NHL-Highlights of Tuesday's National Hockey League games

Oct 8 (The Sports Xchange - Highlights of Tuesday's games in the National Hockey League. - - Avalanche 2, Maple Leafs 1 PA Parenteau scored the go-ahead goal in the third period as the Colorado Avalanche remained undefeated after three games with a victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The loss by the Maple Leafs was their first in four games. Joffrey Lupul scored to give the Leafs a lead during the second period, before Cory Sarich tied it for the Avalanche. Netminder Jonathan Bernier got the start for the Leafs after a superb relief job on Saturday in a shootout win over Ottawa and stopped 31 of 33 shots. - - Predators 3, Wild 2 Scoring all of their goals in a six-minute span of the first period, the Predators edged the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in their home opener. Wild (0-1-2) goaltender Niklas Backstrom, who tied for the NHL lead in wins last year with 24, left at 11:14 of the first period with a right leg injury. Minnesota defenseman Keith Ballard slashed Eric Nystrom on a breakaway, knocking him into Backstrom, whose right leg hit the goal post. After attention from the team's medical staff, Backstrom skated off the ice and into the locker room. Team officials said the injury would be re-evaluated Wednesday. - - Lightning 3, Sabres 2 (overtime) Alex Killorn scored 1:50 into overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a win over the Buffalo Sabres. The Lightning entered the third period trailing 2-1, but overcame a third-period deficit for the second game in a row. Teddy Purcell tied the score at 2-2 and Tyler Johnson also scored for the Lightning, who improved to 2-1. Jamie McBain and Cody Hodgson scored for the Sabres, who picked up their first point of the season (0-3-1). - - Penguins 5, Hurricanes 2 Pittsburgh defeated Carolina thanks to a hat-trick from former Hurricane Jussi Jokinen. Jokinen, who was traded to the Penguins in April and still has part of his salary paid by the Hurricanes, completed his hat-trick at 13:03 of the third by wristing a shot over the glove hand of goaltender Cam Ward. Sidney Crosby added two assists as Pittsburgh remained undefeated on the season. - - Islanders 6, Coyotes 1 John Tavares scored a pair of goals for the New York Islanders, who recorded their most lopsided win in almost three years with a rout of the Phoenix Coyotes. Peter Regin, Matt Donovan, Colin McDonald and Josh Bailey also scored for the Islanders, who had not won a game by five goals or more since a 9-3 win over Pittsburgh on Feb. 11, 2011. The Islanders (2-0-1) won despite being outshot 34-28. Goalie Evgeni Nabokov made 33 saves for the Islanders. - - Flyers 2, Panthers 1 Brayden Schenn and Braydon Coburn scored goals, Steve Mason stopped 33 shots, and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Florida Panthers in Craig Berube's NHL coaching debut. A day after Peter Laviolette was fired as coach, the Flyers avoided their first ever 0-4 start. Brad Boyes scored the lone goal for the Panthers (1-2). Tim Thomas, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, allowed both of Philadelphia's goals before leaving with a lower-body injury. - - Canucks 3, Devils 2 (OT) Jason Garrison's goal at 2:18 of overtime gave the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils. The Canucks (3-1) posted their third straight win under new coach John Tortorella. The Devils remained winless in the young season as they fell to 0-1-3. The loss spoiled New Jersey goaltender Cory Schneider's return to Vancouver for the first time since he was traded to the Devils in the offseason. Daniel Sedin and Alex Edler tallied for Vancouver in regulation time. Jaromir Jagr and Patrik Elias replied for the Devils. - - Sharks 9, Rangers 2 San Jose scored three times during an 83-second span of the second period to turn a one-goal game into a rout. Explosive Sharks rookie Tomas Hertl collected four goals, giving him six goals in two games. New York lost the services of power forward Rick Nash after the opening period when he was on the receiving end of an elbow from Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart. Nash finished the opening period with nearly six minutes of ice time, but he did not return after the first intermission. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)