Red Wings Too Powerful for Edmonton

Brendan Shanahan had three goals for the 15th hat trick of his career and Tomas Holmstrom scored twice as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Edmonton Oilers, 6-2, Thursday night in Detroit.

Five of Detroit’s goals came on the power play in seven chances, tying an NHL-high this season. The Red Wings have scored 12 times in their last 21 chances with the man advantage.

The Red Wings were bolstered by the news that captain Steve Yzerman is close to returning to the ice for the first time this season.

Yzerman expects to play in the next week to 10 days after being sidelined the entire season following offseason knee surgery.

Colorado 5, Pittsburgh 2 -- The Avalanche scored the opening goal for the 14th consecutive game then beat the Penguins at Pittsburgh.

Milan Hejduk scored his team-leading 33rd goal and eighth in seven games for Colorado, which is 11-0-2-1 in its last 14 games.

Toronto 6, Washington 2 -- Gary Roberts had two goals and an assist to help the Maple Leafs extend their winning streak on the road to six games. In all, they have won four in a row and nine of 10.

Vancouver 4, St. Louis 2 -- The Canucks extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games as they chased Blues goalie Fred Brathwaite at St. Louis.

Brathwaite allowed three goals on five shots before being pulled at 2:16 of the second period. Vancouver is 7-0-4 during the streak.

Florida 4, Ottawa 3 -- The loss ended an eight-game unbeaten streak at home for the Senators, who lost for only the fifth time (21-5-2-1) in 30 games at the Corel Centre.

Marcus Nilson and Ivan Majesky scored late in the third period for the Panthers.

Phoenix 2, Chicago 1 -- Daniel Briere broke a tie with a wraparound goal with 2:08 left at Chicago. After stealing the puck from defenseman Nathan Dempsey, Briere circled to the right of the Blackhawk net and slipped the puck past Jocelyn Thibault.

Nashville 4, Calgary 1 -- Denis Arkhipov scored consecutive goals in the second period to lead the Predators at Nashville.

The Predators are 5-1-1 since the All-Star break and 5-1 in their last six games, all at home.