Canucks 3, Capitals 3The Vancouver Canucks unveiled their new goalie on Steve Kariya's birthday.
Felix Potvin, acquired Sunday in a trade with the New York Islanders, was brought out west to try and cure the Canucks' problems in goal.
Potvin made 31 saves Wednesday night and ended his own eight-game winless stretch (0-6-2) in Vancouver's 6-3 victory over the Washington Capitals.
"No doubt, there was a bit of nervousness," Potvin said. "But once I got into it -- that's the best part about it -- it all went away."
Kariya celebrated his 22nd birthday with two goals to snap his 13-game scoring drought and give Potvin a win for the first time since Nov. 19.
"It was great win for us, and hopefully it'll turn things around and we can kind of relax a bit going into the holidays," said Kariya, whose ice time dropped while his slump grew longer.
The Canucks won for the first time in eight games and second in 14.
In other NHL games, it was New Jersey 3, Philadelphia 2; Detroit 4, Carolina 1; Atlanta 3, Florida 3; Phoenix 8, Anaheim 2; and San Jose 2, Los Angeles 1.
After giving up three goals on the first 12 shots he faced, including the first goal by James Black on a breakaway 1:17 into the game, Potvin settled down.
"It was important to not let them jump to a two-goal lead, so I just tried to focus on the puck," Potvin said.
In the third period, he kept Washington scoreless despite four power-play opportunities and a 13-2 shots advantage.
Kariya's performance ignited the Canucks' best offensive output in more than two months and snapped a string of 12 straight games in which Vancouver failed to score three or more goals in regulation.
"That's what we need from him," Crawford said of Kariya. "When he gets those chances, to be almost like the alligator or the crocodile and really sense that scoring bug. Tonight, I saw him go into a feeding frenzy. He really wanted to score."
Olaf Kolzig had his third straight poor performance, stopping only 17 Vancouver shots. Kolzig has given up 16 goals in 149 minutes of play.
The loss spoiled Capitals captain Adam Oates' night. He was playing in his 1,000th game.
"The win would've been more special," Oates said. "A couple of the goals were not so much breakdowns, but more bad breaks."
RED WINGS 4, HURRICANES 1: Brendan Shanahan scored a goal and assisted on another in the first period as Detroit defeated Carolina for its fifth win in six games.
Martin Lapointe also had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings, who have won nine of 11 games this month.
The Hurricanes dropped below .500 at 13-14-7 for a second time this season after losing three times in a four-game homestand.
PANTHERS 3, THRASHERS 3: Andrew Brunette scored with 43 seconds left in regulation and Dean Sylvester tallied two goals as Atlanta rallied for a tie with Florida.
The Thrashers, who have the league's worst road record (2-12-2), trailed 3-1 in the final period before storming back.
Atlanta snapped an eight-game losing streak.
Sylvester's second goal of the night at 7:38 pulled Atlanta to 3-2, and Brunette's backhander past Mikhail Shtalenkov tied it on the power play.
Pavel Bure, who had an assist for the Panthers, has a nine-game point-scoring streak.
DEVILS 3, FLYERS 2: Patrik Elias had two goals and an assist and New Jersey beat Philadelphia once again on the Devils' home ice.
Jason Arnott had a goal and Petr Sykora tied his career high with three assists as the Devils improved their home record against the Flyers in the 1990s to 21-5-2, including a 2-0 mark this season and 6-0-1 in their last seven games here.
John LeClair scored a goal and set up another by Keith Jones in a 30-second span in the second period to wipe out a 2-0 deficit before Elias' game-winner.
SHARKS 2, KINGS 1: Owen Nolan's league-leading 26th goal midway through the second period lifted San Jose to a home victory over Los Angeles.
San Jose broke a three-game losing streak, while the Kings lost for the fourth straight time.
Nolan's 12th power-play goal, also an NHL high, broke a 1-1 tie. He has 29 points in 20 games and is second in the league in points scored with 51.
COYOTES 8, MIGHTY DUCKS 2: Greg Adams scored twice in a five-goal third period by Phoenix, and Jyrki Lumme had three assists as the Coyotes ended Anaheim's four-game winning streak.
Shane Doan and Adams scored on the Coyotes' first two shots against relief goalie Dominic Roussel, who played the final period after Guy Hebert left with neck spasms.
Keith Tkachuk, Jeremy Roenick, Trevor Letowski and Mike Sullivan also had goals for the visitors. Stan Neckar, on his 24th birthday, capped the scoring with his first goal.