Flames Stop Oilers Behind Huselius

Kristian Huselius scored twice in the second period to lead the Calgary Flames to a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night at Edmonton, Canada.

Daymond Langkow had a goal and an assist and Andrew Ference also scored for Calgary, which won its third game in a row to open a four-point cushion atop the Northwest Division.

Shawn Horcoff scored for Edmonton, which remains in eighth place in the Western Conference, three points ahead of the Kings.

Miikka Kiprusoff, starting for the eighth consecutive game, made 25 saves for the Flames.

Dwayne Roloson gave up three goals in 12 shots in the opening two periods after his 13th consecutive start for Edmonton, falling to 5-5-3 since joining the team at the trade deadline.

Nashville 2, St. Louis 1 -- Tomas Vokoun made 35 saves and the Predators handed the Blues their 10th loss in a row at Nashville.

Mike Sillinger, playing in his 900th career game, tied the score with his 28th goal 41 seconds into the third period. With the Predators on the power play, he took the rebound of Yanic Perreault’s shot and put the puck past goalie Patrick Lalime’s stick for his fourth goal in as many games.

Martin Erat got the game-winner for the Predators about 2 1/2 minutes later. Skating down the right side, Erat cut to the high slot and fired a wrist shot through the legs of Lalime.

Montreal 2, Boston 0 -- Cristobal Huet shut out the Bruins for the third time in a row and Garth Murray had his first career two-goal game at Montreal to lead the Canadiens to their season-high sixth consecutive victory.

Montreal, which went 10-5-1 in March for its best month in 13 seasons, remained tied with New Jersey for sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

Huet made 32 saves for his seventh shutout in 32 games. He trails only league leader Kiprusoff of Calgary, who had eight shutouts in 67 games.

Washington 1, Ottawa 0 -- Brent Johnson made 46 saves, including 16 in the third period, and Dainius Zubrus scored the only goal to lead the Capitals to a victory at Ottawa.

Over his last four games, Johnson has stopped 167 of 176 shots -- including a career-high 49 saves in a 5-1 victory Wednesday at Carolina.

Johnson recorded the Capitals’ first shutout of the season and the 13th of his career as he frustrated Ottawa shooters, especially in the third period.

Senator goalie Ray Emery, coming off an NHL record-tying 12 victories in March, made 31 saves.

Columbus 5, Chicago 2 -- Mark Hartigan scored twice and added an assist in the third period for his first career multipoint game to help the Blue Jackets win their fifth in a row at Columbus, Ohio.

Florida 4, Tampa Bay 2 -- Joe Nieuwendyk scored twice and Roberto Luongo stopped 42 shots, including 24 in the third period, as the Panthers defeated the Lightning at Sunrise, Fla.

Nathan Horton and Olli Jokinen also scored for the Panthers, who moved to six points behind the Lightning for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Florida plays at Tampa on Monday and then plays host to the Lightning the following Sunday.

Martin St. Louis and Darryl Sydor scored for Tampa Bay, and John Grahame had 22 saves before being replaced by Sean Burke late in the second period.

Toronto 7, Buffalo 0 -- Nik Antropov scored twice in a five-goal first period and the Maple Leafs routed the Sabres at Toronto.

Atlanta 5, Carolina 2 -- Ilya Kovalchuk had two goals and the Thrashers stopped a two-game losing streak with a victory at Atlanta.

New Jersey 4, Philadelphia 1 -- Scott Gomez, John Madden, Jason Wiemer and Sergei Brylin scored goals and Martin Brodeur broke a tie for fourth place on the NHL’s career victories list in the Devils’ victory over the Flyers at Philadelphia.

Phoenix 4, San Jose 3 -- Steven Reinprecht scored the game-winner in overtime and the Coyotes defeated the fading Sharks at San Jose.

San Jose fell to 10th place in the West and has only nine games left.