Kessel hat trick delivers Maple Leafs come from behind victory

Phil Kessel's three goals led Toronto to a 4-2 win after they began down 2-0 to Anaheim on Tuesday night.

Phil Kessel scores one of his three goals on Tuesday night. Nathan Denette / AP / The Canadian Press

Maple Leafs 4, Ducks 2

Phil Kessel scored a hat trick as the Toronto Maple Leafs came back from 2-0 down to record the victory and snap the Anaheim Ducks’ seven-game winning streak.

Toronto got three goals in the second period, Kessel’s third of the game, and fifth of the season for the Leafs (7-3-0), came at 8:11 of the third and prompted several hats to be thrown from the seats onto the ice.

Nick Bonino and Mathieu Perreault scored for the Ducks, who lost for the first time since the season opener on October 2 at Colorado.

Blackhawks 3, Panthers 2 (shootout)

The Chicago Blackhawks blew a two-goal lead in the third period but emerged with a shootout win over the Florida Panthers.

Florida (3-6-1) cut Chicago’s lead to 2-1 on a goal by Tomas Fleischmann with 10:56 left in the third period before Panthers defenceman Dmitry Kulikov tied it with 8:09 left.

In the shootout, Chicago’s Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp converted for the Blackhawks (6-1-2).

Jacob Markstrom finished in goal for Florida, relieving Tim Thomas with 2:59 left in the third period. Thomas, who made 25 saves, apparently re-injured his groin.

Capitals 5, Jets 4 (shootout)

The Capitals registered a free-flowing shootout victory as Martin Erat beat Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec through the legs in the sixth round.

The Capitals scored on four of six opportunities in the shootout, while the Jets scored on three of six attempts.

Alex Ovechkin scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season, while Mikhail Grabovski and Troy Brouwer also scored for Washington (4-5-0).

Bryan Little had two goals, and Blake Wheeler and Grant Clitsome also scored for Winnipeg, who outshot the Capitals 47-32.

Canucks 5, Islanders 4 (overtime)

Brad Richardson’s goal with 2:44 left in overtime lifted the Vancouver Canucks to a win over the New York Islanders.

The Canucks (6-4-1) came back from a 2-0 first-period deficit as Ryan Kesler, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin and Chris Huggins all scored and goaltender Roberto Luongo made 28 saves.

The Islanders forced overtime with 1:12 left in regulation on a tip-in by Frans Nielsen. Matt Moulson scored twice and Brock Nelson scored his first NHL goal for the Islanders (3-3-3), who lost their second straight.

Oilers 4, Canadiens 3

Jeff Petry and Ryan Jones scored 1:58 apart midway through the third period to help the Edmonton Oilers come from behind in a win over the Montreal Canadiens.

Montreal took an early 2-0 edge before Ales Hemsky and Ladislav Smid scored 2:47 apart in the second to draw the Oilers even. Petry and Jones established the two-goal lead.

Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle and Mark Arcobello each had two assists.

Blue Jackets 4, Devils 1

James Wisniewski overcame the flu to have one goal and two assists, and the Columbus Blue Jackets overcame a slow start to beat the New Jersey Devils.

Brandon Dubinsky, Cam Atkinson and Marian Gaborik also scored for the Blue Jackets, who earned their first win over New Jersey since December 11, 2005, a span of five games (0-4-1).

Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 shots for his third win.

Wild 2, Predators 0

Rookie Justin Fontaine’s second career goal was the game-winner as the Minnesota Wild dominated the Nashville Predators but struggled to score in a victory.

Josh Harding made 16 saves for the Wild for his first shutout of the season, and Jason Pominville scored into an empty net as Minnesota (4-3-3) snapped a three-game winless streak.