saves to earn the win.