WASHINGTON: Sidney Crosby extended his points streak to 23 games with a goal and an assist to help the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 after a shootout in the NHL Thursday. Pascal Dupuis scored the decisive goal in the seventh round of a shootout as the Penguins took out a game that previewed the upcoming Winter Classic. Crosby, the NHL's leading scorer with 60 points on 29 goals and 31 assists in 36 games, has the NHL's longest points streak since 1992-93 when Quebec's Mats Sundin had a 30-game run. Chris Kunitz also scored to help the Penguins win their third straight. Mike Green and Mike Knuble scored in regulation for the Capitals. Lightning 4, Rangers 3, SO: In New York, Tampa Bay recovered from conceding a late equalizer to beat New York in a shootout. Rangers rookie Derek Stepan scored for the third straight game to tie the game in the third period, but New York couldn't finish off the comeback. The shootout was tied 2-2 after three rounds, and the next 15 shooters were denied until Ryan Malone won it with a drive that went in off the post. Steven Stamkos scored his 27th goal, Martin St. Louis added a goal and assist, and Vincent Lecavalier also scored for the Lightning, who won for the fifth time in six games. Ruslan Fedotenko and Alex Frolov scored 12 seconds apart in the first for New York. Blues 4, Red Wings 3: In St. Louis, Patrik Berglund broke a 10-game scoring drought with two goals, helping St. Louis edge Detroit. Berglund scored twice in 4:20 span in the first period to break a 1-1 tie. Jaroslav Halak stopped 35 shots, while Erik Johnson and Matt D'Agostini also scored for the Blues. Johan Franzen, Nicklas Lidstrom and Patrick Eaves scored for Detroit. Bruins 4, Thrashers 1: In Boston, Shawn Thornton scored twice for his career high seventh goal of the season and also had a fight in Boston's victory over Atlanta. A melee broke out late, with only the goalies sitting out the fracas as all 10 skaters on the ice went at it. Five players received game misconducts and Boston's Milan Lucic got a match penalty. Patrice Bergeron had a goal and two assists, and Michael Ryder also scored for Boston. Dustin Byfuglien scored his 13th goal of the season for Atlanta. Canucks 7, Blue Jackets 3: In Columbus, Vancouver raced to a 6-0 lead and went on to rout Columbus. Henrik Sedin had a goal and three assists to match his career high with four points. In other games it was: Sharks 4, Coyotes 1; Flames 3, Stars 2, SO; Wild 3, Avalanche 1; Canadiens 3, Hurricanes 2; Senators 2, Predators 1; Kings 3, Oilers 2, SO; Panthers 4, Sabres 3; Islanders 5, Devils 1.
