Petr Sykora and Pascal Dupuis both scored hattricks as the Pittsburgh Penguins thrashed the New York Islanders 9-2.

Former Islander Miroslav Satan scored a power-play goal and added two assists, defenceman Philippe Boucher recorded his first tally of the season and Evgeni Malkin netted a goal and set up another to increase his league-leading points total to 48.

Captain Sidney Crosby collected three assists, while Jordan Staal, Matt Cooke and blue-liners Alex Goligoski and Rob Scuderi registered two apiece for the Penguins, who eclipsed their season high for goals in a contest. Their previous high came in a 7-6 overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings on November 11.

Craig Anderson stopped all 41 shots he faced and Stephen Weiss snapped a scoreless tie with just over five minutes remaining in the second period as the Florida Panthers recorded a 2-0 triumph over the Edmonton Oilers.

Radek Dvorak capped the scoring with an empty-net goal with one second remaining for Florida.

Anderson stopped 13 shots in both the first and third periods and 15 in the second to notch his third shutout of the season and seventh career.

Martin St Louis scored twice as the Tampa Bay Lightning snapped a nine-game winless streak with a 3-1 triumph over the Montreal Canadiens.

Captain Vincent Lecavalier recorded a goal and an assist and defenseman Lukas Krajicek set up a pair of tallies for Tampa Bay.

Captain Patrick Marleau recorded a goal and an assist and Evgeni Nabokov made 31 saves to help the San Jose Sharks top the Anaheim Ducks 2-0 in a battle of Pacific Division rivals.

Nabokov turned aside four shots in the first period, 13 in the second and 14 in the third to notch his first shutout of the season and 41st career.

Captain Dustin Brown notched his first career hat trick and lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 6-2 victory over the St Louis Blues.

Brown scored two of his three goals on the power play for the Kings, who earned only their second victory in six games.

Rookie Jakub Voracek scored the decisive goal in the shootout as the Columbus Blue Jackets edged the Nashville Predators 2-1.

Defenceman Mike Commodore tallied in regulation and rookie Steve Mason made 25 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have won three straight home contests.

Simon Gagne tied the game late in regulation and scored the decisive goal in the shootout as the Philadelphia Flyers rallied from a four-goal deficit in the third period and posted a 6-5 triumph over the Carolina Hurricanes. Scott Hartnell recorded his fourth career hat trick and Scottie Upshall also tallied for Philadelphia.

Finally, Defenceman Zbynek Michalek and Olli Jokinen scored in the final 30 seconds of the second period and the Phoenix Coyotes went on to post a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild.