Hype for December 11, 2009

The first three times the Los Angeles Kings scored in the shootout, Phoenix responded with a goal. The Coyotes' luck ran out in the eighth round.

The Kings capitalized on the absence of suspended Phoenix defenceman Ed Jovanovski, as Oscar Moller and Jack Johnson scored first-period goals Thursday night in a 3-2 victory that snapped the Coyotes' five-game winning streak. It was Los Angeles' longest shootout.

Justin Williams beat Ilya Bryzgalov in the eighth round and Jonathan Quick stopped Scottie Upshall to win it for the Kings.

In a game that featured two struggling offences, the Ottawa Senators beat the Philadelphia Flyers with defence.

Brian Elliott made 22 saves in his second NHL shutout and Nick Foligno and Jesse Winchester scored third-period goals to give Ottawa a 2-0 victory over the slumping Flyers on Thursday night.

The Boston Bruins reclaimed first place in the NHL's Northeast Division by holding off a pesky Toronto Maple Leafs team 5-2 on Thursday night.

Boston's second home win over the Leafs in five days wasn't nearly as impressive as Saturday's 7-2 whipping, but it may have carried more meaning as it put the resurgent Bruins (16-9-5) back atop a division they were expected to run away with for a second straight season.

As much as Sidney Crosby has struggled to produce in Montreal, it hasn't mattered one bit.

With Pittsburgh's superstar captain held in check, Pascal Dupuis and Sergei Gonchar picked up the slack with one goal and one assist apiece in a 3-2 Penguins victory over the Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Thursday night.

Daniel Sedin scored a hat trick to help the Vancouver Canucks open a key stretch of home games with a convincing 4-2 win over the Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday night.

Sedin's three goals doubled his output on the season. The Canucks' leader in that department each of the last three years, Sedin missed 18 games with a broken foot suffered in Vancouver's fourth game.