It was a great night of rivalries in the NHL on Tuesday, including a classic original six tilt in Boston, where the Bruins pulled out a 3-1 win over Montreal. Tim Thomas stopped 34-of-35 shots, and even inserted himself into the rough stuff when he clobbered Montreal's Andrei Kostitsyn just moments after he sent Aaron Ward into the boards.
Kostitsyn gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead early in the second period, until Zdeno Chara added a pair of power play goals later in the period. David Krejci put the game out of reach late in the third period, scoring 17th goal of the season, helping lead the Bruins to their third straight win. Montreal had won four in a row, and eight of its past nine entering the game.
Penguins 4, Flyers 2: The Penguins needed a game like this. In news that should be as shocking as the sun rising in the east, Michel Therrien juggled the Penguins lines before the game, using Matt Cooke on the top line with Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. Hey, it worked, as Cooke scored a goal helping lead the Penguins to a 4-2 win. Jordan Staal scored in his third consecutive game since signing his new four-year contract, while Malkin and Tyler Kennedy also potted goals in the win.
Rangers 2, Islanders 1: The Islanders lost Joey MacDonald to injury in the first period -- hello, John Tavares -- while Yann Danis came off the bench and surrendered a pair of second period goals to Nigel Dawes and Chris Drury, as the Rangers pulled out a 2-1 win on Long Island.
Blue Jackets 4, Avalanche 3: Columbus scored three third period goals on its way to a 4-3 win over Colorado, as the Blue Jackets won their third straight game and seventh in their past nine. With the win, Columbus jumps back over Colorado into the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference.
Predators 2, Maple Leafs 0: Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne only had to face 17 shots on Tuesday, and he turned all 17 aside to pick up his fourth shutout of the season, as Nashville pulled out a 2-0 win in Toronto. Radek Bonk scored the game-winning goal at the 5:33 mark of the third period, while David Legwand added his 10th goal of the season later in the period. Steve Sullivan picked up his first point of the season for Nashville, assisting on Bonk's power play goal. Sullivan logged 11:50 of ice-time in his second game back in the lineup for the Predators.
Senators 5, Hurricanes 1: Ottawa snapped a five-game losing streak on Tuesday with a 5-1 win over Carolina. Antoine Vermette picked up a goal and an assist, while Dany Heatley, Dean McAmmond, Mike Fisher and Chris Phillips also scored for Ottawa.
Oilers 5, Capitals 2: Erik Cole recorded a hat trick for Edmonton it its 5-2 win in Washington on Tuesday, while Dwayne Roloson turned aside 34 shots. Washington has now lost three games in a row
Wild 6, Coyotes 3: Six goals for the Wild? In one game? Insanity! Entering play on Tuesday, Minnesota had scored six goals in its previous four games combined.
Flames 3, Blues 1: Michael Cammalleri scored a pair of goals while Miika Kiprusoff made 27 saves in Calgary's 3-1 win over St. Louis.
Devils 5, Canucks 3: Vancouver has now lost five of its past six games, thanks to a 5-3 loss against the Devils on Tuesday. The Canucks trailed 4-1 late in the third period, before narrowing the gap to just one goal with scores from Pavol Demitra and Steve Bernier. Dainius Zubrus added an empty-netter for New Jersey with just under 40 seconds to play in regulation. Mats Sundin picked up an assist for Vancouver.
Sharks 7, Lightning 1: There were some rumors floating around the Internets on Tuesday afternoon that Vincent Lecavalier was going to be out of the lineup against San Jose, which would have sent trade rumors into meltdown mode. As it turns out, Lecavalier was in the lineup for Tampa Bay and, frankly, it didn't make much of a difference as the Lightning were pounded, 7-1, by San Jose.
