Samsonov Returns to Spark Bruins

It didn’t take Sergei Samsonov long to get back involved in the Boston Bruins’ play-making.

The Bruin forward, who sat out 18 games because of a sprained right wrist, returned to the lineup Saturday night and set up one of linemate Joe Thornton’s two goals and scored a third-period goal to help the Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2, at Pittsburgh.

“Not bad, huh? It’s nice to have him back,” said Thornton, who scored his 12th and 13th goals and assisted on Samsonov’s goal at 2:02 of the third period. “It’s so nice to have that speed on the left side. For his first game back, he looked pretty good out there.”

The loss ended a four-game winning streak for the Atlantic Division-leading Penguins. The Northeast Division-leading Bruins are 9-1-1 in their last 11 games.

“Hey, we’ve got some good players,” said Thornton, who has three goals and 11 points in a five-game scoring streak. “I don’t think a lot of people realize that. This is not surprising to any of the guys in here, and it’s been a lot of fun.”

*

Vancouver 5, Florida 2 -- Matt Cooke scored a short-handed goal, and the Canucks had three power-play goals at Sunrise, Fla., to stretch their franchise-record winning streak to 10 games.

*

Toronto 3, Buffalo 1 -- Alexander Mogilny had a goal and two assists at Toronto, and the Maple Leafs won their seventh in the last nine.

Toronto’s Ed Belfour turned aside 19 shots and has given up only 14 goals in his last nine games.*

Edmonton 1, Colorado 0 -- Tommy Salo made 22 saves and Daniel Cleary scored his first goal this season, and the host Oilers extended their unbeaten streak to six games.

It was the second shutout for Salo and the 32nd of his career.

*

Carolina 4, Columbus 2 -- Erik Cole scored two second-period goals and Carolina held on at Columbus, Ohio.

The defending Eastern Conference champion Hurricanes moved into first place in the Southeast Division.

*

Ottawa 4, New York Islanders 2 -- Marian Hossa had two goals and an assist at Ottawa to extend his club-record point streak to 13 games.

Todd White scored early in the third period to help the Senators extend their unbeaten streak to 10 games.

*

Philadelphia 2, Montreal 1 -- Justin Williams scored on a breakaway with 6.3 seconds remaining in overtime at Montreal.

It was only the second victory in 11 games for Philadelphia.

*

Nashville 5, Dallas 2 -- Andy Delmore and Scott Hartnell each had a power-play goal and an assist at Nashville.

Bill Guerin and Scott Young scored for Dallas, which replaced Ron Tugnutt after he gave up four goals on 15 shots.

*

New Jersey 5, St. Louis 4 -- Jeff Friesen scored with 12 seconds left in overtime at St. Louis.

Brian Gionta and Scott Niedermayer scored in the third period to give the Devils a 3-2 lead. St. Louis tied it 89 seconds later on Pavol Demitra’s goal.

*

Phoenix 3, San Jose 2 -- Branko Radivojevic scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period at San Jose and the Coyotes ended a six-game winless streak.