Predators keep rolling by beating Flames, 6-3

Jason Arnott had two goals and an assist and the Nashville Predators never trailed in defeating the Calgary Flames, 6-3, on Thursday night at home.

The Predators earned at least a point for a ninth consecutive game and padded their lead atop the NHL by three points over Buffalo and Detroit.

Shea Weber had two power-play goals, Ryan Suter and Ramzi Abid also scored, and Chris Mason stopped 28 shots.

Jarome Iginla scored twice and Jeff Friesen had a late goal for Calgary, which completed the last game of a three-game trip with its first loss in six games.

St. Louis 5, Dallas 3 -- Doug Weight scored two goals and the Blues defeated the Stars at St. Louis. The Blues are 7-3-1 in their last 11 games and ended a two-game skid. Dallas has scored only five goals in going 0-2-2 in its last four games.

Vancouver 4, Phoenix 2 -- Jeff Cowan scored his sixth goal in four games and Markus Naslund also scored to lead the Canucks at Glendale, Ariz., for their fourth straight win. The Coyotes have lost 11 of their last 13 games.

New York Rangers 2, New York Islanders 1 -- Petr Prucha’s power-play goal during Chris Simon’s major penalty late in the third period lifted the Rangers to a road victory at Uniondale, N.Y., and a sweep of the home-and-home series with the rival Islanders.

New Jersey 4, Pittsburgh 3 -- Patrik Elias had the deciding goal in the shootout and the Devils extended their Atlantic Division lead to eight points with a victory at Pittsburgh.

Atlanta 6, Montreal 2 -- Jon Sim scored two goals at Atlanta and the Thrashers won their fifth in a row to match the team record.

Ottawa 5, Toronto 1 -- Mike Fisher and Dean McAmmond each scored twice at Ottawa and the Senators ended a three-game losing streak.

Minnesota 2, Boston 1 -- Niklas Backstrom made 29 saves and Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored the winner to lift the Wild to victory at Boston. The Wild are 4-0 in Boston and have only lost once to the Bruins in seven games.

Florida 2, Philadelphia 1 -- Chris Gratton got credit for a fluke tiebreaking goal early in the third period at Philadelphia to lead the Panthers past the Flyers.