Newsmakers in the NHL: Fight Night in Montreal, Leafs Get Blown Out

Brian Burke's acquisition of tough-guy Brad May helped add to some of the intensity and entertainment value in Thursday's Montreal-Toronto game, as the two teams beat the snot out of one other physically, while the Canadiens dominated on the scoreboard, pulling out a 6-2 win. The victory for Montreal is its third in a row, and eighth in its past 10 games.

We've already talked about the penalties and wrestling matches between Mikhail Grabovski and a linesman, so let's talk about the game itself. The Canadiens jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first period, thanks to goals from Sergei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse. Jaroslav Halak, making his fourth straight start in goal for Montreal, turned aside 30 shots to pick up his eighth win of the season.

Bruins 6, Senators 4: Boston snapped a brief two-game losing skid on Thursday night with a 6-4 win over Ottawa. The Bruins let a 3-1 lead slip away late in the second period, and then scored three consecutive goals of their own in the third, as Ottawa goalie Martin Gerber had a rather forgettable start in goal, stopping only 16 of 21 shots. Marc Savard scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, while also adding two assists.

Thrashers 4, Devils 0: Losing 4-0 at home to Atlanta is never a good thing. Ilya Kovalchuk, Colby Armstrong, Marty Reasoner and Jim Slater all scored for the Thrashers, while Kari Lehtonen made 29 saves to pick up his first shutout of the season.

Flyers 3. Wild 1: Mike Knuble's power play goal at the 5:10 mark of the third period proved to be the game-winner for the Flyers, as they picked up a 3-1 win over Minnesota. Scott Hartnell and Scottie Upshall also tallied goals for Philadelphia, while Martin Biron made 29 saves in the win. Minnesota has scored more than two goals just once in its past six games.

Red Wings 6, Stars 1: Total domination. Detroit won its fifth straight game, thanks to a 6-1 victory over Dallas at Joe Louis Arena. Marian Hossa, Daniel Cleary, Pavel Datsyuk, Kirk Maltby, Tomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetterberg all picked up goals in the win, while Chris Osgood stopped 22-of-23 shots in net.

Panthers 4, Hurricanes 2: Florida scored three third period goals to pull out a 4-2 win over the Hurricanes, winning for the third time in its past four games. Nathan Horton, Gregory Campbell, David Booth and Jay Bouwmeester all scored goals for the Panthers, who continue to hang around in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Speaking of Bouwmeester, it's long been assumed that since he's an unrestricted free agent following this season that he's going to be shipped out prior to the deadline. But what if the Panthers continue to hang around the No. 8 spot in the conference? Do they still deal him? Can they? Will they hang around long enough for it to matter?

Predators 5, Penguins 3: The Penguins jumped out to a 3-0 lead midway through the second period, and then all of a sudden it all fell apart for them, as the Predators roared back with five consecutive goals to pull out a 5-3 win. Nashville lifted Dan Ellis in favor of Pekka Rinne after he gave up two goals on seven shots, and while Rinne gave up a goal on the first shot he faced, he managed to turn aside 16 consecutive shots to close out the game, earning the win. Nashville snaps a five-game losing streak, while the Penguins have not won back-to-back games since the middle of November. Jordan Staal, fresh off his new contract extension, scored a goal, though, he received some help as a Nashville clearing attempt bounced off a Predators defenseman resulting in the goal. Staal, as the most recent Penguin to possess the puck, was awarded the goal.

Coyotes 3, Lightning 2: When Tampa Bay acquired Andrej Meszaros earlier this season, Lightning management had high expectations for the 23-year old defenseman, and thus far, the return has been less than stellar. He finally scored his first goal of the season on Thursday -- after 40 games -- and it still wasn't enough, as Tampa Bay dropped a 3-2 contest in Phoenix. Kyle Turris scored the game-winner at the 8:09 mark of the third period, his sixth goal of the season.

Avalanche 2, Blackhawks 1: Andrew Raycroft made 43 saves to help lead Colorado to a 2-1 win over Chicago. Brian Campbell scored the Blackhawks lone goal, while Ryan Smyth and Wojtek Wolski provided the offense for the Avalanche.

Flames 5, Islanders 2: Oh, those Islanders. With their 5-2 loss in Calgary on Thursday, the Islanders have now dropped 19 of their past 22 games. Time to start keeping track of John Tavares. Daymond Langkow provided three points for the Flames, while Miika Kiprusoff made 24 saves.

Kings 4, Ducks 3: The Kings let a 3-0 lead slip away thanks to Bobby Ryan's hat trick -- and his third goal was incredible -- but Alexander Frolov ended up scoring the game-winner for Los Angeles with his 17th goal of the season at the 7:43 mark of the third period. The Ducks were trailing 3-1 entering the third, until Ryan scored a pair of goals in just under two minutes, tying the game. Jonathan Quick made 24 saves to earn his fourth win of the season in net for the Kings.