Boston's Brad Marchand blasted a hat trick as the Bruins thrashed the Florida Panthers 8-0 at the TD Garden Friday. The victory was the sixth in a row for last season's Stanley Cup champion since it lost 2-0 to the Panthers two weeks ago. The Bruins, which lead the Northeast division, also claimed top spot in the Eastern Conference after the Philadelphia Flyers lost 4-2 to the New York Rangers. “One thing I said to them is we've gone from 15th to first in less than two months, and they deserve a lot of credit for that,” Bruins coach Claude Julien told reporters. The Panthers, who were missing a number of starters including Stephen Weiss, still have a comfortable lead in the Southeast despite a run of three consecutive losses. Maple Leafs 5, Islanders 3: Clarke MacArthur scored a goal and added an assist, and James Reimer stopped 30 shots to lead visiting Toronto past the Islanders. Nazem Kadri, Carl Gunnarsson, Joey Crabb and Joffrey Lupul also scored for the Maple Leafs. Kyle Okposo, Franz Neilsen and John Tavares scored for the Islanders in their second straight loss. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves. Devils 4, Capitals 3: Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias scored in the shootout and Martin Brodeur made an outstanding glove save on Alex Ovechkin as the host Devils won after blowing a three-goal lead. Kovalchuk had a goal and an assist in regulation, and Alexander Urbom and Adam Henrique scored the other goals for the Devils. Jason Chimera scored twice and Brooks Laich once for Washington in the third period. Hurricanes 2, Senators 1: Tuomo Ruutu tipped in Jay Harrison's slap shot in overtime to lift Carolina over visiting Ottawa. Andreas Nodl also scored, and Cam Ward made 22 saves for the Hurricanes. Ottawa's Craig Anderson stopped 36 shots. Penguins 4, Jets 1: James Neal, Jordan Staal and Pascal Dupuis scored in the third period as Pittsburgh won at Winnipeg. Alex Burmistrov scored the only goal for the Jets, who managed just 19 shots on Marc-Andre Fleury. Stars 6, Predators: 3 First-period goals by Vernon Fiddler, Loui Eriksson and Steve Ott propelled Dallas to a victory at home against Nashville. The rookie goalie Richard Bachman made 34 saves for the Stars. Avalanche 2, Lightning 1: Matt Duchene's goal 3 minutes 38 seconds into overtime carried host Colorado past Tampa Bay. Pavel Kubina scored in the first period for the Lightning and Ryan O'Reilly scored in the second for the Avalanche. Blues 3, Coyotes 2: Alexander Steen, Matt D'Agostini and Jason Arnott scored for St. Louis in a win at Phoenix. Brian Elliott had 24 saves for the Blues. Other results: San Jose 2, Los Angeles 1 (SO); NY Rangers 4, Philadelphia 2; Calgary 3, Vancouver 1.
