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Boston Ends Winless Streak

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From Associated Press

An unlikely scoring source helped the Boston Bruins end a nine-game winless streak at home.

Shaone Morrisonn scored his first NHL goal and had an assist to lead the Bruins to a 3-2 victory Thursday night over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Shaone was pretty solid all over the rink,” Bruin Coach Mike Sullivan said. “He gave our offense a boost and it was a big lift for our team.”

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Former King Felix Potvin preserved the victory when he robbed Tom Fitzgerald with a glove save with 29 seconds left. Potvin stopped 22 shots and won for the first time in Boston this season. He was 0-2-3 in his previous five appearances.

“The shot hit my glove and the crossbar, I don’t know which came first,” Potvin said. “This was nice, finally our luck is turning, we worked for our breaks and we deserved this win.”

The Bruins were 0-5-4 during the winless streak. Toronto is 0-2-1 since earning at least one point in a team-record 16 consecutive games.

“That’s just not the way our club should be playing, and we had better shape it up,” Maple Leaf Coach Pat Quinn said. “We’re hopers right now. We hope everything goes our way.”

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Ottawa 1, New York Islanders 0 -- Peter Schaefer scored with 5:55 remaining in the third period at Ottawa and Patrick Lalime recorded the Senators’ second shutout in a row.

Ottawa ended the Islanders’ winning streak at six and extending its season-high unbeaten streak to eight games.

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Schaefer scored 14:05 into the third, beating Garth Snow with a shot from the slot after taking defenseman Karel Rachunek’s pass from the right corner.

Lalime made 32 saves for his 30th career shutout. Senator backup Martin Prusek recorded his second shutout of the season in a 3-0 win in Boston on Tuesday. Snow, 9-4 since taking over the No. 1 job from Rick DiPietro, stopped 22 of 23 shots.

The Islanders, who won, 6-1, in Pittsburgh on Wednesday for their longest winning streak in 11 years, failed to record a point for just the third time in 14 games (10-3-0-1).

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St. Louis 5, New York Rangers 4 -- The Blues scored four power-play goals at St. Louis in winning for only the second time in seven games. The Rangers, 3-2-0-1 in their last six, failed for the fifth time this season to win three games in a row

St. Louis is 5-1-1 in its last seven against the Rangers. Blues Coach Joel Quenneville earned his 300th NHL victory.

Reinhard Divis started his second NHL game for the Blues after being called up on Tuesday from Worcester of the AHL.

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In Tuesday’s 7-2 loss to Philadelphia, he replaced Brent Johnson in the second period and allowed four goals on 12 shots. He faced 43 shots against the Rangers.

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Washington 2, New Jersey 2 -- At Washington, Mike Grier’s first goal since opening night and Joel Kwiatkowski’s tying goal in the third period ended the Capitals’ losing streak at three games.

Grant Marshall and Sergei Brylin scored power-play goals in the second period for the Devils, who dominated early as the Capitals piled up penalty minutes.

Through two periods, the Devils had more power-play shots (17) than the Capitals had total shots (12).

But the Capitals, whose 24 losses lead the NHL, roared back in the third period, outshooting the Devils, 14-6. They tied it on Kwiatkowski’s power-play goal with 15:59 left.

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Nashville 3, Pittsburgh 2 -- Kimmo Timonen scored two power-play goals and assisted on a third to lead the Predators at Nashville.

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Martin Erat, on a pass from Timonen, broke a 2-2 tie at 7:19 of the third period.

Nashville’s Tomas Vokoun made 29 saves for his 81st career victory, tying the franchise record set by Mike Dunham.

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