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New York Islanders’ Jesse Joensuu and Josh Bailey celebrate Joensuu’s first-period goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday in Uniondale, N.Y.
AP photo
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — John Tavares, Matt Moulson and rookie Michael Grabner all scored their 20th goal of the season and the New York Islanders got some revenge against the injury-depleted Pittsburgh Penguins with their sticks and their fists in a fight-filled 9-3 victory on Friday night.
Just nine days after Brent Johnson beat New York 3-0 and knocked out Rick DiPietro in a one-punch fight that left the franchise goalie with broken bones in his face, the Islanders responded with four goals in the first period and four more in the second — with an all-out brawl in the middle of the offensive outburst.
That was just the appetizer for a third-period donnybrook — in which Johnson fought again — that caused a delay of about 15 minutes. With multiple ejections, both benches had only a handful of players for the final 12-plus minutes.
Devils 2, Sharks 1
NEWARK, N.J. — Ilya Kovalchuk scored with 3:59 to play for his second game-winning goal in as many nights for New Jersey.
Brian Rolston had tied the game earlier in the period on a power play and Johan Hedberg made 31 saves as the Devils posted their 12th win in 15 games (12-1-2).
Red Wings 6, Bruins 1
BOSTON — Todd Bertuzzi scored two goals, and Henrik Zetterberg and Jiri Hudler each had a goal and two assists as Detroit snapped out of its scoring slump.
The Red Wings, who had been outscored 12-4 in losing three of their previous four games, jumped into a 2-0 lead on goals by Bertuzzi 1:10 into the first period and Danny Cleary at 3:10
David Krejci scored for the Bruins, who lost their second in six games and remain three points ahead of second-place Montreal in the Northeast Division.
Thrashers 3, Rangers 2
ATLANTA — Evander Kane scored two third-period goals, and Anthony Stewart had a goal and an assist to help Atlanta stop a four-game losing streak.
New York has lost six straight, the club’s longest skid since it dropped seven in a row from Dec. 16-29, 2006. The Thrashers, who had dropped 11 of 13, earned just their third regulation victory in 22 games.
Blue Jackets 3, Avalanche 1
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Rick Nash scored a goal and assisted on Derick Brassard’s go-ahead goal as Columbus spoiled Peter Forsberg’s return with Colorado.
The loss was the sixth in a row for the Avalanche, who dropped to 11-2-0 when leading after a period. Forsberg joined the team for his first NHL game in three years.
Mathieu Garon was strong in goal with 31 saves and Derek MacKenzie added an empty-netter.
Wild 5, Blues 4, SO
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Cal Clutterbuck scored twice in regulation and John Madden settled it in the ninth round of a shootout to lift the Minnesota Wild to a victory over the St. Louis Blues.
Martin Havlak forced overtime on a power-play goal with 57.6 seconds to go, jamming the puck past Jaroslav Halak from the side of the net.