Theodore Looks Like His Old Self

Jose Theodore already matched his shutout total of last season and feels his return to form speaks for itself.

Theodore posted his second shutout of the season, and Yanic Perreault, Marcel Hossa and Andreas Dackell scored to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night at Montreal.

Theodore, who struggled all last season after being named the NHL’s MVP in 2001-02, stopped all 34 Islanders shots for his 19th career shutout. He has given up three goals in his last five games, including a 4-0 win in Toronto on Oct. 11.

“There’s nothing to say,” Theodore said. “We’ve played really well as a team and I think if we keep playing the same way, the same system, there’s going to be more shutouts, that’s for sure, because we’re playing well defensively.”

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Toronto 5, Phoenix 4 -- Owen Nolan had two goals and an assist at Phoenix in Toronto’s best offensive showing this season. Nik Antropov, Joe Nieuwendyk and Ken Klee also scored for the Maple Leafs, who came in with 10 goals in six games.

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Colorado 6, Edmonton 1 -- Peter Forsberg scored three goals, and Milan Hejduk added a goal and two assists at Denver as the Avalanche ended a two-game losing streak.

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Ottawa 5, Washington 1 -- Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist as the Senators broke the game open in the third period at Ottawa. Holding a 2-1 lead at the start of the third, Ottawa scored three goals in the first six minutes of the period.

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Atlanta 4, Nashville 2 -- Ilya Kovalchuk scored three goals, raising his NHL-leading total to nine, and the Thrashers stayed unbeaten at home.

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Carolina 2, Boston 0 -- Eric Staal scored his first NHL goal and Kevin Weekes made 18 saves at Boston for the Hurricanes’ first victory this season.

Carolina (1-2-3) is the last team to win this season.

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Tampa Bay 1, Columbus 0 -- Vincent Lecavalier stole the puck from goaltender Marc Denis and scored on a wraparound with 3:48 remaining at Columbus, Ohio.

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Chicago 3, San Jose 3 -- Tom Preissing scored his first NHL goal to help the Sharks salvage a tie at San Jose.