Boston: Former Bruins back-up goaltender Chad Johnson stopped 30 shots and Kyle Okposo put New York ahead in the second period to help the Islanders end a two-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over Boston on Thursday.
The Bruins played the last 50 minutes without captain and No 1 defenceman Zdeno Chara, who left in the first period with an undisclosed injury.
Frans Nielsen and Cal Clutterbuck also scored for the Islanders. Milan Lucic and Chris Kelly scored for Boston.
The Bruins played the Canadian national anthem and observed a moment of silence in memory of the soldier who was killed at the war memorial in Ottawa on Wednesday.
Nashville’s James Neal scored a natural hat-trick as the Predators edged the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 to become the last NHL team still unbeaten in regulation this season.
The Predators earned points in their seventh straight game before a sellout crowd, continuing their best start since the 2010-11 season when they got points in each of their first eight.
For Neal, it was the fifth hat trick of his career. Acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh in June, Neal has five goals in four games. Filip Forsberg had two assists.
Ben Smith and Andrew Shaw scored for Chicago.
At Detroit, Justin Abdelkader scored 4:16 into overtime to cap a dramatic Detroit rally and give the Red Wings a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Red Wings scored twice with their goalie pulled in the final 2:39 of regulation, levelling the game with Niklas Kronwall’s goal with 38.9 seconds to play. Kronwall had two goals and an assist.
Pascal Dupuis and Olli Maatta scored in the first period for the Penguins, and Chris Kunitz added a goal in the second.
The Minnesota Wild blanked the Arizona Coyotes 2-0 after Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves for his third shutout of the season and defenseman Jared Spurgeon had two assists.
Kuemper has allowed just two goals in four starts, and has all three of Minnesota’s victories this season.
Charlie Coyle opened the scoring with his second goal of the season, and Jason Pominville made it 2-0 less than four minutes later.
In other games, Ryan Miller was victorious in his return to St Louis, making 31 saves as the Vancouver Canucks downed the Blues 4-1, the Calgary Flames shut the Carolina Hurricanes out 5-0, the Los Angeles Kings blanked the Buffalo Sabres 2-0 and the Columbus Blue Jackets were 5-4 winners over the San Jose Sharks.
