The Nashville Predators made the best of the opportunities they created against Montreal, with the top defense pairing of Shea Weber and Roman Josi scoring the game's first two goals and goalie Pekka Rinne making the lead stick in a 5-1 win. Islanders 5, Ducks 2: The New York Islanders scored three first-period goals and went on to end a three-game losing streak by beating the Anaheim Ducks 5-2 at Barclays Center. Cal Clutterbuck, Travis Hamonic and Brock Nelson scored in the first for the Islanders, who produced a total of three goals in their previous three games. Capitals 2, Hurricanes 1: Capitals goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves as Washington continued their strong run by defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 at PNC Arena. Michael Latta and Jason Chimera scored for the Capitals (25-6-2), who won their sixth straight game. Flyers 4, Blues 3: The Philadelphia Flyers will enjoy their holiday break after completing a furious rally to beat the St. Louis Blues 4-3 at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers (15-12-7) trailed 3-0 midway through the second period before ripping off four unanswered goals to improve to 8-2-2 in their past 12 games. Penguins 5, Blue Jackets 2: Penguins winger Phil Kessel ended a scoring slump with two goals, Evgeni Malkin had two more and Pittsburgh halted a five-game losing streak by beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 to give new coach Mike Sullivan his first win. Malkin started a four-goal second period with a goal, then added his fifth in six games by scoring in the final two minutes. Rookie goaltender Matt Martin stopped 22 shots for his first NHL win as the Penguins won for only the second time in nine games. Stars 6, Wild 3: Trailing by a pair of goals early, the Stars stormed back for a 6-3 victory over the Wild. It was the second time this season Dallas won in Minnesota after falling behind by two or more goals in the game. Maple Leafs 7, Avalanche 4: Tyler Bozak had a hat trick in the third period, and the Toronto Maple Leafs broke open a tied game with four goals in the last 20 minutes to beat the Colorado Avalanche 7-4. Leo Komarov had two goals and an assist, and winger James van Riemsdyk added a goal and two assists for Toronto (12-13-7). Defenseman Jake Gardiner had four assists. Oilers 3, Jets 1: Teddy Purcell had two goals and added an assist to lead the Edmonton Oilers to a 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Justin Schultz also recorded a goal and Cam Talbot made 44 saves for the Oilers (15-18-2), who snapped a three-game losing skid and won their seventh in a row at home. Bryan Little scored for the Jets (15-16-2), who have lost three of their last four.
