Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) and the Carolina Hurricanes center Jeff Skinner (53) battle for a loose puck during the 1st period at the RBC center. James Guillory-US PRESSWIREJames Guillory
Penguins 3, Hurricanes 2
Raleigh, N.C. — Arron Asham and Pascal Dupuis scored 1:27 apart in the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins made a late defensive stand to beat the slumping Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Saturday night.
Craig Adams had a goal and an assist, and Sidney Crosby added an assist for the Penguins. They've won five of seven games since Crosby's return, and he has two goals and 10 assists in that span.
Brent Johnson stopped 30 shots to win a battle of the backups against Brian Boucher, who made 37 saves.
Jamie McBain scored two goals for the Hurricanes, who have lost six straight and 13 of 16.
Carolina had a 5-on-3 advantage for the final 2:04, but Johnson made five saves during that span —including one on Jussi Jokinen's shot off the post that trickled past him before covering it with his shoulder with 17.2 seconds left.
Rangers 4, Lightning 2
Tampa, Fla. — Derek Stepan had a tiebreaking goal and added an assist, helping the New York Rangers extend their winning streak to five with a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
Stepan, who took a shot off his left ankle in Thursday's 5-3 win over Carolina, gave New York a 3-2 lead on a low slot rebound goal with 3:19 left in the game. Brad Richards scored an empty-netter in the final minute.
The Rangers also got goals from Ruslan Fedotenko and Artem Anisimov. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 24 shots.
Steve Downie and Tom Pyatt scored for the Lightning, who have lost five of seven. Mathieu Garon made 32 saves.
It was the first meeting between the teams this season. Tampa Bay swept all four games against the Rangers last season.
Canadiens 2, Kings 1
Los Angeles — Carey Price made 26 saves, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn scored, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the short-handed Los Angeles Kings 2-1 on Saturday, ending a four-game losing streak.
Dustin Penner scored for the Kings, and Jonathan Bernier made 25 saves in his fifth start of the season.
Penner missed the previous nine games because of a broken finger and was inserted back in the lineup after Mike Richards was placed in injured reserve with a head injury that occurred in Thursday's 2-1 victory over Florida.
Defenceman Davis Drewiske played his second game of the season in place of Willie Mitchell, who sustained a lower-body injury on his first shift on Thursday.
Bruins 4, Leafs 1
Boston — Tuukka Rask stopped 21 shots and the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Saturday night to start December the same way they finished November.
Boston beat Toronto for the fourth straight time this season and the second straight game. Nathan Horton and David Krejci each had a goal and an assist for the Bruins, who have outscored their closest pursuer in the Northeast Division 23-6 this season.
Rask made his first start since the day after Thanksgiving, a 3-2 shootout loss to Detroit that was the only blemish on Boston's otherwise perfect November. He has won four of his last five, allowing a total of 9 goals.
James Reimer stopped 26 shots in his first game in the net since leaving an Oct. 22 game against Montreal with an injury that was not disclosed. He had not lost in regulation in his previous six starts.
Chris Kelly also scored for Boston, and Milan Lucic had a pair of assists. Mikhail Grabovski scored Toronto's only goal.
Capitals 3, Senators 2 (OT)
Washington — Brooks Laich scored 12 seconds into overtime to give Washington a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, the Capitals' first victory under new coach Dale Hunter.
Off the opening faceoff in overtime, Jason Chimera brought the puck down the left side, and dumped it to Laich, who was trailing the play and slid to the right of Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson for his fifth goal of the season.
Nicklas Backstrom scored less than two minutes into the game and Troy Brouwer also had a goal for the Capitals, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Hunter's first NHL victory came in his third game since replacing Bruce Boudreau on Monday.
Erik Karlsson and Milan Michalek scored for Ottawa.
Jets 4, Devils 2
Winnipeg, Manitoba — Evander Kane scored a pair of goals to lead the Winnipeg Jets over the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Saturday night.
Kane scored the Jets' first goal and added an empty-netter with 32 seconds left, Alexander Burmistrov and Mark Stuart also scored, and Bryan Little had a pair of assists.
Ondrej Pavelec, making his 23rd start of the season, turned aside 23 shots for the Jets, who won their second straight.
Adam Henrique and Patrik Elias scored, and Johan Hedberg made 16 saves for New Jersey, which has lost four in a row.