Highlights of Tuesday's NHL games

- - -

Avalanche 5, Blues 0

Right winger Jarome Iginla and left winger Alex Tanguay had a goal and an assist each as Colorado blanked St Louis 5-0.

Goaltender Semyon Varlamov returned from a six-game absence to make 26 saves for his second shutout of the season and 15th of his career. Center Ryan O'Reilly also had a goal and assist for the Avalanche, winners of three in a row.

Colorado is 4-0-2 in the last six games and reached .500 for the first time this season.

- - -

Flyers 5, Wild 2

Center Vincent Lecavalier scored an insurance goal in the third period as Philadelphia beat Minnesota 5-2.

Center Sean Couturier and right wingers Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds also scored for Philadelphia, which has won three straight and five of its last seven.

- - -

Canadiens 3, Islanders 1

Defenseman Andrei Markov and right winger Brendan Gallagher scored less than six minutes apart in the second period to lift Montreal to a win over the New York Islanders.

Goalie Casey Price made 37 saves for the Canadiens, who won for the fifth time in six games to ensure they would keep at least a share of first place in the Atlantic Division with the Tampa Bay Lightning heading into the holiday break.

- - -

Bruins 5, Predators 3

Boston hit its Christmas break with a victory over Nashville, as left winger Brad Marchand scored his team-high ninth and 10th goals of the season and right winger Loui Eriksson also scored twice.

Center David Krejci scored on the power play, and center Patrice Bergeron had three assists for Boston, which climbed back over .500 at 18-14-3.

- - -

Rangers 4, Capitals 2

Rick Nash maintained his hot scoring streak with two goals as the New York Rangers outlasted Washington, giving New York its first seven-game winning streak in more than three years.

Right winger Martin St Louis added two power-play goals, center Derick Brassard and right winger Mats Zuccarello each had two assists as the Rangers handed the Capitals their first loss in the last 10 games.

- - -

Hurricanes 2, Devils 1 (SO)

Left winger Chris Terry scored in the fourth round of a shootout, and goaltender Anton Khudobin made 19 saves in regulation and four in the shootout, leading Carolina to a victory over New Jersey.

Carolina defenseman Ron Hainsey scored the game-tying goal with 8:01 left in regulation, his first goal of the season, to send the game into overtime and the shootout after New Jersey forward Stephen Gionta scored his third of the season in the first period.

- - -

Maple Leafs 4, Stars 0

Led by left winger James van Riemsdyk's goal and two assists, Toronto beat Dallas to snap a three-game losing streak.

Toronto center Nazem Kadri added a goal and an assist, center Phil Kessel added two assists and forwards Tyler Bozak and Mike Santorelli had a goal each. Goaltender Jonathan Bernier stopped all 43 shots he faced to earn his second shutout of the season.

- - -

Lightning 4, Penguins 3

Center Tyler Johnson got his second career hat-trick, all in the first 23 minutes, as Tampa Bay held on for a win over Eastern Conference-leading Pittsburgh.

Right winger Nikita Kucherov scored a goal and added two assists for Tampa.

- - -

Red Wings 6, Sabres 3

Left winger Tomas Tatar scored two goals to lead Detroit to a come-from-behind win against Buffalo to snap a six-game losing streak.

Right winger Gustav Nyquist had a goal and two assists and defenseman Dan DeKeyser and center Henrik Zetterberg had a goal and an assist each. Forward Stephen Weiss, Tatar and right winger Johan Franzen also scored for Detroit.

- - -

Coyotes 5, Oilers 1

The Edmonton Oilers lost for the 19th time in 20 games, dropping a 5-1 decision to the Arizona Coyotes.

The Coyotes were never in trouble, jumping out to 2-0 and 3-1 leads in beating Edmonton for the fifth time in five meetings this season. The Coyotes won for just the third time in their last 13 games.

- - -

Jets 5, Blackhawks 1

Winnipeg Jets center Mathieu Perreault scored two goals to spark a 5-1 win against Chicago.

Winnipeg improved to 2-0-0 this season at the United Center, where the Blackhawks have posted a 12-2-1 record against all other opponents.