Thursday's NHL Capsules

Updated: October 23, 2014, 11:21 PM ET
Associated Press

BOSTON -- Former Bruins backup Chad Johnson stopped 30 shots, and Kyle Okposo scored the go-ahead goal in the second period to help the New York Islanders snap a two-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.

The Bruins played the last 50 minutes without captain and No. 1 defenseman Zdeno Chara, who left in the first period with an undisclosed injury.

Frans Nielsen and Cal Clutterbuck also scored for the Islanders.

Milan Lucic and Chris Kelly scored for Boston. Niklas Svedberg, making his third start as Vezina Trophy-winner Tuukka Rask got the night off, made 35 saves.

The Bruins played the Canadian national anthem and observed a moment of silence in memory of the soldier who was killed at the war memorial in Ottawa on Wednesday.

PREDATORS 3, BLACKHAWKS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- James Neal scored a natural hat trick, and Nashville edged Chicago to become the last NHL team still unbeaten in regulation this season.

The two Central Division rivals came in as the only teams yet to lose in regulation. They played into overtime six nights earlier in Chicago with the Blackhawks winning 2-1.

The Predators earned points in their seventh straight game before a sellout crowd, continuing their best start since the 2010-11 season when they got points in each of their first eight.

For Neal, it was the fifth hat trick of his career. Acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh in June, Neal has five goals in four games. Filip Forsberg had two assists.

Ben Smith and Andrew Shaw scored for Chicago.

RED WINGS 4, PENGUINS 3, OT

DETROIT -- Justin Abdelkader's goal 4:16 into overtime capped a dramatic Detroit rally, giving the Red Wings a victory over Pittsburgh.

The Red Wings scored twice with their goalie pulled in the final 2:39 of regulation, tying the game on Niklas Kronwall's goal with 38.9 seconds to play. Kronwall had two goals and an assist.

Pascal Dupuis and Olli Maatta scored in the first period for the Penguins, and Chris Kunitz added a goal in the second.

With 2:55 remaining in regulation, the Red Wings pulled goalie Jimmy Howard. The move paid off immediately when Zetterberg came down the middle and beat Greiss high to the glove side to make it 3-2.

With Howard pulled again in the final minute, Pavel Datsyuk dropped a pass to Kronwall, whose shot from the high slot tied it.

Detroit outshot Pittsburgh 31-26.

WILD 2, COYOTES 0

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves for his third shutout of the season, and defenseman Jared Spurgeon had two assists to lead Minnesota past Arizona.

Kuemper has allowed just two goals in four starts, and has all three of Minnesota's victories this season.

Arizona's Mike Smith entered the game having allowed at least four goals in each of his three starts this season. But he stopped 27 of 29 shots and blanked the Wild for all but a three-minute stretch early in the second period.

Charlie Coyle opened the scoring with his second goal of the season, and Jason Pominville made it 2-0 less than four minutes later.

Minnesota's power play woes continued, as the Wild went 0-for-3 to fall to 0-for-19 to start the season. But the Wild's penalty-killing unit maintained its strong play, blanking Arizona on two power plays. Minnesota has killed 14 of 15 penalties this season.

CANUCKS 4, BLUES 1

ST. LOUIS -- Ryan Miller was victorious in his return to St. Louis, making 31 saves, and Vancouver scored three times in the third period.

Nick Bonino, Linden Vey and Jannik Hansen all scored in the third period to help the Canucks (4-2) snap a two-game losing streak and make a winner of Miller, who signed a three-year, $18 million contract with Vancouver after the Blues opted not to re-sign him in the offseason.

The Blues fell to 2-3-1 with their second consecutive loss.

The Canucks scored just 41 seconds into the first period off a Blues turnover in the neutral zone. Alexandre Burrows' wrist shot from the left circle was knocked down by goalie Jake Allen, but Chris Higgins was there to put home the rebound for his second of the season.

The Blues tied the score with a power-play goal from Kevin Shattenkirk with 12:22 left in the second period.

Miller stopped all 15 shots he faced in the third period.


Copyright 2014 by The Associated Press

This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index

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