Islanders end skid with a 3-1 triumph

John Tavares scored a goal and added an assist, and Evgeni Nabokov made 29 saves to lead the New York Islanders to a 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night in Uniondale, N.Y.

Andrew MacDonald and Brian Rolston also scored for New York, which snapped a three-game losing streak. The Islanders had dropped four in a row at home (0-3-1) since a 5-1 victory against Tampa Bay on Dec. 6.

Tim Jackman scored the lone goal for the Flames, and Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 31 shots, but Calgary had its four-game winning streak broken.

Vincent Lecavalier had a tiebreaking goal midway through the third period, Steven Stamkos got his 23d of the season, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3, in Tampa, Fla.

Lecavalier gave Tampa Bay, which trailed by 3-2 after two periods, the 4-3 advantage on a rebound goal at 8:37.

Tampa Bay also got goals from JT Wyman and Marc-Andre Bergeron. The Lightning have won four of six.

Michael Cammalleri, David Desharnais and Erik Cole scored for the Canadiens, who have lost six of seven. Rookie defenseman Raphael Diaz had two assists, giving him five in the past two games.

Elsewhere: Dany Heatley scored his third goal in four games to help the host Minnesota Wild snap an eight-game winless streak and beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-3, in a ferocious game from start to finish. . . . Eric Staal scored a power-play goal 3:09 into overtime to lift the host Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-3 comeback win over the Toronto Maple Leafs..

Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene left Thursday's game against the Phoenix Coyotes because of a knee injury and did not return.

Duchene played 2 minutes, 23 seconds over three shifts and recorded one hit before leaving for the locker room.

The 20-year-old Duchene is in his third year with the Avalanche. The third overall pick in the 2009 draft has a team-leading 12 goals in 39 games.

Thursday was his 200th NHL game. He has 63 goals and 83 assists in his career.

Andrew Ebbett has been very busy since he got back on the ice after missing 17 games because of a broken foot.

And he has been productive, too.

Ebbett redirected Kevin Bieksa's shot into the net at 3 minutes, 23 seconds of overtime to give the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 victory over the Sharks in San Jose, Calif.

One game after recording his first NHL multigoal game, Ebbett netted his first game-winner.

"I wasn't sure I would get a shift in overtime, but I did and I wanted to make it count," Ebbett said.

- Associated Press