Islanders 5, Ducks 2

Islanders coach Jack Capuano had been waiting for captain John Tavares to break out of his scoring slump, and that patience paid off Monday night.

Tavares had two primary assists 43 seconds apart in the first period of a victory over Anaheim. The assists on New York’s second and third goals were the first for Tavares since a 3-1 win against Philadelphia on Nov. 25, a stretch of 12 games.

During that span, he scored three goals.

“It was just a matter of time,” Capuano said. “He got rewarded.”

The top pick in the 2009 draft leads New York in goals (13) and is second in assists (12) and points (25).

“I know I need to be a lot better,” Tavares said. “I’ve been feeling a lot better, more like my game.”

New York snapped its three-game losing streak and improved to 19-11-5. The Islanders also passed the idle New York Rangers for second place in the Metropolitan Division.

Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves to pace New York. Cal Clutterbuck, Travis Hamonic, Brock Nelson, Josh Bailey and Matt Martin scored for the Islanders.

“I’m just trying to make plays,” Tavares said. “I’ve had some good games in this stretch and just haven’t gotten rewarded.”

Anaheim dropped to 12-15-5 with its third loss in five games. Carl Hagelin and Josh Manson had goals for the NHL’s lowest-scoring team.

“You feel like you’re not going to score,” Ryan Getzlaf said. “We have to be mentally stronger.”

Frederik Anderson allowed three New York goals on 11 shots in the first period and was replaced by John Gibson before the start of the second. Gibson finished with 18 saves.

“His decision,” Anderson said of coach Bruce Boudreau opting to make the goaltending change.

New York swept the season series. The Islanders beat the Ducks 4-1 on Nov. 13.

Hagelin put Anaheim on the board 6:52 into the game with his third of the season. The sequence began with Hagelin attempting a shot that was blocked by Calvin de Haan, but Hagelin found the loose puck and snapped a quick shot that beat Halak.

Anaheim had a lead, but New York ended the period scoring three straight goals in a 5-minute span. To a man, the Islanders pointed to Martin’s fight with Manson, after the Anaheim defenseman threw a thunderous check into New York defenseman Nick Leddy and Ducks center Ryan Kesler.

“It was the right thing to do,” Capuano said of Martin. “He steps up. ... It gave us momentum.”

And the Islanders took advantage.

Clutterbuck equalized at 14:54 with his seventh of the season. He walked along the goal line before firing a shot that Anderson could not stop.

New York went ahead with a minute left in the period on Hamonic’s second of the season, and extended its lead to 3-1 on Nelson’s wrist shot from the slot with 16.3 seconds left.

Manson’s second of the season 7:32 into the third cut the deficit to 3-2. But Bailey’s goal 2:03 later allowed New York to regain its two-goal advantage. Martin’s empty-netter with 2:33 left ended the scoring.

“You get some goals and it does wonders for you,” Tavares said. “We got some chances and a few goals. We were able to settle in.”

Penguins 5, Blue Jackets 2

Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel each scored two goals and Pittsburgh ended a five-game losing streak with win over Columbus.

David Warsofsky got his first goal in nearly two years as the Penguins gave coach Mike Sullivan his first victory following an 0-4 start.

Matt Murray stopped 22 shots for his first NHL win. The Penguins played without captain Sidney Crosby, who missed his first game of the season with a lower-body injury.

Alexander Wenneberg’s third goal gave Columbus an early lead, but Pittsburgh responded with four in the second to match the total it put up in Sullivan’s first four games combined. Boone Jenner added his 13th for the Blue Jackets.

Joonas Korpisalo made 30 saves in his fourth NHL start.

Capitals 2, Hurricanes 1

Jason Chimera and Michael Latta scored, and Washington held on to beat Carolina for its sixth straight win.

Phillipp Brubauer made 31 saves for the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals. They improved to 12-3-1 on the road and enter the holiday break with their second six-game winning streak of the season.

Kris Versteeg scored with 17:42 remaining for the Hurricanes, but Brubauer shut them out the rest of the way.

Cam Ward made 19 stops for Carolina, which had earned points in six of eight games while scoring 28 goals in that span.

Flyers 4, Blues 3

Evgeny Medvedev scored on a wrist shot with 3:13 left, helping Philadelphia rally for the win.

Wayne Simmonds had a pair of goals and Chris VandeVelde also scored for Philadelphia, which enters a five-day Christmas break with eight wins in its last 12 games.

Robby Fabbri, Kevin Shattenkirk and Magnus Paajarvi scored for St. Louis, which had won three straight.

Medvedev received a nice backhand pass from Ryan White and fired the puck high past Jake Allen on his blocker side.

Philadelphia came back from a 3-0 deficit to sweep the two-game season series with St. Louis.

Stars 6, Wild 3

Antti Niemi stopped 30 shots in relief and Dallas scored four straight goals to beat Minnesota.

Vernon Fiddler scored twice for Dallas, which has won five of seven and is 8-2-2 in its last 12 games. Jordie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Antoine Roussel and Cody Eakin also had goals.

Jared Spurgeon, Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter scored for Minnesota, which lost its second in a row after getting points in nine straight.

Trailing 2-0, and with Niemi having replaced Kari Lehtonen in the first period, Dallas scored three times in 4 ½ minutes late in the second to take the lead.

Predators 5, Canadiens 1

Pekka Rinne made 35 saves and Nashville beat Montreal, giving the Predators their first winning streak in more than a month.

Shea Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi and Calle Jarnkrok each added a goal and an assist. Colin Wilson scored an empty-netter and had two assists as Nashville won its second straight, something the Predators hadn’t done since Nov. 14 and 17.

Alex Galchenyuk scored a power-play goal for Montreal, which lost its fourth straight. The Canadiens have dropped eight of nine.

Montreal coach Michel Therrien changed goalies, inserting Mike Condon for Dustin Tokarski after Ryan Ellis’ goal in the third period put Nashville up 3-0 on 14 shots.

Maple Leafs 7, Avalanche 4

Tyler Bozak scored three times in the third period and Toronto broke loose for four goals in the final 20 minutes to beat Colorado.

Leo Komarov had two goals and an assist, James van Riemsdyk had a goal and two assists, and Joffrey Lupul had one of three power-play goals for Toronto. The Maple Leafs are 4-0-2 in their last six games.

Bozak got the winner when he joined a 2-on-1 rush with van Riemsdyk. Bozak took a pass from van Riemsdyk, and goalie Semyon Varlamov made the initial save but the puck trickled through his legs and over the line 49 seconds into the period.

Bozak scored on a breakaway at 6:47 to put Toronto ahead 5-3, and van Riemsdyk finished the flurry with his 11th at 10:40. Bozak finished his hat trick with an empty-net goal at 16:20.

Oilers 3, Jets 1

Cam Talbot made 44 saves and Teddy Purcell had two goals and an assist as Edmonton won its seventh consecutive home game, defeating Winnipeg.

Justin Schultz also scored for the Oilers, who snapped a three-game skid.

Bryan Little had the goal for the Jets, who have lost three of four.

The Oilers opened the scoring 11 minutes into the first period when Purcell’s shot ticked off a Winnipeg defender and past rookie goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who was making his fifth straight start. Taylor Hall picked up his 300th career point with an assist.

Hellebuyck made 11 saves on 14 shots before being replaced by Michael Hutchinson, who stopped all seven shots he faced.