Puck Podcast

ATLANTA – Jeff Schultz, Matt Bradley and Chris Clark scored in an 88-second span of the second period, Semyon Varlamov stopped 22 shots and the Washington Capitals beat the Atlanta Thrashers 5-4 on Thursday night for their third straight win

MONTREAL – Scott Gomez and Marc-Andre Bergeron scored in the first period as the Montreal Canadiens skated to their first regulation time victory of the NHL season by 5-1 over the listless New York Islanders on Thursday night

NEW YORK – Dainius Zubrus tipped in Zach Parise’s soft shot 7:51 into the third period and the New Jersey Devils remained undefeated on the road with a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night

TORONTO – The NHL suspended Anaheim Ducks forward Evgeny Artyukhin for three games Thursday after a slew-footing incident during a game against the Dallas Stars

A casual observer would never have guessed the Toronto Maple Leafs were the last winless team in the NHL.There were smiles all around as players exchanged barbs and finished packing up their equipment for the start of a five-game road trip on Thursday

MONTREAL – Any question of whether John Tavares would live up to the hype that came with being drafted first overall may have been answered by the 19-year-old’s fine play in his first few weeks with the New York Islanders

CHICAGO – Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews did not practice Thursday, one day after being knocked out of the game by a hard hit.Coach Joel Quenneville said Toews had progressed overnight and it was still possible he could play Saturday night against Nashville

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Defenceman Trevor Daley scored his first goal of the season on a power play and James Neal set up goals by Loui Eriksson and Brenden Morrow, leading the Dallas Stars to a 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night

CHICAGO – Five months after he sat sobbing following one of his biggest personal failures, Roberto Luongo wore a winning, ear-to-ear smile.His Vancouver Canucks hadn’t won on the road since beating Chicago in Game 3 of the teams’ second-round playoff series last May

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Mikko Koivu tied the game in regulation and scored on Minnesota’s first shot in the shootout, sending the Wild to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – John Tavares scored in the shootout to give the New York Islanders their first victory of the season, 4-3 over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night

SUNRISE, Fla. – Mike Grier, Jason Pominville and Matt Ellis each scored in the first five minutes of a wild opening period to lift the Buffalo Sabres to a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night

BOSTON – Steve Begin scored his first goal with Boston, getting the tiebreaker at 8:33 of the third period Wednesday night to lift the short-handed Bruins to a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators

NEW YORK – Fifteen years after Mark Messier and Mike Richter led the New York Rangers to an elusive Stanley Cup title, they are still being feted for their efforts

BROSSARD, Que. – Disgruntled forward Sergei Kostitsyn has been suspended by the Montreal Canadiens for a second time this season after deserting the team’s AHL affiliate in Hamilton

ROSEMONT, Ill. – Chris Chelios’s first shot attempt at the start of a two-hour practice Wednesday eluded the goalie’s reach and landed in the net

EDMONTON – The good news for the Edmonton Oilers is Nikolai Khabibulin already appears to be in mid-season form. The bad news, with all the rubber the steadfast Russian goaltender has faced, is he’s had to be

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have assigned centre Michael Nylander to Grand Rapids of the AHL for a conditioning stint, giving the expensive bench-sitting veteran a chance to get back on the ice

The NHL Players’ Association has officially endorsed a motion for the formation of a committee to examine the internal operation of its union

PITTSBURGH – Penguins defenceman Sergei Gonchar will be out four-to-six weeks with a broken left wrist, his third significant injury in slightly more than a year