Associated Press
The NHL roundup …
ATLANTA ó Petr Sykora redirected Sidney Crosby’s slap shot on a power play with 2:40 remaining to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday night, the Penguins’ seventh win in their last eight games.
Crosby scored his seventh goal to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead 12:24 into the second period. He also was credited with a pair of assists, including his 18th on Sykora’s fourth goal of the season.
Atlanta has lost two straight following a five-game winning streak.
Blackhawks 6, Stars 3.
DALLAS ó Kris Versteeg scored the tiebreaking power-play goal with 30 seconds left in the second period, and Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 31 shots to help the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Dallas Stars 6-3.
Patrick Kane had a pair of goals for the Blackhawks, who had lost three of their previous four, and Martin Havlat, Ben Eager and Brian Campbell added goals.
With the score even at 3 in the closing seconds of the second period, Versteeg sped around three Stars and skated to the front of the net, beating Dallas goalie Marty Turco for Versteeg’s seventh goal of the season.
Canucks 3, Wild 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. ó Daniel Sedin scored midway through the third period for Vancouver, and Curtis Sanford made 28 saves for his first win since Dec. 12, 2007.
Canadiens 3, Senators 2, SO
OTTAWA ó Alex Tanguay scored on Montreal’s fourth shootout attempt to send Ottawa to its sixth straight loss (0-5-1).
Devils 3, Panthers 1
NEWARK, N.J. ó Patrik Elias and Brian Gionta each had a goal and an assist, and Scott Clemmensen made 23 saves for New Jersey.
Defenseman Paul Martin also scored to help New Jersey win its second straight game after losing four in a row.