Rick Nash scored the winning shootout goal and also had a goal in regulation, and Mathieu Garon stopped both Anaheim shooters in the tiebreaker to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 3-2 victory.
Kristian Huselius also scored in the shootout and had a goal and an assist for host Columbus, which rebounded from a 9-1 loss against Detroit Wednesday night -- the worst home loss in franchise history.
Antoine Vermette added two assists and backup Garon stepped in for Steve Mason and stopped 32 shots to win in his first home start as his record improved to 3-1.
Bobby Ryan and Todd Marchant scored for Anaheim, which has lost four games in a row on the road. Ryan Getzlaf had two assists, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 27 saves in his first start since Oct. 24.
In the shootout, Nash lost his balance but still was able to roof a shot over Giguere while leaning back on one leg.
Capitals 3, Wild 1: Brian Pothier scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and host Washington won their fourth game in a row without Alex Ovechkin, beating Minnesota. The NHL's highest-scoring team nearly was thwarted by a backup goalie who more than doubled his save total for the entire season, but Pothier's wrister from the left circle 2 minutes into the final period hit just inside the far post to beat Josh Harding, who was screened on the play. Mike Green scored in the second period for the Capitals, Brooks Laich added an empty-net goal in the final minute, and Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves.
Islanders 4, Hurricanes 3: Kyle Okposo scored with 14.4 seconds left in overtime, and rookie John Tavares had the first two-goal game of his brief NHL career to help New York beat host Carolina, extending the Hurricanes' winless streak to 14 games. Mark Streit added a goal, and Martin Biron made 26 saves for New York.
Thrashers 7, Kings 0: Ilya Kovalchuk and Maxim Afinogenov each had two goals and two assists to help Atlanta beat visiting Los Angeles for its third straight victory. Thrashers rookie Evander Kane, the fourth overall draft pick, also scored two goals and had an assist. His fifth goal made it 1-0 at the 10:22 mark of the second. His sixth was a short-handed goal that ended the scoring with 3:26 remaining.
Sabres 2, Flames 1: Jason Pominville scored the winner in the fourth round of the shootout and Ryan Miller made 25 saves to help host Buffalo beat Calgary, snapping the Flames' winning streak at four games. Derek Roy scored in regulation for the Sabres (11-4-1), who won for the seventh time in 10 home games this season.
Blackhawks 3, Maple Leafs 2: Patrick Kane got Chicago started with an early unassisted goal, and the host Blackhawks held on after building a three-goal lead to beat Toronto for their third consecutive win.
Washington Capitals right wing Mike Knuble has a broken finger and will be sidelined three to four weeks.
Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.