Tampa Bay's Roloson shuts out Philadelphia Flyers

Dwayne Roloson, the veteran goaltender, delivers his fourth shut-out since joining Tampa Bay on January 1 in their 4-0 victory over Philadelphia.

ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA // Dwayne Roloson, the veteran goaltender, delivered his fourth shut-out since joining Tampa Bay on January 1 as the Lightning blanked the Philadelphia Flyers 4-0 in a battle of the two top teams in the Eastern Conference.

The 41-year-old, who was acquired by Tampa Bay in a trade with the New York Islanders, has made a huge impact in just 11 starts for his new team.

"I'm fortunate enough to be making the best of an opportunity," Roloson said. "They have a great core offensively and defensively and they're allowing me to see pucks. It's a lot of fun to play behind them, that's for sure."

Teddy Purcell scored twice in the first 90 seconds and Steve Downie made it 3-0 at 14:24 of the first period as the Lightning recorded their sixth successive win.

Steven Stamkos, the league's goals and points leader, netted his 39th goal of the season to cap the scoring as Tampa Bay beat Philadelphia for the third time in as many meetings this season.

The Lightning (32-15-5) extended their lead in the South-east division to five points over the Washington Capitals, and closed the gap on Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia (33-13-5) to two points.

Philadelphia goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky allowed three goals on six shots before being replaced by Brian Boucher.

The Flyers reached the Stanley Cup finals last season while Tampa Bay have missed the play-offs for the last three years.

"It's big coming off the break. We didn't know what to expect but we came out fresh," said Purcell. "We got off to a big lead and rode it the rest of game."

Elsewhere, Mikael Samuelsson and Christian Ehrhoff scored power-play goals, helping the Vancouver Canucks down the Dallas Stars 4-1.

Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows also found the back of the net for the Canucks, who recorded their third straight victory and moved into sole possession of first place overall in the NHL.

In Washington, Brian Gionta scored two second-period goals and then again in the shoot-out, powering the Montreal Canadiens past the Washington Capitals 3-2 after a shoot-out.

The Boston Bruins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2. Rene Bourque scored the only goal in a shoot-out as the Calgary Flames beat the Nashville Predators 3-2.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored the winning goal in the shoot-out after a scoreless game between the Minnesota Wild and the Los Angeles Kings.

There were goals aplenty in Columbus though, with the Chicago Blackhawks defeating the Blue Jackets 7-4. The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New York Rangers 4-3 after a shoot-out. The Tornoto Maple Leafs beat the Florida Panthers by the same score.

The New Jersey Devils beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 and the New York Islanders beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-1.

In San Jose, Patrick Marleau scored a short-handed goal with 6:05 remaining to cap the San Jose Shark's comeback from a three-goal deficit to beat the Phoenix Coyotes 5-3.