Niclas Bergfors

Pekka Rinne made 33 saves for his first shutout of the season and 21st of his career in the Nashville Predators' 2-0 victory over the Calgary Flames on Satuday. Niclas Bergfors and Sergei Kostitsyn scored to help the Predators improve to 3-3-1 and snap a four-game winless streak. Miikka Kiprusoff made 12 saves for Calgary, 2-4-1 in its first seven games.

Pekka Rinne made 33 saves for his first shutout of the season and 21st of his career in the Nashville Predators' 2-0 victory over the Calgary Flames on Satuday. Niclas Bergfors and Sergei Kostitsyn scored to help the Predators improve to 3-3-1 and snap a four-game winless streak. Miikka Kiprusoff made 12 saves for Calgary, 2-4-1 in its first seven games.

Ilya Kovalchuk made his first goal with the slumping Devils a big one, snapping a third-period tie to lead New Jersey to a 5-2 victory over the Nashville Predators last night in Newark, N.J., Acquired in a blockbuster trade with Atlanta last week, Kovalchuk took a pass from Patrik Elias and beat Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne with a snap shot from between the circles at 8:24 of the final period. The fans roared and quickly started throwing hats on the ice, something usually reserved for a hat trick.

Carolina goalie Cam Ward made a brilliant return after being out nearly two months, Erik Cole scored a decisive goal with 4:11 left, and the Hurricanes beat the Thrashers, 4-1, last night, dealing a blow to host Atlanta’s playoff hopes. Jussi Jokinen scored twice for Carolina, including an empty-net goal after the desperate Thrashers pulled Johan Hedberg for an extra skater with more than 2 minutes left. Atlanta missed a chance to pull even with Boston for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Carolina goalie Cam Ward made a brilliant return after being out nearly two months, Erik Cole scored a decisive goal with 4:11 left, and the Hurricanes beat the Thrashers, 4-1, last night, dealing a blow to host Atlanta’s playoff hopes. Jussi Jokinen scored twice for Carolina, including an empty-net goal after the desperate Thrashers pulled Johan Hedberg for an extra skater with more than 2 minutes left. Atlanta missed a chance to pull even with Boston for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The New Jersey Devils’ road winning streak keeps going on and on. Or exactly how an unaccustomed run of losing feels to the beaten-up Pittsburgh Penguins. Niclas Bergfors had a goal and two assists and the Devils closed within a victory of tying the NHL record of 10 consecutive road victories to start a season, beating the slumping Penguins, 4-1, last night. Zach Parise added a goal and an assist, Travis Zajac had three assists, and Martin Brodeur made 25 saves as New Jersey improved to 9-0 on the road.

Henrik and Daniel Sedin had a hand in three first-period goals, and Roberto Luongo made 27 saves as the Vancouver Canucks beat the New Jersey Devils, 5-2, last night in Newark. Alex Burrows, Sami Salo, Daniel Sedin, Alexander Elder, and Jannik Hansen had goals for the Canucks, who won for the fifth time in seven games. Niclas Bergfors and Travis Zajac scored for the Devils, who had won three straight and six in a row at home. It was all Vancouver early, with the Sedin twins combining for four points as the Canucks jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

Chris Mueller had a goal and an assist to lead the bustling Nashville Predators past the Washington Capitals 2-0 Tuesday night in the first hockey game in Baltimore since 1997. Niclas Bergfors had a pair of assists for the Predators (2-1), who were playing their third game in two days after facing Florida in a doubleheader. It was the first of seven preseason games for Washington (0-1). The Capitals used several of their stars, including Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and goaltender Michal Neuvirth, who went the distance.

Chris Higgins had a two goals and an assist and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Blue Jackets, 4-1, yesterday in Columbus, Ohio, to reach 50 victories for the first time in their 40-year history. Canucks backup Cory Schneider made 39 saves to improve to 15-3-2 and help the NHL-leading Canucks run their road winning streak to eight, matching the franchise record set in early 2004. Christian Ehrhoff and Henrik Sedin also scored for Vancouver. Mason Raymond added three assists and Ryan Kesler had two. The Canucks have won 10 of 11 overall and seven in a row against...

The Philadelphia Flyers replaced coach John Stevens with Peter Laviolette yesterday after the team was shut out in consecutive games. Laviolette, who led Carolina to its only Stanley Cup title in 2006, has been out of work since he was fired in December 2008. Laviolette, who also coached the New York Islanders for two seasons, was 167-130-30 in his four-plus seasons with Carolina. Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren made the call to fire Stevens. “I think Paul felt he had to make this change,’’ Flyers chairman Ed Snider said.

Ilya Kovalchuk made his first goal with the slumping Devils a big one, snapping a third-period tie to lead New Jersey to a 5-2 victory over the Nashville Predators last night in Newark, N.J., Acquired in a blockbuster trade with Atlanta last week, Kovalchuk took a pass from Patrik Elias and beat Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne with a snap shot from between the circles at 8:24 of the final period. The fans roared and quickly started throwing hats on the ice, something usually reserved for a hat trick.

The New Jersey Devils’ road winning streak keeps going on and on. Or exactly how an unaccustomed run of losing feels to the beaten-up Pittsburgh Penguins. Niclas Bergfors had a goal and two assists and the Devils closed within a victory of tying the NHL record of 10 consecutive road victories to start a season, beating the slumping Penguins, 4-1, last night. Zach Parise added a goal and an assist, Travis Zajac had three assists, and Martin Brodeur made 25 saves as New Jersey improved to 9-0 on the road.

After being shut out by the New York Islanders four days ago, Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres returned the favor. Miller made 24 saves for his second shutout of the season and 14th overall, and Thomas Vanek had a goal and assist in the Sabres’ 3-0 victory last night in Buffalo. Derek Roy and Paul Gaustad also scored to help the Sabres (9-2-1) rebound from a 5-0 loss to the Islanders Saturday on Long Island. “We played a real sound game coming off that loss,’’ Miller said.

Once the Carolina Hurricanes finally figured out how to score at home, they just didn’t stop peppering New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro. Carolina was shut out by Washington and Pittsburgh in its only other home games this season, but broke out in a big way with a 7-2 rout of the Islanders last night in Raleigh, N.C. Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice thought his team was tense in the opening minutes against New York, but by the time the first period was over, Carolina had a 3-0 lead.