SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Joe Thornton scored the go-ahead goal with 12:19 to play, and the NHL-leading San Jose Sharks shook off a terrible start to earn their ninth straight victory, 3-2 over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

Captain Patrick Marleau scored and Jeremy Roenick added his second goal in 26 games for the Sharks, 14-0-1 at home. San Jose survived an early deficit and an unusually sluggish performance with a stellar effort from Evgeni Nabokov, who stopped 29 shots while bailing out his teammates several times.

Penguins 5, Hurricanes 2

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Petr Sykora scored two goals, Sidney Crosby had four assists and Pittsburgh spoiled Paul Maurice's first game in his second Carolina coaching stint.

Pascal Dupuis scored an early goal and NHL scoring leader Evgeni Malkin added two assists, even as his NHL lead over Crosby dwindled to two. Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko also scored, and Dany Sabourin made 34 saves.

Canadiens 6, Rangers 2

MONTREAL (AP) -- Steve Begin and Maxim Lapierre each had a goal and an assist and Montreal celebrated its 99th birthday with a victory.

Andrei Kositsyn, Alex Tanguay, Robert Lang and Matt D'Agostini also scored to help the Canadiens improve to 3-0 on their franchise-record seven-game homestand.

Red Wings 6, Canucks 5

DETROIT (AP) -- Jiri Hudler and Dan Cleary each scored twice and Detroit broke a tie with a three-goal outburst early in the third period.

Nicklas Lidstrom added a goal and two assists, Derek Meech scored his first career goal for Detroit, and Chris Osgood made 20 saves.

Capitals 5, Islanders 2

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Brashear scored his first goal of the season with 13:10 left to snap a tie for Washington.

Brashear, a rugged winger known more for his fighting than his skating, had gone 37 games without a goal before giving Washington a 3-2 lead.

Eric Fehr added a power-play goal with 3:46 to go, and Nicklas Backstrom scored into an empty net with 50 seconds remaining. Alex Ovechkin had a goal and two assists, and Viktor Kozlov also scored. Mark Streit and Trent Hunter scored for New York.

Devils 3, Panthers 2, OT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Patrik Elias scored the tying and winning goals for New Jersey.

Elias scored the winner at 2:46 of the extra period. He stole the puck in the slot, split two defenders and then put a backhander through goalie Martin Biron's pads.

Bruins 3, Lightning 1

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- David Krejci scored the tiebreaking short-handed goal in the third period for Northeast Division-leading Boston.

Phil Kessel had two goals, including an empty-netter with less than second remaining, for the Bruins, who are 12-1-1 since the start of November. Tim Thomas made 30 saves to improve to 7-1-1 in his last nine starts.

Panthers 2, Sabres 1

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- Craig Anderson made 45 saves, and Gregory Campbell and Keith Ballard scored 35 seconds apart in the second period for Florida.

Campbell scored for the third consecutive game and also had an assist for the Panthers. Florida has won three in a row and is 4-0-2 in its last six.

Predators 3, Avalanche 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Vernon Fiddler, Shea Weber and David Legwand scored first-period goals, and Pekka Rinne made 19 saves for Nashville.

Ryan Smyth and Wojtek Wolski had first-period scored goals for Colorado.

Coyotes 6, Maple Leafs 3

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Martin Hanzal had his first three-goal game in the NHL, and Steven Reinprecht added a pair of third-period goals for Phoenix.

Todd Fedoruk also scored, and Derek Morris and Ed Jovanovski each added a pair of assists for Phoenix. The Coyotes have won four of their last five. Alexei Ponikarovsky scored twice, and Jason Blake had a goal and two assists for Toronto.