TAMPA, Fla. - Colton Sissons ended a 12-game goal drought with his first career hat trick, Pekka Rinne made 27 saves and the Nashville Predators beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-1 on Thursday night.

Tampa Bay pulled its goalie for an extra skater with seven minutes left in the third, and Sissons got his second of the game a minute later before completing the trick from close with three minutes remaining. He entered with two goals this season and seven overall in 78 career games.

Nashville also got goals from Mike Fisher, Filip Forsberg, and Ryan Ellis. Rinne improved to 7-0-1 against Tampa Bay.

Tyler Johnson scored for the Lightning, who went 2-2-1 on a five-game homestand. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 13 shots.

Fisher had the lone goal in the first, coming on the power play at 2:25. The Predators are 11-0-4 when scoring first. Tampa Bay has allowed the first goal in 26 of 40 games (7-15-4).

Forsberg made it 2-0 before Johnson scored on the power play early in the second, and then Sissons made it 3-1 from the right circle at 13:21.

Ellis made it a 4-1 lead 43 seconds after Sissons scored with a goal that had two reviews.

The original call was no goal because of goalie interference on Viktor Arvidsson, but that was overturned after a Nashville challenge. Tampa Bay then challenged the on-ice call that play was onside, but the review was inconclusive and the goal stood.

The Predators have outscored opponents 50-27 in the second period. The first four Nashville goals came on just eight shots.

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WASHINGTON - The Columbus Blue Jackets will look to tie the NHL record for consecutive wins when they face Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Thursday night at Verizon Center.

Columbus goes for its 17th straight win in a game featuring the first- and fourth-place teams in the Metropolitan Division. In a bit of scheduling irony, Washington will be trying to stop Columbus from tying the mark set by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins - the Capitals' bitter rivals.

The Blue Jackets (27-5-4) rattled off their 16th consecutive victory with a 3-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday in Columbus.

"I'm proud of the team. They deserve it," Columbus coach John Tortorella told NHL.com. "I'm really happy how they've handled the past three games with all the talk and all that. It's a good test for them."

Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves and extended his win streak to 14 games, three behind the record set by Boston's Gillies Gilbert in 1975-76. He has allowed just 23 goals in the 14 games.

Columbus is allowing two goals per game, tops in the NHL, and Washington is third at 2.10.

The Blue Jackets' power play continues to thrive, producing the first goal Tuesday night and 13 in the last 11 games. They're converting a league-best 28.3 percent of their chances.

"The power play, you can almost sense it when they go out there that they are going to score," Tortorella told NHL.com. "The bench feels that."

Capitals coach Barry Trotz said, "They have a good plan and they're executing their plan. I think their ability not only to get pucks in the area, but they also find ... off the original chance they turn that into a second and third chance and eventually a goal."

The Caps (23-9-5), meanwhile, has provided opponents 20 power plays in its last three games, though they've surrendered only two power-play goals while winning three straight.

"Obviously, the penalties are mounting up and they're hard minutes," Trotz said. "We're going to correct that."

Tuesday's 5-4 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs was an uncharacteristic Capitals affair. They were forced to rally from a 4-2 deficit before Ovechkin scored the winner.

Goalie Braden Holtby was pulled after allowing three first-period goals when the Capitals had allowed only 14 first-period scores all season.

"Certainly, I think we just kind of willed out way to that win," Justin Williams told The Washington Post after he notched a goal and two assists to give him eight goals and seven assists in his last 14 games. "It was fun and exciting for everybody."

Thursday's atmosphere should be exciting as well.

"Guys recognize that you're under a bigger spotlight, so it's probably like a rivalry game," Trotz said. "It's got a little more ... I'll say a little more zip to it, a little more emotion than some other games."

Columbus won the first two matchups between the teams - one in overtime - and leads Washington by seven points in the Metropolitan Division.

"Everyone in the division, everyone's winning," Blue Jackets winger Cam Atkinson said. "It's going to be a huge game. It's obviously fun to play those game because you know you're going to their A effort on the other side and we're going to bring it as well, so looking forward to it."

Atkinson has three goals in his last two games. Nick Foligno has three goals and five assists in his last five, and Brandon Saad and Alexander Wennberg have two goals and four assists each in the last five.

Against the Capitals, Atkinson has eight goals and five assists in 13 games, Saad has five and three in eight games, and Foligno has seven and 13 in 28 games.

Tortorella has his own long history against Washington. As the coach of the New York Rangers, his teams were eliminated twice in the playoffs by Washington and twice sent the Capitals packing. He was suspended for one game after an altercation with a fan in the 2009 playoffs.

Ovechkin has four goals and two assists in his last six games and is five points from 1,000. In 17 games against Columbus, he has 14 goals and three assists. Williams has nine and 11 in 32 games, and T.J. Oshie has eight and 13 in 30.

Holtby is 8-3-2 with a 2.83 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage against Columbus, and Bobrovsky is 6-5-3 with a 2.64 GAA and a .908 save percentage against Washington.

The Capitals will be looking to deal the Blue Jackets their first loss since Nov. 26 - the day before Thanksgiving - when they fell to the Florida Panthers 3-2 in overtime.

"They recognize Columbus is obviously the class of the league right now and they're coming into our building," Trotz said of his players, "and we'll give them a good match."

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - Cam Atkinson and William Karlsson scored powerplay goals and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 on Tuesday night to extend their winning streak to 16 games - one away from the longest ever in the NHL.

Nick Foligno also scored for the Blue Jackets, who can tie the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins with a victory Thursday night at Washington. The near-sellout crowd chanted ''We want 16!'' as the clock ticked down.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots for Columbus, which started the new year on the right note after winning all 14 games in December. The Blue Jackets haven't lost since Nov. 26 thanks in part to the league's best powerplay unit.

Oscar Klefbom scored for Edmonton, which was limited throughout by Columbus' hard-pressing defense. Cam Talbot had 32 saves for the Oilers.

The Blue Jackets got on the board 12:32 into the first period when Atkinson's shot ricocheted in off the skate of the Oilers' Andrej Sekera. Atkinson added to his team-leading totals of 18 goals and 38 points, and Zach Werenski and Alexander Wennberg got the assists.

"That was a nice bounce," said Atkinson, who has 17 points (10 goals, seven assists) in his past 13 games.

Edmonton managed just four shots on goal against a hustling defense in the opening period.

Klefbom evened it 5:39 into the second period with a shot from the slot on an Oilers rush. Shortly afterward, the Blue Jackets' Brandon Dubinsky and the Oilers' Patrick Maroon - who got an assist on Klefbom's goal - slugged each other briefly and went to the box for fighting after Maroon threw a high elbow.

Karlsson, skating for Dubinsky during the fighting penalty, put Columbus ahead 2-1 on another power play 10:43 into the second when he ripped a shot from the middle of the left circle past Talbot. Brandon Saad, who fed Karlsson with a perfect pass, got the assist, along with Seth Jones.

Foligno put Columbus up by two 2:45 into the third period with an unassisted goal after stepping in front of a pass as the Oilers were trying to get out of their zone.

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NEWARK, N.J. - P.A. Parenteau scored his fifth goal in eight games, Cory Schneider made 22 saves and the slumping New Jersey Devils beat the Boston Bruins 3-0 on Monday night.

Sergey Kalinin added an insurance goal early in the third period and set up Taylor Hall's empty-netter as the Devils won for only the third time in 13 games (3-9-1).

Tuukka Rask had 23 saves for the Bruins, who lost to New Jersey for only the second time in eight games (6-2).

Schneider was the difference in picking up his second shutout of the season, and second in his last four starts. He stopped a power-play redirection in front by Tim Schaller with 1:20 left in the first and made an outstanding stick stop on a rebound try by Patrice Bergeron with 3.3 seconds left in the period following a giveaway by Parenteau.

The puck lay on the goal line for a second or so before Schneider slapped his glove on top of it inches from being a goal. The play was reviewed and the no-goal ruling was confirmed.

Parenteau put the Devils ahead 4:12 into the game with the help of just recalled rookie defenseman Steven Santini and Hall, who returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with a lower-body injury.

Santini, a former Boston College product playing in his second NHL game and first this season, took a shot from the right point. Rask pushed the rebound to the left circle and Hall shot it off the goalpost. Parenteau swatted the loose puck off the post and then into the net for his 11th goal. It was Santini's first NHL point.

Kalinin gave New Jersey breathing room 1:44 into the third period. Miles Wood, another Boston College player, set up the goal with a rush along the right boards into the Bruins' zone. Kalinin took his centering pass and beat Rask in close for his second goal.

NOTES: Bruins RW David Backes missed his second straight game with a concussion. ... This was first of five of six on the road for Bruins. ... Torey Krug and Ryan Spooner had five-game point streaks snapped. ... Boston killed off all six New Jersey power plays. ... Devils centers Travis Zajac and Jacob Josefson were out because of illness. D John Moore missed the game with a concussion.

UP NEXT:

Bruins: Hosts Edmonton on Thursday.

Devils: Visit Carolina on Tuesday.

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NEWARK, N.J. - P.A. Parenteau scored his fifth goal in eight games, Cory Schneider made 22 saves and the slumping New Jersey Devils beat the Boston Bruins 3-0 on Monday night.

Sergey Kalinin added an insurance goal early in the third period and set up Taylor Hall's empty-netter as the Devils won for only the third time in 13 games (3-9-1).

Tuukka Rask had 23 saves for the Bruins, who lost to New Jersey for only the second time in eight games (6-2).

Schneider was the difference in picking up his second shutout of the season, and second in his last four starts. He stopped a power-play redirection in front by Tim Schaller with 1:20 left in the first and made an outstanding stick stop on a rebound try by Patrice Bergeron with 3.3 seconds left in the period following a giveaway by Parenteau.

The puck lay on the goal line for a second or so before Schneider slapped his glove on top of it inches from being a goal. The play was reviewed and the no-goal ruling was confirmed.

Parenteau put the Devils ahead 4:12 into the game with the help of just recalled rookie defenseman Steven Santini and Hall, who returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with a lower-body injury.

Santini, a former Boston College product playing in his second NHL game and first this season, took a shot from the right point. Rask pushed the rebound to the left circle and Hall shot it off the goalpost. Parenteau swatted the loose puck off the post and then into the net for his 11th goal. It was Santini's first NHL point.

Kalinin gave New Jersey breathing room 1:44 into the third period. Miles Wood, another Boston College player, set up the goal with a rush along the right boards into the Bruins' zone. Kalinin took his centering pass and beat Rask in close for his second goal.

NOTES: Bruins RW David Backes missed his second straight game with a concussion. ... This was first of five of six on the road for Bruins. ... Torey Krug and Ryan Spooner had five-game point streaks snapped. ... Boston killed off all six New Jersey power plays. ... Devils centers Travis Zajac and Jacob Josefson were out because of illness. D John Moore missed the game with a concussion.

UP NEXT:

Bruins: Hosts Edmonton on Thursday.

Devils: Visit Carolina on Tuesday.

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RALEIGH, N.C. - Bryan Bickell says he doesn't want to let multiple sclerosis end his hockey career.

The Carolina Hurricanes forward said during the first intermission of Friday night's game against the Chicago Blackhawks that ''my mindset is to get back on the ice, and I think I can do that.''

The Hurricanes announced Bickell's diagnosis last month, and he's been on injured reserve since Nov. 11.

He says his treatment includes a round of medication once a month, which he began taking ''a couple of weeks ago.''

The matchup held special significance for Bickell, who helped the Blackhawks win three Stanley Cups before he was traded to Carolina over the summer. The 30-year-old had one goal in seven games with the Hurricanes but hasn't played since Oct. 30.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. - Erik Haula scored midway through the third period to help the Minnesota Wild hold off the New York Islanders 6-4 on Thursday night for their 12th victory in a row.

Marco Scandella, Chris Stewart, Jared Spurgeon, Jordan Schroeder, and Mikael Granlund also scored for Minnesota, which had a franchise-record three goals in 80 seconds in the second period.

The Wild's Devan Dubnyk allowed more than three goals for the first time this season but made 23 saves to win his 10th straight start.

Haula put Minnesota ahead 5-4 with his sixth goal after Nino Niederreiter's shot deflected off Haula's leg. New York's Brock Nelson scored twice in 42 seconds early in the period to tie it.

The win sets up a showdown on New Year's Eve against the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have won 14 straight games. It's the first game in NHL history featuring two teams on such long winning streaks.

Jason Chimera and Nick Leddy also scored for the Islanders, who had won three in a row. Jean-Francois Berube stopped 10 of 11 shots for New York after taking over for Jaroslav Halak.

Nelson's quick trigger negated Minnesota's flurry in the second.

After Leddy had given the Islanders a 2-1 lead in the second, Stewart scored from beside the goal, banking it off Halak's shoulder into the net. Spurgeon scored 35 seconds later and Schroeder capped the franchise's fastest stretch of three goals with his second of the season.

The Wild's previous record for fastest three goals was 1:41 in 2004.

The outburst ended Halak's night. He was pulled early for the second time this season after giving up four goals on 24 shots. Berube played just his fourth game of the season and second in relief.

NOTES: The Wild reassigned F Kurtis Gabriel to Iowa of the AHL prior to the game. Gabriel has one assist and 24 penalty minutes in 10 games with Minnesota this season. ... G Thomas Greiss was scratched for the second time since Nov. 18 as the Islanders have rostered three goaltenders all season. ... New York's 6-3 win earlier this season is the only time Minnesota has lost a game by more than one goal. ... The Wild have outscored teams 44-22 in the second period this season.

UP NEXT

Islanders: A four-game road trip continues in Winnipeg on Saturday.

Wild: The two hottest teams in the NHL meet as Minnesota hosts the Columbus on Saturday.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - Nick Foligno scored a power-play goal midway through the third period, Sergei Bobrovsky had 37 saves and the NHL-leading Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Tuesday night to extend their winning streak to 13 games.

Scott Hartnell, Seth Jones, and Matt Calvert scored to put the burgeoning Blue Jackets up 3-0 in the first period, but they were outplayed from there by the more aggressive Bruins. Columbus stayed in the game thanks to the latest stellar performance by Bobrovsky, who got his first career victory in eight games against Boston.

David Backes, Austin Czarnik, and David Krejci scored for the Bruins, and Tuukka Rask had 18 saves.

Columbus hasn't lost since Nov. 26 on this franchise-best winning streak. It leads the brutal Metropolitan Division a season after finishing in last place.

Foligno scored the winner with a wraparound goal 10:46 into the third period off a pass from Alexander Wennberg. The Blue Jackets then killed a power play with less than four minutes left and held off a rush by the Bruins after they pulled their goalie with about 1 1/2 minutes remaining.

Columbus opened the scoring 3:02 into the first when a wrist shot by Lukas Sedlak bounced off Rask's pads. Hartnell skated in front of the net after being checked to the ice and poked it in for his ninth goal of the season.

Jones scored from the middle of the left circle at 8:47 after taking a pass from Hartnell from behind the net just after a Jackets' power play expired. Less than a minute later, Calvert got a steal and scored after getting his own rebound off Rask's pads.

Boston then got two goals in quick fashion. Backes charged through the slot and shot the puck over Bobrovsky's right shoulder for his ninth goal at 11:05, and 55 seconds later, Czarnik scored in traffic off a rebound.

After Bobrovsky turned away a fierce barrage for most of the second period, Boston evened the score at 3 when Krejci got a put-back tally off a blocked shot by Ryan Spooner. Bobrovsky stopped 17 shots in the period.

NOTES: The Blue Jackets haven't gone without a point since the day before Thanksgiving in a 2-0 loss to Calgary and have won seven in a row at home. ... Bobrovsky has now beaten every NHL team. ... The Blue Jackets are only the ninth team in the 99-year history of the NHL to have won 13 games in a row. They are 14-3-1 at home. ... Columbus is unbeaten this month and broke the franchise mark for wins in a calendar month (12). ... Boston D John-Michael Liles skated Tuesday for the first time since getting a concussion that has kept him out of the last 14 games. He hasn't been cleared to practice and it's not clear when he could return to the lineup. ... Boston's Torey Krug has five assists in three games and 13 in his past 16. ... D Joe Morrow, C Noel Acciari and C Tim Schaller were scratched for Boston, and D Dalton Prout and D Scott Harrington were scratches for Columbus.

UP NEXT

Boston: Plays at Buffalo on Thursday night.

Columbus: Plays at Winnipeg on Thursday night.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Blue Jackets made it 12 straight wins Friday night, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 to maintain the best record in the NHL.

Columbus, improved to 23-5-4 - its best start in franchise history - and has not lost since Nov. 26. Montreal, which outshot Columbus 37-24, fell to 21-9-4.

The win was a league-leading 20th for goalie Sergei Bobvrosky, who kept Columbus in the game despite an apathetic third period in which the Blue Jackets took just five shots.

Sam Gagner put Columbus on the board at 17:50 of the first period, 16 seconds into a Canadiens bench minor for too many men on the ice. It was his 15th goal on the season and sixth on the power play.

The Jackets made it 2-0 with Brandon Saad's 13th goal of the season, just 1:22 into the second period.

The Canadians dominated the puck in the third period, and made it 2-1 with Jeff Petry's goal at 9:08.

Notes: Both Columbus and Montreal were playing the second of two games in consecutive nights. ... The Blue Jackets signed RW Vitaly Abramov to a three-year entry-level contract. Abramov was the Jackets' third-round selection, 65th overall, in the 2016 NHL Draft. ... With his assist in the first period, Cam Atkinson became the fourth player in Columbus history to score 200 points. ... Seth Jones left the game at 1:12 of the first period after taking a puck to the mouth. ... Atkinson continued his career-high nine-game point streak. He currently leads the team in goals (15).

UP NEXT:

The Canadiens play Wednesday at Tampa Bay.

The Blue Jackets are off until Tuesday when they host Boston,

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DENVER - Nazem Kadri scored twice, Frederik Andersen stopped 38 shots for his first shutout this season and the Toronto Maple Leafs routed the last-place Colorado Avalanche 6-0 on Thursday night.

Auston Matthews scored his team-leading 16th goal to get the Maple Leafs started in the first period. James van Riemsdyk had a goal and an assist, and Connor Brown and Frederik Gauthier also scored for Toronto.

Andersen earned his seventh career shutout, and it was an easy one for the NHL veteran. The Maple Leafs scored five goals in 21:29 spanning the first and second periods, starting with Matthews' goal at 7:13 of the first.

Gauthier's first goal of the season at 8:42 of the second ended Semyon Varlamov's night. The Colorado goalie allowed five goals on 18 shots and was replaced by Calvin Pickard.

Pickard made 12 saves for the Avalanche, who are 0-7-1 in their last eight home games. They have lost five straight overall.

Kadri scored a power-play goal in the third, his 13th.

NOTES: Maple Leafs C Byron Froese made his season debut after being recalled from the Toronto Marlies of the AHL on Wednesday. ... The Avalanche failed to score in six power-play chances, including a combined 2:01 of 5-on-3 action. They are 1 for 23 on the power play in the last five games. ... Toronto loaned G Jhonas Enroth to the Marlies.

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