Panthers’ goaltender Luongo shuts down slumping Bruins

Roberto Luongo turned the tables on his nemesis in the Highlights National Hockey League on Thursday.  The veteran goaltender, who lived through a nightmare for the Vancouver Canucks in the 2011 Stanley Cup finals and came in 14-15-1 lifetime against Boston in the regular season, made 34 saves and backstopped the Florida Panthers into first place in the Atlantic Division with a 4-1 victory over the sliding Bruins.Bruins dropped its fifth straight game. After going 0-4 and scoring five goals on a four-game trip, the Bruins prepped for another four-game trip with another loss and have scored six goals during a losing streak that threatens their playoff chances.The Panthers, who snapped a 10-game TD garden losing streak, also broke a two-game skid and a tie for first place with the idle Tampa Bay Lightning atop the Atlantic.Devils 3, Penguins 0Devils goalie Scott Wedgewood stopped 39 shots to shut out the NHL’s hottest team in only his second career game, Kyle Palmieri scored twice in the first period and New Jersey beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 on Thursday night.Wedgewood, who allowed only one goal in his first two starts, halted two streaks: the Penguins’ six-game winning streak and captain Sidney Crosby’s 12-game scoring run. Hurricanes 3, Blue Jackets 2The Carolina Hurricanes broke out of a two-period malaise with a flurry of goals early in the third, jumping the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 3-2 win on Thursday in Nationwide Arena.Viktor Rask, Chris Terry and Elias Lindholm scored for the Hurricanes, all in a 98-second span, with Lindholm’s goal giving Carolina a 3-1 lead only 2:30 into the period.Maple Leafs 6, Ducks 5 (overtime)Nazem Kadri scored twice, including the overtime winner, as the Toronto Maple Leafs edged the Anaheim Ducks 6-5 at Air Canada Centre on Thursday.After Toronto blew a 4-1 lead in a 9:23 span and fell behind by a goal, Connor Brown tied the game 5-5 with his first career NHL goal at 15:37 of the third period. Red Wings 4 Canadiens 3Riley Sheahan scored two goals and the Detroit Red Wings held off the Montreal Canadiens for a 4-3 win Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena.Luke Glendening also scored and Anthony Mantha got his first career goal for Detroit. Mike Green had two assists and Petr Mrazek made 26 saves. Wild 6, Flames 2Zach Parise ended a monthlong slump with a first-period hat trick, and that was all the offense the Minnesota Wild needed Thursday.Minnesota jumped out to an early lead and held off the Calgary Flames, winning 6-2 to gain a critical two points in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Jets 4, Kings 1Defensemen Dustin Byfuglien and Paul Postma scored less than three minutes apart on nearly identical point shots early in the third period to power the Winnipeg Jets to an improbable 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.Only 15 seconds into the final frame and the game tied 1-1, Byfuglien’s hard drive from just inside the blue line near the wall eluded goaltender Jonathan Quick, whose view of the shot might have been blocked when right winger Nikolaj Ehlers cruised in front of him. Predators 3, Canucks 2 (shootout)Rallying from a two-goal, third-period deficit, the Nashville Predators beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 Thursday in a shootout.Craig Smith scored the decisive goal in the fourth round of the shootout.James Neal and Filip Forsberg scored for the Predators in the third period, with Forsberg tying the game at 13:08. Flyers 4, Avalanche 2Radko Gudas and Claude Giroux scored 19 seconds apart late in the third period and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Thursday in a battle of teams fighting for playoff spots.Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also scored for the Flyers, who kept pace with Detroit in the battle for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Red Wings nearly blew a four-goal lead against Montreal but held on to win 4-3 and stay even in points with 85. Coyotes 3, Stars 1Net presence is one of the many assets Arizona Coyotes center Martin Hanzal brings to the table. On Thursday against the Dallas Stars, that asset paid off in production.Hanzal had a pair of goals, including his first short-handed tally since Dec. 4, 2008, and goaltender Louis Domingue made 37 saves as the Coyotes defeated the Stars 3-1 at Gila River Arena to record their second win over the Central Division leaders in as many games this season. Oilers 6, Sharks 3The San Jose Sharks were sitting pretty with a 2-0 lead after one period. Unfortunately for them, the Edmonton Oilers didn’t stop playing.The Oilers stormed back with five unanswered goals over the final 40 minutes to beat the Sharks 6-3 in front of 16,570 fans at SAP Center.